7 March 2013 - fingerprint of God

7 March 2013 - fingerprint of God

Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”

What can we say to lessen the impact of God's words and actions?  We are slow to hear the LORD's word.  On the one hand there is the body of revelation which most readers of this blog accept.  On the other hand, we still manage to minimize the impact of those words to the point where our lives don't look that different from those who don't accept divine revelation at all.  Will people realize we follow Jesus by looking at our lives?

Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.

But even so the LORD does not give up.   He is always trying to find a way into the depths of our hearts.  Before our eyes he will drive out demons and yet we will try to find ways to minimize that.  We blind ourselves to his power at work in our midst and to deafen ourselves to his word. Regardless, he sends his prophets to us to proclaim his message, whether we're listening or not.

When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.

We have seen his works and yet we tempt him and test him.  But although it might be a process, at least in these invitations he continues to send seeds are planted within us.  He still pleads with us not to harden our hearts.  We put his action into categories and norms and assume we know how he acts.  We assume we know his mind.  But then he slips a word through the cracks of our defenses: 'was this not a good thing, a wonder I worked?  It couldn't have been from the enemy, because then the enemy would be against himself.  It is actually me working in the world.  I'm much closer than you want to accept. But that is because I can't give up on you.  I love you too much to stay at a distance.'  The beauty and goodness of his work can overwhelm our mental barriers.

But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.

He isn't going to let the enemy keep the spoils which he won by deceiving us and causing us to harden our hearts.  He will take those spoils (of lives dominated by sin) and he will liberate them and distribute them to all people as a blessing.

We must be careful, because the voice of the LORD is always polarizing.  Perhaps when we hear that the LORD frees us to be a blessing to others we only hear labor and sacrifice and so close ourselves to the invitation.   Yet it is only and precisely there that we find freedom and joy.  The LORD speaks constantly but if we do not cling to him the enemy will find us easy prey.  Jesus calls to us, "harden not your hearts!"

Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

But even so we have no cause to fear.  He won't stop seeking us no matter what.  He is at the door to our hearts and he will not stop knocking.  Let us not refuse so great a love and so patient a mercy.  To remain in awe and docility is all that is necessary.

Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.