Hands up if...

Hands up if you love reading about all the ceremonial laws near the beginning of the Bible! You know, the stuff about entrails and fatty lobes and sprinkled blood and burning kidneys. 

I sometimes find I hard to stay focused when reading all those details about the various sacrifices. But as I recently worked my way through some of those instructions, something unexpectedly caught my eye. I almost missed it, because I think my mind had kind of wandered off somewhere as I'd been reading (...has that ever happened to you?). But it was as if my mind suddenly stopped me and asked me, "Did you see that?" Though I suspect it was the Holy Spirit speaking to me.

After reading some extremely detailed directions to do with daily offerings, and just before some very exacting instructions regarding how to make an altar of incense, I suddenly noticed a beautiful theme tucked in there. In Exodus 29:42, God inserts a wonderful promise to a very undeserving people (much like us): "I will meet you to speak with you."

This probably felt like a very unexpected blessing. But God goes on to reinforce it as he refers to "the door of the tabernacle of meeting." This tabernacle was a new thing for the people of Israel. We may be used to reading about it, but they'd never had one before, and God's initial reference to it is full of encouragement. First of all, the Hebrew word for "tabernacle" literally means dwelling place. And if it's a dwelling place for God, then the mention of a "door" (or an entryway), and of "meeting" (or dwelling together) sounds pretty exciting! It all reinforces one thought: God wants to be among his people.

So this isn't just some tedious passage about outdated ceremonial laws. It's an example of God going to great lengths to be in relationship with his people. This becomes increasingly clear in the verses that follow. In verse 43, God says, "I will meet with the children of Israel." Then in verse 45, God says, "I will dwell among the children of Israel." Then in verse 46, God explains that all these instructions are "that I may dwell among them."

So what has potential to feel tedious to us, as we're immersed in myriad ceremonial details, is for the express purpose of making a way for a holy God to dwell among a sinful people. God simply didn't want to be separated from his people!

This is reinforced further as God insists that he "will be their God" (v.45), and "I am the LORD their God" (v.46). And what makes this more exciting is that all of this was meant to point to Jesus. Every ceremonial law was fulfilled by the sacrifice of Jesus, and when we invite Jesus into our hearts, we become his tabernacle -- his tent of meeting -- as he abides in us and meets with us and speaks with us.

John wrote, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we seen his glory, glory as of the only son, from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). John literally wrote there that Jesus "tabernacled" among us. And the offerings once required for God to dwell among us have been completed by Jesus, who offered his life for us. The Bible tells us that "every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 10:11-12). And so "by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14).

So hands up if you're grateful for what Jesus did for us so that we can enjoy genuine fellowship with God! Amidst all the ceremonial details of Exodus, God wants us to recognize his Father's heart for fellowship. Those details are meant to point us to Jesus, through whom God wants to draw near to us -- right here and now -- to meet with us.

A Multitude of Mercies

I don't know about you, but sometimes as I face the trials and challenges that often come up in life, I find myself needing a greater understanding of God's love for me. His love is so big, and yet I sometimes struggle to be reassured by it.

King David of the Bible had a very clear revelation of it. He wrote in Psalm 5, "But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of your mercy..." (v.7, NKJV). The NASB says, "But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house..." The ESV refers to " the abundance of your steadfast love..."

"Mercy," "lovingkindness," "steadfast love" -- translators find it difficult to accurately translate the Hebrew word, "hesed." Hesed is love and mercy; it's steadfast and unfailing; it's kindness expressed in actions. It's the personal covenant love expressed by the God who shared his personal covenant name of Yahweh with Moses. And that's precisely who David prays to in this psalm as he begins by saying, "Give ear to my words, O LORD [Yahweh]."

Yahweh is the name God described himself by as he expressed his covenant love to his people by delivering them from bondage. The steadfast love of hesed fits with the covenant name of Yahweh, and when we recognize that, it should cause "those... who love your name [to] be joyful in You" (Ps.5:11) -- even in times of trouble or when afflicted by the wicked (see Ps.5:4-6, 8).

Psalm 5 is like a light of hope amidst the darkness in this world, and King David found that light by making Yahweh his "King" (Ps.5:2). By recognizing Yahweh as enduringly loving, and by then submitting himself to Yahweh as his King, David felt confident entering God's "house in the multitude of Your mercy" (Ps.5:7a).

David wasn't perfect, but he was a God-fearer. David goes on to say, "In fear of You, I will worship toward Your holy temple" (Ps.5:7b). And in his reverence, David recognized God's love was all he could depend on in this world. That reminds me of Psalm 147:11 -- "The LORD [Yahweh] takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love [hesed]."

It also reminds me of Hebrews 4:16, which points us to Jesus as we consider God's covenant name and his covenant love -- "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace" -- the same throne of Yahweh the King who David prayed to -- "so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." David understood the truths of Hebrews 4:16 long before they were written, and that's because he knew the King who would one day be revealed to be Jesus! 

Certainly that means that I should be as reassured as David was by the multitude of the mercies of Yahweh, who Jesus clearly identified himself to be as he said, "before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58)! The love of Jesus is the same multitude of mercies that David mentioned, and when I make Jesus my King, it should cause me to enter his house and approach his throne with confident assurance of his love.

A Glorious Glimpse of Grace

As the Gospel Story unfolded after Jesus' resurrection, God arranged for Jesus to meet two men on a road, and we're told that "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:47). 

Who were those guys to whom Jesus explained all that? That episode happened at a time in the story of the early church when Jesus' 11 remaining disciples were main characters, and yet Jesus chose to reveal himself to two unknowns. That matters. That tells us that when God wants to make himself known, he includes those who may not feel noticed by God, or worthy of a visitation from him. It tells us that he doesn't just show up to walk alongside those we view as spiritual superstars. He loves to visit ordinary people. That's an illustration of God's grace.

And that thought of God's grace revealed takes me way back in time to a story in the Scriptures when I believe Jesus revealed himself in an extraordinary way to ordinary people. And it's a story that reveals God's grace on a scale I find difficult to comprehend. Let's travel back in time to a story that gets very little attention. You may not even remember it's in the Bible. 

Shortly after God had delivered his people from Pharaoh, God said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar" (Exodus 24:1). It sounds like God was keeping his distance here, because in a sense, he was. This was just before the time when "the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel" (24:17). But even with the glory of the Lord about to cover the mountain, God called 70 unnamed people to “Come up to the Lord."

In fact, it then says that "Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank" (24:9-11).

Those 70 unknown men "saw the God of Israel"!  "They beheld God"! Or at least we know they saw his feet! Is this one of the stories that Jesus told those other two unknown men about when he told them "what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself"? 

Jesus said that "God is spirit" as he described his Father (John 4:24), and therefore doesn't have a body. That's why I believe that when those men saw those feet walking on sapphire, they were seeing the beautiful feet of Jesus before he "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7). But this unexpected unveiling of what sounds like a glimpse of heaven wasn't only for Moses to see, the way most Bible-readers may recall, but it included 70 elders of Israel who represented all of God's people as they were invited to come and behold God. 

And though those men wouldn't have known it, the feet they saw would one day be pierced for the sins of the people they represented, as well as for their own sins. After all, God knew how quickly Aaron and these 70 elders would create a golden calf and worship it with all the people (Exodus 32:1-10). God knew that in a matter of mere days or weeks, while Moses remained on the mountain, those men who God had graciously invited to behold him, and who "ate and drank" in his holy presence would soon sit down "to eat and drink" before a golden calf (32:6). God knew it all. He knew they'd make that calf, and that they'd feast at its feet, and yet we're told that "he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel." Perhaps that's because God's reason for inviting them to behold him was so that he could reveal the precious feet of Jesus, thereby foreshadowing what Jesus would do when "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). 

God the Father revealed God the Son to those 70 unknown, unnamed men because they represented a whole nation of ordinary people who were prone to sin and in need of a Saviour. We're no different, and God still loves to visit ordinary people. It's also impossible to measure the grace that's revealed in those feet that would step from the sapphire streets of heaven to the dusty roads of Judea, and to then be nailed to a tree for our salvation.

Sparrows and Watchbands

It could happen in the lunchroom at work, or with someone on your street, or in school. Maybe it’s already happened to you. It has to me. As we follow Jesus, we’re bound to end up in a situation where we’re uneasy about mentioning Jesus in front of someone who might be hostile to the very idea of Jesus. Nobody likes rejection.

That’s not a new thing, which is why Jesus addressed it with his first disciples. He spoke of being bold amidst opposition, but as he did, he included an encouraging thought. He emphasized God’s care for us. He made it clear that we matter to God. Jesus’ antidote to fear before opponents was to emphasize our worth before God. If Almighty God truly treasures you, what can some guy with an attitude do to you?

Jesus said in that context, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).

He’s speaking about Almighty God taking notice of the flight trajectory of a solitary sparrow. It’s estimated that there are 1.6 billion sparrows in this world, and God notices when any one of those 1.6 billion sparrows happens to crash land.

Jesus also mentioned the hairs on our heads. That number varies greatly from person to person, but the average number of hairs on our heads is about 100,000. God literally has them numbered.

Does all that mean that sparrows and head-hairs are of the utmost importance to God? No. It means that if God is that attentive to sparrows and head-hairs, how much value must God place on those for whom his Son Jesus died? His attentiveness toward us is immeasurable.

I was once in the West Edmonton Mall wave pool with my three children. We were frolicking in the water in the middle of the pool as big waves washed over us. But as we splashed in the water, suddenly my waterproof watch felt loose on my wrist and about to fall off. As I quickly reached for it, I saw that the metal watchband had separated from the watch, and when I held it in my hand I could see that one of the tiny pins that connected the watchband to the watch was missing. The pin was now lost in a vast pool of water. We’re talking about a tiny cylinder of metal about 1 centimeter long and 1 millimeter wide. I started walking toward the shallows of the pool with my head down as I examined the watch in my hand.

Then I had a thought. Perhaps it was a thought from the God who sees sparrows fall. Maybe, just maybe, I could find that tiny pin somewhere in this wave pool of 3.3 million gallons of turbulent water.

So I turned around, and guessed at how many steps I’d taken from where I’d been when the watch fell off. After taking those steps, the water depth was about up to my rib cage. I then took a breath, swam to the bottom, and lay my hand flat against the bottom of the pool. I immediately felt something small pressed against my palm. It was the pin from my watchband.

God’s attentiveness toward us truly is immeasurable. It’s seen by how he notices birds in flight and tiny pins on pool bottoms. And it's obvious by how he paid a much higher price to have you with him for eternity than for either of those things. That's why he wants you to be certain that when you feel vulnerable when speaking with people about Jesus, he is there with you, with his arm around you, and with his Holy Spirit to help you.

That is the reason we can be bold about the love of Jesus. And that’s the reason some people will believe you. Go ahead. Give it a shot. There’s someone in your life waiting to hear about him.

Life's Test Questions 101

Ever get confused when circumstances don't seem to line up with God's promises? I do. In fact, I not only get confused, but I can get discouraged too.

Like when Psalm 105 says to "seek the Lord and his strength" (v.4) because he promises to be "the Lord our God" (v.7) who "remembers his covenant forever" (v.8). That's a big deal. The psalmist is referring to an "everlasting covenant" God made with Abraham and his descendants (vv.8-11). It sounds pretty encouraging! And I'm super grateful that God has welcomed me into an everlasting covenant with him through the faith I have in Jesus.

But wait a minute... The psalmist then suddenly starts talking about God summoning "a famine on the land" in which Abraham's descendants were living (v.17). A famine summoned by God? What's up with that? What happened to that blissful "everlasting covenant"?

Questions like these pop into my mind when things go wrong – when things go sideways – or when I just can't reconcile my circumstances with what God promised me. Maybe you wonder the same. 

Oh, but it gets worse! ...Or so it seems. One of Abraham's descendants (Joseph) is betrayed and sold into slavery as "the Lord tested him" (vv.17-19). Wow. God's wonderful covenant is followed by famine, slavery, and testing. That's not what I thought I signed up for in my covenant-relationship with Jesus.

But the truth is that being in a covenant with God doesn't mean there'll be no troubles, because it seems that God sends troubles as tests. And testing isn't a sign of God's disapproval, but a means to growth in the midst of God's covenant promises. 

In other words, God tests his children in the context of covenant. That's why troubles don't mean God is distant, but can actually be a sign of God's love as he helps us to grow.

I'm personally experiencing a time of testing right now, and I can feel tempted to get discouraged. But the tests that Joseph went through were meant to make him ready for God's purposes to be fulfilled in his life. The famine and the slavery were ordained by God to further the will of God in Joseph's life and in the lives of people around him. 

So when we face troubles in life, rather than doubting God's love and promises, this psalm encourages us to embrace such circumstances as tests to help us to grow in our trust and dependence on God. Nobody grows without testing. And testing happens in the context of an eternal covenant – like being in the arms of God as he gives us a difficult exam to write.

So exam Question #1 is: What circumstance are you facing right now that seems contrary to God's promises? Whatever the answer, Question #2 is: What character trait is God trying to help me to grow in right now. Bingo. Now it's our turn to ask our loving Father to help us to grow in that area by his great grace in our lives!

© 2023 Ken Peters

Focus on the "You's"

If I were a writer of hymns, I wonder how many of my hymns would begin the same way David began Psalm 86. Probably too many. As David began the psalm by calling out to God, he self-consciously lamented, “I am poor and needy.” David’s initial focus in that psalm seems like one big “I” – “I am poor and needy.”

But then it’s worth noticing that in the next 16 verses, the word “You” – in reference to God – appears 18 times, and the word “Your” another 10 times. Yes, “I am poor and needy,” but David’s primary focus in response to that seems to be, “You, Your, You, You…”

Fast-forward to today, and I can certainly say that without Jesus, I am desperately poor and needy. But I know Jesus personally, and so I’ll do far better by focusing on David’s You-statements than on how poor and needy I may feel, because the truth is that with Jesus, “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,” no matter what the circumstances (Romans 8:35-39)! Jesus is the “exact representation” of the God who David was describing in his many You-statements (Hebrews 1:3). 

David put the spotlight on God as he declared that…

• You are good
• You are ready to forgive
• You abound in steadfast love to all who call upon You
• You will answer when I call on You in times of trouble
• There is none like You
• You are great
• You do wondrous things
• You alone are God
• You are merciful
• You are gracious
• You are slow to anger
• You are abundant in mercy and faithfulness
• You have helped me
• You have comforted me

And with that, David ended the psalm.

 

David began with “I am poor and needy,” but then after declaring, “You, Your, You, You, Your, You, You, You, You, You, You, Yours, You, You, Your, You, You, Your, Your, Your, You, Your, Your, You, You, You, Your, and Your,” he ended by declaring that “You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me!”

That kind of focus helps and comforts me too. So today, I am going to focus on YOU, Lord, not on me, because that’s how I know I’ll be encouraged.

© 2021 Ken Peters

When Being Outnumbered is a Good Thing

I expect all of us know what it’s like to struggle with some kind of stubborn behaviour that we know isn’t pleasing to God. I sure do. A typical struggle in my life is how I can react very selfishly and imperatively toward people when I’m feeling under pressure. People I love get hurt. And then when the dust settles, I not only need to resolve things with them, but it can feel like God is disapprovingly waiting for a conversation as well, arms folded, with a furrowed brow. And I’m reluctant to even talk to him about it – yet again.

Even King David could relate to that. He wrote in Psalm 40:12, “My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head. Therefore my heart fails me.” But despite such struggles, David was full of hope and encouragement as he wrote this psalm.

David began the psalm by describing God as being inclined to him, and willing to help him, despite his unworthiness. In fact, I’m amazed at how a man who later described himself as being surrounded by “innumerable evils” and as having more sins than the hairs on his head (v.12) also had the faith to describe God as having thoughts toward him that are “more than can be numbered” (v.5). Do you ever feel like your sins can’t be counted? Then try counting God’s thoughts toward you! Hairs can be numbered, but God’s thoughts of you can’t be.

And God’s innumerable thoughts toward us are not disapproving thoughts. We know that because of how David began the psalm by describing how God had helped him: “he brought me up out of a horrible pit… He set my feet upon a rock… He put a new song in my mouth” (vv.2-3). That doesn’t sound like a frowning God looking down on our feeble frames. Then in response to what God had done for him, David poured forth his "new song" in response: “I have proclaimed good news of righteousness… I do not restrain my lips… I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your lovingkindness and your truth” (vv.9-10). David did “not restrain” his praise for a God who clearly did “not withhold” his love from David, despite his many sins. This is why we don’t need to feel reluctant to approach God, whatever our struggles might be.

It’s no wonder that David ended the psalm by declaring, “The Lord be magnified!” (v.16). David then repeats the amazing contrast: “I am poor and needy [meaning, my sins are ‘more than the hairs of my head’]; Yet the Lord thinks upon me [with thoughts that ‘are more than can be numbered’]. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.” (v.17). I’m so glad he’s still inclined to help us too.

© 2021 Ken Peters

The way to begin a day...

I have had difficult days when I've awakened from sleep with a great sense of futility. After struggling with the same old issues in my heart for so long, I've sometimes felt like there's no hope of change. Will I ever stop believing the lies I'm so prone to believing? Will I ever stop getting tripped up by the same vulnerabilities? It creates a horrible hopelessness. But amidst such days, I go through the motions anyway, and try to begin each day seeking God as I read the Bible.

And as I did that recently, I suddenly felt struck as I read the psalmist declare, "While I live I will praise the Lord" (Psalm 146:2). 

It's such a simple statement, and I felt halted by it. I just stared at it, thinking of what it said. While I am alive – "while I have my being," he says – as long as I'm breathing, I'm going to praise the Lord. That's the psalmist's approach to life. Not hopelessness, but praise. Not a focus on self, but on Yahweh – the faithful, covenant-keeping God who draws near. In other words, why wake up with a complaint on my lips about my inadequacies when I can wake up praising the God who wants to be with me and help me every moment of my day? 

The psalmist then writes, "Happy [or blessed] is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry, the Lord gives freedom to the prisoners" (vv.5-7). I can be happy because the God who helps all the people listed there also wants to help me! The one who "keeps truth forever" never changes, and he won't disappoint those who put their trust in him. 

So why on earth would I ever struggle with a sense of futility when such a great God "who made heaven and earth" has offered to personally help me? Yes, imperfect me! And you! 

No wonder the psalmist described people who have such a God as happy! The truth is, if God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31) And that is why it's better to begin my day praising the Lord rather than complaining about me.

© 2021 Ken Peters

Promises for the flawed and the fearful

I can hear the raw emotion in Peter’s voice as he asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?” Peter and the other 11 men Jesus had chosen had been with him for three life-changing, eye-opening, jaw-dropping years. Peter himself had walked on water with Jesus, seen Jesus transfigured, and seen Jesus do so many mighty miracles that those three amazing years must have felt like ten! And now Jesus was suddenly saying, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” Can you see the desperate look in Peter’s eyes as he asked, “Lord, where are you going?” “Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you shall follow me afterward.’” (John 13:36)

But Peter wasn’t satisfied with that. As the other disciples looked on, all appearing equally desperate and confused, I expect the emotion in Peter’s voice intensified as he asked, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake!” There was passion in Peter’s claim. He was basically saying, “Lord, don’t leave! I’ll be a hero for you! I’ll go the distance. I’ll give you my all.”

But Jesus knew Peter. And Jesus knew what would soon happen. “Jesus answered him, ‘Will you lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied me three times.’”

Boom. Cue the suspenseful music. Zoom in on Peter’s widened eyes. See the shock on Peter’s face as the other disciples all exchanged fearful glances in the dim light of the upper room. But amidst it all, Jesus was calm. Peaceful. There was no anger in his voice. Not even disapproval. Just certainty, and love. For after all, it had already been written that “having loved his own who were in the world, he [Jesus] loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

But Jesus didn’t love his disciples because he thought they were all heroes who were ready to die with him. And nor did he love them because they were models of amazing maturity. No, quite the contrary – he loved them enough to die for them because he knew they could never measure up to God’s high holy standards. And he loved them because His Father had chosen them, and this ragtag bunch had become his friends (John 17:6; 15:15). That’s why Jesus could be so calm as he pointed out Peter’s imminent betrayal.

Sin isn’t a show-stopper for Jesus. Jesus’ total awareness of Peter’s inevitable failings didn’t stop Jesus from telling him that “you shall follow me afterward.” And nor do our failures stop Jesus from saying the same to you and me. Rather than responding in anger or disapproval, Jesus reminds us that that is why he died – so we could be forgiven.

Jesus’s very next words to his stunned disciples were, “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me” (John 14:1). He said those reassuring words to flawed and confused disciples who would soon all abandon him in fear. But Jesus still affectionately promised to “come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3-4). Words of comfort for the obviously undeserving in tremendously difficult days. Sound familiar?

This touching exchange between Jesus and his disciples makes it abundantly clear that Jesus isn’t threatened by our failings. He calls us despite being certain we will fail him. And as we come to him, confessing our faults and sharing our hearts, we can be sure Jesus will turn to us and say, “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.”

© 2020 Ken Peters

Look Up

It was a big crowd. All totalled — men, women, and children — it was likely at least 10,000 people. Matthew said it was 5,000 men, plus women and children (Matthew 14:21). And they were hungry.

As Jesus spoke with His disciples about what to do about that, the sound of those thousands of people talking together about all the miracles they’d just witnessed probably created quite the hum of background noise. 

Matthew simply wrote that Jesus “healed their sick” (14:14), so you can imagine that previously lame people were likely leaping for joy, and people previously deaf and mute were probably jabbering away, and people previously blind were exclaiming at all they could now see! I expect that there was laughter and cheers to be heard while Jesus quizzed the disciples on what their meal plan was. 

Two phrases from this story catch my eye due to the contrast they create. First we hear the disciples saying, “We have only…” (14:17), and then we see Jesus as “He looked up” (14:19). “We” contrasted with “He.” “We” focusing on the “only,” and “He” focusing on looking “up.” “We” with our minds on the things of this world, with all its limitations and disappointments and futility — despite all the wondrous miracles Jesus does right before our eyes. And “He” with His attention on His Father in heaven, with all His limitless love and promises and blessings — as all the miracles He’d just performed revealed. 

Today, we can focus on the “only” — “I have only” — or we can look “up” — up at our Father who loves us, wants to do us good and grant us “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” that is available in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).

I’m going to look up. 

© 2020 Ken Peters

The Call before the Calm

We all know what it’s like to feel exhausted. But have we ever been so weary that we’re able to sleep through a storm while in an open boat with drenching waves sweeping over it?

That’s how tired Jesus was as he wearily climbed into a boat with his disciples and told them to sail to the other side of the lake. Though he had the power to heal, his body also felt fatigue. The Son of God fully experienced our frailty as a man. 

I can just see him crawling to the back of the boat where there was a ragged fishy-smelling cushion of sorts, and curling up with it in the space he could find amidst the folded nets and coiled ropes. He may have been asleep before the sails were even raised. 

We don’t know how long it was before the storm hit, but we know it was fierce. Mark tells us that “waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling” (Mk. 4:37). Matthew tells us that the boat was “being swamped by the waves” (Mt. 8:24). And Luke tells us that they “were in danger” (Lk. 8:23)!

As the winds began to roar, the waves would’ve grown until the boat was being tossed upon them and drenched under them. There would’ve been shouting from the disciples as they hurriedly lowered the sails, and started to bail. And through it all, Jesus slept. 

None of the commotion woke Jesus. I can just see the disciples scrambling and jostling to stay afloat, wiping the sea spray of the pounding waves from their faces, and occasionally stealing glances at Jesus, wondering how he could sleep through it all. Perhaps Peter shouted to Andrew or to John, “Should we wake him?”

As they shook him awake, they shouted above the tumult, “Master, don’t you care? We’re perishing here in this terrible storm!” Picture Jesus struggling to focus on their faces as he stirred from a deep sleep, his face wet with spray, and then looked around at the storm that was assaulting them, then back into their eyes with greater clarity in his gaze. 

Of the three accounts of this story, I like Matthew’s best due to one small way in which he specifies the sequence of events. In all three accounts, Jesus questions the disciples’ lack of faith, but it’s only in Matthew’s account that we’re told that Jesus asks them this amidst the tumult, before calming the storm (Mt. 8:26). 

I love imagining Jesus sitting there, shouting to be heard above such a fearsome storm — “Why are you so afraid? Where’s your faith?” — while waves crashed into the reeling vessel, and as some of the disciples still bailed with all their might. I can picture Jesus’ wet hair whipping in the wind, his eyes squinting in the lashing spray as he looked into the eyes of his disciples’ tired and fearful faces. Then he called on them to believe while the winds wailed.

Their fearful response was obvious, but Jesus didn’t respond to their fear by refusing to help them. As they tried to deal with the storm by their own desperate devices, he didn’t tell them that if they don’t have faith, they’ll see no miracles. Jesus is not a punitive Saviour. 

Matthew wrote, “Then he rose” (Mt. 8:26), and majestically turned from the doubtful disciples to the defiant winds and raging waves and said, “‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mk. 4:39). 

The bailing suddenly stopped as flabbergasted disciples stared out at the suddenly placid sea. There was no more shouting as the wind no longer roared in their ears. The winds had obeyed him. The undercurrents of the sea obeyed him. “Who is this?” the disciples asked one another in hushed tones. “Even winds and sea obey him!” (Mt. 8:27). 

Fast-forward to the boats of our lives today, and Jesus still calls his followers to trust him amidst the troubles of this world. And I’m so relieved that he doesn’t wait for us to be pure in faith before acting on our behalf. As winds lash at my face, I can be sure that Jesus is with me and has all authority to calm the storms in my life even as he calls me to believe him while I’m still in the midst of the storms.

© 2020 Ken Peters

We are in Good Hands

How would you want to hide from danger? What if I told you that you could be just as safe behind a delicate feather as inside a strong stone tower?

That’s the contrast King David provided when he wrote Psalm 61. He was crying out to God when he wrote, “You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy” (v.4). 

What great assurance that provides when we see how powerfully strong God is compared to any enemy who seeks to assail us. We can take refuge behind the strong stone walls of our God. 

But then David wrote, “Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings” (v.5). Wings? What will that protect me from?

Plenty, when you understand that God’s protection is personal. A strong tower may make us feel safe, but feathers across our cheek will ensure we feel loved. It’s vital that we see God’s protection as an expression of His affection for us. 

God wants us to remember that His protection in our lives is more than simply brute force — it’s also tender care. The tower that surrounds me is also the gentle wing that covers me. We are safe because we are loved.

© 2020 Ken Peters

The Comfort of His Presence

As the sun descended on that long-anticipated day, the room gradually dimmed as twelve men huddled close to Jesus, hanging on his every word. The trembling shadows in that candlelit upper room must have befitted the somber faces staring intently at their Master. What compassion Jesus must have felt as he caught their gazes, one by one, seeing their fear, their confusion, their sadness. 

He deeply understood the troubles they would soon face in this world. But he also knew that he would soon overcome this broken world that vainly sought to oppose him. And he also knew that they would have a Helper unlike any they had ever known. So as he spoke, he intentionally looked into their eyes with an expression of heartfelt comfort. 

“Let not your hearts be troubled,” he said. “You believe in God. Believe also in me” (John 14:1). He wanted them to believe that the One with whom they had walked so closely for those three brief miracle-filled, awe-infused, horizon-widening years would not abandon them now. And though he had to speak of leaving, he promised that “I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (14:3).

What a wonder. That the Son of God would receive the likes of them — or of us — despite all our flaws and fears, to himself. To hear him say, with unfeigned affection, I will “receive you,” means that he wants to embrace us, accept us, gather us up “that where I am, there you may be also” (14:3) — forever!

The disciples responded with confused questions, not understanding that Jesus had no intention of enforcing his will in an earthly kingdom that would usurp all who opposed him in the here and now. But with the advantages of my post-Pentecost perspective, Jesus’ promise of heavenly fellowship with him creates great expectations in me. Spending eternity with Jesus — I can’t imagine anything better. 

But Jesus wasn’t satisfied with merely pointing to future fellowship with him as he sought to comfort his disciples in this troubled world. Jesus anticipated his own burial, resurrection and ascension when he then said, “A little while longer and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (14:19-20).

So yes, Jesus wanted his disciples to be comforted by his promise that one day and forever, “where I am, there you may be also” (14:3). But he also reassuringly promised that he wanted to walk in close fellowship with them in this world — “you in me, and I in you” (14:20) — as he also spoke of a “Helper” (14:16), “he who dwells with you and will be in you” (14:17)!

So imagine Jesus at a table with us now, in 2020, looking intently at each of us, catching our gaze, seeing the fear, the confusion, the sadness, the frustration, the angst of living in a world wrestling with a pandemic. 

I can hear him saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me.” And he would want us to be comforted as he said, “Believe that I will not only one day joyfully receive you to be with me forever, but also believe that because I am now with my Father, I have sent my Spirit to abide with you and to help you, so that through him you can truly and continually be in me, and I in you — together in loving friendship — right now, today and every day.

© 2020 Ken Peters

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

Jesus wants to Change our Focus

Jesus was on his way home, and choosing to take the quick route, was passing through the region of Samaria. This was the land of the Samaritans, a people despised by Jews, half-breeds due to the Jewish people intermingling with Gentiles long ago when Israel’s northern kingdom was conquered. We’re told Jesus was weary. Imagine that. The Son of God, weary from a journey, feeling thirsty as he rested by a well, unsheltered from the glaring sun. (John 4:3-6)

As he waited there alone, I can see his gentle eyes watching a woman as she slowly approached from the city nearby. It was noon, the hottest time of the day, and perhaps this woman came to the well at this time because she preferred to be alone. Perhaps the struggles of her life had caused her to withdraw from the more social times of day when the well was a busy place, a happy place, a talkative place. And yet here was this stranger, this man resting by the well when she came to draw water. What was he doing here? She likely felt awkward as he watched her self-consciously approach and as she let down her waterpot. I can see him kindly watching her face as she studiously tried to avoid glancing at his. After all, she wanted to be alone. (John 4:7-8)

Then breaking the silence, he spoke, asking for a drink from her Samaritan waterpot. She knew from his clothes, and from his accent, that he was a Jew. And she being both a Samaritan and a woman, knew that this was an inappropriate situation. Why was he addressing her? And why would he be prepared to drink from her container? So she attempted a protest, suggesting how uncomfortable she felt: “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:7-9)

Jesus’ answer couldn’t have been what she expected. It felt a deflection. In fact, it felt like an offer of some kind. He said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Suddenly it sounded like he didn’t want a drink at all, but wanted to give her a drink! Perplexed amidst the awkwardness of the situation, she asked him where he planned to get this “living water.” Was he suggesting that he knew of a water source better than this well that dated all the way back to Jacob? (John 4:10-12)

Jesus didn’t back down. In fact, I can see him leaning forward eagerly, a slight smile on his face, as he told this lonely woman that the water he had to offer would quench her thirst forever, and lead to “everlasting life”! But she missed his point, immediately latching onto the thought of never having to come to this well again; never having to avoid the cheerful, carefree women who came here in the cooler times of day; never having to be seen coming here alone, after they had left, the merciless sun beating down on her rejected, unworthy frame. “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw!” (John 4:13-15)

It was then that Jesus truly shocked her. He sat back and gently said, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” I doubt she would have been able to hide the expression of alarm on her face as she quickly looked back down at the well, desperately wondering why he asked her that. I suspect there was then a long pause, with the hot wind blowing across her brow, before she quietly confessed, “I have no husband.” (John 4:16-17)

Jesus must have felt something quite tender toward her as he witnessed this awkward response, and softly yet knowingly replied, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." He knew all along. This would've been another shock to her. And yet, perhaps Jesus exposed those awkward truths just to heighten this woman's sense of desperation. (John 4:17-18) 

But this would not have been an easy moment for this broken woman. Jesus had just exposed her sin and triggered her shame. I can easily imagine another long pause here as this woman wondered who this strange man was. First of all he speaks to me while we’re out here all alone by the well, asking me for water – then he offers me water from I don’t know where that can quench my thirst forever – and then he tells me all the things I ever did!

Suddenly she looks back up at Jesus as she blurts out, “Sir, I perceive you are a prophet!” Now she feels frightened, for the prophets of old never treated sin lightly, and this man knows all about her sinful past! So as she fiddled with the rope of her waterpot, once again studiously avoiding Jesus’ gaze, I wonder if she suddenly brought up a religious subject just to shift the subject from herself. Or perhaps the reason she asked about how her people worship at a nearby mountain was to make herself appear less unworthy. Whatever her reasons, Jesus wasn't bothered, and by the end of the conversation, he had said something that we’re told he tried to keep a secret in just about every other place he ever went! Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He" – the Messiah. (John 4:19-20, 26) 

What a moment! What a dramatic declaration. Jesus, who later said that his Father had sent him to the Jews first, chose to reveal his true identity for the very first time to a woman of the despised Samaritans! But this was not just an Samaritan woman. This was a sinful Samaritan woman who was living with a man in an immoral relationship! But this was not just a sinful woman – she was also a rejected woman who had been divorced by five previous husbands, discarded by them, unloved, unwanted. And Jesus lovingly revealed to her that he was the Messiah, the Saviour of the world! (John 4:42)

What an encouragement it is when we take our eyes off of ourselves and fix our gaze on Jesus! This woman surely felt shame, but Jesus still invited her near by declaring to her who he is. The issue wasn't how worthy she was to know him – none of us will ever be good enough to know God. The point of the good news of Jesus is that it is Jesus who is good enough to be a righteous substitute for us before God, and to show us our worth by taking the penalty of our sin upon himself so that we can be forgiven.

This is why Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, "Forget yourself, forget all about yourself. Of course you are not good enough, you never will be good enough. The Christian way of salvation tells you this, that it does not matter what you have been, it does not matter what you have done... this is the test, that you acknowledge readily and say clearly that you look to Christ and to Christ alone and to nothing and no one else, that you stop looking at particular sins and particular people." That was Jesus' message to the Samaritan woman he so lovingly revealed himself to, and it's Jesus' message to you and me today: I am he – and I want to be a fountain of living water in you, "springing up into everlasting life!" (John 4:10, 14)

© 2020 by 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