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cultural atheist

~ Rejecting the gods of our culture since 1998.

cultural atheist

Tag Archives: treasure

Great Value

22 Tuesday Nov 2016

Posted by braddahr in Inspiration, Observations, Spirituality

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Bible, christianity, health, Jesus Christ, learning, life, Parables, recovery, relationships, treasure

Have you heard about the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value? When Matthew wrote his perspective on the Good News about Jesus Christ, he gathered a bunch of Jesus’ parables in Matthew 13. This is how they go…

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!”

The typical approach to these parables that I have heard is: Be that guy! Sell everything, be willing to give up everything, so you can gain the kingdom.

Truly, the kingdom is worth everything and anything we give up pales in comparison to it. Truly, we don’t want anything between us and God, for those people and things are idols.

But there are two problems with the typical approach. First, that’s not what the text is saying which is huge but the bigger problem is even worse. When we take that approach, we push ourselves towards legalism; it’s about earning the kingdom which is a gift from God. The good news becomes good advice.

giphy

So what’s it saying?

Right before these parable, Jesus says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field.” Then he talks about an enemy who sows weeds in the field.  Eventually, both wheat and weeds are harvested and then sorted. Right after these parables, Jesus says, “…the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.” The fisherman pulls the fish onto the shore and sorts the catch into good fish and bad fish.

In both these parables, as in all scripture, we see two groups: There are those who have embraced God’s acceptance and love and are resting in his grace, and there are those who have persistently remained indifferent, resisted, or outright rejected God’s acceptance and love. The second group are eventually given over to their heart’s desires.

What all this means is that the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value are not things you are supposed to strive for and sacrifice for!

They are you!

cheering_minions

They are you and me and the one who buys the field and the pearls so he can have the what he values above all else is… Jesus.  Under the shadow of the cross he couldn’t see beyond the portal of the tomb. He thought it was a one way trip. And yet, he stayed the course; fought the battle, gave up everything, and ransomed you from the enemy of life. These parables tell us that we are infinite worth and value to God.

Yes, we’re broken and hurting and angry and stubborn but we have love and belonging with God because he treasurers us; gave everything to rescue us.

Here’s the great big idea I want you to take away from this. When you’re in pain, overwhelmed, thinking you’ve run out of options, people will probably say: remember that your friends love you, your family loves you, God loves you. ALL TRUE.

But I don’t think that’s going to get you through.

Instead you need to see your infinite worth and value in God and… Love yourself.

You need to love yourself enough to ask for help.
You need to love yourself enough to hold on to hope.
You need to love yourself enough to seek healing.

You need to love yourself enough hold on one more day… after all, it’s always just one day at a time.

 

A Dwelling Place

07 Tuesday Apr 2015

Posted by braddahr in Uncategorized

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beautiful, christ, complex, dwelling place, Exodus, God, sanctuary, tabernacle, treasure

Do you have a treasure box? Perhaps it’s a collection of photos or postcards? Maybe you have some letters in it. Mine has those things and more. To me, these little things are remembrances of things that are important; I call them places in the heart. As I was thinking about such things, my thoughts turned to God’s sanctuary. Have you ever given any thought to God’s sanctuary?

After God rescued his people from Egypt, he gave them construction instructions for a sanctuary and described the services that would be performed there. The two most profound and symbolically rich services performed were the annual Passover and the Day of Atonement; teaching people about redemption and reconciliation.

For those seeking for God, the sanctuary was inspiring. The author of Psalm 77 wrote this:

“I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds.
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?”  (Psalm 77:11-13)

God’s sanctuary, its services and its meaning even for us today is woven through His grand redemption story and it is both beautiful and complex; inspiring and challenging. But I like to keep things simple so I want to draw your attention to a singular purpose for the sanctuary that you can find in Exodus 25:8:

“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”

It’s been noted that the phrase, “that I may dwell among them” could be translated as “that I may dwell within them.” The point of the sanctuary was to bring God within the hearts of His people. This is God’s eternal plan. On the night before the cross, Jesus made his strongest appeal to experience God’s abundant peace and joy. In John 15:4, Jesus said:

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.”

“And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.”

The interesting thing about God’s story is that right after he says this, he generally refers to the sanctuary as his tabernacle – his dwelling place. It’s like he is saying he wants them to build a place for religious purposes but the reason is because he wants to dwell (tabernacle) with them (as opposed to jump through religious hoops). Hence the emphasis on dwelling with his people. We tend to get stuck on the outward forms of religion and miss the true reason for worship.  Even from the beginning, God was telling them to stay focused on him above all else.

Would you be willing to reflect on God’s desire to dwell among and within you? Take a moment and do a searching inventory of yourself. Consider these questions:

Who do you think about throughout the day?

Who do you love to talk about on a regular basis?

Who has your warmest love and your best work?

Is it Christ? Are your kindest thoughts of Him?

Does God reside in the treasured places in your heart?

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