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

Funeral message for Eunice Berkvens

Earlier this evening, I had the privilege of officiating at Eunice Bervens funeral before a few select family members due to Covid restrictions. I know that many of her friends from Gateway Church would have loved to have been there, and so I'm sharing the funeral message that I felt God gave me to celebrate the life of this precious daughter of God...

I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to share something at Eunice’s funeral service today. Thank you Brett for the invitation to share this time with you as a family. I feel honoured to be here.

I can’t actually remember the first time I met Eunice, but as a pastor at the church she attended for at least ten years, I was able to get to know Eunice over the years. I know you as a family obviously know her far better than me, but in the time I knew her, I grew very fond of Eunice. There were many people at Gateway Church who loved Eunice. If it weren’t for the Covid-restrictions on the number of people who could be here, I know that many from Gateway would have wanted to attend today.

We all knew that Eunice wasn’t perfect – some Sundays when she came to church, she could be in a very grumpy mood, and didn’t try to hide it. But most Sundays, we knew Eunice to be a very sweet and soft-hearted lady.

I’ll never forget how she used to go up to people she knew, and open her arms up as if to invite a hug, and say with a happy grin, “I love you!” and then given them a big hug! I was on the receiving end of many of those hugs. But Eunice didn’t just come for the hugs – she came to church to worship Jesus – who she loved most of all! At Gateway, our worship times go for about 20-25 minutes of singing, and Eunice loved those times! She would sing with her arms stretched as high as she could reach, her hands open to heaven, and her eyes clenched shut as she sang. The way she worshiped as we sang songs to Jesus made it obvious that Eunice truly loved Jesus.

But as I said, not every Sunday was like that – sometimes Eunice came to church looking like she’d had a very hard week. I don’t actually know a great deal about what happened in Eunice’s life between Sundays, but it was clear from my occasional conversations with her that her life had been hard, and still was hard. Sometimes she just looked tired, or hurting, or upset, or sad. But she still came to church, because she really loved Jesus. And Jesus also really loves Eunice.

With that in mind, I’d like to read a very short story in the Bible that feels appropriate for this occasion. It’s a short story about a woman who also probably sometimes came to the “church” of those days feeling tired, or hurting, or upset, or sad. But she still kept coming. Let me read it to you. 

"One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, 'Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!' Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!" (Luke 13:10-13)

Can you picture that woman, doubled over, unable to stand, and probably found it difficult to walk? But there she was in God’s house. It would’ve probably been easy for her to think, “Why should I go to church? What’s God done for me lately? Look at me – doubled-over, unable to stand – and God has ignored me for 18 long years!” But she must not have thought that, because after 18 years, there she was in church on the Sabbath Day. And after 18 long years, Jesus met her there and healed her.

Now I need to say that God’s timing of when and how he helps us with the troubles we face is a mystery, and He expects us to trust Him when He takes longer than we’d like. And Eunice expressed her trust in God by continuing to come to church for many years, even in the midst of her troubles. And she expressed her love for God by enthusiastically worshiping Him for many years, despite the feelings she struggled with.

Did Jesus eventually show up and heal her of kidney failure, like he healed the woman in this story? No, but it was Jesus who eventually showed up and called Eunice home! You see, I hope you can be encouraged today that Eunice herself is still alive with Jesus in heaven. Her body has failed, but Eunice’s spirit is alive and she is in a place of great peace and joy!

Do you want to know how the Bible describes where Eunice will now be forever?

“Then I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:3-5)

And the truth is, the soul in each one of us will need a home after life on this earth is over, and every one of us can spend eternity with Jesus in the place I just read about. But the only way to be admitted there is to accept who Jesus is, what Jesus did for us when He lived on this earth, and to give our lives to Jesus.

As to who Jesus is, He is God’s Son, and has been for eternity past! As to what Jesus did for us, He came to earth as a man (while still remaining God’s Son), lived a perfect life, and then died to pay the penalty for humanity’s rebellion against God. Our rebellion is expressed by how we try to live life without God. And those who rebel against God deserve to die and spend eternity separated from God. But God is also a Father – a Perfect Father – and doesn’t want to be separated from us for eternity. So God’s Perfect Son was willing to die to pay the penalty we deserve so that we could be forgiven and spend eternity with Him! That means that even though we feel very undeserving of such a gift, it’s possible because it’s not based on anything we’ve done, but on what Jesus has done for us so that we can be forgiven!

Eunice believed this, and even though we all know Eunice wasn’t perfect, I can say with confidence that she is forgiven – and has been welcomed into eternal life with Jesus. And you can be too. It can all start with a simple prayer that expresses our acceptance of who Jesus is, and of what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross for us, and our desire to give our lives to live for Jesus (however imperfectly).

Eunice prayed such a prayer, and as we remember and honour Eunice’s life here today, I invite you to pray such a prayer with me in your heart as I pray it now…

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

Superduper, superabundant, superabounding Grace!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Something I never get tired of hearing

There are some statements in the Bible that never cease to amaze me. I'm talking about verses that stop me in my tracks nearly every time I read them, and perhaps they always should! It happened again when I read for the umpteenth time Romans 3:20-21... "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe."

To think that the righteousness of God can be found in any of us apart from how well we've done at keeping God's law is staggering! It simply doesn't matter how many do's we've done or how many don'ts we haven't done. The righteousness of God is available to us all through faith in Jesus!

Righteousness apart from rules seems like an oxymoron. But here it is – God granting to us a righteousness that is the result of our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in all that He accomplished for us on the cross. Such faith is Abrahamic faith: "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). This is the ultimate pressure-reliever, as God takes the burden of performing perfectly off of our shoulders and lays on us the gentle robe of righteousness that His Son Jesus bought for us at the cross. 

I never seem to get tired of hearing that: "the righteousness of God apart from the law" – "the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ." So we can stop measuring ourselves, constantly checking if we're doing okay, worried that we're not good enough, and simply enjoy the God who not only makes us righteous in His eyes, but also helps us each day to live righteously in this world.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Dwelling on the good stuff!

I'm pretty excited. I just got a reminder that God doesn't want us brooding over our failings. C'mon. How many of us find our failures distracting, playing them over and over in our minds like some kind of masochistic looping video? But it's totally clear that God doesn't want sinners who follow Jesus to worry about their sins! 

Yes, that's right! The writer of Hebrews helps us to see this as he explains how the old animal sacrifices weren't enough to make people perfect. He writes that if they could have made people perfect, then sacrifices would have ceased to be offered, "for the worshipers once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins" (Hebrews 10:2). So that was God's goal? That people would no longer be conscious of their sin?

Whoa. Wait a minute. Push pause. I sin. Daily. But this writer is inferring that God doesn't want His people conscious of their sins. He writes of a people who are purified by a better sacrifice that he's about to discuss - namely, Jesus Christ - and who are supposedly undistracted by the sin in their lives! Read on.

"And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man [Jesus], after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:11-14). 

So the reason God's people don't have to be distracted by a consciousness of their own failings is because Jesus' sacrifice has fully satisfied what God requires as a consequence for sins, and those who accept that sacrifice as being for themselves are considered "perfected" [Greek word: teleioō, meaning to complete, to finish, to fulfill, to make perfect] even as we're still being "sanctified" [Greek word: hagiazō, meaning to be made progressively holy or purified]!

So then, even though it's pretty obvious that we're works in progress that are clearly still being made holy, this passage says that God considers believers in Jesus already perfect and complete! New creations! No wonder Christ's sacrifice means we no longer need to be conscious of our sins! There's no need to self-consciously beat ourselves up for sinning if God considers Christ's sacrifice as fully sufficient to account for our sins.

Certainly we want to be conscious enough of our behaviour to turn from sin when God makes us aware of it, but God's message to us in Jesus Christ is that there's no need to live in any conscious regret of our failings when God has declared us perfect before Him and is daily helping us to increasingly live that way as His Spirit works within us!

So rather than dwelling on our sins, God wants us celebrating and enjoying the wonderful work of life-altering grace He has accomplished - and is continuing to accomplish - in our lives!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

I love Garbage Day!

I enjoy garbage day in our neighbourhood. I really do. I really enjoy it. I get some sort of satisfaction from the thought of garbage that was once cluttering my house being thrown into a truck and taken away from me forever! Occasionally, albeit rarely, I get the opportunity to actually watch the workers throw my garbage onto the truck. It gives me a feeling of, “Ah! It's gone!” Tossed into that bottomless-pit-on-wheels that rumbles through my neighbourhood consuming everything people can throw at it, never to trouble us again!

Why is that such a thrill? I think it’s because there’s an innate desire in most people to be rid of garbage that's in our lives. And there’s a deep satisfaction felt when we get rid of it, completely and forever.

The foulest garbage that clutters my life is sin. Nothing else in my life is uglier and fouler smelling than sin. The Bible likens sin to filth: "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." (James 1:21, NIV).

The Good News is that we don’t have to do this by our own efforts. God made a way for us to be rid of that sinful filthy garbage of sin in our lives when Christ gave Himself up for the Church "to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:26-27). When we turn from sin and turn to God, God takes away our sinful heart and gives us a new heart, leaving us clean – a new creation before Him. When this happens, there is no limit to the amount of garbage Jesus will collect from any individual. And He takes it all away forever!

Unfortunately, we tend to collect new garbage. It can feel extremely difficult to remain experientially clean in this sin-polluted world. But it’s God’s Word that helps us to keep garbage from accumulating in our God-given hearts. When James advised believers to get rid of moral filth and to humbly receive the word planted in them (James 1:21), he was calling on those who had already accepted God's word to humbly yield to it in the way they lived their lives. James explained what he means in the following verse: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).

So he’s saying we can remain experientially clean by simply living right? Well, duh! Anybody knows that. But that's not too helpful for those of us who can’t manage to steer clear of a sinful act or attitude for even our first hour out of bed. That’s why I don’t think James was implying that receiving God’s word was the same as never experiencing the filth of sin in our lives again. Rather, I think James was focusing on our posture as believers. Are we postured to yield to God’s word or are we more inclined toward the garbage that tempts us in life? Do we prefer our ways or God’s ways? Are we more prone to willful pride or humble submission? When faced with a choice of sin or righteousness, James encourages us to humbly “accept the word planted in you.” In other words, cooperate with God’s truth – prefer it – and its roots will then go even deeper into our lives, making it easier and easier to live according to it. And if we blow it, we can be encouraged that every day is Garbage Day! We can confess our blunders to our merciful God and enjoy watching Him carry them away! What a cheerful chore Garbage Day can be!

The truth is though, my sense of satisfaction comes from more than just having my filthy sin taken away. It also comes from what I'm left with. Such as a conviction of who I am in Christ as a son who is totally loved and accepted by my heavenly Father. And God's Holy Spirit of truth living inside me, keeping me alert to new garbage in my heart while also helping me to create less garbage as he gradually makes me more like Jesus. And a spiritual family who helps me walk in the light and challenge me to walk in ways that are pleasing to God.

In the brief moment it takes for us to confess our sin to God and to those around us, our lives are cleansed of the garbage of sin and we have true fellowship with God and with one another! And in the simplicity of receiving and believing God's word of grace and truth, the cluttered rooms of our heart are swept clean!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Fun to Say - Incredible to Know

Some words are simply fun to say. A good example is the word, inconceivable. Give that one a try, putting particular weight on the third syllable. InconCEIVable!

Another word I like is, immutability. Try saying that one a few times. You'll find it kind of just rolls off your tongue... Immutability.

It means unchangeable. It's the characteristic of being inherently incapable of change. Think of something rock solid, weighing thousands of tons, like a mountain that's been there for eons, and you will still lack an adequate example of immutability. Even a mountain's shift of one centimeter a year disqualifies it from being considered immutable. The fact is, there is only one reliable example of immutability: God Himself.

Hebrews 6:17-18 says, "Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us" (NKJV).

This tells us that God's words to us are absolutely unchangeable, as is His oath or promise to us. And it's obvious that God is super eager for each of us to recognize this unparalleled immutability that is manifest in His character. We see this in the way He set out to show Abraham how changeless He was (which is the example Heb. 6:17-18 is referring to). God chose a doubly-abundant means of doing so when He not only spoke to Abraham of His plans for him and his descendants, but also confirmed those words with an oath. Why would Almighty God need to confirm His words with an oath? Because He wanted to "show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel." This is God in His mercy going out of His way to reinforce a point. He speaks and then He makes an oath as if to say, "I really mean it! I will not change My mind! You can count on the reliability of My immutability."

Hebrew 6:18 then tell us that it is because of God's incredible constancy that we can be greatly comforted in difficult circumstances and flee for safe refuge in the sure and certain hope that God's promises provide for us. Promises like:

• We can "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16)
• "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him [Christ], since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb. 7:25)
• "...with His own blood He [Christ] entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption [for us]" (Heb. 9:12)
• "...the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, [will] cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:14)
• "...but now, once at the end of the ages, He [Christ] has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb. 9:26)
• "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10)
• "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14)
• "Then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more" (Heb. 10:17)

Isn't that encouraging?! So then, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Heb. 10:23). And it is inconCEIVable that the God who promised all of this will ever change!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

How much love is that?!

There are times when I'm reading the Bible and a word catches my eye, and I just can't move on. I'm stuck, staring at a word, wondering at its implications, distracted by its scale. It happened to me yesterday.

There I am, breezily reading a familiar and encouraging psalm, and whammo -- I'm suddenly taken aback. I reach a word that feels so bursting with significance, I can't continue. It was Psalm 103, which begins with a long list of wonderful promises. Promises to forgive all our iniquity, heal all our diseases, redeem our life from the pit, crown us with steadfast love and mercy, and satisfy us with good things! Promises of God working righteousness and justice for the oppressed, making known His acts to His people, and of being merciful and gracious toward us! And then it says, "...and abounding in steadfast love" (ESV).

It was the word abounding that got me. That's a word not often used these days. (When did you last use it in a conversation?) As I read that word in Psalm 103:8, I couldn't help but wonder, how much love is that? 

In my imagination, the word abounding speaks of a mountain stream teeming with salmon, layer upon layer of them, all eagerly and aggressively leaping and squeezing around each other ever onward toward their goal; it speaks of a bountiful harvest pouring out of every vessel, none large enough to contain the vast heaps of grain collected; it speaks of a lavish banquet with table after table in room after room stacked with abundant supplies of delicious foods of every imaginable variety! The very definition of abounding is so completely full that it overflows!

And when the word is used to describe God's love, it speaks of numerous and extravagant promises that are all yes and amen in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20), of life-changing, kingdom-advancing miracles that are beyond what we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), and of awe-inspiring closeness to the living God according to the riches of His grace which He joyfully lavishes upon us (Eph. 1:3-8)! 

Quite honestly, finite words fail to convey the infinite reality of God's love. My mind can't fully absorb how vast it truly is. But as I read Psalm 103 yesterday, the simple word abounding was enough to capture my imagination and leave me in wonder at how bountifully BIG God's love is for any who reach out to Him! Go ahead, ask Him to show you how big it is.

© 2014 by Ken Peters

Grace piled upon Grace!

Let's be clear about one thing: God has piles of grace available. Piles of it. Make no mistake -- there's no risk of Him running short of it. The Apostle John wrote, "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). That last phrase could be translated literally as, we have received "grace piled upon grace"!

This thread runs throughout the New Testament -- a great theme emphasizing a great gift of which we are all utterly undeserving, but which God lavishes on His children without calculation! 

Paul wrote that "where sin abounded, grace abounded much more" (Romans 5:20)! 

Paul wrote of receiving an "abundance of grace" (Rom. 5:17), of redemption "according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7), and of being granted "the glory of His grace" (Ephesians 1:6)! 

We are "justified by His grace" (Titus 3:7), given "good hope by grace" (2 Thess. 2:16) and can "come boldly to the throne of grace" to "find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16)!

Abounding and abundant riches of grace revealing God's glory and justifying sinners, and providing hope and help to us all! Grace piled upon grace for all of us to enjoy!

But may we never become so enamoured with the warm sunshine of God's grace that we fail to marvel at the glorious Star of Heaven that is its source. Those piles and piles of grace were poured out from the absolute fullness of Jesus, of which John reminds us we have all received and can enjoy -- each and every day, no matter what our circumstances!

So if grace is all about God's favour being available to us regardless of our merits, and it's available to us in such extravagant abundance -- literally piled into our laps and lives -- why would we ever again doubt the love of Jesus, the infinite source of infinite grace? 

© 2014 by Ken Peters

Blessed Assurance!

There is a little verse in Colossians that I have found to be one of the most reassuring verses in the entire Bible -- partly because of what Paul wrote and partly because of the order in which he wrote it. It's a verse that provides me with immense hope regarding my unchangeable standing before a loving God.

Paul wrote, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" (Colossians 3:12, NIV).

The first reason I'm so encouraged by this verse is because of what it doesn't say. It does NOT say, "Therefore, so that you may be God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with..." We weren't "chosen" because we met some heavenly criteria. We're not called "holy" because we lived sinlessly for some kind of test-period. We're not "dearly loved" by God because we somehow impressed Him with our sanctity. We are all those things Paul mentions before we've done a single thing for God (other than turning to Him, which we needed His help to do anyway)!

This verse makes it abundantly clear that chosen, holy and dearly loved are not our goals, but are the starting point in our life with God -- and for each and every day we live for God.

Then it gets even more encouraging when we realize that every one of the things God asks us to clothe ourselves with -- "compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" -- describe who God is. That not only makes it clear how wonderful God is, but it means that as we stumble inconsistently along on our journey of growing in these virtues, God graciously treats us in the very same ways He calls us to live.

But there's more! We know that because Jesus is the embodiment of each of these qualities, that it's Him we're to seek, rather than the traits themselves, in order to grow in them. We grow in compassion by seeking Jesus who is Compassion, and likewise for each. By seeing it this way, we put nothing before Christ and seek nothing more than Him. After all, isn't Jesus all we need?

Our life with God couldn't be described more wonderfully. As we begin with God, and as we begin each day we live for Him, He declares us chosen, holy and loved. Then as we continue living for Him, He simply asks us to seek Jesus, and only Jesus, that we may grow to be more and more like Him!

© 2014 by Ken Peters

A pale blue dot

Just the other day, I added a framed image to my office wall. And every time I look up at it, I'm awestruck. Really. Every time my eyes glance in its direction, I stop whatever I was doing and I stare in wonder.


The print I bought and framed is an image of what has come to be known as The Pale Blue Dot. I've written about it before. Here's some background information on my picture from that previous blog post...

It's a wonderful image taken by Voyager 1 in 1990 while it was on its way out of our solar system, more than 4 billion miles away from earth, and gives a very real sense of our smallness. As Voyager 1 grew increasingly distant, Ground Control on Earth commanded it to turn around and take some pictures of our solar system. From that vast distance, in one of the pictures, Earth can be seen as an infinitesimal point of light visible in a ray of sunlight (enlarged in the image to the right, or click on the image to the left to enlarge it).

As the famous astronomist Carl Sagan later said, "That's here. That's home. That's us." That little dot is where "everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives... every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam."

So now, as I sit at my desk, sometimes stressing over a phone call I need to make or worrying about something I just said in a call I just completed, or sometimes struggling with a project I need to complete or wondering how on earth I'll meet a deadline, I just look up and I get a dose of perspective. Because whatever I'm stressing over or struggling with, it's probably not as earth-shattering as I may think it to be. And whether I succeed or fail at some tiny task at some tiny point in the history of this tiny dot in the universe is probably not as important as I may be tempted to think.


But in addition to realizing that, I find that the pale blue dot in that image leaves me utterly amazed at how God took notice of each person on this "mote of dust," and despite how infinitesimally small we are, God sent His Son Jesus to this precious jewel in this vast universe to rescue us from our sins and to offer us a new and infinite life with Him! That kind of love leaves me in awe every time I look up from my modest pursuits and stare at a simple dot. And it leaves me lost in wonder as I think that God cares enough to draw near to us here and to wrap us in His loving arms!

© 2011 by Ken Peters

Superabundant Love

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great Cause for Assurance (church bulletin cover)

What should we do when someone divinely inspired to write the Word of God writes, "Now this is the point..."? Sit up and take notice, for it's a wonderful thing when God makes Himself so clear. I think of such statements as heavenly handles we can grab onto when trying to understand what God wants to tell us.

In Hebrews 8:1, after seven chapters of rich and sometimes dense doctrine, the writer of the letter to the Hebrews says, "Now the point in what we are saying is this..." And then he writes that we have a High Priest who has taken His seat in heaven at the right hand of God. The writer's explanation of this main point continues through to chapter 10 where he then amplifies this picture of Christ being seated in heaven. And as I read chapter 10, I feel such great assurance before God that any striving to please God seems to drain from my soul!

Hebrews 10:12 and 14 says, "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God... For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." One sacrifice -- one offering -- and then He sat down. Job done. Mission accomplished. An echo of "It is finished!" (John 19:30).

This is why the writer then goes on to remind us of what Jeremiah prophesied would one day be the case: "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more" (Hebrews 10:17). And that means that "where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin" (Hebrews 10:18). Why not? Because one sacrifice -- one offering -- accomplished it all! The sacrifice of the One seated in heaven as our Great High Priest!

This means there is nothing I can do to earn it by my own sacrifices. In fact, when I attempt to add my sacrifices to Christ's, I have "insulted the Spirit of grace" (Hebrews 10:29)! All I'm meant to do is to appreciate what Christ has done and receive the forgiveness He provides. What assurance of love and acceptance! That is why we're encouraged to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean" (Hebrews 10:22)! God welcomes us with open arms, for "He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23).

That is the point in what God wants to say to each of us.

© 2009 by Ken Peters

He loved them to the end

I don't know about you, but I regularly disappoint myself and feel the need for some fresh assurance that God actually still likes me. There are many familiar verses in the Bible that one can turn to at such times, but there's a verse in John that, for me, best brings God's love right down to the everyday reality of my routine stumbles and fumbles.

At the end of Jesus' ministry, as He sat in the upper room with His disciples, it is said of Jesus in regards to His 12 disciples that "He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). Of all that Jesus did and said, for me, that simple statement that He loved His disciples to the end may be the thing that best demonstrates His divine love. Yes, there's the excitement of all the signs and wonders among the multitudes for whom we're told Jesus felt such compassion. But it's the intimacy of those quiet words in John 13:1 -- He loved them to the end -- that gets me. Here's the 12 guys Jesus spent the most time with, daily witnessing their weaknesses -- 12 bungling, openly competitive, slow to understand, men "of little faith" that Jesus had to work with in all their clumsy humanity for three years. Matthew (ch. 20) tells us that they were still vying for positions over each other just prior to the Passion Week, right before the meal in the upper room of John 13, at the very end of their 3-year training program with the Son of God. I wouldn't have loved them to the end. I'd have turfed them!

But because I know I'm at least as unreliable as them -- and of even less faith than them -- I'm left in wonder at this Man, Christ Jesus, who loves each of us as His disciples "to the end." What an encouragement for one who can never seem to get things quite right or who sometimes struggles to just relax in God's love. It ought to lift my soul to know that the Son of God will love me to the end -- to the end of each day, to the end of this year, to the end of my life. Such encouraging words ought to change the way I approach each day, as well as the coming year with all its challenges and all its potential!

© 2008 by Ken Peters