This weekend I went with a few friends to a Beth Moore conference back in the Quad Cities. It was super refreshing and I just love the way that she digs into the Word. She just really has a passion for studying God’s Word, it is so refreshing! She spoke from the Old Testament, when the Israelites had to rebuild their temple after being in Babylon. In the beginning of Ezra, the people only had the Arc, not even a foundation and let alone a temple- but they were able to worship. In 2 Chronicles 5 they experienced the same worship but with the extravagance of the Temple. God sometimes produces the same result (worship) in different ways. I found that this is super applicable to my life right now. Sometimes I think that I need to follow the exact path of someone else in order to become like Christ. In reality, following someone else will cause me to become like that person. The only way to become like Christ is to follow Christ, and that might look different for every person. Just like the Israelites- they experienced the same worship through two entirely different means. We are called to greater works. Beth Moore said something that really stuck with me, she said that “greater works” are not necessarily “bigger works.” It could be a deeper work that rivets you for the rest of your life. Maybe we can’t go big until we go deep.
I was captivated by the majesty of God. His Word is so beautiful, so perfect, so intricate. Its beautiful, I wish that I could convey in this short blog post how incredible it is. We went through several passages in the Old Testament and then bounced over to the New Testament and saw the prophecies fulfilled in the most majestic and awesome ways. It is so cool to think about the incredible prophecies that have been fulfilled in Jesus and in the church. It gets me so much more excited too for the fact that what it says in Revelation will one day be reality. We already know the end. Worshipping my King Jesus. Sometimes I need that reminder, that life is going somewhere glorious- I am so selfish, I get so wrapped up in me. But if I had Revelation in mind, the end in mind, would I live my days differently? It gets me excited to think that Jesus has invited me to join in on the most epic story of all. The more I study and learn about the Bible, the more I am convinced that it would EASILY be the best movie ever created. And I’m pretty sure that all people would be captivated by the story, not just people who have chosen to follow Jesus.
Zerubbabel was from David’s lineage. He was helping rebuild the temple. He was discouraged that the building of the temple had stopped for 18 years. But God had greater plans. He tells Zerubbabel “Not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit” in Zechariah 4:6. Then, God says he will bring out the capstone, the last and final stone to complete the temple, and people will be saying “Beautiful, beautiful!” This is because the work, rebuilding the temple seemed impossible to man at this point. So when the final stone is brought out, people are screaming in praise and awe- like “how did this happen, it’s a miracle!” This is so cool because it prophesies Jesus being the capstone to the church- and when He comes through the clouds, people will be shouting “Beautiful, beautiful” because we could have never done this on our own. Now, I compare this to my life. I look at my past and my future and somehow I doubt that God could make something like the temple in my life. Could God really use me to make Him glorified? Could he really use me for greater works than these? The answer: “not my might, not by power, but by my Spirit.” Nothing that I can do, but by the SPIRIT- I can do greater works than these. This really makes me re-evaluate some things. Whenever I get excited about living for eternity- I start planning, talking with people, reading books. Those are all things I do in my power. I think I should start looking to the Spirit, you know, GOD living inside of me.
Praise God for His Word. I stand amazed.
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