Word of Beard

'Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.' John 17:17

In the garden at the end of His days with the twelve Jesus spent very intense and very intentional time in prayer. Praying that His disciples would be 'set apart for noble purposes' defined by truth. Truth does exist. It isn't subjective. It isn't private nor individual. It's universal. Eternal.

And it's found in the word. Scripture. The very word God spoke through His prophets of whom Jesus was the greatest.

Worship

...holistically giving ones honor and respect and glory to the Creator and Savior.

We lift up Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength.

We speak of Him and to Him.
We kneel before His presence and Stand Firm in His power.
We move when He moves and stay when He stays.
Our thoughts are redeemed by Him and directed toward His goodness.
Our hearts are broken at the cross and made new in salvation.
Our souls come alive at the sound of His Word.

We gather not simply to sing, but sing to connect on a deeper level with the movement and fluidity of the Spirit as the living and active Word.

We pray not to hear ourselves speak, but we pray to be unified with our Creator.

We listen to the Word being taught, not simply because it's what Christians do, we listen to gather and profess truth, equip the saints, encourage one another, renew our hearts and minds, ground ourselves in divine knowledge…and become like Christ as we breath in the very Words He has breathed out.

Out of obedience we gather yet out of desire we worship.

We gather to worship just as we will throughout eternity.

Word of Beard

'...let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.' Hebrews10:22

Being confident that by entering into an authentic relationship with Jesus we are forgiven, justified and reconciled to Him eternally - we can draw near to Him as Adam and Eve did in the garden, as the 12 disciples did so regularly with Jesus.

'Sprinkled' is the language of the O.T. sacrifice, where blood would be sprinkled on items to cleanse them. To be washed with pure water is to wipe away all impurity. We don't have to feel guilty all the time once we're forgiven.

We actually can draw near to the One who's blood was sacrificed on our behalf.

Word of Beard

'May the Lord your God accept you.' 2 Samuel 24:23

As King David was headed to offer a sacrifice to the Lord in order to seek forgiveness and stop a plague from ravaging more people, Araunah, the owner of the land David was using made the statement above.

It sounds like a simple 'goodbye' type of phrase right, a send-off? Not here. Lives were literally at stake. Relationship with God was being renewed...May the Lord accept you...This is an honest plea.

Useful Beyond Slavery...

The Lord does not call followers to a vague and purposeless life.

Every believer, once the Spirit indwells them upon belief, is infused with a gift used to build up the body of Christ, the Church. Some gifts are even a catalyst to leadership within the Church. Others are tendons and muscles and veins and even cells that unite and serve the body in immensely intricate and eternal ways.
In Pauls short, personal, obscure letter to Philemon, the runaway slave Onesimus may have been hard working, he may have been apathetic in his service to Philemon. Whatever the case, upon realizing his worth at salvation, that Jesus would die for a gentile slave, his awareness of living a life worthy of that Gospel brought about a powerful reconnection with his birth name - Onesimus, which means 'useful.'

The Divine Nature of God intersects with life in refreshing and awesome ways.

You and I do not have vague spiritual lives to live.

As the Spirit indwells us, He also infuses us with meaning and value. Because we are made in His image, we have purpose. There's something about meeting Jesus that awakens our souls to that reality.

...and the gifts of the Spirit are a wild overflow of the Kingdom of Heaven uncarnating us.

You and I are useful. Period.

Read Philemon - Romans 12 - 1 Corinthians 12

Word of Beard

'I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.' Philemon :6

'Sharing your faith' here is much bigger than our Western conception - that is, evangelizing or sharing the Gospel story with another.

This is the holistic living out ones faith; the old fashioned word and deed combo. Philemon was known for physically, spiritual, mentally and emotionally refreshing those in his community. He shared his faith in every action and every word.

The whole Gospel at work.

Good Job

In the OT book of Job, Jobs friends assumed that direct, personal sin was the cause for his troubles: his dead children, his bitter wife, the festering sores over his body, his destroyed vocation and lost wealth...

Yet Job knew he was blameless. They were wrong in their assumptions, their judgements. Job had honored the Lord in all he did, in fact, this was the very reason God allowed Jobs persecution. Not sin but sanctification.

We struggle through the same issues today right? Pain, loss, evil, assumptions, judgement...

Good people suffer and hurt. Good people also thrive and live peaceful and productive lives.

Bad people suffer and hurt. Bad people also thrive and live peaceful and productive lives.

All good, even the good that bad, deceitful, evil people experience comes from the Lord. Regardless of Gods direct role in the goodness bad people experience at times, everyone on earth has the opportunity to experience goodness simply because God exists. His hand is on the earth and everything in it. He holds all things together and His presence - love, righteousness, purity, humility, goodness - affects all of creation regardless of it's moral conduct or awareness of Him.

The same is true for good people. Because God is, goodness is. Though Scripture speaks of Gods desire to bless those who truly do follow Him and live out His Truth. Absolute blessing will eventually come to those who are 'good' according to His divine nature.

When the day comes that the Lord removes His hand from the earth...then and only then will those alive experience absolute darkness - an eternal void, empty of anything righteous.

Job wasn't simply a good man though. Yes his friends were wrong but he wasn't simply a nice guy. He was a man who new the Creator of goodness, justice and righteousness. He was grounded, not in the knowledge of the reason for suffering, but in the Source of Life beyond the suffering.

It will continue to happen, suffering that is. But if you ask someone who has experienced the knowledge of Christ and who has faith that His love conquers all...you'll discover a mysterious response to suffering. Job had the same response.

Read Job - Particularly the Lords response in the final chapters.