in over your head?

scripture: Isaiah 43:1-4

¹ But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

² 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.

³ For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush ^[a] and Seba in your stead.

⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people in exchange for your life.

there are two parts to this that really speak to me today. the first being that He has redeemed me. i am so aware of the need for a Saviour. but so often i don’t call upon nor do i trust the Saviour – so often i wish or hold on to other things. why is that? But He has declared that He is my redeemer. He has redeemed me. And that He knows my name. He calls to me. He is interested.

The second thought is in verse two. the message bible puts it like this “When you’re in over your head, i’ll be there with you”. the next few weeks feels like we’re in over our heads. And Father i want to know and remember that You are with me. and therefore i can take and face everything ahead of me. Grant us all Your strength.

horses and chariots

scripture: isaiah 31:1-3

the people were facing war. and to what they could see, it was horses and chariots that they needed to win. they used logic. and logic told them that the horses and chariots are what they needed to secure the deal. and so, they discarded God.

do i have horses and chariots in my life?

i’m sure i do.

what’s the one thing that i really want to see? this church be strong and healthy, and the people maturing and bearing fruit. so where do i put my trust and hope in? maybe it’s the need for better programming. maybe in our creativity? maybe in better bible teaching? i don’t really know where i put my trust. but i do know that there are times when i don’t put it in God.

God i will do my part. teach me to really trust You that You will do Yours.

Shut the door and keep it shut!

Scripture: 2 Kings 6:32 (ESV) | Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?”

The King was looking for someone to blame for the problems that israel were facing (for e.g. all the enemies that were trying to siege the city etc.) and so he picked on Elisha the prophet. So he intended to go to and have the prophet killed. But Elisha, in his house, tells the elders who were with him there to “shut the door and hold the door fast against him”.

In our lives, we face these enemies – they may not be the israelite army, but they could be the enemy of alcoholism, or lust, or jealousy or anger etc. sometimes when they come knocking we just have to shut the door and hold the door shut!! because these enemies will be persistent and they will keep coming again and again.

and sometimes, we need to have, like Elisha did that day, friends (the elders) who will help us in keeping those doors shut!

useless prayers

Scripture: Proverbs 28:9 (MSG) | God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to him.

wow.

it’s amazing how often we want God to listen to us. We want God to listen to our prayers. But in actual fact, we have no real desire to listen to Him, or to be committed to what He has to say to us. it’s absolutely fair for God to say our prayers are useless if our expectation is to have God respond to us,when we have no intent on listening or responding to Him.

do you love me?

i have been thinking of this passage or rather the moment when Jesus approaches Peter on the beach. it’s after Peter had denied Him three times. Peter must be feeling that sense of guilt and shame and embarrassment. Peter was the head student. He was the one who was willing to get out of the boat. He was the strong one, the loud one, the one who was the ‘man of action’ – ready to do whatever was required. And yet he failed. messed up. didn’t cut it. flunked the finals.

and Jesus goes to him again. the same way the word of the Lord comes to Jonah a second time.

and Jesus has only one question really.

do you love me?

not do you have the skills sets necessary? can you assure me you will not mess up again? have you felt sorry enough for your wrong-doing? He doesn’t ask for an explanation, nor  even an apology. he only asks ‘Peter, do you love me?’

He wasn’t looking for one who was ‘together’ or one who wouldn’t hurt Him or fail Him again. He just needed to know this one thing. If Peter loved Him, then Jesus could work with that.

i have been thinking of this passage and thinking about my questions to potential team people in church. i want to know skill and competence. We teach a class where we extol the gifts and talents, and encourage them to discover their strength and to use it. but i have never asked this one question: do you love Jesus?

Jesus knew that as long as Peter loved Him, then Peter would always be in the right place to serve Him.

and i can’t help with this thinking to ask myself that same question:

rhordan, do YOU love Him?

1 Peter – the context/occasion & themes

Peter is writing to a church that is scattered, and that is about to face major persecution at the hands of Emperor Nero. Nero used the Christians as a scapegoat for a fire that began in the city of Rome and that lasted for three days (in AD 64, 19th July). It destroyed the temple and many houses. The people thought that Nero had done the fire himself, because he didn’t like the old houses, and that he wanted to build new, magnificent buildings. Nero, in turn shifted the blame onto the Christians.

They were tortured, sewn into the skin of wild beasts, made to crawl around amphitheaters while lions were set on them, they were hunted by wild dogs and killed, they were crucified etc. there is one famous situation, where Nero had Christians tied to poles and they were burnt alive, and the light from that fire around his garden was used to light the area for a particular dinner party he was having.

It is in this atmosphere, that Peter writes the letter to the church. And his message is particularly important. For his message isn’t one of retaliation, but rather of submission and love. His message is counter-intuitive, and counter-cultural, but his message is Christ-like.

Themes:

1. Salvation

• • Our Salvation and our identity are roots that help us deal with the persecution of this world.
  • We are saved as an individual but there is also a corporate aspect to that salvation; and it is the fellowship and community of believers that make is possible for us to go through hard times. “a spiritual house”, “a royal priesthood”, “a holy nation”

1. Suffering

• • Submit to suffering, rather than avoid it

1. Submission

• • citizens, slaves, wives, youth

1 Peter – Audience

The letter of 1 Peter was written to a group of “pilgrims” who have been scattered through Asia Minor because of their faith in Christ.

1:1 | to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

James writes primarily to the Jewish community of this diaspora, but Peter writes to the Gentiles. The internal evidence of this is in 2:10 | Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. He is referring to how the Gentiles were not a part of the first covenant – which God made with the Jewish people. But now, through the new Covenant, we have been accepted and are a part of this community of believers in Christ.

Peter reminds all that it is not about our ethnic background, or our status. we are pilgrims in this world, and that we are not citizens of this earth. But rather, we are citizens of the Kingdom. Earth is a bridge. We are not to build our house on the bridge.

Peter writes to them because they are about to face much persecution.

1 Peter – Authorship

The book of 1 Peter (and 2 Peter) was written by Peter, the apostle.

//1 Peter 1:1 | Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

He identifies himself as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ

// 1 Peter 5:1 |So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed

Peter is writing as a loving elder of the church of Jesus Christ.

His first name was ‘Simon’ or ‘Simeon’ or ‘Simone’. It was a common name and it meant “reed”. But Jesus sees more in him, and gives him the name Peter, which means “rock”. He started as a man easily swayed (like a reed) but ends up being solid and strong (like a rock).

Peter was a fisherman. He was the brother of Andrew – and they were the first two that Jesus called to follow him.

Peter becomes the spokesperson for the group, and amongst the disciples, he was like the head student.

From the Gospels, we know that Peter is charming, eager, impulsive and energetic. But he is also unstable, fickle, weak, cowardly, rash and inconsistent.

Great moments in his life would include when he walked on water, but also when he denies Jesus 3 times. But the tender moments of his re-instatement – when Jesus asks of him, if he loves Him. That’s all that Jesus needs to know. If Peter truly loves Him, then Jesus can use someone like that. and this becomes a vital question for us too. It’s not our skills necessarily, or our smarts but our love. Do we love Jesus?

The first half of the book of Acts is all about Peter. The book of Mark was the writings of John Mark penning down the sermons of Peter. Peter was a ‘man of action’ and that shines through very clearly in the book of Mark and in Peters travels and adventures in Acts. He also has brief mention in Galatians (by Paul)

We know that he was married, coz Jesus healed his mother-in-law.

Most likely, this letter was written while Peter was in Rome.

And Peter would die and suffer at the hands of Emperor Nero. But even in death, Peter wouldn’t allow himself to die like his master, so he is crucified upside down.

roast the game

from ps steven furtick’s blog

Proverbs 12:27
The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions.

You’ve got to give the lazy guy in this Proverb a little credit.  At least he took the initiative and went hunting.  He even killed something in the process.  But apparently, he stopped short.  What good is it to kill an animal if you’re not going to cook it and eat it?

Many of us succeed in obtaining information and knowledge, but we fail in applying and utilizing it.  In other words, we make the kill but don’t roast our game.

What good is it to attend another conference if you’re not going to make a major ministry decision based on the wisdom you collect?

What good is it to read the Bible or hear a sermon if you’re just going to let it sit in the same notebook as the last sermon you heard and did nothing about?

What good is it to ask for advice from a trusted friend if you’re not willing to put it into practice unless, of course, she gives you the advice that lines up with the decision you already determined to make anyway?

What good is making the kill if you’re not willing to roast your game?

spiritual history lesson

Scripture: Psalms 106

this psalm tracks in history what God had done for the nation, and the psalmists ‘parents’ (his forefathers) – and there is gratitude for His mighty acts – there is praise as a result of God’s deliverance.

but the psalm also reminds us that we are a people that easily forget – because we get easily caught up in ourselves, and our wants.

how soon have i forgotten God’s goodness to me? have i remembered My Creator? how much do we want our next miracle that we forget about the miracles He has already done for us? 

an Ebenezer is literally a “stone of help” in Hebrew – used to remind us of something that God has done.  (1 Samuel 7:12 ESV)