2010 – October 21 – That Wondrous Moment of Knowing

Study from God’s Word… Matthew, Chapter 2 and Luke 2: 39 – 52 … Passage for Reflection: Luke 2: 49 … NIV 49 "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" 50 But they did not understand what He was saying to them. 51 Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

My Journal for Today: It’s interesting and compelling to speculate about those veiled first 30 years in the life of The Messiah, … our Lord, Jesus. And one may ask how much Jesus’ parents, especially Mary, recognized that their son, Jesus, was a prodigy like none other.

I’ve always been entranced by that wonderful Christmas song, Mary, Did You Know? [A YouTube version linked here], which poignantly probes the mother of The Christ, in song asking her just how much she knew about her Son when she looked into His eyes in that manger where the Christ was born. And in today’s verse, from the scene of Jesus being taken to the Temple, built by Herod, we even read of Jesus strongly challenging, almost rebuking, His mom, asking His mother why, upon realizing that Jesus had stayed behind as they traversed back to Nazareth, she, above all others, didn’t know where He was, … that she should have known He’d be in the house of His Father, … in the Temple.

And one can speculate as to whether this moment, the only age documented time in Jesus’ first 30 years, that Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, but more so the Son of God, was awakened to the reality that He was being led to be about the business of His Heavenly Father, even though He still had earthly parents, whom He should honor as well. And even though we don’t know the details from Scriptural or Gospel accounts, we know that Jesus stayed with His parents, where He likely became the leader in the home with His siblings and where His earthly father, Joseph, may have died, leaving him the eldest son to minister to the needs of the family.

But here in this Temple confrontation, we see the boy, Jesus, recognizing his coming of age; and those around Him marveled at how astute He was in the ways of God’s Law. We read of Jesus recognizing that He was here on earth to do the work of His Heavenly Father first, which would for about the next 18 years involve him honoring his earthly father, and his mother. He KNEW to Whom and for Whom He was living. And the question for us today, is DO WE KNOW Who we are and Whose we are?

Have each of us had that Spirit-led epiphany as Jesus may have had in that Temple at age 12? Do you know, my dear one, to Whom you give account for your being in Christ? And even more importantly, if you call yourself a “Christian,” have you fully, and knowingly, accepted your spiritual identity? Does God, The Spirit, reside in your Temple (i.e., your heart or your spiritual being)? And do others see that Temple residing in you?

Who we are, and for whom we are, says everything about our identity in Christ; and can you feel Jesus asking you, as I feel Him asking me today, … “Are you letting me live in you; and are you living for Me?”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to KNOW You more so that others will KNOW You more. Amen

2010 – September 5 – Catching a Greater Vision

Study from God’s Word… Ezekiel, Chapters 40 - 43 … Passage for Reflection: Ezekiel 43: 10 - 11… NIV 10 "Son of man, describe the temple to the people of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider the plan, 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.

My Journal for Today: Here we are, in the historical context of my Scripture reading for today, in the times where God’s people have been captured and taken away into Babylon and their grand Temple in Jerusalem has been laid waste. Now God gives the people, through Ezekiel an image of a new Temple, grander than anything that could ever be built by man; and it is a Temple where God Himself will dwell with His people forever.

For churches who’ve ever been involved in a fund-raising effort to build a new church building, it’s essential to give the people architectural renderings of the new church to help them “catch the vision” … so that they will respond to the vision and give the funds God wants them to give to make the vision a reality. Well, here God was involved in a building project far greater than anything that man could ever draw up. The Lord wanted to restore, or rather rebuild, the Kingdom of God; and this involved rebuilding the people who would occupy His kingdom. But to do this the Lord had to give them – as He did through Ezekiel – a concrete plan to capture their vision.

I hope you can see, as Dr. Smith helped me see today, the rebuilding Jesus came to tell God’s people about and that of the message Ezekiel was bringing to the people from God. Jesus’ great “Sermon on the Mount” was a building plan for God’s Kingdom; and then came the incredible set of plans which was given through the Apostle John to mankind in the Book of the Revelation. And these plans from God in the New Testament have been given to us about the Temple Life to come so that we, who live by His name, can see the plans offered by God’s word; and then so that we might CATCH the vision, RESPOND to the vision, and then LIVE WORTHY of the vision.

Dr. Smith, once again challenging his readers at the end of his devotional for today, asks, ”Is my vision of heaven truly grand enough to call me higher?”

Good question; … no, GREAT question! And as I ponder it, I think of the words of the Apostle Paul, who, in Ephesians 4: 1, wrote, As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. There was a time when I was a captive to sin; but now, by God’s election and my own choice, in response to God’s saving grace, I’m captive to Christ; and He has given me a vision of the Temple He desires for me to keep where I can – and will – live with Him forever. And I need to have a vision of that “forevermore” life which calls me to live worthy of Temple plans He promises for me, living eternally with Him in heaven. And to that end may I live worthy of His Name.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, Your plans for this Temple You’ve given me is grander than my imagination can unfold; but it is grand enough to call me to live my life for You. Amen