Stuff

Hebrews 9:4-5

In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the Ark were the cherubim of divine glory, whose wings stretched out over the Ark’s cover, the place of atonement. But we cannot explain these things in detail now. (NLT)

Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 64)

Incense altar, Ark of the Covenant,
Aaron’s staff, manna,
Ten Commandments,
(first edition.)
Last year’s must-have
Christmas gift,
the gadget ready to
storm the market —
five years back,
the new electronic
masterpiece
that has them lined up
out the door.
Stuff. Just things,
though priceless or
out-of-date
discardables.
When things attain preeminence
it’s time to
set them all aside
without regret.

God, let me never put
anything ahead of
my need for a closer
relationship with you.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Faith Out of Fear

Hebrews 8:8-9

But God found fault with the people and said
     "The time is coming, declares the Lord, 

      when I will make a new covenant
     with the house of Israel 

       and with the house of Judah. 

It will not be like the covenant 

     I made with their forefathers 

when I took them by the hand 

       to lead them out of Egypt, 

     because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, 

       and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. (NIV)

“Did we not have confidence in our ability to think? What was that but a sort of faith? Yes, we had been faithful, abjectly faithful to the God of Reason. So, in one way or another, we discovered that faith had been involved all the time!

“We found, too, that we had been worshippers. What a state of mental goose-flesh that used to bring on! Had we not variously worshipped people, sentiment, things, money, and ourselves? And then, with a better motive, had we not worshipfully beheld the sunset, the sea, or a flower? Who of us had not loved something or somebody? How much did these feelings, these loves, these worships, have to do with pure reason? Little or nothing, we saw at last. Were not these things the tissue out of which our lives were constructed? Did not these feelings, after all, determine the course of our existence? It was impossible to say we had no capacity for faith, or love, or worship. In one form or another we had been living by faith and little else.

“Imagine life without faith!” (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 54)

Faithful.
Full of faith.
Full of confidence
in someone, something.
Can fear survive
absent faith? Wouldn’t the void
be filled with resignation,
apathy, lethargy,
not fear?
Fear demands a counterweight,
a worthy opposite,
not some wimpy
void.
Maybe having so much fear
benefits,
makes faith easier to find,
builds capacity for faith.

God, can you really use the fear?
Is that why I have so much? Wow. Awesome!

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Curriculum

Hebrews 8:3-5

And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law. They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.” (NLT)

My friend had emphasized the absolute necessity of demonstrating these principles in all my affairs. Particularly was it imperative to work with others as he had worked with me. Faith without works was dead, he said. (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 14)

Patterns,
rules,
recipes,
curriculum —
tough as heck for me
to follow – I can’t teach
a lesson plan I wrote myself!
Principles,
proposals,
suggestions,
Steps —
I want to follow, want to realize
the absolute necessity, the imperatives.
But I can’t teach
a lesson plan I wrote myself,
can’t cook with exactly the ingredients
written down.
I know I need to read, to listen, to accept, to surrender.
But that’s so tough.
I can’t teach my own curriculum.

God who made the pattern,
give me the fortitude to follow it!

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Amazing!

Hebrews 8:1-2

Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands. (NLT)

“The wars which had been fought, the burnings and chicanery that religious dispute had facilitated, made me sick. I honestly doubted whether, on balance, the religions of mankind had done any good. Judging from what I had seen in Europe and since, the power of God in human affairs was negligible, the Brotherhood of Man a grim jest. If there was a Devil, he seemed the Boss Universal, and he certainly had me.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 11)

Heaven – high above,
distant, apart, away.
The antithesis of Earth,
Nothing in common with wars,
burnings, chicanery.
Negligible connections.
Heaven – nothing to do
with life on Earth —
except everything!
What love, what grace
pulls even a thought
from perfection
to chicanery, to squalor,
to me?

Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound,
that saved a wretch like me!

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Until We Want Him Enough

(Note: I've been busy, have written several more, through the end of Hebrews 7. I haven't been conveniently able to post here, though, so instead of besieging you with a slew of posts, I'll skip them. And I'll tell you when they're published in a book.)

Hebrews 7:26-28

He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever. (NLT)

Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans when we want Him enough. At long last I saw, I felt, I believed. Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. A new world came into view. (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 12)

When we want him enough!?
How much more could I want him —
I begged, pleaded, bartered,
ranted, raged, rebelled,
ignored, cadged, beseeched,
supplicated,
pestered,
sacrificed for,
badmouthed —
I sought him every way I could.
It didn’t work.
Until pride and prejudice sloughed off,
until I wanted him badly enough
to give up.

God, show me so I can see,
touch me so I can feel,
love me until I believe.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Melchizedek? GUS? Shostakovich!

Hebrews 7:1-3

This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God. (NLT)

“Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another's conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence of a Creative Intelligence, A Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps. (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 46)

“Howard,” Howard be thy name,
“GUS,” guy upstairs,
“Charlie,”
“The Universe,”
“Mother Nature,
“The Great Spirit.”
Melchizedek?
Makes me think of the teacher
whose swear word was
Shostakovich, the Russian
composer.
A rose by any other name,
God is God,
either is or is not,
but is.
Salem. Jerusalem to us.
Holy is holy is holy.
We’re all walking on
holy ground.
Take off your shoes,
and get comfortable with
the power greater than all
power.

God of no beginning, no end,
no limits to power
or to love,
thank you for loving me!

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Rigorous Honesty

Hebrews 6:18-20

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. (NLT)

“Nothing counted but thoroughness and honesty.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 65)

It’s impossible for God
to lie.
Well, I’m better at that than
God – if being able to is better
but it’s not. I know.
I’ve lived that life, lived that lie.
I don’t want to ever return there.
Honesty is the anchor,
the key to God’s inner sanctuary,
and I’m welcome there!
God wants my honesty,
my soul laid bare before him,
he knows my secrets,
loves me anyway,
and sends me people
who incarnate
such love.

God, make me honest with you,
with others,
and with myself.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.