"Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, Because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; And he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses."
-Isaiah 53:11b-12
How offended we get when we are blamed for something we don't do, and how frustrating it is when there's nothing we can do about it. As a parent, it probably happens a lot with our kids (when there's more than one) because it's hard to get the same story out of any two of them.
Jesus chose to take the blame for us, even though he could have gotten out of it. We deserve to go to hell, but he went through hell for us, so now we are able to go to heaven if we choose to follow him. Unfortunately, not everybody will.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Give credit where credit is due
"For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work."
-Philippians 2:13
Even when we do something good, God deserves credit for it, not us. All we can take credit for is our sins. You should be glad if you have the faith and thank God for it. He doesn't give everyone the same consolations. It's harder for some to believe than others. That's important to remember to help us not be quick to judge others.
-Philippians 2:13
Even when we do something good, God deserves credit for it, not us. All we can take credit for is our sins. You should be glad if you have the faith and thank God for it. He doesn't give everyone the same consolations. It's harder for some to believe than others. That's important to remember to help us not be quick to judge others.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Serve and Be Served
Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone for those of others.
-Philippians 2:3-4
If you make a point to look after others, others will begin to look after you. However, you have to let people look after you. I prefer to be the one helping than the one helped, but other people want to feel that sense of self-worth as well and if you don’t allow them to help you, they may not get that feeling anywhere else.
-Philippians 2:3-4
If you make a point to look after others, others will begin to look after you. However, you have to let people look after you. I prefer to be the one helping than the one helped, but other people want to feel that sense of self-worth as well and if you don’t allow them to help you, they may not get that feeling anywhere else.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Work is a Gift
For, to me, "life" means Christ; hence dying is so much gain. On the other hand, if I am to go on living in the flesh, that means productive toil for me--and I do not know which to prefer. I am strongly attracted to both: I long to be freed from this life and to be with Christ, for that is the far better thing; yet it is more urgent that I remain alive for your sakes. This gives me confidence that I will stay with you.
-Philippians 1:21-25
There is so much truth wrapped in this short statement. The first is that work is a gift. How often have you heard of people retiring from their jobs to do nothing and passing away shortly there after? Perhaps there is something to the saying that you are too busy to die (if you are doing God’s work). Eventually, no matter how hard we work, we will be called home and it will be someone else’s turn to do the work that needs done. However, it is our job to give our best while we are out there until the coach calls us off the field. If we start slacking before he planned on pulling us, we might find ourselves pulled prematurely and that would not be far better. It’s far better when you can go to Christ knowing you have done your best. It’s not better to go to Christ knowing you did not love him enough to do try your best. Play each play like it’s your last. Live each day like it’s your last (before you are judged).
-Philippians 1:21-25
There is so much truth wrapped in this short statement. The first is that work is a gift. How often have you heard of people retiring from their jobs to do nothing and passing away shortly there after? Perhaps there is something to the saying that you are too busy to die (if you are doing God’s work). Eventually, no matter how hard we work, we will be called home and it will be someone else’s turn to do the work that needs done. However, it is our job to give our best while we are out there until the coach calls us off the field. If we start slacking before he planned on pulling us, we might find ourselves pulled prematurely and that would not be far better. It’s far better when you can go to Christ knowing you have done your best. It’s not better to go to Christ knowing you did not love him enough to do try your best. Play each play like it’s your last. Live each day like it’s your last (before you are judged).
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Bloom's Taxonomy
“My prayer is that your love may more and more abound, both in understanding and wealth of experience, so that with a clear conscience and blameless conduct you may learn to value the things that really matter, up to the day of Christ. It is my wish that you may be found rich in the harvest of justice which Jesus Christ has ripened in you, to the glory and praise of God.” –Philippians 1:9-11
The phrase “wealth of experience” is an interesting one. In context, it seems to suggest more than just understanding. Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains includes understanding towards the bottom, with applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating considered higher. Sometimes we think we understand what the Bible says, as if we just had to give a book report on it. Perhaps “wealth of experience” helps us to apply those principles to the routine moments in our lives, analyze the more difficult situations we find ourselves in, evaluate past situations, and most importantly create the kind of situations God wants us to. Hindsight, for example, is 20/20, so we should get better the older we get because we have more hindsight to refer to.
The phrase “wealth of experience” is an interesting one. In context, it seems to suggest more than just understanding. Bloom’s taxonomy of learning domains includes understanding towards the bottom, with applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating considered higher. Sometimes we think we understand what the Bible says, as if we just had to give a book report on it. Perhaps “wealth of experience” helps us to apply those principles to the routine moments in our lives, analyze the more difficult situations we find ourselves in, evaluate past situations, and most importantly create the kind of situations God wants us to. Hindsight, for example, is 20/20, so we should get better the older we get because we have more hindsight to refer to.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Cafeteria Catholics
The way we can be sure of our knowledge of Christ is to keep his commandments. The man who claims, “I have known him,” without keeping his commandments, is a liar."
-1 John 2:3-4
Cafeteria Catholics pick and choose what parts of the faith they want to believe. Our faith is based on the Bible and tradition, which is summarized in the Catechism. Protestants only believe in the Bible and not tradition passed down by word of mouth, but even some Protestants conveniently neglect parts of the Bible that they find difficult for them. If you are what you say you are, people should be able to tell by your actions because they speak louder than words. If your actions indicate that you don’t have faith, you have some work to do that God will graciously help you with if you are open to him.
Can you think of anyone in your life that this might apply to?
-1 John 2:3-4
Cafeteria Catholics pick and choose what parts of the faith they want to believe. Our faith is based on the Bible and tradition, which is summarized in the Catechism. Protestants only believe in the Bible and not tradition passed down by word of mouth, but even some Protestants conveniently neglect parts of the Bible that they find difficult for them. If you are what you say you are, people should be able to tell by your actions because they speak louder than words. If your actions indicate that you don’t have faith, you have some work to do that God will graciously help you with if you are open to him.
Can you think of anyone in your life that this might apply to?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Thankfulness
“Dedicate yourselves to thankfulness.” –Colossians 3:15
Our society seems so negative at times, we must seem ungrateful to everyone so less fortunate than ourselves in a material sense. However, I am always amazed at what remarkable faith seems to be present among the most trying third world countries. Perhaps being thankful for all we have will help us increase our faith as well.
Can you name a person you’ve thanked today? Can you think of someone who needs to be thanked?
Our society seems so negative at times, we must seem ungrateful to everyone so less fortunate than ourselves in a material sense. However, I am always amazed at what remarkable faith seems to be present among the most trying third world countries. Perhaps being thankful for all we have will help us increase our faith as well.
Can you name a person you’ve thanked today? Can you think of someone who needs to be thanked?
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