Milk vs. solid food

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 5-6; Psalm 27

TO CHEW ON: "For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are full of age that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Hebrews 5:13,14

What does the writer of Hebrews mean by "milk" and "solid food"? Where do you and I fit in this picture? Are we milk Christians, or do we eat solid food?

The writer gives us a clue when he talks about milk-requiring Christians as those who still haven't come to accept the "first principles" of the faith  (Hebrews 5:12) and again  refers to "elementary principles"  in Hebrews 6:1,2 where he goes on to name those six principles—the foundation on which faith is to be built. They are:

1. Repentance from dead works (see also Hebrews 9:14).
2. Faith toward God (John 3:16 comes to mind).
3. Baptism (see Acts 19:35).
4. Laying on of hands (some examples: Acts 8:17 and 19:6 where "laying on of hands" preceded people receiving the Holy Spirit; Acts 6:6 where it accompanied the commissioning of men for a special assignment).
5. Resurrection of the dead  (Acts 17:31).
6. Eternal judgment (Acts 24:25).

I ask myself, do I have a problem with / argue about / try to rationalize away any of these foundation stones of the faith? Because if I do, the writer would probably consider me a milk-limited Christian too.

On the other hand a "solid food" Christian is one builds a life of obedient practice ("...those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil") upon this foundation.

PRAYER:  Dear God, please help me to settle any issues I have with the basics, so I can go on to live a life of maturity and usefulness in Your kingdom.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 27

***************
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.

God is committed to our perfection

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Job 12-15; Psalm 138

TO CHEW ON: “The LORD will perfect that which concerns me.” Psalm 138:8

David drives a big stake of faith to anchor the tent of his life here when he declares: “God will perfect that which concerns me.”

The word perfect here is the Hebrew word gamar which has two meanings: 1] to come to an end, be no more, cease; and 2] to bring to an end, finish, accomplish, perfect, perform, fulfill. Twice (in the Old Testament) it takes that second meaning, referring to the completing, finishing and perfecting of God’s work in one’s life (Psalm 57:2 and Psalm 138:8)

The author of the word studies in my Bible explains:

“The idea is that God begins to work out His purposes in the life of His servant and continues His work until it is absolutely and completely done” - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 792.

At least two New Testament writers echo that promise.
Paul writes:

“Being confident of this very thing; that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” - Philippians 1:6.

Peter writes:

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” - 1 Peter 5:10.

I don’t like the idea of suffering, of having myself hammered into shape (Romans 8:29), of going through tests and exercises meant to strengthen and perfect me any more than the next person. But knowing that God is in these things, that He knows just the amount of stress, tension, stretching, discomfort, pain, inconvenience needed to “perfect that which concerns me” is a huge comfort to me—and I hope to you too.
 
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for Your commitment to me. Help me to cooperate with you, learning and growing and becoming more like Jesus at every stage of this perfecting process. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 138

 *********
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.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Changed

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 9-12; Psalm 80


TO CHEW ON: "Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man." 1 Samuel 10:6

Who of us wouldn't welcome such a transformation as happened to Saul?

The Bible speaks much of being transformed, changed, and renewed. As we study it, we discover we too can experience such a radical remake. Let's look at some other Bible passages that speak of becoming a new person (i.e. spiritual renewal) to understand what such a radical renewal involves.

It begins when we trust Christ for salvation.

• Jesus calls this event being "born again" and "born of water and the Spirit" - John 3:1-8.

• Paul speaks of being saved "through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" - Titus 3:5.

• In another place he calls this being "in Christ" and describes it as a "new creation—old things have passed away; behold new things have come" - 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Our new spiritual baby selves need to grow.

• We do this by spending time with God - Isaiah 40:31. For us this means things like reading the Bible, reflecting on how its teachings relate to our lives, and talking to God in prayer. During this time spent with Him God transforms and renews our minds - Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23.

• God promises to stay involved in the process of renewal for our entire lives - Philippians 1:6; 2:13.

• All is not lost if we mess up, like David did. "Create in me a clean heart ... and renew a steadfast spirit in me," he prayed (Psalm 51:10) after repenting from adultery with Bathsheba and masterminding the murder of her husband.

Empowering for special jobs. 

• God sometimes brings about such new-person events to empower people for special jobs. That's what happened to Saul here—and to other Old Testament characters before the Holy Spirit was available to all after the day of Pentecost.

• Throughout the New Testament we see God the Spirit assigning and empowering people:

- The Holy Spirit directs the choosing of seven men to oversee the daily distribution of food - Acts 6:1-7
- The Holy Spirit sends Ananias to pray for and baptize Saul - Acts 9:10-19
- God tells the Antioch church leaders to send out Barnabas and Saul/Paul, which they do after laying hands on them and praying.

And so we see that this renewal that happened to Saul can also take place for and in us. It will probably not happen in an instant, as it did in him, but may the change in us over time, be just as dramatic.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank you for the many ways You bring about change and renewal in my life. Help me today to live in cooperation with that process. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 80


MORE: The Holy Spirit invades all of life

"The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house— He invades all of it. And once I decide that my “old man” (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me."- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest,  April 11 reading.

***********

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.

Grow up

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 14:1-23


TO CHEW ON:"Therefore let us not judge one another any more but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in a brother's way .... Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil .... Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another." Romans 14:13, 16, 19.


If you have ever parented an infant, you have witnessed complete and total self-absorption. A baby cares only about itself, its hunger, its comfort, and its need to sleep or not. It does not ask you whether this is a convenient time for it to nurse, or go on a crying jag, or mess its diaper.

One of our jobs as parents is to channel that self-absorption into an awareness of others and their needs. We label an adult who is stuck in a childish, self-absorbed state immature.

Here Paul talks to the family of God in Rome about some of these maturity issues. Three "therefore"s signal the conclusions to three mini-arguments. They help us identify areas in ourselves that might be challenged by self-absorption.

1. "Therefore let us not judge..."
Paul ends a whole section with that simple conclusion (Romans 14:1-13). He does give an alternate response to cultivate: "rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in a brother's way." Another way we could express this is, Don't judge the actions of others; rather judge yourself and rein in actions that might cause someone to trip-up.

2. "Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil."
Paul precedes this with the opinion/belief that nothing is intrinsically unclean. He would probably be referring to the unclean foods and actions defined in the Old Testament law. What makes transgressing these old prohibitions sin, then, is whether they violate one's conscience. Paul pleads with his readers to take into account the tender conscience of fellow Christians before doing things they know others would find a problem.

3. "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another."
Why? Because this attitude offends no one. It pleases God and people (Romans 14:18). Paul here advises a change of perspective. He says, in effect, Don't focus on living as close as you can to the boundary of unbridled liberty. Rather focus on maintaining peace with your brother/sister. Look for ways you can edify or build up (not stretch, shock, or offend) your fellow Christian.

Are we mature enough to be other-centered in these ways?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to leave judging to You. May I be sensitive to the consciences of others. On the flip side of this coin, may I not be easily offended or tripped up by the liberties others take. Amen.

MORE: On maturity

"How often I have found that we grow to maturity not by doing what we like, but by doing what we should. How true it is that not every 'should' is a compulsion, and not every 'like' is a high morality and true freedom" - Karl Rahner .

*******
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.

Do you know what is in your heart?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 8:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." Deuteronomy 8:2


If you want to discover your grumpiness, irritability, and general unpleasantness potential, put yourself under stress. For me, even something as ordinary as camping in the rain with little kids was enough to expose impatience and short-temper just under the thin veneer of pleasantness and longsuffering.

I often ask myself, when I watch people on the news as they react to natural disasters—how would I do in that situation? It's the same with stories of the Exodus in the Bible. Though it's easy to be condemning of the Israelites as they make their grumbling way through the desert, I wonder, would I have been any different?

In our reading today, Moses, in a farewell message to the Israelites, explains the why behind God's dealings with them. Their hardship, hunger, and thirst show them how helpless they are on their own and how much they need God. The way their clothes don't wear out and their feet don't swell show them they can trust God for the most practical, down-to-earth details. Their testing is never arbitrary or random but for a purpose, to show them how much they need God and to strengthen character in them. It is to build a people who, even when the stress is off, will remember the origins of their supply and good fortune.

We may be dismayed at how difficulties show us up as selfish, fearful, impatient etc. At such times it's easy to get discouraged with our many immaturities. But we mustn't stay down on ourselves too long. For such self-revelations are also positive:

• They give us glimpses of who we really are.

• They keep us from being proud and judgmental of others.

• They throw us on God. We can ask Him to help us understand the roots of our reactions.  We can go to Him for daily spiritual nourishment, just like the Israelites went out to gather manna six days a week. In this way our difficulties will help us change. They will "do you good in the end" - Deuteronomy 8:16.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me understand the roots of my irritability, impatience, worry — all the things that show up in me when I'm under stress. Help me to deal with them in a way that will build character and trust in You. Amen.

*****************
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.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Repentance lifestyle

Image: Avisscher / Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 13:1-9

TO CHEW ON: " '… unless you repent you will all likewise perish.' " Luke 13:3,5


"Did you hear about the crane that toppled onto a New York street, killing a man driving by in his car?" This might have been the "news" that people brought to Jesus a few weeks ago if he were walking the earth now.

For the people of Jesus' day the subtext of these bad news reports (one that people brought to Jesus, one  that He recalled himself—and which still fill the airwaves today) was the unuttered question: "What terrible sin did the people in these incidents commit that caused them to come to such an end?" My Bible's study notes call this thinking "Retribution Theology." It is a view of God that attributes individual suffering to individual sin.

Jesus quickly steered his bad news-bringers away from the victims and their fates to consider their own precarious position: " '…unless you repent you will all likewise perish.' " It's like He's saying to them—you too are on the road to a bad end if you don't do one thing— REPENT.

[Repent - matanoeo is to make a decision that results in a change of mind, which in turn leads to a change of purpose and action. - Dick Mills, "Word Wealth," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 1293.]

In a sidebar article on Repentance, Jack Hayford says:

"The first call of the kingdom is to repentance. The implications of biblical repentance are: 1] renunciation and reversal; 2] submission and teachability; 3] continual shapeability."  

He goes on to say, there is no birth into the kingdom without renouncing sin and turning from sin to Christ (Acts 3:19). There is no growth in the kingdom without obedience (James 1:21-25). There is no fruit in the kingdom without an acceptance of the Holy Spirit's correction and guidance (Ephesians 4:30). - Jack Hayford, "Repentance," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 1293.

The simple but life-changing act of repentance is still our first move in assuring our salvation and the lifestyle needed for our growth and fruitfulness:

 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord," Acts 3:19.

"Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" - James 1:21-22.

"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" - Ephesians 4:30.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for making a way to You available through repentance. As Your follower, please help me to live in the daily repentance of obedience and Spirit-intimacy. Amen.

 *********
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.

Growth stages

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 John 2:3-17

TO CHEW ON: "I write to you fathers because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you young men because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you children because you have known the Father." 1 John 2:13

In the middle of some heavy teaching about how important it is to love each other and how when you hate someone you're living in darkness, John interjects this little section that seems to say, "And guess what folks. This is for all of you!"

The parenthesis section of verses 12-14 give us some great little insights into the different stages of the Christian life.

Little children:
Pick up the excitement of the new believer in John's word.

• It's excitement over sins forgiven: "I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven."

• It's excitement about a new relationship: "I write to you little children because you have known the Father."

When, in another place, John scolds a church for having left their "first love," I think we can rightly assume he's talking about this stage. It's the stage of having a crush on God/Jesus—only it's much more profound and lasting than human infatuation.

Young men/women:
A sidebar article in my Bible describes this stage:

"But as we feed on the milk of the Word (1 Peter 2:2) we see that there is more to salvation than the forgiveness of sins. We grow beyond our infancy into young adult lives of challenge and victory as people who live daily by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7)" - Kenneth Ulmer,  in "Growth In Stages," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1785.

Father/mothers:
This is the stage of the long-term settled relationship. These folks are so tight with God, have been through so much with Him that John says, simply, they know Him.

Know (ginosko) means:
1] To learn to know.
2] to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of.
3] Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse.

In other words, it's knowing that encompasses all stages from introduction to the deepest intimacy. The relationship only gets richer, more secure, more satisfying!

I ask, which one of these stages am I in? (Though I'm thinking, there is a little bit of each stage in my relationship with God.) What about you?

Another good question to ask is, are we making progress to new levels of growth?

PRAYER: Dear Father God, thank You for our relationship that lasts a lifetime. Help me, even today, to grow stronger and bigger and more mature in You. Amen.

*********
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.

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.

***********
 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? 


************
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.

Three types of people

The Bible—a living book.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 2:10-16

TO CHEW ON: "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one." 1 Corinthians 2:14,15

If you came to Christ as an adult, or even a teen, you may have experienced what verse 14 talks about. As a "natural man" or woman, the Bible made no sense to you. You couldn't understand its appeal.

But then, however it came about, you accepted Christ. After that perhaps almost mysteriously, the Bible came alive. You began to see that it is a story in which you have a part—and you were eager to understand that story and more fully grasp your part in it.

Those are two types of people Paul names here: natural and spiritual. Here's how Donald Pickerill, the writer of my Bible's notes on 1 Corinthians describes them:

NATURAL: "… unregenerate and devoid of the Spirit has no appreciation for the gospel" Donald Pickerill, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1582.

SPIRITUAL: "… regenerate and possessing spiritual maturity, as seen in freedom from sectarian strive (1 Corinthians 3:3,4), has a nature that responds to the truth and unbelievers find him difficult to understand" - Ibid.

There's a third type. Paul talks about it in the next chapter—the carnal. These people have accepted Christ but you'd hardly know it by their lives. Paul calls them "babes in Christ," the kind that need milk, not solids. You can tell who they are by their behaviour—characterized by envy, strife, divisions "behaving like mere men." Mr. Pickerill's description:

CARNAL: "The carnal man, regenerate but living much like an unregenerate, is a believer with childish ways, as seen in a jealous and sectarian spirit. An immature Christian lives more for human opinion than for Christ" - Ibid.

The question each of us needs to ask is—which person describes me? And if we are Christ's but find ourselves more like the carnal than the spiritual, at what point did we stop growing? 

Let's ask the Holy Spirit to do the things Paul says He does: search, impart and teach (1 Corinthians 2:10,12,13) so we can again grow and mature.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to be tuned in to the deep things of the Spirit, teachable, obedient and growing. Amen.

 *********
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.

The goal: perfect and complete

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Corinthians 13:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "...And this also we pray, that you may be made complete....Finally brethren, farewell. Become complete... " 2 Corinthians 13:9b,11a NKJV

When I was a kid I took piano lessons. Several times during my piano lesson career, I signed up to take an exam. This involved becoming proficient in all the technical elements and learning several pieces at my grade level. For weeks, even months, my teacher and I worked at preparing me for this exam. Every week when I came for my lesson she would critique my scales and four-note chords, my Bach Invention and my Chopin waltz so I could strengthen each weakness. My goal for exam day was to impress the examiner with a performance that was as perfect and complete as I could make it.

Here Paul is urging the Corinthians to be "complete" as Christians.

["Complete (katartisis) means an improving, equipping, training, disciplining. It includes making the necessary adjustments and repairs. The related verb katartizo is used for the disciples mending their nets - Matthew 4:21" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1626.]

When Paul talks about "complete" what does he mean? What are we striving after to make us complete as disciples of Jesus? In piano I depended on my teacher to challenge and grow me toward the standard she knew was required to get a good score. In the Christian life, the package of completeness we are working toward is found in the Bible. (The word "complete" is used in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 where Paul describes how God's word is useful to us.)

Here are some verses that talk about completeness (also called "maturity"- NLT; "full restoration" - NIV;  "perfected" - Amplified, "in good repair" - Msg.). They give us a picture (though incomplete for sure) of what Paul is talking about and what we strive for:

• Some have earned that label. Job was a man who had a reputation with both the devil and God as being "blameless" - Job 1:1.

• Jesus linked being "perfect" with becoming detached from worldly possessions - Matthew 19:21.

• Paul talked about love as the thing that would bind all the virtues together in perfect unity - Colossians 3:12-14.

• James referred to how faith and works need to mesh, with works completing or making perfect one's profession of faith - James 2:22.

• He also spoke of the ability to guard one's tongue as an evidence of the greater discipline of the "perfect man" - James 3:2.

• John spoke of our love shown to one another as the evidence of God's loving being perfected in us - 1 John 4:12.

Fortunately we don't have to work on this alone. We too have a "piano teacher." God Himself promises to show us where we need to improve. Look

"I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward. So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also" - Philippians 3:13-15 (Amplified)

Completeness is a great big goal that can seem discouragingly huge. But it has been my experience that God often handles my shortcomings like my piano teacher did — one at a time. That I can handle.

PRAYER: Dear God, the goal of completeness is a big, intimidating one. Thank You that You deal with me one issue at a time. Help me to be a teachable student today, sensitive and malleable to Your correction. Amen.

MORE: "Joy in the Journey" - Michael Card

My conscience, yours, or both?

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 10:18-11:1

TO CHEW ON: “Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

In our passage today Paul addresses a tricky cultural problem in Greece. Pagan worship (out of which many of the Christians came) involved feasts and eating. Paul warns Christians not to be a part of pagan celebrations and feasting. For just as taking part in the Lord’s Supper signified fellowship with God, taking part in pagan feasts signified fellowship with demons.

However, sometimes meat that had been part of pagan ritual found its way into the public market. What if they inadvertently bought some of that idol-consecrated meat. Were they then guilty of the same thing?

Paul advises them:
1. The meat in itself is neutral.
2. They can just not ask about the meat’s status – when it’s for sale or served in someone’s home.
3.However, if someone tells them that they are about to eat idol-consecrated meat, then they shouldn’t touch it. Why? For the sake of their own conscience, and for the sake of the person who told them and for whom eating the meat may have spiritual significance.

Of course we will probably never encounter exactly such a situation. But the principles apply to us too. We do things or refrain from doing them for two reasons:

• Because our own conscience allows or forbids it.

• Because we consider the conscience of our brother.

Here’s how a modern working out of those principles might look. You go to dinner with a former alcoholic. To this person alcohol means the old life of partying and bondage. For you a glass of wine with your meal is perfectly harmless. While your conscience allows you to have a drink, you’re not sure how that action will affect your friend. Therefore on this day, in deference to your friend’s conscience – considering what alcohol signifies to him and how you having a drink might actually make him feel tempted to have one too – you abstain from the wine.

As we live not only by the dictates of our own consciences, but also considering how our actions will affect others, we glorify God who is honored when every part of the Body (the Church) is healthy and pure. Can you and I be so mature that we set aside our rights in consideration of others?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to live by the dictates of my own conscience and with others in mind, “not seeking my own profit but the profit of many that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:33)


MORE: Chris Tomlin sings “Give Us Clean Hands”