Reading from Friday, August 6

Hey dudes. I'm very excited about today. My grandparents and aunt and uncle are in town, staying with my parents and Jilly and I are going down to see them. I haven't seen any of them since our wedding nearly three years ago. I'm also borrowing the Canon 5D Mark 2 from work, so hopefully I can get some killer family photos.

Reading for August 6
Ezra 3:1-4:23
The plans to rebuild the temple began to turn into action. And with the rebuilding of the temple, also came the hope of a reborn Jerusalem and by extension, a reborn Israel. Things were looking up for our heroes, but not for long. Surrounding nations, which under the guise of helping them rebuild, were attempting to sabotage the whole operation. The current king of the region was a dude named Artaxerxes (Art-a-zerk-sees), so these enemies of Israel sent a letter to him saying that if Jerusalem is rebuilt, they will seal themselves off and avoid paying taxes to the kingdom of Persia. I think Persia was like Rome at this time. An empire that spanned many countries and peoples, so Artaxerxes who was king of Persia, was also king of the people of the new Jerusalem.

Art did some research on the Jews and found that they were a rebellious people who had a long history of rising up against kings and an even longer history of violence. This, coupled with the idea that he would lose a whole city's worth of taxpayers, compelled Artaxerxes to force the rebuilding of the temple to stop.

1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4
Paul addresses one of the most profound mysteries of Christianity: the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is something I have heard about for years, but never truly understood. I've heard people say, "the spirit is moving" and "God send your Holy Spirit" but what is it? Is it Jesus' ghost? Is it a divine adult beverage (get it? spirit?)

I know that the spirit is part of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, Holy Ghost - which makes it equal with God and Jesus. But if Jesus is something we can wrap our head around, God is something we can think about conceptually, but never fully grasp, the Holy Spirit is even further from comprehension in my mind.

Here is what Paul says about it though:

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. [...] ¹⁴The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So in verses 10 and 11, Paul is sort of comparing the spirit to the conscience of God. Just like our innermost feelings which give us vibes about stuff, or tell us the inherent difference between right and wrong - in the same way the Holy Spirit is like God's conscience.

But it is also something else. It is something that God sends to his followers to discern his will. So in a way, the Holy Spirit is like God's conscience within us. It isn't always in us - exhibit A: the modern world - but we must ask for it. Maybe it's like a bridge to God's presence. Like, while we're on earth, there is no way to really understand God, but the Holy Spirit acts as an intermediary to connect us to our creator.

"Wow, I just learned more about the Holy Spirit in five minutes than I have in my whole life. Thanks, Corinthians!"

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Psalm 28:1-9
Since I'm always posting the nice parts of Psalms, I thought I'd balance it out with some of the scary stuff:

⁴ Repay them for their deeds
       and for their evil work;
       repay them for what their hands have done
       and bring back upon them what they deserve.
 ⁵ Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD
       and what his hands have done,
       he will tear them down
       and never build them up again.

Hey, I don't like it either - but it's in here and I have to deal with it...

Proverbs 20:24-25
 ²⁴ A man's steps are directed by the LORD.
       How then can anyone understand his own way?
 ²⁵ It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly
       and only later to consider his vows.

Verse 24 is really interesting. It speaks to the idea of fate and predestination, which brings up the question of free will. Ignoring all that, I would imagine that is a peaceful thing to read for someone who's life is turned upside down.