I recently came across 1 Peter 2:9;
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light.
I have read this many times, but this time a few of the words just jumped out at me
and I wanted to know more and more and more – imagine that...
The first thing that struck me was the word chosen, which means picked, but if you
go farther Strong’s defines it as Chosen by God for salvation through Christ. John
Piper says of this verse; “what gives us our identity is not race or culture, but
choseness.”
Next is the descriptor royal. In Greek this means kingly and in a kings court; so not
only are we chosen, but chosen to be royalty.
I see also that through Christ we are Holy, which has this deep meaning of separated
from sin and consecrated to God.
This just keeps getting better and better...and finally there is this word belonging.
We belong to God and again in the Greek this is preserving the soul, saving,
purchased, precious property.
Wow, how wonderful, how loving, how merciful, how amazing and if we truly come
to understand this; no, I mean really understand this what is our response? And
there it is...we are chosen, considered royal and holy, we belong to the one true God
as his precious property and if we get it, if we truly come to terms with this, we are
all these things that we may declare the praises of God; God who called us out of
darkness and into his wonderful light.
Father, thank you for your word. Word so deep, so amazing filled with love and
grace. Father, as we begin to grasp just how wonderful you are, how loving, how
giving, help us to always declare your praises!
Praise God!
Grace and Peace!
My daughter was married just last week. They return from their honeymoon
today...Thanksgiving Day!
Weddings are a roller coaster of emotions for all involved
including the old man. In the end as things level out you do realize that your
daughter still loves you and now you have added a “son” to the family. I am really
thankful this Thanksgiving Day for this young couple.
At their wedding I was honored to be able to read some scripture as part of the
ceremony. One of the passages was 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8a:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can
fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move
mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor
and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain
nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails.
As I thought about this passage leading up to the wedding, it occurred to me that
Love truly is the key characteristic and ingredient to Christianity. Christ tells us that
as believers we are to Love God and Love Others. Love is the only response for the
amazing, overwhelming and divine love of the Creator for His children. Love never
fails!
J. I. Packer says of love...”Christianity is essentially response to the revelation
of the Creator as a God of love... Believing in and being overwhelmed by this
amazing reality of divine love generates and sustains the love to God and
neighbor that Christ’s two great commandments require. Our love is to
express our gratitude for God’s gracious love to us, and to be modeled on it.
The hallmark of Christian life is love.”
Father, this special day we are so thankful for your amazing, overwhelming, and
divine love!
This Thanksgiving Day; tell someone you love them...better yet show them.
Grace and Peace!
I am finding great comfort and encouragement in the Psalms. Recently, I came
across Psalm 80. A lament; a crying out and I noticed that a particular prayer is
repeated 3 times in this Psalm.
In verses 3, 7 and 19 you find:
Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be
saved.
This stuck with me and I started to focus on a few of the words in this verse.
I noticed restore and in Hebrew this word is shuwb and it means to turn back; to
restore, to refresh, to repair. Oh, Restore me Lord. Spurgeon says of this; “the best
turn is not of a circumstance, but of character.” I notice it is a cry to restore us and
not others.
I then moved on to shine which in Hebrew is owr and it means to become light, to
illuminate, to kindle or light up. Couldn’t we all use a little light and illumination in
this dark world? And I know there are days (most) when I need a little spiritual spark
to keep me going.
Finally, I look at saved which in Hebrew is yasha and means to be rescued, to give
victory, to be liberated, to be delivered from danger or distress. So there is this
feeling of not only being set free from danger or distress, but through our great God
gaining victory over the woes of this world.
Father, thank you for your amazing and wonderful word. Words that restore,
refresh, repair; words that illuminate and ignite a passion within us; word that set
us free! Amen!!!
Grace and Peace!
I have been thinking a bunch about this concept of faith. In fact, I looked back over
all my different blogs and found no less than a dozen occasions that I have written specifically about faith. We know in Hebrews 11:1 that:
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do
not see
So I see that faith is a confident hope and assurance in things eternal. This is
comforting and can certainly help us as we trudge through the swamp of life.
To continue on in our look at faith we can see that in Greek, faith means: the
conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and
bestower of eternal salvation through Christ; a strong and welcome conviction or
belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the
kingdom of God.
Further, the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms defines faith as belief,
trust and obedience to God as revealed in Jesus Christ and that faith affects all
dimensions of one’s existence: intellect, emotions, and will.
And finally, J. I. Packer tells us that “faith is a believing trust or a trustful belief based
on the testimony received from God. That it is by faith that Christians are justified
before God, live their lives, and sustain their hope.”
So no matter the condition by faith I can have this confident hope only possible
through Christ; I can live with a believing trust that we have a God who loves us; I
can move through the obstacles of life with a trustful belief that all things are for the
good of those that love Him.
Matthew 21:21 reminds us:
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can
you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go,
throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
Abba Father, increase our faith daily so that for your glory the mountains we climb
will reveal nothing but the depth of your love. No doubt!
Grace and Peace!
