Archive for May 9th, 2009

Community Issues

Saturday, May 09th, 2009 | Author:

Hi everyone.

This is a special post to all the members of the community.  Recently some very distressing things have been happening to members of our group, but unless you read all the comments, you probably would not be aware of them simply because they are attached to particular daily posts.  Patrick recognized this problem and is going to try to address it.

I am writing to tell each of you that one of the most important things At God’s Table and Today’s Word hopes to do is to allow us to take care of each other.  Your contributions are going to be used for needs in the community and other community enhancing requirements.  So, the only way that can happen is if we know the needs.  I wrote about this (maybe it hasn’t come out yet).  We are designed to do good works that meet needs.  That’s what God wants and that what I am hoping to be able to do.

So, what do you need?  How can we (all of us as a community) help?

I know that Truthful Loving-Kindness, who lives in California, is in real need of physical help.  She is fighting Lyme disease (and a bunch of other things).  I know that Kelly is in need of comfort and companionship as she goes through a time of real loneliness.  I know that LaVaye needs prayer for her relatives.  I know that Bessy needs funds to prevent having to borrow at 32% interest.  I know that Anthony is in desperate need of a job.  I am quite sure the list is really much bigger. Help us by letting us help you.  We might not be able to do everything, but we can do something.

When Rosanne and I lost everything some years ago, we had a long conversation with a pastor about our disaster.  Several million disappeared overnight in a fraud scam.  He commented, “Your problems are just too big for us to do anything about.”  As we left his office, my wife said, “You know, we still have to pay the electric bill.”  Little bits sometimes make a big difference, don’t they?

Skip

Re-birth Day

Saturday, May 09th, 2009 | Author:

You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11

Fullness of Joy – Today is my birthday. Maybe I should take the day off. But then I wouldn’t get the joy of learning one more deep thing about God’s Word with all of you. My fullness of joy would be shortened. So, enjoy my birthday gift with me and we’ll take a look at shova semakhot. Literally, the words mean “abundance of joys.” The phrase is followed by the Hebrew place holder, et, telling me that fullness of joys is the face of God. This is the gift that I need today. All of my greatest joys are found when I am before His face.

When I think about the past years, I realize what was really missing was joy. If I had only experienced the fullness of His presence more often, my life would undoubtedly have taken a very different direction. I don’t mean it would have been more prosperous. That is not a measure of joy. I mean it would have avoided a great deal of trauma, stress, anxiety and disappointment. I would have been far more obedient and consequently, avoided a lot of chastisement. I would not have wasted or despoiled so much of His good gifts. Yes, more than anything else, joy was what I needed.

The tragedy is that joy was always available. I just didn’t avail myself of this great gift. Why? Because I valued doing things my own way. Oh, I had plenty of the right Christian vocabulary. After all, I have a D. Phil. in theology. But what you say doesn’t matter. It’s what you do that counts, and too often what I did was follow my inner voice of personal desire and leverage. Not living by the path that He teaches led me away from what I desperately sought. I had everything a man could want in this world – and no joy in having it. I was a perfect example of Yeshua’s comment about gaining the whole world and losing your soul.

Fortunately, God didn’t give up on me. He very rarely does. Today, I am discovering joy. Much of the trappings of success that led me astray are gone. It is a great relief. “Can’t buy me love,” is a tune that tells the real story. Can’t buy me joy either. And joy is a treasure highly valued.

I’m glad that the Hebrew text puts “joy” in the plural form. God gives lots of little joys, doesn’t He? We don’t have to store it all up for one big joy at the end. He provides fullness all along the way. I see His butterflies and find joy in His flying works of art. I read His word and find joy in its intricate construction. I hold Rosanne’s hand and discover joy in my belonging to my ‘ezer. My world is populated with joys – including each of you. So, thanks for this birthday present. It’s shova semakhot. Gee, it sounds a lot like Yeshua’s comment, doesn’t it? “My joy made full in themselves” (John 17:13).

Today is one of God’s gifts of joy. Share it with me.

Today’s Word: fullness, joy, shova semakhot, Psalm 16:11

Día 25 – La Respuesta

Saturday, May 09th, 2009 | Author:

“Sin embargo, tú eres santo, que habitas entre las alabanzas de Israel.”  Salmo 22:3

Santo – Quizás esta sea la palabra equivocada para nuestra investigación.  Quizás debimos investigar el conjuntivo “waw” (una letra hebrea singular adherida a la palabra).  Puede traducirse de varias formas muy diferentes, usualmente “y”, “pero” etc.  Por eso es que algunas veces este versículo se traduce, “Pero Tú eres santo.”  No importa la traducción, la intención es clara.  Esta letra hebrea conecta lo que está antes con lo que sigue.  Lo que esta antes es el lamento ruinoso de David.  Lo que antecede es la realidad aplastante del silencio de Dios.  Y ahora, nos conectan con la respuesta.  Es todo lo que necesitamos, pero no es lo que esperábamos.

La respuesta de la aflicción por el silencio es la santidad de Dios.  Esto un poco confuso.  Ve despacio.  La santidad de Dios (en hebreo, qadosh) es el hecho más importante de toda la creación.  Es más importante que Su compasión, Su misericordia y Su gracia.  Santidad es la garantía que lo que sea que haga Dios, lo hace con absoluta y perfecta moralidad, sin un solo ápice de doble intención ni asemejo de intenciones escondidas.  Káiser llama a la santidad, “el elemento central organizativo del Antiguo Testamento.”  No es simplemente un atributo de Dios.  Es la expresión de Su carácter esencial.  Porque Dios es santo, El es absolutamente confiable y creíble.  La santidad se extiende a todo lo que hace.  Desde la perspectiva ética, la santidad de Dios es el parámetro final para todo lo demás, y eso significa que la santidad es la razón por la que Dios puede reclamar todo lo que es, incluyendo todo aspecto de tu vida y la mía.

Ahora podemos ver por qué el silencio es la respuesta del reconocimiento por David de la santidad de Dios.  La Biblia nunca eleva una pregunta que no responde (aunque a veces las respuestas no sean las que deseamos escuchar.)  La respuesta a la pregunta, “¿por qué me has abandonado?” es ésta: si yo me siento como si Dios me ha abandonado, yo soy el que requiere corrección, no Dios. Dios jamás hace algo que no nazca de, apoye y confirme Su santidad.  Dado que Dios es completamente fiable y creíble, mi experiencia de Su ausencia no puede significar que El se ha ido.  Sólo puede significar que yo no estoy escuchando ó que Su ausencia aparente es esencial para los propósitos de santidad.

Una vez más.  La santidad garantiza que Dios nunca dejará de ser quien es.  Dios es el Dios que se revela a Si mismo.  El nunca dejara de hacerlo.  Es esos momentos en que mis manos están limpias y mi corazón puro – y aún siento Su ausencia – mi respuesta reside en Quién es Dios.  Porque El es santo, El nunca hará nada perverso, malvado ó tentador.  Por lo tanto, tengo la certeza que Él está conmigo, aún cuando no lo siento.  Mi fe debe moverse de lo que hace Dios a Quien es Dios.  Mi fe debe residir en el carácter de Dios, no en Sus acciones hacia mí.

Esta respuesta puede no ser la que deseaba.  Yo deseaba que Dios resolviera las cosas.  Pero mi fe dice que puedo confiar en quién es El.  Yo no deposito mi fe en lo que hace.  Habrán veces en las que no comprenda lo que hace, pero nunca existirá el momento en que no pueda confiar en Quien es.  Y si El guarda silencio, sigue siendo Santo.

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