The Intersection

All of us are living at the intersection of Life and physical Death.

In 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 we are given some food for thought on this idea on how to live at this junction as Christians.

Suffering is not in the fine print of the Bible or for the Christian.  Paul uses “always” concerning the death of Jesus.  It is normal.  It is to be expected by you concerning yourself!  Realize that a quarter of Paul’s ministry time was spent in Roman prisons.

See others as being with you in this intersection.  There exists a community of believers comprising the Body of Christ.  If one suffers, we should all suffer.  If one can rejoice, we should all rejoice.  If one needs prayer, we should all be in prayer with them.  This corporate identity needs to become a reality in each of our lives.

When you are in pain, allow that pain to be a blessing for others.  Strengthen one another with the sharing of testimonies, successes and failures.  Realize that we all have problems and challenges; it is common across all mankind.  Learn to share.  Learn to be in prayer for others.  Learn to walk as a fellowship of believers.  There are no lone rangers in the Christian world.

Stand up for the truth of the Gospel of Christ.  Do not allow the world to silence you, your testimony or your witness.  Whatever you go through in this life should be for Jesus’ sake.

Learn to distinguish between finality and reality.  Do not confuse faith with what you experience.  Trust in God’s providence.  Let whatever happens in your life be for God and Jesus.

Put your life into perspective – what is really important to you?  When you go higher, the things which impact you will become smaller…..

Lessons From Rahab

The destruction of Jericho has always played  upon my mind, from even long before I had become a Christian.  Imagine, a couple hundred thousand bedraggled nomads, circle a walled city, blow their horns, shout and down come the walls.  Wow.

Kathleen Kenyon was a friend of my mother’s, or were they antagonists?  In any event I read a dusty copy of Kathleen’s work on her trench digging at Jericho in the 1950’s with great interest.  Of course, her work did not validate a Hebrew over throw of the city.  Why?  Because no one can agree upon which time the city fell that it was to the Hebrews!  Hmmmmm.

So, picking up your Bible you can read Joshua 2:1 - 13.

We are told that Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho.  The Hebrew spies, for reasons not explained, end up at her home/place of business.  She saves the spies and helps them to escape with their promise of protection for her and her family.  Eventually, Jericho is destroyed, Rahab and her family spared, and she goes on to become a direct line ancestor of Jesus.  Cool.

I think we look at this story from the wrong slant.  Everyone emphasizes the saving of the spies by Rahab and not so much on God and Rahab.  For some reason, known only to God, He reached out to her and saved her.  The spies were probably the tool or the opportunity it took for her to make a decision which must have been on her mind for a while.

Certainly, you do not have to possess much knowledge, if any!, to know God is the real thing.  No seminary needed, no books, no lectures, perhaps not even an active witness anywhere around you.

God is more concerned over your present faith in Him than in yesterday’s failures.  Yeah, we like to keep dredging up the past.  But, God does not do that, He is not even interested in the topic.  Where you are now, is what He is interested in.

Rahab was spared due to her faith in a God she knew almost nothing of.  The Caananites were destroyed without exception, save of her and her family.  God’s punishment/justice calls for a complete and thorough judgment for sin.

Rahab chose wisely…..

Fellowship

Since I have had so much free time lately, I have been studying in 1 John.  1 John is my most favorite writing in the Bible.  In particular, one passage:

“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

My first exposure to this passage was about 1971, at my mother’s church in Colorado.  Since I was forced to go, I joined the youth choir – not because I could sing but because it got her off my back.  Besides, I was sweet on one of the girls.  The choir director decided to sign us up in a contest with other local youth groups.

The song had a good tempo, the words were easy enough to remember and we did go on to take first place in Colorado.  However, the words were rather meaningless to me - I was still an atheist.

“If we walk in the light”  Heck I lived in Colorado, you went out of your way to get to shade – unless you liked hot sidewalks and burning!  Dutchman visited me one year and in three hours was covered in blisters!  That high altitude sun can be very unforgiving.

But I missed the point of the passage, I was thinking literally rather than figuratively.  In the first century Hebrew culture, light and truth were equated with one another. 

So, if I walk in the light (Truth), as He (Jesus) is in the light (Truth) we have fellowship with one another.  We have fellowship because we have commonality in the Spirit and we have commonality in the Truth of Jesus as the Christ.

I have marveled in this day and age of virtual friendships and fellowships at this commonality.  I have met many whom I interact with on a regular basis, probably more than I do with those in my local church!