On the Journey- Daily Devotional Meditation

On the Journey -Daily Devotional Meditation: “Marinating in the Truth” Scripture: “30 As he spake these things, many believed on him.31 Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed him, if ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; 32 and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Observation: I have read this verse numerous times and what I have emphasized do often is the verse, “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The phrase that Jesus uses is “if ye abide in my word” which Greek scholars call a causative phrase because it sets up a cause and effect. When one abides in His word then one is a disciple and the truth will set one free. The word that John uses for abide is “meinate” which comes from the verb root “”meno.”[1] It translates “to remain to continue, or to permanently abide in one place.”[2] Jesus is exhorting them to continuously abide in His word. The context of this verse is Jesus is speaking to Jews who had the Old Testament Scriptures and he is now redacting their whole notion of God as it relates to him being one with the Father. It is also important to understand that there was no New Testament canon of scripture at this time but the language of the text places emphasis on the person of Christ. Jesus is not just appealing to their cognitive, intellectual understanding of His Word but he is also speaking to their hearts that they would continuously press into a personal relationship of intimacy with He “Who is the Living Word.” This concept in the New Testament is consistent with the use of the word “know” in the New Testament in which there is an objective knowledge (ginosko), and there is a knowledge that is based on experience borne out of relationship (epiginosko). In this verse Jesus is asking them to continuously engage and to remain with Him and those things that He speaks – the Bible that we have today. This is a call to intimacy not distant learning. Application for the Journey: Growing up as a child some of my fondest memories are of my grandmother who would make a soup that she started on Monday. Every day she would add ingredients and the aroma would begin to fill the whole house. On Friday she would place her ham bone into the pot and at that point all I wanted to do was have a taste of that soup. When Sunday would come there would be ten to twenty members of the Soto clan who were ready for the Sunday meal and for Grandma’s soup. The meat in the pot would marinate to the point that the meat was broken down and so mixed with the broth you could not distinguish between the meat and the ingredients. In the same manner this is what Jesus is saying in this verse that as one marinates in His Word it begins to break down those old attachments in our life. Dallas Willard calls this process the “Revolution of Jesus” which is the continuous transformation of the human heart or spirit[3] that does not come from that which external but rather from that which is internal. This is a revolution of character, which proceeds by changing people from the inside through ongoing personal relationship to God in Christ and to one another.[4] When Jesus says that abiding in Him makes you one of His he is taking about being set free to experience a change at the deepest level of one’s ideas, beliefs, feelings, and habits of choice, as well as one’s bodily tendencies and social relations.[5] To marinate in His word is to be set free to be the presence of the kingdom and it’s King into every corner of human life simply by fully living in the kingdom with him. In order to begin this process, like the Jews whom Jesus was addressing in the passage we must be willing to surrender our old attachments and beliefs concerning what we think is good for us. Most of what we embrace is on the outside of our hearts where we think we have control. To abide is to reflectively look at the inside of our hearts and allow Jesus to give us a tour of what must change. Yours on the Journey with you, Al Soto [1] Fritz Reinecker & Cleon Rogers, Linguidtic Key to the Greek New Testament.(Michigan: Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 1976) p 239. In this verse it is aorist which means a choice that was made in the past but continuous. Thus, “Continuously Abide.” [2] Rick Renner, Sparkling Gems from the Greek. p 578. [3] Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart. p 15. [4] Dallas Willard, p 15. [5] Dallas Willard, p 15.

Rich Moments to Reflect On!

There are those moments in life that cause you to reflect for a moment concerning the rich opportunities that one has to make a difference. Today, I had one of these moments that have deeply impacted me in areas of my soul. This moment took place after our church service today when a family that was a part of our church in San Jose, California came to our home in Lincoln so that I could meet their daughter’s fiancé’ and begin the process of their premarital counseling. As I sat in the chair of my office with this young lady and her fiancé’ along with her mother and father it was difficult not to reminisce have my mind go back well over 20 years ago remembering how my wife and I were in the hospital room the day she was born and having the opportunity to see this wonderfully bright little girl now sit in front of me as an incredibly beautiful and intelligent young woman. Soaking this moment in I reflected on her words to me a few weeks prior when I was on the phone with her and she stated, “Pastor Al, I always wanted you to marry me?” A very rich moment for me as I pondered this thought was that being a pastor allowed me to see how God shapes the story of families generationally as their story engages God’s story and they are transformed. What a marvelous moment to be able to share with my heart with this young man that this woman he desires to marry is a treasure and to share with him that, “he must be incredibly special for her to choose you.” Tears welling up in my eyes and in the eyes of her mother and father we all understood that we were connected at the soul.” Not because of a common history. Not because of common friends that we share. Instead, we were connected because we were able to speak the language of the soul. Larry Crabb calls this Soul-Talk and he defines it as speaking whatever is truly alive in us into another and accepting whatever is truly alive in another when it is spoken into us.[1] One of the rich benefits of Soul-Talk is in the words of David G. Benner builds a “Mutuality” that creates trust and in such a way that one can speak “truth and love” to another.[2] Many pastors get stuck and as a form of protection minister with their heads because to do so with the heart risks to much pain. The beauty of the calling dries up as the “doing” of an occupation called “Pastoring” is weighted down from the survival instinct of performance based on self-absorption that keeps one’s thoughts on their success rather than the success of others. Here is the thought I would like to leave you today. Regardless of whatever your occupation when we move beyond all the survival coping mechanisms that allows one to hide behind the wall of self-protection we are given no opportunity to see the beauty of God’s goodness unfold in the lives of people generationally. Here is another option: When we are vulnerable and our ambition is to see others passionately walk into what God has purposed for them even risking our vulnerability to admit our own failures you will become like an adopted aunt or uncle who has the wonderful joy of being able to see them graduate into new areas of maturity the stages of life. Now you are not doing a job but instead you are living out the richness of your calling.   [1] Larry Crabb, Soul-Talk: The language God longs for us to Speak. (Tennessee: Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2003), P 18. [2] David G. Benner, Sacred-Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship & Direction. (Illinois: Downers Grove, Inter-Varsity Press, 2002) p 76.