Day 8: Via Kennard Blackwell

Got this email from my boy Kennard. Thought I'd share it:

In my efforts to stay close to the guidelines for the 21-day fast that ANQ is going through I came across this verse:

Deuteronomy 29:29"There are secret things that belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we may obey these words of the law."

In this chapter, Moses is making a call for commitment to God. He is reviewing the covenant made my God between Israel and is telling them that they need to keep their part of the agreement or they will experience severe discipline. God promised to bless the Israelites by making them the nation through whom the rest of the world could know God. In return, the Israelites promised to love and obey God in order to receive physical and spiritual blessings. This verse in particular, Moses points out that there are things that God keeps to himself and there are things that God reveals to us. The things that he does reveal to us we must obey. The Message version says that "the revealed things are our business." Well, ask yourself, what has He revealed to us? God has revealed himself to us through Jesus Christ, He has revealed His word, His commands, etc. He may have revealed to you personal things as well (purpose, convictions, plans, etc.).

Many times we find ourselves frustrated with revelation. Maybe frustrated with the lack of revelation or with what he has revealed to us. When it comes to lack of revelation, remember this: 1) Our finite minds cannot fathom all the things that God can, He has so many infinite aspects about his nature 2) some things are unnecessary for us to know until we are more mature 3) We don't have the capacity to know everything God does, he is infinite and all-knowing.

You may have been like me and fought with God begging for understanding of a situation or in your asking Him to reveal his will for you. I've come to realize that you're not always ready for what God can expose to you. Maybe your heart isn't fully surrendered. Maybe you are trying to reach step 3 without taking step 1 first. We have to remember that "God has not kept back nothing that is profitable for us but that which is good for us to be ignorant of," (Matthew Henry Commentary). It might be hard to grasp, but sometimes not knowing is good for us. Just imagine what we could have wrecked if we knew something before it's appropriate time. For example, if I knew I was going to join ANQ and give up sex back in the beginning of my freshman year, I probably would have tried to get it in as much as possible. That leads me to say that what we do know, it is our business to explore it, diligently seek it, and follow it. The Word of God...we must search it, break it down, and follow it. Disobedience comes from an act of will, not from a lack of knowledge. Take hold of what you know and don't let a lack of knowledge be an excuse for you.

Hopefully this inspires us to be in a place that is repentant of our prior ways and ready to receive when the time is appropriate. A lot of times we are our own restrictors. Let's not be. Let's be ready to receive by being mature and spiritual sensitive through fasting and denying our flesh.

Day 6: Tough Day

Ever had a day where stress crowded out your "spiritual space?" Today was one of those days for me.

Day 5: Sin is Personal

Today, we had communion during our worship service and the message focused on Peter's story in Luke 22:54-62. When Jesus is arrested, just before being crucified, Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, is recognized by the crowd. Keep in mind that these people wanted to kill Jesus, so being identified as a follower of Jesus could cost you your life. The verses below in Luke 22 tell that story. What strikes me is how Peter responds after he sins and denies Christ:

54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him." 57But he denied it. Woman, I don't know him," he said. 58A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied. 59About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean." 60Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Peter went outside and "wept bitterly." Bitterly. Bitterly. Those words keep echoing in my mind and I think to myself, wow, I want to be so close to Jesus that my sin hits me that hard. I think sometimes I'm so desensitized to sin that I only see it as a "mistake," but not as a personal offense to the One who gave His life for me. When David committed adultery, he repents and says "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." (Psalm 51:4a)

Sin is so personal. It's not just right and wrong. It's an offense to our Lord and Savior. I hope the Holy Spirit allows me to feel that sorrow in a way that, like Peter (see the rest of Luke and Acts), leads me back to Him.