Family Shame

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111713

Matthew 1:6-11

6 and Jesse father of David the king. And David was father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,

7 and Solomon father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam father of Abijah, and Abijah father of Asaph,

8 and Asaph father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat father of Joram, and Joram father of Uzziah,

9 and Uzziah father of Jotham, and Jotham father of Ahaz, and Ahaz father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah father of Manasseh, and Manasseh father of Amos, and Amos father of Josiah,

11 and Josiah father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

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Family Shame

Matthew gave an accurate record of Jesus’ genealogy, and each name tells a story or two. Not all the stories are honorable. There is a great deal of brokenness and shame mixed in with this royal heritage. Most people just read through the names, but if you stop to peek into the records a little more closely, you see …

The great king David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife) and then had Uriah killed to cover it up.

Hezekiah, who prayed that he would not die. God answered his prayer, and he paid him back by becoming the father of…

Manasseh, one of the most evil, and most idolatrous of all the kings of Judah.

Why did God choose this family history for his only Son? Perhaps he wanted to show us that everybody does things that they are ashamed of, and that he wants to be part of our lives anyway. He does not need us to be perfect in order for him to be present in our lives. He loves us in our imperfection.

God of grace, thank you for the way you have shown your love by not requiring that we measure up to your standards before you made your entrance. Thank you for emerging in history among the broken. We invite you into our broken lives.

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Everything has a purpose

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111613

Genesis 1:14-26

14 And God said, “Let luminaries show in the divider of the sky to separate the day from the night. And let them serve as signs and distinguish seasons, and days and years,

15 and let them serve as lights in the divider of the sky to give light upon the land.” And it became that way.

16 And God made the two large luminaries- the larger luminary to influence the day and the lesser luminary to influence the night- and he also made the stars.

17 And God set them in the divider of the sky to light the land,

18 to influence the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God approved.

19 After evening was over and morning came, the fourth day was completed.

20 And God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living souls, and let birds fly above the land across the divider of the sky.”

21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living soul that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let birds multiply on the land.”

23 And After evening was over and morning came, the fifth day was completed.

24 And God said, “Let the land bring forth living souls according to their kinds- livestock and creeping things and animals of the land according to their kinds.” And it became that way.

25 And God made the animals of the land according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God approved.

26 Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the land and over every creeping thing that creeps on the land.” _________________________________________

Everything has a purpose

Intelligent design is not just a theory to bounce around and form the basis of arguments. The universe around us is filled with creatures and things, and each had its purpose from the beginning. There are no accidents. The stars were meant to illumine our sky. The souls of animals were placed here for us to care for. We were designed to be care-givers.

Divine Creator, help us to understand and live out your intelligent design for our lives.

Posted in creation, discernment, plan of God | Tagged | 1 Comment

Family History

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111513

Matthew 1:1-5

1 A record of the family history of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, a descendant of Abraham.

2 Abraham was father of Isaac, and Isaac was father of Jacob, and Jacob was father of Judah and his brothers,

3 and Judah was father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez was father of Hezron, and Hezron was father of Ram,

4 and Ram was father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was father of Nahshon, and Nahshon was father of Salmon,

5 and Salmon was father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz was father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed was father of Jesse,

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Family History

Matthew saw it necessary to establish a link between the Christ he believed in and the person who lived and walked in history. Although Matthew was a believer, he saw no contradiction in seeking historical verification of what he believed. He was not worried that his faith would be shaken by looking into the family history of Jesus.

What he discovered bolstered his faith. He found that God had been at work in the family of Christ for millennia. Jesus as a man descended from Abraham, the man to whom God promised that he would be a blessing to many nations, and would father many nations. Jesus was going to be the ultimate fulfillment of those promises.

Jesus as a man descended from Jacob, a deceiver who was blessed by God in spite of his character. God inspired him to become more than he was.

Jesus as a man descended from Ruth, a foreign woman who found grace in the eyes of Boaz, and in God’s eyes. She was rescued by love.

Jesus as a man descended from David, a man after God’s own heart, a king whom God established, and to whom God promised a descendent who would rule eternally. Jesus was that descendant.

God of history, thank you for the way you have shown your love to us in the past, and intervened in our family history to reveal your presence. Thank you for who we are. Inspire us to become more than we are.

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The God who forms the unformed, and fills the unfilled

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111413Genesis 1:1-13

1 At first, God created the sky and the land,

2 but the land was unformed and unfilled, and the deep space was dark, and God’s spirit was shaking up the water.

3 Then God said, “Let light be,” and there was light,

4 and God approved of the light. God separated the light from the darkness.

5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. After evening was over and morning came, the first day was completed.

6 Then God said, “Let a divider be placed in the midst of the water, and let it separate the water above from the water below.”

7 so God made the divider and separated the water that was under the divider from the water that was over the divider. And it became that way.

8 God called the divider “sky.” After evening was over and morning came, the second day was completed.

9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it became that way.

10 God called the dry ground Land, and the water that had been gathered together he called Seas, and God approved.

11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout flora: plants producing seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the land.” And it became that way.

12 The land produced flora: plants producing seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, and God approved.

13 After evening was over and morning came, the third day was completed.

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The God who forms the unformed, and fills the unfilled

God could have created the entire universe in an instant. Why didn’t he? What did he gain from laboriously fashioning the universe by separating part from part, and then filling up the empty spaces with light and life? He created something he approved of. That is what he is doing with you and me. He created beings without their proper shape, because he wanted to shape us into his perfection. He created within us an emptiness that only he can fill. Part of our emptiness is our mortality. The LORD longs to give us eternal life.

Holy Spirit, shake us up, and shape us unto something that you approve of. Fill our empty lives with your eternal life.

Posted in creation, eternal life, Holy Spirit | Tagged | 1 Comment

whatever became of…

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1150Acts 12

These stories are amazing, and Luke puts them together in such a way that readers can be carried away in their imagining.  They speak of God’s intervention against the “violent hands” of a human ruler.  Incidentally, they also explain why Herod’s persecution ended, and why Peter wound up in Caesarea.  Aside from his speech at the council in Acts 15, this is the last mention of Peter’s name in Acts.  The spotlight is on Paul and his missionary band from now on.

LORD, thank you for your miraculous preservation of our lives for as long as we need it, until our work for you is done.  We trust you to protect us from violent hands.

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you shall see

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111313Malachi 3:13-4:6

The final dispute in this arbitration that has been going on is found in these verses, the last in the Old Testament.  The LORD accuses his people of speaking hard, harsh words against him.  What are the hard words?  “It is vain to serve God.”  The LORD’s response to those words is this: he promises a day that will burn like an oven and destroy the wicked, leaving them neither root nor branch.  Only those who fear the LORD will be spared on that day. Their names are recorded in his book of remembrance. On that day, all the others who complained will see that serving the LORD was not vain, or empty. 

LORD, we plead with you, not to let us rest until we have reconciled with you.  We stand condemned before your judgment.  Rescue us through Christ.

_____________________

The last three years have been great. I have learned a lot reading through the Bible and writing a short devotional for each passage, going through the entire ESV text.  As a result, I plan to publish an electronic devotional commentary for those who prefer reading the posts that way.

All of the devotions are still available on this blog site through a blog search, either by category, or by chapter (tags).

Now, it’s time for the next challenge.  For the next ten years I plan to read through the whole Bible in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, writing both a nuanced translation, and a short devotional for each passage.  I plan to alternate OT and NT texts, and to cover about 13 OT  verses or 5 NT verses each day. That way, I will have covered the whole Bible in ten years (2014-2023).  You are invited to join me in this adventure.

Jefferson Vann

Posted in destruction in hell, faithfulness, vindication | Tagged , | 3 Comments

robbing God

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111213Malachi 3:1-12

The arbitration continues between the LORD and his people, with Malachi as the go-between.  It is now the LORD’s turn to voice his complaints and hear the people’s response.  But before the Lord voices a complaint, he expresses his desire to see reconciliation. To that end, he plans to send his messenger, who will refine and purify – particularly the priesthood and the temple.  The New Testament identifies this messenger as John the Baptist (Matt. 11:10-11).

The LORD’s complaint he voices in this formal dispute is that the people have turned aside from his statutes and have not kept them, thus nullifying the covenant.  He pleads with them to return to the covenant, and to him.  The people ask how they should return. God says that they have been robbing him.  They ask “how have we robbed you?”  The LORD’s reply: “in your tithes and contributions.”  The LORD does not need the offerings, but the people need to give them because giving declares the relationship.  Refusal to give declares that the relationship is unimportant or severed.

LORD, make us cheerful givers, because we have a relationship with you, and because the world is watching to see if we put our money where our mouth is.

Posted in faithfulness, giving, reconciliation | Tagged | 1 Comment

transitions

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1236Acts 10-11:18

Acts records a number of transitions as the disciples move out into new territory, and old ways are discarded for new.  Old boundaries are forsaken as the apostles follow the Holy Spirit and obey his promptings.  But all along the way – as this passage demonstrates – the Holy Spirit makes it clear through numerous happenings – that the transitions are from Him.  We should not be afraid of innovation and change as long as we are sure that the changes are prompted by God in order to get his message to the people who need him.

LORD, when you call us to change, help us to be sensitive to what you want.

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representing Jesus

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_0202Acts 9:32-43

The Holy Spirit was present, and had been at work among all the post-Pentecost believers in Lydda & Joppa, so it was not necessary for the Lord to send Peter to them.  Nevertheless, Peter did have a history with Jesus, and it was not without reason that the Spirit put Peter in those places at that strategic time.  The miraculous healing of Aeneas and resurrection of Tabitha that God accomplished through Peter served to draw people to Jesus himself, not just his followers or his ideas.  Since Peter was an apostle who was noted for having been with Jesus, the people associated the miracles with Jesus. 

Such miraculous signs are less frequent now, but they are always possible because the Holy Spirit decides who exercises his gifts.  We do not make the choice as to whether miracles happen or not.  But we can represent Jesus among a people who need him and are seeking him.  Those were the conditions for Peter to perform miracles in Jesus’ name.

LORD, send us to those seeking you, and empower us to represent you among them!

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faithless to one another

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

111113Malachi 2:10-17

Malachi serves as a kind of go-between in an ongoing conflict between the people and the LORD.  He has already brought the LORD’s response to two complaints the people had, and in today’s text he reveals another.  The people are asking “Where is the God of justice?”  Malachi’s answer is that the God of justice is against his own people, not only because they have forsaken him for other gods, but also because they have been faithless to one another.  They have broken their marriage covenants, and divorced the wives of their youth.  The LORD intended for those marriages to demonstrate mutual love and faithfulness to him, as part of the divine covenant.  Instead, the peoples’ faithlessness has covered their garments with violence, producing cruel, broken homes, further shaming the LORD in the eyes of the nations.

LORD, forgive us for our faithlessness toward one another.  Restore our homes and our relationship with you, for your name’s sake.

Posted in conflict, faithfulness, family, marriage | Tagged | Leave a comment