Who is the boss in your heart?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 3-5; Psalm 34

TO CHEW ON: "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. 'And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled.' But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts." 1 Peter 3:14-15. 


The fact of God actually living in people is a concept that spans the Old and New Testaments. However, Jesus sheds new light on it ("new" at least to the people of His time) when He explains the role of the Holy Spirit in the process.

• Jesus calls Him the "Helper" whom He has petitioned the Father to send. This Helper will live with, indeed, in them - John 14:15-18. 
• He will give them assurance of eternal life, interaction with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and He is the assurance of God's love - John 14:19-21.

Paul talks often about this life of Christ within people. Some of the things he tells us about it:

• It is a life of faith that begins when we accept Christ's substitutionary death for our sin as our means of salvation (not our own works) - Galatians 2:20.
• It helps us know the love of God - Ephesians 3:17-19.
• It is the hope of a wonderful future beyond this life - Colossians 1:27.

Peter's words in our reading today talk about this life to believers who are in the middle of persecution. His short statement, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" comes right after he addresses their apparent puzzlement over bad treatment. They are righteous but they are suffering. Why? He reminds that this suffering is, in the Kingdom of God's upside-down way, a blessing (Matthew 5:10), and not to fear but rather to "sanctify (or set apart) the Lord God in your hearts."

He is telling them, in effect, Let God be the Lord (boss) in these things. Accept even persecution as from Someone who knows about it, who has power over it, yet is allowing it. 


The Message puts it this way:

"Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master" - 1 Peter 3:15

As Paul explains in Romans "...all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." That purpose includes being conformed to the image of Jesus. Persecution may be a part of it. But the end of the story is good. It is glory - Romans 8:27-30.

Whatever we are facing, have we done this — set apart Jesus as Lord? Settled once and for all that He is in charge of our lives and is working His good purposes in them even through negative circumstances? Let's put this into practice:

• By faith accept that Jesus lives in us by the Holy Spirit.
• Believe that He loves us.
• Sanctify Him as Lord — our hands off; He's in charge.
• Let the good and bad things (at least 'bad' according to how we feel about them) He sends our way conform us to Jesus' image.
• Live in hope not of this world's rewards but of glory in eternity.

PRAYER: Dear God, how often I take the steering wheel of my life back into my hands. How easily I question whether You know what You're doing when unpleasant things come my way. Help me to enthrone You as Lord in a moment-by-moment way today. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 34

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

"Kept"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 1-2; Psalm 33

TO CHEW ON: "… who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:5

It's easy to trust in God's keeping power when times are good. But when we get sick, or suffer setbacks in business, or go through heart-breaking times with our kids, or have all we own ripped away from us by fire, tornado or mudslide, or any number of other trials, can we trust that God is still there? Is He still keeping us?

Peter here reminds the "pilgrims of the Dispersion"—mostly Gentile Christians living in various parts of Asia Minor who are experiencing persecution because of their obedience to Christ—that even through their trials they are being "kept."

["Kept—phroureo is "a military term picturing a sentry standing guard as protection against the enemy. We are in spiritual combat but God's power and peace (Philippians 4:7) are our sentinels and protectors" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1763.]

But we have our part to play in this keeping. For it is "through faith." And this keeping will not necessarily mean a return to how things were before the trial, but in ultimate salvation, completely accomplished and understood "in the last time."

If your faith is old, seasoned and experienced, a wealth of memories reminding you of how God has kept you in the past will buttress your faith now. If you're new to faith, you may want to spend time reading stories of Bible characters and biographies of modern Christ followers. The way God kept them through trials will build faith in God's creativity and faithfulness for your life. 

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for keeping me in the past and continuing to do so. Please help me to grow in faith as I experience your keeping power. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 33

The Bible Project VIDEO:  1 Peter (Read Scripture Series)



MORE: Reading list

Some Bible characters to read about:

• Joseph - Genesis 37, 39-47.

• Hannah - 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11.

• Ruth - Bible book of Ruth.

• Esther - Bible book of Esther.

• Daniel - Daniel 1-3, 6.

• Nehemiah - Bible book of Nehemiah.

Some faith-building biographies (links are to my reviews of these books):

• Appointment in Jerusalem - Lydia & Derek Prince

• Journey on the Hard Side of Miracles - Dr. Steven Stiles.

• Gray Matter - Joel Kilpatrick & David Levy.

• Kabul 24 - Henry O. Arnold & Ben Pearson
  

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Beautiful humility

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 5:1-14

TO CHEW ON: “… Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud / But gives grace to the humble.’” 1 Peter 5:5 (the quote is Proverbs 3:34)


Genuine humility has to be one of the most attractive qualities a person can possess.

The word “humble” serves as both an adjective and a verb. Its noun form is “humility.”

[Humble means - Adjective: not proud or arrogant but modest; having a feeling of insignificance; low in rank, importance or status; courteously respectful. Verb: to lower in condition, importance, or dignity; to make meek.]

A partial list of synonyms for humble helps us understand what humility feels like and how we communicate humility through actions: content, courteous, deferential, gentle, lowly, mild, modest, obliging, polite, quiet, respectful, sedate, simple, soft-spoken, submissive, unostentatious, unpretentious.

Aside from the fact that humility makes us attractive to others, it is also desirable because it is hugely attractive to God.

• God “regards” the lowly (Psalm 138:6) “…For though the Lord is high yet has He respect to the lowly bringing them into fellowship with Him” - Psalm 138:6 AMP.

• He will look “… on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit” - Isaiah 66:2

• We are great in God’s eyes when we welcome the “least” person, e.g. a child - Luke 9:48.

• Humility sets us up to be exalted by God while pride sets us up for divine humiliation - Luke 14:11; James 4:10.

• God “gives grace” to the humble - Jame 4:6 and our focus verse, 1 Peter 5:5.

As we contemplate who God is and compare with who we are, humility is the only rational response. May we take this realistic sense of ourselves into the day, and more … may humility pervade our lives.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to see myself realistically and respond with appropriate humility. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible,
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Armed for what is ahead

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1Peter 4:1-19

TO CHEW ON: “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” - 1 Peter 4:1.


“So, since Christ suffered in the flesh [for us, for you], arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose [patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the mind of Christ] has done with intentional sin—has stopped pleasing himself and the world and pleases God.” 1 Peter 4:1 AMP

Three ideas hit me as I read this passage today:

1. We need to arm ourselves with thoughts and purpose. 

2. We arm ourselves to suffer. 

3. This suffering comes from fellow citizens.

A little further along from our focus verse in the reading, Peter connects our suffering with those who cause it: "they" (1 Peter 4:4)—the friends, neighbours, colleagues and superiors who we formerly hung out with but don't any more because we now live by different priorities. Their astonishment at our Christ-centred lifestyle plays out in animosity and attempts to get us to join them in their activities of “shameless, insolent wantonness, in lustful desires, drunkenness, reveling, drinking bouts, and abominable, lawless idolatries" - 1 Peter 4:3 AMP.

A few days ago my nephew and his family came to Canada for a short furlough from ministry in Uganda. His Rwandan-born wife told of her experience that sounds a lot like 1 Peter 4.

After a childhood upbringing in a Ugandan orphanage, she enrolled in a large institution to train in the hospitality industry. As a young woman of Christian honesty, integrity, and courage, she quickly rose to become a student leader. This made her a target and someone to be brought down.

Classmates spread lies about her, trying to sully her reputation so she would be expelled. They stole her notes and textbooks so she couldn’t study. Someone even attempted to poison her. When a teacher told her she would fail all her 21 subjects, she said, “Madame, if I fail, the God I serve is not real. But I will not fail any of my subjects, except French.”

Months later she got her results. She passed every subject—except French.

Even still, about seventeen years after these events, her life of faithfulness to her husband and his to her is a source of disbelief and disdain to those around them.

We as Christians in Canada are accustomed to living in sync with our society. However, as it strays from Bible standards of right and wrong, we find ourselves increasingly at odds with it. 

The thought of preparing for this, of arming ourselves with the expectation that we will suffer (with an idea of what it might  actually look like) and the resolve to live the Jesus way no matter what the people in our lives say or do to us, is timely.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please help me to live to please You above everyone else, no matter what it costs. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible. Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

What do you know about your inheritance?

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 3:8-22

TO CHEW ON: “Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this that you may inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9

Here Peter challenges his readers to counteract evil and insults with blessing. I like how the Amplified Bible phrases our focus verse:

“Never return evil for evil or insult for insult—scolding, tongue lashing berating; but on the contrary blessing—praying for their welfare, happiness, and protection and truly pitying and loving them. For know that to this you have been called, that you may yourselves inherit a blessing [from God]—obtain a blessing as heirs bringing welfare and happiness and protection” - 1 Peter 3:9 AMP.

Peter connects this surprising reaction to evil and insults with a Christian’s inheritance. He says that an inheritance of blessing is a consequence of responding to evil and insults with blessing.

This connection of our reaction and the consequence of inheritance set me on a small search for other things that impact our inheritance or are part of it. Here are a few examples:

• David connected getting a godly heritage with fearing God’s name - Psalm 61:5.

• The writer of Psalm 119 considered God’s spoken / written word (“Your testimonies”) as his heritage - Psalm 119:111. Paul reminded the Christians at Ephesus of this aspect of God’s word in his farewell talk with them: “‘So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, who is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” - Acts 20:32.

• The “servants of the Lord” are promised a heritage of God’s defense from words and weapons - Isaiah 54:17.

• Paul urged King Agrippa to accept salvation through Christ. In his talk, he quoted the words that Jesus spoke to him on the Damascus Road. They include a heritage of going from spiritual darkness to light, being removed from the power of Satan to the power of God, and forgiven sins - Acts 26:18.

• Our inheritance is in Jesus - Ephesians 1:11.

• Someday we’ll get our inheritance reward from Jesus - Colossians 3:24.

• It’s an inheritance that can’t be tinkered with or destroyed, awaiting us in heaven, as Peter explains it in 1 Peter 1:4: “…  an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you” - AMP.

The inheritance we get from our parents and grandparents is largely out of our control. But this spiritual inheritance is one over which we have a lot of say as we:

1] Accept Christ’s forgiveness and leave Satan’s kingdom to enter God’s.

2] Take advantage of one of our Father’s greatest gifts to us—the Bible.

3] Serve Him and act like His kids (including how we return blessing for cursing—our focus verse).

4] Live in hope and expectation of the day Jesus will give us our inheritance in heaven.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for this inheritance, awaiting me in heaven. Help me to live as Your child in the way I react to evil and insults with blessing. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible,
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Non-resistant living

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 2:13-25


TO CHEW ON: "'Who committed no sin

Nor was deceit found in His mouth'

Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return' when He suffered He did not threaten, but committed himself to Him who judges righteously." 1 Peter 2:22-23

When Peter told his readers how to conduct themselves while being mistreated he wasn't talking only theory. His letter was written to Christians in Asia Minor who were being persecuted for their faith in Christ. They were mostly converted Gentiles whose change from their former lifestyle of pagan living ("lewdness, drunkenness, and idolatries" 1 Peter 4:3) surprised the neighbours (1 Peter 4:4).

Perhaps even more surprising than their drawing back from the old entertainments and indulgences would be their docility in the face of harsh treatment if they followed Peter's advice. The high standard that Peter put before them was to act like Jesus acted. Jesus didn't talk back. He didn't threaten. Instead, He committed Himself to God, who would sort it out completely fairly.

When reading this passage, I'm tempted to ask, this doesn't actually apply to me, does it? After all, I live in a country where human rights are upheld, where, if I'm treated unfairly people would expect me to take my case to court and get justice.

However, Peter's thinking doesn't go along those lines at all. Rather, he argues, when they (and we) endure unfair treatment patiently as Jesus did, God notices. Our uncharacteristic response will run critics and detractors out of ammunition (1 Peter 2:15), and it will put us at the mercy God, the fairest judge of all.

I wonder what the response of the world around us would be if we were influenced more by the example of Jesus and less by the tit-for-tat attitude of our sociey.


PRAYER: Dear God, my natural reaction is to stand up for my rights. Help me to know when it is better to take mistreatment. Amen.


MORE: An Amish example.

The Amish lifestyle is a modern example of refusing to resist evil. In Dale Cramer's novel Paradise Valley, Caleb Bender moves his family to Mexico in order to escape the 1921 Ohio law that mandates he send his children to the public school. Caleb's Amish non-resistance is tested the day he and his daughters meet bandits on the way to taking a load of corn to market.

Fortunately they have Domingo — the young son of a warrior — who talks the bandits into leaving Caleb's daughters alone. After the danger is past, Domingo and Caleb have this conversation:

"I am curious, Herr Bender. Would you fight now?"


Caleb's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"


"I mean, you say your people do not fight. You told me before that you would not fight even to save your own life. But after what I told you, Herr Bender, would you not kill El Pantera to save your daughters from such a fate?"*


Caleb pondered this for a long moment, staring at his hands....Finally he took a deep breath and shook his head. "No, I would not. Though it cost me an unthinkable price, I could not defy Gott. I would not risk hell."


"Never?"


He shook his head sadly. "We do not live by power or might but by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. It is better to suffer in this brief life than for all eternity. It if is sin to kill, who do I serve by killing? I will accept whatever Gott allows" (pages 218, 219).

What do you think of Caleb's stand? Is this what Peter is talking about?

*The "fate" Domingo refers to is Caleb's daughters being sold to "men who will buy young women and keep them for their pleasure" p. 217.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tainted living-—recognize it, lay it aside

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 1:17-2:3

TO CHEW ON: “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” 1 Peter 2:1,2


I have recently found a new way to meditate on Bible passages—through Bible journaling. A book that introduced me to this activity describes what it is:

“Bible journaling is a way to express your faith creatively. Putting pen to paper is a great way to remember and record biblical concepts that are meaningful and relevant to your life. Whether you are drawing, coloring, and writing right inside your Bible—the most commonly understood definition—or writing and illustrating scripture verses in a separate book or on paper alongside your Bible, the essential thing to understand is that Bible journaling is about creating while reflecting on God’s word” - Joanne Fink & Regina Yoder, Complete Guide to Bible Journaling, p. 8.

The guidebook has tons of ideas, introduces prominent Bible journalers and their work, and suggests ways and places to share Bible journaling, doodles and lettering.

I was instantly attracted, dug out an old notebook New Testament with wide margins, and tried my hand at it.

My first attempts were meaningful and rich. As I drew and lettered, my mind dwelt on what I was illustrating. More snippets of Bible verses came to me, and I added them to the design. It was worthwhile and uplifting to me spiritually.

Then I searched #biblejournaling on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I found many wonderful ideas—brilliant and bold artwork, flawless lettering that looked like it came from a computer. I joined a Facebook group where members share their work with each other. And slowly the purity leaked out of this activity for me as it became about comparison, envy, wanting "likes" for my work, pride. Yuck!

Today’s Bible text is right-on for this situation. It reminds me, and us, of the tendencies inherent within us (toward malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking) and that they can infect any aspect of living (even studying the Bible!). It tells us in plain words that we need to lay them aside as we give attention to taking in, with the focus and single-mindedness that babies give to drinking a bottle, wholesome Bible truth.

May this be my (our) template for thought and action:

“Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of Jesus (not myself), thanking God the Father every step of the way” - Colossians 3:17 MSG).

“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father” Colossians 3:17 NLT.

“Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him” Colossians 3:17 AMP.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to not only recognize the carnal tendencies within myself, but to lay them aside by starving them—refusing to give them what they want. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Grooves or Gravity?

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 1:1-16

TO CHEW ON: “So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing … As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.’” 1 Peter 13-16 MSG

I see two actions in this Message rendering of these verses from 1 Peter:

1. Slipping back into “old grooves of evil.”
The images that come to mind are a record player needle bobbing along in the groove of a record or car wheels caught in hardened mud or snow ruts. It’s an object caught and following the path of least resistance.

What are some of those “grooves of evil” we might be caught in?

• Wayward, undisciplined thoughts that take us to bad places.

• Rote actions (habits) that we need to break.

• Giving in to triggers that cause us to become irritated or angry (e.g. people consistently late, inconsiderate drivers).

2. Being “pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life.”
The image I see here is an object (satellite, moon, asteroid) attracted and pulled toward a star or planet by gravity. How can we cooperate with the pull of God’s gravity?

•  Arresting those negative thoughts and changing their direction.

• Substituting bad habits with good. (E.g. instead of checking email or text messages first thing in the morning, check in with God’s word and prayer. My confession: When I do the former first, my whole morning can get derailed by silly little details that suddenly feel way more important than they are.)

• Intentionally living with a grateful outlook.

• Cultivating a “yes” attitude toward God (obedience).

An excellent book on holiness is The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. Here is a quote from that book that I was reminded of by today’s 1 Peter reading:

“… we have misunderstood ‘living by faith’ (Galatians 2:20) to mean that no effort at holiness is required on our part. In fact, sometimes we have even suggested that any effort on our part is ‘of the flesh’ … But then the Holy Spirit said to me, ‘And you can put away the sinful habits that plague you if you will accept your personal responsibility for them. Acknowledging that I did have this responsibility turned out to be a milestone for me in my pursuit of holiness” - Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness, Kindle Location 101, 109 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to be realistic and honest about those old “grooves of evil” I’m still caught in. May I, more and more, respond to Your Spirit’s gravitational pull toward You and a life of obedience to Your revealed will in attitude and action. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

No cares

TODAY’S SPECIAL: I Peter 4:12-5:11

TO CHEW ON: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7

It’s Wednesday. We're right in the middle of the cares of life – that sticky situation at work, that issue with our child’s teacher, looming commitments, deadlines, and due dates.

[care: merimna (mer-im-nah) – from meiro: “to divide,” and noos: “the mind.” It denotes distractions, anxieties, burdens and worries. Merimna means to be anxious beforehand about daily life. (“Word Wealth” The Spirit-Filled Life Bible – p. 1769)]

In today’s verse we’re told to cast those things on Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 puts it another way. I love it in the Amplified:

6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
7And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 AMP

So, what to do if your mind is buzzing with anxieties and cares?

• “Cast” those concerns on God. Imagine you are carrying them in a backpack. Take off that backpack and give it to Jesus in prayer, thanking Him for the answer/solution He will send.
• Now let peace flood your whole being as you grasp tightly onto His promise: “He cares for you.”

PRAYER: Dear God, I give You my cares of ____ (name them) today. I choose to leave them with you in exchange for the peace of living in Your care. Thank You for your second-by-second care for me. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Powerful weapon of forgiveness

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 3:8-22

TO CHEW ON: "Finally, all of you be of one mind having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing." 1 Peter 3:8,9


Peter's idealistic instructions (especially "… not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling…") become all the more weighty as we recall that he wrote them to people who were suffering. And their suffering was because of their faith in Christ.

Do we even consider following his advice (that was also Jesus's) when we are wronged, stolen from, slandered, taken advantage of? What if someone took a dearest possession—say a child?

That's what happened to Cliff and Wilma Derksen in 1984. On November 30th of that year their 13-year-old daughter Candace didn't come home. About six weeks later police found her frozen body in a shed near their Winnipeg home, bound hand and feet. At the news conference following the discovery of Candace's body, when asked how they felt about the killer, Cliff said: "We would like to know who the person or persons are so we could show, hopefully, a love that seems to be missing in these peoples lives."

Wilma said, "I can't say at this point I forgive this person. But we have all done something dreadful in our lives or felt the urge to."

Writer and speaker Malcolm Gladwell contacted the Derksens while writing his book David and Goliath. He describes his visit with Wilma in an article in Relevant Magazine. She had, in the intervening years, not only forgiven the perpetrator, but also dealt with her feelings of wanting retribution over the police's suspicions that Cliff was suspect. She explained how she and Cliff got the courage from their Mennonite tradition, refined by years of persecution in Russia,  to forgive and move on.

Gladwell attributes people like the Derksens with his return to faith: "…something happened to me when I sat in Wilma Derksen's garden. It is one thing to read in a history book about people empowered by their faith. But it is quite another to meet an otherwise very ordinary person in the back yard of a very ordinary house who has managed to do something utterly extraordinary" - Malcolm Gladwell, "How I Re-discovered Faith" - Relevant Magazine, January/February 2014.

I ask myself, have I taken up weapon of forgiveness against the (by contrast, small) evils and revilings that come against me? Have you? It is another powerful weapon of the Spirit that God uses to accomplish His purposes on earth through us.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, You who know the cost of forgiveness, please help me to forgive people who have wronged me in both small and big ways. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.


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Online integrity

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 2:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby." 2 Peter 2:1-2


I love the guileless, transparent picture of the ideal Christian Peter paints for us here. It sounds so simple to live that way and probably would be if our lives weren't full of other people — people we don't like or we wish liked us; people we are trying to impress or are trying to impress us; people who bug us or bore us, intimidate us or are mean to us; people who talk too much or too little; people we think are wrong and people with whom we agree; people to whom we impute ulterior motives or whom we admire immensely. We meet up with these and how quickly the game-playing begins!

A new challenge to the integrity of our relationships is interacting with people through technology. The non face-to-face aspect of these interactions (through e-mail, cell phones, text messages, Facebook, blogs, comments, forums, etc.) makes us more vulnerable than ever to manipulate who we are and to be someone we're not to serve our own ends.

Tim Challies in his book The Next Story: Life and Faith After the Digital Explosion says:

"In all the ways we communicate today, we may use our technologies to destroy relationship instead of foster it, to tear down instead of build up....Through the Bible God calls us to speak truth in love. Truth and love are the twin pillars that should uphold all our communication" p. 85.

Then he goes on to give four measures to implement in our online life which will help us foster truth and love:

" Be visible. If anonymity can be an enemy and a refuge, then visibility can work to keep us from slipping into sinful patterns of living and communicating...


Be accountable....Let friends or family know what you are doing online; invite them into your digital world ....


Be real. Don't fabricate for yourself an identity online that is vastly different from your real-world identity....


Be mature. To sum it up, you will need to act like a mature Christian. Paul draws a clear connection between maturity and the ability to speak truth in love....


And always distrust yourself. It may sound harsh, but be willing to doubt your motives, your heart. Take a moment to pray before answering an antagonistic e-mail; bounce your ideas and articles off trusted friends before posting them; be slow to speak (or type) and quick to listen" - p. 86.

What great advice to us in what has become a technology-medicated generation.

Of course on top of this, we would do well to be closer followers of Peter's second bit of advice, to "desire the pure milk of the word" above all the trillions of online words.

PRAYER: Dear God, please change me at a heart level so all my relationships and communications, no matter how they are conducted, are free from malice, deceit, envy and evil speaking. Help me to feed on Your words more than the multitudes of others' words available to me. Amen.

MORE: Challies.com

Tim Challies, the author of The Next Story is an Ontario resident who blogs at http://challies.com. For insightful book reviews, commentary on the Christian faith, and observations about life from a Reformed perspective, his blog is a great resource.

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 Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Life gardeners

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 1:13-25


TO CHEW ON: "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever." 1 Peter 1:23


It is soon planting time in the part of the world where I live. Gardeners are planning their plots. They are buying seed. They are readying the soil. Though they can't accomplish the mysterious process of germination, they will do all they can to get the soil just right and plant high quality seed so that their garden will be a success.

The Bible talks a lot about our lives in terms of seed, new life, growing a good crop. Our focus verse today tells us that God's word is the guaranteed seed of new life in us. Other places also talk about God's word as being unable to fail (Isaiah 55:10-11). So why does it not always produce a good harvest?

Because in our lives there is another variable — the soil. And that part is up to us. Jesus told a parable about the possible soils of life in Matthew 13:3-9. He talked about wayside soil, shallow soil, weedy soil, and good soil.

Later He explained to His disciples what each soil signified in a person's life (Matthew 13:18-23).

• We discover that wayside soil where the birds snatch the seed away is the person who doesn't understand God's word. 

• Stony soil in which the seed germinates but never gets established is the person who doesn't let this new life get rooted in new habits and lifestyle changes. 

• The weedy, thorny soil is the life that is cluttered with other interests, agendas and goals. If the seed germinates, it is soon crowded out and starved for water by competing weeds. 

• And then there is the good soil, which is the receptive life where the word germinates and grows to produce an increase of thirty, sixty or one-hundred percent.

If you're a person who is new to these ideas, you may be like the wayside soil — bewildered and confused about what Jesus and His life and death mean to you. You can read Jesus' explanation of new life to someone for whom this was a new idea in John 3:1-16. You can ask God to help you understand.

Even after God's word has germinated into new life in us, we still need to keep an eye on soil conditions. Just like a gardener doesn't forget about a plant once it has poked through the soil but weeds, fertilizes, cultivates and aerates around it, so we need to be vigilant to nurture the new life in us.

If our new life is in danger from shallow roots in stony soil conditions, we can encourage them to grow deeper. Joshua 1:8 has some good advice on how to do that:

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

If our plot us full of the weeds and cares of everyday life, Jesus tells us how to tackle those things in Matthew 6:25 and 33:

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body....Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met  - MSG paraphrase.

Let's be vigilant to care for and nurture the soil of our lives so that God's word will realize its potential of a good harvest in us.

PRAYER: Dear God, Thank You for the Bible which is the seed of new life. Please show me where the seed of Your word has competition from other things in my life. Help me to care for my life plot with the dedication of a successful gardener. Amen.

MORE: Gardening advice

• "How to get soil ready for spring planting" is a practical article on preparing garden soil for spring planting. 
• "How to maintain your garden in summer" talks about techniques you can use so the plants in your garden survive the growing season.  

These articles have practical ideas for your natural garden. As you read them can you find ways that natural gardening parallels establishing and maintaining life's spiritual garden? 


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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Who is the boss in your heart?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 3:8-22

TO CHEW ON: "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. 'And do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled.' But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts." 1 Peter 3:14-15a

The fact of God actually living in people is a concept that spans the Old and New Testaments. However, Jesus sheds new light on it ("new" at least to the people of His time) when He explains the role of the Holy Spirit in the process.

• Jesus calls Him the "Helper" whom He has petitioned the Father to send. This Helper will live with, indeed, in them - John 14:15-18. 
• He will give them assurance of eternal life, interaction with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and He is the assurance of God's love - John 14:19-21.

Paul talks often about this life of Christ within people. Some of the things he tells us about it:

• It is a life of faith that begins when we accept Christ's substitutionary death for our sin as our means of salvation (not our own works) - Galatians 2:20.
• It helps us know the love of God - Ephesians 3:17-19.
• It is the hope of a wonderful future beyond this life - Colossians 1:27.

Peter's words in our reading today talk about this life to believers who are in the middle of persecution. His short statement, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" comes right after he addresses their apparent puzzlement over bad treatment. They are righteous but they are suffering. Why? He reminds that this suffering is, in the Kingdom of God's upside-down way, a blessing (Matthew 5:10), and not to fear but rather to "sanctify (or set apart) the Lord God in your hearts."

He is telling them, in effect, Let God be the Lord (boss) in these things. Accept even persecution as from Someone who knows about it, who has power over it, yet is allowing it. 


The Message puts it this way:

"Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master" - 1 Peter 3:15

As Paul explains in Romans "...all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." That purpose includes being conformed to the image of Jesus. Persecution may be a part of it. But the end of the story is good. It is glory - Romans 8:27-30.

Whatever we are facing, have we done this — set apart Jesus as Lord? Settled once and for all that He is in charge of our lives and is working His good purposes in them even through negative circumstances? Let's put this into practice:

• By faith accept that Jesus lives in us by the Holy Spirit.
• Believe that He loves us.
• Sanctify Him as Lord — our hands off; He's in charge.
• Let the good and bad things (at least 'bad' according to how we feel about them) He sends our way conform us to Jesus' image.
• Live in hope not of this world's rewards but of glory in eternity.

PRAYER: Dear God, how often I take the steering wheel of my life back into my hands. How easily I question whether You know what You're doing when unpleasant things come my way. Help me to enthrone You as Lord in a moment-by-moment way today. Amen.

MORE: "Father of My Heart" - Fernando Ortega



Fernando Ortega - Father Of My Heart from church-ca-auburn-sierra-grace-fellowship on GodTube.


(From the archives)

Martyrdom

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 4:1-19

TO CHEW ON: "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified." 1 Peter 4:14

The story of the Ugandan martyrs of the1880s:

"On 3 June 1886, thirty-two young men, pages of the court of King Mwanga of Buganda, were burned to death at Namugongo for their refusal to renounce Christianity. In the following months many other Christians throughout the country died by spear or fire for their faith.

These martyrdoms totally changed the dynamic of Christian growth in Uganda. Introduced by a handful of Anglican and Roman missionaries after 1877, the Christian faith had been preached only to the immediate members of the court, by order of King Mutesa. His successor, Mwanga, became increasingly angry as he realized that the first converts put loyalty to Christ above the traditional loyalty to the king. Martyrdoms began in 1885. Mwanga first forbade anyone to go near a Christian mission on pain of death, but finding himself unable to cool the ardor of the converts, resolved to wipe out Christianity.

The Namugongo martyrdoms produced a result entirely opposite to Mwanga's intentions. The example of these martyrs, who walked to their deaths singing hymns and praying for their enemies, so inspired many of the bystanders that they began to seek instruction from the remaining Christians. Within a few years the original handful of converts had multiplied many times and spread far beyond the court. The martyrs had left the indelible impression that Christianity was truly African, not simply a white man's religion. Most of the missionary work was carried out by Africans rather than by white missionaries, and Christianity spread steadily. Uganda now has the largest percentage of professed Christians of any nation in Africa.

Several years ago I heard an African clergyman, born of pagan parents, tell of his conversion. He said:

'One afternoon I was bicycling along a road and met a young man about my own age bicycling in the opposite direction. He promptly turned about and began to ride beside me and to talk. He spoke with great enthusiasm about Jesus, whom I had never heard of before, and how He had destroyed the power of death and evil by dying and rising again, and how He was God become man to reconcile man with God. I heard what my companion had to say, and before we parted I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Now, the young man who preached the Good News of Jesus Christ to me that afternoon had himself heard of Jesus for the first time that morning.'"

by James Kiefer from the site James Kiefer's Christian Biographies (used with permission).

What strikes me about this story is these words: "The Namugongo martyrdoms produced a result entirely opposite to Mwanga's intentions. The example of these martyrs, who walked to their deaths singing hymns and praying for their enemies, so inspired many of the bystanders that they began to seek instruction from the remaining Christians."

We in the western church go out of our way to avoid persecution, adjusting our message, if need be, to make it more palatable to an offended public. At the same time we decry our anemic state. Maybe a little of what happened in Uganda a century and a quarter ago would do us more good than our predominantly comfortable,  safe environment ... not that I want persecution any more than the next person.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for these brave Ugandan Christians who modeled new life in Christ in such a compelling way that not even the possibility of persecution could deter people from coming to You. Please grow in me such a vital, loyal, and attractive faith. Amen.


MORE: The Feast of the Martyrs of Uganda

Today the church celebrates the Feast of the Martyrs of Uganda. The liturgy for this day begins with this Collect:

"O God, by your providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before you the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience, even to death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Privileged above prophets and angels

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 1:1-12

TO CHEW ON: "To them it was revealed that, not to themselves but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — the things which angels desire to look into." 1 Peter 1:12

Though it took Peter a while (as we saw yesterday) by the time he wrote this letter he was completely convinced that Jesus was the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies. Can't you just sense the thrill he feels knowing he had actually witnessed the things that prophets and angels had strained to see?

A commentary on 1 Peter in my Bible gives this advice:

"Devote yourself to loving Jesus, even though you cannot see Him. Loving and believing in Him with faith releases unspeakable joy and glory in your life. Spend time studying the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus and their fulfillment in the New Testament. Realize that angels long to look on these things and that studying the Bible is a privilege" - "Truth-In-Action In 1 Peter," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1771.

To help carry out that good advice, here us a little bit elementary school fun for you. Below is a list of seven aspects of Jesus' death recorded in the Gospel of John. Under that are some prophetic references. Can you match each prophecy with its fulfillment? (One prophecy reference predicts two events.)

Aspects of Jesus' death prophesied in the Old Testament:

1. In obedience to His Father (John 18:11). _____
2. Announced by Himself (John 3:14; 18:31-32). _____
3. In the place of His people (John 18:14). _____
4. With evildoers (John 19:18). _____
5. In innocence (John 19:6). _____
6. By crucifixion (John 19:18). _____
7. Buried in a rich man's tomb (John 19:38-42). _____

Old Testament Prophecies:

A. Numbers 21:8-9    B. Psalm 22:16   C. Psalm 40:7-8   D. Isaiah 53:4-6   E. Isaiah 53:9   F. Isaiah 53:12

(Answers below)

PRAYER: Dear God, I worship You for the wisdom of Your plan, put in motion "from the foundation of the earth". Open my eyes to see and understand where I fit into the part of the story playing out in my time. Amen.

MORE: Jesus and prophecy

"Nobody in the history of the world has foreknown and foretold and carried out his life and death and resurrection the way Jesus did. The overwhelming impact of reading the gospel accounts of the life of Jesus is that here is a man who knows what is coming, describes what is coming, and performs what is coming, according the purpose of God foretold in Scripture, that he was sent to fulfil. He sets his face like flint to do everything written of him, and he will not turn to the right hand or to the left lest one prediction of his Father in the Old Testament should fall to the ground." - (Read all of "The Sovereign Sacrifice: Foreknown, Foretold, For Faith) By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

Answers: 1. C |  2. A  | 3. D  | 4. F  | 5. E |  6. B |  7. E