It's a tie! After 21 stops, it's Fiona 16, Ken 16!

As I explained and illustrated in my pre-summer holiday post, Fiona and I wanted to do a used bookstore tour in our holiday travels this year. So we visited 21 used bookstores beginning and ending with a few shops in Winnipeg, and including B.C. stores in Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Vancouver, Victoria, Penticton and Kelowna as well as a few in northwest Washington state. And after all those visits, each of us found we had bought 16 books!

We didn't buy books in every store we visited, but we did enjoy the hunt as we sifted through who knows how many books in those 21 stores. And amidst it all, a few truisms seemed apparent. Yes, if you can believe it, lessons learned (or reinforced) in used bookstores. The simple morals of the bookstore story...

1. Everyone likes to find a surprise under the tree at Christmas, and that's the way you sometimes feel when you see that certain out-of-print title staring at you from a shelf in the back corner of a crowded store - or up a ladder on a top shelf, or in a pile on the floor, or right in front of you as you step up to look! In one store, I crouched down to look into a short little glass-doored shelving unit, and one of the books behind the door might as well have had a bow on it! It was a treat to discover!
2. "What? More words?" (General Allenby in the film, "Lawrence of Arabia"). There isn't necessarily greater wisdom in an abundance of words, just as piles of dusty abandoned books don't necessarily make a better used bookstore. Time after time we found that the vastly bigger bookstores did not necessarily have more books that we wanted to buy, but instead had too many books that nobody wanted to buy! Bigger isn't always better, and the humble store of 30,000 titles may be in far greater touch with what you as a customer are looking for.
3. If you're hungry for words that give life, you're likely to get hungrier looking in a used bookstore. We found the lack of Christian content (amidst a good deal of other spiritual content) in most of the stores we visited to be surprising and disheartening. Whether it's a reflection of bookstore owners having their own spiritual bias, or an owner simply not wanting to invest in what they know customers are no longer looking for, there either very little Christ-exalting material in most used bookstores, and if there is, it's often nothing but old obscure books that look like they've been on the shelves too long.
4. Be diligent in your seeking, but don't be reluctant to seek help. There's certainly a thrill in finding something on your own, and there are often staff who don't have a clue what's in their shelves, making it necessary to search diligently if you want to be sure you haven't left a gem behind. But some staff know more about how to find what you're looking for than you do. And sometimes we'll miss finding it if we try to go it alone.
5. "You gotta know when to walk away, and know when to run!" (Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler"). It's called price too high, value too low. I've walked away from many a used book that I really wanted because I knew it was priced way too high for something too unnecessary in my life (even for an avid book collector). Besides, a cheaper version may be in the very next store!
6. Write it down. If you're a frequenter of used bookstores, keep a list in your wallet of the books you're looking for. Memories are unreliable, and nothing will muddle your memory more than a room filled floor to ceiling with books, books and more books!
7. Holidays are for what you never have time for any other time, and if you've read this post this far, it's because you too love used books. Make a visit to a used bookstore wherever you may go on your holidays! Checking store locations is one of the first things I check online before taking a trip. I wish we had a selfie from each of them, but the image above includes most of the stores we visited this year (and also includes Munro's, a new bookstore in Victoria that we visited long ago on our honeymoon, so we had to go back again while visiting Victoria).

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Let's give Jesus all the credit!

A miracle happened. People were going crazy over it, amazed at what they saw. Authorities caught wind of it and knew they had a problem. People were getting out of hand. So they brought in Peter and John and attempted some damage control.

What a blur. What a scene that must have been so soon after Jesus' crucifixion. The intensity level must have been extreme. And you can feel what's coming as the religious leaders ask Peter and John, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" (Acts 4:7). 

Peter had likely been chomping at the bit for the entire night that he and John spent in custody, praying for God's help for the moment he would finally be able to address the same men who had caused him such fear on the night he had repeatedly denied knowing Jesus. 

So filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said, "Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands before you whole!" (Acts 4:10)

There it is! The name of Jesus spoken clearly and boldly before all! No shrinking back this time. Jesus got all the glory! 

And as I read this today, I found myself wondering how often life presents us as Christians with great opportunities to exalt His name before a watching world – to give Jesus public credit for the mercies He performs. This is obviously possible to do with dramatic miracles, but can also be done in the ordinary occurrences that we more often simply whisper quiet prayers of thanks for, such as safety on a trip, provision for a project, good health in virus season, a beautiful sunny day, a profitable business deal coming through, a baby sleeping through the night - the examples are endless!

We can intentionally and enthusiastically proclaim Jesus' goodness in all these circumstances and more – every chance we get – as we share life with our family and neighbours and workmates. And as we do, may the people around us marvel at the God who helps us each and every day in ways that radiantly reflect His great love for us.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Book Collectors Unite!

I'm easily distracted by books.

I've walked into someone's house whom I barely knew and quickly become so interested in their living room bookshelf that I forgot to engage in the appropriate introductory chit chat that's fitting when you visit someone for the first time ("...Oh – do you live here?"). And though my family knows that when we are traveling at highway speeds, I'm incapable of stopping for anything but the most dire emergencies, I have suddenly stopped and turned around on a highway because I passed an unexpected used book store ("...You can hold your pee until the next bookstore!"). But my wife, Fiona, is in on this too. We once planned a holiday in scenic England entirely around a search for used books ("...Castles? What are castles?"). But I've always taken it too far even for her. One winter day I left her waiting in an idling car with two small children in car seats in snow suits, parked for who knows how long because I "had to" investigate a used bookstore, and she didn't want to unpack the kids and bring them in ("...Can you keep the kids warm for the next hour or so?"). I seriously grovelled and apologized for that one!

The simple fact is, my one and only hobby is books. Collecting books. I know I'm not the most zealous collector out there, as I've met fanatical types whom I could never keep up with. But I'd like to think we could be in the same league. 

There are many types of book collectors.

There are the "Get as many books in my house as possible" book collectors. Genre or quality are not the issues; quantity is the issue. And quantity makes for great displays!

Then there are the "Nothing but New" book collectors who insist on books being in pristine condition, and whose shelves look immaculate and whose books are never lent out.

Then there are the "Only dusty old hardcovers will do" book collectors who swoon over the smell of old books, and have beautiful rows of vintage books of various colours which may have the occasional blemish, but it's all part of their character.

And finally, there are the "Don't bore me with that genre" book collectors who go for the old and the new, the hard covers and the soft covers, but are quite selective in the themes represented on their shelves. This one probably best describes myself, though most book collectors are likely a combination of different types.

But there's one thing that sets many book collectors apart from other lovers of the printed page: Libraries confuse us. Why take home a book that you have to return after you read it? I don't understand. If you want to read a book, buy the book. I don't want to give books back. I like them. I want them.

Book collectors don't always buy books to read them, but always to enjoy them.

When Fiona and I bought our first home, a little two-story house with a 450 sq.ft. footprint and a tiny living room (smaller than the family tent that we impulsively bought at Costco when we simply went for eggs - but that's another story (behold, the Behomoth)), we built a large room-dominating floor-to-ceiling bookshelf unit and attached it to the walls in the corner of the living room. As life went on, I added books to it with no thought as to when I might read them. Some people seemed to find this silly when they heard that I hadn't read so many of the books displayed in our living room. But I would simply shrug. I collect them, I'd explain. (Some of you understand).

The truth is, I've read a great many of the books I've bought over the years, and continue to do so. It's not unusual for me to pull a book off one of my shelves to read it many years after I bought it. But some of the best books I've found over the years have barely been opened since I put them on my shelf long ago. A few examples include...

• A first U.S. edition of T.E. Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" (I also bought a soft cover to read so I wouldn't have to handle this old hardcover version too much).
• An out-of-print copy of "The Gobi Desert" written by two intrepid woman missionaries in China's pre-communist years to add to my desert genre collection.
• A rare nineteenth-century breast pocket-sized book containing a collection of John Wesley's writings.
• A first edition of George Eldon Ladd's famous "Gospel of the Kingdom." (For this one, I also have a soft cover for reading purposes).
• An obscure book with a beautiful cover that describes the missions history of the 2,000 years between the 12 Apostles and William Carey.
• A small, gorgeously bound KJV Bible that we found in a bookstore in England that contained a long, slender, pressed leaf on which someone had beautifully written: "Gertie" South Africa 1877 on one side, and With Love on the other side. A romance preserved for over a century in God's book.

Eventually we moved from that little house, and Fiona didn't want to take those homemade book shelves with us. For our new home, we planned to buy new book cases. And when they were full, more book cases. And when they were full, more book cases.

Fiona and I have each bought each other book cases as gifts on special occasions. Why not? Isn't that normal? It has to be for a married couple whose favourite thing to do whenever we visit my parents in British Columbia is to go to two local bookstores that are both among the best of all the used bookstores we've ever visited (which is many). 

What makes a great used book store?

For starters, they have to be crowded with books in every nook and cranny you can possibly place them. Multiple floors is a plus.

And they must have a wide selection of genres available, with an obvious balance in their stock between hard cover and soft cover books, but biased toward hard covers in most genres. 

And the staff need to be knowledgeable but also unobtrusive so that you can feel on your own amidst the books until you need a question answered. 

Prices also shouldn't be so low that you wonder if you're shopping among the dregs of someone's garage sale leftovers, but nor should they be so high that you are robbed of the joy of discovering literary treasures at a discount! 

And there should be a bathroom. Definitely a bathroom.

A Bookstore Tour

When Fiona and I took our first holiday with our first child (when she was a highly literate three month old baby), we visited the official used book store capital of the United Kingdom – perhaps the world: Hay-on-Wye. It was amazing!

Now, 21½ years later, Fiona and I will soon be launching out on our first summer vacation with no children accompanying us since that trip to Hay-on-Wye. And surprise, surprise – we plan to visit 12 used bookstores between Chilliwack and Victoria, BC! Of course, we also plan to stay in a hotel right on Victoria's waterfront and re-visit Butchart Gardens for the first time since our honeymoon. But because we've been to British Columbia so many times over the years, it feels like we're done doing the touristy stuff, and we're not big-time hiker types. 

What we are is book collectors, and collect we shall. We may be needing another bookcase.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

A sad farewell. A fond farewell.

Omar Sharif has passed away, for which I feel a genuine sadness. Which is strange to me, because with all the horrible things to be sad about in this world, why would the passing of a complete stranger affect me? I think it's because of how we were introduced.

I remember feeling absolutely mesmerized as he made his entry to the film "Lawrence of Arabia." It is one of the greatest entries of a character in a movie ever filmed. Who has ever taken longer to enter a film (and I've read that David Lean wanted it even longer but was talked out of it)? 

His entry left me stunned not only because of the wonderful drama of it, but because of how gutsy it was to film for that long without a word spoken as Omar gradually grew from a speck to a fuzzy mirage to a solid form that gradually became a recognizable man. And as that man entered, he entered with a force of principle that left one man dead and another man aghast. 

But it didn't take long for Omar to shift from menace to ally to friend, until he made his exit from the film, disappearing into the darkness, in tears. 

As any of my friends know, this movie has made a significant impression on me, and I am thankful to Omar Sharif for his part in that.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

A whole lotta Good going on!

I gotta do something about this. And I gotta stop being so distracted that I rarely get around to it. I'm talking about something good. Something really good. There I was earlier today, unsuspectingly reading God's book (forgetting that His Word is living and active and changes those who look for God's truth in it), and then I read this familiar verse: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!" (Romans 10:15, NASB). Another translation says "glad tidings of good things" (NKJV). And suddenly I felt kind of excited. The wording made me feel like I'd found something that was good-squared – something exceptionally good – something impossible to overstate! And then I thought, Hey, that means I know something good that's meant to make people happy, and I'm not telling anybody! I mean, I haven't for awhile anyway. Why would I not tell people the happy news about the good things God has done?! And why would I not be happier about it myself so that people could tell I knew about something really good that's happened?

That phrase quoted above (from Romans 10:15) is referring to what the earlier part of the same verse calls "the gospel of peace." Peace with God, peace in our hearts, peace for eternity! Is it possible for Christians to be so familiar with this stuff that it doesn't make us glad anymore? "Gospel" means good news, so it'd be accurate to say that those "beautiful feet" of Romans 10:15 are meant to bring a Gospel of Good Things – things like the very same things I listed in a previous blog post that I don't mind listing here as well. Because these truths are exactly what God means by the good things that are meant to make us genuinely happy – so much so that people will want to hear all about it!...

1. God makes us His people and puts His words in our hearts (Jer. 31:33; 1 Pet. 2:9).
2. We are born again, as new creations (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17).
3. God reveals His mysteries to us, hidden from ages past (Col.1:26).
4. God is for us (Romans 8:31)!
5. God forgives all our sins, and declares us to be holy, blameless and beyond reproach (Eph. 1:7-8; Heb. 9:14-15; Col. 1:22).
6. We can enjoy God's abundant grace (Rom. 5:15, 17, 20-21; Eph. 2:7)
7. God fills us with His love so that we can love others with His love (1 John 4:7-12).
8. God fills us with His joy (John 15:11).
9. God fills us with His peace (John 14:27; Phil. 4:7).
10. God gives us heavenly wisdom (James 1:5; 3:17).
11. We have direct access to God rather than through a mediator (Heb. 4:14-16).
12. God invites us to ask of Him in Jesus' name like never before (John 16:23-24).
13. Nothing can separate us from God (Romans 8:35).
14. Jesus becomes our friend as He becomes our Lord (John 15:15).
15. God's Holy Spirit lives in us to comfort, guide and strengthen us (John 14:26; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:16, 22-23).
16. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).
17. We are children of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:15-17).
18. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
19. We're given everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
20. God sanctifies us by helping us to grow mature (2 Thess. 2:13).
21. God gives each of us spiritual gifts for works of service (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:7).
22. God prepares good works for us to do for Him (Eph. 2:10).
23. We are included on a mission of eternal significance (Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:21; Acts 1:8).
24. We become God's partners in His work (1 Cor. 3:9).
25. We will live with Jesus for eternity (John 14:1-4)!

Good news of good things!


© 2015 by Ken Peters

Unpacking 83 words from Paul

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Just a Momentary Glance

Written after unexpectedly, and for the first time since the surgery, walking past the open doors to the ward on which my wife, Fiona, recovered from a kidney transplant four months ago...

Just a momentary glance,

And a million memories flood my mind.

I stop and stare

Down a never-ending hallway,

And yet the door at the end

Is all I see before me.

A door to a room

In which everything changed.

It is where it all ended.

It is where it all began.

Just a momentary glance,

And the tears well up.

People moving all about,

And I think of those who cared so very much.

Too many people to recall,

But one who is so easy to remember

Who gave all that he was able.

And it was enough.

It provided a brand new day

After such a long, long night.

Just a momentary glance,

And I'm filled with gratitude,

As I remember a never-ending saga

With a brand new beginning

That washes over every other thought.

A new life.

A new kidney.

New hope.

I stop and consider,

And thank the One who did the most.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Pithometer / pith’-ō-mē-tər / (n) : an instrument for assessing pithy remarks. Today’s remark: “You're so heavenly-minded that you're no earthly good.”

I've never been accused of being too heavenly-minded, ...and that's a shame. 

Don't get me wrong. I don't say that because I don't want to be any earthly good. It's just that I simply don't believe that it'd be a bad thing if I was more heavenly-minded, or that being more earthly-minded would make me any more relevant in this world.

Sure, being earthly-minded can help us to be better aware of the needs all around us and of how we can respond to those needs in order to help others. But there's another way of being earthly-minded that's probably more common and certainly more dangerous that can leave us paralyzed with self-analysis and crippled with guilt.

In the Apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians, Paul addressed earthly-mindedness when he referred to a performance-based "Do this! Do not do this!" approach to life (Colossians 2:21), and he warned the Colossians that it would rob them of their reward of a rich life in Christ (Col. 2:16-19). I feel continually vulnerable to this way of thinking as I regularly worry about whether I'm doing "well enough" at life. The accusations of the devil seem constant, leaving me unsatisfied with whatever I may or may not be doing at any given time and always wondering if I'm meeting some earthly standards at being any earthly good. This earthly-minded focus on myself and on my internal performance ratings inevitably robs me of the joy that God wants us to experience as we live for Him in this world. So much for earthly-mindedness being helpful!

Paul's advice? He recommended that those who want to be any "earthly good" need to be so heavenly-minded that we see ourselves as residents of heaven! Paul wanted his readers to die to the kind of earthly-mindedness that focused on the do's and don'ts of personal performance so that they could then live with a more fully heavenly perspective. Paul wrote: "Therefore, if you have died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to... the commandments and doctrines of men?" (Col. 2:20).

Paul actually writes, "...as though [you were] living in the world..." as though he thought we weren't! It's as if he doesn't believe we live on this planet, but live in heaven already. Talk about being heavenly-minded! Paul's attitude was that it's earthly-mindedness that we need to be on guard against, and that it's heavenly-mindedness that will make us useful in this world. Paul goes on to say that we need to "seek those things which are above, where Christ is" and to "set our mind on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col. 3:1-2). "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). Only then will we be able to grow in the godly Christian character Paul goes on to describe and to be the heavenly salt and light we're called to be in this world.

When my mind is fixed on Jesus in heavenly places, and on all He has accomplished for us as the exalted King of kings -- meaning I'm spending time seeking Him in prayer and in His Word every day -- I'll be much more effective at expressing His goodness to others! And I'll be a much more cheerful person as I ignore the earth-bound, self-oriented, performance-based, guilt-ridden legalism that seeks to devour my joy and rob me of the heavenly-mindedness that God wants me sharing with everyone around me.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Getting in on the Glory!

Picture a ramshackle gold rush town full of down-on-their-luck prospectors, and there's you, sitting alone at the saloon, depressed at the little you have to show for all your efforts. Inwardly, you're kicking yourself for being such a fool who would think that little ol' you would be one of the few who would strike it rich. Then all of a sudden, in a burst of whoopin' and hollerin', in comes the guy who started it all -- the man who long ago found the first vein of gold in these hills -- and now he's shouting something about a new deposit and about there being enough for everyone! And he walks straight over to you, plops himself onto a stool next to you and says, "Hey! How 'bout I grant you a share of my riches?" You're speechless. You stare back at him. He laughs and says, "I'm serious! Out of all the riches of my claim, I want you to have a share!"

Now fast-forward to today, and picture you or me sitting alone on a couch brooding over a stew of self-recriminating thoughts, and getting discouraged at some character flaw or some circumstance that we feel defeated by. Then all of a sudden, the door flies open with a burst of light and in walks the resurrected Jesus! And He walks right over to you, plops Himself onto the couch next to you and with a big grin says, "Hey! How 'bout I grant that you, according to the riches of My glory, be strengthened with power from the Holy Spirit living in you, so that I can keep you rooted and grounded in My love? Hey?! How about that?! I grant that you should have some of the riches of My glory!"

That's Ephesians 3:16. God wants to grant wonderful things to us from the great wealth of His glory! It's like if I had a billion dollars, and said that according to the riches in my bank account, I want to grant you a few things, then you'd be correct in understanding that you just got in on the riches of my bank account. And God wants to remind us that according to the riches of His glory, He wants to grant us the strength and grounding that comes when Christ dwells in our hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17). That means we're getting in on the riches of His glory!

That encourages me. It excites me. It's meant to get us up off that couch -- or out of that saloon -- and celebrating in the streets! God is sharing the claim He made at Golgotha with me! New life is mine! I have strength from God because of His Spirit living in me! I'm rooted and grounded in Jesus, never to be uprooted by anything or anyone ever again (Eph. 3:16-17)! And now I can actually begin to comprehend -- with all the saints -- what is the width and length and depth and height of the amazing love of Jesus, which is beyond complete understanding (Eph. 3:18-19)! 

There's no greater gift that could be given to us! As God grants us gifts from His infinite glory, we are "filled with all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:19)! Let that lift us from any temptation to feel down on our luck!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

New Covenant Drama

As a young boy, I was always fascinated with the painting of the Last Supper that was hung on a wall at the First Baptist Church of Royal Oak. I remember that I used to sometimes stand and stare at it for quite a while. There were so many expressions, so many gestures, and then there was that terrible Judas selfishly clutching his money bag. I was very concerned about that. The whole scene seemed so dramatic. And so it was.

But later in life, as I read the story in the Gospels, it seemed dramatic for a different reason. Amidst all those expressions and gestures, Jesus said something earth-shattering as he served the Passover meal: "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:20). A new covenant? What did that mean to his Jewish disciples 1,300 long years after the old Mosaic covenant had been established by God at Mount Sinai? A "new covenant" with God meant that something dramatic was happening before their very eyes!

Jeremiah had spoken of this day over 600 years earlier when he wrote, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah" (Jeremiah 31:31). What does this "new covenant" with God mean? I invite you to quickly read through this list of some of the many treasures God intends for us to enjoy in this "new covenant" each and every day! It will encourage your spirit.

1. God makes us His people and puts His words in our hearts (Jer. 31:33; 1 Pet. 2:9).
2. We are born again, as new creations (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17).
3. God reveals His mysteries to us, hidden from ages past (Col.1:26).
4. God is for us (Romans 8:31)!
5. God forgives all our sins, and declares us to be holy, blameless and beyond reproach (Eph. 1:7-8; Heb. 9:14-15; Col. 1:22).
6. We can enjoy God's abundant grace (Rom. 5:15, 17, 20-21; Eph. 2:7)
7. God fills us with His love so that we can love others with His love (1 John 4:7-12).
8. God fills us with His joy (John 15:11).
9. God fills us with His peace (John 14:27; Phil. 4:7).
10. God gives us heavenly wisdom (James 1:5; 3:17).
11. We have direct access to God rather than through a mediator (Heb. 4:14-16).
12. God invites us to ask of Him in Jesus' name like never before (John 16:23-24).
13. Nothing can separate us from God (Romans 8:35).
14. Jesus becomes our friend as He becomes our Lord (John 15:15).
15. God's Holy Spirit lives in us to comfort, guide and strengthen us (John 14:26; Acts 1:8; Gal. 5:16, 22-23).
16. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).
17. We are children of God and co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:15-17).
18. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3).
19. We're given everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
20. God sanctifies us by helping us to grow mature (2 Thess. 2:13).
21. God gives each of us spiritual gifts for works of service (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:7).
22. God prepares good works for us to do for Him (Eph. 2:10).
23. We are included on a mission of eternal significance (Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:21; Acts 1:8).
24. We become God's partners in His work (1 Cor. 3:9).
25. We will live with Jesus for eternity (John 14:1-4)!

We're meant to enjoy every promise on that list every day. And that is just the beginning of all that we can enjoy in God's new covenant with us!

© 2015 by Ken Peters