Category: Attributes of God

Don’t Fear Mixed Reactions

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DON’T BE AFRAID OF MIXED REACTIONS AS LONG AS YOUR CHARACTER IS NOT MIXED-UP!

Let me ask you a few questions before we go any further: Is Jesus perfect? Did Jesus ever lie?

Hopefully, your answers are “yes” and then “no.” Jesus is God, and so He is perfect and cannot lie. Even so, check out the following passages of Scripture (taken from John 4:39-40; 5:16, 18; 6:15; 7:12, and 7:43-44, respectively):

• From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him . . . they were asking Him to stay with them . . .
• For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, . . .
• For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, . . .
• So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, . . .
• There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he leads the people astray.”
• So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.

Astonishingly, people had very mixed reactions to Jesus. Though Jesus is completely perfect and unchanging in unblemished character; we have some believing, some persecuting, some seeking to kill, and some wanting to make Him king. Generally, people were divided and displayed a wide array of emotions when it came to Jesus.

The variance of reaction is amazing, because the Person to whom everyone was reacting never varies. What do we learn from this? Even when we are acting within the will of God and reflecting His unchanging character, people may very well have mixed reactions to us! As human beings, our sole responsibility is to live abandoned to the will of God. As we remain undividedly accountable to Him, let the chips fall where they may. Every person has individual reasons for reacting to God and others in the way that he does, and those reasons are dependent on the status of his own heart. We cannot control how people to respond.

If Jesus Christ – the perfect Son of God – encountered mixed reaction, what should we expect?

The thing on which we ought to focus is our own character. If people react badly to us because of our own wavering character, it is our fault. However, if people react badly to us because of the reflection of God’s character within us, we must leave the consequences in the hands of God.

What’s Faster than the Speed of Light?

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Traveling at over 11 million miles per minute, light can circle the earth 7.5 times in one second! Able to cover nearly 6 trillion miles in a year, light surely moves at a rate of speed that staggers the mind. So what is it in this world that is faster than the speed of light? The mercy of God rushing toward the heart that desperately believes. The miracle of Jesus zooming toward sincere and yielded brokenness.

Can you see it now? In your mind’s eye, can you picture the flashing glory of God’s hand setting into motion His lightning-fast mercy on its way to the point of your need? The One who spoke all the molecular structures of the universe into being with an instantaneous word, He is the one that now speaks forth His answers for our desperate lives.

The royal official of John chapter four had access to some of the money, power, and dignity the world could offer. He also had a son who was dying. A stark realization no doubt flooded his soul: “I cannot persuade death with my power, I cannot buy life with my money, and my dignity is not enough to shut the jaws of darkness.” Have we – like the royal official – ever been there? You know, in a place where we finally get it, where we finally apprehend our severe limitations.

The royal official travels some fifteen miles to get to Jesus to tell the Messiah that his son is at the point of death. No doubt having exhausted all medical possibilities and worldly privileges, the desperate man looks to the Savior. Though Jesus chastises the official at the outset for the status of his heart, the man of worldly nobility graciously accepts the rebuke of Jesus and presses forward respectfully with his need, “Jesus – Sir – please come to my town before my child dies.”

Jesus then spoke those words we long to hear, those words of life. At the very instant our Savior tells the official his son will live, the miracle falls all over the boy. The fifteen miles between Jesus and the dying child become a literal nonentity. Smashed to oblivion is the span between the point of need and the Savior of the needy.

Desperation of a broken heart. Realization of the need for Jesus. Activation of something even faster than the speed of light: the movement of God, the Maker of light, toward a heart that yields and hopes in Him.

When God Calls

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When God calls you to love,
Love to the end
Because God never fails.

When God calls you to hope,
Hope despite looming impossibility
Because God can do all things.

When God calls you to be a fool for His sake,
Be a fool despite the press of pride
Because God came to earth in all humility.

When God calls you to give,
Give without fear of loss
Because God is of infinite resource.

When God calls you to persevere against all odds,
Persevere despite exhaustion
Because God gives strength to the weary.

When God calls you to live for Him,
Live for Him though it sometimes appears not to matter
Because God fulfills every purpose under Heaven for His own.

Essence of a Great Teacher

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Recent educational research stemming from the nonprofit group, Teach for America, tells us something the Bible made clear centuries ago: the teacher is the most important component of educational success. Ripley (2010, p. 60) posits, “This tale of two boys, and of the millions of kids just like them, embodies the most stunning finding to come out of education research in the past decade: more than any other variable in education – more than schools or curriculum – teachers matter.” Though endless amounts of money have been spent on fancy curriculum additions, more classroom gadgets, and more standardized testing; it is, in fact, “which adult stands in front of their children” (Ripley, 2010, p. 60) that should be the main concern of parents. Why? The answer is rooted in God Himself.

God is relational. Father, Son, and Spirit have eternally loved one another. God began relating to human beings when he created us in His image. When we lost relationship with Him, God continually pursued us. His pursuit culminated in the incarnation. He took on flesh and entered our world to save us from our sin and restore relationship with Him.

Jesus taught us the things of God in a personal way. he demonstrated God’s love to us. He lived out God’s love right in front of our eyes.

In essence, God did not say, “Here’s an instruction manual.” Rather, God said, “Here I am.” And He continues to offer Himself through His Spirit.

Excellent teachers model God’s heart and say, “Here I am.” They do not simply hold forth curriculum and activities and words as the answer. Great teachers offer themselves as living curriculum.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14 (ESV)

Work cited: Ripley, A. (2010, Jan/Feb). What makes a great teacher. The Atlantic, 305(1), 58-66.

Pea-Watermelon Concept

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Teaching Bible to eighth grade students in a Christian  school academic environment is both invigorating and humbling. One year, in particular, I called on God to give me wisdom for a specific purpose. My students had been bombarding me with many questions about God that cannot be answered or fully understood from a limited, human standpoint. I wanted to know how to explain to those precious teens that the questions are great, but the fact we cannot fully know the answers is okay. In fact, the mysteries of God only point to his infinitude, omniscience, and holiness. (Infinitude – the quality of being without boundaries; omniscience – having all knowledge; holiness – perfection, morally and otherwise.)

God delivered to me a unique illustration perfect for an eighth grade audience; as it turns out, however, the illustration is appropriate for all ages. This analogy is affectionately known as “the Pea-Watermelon Concept.”

Picture, if you will, the hugest, greenest watermelon you have ever seen resting on a table. Then imagine a tiny green pea resting right beside the watermelon – so closely that the little pea is touching the bottom of the gargantuan fruit. Now if that little pea had eyes and could see, how much of the huge watermelon would he be able to see? Just a few square inches. He would certainly never hope to be able to see the sides, or back, or top of that large fruit. However, if the watermelon had eyes and could see, how much of the tiny pea could he view? Well, he would be able to look down and see the top of the pea, the sides, the bottom, the back – everything! The watermelon is so large he is not limited in his ability to grasp a clear view of that tiny pea.

When it comes to life, we are the litte pea resting beside the massive watermelon; we are finite. How much of God can we see and know? Just a few square inches – about the size of a Bible. That is all God has chosen to reveal to the human race, flawed and limited as we are. Contained in His written revelation to us is all we need to know and is, in fact, all we can handle in our limited, sinful condition.

God is represented by the huge watermelon; he is infinite and omniscient. How much of us can he see and know? Everything – from start to finish! He sees our life now, he knew us before we came into physical existence, and He knows how all will turn out. God is not bound by time; He is timeless. “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth” (Genesis 1:1). This “beginning” was the beginning of time. God created time, and He certainly sees all for all time. He is working out purposes that we cannot even grasp because of our limitations. We can, therefore, trust that God is working on our behalf when we trust in Him. He is, in fact, working on behalf of the entire universe even though most do not trust in Him. Our inability to answer the “tough” questions points to the fact that we are limited and God is not.

I have often said to inquisitive people, “I would not want a God for whom I could dictate all the answers for the questions surrounding Him; if I could do that, God would be so small that my mind could wrap itself around His.” No, I would rather trust and serve a God so much bigger than me that I am proud to say, “He knows what I cannot. I will rest in His greatness. I will be thankful for His infinitude and omniscience.”

When questions come and life gets tough, remember the Pea-Watermelon Concept. Pray and seek the face and the Word of the One who is infinitely bigger than us!