unfulfilled promise?

Hebrews 11:20

Isaac is the patriarch to whom the author turns his attention next but he only gets the briefest of mentions. I have to wonder if Isaac was a bit of a failure. He certainly had all the potential to be a great person of faith. He was the promised son (although Abraham was clear that he was not the Promised Son) through whom the promises of God to Abraham would be fulfilled. Yet, he remains pretty obscure in Scripture for someone that was carrying all that promise and he barely warrants a mention in this list of people of great faith. Even the thing he is commended for is pretty weak: by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. Which sounds pretty cool. It sounds like Isaac looked into what was unseen and made bold predictions about the future of Jacob and Esau. The problem is that the biblical record in Genesis indicates that he intended to give Esau the blessing he gave to Jacob. Jacob and his mom tricked Isaac into giving Jacob the blessing intended for Esau. From the record in Genesis, it is clear that Isaac's intentions were contrary to God's intentions. Isaac favoured Esau even though God had clearly indicated that Jacob was the one who would carry the line of the Promised Seed.
So here's what I take away about God from this passage: 1) that his ways are not the ways of the world. In Isaac's time, Esau should have been the one who received the blessing because he was the oldest. Even in our time, Esau was the more deserving. Jacob was a weasel; a sneaky, underhanded younger brother. But God chose to bless Jacob. 2) that God will fulfill his purpose and his promise even when humans are working in the opposite direction. Isaac's intention was to bless Esau but God's intention was to bless Jacob. In the end, God won (he always does!). 3) God is incredibly gracious. Despite all the unfulfilled potential and promise of Isaac, he still fulfilled the intention of God and finds himself on the list of people of great faith. That's the grace of God on display!
Besides a better picture of God, I'm taking away from this passage that it is better to join God on his plans and in his work no matter who much better I think my plans are or how illogical God's work seems. He will accomplish his purpose and my only choice is to join him or be against him. I think it's pretty clear what happens when I work against the purposes of God...

A Purpose Driven Life

Ephesians 2:10

This verse shows the role of works in my salvation. It is in the context of a great paragraph from Paul about how I was once dead in my sins but God has made me alive in Christ and raised me up in Christ to a heavenly position. He did this, not really for my good but so that I might be a trophy of his grace. So that people and spirits would look at me - more accurately, look at the Church - and have their jaws hit the floor in awe of God's amazing grace. I, Paul continues, was not saved by works but by the incredible gift of God in Christ so that I could do good works that God has prepared for me to do even before the beginning of time. Wow! The point Paul is making is that works doesn't result in salvation; salvation results in works.
I think there are is a problem with the way I usually read this verse. I usually read the "you" in this verse as singular. In the first person it would read, "I am God's masterpiece or handiwork." However, Paul is writing to a church in this letter and in the context, it is clear that Paul is talking in the plural. This means that in the first person it would read, "We are God's masterpiece." God's glory is displayed in a much greater way in the Church than in the individual. While it was certainly part of God's plan to save me, the greatness of his plan, his grace and his glory is seen in the big plan to save the Church.
So what does this mean for me? Well, first of all it gives me a great picture of God. His plan is amazing. His grace is astounding. When I step back from my individualistic view of faith and see the bigger agenda that God has, I simply have to stand in awe of him. Second, it means that the good works that God has prepared in advance for us is really the whole agenda he has for the Church through out history all around the world. This means that as I go to L.A., which is big from my perspective, that I am a part of something even bigger. It also means that God has something for me and the rest of the team to do in L.A. that is vital to his mission being accomplished in this world by the Church.

from here to zero...

Matthew 16:21-23

The key words in this passage are: third day, stumbling block and concerns. Jesus contrasts the concerns of God with the concerns of humans. This follows right on the heels of Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. I think this gives further evidence for Peter being the rock upon which Jesus will build his Church because I think Jesus and Matthew are contrasting the foundational rock in the previous section with the stumbling block to Jesus that Peter has become in this section. I guess technically it is Peter's words that are the stumbling block so it could still be Peter's words that are the foundational rock upon which Jesus will build his Church.
The convicting words in this passage are, "you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." I know that there are so many times when I do not have concerns of God in mind. I know that I too often pursue human concerns. These words of conviction stop me short because it isn't just that I have the wrong concerns in mind but that I am in direct opposition to the concerns and agenda of God which makes me as much a Satan as Peter. Father, forgive me. Let your kingdom and righteousness be my main and only concern.