4 February 2011

4 February 2011

Psalm 69; Isa. 56:1-8; Gal. 5:16-24; Mark 9:2-13

The Lord announces that those who love Him, seek Him and follow Him are as those who are children by birth. There is no distinction between a child born in the house to a child who has attached himself to the Lord through a vow. The Lord gathers Israel and also gathers others. In John10 Jesus speaks of sheep from other flocks who He has come to gather and clearly these are the Gentiles like us who are incorporated into the fold. Even in His ministry we see Him reaching Samaritans and others and bringing them into His flock although their incorporation awaited the mission of the apostles. The command is to keep justice and do righteousness. We need to know what those two things mean and set our lives by them in order that we truly be prepared for His coming.

In the Transfiguration we see the clearest revelation of Jesus prior to the Resurrection. The glory of the Lord shines forth from Him. (see Revelation 21.23-26) Recall that in Exodus 40 and 1 Kings 8 we see the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle and the temple in this same way. Both John and Peter allude to this moment in their writings (John 1.14 and 2 Peter 1.16-18) as that which truly revealed to them the fullness of Jesus. In this event we see Moses and Elijah representing the law and the prophets speaking with Jesus and the disciples want to build three shelters. Their idea seems to be that Jesus is indeed truly great, in line with these other two, and then suddenly the others are gone and Jesus stands alone and the voice of God affirms His singularity. Jesus affirms that Malachi’s prophecy concerning Elijah’s coming has been fulfilled and in so doing, affirms that HE is indeed Messiah but instructs them to tell no one until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. What did they think was going to happen?

When I read the fruits of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” I long for those things in my life and I see how far I have to go. When I read the next sentence, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desire” I am completely undone. Can I say that I belong to Jesus when I do not possess, much less exhibit, those fruits in my life? The bigger question is, am I seeking them. These characteristics or qualities should be evident in our lives, they should be the measuring stick for the Spirit living in and through us, we would do well to make the possession of them the desire of our hearts and the prayer on our lips each day.

I want to walk as a child of the Light

I want to follow Jesus

God set the stars to give light to the world

The Star of my life is Jesus.

In Him there is no darkness at all

The night and the day are both alike

The lamb is the Light of the city of God

Shine in my heart Lord Jesus.