Trust me – Jesus can relate...

Troubles. We all have them, big and small. You may be going through some right now. And they have a way of... well... troubling us. 

As Jesus' disciples gathered in the upper room, they were feeling troubled by big-time troubles. They were wondering what was going to happen to Jesus – and to them – as angry people plotted. It was well known that things seemed to be coming to a head between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem. So as Jesus addressed them just before his crucifixion, he lovingly said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1).

To some people, that might sound trite. Saying, "Just believe" might sound like shallow advice to someone stressed out by huge challenges. But not to Jesus, because he knew that the focus of such belief is a God who is infinitely bigger than any challenge we could ever face, and therefore even took his own advice. Jesus felt stress, and he knows how you feel when you feel stress. In John 12:27-28a, Jesus said, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”

Jesus knew exactly what the disciples were feeling as he stared down the barrel of life-threatening circumstances. That tells us that it's not a sin to feel troubled. As a perfect man, Jesus felt troubled. It astounds me that even with all his understanding as the Son of God, and with the incredible intimacy he had with his heavenly Father, Jesus was still capable of feeling troubled. So it's not wrong to feel that way. Don't let guilt be added to your troubles! It's what we do with stress that leads to sin. Do we respond with belief in God or with unbelief?

Jesus followed his own counsel of believing in God when his heart was troubled. We're told that his thoughts immediately turned to his Father, and to God's purposes, and to God's glory. "But for this purpose... Father, glorify Your name.” By seeking God's perspective in that way, I'm certain Jesus felt less troubled.

When circumstances in my own life cause my heart to feel troubled, I can be tempted to pray, "Father, save me from these troubles! Take them away!" Or even "Take me away! Save me from this hour!" Jesus prayed something like that in the Garden of Gethsemane as he said, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). Once again, we see how quickly Jesus shifted his focus from earthly thoughts to heavenly thoughts. He turned his thoughts to God's will and purposes.

Jesus recognized God's obvious and awesome purposes in the exceptional circumstances that he was facing by turning his thoughts upward and by believing God. And I suspect that God has purposes for any challenges that any of us face. The Bible alludes to this when James wrote, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).

So rather than asking God for a divine rescue when our hearts are troubled, perhaps it'd be better if we turned to heaven and asked God for his perspective. That's how we can seek God's glory rather than our own relief – because we truly glorify God when we trust him amidst the challenges we face.

So whatever you're going through, take a cue from Jesus – when your heart is troubled, look to God; believe in God; and in his Son, Jesus. Believe that God has a purpose for the challenges you're facing – and that he's allowing. Seek his glory as you give him glory by trusting him to fulfill his purposes in every trial you face.

A Contrast to keep in mind for the New Year

As you begin the year 2018, encourage yourself with the wonderful contrast found in Psalm 147! The psalmist wrote in verse 3 that the LORD “heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds” (or literally, “their sorrows”), and then immediately added that God also “counts the number of stars; He gives names to all of them” (verse 4). Tenderness and awesomeness, side by side. The comforting arms that hold us capably hold the universe as well.

The psalmist wanted us to know that the same God who tenderly and caringly draws near to the struggling, the hurting, the discouraged and the disappointed is also the God who is great enough to name every single star in the universe.

Scientists have concluded that there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on this planet. Estimates put the score at about:

Sand:          7,500,000,000,000,000,000

Stars: 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

And God calls each of those stars by an individual name. No wonder the very next verse in the psalm says, “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite!” I can hardly remember one person’s name just 2 minutes after being introduced to them! Yet God can recall the names of 70 thousand million million million stars!
But this contrast goes even further. Even though God may know all the stars by name, He has much more than mere knowledge of our sorrows and disappointments. The psalmist writes that He “heals” those who are hurting, and carefully “binds up” their wounds and heartaches. Consider this! He tenderly touches us with those same strong hands that hold every massive star in the universe. And on top of that, because “His understanding is infinite,” we can be sure that we can trust His wisdom. He knows what He’s doing as He leads us through whatever we're going through.
So if you’re wearily carrying heartfelt sorrows or deferred hopes into this new year of 2018, take heart! The same God who has every star in the universe accounted for according to His infinite understanding and strength, is also attentively looking after our hearts.

© 2017 by Ken Peters

Who's Steering this Ship?

Do you ever wonder if you could do a better job of running this tumultuous world than God is doing? Or if that seems too vast, perhaps simply your own life? I definitely have moments when I struggle to believe that God is as concerned as I am about some of the more difficult details of my life.

Of course, in our more objective moments, we can easily recognize that these jobs are far too big for us, but I still can't help but wonder why God doesn't sometimes do what I personally think would be best. I can be tempted to believe that this world, or particular details of my life, are spinning out of control, as if God has been negligent in looking after them.

But then I remember how big God is; that His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).

God is not oblivious to our circumstances, nor is He negligent in His Lordship. He is not ignoring us and nor are we hidden from Him. God Himself asks us, "'Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?' declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24a). Then God answers Himself with a rhetorical question: "'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:24b). In other words, we aren't hidden from God, and nor has He missed any of the latest news headlines, for God's presence fills the earth as well as the entire universe!

Not only that, but the Bible assures us that God has complete authority throughout the earth. Psalm 82:8 says "Arise, O God, judge the earth! For it is You who possesses all the nations." And Psalm 83:1-2, 17-18 appeals for God to act on that authority in response to His enemies, "O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, and those who hate you have exalted themselves... Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, and let them be humiliated and perish, that they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth."

This tells us that God:

• fills all the earth,
• possesses all the earth, and 
• is presiding as the Lord over all the earth.

And each of those great truths apply to every single happening and heartache in our lives, because we are residents of this earth that the Most High God rules over.

So in light of that, do I still feel tempted to think that this world – or any aspects of my life – are spinning out of control as if God has been negligent in looking after things? Do I still wonder if I could do a better job than Him?

John Newton, the author of the famous hymn, Amazing Grace, once wrote, "If it were possible for me to alter any part of His plan, I could only spoil it." God knows what He's doing, and will ably steer us and this world into His will as His wise and sovereign plans unfold. And as He does so, He invites us to pray and obey rather than to complain and interfere.

Yes, God knows what He's doing, and quite honestly, we as stumbling sinners don't. So every day, I must choose to trust Him as I call out to Him to perform His perfect will in all the situations that trouble me in my life and in this complicated world. And every day, I must follow the leading of His Spirit in how I respond to those situations, because God knows exactly how every situation is meant to work out. As our "enemies make an uproar," that is the only way we will be able to respond with perfect peace.

© 2017 by Ken Peters

Knowing your Place

Today as I read Psalm 99, I felt like God gently put me in my place. Verse five says, "Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool; Holy is He."

Sometimes I come to God like I know better than Him. Sometimes I come to God like I know exactly what He ought to do about something I want. Sometimes I come to sit with Him, and He with me, as though we're sharing His throne.

But it's important for me to remember that even though He may call me friend and brother, and even though He has delegated spiritual authority to me, He is still the King of kings and the Lord of lords ...and I'm not.

So when I come to worship Him, it's better to worship Him humbly "at His footstool" rather than as a know-it-all wanna-be trying to squeeze beside Him on His throne as I tell Him the way things ought to be.

After all, "Holy is He" and holy I'm not. And exalting the LORD ought to include humbling myself.

Psalm 99 goes on to repeatedly promise that God answers the prayers of His people, even those whom He had to forgive for grave sins! But the inference remains that He prefers to answer the prayers of humble worshipers.

© 2017 by Ken Peters

Help, I need Somebody. Help, not just anybody.

It seems to me that as our children grow from being babies to teenagers, it's a good thing to see them grow increasingly less dependent on their parents, right? It certainly doesn't seem all that healthy if a teenager needs his or her parents in the same way a baby does. 

But that's not the way it works as children of our heavenly Father. In our life with God, the more mature we become as God's children, the more we ought to depend on our heavenly Father. It's a good thing to both need and want God's help every day, reaching out for it consistently in prayer!

This came to mind the other day when God rebuked me for something that I thought He ought to be comforting me about! It happened while I berating myself for some blunder I'd done, and then I began telling God how comforting I found it to remember that He "does not deal with us according to our sins" (Psalm 103:10). I then felt like God asked me why that was so comforting. Well that's obvious, I thought. It's because I often beat myself up when I blow it. Again, I felt like God asked me why. Praying, I told God that I guess I thought I should be able to do better, like a child who gradually grows more mature and learns how to better handle things. Then came God's clinching question: "Are you trying to impress Me?... As though you're trying to show Me that you can manage certain situations without needing My help, as if that seems a good thing?!"

Ouch. I knew that God wouldn't ask a question like that unless that was exactly what I was doing. What I realized at that moment was that I ought to be far less concerned about "blowing it" than I am about depending on my heavenly Father. That's because God really wants us to become more comfortable with the mistakes we make while depending on Him, and less comfortable with trying to avoid mistakes while not depending on Him! Simply put: God wants us to need Him. Depending on God for help is the mark of the strongest Christians.

That's why in Pilgrim's Progress, it's so inspiring when the mighty character named Great-Heart says, "It is my duty to mistrust my own ability, that I may have reliance on Him who is stronger than all."

That wonderful example of dependence on God is also set by the writer of Psalm 121 as he wrote: "I look to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. He is the maker of heaven and earth." (vv. 1-2).

Those verses seemed quite fitting to me the other evening as I was walking my dog outside our city in a wide open setting. As I walked, I marveled at how huge the prairie sky was above an expansive horizon that stretched out before me like a braggart showing off how much it could put on display in one remarkable view! It all seemed so vast and awe-inspiring. As I stared up at a pale and imposing moon that was already rising before the sun had fully set, I found myself wondering how far that clear blue sky around it went on and on into the empty space that I knew stretched far beyond where any eye could see.

"Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord. He is the maker of heaven and earth." If the Maker of the amazing scene that I beheld has offered to help me, then why, oh why, would I not want to depend on Him who offers me that help? All my challenges and needs feel so tiny compared to that outstretched scene that I beheld, and to the outstretched hands of the great God who made it all – and who extends those hands to help me!

So I must resolve that as I face life's challenges, I'll make it my aim to daily depend on my heavenly Father, like a little child, so that I can grow into the man of God I truly want to be.

© 2017 by Ken Peters

My times are truly in His hand

Every time I read Psalm 31, a phrase in the middle grabs my attention and adjusts my oh-so-easily distracted perspective: "My times are in your hand" (Psalm 31:15a). That changes everything. In fact, it's a life-changer.

One reason that phrase gets my attention is because reading Psalm 31 in its entirety can feel like driving by an accident scene in which a great rescue is going on. David writes of his affliction and his distress (v. 7); he writes of grief and of sorrow and sighing, and of wasting away (vv. 9-10); he feels he's become a reproach and an object of dread, "forgotten like one who is dead" and "like a broken vessel" (vv. 11-12); there's terror and scheming, and "they plot to take my life" (v. 13). That's quite the gruesome car wreck.

But that is when the Great Rescue is mentioned. The Emergency Response Force has arrived! David suddenly shifts his focus and writes, "BUT I trust in you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!" (vv. 14-16).

What a declaration! In the midst of such horrible circumstances, David resolutely declares his trust in God! He's not going to let that accident scene suggest that his God can't be trusted. In fact, he's going to shout the truth in the midst of the confusion: "I trust in you!" – "You are my God!" Derek Kidner points out that the "I" and the "you" in those Hebrew phrases are emphatic, stressing the decisiveness and boldness of those statements. Whatever is going on around him and even inside him, David insists on declaring that God is still his God and that he will trust Him, confident in His never-ending, saving, steadfast love. But the phrase, "my God" is more than a mere theological acknowledgment – it is a personalized expression of closeness and relationship: He's my God. David is saying that "My God is with me, even in the midst of these difficult circumstances!"

But how can David be so amazingly certain of such truths in such incredibly tough times? It's because David understands one further important truth: his times are in God's hand. That changes everything. And it's true for every one of us. It means that the God of steadfast love is not only with us when things get tough, but is in complete control of every situation we face.

Think of it: my times – in God's hand. What a combination! "My times" means my circumstances, my challenges, my troubles, my victories, my day, my life. "God's hand" means God's power, God's strength, God's control, God's authority. Put those together and it means that no matter what happens to me as a child of God, I can be sure that my day is in God's control, and that my life is under God's authority. Nothing will happen to me that hasn't passed by His throne to receive His permission, and nothing will happen unless He has a sovereign purpose to work it for good in my life! My times are truly in His hand.

Let that turn your head when you hear it. But turn your head to look up at Jesus rather than down at this broken world we live in, and thank God, acknowledging that He has you in the palm of His hand. For David goes on to then adoringly write, "Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!" (Psalm 31:19).

© 2017 by Ken Peters

Lessons learned from Japanese Economics

The other day, I was put in my place by such an accurately cut, well-fitting remark, that it left me with the feeling that I could see myself in a mirror in a brand new suit that I didn't want to buy. And yet I kept staring at it, fascinated by the fit.

It all happened on Facebook (oh-oh, some people are thinking). I made the mistake of commenting on someone else's comment on a news article on Japanese economics. Yes, that’s right, Japanese economics. Well, needless to say, my comment generated many comments aggressively contrary to mine, and yet I kept right on commenting, defending my little contribution on Japanese economics (yes, Japanese economics) until it began to feel like I was digging a hole for myself. It was then that the oh-so-fitting cutting remark was made. Just as my hole was approaching a depth of about six feet, someone replied with a few rebuttals, concluding with, "I don't mean to be rude, but your lack of clarity seeing the big picture is astounding."

Astounding.

I was dumb-struck. And embarrassed. And rightly so. My first impulse was to beat a hasty retreat from the conversation and hide in the digital bushes by temporarily putting my Facebook account to sleep. Ha! They'll never find me! I actually went through with that as though I thought that hiding my account from all those meanies would help somehow. It was then that, in my flustered embarrassment, I finally heard the Holy Spirit amidst it all. "That was Me," He said quietly.

What? "That was Me." Oh. I paused as that sank in. The next thing He said was, "Wouldn't it be better to repent and apologize rather than to put your Facebook account to sleep?" I cringed. But back I went, re-activating my account, and writing an apology for being so strident about something I clearly didn't understand.

Then I began to reflect on what I needed to learn from this! For example, don't mistake the few measly trees that I may know something about for the more complex forest that a discussion is actually about (or put more simply, don't profess to know something about something I know very little about).

But then the Lord widened the lens of this lesson by suggesting that perhaps this little episode is a reflection of how I approach life itself sometimes. He reminded me of a proverb I had recently felt inclined to memorize: "A man's steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?" (Proverbs 20:24). Basically, what this verse tells me is that we don't see life from as good a vantage point as God does. We can't see as clearly as God can where our steps are leading or why things happen the way they do on any given day. And when we act as though the few circumstances we’re focused on must be indicative of His overall plans and intentions, or when we go so far as to insist on knowing more about His overall plan for our lives, we get into trouble. God simply doesn't feel obliged to always inform us of why He allows certain circumstances, or why He takes so long to answer certain prayers. As the God who oversees our steps, He doesn't feel the need to fill us in regarding every detail, or expect us to fully understand why everything happens the way it does in our lives. He simply expects us to humbly trust Him. But at times, we get anxious or frustrated or even upset with God regarding certain outcomes or timelines, and when we do, we’re basically telling God that we must understand what’s going on – He must give us details! That’s not how God Almighty operates. He doesn’t tell us everything, and not only can we not see the “big picture” of all that He's doing in our lives, but we’re not meant to. That’s why life with God is called a walk of faith. And that's why God can say to me (on various levels), "Your lack of clarity seeing the big picture is astounding – and you should get used to that."

Proverbs 16:9 is another verse that seems applicable: "The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." That means that whatever we have in mind regarding the big picture of our life and however we want our life to go, it’s valuable to remember, if we're His son or daughter, God will be sure to direct our steps to what's best. That’s an encouraging thing to be assured of when living amidst circumstances that we don't understand!

So with that in mind, if the suit fits, wear it!

© 2016 by Ken Peters

I'm having heart-surgery!

I'm about to have heart surgery! Go figure. I'm leaving town for heart surgery in a week, and the truth is, I've hardly thought about it. Don't get me wrong. I've been doing plenty of reflection these past six months. I haven't been to work since late December (!!), and yet, despite my physical limitations, I haven't wanted to waste this precious gift of so much time off. So I've been reading some really good books that I've felt God direct me to read. I'm presently on my 11th devotional book since February, and I'm journaling what I learn from each one. God's been touching lots of character stuff. Click here if you'd like to see my 2016 reading list. 

But lately I've felt as though the Holy Spirit has been nudging me – trying to get my attention – wanting me to reflect a little more on what's been happening with my heart. I've gotten the feeling that He's been wanting to emphasize a specific lesson I'm meant to learn from this health issue, as though there's more going on than what I see with my eyes and see in my schedule. So I decided to look some things up. Feel free to be amazed that I hadn't done this sooner, but I went to a couple websites to check out how they described what my cardiologist said my problem was. Here's what I found:

Mitral valve regurgitation is a condition in which your heart's mitral valve doesn't close tightly, allowing blood to flow backward in your heart. As a result, blood can't move through your heart or to the rest of your body as efficiently, making you feel tired or out of breath. If regurgitation is severe, increased pressure may result in congestion (or fluid build-up) in the lungs, and the heart may become enlarged in order to maintain forward flow of blood. This may produce symptoms ranging from fatigue, shortness of breath during exertion, coughing, congestion around the heart and lungs, heart palpitations, and arrhythmia, and can potentially lead to heart failure.

Treatment of mitral valve regurgitation depends on how severe your condition is, whether it's getting worse and whether you have symptoms. For mild leakage, treatment may not be necessary. For severe leakage or regurgitation, you may need heart surgery to repair or replace the valve. Left untreated, severe mitral valve regurgitation can cause heart failure or heart rhythm problems (arrhythmia) that will create an increased risk of blood clots that may cause a stroke.

Wow. Sounds pretty serious. And I've experienced all of those symptoms since December, and would be considered in the "severe" category. Yet those details fill me with gratitude, because if it hadn't been for the endocarditis I had this past winter – an infection in the lining of your heart that will either damage or (as in my case) worsen previously damaged heart valves – we may not have discovered that the regurgitation in my heart had become life-threateningly severe until it was too late. Thank you Lord!

But I sensed that the Holy Spirit wanted me to look beyond what's been happening to my physical heart. I feel like He's been helping me to see how there's more going on than meets the eye, and how I'm receiving more than one kind of heart surgery during this time off.

It was then that I wondered – if you'll permit the analogy – that if we all have physical heart valves that receive life-giving blood for our bodies, what would be our spiritual heart valves that receive the life-giving blood of Jesus? And what would it mean if our spiritual heart valves were regurgitating, or resisting, the life-giving blood that was meant to be flowing through them? What would cause that?

The Gospel of John has many references, from start to finish, to the spiritual "life" that Jesus came to bring. In chapter one, we see that "In Him [Jesus] was life..." (1:4), and near the end we see that "these things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (20:31). The many references to the life found in Jesus that occur between those two verses frequently mention what we see in John 20:31, that it is by "believing" in Jesus, and in what He has done for us, that we experience the spiritual life flow He wants us to enjoy both now and for eternity (see 3:15; 5:24-26; 6:35, 40, 47 for some examples). But John also mentions another aspect of how we receive life from Jesus, and that is to "come" to Him (see 5:40; 6:37, 44). John 6:35 mentions both: "Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.'" 

That would mean then that the spiritual life flow of Jesus would be restricted when we fall prey to unbelief and unwillingness. So according to my analogy, spiritual heart valve regurgitation would be unbelief and unwillingness. And that would mean that the valves of our spiritual heart would be our mind and our will. You can also be sure that the symptoms of this heart condition would also lead to death if left untreated.

If this analogy is valid, then for anyone experiencing severe spiritual heart valve regurgitation, it is imperative that we give attention to our mind and to our will. We may even need the Lord to do surgery on them. And that is why I believe that the first passage that came to my mind (without any sense of context) when I first began sensing the Holy Spirit nudging me regarding all this was Romans 12:1-2, which says, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." This speaks of both our will and our mind being totally surrendered to God for His purposes, which is what Scripture teaches us is truly living. 

I believe there are two clear applications from all this, and they just happen to be the very same two things that God has very lovingly been persuading me to focus on these past six months. By God's grace, both my prayer life, and my reading and study schedule have flourished since recovering from the endocarditis in February. Prayer and reading/study.

It is by prayer that we repent of our independence and submit our will to God. John Piper wrote that “Prayer is the antidote for the disease of self-confidence.” It is the act of "waiting for God – acknowledging our helplessness and His power, calling upon Him for help, seeking His counsel.” An active prayer life allows God to operate on the spiritual heart valve of our will. It is how we can increasingly "come" to God, presenting ourselves to Him as living sacrifices, flexing our will to continually wait on God. 

And it is by reading and studying and memorizing God's Word, as well as reading books by godly writers, that we can grow in our knowledge of God and His ways, so that our mind can thus be transformed. A well-planned reading schedule of both the Bible and of other books allows God to operate on the spiritual heart valve of our mind. It is how we can increasingly "believe" God, our mind being transformed by His living word, as we fill our mind with His truth.

So please join me in receiving spiritual heart surgery every day as we wait on the Lord in prayer and learn from Him in His Word. It will save our lives, as well as give us His life!

© 2016 by Ken Peters

Insert happy face here.

Sometimes you don't know how meaningful an item is to you until you lose it, or break it. Like the thing I broke the other day. I don't even want to say what it is, it's so trivial, but when I broke it, my day suddenly became sad (insert sad face here). And the annoying thing is that it happened in the middle of a time that I had set aside to seek God, and then I got distracted by this thing – the thing that I broke (insert sad face here). Even the next day, I sat down to spend time with God again, and I noticed the broken item (because I still had it) and it made me feel sad again (insert another sad face here). And that got me thinking...

How important is this thing to me? And for that matter, how important is any other thing to me? When I felt the pang of sadness the second day, I knew I had to deal with it once and for all, and I began praising God for the many things that really matter, like knowing Him, and for all the benefits of knowing Him, such as what David lists in Psalm 103. I also made sure that I told God how low I wanted this broken item to be on my List-of-Things-I-Value. In other words it shouldn't matter that it has a small crack in it. There are more important things to dwell on!

Then it occurred to me that I had recently seen an online list of books on a specific subject that had been rated from best to, well... not best. There were three sections to the list. First, it had the books that had been deemed worthy of a numerical rating. Then it carried on with books that were worth including but hadn't seemed good enough for a numerical rating. And then it mentioned books that weren't officially included in the list but were noted at the bottom. And, of course, there must be other books on this subject that weren't even mentioned (Sorry; thanks for playing!). If I had such a list of all the best things in my life, I'm afraid the item that I broke the other day wouldn't make the list! Not even a note about it at the bottom. And yet breaking it made me sad for two days. How shallow is that?!

Then today as I was reading Psalm 137 in my Bible, I came across this phrase: "May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth [in song] if I do not remember you, if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy!" (Psalm 137:6). Craig Boyles writes, "We must not misunderstand this passionate attachment to Jerusalem as a mere reflection of cultural identity or nostalgia. In the context of the Songs of Zion, Jerusalem had been where Israel met with God." Jerusalem stood for covenant with God, the presence of God, the place to worship God; it represented God's dwelling place, His kingship, His atonement, His forgiveness – and every "benefit" David encouraged God's people to remember (see Psalm 103:2ff)! And yet as I had gathered myself to enjoy my King in my own place of worship, some petty item that hadn't even made my list of things I value in life threatened to make me sad. In other words, it tried to make itself "my chief joy" so as to compete with my joy of meeting with Jesus.

And how often does that happen? Probably more often than we'd like. How often do we allow less important things – things that may seem super important at the time, and may have even caught us by surprise – crowd our hearts, seeking to make themselves so important that they distract us from our time with God and diminish our joy in Him? Such things are not meant to become our "chief joys" placed high on the list of things we value. The top of such a list should be reserved only for such things that can never be broken and never be taken away from us: the love of God, the faithfulness of God, the promises of God, and so much more! 

So if that ever happens to you – if something of little or lesser importance ends up robbing you of time with the God you love and of the joy He wants to give you – do something about it! Forbid it from becoming a "chief joy" by putting it where it belongs on (or off) your List-of-Things-You-Value, remind your soul that God is your highest joy, and ask God to insert a happy face where the joy of the Lord belongs in your heart! He'll do it. He promises.

"You will make known to me the path of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are pleasures forever!"

Psalm 16:11

© 2016 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

Marveling at Marvelous

How often do we marvel – I mean truly marvel with wonder and astonishment at something? Because as I recently began reading Luke's Gospel, I noticed a whole lot of marveling going on! And that got me wondering about how often I marvel at things, and about what makes me marvel. Northern lights can do it, or even some sunsets. But even with such examples in mind, I don't find myself actually marveling very much. 

It feels important though, because if marveling is a part of the Gospel story, then I want it to be part of my story too as I embrace the Gospel. And yet I feel sort of dulled to the feelings of wonder and astonishment that are mentioned in the definition of marveling. Is it all the special effects in the many movies I've seen, or is it the never-ending electronic gadgets that keep coming out designed to impress me enough to buy them? The other day, I heard about a space craft heading for Mars and basically shrugged. Big deal. Mars is old news. How does one find more to marvel at?

We certainly get excited about some things. For example, some people get pretty pumped about the newest Marvel movie, and then when they see it, they're often even more excited. Are we marveling at Marvel movies? Perhaps some of the excitement about those movies includes wonder and astonishment, but those movies don't touch us as deeply as the story Luke was writing about. They're not life-changing or life-giving.

The marveling of the Gospel story began long before Jesus even grew up and began His ministry. Luke uses the word four times at the beginning of his book and surely could have used it many more times! (Bible translators use various words for the original Greek word thaumazo, but I'm presently using NKJV, which prefers the English word "marvel.") One of the early mentions of marveling is in Luke 2:18 after the shepherds told the crowds in Bethlehem what the angels had told them and what they had found in a stable. "And all those who heard it marveled at those things that were told them by the shepherds." Reports of a sky full of angels and a mention of a Saviour was easily enough to cause wonder and astonishment!

The marveling only increases throughout Luke's Gospel as Jesus began His ministry and taught the Scriptures with an authority people had never heard before and as He performed miracles greater than what anyone had ever witnessed in all of Israel's history! And after reading through the all the instances in which the word marveling is used, I'm left asking myself: How much does Jesus cause me to truly marvel? How often do I find myself reflecting in wide-eyed wonder at what Jesus is up to in my life or in this world?

I want there to be more Gospel-marveling in my heart! As I embrace Jesus and the good news of the Gospel, may I marvel more with wonder and astonishment at how amazing God is! Perhaps this is a way we can be more like children – consistently expressing wide-eyed wonder at God. So ask yourself: What has Jesus done recently that has astonished you? How has He filled your heart with wonder by how He has shown Himself to you? Because Jesus would love to see us continually marveling at Him and giving thanks to Him as He daily and lovingly reveals Himself to us!

© 2016 by Ken Peters

God's amazing world of "You See, I See"

Is it possible to feel stuck and yet be totally in the will of God? Is it possible to be in grave danger and yet in the safest place possible? Is it possible to feel caged and yet be completely unhindered?

Welcome to God's amazing world of "You See, I See." 

Take Acts 21-23 for example. Paul sees himself going to the temple to purify himself and pay for those who have taken sacred vows so that his enemies, the Jews, will see that he lives in observance of the law. This was the advice that the elders in Jerusalem had given Paul (Acts 21:23-24). Surely you'll be blessed if you heed the advice of the elders of your church, right? The next thing you know, Paul sees himself being dragged from the temple and beaten by a mob in the street (21:30-32), only to be arrested and bound with chains by the people who should've been protecting him as a Roman citizen (21:33)! 

Seems pretty bad. Paul had gone to Jerusalem with the hopes of then going on from there to Rome, and now he was stuck in the custody of a Roman authority that was bent on doing favours for the Jews just to keep the peace. What Paul could see from those Roman barracks must have appeared rather grim.

But what very slowly unfolded before Paul's eyes must have made it even harder for Paul to remain confident that his hopes of taking the Gospel to Rome would be fulfilled. After being sent to Caesarea for his own protection, Paul remained stuck in confinement there for two long years. It wasn't until Paul finally appealed to Caesar due to a governor's plans to send Paul back to Jerusalem to please the Jews that God provided Paul with a trip to Rome, courtesy of the Romans who had held him up for so long!

Can you relate to any of that? Do you too feel stuck - maybe in some dead end job rather than in some barracks, but still stuck - unable to pursue hopes you thought God had put in your heart, and those you thought would help you seem unconcerned or even unhelpful? Or do you feel that what you courageously offered to God in hopes of blessing seems to have backfired and left you stuck in some unintended consequences? Or is year after year passing you by while you wait for an opportunity to pursue hopes and dreams, all the while knowing that no doors are opening for you? Or at least that's how you see things.

But in God's amazing world of "You See, I See," God has a different point of view. As Paul waited in those barracks, the Lord came to him in the night and said, "'Take courage, for a you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome'" (Acts 23:11). Paul saw chains and enemies surrounding him, and saw two long years pass him by. But God saw an opportunity to have the Gospel clearly proclaimed to key leaders of the day, as well as step one of Paul's journey to Rome. God may have even caused the initial ruckus Paul endured resulting in his long confinement, just as He once caused Joseph's because God "meant it for good" (which Joseph certainly didn't see until in hindsight). Because God sees things differently than the way we see.

The story in Acts goes on and the ship God provided for Paul to get to Rome eventually hit a terrible storm. Once again, Paul's hopes were being threatened. But God sent an angel to speak to Paul, telling him, "'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you'" (Acts 27:24). Paul could clearly see the storm that threatened the lives of everyone on that ship including his own, but God made sure that Paul also saw what God could see: Lives saved and hopes fulfilled! This should remind us that we can't always rely on what our eyes see, and we will do well to seek God for what He sees when all seems lost.

Eventually Paul made it to Rome, but he was never freed before he was finally executed. How could that feel like hope fulfilled. Through earthly eyes, that has the distinct appearance of failure. But God doesn't see the way we see. The book of Acts concludes with these amazing words: "He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance" (Acts 28:30-31). We see a cage, but God sees no hindrances.

How did Paul manage to live in such unshakable hope in the way God saw his circumstances, despite bumping up against so many barriers and being delayed for so many years? The story reveals the answer: 
1. Paul was listening whenever God spoke to him.
2. Paul trusted God in whatever He revealed to him, despite the circumstances.
3. And Paul was committed to serving God at every stage and in every delay and despite every barrier on the journey toward the hopes that Paul felt God had given him. Paul's obedience wasn't dependent on the outcome of his dreams, but was a constant expression of the trust he chose to walk in as he trusted the One who put those dreams in his heart.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Unpacking 83 words from Paul

I was about to read Ephesians 1 for the umpteenth time and I never got past verse 10! What’s up with that? It’s because I was mesmerized by one of the Apostle Paul’s uber-long sentences in verses 7-10.

In the ESV and NKJV (two highly literal translations), those four verses are an 83-word sentence. A study quoted on onlinegrammar.com stated that:
When the average sentence length was fewer than eight words, readers understood 100 percent of the story. Even at nine to 14 words, readers could understand more than 90 percent of the information. But move up to 43-word sentences, and comprehension dropped to less than 10 percent.

Martin Cutts, in his Oxford Guide To Plain English, suggests that writers should maintain an average sentence length of 15-20 words in order to improve readability. So perhaps this is why my brain was stalling on Paul’s 83-word sentence!

But that wasn’t even what got my attention. What stopped me in my tracks were some key words I kept seeing over and over. In those four verses, there are ten personal pronouns in reference to God, plus a direct reference to “Christ” (in the NKJV). Compare that to just 3 personal pronouns in reference to people. In other words, this is what got my attention:

Him, we, His, His, He, us, us, His, His, He, Himself, He, Christ, Him

So even though Paul’s meaning wasn’t immediately clear to me as I first read this marathon sentence rather quickly, it was almost like his repetition of those words was causing an important impression to grow in my sub-conscious: …Ken, this is about HIM… not you.

Then when I looked back, I noticed something else that added to that impression…

• Things Paul mentioned that God is doing or will do: 5… redemption, forgiveness, made His grace abound toward us, made known the mystery of His will, gather all things in Him.
• Things Paul mentioned that we are to do: Zero.
• Attributes of God mentioned: 3… grace, wisdom, prudence.
• Our qualifications mentioned: Zero.

The essence of Paul's 83-word sentence was getting clearer and clearer as the impression became a message in my mind: Get my eyes onto God and off of me!

That is so helpful! In other words, if this sentence was a painting, one could say that we would appear as very small but very strategically placed under a massive waterfall of God’s infinite grace and wisdom that dominated the scene and sent saturating showers of God’s blessing into the atmosphere all around!

With all this in mind, if I were to now paraphrase this sentence in about half as many words as Paul used, I would write:

God has pulled the curtain open to reveal a wondrous scene: a magnificent and powerful waterfall of His glorious grace and wisdom are washing away all the sins of a people He has redeemed through Jesus so that we can be with Him forever and ever!

Lord, may I always remain and live in the embrace of the endless waterfall of Your grace!

© 2015 by Ken Peters