2012.

the Lord is gracious and righteous;
full of compassion.

when i was in great need, He saved me.

in my anguish, i cried out to the Lord,
and He answered by setting me free.

be at rest once more, o my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

excerpts, psalms 116, 118.

yet they remained.

"the history of abraham's people is, of course, one of unfaithfulness as well as faithfulness, yet they remained faithful enough so that they might be truthful about their unfaithfulness."

-hauerwas.

----

sometimes i feel the only good and valuable thing i have to offer is my honesty, my vulnerability, my truth.

and perhaps that is enough.

perhaps.

in every detail, worthy.

the geneology and the virgin birth show that the King is legally qualified to reign. at the baptism Jesus received divine approval. now the King is proven as to His moral character through the temptations.

matthew has carefully presented the legal geneology of the King, His supernatural birth in fulfillment of prophecy, His confirmation of prophecy by His childhood, His forerunner, His baptism, and His temptation.

in every detail the King is qualified - legally, scripturally, and morally.

all is now in readiness for the presentation of the Messiah to israel.

-stanley toussaint.

the heart of Jesus.

"simon, simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. but I have prayed for you, simon, that your faith may not fail. and when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."

-rabbi Jesus to peter, after he denied him.

-----

stunning and beautiful. Jesus prays for us and over our mistakes through his lens of grace even before we sin, and continues to believe in us despite of it.

"and when you have turned back..."

and his mighty vision of grace whispers in this passage;

I know your heart. you will fail and you will sin and you will hurt people, BUT,

you remain what I name you to be. you are still mine.

TURN.
TURN.
TURN.

and then use the experience of the grace i offer you to encourage your brothers who will do the same.

the God who has called us.

"growth in the christian life is not required only because we are morally deficient, but also because the God who has called us is infinitely rich. therefore, conversion denotes the necessity of a turning of the self that is so fundamental that the self is placed on a path of growth for which there is no end."

-stanley hauerwas.

unbroken, and constant.

"read as a particularly clear example psalm 5: repeatedly there are two voices, bringing the same concern to God. is this not a hint that one who prays never prays alone? always there must be a second person, another, a member of the fellowship, the body of Messiah, indeed, Jesus himself, praying with him, in order that the prayer of the individual may be true prayer. is there not in these repetitions of the same thought, which in psalm 119 rise to the point where it seems that it would never end, the tremendous suggestion that every word of prayer must penetrate to a depth of the heart that can be reached only by unceasing iteration? is this not an indication that prayer is not a matter of pouring out the human heart once and for all in need or joy, but of an unbroken, constant learning, accepting, and impressing upon the mind of God's will in Jesus Messiah?

-dietrich bonhoeffer.

tension.

sometimes the worst thing for faith is our ideals.

the beauty of following Jesus does not grow from His removal of life's messiness;

the weight and the power and the glory of following Jesus manifests in the fact that amongst all of life's chaos and failure and struggle and tension,

the power of the resurrection, the living Word, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the gentle One, Victor and Shepherd and Defender, King of all kings,

MESSIAH,

resides with us in the midst of it,

and breathes, speaks, creates,
resurrects

new life.

(amen).