When weak is strong

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Corinthians 11-13; Psalm 4

TO CHEW ON: "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10

Overshadowed as 2 Corinthians 12:10 is by grand verse 9, I've never before today noticed the list of things Paul takes pleasure in:

Infirmities [Astheneia. In English infirmity means the state or quality of being infirm: debility, weakness, a physical or mental defect or weakness.]

Reproaches [Hubris. "It means hurt, loss, injury arising from violence, damage caused by the elements, hardship, detriment, trouble, danger... In 2 Corinthians 12:10 hubris denotes insolence, impudence, a haughty attitude, insult, injury, outrage, persecution and affront. ... it is adversarial" - Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 1540.]

Needs [Anagke - calamity, distress, straits. Several other translations render this hardships.]

Persecutions [Diogmos. The dictionary definition of persecute is to harass with cruel or oppressive treatment. To maltreat or oppress because of race, religion or beliefs, to annoy or harass persistently.]

Distresses [Stenochoria - narrowness of place, a narrow place (metaphorically). The Amplified translates this perplexities and distresses, the ESV calamities.]

Is there a negative condition we could encounter that we don't find here? And Paul says he "takes pleasure" in them because Christ comes through for him and in him via that weakness. The turnaround is not because of him but because of who indwells him: "My grace is sufficient for you for My strength is made perfect in weakness." That, for Paul, is a reason to welcome infirmities, reproaches, needs, distresses, persecutions and difficulties—so that he needs and depends on the power of Christ to flow through his needy self .

I ask myself, what item on Paul's list do I identify with today? What about you? Are we sick, beleaguered by the reproaches of nature or people, needy, persecuted, perplexed, distressed, in a tight spot?

Instead of viewing this as a negative thing, we can begin with Paul to thank God for our bad, challenging, overwhelming thing. We can invite Him into the circumstance or event for the first time, or again, with a more helpless, dependent attitude. Then we can watch Him turn our weakness into strength as He changes our attitude, gives us the ability and patience to cope while we wait for Him to bring about a change, or provides us a download of  wisdom to know how to improve or change things. 

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You that Your grace (undeserved favour and blessing) is enough for any and every bad thing that could come my way. Help me to be like Paul—glad in negative circumstances, welcoming them as opportunities for Your abilities and resources to shine through my inability and disability. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 4

MORE: I Need Thee Every Hour - Fernando Ortega

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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.

Blessing

Image: Pixabay

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 28-29; Psalm 62

TO CHEW ON: "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God." Deuteronomy 28:2 

We cannot read Deuteronomy 28 and not be struck by the repetition of the word "bless" in its various forms in the first 14 verses. I count ten repetitions.

["Bless" here is the Hebrew word barak - "to bless, kneel." 
"Blessing" is berakah, derived from barak - "blessing, prosperity, praise of God, gift, present."

In English we define bless as "to consecrate, make holy; to honor, exalt; glorify; to invoke God's favour upon; to bestow happiness or prosperity; to guard and protect."

We define "blessing" as the act or words of a person who blesses; a special favor, mercy or benefit; a favor or gift bestowed by God bringing happiness."]

As we follow the idea of blessing through the Bible, here are some things we discover:

1. Blessing is within our creator God's power to bestow (Psalm 134:3).

2. It is involved with God's plan for the Jewish people (Genesis 26:24)

• Blessing is evidenced in the unusually large harvest of year six in a seven-year cycle, so that the people would have food when they let their land rest in year seven (Leviticus 25:21).
• It is visible in their large families (Deuteronomy 1:11).
• It results in them settling in Canaan — the land of promise (Deuteronomy 26:15).
• Israel's independence and self-sufficiency are an evidence of God's blessing (Deuteronomy 15:6).

3. It is connected to obedience. Fourteen verses of Deuteronomy 28 (our reading) are taken up with promises of personal, family and national blessings that will flow out of obedience (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).

4. It is closely connected with giving (2 Chronicles 31:10; Ezekiel 44:30).

5. It is an expression of God's love (Deuteronomy 23:5).

6. It is His presence (Psalm 21:6).

7. It comes when people live peacefully together (Psalm 133:1-3).

8. It makes rich (Proverbs 10:22).

9. It is part of the upside down Kingdom of God, where we inherit a blessing when we refuse to reciprocate evil with evil, but with blessing (1 Peter 3:9).

But, you say, these blessings were for Bible time people not for us now — right?

Wrong! The exciting thing is that the blessing pronounced on Abraham and his descendants is linked to us too. Look at Galatians 3:13-14:

^"Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith." - Galatians 3:14 NLT

So when we say, "God bless you," we are not mouthing empty words. Rather we are invoking a rich heritage of blessing that is ours because of Jesus — just another fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham and the way he would bless, made way back in Genesis ("And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed" Genesis 12:3)

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to live blessed and under Your blessing. May my life be a means of blessing to others today. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 62

MORE: "I Will Delight" - Fernando Ortega

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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 NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The softer side of God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 1:1-18

TO CHEW ON:  “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  John 1:17

Suppose you read only the Old Testament part of the Bible. What picture of God would you have? Someone who is stern, sometimes angry, and jealous? You would be right. Because under the Law, God’s justice, righteousness and holiness were especially evident. And He was and is still those things today.

However, when He enfleshed Himself in Jesus, He showed us that He has a soft side too. His unbending truth is combined with grace.

[Grace - charis: from joy and rejoice. “It is the word for God’s grace as extended to sinful man. It signifies unmerited favor, undeserved blessing, a free gift.” (Word Wealth – NKJV – New Spirit Filled Life Bible).

Truth - aletheia: the opposite of fictitious, feigned or false. “It means veracity, reality, sincerity, accuracy, integrity, truthfulness, dependability, propriety.” ((Word Wealth  – New Spirit Filled Life Bible).]

These are God-qualities that Jesus lived out before us. When we see Him healing twisted limbs and blind eyes, raising sons and brothers from the dead, straightening backs, staunching blood flows, and taking the punishment for our sins, we see the grace side of God.

When we see Jesus exposing the past of a Samaritan woman and a man stuck by a pool, confronting temple merchants and hypocritical Pharisees, putting Satan and the disciples in their place, and taking the punishment for our sins, we see the truth side of God.

Aren’t you glad that God didn’t end His revelation of Himself with the Old Testament? Our picture of Him would be so different. So when God seems stern, distant, even unapproachable, look at Jesus. Though He never glosses over or bends the truth about you, He still wraps you in His grace.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to live today in the light of Your truth and the warmth of Your grace. Amen

MORE: Hear Fernando Ortega sing “Give Me Jesus."



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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.

Presumptuous sins

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 19:1-14


TO CHEW ON: "Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;

Let them not have dominion over me." Psalm 19:13

"Presumptuous sins"? What is this category of sin?

[Presume, the verb from which the adjective presumptuous derives, means to take for granted, assume to be true, to take upon oneself without warrant or permission, dare, venture, to act or proceed over-confidently.

The Hebrew word zed here translated "presumptuous" means arrogant, proud, insolent, presumptuous]

Barnes' Notes on the Bible gives one explanation of "presumptuous sins" in Psalm 19:

"...the reference is particularly to sins which proceed from self-confidence; from reliance on one's own strength. The word does not mean open sins, or flagrant sins so much as those which spring from self-reliance or pride. The prayer is substantially that he might have proper distrust of himself and might not be left by an improper reliance on his own power to the commission of sin" (emphasis added).

When might we be guilty of presumptuous sins?

Perhaps when we act like the man in Jesus' story who congratulated himself for his full barns and depended on them for the future, never acknowledging God (Luke 12:16-21)?

In our time it is easy to live life this way. We have our paychecks or our pensions and the government will take care of us if we lose them. We have our doctors and hospitals so going to God when we get sick is hardly our first thought. We have our books, the internet and TV so where do we need's God's input when we don't know what to do?

The fact that David prays such sins will not have dominion him over tells us he knows and fears they easily could become his habitual response.

I have a feeling I am more prone to presumptuous sins than I care to admit, and need a new sensitivity to see where I am depending on myself and not Him.

PRAYER: Dear God, please alert me to presumptuous habits and behaviours in my life. Help me to label them sin and to turn from pride and self-reliance to reliance on You. Amen.

MORE: "Give Me Jesus" - Fernando Ortega



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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.

You get to choose your king

Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd
Ecce Homo (c. 1849-52) - by Honore Daumier

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 18:28-40

TO CHEW ON: "'But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?'

Then they all cried again, saying, 'Not this Man but Barabbas.'" John 18:39-40

Look at Jesus. He appears anything but kingly, standing alone in the front of Pilate in the Praetorium, even as the religious leaders, who finally have His death in their hands, wait outside inciting the crowd as they gloat.

"Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate asks.

"You say rightly I am a king..." Jesus answers.

We reflect back over Jesus' life as told to us in the gospels. We have seen him socializing with sinners, touching lepers, scorning the status given by possessions and property, living instead the life of a vagabond.

Now He stands before Pilate forsaken by even His friends, tired, disheveled, looking altogether pathetic. So this is how a heavenly king handles Himself? He's so unlikely. It's true what Isaiah says of Him: "He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2). He is surely not a king by the company He keeps, His wealth, or His physical appearance. On what basis, then, is He a king?

Listen in as He continues explaining His kingship to Pilate: "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Jesus' claim, that He spoke truth, lived truth, represented (and represents) the Kingdom of Truth is as controversial today as ever. The meaning of His claim, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6), is debated more hotly today than ever, even in some Christian circles.

Today, as in each generation, we are presented with the choice Pilate gave the Jerusalem crowd. Whose claims do we believe? Who will we choose to follow, obey, and give allegiance to? Who will be our king?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I choose You. Please help me to live my everyday life now, as a subject in Your Kingdom of Truth. Amen.

MORE: "Give Me Jesus" by Fernando Ortega

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)

You get to choose your king

Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd
Ecce Homo (c. 1849-52) - by Honore Daumier

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 18:28-40

TO CHEW ON: "'But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?'

Then they all cried again, saying, 'Not this Man but Barabbas.'" John 18:39-40

Yesterday we read a psalm that praised God's kingly majesty. The psalmist pictured Him clothed in omnipotence, reigning forever from His holiness-adorned palace. It was a grand picture but one that made us feel very tiny, insignificant and unworthy — as we are.

Today we see that omnipotent, eternal king as a person. It's Jesus!

Look at Him, standing alone in the front of Pilate in the Praetorium, even as the religious leaders, who finally have His death in their hands, wait outside inciting the crowd as they gloat.

"Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate asks.

"You say rightly I am a king..." Jesus answers.

We reflect back over Jesus' life as told to us in the gospels. We have seen him socializing with sinners, touching lepers, scorning the status endowed by possessions and property, living instead the life of a vagabond. Now He stands before Pilate forsaken by even His friends, tired, disheveled, looking altogether pathetic. So this is how a heavenly king handles Himself? He's so unlikely. It's true what Isaiah says of Him: "He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isaiah 53:2). He is surely not a king by the company He keeps, His worldly wealth, or His physical appearance. On what basis, then, is He a king?

Listen in as He continues explaining His kingship to Pilate: "For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Jesus' claim, that he spoke truth, lived truth, represented (and represents) the Kingdom of Truth is as controversial today as ever. The meaning of His claim, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6), is debated more hotly today than ever, even in some Christian circles.

Today, as in each generation, we are presented with the choice Pilate gave the Jerusalem crowd. Whose claims do we believe? Who will we choose to follow, obey, and give allegiance to? Who will be our king?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I choose You. Please help me to live my everyday life now, as a subject in Your Kingdom of Truth. Amen.

MORE: "Give Me Jesus" by Fernando Ortega

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