bible study notes: november 2022

[prismaticbleed]

"So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith." (Galatians 6:10 NET)

The phrase "whenever we have an opportunity" is so vital. It suggests that we should ALWAYS keep an open eye-- and an open heart-- FOR opportunities to do good to people... ALL people. This, in turn, sets the stage for said opportunities: there are no exceptions! Every human being on earth is someone we are called to love and serve. Keeping this in mind, we quickly realize that ALL our actions are opportunities. We do not exist in a vacuum. "No man is an island." Whatever we do, we must do not only for the glory of God, but ALSO for the benefit of others-- which glorifies God in a very real and tangible way. Honestly I love this verse. It's such a beautiful call to action, a call that declares every moment to be fertile ground for the flowers of compassion. If we pause, at any time, and ask: "how can I do good for others, right now, in exactly what I'm doing?" You don't necessarily have to stop and do something different! That's the beautiful part. When your heart is set on serving God at all times, then you can and will literally use ALL times as events of grace. Every moment can be a blessing for others, if we enter into it as such. This, too, will enable us to discern even greater opportunities to do good, because in starting small yet sincere, we can transmute our lives at the most basic level, keeping us from being blinded by proud ambition and instead moving us to meet the most humble souls in their most vulnerable states. Even just a prayer, said during everyday duties done with honest integrity and love, is a powerful gift in the hands of God. So don't worry about "seeking" opportunities-- you're in one right now! The "whenever" is gorgeously universal. Rejoice in this.

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"God look you full in the face and make you prosper." (Numbers 6:26 MSG)

This feels like the sunlight beaming glorious and bright upon a tiny flower, filling it with life and strength and beauty.
I just... love this. "May God look at you," not just in a passing glance or brief blip of attention, not sidelong or halfway, but "full in the face"!! Just imagine that! God focusing His Heart on you, little you, His eyes meeting yours, turned completely towards you. Full attention, full love. It's like the entire sun, hitting your soul like a diamond and filling every facet of you with rainbows.
This is how you truly prosper. It's not about wealth or influence or talent or prestige. It's when God sits right across from you at the table of love with His face in His hands and just smiles, directly at you, and everything in you just sets aflame with joy. Your heart will bloom like a bouquet of roses. That is where life finds all its bounty and beauty-- in the glow of that divine gaze.
May God look YOU full in the face today. May you be forever illuminated by that amazingly personal love.

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"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see."

(Hebrews 11:1 NET)

This hits hard, in light of recent trials. Sometimes I face struggles and terrors that shake me up so badly, all I can hope for is survival-- but even that is doubtful. Nevertheless, I've realized that my poor heart always settles on one amazingly solid conviction: that God is STILL GOOD. Even when I DON'T see His Goodness, even when I DO doubt if He will help me in what I plead for, I am STILL SURE that He IS GOOD. Sometimes that surety feels insane, I'll admit. "How can you believe that God is good when He's letting you suffer through THIS?" Well, look at Jesus. There is a sacredness to ALL suffering, now, united with His. Perhaps that is God's motivation here-- to humble and purify me, to drive me TO this point of desperate prayer. Am I not so painfully close to God when I feel Death's hand on my shoulder? And besides, does it not glorify God MORE to trust Him in trials, rather than in easy times? The devil can give all sorts of faux "blessings" with worldly power. But ONLY GOD can take our scariest moments and transmute them into grace. There's the distinction: the devil only wants me damned. God only wants me saved! Scripture attests so powerfully to this, despite all my fears and worries. I can take refuge in that Truth-- I can find safety even here in the dark shadow of His wings.
To be totally honest, what I most deeply hope for in those situations IS God's Goodness. Whether I live or die, I just hope God loves me enough to sanctify and save my soul, to have mercy on me and redeem me from my stupidity and sin. And... deep down, as deep as it gets, I DO KNOW that He will. He must; He Himself has said that He "does not delight in the destruction of the wicked," and that He "came to call sinners" in Christ-- "your faith has saved you!" And what is that faith? It is TRUST IN GOD, being sure that He CAN and WILL do what is objectively right & good, no matter what happens; it is being absolutely unshakably sure that God will do everything in His Power TO save us, and that He LOVES us... enough to live and die for us. So our hope is in Him alone. We need not hope for anything else. And "hope does not disappoint," for "God IS faithful!"
Lastly... conviction in the reality of the unseen. I would like to affectionately debate that phrase. "Unseen" is incompatible with faith, because when we DO trust in God, it is impossible NOT to see Him! "Blessed are the pure in heart..." When God is sincerely our sole aim and focus, we can and will recognize Him everywhere, by proofs of His Goodness and Love. Scripture is the obvious example, but so is our religion in general. God gave us this grace, that church community, that pastor! God gave us our parents and friends and spouses and children! God gave us spring flowers and summer rains and autumn leaves and winter snow... oceans and sunsets and hummingbirds and stars. Everywhere I look, even in this fallen world, I still see evidence of God-- dim yet honest reflections of His beauty and compassion. But that testimony is in the tough times, too... maybe even more starkly, despite all circumstances. Sometimes I feel so wrecked that I wonder if God truly loves me? Then... I remember that Jesus died for me. He is suffering WITH me, and I with Him. That fact can move my heart more than all the beauty in the world, in those moments, because it proves that God cannot be stopped by difficulties. Where false "gods" sneer and cringe and run, refusing to get their hands dirty or to endure discomfort themselves, the One True God trudges valiantly into the mud and darkness with us, to embrace us, and give us a hope that transcends even temporal deliverance-- He gives us the hope of the Cross, and the Resurrection that follows. Even if we cannot see that, we know it is real. Even if we must stay on the cross until we die, we know there is a life after this, one brilliant with light and song and eternal joy... and that means we can endure anything and everything, here, if we remember that it is all from His hands. He IS Good, and He WILL work all things for your good... for you who love Him.
Have faith. It is all you need.