Day 3 - Wake up and recover your life!
Scripture focus: It's crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we've heard so that we don't drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit. God didn't put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we're dealing with here. It says in Scripture, what is man and woman that you bother with them; why take a second look their way? You made them not quite as high as angels, bright with Eden's dawn light; then you put them in charge of your entire handcrafted world. When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don't see it yet, don't see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made "not quite as high as angels," and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory "bright with Eden's dawn light." In that death, by God's grace, he fully experienced death in every person's place. Hebrews 2:1-9 (The Message) Have you ever noticed that some people dream and never do while others do and never dream? It seems that we mortals have vision problems that aren't always solved with a carefully chosen pair of prescription lens.
This isn't a new problem. In Acts chapter ten, Peter had vision issues. God had a big dream for Peter, but it lay outside Peter's field of vision. Cornelius, a thoroughly good man who was also a Gentile needed someone to bring him God's message of hope. The message bringer God chose was Peter.
Now this is a very strange choice. It wouldn't occur to Peter that God would send him, a Jew, to speak God's message to a Gentile! Peter says, "You know, I'm sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don't do this – visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked." (Acts 10:27-29 The Message)
It took a vision from God to show Peter the way to a big (and unconventional) dream. Because Peter trusted God, he followed. Once he followed, God used Peter to bestow a gift (and a very big dream) on Cornelius.
I wonder what dreams lay outside the perimeter of your field of vision? It's crucial that we get a firm grip on the power of God to do in and through and with us far more than we have yet allowed ourselves to imagine.
Recommended reading: Numbers 7 - 9
- click on the word comments and join our conversation
Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community
No comments:
Post a Comment