Waiting for morning

TODAY'S SPECIAL:  Acts 23-24; Psalm 130

TO CHEW ON: "Out of the depths I have cried to You O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!" Psalm 130:1-2a

In January 2018 it was eleven years since my brother went to the doctor about his morning headaches. The doc soon found the cause — high blood pressure, which led to a diagnosis of kidney failure, which led to the discovery of the real culprit, a tumour, the advancing tentacles of which had choked that poor kidney.

Surgery, radiation, prayer, and hope followed. But in the intervening time it became clear that that malignant tumour would not be denied. After a time in palliative care in the summer of 2010, my brother was sent home. There his nurse-wife looked after him in his own private hospice.* Her email update from early 2011 is a modern incarnation of the Psalm 130 experience. Here are some snatches:

"...anticipation and hope is replaced by a reality that continues to wear you down and break your heart 100 times a day.... Sometimes I feel that we have entered into a 'twilight zone,' where all the old expectations and normal pleasures have been tossed aside, and we are left to grapple with a whole new set of circumstances and rules.... This is the valley of the shadow of death..."

Psalm 130 is a psalm written by a sufferer for sufferers. Eugene Peterson in his book A Long Obedience in he Same Direction speaks of what it teaches us:

"Such are the two great realities of Psalm 130: suffering is real; God is real.... We accept suffering; we believe in God. The acceptance and the belief both emerge out of those times when 'the bottom has fallen out' of our lives" p. 142.

Thankfully it doesn't end there.

"But there is more than a description of reality here, there is a procedure for participating in it. The program is given in two words: wait and watch. The words at the centre of the psalm: 'I pray to God — my life a prayer — and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.' Wait and watch add up to hope" - p. 142.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be realistic about suffering. May my faith in You be unshaken by it. And help me to be a companion in waiting and watching with those who are suffering now. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 130 

MORE: Notes from the furnace

My sister-in-law ended her January update in 2011 with this testimony: "....we are not without peace and gratitude. Sorrow and peace can go hand in hand, I have discovered."

Then this quote:

"Shining is always costly.  Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it.  An unlit candle does no shining.  Burning must come before shining.  We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves.  Burning suggests suffering.  We shrink from pain.  We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong, and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service.  When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick; when we are consumed with pain; when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are no longer of use, that we are not doing anything.


But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work.  We are burning now, and shining because we are burning.  The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today.  Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the burning, but crucifixion comes before coronation." - from Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

*UPDATE:  I initially wrote this devotion on January 25th, 2011. My brother died that evening.

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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.

God brings us, not over but through

"Peter Released from Prison by an Angel" - from Treasures of the Bible

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 11-12; Psalm 124

TO CHEW ON: "… he (Peter) declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. … And he departed and went to another place." Acts 12:17

I have sometimes wondered, as I read this story and others in Acts, why God didn't do the entire job—here get the angel to deliver Peter out of danger completely. Instead, he just brought Peter through the prison gates, down the first street and poof! he was gone (Acts 12:10).

After telling his story to his friends at Mary's house, Peter had to use his common sense and decide what to do next. It was obviously not safe to stick around so, though it was the middle of the night, he "departed and went to another place" - Acts 12:17.

Perhaps this is how we should expect God to work in our lives too. He can, and sometimes does intervene miraculously when the situation is beyond us. But He doesn't do for us what we can do for ourselves, or take us permanently out of trouble and persecution. It is commonly thought that Peter died by crucifixion.

However, no doubt because of his own experience with it, Peter left us with some powerful benefits of suffering in his first letter:

• It proves the authenticity of our faith - 1 Peter 1:6,7.

• Suffering for righteousness brings a blessing - 1 Peter 3:14.

• It purifies us - 1 Peter 4:1.

• Through suffering we identify with Christ in a unique way - 1 Peter 4:12,13.

• In suffering we experience the Holy Spirit and God's glory - 1 Peter 4:14, Acts 7:55.

So, it's not that God can't do the whole job, but that He knows we'll get a greater benefit from going through the tough stuff than floating over it.

PRAYER: Dear God, when I'm in the middle of a hard patch, please help me to remember that You allow suffering for my good—even though it doesn't feel good at the time. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 124

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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.

Suffering and lament

"Jeremiah"  by Julius Schnorr Von Karolsfeld

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Lamentations 1-2; Psalm 28

TO CHEW ON: "Judah has gone into captivity
Under affliction and hard servitude;
She dwells among the nations;
She finds no rest;
All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits." Lamentations 1:3

Lamentations is a book of laments. Four of its five poems are acrostics, perhaps the writer Jeremiah's poetic way of exploring his feelings of grief from Aleph to Tau (A to Z).

Jeremiah was mourning the fall of Jerusalem and with it the kingdom of Judah. Second Kings and Second Chronicles tell the story of her moral decline. Despite prophet warnings, the nation has continued downward, perhaps feeling too secure in God's promises of ultimate protection. Finally after a starving siege by the Babylonian army, Jerusalem fell, the city was destroyed, the temple burned, and all but her poorest  citizens marched into exile in Babylon. So Jeremiah weeps.

Some of Lamentation's themes help us understand and deal with our own griefs. (Themes are suggested by the "Introduction to Lamentations" in my Bible, by Roy Edmund Hayden, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, pp. 1037-1038):

1. Their suffering was the result of their sin (Lamentations 1:5, 8, 18, 20).
2. Their suffering was seen as coming from God rather than from men (Lamentations 1:13,15).
3. Their suffering could direct them to God.
4. Suffering, tears, and prayers belong together (Lamentations 1:12, 16, 20).

The reasons we suffer may be different from the reasons Jeremiah and the Israelites suffered. We live under a different covenant where even blatant sinners may not experience punishment for sins until after death (2 Peter 2:4-10). But often we are forced to live the consequences of past actions. And suffering is also allowed to discipline us (Hebrews 12:3-17).

In a personal application part of Lamentation's introduction, R. E. Hayden shares some helpful thoughts about suffering with us:

"We need to submit to what God is doing and attempt to learn from the experience. If it is God's discipline, it will last as long as is necessary. There is no quick-fix solution to some of these problems and no easy way out. Discipline will direct us to God, drive us to prayer, and bring us into submission. We need it" - R. E. Hayden, "Introduction to Lamentations," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1039 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, I hate suffering as much as Jeremiah did. When trouble comes, may it drive me to You. Help me then to learn all the lessons I need to learn. When I am not suffering, help me to be sensitive and comforting to those around me who are. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY:  Psalm 28

The Bible Project VIDEO: Lamentations (Read Scripture Series)

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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.

Resisting the temptation of pat answers

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 35-37; Psalm 144

TO CHEW ON: "Then He tells them their work and their transgression—
That they have acted defiantly.
He also opens their ear to instruction,
And commands that they turn from iniquity." Job 36:9,10


In the beginning  of his fourth speech, Elihu lectures Job about a purpose of suffering that Job's other friends have left out: that it is instructive.

God despises no one, Elihu insists (Job 36:5). He doesn't preserve the life of the wicked (Job 36:6) despite what Job thinks (Job 21:7). Rather, God speaks to the righteous person through his or her suffering (Job 36:9) in that way alerting them to sin so they can repent (Job 36:10). If they do, prosperity will result (Job 36:11). If they don't, they are doomed (Job 36:12).

Though what Elihu says may contain general truth, his cut-and-dried explanation that this is why Job is suffering is inadequate. We see how wrong he is when he applies this to Job (Job 36:16-18). For as the heavenly prologue to all these speeches has told us, Job's suffering is neither punishment nor instruction but a demonstration and proof to Satan of Job's integrity (Job 2:1-6).

If Elihu is teaching us anything it is that we need to temper our defense of God, always leaving room for what we don't know. To us earth-bound humans there remains mystery in His actions or lack of them. Though the Bible is clear in its description of God and what He is like (love, omnipotent, omnipresent, righteous, just, holy etc.) we will not understand the outworking of these attributes in our lives and the lives of those we love, until we see Him face to face and "…know even as we are known" - 1 Corinthians 13:12.


PRAYER: Dear God, when I or my loved ones suffer, I long for explanations. Help me to avoid the temptation of giving myself and others pat answers because, frankly, I don't see what's happening behind the scenes and what You are accomplishing through these hard times. Amen.


PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 144 

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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.

Prayer from the cave

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Job 29-31; Psalm 142

TO CHEW ON: “Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For you shall deal bountifully with me.” Psalm 142:7


It’s interesting to know the circumstances that sparked a piece of writing. Under Psalm 142’s title is a note that gives us a clue about this psalm: “A Contemplation of David. A Prayer when he was in the cave.”

My Bible’s notes cite two instances this might have been: the Cave of Adullum (2 Samuel 22) or En Gedi (1 Samuel 24). In both cases he was on the run from King Saul, his father-in-law, former boss, and man to whom he had shown nothing but loyalty and respect. His physical life was in danger, the rift between them was deeply personal and hurtful, and he was forced to live in settings (like this cave) that were inconvenient, physically demanding, and challenging. Considering all that, we would not be surprised if he were angry, resentful, vengeful, full of self-pity, even shaking his fist at God.

But that was not his stance in this contemplation.

Instead he:
1] Consoled himself in God’s knowledge and awareness of him--God's omniscience:
“When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then you knew my path” - Psalm 142:3.

2] Begged God for His help:
“I cried out to You Lord;
Attend to my cry…
Deliver me from my persecutors…
Bring my soul out of prison…" - Psalm 142:5,6.

3]  Affirmed his faith in God’s goodness:
“For You shall deal bountifully with me” - Psalm 142:7.

Perhaps we could use Psalm 142 as a model next time we’re in a “cave”:
- Remind ourselves that God knows and sees us and everything about and around us (Psalm 139).
- Pour out our requests to God. Make a list, write a journal entry, enumerate these things on our prayer list…
- End with faith and affirmations of God’s goodness. Use David’s (“For you shall deal bountifully with me” - Psalm 142:7) or compile a list of your own.


PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You that You supervise my bad times as well as my good. Help me to develop a theology of suffering that is faith- and hope-filled. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 142

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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.

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.

When God feels absent

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 20-23; Psalm 140

TO CHEW ON: "Look, I go forward, but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him;
When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
But He knows the way that I take,
When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold." - Job 23:8-10





We left Job sitting in the ash heap, scraping his itchy, painful boils, mourning the loss of his children and possessions, and confused about why all this has happened. After sitting with him in silence for seven days, his three friends try to answer his question.

His friend Eliphaz thinks Job is suffering because he has sinned.

Bildad thinks he is a hypocrite.

Zophar condemns him for being verbose and presumptuous in his attempts to answer their accusations. *

Our reading today is one of Job's responses to his accusing friends. He, in effect, ignores all their finger-pointing and pleads his integrity. If only he could find God, God would "take note of" him. But God feels absent.

Still Job doesn't give up. Instead he puts into words his unswerving faith: "But He knows the way I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" - Job 23:10.

Job does a number of things that we would do well to copy when we're going through trials:

1. He restates his belief that God is fair and is for him, even though it doesn't feel that way (Job 23:1-6).

2. He expresses the belief that God has a purpose for what is going on in his life even though He feels absent (Job 23:8-10).

3. He honours God with his statements of respect, trust and awe (Job 23:13-17).

The attitude he displays reminds me of the advice Jerry Bridges gives in his book Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts:

"Again, let me emphasize that trusting God does not mean we do not experience pain. It means we believe that God is at work through the occasion of our pain for our ultimate good. It means we work back through the Scriptures regarding His sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness, and ask Him to use those Scriptures to bring peace and comfort to our hearts. It means above all, that we do not sin against God by allowing distrustful and hard thoughts about Him to hold sway in our minds. It will often mean that we may have to say, 'God I don't understand, but I trust You'" - Jerry Bridges,  Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts, Kindle edition p. 214 (emphasis added)

I sure have far to go in this department! What about you?

PRAYER: Dear God, I can't tell how I would react in a tough situation like Job's—neither do I want to have to find out.  Please engrave Job's faith and confidence in You into my spirit so that I will be as solid as he was when troubles come to me, as I know they will. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 140


* Job summarized with help from "Introduction to Job," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, pp. 644, 645.

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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.

God is committed to our perfection

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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

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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.

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.

The Suffering Servant

Image: Hans_Hofer / pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 49-51; Psalm 119:65-96

TO CHEW ON: "'For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint
And know that I will not be ashamed.'" Isaiah 50:7

In this third Servant Song (Isaiah 50:4-9) we see the human and suffering Servant. It's not hard to recognize parallels from this passage in Jesus' and His life.

• From Isaiah: "'The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned…'" (Isaiah 50:4)

From Jesus' life: already by the age of 12 He was known for His words. In them He demonstrated:

- Understanding: "And all who heard Him were astonished ad His understanding and answers" - Luke 2:47.

- Grace: "So all … marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of HIs mouth" - Luke 4:22.

- Authority: "… His word was with authority" - Luke 4:32.

- Life: "'The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life'" - John 6:63.

• From Isaiah "… a word in season to him who is weary" (Isaiah 50:4):

Jesus said: "'Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest'" - Matthew 11:28.

• From Isaiah: "'He awakens Me morning by morning…" (Isaiah 50:4)

It was said of Jesus: "Now in the morning having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed" - Mark 1:35. See also Luke 5:16. 

• From Isaiah "'I gave My back to those who struck Me, / And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; / I did not hide My face from shame and spitting'" (Isaiah 50:6):

This happened to Jesus: "So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him scourged (flogged, whipped) and they slapped Him in the face" - John 19:1,3 AMP.

And this: "Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands…" Matthew 26:67.

• From Isaiah "'For the Lord God will help Me; / Therefore I will not be disgraced; / Therefore I have set My face like a flint / And I know that I will not be ashamed'" (Isaiah 50: 7):

Compare Jesus' words from the cross: "'My God, My God, why have You forsaken me…'?" - Matthew 27:46 (when it seemed that He had been disgraced) to this triumph after His resurrection: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth…'" Matthew 28:18-29.

There is something very reassuring about finding these prophetic words about the Servant's (Jesus's) suffering and eventual victory. Keeping them in mind as we read the story of Jesus' passion helps us understand that what happened that weekend in Jerusalem 2000+ hears ago was a planned, intentional chain of events, put into motion by the God who loves us and in this way purchased our salvation.

He knew/knows our lives in the same prophetic, beforehand way. We are not some chance or random blip on the radar of time, but planned pieces of the puzzle that is making the picture God has designed and knows from eternity past.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this picture of Jesus, given hundreds of years before the cross. Help me to trust Your plan for me, especially when it seems to make no sense. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 119:65-06

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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.

God glorified through our hard times

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Philippians 1:15-30

TO CHEW ON: “Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” - Philippians 1:20b


Paul would have had a lot to complain about if that had been his style. He was in prison as he wrote Philippians. Though fellow Christians were being emboldened by his clear witness to the palace guard (a good thing) some were preaching in a competitive spirit (out of “selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains” - Philippians 1:16).

But Paul was determined not to let any of this get him down. He saw the bright side of his captivity—the men guarding him were being exposed to his bold witness (Philippians 1:12,13). Because he was already in chains, they couldn’t use the threat of arrest to silence him, so he was bolder and more fearless than ever (Philippians 1:14). The competitive spirit of the fellow preachers didn’t please him. But he was happy that even through them the gospel was advancing (Philippians 1:18).

And in the matter underlying it all, the fact that he had lost his freedom, he seemed to be at perfect peace. We don’t see him whining that God didn’t send an angel to spring him from jail, as He did for Peter. Instead, Paul declared “For I know … that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or death” (emphasis added).

I need more of that spirit. You too? So often my attitude is, Lord, I need you to take this problem away (this illness, condition, obstacle, lack…) so that You will be glorified.

But no. Instead I need the faith that God can be glorified as I go through the difficult things in my life: “Christ magnified in my body whether by life or death.”

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You that Your deliverance from and through our problems comes “through the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:19). Please fill my life with that supply today. 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.

Armed for what is ahead

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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)

Revelation - cover copy

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Revelation 1:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth." Revelation 1:4,5


During the month of April we're going to be reading passages from the book of Revelation one third of the time. Perhaps, like me, you prefer to start a book with a little background—the cover copy, book flaps and endorsements—to see what you're getting into. Today I'm going to do a little of that for Revelation. It's a difficult book at the best of times and I can use all the help available.

So, to start, some big-picture stuff about Revelation (taken from the Introduction of Revelation in the New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Introduction and notes written by Earl Wesley Morey, pp. 1811-1814 - emphasis added):

Author: John, Jesus' apostle.

Date: 70-95 (some scholars suggest an early, other a later date).

Literary form: A letter: "…Revelation begins (1:4-7) and ends (22:21) as a typical New Testament letter. … Within this letter is "the prophecy" (1:3; 10:11;19:10, 22:6, 7, 10, 18, 19)."

Occasion and Purpose: "The purpose of this message was to provide pastoral encouragement to persecuted Christians by comforting, challenging, and proclaiming the sure and certain Christian hope, together with the assurance that in Christ they were sharing in the sovereign God's method of totally overcoming the forces of evil in all its manifestations." (Wow! Now that puts life, with all its difficulties, in a hopeful perspective.)

Central Message: "the Lord God omnipotent reigns" - Revelation 19:6.

Method of Communication: (This, I think, is key to understanding this kind of writing.) "The Revelation is a cosmic pageant—an elaborate, colorful series of tableaux, accompanied and interpreted by celestial speakers and singers. The spoken word is elevated prose… The music is similar to a cantata. Repeatedly, themes are introduced, later reintroduced, combined with other themes, and developed. … Signs and symbols are essential because spiritual truth and unseen reality must always be communicated to human beings through their senses. Symbols point to what is ultimately indescribable."

Christ in Revelation: "Nearly every title employed elsewhere in the New Testament to describe the divine-human nature and the redemptive work of Jesus is mentioned at least once in Revelation, which, together with numerous additional titles, provides us with our only multidimensional unveiling of the present position, continuing ministry, and ultimate victory of the exalted Christ."

Holy Spirit in Revelation: "The description of the Holy Spirit as 'the seven Spirits of God'   (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) is distinct in the New Testament. The number seven is a symbolic, qualitative number conveying the idea of completeness, and when related to God, the idea of perfection. The Holy Spirit is thus denoted in terms of the perfection of His dynamic, manifold activity."

One thing that really fascinates me in the bits I shared above is the claim that Revelation employs nearly all the titles for Jesus found elsewhere in the NT and more. Here's my challenge to myself and to you, if you care to take it up. How many names and titles of Jesus can we find in Revelation? Here's the beginning of my list from Revelation 1:

• Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:1,2,5)
• faithful witness (Revelation 1:5)
• first born from the dead (Revelation 1:5)
• ruler over the kings of the earth (Revelation 1:5)
• Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8, 11)
• the Beginning and the End (Revelation 1:8)
• I am… who is (Revelation 1:8)
• I am… who was (Revelation 1:8)
• I am… who is to come (Revelation 1:8)
• Almighty (Revelation 1:8)
• the First and the Last (Revelation 1:11,17)
• Son of Man (Revelation 1:13)

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for this encouraging, victorious book. Please open my eyes to its messages to me and application to my life in the days ahead. 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.

Liquid prayer

Image: AndersAndersen / pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 126:1-6

TO CHEW ON: "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy." Psalm 126:5


We could call the crying in this psalm the "ministry of tears" or "liquid prayer" (C. H. Spurgeon). In a sidebar article in my Bible, Dick Eastman has identified six aspects of the ministry of tears that are pictured in the Bible ("Tears and Brokenness in Victorious Warfare," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 787):

1. Tears of sorrow or suffering:
King Hezekiah was at death's door. He pleaded with God for a longer life. God's answer:

" ' I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold I am healing you…" - 2 Kings 20:5 (AMP).

2. Tears of joy:
Twin brothers Jacob and Esau had been estranged for years following Jacob's deceiving their father over the birthright. Now Jacob needed to pass through Esau's territory with his family and possessions. Did Esau still want to kill him? How would their meeting go? Jacob spent the night before, wrestling with a heavenly Being. In the morning they met this way:

"But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and hugged his neck and kissed him, and they wept [for joy]" - Genesis 33:4 (AMP).

3. Tears of compassion:
Jesus' friend Lazarus had died. As Jesus approached the home of his friend he was met by Mary and friends, all weeping. Even though he knew what He was going to do, in the moment Jesus was overcome by emotion—empathy, compassion:

"Jesus wept" - John 11:35.

4. Tears of desperation:
Haman had convinced King Ahasuerus that it was a good idea to wipe out the Jews. The reaction of Mordecai (Queen Esther's relative) and other Jews in Shushan and throughout the land:

"… He cried out with a loud and bitter cry … And in every province where the king's command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting, weeping and wailing" - Esther 4:1,3.

5. Tears of travail:
In Isaiah 42, the LORD promises to again provide help to His people. He describes the breakthrough as the the tears a mother cries when in the throes of labour pains:

"I have held My peace a long time. / I have been still and restrained Myself. / Now I will cry like a woman in labor" - Isaiah 42:14.

6. Tears of repentance:
Turning from our sin to God is often accompanied by tears:

"“Even now,” says the Lord,
“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],
With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored]" - Joel 2:12 (AMP).

Whatever kind tears we are shedding right now, we know that God sees, cares, and takes notice. In our times of weeping, we are comforted, for:

"You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me" - Psalm 56:8,9

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me in my times of weeping to turn to You for ultimate help.
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)

Pay attention to what happens between your ears

Brain image from Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 8:7-9:10

TO CHEW ON: "… I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts ..." Hebrews 8:10


Here in our reading in Hebrews, the writer explains about the new covenant that resulted from Jesus' death and resurrection. He recalls the prophecy Jeremiah made about a time when obedience to God would no longer be a matter of just outward observance but of deep inner change and compliance as well.

"I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their heart" - Hebrews 8:10 quoting Jeremiah 31:33.

How beautiful and desirable! And this is the new mind and heart covenant under which we live. This thought got me searching for other passages that speak of the spiritual mind (that is "spiritual" as in aligned with the principles of the Bible):

One of the first questions we might ask is, How do we get this mind?

• Paul answers that in 1 Corinthians where he tells us how the Holy Spirit knows and reveals the mind of Christ, we have received that Spirit (at salvation), and can now claim "We have the mind of Christ" - 1 Corinthians 2:19,12,16. See also Philippians 2:5.

Possessing the "mind of Christ" has great benefits:

• It is the basis for deep-rooted peace because we live life in the posture of trust - Isaiah 26:3; Philippians 4:6,7.

• Its end is life (not death) - Romans 8:6.

However, having and maintaining the mind of Christ also involves effort on our part. We don't get saved and find ourselves in the next moment with a mind transplant.

• Peter tells us to "gird up the loins of your mind." In our day we'd say, buckle your belt, or roll up your sleeves. In other words, get your mind dressed and ready for action - 1 Peter 1:13.

• "Set your mind on things above, not on the earth," Paul tells the Colossians - Colossians 3:2.

• "Let us be of the same mind," he encourages the Christians in Philippi in a plea for church unity - Philippians 3:16.

• We need to resign our minds to the fact that suffering is inevitable—and good, in that it purifies, says Peter in 1 Peter 4:1.

• Paul alerts us to the reality that there will be times our minds are downright busy as we "...cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ' - 2 Corinthians 10:5.

The battle for our thoughts and the minds that generate them hasn't changed in the 2000+ years since Bible writers penned these words. We still need to give what happens between our two ears our first attention because, as Bible teacher Joyce Meyer reminds us, the rest of our lives proceed from what we think:

"The mind is the leader or forerunner of all actions … Our actions are a direct result of our thoughts" - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 3.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me have the mind of Christ today. 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.

School of suffering

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 4:14-5:10

TO CHEW ON: "Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." Hebrews 5:8

Three things strike me about this passage and in particular, the verse on which I'm focusing:

1. Who the subject is: It's Jesus—God in human flesh.

2. What He learned: Obedience.
[Obedience is hypakoe  comes from hup - "under" and akouo - "to hear." The word signifies attentive hearing, to listen with compliant submission, assent, and agreement. It is used for obedience in general, for obedience to God's commands and for Christ's obedience - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1621.]

3. How He learned it: through Suffering.

I have, in the last couple of months, worked on a Bible study for my church on the subjects of fear, worry and anxiety. This study has brought me face to face with my own fear of suffering. But if I or any of us have come to God and entrusted our lives to Him in the hope that this will preserve us from suffering, we're deluded. Because that is never His promise. Here we see that even Jesus was not spared suffering.

Some things that have been carved into my awareness as I've searched the Bible and pondered this topic:

• Though God doesn't promise to keep us from suffering, He promises to be with us in it and bring us through it - Isaiah 43:1,2,5.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
... Do not be afraid, for I am with you..." Isaiah 43:1,2,5 (emphasis added)

• A good way to conquer our fear of suffering is to live close to Him. Barbara Billett prefaces her "Uprooting the Spirit of Fear" prayer with a pep talk about Caleb and Joshua and their fearlessness. She says:

"The reason we have trouble trusting God is that we have not become intimately acquainted with God's ways … Joshua had intimate fellowship with God … He lingered in the presence of God and got to know God and to trust God at His word (Exodus 33:9,11) (emphasis added).

• This closeness to God implies obedience. Billett again:

"Because Joshua and Caleb had intimate fellowship with God, God's word to them was magnified over any fear, unbelief or temptation to not follow the Lord" - Barbara Billett, Praying With Fire, p. 66 (emphasis added).

• This suffering is not capricious or arbitrary, but works toward a God-ordained purpose - Romans 8:28,29.

"In heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many" - Charles Spurgeon.

PRAYER: Dear God, If Jesus had to learn obedience through suffering, why not I? Help me to stay close to You as You teach me suffering's lessons. 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.

Lessons for the comforter

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 34:16-37

TO CHEW ON: " ' If you have understanding, hear this;
Listen to the sound of my words: … ' " Job 34:16

Some wise person has said, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Elihu doesn't seem to be aware of the principle behind that saying. He continues speaking to suffering Job like a lawyer building up to a "guilty" verdict.

In his defense of God he makes many claims we would call true. In yesterday's reading we considered his defense of God's justice. Today he upholds God's omniscience (Job 34:21,22,25) and omnipotence (Job 34:24,25).

The writer of the Asbury Bible Commentary puts a finger on the disconnect  we feel between young Elihu's often accurate words and how they must sound to the ill patriarch:

"While Elihu has the luxury of being theoretical and general (which he is) in his comments, Job, by virtue of his sufferings, is personal and existential in his. At issue in the book is not the justice of God in general, but his justice as it pertains to Job's suffering" - Asbury Bible Commentary, accessed via "Study This" on BibleGateway.

Also, Elihu's arguments lead him to a wrong conclusion (Job 34:34-37):  "Elihu is forced to picture Job as a wicked person if his theological assumptions are to stand" - Asbury Bible Commentary. Elihu's conclusion isn't accurate, as we know from our glimpse behind the scenes - see Job 1:8; 2:3.

I see two lessons for myself and perhaps all of us in this installment:

1. When we talk to someone who is suffering, our knowledge and certainties need to be delivered with empathy. How much easier Elihu's speech would have been for Job to hear if Elihu had acknowledged Job's condition, spoken with less stridency, softened his tone even a little.

2. We need to be careful of being too either/or in our theology so we avoid being forced into a false-conclusion corner because of our incomplete human knowledge. Elihu knew nothing of the extraterrestrial dialogue that preceded Job's trouble. His tight system brought him to the same wrong conclusion (that Job had brought this trial on himself: "…for he adds rebellion to his sin…  Job. 34:37) that Job's other friends came to.  It's way better to hold our peace in matters of divine cause and effect—things about which we have limited knowledge.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to learn the lessons of empathy and humility as I seek to understand life's difficulties and comfort my suffering friends. 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.

The mystery of pain

"Job and his False Friends" - Jean Fouquet (1420-1477/81)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 33:1-30

TO CHEW ON: " ' Behold God works all these things.' " - Job 33:29

It's fascinating to note that in this book that may date back to the time of Abraham (its date and authorship are uncertain), Job and his friends are wrestling with the question "Why does bad stuff happen to us?" in much the same way we do today.

In our reading Elihu, a young man, speaks up after Job's three older friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar have had their say and Job has answered them. Elihu gives his thoughts on why we suffer. Some of his points:

• We may never know. God isn't obliged to tell us - Job 33:13.

• "God may speak in one way or in another …. In order to turn man from his deed..." - Job 33:14-17. Elihu mentions some means God may use, like dreams and visions, to deliver His message.

• These divine communications are meant, in the end, to discipline and humble us. Sometimes, unbeknownst to us, they keep us out of harm's way - Job 33:17-18.

• Pain and illness chasten us and drive us to God - Job 33:19-24.

• God heals in response to prayer - Job 33:24-26.

•  Confession of sin is part of returning to God, in order that we may be saved from an even greater disaster - Job 33:26-28.

All these many years later, we, like Job and his peers, continue to question and seek for answers to pain, sickness, natural disasters, accidents, etc. And like these ancients, we still come to the conclusion that these things are a mystery; we don't understand.

But we can content ourselves with one thing: "God works all these things." Let that fact about the God, who has said about His people: "Behold I have loved you with an everlasting love…" (Jeremiah 31:3), be enough.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to trust Your love and good intentions toward me when I think I understand what You are allowing in my life, and when I don't. 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.

The seed of tears

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 126:1-6


TO CHEW ON: "Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing

Bringing his sheaves with him." - Psalm 126:5,6

Have you ever thought of your griefs and disappointments as seed? That's what Eugene Peterson suggests they are:

"All suffering, all pain, all emptiness, all disappointment is seed: Sow it in God and he will finally bring a crop of joy from it" - Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, p. 100.

This seed doesn't come in paper packets or burlap sacks but falls from our eyes as tears.

An article in my Bible writes about our tears in another way, as ministry.

"Tears in Scripture play a unique role in spiritual breakthrough. Here...the planting of seeds accompanied by a spirit of brokenness will not only bring a spiritual harvest of results but will leave the sower with a spirit of rejoicing. This passage along with numerous others...pictures a variety of purposes and functions related to what might be termed "the ministry of tears." These are:

• Tears of sorrow and suffering - 2 Kings 20:5.

• Tears of joy - Genesis 33:4.

• Tears of compassion - John 11:35.

• Tears of desperation - Esther 4:1,3.

• Tears of travail or giving birth - Isaiah 42:14.

• Tears of repentance - Joel 2:12,13, Dick Eastman, "Tears and Brokenness in Victorious Warfare," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 787.

and let me add another:

• Tears that God has seen, collected and that have persuaded Him to come to my defense - Psalm 56: 8,9.

When you and I go through difficult times,  let's view our tears not as a sign of weakness or lack of faith, but part of the cycle of spiritual sowing and reaping. Peterson again:

"There is plenty of suffering on both sides, past and future. The joy comes because God knows how to wipe away tears, and, in his resurrection work, create the smile of new life. Joy is what God gives, not what we work up. Laughter is the delight that things are working together for good to those who love God, not the giggles that betray the nervousness of a precarious defense system. The joy that develops in the Christian way of discipleship is an overflow of spirits that comes from feeling good not about yourself but about God. We find that his ways are dependable, his promises sure" - p. 100, 101.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that even tears have a kingdom purpose. When sorrow, pain, or confusion come, help me to face my situation with faith and expectation, knowing that my tears have a place in Your plan. 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.

It came true

Jesus delivered to soldiers - Alexandre Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 50:1-11

TO CHEW ON: "I gave my back to those who struck Me and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting."  Isaiah 50:6

This verse is prophetic. Matthew includes the exact details mentioned in it as happening to Jesus during His passion:

"Then they spat in His face and beat him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands. ... Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified. … Then they spat on him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head." Matthew 26:67; 27:26,30.

Because Jesus endured the torture described here and went on to finish what He set out to do (pay the penalty for our sins - John 19:30), we take seriously the invitation at the end of the chapter:

"Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His servant? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon His God" - Isaiah 50:10.

Trust for what:

- That Jesus was (and is) who He said He was - John 6:28,29.

- That in Jesus we have the resources we need to live the Christian life:

• The shield of faith to "quench the fiery darts of the wicked one" - Ephesians 6:16.

• The wherewithal to fight "the good fight of faith" throughout our lifetimes - 1 Timothy 6:12.

• The argument to counteract the accusations of our consciences that tell us we're not worthy - Hebrews 10:22.

- That God hears and answers our prayers - James 1:5,6.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for enduring such vile treatment from those You came to save. Thank You for finishing what You came to do. I entrust myself to You. 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.

An old conundrum

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 11:17-37

TO CHEW ON: "And some of them said, 'Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?' " John 11:37

For some of the Jews of Jesus' day, He couldn't do anything right. When He healed, they criticized Him because it was on the wrong day (Mark 3:1-5) or preceded by controversial pronouncement like saying sins were forgiven (gasp!) and then giving a physical healing (Mark 2:1-12). Here they grumbled because He didn't heal.

What bothers me about the Jews' reaction to Jesus is that I have heard echoes of it in my own heart. Perhaps you have too. We question, why would God allow people to go through pain and suffering when He has the power to prevent or stop it?

Jesus here seemed to anticipate this objection. He spoke to it twice. Earlier when He first got word of Lazarus' sickness, He said, " ' This sickness is … for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it' " John 11:4. And again He said to His disciples, " ' I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe' " - John 11:15.

So Jesus alerted His disciples to the fact that God had a purpose in Lazarus' sickness and temporary death. It turned out to bring glory to God through Lazarus coming to life again and to provide a bedrock reason for faith in Him—to the sisters, His disciples, indeed, all who saw it and heard about it. But that purpose didn't preclude days of grief, pain, and questioning for the disciples and especially Mary and Martha.

It's wonderful to know that God can use even the ugly, hard, bad, hurtful stuff in our lives in this way. Though we pray for the outcome that we would love to see, we can trust that if our prayers aren't answered the way we hoped, God has His reasons for working things out the way they do. His reasons are bigger than our comfort, ease and sense of well-being. For us too these puzzling trials can serve His glory while they strengthen our faith—if we let them.

PRAYER: Dear God, please strengthen my faith in Your coequal love and power when I'm in the middle of hard circumstances. 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.

Captain Jesus

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 2:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering." Hebrews 2:10

Jesus, the Son, Creator ("for whom…and by whom are all thing") became part of His own creation (see also John 1:1-3,14) . It bends the mind to contemplate such a thing.

Our passage names three things He was subject to as a human creature:

1. Sufferings (Hebrews 2:10): He felt hunger (Mark 11:12), weariness (John 4:6), social rejection (Luke 4:28-30), sadness (Luke 19:41-44), and grief (John 11:35) like we do, not to mention the suffering—physical, psychological and spiritual—He went through during His passion.

2. Temptations (Hebrews 2:18): The temptation incident that leaps to mind is of Jesus wilderness temptation during His 40-day fast (Matthew 4:1-11). Who knows what other incidents tempted Him during His life? Was He, for example, wrestling with the temptation of not going through with the Plan when He prayed in agony: "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me…"? (though if it was a temptation, He quickly quelled it with "… nevertheless not as I will, but as You will" - Matthew 26:39).

3. Death (Hebrews 2:14): His death was genuine and seemingly final. Until the resurrection "… that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil" - Hebrews 2:14.

In all these things Jesus identifies with us. He is, as verse 10 puts it, the "Captain" of our salvation.

"Only by suffering temptation and death did He qualify as our captain or leader who has gone ahead of us to open the way of salvation" - Guy P. Duffield, commentary on Hebrews, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1732.

How does this help us today?

• When we suffer, we are comforted by the fact that He knows what we're going through, understands our limitations firsthand - Hebrews 4:15.

• When tempted, we can follow His example, that is throw the book—the word of God, the "thus says the Lord" at Satan and find the way out - 1 Corinthians 10:13.

• We can view death without fear. Yesterday we read about Stephen, a young man whose life was, in our estimation, cut short. We think in terms of a full lifespan as our due, expect to live our three-score years and ten. But that's not God's view. He can take any one of us at any time. We have no guarantees except one: if we have accepted Him, we have an eternal life to look forward to - John 3:16.   

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for stooping to inhabit human flesh. Help me to follow You as the Captain of my life and salvation. Amen.

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New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.