Made In His Image

Bobservations Column

By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeing thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God creaded man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."  Genesis 1:26-27

We read and studied not long ago in John 14:10-11, that the things which Jesus spoke were the words of the Father. We learned that the works that he did were the works of the Father. We can assume no less that the places where Jesus traveled were the places to which the Father led Him. This was an extension of the teaching from John 10:30 that says, "I and my Father are one."
One Purpose, One Heart, One Being, One Relationship. That Jesus was able to speak and do all that He did "from the Father" is more than indicative of the relationship He enjoys with the Father. There is an abiding and meaningful depth to their relationship. They are united in all that They and the Holy Spirit do. The three are One in all things.

Similarly, when another person tells us they love us, there is a heart attachment that is made, and a sense of relationship begins, followed by a sense of belonging and unity. Yet when we read of Jesus' love for us in the Bible, it is far too easy to skim over it and miss the depth of the words and of the relationship.

We take His love for us as a stated "fact" and file it away as with other tidbits of knowledge that we have, and then sadly get on with our day.

Did you ever wonder why so many of our days don't go well? We are missing that oneness of heart, purpose, and Being. We separate ourselves from the supremacy of God and go about working on our own agendas. Oh my! We've got things backwards! When so many around us tell us to follow our heart, reconsider following His instead.

Jesus prayed that WE might be one with Him as He is one with the Father. Don't let your plans obstruct His objective for you.

John 17:20-26: (read it slowly; grasp it's depth, take us all deeper, Lord)

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Prophecy Fulfilled

Bobservations Column

By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

As we temporarily leave the Book of Jeremiah behind for a few weeks to celebrate the holiest weeks of Christianity, there is a nagging correlation between the situation that Israel found itself in during Jeremiah’s time, and the holiday that we are about to celebrate.

In recently covered chapters of Jeremiah, God had spoken to Judah through the lips of Jeremiah the Prophet: Essentially God told Judah that if they fought the powerful Babylonian Army to hold onto Jerusalem, they would die by disease, famine, or the sword. If Mt. Zion is God’s Holy Hill, then why do they fight for something that is not theirs but God’s? Considering especially that they had defiled the City of Jerusalem, and the Temple of their God, their zeal to fight was based more in hubris and false pride.

God encouraged them to submit to the Babylonians, and live for a day in the future when He would bless them with a return to their homeland. Many did just that, and 70 years later, they came back.

Palm Sunday marks the day that Jesus enters into Jerusalem, received by the people as a King, knowing full well that by the end of the week, He would be tortured, crucified, and buried. He also knew that taking the loss now, and resurrecting from the dead three days later, would provide for many to join Him in His Heavenly Kingdom.

Why do we fight for things we cannot keep? If the life of every Believer is hid in Christ, then our lives are no longer our own. Dying to self means adopting Jesus’ purposes for living. As the old saying goes, “I’ve never seen a funeral procession with a trailer full of money towed by a hearse.”

Live your life building for yourself treasures that are in heaven.

Take the losses now, and receive much greater rewards!

The Lord's Prayer . . . digging in!

Bobservations Column

By Pastor Bob Lawrenz

In the last few Bobservations, the underlying encouragement has been to pray; “pray without ceasing.” And many do pray the traditional prayers of their denomination. Among Christians, the most commonly held prayer is The Lord’s Prayer. It is given to us in Matthew 6:9 and in Luke 11:2. These days I will recite this traditional prayer if it’s included in whatever rite of the church I am attending. It is a beautiful prayer, for sure.

In my opinion however, this prayer that the Lord left with us was not meant to be memorized and recited. With all due respect to the broad Christian beliefs that might be reading this, I urge our gentle, sincere readers to compare the two versions of the prayer as recorded in the two Gospels. The two versions are unquestionably similar, but they definitely are not exact. This begs the question, “Which did Jesus teach?”

They are both true, but not necessarily in the way we may have been led to think and believe. If both Matthew and Luke heard Jesus teach them these words, then why the discrepancy in wording? Even a cursory review of the passages will lead you to the same question I am posing today.

Jesus spoke the words that we now call “The Lord’s Prayer” in response to a request from the Apostles: “Lord, teach us to pray.” Their request was “how,” not “what.” Recorded in the Gospels are two versions of the same thing. What do I mean by that? I’ll compare it to two people who hear the same thing, but understand it in slightly different ways. Though the words are not precisely exact between the two Gospel accounts, the intent is!

Jesus’ intent was to teach them to pray. Clearly then, between Matthew and Luke, their own words come forward, their own speech patterns, and their own dialects, perhaps. We therefore a have a single “pattern” for prayer, taught to us all by Jesus. The first line of the prayer, begins the pattern “Our Father, who art in heaven.” It is an acknowledgement of the Father of us all, sitting in His glorious kingdom, watching over all things on Earth. “Hallowed be Thy name.” God’s name is to be glorified* and acknowledged in our lives, as we offer praise from our hearts and lips. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” This is a statement of faith, relinquishing our will and adopting His for all the world, and ourselves as well. I encourage every reader to continue through “The Lord’s Prayer,” and let the Holy Spirit reveal to you personally how we are to pray.

The analysis of the written passages clearly identify a specific pattern and order for prayer. This is what the Lord wanted to teach the Apostle, and by their words, teach all of us! It is a beautiful pattern revealing humility in the heart of the pray-er, sincerity of heart, empathy for a situation, and compassion towards others. These are a few of the several components of any legitimate prayer. Now before you label me a heretic, I am going to encourage every reader to look at one more prayer given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is found in John 17. In fact, it is the entire 17th chapter of John’s Gospel. There we find Jesus praying to His Father in heaven; we find Jesus’ humility, and recognition of His own submission to His Father Jehovah, as the Old Testament refers to Him. In this “Lord’s Prayer,” you will find all the facets of Jesus’ teaching the Apostles to pray, but in Jesus’ own words (translated though they may be). Our beloved Christ Jesus has not only taught how to pray, but given us an example, by letting us eavesdrop on His very words as He prays to His Father, interceding for the Apostle, and if you read verse 20 accurately, you will find that Jesus prayed for you and for me, and every Believer!

The intimacy of this prayer is unquestionable. And, it reveals the intimacy that the Father and the Son together want to have with us through the Holy Spirit; that we all may be as one with Him, as He is one with the Father. I encourage all in these days of work shut-downs, school closings, and fretting about the Corona virus, to put prayer’s components together in your own words, not just memorized recitations. The above is a wonderful study to undertake: approach it prayerfully, openly, and in humility as God’s Word speaks to your heart. Come away from it with a sense of awe, and peace, because God wants to hear from us!

 “And he spake a parable unto them to the end, 

that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;” 

- Luke 18:1

*Compare this with Psalm 138:1,2