The Glory of the Lord. Ya, that's what it means. It is why the Lord created humans. We were made to bring Him glory and honor. Some of us do that and some of us don't. Some of us believe and some of us don't. It's the fallen state of the human race. We have to come to know Him before we are able to honor and glorify Him.
As I said, there are those that do and those that don't honor and glorify God. Some fail to honor God because they do not believe He exists. Others begrudgingly acknowledge Him, but they are angry with Him. They think He stacked the deck against them. I understand this. I felt this way for much of my life.
So, what if I told you that He does stack the deck? Further, that He does this so we can achieve the purpose for which we were designed - to bring Him glory.
I have only recently considered this. It came up in a sermon (thanks Steve) I heard last Sunday and in a conversation again yesterday. The question is, does God put us in miserable situations or bad circumstances for His own purposes, stacking the deck against us, so that we bring Him glory by the way we deal with it?
For years I was angry with God because I'm gay and I thought He should do something about it, but He did not. Praying never changed that situation. Prayer enabled me to resist, but it did not cure my unnatural desires. It was a wedge that I could not remove in our relationship. I held Him responsible. My anger continued for years.
At one point, I came to the conclusion that God was not responsible for my misplaced sexual desire. It had to be something else. I have held that position for quite awhile now. The flesh is broken after all. Only He can heal it...but the questions still remains, then why doesn't He?
Then someone said, "Jeff, you are what you are because God made you that way." Thanks Karla for helping to change my mind.
Really? Why would God make me gay and then forbid me to have that kind of life? Is that not the definition of a cruel god?
Well, no...not really. In the bigger picture of things, what could bring more glory to the Lord than a man who, against all odds, withstands the slings and arrows of his own desires and lives in spiritual victory because the Lord enabled him to do so?
Ya I know, maybe that's the deal. God takes something as broken and bent as me and makes me a lens to magnify His glorious light. Now we're talking.
I'm gay and even so, I bring glory to God. His power is an amazing thing.
Lord, thanks for Loving me and making me as you wanted me to be. Please continue to use me as a testimony of your power and help me ever to point to your glory. I love you. Amen
Friday, February 19, 2016
Tax Time
April 15 is fast approaching. Federal income tax filing must be done on or prior to that date, I suppose you already knew that unless you're a scoff law, tax protester or something called a "sovereign citizen". Most of these will end up in prison due to their special status as non-contributors, but I digress.
The fact is that we have to pay our taxes. It's the price of civilization, limited liberty, public sanitation and studies concerning the endangered red wing butt biter and gobi headed dung teaser; both so important to our continuing survival on earth.
Jesus was asked about paying tax to Rome in His day. He was all for it, even though many had issues with supporting the Roman Empire. Never mind that the Romans brought running water, sewers and paved roads to Palestine. They were stepping on other things considered absolute by many Judeans and so they would look for ways and people that would support them and lead them to victory over those that wanted clean water and safe travel, but again I digress. The Romans were a mixed bag of tyrannies and freedoms that worked well for centuries, much like the modern American empire of today.
Anyhow, Jesus was approached by some close to the political and spiritual leadership of His day to ask Him about paying tax to Rome. The conversation went something like this.
Matthew 22:15-22
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Ya, it was supposed to be a trap. The Jews of the time were trying to manipulate him into saying subversive things that would force the Romans to deal with Him. It did not work. We give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. That certainly makes sense. That which is Caesar's is stamped with his image.
So what is stamped with God's image? What is it that we give to God?
Genesis 1:26, 27
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:7
7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
So it is us. We are to give to God that which is stamped with His image - ourselves.
How do we do this? We give of our time, our talent and our treasure in service to Him as our Creator. He is the one that endowed us the ability to create and to love and to choose in our own fashion, much as He has always done. We are like our Father before us, so we should conform ourselves to His image and give back to Him as our Creator.
The fact is that we have to pay our taxes. It's the price of civilization, limited liberty, public sanitation and studies concerning the endangered red wing butt biter and gobi headed dung teaser; both so important to our continuing survival on earth.
Jesus was asked about paying tax to Rome in His day. He was all for it, even though many had issues with supporting the Roman Empire. Never mind that the Romans brought running water, sewers and paved roads to Palestine. They were stepping on other things considered absolute by many Judeans and so they would look for ways and people that would support them and lead them to victory over those that wanted clean water and safe travel, but again I digress. The Romans were a mixed bag of tyrannies and freedoms that worked well for centuries, much like the modern American empire of today.
Anyhow, Jesus was approached by some close to the political and spiritual leadership of His day to ask Him about paying tax to Rome. The conversation went something like this.
Matthew 22:15-22
15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax[a] to Caesar or not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
Ya, it was supposed to be a trap. The Jews of the time were trying to manipulate him into saying subversive things that would force the Romans to deal with Him. It did not work. We give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. That certainly makes sense. That which is Caesar's is stamped with his image.
So what is stamped with God's image? What is it that we give to God?
Genesis 1:26, 27
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:7
7 Then the Lord God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
So it is us. We are to give to God that which is stamped with His image - ourselves.
How do we do this? We give of our time, our talent and our treasure in service to Him as our Creator. He is the one that endowed us the ability to create and to love and to choose in our own fashion, much as He has always done. We are like our Father before us, so we should conform ourselves to His image and give back to Him as our Creator.
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