relationships (Luke 1:1-23) The Trust-Factor

(Luke 1:1-50)

1 Since many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting to me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in an orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. 7 And yet they had no child, because Elizabeth was infertile, and they were both advanced in years.

8 Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. 11 Now an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice over his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17 And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her years.” 19 The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

21 And meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple, and he repeatedly made signs to them, and remained speechless. 23 When the days of his priestly service were concluded, he went back home.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

How often do we pray for a miracle, but then doubt that God is able or willing to answer that prayer? Curious then why we even bother asking God for any miracles at all?  Well, because, the Bible tells us that all things are possible with God, AND there are miraculous events recorded throughout the Bible, and Jesus does tell us that we do not have because we do not ask...  But, do we really believe that God is willing to do miracles in our lives now?

I remember my mom telling me that, “Yes, God is able to do miracles, but He doesn’t do miracles like He did in the Bible.”  I’m curious if my mom was still alive today, would she still be saying that, or would she have come to realize that God is not only able, but He still does do crazy-big-miracles!  I know personally that He does!  God has worked in my life, and around me, in ways that are undeniable! 

Yet, it’s still so easy to doubt!  Why?!  Even for Zachariah and Elizabeth, they knew from scriptures already written then, that Abraham and Sarah had a son in their very advanced years.  Why NOT them?  And here, Zachariah even had an angel deliver this good news, and still, he struggled to believe this could happen.

Now, interestingly, despite the fact that Zachariah doubted God, and the Lord allowed Zachariah to go through the consequence of being unable to speak until the baby was born, God still answered their prayer and did as He promised!  Perhaps, in our relationship with the Lord, we continue to see Him as a human… as someone who will hold grudges, or someone who will eventually just give up on us, not care anymore, and walk away.   But God wrote this book, His word, for us- so that we can KNOW!!!   So that we can know Him, and know that He does care!

The more we get to know God, His ways and His attributes, the more we can trust in Him.  This also includes knowing Him so well, that we understand He does want the best for us, even when we are going through struggles, or the consequences of our actions, or someone else’s actions.  If and when God does not answer our prayers- in our timeline, or in the way we want it answered- He is faithful, able and willing to do something even better, in His timing, and all to His glory!

relationships (Mark 16:1-20) Trustworthy

(Mark 16:1-20)

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” 4 And looking up, they noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

9 [[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

12 Now after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. 13 And they went away and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them, either.

14 Later He appeared to the eleven disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.]]

[[And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself also sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

The portion/s in parenthesis were added shortly after.  Perhaps Mark had simply paused in writing this scripture, and after gleaning more eye witness testimonies, as well as more inspiration from the Holy Spirit, he wrote these last bits.  Nonetheless, nothing contradicts everything else that is in the Bible- which is all God-inspired, and all God-breathed. 

As Lee Strobel's investigative reporting uncovered- if the men who wrote the four gospels wanted people to trust and believe these events MORE, they would not have had women being the first to see the risen Christ!  But throughout scripture, we see how God is a great advocate for women, children and the vulnerable!  So, Jesus admonishes the disciples for not believing the testimonies of the women.  But this is not to say that women never lie, we do!  Let's not kid ourselves.

The point is that these events happened JUST AS JESUS HAD TOLD THEM!!! 

There is the popular Christian bumper sticker that says, "God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It!"  But it should really say, "God Said It, That Settles It! I Believe It!"  Whether we believe something or not- does NOT determine Truth.  Truth is!

Just like in any relationship, when we have grown close to someone who has a reliable reputation of being truthful and living with integrity, we'll say things like, "I would trust that person with my life!"  Well, history and science has only supported God's words.  And there are countless ways that God has worked in my life and other people's that are very undeniable.  The more I trust in what He says, the more I see and know that I can trust Him with my life!  Not just for the afterlife, but for right now!  "God Said It, That Settles It!  I Believe It!"

relationships (Mark 15:16-47) Preparing the Way

(Mark 15:16-47)

16 Now the soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort. 17 And they dressed Him in purple, and after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began saluting Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 And they repeatedly beat His head with a reed and spit on Him, and kneeling, they bowed down before Him. 20 And after they had mocked Him, they took the purple cloak off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they led Him out to crucify Him.

21 And they compelled a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross.

22 Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. 23 And they tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. 24 And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man would take. 25 Now it was the third hour when they crucified Him. 26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

27 And they crucified two rebels with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 29 Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself by coming down from the cross!” 31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself! 32 Let this Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

33 When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabaktanei?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 35 And when some of the bystanders heard Him, they began saying, “Look! He is calling for Elijah!” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see if Elijah comes to take Him down.” 37 But Jesus let out a loud cry, and died. 38 And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw that He died in this way, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

40 Now there were also some women watching from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and serve Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

42 When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

Did not plan for this scripture to land on this day, but here it is!  While many people just use this day as an excuse to dress up and get candy, some people use this day to celebrate Satan and his realm of darkness, while some will celebrate death and the dead (of various loved ones, or saints and martyrs).  But for believers, everyday is a day to celebrate and be thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice that He made for all mankind.  In order to have victory over sin and death in His resurrection, He first had to suffer and die, in our place.

We can imagine and understand to some extent the physical and emotional pain that Jesus would have experienced, but we will not be able to fathom the suffering He went through in taking on all of our sin (all sin, of all people, of all time).

One thing to keep in mind is that God is one. In His Trinity, He is God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  I see this kind of like how a person can be someone's parent, someone's child, and someone's employee... different roles, but they are still one person.  Obviously, God is God, and far more complex.  If we could totally understand, then, we'd be God, but we are definitely NOT.

Another thing to keep in mind is that God is holy, and cannot have a relationship with sin.  With all of this in mind, the Lord (God) Jesus, took on all sin, and the heavenly Father had to allow this act of sacrifice and somehow look away.  I'm trying to imagine how the Father would have somehow separated Himself from Himself.  Heart-wrenching!   And, if one struggles to believe that God was able to somehow do this, just consider how complicated we are as humans, and how we can develop things like dissociative disorders.  The biggest difference though- is that we are not perfect, but God is.  We make mistakes, but God does not.  Even the centurion, in verse 39, came to realize that Jesus was and is the Lord God.

While knowing that mankind would reject Him and desire to kill Him, God still created all of mankind in order to have a relationship with us.  Mankind brought sin into the world, and with that, physical and spiritual death, and separation between us and the Lord God.  But still, because God continues desiring to have a relationship with us, He then came in flesh to prepare a way back to Him.  Notice that exactly when the Lord gave up His Spirit and died on that cross, the veil in the temple tore - from top- down!!!  This was a very, very heavy piece of fabric, several inches thick, which separated the priests from the Holy of Holies, symbolizing the very presence of God.  

The significance of this is poignant!  Before Jesus' work on the cross, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, one priest would enter into the Holy of Holies to light incense and sprinkle sacrificial blood on the mercy seat, while in prayer.  Before entering, a rope would be tied around his waist, in case he fell down dead.  This way, the other priests could safely pull him out, otherwise they would also die.  

Only those who are righteous can stand before God and not die.  So, because of Jesus' work on the cross, when we recognize Him as the Son of God, humbly repenting of our sins, we are forgiven, given eternal life, given the indwelling Holy Spirit of promise, and we are covered by Jesus' righteousness!  So in that, in this, we may be part of God's family, and one day, stand before our heavenly Father- and live- forever- with Him!

relationships (Mark 15:1-47) God's Love vs Our Love

(Mark 15:1-47)

1 Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders, scribes, and the entire Council immediately held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led Him away, and turned Him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate questioned Him: “So You are the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say.” 3 And the chief priests started accusing Him of many things. 4 But Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You offer nothing in answer? See how many charges they are bringing against You!” 5 But Jesus said nothing further in answer, so Pilate was amazed.

6 Now at the Passover Feast he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested. 7 And the one named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the rebels who had committed murder in the revolt. 8 And the crowd went up and began asking Pilate to do as he had been accustomed to do for them. 9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” 10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead. 12 And responding again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify Him!” 14 But Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify Him!” 15 Intent on satisfying the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus flogged, he handed Him over to be crucified.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

The world’s way is opposite God’s way.  We are all born into sin, and our sin-nature wants us to desire what is bad, fear what is good, and hate what is love- God, Himself.  But some will argue that this is not true… that bad behavior is learned, and that people who are not Christians still know how to love and show compassion.  But when we dissect the motives behind “love”, we will find that there’s a big difference between God’s love- and the world’s love.

In this passage, we see the worldly love of self… selfishness and pride… the motive behind all evil actions.  This crowd was easily swayed to revel in setting free a murderer, and putting to death someone innocent, just because it was “the movement and cause” of the moment.  Pilate complied, because he wanted to satisfy and please the people, in order to protect his position of authority.  And even Pilate could see and understand that the chief priests were envious of Jesus’ power and influence- and hated Him for that- and therefore wanted Him to suffer and die in the very worst possible way known to mankind… even though Jesus was and is the holy Lord God.

Now, even Christians might think, “Oh, but I would never have put Jesus to death.  I would not have even cheered that on.”  But think about it.  He died for all sins, of all people, of all time, so He died our sins, as well.  Our sins put Him on that cross!  And when we willfully sin- disobeying what God asks of us… wow, we may as well have that hammer in our hands, driving in a nail!

The good news is:  that in His great (agape) love (selfless, unconditional, sacrificially love), Jesus willingly suffered and died for us!  And in His resurrection, He had victory over sin and death.  His love is so deep and wide and broad, that He desires all accept His salvation- His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life, even though He knows that we will still struggle with sin while we are in our earthly bodies.  This is all because, in His love, God desires that we have a personal relationship with Him.  And in this relationship, He implants His love, His indwelling Holy Spirit, into our soul, to change us from the inside out.  We don’t HAVE to do what God asks of us, we don’t HAVE to worship and serve our Lord and Savior- we GET to!!!

relationships (Mark 14:66-72) Faithfully Patient

(Mark 14:66-72)

66 And while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the slave women of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You were with Jesus the Nazarene as well.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” And he went out onto the porch. 69 The slave woman saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them!” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, “You really are one of them, for you are a Galilean as well.” 71 But he began to curse himself and to swear, “I do not know this Man of whom you speak!” 72 And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he hurried on and began to weep.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

Pride does go before the fall!!!  Remember, Peter had just boasted about how he was ready to die with Christ.  And here he was, the only one trying to do anything about this situation.  Determined, but not at all effective.  If only he had been alert and praying, as Jesus highly suggested, back at the garden, just after warning Peter that he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed twice.

The obedient-Christian-me is thinking that I would have been praying.  AND I would have been asking Jesus tons of questions.  Like, "So what can I do so that I do not deny You?  And, when You are taken away, what did you want us to be doing?  And, during the three days, what should we be doing?  And, please help me, and give me Your strength, peace and wisdom!" etc.

Well, even when we want to be obedient- because we love the Lord- because He loves us so much- and is so very faithfully patient with us, we will still fall into sin.  But God already knows that, just like He knew exactly what Peter was going to do.  And then, just like Peter gave up being a follower of Jesus and went back to fishing, how often after we sin (in a "big" way), do we think, "Well, so much for that.  Christianity doesn't work.  God failed me.  And why would God want me, anyway?" etc.  And then we go off, trying to do life in our own strength, in our own way, which is how we got into woeful trouble in the first place!

It's still amazing how faithfully patient God is!  He even tells us that we need to "work out our salvation".  Let's think about this, and realize... oh wait!  God never fails us, we fail ourselves.  God is sovereign, so our failures won't thwart His plans.  And God never abandons His children.  Even if we "run away," once we have become a Christian, we cannot lose our salvation.  

In the previous verses, we read how Jesus was spit on, mocked, slapped, punched, and was going to suffer even more as this time progressed... Jesus went through all of that for us!  More than determined in His love for us!  And perfectly effective!  

In God's great love, He never forces anyone to love Him back, and never forces us to be obedient, He gives everyone fair opportunity to make our decisions.  So, just like we see later, Jesus continued to make Himself evident and available to Peter, the Lord continues to pursue us, in order for us to realize that we can always, always, always run back to Him and continue in a close relationship with Him!

relationships (Mark 14:53-65) Religion Leads to Hatred

(Mark 14:53-65)

53 They led Jesus away to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes gathered together. 54 And Peter had followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the officers and warming himself at the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the entire Council were trying to obtain testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, and they were not finding any. 56 For many people were giving false testimony against Him, and so their testimonies were not consistent. 57 And then some stood up and began giving false testimony against Him, saying, 58 “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that was made by hands, and in three days I will build another, made without hands.’” 59 And not even in this respect was their testimony consistent. 60 And then the high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, “Do You not offer any answer for what these men are testifying against You?” 61 But He kept silent and did not offer any answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and said to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?” And they all condemned Him as deserving of death. 65 And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists and say to Him, “Prophesy!” Then the officers took custody of Him and slapped Him in the face.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

These Sanhedrin hated Jesus and wanted Him dead, and they were going to find a reason.  And if they couldn’t find one, they would make one up, but of course, these reasons would still have to hold up in court, according to their laws.  Now, because Jesus knew He was going to be crucified, and had to go to the cross in order to pay for all sins, of all people, of all time, He wasn’t concerned about defending Himself. 

Being God, Jesus was and always is all about truth!  He is the truth!  And while He was on earth, in flesh, He did not commit any sin, and certainly did not commit any crime.  So, with the first line of questioning, basically being asked if He had anything to say about all of the false accusations, well… here Jesus is a good example for us to follow… One cannot reason with or argue sense and truth with those who are unreasonable liars with corrupt intentions.  This is what is meant by throwing pearls before the swine!  (And this is why I pray often for our courts of law to maintain integrity and uphold the actual laws and constitution!)

Seeing that their first line of questioning wasn’t working, they asked Jesus THE question.  And understand, the Jews back then were extremely careful to avoid ever saying God's name, even when speaking about Him- or to Him, even in prayer, since they were very diligent in their efforts to not take His name in vain- in any way, whatsoever.  They were very religious about it.  Too bad these men didn’t know Jesus (the Lord God) personally.  So, here they asked Jesus, "Are You the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the Blessed One?" 

This was a question that Jesus could actually answer.  And He answered very truthfully and directly, saying, "I am".  Unless you know His name as “I am”, one will at the very least understand that He said, yes, He was and is their Christ (Messiah).  But Jesus was ALSO actually saying, “I am God!”  The Jews knew exactly what Jesus was saying, because they knew the following scriptures very well…

(Exodus 3:13-16)  Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” ¹⁴ And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” ¹⁵ God furthermore said to Moses, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is the name for all generations to use to call upon Me. 

Because Jesus came to earth in flesh to be fully man while still being fully God, within Jesus’ full statement, after saying that He is God, He added “AND you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”  In this, He also let them know that He (as God) is the coming Judge.  The scribes would have most likely recognized these words from…

(Psalm 110:1)

     The Lord says to my Lord:
     “Sit at My right hand
     Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”

(Daniel 7:13-14) 

13 “I kept looking in the night visions,
     And behold, with the clouds of heaven
     One like a son of man was coming,
     And He came up to the Ancient of Days
     And was presented before Him.
¹⁴ And to Him was given dominion,
     Honor, and a kingdom,
     So that all the peoples, nations, and populations of all languages
     Might serve Him.
     His dominion is an everlasting dominion
     Which will not pass away;
     And His kingdom is one
     Which will not be destroyed.

Obviously, these people did not know or recognize God!  I mean, look at their reactions!  People do not like to be judged, or have their personal power and authority taken away.  And if they think that they want God in their lives, they want Him in their lives in their own way- in their own thinking- in their own strength.  But that- is religion.  If is an institution that is filled with empty efforts and attempts at being or appearing to be righteous, and trying to earn God’s favor. 

Unless one knows and understands that the Lord God (Jesus Christ) loves us, cares about us, and wants a personal relationship with us, to give us joy, peace, hope, freedom, purpose, direction and help, one is only “doing religion”!  Even Martin Luther finally recognized this, in his spiritual journey, after really look at the following verse.  And, after the verse, I have copy-pasted a portion of his writings, which explains this all so poignantly.

(Romans 1:16-17)  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.”

Martin Luther
Preface to the Latin Works
(1545)

Original Electronic Text found at the Project Wittenberg website.

“Meanwhile in that same year, 1519, I had begun interpreting the Psalms once again. I felt confident that I was now more experienced, since I had dealt in university courses with St. Paul's Letters to the Romans, to the Galatians, and the Letter to the Hebrews. I had conceived a burning desire to understand what Paul meant in his Letter to the Romans, but thus far there had stood in my way, not the cold blood around my heart, but that one word which is in chapter one: "The justice of God is revealed in it." I hated that word, "justice of God," which, by the use and custom of all my teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically as referring to formal or active justice, as they call it, i.e., that justice by which God is just and by which he punishes sinners and the unjust.

“But I, blameless monk that I was, felt that before God I was a sinner with an extremely troubled conscience. I couldn't be sure that God was appeased by my satisfaction. I did not love, no, rather I hated the just God who punishes sinners. In silence, if I did not blaspheme, then certainly I grumbled vehemently and got angry at God. I said, "Isn't it enough that we miserable sinners, lost for all eternity because of original sin, are oppressed by every kind of calamity through the Ten Commandments? Why does God heap sorrow upon sorrow through the Gospel and through the Gospel threaten us with his justice and his wrath?" This was how I was raging with wild and disturbed conscience. I constantly badgered St. Paul about that spot in Romans 1 and anxiously wanted to know what he meant.

“I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: "The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: 'The just person lives by faith.'" I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: "The just person lives by faith." All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.

“I exalted this sweetest word of mine, "the justice of God," with as much love as before I had hated it with hate. This phrase of Paul was for me the very gate of paradise. Afterward I read Augustine's "On the Spirit and the Letter," in which I found what I had not dared hope for. I discovered that he too interpreted "the justice of God" in a similar way, namely, as that with which God clothes us when he justifies us. Although Augustine had said it imperfectly and did not explain in detail how God imputes justice to us, still it pleased me that he taught the justice of God by which we are justified.”

Werke ed. O. Clemen,
6th. ed (Berlin: de Gryler, 1967) 4:421-8.
Trans. by Bro. Andrew Thornton.

relationships (Mark 14:41-72) Being Ready For Anything

(Mark 14:41-72)

41 And He came the third time, and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough. The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

43 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came up, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who were from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 Now he who was betraying Him had given them a signal, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him and lead Him away under guard.” 45 And after coming, Judas immediately went to Him and said, “Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 46 And they laid hands on Him and arrested Him. 47 But one of those who stood by drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. 48 And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would against a man inciting a revolt? 49 Every day I was with you within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me; but this has taken place so that the Scriptures will be fulfilled.” 50 And His disciples all left Him and fled.

51 A young man was following Him, wearing nothing but a linen sheet over his naked body; and they seized him. 52 But he pulled free of the linen sheet and escaped naked.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

Jesus warned His disciples to stay alert and pray, warned them about how they were going to scatter and deny Him, warned them of what He was about to go through, and even warned them that this was all about to start right away- but- they preferred to sleep.  Immediately, Judas had arrived.  The kiss was a normal and acceptable cultural greeting between loved ones, close friends and even teachers.  But, because it would have been very dark, and they wanted to arrest the right person, Judas’ greeting let the chief priests, etc. know exactly which man was Jesus.  Well, in that quick moment, the disciples found themselves panicking, Peter cutting off someone’s ear, and all running away, one of the followers was even caught naked (NOT a culturally acceptable thing).

Why is our response time sometimes so slow when it should be fast, and other times it is so fast when it should be slow?  I'm going to speculate here and say that all too often we allow ourselves to be emotionally driven... meaning, reacting before we have all of the facts.  Connected to all of this is our trust-factor in God, others, and/or the things around us.

For instance, if and when my husband says something that hurts my feelings, because I trust that he loves and cares for me, I must first assume that he didn't really mean what he said, or how he said it.  In that case, before reacting and getting emotional, it is beneficial to calmly ask, "When you said that, what did you really mean?  Because it came across hurtful."  This gives him a chance to either apologize, and/or to reword his statement.  And if and when I notice that my husband is irritated and he's not saying anything about it, I like to ask him... "Did I say or do anything wrong?"  This gives me a chance to apologize if I did do something wrong, or he has a chance to apologize for his mood and then let me know what he is actually struggling with, so I can be in prayer for him.

Kind of in the same way, this is how we should trust the Lord- but in the utmost way!  Of course, we can know without any doubt that He loves and cares for us, perfectly!  And we can also trust in His sovereignty!  So, if and when we find ourselves in situations or struggles, as soon as possible, we should go to Him in prayer, giving Him our questions, sharing our feelings with Him, apologizing for our wrongs, and asking for guidance and help.

Better yet, we can start with being alert- and praying!  This way, God will help us be ready for whatever is happening or is going to happen.  He is not only faithful to answer our prayers and help us in those moments, but He knows what is going to happen and when!  Anytime I have lived or traveled in dangerous areas, I have learned to pray without ceasing.  As soon as I step outside, I am praying!  This doesn’t mean something bad isn’t going to happen, but when something DOES happen, God has kept me very calm, giving me very clear guidance in how I should react and navigate through.

By now, I have also learned that this isn’t just for potentially dangerous situations, but for everyday situations.  Therefore, I can be alert- ready- and praying for the Lord to… “Help me be efficient with my time”… “Help me be a blessing to my husband today”… “Help me in this group setting to listen more intently”… etc., etc., etc.  In my relationship with God, He wants to help me in all situations, and with all other relationships.  Why just wait, and run to God after the matter, requesting help to troubleshoot?  Why not strive to stay alert, and ask God to help us be ready?