Who Can Stand?

I was meditating on Psalm 76 this morning and verse seven really jumped out concerning who can stand in the day of God's fury and wrath?  So here are some scriptures I looked up in relation to this verse.

1.  The magicians could not stand before Moses (Ex.9:11)

2.  No one can stand before God (Duet.11:25)

3.  Israel could not stand before her enemies because she had forsaken God
     (Joshua 7:2, 13; Judges 2:14)

4.  The nations could not stand before Israel because God had delivered them over to her
     (Joshua 23:9)

5.  The priests in the temple could not stand in God's holy presence (2 Chron.5:14)

6.  Israel could not stand before God because of her sins (Ezra 9:15; 10:13)

7.  Who is able to stand before the mighty presence of God? (Job 41:10; Psalm 24:3)

8.  Who can stand in the day of God's fury and wrath? (Psalm 76:7)

9.  If God should count our sins, who could stand? (Psalm 13):3)

10. Who can stand before his cold? ((Psalm 147:17)

11. Who can stand before envy? (Prov.27:4)

12. Who can stand as a watchful shepherd like God? (Jer.49:19; 50:54)

13. Daniel could not stand before his heavenly vision (Dan.10:11)

14. No one can stand in God's great day of judgment (Nahum 1:6)

15. Who can stand when Jesus appears as a refiner's fire? (Mal.3:2)

16. A divided kingdom can not stand (Matt.3:2)

17. Who can stand at the judgment seat of Christ? (Rom.14:10)

18. On the great day of judgment, who can stand? (Rev.6:17)


It is interesting to note a few scriptures that struck me about standing:

1.  Stand in awe of God (Ps.33:8)

2.  Wake up and stand up Jerusalem (Is.51:17)

3.  Put on the armor of God so you can stand (Eph.6:11)

4.  The dead in Christ shall stand before God (Rev.20:12)

The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything

"Be grateful for your sins, they are carriers of grace"  -  Anthony De Mello

The world has a Jesuit priest for a Pope and some don't know how to handle this man's simplicity and sheer love for the poor while challenging the comfortable and the powerful.  I have started reading James Martin's book and he explains that Jesuit spirituality is defined by Ignatian spirituality.  Here are four defining aspects of this contemplative action spirituality:

1.  Finding God in all things
2.  Contemplation happens through action
3.  One looks at the world incarnationally
4.  One finds freedom through detachment

For the first time in history, many non-Catholic people are beginning to recognize Pope Francis as their pope.  When he stands for certain issues that I find myself opposed to, I recognize for the first time that maybe I am wrong and don't know the bigger picture as this Pope sees things.  Here is a Pope who calls and writes his critics and tells them thank you for showing love in telling him hard things he needs to hear and then he says, "please pray for me."  Here is a Pope on a mission to change not only the Catholic church but the world for Christ.  Gratitude, peace and joy fill my soul today as I think of God who holds all things together, even people who feel like life is falling all apart around them.

A Fool For Christ or How to Pray Like a Fool

My simple and foolish prayer for the day is this:  "Lord Jesus, give me the heart of a child and the awesome courage to live it out as an adult." To be a fool for Christ means one is willing to do anything for Christ, even look foolish to others.  It means to be so in love with Christ that nothing else ultimately matters.  To be a fool for Christ means to be fiercely honest with yourself and others and pray about everything.  To be a full for Christ is to identify with the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten, and the rejected.  The wisdom of Christ seems like foolishness to the world and darkness to our natural way of contemplating life.  So my prayer for today is simply this:  "Lord Jesus, give me the courage to walk in the darkness of faith and let my foolishness source be your precious light.  Amen"

Cosmos Reborn

"God never gives us an explanation of evil---he only gives us the answer to it"  -  John Crowder

The whole universe cries out for the sons and daughters of God to be one with God and her (the universe).  This fully happens in the new heaven and new earth but its a call to every creature to recognize they are God's new creation.  The dream we have forgotten is God's love for the entire cosmos fulfilled in Christ.  The mystery revealed is the whole cosmos being reborn into the image of the son who is the prefect reflection of God the Father.

The mystic secret is a person discovered in God's son Jesus Christ.  The journey is not found in self books but in the person of Jesus Christ who calls us back to our primal true self.  When we read the scriptures, he is the lens where we see everything.  Without Christ centered eyes, we turn the Bible into an idol or rigid rules that end up enslaving us rather than liberating us.  When I read Leviticus, I no longer see a long list of legalistic rules that I am to uphold but rather pointing to Christ and his finished work on the cross.  Christ is the lens which I read everything now.

I am preaching through the whole counsel of God and that also means the book of Revelation.  Most people will preach through about the first three or five chapters and stop there.  Why?  Because the book becomes very dense with the seals, trumpets, four apocalyptic horsemen, bowls of judgment and the like.  These are not scary texts to appease an angry God or a violent God who wants to wipe humanity off the face of the earth.  In the most difficult and traumatic texts of the Bible, is God's wrath not trying to destroy me but is always against my sinfulness that is destroying myself.  The cross does not satisfy God's anger but his love.  It is God's love that extends to everything, even the hardest and most troubling of circumstances.

I will Trust in the Lord

"He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me" (Psalm 55:18).  These words register and resonate so strongly with me this Sunday morning.  I have not had a battle against me from the outside but my own inner struggles and war from within.  God is so patient and gracious and has shown his face in such beauty and grace when it comes to restoring my soul. 

My circumstances are still the same but I have an unshakable faith as God leads me and others around me.  Psalm 55 goes on to say in verse 22, "Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved."