You say you love me.....

I was driving my daughter to school this morning and was listening to the radio while we talked.   Small talk mostly, but a 3 Doors Down song came on the radio.   I've heard the song several times but, this morning, it was saying something else to me.   The chorus of the song goes like this:

"You love me but you don't know who I am.

I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand.

And you love me but you don't know who I am...."

This morning morning I heard those specific lyrics and instantly started thinking about the words of Jesus. 

"If you love me, keep my commands."  John 14:15 NIV

Am I keeping His commands.   While I would like to say that I am, I know that I am still falling short.   I can't do it all, but also know there is much more I could be doing.   I start asking myself:

• Am I helping the homeless? 
• Am I being a Godly example for my wife and kids? 
• Am I treating others as I would want to be treated in all cases?
• Am I truly loving my neighbor?   
• Do I even understand who my neighbor's are? 
• Have I done anything to help the sick/dying?  
• If I were to stand in court, would there be enough evidence in my life alone to convict me of being a follower of Jesus?  
• When was the last time that I led anyone to Christ or at least planted a seed so that it can be harvested later?

These words and questions have echoed in my heart all day.   Then there is the big question.   If I passed into eternity today, would Jesus claim me as His own?   

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.   Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.  Away from me you evildoers!"   Matthew 7:21-23 NIV

How I pray that I am not just playing at being a follower and am not just acting the role of a follower of Christ.   How I hope that I am not just learning about Jesus but am also getting to know Jesus.   Because the more I learn the more I realize that simply knowing about Him is not the same thing as truly knowing Him.   That if I don't truly know Him, then I am just part of the goats who will be sent to the fires of Hell.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.   All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.   He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.  

"The the King will say to those on His right,, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.   For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"The the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You?  When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?'

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

"Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.   For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.'

"They will also answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help You?'

"He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.'

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."  Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)

My God is a god of _______________________

 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.    1 John 1:6-7 (NASB)

If you look around, you will notice that many people will tell you that

"My God is a god of fill in the blank"

and provide what may be a single or couple of attributes of God that are the most attractive to them.  However, what they also do is completely ignore other attributes of God that they either find unattractive or don't want to believe.   In doing so, they walk around with a distorted or incomplete view of who God is.  This is a dangerous thing because our views of God determine our beliefs/world view, shape our actions and these things determine our destinies and our future for all eternity. 

"You hypocrites, rightly did Isiah prophesy of you: 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.  But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the precepts of men.'"  Matthew 15: 7-9 (NASB)

Paul alluded to people having this incomplete view in 2 Corinthians:

"But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.   For it one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully."   2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (NASB)

You see, one of the many schemes of the devil is to get people to heavily emphasis one of God's attributes over others.   For example, if I only recognize and talk about God's love and grace while ignoring or dismissing His justice and wrath, I am defaming who God is and should not expect Him to be close to me or keep me.  To say that God is a God of love and totally ignore his other attributes paints a view of God who is incomplete and ultimately leads people to worship a god that doesn't exist. 

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."   John 3:36 (NASB) 

"Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness.  If you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."   Romans 11:22 (NASB)

Some will tell you that as long as you have accepted Jesus that you are covered by grace regardless of what you do.   Following that doctrine seems to encourage new Christians to continue to live in sin and not fully surrender their lives to Christ.  It is no wonder the church today looks so much like the world!   No wonder why so many people consider christians today to be hypocrites.   They act one way while in church, but ultimately continue to act according to the world outside of it.   This is wrong and will ultimately end in their destruction. 

"For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgement and The fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.  Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.   How much severer the punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified and has insulted by the Spirit of Grace?   For we know Him who said, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.'  And again, 'The Lord will judge His people.'   it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."   Hebrews 10:26-31 (NASB)

"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."   Matthew 10:28 (NASB) 

"You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever."   Psalm 9:5 (NASB) 

You see, while it is true that God loves each and everyone of us, it is also true that He cannot stand / bear sin and those who continue to sin or do not accept Him will find themselves on the wrong side of eternity.

"Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity, But transgressors will be altogether destroyed; The posterity of the wicked will be cut off."   Psalm 37:37-38 (NASB) 

"The Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy."  Psalm 145:20 (NASB)

"If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."  Revelation 10:15 (NASB)

While we can never know everything there is to know about God and who He is, we can have a much greater understanding than we have now.   It takes years of earnestly seeking Him and studying His word and obeying what it tells us to do.   We can't get there by picking and choosing based on what we want or don't want to hear or believe. 

"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him."  Ephesians 1:17 (NASB)

The straight and narrow.....

It has been said that many will seek but few will find.   In Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB), Jesus tells us:

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.   For the gate is small and the is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

He has also told us that there will be many who claim to know Him but will find themselves on the wrong side of the conversation when they cross over into eternity as evidenced in Luke 13:23-35 (NASB):

And someone said to Him, "Lord are there just a few who are being saved?"  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many I tell you will seek to enter but will not be able.   Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying "Lord, open up to us!"   then He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know from where you are from.'

The more I read, study and search/reach out for truth, the more Christ's words above echo and ring true.   The sharper into focus what He meant about the way being narrow and it being easier for a camel to enter thru the eye of a needle become. 

Fact is, there is absolute truth and the way to that truth is very easy.  However, the path that has to be followed with that truth is, indeed, narrow.   In fact, many today will indicate that it is so narrow that it is excessively restrictive.   I would go so far as to say that several today would say that the truth is "intolerant." 

However, searching out and finding the truth is the most freedom that you will ever experience this side of Heaven. 

How can that be?   Consider for just a moment a simple balcony.    However, this balcony doesn't have any railing to keep you from falling off.   Would you be willing to go out on that balcony?   Would you let your kids go out and play on that same balcony?    Now, take that same balcony and add railing.   Now how do you feel about it?   I would imagine you will feel much safer about walking out on it or allowing your kids to play there. 

In a sense, life is the same way.   Without boundaries it is very easy to fall off one side or the other and become either seriously hurt or die.   Add some boundaries and things become much clearer. 

Beware of false teachers......

This post is mostly scripture, but wanted to share as there is a good bit of false teaching in the world today and, unfortunately, not all of it is easy to tease out as it does a good job of preaching love.   However, pay close attention, as even the devil knows scripture.   This is evident in that he used scripture when tempting Jesus as described in Matthew 4:1-11.    Further, the bible also calls out that even demons know who Jesus is (and shudder) as told in James 2:19.   

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars, seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared by those who believe in truth. 1 Timothy 4:1-3 (NASB)

Note for 1 Timothy 4:1-3: the reference forbidding people to marry and staying away from foods  is a sample of the false teaching that was occurring in Ephesus.   As is the case with false teaching, there is generally elements of truth but the deception, in this case, is in making human works a pre-requisite for salvation.   This is a distinguishing mark of all false teaching.   Personally, I also wonder if the use of the term food could be considered a metaphor as we are also taught that we are to "live by the word of God alone" - Matthew 4:4 and Deuteronomy 8:3. 

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32 (NASB)

Note for Romans 1:28-32:   The assertion here that "God gave the over to a depraved mind" indicates that God has tested man's mind and found them worthless/useless.   Also, given that we have free will, God will not force us to follow him.   The reason for this is due to love.   Just as you can't force someone to love you, God will not force us to love Him.   If He did that, then it is not love for Him that we experience and give to Him.   It would make us more comparable to mindless drones.   God wants us to follow him of our own accord and not because He forces us to do something.   

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NASB)

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, brining swift destruction upon themselves.   Many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgement from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep.   2 Peter 2:1-3 (NASB)

Note for 2 Peter 2:1-3:   Please pay attention to this.   While it may seem that false teachers are raised to esteem or allowed to continue in their teaching, their judgement is coming and is not idle.   It will come.   If not in this life, then certainly in eternity when they have to answer for their teaching and actions.

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NASB)

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. Hebrews 6:7-8 (NASB)

"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance." Luke 8:14-15 (NASB)

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the firsts spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. Hebrews 2:1-4 (NASB)

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this, you will ensure salvation for yourself and for those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4:16 (NASB)

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:6-11 (NASB)

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness. 2 Timothy 2:15-16 (NASB)

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Titus 2:11-15 (NASB)

Note for Titus 2:11-15: Our salvation is via faith and our following of Christ.  Any other path leads to destruction.  Please realize that God loves us too much to force us to spend time with Him in eternity.   From my perspective, He doesn't send us to hell rather we choose to go there.

Faith vs. Works

I am sure that you have heard this debate a number of times.   Are we saved by faith?   Works?   A combination of the two? 

I number of us have likely heard it said that we are saved by acceptance of Jesus and placing our faith in Him alone.   However, is placing our faith in Jesus alone enough to save us? 

My belief is that having faith in Jesus is not enough.   While it is a great first step, James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe and know who Jesus is:

James 2:19(NIV)  "You believe that there is one God.   Good!  Even then demons believe that and shudder."

However, the demons are definitely not in the express lane for heaven.   So, any gospel that speaks of needing faith alone, I would humbly submit, is a false gospel. 

I also think that we can all agree that we can't work ourselves into heaven.   No number of works, apart from repentance and acceptance of Jesus will get us into Heaven.   Think about the Pharisees and the Sadducees for moment.   Each kept the law to the letter, but neither group had any faith in God.   They were all too busy trying to earn their right standing before God by carefully following the rules.   They did so without actually honoring or loving God in their hearts.   I don't think it is a far stretch to believe that they would ready and willing to stand before God on judgement day and boast about their works.     This is evidenced in the parable Jesus gave us regarding the prayer of the Pharisee vs. the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14 (NASB):

"And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.   The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people; swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.   I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all that I get.'   But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'    I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

I don't think it is a far stretch to be able to imagine the Pharisees and Sadducees pushing themselves to the front of the line on judgement day and boasting of their works.   In fact, Jesus provides us guidance that indicates that they and, unfortunately, other Christians will likely hear, "Depart from me, I never knew you" on that day.   This is evidenced in Matthew 7:21-23 (NASB):

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.   Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'   And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me; you who practice lawlessness.'"

So far, I think that we can see that faith alone nor works alone are sufficient.   You see, Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 7:24-27 (NASB):

"Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.   And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house; and yet it still did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.   Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.   The ran fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell - and great was its fall."  

The emphasis (bold) to hears and acts/does not act above are mine.   I added those to help highlight the point that when we "hear" God's word, we don't always listen/absorb what we are told.   Just because we use our sense of hearing, doesn't mean that we actually hear - if that makes sense ;-).    When we hear, understand and accept God's word, that results in action on our part.   When we hear God's word, but either don't understand or accept it, those words don't sink in and we continue to grope around in the darkness, leaning on our own understanding or the worlds teaching.   This leads us to place our faith in false doctrine/knowledge and ultimately builds our house on the sand - a house that will eventually fall. 

Perhaps the most clear teaching on this comes to us in the book of James.   James 2:14-26 say:

James 2:14-26 (NIV): "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?"   Can such a faith save them?  Suppose a brother, or a sister is without clothes and daily food.   If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?   In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by actions, is dead.   But someone will say, 'You have faith, I have deeds.'   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.   You believe that there is one God.  Good!   Even the demons believe that - and shudder.   You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?   Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the alter?   You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.   And the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,' and he was called God's friend.  You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not faith alone.   In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?  As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Another illustration that I will share with you comes from Michael Chriswell (https://relentlessheart.com).   I ran into this illustration in one of Micheal's bible study's and that it was a very clear illustration regarding our need for faith and works:

"Let's say Bill Gates grafts you into his will and says you will inherit his $10 million second home when he dies, as a free gift.  You could never afford this house, but he even lets you go ahead and move in and all he asks in return is that you maintain it.   Not only could you not likely ever afford to live in that house, but you couldn't even afford to maintain it.   However, you have no worries because he even gives you a cleaning, maintenance, and improvement budget to do so.   He then promises that no one from the outside will ever be able to take the home from you, or to sell it out from under you (think Romans 8:38-39). 

Romans 8:38-39 (NASB): "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

So you move in and soon after you start having friends over to see your new amazing free house from Bill Gates, that not of them will believe until they see it.   During one visit you take a break from your friends to sit down at your beautiful office kitchen to take care of a few maintenance projects you have going with the house.   One of your friends walks by and sees you and asks what you are doing.   You explain that you are writing out a few checks for various projects on the house.   Your friend, with a frowned look on his face, says, "Wait a second, you said this house was a free gift....this isn't a free gift if you have to pay money to maintain it."   You then explain, "Oh, it was part of the agreement and actually Bill deposits money into my account each week so that I can maintain the house."   My responsibility is simply apply the payments. 

Could anyone now rightly say that if you agreed to these maintenance terms, you are now earning the free gift?  Not at all!   You are simply obeying the agreement of maintaining the gracious gift he is giving you, and you can't even take credit for that, because he gives you money to maintain it. 

Now, suppose you start taking the gift for granted and you start leaving the doors unlocked when you leave, having questionable individuals over, or spending the maintenance money and your time on other things, at the neglect of caring for the house.  When Bill comes to make his final settlement with you and transfer the deed over to you, would he not be justified in taking back your inheritance since you lost respect for it, and you didn't do his will in the agreement?   Yes, he would."

You see, while we have done nothing nor could we ever do anything that would earn us our salvation - we are saved by the grace of God alone (Ephesians 2:8 (NASB): "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;") - we do still have an obligation to maintain the gift.   We maintain our gift with the grace that He has given us - Romans 8:12-13: "So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live."   Scripture tells us in Matthew 7:21 and 1 John 2:17 that only those who do God's will are going to make it to heaven:

Matthew 7:21 (NASB): "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven will enter."

1 John 2:17 (NASB):  "The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever."

No one can do God's will apart from God's enabling grace - so at no time can it be said that we earned anything by our doing.   If we don't do our part - empowered by His grace - the time will come when it will be said that we squandered His gift and grace, even if we didn't do it intentionally.

Do we know who we are?

Do we truly know who we are in Christ?   Do we actually show any real evidence that we do?  I am sure many of us can say that we show several of the following traits:

• We show evidence of profound words and teaching to others, speak truth in the tongues of men and angels........    Yet, we rise up in anger at our brother, making as as guilty as any murderer.  
• We show evidence of knowing the scripture and associated doctrine and all knowledge.........   Yet, we do not love the lowest person as Christ, making our knowledge worthless.....
• We give all of our possessions to the poor and surrender our bodies to be burned and actually have faith to move mountains and heal the sick........  Yet these profit us nothing if His love does not rule our hearts.
• We call ourselves born again, having been baptized in the water and the Spirit.   We are consistently take communion, sing in choirs, serve the church, pay tithes, read the scriptures, fast when called to humble ourselves, gathering in Bible studies, attending conferences, going on missions, submitting to authorities, and rehearsing our arguments......   Yet, if rivers of love, joy and peace do not flow from us like living waters, all of the above mentioned things profit us nothing.  

If you can identify with any of the above, if you feel like you are still missing something, you likely are.    

While it has been said that self-involvement and selfishness are the root of man's problems, I would submit to you that it is more likely pride that keeps us from being who we are meant to be in God.   What do I mean by that?   Well, we are all insecure to varying degrees.   We are insecure because it is born into us.   From the moment we are born, and the doctor cuts our umbilical cord, we are in a state where we were warm, well taken care of and felt loved into an alien world that feel hostile.   We are cold, may be hungry and are trying to figure out how we can get back to the place where we feel loved.  Not that any of us can remember this far back, but I can easily see ourselves frantically screaming, "Who is going to take care of me?   Who is going to keep me warm?   Who is going to protect me?   Who is going to feed me?   Who will love me?"   All of these things likely culminated in our screaming and crying at the top of our lungs.   

This likely isn't so different from the feelings Adam and Eve experienced after they had been expelled from the Garden of Eden.   You see, the sin of Adam and Eve resulted in being cut off from the only life source that they had ever known.   At that moment, all of our spiritual umbilical cords had been cut.   This has resulted in a deep insecurity, which aches in all of us from the sin that separates /separated us from Jesus.  

As such, we find ourselves unable to fully embrace our identity.   We search for not only our identity but also acceptance and love by finding other ways to reach what we so desperately need.   We determine our significance based on other peoples perspectives of us.   We find ourselves thinking: 

• If I can only do well in sports.   If I could excel, then I will be honored.
• If I can do well in school, I can measure up to the expectations of my teachers and parents.
• If I did well in romantic relationships, if this one person loves me, I will have found love.
• If I achieve wealth, if I can just land this new job and climb the corporate ladder, then I will have security.  

We find ourselves chasing after our identities and who we are by following society's blueprint.   And what many of us find, some because we have reached some of the above stated things, is that we are still lacking.   There is something inauthentic about the blueprint that we are following, because no matter how hard we try, no matter how much we gain or how much love and acceptance we gain from the world, it is never enough.   

Why is that?   It is because God created us to find our love and value in Him, not apart from Him!   We have forgotten who we are in Christ!  You see, it is as Jesus taught, that I am in Him and He is in me, in the same way that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him.   This is a profound union that He said could only be known with the help of the Spirit of truth, whose main purpose is to help us walk in that union.   If we do that, then we will show evidence of it but the love we show, as it will be a direct reflection of the love He has shown for us.  

You see, many of us in trying to be good christians are still living in our sin while professing that we are in Christ.   We miss the point that Christ has covered our sins and that we should literally be dying to our old way of life and letting go of our old sinful behavior.   We should not still be saying things along the lines of, "sure, I still have my vices, but at least I'm not like so and so sitting over there.   That should be worth something - right?"   That would be wrong.  Because in doing that we are still denying Christ control of our lives.   It is Him that is supposed to live in us - not the other way around!   You see, as christians, for me to live is Christ - just as Paul said.   To fully gain the love, security and happiness we are all so desperately yearning for we have to let go of our pride.  To do that, we have to let go of ourselves and let God have control.    We have to live lives of courage and realize that God is the same God that he was yesterday, today and tomorrow and that He is fully in control.    

Until we do that, we will continue to deny who we were created to be.   Until we realize that humility a major key to finding deep security and joy in Christ, we will continue to grope around in the darkness.   

Known anyone unlovable?

Do you know someone unlovable?

No?   Well......

How about someone that get's on your last nerve as soon as they walk into the room?

Maybe someone that constantly calls attention to themselves.  Maybe by showing off, or trying to be funny (when they really aren't), getting into trouble at school or bragging about thing no one should ever be proud of.....

I think we all know people that show the above qualities.   Would you say that those people are unlovable?

Still no?   Hmmm...   Let's look at it from this perspective:

Would you be friends with that person or try to avoid them?
Do you try to get to know them better?  Try to understand why they act the way they do?

Be honest.

I think we all know the answer.   We all generally do what we can to avoid people that we know do some of the above things or just get on our nerves.

But is this what Jesus tells us to do?   Is this what Jesus did?

In Luke 6:27-36 Jesus says: "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, give them your shirt too.  Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.  Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.  If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do that.  If you lend to those who can pay you back, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great, and you will be sons/daughters of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

What does Jesus say here?   Does He say to ignore those who don't act like us?  Does he say to only be kind to those who are kind to us?

No.  Not at all.   Jesus tells us to love those who may hate us.  To love and be kind to those who curse us.

But this is often far from what we do - isn't it.

Let's be real.   What Jesus asks isn't easy.  In fact, to many of us it is very hard.  Isn't it funny how easy it is for us to dislike or show hate towards someone or something vs. show love?  Even tho showing love may not only help you feel better but may also who someone else who desperately needs to feel like someone - anyone - cares.

Here's a challenge for all of us - the next time you see someone who is acting the way I described at the beginning of this......

Don't run the other way.  Don't join in making fun or talking about that person.

Stop.   Try To understand theM (even if you couldn't understand them in 1000 years).   Be a friend - even if your attempts are met with rude behavior or cursing.

Don't stop trying.   At some point you just might get thru.   Maybe now, maybe later.   Maybe you won't ever see the end result.

But maybe, just maybe, you will be the only example of Jesus that individual ever gets to experience.

Our relationship with God

Our relationship with God is more than just a relationship of a lesser people worshipping their deity.

It is MUCH more than that.

It is a love story in which our creator so desperately loves us that He pursues us.  It is one in which He pursues us so desperately, that He came to earth and dies for each of our sins.   It is one in which a marriage covenant is used to describe our relationship with Jesus as the bridegroom and we as the bride.

Just like Jewish marriage traditions, Jesus has left to prepare a place for us.   We don't know when He will return.   Fact is, He doesn't either.    Jesus won't return until the Father, Abba, says it is time.

In the meantime, we, as the bride, are to be preparing for our grooms return.  We are to be keeping ourselves pure and not committing adultery.   However, that is were we all fall short.   We are all committing adultery in some fashion - spiritual adultery.   The thing is, we don't even realize it.   We worship our money, houses, cars, jobs, sports, vacations, cars, family, things in general over our relationship with God.

Many times the churches we attend reflect our lack of focus on God.   They tend to be more interested in providing a nice building, a service that has outstanding music and show.  Things they feel people want to help draw them in.   The church focuses more on pulling more people in than on helping the poor, missions, the sick, the elderly, the least of these that Jesus calls out in Matthew 25.  We have become more "in love" with the experience of church than in our actual relationship with God.  

I often wonder how many Christian's have accepted Christ more out of fear of going to hell vs. having an actual love of Jesus himself.  The difference between the two could be why people in the world don't see a need for God.   Do we truely radiate the love of Jesus in ways that make the world stand up and take notice or is Jesus more of an insurance policy?  

How different the world could be if Christian's would reflect Jesus vs. being the judgemental hypocrites we have become known to be.  

The Golden Rule...

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

This simple phrase is known as the "Golden Rule."   Not surprisingly, it exists in a multitude of religions across the world.   From that perspective, it is an area where we can find some common ground in discussing our differences of faith.   However, to me, it also says something more.   In fact, I feel that it speaks to a few areas of our lives.

First, I think that it speaks to how the existence of God is written on all of our hearts and made obvious to us regardless of our culture, location, or knowledge of the one true God.   This thought is also known as "Natural Revelation" and is introduced to us by Paul in Romans 2:12-26:

"God will punish the gentiles when they sin, even though they never heard God's written law.   And He will punish the Jews when they sin, for they do have the law.  For it is not merely knowing the law that brings God's approval.   Those who obey the law will be declared right in God's sight.   Even when gentiles, who do not have God's written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts, they know right from wrong.  They demonstrate that God's law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right.   The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life.   This is my message."

This is a concept in which God has revealed Himself to everyone by nature, science, people around them, etc. enough that they instinctively know there is a creator.   They can see and worship Him and Him alone.  However, do not think that the existence of the Golden Rule across world religions indicate there are multiple ways to salvation.   That is distinctly NOT the case.  Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that "I am the way the way the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."   Further, Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."   So, you see, there is only one way to God, and that is through Christ Jesus.

To finish my first point, I feel that while there are some common moral values that can be found between major world religions, this does not make them the correct path to God.  It also does NOT mean that we as Christians should take a holier than thou view when talking with our friends of other faiths/beliefs.  In fact, we should approach them in love and respect as there are examples of people in other faiths demonstrating/living their moral values in ways that would, could and should shame many Christians.

The bolded text above leads me into my second point about the Golden Rule and a large part of why I feel there is such a backlash against Christianity today.   Many Christians in reacting to the sins of they see in the world take a "holier than thou" approach.   They feel they are doing their Christian duty of pointing out the world's sinful behaviour while ignoring the fact that we are all - regardless of our status with Christ - dealing with our sinful behaviour.   Folks who are on the receiving end of this judgement see through our hypocrisy.   Many Christians take and forget what is one of the most misapplied/misunderstood verses of the Bible - John 7:1-5:

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged.   For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by you standard of measure, it will be measured to you.   Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?   Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, ' and behold, the log is in your own eye?   You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."

While many of us as Christians want to be held accountable for our actions, we want to be done so in a way that is loving and caring.   How many of us when dealing with the sin of those around us are taking the approach of condemning people to hell while we are, ourselves, dealing with our own sinful behavior?   How many of us are living our lives as examples of how we should live - according to our faith vs. continuing to hold onto some sins in our lives and looking for ways to justify them?

Be honest......

I know I am guilty of this.   And, fact is, you are as well.   It doesn't matter what the sin is or how big or small we feel that sin is.   We all have it and it keeps us separated from God.

In conclusion, if you study all of the world religions, if only on the surface, you will very quickly find that Christianity is different in a single aspect that makes it unique.   That aspect is when / how salvation is achieved.   You see, in all of the world religions, you are given your moral values, or laws, and you must live life according to those laws.   Hopefully at the end of your life, there are more positives than negatives and you will be let into heaven/paradise/insert appropriate term here.   You live your life chasing and performing works, all the time hoping that you will make it, but never knowing for sure if you will.

In Christianity, all that is needed is faith in Jesus.   Jesus is standing at the door - up front - and is willing to accept you EXACTLY as you ARE at that point in time - warts and all.   Because His grace is sufficient and His  blood alone can atone us for our sins.   That is the key power of salvation within Christianity.    It is freely given and is not something that is earned.

I never knew you.....

“"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, I NEVER KNEW YOU'”  ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:21-23‬ ‭NASB‬‬. http://bible.com/100/mat.7.21-23.nasb

Said in a different way,

"You can know all of the stats, history and all that you can know about Micheal Jordan, but if you knock on the door to his house, he isn't going to let you in."

-- Francis Chan

This scripture should literally scare the hell out of Christians.   Jesus is telling us that we have to do more than know about Him - we have to actually KNOW Him.

How do you know if you truly know Him?   Look at the scripture that comes just before:

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?  So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits."
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:15-20‬ ‭NASB‬‬ http://bible.com/100/mat.7.15-20.nasb

We are known by the fruit we produce.   What are our actions?   Are we known as the most loving person:

At work?
In your community?
In your family?

Are you the most loving person that the homeless person asking for donations encounters?
Are you the most loving person that the elderly couple that lives across the street know?
Are you the most loving person that the addict encounters?
Are you the most loving person that the alcoholic on the corner encounters?
Are you the most loving person that your homosexual neighbor encounters?
Are you the most loving person that your porn addicted friend encounters?
Are you the most loving person that encounters?

Think about it.   Do your actions demonstrate that you truly know Christ or that you know about Him. Be honest.   The answer to that question very well can make all of the difference.

What's your temperature?

Are you a "lukewarm" christian?   Do you know?   Is there such a thing?  Why is this important?   Check out the following verse from Revelation:

Revelation 3:14-18  "To the Angel of the church of Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.   So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mount.  Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, " and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see."

I don't know about you, but the thought of coming before Jesus and being considered "lukewarm" sounds like a pretty risky thing to do to me.   In fact, based on the verse about, I think we are gambling with our eternity if we do so.   Looking at the above scripture, Jesus will have the same reaction to those of us who are lukewarm as we do to lukewarm coffee or soup.   

How do you know if you are lukewarm?   While not a comprehensive list, I wonder if any of the following statements make you a little uncomfortable?

• Attend church regularly, but do so because it is what is expected.   You know, it's what "good Christians" do.
• Give money to charity and to the church - as long as it doesn't impact on their standard of living.   If you have a little extra & it is easy and safe to give, then you do.  Otherwise, you don't.
• Care more about what people think of their actions vs. what God thinks of their hearts and lives.   Want to fit in - regardless of if it is at church or outside of church.
• Want to be saved from the penalty of their sin, but don't really want to be saved from the sin itself.
• Are moved by stories about people who are doing "radical" things for Christ, but are not acting for Christ themselves.   Consider the things that Jesus expects of all His followers as "radical."
• Rarely, if ever, share their faith with anyone - even those they are most comfortable talking to.  Don't want to be rejected or make anyone uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion.
• Gauge their morality by comparing themselves to the secular world.   Feel satisfied that they aren't as  bad as the "guy down the street."
• Don't allow Jesus to control their lives.   You love Jesus and He is a part of your life, but only a part.   Jesus gets a part of your time, thoughts and money, but that is about it.
• You love God, but not with all your heart, soul and strength.
• Demonstrate love for others, but don't seek to love others as much as you love yourself.

If we are honest with ourselves, there are likely many of the bullets above that make you uncomfortable.    I think that many of us have at least one area from the above that makes us a little uncomfortable when it comes to questioning if we are lukewarm.

And there is where the nonsensical grace of all of this lies.   The bible demonstrates there is room for our failure and sin in our pursuit of God.  Lamentations 3:22-23 tell us that God's mercies are new each and every morning:

Lamentations 3:22-23 The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassion never fail.  They are new every morning.  Great is your faithfulness.

And that His grace is sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12:9  And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

However, that doesn't at all mean that we can just do as we please because God will always love us and forgive us.   We can't say that we love Christ while still chasing after the things of the world.   It just doesn't work that way.  

Luke 9:25 says "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"

If we truly love Jesus, then we are a changed person.  We will want to keep His commandments.

John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

James 2:14-17  What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?  Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled" and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  Even so faith, if it has no works is dead, being by itself

You see, anyone can say that they love Jesus and believe in God.   You see, even the demons believe in God.

James 2:19 You believe that God is one.  You do well, the demons also believe, and shudder.

You see.   If we love God and are Christians, we are going to strive to keep His commandments.  It's not that we will always be successful.   Despite our belief in Christ, we are still fallen creatures.  We just need to realize that we are going to fail from time to time, pick ourselves up, confess our sin to Jesus - not because we want delivered from the punishment of sin but because we love Jesus and want to live for and honor Him.  

I leave you with this.  The concept of being lukewarm allows for people to walk the fence between Christ and the world.  It is something that is in between.   Looking at the scriptures and what Jesus said, I don't see any room for being "lukewarm."   You are either in love for Jesus and "Hot" or you are not in love with Jesus and "Cold."  There really is no in between.

Have a little Emunah

What is Emunah (pronounced "em-oo-nah") you might ask?   Emunah is the Hebrew word for "Faith."   However, the way the Hebrew lanugage defines faith may be a bit different then we are used to thinking about it.  

For us, many times, faith is more about knowing something and is less about doing anything.   In Hebrew, it is the exact opposite, it is less about knowing and is more about doing.  

In our bibles, Emunah is generally translated as faith, but that really doesn't serve the translation very well.   In cases where Emunah is used, it is there to describe an "innate conviction, a perception of truth that transcends, rather than evades, reason."  It's something that having additional wisdom, knowledge and understanding can further enhace, but is not impacted if wisdom, knowledge and understanding doesn't support having faith or emunah.   In short, emunah is not reason based.   Emunah endures even when reason can't catch up.

From an everyday perspective, an individual may have faith becasue he/she is not interested or in not capable of reasoning for him/herself.   If this is the case, then that individual doesn't "own" their faith.  They are merely relying on others.   In these cases, faith is easily swayed and is inherently weak.  

In other cases, the individial may have a profound faith or emunah.  In those cases, he/she feels that truth to be a part of their very essence and being.   In those cases, they really don't need to have supporting knowledge or reasoning to support their faith.  It is something that they just know and they know it regardless of it being supporting by the mainstream academics or others.   They are so convinced their faith is true, they will die for it.  To deny their faith/emunah, is to deny their very essence.  

Knowing this, how strong is your faith?   Is it a superficial faith that is easily shaken at the latest news/discovery that goes against it?  

2 Corinthians 5:7   For we live by faith, not sight.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

James 1:6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

The Mind of God....

Take a look at the following two images.


What thoughts do you have?   What do you suppose these images are?

If I told you that one image was a neural network, does that change how you view the other image?

If I told you that one image is of the known/local galaxy clusters; how do you view the other image then?

What about these images?   Some are neural networks, some are images from deep space.  Can you tell the difference?

As I was reading my devotions this morning, the image of the galaxies came up and it struck me at how similar it is to images of neural networks.  I was awestruck by the very reflection of God's creation in two very different images.  

Psalms 19:1-5 "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.   Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world.  In the He has placed a tent for the sun,  Which is as a bridegroom coming out fo his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

I am also struck by how often we rush to God with requests and pleas for help with out ever stopping to consider the very glory and awe of who God is. 

Romans 1:20 tell us that God's eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen in what He has made:

"For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse."

But we are all so busy with our own lives, pre-occupied with what the world wants us to pay attention to, and occasionally the needs of others, that we allow ourselves to be blinded to the wonder's of God's creation.  

What if we stopped, for just a moment, each day and noticed the beauty of the world around us?   Noticed:

* A simple flower;

* How good the breeze feels on a warm summer day;

* How cool the grass feels on your bare feet during the summer;

* The simple elegance of a snow flake as it falls to the ground;

* The sound of leaves rustling in the breeze;

* That sound of water in a mountain stream or ocean waves crashing into the shore.  

I wonder if we did these things if we would start to see more of God and maybe be more in awe of Him?   

Would we take more time to consider His glory? 

Would we take more time to consider things as we approached Him in prayer?  

Would we consider that God uses nature to witness to us about his grace and faithfulness?

Matthew 5:43-45 "You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy.  But I say , love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.  For He gives his sunlight to both the veil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too."

Matthew 6:28-32  "And why worry about your clothes?  Look at the lilies and how they grow.  They don't work or make clothing , yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won't He more surely care for you?  You have so little faith!"

Would we actually ponder that when we do these things, that we may just barely be grasping who God is and be in awe of Him and how much He loves us.

That maybe, just maybe, we are getting glimpses into the mind of God.

Water to Wine

Many of us have heard the story of Jesus turning water into wine a number of times either in Sunday School or sitting in church.  This story is largely considered to be the first public miracle that Jesus performed and is filled with a lot of imagery and parallels that you don’t get with just quick reading of the chapter.  John provides us with the retelling of the miracle in John chapter 2, verses 1-12 (NASB):

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.”

Lets start with the first verse:

“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galileo, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.”

Many translations don’t include the reference to it being the third day where as others do.  I’m not sure why that is.  It could be that there doesn’t appear to be any significance to when the wedding happened but what I have learned is that in biblical times, the Hebrews/Jewish people didn’t have the days numbered the way we do today.  The names we use for the days of the week came from the Roman’s times and were named with the latin words for the sun, moon and the five known planets.   Where as Sunday was named for the sun, Monday was named for the moon, Tuesday was named for Mars, Wednesday was named for mercury, Thursday was named for Jupiter, Friday was named for Venus and Saturday was named for Saturn.

The jewish people named their days after the day of creation.   With Sunday being the 1st day, Monday the 2nd day, and so on with the Sabbath day being on Saturday.   So, in this case the wedding occurred on a Tuesday.   Why is this significant and why was there a wedding occurring on the third day of the week?  It is my understanding that Jewish traditions indicated that the third day of creation came with a double blessing.  Reviewing the creation account in Genesis 1:9-13 (NASB):

“Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.”

There are two reference to God seeing that “it was good” on the third day of creation.   Looking back over the seven days of creation, this is the only place God does this.   Not that it means that His creation on the other days are any less, but that this day is doubly blessed.  The thought is that the Jewish people had weddings on Tuesday’s because it was the good day due to the double blessing of God on the third day of creation.

Note also that this was a wedding in which Jesus, His disciples and His mother Mary were in attendance at this wedding.  No background is given as to who specifically is being married, but it is speculated that the wedding may have been a family member of Jesus and Mary.

At this point, it would be good to point out the Jewish customs around weddings (https://walkerswonder.blogspot.com/2016/12/jewish-wedding-traditions-in-biblical.html).  While the ceremony itself was somewhat short, what we know as the reception would last for up to a week.  During this celebration, the bride and grooms family was expected to provide the food and drink for everyone in attendance – which generally was eveyone in the community.  If the family ran out of either food or wine, then it was a very disgraceful thing for the family.  As it turns out, the family runs out of wine.

Knowing that this isn’t going to be viewed favorably by anyone in the community she took action and also provides a great example of what to do when we encounter problems in life.  She turns to Jesus and asks for help.

Jesus’ response does two things when we read it.   First we wonder where the respect is for his mom? And second we wonder why he seems to be reluctant to help.   “Woman, what does that have to do with us?  My hour has not come.”

In biblical times, the term speaking to a female in this fashion was not a sign of disrespect.  It was actually quite the opposite.  So, if we read this with any negative tone or connotation being expressed from Jesus to His mother, then I feel we are reading it incorrectly.

Jesus’ reference to His hour not yet coming is, in my eyes, a reminder that it isn’t time for Him to reveal who is is and why He has come.

While Jesus doesn’t give Mary any real assurance that He is going to do anything about the lack of wine, please notice the faith Mary shows.  She immediately turns to the servants and provides them the simply instruction, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”  If we would only have that sort of faith!
Please don’t gloss over the example Mary provides for all of us here.  Not only did she turn to Jesus when things are going wrong, but she comes to Him fully expecting a miracle!   How much richer would our lives and relationship with God if we were to have and demonstrate that same level of faith.  When we reach out to Jesus in prayer, are we doing it HOPES that He will do something?  OR Are we reaching out KNOWING that He will do something.  From my perspective there is a huge difference between the two.  And if we are honest with ourselves, the chasm between hoping and believing makes all the difference.

The rest of the miracle plays out with Jesus instructing the servants to fill the stone pots with water, dip some out and to take it to the head waiter.  From here, the head waiter is astonished at the quality of the wine and the family is exalted rather than shamed due to running out of wine.

But notice the symbolism that is contained throughout the rest of the story.  Jesus takes stone pots that have been used for purification.  While we see these pots as being vessels to contain water or other liquids, I feel that they represent each one of us.  They are empty.  Sitting off to the side looking/hoping for a purpose.  Jesus calls them out and they are filled with water.  This is, I believe, imagery Jesus used again in John 4:14 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”. (KJV).

How closely this imagery is to each one of us.  We are lost and without purpose until we find Jesus – or more likely – Jesus being our Shepherd – finds us, His lost sheep.   When we listen and respond to His call, we are filled with living water and are then able to provide that same living water to others.
Now, let’s look at the wine for a minute.  While this may not seem terribly honest, it is rather frugal, but it was apparently also the practice during biblical weddings to start the day serving the best wine and then replacing it with the lesser quality wine as the day went on.  The thinking being that the more wine the people drank, the less able they are to notice the lack of quality in the wine.

Now, anyone who likes to drink wine will, I think, readily admit that wine requires age/time to become a good wine and that they really great wines take several years before they are considered ready for consumption.   However, notice what the head waiter says to the bride groom after tasting the wine: “…the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.".  The head waiter is praising the groom for holding the good wine until that very moment – despite it just being made by Jesus.   I think that this is a very subtle point being made here in that Jesus/God’s can create things in whatever state they choose.  In this particular case, they created the wine to have age and being of good quality.  Perhaps, they have created other things around us to also appear older than they are.