Superabundant-Exceedingly-Beyond-Measure

I cringe at the thought of guided group tours. I also clutch my wallet tightly. I just don't like the idea of paying someone to stuff me in a bus or a boat and ferry me around telling me what to look at. And yet somehow, I was persuaded to take my family on the Maid of the Mist boat tour of Niagara Falls.

The kids were young then. The age when they were still unabashedly wide-eyed when anticipating something exciting. Before boarding, everyone was given bright blue hooded ponchos to put on. The kids thought this was marvelous, laughing at their parents in these funny get-ups. Soon we were aboard, standing amongst a crowd in the spacious bow of the Maid of the Mist, the kids all aquiver in their ponchos on a boat about to set sail.

As we set out into the choppy waters of the Niagara River, the Horseshoe Falls were well out of sight around the bend. The tour guide was sharing all kinds of details over the loudspeaker, but I can’t recall a word he said. That is, until — and it seemed amazingly well choreographed — just as he completed a sentence that dramatically ended with the words: “...Niagara Falls!”, the boat completed a turn, and whammo! — we were faced with the thunderous, towering, poncho-drenching monstrosity of Niagara Falls!

It was truly awe-inspiring. All our senses were suddenly assaulted by the roar of the plummeting waters of Horseshoe Falls, our faces drenched with the spray that filled the air, hundreds of thousands of gallons of water crashing into the waters all around us every second.

Now I don’t use the word “abound” too often (pretty much never, actually), but Niagara Falls truly abounds in water. To abound means "to be present in great quantity... to be copiously supplied." Copious means "taking place on a large scale." And yet, in all its violent overflow of 2,844 tons of water per second, or over 680,000 gallons per second, Niagara still only “abounds” on an earthly scale.

That’s why when Paul prays, “may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you” (1 Thessalonians 3:12), it gets my attention! That's referring to a lotta love, because now we’re talking about God's scale.

It's clear from Paul's prayer that it's only God who can supply us with such abundant love. God pours it out to us using gigantic heavenly portions so that we can excessively overflow with love for those around us. The Greek word here suggests a superabundance that is exceedingly beyond measure. God loves us on such a scale so that we can then abound in love for others – much like the way the waters of Niagara Falls saturated all of us who approached it.

God can lead us in how this will look. A member of the small group I attend gave up an item in his shopping cart because a stranger he met in the store couldn't find any more of those items in stock. Another member of our church has gone shopping for his neighbour down the street because their health has left them too compromised to leave their house. I brought a pie home from a local bakery for the people next door to us. The possibilities are as endless as God's love. But be assured: the Lord is able to "make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all."

I'm so grateful for God's love! And I'm also grateful that it's because of his infinite love that we as his children can “abound” in superabundant love for those around us! In this season of COVID-19 and of social distancing, may his superabundant love be superobvious to all we meet. 

© 2020 Ken Peters

Please keep reminding me!

I continually forget how radical God’s grace is. It’s like the thick haze of my own regrets makes it difficult to see clearly as I squint amidst the clutter of my own bad attitudes and blunders. God’s grace just doesn’t compute in such circumstances. That’s why I need regular reminders of how amazing it is!

So consider this… When writing to the believers in Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul prayed that Jesus would establish their hearts as “blameless in holiness before our God and Father” (1 Thessalonians 3:13). Literally “blameless in holiness”! Remember, Paul is writing about the human species here – about people much like you and I, who fail daily, or even hourly, or even… I actually have no idea how prevalent some of my most stubborn sinful thought-patterns are! The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). But Paul wrote that when we come before God, he wants us to be assured that because of what the Lord Jesus has done for us on the cross, an infinitely Pure and Holy God will see us as blameless rather than as sinful – and as holy (meaning, set apart for Him) rather than as tainted by this world!

And because I’ve accepted by faith what Jesus did for me on the cross, when God now looks at me, He isn’t staring at my sin, because He literally took away my sin, and the righteousness of Jesus is now credited to me (check out Romans 4:22-25)! He’s not frowning at my flaws, but is smiling at my sinlessness after having nailed to the cross that “certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us” (Colossians 2:14). Paul takes his terminology even further in his letter to the Colossians as he explains how Jesus presents us before God as “holy and blameless and beyond reproach” (Colossians 1:22). Imagine that... Whatever we’re struggling with in our walk with God, we should consider ourselves totally out of reach from the clutching claws of reproach (which includes self-reproach!).

Thank you, Lord Jesus! That is what I continually need reminding of, and is why we have reason to be confident and joyful every time we approach God’s Glorious Throne of Grace (Hebrews 4:16)!

© 2019 by Ken Peters

You really only need these two things...

Two things. That's it. That's all you need – it's all you'll ever need. I've grown fond of repeating these two things to my soul whenever I feel a dip in the road, because whenever I'm frustrated or discouraged or frightened, these two things lift me up.

They're both found in an oft-quoted Bible verse I memorized many years ago:
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."  Hebrews 11:6 (NASB)

The two things are actually one thing: faith in God, that faith being an assurance of the things we hope for and a conviction of things promised that we can't always see with our physical eyes (Hebrews 11:1). But Hebrews 11:6 describes biblical faith in two parts: (1) confidence in God being who He says He is, and (2) confidence in all God's promises being available for those who seek Him. That's all you need when the chips are down and you're not sure how things are going to turn out.

So when you feel like you're struggling keep a good perspective, go ahead and ask yourself, 

"Is God still who He says He is?" (The answer is always yes.) 

And then also ask, 

"Are all God's promises still true?" (The answer to that is also always yes!) 

That is the kind of faith that pleases God – the kind that remembers God accurately and lifts our gaze to be encouraged by His promises.

That means it's vital for us to keep a lookout for who God is as we read the Bible and to remember what we've read so that we can look back to it in times of trouble. God's Word tells us all about who God is! Remember these things when you ask yourself if God is still who He says He is...

1. God is holy (Psalm 99:3; Rev. 4:8)
2. God is good (Psalm 25:8; James 1:17)
3. God is loving (Psalm 13:5; John 3:16)
4. God is faithful (Psalm 89:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:24)
5. God is merciful (Psalm 103:8; Ephesians 2:4)
6. God is powerful (Psalm 29:4; Ephesians 6:10)
7. God is wise (Psalm 104:24; Romans 11:33)
8. God is just (Psalm 37:28; 1 John 1:9)
9. God is ever-present (Psalm 139:7-10; Matthew 28:20)
10. God is all-knowing (Psalm 147:5; 1 John 3:20)

...and so much more!

And we also need to remember the promises of God as we read the Bible so that as we ask our soul if all God's promises are still true, we know what promises this applies to. This isn't complicated stuff! It's just a matter of remembering what we read so that we can remind ourselves in times of need. What has God promised to those who seek Him (which we can only do through Jesus (John 14:6))?

1. That we can personally know God (1 John 5:20)
2. That we can be filled with and empowered by His Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17)
3. Forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
4. Abundant life (John 10:10
5. Eternal life (1 John 2:25)
6. God's abiding presence (Hebrews 13:5)
7. God's peace (Philippians 4:7)
8. God's joy (Romans 15:13)
9. God having a purpose for our life (Ephesians 2:10)
10. Answers to our prayers (John 16:24)

...and so much more!

So remember! When life is tough, these are the two things you need in your holsters: To believe that God is exactly who He says He is in His Word! And to believe that every promise He's ever made is true and available when we are following Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20)!

© 2016 by Ken Peters

Superduper, superabundant, superabounding Grace!

I think Paul made a word up. I can't prove it, and I'm certain there's evidence to the contrary, but I want to believe Paul that made a word up because he needed a special word to properly describe an exceptional attribute of God! It's a word that probably caused many to think that the apostle Paul was getting carried away. But in actual fact, the big huge word hyperperisseuo reveals the heart of God in a very special way!

Perisseuo basically means "to superabound"! Not just to abound, but to superabound. To abound, according to Mr. Webster, means to be plentiful or prevalent. So to superabound must mean to be super-plentiful, super-abundant! I love the word perisseuo. Paul uses it over two dozen times in his letters. It's a fascinating study to see what Paul wants to see superabounding. He exhorted followers of Christ to superabound in love for one another (1 Thessalonians 3:12), in hope in God (Romans 15:13), in thanksgiving (Colossians 2:7), in rejoicing in Jesus (Philippians 1:26) and in much, much more!

But if perisseuo means to superabound, I'm sure you can imagine what hyperperisseuo means. We're talking super-duper-abounding! Hyper-active-abounding! It literally means to abound exceedingly, beyond measure – to ultra-superabound! What a word!

But it's the context in which Paul uses this fantastic word that is really exciting. He only uses the word hyperperisseuo twice in all his letters, and in Romans 5:20, it refers to God's grace: "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound [the Greek word here means to superabound]. But where sin abounded [superabounded], grace abounded much more." Those last three English words are the one Greek word, hyperperrisseuo, or super-duper-abounded!

Paul is writing here about supernatural superabounding. We have our earthly examples of abounding, such as an apple tree laden with fruit at picking time, or a rushing waterfall during spring thaw in the mountains. And we have earthly examples of superabounding, such as our propensity to sin again and again and again (Romans 5:20). How disheartening that such a word can be applicable to the level of sin that's in our lives.

But God has a response to that sin. If sin superabounds, then the grace of God exceedingly superabounds. In other words, no matter how much we sin, God's grace superabounds beyond measure over and above that sin, however much that may be! There's simply no limit to God's grace.

So when we stumble in sin, there's no reason to let that discourage us if we're prepared to live in God's unlimited, ever-exceeding, super-duper abounding grace. Because for those who trust in God's greatest expression of grace – giving His Son to willingly die for us – God's grace will always abound far more abundantly than our sins. 

No wonder Paul anticipated the objection that he appeared to be saying that it's okay to sin so that grace may abound (Romans 6:1-2). Paul rejected that suggestion without retracting his insistence that there will always be enough grace for us to be forgiven, no matter how many times we've failed. And that's because of God's hyperperisseuo grace!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

No Other Option

What do you do when a big-time need gets worse and worse as you pray for years and years? Is there ever a time to stop asking God about it? Is it possible that God wants the fact that He hasn't answered "Yes" to such prayers to be understood as a "No" and that we should should stop asking Him further about it?

My short answer to that is: there sometimes are such times, but each person needs the Holy Spirit to make that very clear to them.

My longer answer is: the only verses in the Bible that I can think of in which someone is told to stop praying is God telling Jeremiah not to pray for a people whom God had already decided to judge for their sins (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14). In those cases, God knew that His fatherly discipline was what was clearly needed in the situation and there was no point praying for an alternative approach. God made that very clear to Jeremiah (see short answer above).

But it's a big Bible, and I can't see that happening anywhere else in Scripture. What I see more of is God's call to keep on praying and to not give up!

I see Samuel saying, "As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you" (1 Samuel 12:23).

I see David saying, "As for me, I will call upon God... Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice" (Psalm 55:16-17).

I see Jesus saying, "Keep on asking for something to be given and it shall be given to you" (Matthew 7:7, Kenneth Wuest's "Expanded Translation").

I see Paul saying, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). And I see Paul giving us a wonderful glimpse in Colossians of his convictions regarding persistent prayer.

The overwhelming message of the Bible is that we must not give up asking, even if an answer is slow in coming. In fact, Jesus went out of His way to make sure that we knew what to do when answers didn't come quickly. Luke tells us that "He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1) and then proceeded to tell them a story about a widow who had to persist in prayer because an answer was slow in coming. Jesus was basically warning us, as if to say, "This happens sometimes, so don't give up when it does."

So until I get a clear word from God telling me otherwise, I've got to persist! No matter how I feel about the delays or the circumstances, I've got no other option except to pray and keep on praying when answers don't come. Giving up is not an option.

"And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him?" (Luke 18:7). That's something we can count on.

© 2014 by Ken Peters

He moves in inscrutable ways

I often find myself trying to figure God out. Why'd He do that? Why didn't He do that? Why is He taking so long? So many "why" questions can be asked in such a tumultuous world. And so many more such questions can be aroused as we read about how God hardened some to reject the Gospel and softened others to accept it (Romans 10:20-21; 11:25; see also 11:26-27). But then I feel stopped in my tracks by the apostle Paul's response in Romans 11:33 (ESV)... "Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!"


I don't think I have ever used the word "inscrutable" in a conversation. It means mysterious or beyond comprehension. In other words, God's ways won't always make sense to us. He has mercy on some and hardens others (Romans 9:18). He creates some for destruction and others for glory (Romans 9:23). And as Christians, the Bible tells us that God ordains that we should suffer in afflictions (1 Thess. 3:3) as well as succeed in good works (Ephesians 2:10). What a mishmash! It's tempting to want to argue with God about such ways, but then I wonder who am I as such a small and limited created being to argue with such a great and infinite Creator (Romans 9:20)?


On the days when I get really frustrated with God's ways or God's timing or God's choices, I think it's really important for me to remember that I'm not God and can't possibly expect to fully grasp his ways. Like Job, I sometimes need to cover my mouth before answering God rashly (Job 40:4). Yes, God has revealed a great deal about Himself to us in His Word, but that can tempt us to think that we should always have enough data to be able to figure God out. And yet, however much God has revealed to us about Himself, we need to remember that His thoughts and ways will still always be higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), and that He will continue to move in inscrutable ways. So on those days when I'm frustrated with God, it's far better for me to simply yield to His ways and trust "the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God" than to get offended because I can't figure Him out.

© 2011 by Ken Peters

Superabundant Love

I don't use the word abound too often in conversation. Pretty much never, actually. But it's a great word, packed with meaning. And do I ever need to be reminded of that sometimes. Like when I get mad at my kids or my wife, and then I let it linger, feeling justified in my selfish, unloving withdrawal from them until I decide to resolve it.

At times like that, the word abound jumps off the page as I read of Paul praying that the Lord would make the saints of Thessalonica "increase and abound in love for one another and for all" (1 Thessalonians 3:12). That's a lotta love. I looked up the word "abound" and it means "to be present in great quantity... to be copiously supplied." Copious means "taking place on a large scale."

We're talking God's scale here. It's clear from Paul's prayer that it's only God who can supply us with such abundant love. God pours it out using gigantic heavenly portions so that we can overflow excessively with love for those around us. The Greek word here suggests a superabundance that is exceedingly beyond measure. Picture the violent overflow of Niagara. You can't miss it as you get close to it, from the roar you hear to the mist in the air to the sight you behold. That's a picture of a place abounding in water. In the same way, God wants to cause us to abound in love for others.

Does my life reflect a superabundance of love for others? Am I abounding in love for my wife and children, let alone others around me? Not really. I've got some love for others. I'm somewhat loving. What a contrast to the superabundant, exceedingly excessive overflow of love beyond measure! Those are the kind of words I want at the front of my mind every time I face an opportunity to express God's love to someone around me: superabundant, exceedingly excessive love, overflowing beyond measure!

And I'm so grateful that it's God who is not only able to make His love increase in me, but is eager to do it at any given moment! I simply pray that I'll be open to receiving it and sharing it until His superabundant love is superobvious to everyone around me.

© 2010 by Ken Peters
Revised version posted May 9, 2020

The Opposite of Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness is a common weakness in this world.  It happens to me regularly, though it's often as harmless as a brief search for my misplaced car keys.  But forgetfulness can also take on dimensions of greater seriousness when we fail to remember a shift at work or carelessly miss a spouse's birthday.  And I was recently reminded of how much more serious it is when my forgetfulness creeps into my life with God.  In this regard, forgetfulness can be as serious as sin. And I was surprised by what the antidote appeared to be.

The Bible warns us of many expressions of sin, but God got my attention the other day as I was reading Psalm 50, and He appeared to refer to forgetfulness as a sin.  The writer of Psalm 50 is King David, and in verses 16-21, he quotes God listing many of the sins of the "wicked".  Near the end of the quote, God says, "Mark this, then, you who forget God..." (v. 22).  Who?  Who's "you"? Verse 16 had begun that quote of God with the words: "But to the wicked God says..."  In other words, those who forget God are the wicked!  And before I had a chance to think that I don't forget God, but think of Him quite often, the very next verse showed me how I could be certain that I haven't forgotten God: "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies Me" (v. 23).

That suggests that if I want to avoid forgetfulness, I need to practice gratitude -- deliberate, daily, conscious expressions of gratitude to God.  Gratitude is the opposite of forgetfulness.  It's a sure way to remember how much favour God has shown us, and to remember how much we need Him.  Thanking God all the time keeps us from forgetting God in our everyday lives.  And when we "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18), it's how we can remember God in all circumstances.  By doing so, we are not only acknowledging God in every area of our life, but also glorifying Him with the wonderful "sacrifice of thanksgiving" (Psalm 50:14).

© 2010 by Ken Peters

The Commands of a Faithful Commander (church bulletin cover)

There's nothing like a list of imperative commands to get a person sitting up straight and paying attention. Paul writes such a list to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:11-22. In these verses, Paul challenges his readers to...

• encourage one another
• build one another up
• respect your leaders
• be at peace with each other
• warn the undisciplined
• encourage the fainthearted
• help the weak
• be patient with everyone
• don't return evil for evil
• seek to do good for others
• rejoice always
• pray without ceasing
• give thanks in all circumstances
• don't quench the Spirit of God
• don't despise prophecies
• examine things carefully
• hold fast to what is good
• avoid evil

Eighteen imperative commands in twelve verses! Such a list can either crush us or inspire us. To be inspired rather than crushed, I find the verses that follow those commands extremely helpful. Verse 23-24 says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it."

God raises the bar that we're to leap over and then He promises the boost we need to get over it! We must never ignore the commands, but we must also never separate the commands from the promises. This is how God demonstrates His mercy toward us: He calls us to do the impossible -- be holy -- and then He promises to sanctify us completely. The One who calls us is faithful to help us. What hope that gives to those who want to serve Him by obeying every command He gives us!

© 2009 by Ken Peters

"One anothering one another"

My previous posting made reference to the importance of living a missional as well as an attractional lifestyle. I've written before about learning to live missionally, but wanted to say more here about the priority of also living attractionally. This is a theme throughout the entire New Testament as writer after writer goes to great lengths to describe how Christians are meant to live in community with one another.

In fact, the term "one another" occurs 56 times in a relational sense in the New American Standard New Testament. "Love one another" is 17 -- or 30% -- of those references, but in essence, all of those references are about loving one another. Such verses are the nuts and bolts of Christian community. Their intent is to explain how people can live together harmoniously. They express how we can demonstrate such a unity of spirit to a watching world that people will recognize that we are followers of Jesus! After all, Jesus did say, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

There are at least 25 unique and practical ways that the New Testament writers explicitly urge us to express our love for "one another." The theme of this collection of "one another" verses is what I like to call "one anothering one another!"

Try reading this selection of references in sequence. It can be both a challenging and encouraging exercise. Then let’s one another one another!

• "...be at peace with one another." (Mark 9:50)
• "This I command you, that you love one another." (John 15:17)
• "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love..." (Romans 12:10)
  
• "...give preference to one another in honour" (Romans 12:10)
• "...let us not judge one another..." (Romans 14:13)
• "So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another." (Romans 14:19)
• "...be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus." (Romans 15:5)
• "...accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us..." (Romans 15:7)
• “…through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13)
• “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
• "I entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,...showing forbearance to one another in love" (Ephesians 4:1-2)
• "And be kind to one another..." (Ephesians 4:32)
• "...and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." (Ephesians 5:21)
• "...regard one another as more important than [your]self."
• "...bearing with one another..." (Colossians 3:13)
•  (Philippians 2:3)
• "...forgiving each other..." (Colossians 3:13)
• "...teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)
• "Live in peace with one another." (1 Thessalonians 5:13)
• "...always seek after that which is good for one another..." (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
• "...encourage one another day after day..." (Hebrews 3:13)
• "...let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24)
• "Do not speak against one another, brethren." (James 4:11)
• "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed." (James 5:16)
• "Be hospitable to one another without complaint." (1 Peter 4:8)
• "...clothe yourselves with humility toward one another..." (1 Peter 5:5)

© 2009 by Ken Peters

"Excel still more!" (church bulletin cover)

I sometimes need to ask myself, “Have I become satisfied with as far as I’ve come in my walk with the Lord?” Oh, of course I know there’s plenty of room for growth in my life, but am I always eager to achieve that growth? Sometimes I recognize a certain weariness in me that doesn’t want to go further or reach higher or push deeper. I think, “I’m doing pretty good at that.” Or, “I’m doing well enough at that. I can rest now.”

Then along comes the Apostle Paul, that Biblical go-getter, who urges the Thessalonians on a couple of occasions to “excel still more” (1 Thessalonians 4:1, 10). In each case, Paul acknowledges that the Thessalonians are already doing quite well in the areas he urges them to increasingly excel in. This is no rebuke regarding areas in which they were doing poorly. This is a challenge to take it up a notch—to go to the next gear—to do still better at what they’re already doing well at. To paraphrase, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1, “Just as you’re already living in a way that pleases God, excel still more!” And in 1 Thessalonians 4:10, he says, “Just as you’re already loving all the brethren all over Macedonia, excel still more at that!” In other words, let your past encouragements be a launch pad for going even higher with God! Don’t rest on your laurels, content with past exploits, living off the glow of their memory or off the momentum of past acceleration. Go for more! You’ve excelled already, but don’t stop now! Excel still more! That takes energy and effort, which Paul was no stranger to, but God gives us the strength we need to press on.

May we never stop being faithful labourers who, by God’s strength, are willing to “excel still more” at all that God calls us to!

© 2008 by Ken Peters

Destined for Troubles – Destined for Love! (church bulletin cover)

Love Winnipeg is fast approaching, a time in which churches across Winnipeg are more intentional about loving people of the city God has placed us in. This is an exciting time as we take part in good deeds that Ephesians 2:10 tells us are "good works which God prepared in advance for us to do"!

But as I was reading 1 Thessalonians 3 this week, I noticed something else God prepares in advance for us. 1 Thessalonians 3:3 tells us that God actually “destines” trials and afflictions for us to go through. What’s up with that? Somehow I don’t feel quite so excited about that. But as strange as it may sound, how we face such trials is just as much a part of our witness as the “good works” God prepares for us to do. Paul’s concern for the Thessalonians was how they were weathering the sufferings at the hands of others (2:13-16; 3:5). And Paul was overjoyed to hear from Timothy that the Thessalonians were standing firm in faith and love (3:6-8). Paul then prayed that they would continue “to increase and abound in love for one another and for all people” (3:12).

In other words, could it be that the right response to the afflictions God has destined for us is the loving deeds God has prepared for us to do? Elsewhere, God says, “overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). So why not respond to afflictions with affection? This is easier to do if we see where the afflictions are coming from. We need to see that the harassment we face as Christians in this world is actually measured out by God so that the world will be able to see a people who respond with love. This should give us greater grace to respond to the troubles in this world with faith in God and love for the people around us.

Life on this earth is not meant to be our satisfaction; our life in Jesus is. When the world around us sees that we can practice good deeds despite whatever is thrown at us, they will see that we’re living for Someone far greater than any comforts this world offers. That is how they will be able to see the treasure that Jesus is to us, and hopefully desire to know Him too!

© 2008 by Ken Peters