He put Himself in our hands

Judas guides the soldiers - A. Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 16-18; Psalm 110

TO CHEW ON: "Now when He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground." - John 18:5

Even in this darkest of moments, when one of Jesus' friends is in the act of betraying Him and another is about to deny Him, flashes of His God-essence come through. Otherwise what was it that caused these soldiers to "fall to the ground"?

"Man was not made to handle the electricity of God" someone once said (or words to that effect; I can't find the exact quote). Which makes what Jesus did when He surrendered Himself up to die for us all the more amazing. He could have immobilized that whole detachment long enough to get away. But instead, a little later when Peter did some damage with his sword in Jesus' defense, Jesus rebuked: "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?" - John 18:11.

In a few months we'll again celebrate Christmas and Jesus' birth. It's more evidence of how intentionally the God of the universe put Himself in human hands as He took on human flesh and surrendered Himself to the human condition. Let's let the enormity of what He did give depth and breadth to our praise, worship, and thanksgiving.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Your life was not taken from You; You laid it down, and for me. Help me to comprehend just how amazing and wonderful this is. I thank You. Love, V. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 110

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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.

Harmonious family relationships

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ephesians 5:21-6:4

TO CHEW ON: “Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:22


In marital relationships the fashion has changed. Nowadays if you say the word “submit” when you’re talking about how a wife should relate to her husband, some would have you wash your mouth out with soap. A wife submitting to her husband is considered so yesterday—no, not even yesterday, so archaic!

[The word translated “submit” comes from the Greek hypotasso. It means “to arrange under, subordinate, subject, put in subjection, subject oneself, obey, submit to one’s control; yield to one’s admonition or advice.”] Nothing ambivalent about that!

In fact Paul has something (controversial to modern ears) to say to every member of the family:

Wife: Submit to your husband as to the Lord. Be subject to (same “submit” word)  your own husband in the same way the church is subject to Christ, deferring to him as your head* like the church defers to Christ as its  head (Ephesians 5:22-24).

[*Head: kephale: literal head, where the loss of the head destroys life; metaphorical - anything supreme, chief; of persons: master, lord; of husband in relation to his wife; of Christ, the Lord of the husband and of the church.]

Husband: love your wife like Christ loved the church in a selfless, giving way, to the same extent that you love and care for yourself, working for her well-being, beauty, and purity (Ephesians 5:25-29).

As a couple: leave your parents’ home and become joined and intimate as a new entity - Ephesians 5:31.

 Children: Obey your parents, honor them (which comes with a promise of well-being and longevity) - Ephesians  6:1-3.

Fathers: Don’t provoke [parorigizo - rouse to wrath, provoke, exasperate, anger] your children. Bring them up, and train them to know and obey the the Lord - Ephesians 6:4.

As old-fashioned as this advice may sound, can you imagine our society if everyone lived by it? God’s design for marriage and the family is to reflect His sacrificial love to us and our submission to Him. It might be out of modern favor but I don’t know of any modern model for the family that sounds more harmonious and functional (but difficult to live out in one's own strength).


PRAYER: Dear Father, I need  faith that You know best and Your power to live these things in my imperfect, everyday life. 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.

Shades of humility

"The Lord's Blessing"
by Kathy Lawrence

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:1-11


TO CHEW ON: "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself...Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..."  (2:3-5)

Humility. I think we'd all agree it's a quality that's attractive in other people, yet easy to transgress in ourselves. A close look at our reading today along with a few other Bible bits will help us discover shades of biblical humility and give us ideas on how we can nurture it in ourselves.

• Other-centered

Paul alludes to one of the big reasons it's hard to be humble in Philippians 2:4 — because each one of us is at the centre of our own universe (as Adrian Plass says it: "Everyone is I"). We take a big step down the road to humility when we "look out not only for our own interests, but also for the interests of others."

• Childlike

In Matthew 18:4 Jesus talks about humbling oneself as a child. A childlike attitude toward God is rooted in the reality of His power and bigness, and our dependence on Him.

• Live for the praise of the One who matters

If we have trouble being humble, James 4:10 tells us to put ourselves before God — the One whose opinion really counts. From this place we say, I don't know best, but You do. I'll take whatever lot in life or assignment You give. I'll let You decide.

• Defer to the deserving

Peter in 1 Peter 5:5 gives common sense advice when he says tells us to defer to those who deserve honour — like wise elders. But then he quickly enlarges the net: "all of you be submissive to one another and clothed with humility."

• Free from the need to prove anything

Back at our Philippians passage, I love how a sidebar article in my Bible describes Jesus' humility (Philippians 2:5-8):

"Christlike humility is manifested in the freedom of God's Son to affirm the fullness of all God has placed in Him, without needing to flaunt, prove, or push it through self-advancement. Jesus' complete absence of any need to 'clutch' for power or attention is manifest humility. It is the royal spirit that the King of heaven Himself displayed in servantlike graciousness" - Fuchsia Pickett, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1662.

That's what I want — freedom from a need to flaunt, prove, push for self-advancement, clutch for power or attention. I want my life to display that "royal spirit" Jesus lived by His "servantlike graciousness," don't you?


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please help me to live the humility that You modelled. Show me where I need to humble myself so that I won't need Your disciplinary hand to humble 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.

My projects or His purposes?

"St. John the Baptist Sees Jesus From Afar" 
- by James Tissot

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 1:29-42

TO CHEW ON: "'I did not know Him but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.'" John the Baptist in John 1:31

John's career choice as a baptizer was not some random job that came out of a brainstorming session with his high school counselor. It was a God-inspired career the main purpose of which was to introduce Messiah. It was the curtain rising, the drum roll on Jesus, the Lamb of God.

John tells us plainly how it worked:

"I did not know Him but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water....I did not know Him but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit' and I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God!" John 1:31, 33-34.

John, the writer of this gospel, doesn't describe that baptism but Matthew does. In fact, it seems John the Baptist had no clue who the person would be. For when Jesus asked John to baptize Him John "...tried to prevent Him saying, 'I need to be baptized by You and are You coming to me?'"

However, Jesus insisted and immediately after, "... the heavens were opened to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him" Matthew 3:14-17

How exciting it must have been for John to see what God had told him secretly happening before his eyes and everyone watching. How fulfilling to know that he was God's instrument and his life was furthering God's eternal purposes.

Isn't that what we as Christians all want — to know that our actions, words, and lives have accomplished something significant and lasting because they were God-centered and aligned with what God was doing?

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says:

"To live a God-centered life you must focus your life on God's purposes, not your own plans. You must seek to view situations from God's perspective rather than your own distorted human outlook.

[...] God never asks people to dream up something to do for Him. We do not sit down and dream what we want to do for God and then call God in to help us accomplish it. The pattern in Scripture is that we submit ourselves to God. Then we wait until God shows us what He is about to do, or we watch to see what God is already doing around us and join Him" - Experiencing God Workbook, p. 33-34)

How do I rate here? How do you? Are we dreaming up projects and asking God to bless them? Or are we waiting for God's explicit instructions or joining Him in His work already in progress?

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be God-centered with my life focused on fitting in with Your purposes and exalting Jesus.

MORE: The Feast of St. Andrew

In today's reading we read that a man named Andrew was in the crowd. He was so impressed with what he saw, and with Jesus, that he ran to find his brother Peter, greeting him with the words: "We have found the Messiah." Then he brought Peter to Jesus and so began some eternal relationships.

The liturgy for the Feast of St. Andrew begins with this collect:

"Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your Holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."