When God Is Silent The Living Church Foundation
Isaiah 59:1-4 Psalm 13; Heb:5:6-12; Mark 10:46-52
Isaiah gives voice to a wayward nation, describing its miserable condition and the Psalm is a plea from the victims of an oppressive enemy who beg God for deliverance.
Hebrews calls to Christian believers who are moving away from God. Their condition of backsliding is bluntly described — those who should have been teachers are in fact no better than children in the ways of God. They are admonished and encouraged to show earnestness in the way forward. It is noteworthy that, in spite of their disappointing sluggishness in Christ, they are nonetheless addressed as “beloved.”
In the case of those in the Old Testament, God is silent because the people have abandoned God for a sinful life, but in the epistle, the faithful are far from God, not because of deliberate sin but because they have avoided maturity in Christ.
Finally, in Mark the theme is completed in the person of Bartimaeus, who is blind and begging by the roadside. He is as blind as those the psalmist talks about, as sidelined among the people of God as those addressed in Hebrews, but he shows how to respond. Bartimaeus perseveres in his cry through the crowd’s opposition, and comes to Jesus quickly when he is called. He must acknowledge publicly and before Jesus what is his heart’s desire. He knows that his sight, once restored, will change his life forever. No longer will he be able to beg; no longer will his place be by the roadside. Similarly, when the people described in Isaiah turn from their wickedness, they will live; and those addressed in Hebrews are enjoined to “leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.”
Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go your way.” According to the last line of the gospel, what did Bartimaeus identify as his “way”? If God is silent in whole or in part of your life, are there any “iniquities” that might be causing that silence? As there was people who tried to stop Bartimaeus from calling to Jesus, do we let others and stuff to get in our way of God?
Lets talk about some of these words/phrases: courage, strong faith, resilience, no social boundaries in Jesus, powerful appropriation.
What do you think of this: I want to be following Jesus rather than I want to be like Jesus - which is more correct?
Isaiah gives voice to a wayward nation, describing its miserable condition and the Psalm is a plea from the victims of an oppressive enemy who beg God for deliverance.
Hebrews calls to Christian believers who are moving away from God. Their condition of backsliding is bluntly described — those who should have been teachers are in fact no better than children in the ways of God. They are admonished and encouraged to show earnestness in the way forward. It is noteworthy that, in spite of their disappointing sluggishness in Christ, they are nonetheless addressed as “beloved.”
In the case of those in the Old Testament, God is silent because the people have abandoned God for a sinful life, but in the epistle, the faithful are far from God, not because of deliberate sin but because they have avoided maturity in Christ.
Finally, in Mark the theme is completed in the person of Bartimaeus, who is blind and begging by the roadside. He is as blind as those the psalmist talks about, as sidelined among the people of God as those addressed in Hebrews, but he shows how to respond. Bartimaeus perseveres in his cry through the crowd’s opposition, and comes to Jesus quickly when he is called. He must acknowledge publicly and before Jesus what is his heart’s desire. He knows that his sight, once restored, will change his life forever. No longer will he be able to beg; no longer will his place be by the roadside. Similarly, when the people described in Isaiah turn from their wickedness, they will live; and those addressed in Hebrews are enjoined to “leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.”
Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go your way.” According to the last line of the gospel, what did Bartimaeus identify as his “way”? If God is silent in whole or in part of your life, are there any “iniquities” that might be causing that silence? As there was people who tried to stop Bartimaeus from calling to Jesus, do we let others and stuff to get in our way of God?
Lets talk about some of these words/phrases: courage, strong faith, resilience, no social boundaries in Jesus, powerful appropriation.
What do you think of this: I want to be following Jesus rather than I want to be like Jesus - which is more correct?
posted by qtip at 9:46 p.m.
1 Comments:
My First thought to the last comment, You become like who you follow.
Sylvia
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