Friday, August 31, 2012

God.


God’s reputation. God's character. God's power. Just God.

I want to recount every detail, but at the same time I’ll save you the endless pages of text. This story comes out of 1 Samuel 4-6, but it’s one I don’t remember have reading before.

A battle with the Philistines breaks out (no surprise there) and 4,000 Isralites die. So t hey call in the big guns, they go get their lucky charm, they bring in the Ark of the Covenant, kind of a beacon for the presence of God. As the Israelites see it coming into the camp they shout so loud the ground shakes and their enemy fears. They’ve heard stories of how Israel’s God did work on the Egyptians. They didn’t realize He was the ONE God, they just assumed it was Israel’s gods that took care of them.

They fight again. They lose again. 30,000 men this time. The Israelites run home and the Philistines take the spoils back to their place. They take the Ark of the Covenant and they put it in their temple to their god Dagon. This showed that their god was greater than the Israelite’s God. The Ark/God would serve their god, Dagon, because he helped them win. Basically, they’re saying your God will now worship our god.
I don’t know if you know this or not, but God doesn’t like to be subjected to….anything. Especially, lesser forms of a god. They put him in the temple and the next day, they find their god laying face down before the Ark of the Covenant. BAM! They brought in God to serve Dagon, and the next thing you know Dagon is lying prostrate before God.

They set up up the statue back in its place and come in the next day to find it facedown before the Ark once again. Back in a place of worship. This time its head and hands have been cut off. Who is like our God?
These people who didn’t honor, respect, worship, or know how to treat God were getting a quick lesson on the power of God and who He is. He cannot be compared, contained, or wielded. Because they thought they could control Him, He began to show them that He was not for hire. He does what He wants and they should bow before Him not the other way around.

They expected Him to work for them, but like a virus in their system the hand of the Lord came against them. He inflicted them with tumors in Ashdod, so they sent it to another city. At that city, there was panic and men, young and old, became afflicted with tumors. So they sent to ark to a third city and the people know what had been happening. “What?! You brought us the Ark to kill us?!” There were also struck by tumors and many died. Three cities and each time it seemed as if it progressed a little more. They had won it, they thought. We now own this God. But this God was not bowing and being used like the other ones did. At this point, they’re asking everyone what to do.

Their own priests and mediums told them to send it away but not empty. They would often make sacrifices for the mercy received (aka survive a shipwreck, give pictures of a shipwreck) so they made golden tumors and mice to send off. (Mice started flooding their fields and ruining things like the Egyptian plagues.) They got two cows who had never been hooked up to a cart before and took away their calves and just let it go. If they went up the road to Beth-shemesh (back to Israel) then it was God who was taking his Ark back home and therefore the one who caused the issues and it would stop. If it went down the road, it wasn’t God doing this to us. I think they picked two rookie cows because they had no training or no inclination of which way to go. They had no previous routes to follow or ideas and their calves were gone so they couldn’t follow them. God would have to direct and steer them.

The Ark went back to Israel and the people rejoiced. They sacrificed the cows with the yoke they carried. They rejoiced and took the ark on. Unfortunately, they forgot the full extent that God is Holy and set apart and cannot be looked upon with sinful natures and ways. So at least 70 men looked into the Ark (probably  just in celebration to have it back and not thinking) and then died. They took it up to another city and lamented after the Lord for 20 years. They set Eleazar to take care of the ark.

How awesome is this though that God is for Himself. He fights for His name. they put Him in to serve another god and the other god ends up bowing before Him. They set him up, he bows down again. God does not play well when people try to control Him or use Him. He is for Himself. He is for His people and He cannot be controlled. 

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Worship Experience Idea

I'm trying something new that I had this idea for. It's not fully developed but I emailed it to a few friends who I think are crazy enough to do it and try it. Perhaps, I'd love for you to try it too. 


Disclaimer: This will take about 20 min to get through. It's not one to skim but it's meant to be a time to get a blast of Jesus goodness, so I hope you would take it in rather than get through it. Just ask Jesus to show you who He is and ask for more of Him and who He is. I'm really excited for this. (Ok, really more like 10 minutes, but 20 will give you time to sit and enjoy.) I pray a spirit of wisdom and sweet revelation for you. (Eph 1:17)


First Off:
Ask Jesus to show Himself to you in a greater way. 

Stop. Close your eyes for 30 seconds and exhale.


Now read and imagine:
"Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He'll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He's the only one death can't touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He's never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can't take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes." -1 Timothy 6:14b-16 (Msg)

He’s coming at just the perfect time. He’ll be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only Almighty God , the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But what does that really mean, "King of Kings and Lord of Lords?" He is the ruler above every king, queen, lord, president, chancellor, prime minister, emperor, chief, baron, general chairman, dictator, senate, congress, government, diplomat, immigration officer, defense secretary, military, commander, militia, rebel group, slave trafficker, arms dealer, gang leader, state police, sheriff, mayor, tribal chief, medicine man, guru, priest, pope, preacher, teacher, superintendent, boss, CEO, manager, health care provider, doctor, nurse, caregiver, parent, angel, demon, and anyone or anything else who may have power, authority, and/or say over another individual. That’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That’s Jesus. 

Again, who shall you fear? So if God tells you to do something, who could dare stop you? All of them are subject to the authority of Christ. If God, who is over Christ, who is over all these people/things, is FOR us,  then who would/could stand against us. We know that now all things aren’t united under Him yet (Heb 2:8) (hence, the drug dealers, human traffickers, gang leaders, gurus, and need for military), but they are being united under Him this very moment.(Eph1:10;Phil2:10)  Some may not be fully submitted, but all are under His control and will be used for good. God does whatever He wants (Psalms 115:3),  and He is good and all He does is good (Psalms 119:68). So, who should we fear? Who now? Who will stop us? Who could be against us? The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is for WITH us, OVER us, and FOR us. Now what can we say to this?



Closing:
If you feel peaceful and relaxed now - click Song 1
If you feel excited and pumped up now - click Song 2

Still pumped afterwards? Click this.


Take a few minutes to respond however necessary. Sing, dance, cry, sit in silence, draw, or just exhale.



May you  be blessed uncontrollably and may He invade your life with crazy amounts of Love for you and for Himself.  May you learn how to respond accordingly. 

May you know this, get this, and then walk in incredible amount of Favor as you know He is leading the way and making ways where there aren't ways yet. (Is.43:19 but all of 43 too) I'm so PUMPED right now for you! I can't wait to hear what's happening/going to happen! Go hard and watch what happens!  

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Without Ears - They Listened.


Jesus spoke to the deaf demon and he listened.1

Blow you away a little bit? Jesus speaks words that you don’t always need ears to hear. And not only hearing, obeying. There are deeper implications than the demon listened (as in heard) but he also listened (as it heard and responded to the command given).

Jesus also talks to a fig tree2 and a storm3, which both don’t have ears, but they both listened. He also spoke to dead people, 4 who had ears but had stopped working, and they also listened.

Jesus knows stuff. He operates on a different level. He didn’t even speak normally. He had the Spirit of God (which we do too5) and would talk that way. He had a fuller revelation of the power of speech. We have an idea that for someone to hear they have to have ears, for someone to see they have to have eyes, for someone to talk they have to have a mouth. (I don’t know the full weight of this statement, but I do know that God doesn’t need ears for someone or something to hear. I could go off on the idea of how things could talk to us without mouths or see things without eyes, but the focus is on speaking and hearing.) Jesus spoke with the idea that all things could hear Him weather dead or alive, ears or no ears and He knew they would respond.  Why? Because He’s had experience. “In the beginning…God said… and there was…”6 I think this has something to say about testimony and knowing God’s character and what He has done before and what He can do again.

Proverbs tells us “the power of life and death are in the tongue.” 7

A fact, I know I don’t fully grasp yet. Otherwise, my words would not come out so quickly. Jesus cursed a plant and it died. I don’t want to speak death over my car, house, family, the annoying people in restaurants/ball games, a slow waitress, or someone who flips me off in the car. I think we need to speak life, blessings, and joy over them. Over those we know and those we don’t. Jesus said “Bless those who curse you.”8 Even our enemies we should be blessing. Why would we speak death over ourselves all the time in the form of criticism or “humility” or “honesty.” I could go off on this topic, but for now I want to keep it on speaking life and truth to all things – those that we naturally expect and don’t expect to listen. Then, I want us to ask God to raise our faith so that we expect all things to listen as we speak His words through us to them.
Before we jump down the easy trail of just saying nice polite things to everyone, I want to add in another point that prevents us from watering these statements down. This has been challenging me and so I propose it to you with the power of words. Remember, Jesus spoke to a tree and it died, He spoke to the storm and it stopped, He spoke to a deaf demon and it listened and obeyed, He spoke to at least three dead people and they listened and came back to life. So what do we do with this statement?

He tells us to speak to mountains9 and mulberry trees10 and tell them to be thrown into the sea.

Yes, He’s explaining if we have faith (even a small amount) we can do these things. But before we rule it out as an illustration, we must remember it comes after the fact that He JUST KILLED A FIG TREE WITH HIS WORDS. I don’t think it was a nice polite picture of what if… I think there was a statement here. Have you ever prayed for a mountain to move? I mean, I’ve prayed for rocks to move before, but I’ll be honest, I was going to be super surprised and pumped if they did- which, I know, is not much faith.  But what can we do with this? I want you to think about and wrestle with this statement. Jesus tell us if we speak to mountains or mulberry trees and tell them to be thrown into the sea with even a hint of faith they will happen. If that’s the case (where there is no real purpose to move a mountain or tree), then how much more would He want to show His love to those who don’t know it (believers and nonbelievers), the full weight of His love.  Nothing is impossible for God and nothing will separate us from His love towards us. Speak words. Speak Love. Speak Truth. Expect them to have the weight Jesus promised they would.


1 Mark 9:25; 2 Mark 11:14; 3 Mark 4:39; 4 Matthew 5:41, Luke 11:14, John 11:43; 5 1 Corinthians 2:12; 6 Genesis 1; 7 Proverbs 18:21; 8 Luke 6:28  9 Mark 11:23; 10 Luke 17:6


P.S. He also made a donkey talk. 


Friday, August 17, 2012

Power or Person


When we seek the power of God apart from the person of Jesus, we begin to minister power to people rather than ministering to the person.

I realized this lately as I've been seeking out and trying to understand the power of God. I want to know all there is to God. I want to know His love and the power of His love. I've been really pushed and stretched by testimonies of people getting healed and being rocked by God's love. I started asking why don't I see people healed like that all the time? God responded with "when's the last time you prayed for someone to be healed like that?"

Touche.

So, slowly, I've been trying to step out in faith more and pray for people. Silly me, my desire began to shift from walking with God to love people, to loving people, to having a cool story about God's love, to just having a cool story. I realized this when my thought was, "Ok, I'm going to go pray for them and then it'd be awesome if they get healed." The thought of telling them the gospel about how Jesus isn't just physically active but He does this to reveal His greater love for the person and to invite him into a relationship that starts now and runs through eternity. No, my mind was set on "pray and watch him get healed."

Yesterday in the weight room/locker room a football player came in with shin-splits/stress fracture. I was trying to not let fear stop me and I could tell he was 1) in pain and 2) frustrated that he wasn't able to continue playing football. So after about 4 or 5 laps around him trying to muster up the guts to do it I asked if I could pray for him. That awkward "Yes" reply. As I put my hands on his leg and started I then realized, I forgot/didn't' really know his name. I asked his name. Then I asked, "wait, do you know who I am?" "Uh...no" he said. Well oops. Missed that part. I was so focused on praying for his leg I forgot to introduce myself or really find out about him. 

As I sit here considering why God didn't heal him and why he was still limping, I had many thoughts. What didn't I do right? Why didn't you do it? Do you always heal? How does this work? If Your Spirit is really inside of me, why didn't it happen? Do I not have enough faith? Is that the issue? Did I say the wrong words? Should I have... and the list goes on.

What I realized this morning after journaling a good bit, I realized, I've been seeking after the power of God and not the person of Jesus. (Yes, seek the gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1)) but my attention had been on His power and not on Jesus. Not enjoying Jesus, Himself. In the same way, as my focus became about His power and not His person-hood, I also began ministering that way. I tried to minister the power of God rather than minister to the person. What did this injured athlete need? Was it healing? Maybe. Was it someone to relate? Was it someone to understand? Was it someone to appreciate and encourage? Did I care enough about him to let him know my name and get his? Was I planning on sharing the gospel with him afterwards or did at this time I just want to see him healed, have a story, and run to celebrate with someone else rather than him. I missed the person because I was trying to minister the power to the person rather than minister to the person the love. I got so caught up in the ministry that I missed the person.

Final conclusion:
God help me seek the person of Jesus so that I would love Jesus for Jesus and not what He does and so that I could be better focused on the person that I want to love/minister to rather than the ministry itself. 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Addictions


As I was reading today and rewriting 1 Timothy (don’t judge me, I read and paraphrase in my own words so I process through it – pretty handy technique to help me remember), I was expounding some of my thoughts on the qualifications for an overseer and deacon. Why are these things here? Is it a checklist? No. They’re things that are important to have in your character so that you best represent Christ and so that you’re not distracted and others aren’t distracted by you. They listed “not addicted to much wife, not greedy for dishonest gain” “sober-minded and not slanderers” along with some other things. But I started to realize, we work as addicts. One was “not a lover of money.” I looked at this one and saw that money isn’t bad but it’s to what end do you chase it down. Why this is important is because your focus is not on people and what they need, but your end result looking throughout your day is how to get more money. You won’t care for the poor and powerless, you’ll care for the rich and their money.

I started to realize that in the same way that we look at the dirty addictions -meth, cocaine, alcohol- the slightly more hidden addictions -pornography, masturbation, anorexia, bulimia – and the culturally accepted addictions – working out, how you look, how you compare to others in the room, wanting to be wealthy and famous, being “boy-crazy” or “girl-crazy”, wanting better adrenaline rush, and so on. You may argue, “well those aren’t addictions” but I would disagree.  I’ve dealt with addictions before, I’ve talked to other people, and I’ve analyzed and probably overanalyzed my behavior to find the result.

An addiction is something that you don’t have to think about, but your natural response is to seek after how to get more of it. Your reasoning becomes skewed and you begin to elevate whatever this thing is above all other things. It’s your longing, your place you go to when you space out, your I’ll give up change plans for this thing. I’ve done and seen people do things that just don’t make any sense, but their focus is on getting that addiction, that substance, that image, that feeling, that look, that high, that whatever. The problem with an addiction is it’s never enough. I mean, this time it is but it always leaves you wanting more and more and more. Eventually, people are losing their house, selling their stuff, losing family members, and everything else to get more of what they need.

Funny how it works out that Love and Addiction are so close together. Love is seen as a good thing. Addiction is bad. Re-read through the last paragraph but consider it to be love rather than addiction.
I propose every addiction is a misguided and much weaker version of a greater Love. How do you get over an addiction, by replacing it with something else. Rather than replacing an addiction with an addiction (a weak form of love for another weak form of love), perhaps we should consider a greater form of Love. Don’t check out yet. Consider the fact that Jesus is addicting. He’ll make you sell your house, leave your family, give up your habits, an quit your job as you follow Him, to get more of Him.

At a quick glance they look the same, but they’re not. An addiction is usually harmful to you, your health, and your relationships long term. It could be socially harmful (judgmentalism, comparing others, always trying to prove yourself), spiritually harmful (getting involved in other things, searching for value in things or approval, looking for respect in those who can’t give it) and physically harmful (eating disorders, weight loss, digestional issues, memory loss, brain damage). But Jesus is long-term improving. Your relationships have more love, honor, and respect in them, your find value in who He says you are and give value that way, you have life beyond this one, and enjoy this one to the fullest, and you take care of your body better, eat right, and do the right amount of exercise. Addicts think they’re life is pretty good and they’re “happy” but people on the outside don’t want it and know it’s not true. People who really have Jesus think they’re “happy” AND people on the outside know it and want it too. Jesus is the best addiction. He’s the better addiction. His driving force is Love not a high, certain value, or image – although you get all of those things with Love. Jesus – the best addiction possible.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

No One Ever Feels Bad for the Pharisees

Have you ever noticed that your own personal sins never seem to be as bad or as annoying as others? We except a lot of grace FROM others even when it doesn't flow so freely TO others. Or maybe you're on the other side (like I am) where I'll give others lots more grace, but crack down pretty hard on yourself telling. Today we'll talk about the first one and tomorrow, we'll hit the second category of people. (This is not extensive, just an idea I had while reading today.)

Rules:
Dress up for Sunday church.
Don't play loud music in the church.
Don't work/mow/clean/labor or cause others to do so on Sundays.
Keep everything clean and in it's place in Church.
Don't talk too loudly or run in Church.
Come to Church every Sunday morning and evening.
Be friendly to everyone by smiling and talking politely and calm.

We have lots of rules - said or unsaid that have to do with Church and Christianity. None of them are
precisely Biblical. One for instance that the Pharisee's also had a hang up on is the Sabbath. They got mad multiple times because Jesus was healing (Luke 13:14) or making lunch (Mark 2:24). They took the letter of the law and they missed the point of it. Some of them had become so focused on power or not getting things wrong or boasting in themselves that they missed the point of everything. As God raised up leaders/priests to serve and to guide them they got a little cocky in their positioning. They were into themselves and power hungry.

But lets look at the other side of them. Maybe they were just so into the scriptures and what they thought or had been told that looked like, that they missed Jesus when they came. Jesus said "you search the scriptures looking for eternal life and miss me, Life Abundantly, before you." Of course, for us standing on the outside 2000 years later we see their a bunch of idiots. But it would be similar to today if people came up deciding the way we do church is all wrong and started this underground, hippy, grassroots movement rather than our established steepled-church white-walls organization that we know "Church" to be. He came in and got rid of all of their programs, bible studies, small groups, Sunday School, morning worship set, prayer time, children's service, offering, alter call, and all other structures in the church and said let's do it this other way. If that happened today, people would flip out! We have these things in place for a reason! Their Biblical! Actually, to be fair, most of them aren't. They're not wrong, but there just isn't a place in the Bible that says we have to do it this way. There are places where they study the Bible, pray, sing, teach the Word, collect offering - but it just looks differently than our set church schedule.  He showed up taught the Bible. They gave their money to help each other freely. Sometimes if they didn't have enough, they would go sell some things and then come back to be able to give more. They lived and ate together. They spent all of their time following this strange man who could do crazy supernatural things, miracles, healings, etc. and could explain the Bible in radical ways.

We would argue Well, we've always done it this way. It makes sense for the last few hundred years we did it this way! .... and so did the Pharisees. They had been doing their structure and their set plan of action for hundreds of years. I mean, it had been 400 years since the last prophet. Imagine doing things now like we used to in 1612 because that's how we last knew it. I mean our own services have morphed since then and the structures much different. But they had all of this time, all of these generations passing down traditions perhaps not fully understanding why they were doing it. Maybe they did know, either way. They were still not searching for Him to come. They were locked into traditions and habits and fear drove them away from seeking God no matter what that looks like.

Ones who got it right:
John 3 tells a story of a man named Nicodemus who was a ruler of the Jews and a Pharisee. He came to Jesus like so many others, but  yet he was different. He came, listened, learned, and left changed. Unlike all the others who came and listened for material to bag him with, Nick came to openly and honestly hear him. It rocked his world and he left pretty confused. This is one of the few times Jesus talks to a Pharisee without just schooling them and walking away. Ok... so He does school him a little. (v10). The difference is he wasn't looking for material to accuse Him with, but rather just taking it in. -->Change--> The change happens in his life when he gave up these preconceived notions of how God was and followed what Jesus was doing. Later in the story John tell us that Nicodemus came to take care of the body of Jesus with 75lbs of myrrh and aloes.

There's another man who was hot on the trail. He was one of the most zealous men for God. He knew the Word and he fought hard for it. He wasn't about to let someone defame the name of God. Anyone who brought up these heresies or false ideas, he'd shut them down and silence their message. He was intense, killing all who would try to take people away from the message of God. He was good at it too. People all around knew him and respected him for his zeal. One day he had sent out on a mission to go get some more of these cult-like people taking people away from God and creating this "new revelation" type of tendencies, and on his way a bright light blinded him and asked him, "Why are you persecuting me?" Turns out these cult-like people were disciples of this false teacher named Jesus. But as this zealot talked to the light he found out the light was Jesus, the Lord, the one this new band of people had followed. The zealots name was Saul. After learning the truth, he became a follower and proponent of Jesus and became one of the greatest advocates for Him. He went on to right 2/3 of what is now referred to as the New Testament.

Why I say this:
It actually began at the confession of my high school principal saying he feel like he often treads more on the side of the Pharisees than the disciples about things. He explained how he originally had some problems with some guys tattoos and piercings. The tattoos represented Jesus and were hitting a section of society others would never reach.

I've wondered about them before. Especially Paul/Saul who was being very zealous for God doing all of the right things but was just there and didn't see the turn that God made. He was set in what he knew and studied and was going after it hard without just listening to God and seeing where He was going and what He was doing. I mean, he was doing all of the right things, but he was just so going with it that he didn't ever consider looking up that the Messiah would be here.

Then it hits home. I've went to Church and done all of the right things. I prayed the prayer when I was 5 years old and began really following Jesus in high school. I've went across the world to different countries and went across the room to tell people about Him. I've heard and read the mission of Jesus - but I have to down and ask what about the daily mission of Him. What is it that He does daily? Am I a part of that? What does it look like? May times we read a story, see what happened, then go do it. We get our marching orders and head out. Jesus yes, sent people out, but most of the time He said "Follow Me." We go with Him. Jesus said He only says and does what He sees the Father say and do. What He does in His ministry is not exactly what I see us doing in ours. He went out and preached the Word, healed the sick, and cast out demons. We go out and share the Word, ask questions, create programs, and give food. (All good things - but I have to ask if that is what God is doing.) Let us not stop what we're doing completely, but let us pause to see if what we're doing is really what He's doing.

There are roofers on my roof as I type this replacing shingles. I've only roofed a house or church 4 or 5 times. I could use the skills and talents that I know what to do and how to do it and do it. I could do a fairly decent job. I could figure it all out and it might take a little time, but I could do it according to the way I have seen it done and done it. Nothing wrong with it. But, I also recognize that I was taught by others who had been taught by others who weren't necessarily expert roofers or contractors. They roof a house/church at least once a year and have tons of experience doing it - but what if there was a professional who knew other ways to do it better, quicker, and basically more efficiently. He knows what the owners of the house want and need rather than what we know how to do. Sometimes, we use the things that we've seen other churches or generations before us do over and over again and they do it well. My question is though is that what God is doing, the expert/professional contractor doing - or does He know and is doing other ways that will do it better - knowing exactly what they need.

Again this jerked me when I began to learn that God still heals - yes, and not via just doctors or medicine and over a long period of time but instantly at times. When someone would come up and tell me something about my life that I hadn't told anyone about so they could encourage me in. When people began to speak in languages they didn't already know. When all of this happened, it freaked me out. I claimed it wasn't good, it was strange, it wasn't right, it wasn't in the Bible (turns out it was), and so many other things. I ran like the Pharisees and found myself judging every little thing they did just so I could find something wrong with them so I wasn't as wrong or out of the loop as I thought I was. Turns out, I was wrong. They still weren't perfect but they had a better understanding of what God could do than I did. I gave Him 5 basic options that I was listening for to see which one He wanted to do. They came to the table with 10+ ways of what He wanted to do to love someone. So here I am like the Pharisees blaming, cursing, and judging them for nearly every oddity I could because it seems as if they had something that I didn't. I was very insecure. I thought my relationship with Jesus was everything - but now it seems as if I'm lacking. It was the wrong focus. Instead of saying, "That's what you have for us? I want that too. Can I have that, Daddy?" I got cold and turned away saying, "Pssh. I don't want that anyway. It's not really of God. I have God. God and I are tight. We have a good relationship, that's not ... that's just not for me. That's not how God and I work." I honestly didn't want it because I didn't understand it and I was afraid of it. I thought it was something they had and it was a different Jesus than I knew. Then when I realized it was the same Jesus I thought, They took my Jesus! I don't even know who Jesus is anymore. And I felt abandoned. It was my fault because as Jesus wanted to show more of Himself to me, I wanted to withdraw and run the other way because He was much bigger and fearsome than I had anticipated. It took months of me trying to run, yet crying out for Jesus. The Jesus I knew. Slowly, He opened me up to show me that these things aren't bad, but they're actually just extreme ways to love people better than anticipated.  I had wanted Jesus - the Jesus I was taught growing up not the real Jesus in the Bible. Same with the roofers and with the Pharisees they wanted what they had been taught and the God they were looking for not the reality that was bigger, more powerful, and demanded so much more of your life and time than before. Here I am a Pharisee fighting for traditions more than Jesus.

I think as we stop seeing the Pharisees as strictly the bad guys and see them as people dealing with things, we find ourselves Pharisees too. Then we see Jesus rebuking us for not being more for Him than we are our ideals. Then, like Nicodemus, Paul, and others we have the opportunity to change and get on board with whatever God's doing and whatever that looks like. Let us not feel bad for the Pharisees but let us be okay to identify with them so that we can change our mind and ways (repent) and join Jesus. Let us not get caught in traditions or the way we think it should be, but rather have our hearts open to really hear what Jesus said and let the Holy Spirit get down in deep and make those come alive and come to a deeper understanding in our lives.