"You cant be
close to God
if you haven't
repented.:."
Lets dive into a few things:
"You cant be...
if you haven't..."
Completely takes
God out of the equation
and puts everything
on the responsibility of the individual.
This is not Christianity.
This is not what the gospel teaches.
This is all the other false religions
and philosophies of the world teach.
Not the gospel of Christ.
Funny.
But
I just dont think
we get to tell God
what he can and cant
or what he should and shouldn't
do.
Job 38
The Lord Speaks
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.
He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains[b] of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons[c]
or lead out the Bear[d] with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s[e] dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom[f]
or gives the rooster understanding?[g]
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Job 39
39 “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?
2 Do you count the months till they bear?
Do you know the time they give birth?
3 They crouch down and bring forth their young;
their labor pains are ended.
4 Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
they leave and do not return.
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free?
Who untied its ropes?
6 I gave it the wasteland as its home,
the salt flats as its habitat.
7 It laughs at the commotion in the town;
it does not hear a driver’s shout.
8 It ranges the hills for its pasture
and searches for any green thing.
9 “Will the wild ox consent to serve you?
Will it stay by your manger at night?
10 Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness?
Will it till the valleys behind you?
11 Will you rely on it for its great strength?
Will you leave your heavy work to it?
12 Can you trust it to haul in your grain
and bring it to your threshing floor?
13 “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
though they cannot compare
with the wings and feathers of the stork.
14 She lays her eggs on the ground
and lets them warm in the sand,
15 unmindful that a foot may crush them,
that some wild animal may trample them.
16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
she cares not that her labor was in vain,
17 for God did not endow her with wisdom
or give her a share of good sense.
18 Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
she laughs at horse and rider.
19 “Do you give the horse its strength
or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
20 Do you make it leap like a locust,
striking terror with its proud snorting?
21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength,
and charges into the fray.
22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;
it does not shy away from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against its side,
along with the flashing spear and lance.
24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground;
it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’
It catches the scent of battle from afar,
the shout of commanders and the battle cry.
26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
29 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.
30 Its young ones feast on blood,
and where the slain are, there it is.”
Job 40
40 The Lord said to Job:
2 “Will the one who contends
with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”
Translation?
You don't get to tell God nothing.
Least of all decide for him
who he chooses to get close to
and what qualifications
such an individual
might need to have
(In your eyes,
not Gods.)
From a pulpit?
On a Sunday?
You get to tell God
what he is capable of?
Next time somebody tries such nonsense?
They might just catch a hymnal in the forehead.
Article from the
Current edition of the Upper Room.
LIMITING GOD
Its exactly what:
"You cant be
close to God
if you haven't
repented..."
is.
"LIMITING GOD."
Limiting God
As a child, I remember thinking that God was an old phan with a white beard who lived in the sky. It was a mental picture shaped by art, storybooks, and my own imagination. As I've grown to know God in the years since, I have, of course, come to see God quite differently.
I think we all have ways of picturing God that help us to feel closer to God. Scripture is full of images and metaphors that point to God and to God's amazing attributes - a pillar of fire, a mother hen, a rock, a fortress, to name a few. They are compelling and comforting. They can even lead us to a deeper connection to God and to God's love for us. They make God relatable and give us a window into God's vast and awesome character.
Recently, I came across a verse in Deuteronomy that I hadn't paid much attention to before. It's a reference to the Israelites' encounter with God at Horeb. It says, "Then the LORD spoke to the Israelites] out of the fire. [They] heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice" (4:12, NIV). What caught my attention were these words: They... saw no form. I was immediately struck by the beauty of this turn of phrase and challenged to imagine God appearing to the Israelites "without form." Reading this verse made me pause and think about how I picture God in my mind now. It made me wonder why I am drawn to certain images and also wonder which of them are helpful, and - maybe more importantly which ones aren't.
I don't think it's a coincidence that God appeared to the people at Horeb without form. On this occasion, God was reminding the Israelites to observe the Ten Commandments, one of which prohibits idolatry. I don't think it's wrong that we imagine or picture God in certain ways it's how our brains work. I do think, however, there is danger when we try to confine God to one image, to shape God into the one form that we think God should take. And it becomes even more dangerous when we start to believe that God thinks just like us and has the same partialities and biases that we do. In our
hearts and minds, God might even begin to harbor the same grudges that we do, dislike the same people that we struggle to love and share our prejudices.
After reading Deuteronomy 4:12. I have wondered if one of the biggest reasons for Gods many warnings against idolatry is to keep us us from confining God. Maybe it's to keep us from imagining God in ways that limit what God can do in our lives and the lives of others. And maybe the warning against idolatry is to make us aware of images of God that are potentially harmful-to ourselves and to others.
The Bible reminds us time and time again that there are no boundaries on what God can accomplish.
(Compare that with:
"You cant be
close to God
if you haven't
repented...")
The narrative arc of scripture shows that God is beyond anything we can conceive and that God acts in astounding and mysterious ways.
(One more time:
Compare that with:
"You cant be
close to God
if you haven't
repented...")
This should come as wonderful news to all of us. And it should come as particularly good news to anyone who thinks God is distant and uncaring or who has ever been told that God does not love them or want to have a relationship with them. God is bigger than our best efforts to fully understand or explain. God is infinitely larger, more loving and more compassionate than what we might ever think is possible."
-Andrew Garland Breeden
Acquisitions Editor The Upper Room
One more time.
What was being said by saying:
"You cant be
close to God
if you haven't
repented..."
was:
I have repented more
so I deserve to be closer to God than whoever.
Have you all forgotten?
Its nothing about what we do?
And instead is about
what was done for us?
Matthew 20: 1–16
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’
“So the last will be first,
and the first will be last.”
Real simple.
Nobody gets to complain
about how much of something
(Grace,
unmerited favor,
salvation,
spiritual gifts etc)
they get,
when the fact is
nobody deserved
to get
any of it
to start with.
"Im more repentant than he/her/them, therefore I deserve more than what they got" is a complete fundamental misunderstanding of how the kingdom of God works.
In fact?
One can argue?
In the current situation?
Gods using people to send you a CLEAR message to remind you of what was just mentioned above.
Brother Joe used to say it all the time.
Gods not fair.
He is just.
Extremely...
2 Peter 2:10-12
(See footnote on "the glorious ones" below)
beings,
they do not bring slanderous accusations
against such beings
in the presence of the lord.
(Where two or more are gathered in his name.)
But these men blaspheme
in things they do not understand."
(Screenshots were from a bible at the bike shop when we were there the other day)
"Glories of the unseen world"
Kind of resonates...
Lil bit.
Maunday Thursday.
Two, with a white one in front of the gold one.
Maundy Thursday.
Funny thing about blasphemy.
Those who do it?
Never think so,
so they never ask for forgiveness for it.
That's why its the unforgivable sin.
Isaiah 54:17
"...no weapon forged against you will prevail,
(Where's it at?
Who has it?)
and you will refute
every tongue
that accuses you.
This is the heritage
of the
servants
(Prophets)
of the Lord,
and this is
their vindication
from me,”
declares the Lord.
What other emissary of Satan
wants to come
spout some heretical nonsense
from a pulpit on Sunday?
Be my guest.
Waiting on ya next time.
And dear lord
please forgive those
who knew better
but didn't bother
to stand up for your word,
or even understand
what was really being said.
Everybody got it?
Do I need to keep being relentless?
You will not stop Gods will.
Even if you don't
understand it
or don't like it
or don't like
his messenger etc.
You will not stop it.
YOU CAN NOT LIMIT
INFINATE WISDOM.
SIMPLY
NOT YOUR PROVIDENCE.
Period.
