August Birthdays: 11
Isaac Newton is credited with the discovery of the ideas and concepts regarding laws pertaining to motion. We call them Newton’s Laws of Motion. In them, we find the theory and science behind the movement of objects and force applied to these objects as well as the outcomes of these actions and reactions.
FORCE can be defined as the influence that can change the motion of an object; the capacity to do work; or the capacity to cause physical change. A very elementary summary of what laws are accredited to Newton is that an object at rest (not moving), stays at rest, or an object in motion (moving), stays in that same motion, unless acted upon by another object (or force). And then we learn the nature of how to determine any FORCE as a quantified amount.
It’s easy to begin looking at things in the world and attributing the properties of these laws of motion to them even if we don’t fully comprehend all of their properties. Things move and stop and accelerate and change direction because of FORCE. A ball, a car, a river, a person, weights, the lawn mower, etc, all function within these laws.
And this is what we’re going to be looking at for the next several weeks.
Jesus was an absolute powerhouse when it comes to FORCES but of a different kind. The laws of motion can be seen in Christ’s movement on earth but also within the spiritual realm. And one thing we see that he was: Faithfully Gracious which is the F in FORCE to start our series.
Matt 14 has this story:
Jesus is grieving - cousin, John the Baptizer, has been murdered. Goes to be alone.
Crowds saw where he was going and followed, preventing him from being alone. He saw them and had compassion on them. And healed their sick.
Then:
His disciples say to send them away cuz it’s late and they need food.
Jesus replies, not to send them away, but to feed them.
Problem:
Only 5 loaves and 2 fish.
Jesus took it. Looked up to heaven. Gave thanks. Broke it. Passed it to disciples.
(It multiplied and) Everyone ate to satisfaction and there were 12 basketfuls leftover.
3 things we see in this story from Jesus that made Him a force to be reckoned with and spells out what FAITHFULLY GRACIOUS looks like. Jesus was:
Consistently humble
Consistently compassionate
Consistently hospitable
3 things we DON’T see in Jesus (but often struggle with) that will keep us from being a FORCE and specifically go against being Faithfully Gracious. Jesus was NOT:
Arrogant
Entitled
Annoyed
This is hard, even hurts in human terms. But it takes living on a different level. When we choose life in Christ, we are choosing to embrace this lifestyle! And with the LORD’s help, we will!
Will you be a KINGDOM FORCE? for the movement of God in the world.
#ItHurts
#FaithfullyGracious
#FORCE
#RestoringWholenessOfLife
Brett
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