Da Word... 224! On Angels...

You ever wonder about the angels?  Like, what do they do?  Where do they go?  How do they roll?  Sometimes you come across passages that give a hint as to the abilities and purposes of angels.  Some of those passages may even have you dropping your jaw saying, "Whoa!  That is SWEET!"  

The angel answered, "I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.  And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

- Gabriel (Luke 1:19,20)

The angel Gabriel was talking to this priest named Zechariah.  It turns out that this priest and his wife, Elizabeth, were to be the parents of Jesus' harbinger... John da Baptist.  But Zechariah was like, "Us? How? We are both old son!  Not to mention we have been unable to have children all these years."  That's when Gabriel spoke the above.  Homie had to lay the smack down about who he was.  

This angel, Gabriel, stands in the presence of God!!!!  What does that mean!?  In my mind it's sounding like this ain't no ordinary angel.  I mean THIS angel STANDS... in the presence of God.  Isn't the very presence of God this most awesome of experiences that it even evokes gigantic fear?  I mean the sheer presence of Pops would kill a man according to Scripture!  And yet... this Angel stands in His presence.  Wow.  That suggests a number of things.  One, it's probable that not all angels get to stand in the presence of Pops.  It sounds like there is organization and possibly a hierarchy of angelic beings.  Oooooooo!  Exciting!  It begs the question, how does Pops strategically align his forces? 

Gabriel also says that he has been sent to deliver a message.  So in conjunction with the possibilities above, this suggests that angels have specific jobs. It sounds like one of Gabriel's jobs is to be a messenger.  And not just any messenger, but the messenger with some gigantic, world changing news.   What else is Gabriel entrusted?  Hmmmm.... interesting!

Finally, Gabriel lays the smack down making Zechariah mute!  Can he do that!?  What does that mean? ....do angels have powers!?  How much autonomy do they have?  Did Pops instruct Gabriel to do this?  Or was this Gabriel's own doing? Like a perk associated with being entrusted as the messenger and he who stands in the presence of Pops to be able to do things in accordance with the kingdom?  Or... did Pops empower Gabriel to be able to do this, much like my man J empowered the disciples to do miraculous acts when he sent them out two-by-two?  

Hmmmm..... Well we know angels have choice.  The prime example is Satan himself.  He chose to go against Pops.  And then the Bible describes a battle that occurred in heaven where the result was Satan being cast out along with 1/3rd of the angels.  This 1/3rd of angels chose sides!  So angels have choice, angels have stations, angels have hierarchy... but do they also have powers?   I don't know, but it is interesting to think about.  We see a lot of what God has created here on Earth, but it is such a small piece of everything he has created.  Imagine what the heavenlies hold!

Remember, the Kingdom of Pops is much larger than what we can see or possibly understand.  Although we appear to be the crown of Pops' creation, and almost all is in an effort to reconcile us to Pops, there is so much involved beyond just us.  Think about it from time to time.  You'll again discover... wonder.  Not to mention to be yet again amazed at despite it all, we fragile humans are the crown of his creation and prized objects of his Love.   Sweeeeeeeet.  

G-bless, 

  - patrick

Da Word... 223! Law Shmaw!

Why is it that no one remembers the good stuff that happened, but only the bad stuff!? I mean seriously right? All the years of doing great things for someone seem like its forgotten in the blink of an eye when you make that one error. Why can't people lend us the grace to fail sometimes?

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

- Paul (Romans 3:20)

Yo my man Paul lays it DOWN in Romans! It's great! The book really attempts to push us off our high horse and to have a reality check. That's important, because we get grounded and therefore much more able to handle anything the world my try to throw our way.

So why don't people lend us the grace to fail? And why do they tend to remember the bad things rather than the good things. Well.... it's because the "bad" things, the personal affronts, HURT! The body is an amazing thing, the mind even more so. A kid who doesn't understand the concept of heat learns REAL fast the first time that young child touches a stove top. Do you remember your first time? Yeah... you didn't do that again did you? Why? The memory of that pain is so etched into your mind that you will never forget it. More technically, your mind creates a pathway in your mind that connects that experience to a pain center. Your body then becomes hardwired to issue tremendous warnings anytime you get close to doing that again. The signal is ever more acute. It's about survival, and it's a defense mechanism.

In the same way, an affront causes pain. Pain is easily remembered because it is etched. As a result, all the good we think we've done seems to unfairly get tossed out over one single affront. It's hard for peeps to extend grace once an affront happens because they don't want to be hurt again. Furthermore, we tend to want retribution. It takes a higher kind of human to be able to extend grace; it's a path not heavily traveled because it is not easy.

So what's the point? The point is that the Law, in this case the Law handed down by the Jews, is not sufficient for declaring one righteous! The Law exists only to make us conscious of what sin is. In much the same way, our friends, family, loved ones, and significant other have expressed to us a "law" of relationship. We tell each other what makes us happy and what hurts us. But once we step into the hurt territory... it's all sunk! We need something more. Mere observance of the Law cannot declare us righteous because it is NOT some simple weight scale. More good does not necessarily overtake bad, nor can it prove us righteous. What do we need? We need grace.....

In order to grow, we need to be extended grace, otherwise the path toward growth is immediately blockaded and there is no way forward. We've gotta extend grace to those who hurt us in order to allow some room for the relationship to heal and grow stronger than it has ever been. This is part of the reason why Pops above extends us unlimited grace. He knows our limitations and our tendency to fall. But if we are genuine in our desire and aren't arrogant enough not to ask for homie's grace, we will receive that grace and in immeasurable flow. By this grace, we can be declared righteous for Pops above is righteous.

Word.

G-bless,

- patrick