Today I attended a bible study in First Peter and Pastor Jeff, CHCC, provided inspiration from the book. I am not writing about that but the things I segwayed.
Firstly – there was wonderful worship on keyboard and over 200 voices uniting. The worship person mentioned that God is so holy. I have always pictured holy as an absolute characteristic that only God possesses. I’ve heard the term, holier-than-thou (even applied to me), but that is normally a put-down. As saved and set-apart, we are on the road to understanding what holy is and it is not me. I think the world’s criticism of Christians is the view that that we are to be absolutely morally pure. Realistically, holiness is viewed as the natural state of God and the opposite of Man’s sinful nature. I agree with my Mom that looking at a newborn baby I do not see a person who is opposed to God. Sin is a choice and not my original nature. God created us in His image so how does that account for our current status? God is the sum of what it means to be holy. So are there gradients – a little holy or a lot holy? So what then would be holy vs so holy? I think adding the ‘so’ holy is an exaggeration out of devotion. What do you say?
My tooth. What a week. I am now under contract to get an implant. Nothing is worth writing about other than a tape I listened to years ago about a lost tooth. This man surprised me by including a lost tooth in his dialogue on grief. He described the loss as something that had been a part of him from the beginning. When you are small and lose a tooth it is to make way for a new and better smile that you will keep. When you age, a loss like this means dental procedures. I only miss that permanent molar because of all this trouble. It is true that something is now missing that I counted on helping me for the rest of my life. Grief is complicated.
Gifting. I had never thought of an unused gift as an unwrapped present. The wrapping and bow suggest something really wonderful, quite the opposite of a rough cardboard box from amazon with little allure. Left unopened, the recipient is missing an opportunity. The gifts God gives are fine-tuned for each recipient. There are millions of variations, but the list is in categories: love, joy, peace, faith, teaching, knowledge, mercy, prophecy, healings, leadership, exhortation, words of knowledge, miracles, giving, tongue interpretation, administration, tongues, piety, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, and fear of the Lord, to list a few. Leave no good thing God has for us unopened and unused. Pastor Jeff gave the example of snowflakes or fingerprints that are one-of-a-kind like you.
Other thoughts specifically from Pastor Jeff. He mentioned ‘rapture practice’ (ask me about that one). I also learned something more about the Trinity from our study of 1 Peter 4. It relates to the fact that Jesus does not know when He will return to earth to gather the saints. How can the Son of God not know something? I guess as long as God knows, it means that the effulgence spoken about Jesus in Hebrews is still like as isotope (chemical term for an atom that has the same number of protons as another atom of the same element, but a different number of neutrons – same thing but differing properties). The Trinity has three persons – differing properties or missions. I keep learning and hope God can use me.
