Most of my close friends understand why I'm interested in my faith's Jewish roots, but I also have been getting my fair share of weird looks. Especially since I started carrying the Complete Jewish Bible around with me for reading material.
Jonathan on Flock's Diner has made a post today that sums up the conclusion I have come to (with God's guidance, I truely believe) and the reasoning behind it. Who Is Your Jesus? Check it out!
The bottom line is I believe in order to understand Jesus and grow closer in my relationship with Him, I need to understand who He was and how He lived.
I'm by no means ready to throw out everything I've learned regarding Jesus and the Bible throughout my life, but I am ready to challenge certain things to ensure they are a true picture of Jesus and not my culture's picture of who He was.
4 comments:
You need a copy of Restoration by D. Thomas Lancaster. Also, go to www.ffoz.org...(the book is sold there). I've not read it yet, but I'll get my copy on Tuesday from Barry Proctor. I, Barry, and Dave Dimick are working hard on all this stuff. We'll see where God leads. -Traver
..."The bottom line is I believe in order to understand Jesus and grow closer in my relationship with Him, I need to understand who He was and how He lived."...
As I study Jesus, I study who HE is in the entire context...GOD. For me, the Trinity must be at the central forefront of my thoughts since this is how God presents himself in entirety to us. Our human minds alone cannot fathom or understand his greatness, and I have to be careful not to "dissect" God, but through faith and Jesus Christ I have a relationship that flourishes and teaches me.
Many times I get frustrated when I desire to have more "head knowledge" and God says no. Its through those times I realize its my heart He's after.
God is truly amazing how he uses our hearts to teach us. We can read words (often others, not God's) and think we understand or come to a determination of interpretation - but only through heart works and experiences does God stamp His wisdom on us.
Through works and experiences I become more alive, full of peace and joy. I must never forget that I must tend my own backyard (over and over again) before attempting the football field that's not mine.
I love this scripture:
John 18:36 - "Jesus said, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But
now my kingdom is from another place."
Jesus is God! Hallelujah!
The bottom line is I believe in order to understand Jesus and grow closer in my relationship with Him, I need to allow Him to work in me, through me, transforming me, teaching me.
Tanya,
Thank you for your wisdom. I agree 100%.
Lately God has been teaching me many things and one of them is that when Jesus was on this earth He was a Jew and the nation God originally chose to show Himself to was the Jewish nation. He is teaching me that this is no coincidence (just as there is no coincidence in anything he does).
As I've learned to lean on Him for knowledge (heart & head) He has led me down different paths. Right now it is learning more about Jewish roots and the Holy Spirit (both of which are not taught on much in our traditional church). He gave us brains and gave us a heart. He teaches us through a combination of both. The trick is to remember to look to Him and not rely on our heart OR our head too much :)
Hi Angela,
The more I learn about first century discipleship, the more I understand the value of education for the people of God.
A disciple would begin learning to memorize the first five books of the Bible when he or she was five years old. At age 11, the boys would go to the next school to memorize the rest of the Bible.
At age 16, the best male students would choose a rabbi to follow until age 30, when they would begin their own rabbinic ministry. For 15 years they would study God's Word until it was all on the tips of their tongues.
Today, like our Greek and other non-Jewish ancestors, we have become far too reliant on the printed version of God's Word, and too few of us know more than a few passages of Scripture, believing that it is God's job to preserve His Word.
Keep studying, Angela.
Forever learning,
Johnny
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