Other Food: daily devos

Groaning intercession

2012-05-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 8:18-39

TO CHEW ON: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26

Has there ever been a time in your life when need has so overwhelmed you that you couldn't even form words to pray? This is the situation Paul addresses in the latter part of Romans 8.

So how did he get from the picture of wholeness in God we saw yesterday to such brokenness and raw need? He comes via the realization that the ideal and the actual are still far apart. For the glory that will someday be revealed in the universe and in the sons of God (us) is still in the future. And just like creation "groans and labours with birth pangs together until now" (Romans 8:22), we can be puzzled, frightened, overwhelmed, freaked out, scared wordless by the things that come our way.

At this very moment I can think of a handful of people who may be feeling just this way. In one case cancer treatments have almost been exhausted. It is time for a decision -- do they try one more possible life-lengthener, or let nature take its course? In another there has been cancer, surgery, a painful complication, more surgery, and now waiting for the body to strengthen so treatments can resume.

It is, I believe, in just such a context that the type of prayer Paul talks about would fit. And such prayer may be the privilege and responsibility of those of us who are bystanders. For when one is weak and sick oneself, it's hard to pray, to focus, even to stay awake long enough to think the words.

It is prayer that starts out not sure what it wants or should ask for. As a sidebar article in my Bible explains it:

"Presumption -- supposing we already know how to intercede for others -- will not only hinder maximum effectiveness, it will also cause us to miss the thrilling sense of adventure God wants to bless us with as we receive His insight and enablement for intercessory prayer. How do we know without infinite minds whether God wants to move through us with weeping, travailing, wrestling, fasting, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, dreams, visions, mental pictures, impressions, verses of Scripture quickened to us, or silence? Only by waiting on God and giving Him time to move on and through us. Psalm 62:5 teaches this wisdom: 'My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.'"
- A. Joy Dawson from "The Spirit's Direction" - pp. 1562-3, in the New Spirit Filled Life Bible.

"…thrilling sense of adventure"? Wow, that's a new way of looking at intercessory prayer! Maybe it's time for me, and you, to set out on such an adventure for our beleaguered friends and family members.

PRAYER: Dear God, please teach me about prayer, and to pray with the help of Your Spirit. Help me to be willing to give my time, energy and emotions for such intercession. Amen.

MORE: O.C. says:

"Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray? Too often instead of worshiping God, we construct statements as to how prayer works. Are we worshiping or are we in dispute with God -- "I don't see how You are going to do it." This is a sure sign that we are not worshiping. When we lose sight of God we become hard and dogmatic. We hurl our own petitions at God's throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do. We do not worship God, nor do we seek to form the mind of Christ."
- Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, (March 30th reading).

(From the archives)

How to live as Abba's child

2012-05-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 8:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "...you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba, Father." Romans 8:15

Chances are if you come across an article or a book that promises to teach you the secrets of success in your chosen occupation, you'll read it. If your primary job is mothering, an article titled "Six Things You Must Know to Be a Successful Mother" would pull you in, as would "Decor Tips that Make Your Home Sing" if you are an interior decorator. For the Christian, Romans 8, our reading today, would be such an article. (Thus the title "How to live as Abba's child.")

In it Paul sets up life as a choice between two options. We can choose to live according to the flesh, i.e. governed by our physical and emotional life. Or we can choose to live according to the Spirit - governed by the Holy Spirit who indwells us.

Found in this passage are clues on how to live that Spirit-governed life.
1. First, we need to be "In Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). That means we've accepted Him as Saviour (from the law's demands - Romans 8:2-4) and Lord.

2. We need to "set our minds" on the things of the Spirit. How does this look practically?

We submit our thoughts to God's scrutiny (Psalm 19:14).

We fill our minds with worthy things. One way to do this is to read, memorize, and meditate on Scripture (Joshua 1:8).

We direct our minds to God's goodness to us (Psalm 48:9) .

We take to heart the advice of Bible writers on how else to direct our thoughts (Philippians 4:6-8).

3. We even entrust our physical health and well-being to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11).

4. We get and follow God's leading (Romans 8:14).

5. We have the assurance that God is our Father (our Abba "Daddy" Father) and we are His children and heirs (inheriting both suffering and glory - Romans 8:15-17).

Now to put all that into practice!

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, I pray that You will direct and govern my life today. Help me to set my thoughts on the right things. Father God, I want to experience Your leading and tender care as my Abba Father. Amen.

MORE: "Abba Father" by Hillsong

(From the archives)

Why serving fulfills us

2012-05-27T02:00:00.000-07:00

The white trillium is a symbol of beauty,
purity, healing, and is often associated
with the Trinity.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 14:4-15

TO CHEW ON: "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." John 14:14,15

In a recent talk, local speaker Kimberley Morrison reminded our women's group of how we're most fulfilled when we live in fellowship with God and others, preoccupied with how to serve them. Why is this? Because we're made in the image of God and that's His nature.

He is trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we observe these three persons of the godhead throughout the Bible, we discover they are continually in fellowship with, mentioning, praising, uplifting, and serving each other. That's what is happening in our focus verses:

"He (Holy Spirit) will glorify Me (Jesus) for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father (God the Father) has are Mine (Jesus's) . Therefore I say that He (Holy Spirit) will take of Mine (Jesus's and God the Father's) and declare it to you."

A sidebar article in my Bible completes the circle for us as it explains how the Holy Spirit helps us serve others by ministering the things of God (the Father, Son and Spirit) to them. The Holy Spirit enables us to:

1. Have a righteousness that goes beyond and is deeper than traditional religion (see Matthew 5:1-7:29, especially 5:20).

2. Teach the things Jesus taught, in the way He taught them, always staying in tune with the Father (John 5:19; 6:38; 7:16; 8:28).

3. Do the things He did in the manner in which He did them. Jesus...

treated people with dignity (Luke 7:36-50)

was motivated by compassion (Matthew 9:35-38).

never did anything to selfishly draw attention to Himself (Matthew 8:4)

never performed based on others' agendas (Matthew 16:1-4).\

4. Work with Jesus to see all nations (groups of people) become His followers (Matthew 28:19,20) - Todd Hunter, "Relaying the Ministry of Jesus," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1473.

PRAYER: Dear God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, please help me to open myself to You in surrender, worship, fellowship, and service. Help me to be true to Your image in me by relating to and serving You and people by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

MORE: Day of Pentecost (Whitsunday)

Today is the day the church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples assembled in the Jerusalem upper room. Read the story in Acts 2:1-21.

Here is the Collect prayer that begins the Day of Pentecost liturgy:

"O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Creator Spirit

2012-05-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 104: 19-35

TO CHEW ON: "You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the earth." Psalm 104:30

"In the realm of nature it is the role of the Holy Spirit to give life to all animate creatures, whether on the ground or in the sky and sea," says Wayne Grudem in his chapter "The Work of the Holy Spirit," Systematic Theology, p. 636.

I haven't seen much mention of the Holy Spirit as creator. But if we look at the creation story, there He is: "The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" - Genesis 1:2.

And so we can take all of this psalm of creation (Psalm 104) as a praise song to God the Holy Spirit whose role it was to fulfill the Word of creation (John 1:1-3).

The Spirit sustains life too: "You take away their breath; they die and return to their dust" - Psalm 104:29.

Of course we can't see the Holy Spirit in His role of giving physical life without remembering that He is also the One who gives Spiritual life. Grudem again:

"Parallel with this (the Holy Spirit giving physical life) is the role of the Holy Spirit to give us new life in regeneration. Jesus told Nicodemus, 'That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew' John 3:6-7" p. 636.

In this same line of work, it is the Holy Spirit who:

Conceived Jesus in Mary's womb (Matthew 1:18,20; Luke 1:35).

Raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11).

Will give us life at the resurrection (Romans 8:11).

What dynamic, creative power we have in the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, if we have been born again.

"Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" - 1 Corinthians 3:16.

PRAYER: Dear God the Holy Spirit, thank You for giving and sustaining physical and spiritual life. May I be very careful not to resist, grieve or quench Your life in me. Amen.

MORE: The life of the Spirit in us.

We can offend the Holy Spirit and effectively staunch His blessing in our lives. We do this when we:

Resist Him - Acts 7:51.

Grieve Him - Ephesians 4:30.

Quench Him - 1 Thessalonians 5:19.

Sin against Him - Acts 3:5,9.

Blaspheme Him - Matthew 12:31-32. (Sometimes called the unpardonable sin. "...blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven..." Jesus made this pronouncement about the Pharisees who attributed the powerful work of the Holy Spirit to Satan - Matthew 12:24.)

Angels 101

2012-05-25T02:00:00.001-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 104:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "Who makes His angels spirits

His ministers a flame of fire." Psalm 104:4

I have noticed a fascination with angels in the last few years. Perhaps the TV show "Touched by an Angel" is partly responsible. People wear angel jewelry pieces almost as amulets of good luck or protection. Some speak of their dead loved ones as now existing as angels. Of course all kinds of angel lore has been around for ages (plug "angel lore" into Google and you'll come up with a hodgepodge of facts and hearsay from Christianity, Judaism, Islam and New Age).

The Bible talks about angels—more than I realized before I did today's little study. If anything, it has increased the mystery and the wonder. Here are some things I discovered:

Creation:
- Angels are created beings. But they were created before humans, because they are described as present with God when the world was created (Genesis 2:1; Job 38:4-7).

- Angels were created with a free will. But Lucifer and others rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12-15). Thus angels are responsible for the origin of evil. As my trusty old Lectures in Systematic Theology puts it: "Here is the place where we should discuss the problem of the origin of evil; for evil originated in heaven and not on earth" (H.C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, Eerdmans, 1963 - p. 194).

What angels are like:
- They have discernment and wisdom (2 Samuel 14:17,20)
- They have unusual strength (Matthew 28:2, 2 Peter 2:11)
- They can show themselves (Genesis 19:1-3; Hebrews 13:2)
- They have the ability to transcend the physical limitations of earth (Revelation 10:1-3).

What good angels do* (this is where it gets exciting):
- They stand before God and worship Him (Matthew 18:10; Revelation 5:11).
- They protect and deliver God's people (Psalm 91:11; Acts 12:11).
- They guide and encourage God's servants (Matthew 28:5-7; Acts 8:26).
- They interpret God's will to men (Daniel 10:5,11; Zechariah 1).
- They are the executors of judgment toward individuals and toward nations (Ezekiel 9:1,5,7; Genesis 19:12-13).
- They carry the saved home when they fall asleep in Jesus (Luke 16:22).

The actual words "guardian angel" don't appear in scripture, but the concept of a personal angel assigned to each one of us probably comes from Matthew 18:10, where Jesus speaks in defense of children whose angels have continual access to God, and Psalm 91:11-12 which promises:

"For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

As to their activity in our lives - we may or may not ever be aware of their presence. But they are definitely one of the means by which God accomplishes His will on earth regarding us: Hebrews 1:13-14.

PRAYER: Dear God thank You for the angelic part of creation—which I do not understand and have never seen, but gladly accept. Thank You for help You have sent my way at their hands. Amen.

MORE: Angel Tracks?

It was late when they reached Falcon Lake and snowing hard. My husband and his parents decided to stop at the local motel that December 1978 night before pressing on to Thunder Bay. Trouble was, try as they might, they couldn't rouse anyone. So there was nothing to do but go on.

"The road was white from shoulder to shoulder," my husband remembers, "and the snow wasn't letting up." Then he noticed tire tracks on the road ahead. Despite the heavy snow, they were fresh. As they drove on those tracks guided them for the next hour or so, until they left the storm behind. Never once, though, did anyone in the car see any sign of taillights or the vehicle. Hubby says of that night: "I said at the time and I still think today, those tracks were made by an angel, leading us through the storm."

Have you ever had an experience with an angel?

* I took these points from H. C. Thiessen's Lectures in Systematic Theology (Eerdmans, 1963) pp. 205-206.

(From the archives.)

Power for ALL

2012-05-24T02:00:00.008-07:00

Stained glass window from
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Moorhead MN.

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 2:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:4

When someone gives you a job, in order for you to be successful it is important that you have the capability to carry it out. Thus Jesus gave the large assignment—to spread around the world the good news of what He had done—with a proviso. The disciples were to refrain from doing anything about it until God gave them the enabling. His instructions: "And you are witnesses of these things….but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" Luke 24:49.

And so the disciples gathered in Jerusalem to wait—for what? I'm sure they didn't know exactly. But when it came, they did know this was it. An interesting fact to note is that the Holy Spirit came, He came on all.

Holy Spirit was no stranger to the Jews. He had come upon and indwelt numerous people in the Old Testament.

The Holy Spirit came upon or lived in:

- Bezalel to give him wisdom and skill to design and create the Tabernacle and its furnishings (Exodus 31:1-5).

- Balaam, Ezekiel, and other Old Testament prophets to enable them to prophecy—bless, curse, give the people messages from God, and predict future events (Numbers 24:2, Ezekiel 11:24,25, 2 Peter 1:21).

- Gideon giving him courage and a plan by which to lead the people into battle (Judges 6:33-35).

- Samson for exploits of physical strength needed to challenge and defeat the Philistines (Judges 14:6).

- King Saul giving him a new heart and a prophetic gift to prove it (1 Samuel 10:6,9).

- Simeon to enable him to wait with hope, and then recognize, announce and prophecy over Jesus (Luke 2:25-32).

Each of these indwellings was given to accomplish a specific task. The people in general were not so empowered. But here, on the Day of Pentecost, all were filled. And the Holy Spirit's filling is still available to all.

That filling is not to give us spiritual thrills or make us feel good. It is empowerment for service just as it was in the Old Testament. And I would suggest that such infilling can enable in the same ways it did then, depending on the need of the task and of the moment. We can claim the Holy Spirit's infilling to give us a new heart. We can claim it for wisdom and skill in the arts. We can claim it for help in leading and governing, for words to say, for courage, even for exploits of physical strength. Let's claim the Holy Spirit's presence and empowering afresh for our life, work, and ministry today!

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, thank You for Your availability to all. Help me to allow You to work in and through me today. Amen.

MORE: "Holy Spirit Rain Down" sung by Hillsong

(From the archives)

There is hope

2012-05-23T02:00:00.021-07:00

"Valley Full of Bones" - James Shaw Crompton

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Ezekiel 37:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and have brought you up from your graves." Ezekiel 37:13

What a graphic scene of hopelessness we see in Ezekiel's vision of the Valley of Dry Bones.

1. The situation was VERY hopeless.
"...there were very many (bones) in the open valley and indeed they were very dry" (Ezekiel 37:2).

2. Bringing the bones to life involved action on Ezekiel's part:
God challenged his FAITH:
God: "...can these bones live?"
Ezekiel: "O God, You know."

God called for his OBEDIENCE:
God: "Prophecy..."
Ezekiel: "So I prophesied as I was commanded."

3. The fulfillment of the prophecy came in STAGES.
First the bones came together (Ezekiel 13:7-8). Then breath inhabited their bodies (Ezekiel 13:10). Finally the revived army of people left the graveyard to again live in their own land (Ezekiel 13:12-14).

4. Of course this isn't about a literal crowd of people coming back to life but about the resurrection of HOPE (Ezekiel 13:11). And in that way, this passage speaks powerfully to us. For the same Spirit who gave life to the dead situation of people in exile in Ezekiel's time, is ours.

This prophecy came true in 538 B.C. when Cyrus the Great allowed the people to return home, as recorded in Ezra 1 and 2.

We see:

That no matter how hopeless the situation, God can breathe life back into it.

That process may require action on our part. We need to be listening for any instructions and be quick to obey.

The fulfillment may take a while and come in stages.

Our situation will probably not be an issue of our nation returning from exile, as Israel's was. Let's claim God the Spirit's ability to breathe life ("I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live...") into whatever our boneyard situations are, be they broken families, prodigal children, fractured churches, severed relationships, bankruptcy, financial ruin, storm-damaged houses, etc.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that Your power can bring the most hopeless situation back to life. Please give me faith to believe this and act in obedience when I can be part of the solution. Amen.

MORE: Dry bones in art

St. Nicholas' Church in Deptford England has on display wonderful carvings of the "Valley of the Dry Bones" by Grinling Gibbons (a contemporary of Christopher Wren). Read more about the church and view the carvings here.

Times and reasons to celebrate

2012-05-22T02:00:00.008-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 16:9-12

TO CHEW ON: "You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide." Deuteronomy 16:11.

Moses reminded the Israelites of three yearly feasts in Deuteronomy 16:

the Feast of Passover.

the Feast of Pentecost (here called Feast of Weeks, i.e. seven weeks = 7 x 7 = 49 days + the next [feast] day = 50 days).

the Feast of Tabernacles.

As described here, the Feast of Pentecost was an annual harvest festival. It was also called Feast of Harvest - Exodus 23:16, the Day of Firstfruits - Numbers 28:26, and Pentecost in Leviticus 23:16. (Pentecost is based on the Greek translation of fifty days.)

Viewed as a whole, God instituted these feasts to help the Israelites remember their history with Him. Through them they recalled their time of slavery in Egypt, God's miraculous deliverance, their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness in tents, and the fact that God was the source of their blessing.

It's a good thing for us too, to regularly remind ourselves of these things and rejoice, like people did in the Old Testament. Matthew Henry says:

"Never should a believer forget his low estate of guilt and misery, his deliverance, and the price it cost the Redeemer; that gratitude and joy in the Lord may be mingled with sorrow for sin, and patience under the tribulations in his way to the kingdom of heaven. They must rejoice in their receivings from God, and in their returns of service and sacrifice to him; our duty must be our delight, as well as our enjoyment. If those who were under the law must rejoice before God, much more we that are under the grace of the gospel; which makes it our duty to rejoice evermore, to rejoice in the Lord always" - Matthew Henry, Commentary on Deuteronomy 16.

We can celebrate:

Our unique story of freedom from 'slavery' and our salvation, whether it occurred when we were youngsters or later.

How God has blessed us in the meantime with family, a home, the family of God.

How God has seen us through wilderness experiences (death of loved ones, times of sickness like cancer or depression, financial straits, unemployment...).

How God continues to provide for us through the produce of our own gardens, or the salary from our workplace, or our pensions if we are retired.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the Israelite example of regular, repeating celebrations that helped them review their history with You. Help me to remember in a similar way, and weave an attitude of rejoicing and thanksgiving into the fabric of my life. Amen.

MORE: Help others rejoice

"When we rejoice in God ourselves, we should do what we can to assist others also to rejoice in him, by comforting the mourners, and supplying those who are in want. All who make God their joy, may rejoice in hope, for He is faithful that has promised" — Matthew Henry, Commentary on Deuteronomy 16.

Ancient food bank

2012-05-21T02:00:00.006-07:00

"Gleaning" by Arthur Hughes

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Leviticus 23:15-22

TO CHEW ON: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor: I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 23:22

God makes no secret of the fact He is for the poor, pities the poor, and wants those that identify with Him to defend and help the poor. In today's reading we have one way people could do that: by harvesting carelessly, making sure there was something left for gleaners. Then, one year in every seven, they were to let fields lie fallow, leaving the entire volunteer crop for the poor (Exodus 23:11).

Here are a few other pro-poor policies and attitudes found in the Bible:

A relative should be allowed to redeem a poor person's possession (Leviticus 25:25).

The rich were not to turn away as in ignore or grow calloused toward the poor person's plight (Deuteronomy 15:7).

The person holding the poor person's pledge (or down-payment) was not to keep it overnight (Deuteronomy 24:12). (Perhaps because the pledge would be something the person needed for their very health or well-being, like their cloak for warmth).

The results and rewards of helping the poor also show God's sympathetic heart. toward them. The person helping the poor:

is called "blessed" (Psalm 41:1) and "happy" (Proverbs 14:21).
is loaning to the Lord (Proverbs 19:17).
will get the wealth of those who take advantage of the poor (Proverbs 28:7).
won't lack (Proverbs 28:27).
will find their generosity helps them to follow Jesus in discipleship that readily abandons all to Him (Matthew 19:21).

God's attitude toward the poor prompts us to take a long hard look at our own attitudes. Do we avoid going to places where the poor will approach us? Do we "hide our eyes" from the panhandler, the raggy man seated outside Safeway beside his coin pot, the dusty woman pushing her grocery cart of blankets and bottles (Proverbs 28:27)?

It might be a good idea to settle on a strategy of sharing with the poor. Some ways that come to mind:

Give regularly to organizations that help the poor and homeless.

I read of someone who, when approached by a beggar, empties his pockets, giving him/her all the cash he is carrying at the time.

I heard of someone else who designates a monthly sum of money to give away to the poor. He gives it as the needs/requests come.

How do you help the poor?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your tender heart toward the poor. Help me to have Your attitude. Amen.

MORE: The flip side.

The flip side of being a helper of the poor is being a helpee, that is, the poor person needing help. Most of the poor are not lazy deadbeats at all, but people who for one reason or another are needy.

Todd Burpo, author of Heaven is for Real found himself in that position when his four-year-old son became deathly ill. Here are his words describing what it felt like to need help:

"... pastors and their families are usually most comfortable in the role of 'helper,' not 'helpee.' Sonja and I had always been the ones who visited the sick, brought the meals, cared for others' kids in times of need. We were adamantly self-reliant—maybe in retrospect, to the point of being prideful. But that gruelling stint in the hospital snapped our pride like a dry twig and taught us how to be humble enough to accept help from other people, physically, emotionally, and financially" - Todd Burpo, Heaven is for Real, p. 153.

Glory-worthy

2012-05-20T02:00:00.013-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 17:1-26

TO CHEW ON: "Jesus spoke these words, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: 'Father the hour has come. Glorify Your Son that Your Son may glorify You…. And now, O Father, glorify Me together together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.'" John 17:1, 5

How do you feel about someone who is constantly shifting attention to herself, directing the conversation to be about her, her family, her accomplishments? Hard to like, right? Yet isn't that just what Jesus is doing here—praying that He and God will get glory?

If you are at all familiar with the Bible, you will recognize this as one of its themes—God's preoccupation with His own glory. I've pondered this: How does it make sense that the God who values humility in us gets away with praising Himself? Thus I was delighted when I discovered that John Piper dealt with this very subject in the first chapter of his book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.

First he defines what God's glory is and involves:

"God's glory is the beauty of His manifold perfections….God's ultimate goal is to preserve and display His infinite and awesome greatness and worth, that is, His glory" (Desiring God, p. 42).

Then Piper goes on to explain why God is justifiably intent on His own glory. Here is his argument in my own words: We would all agree that a good, righteous, pure, etc. God would only admire what was the ultimate in goodness, righteousness, purity. And what or Who is the embodiment of these things? Why it is He, Himself of course. Therefore He must glorify Himself.

As Piper puts it:

"…He loves himself infinitely. Or: He Himself is uppermost in His own affections. A moment's reflection reveals the inexorable justice of this fact. God would be unrighteous (just as we would) if He valued anything more than what is supremely valuable. But He Himself is supremely valuable. If He did not take infinite delight in the worth of His own glory, He would be unrighteous. For it is right to take delight in a person in proportion to the excellence of that person's glory." p. 42-43

That's why Jesus here prays that He and His Father will be glorified. As the embodiment of all that is admirable, They are worthy.

The amazing thing is that we can add to this glory. We do this by aligning ourselves with God and all that He stands for. In His prayer Jesus lists some practical ways. We give God glory when we stay true to Jesus (John 17:11), refuse to be seduced by the world (John 17:14-15), let God's word sanctify us (John 17:17), and live in unity with other Christians (John 17:21).

And of course we can also voice our praise. As we gather with other Christians in church today, we can raise our voices knowing we are secure in admiring and praising the most admirable and praiseworthy One worthy of all glory!

PRAYER: Praise the LORD!

Praise God in His sanctuary;
         Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Praise Him for His mighty acts;
         Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!….

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

         Praise the LORD! - Psalm 150: 1,2 & 6

MORE: One more quote from Desiring God:

"Because God is unique as an all-glorious, totally self-sufficient Being, He must be for Himself if He is to be for us. The rules of humility that belong to a creature cannot apply in the same way to its Creator. If God should turn away from Himself as the Source of infinite joy, He would cease to be God. He would deny the infinite worth of His own glory. He would imply that there is something more valuable outside Himself. He would commit idolatry" p. 47.

(From the archives)

Tribulations—bench-presses for the spirit

2012-05-19T02:00:00.020-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 16:16-33

TO CHEW ON: "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Given the choice, we would probably pick peace over tribulation. But according to Jesus, those that are "in Me" will have both. For though in Christ we have the peace that comes from knowing our relationship with God is right, until we die, we have no choice but to be "in the world" where we will experience tribulation.

[Tribulation - thilipsis is "pressure, oppression, stress, anguish, tribulation, adversity, affliction, crushing, squashing, squeezing, distress. Imagine placing your hand in a stack of loose items and manually compressing them. That is thilipsis, putting a lot of pressure on that which is free and unfettered. Thilipsis is like spiritual bench-pressing. The word is used of crushing grapes or olives in a press" - Dick Mills, "Word Wealth," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible p. 1474.]

I know there are degrees of tribulation, and that the tribulation we in western nations experience is a fraction of what Christians in some places go through. Yet we do sense it. We find ourselves at odds with our society's beliefs about beginnings (everything just happened by chance versus God creating), of morals and ethics (society's changing consensus versus the Bible's standard) and of what really matters in life (one's happiness versus God's "Well done"). We even find ourselves squeezed and pressed by ourselves: "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not do .... O wretched man that I am..." Romans 7:15,24.

It's easy to view tribulation as bad and something to be got free from at all costs. But there is another way to look at it. It can be a means to make us vital and strong. Oswald Chambers says:

"Life without war is impossible either in nature or in grace. The basis of physical, mental, moral, and spiritual life is antagonism. This is the open fact of life.

Health is the balance between physical life and external nature, and it is maintained only by sufficient vitality on the inside against things on the outside ....

Morally it is the same. Everything that does not partake of the nature of virtue is the enemy of virtue in me ....

And spiritually it is the same. Jesus said, 'In the world you shall have tribulation.' .... I have to learn to score off the things that come against me, and in that way produce the balance of holiness; then it becomes a delight to meet the opposition" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, December 4th reading (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to grow stronger by the way I face the tribulation that comes my way. Amen.

MORE: Tribulation around the world

Persecution.org is a website that disseminates news about the persecution and tribulation experienced by Christians around the world.

The website is an initiative of International Christian Concern which "acts as a bridge between believers in free countries and believers in persecuted countries by sending encouragement, prayers and aid over the bridge while bringing back news, requests and love" (from the "Get the most out of Persecution.org page).

Our Father's pity

2012-05-18T02:00:00.012-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: PSALM 103:1-22
(Yes, two days in a row in the same Psalm.)

TO CHEW ON: "As a father pities his children,

So the Lord pities those who fear Him." Psalm 103:13

Watch parents with their newborn infant. See the gentle touch and the adoring gaze, hear the soft, soothing tone. That's "pities" - "racham" — the way God the Father regards us ("those who fear Him"), His children.

[Pities - racham means to feel or show compassion, to love deeply, to show pity or mercy, to tenderly regard someone; to tenderly love (especially as parents love their infant child). Racham is the origin of the Hebrew word for womb - rechem. In Isaiah 49:15 God asks, "Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on (racham) the son of her womb (rechem)?"- Dick Mills, "Word Wealth," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1146.]

One reason human parents treat their infant with such tenderness is because they know the helplessness and vulnerability of this tiny creature for whom they are responsible. God's impulse of tenderness toward us comes from similar feelings (if we can call them that). "He knows our frame," assures the psalm-writer, David. "He remembers that we are dust."

David goes on to remind us about life's brevity—grass, flowers—and insignificance: "For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,/ And its place remembers it no more."

In contrast, God's mercy "is from everlasting to everlasting ... His righteousness to children's children." God's attention elevates those who fear Him from disposable grass to something worth loving and preserving.

As I grow older, I am more keenly aware than ever of my own grass-like lifespan, my flower-like vulnerability. Soon I'll too be gone and the meadow will forget me. But God won't. As we saw when we focused our attention on the ascension yesterday, there is another chapter. In it:

we will see God - Job 19:26; Psalm 49:15.

we will be beyond the grasp of death and decay - John 8:51; 11:26.

we will live with Jesus - John 14:3; 2 Corinthians 5:1; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that because of Jesus my life can have significance beyond its mortal span. Amen.

MORE: "Saviour of the World" - Ben Cantelon

Christ's Ascension

2012-05-17T02:00:00.018-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 103:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "The Lord has established His throne in heaven,

And His kingdom rules over all." Psalm 103:19

Today is Ascension Day—the day we as Christians remember the ascension of Christ into heaven. So that's it, isn't it? Jesus ascended, straight and simple.

It is simple, and yet not. I love reading books on theology because they open my eyes to what various God-activities mean. When we read the writings of godly learned men who have made it their life's work to study such things we get an enlarged appreciation of the meaning and significance of events like the ascension.

Join me today as we peer into Jesus' ascension through the eyes of one such man to answer the questions what is Jesus' ascension and what does it mean to us? (Quotes taken from Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem, pages 617-620).

1. Christ ascended to a place. ...

These narratives (Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11) describe an event that is clearly designed to show the disciples that Jesus went to a place ....

Of course we cannot now say exactly where heaven is. Scripture often pictures people as ascending up into heaven or coming down from heaven (as the angels did in Jacob's dream - Genesis 28:12), so we are justified in thinking of heaven as somewhere 'above' earth ....

The repeated emphasis on the fact that Jesus went somewhere (as did Elijah, 2 Kings 2:11) and the fact that the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from God (Revelation 21:2) all indicate that there is clearly a localization of heaven in the space-time universe.

2. Christ received glory and honour that had not been his before as the God-Man. (Scriptures cited: John 17:5; Acts 2:33) ....

Christ is now in heaven with the angelic choirs singing praise to him with the words, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!' (Revelation 5:12).

3. Christ was seated at God's right hand.

This welcoming into the presence of God and sitting at God's right hand is a dramatic indication of the completion of Christ's work of redemption... (Hebrews 1:3)

In addition ... the act of sitting at God's right hand is an indication that he received authority over the universe... (Ephesians 1:20-21).;

One additional aspect of the authority that Christ received from the Father when he sat at his right hand was the authority to pour out the Holy Spirit on the church (Acts 2:33).

4. Christ's ascension has doctrinal significance for our lives

Christ's going up into heaven foreshadows our future ascension into heaven with him (1 Thessalonians 4:17)...

Jesus' ascension gives us assurance that our final home will be in heaven with him (John 14:2-3)....

Because of our union with Christ in his ascension, we are able to share now (in part) in Christ's authority over the universe, and we will later share in it more fully (Ephesians 2:6)

Isn't God's plan amazingly rich? Perhaps our best response is with the closing words of our Psalm:

"Bless the Lord, all His works.

In all places of His dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your plan, which included the brief stay of Jesus on earth and His ascension back to heaven. Please give me spiritual understanding of its significance to my everyday life. Amen.

MORE: Ascension Day

The Ascension Day liturgy begins with this prayer:

"Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into heaven, so we may also in heart and mind there ascend, and with him continually dwell; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Applause

2012-05-16T02:00:00.020-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 47:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Oh clap your hands all you peoples!

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!" Psalm 47:1

Clapping hands is an action we commonly associate with applause. We clap in appreciation and admiration after an artistic or athletic performance. We clap because we want more. It's a gesture of approval and support.

[The Hebrew word taqa, here translated "clap" means to make all kinds of noise: "... clatter, clang, sound blow (trumpets), clap, strike. Taqa describes pitching a tent or fastening a nail probably due to the striking of the hammer used for both tasks .... Taqa indicates energy and enthusiasm. Here all nations are commanded to clap their hands and shout triumphantly to God ... God has built into the human being an almost instinctive urge to clap and shout when victory is experienced" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 724.]

My Bible's notes tell me that Psalm 47 was quoted at the Hebrew New Year. It expressed the Hebrews' hope and prayer that God would rule over the nations in the coming year.

Christians have applied Psalm 47 to Jesus' resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:9-10). The church celebrates this event as a special day tomorrow (Ascension Day).

Compare Psalm 47:5 "The Lord has gone up with a shout, / The Lord with the sound of a trumpet..."

with

"...according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places" - Ephesians 1:19, 20.

I ask myself, does my exuberance over these things (Jesus' victory over death, His presence in heaven now, His promise of eventual victory) bring me to a place of spontaneous taqa, as in clapping banging noisemakers, blowing trumpets, stamping feet (think of the type of noise at a hockey, football or basketball game)? It could. It should. For:

"God has gone up with a shout ...

God is the King of all the earth...

God reigns over the nations

God sits on His holy throne" Psalm 47:5,7,8.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to conquer death. Thank You that He lives in heaven now. Help me to applaud Your victory in faith as I wait for the day You triumph over nations and the systems of earth as we know them. Amen.

MORE: "Crown Him with Many Crowns" sung by Robin Mark

Walks-stands-sits

2012-05-15T02:00:00.012-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 1:1-6

TO CHEW ON: "Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly

Nor stands in the path of sinners

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord..." Psalm 1:1,2a

It's easy to pick up the movement here. As my Bible's commenter points out:

"The walks-stands-sits seems to suggest a progression of influence that results from initially turning one's attention in this wrong direction" K. R. "Dick" Iverson, commentary on Psalms, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 686.

How is our attention attracted, then turned to the "counsel of the ungodly, the path of sinners, the seat of the scornful"? In our multisensory world it happens in dozens of ways:

through what we read on the internet, the papers, books...
through what we watch on TV, movies, the internet.
through the people we interact with, from family to strangers.

Trouble is what surrounds us seems so normal, natural, safe. Do we even recognize the threats to our spiritual well-being? The 'everywhere' presence of the secular is why it's so important to guard our spiritual lives. How do we do that?

by regularly spending time in the 'law of the Lord' — the Bible.
by spending time with godly people who love, respect and live by this law.
by attending church where we immerse ourselves in an atmosphere of worship and physically identify with fellow believers.
by intentionally filling our homes and our heads with sounds of worship and instruction. (For example, next time you're making dinner or cleaning the house, or doing anything that doesn't demand silence for concentration, try putting on a worship CD or podcast message by a favourite speaker.)

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" goes the old saying (attributed to Confucius). I would submit that that first step is usually taken in our minds. Let's be watchful over the thought steps we take in our minds so we don't inexplicably find ourselves one day following ungodly counsel, walking in the path of sinners, sitting in the seat of the scornful.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize the ungodly counsel, the sinner's path, and the scornful seat imbedded in the stimuli around me. I want to be a genuine lover and follower of Your words. Amen.

MORE: The mind is the leader

"The mind is the leader or forerunner of all actions. Romans 8:5 makes it clear .... Our actions are a direct result of our thoughts. If we have a negative mind, we will have a negative life. If, on the other hand, we renew our minds according to God's Word, we will as Romans 12:2 promises, prove out in our experience 'the good and acceptable and perfect will of God for our lives'" - Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind, p. 3

Coming again!

2012-05-14T02:00:00.006-07:00

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 1:1-11

“TO CHEW ON: ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’” Acts 1:11

The giddy, wonderful, too-good-to-be-true days of Jesus with them again didn’t last. One day when he was with His disciples He had His last face-to-face conversation with them. “Go to Jerusalem and wait to be baptized by the Holy Spirit,” He said.

Some still didn’t get it. “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus put them off with typical grace. “It is not for you to know times or seasons…” Then He gave them their assignment (Acts 1:8) and was gone, drifting up from their sight, soon obliterated by clouds.

I wonder if they realized at the time it really was the last time they would see Him. I can just imagine them berating themselves and each other for not asking more questions, listening more closely. They hadn’t realized that Jesus would leave them again so soon. No doubt in those first days they looked up a lot.

We’re still looking up, awaiting His return. The Bible writers don’t say much about it. But what various ones do say from across time help us understand that Jesus return will be:

Bodily, in space and time, from the sky (“with clouds”): Daniel 7:13; Acts 1:11.

With power: Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; Luke 21:27.

As a judge: Psalm 98:9.

Delayed and unexpected, though when it comes, it will be a catalyst for massive upheaval and destruction on earth and throughout the universe: 2 Peter 3:3-13.

“Eagerly awaited” by some: Hebrews 9:28.

How do you feel about His second coming? Do you give it much thought? If He comes during your lifetime, will it catch you off guard? I want to be one of those who “eagerly await” it! Don't you?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for Your promise to return. Help me to be ready, expectant and eagerly awaiting it.

MORE: "We Shall Behold Him" by Dottie Rambo, sung by Sandi Patti

(From the archives)

Ruled by kindness

2012-05-13T02:00:00.029-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 31:10-31

TO CHEW ON: "She opens her mouth with wisdom

And on her tongue is the law of kindness." Proverbs 31:26

The Proverbs 31 wife is a domestic virtuoso. She is a paragon of energy, industry, thrift, creativity, entrepreneurship, good management, and family loyalty. But the quality of hers that stands out for me, above all the rest, is her kindness.

Here is an exceptional woman, famous for her consistently kind speech. I love how the Bible writer puts it: "On her tongue is the law of kindness." The Message paraphrases: "When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly." What a model for us as women, wives, and mothers!

Of what does this law consist? A brief search of kindness in the Bible reveals:

It is often reciprocal (Joshua 2:12 - Context: Rehab asks for kindness from the Israelites as repayment for her kindness to the spies - Joshua 2:1-21).

It is related to graciousness, compassion (Psalm 112:4), mercy, humility, meekness, long-suffering (Colossians 3:12).

It exhibits its feelings in "kindly affection" (Romans 2:12).

It has a humble spirit that is considerate and "prefers" others (Romans 12:10).

It involves forgiveness (Ephesians 4:32).

Kindness is not something that just happens but something we "add" and work at with "diligence" (2 Peter 1:5-7).

I ask myself, if someone wrote about me in a Proverbs 31 way, would they say my tongue was governed by kindness? I know the answer. A little more adding and diligence is in order. What about you?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to work at kindness in deed and speech. May it be the law of my tongue. Amen.

MORE: Sayings about KINDNESS

"Life is short and we never have enough time for gladdening the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind."
—Henri Frederic Amiel

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." —Mother Teresa

"Always be a little kinder than necessary."
—James M. Barrie

Joyful about judgment?

2012-05-12T02:00:00.015-07:00

"The Last Judgment" by
Peter Von Cornelius

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 98:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,

For He is coming to judge the earth.

With righteousness He shall judge the world,

And the peoples with equity." Psalm 98:9

This is a rejoicing psalm that encourages praise to God from a variety of places:
- The psalmist tells Israel to praise God (vs. 1-3).
- He admonishes the nations of the earth to praise (vs. 4-6).
- He tells nature (the sea, rivers and hills) to join in the celebration (vs. 7-8).

Why? Verse 9 gives us the reason: Because God the judge is coming.

The Hebrew word for judge is shaphat. It is translated to judge, govern, argue a case, decide, defend, plead, pronounce judgment, vindicate.

God is depicted as a judge throughout the Bible.

The patriarchs viewed him that way. From Sarai's flippant, "The Lord judge between you and me..." when she was trying to convince Abram to get rid of Hagar (Genesis 16:5) to Abram's "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right!" when he was attempting to sway the angel from destroying Sodom and Lot (Genesis 18:25), it is clear these people believed there existed a God to judge the world.

The writers of the psalms and the prophets were focused on God's judgment. The word shaphat occurs 30 times in Psalms, 25 times in Ezekiel, 15 times in Isaiah.

In the New Testament Jesus is revealed as the administrator of God's judgement (John 5:22).

He will judge nations (Matthew 25:32), leaders (Psalm 75:7), administer fairness between rich and poor, evil and good (Isaiah 11:4), and pronounce judgement on our very secrets (Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5).

Does it strike you as odd that the psalmist here would admonish his readers to rejoice and celebrate over the coming of a judge? It does me. I suppose whether or not we are happy about the Judge's arrival depends on how we are living our lives.

What a call to authentic, no-secrets-from-God living this psalm becomes then, as we ponder our lives in the light of inevitable judgement. May we be able to say with Paul:

"For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord." 1 Corinthians 4:4.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus help me to live my life in such a way that I can be happy about the thought of You coming as a judge. Amen.

MORE: Thoughts on judgement.

In his Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem devotes seventeen pages to the subject of "The Final Judgement and Eternal Punishment" (pp. 1140-1157).

Here are a couple of his conclusions that may be helpful to us:

The Doctrine of the Final Judgment Provides a Motive for Righteous Living.
For believers the final judgment is an incentive to faithfulness and good works, not as a means of earning forgiveness of sins, but as a means of gaining greater eternal reward. This is a healthy and good motive for us—Jesus tells us, 'Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6"20)..."

The Doctrine of Final Judgment Provides a Great Motive for Evangelism.
The decisions made by people in this life will affect their destiny for all eternity, and it is right that our hearts feel and our mouths echo the sentiment of the appeal of God through Ezekiel: 'Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?' (Ezekiel 33:11)" - Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 1148.

Sing!

2012-05-11T02:00:00.010-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 96:1-13

TO CHEW ON: "O sing to the Lord a new song!

Sing to the Lord all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim the good news of His

salvation from day to day." Psalm 96:1-2

Do you sing? Day after tomorrow is Sunday. If you attend church somewhere, chances are you will sing there. You may sing songs that you know in a style that you enjoy, or new songs that excite you, or even be expected to sing along with music that is not to your taste.

What is singing anyway? The dictionary defines "sing":

"To produce word sounds that differ from speech in that vowels are lengthened, pitches are clearly defined, and voiceless consonants are minimized."

Wow - that sounds like a sterile activity! Though that clinical description of singing may be 'anatomically correct,' it misses the whole emotional aspect of "sing" that must be experienced to be understood. A commentary in my Bible gets much closer to capturing that meaning, especially as it relates to Christians:

"Singing is a dynamic and vital part of our devotional life with God. The Psalms refer to singing more than seventy times. Even if you feel that you do not sing well, know that your heavenly Father loves the sound of your voice (Song of Solomon 2:14). It is not important how well you sing, but simply that you sing. Praise is a pathway to joy" - "Truth-In-Action Through Psalms, Book four: Psalms 90-106," New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 770-771.

Not only are the Psalms full of singing — it's all through the Bible. Here are some examples to help us understand when, why, what, and how we sing.

We sing:

- when we're victorious (Psalm 27:6).
- to celebrate the One who brought us salvation (Psalm 95:1).
- aloud and loud (Psalm 81:1).
- accompanied by instruments (Psalm 81:2).
- to the Lord (Isaiah 12:5).
- and to one another (Ephesians 5:19).
- with the mind and with the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:15).
- all kinds of songs (Ephesians 5:19).
- arising from the overflow of God's word in us (Colossians 3:16).
- from happy hearts (James 5:13).
- a new song, finding fresh reasons and ways to sing praise (Psalm 96:1 our focus verse).

As my Bible says about this verse specifically:

"Sing a new song to the Lord. Whether you are a professional musician or simply one who has a thankful heart, put your praise into song. Offer your song to God as a sacrifice of praise. It is pleasing to the Lord." -- "Truth-In-Action through Psalms Book four: Psalms 90-106," New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 771 (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for songs and singing. Please "tune my heart to sing Thy grace." Amen.

MORE: "Any Given Sunday" and some songs for the road...

Carolyn Arends' song "Any Given Sunday" captures the variety of the songs we sing in church:

Any given Sunday...
... you can count on singing
There’s every kind of music
There’s hymns and Bach and folk and pop
And most of it’s in tune

Read the rest of the lyrics and Carolyn's comments here. Catch a sample of the song here (click the >| part of the player till you get to Song 4).

Jan Cox in her blog Under the Cover of Prayer has put together a singing road trip for us. Drive and sing along with her here.

(From the archives.)

"Doubting nothing"

2012-05-10T02:00:00.006-07:00

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 11:1-18

TO CHEW ON: “‘Then the Spirit told me to go with them doubting nothing.’” Acts 11:12

“In my lifetime I have had certain, if few, remarkable instances of the presence of God,” writes David Adams Richards in his book God Is.: My Search for Faith in a Secular World. “From my very earliest days, I recognized this presence now and again…These instances most often came in ways I least expected from the time I was a child.” (God Is. David Adams Richards, Location 732 – Kindle Version)

Richards goes on to relate incident after incident where happenings from his life spoke to him of divine providence, with events dovetailing in amazing ways.

As a youth he was in a high speed car crash but escaped without a scratch while a school buddy was killed in a freakish traffic mishap going a mere 30 miles per hour.
He came across a gift he had meant to give his dying mother 20 years to the day after her death.
A stray paper poking from between books on his shelf turned out to be a photograph. It was a picture of a little girl and her mother – the girl he and his wife helped look after when her immigrant mother discovered she had brain cancer. In the picture, the mother, whose cancer had just been discovered, was still beautiful. He found it years after the mother’s death, but only an hour before the girl, her father and grandmother were to arrive to visit (they had moved back to Europe).

In our reading today Peter, when called to task by the Jerusalem apostles over eating with an uncircumcised Gentile (Cornelius) had exactly such a miraculous “coincidence” to relate. His vivid vision, followed by Cornelius’s servants at the door, and the readiness of Cornelius and his family to hear what Peter had to say convinced the apostles that this new development was actually a God-thing: “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God saying ‘then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life’” vs. 18.

Have you had such evidences of God in your life? I have. For example, I often find that things I read or hear relate directly to something I am writing. I will find a quote that catches my eye in a book or internet article and the next day that very idea presents itself in the Bible reading for this devotional or some other piece I’m writing.

Let’s watch for the many ways God tells us, “I am here – right beside you, going with you through this day.” Let’s gratefully accept the signs of His presence “doubting nothing.”

PRAYER: Dear God, Thank you for these little assurances of Your presence. Help me to be alert to them, and acknowledge You in them today. Amen.

MORE: Looking for God

David Adams Richards is an award-winning but new-to-me Canadian writer. He is most known for his fiction. His writing, which has been compared to that of William Faulkner, has won many awards (Governor General’s, Giller Prize). He makes his home in Toronto and the Miramachi area of New Brunswick.

Links to articles about God Is.

"Canada's literary community gets religion all wrong" by David Adams Richards - excerpts from God Is.

"AUTHOR DAVID ADAMS RICHARDS TO DISCUSS GOD IS: MY SEARCH FOR FAITH IN A SECULAR WORLD IN AN ON-STAGE INTERVIEW WITH MARK TUNNEY" from News @ UNB

"Author finds God is in the details" by Stuart Laidlaw

(From the archives)

************************

I purchased God Is. Kindle version, through Amazon.com. Clicking on the title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate pages.

How impartial are you?

2012-05-09T02:00:00.003-07:00

"The Baptism of a Centurion" by Michel Corneille the Elder - 17th Century

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 10:23b-48

TO CHEW ON: “Then Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.’” Acts 10:34

Though Canadian society pays lip service to being impartial, discrimination is all around us. We make judgments about people on the basis of the color of their skin and their ability to speak English. We fawn over entertainers and sports heroes while heaping scorn on folks in other professions simply because of the career they’ve chosen. (Currently it’s fashionable to dump on the police and politicians. Of course TV evangelists are always suspect, as is anyone who speaks out against abortion, human-caused global warming and for creation science. And good luck getting a job in the Canadian civil service if you are a middle-class Caucasian male.)

Thankfully God sees through all veneers. He doesn’t give us more points if our skin is white or colored, speak perfect English or broken, dress with fashion savvy or in the dumpy clothes we’ve hung onto since the '80s. He sees past our variegated pasts, our personality quirks, and the lines, wrinkles, and gray hair that declare us past our best-before dates.

Here he saw the sincerity of Cornelius’s heart. He saw how this Gentile had acted on the knowledge that he had, proving himself a man of prayer and generosity. As a result when God sent Peter to Cornelius to explain the gospel more fully and baptized him and his household with the Holy Spirit, He gave Cornelius a gift that was probably beyond anything this Roman centurion had imagined.

Impartiality is a godly attitude. God is:

- Impartial to worldly rank, power and wealth (Job 34:18-19).
- Impartial in lavishing good natural gifts on all mankind (Matthew 5:44,45).
- Impartial regardless of nationality (Acts 10:34-36).
- Impartial between Jews and Gentiles (Romans 2:9-11; Romans 10:12).
- Impartial in ways we don’t always understand (Matthew 20:13-15).

The standard for us as God-followers is to be impartial too. We are to be:

- Impartial in the face of wealth and position (Leviticus 19:15).
- Impartial in judgment (Deuteronomy 1:17).
- Impartial in the face of the temptation to make an unjust, though popular judgment (Proverbs 18:5).
- Impartial in appointing leaders (1 Timothy 5:21-22).
- Impartial in loving and accepting our Christian brothers and sisters (James 2:1-9).

Though we will never have the insight into people that God has, we can cultivate His generous, fair heart of acceptance and love. Showing impartiality (like God and Peter showed to Cornelius) is another way we can fit in with His grand purpose of helping to further His kingdom on earth.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to recognize prejudice and bias in myself. Help me to see others through Your eyes. Amen.

MORE: More about 'impartiality'

"This (the concept of 'impartiality') is such a major truth about God that the New Testament seems to invent a word for it - several words. Before the New Testament there are no instances of the word used here (Romans 2:11-16) for "partiality" or "respecter of persons." The idea was there in the Old Testament: God does not "receive face," they would say, that is, he is "impartial" - he is not moved by irrelevant external appearances. He sees through them and goes to the heart of the matter and is not partial to appearance and circumstance. Nobody breaks the rules and gets away with it, no matter how powerful or clever or wealthy or networked. All are judged by the same measure.

In the New Testament this was so important to make clear that the writers took these two words, "receive face" and combined them into a new verb in James 2:9 - "be-a-face-receiver" (prospolempteo) - and two new nouns - "a-face-receiver" (prosopolemptes, Acts 10:34) and "face-receiving" (prosopolempsia, Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25, James 2:1). There is no "face-receiving" with God, Paul says" - John Piper.

-Read all of "There is no Partiality With God - Part 1" - By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

(From the archives)

The "we know"s of John

2012-05-08T02:00:00.003-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 John 5:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true..." 1 John 5:20

As we read 1 John 5, the phrase "we know" keeps popping up. What are the things John told his readers way back in the first century, and tells us now, that "we know"?

1. "We know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments" (vs. 2).

[Know here and in its last appearance in vs. 20 is ginosko which means to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of, perceive, feel, understand.]

2. "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life..." (vs. 13).

[Know here is oida from horao which means to see with the eyes, see with the mind, perceive, know, become acquainted with by experience, to see, look, take heed, be aware.]

3. "... we know that He hears us, whatever we ask..." (vs. 15a)

4. "...we know we have the petitions we have asked of Him" (vs. 15b).

5. "We know that whoever is born of God does not sin" (vs. 18).

6. "We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (vs.19).

7. "We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding..." (vs. 20a).

8. "...that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true..." (vs. 20b).

As I read this list of certainties posed by John, I am again impressed with how the Christian life is a push-and-pull of faith and experience. Notice how our lists of knows (the know of experience) is bracketed by two knows (learning to know, getting a knowledge or perception of).

I ask myself, which of these knows can I declare with confidence? Which do I need to grow in? Most of all, am I progressively advancing in knowing Him (vs. 20b)? I do that by buttressing my faith through experience in all the ways John lists.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to have the confident knowledge of You that John expresses. Above all, help me to know You.

MORE: Everything by Brian Doerksen

Will persecution stumble us?

2012-05-07T02:00:00.007-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 15:11-16:4a

TO CHEW ON: "These things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble." John 16:1

What "things" is Jesus referring to?

That the world will hate them (John 15:18,19).

That they will be persecuted (John 15:20).

That they will be hated without a cause (John 15:25).

That the Holy Spirit will be their Helper (John 15:26).

["Parakletos = called to one's side, intercessor, comforter, helper, advocate, counsellor ... The Holy Spirit leads believers to a greater apprehension of gospel truths. In addition to general help and guidance, He gives strength to endure the hostility of the world system" = Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1472.]

We in North America have had it pretty good in the persecution department. In many cases our forefathers fled to Canada and the U.S. from religiously oppressive regimes for the reason that they wanted to live in place where they could worship according to their convictions. As a result for several generations the prevailing culture of North America has been sympathetic toward Christians.

But that's changing. Read the comments under pro-Christian articles in secular media and you will often see scorn, mockery, disdain, name-calling, even hatred for Christianity and Christians.

As Jesus warns here, let's not let that reaction cause us to stumble—in confusion, discouragement, fear, intimidation. Because:

It's what we should expect - John 16:4.

It's part of our inheritance - John 15:18,19.

It proves Whose we are - John 15:23.

Rather, let's claim the help of the Holy Spirit

To remind us of Jesus' predictions about such treatment - John 14:26.

To assure us that we belong to God's family - Romans 8:16.

To tell us what to say - Mark 13:11; Luke 2:12

To give us boldness - Acts 4:29-31

PRAYER: Dear God, I don't like abuse, scorn, or ridicule. Please help me to have the spirit of Jesus under such treatment—of wisdom and Holy Spirit boldness. Prepare me now for what the future holds of negative reactions to Christ-followers. Amen.

MORE: Persecution.org

The website Persecution.org monitors persecution of Christians around the world. A little snooping around on that site shows us that though persecution in North America happens, it occurs much less frequently than in many other countries.

You can read news about persecution of Christians throughout the world as you search for news by country.

You can read blogs that post articles about various aspects of persecution.

Letting God get a word in

2012-05-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 15:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "'If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.'" John 15:7

Here we see an important part of abiding — or living — in the vine (Jesus) is prayer. And an effective way of praying, that is praying prayers that get answered, is making God's words part of our prayers.

This happens on several levels.

1. God's words change us so we ask for the right things.
As we get familiar with God's heart as expressed in the Bible and we let it change us, our desires will come into line with His will. When that happens we'll pray for things that are His will. When we and God want the same thing, His answers to our prayers will be "Yes."

2. We pray God's words back to Him.
God's word has unique power. Jeremiah describes it as a hammer and a fire(Jeremiah 23:20). Isaiah tells us it will not fail in the purpose for which God sends it out (Isaiah 55:10-11). So why not pray these powerful, unable-to-fail words back to God.

Daniel Henderson (author of Transforming Prayer) quotes Calvin Miller in this regard:

"Too often we go into God's presence with a list of pleas, trying to talk God into granting our desire. But this kind of praying makes us 'one big mouth' and God 'one grand ear.' But when we pray the Scriptures, it makes God the voice and leaves us the ear. In short, God gets His turn at getting a word in edgewise" - Calvin Miller, from The Path to Celtic Prayer, p. 57, quoted in Transforming Prayer p. 103.

Henderson tells us how he does this practically:

"On a personal level, I read the Scriptures using the Bible program on my laptop. As specific passages speak to me, I paste them into my journal program. Then I take time to allow those Bible segments to speak deeply to my heart and write out my prayers in response. This sense of Christ's presence and the substance of His Word guide my praying for that day" - Transforming Prayer, p. 105.

Let's ask God to show us ways we too can adjust our prayer times to combine Bible words and prayer.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please teach me to pray using the power of Your words. May they change me. Help me to find and recognize Bible passages that express Your will for the people and circumstances in my life. May I then be alert to use them in prayer. Amen.

MORE: Praying the Bible

There are many resources available to help us pray God's word. Some I am aware of:

Praying with Fire

Take Words With You (a pdf book you can download from this page)

You can also write your own scripture prayers for the people you love, your circumstances, your career, your city, and your country. I've posted two such prayers on the "Prayer" page of this blog. Try writing one of these for yourself and your circumstances.

(From the archives)

NOTE: For those receiving this by email, sorry about how unreliable these have been lately. Blogger is having problems with publishing scheduled posts on time

No fear

2012-05-05T02:00:00.006-07:00

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 John 4:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18.

I recently saw an hour-long video montage of the Japanese tsunami of March 2011. Most of the video clips were home movies, shot by people as they experienced the event. Angles were odd. Scenes were shaky. Sounds—crashes, water gushing, screams, crying—were heart-rending. Reading this passage I ask myself, how does God's love encompass such incidents? How could someone who had been through that not live forever traumatized and fearful that something similar would happen again?

When it comes down to it, though, each of us faces our own library of fears. We have seen loved ones suffer with cancer. We have walked with friends going through separation and divorce. We have wept with parents who have said a final goodbye to a child. For in some degree bad stuff, fearful stuff has touched each one of our lives. How can we say with conviction "There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear" if the God we believe has all power allows these things to come our way?

It has everything to do, I believe, with the goodness of God and our belief, trust and unswerving conviction that He is good. And that "All things work together for the good of those who love Him" - Romans 8:28 NLT.

The presence or absence of fear on our part has to do too, with our view of what is good for us. Is the agony that a drug addict has to go through in order to get clean, good? At the moment she is in it, I'm sure she'd say no. But later, when she's no longer in drug's clutch our once-slave to heroin will say, it was worth it to get out of that bondage.

It's not for me or you to rationalize how each apparently bad thing that touches a life, our lives, could work out for some good. I know that I would never intentionally go through any trial, no matter how good it was supposed to be for me. But I believe that the trials God allows into my life have all been sifted through His good hands, and will achieve a good purpose in my life if I let them. And thus I really do have no cause to fear.

As my Bible's "Truth-In-Action" commentary sums it up so well:

"By faith we receive the love of God in Jesus Christ. Stand against fear, knowing that perfect love casts out fear." Leslyn Musch, "Truth-In-Action Through 1 John," New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1791.

PRAYER: Dear God, it is easy to glibly say there is no need to fear because of Your love when things are going well. Help me to believe the truth of Your sovereignty, goodness, and love when things don't seem to be going well, and to the extent that I really have no fear. Amen.

MORE: Some definitions.

"Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty). God's omnipotence means that God is able to do all his holy will. The word omnipotence is derived from two Latin words, omni, "all," and potions, "powerful," and means "all powerful .... God's omnipotence has reference to his own power to do what he decides to do.

Goodness. The goodness of God means that God is the final standard of good, and that all that God does is and does is worthy of approval.

Love. God's love means that God eternally gives of himself to others.

This definition understands love as self-giving for the benefit of others. This attribute of God shows that it is part of his nature to give of himself in order to bring about blessing or good for others."

—definitions by Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pages 216, 197, 199.