Believing God is our work

“What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
John 6 28-30 ESV

Here is the background to this scripture. Jesus fed 5000 people by the Sea of Galilee. The next day, these people looked for Jesus and his disciples. Jesus recognized that these people were looking for Him, not because of the miracle He performed, but because He gave them food. Jesus told them that it was important to work for food that will give them eternal life. These people were the ones who asked the question "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?"

Jesus answer is so simple. To do the work of God, we must believe God. We must believe that God performs miracles, not because we have been doing the right things or praying the right prayers, but because we believe that God can. God CAN easily perform miracles such as feeding 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. It certainly was a spectacular miracle. However, it seemed to be very short lived. Instead of praising God and trusting Him for their future needs, these people wanted to know what they needed to do so that Jesus would perform the miracle again.

Believing that God will get us through a tough time in spite of great obstacles always brings the greater miracle. It may not be the spectacular miracle, but trust always brings the greater, lasting miracle--the miracle of a heart focused on God.

All things are possible with God

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Here is the story surrounding this verse. Jesus has traveled from Galilee to Judea. I am not exactly sure how many miles he traveled on foot, but possibly 60. After all of that walking, Jesus was followed by large crowds and he healed them. Then the Pharisees came to him and questioned him about divorce, which was a legal question that was debated by many teachers. Next, the children, probably rambunctious and crying, came to Jesus for blessings. Then a rich young man came to Jesus and said, Look how good I am. I obey the law and do everything I need to do to be saved. The young man expected Jesus to bless him, but instead, Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give to the poor. Although Jesus did not tell the man to sell all of his possessions, the young man still seemed to think that his possessions were more important than eternal life.

The verse above follows all of these happenings. Jesus must have been overwhelmed. I don't know that all of these things happened in a single day--certainly Jesus could not have traveled 60 miles on foot in one day-- but the time frame for all of these events is close. If Jesus had to remind himself and his disciples of God's incredible power in the face of being overwhelmed, then we most certainly need to remind ourselves as well. The circumstances of our overwhelmed feelings generally have to do with relationships (work, home, social), expectations of people in those relationships, and money or lack thereof. We have an impossible amount of work for one person to do, and we are at a loss as to how to take care of everything and take care of ourselves and our children as well.

Jesus says that if it is impossible for man, it is possible for God. Remind yourself of this today. All things are possible with God.

Danger of doubing

James 1: 6-8 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

When Adam and Eve sinned and ate the fruit, it was because satan had put doubt in their minds.

Genesis 3:1-5 "He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You[a] shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

God does not mind when we question Him, but He does mind when we listen to satan's questions. Any time that we have low self esteem or our problems seem greater than we can handle, it is because we are listening to satan's constant questioning. We are allowing satan to plant doubts in our mind about God's ability to carry us through. I want to encourage you to learn to recognize when satan is whispering doubt in your mind, and to continually remind yourself that God is in control of every situation, no matter how hopeless it seems.

Our value in Christ

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 NRSV

I have always found this verse so comforting. It is not explained in the scripture why the sparrows (small seed eating birds) are sold, but it was probably either for a poor person's sacrifice or for food.

We do not put a monetary value on wild birds today, but the meaning of this verse is still is very clear--no matter how insignificant a life may seem, it is all a part of God's plan. Each and every sparrow that has ever lived or ever will live is a part of the grand scheme, and if God has taken care to plan a purpose for each and every small creature, He most certainly has a wondrous plan for our lives because He values us and loves us so much. No matter what bad things happen to us, God will use it for good--always, always, always. It is a promise that He will never fail to bring about if we have faith in His goodness.

Embarassment and God's love for us

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:7-10

I went to the store recently, and as I was checking out, the cashier encouraged me to sign up for a store credit card. I had applied for this credit card twice in the past and was turned down both times because of my low income. I told the cashier that I did not want to sign up for the credit card, but she kept cajoling me to do it. I finally had to firmly refuse her. I did not want to tell her that I had been denied twice already because there were people in line behind me. I was very embarrassed.

I wanted to complain to the store, but there is no way to contact them directly. I tried to fill out a survey, but it was a standard survey in which the customer chooses answers about the service. As I thought about it, I realized that what I wanted to accomplish by complaining was self-justification. I did not particularly want to help improve the service, and I did not want any restitution. I did not particularly even want to help other shoppers have a better experience. I only wanted the store to see how I was wronged. This is a very double-minded attitude.

This passage in James helped me to realize that my motivation for my complaint was completely self-serving. I actually handled the interaction the correct way, and I have determined that I do not need to shop at that store again, and I do not need for the store manager to apologize to me for my embarrassment. The scripture above has a very good prescription for embarrassing situations. Embarrassment takes our eyes off of God, and focuses on ourselves. We view ourselves as victims, when in reality, we are sinners who are loved by God. Humbling ourselves before God, even when we feel like victims will allow God to exalt us!

Could Jesus write?

¹⁴ When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. ¹⁵ They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them ¹⁶ on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. Romans (2:14-16)

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,” Hebrews 10:16 (RSV)

Eve made a speculative comment on my last blog post about Jesus not writing. She said, “This post made me think of a question.  Why was Jesus not called by the Father to actually write down his teachings?  Did Jesus know how to write?  Did he keep a journal? Or Blog?”

I have thought about that as well, and since no artifacts or samples of Jesus’s writing have ever been found, it is impossible to prove that Jesus wrote anything. It is also impossible to prove that something never happened or never existed, so the best answer to the question of whether Jesus actually wrote or not is that no artifacts of Jesus writing have ever been found. One idea that I have about Jesus writing is that I do believe that He inspired every word that is written in scripture, and He has inspired written works over many centuries, including today. Perhaps the Father, the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit are actively writing blogs today, using their faithful servants to clatter away on a keyboard.

The scriptures above reinforce the idea of the permanence of God’s word apart from the written word. I think that God purposely did not have Jesus actually write anything on papyrus with ink is because:

1. People tend to revere earthly created religious artifacts. God wants people to think about what Jesus said, rather than to gaze at what He wrote on papyrus or stone.

2. Jesus main purpose in coming to earth was to establish the Kingdom of God. The first chapter of Mark opens with Jesus preaching that the Kingdom of God is at hand. The Jews already had a written law, kings, and a prescribed territory for an earthly kingdom that God gave to them. And how was that working for Israel? God knows that the law, however permanently inscribed on stone or papyrus, is useless unless the people think about it, embrace it and obey it. The kingdom depends upon the loyalty of the subjects, not upon the letter off the law.

3. In first century Galilee, writing was not necessarily a mark of education, it was more like a skill. Jesus knew the law, and read the law. He was well educated in scripture, and used scripture to combat satan. Even if Jesus could not write, this not did not negate the fact that God’s word was powerful Jesus.  

Permanence of God's word

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by-no-means pass away. Matthew 24:35 (Disciples Literal New Testament translation)

Matthew 21 begins the story of Jesus’ last days. He rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, cleanses the temple, and intensely instructs, warns and teaches the Pharisees, Sadducees and disciples about God’s will for everyone. In chapter 24, Jesus is talking specifically with his disciples about the end times.

One apparent difference between modern translations, such as the NIV, and the Disciples Literal New Testament (DLNT), is that wording more fully reflects the ancient Greek language writing style. The ancient Greek language seems to have an emphasis on verbs and adverbs, or the action of the thought. The verse quoted above is in the future tense, and the emphatic, “by-no-means” is a reminder of the time surpassing permanence of God and His word.

Jesus spoke the truth, and although Jesus himself never wrote in ink on papyrus, His words have not passed away, no matter how hard the world has been trying to alter them or destroy them. Jesus’ words—God’s word—has permanence, not only in writing of the apostles and other early believers, but in the hearts of all believers. By no means can God’s word be erased from our hearts if we allow Him to write there.