Friday: Further Thought ~ Crisis of Identity
Further Thought:
In the context of Isaiah 1:4, Ellen White wrote: “The professed people of God had separated from God, and had lost their wisdom and perverted their understanding. They could not see afar off; for they had forgotten that they had been purged from their old sins. They moved restlessly and uncertainly under darkness, seeking to obliterate from their minds the memory of the freedom, assurance, and happiness of their former estate.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
They plunged into all kinds of presumptuous, foolhardy madness, placed themselves in opposition to the providences of God, and deepened the guilt that was already upon them. They listened to the charges of Satan against the divine character, and represented God as devoid of mercy and forgiveness.” — The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1137.
Discussion Questions:
|
Summary: When God’s people forget Him and take His blessings for granted, He reminds them they are accountable to their covenant with Him. Mercifully, He points out their condition, warns them about the destructive consequences of abandoning His protection, and urges them to allow Him to heal and cleanse them.
(32)
I worked in one of our boarding academies for 6 years. Not only was I a teacher but I was also an evening homework supervisor, part-time electrical maintenance worker, Sabbath School officer, church elder, social-outing worker and so on. During the time I was a teacher I installed a full public address system through the academy and a private automatic telephone exchange linking all the faculty homes with the office. We lived on campus and we were essentially on call 24/7. Towards the end of that six years I came to the realisation that teaching was taking a secondary role and I wasn't giving it my best. I found that I was being busy in the school doing things other than my primary reason for being there. I asked for a transfer to a day school.
And in our spiritual lives, it is to possible to be busy with our religion to the extent that we overlook our spirituality. We become so bound up with interpretations of prophecy, adherence to the health message, church organisation, and even how we keep the Sabbath, that we forget the primary mandate for our spirituality - to love God and one another.
The big picture message from this weeks lesson is that the people of the Kingdom of Judah were religious, doing the sacrifices, keeping their sabbaths, and were too involved in doing that to the extent they had left out the bit about serving God and looking after one another. Religious but not spiritual?
We are starting 2021 after a period where our own religious activity has largely been curtailed by the COVID pandemic. Maybe it is just a coincidence that the lesson is addressing the issue of religious observance and spiritual practice. Perhaps we should be asking ourselves the question: have we been so busy with our religion that we have neglected our practical spirituality? Or have we just treated the COVID restrictions as a challenge to our religious freedom?
I like what Paul says:
Bring on 2021! Happy and Joyful New Year, sharing the love of Jesus.
I really enjoy taking some time each day to study a portion of the topic of the week and then to take all the thoughts and ideas together and consider what is my take away for the whole week.
My take away for this week is commitment, I believe this is what was forgotten by the kingdom of Judah.
Their fathers and grandfathers had made a commitment to love and serve the LORD but to the current generation it had just become rituals and traditions that they did.
How does that apply to us now and what we share with others. I would suggest I need to introduce my friend to the love of my life, the LORD, and encourage her to get to know and love Him as well. Then to share with her the ways to deepen and develop their relationship.
The same applies to our children, rituals without a personal relationship with the LORD will eventually lead to rebellion.
I like the saying , “keep it simple saints.” When I decided to simplify my relationship, by only living with and for him but one day at a time, it seems much easier to Maintain that connection. When we try and live every day ahead, for fear of being lost, we display a doubt that God has promised to see us through to the end. He is on our side, much more then we are.
Good advice, I take it as my new years resolution. Esther brought out a Dwight L. Moody quote along this line on Tuesday. The way to keep a broken vessel full is to always keep it under the water tap. What a good illustration of Paul's advice, I die daily, (to be born again daily). 1Corinthians 15:31.
My favorite author puts it this way.
"And Christ has linked His teaching, not only with the day of rest, but with the week of toil. He has wisdom for him who drives the plow and sows the seed. In the plowing and sowing, the tilling and reaping, He teaches us to see an illustration of His work of grace in the heart. So in every line of useful labor and every association of life, He desires us to find a lesson of divine truth. Then our daily toil will no longer absorb our attention and lead us to forget God; it will continually remind us of our Creator and Redeemer. The thought of God will run like a thread of gold through all our homely cares and occupations. For us the glory of His face will again rest upon the face of nature. We shall ever be learning new lessons of heavenly truth, and growing into the image of His purity. Thus shall we "be taught of the Lord"; and in the lot wherein we are called, we shall "abide with God." Isaiah 54:13;
1Corinthians 7:24." COL 26.1
I love how to's, because I am not just left with do this and do that. Thank- for your insight.
John, THANK YOU for sharing the inspired words of Mrs. White. They beautifully illustrate the life of the faithful servant - "And Christ has linked His teaching, not only with the day of rest, but with the week of toil"; they resonate with the words of Christ in my heart because they are inspired by the same source - the Holy Spirit!
I was told by reliable sources that money is coming into the churches more now than before the pandemic despite some people are not working. As a result, more money to going into the financial sector. My question is- is people serving God out of fear? many times when their is a disaster people go to church more, when the passion of the disaster dies down, people can no more be found. Our virtual congregation started with over 100 people, now it is approx 60%. Do people believe we are being saved by our good works- the more tithe and offering, the more we go on sabbath or weekly meeting, the more we give etc. Dont this sounds like the Israelites.
Some says the Pastors dont make any money, simple, they are underpaid. But how much underpaid no one knows. So they do other things to obtain money. Are they feeding the flocks as they were called to do?
'Will you employ the very talents that God has given you, as weapons to war against God?'
A young friend (raised in a non Christian family) commented that her impression of being a Adventist Christian there were too many rules. I shared with her that our Lord Jesus Christ had stated only two rules, to love the Lord with all your might and love your neighbor as yourself. Each day I ask God to help me live by these guides.
Which comes first transformation then forgiveness or forgiveness then transformation? Any thoughts?
I found that question on Friday interesting. For me, I felt like the lesson left out the most important part, repentance. Without repentance, we cannot receive forgiveness, and without repentance there will be no transformation.
2 Chronicles 7:14 sums it up very simply; If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and I will heal their land.
Christ forgave the sins of the whole world when He died on the cross (1 John 2:2 NLT; Colossians 1:19-20 NLT; 2 Corinthians 5:19 NLT).
This was before we were born. So, forgiveness happened first... for the whole world (see also Mark 2:5-12; forgiveness first, then healing).
"The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death." Steps to Christ, p. 21
You are the beloved of God. I am the beloved of God. We each and all are the beloved of God.
Thank You, LORD, for our identity. YOU are the Happy in our New Year!
We are called through faith to depend on nothing else but the Grace of God to guide us through this life; we live by this faith and we die in the faith of receiving a new life in which we are again fully united with the Father of all Creation.
To understand and appreciate this Truth fully is the journey our faith embarked on at the time when we first believed. This Truth of God's Grace is our new identity – the better we understand the implications of the work of this journey of transformation, the less we experience a crisis of our new identity.
The children of Israel had been placed in a unique situation to establish their personal and tribal identity. It started with the Covenant of God with their forefathers. To them, their existence/identity was completely synonymous with living the Covenant of Promise God had made with their forefathers. From the beginning, their Identity was based on faithful obedience to the guidance of the One who had called them to become His People – and so it is with us today.
If we struggle to know our personal identity as Christians, how much more did the Israelite tribal families of believers struggle with their personal, tribal and national identity having been called to abandon the pagan gods and to become the representatives of God on earth to themselves and all the tripes around them?
Even after having received the gift of God’s Son to enlighten the earth, are we not experiencing similar difficulties as we attempt to be the *Shining Light on the Hill* or the *Salt of the earth*?
Israel’s spiritual growth was focused on the Law; but it failed most of them because of the compromised leadership. Only when they found the Truth resonating in their heart were they able to develop their identity as children of their spiritual Father – and so it is with us today.
I look at Israel with compassion, seeing their dependance on fallen men to guide them into the Truth of the Light of their God. I know for certain that what they struggled with is still the same which we are struggling with today –
Eph.6:10-19KJV v.12,13:“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual(or, wicked spirits) wickedness in high(or, in heavenly) places. Wherefor take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done(overcome) all, to stand.