Now is the time

We are already a few days into 2019. A new year always makes me think about time. One of the Bible-passages I love to read again and again, is Jesus’ personal mission-statement, simply because His mission is my mission (1). In the statement, Jesus said:

In short, the Spirit is upon Me to proclaim that now is the time;
this is the jubilee season of the Eternal One’s grace.
Luke 4:19 (The Voice version)

Many translations say that Jesus came to proclaim ‘a year of God’s favour’ – a year of grace. However, time is neither past nor future; time is always ‘now’!

God is the great “I am” = God is the “Eternal Now”. 

Paul had discovered this, and wrote:

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2b

For this reason, I can pray: “I am here, God, and I know that you are here too, and I know that 'now' is the accepted time of grace!”

‘Manna’ for today:

Grace is that ‘now’ is always the right moment!

------------------------------------
(1) It is the mission of all disciples, because as God sent Jesus into the world, Jesus is sending us into the world – See John 20:21.
* Source
NB - this reflection links in with General Brian Peddle's "Call to Mission - NOW"

To end on the right note…

NORSK
Oscar Peterson was by far my favourite pianist. I tried to learn from buying and studying his sheet music and listen to his recordings, but perhaps the most important thing I learned was one of his statements. From memory I quote: “The important thing when you play, is to know where you are heading and reach your destination at the exact right time. If you can do that, you can do almost anything you want along the way.”

This is a very important principle if you want to create real music.

The principle is valid in several areas. I have for example used Peterson’s statement when I have taught preaching. The preacher needs to know where he's going and he must get there at the right time. I have heard many preachers who have shared a lot of good thoughts, but the message was not going towards a destination. Others have been targeted, but the message fell flat because of bad timing.

Although Paul wrote an ordinary letter to Timothy, he does seem to have had a three-folded objective with his letter and it all comes together in the final verses.

1. The first objective is directed upwardly:

To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:18b

To glorify the Lord is the purpose of every disciple. It is also objective of my life.

2. The second objective is directed inwardly:

The Lord be with your spirit!
2 Tim 4:22a

When the Lord is with my spirit, he is with me wherever I am in the world. It is the best greeting anyone could wish for me and the most important greeting I could wish for a brother or sister in the faith.

3. The third objective is directed outwardly:

Grace be with you all! 2 Timothy 4:22b

I belong to a fellowship and a fellowship depends on grace. This grace should also flow from the fellowship in such a way that people who still do not believe will understand that the gospel is all about grace.

A musical work very often ends on the keynote. The keynote of the gospel is grace. Therefore, grace is the right tone to end on... I believe Paul knew it, and Timothy fell into to the rhythm of it. 

‘Manna’ for today:

God is grace - and he is the beginning and the end – therefor grace is the keynote of the gospel.

Thank you for being part of the journey through the letters to Timothy.

On the arena of faith

NORSK
Yesterday, I wrote that the order of the arenas on which we are challenged to set an example hardly can be random. At least it seems obvious with the first three, but shouldn’t the arena of faith be the first instead of the fourth?

“…set an example … in faith…”
1 Tim 4:12

If it is about receiving the gospel, I believe it would be correct to place the faith earlier, but this is about setting an example. Therefore, I dare claim that the placing gives meaning. I am convinced that Paul writes about the mature faith. A fresh faith may easily become haughty, and I speak from experience. When I as a young teenager experienced that faith was life and not just a set of dogmas and rules, I was convinced that I had seen not just “the light”, but all of it. The faith I conveyed did not necessarily have its base on the arena of love.

When Jesus came he was “full of grace and truth” (1). In many ways grace represents love, and faith truth. If grace does not precede truth, the encounter with truth can be brutal. If love does not precede faith, even faith can be brutal because the faith may be conceived as demanding.

“There is a difference between demands and demands, and must and must” Tomas Sjødin writes, and continues: “I call the necessary demands for ‘love's demands’, and I do this because of observation made of what happens when we draw closer to love. In a subtle way the demands are transformed to longing or desire. In relation to the one I love, there are many things I must, but the demands are far from dull duties. ‘I just must hear your voice!’ ‘I must see you.’” (2)

That is how it is supposed to be with faith. I act in obedience because of love to him who loved me first.

‘Manna’ for today:

Love is the main entrance to the arena of love

--------------------------------------
(1) John 1:14
(2) In the book: «Det er mye man ikke må», Vårt Land forlag, 2015 p 11

A year of the Lord’s favour

2017 is already one day old. The heading is the last phrase of Jesus' mission statement, the declaration he made in the Synagogue in his hometown. The scroll with the prophecies of Isaiah was handed to him, and he read that which in the best way described him and the mission he had come to fulfill. He was sent:

“to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Luke 4:19

Because Jesus also said: "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (1), I know that his mission is also my mission. The favour is God's grace that makes every day to a New Years day, and because the world still exists, I will take part and proclaim the year of God's favour. I will also state that this means now, because  

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
2 Cor 6:2

‘Manna’ for today:

The time of God's favour, is the right time

------------------------------------

(1) John 20:21

It is about the good circle

NORSK
As a child, I used all my volume when I sang “Jesus wants me for a sunbeam” and the song taught me that it would happen by me trying to please him in every way. It was a good song to sing.

However, if the song is used in combination with e.g.: “O be careful little eyes what you see”, I am not sure that it necessarily leaves children with a correct image of God. 

The challenge is even bigger in Norwegian. In our version “the Father up above” translates well, while the next line stops with “he is looking down” and skips “in love” because love needs two extra syllables in Norwegian. Two syllables can make a lot of difference.

I am sure that the intentions of the translator were good, and the Biblical truth is still there. The point is that the base, which must be the experience and understanding of God who is boundless in love and grace, needs to be built first. It is the sequence of things that is important - a matter of concern even for Paul:

“..since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..”
Col 1:9-10

As I grow older my understanding of how much I am loved has been steadily growing, and that experience has become the motivation for my longing to please the Lord, not just a little, but in every way. I believe that the result will be that I bear more fruit and grow in my knowledge of him. This will please both him, and me, and I find myself in “a good circle” – also called the process of holiness.

‘Manna’ for today:

Holiness is about the good circle

---------------------------------------