Living In The Now Because …

Acts 1

1The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

3 To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said unto them, IT IS NOT FOR YOU TO KNOW (my emphasis) the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

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It’s both interesting and encouraging to me that believers, in all generations, are pretty much the same. That’s good and, at the same time, not so good. But it is interesting and encouraging.

What catches my attention in this passage is that Yeshua tells the folks gathered around Him that their focus isn’t where it should be as relates to their present purpose and the coming days they are about to face.

In other words,

They are wanting to know things that are not pertinent for living in the now-moment. And so Yeshua instructs them to live in the now because that’s what’s necessary to prepare the way for His eventual return. Meaning …

There are tasks that demand our focus in the here-and-now because they are vitally import for the then-to-come. That being the case, we’re sort of left in quandary. God isn’t always as crystal clear as we’d like Him to be. He seems to tell us just enough to not be enough.

Why would He do that?

Possibility: He’s trying to inform us as to what should be our focus while at the same time never really allowing us to know too much and lose our dependance upon Him. Ours is still the same curse as in the Garden: We want to be as gods, knowing …. However by our not knowing, God keeps us coming to Him in a life of surrender constantly seeking after Him.

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We are, in all reality, naturally curious as believers. We want to be familiar with, and knowledgeable of, all God has for us in His Word. And that is a notable quality.

But it appears that, at times, we tend to get caught up in the quagmire of desperately coming up with our own answers and solutions where God Himself hasn’t provide any. God’s Word, then, kind of turns into a spiritual crossword puzzle in which we endeavor to fill in the blanks with our own particular teaching- to-teach and product to sell. We might not like to hear that but it is the truth.

But mind you …

God is nobody’s fool.

He knows our Garden-like tendencies and proclivities. That’s why He doesn’t provide us with all the answers. And when we doggedly try find answers where God has provided none, it reveals us for what we really are: Opportunists. Hence, as Brad Scott warned us messianics years ago —— we are rebuilding, all over again, everything we purport to have come out of — — but now we are doing it in our image and likeness with our own rebranding.

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In all candidness, I wish the Scriptures were more detailed and forthcoming when referencing the Calendar, Feasts, and Festivals. But to our dismay, the Scriptures don’t always lay things out as clearly as we may want. And you know what, that’s frustrating isn’t it?

But that frustration we sense welling up inside of us is purposely there. God is endeavoring to bring us to the point where we will truly no longer desire to be at ease in our personal Zions. He is painstakingly at work in our hearts and lives so that we will turn our hearts and lives towards Him in the hope and expectation of His return.

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There are two things we need to remember as believers in Christ living in the here-and-now.

*In the Diaspora we will never have the clarity we long for

And

*While in the Diaspora, we must do all we can to stay focused on that which God is purposely clear on.

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So, as we are directed to see in the passage before us, rather than letting His disciples get sidetracked on a lesser important issue, Yeshua directs their attention to the task at hand, which is —

To “ be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

With these few simple words, Yeshua whittled down their inquisitive natures with a direct, present and tangible directive. Thus, they were able to focus on their immediate purpose while leaving the unknowns and uncertainties in the hands of their Saviour.

Our difficulty …? We want to know what it is we we’re not meant to know in the first place. These “unknowns” and “uncertainties” and “empty spaces” in the Scriptures are God’s way of —

TELLING US JUST ENOUGH TO NOT TELL US ENOUGH.

Have you ever wondered why it is that ——

God doesn’t want to come right out and tell us everything we want to know?

or

Why God is intentionally vague giving us only the bare bones information?

Those are good questions without a whole lot of answers. But possibly one answer might be:

That IS In fact All He Wants Us To Know.

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I honestly think we are well intentioned. We want to know all God has for us so we can serve Him better with fuller lives as we shine as lights in the darkness and spread the Gospel of Christ — one person at a time.

Let’s accept the reality that there are differing Calendar perspectives. Let’s accept that there are ambiguities as to how, in exacting detail, we are to carry out the Feasts and Festivals. Let’s accept that there are differing viewpoints on Eschatology. Let’s accept that there are somethings God has purposely left vague and unspecific.

And while we ponder on how to do that …

Let me tell you how the apostle Paul described his all absorbing life-quest. He says it rather succinctly in Philippians 3:10 —

“THAT I MAY KNOW HIM, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”

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Let me suggest a platform upon which to build —

A personal knowledge of Him,

and the power of His resurrection,

and the fellowship of His sufferings,

and conformability to His death.

That’s something God is not vague about. He is very clear and precise.

And perhaps once we are sure of our progression in the reality of a Philippians 3:10 perspective, we can then try to sort out, as a local fellowship, some of the the “lesser” issues that are precious and important to us.

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So …

Instead of probing into undefined specifics in a never ending quest to do know that which God doesn’t want us to know, why not instead …

Probe into that which God has clearly revealed while ——

Thanking our lucky stars we are still breathing and haven’t been obliterated into a billion tiny particles of nothingness?

In other words, let’s purpose to:

Live In The Now Because …

Yeshua IS coming back and we have a very specific task to accomplish in the meantime …

“Ye shall be witness unto me …”

Find your In-The-Now Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and leave all the minutia with God.

Trust me, all the rest is going to work out just fine with or without us.