Preconceived Notions
As I come before You tonight, Father, and have some music playing, this is the song I hear…
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship Thee (As the Deer base on Psalm 42)
And it is more than enough…
Luke 9:44-45 (<<click to read the passage)
Have you ever had a job where you were responsible to train someone? If so, then you are aware that several contributing factors would make that an easy job or a difficult one.
One difficult hurdle is if the trainee already thinks they know everything there is to know about what you have to tell them. Or perhaps they just have preconceived notions as to what the job entails. Of course, there are many ways to do certain things and though we may think we know and understand them all, we can quickly realize that much of what we thought we knew was off a little or totally off base!
When Jesus clearly told his disciples what His future held (for the second time, no less!) Luke tells us that “they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it…” v45 NLT (emphasis mine)
The Gospels run parallel on many points, and this is one of them. We’ve looked at this problem of the disciples before – they had their own ideas about who the Messiah would be (and as we’ll see in the next few verses, they were also concerned how they would fit into it all!) But regarding things being hidden, there’s a good chance that even we didn’t catch them because of our preconceived notions.
Preconceived notions are some of the biggest obstacles that we must strive to overcome when grasping God’s Word but there are several “notions” that fall into that category.
- I don’t need to read this; I’ve read it before
Over the years I have gone through the Bible several times (See Wide and Deep) but honestly, there is always something new!
It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (AMP)
Of course, that passage refers to God’s lovingkindness to us, but don’t you think the Word He has given us is just one more sign of that love? So hold fast to the truth that His Word for us is new every morning. Read it…ponder on it…read it some more…pray over it…listen…He will speak!
- This is too hard to understand, I’m not even going to try.
Now I would never encourage anyone wanting to begin reading the Bible regularly, to begin with Leviticus or the Book of Revelation – they both are a lot to struggle through. Begin with things that are impacting but still relatively easy to read. The Gospels, for example, give us a great opportunity to get to know Jesus better. They all contain His life and teachings but all from a different perspective. Each author, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, wrote to a different audience – Matthew to the Jewish population, Mark to the Christians in Rome, Luke to the Gentiles (Theophilus, in particular), and John, probably the best to start with, since he was writing to new Christians and searching non-Christians.
Don’t let preconceived notions hinder you from getting into the Word. And most importantly as the old Gaither song goes, “I heard you’re into the word / Getting into the word / But is the word getting into you?”
Apr 23rd, 2020, Thurs, 7:58 pm
And just in case you’re curious…
Into the Word from the Passin’ the Faith Along album, released April 1983 and yes, that is a 26-year-old Steve Green!
Righteous Anger!
Thank You for the blessings of friends, Father. A gentleman from church knew we burned wood and generously brought us a truckload. Friendship and generosity – twice blessed! Bless Him as well, I pray.
Luke 9:37-43 (<<click to read the passage)
I know I spoke of it just a couple of days ago. But as I have read through this passage and many things pertaining to it, my mind drifts to situations in which I found myself on my bus.
First, a humorous story in which I am the one who brought a smile to many…many…faces. As I have mentioned before, we had in place a safe behavior incentive program for our elementary buses that involved awarding a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” concerning behavior on trips to and from school.
Well, I was coming into school one morning and my kids had done fairly well for several weeks…but not this particular week. If I remember correctly, we had already gotten three “thumbs down”. I knew they were capable of much better behavior and in an attempt to alter the course of their trajectory – I laid into them!
I grabbed my mic and for a good solid five minutes, I let them have it! Pointing out their misbehavior, their flaunting of the rules, their outright disobedience, the dangerousness of the actions, etc., etc. Well by the time I had finished, we had been parked with the brake set for at least a minute or two. I hung the mic back up and they just all sort of stared at me. Within seconds, other drivers and the Transportation Director let me know that I had not been lecturing my bus. In my haste to set my kids straight, I had grabbed the wrong mic! Instead of the in-bus mic, I had grabbed the radio mic! I had lectured every bus in the fleet! And not just that – the radio also connects to every main office in the district – the elementary office, the middle school office, the high school office, the district office, the transportation office, and the bus garage, too! Everybody got an earful…except for my kids! Everybody had a good laugh!
I think this is what happened in today’s passage from Luke…except nobody was laughing.
Reading Mark’s perspective (Mark 9:14-29) on this incident fills in a few more details but all in all, I think Jesus had just had it! He is surely holy, and He is perfect but there is definitely such a thing as righteous anger!
Jesus comes down off the mountain after His meeting with Moses and Elijah with Peter, James, and John in tow and meets up with the other disciples. At that point, the other disciples seem to be in a shouting match with some teachers of religious law. (Mark 9:14) The crowds were clamoring for His attention. And in the midst of it all a distraught father, comes forward and pleads, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child.” His son was possessed by a tormenting evil spirit. He goes on to say, “I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” (Luke 9:38,40)
That was it! Jesus let them have it! He exclaimed,
“You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you and put up with you?” (Luke 9:41)
He didn’t stop loving a single one of them (not even the teachers of religious law!) It didn’t give Him second thoughts about fulfilling His God-given mission. But sometimes, folks, you’ve got to stop and clear the air! You’ve got to get everybody’s attention and get them back in line! We don’t listen to whispers and a few kind words here and there. Oft times we have to be grabbed by the shoulders and looked square in the eye and be told in no uncertain terms to straighten up!
Lord Jesus, forgive us for our misbehavior, our flaunting of the rules…our outright disobedience. You’ve got our attention. May we clearly hear and abide by Your guidance for us all. Amen.
Apr 22nd, 2020, Wed, 7:49 pm
It’s a Hard Knock Life
Father, I need You to pierce through the distractions tonight. There is so much on my mind and I am struggling to focus. I fall into Your arms of love and compassion.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
Those who have read my blog for any period of time, know that I love seeing the birds at my feeders from my office window. This year is a little different in that I have one lone feeder up. The others I have are in need of repair due to age and a pesky raccoon!
The one that is up was a Christmas gift from my sister, and it holds black oil sunflower seeds and two suet cakes (which were gifts from my niece and her husband!) It is in the shape of an owl! Being there is the only one out there, it has been bustling! I am surprised at the variety of birds it has drawn. We live in a rural area with probably 2-3 wooded acres behind our home. For that matter, all the lots around us are wooded. So, there is plenty of habitat for my feathered friends!
One of my favorite birds is woodpeckers. I have three different species of them that are regular partakers. I routinely see Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied woodpeckers throughout the day.
Woodpeckers are surely unique characters in God’s creation. They have several special features that allow them to thrive and survive. Here are a few interesting tidbits.
- Most perching birds have three toes forward, and one back (anisodactyl feet), woodpeckers, on the other hand (foot?) have two forward and two back (zygodactyl feet). This helps them to get an extremely firm grip when scaling a tree and for when they are “drilling” for food
- They have spike feathers in their tails! This enables them to use their tails as a third leg. These feathers can actually “dig” in the tree to provide more support and leverage while foraging for food or carving out a home.
- They have super long tongues that are usually about twice the length of their bill so that they can reach for insects inside the holes they peck out. Their tongues are also either barbed or in some species are sticky to help pull out the insects.
- They peck up to 20 times per second or a total of 8,000-12,000 pecks per day. But they don’t get headaches because they have reinforced skulls structured to spread the impact force, and their brains are highly cushioned and protected from repeated impacts and jostling.
They also have a unique flight pattern, have “furry” nostrils and make new holes for their homes every year.
So why all of this about woodpeckers? They are fascinating for sure but just thinking about how unique and specialized God has made them bring me great comfort. We are all created by our loving Creator – we are not accidents. He knows every detail about us. And we all have purpose and can be used by Him to bring Him glory – no exceptions! And if God cares that much about the “birds of the air” don’t you think He will care for us even more so?
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matthew 6:26-27 (AMP)
Apr 21st, 2020, Tue, 8:30 pm
Listen, Obey, Yield
Painting by Amos Sewell (1901-1983) | Rowdy Bus Ride
Troubling thoughts kept me awake in the wee hours of the morning, Father. But I found comfort in You. May You continue to shine brighter than anything that tries to stand between us. Amen.
Luke 9:28-36 (<<click to read the passage)
It was announced today, as we continue our battle against this pandemic, that K-12 students in Ohio will not be returning to the classroom this school year but will continue learning from home, the best they can, with teachers helping both students and parents however possible.
I am still delivering meals, to families requesting them, every day that school would be in session. But admittedly it is not the same. Reactions on Facebook have been everywhere from crying to rejoicing. I am not on either end of that spectrum, but I am definitely less joyful, and I do feel the loss a bit more poignantly. Truly, I enjoy my job and being that they interact with me more, I miss my elementary kids most of all.
No matter how much I enjoy my time with them, it has its challenges. The biggest challenge each day is just getting them to listen. Some, I am sure, clearly hear every word I say. For others, it depends on what they are doing or what others around them are doing.
One thing I do frequently to get their attention is to turn the interior lights of my bus on. When I do that, everyone is to stop talking (or yelling, as the case may be!). I am proud of the fact that, overall, my kids are pretty attentive to that visual and even if they don’t see it right away others around them are quick to point it out with lots of “shushes” going around.
Listening is one of the most important things they must do. Whether its commands to remain in their seats or making them aware of the inclement weather around us and the need for them to be quiet so I can concentrate more on the roads and less on them, listening is a must!
But listening is just part of what must happen. I can talk until I’m hoarse, but it is useless if they don’t obey my commands. I don’t just talk to talk; they have to do what I tell them – for their safety and mine.
Ultimately, though, it is their choice, but it truly is in their best interest to yield to me, their driver.
Today’s passage from Luke 9, has Peter, James, and John accompanying Jesus up a mountain to pray. Of course, they fell asleep (not that I have ever done that! Yeah, right!) and when they awoke there Jesus wasn’t alone – Moses and Elijah were speaking with Him! In moments those two were gone and a cloud enveloped them, and a voice boomed from out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, My Chosen One; listen and obey and yield to Him!” v35
That command wasn’t just for Peter, James, and John…it was for us, too. Listening to Jesus is one of the most important things we must do, but if we don’t obey, it’s useless. Ultimately it is our choice, but it is in our best interest to yield to His guidance for our lives. Amen! (And just a little FYI, “Amen” does mean, so be it!)
Apr 20th, 2020, Mon, 7:25 pm
Asserting Our Rights
I am amazed, Father, at how You are moving! Churches everywhere are reaching out in whole new ways. May Your Word be increased a hundred-fold and more! Amen!
Luke 9:26-27 (<<click to read the passage)
One of humanity’s biggest struggles is coming to the reality of who Jesus really is. A big part of the struggle is coming to the point in our lives where we make up our own minds as to who Jesus is. Many want to believe that Jesus is who He says He is but honestly, it can be difficult to see past the many things with which others have enshrouded Him.
Many want to believe that Jesus is all about love but too often those who claim to follow Him, are just about anything but loving. Hate-filled arguments, even when followers “believe” they are in the right, cloud the visage of who Jesus really is.
How many times do things we hold to be the “Gospel truth” have their basis more on traditional or cultural bias than actual Biblically-based truth?
How often in pushing things we hold to be of utmost importance in our belief system do we stop, with a good deal of sincere heart-searching, and ask ourselves, does this concept really reflect the heart and mind of Jesus?
Too often we are more intent on asserting our “rights.” How dare others tromp upon them!
I am reminded of Paul’s writings to the believers in the city of Corinth. One topic he addressed was the issue of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Now Paul, believing in the One True God, put no stock in idols whatsoever. They were just crafted images that many of that time held in high regard, as they represented a deity of some importance in their society. God was God and there was no other – so meat was meat.
But, amongst them were individuals who struggled with that. Yes, they believed in the One True God, but their entire lives they had held these other “deities” in high regard. And doing things that went against that mindset was difficult. There was no reason they should do so, but we all realize adjustments in our own lives can be problematic.
Paul wasn’t so concerned with his “right” to not eat meat sacrificed to idols, but he was concerned with how asserting that right would “cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.” (1 Corinthians 8:9 NLT)
His concern was that, as believers, we take great care in asserting our rights, for in doing so we might just cause “a weak believer for whom Christ died [to] be destroyed.” v11
He goes on to say in verse 12,
“And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ.”
So, to bring this around to my original intent, my challenge for us as believers is to weigh what we say and do in the name of Jesus before we say and do.
In Luke 9:26 Jesus is recorded as saying,
“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.”
…and, I for one, do not want to be found guilty of causing “a weak believer for whom Christ died [to] be destroyed” just because I felt it necessary to assert my “rights”.
Apr 19th, 2020, Sun, 5:55 pm