Encouraging Contrasts on Palm Sunday

Imagine "a very great multitude." Imagine the mixture. Imagine the variety. Imagine the riff raff. This is how the New King James Version describes the crowd that assembled for Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem: "a very great multitude" (Matthew 21:8). A mass of people.

I don't want to stretch things too far in how I imagine this crowd, but I'm inclined to believe that this wasn't an overly orderly scene, and that this wasn't a mob that had time to spruce themselves up for the occasion. I expect there were people in ragged, dirty robes, some with dirty faces from a hard day's work, and even some body odour amidst those congested conditions. I'm imagining a chaotic scene, but with Someone serene at the centre of it all: an unruffled and unwavering Jesus, riding on a donkey into the purposes of God.

But that's not all. This crush of people was a bunch of sinners. Surely with so many there, many not even knowing why as they asked others, "Who is this?" (Matthew 21:10), there must have been sinners in the crowd. Selfish people, mean people, dishonest people, proud people. I'm sure of it.

Imagining that, I can't help but be struck by that contrast. Here's the morally unblemished Jesus working his way through an adulating crowd that is filled with moral failure. Holiness surrounded by haughtiness. For despite the excited hosannas, this is a people who are destined for such a dreadful judgment that it caused Jesus to weep as He drew near to the city saying, "If you had known... the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will... close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground" (Luke 19:41-44). 

And yet, Jesus is undaunted. He presses through, accepting their praises and pursuing their salvation. As perfect as He is, He's not put off by their dirty robes or faces, nor deterred by their sinful hearts. He presses through that multitude because they are the harassed and the helpless He wants to save. That gentle Jesus on a donkey had no plans to stop until He reached the cross!

But that's not the only contrast that occurs to me as I imagine Jesus riding through this swarming crowd. This Jesus on a donkey is the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 who plans to suffer and give His life for us. But the next time we see Him riding, we're invited to imagine the heavens opening "and behold, a white horse! And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11)!

Praise God that the same Jesus who died for the masses to which we belong, rose victorious and now reigns as the "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16)! And He invites us to join "a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, people and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Rev. 7:9-10).

As we open the gates of our hearts to the Saviour who rode on that donkey, we have the privilege of following a great and mighty Lord who will one day gather us all to Himself as He comes to us riding a white horse with the armies of heaven!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

The Ultimate at Hide & Seek

Jesus has got to be the best there is at Hide and Seek. I'm not kidding. I've always been intrigued by the many instances in which He commanded people who had been healed by Him to "tell no one." I mean, what was He thinking? How could you expect a leper who had just been healed to keep quiet about it? Such a miracle would open the door for him to return to his family, to hold his children and to see his friends again! Yet Jesus said, "Tell no one" (Luke 5:14). Or how could you expect the parents of a child whom Jesus has raised from the dead to be silent? Their friends knew their daughter had died, and Jesus had just asked many of them to leave the house in which they were mourning the child's death. Doesn't Jesus realize that these people will see the child alive very soon? And yet He "charged them to tell no one what had happened" (Luke 8:56).

Whatever Jesus' reasons for giving such commands (which were frequently ignored, as is very clear in Mark 7:36), we can certainly learn one thing from these stories about Jesus: He doesn't seem to mind being hard to find. He liked to keep a low profile even as He went about doing exceptional things. And I think He's still doing the same thing today, though for different reasons. 

When was the last time you wondered, "God, where are you?" Have you ever asked that? The psalmists did. Such as in Psalm 10, which begins with, "Why do you stand afar off, O LORD? Why do you hide in times of trouble?" And yet, God is often doing exceptional works of grace in our lives in the very same seasons we find ourselves asking God that question. When He walked this earth, Jesus tended to avoid publicity so that people couldn't coerce Him to do what He wasn't prepared to do, such as to take up an earthly throne. And now that He lives in our hearts, Jesus sometimes prevents us from seeing what He's doing in our lives so that we can learn to trust Him no matter what, which is what is truly necessary for Him to be on the throne of our hearts!

We can see that He hides, but Jesus also likes to seek. In fact, the very reason He came to earth as a man was "to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). The very same Lord and Saviour who chooses to hide His face from us in times of adversity, testing our hearts and growing our faith, is continuously seeking us, interceding for us (Romans 8:34) and rescuing us when we get lost (Luke 15:4). That should assure our hearts that we won't get lost amidst the trials we face, or miss God's purposes despite our inability to see all that's He's up to. For though God may sometimes choose to hide Himself from us, His thoughts and ways being so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9), we can be sure that He will also continually seek after us to make sure we don't lose our way. 

Yes, Jesus is the ultimate at Hide & Seek. He hides from us to grow our faith, and He seeks after us to make sure our faith finds Him!

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Look for the Cross

Lately I've been increasingly aware of old long-standing lies that are competing for space in my heart with precious Biblical truths that I've also long believed. When the lies get loud enough, I find myself having to ask, what is it I'm going to believe? What am I going to accept as the truth in my life?

When this battle gets fierce -- and I know it is when the lies get loud enough to feel extremely convincing -- there's only one way to be sure of what the truth is: Look for the cross. That's because the cross marks the spot where God showed us the truth about Himself and about His relationship with us. You want to know God who God is? Do you want to know what He thinks of you? Look for the cross. Look at Jesus on the cross: the Lamb of who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)!

Jesus is the "exact representation" of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), and that is why He could confidently say of Himself, "I am the truth" (John 14:6). Jesus is where we find the truth, and Jesus on the cross is the greatest expression of the truth Jesus came to reveal. The Apostle John described Jesus' coming by writing, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). The glory John saw is the same glory Moses was given the privilege of seeing when He asked God, "Please, show me Your glory!" (Exodus 33:18). And when God's glory passed by Moses, the declaration Moses heard was, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6)!

There it is again: Truth, mingled with mercy and grace -- which is the very same glory that Jesus expressed on the cross. The cross is the most profound picture of God's mercy and compassion that the world will ever see. In His perfect representation of God, Jesus took what was privately revealed on a mountaintop to make it a public proclamation on a humble hill outside Jerusalem. God's Truth, the incarnate Word of God, hung on the cross to express the truth of who He really is and of what He really thinks of us. 

We hear from that cross the forgiveness that each one of us needs to hear as Jesus even forgave those who put Him there (Luke 23:34). We sense the assurance of His love as He says to the thief who acknowledges Jesus' Lordship in his final hours of life, "Today you shall be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). And we rejoice in the finality of what He accomplished for us, leaving nothing for us to do to earn the love His sacrifice expressed, as he shouted, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). That is the truth I choose to embrace. And the cross marks the spot where that truth was most emphatically declared.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Thinking Small

“For God so loved the world…” so therefore I should too, right? No. God has not asked me, or you, to love the whole world. So don’t waste your time trying.

What I mean is, if an entire world in need becomes my focus more than individuals I can touch in my daily life, I’ll become over-burdened, discouraged and immobilized. If I’m going to do anything about sharing the love of Jesus, I need a much more realistic and accessible focus to remain motivated.

Sure, Jesus pronounced the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 with the whole world in mind, but He gave the Great Commandment of Matthew 22:36-40 so that we would know where to start. Jesus sent us to the world, but He aimed us at our neighbours.

Of course, this is not meant to stand in the way of looking beyond horizons at the thousands of people groups who are yet unreached with the Gospel. The needs of these millions of people are far too important to be ignored. We are called to look out to the fields (John 4:35), but we then need to choose a focus and go for it! Our call is to love our neighbour wherever God leads us to be a part of His harvest.

So, contrary to what we may be tempted to think, we need to focus on less to accomplish more in evangelism. Dr. Jon Bonk writes that, "only if significant numbers of dedicated Christians will think small will anything come of the big plans that our missions, our churches, and our schools might have for the rest of the world. What would have come of God's plans to save the world if Jesus had succumbed to the temptation to think on such a grand scale as to have no time for the blind, the crippled, the little children, the gawking crowds?"

Are there some neighbours God asks us to pay particular attention to? I think so. Jesus saw the harvest fields as being the people who were harassed and helpless with no one to help them (Matt. 9:36-37). Jesus also drew our attention to the hungry, the thirsty, the lonely, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned, and He says that as we touch these who are often treated as the least significant people in our society, we are touching Him (Matt. 25:31-46). Our role in the world is to simply be salt and light as we respond meaningfully to the needs of individuals we encounter who are in need.

So don’t be distracted by the crowds. Look for people in your life that God is drawing your attention to. Look for the harassed and the helpless. Then look for ways you can practically and meaningfully express the love of Jesus in their lives, one neighbour at a time.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Fiona has a new kidney!

After over 25 years of kidney disease that eventually led to kidney failure, and after nearly eight years of diet-restricting, routine-disturbing dialysis, this last week has been one of the most momentous weeks that my family has ever been through. Though the preparation for this past week seemed to progress by inches for about a year, the resolution of it all culminated in one lightening-fast week! And at the end of it all, Fiona has a kidney that used to be her brother's and a level of kidney function equal to (or in some cases, even better than) the masses of people who live their lives with two healthy kidneys!

As I look back on this past week, I'm conscious of a number of encouraging truths that have been in play as God has been at work in our situation. Here are a few that have meant a great deal to me...

• Miracles can be medically applied. We must never belittle the miracles of medical science and of what is achievable by medical methods. And we must never be ungrateful when God uses doctors to answer prayers for healing. If the ability of surgeons to provide kidney transplants to people in life-threatening situations is not a gift from God, what is the source of such an ability, or of any other medical wonder?
• Prayer makes a difference. As Fiona went into surgery, I immediately began updating Facebook and texting many of the people I have on my phone's contact list, keeping people posted regarding what was happening from the beginning of the surgery to the the beginning of Fiona's recovery. And about two and a half days after the transplant was performed, Fiona's nurse came into her room announcing Fiona's latest blood-test results and exclaiming that she had never seen anyone reach normal so quickly after a transplant! I believe that such exceptional results were a gift from God in response to the exceptional number of prayers being expressed for Fiona.
• One can do the job of two. While appreciating the fact that Solomon said that two are better than one (Eccl. 4:9-12) and that Jesus sent His disciples out in twos, there is at least one way in which God designed one to do the job of two! One of the major measuring sticks they use to assess kidney function is to measure a person's creatinine clearance. Someone with healthy kidneys has creatinine clearance levels of 80-100. After receiving the transplant on Thursday afternoon, Fiona's level has been below 100 since Saturday evening! And today, the creatinine clearance level of her one kidney has gone down to 84! God knew single kidneys would be capable of that when he created mankind, long before kidney transplants were even conceivable.
• "Greater love has no one than this..." I've always felt on good Biblical ground when praying for a miraculous healing for Fiona, and I've both prayed and fasted on many occasions for Fiona's healing over the last 25+ years. I've asked God to heal Fiona's kidneys, revive her kidneys, resurrect her kidneys, re-create her kidneys and even transplant kidneys from heaven. But when God chose to give Fiona a kidney from her brother, it was no less Biblical than giving her a kidney straight from heaven's kidney-bank. In John 15:12-13, when Jesus commanded us to love one another, Jesus went on to expand on that by saying that "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." Fiona's brother Tim has not laid down his actual life for Fiona, but he has laid down the life of one of his kidneys for Fiona. He has given up a healthy piece of himself so that his sister could live a healthy life. Some might hesitate to make such a sacrifice. Not Tim. He was ready to do it with his utility knife if the doctors weren't able to help out. Thankfully, the doctors were involved.
• God does as He pleases. Over the years of praying for Fiona, I have gradually grown more and more comforted by a growing conviction in the sovereignty of God. To put it simply, there was a time when Fiona first became sick that I might have actually believed that human activity had more to do with the fulfillment of God's will on this earth than God's activity. In other words, Fiona not being healed meant that I or we needed to pray harder, pray more or believe more -- the problem can't be with God, but must be with me or us! If I had remained in that theological camp, I think it would've crushed me by now. But I simply no longer believe that anymore (though I'm tempted to go there from time to time). God is responsible for the fulfillment of God's will, not me or us. God is not some needy being, waiting for help to arrive. God has a reason for sending or allowing pain as much as He has reasons for the blessings He sends us, and I believe that this 25-year wait for Fiona's healing was as much about our growth as such struggles were for so many Biblical characters who had to persevere in trust through far greater difficulties (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and David come to mind, to name just a few). So as we pray for relief, God chooses how and when to answer according to His purposes for what we're going through, and He wants us to trust Him through it all.

So I'm continuing to learn that even when it appears that God isn't doing anything at all about what we may have been praying passionately about for years, He is in fact doing a great deal and has a plan in mind. And it's all intended to be for our good and for His glory, as this past week's culmination of circumstances has certainly been! I truly thank God for that.

© 2015 by Ken Peters

Reading List 2014

I like tracking on my blog what I've been reading throughout the year. It encourages me because I'm such a slow reader that I can be tempted to think that I accomplish very little in my reading. Well I certainly don't read voraciously, but when I look back and see that I managed to average more than one book a month, it's quite encouraging! In fact, I've read 15 books a year for all three of the years in which I've tracked my reading on my blog (here's my 2010 reading list and my 2011 reading list, in the order I completed them).

A few trends seemed to stand out this year. Three of the books were about Everest. I love mountain climbing books, and find that books about it are so much better than films that I keep reading more and more of them (20 so far)! And three of the books I read this year were re-reads of excellent devotional books I'd read long ago but wanted to read again. Very helpful books. But most of all, the theme of the nations dominated this year. The nations or regions profiled in the books I read in 2014 included the U.K., China, the Middle East, Nepal, Japan, America's deep south, small town Canada, India, and central and east Africa. I feel very well traveled now.

Apart from all the books listed here, I also read the Bible throughout the year. I believe the Bible is God's inspired Word to us, and of all the things I read, I see the Bible as the most valuable and the most essential for me to be feeding on.

So here's what I read in 2014. Perhaps there's a book listed here that you'd enjoy reading. And please feel free to leave a comment if there's a book you'd like to recommend that I read in 2015. Just please be patient with me, as I already have a great many books on my shelf waiting to be read!

1. Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis. This book is a fascinating look at the context in which climbing the highest mountain in the world was first attempted. Each man involved had been deeply impacted by the horrors of the Great War, and for each of them, Mount Everest was a symbol of something other that allowed them to put the war behind them. I have never been provided with a more revealing glimpse into what the soldiers of WWI went through.
2. Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson. The emphasis in the title should be on "in Arabia" because this book is more about several key participants in the Middle Eastern theater of WWI than about T.E. Lawrence himself. And in these present days of never-ending conflict in the Middle East, this book highlights the political intrigue behind how the borders were drawn after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
3. The Mountain: My Time on Everest by Ed Viesturs. Yes, another book about Everest. It was a gift! But it was given to me because I've read everything Ed Viesturs has written, and this was his latest book. Ed Viesturs is a climber who has climbed all of the earth's 8,000-meter peaks without use of supplemental oxygen, but he has done so, incredibly, with such a conservative approach to risk-taking on his climbs that he doesn't fit the reckless stereotype of big-mountain climbers. And he has summitted Everest more than any other peak. This book mingles Ed's experiences with the history of others who have climbed Everest.
4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. This book was also given to me as a gift, and really surprised me. It's not only amazing that the main character in this book survived the crash in the Pacific and being captured by the Japanese, but it's also amazing how his life turned around once he returned home after the war. If I had just 10% of the resilience and determination this man had, I would be a stronger person. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie based on this book that came out recently, but I certainly hope they make it clear how much Jesus made a difference in this man's life.
5. Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Another gift and another surprise! This book left me struggling a bit due to the sad outcome for one of the people mentioned in the sub-title. But it also stirred and inspired me due to the spiritual transformations and the Christ-centered lives reflected by all three characters featured in this true story.
6. Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town by Stephen Leacock. A Canadian classic that I picked up in a used bookstore during my summer holiday. I laughed out loud again and again as I kicked back and read this tale about any-small-1930s-town in Canada. The sinking of the Mariposa Belle is worth the time it took to read it all! 
7. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katharine Boo. A vivid snapshot of the slums of Mumbai. I didn't know what to expect from this book, but bought it because I thought it might help me to better understand the plight of these poorest of the poor in a slum that I have flown over and stared at from the safe armchair of a 737. It's a non-fiction account written in the form of a story rather than as a documentary, and pulls no punches. It's gritty and it's painful, but it beautifully personalizes a part of the world that we tend to more often merely tabulate and analyze.
8. Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee. A book I've read before but felt compelled to read again. I know few writers who can challenge me while encouraging me better than Watchman Nee does! His writings continually point me to Christ and always leave me with a greater assurance of His love. This book is no exception as Nee examines three important postures we must take -- in the right order -- as followers of Christ.
9. Poverty of Spirit by Johannes B Metz. This is the third time I've read this little book, the previous time being in 2011 (as per the link above). It was due to what I've felt God has been speaking to me about lately that I decided to read it again. After all, given how typically self-reliant I can tend to be, I knew it would do me no harm to be reminded of the importance of poverty of spirit. Though there's much in this book that I still don't fully grasp, I was particularly stirred by the author's description of our propensity to resist poverty of spirit. But Metz makes a clear case for the value of embracing it!
10. George Muller: Man of Faith and Miracles by Basil Miller. This is an inspiring biography about a man who set out to live his life so as to show the world that the living God is living still! By trusting God to provide food, clothes and shelter for over 2,000 orphans in his care, with a policy of never mentioning his needs to anyone but to God alone, George Muller's life illustrated that God hears and answers the prayers of those who put their trust in Him. George Muller's humility and simple approach to prayer has boosted my own confidence in prayer as illustration after illustration from this book testified to the love and faithfulness of God.
11. Abraham: or, The Obedience of Faith by F. B. Meyer. This book is a treasure. I thoroughly enjoyed reading an old hardcover first edition, printed in 1894, that I found in a used book store some years ago. F.B. Meyer's nineteenth century writing style is downright poetic at times as he waxes on using metaphors and imagery that enliven the reader's imagination. And each brief chapter was written with such a practical approach that one can't avoid seeing how relevant Abraham's story is to us today.
12. BIG GOD: What Happens when we Trust Him by Britt Merrick. This book looks one by one at the ordinary and yet extraordinary people mentioned in the great Hall of Faith chapter in Hebrews (ch. 11) to unpack why God included them as examples of faith for us. Each chapter is rich with revelation and application (so much so that this book can be exhausting at times, though this may partly be due to a somewhat repetitive writing style), and the focus is consistently God-centered and God-glorifying. By the end of the book, I truly did feel inspired by how BIG my God is!
13. High Adventure: Our Ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary. My third book on Everest this year (and my tenth overall!), but this one written by the first man to have climbed it. I'm always fascinated by mountain climbing books, but this book stands out among the rest. Hillary's expressive writing style is so engaging that I could feel his fears and his thrills as he described each obstacle and each accomplishment from the icefall to the summit to the descent. Hillary truly seems to want his readers to gain a very real sense (albeit an obviously slight sense compared to true realities!) of the immensity and the scale of his and Tenzing's historic achievement.
14. Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure by Tim Jeal. Ever since I read The White Nile by Alan Moorehead in 1987 I've been fascinated by the stories of those who explored the sources of the Nile and of how they interacted with the local people of that region in those times (in the mid to late nineteenth century). This book is more thoroughly researched than Moorehead's book, though it remains just as readable. Tim Jeal also does an excellent job of honouring the porters, guides and translators, without whom, there wouldn't have been much exploring going on. But most of all, I appreciated Jeal's section on the unforeseen consequences of the white man's initial incursions into these regions of central and east Africa. One example is how so much of the suffering in South Sudan is attributable to decisions made while searching for the source of the White Nile.
15. Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin's Path to God by Brennan Manning. Though I had read this book once before, I felt that I needed to read it again. In his straight-shooting style, Manning goes right for the heart of what holds us back from trusting God more fully, attacks it without mercy, and then lovingly offers a new way of living: the way of ruthless trust that dares to believe that God loves us no matter what the circumstances. Aside from a couple chapters near the end in which Manning waxes a bit too philosophical for me, I find this to be an amazing book.

But we see Jesus...

This time of year, there's so much to see. There are giant inflatable Santas waving at me from people's yards, incandescent deer grazing on snow-covered lawns, and entire houses plastered with blinking, multi-coloured LED lights. It feels like there's just way too much of what doesn't really matter to catch the eye and symbolize the season.

But that's not all. I've found that the one thing I see that really distracts me from what's important at Christmas is my own self! From self-absorbed worries about what people might think of me at a Christmas production to selfish fixations that keep me from preferring others' interests above my own, my very self is sometimes what I spend way too much time looking at and getting discouraged about.

Perhaps that's why Hebrews 2:9 felt so incredibly appealing when I read it recently. In the New King James Version of the Bible it begins with, "But we see Jesus..." Simple as that. The writer to the Hebrews had just acknowledged the fact that not everything is in subjection to Jesus (which is also true today), and that's when he adds that "But..." -- "But we see Jesus." We see Jesus who as a baby in a manger was "a little lower than the angels (2:9b). And we see Jesus who is now in heaven "crowned with glory and honour" after tasting death for us all (2:9c,d).

That means that amidst all the glitter and lights and ornaments, and despite the distraction of that imperfect reflection in the mirror, the same option is available to me. As I live in a world that's clearly not in subjection to Jesus -- and when I'm so perpetually prone to fixating on that imperfect self in me that also isn't entirely subjected to Jesus -- I want to respond by saying, "But I see Jesus! I see the One who is so beautiful in both His humility and His glory!" That is the key to me having a joyful Christmas, because I know that He will make all the difference. 

© 2014 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

Getting in on the Resurrection Story

I don't know how many times I've read it, and yet I still find myself on the edge of my seat (so to speak) when I read the story of the resurrection of Jesus. I just read John 20-21 yesterday, and I felt drawn in by the obvious emotions of all the people involved in the story. I'm left open mouthed, somewhat awestruck by it all.

Go ahead, read it like you're there, like you're watching it happen. Read it slowly so you can imagine all that John describes as the story unfolds.

There's Mary, and it seems some other women, approaching the tomb in the early morning darkness, and as they get closer, something doesn't look right. Something's wrong.The stone has been rolled away! How? Why? Where's Jesus? Has someone desecrated His body? They run away, frightened at the thought of who else might be watching them in the darkness, and they find Peter and John and tell them what they saw. What could be happening after all the horrors of what happened on Friday?

Then there's Peter and John running to the tomb, with Mary desperately trying to keep up, running through the thinning darkness as dawn gradually approaches. They find the stone moved away just as Mary said, and inside are the linen cloths lying on the slab, with the facecloth folded there by itself. Who did this? And where is Jesus' body? Peter and John stumble home utterly confused and unsure what will come of what they've seen.

Mary is left standing outside the tomb, weeping now. Weeping because this has all been far too much these past few days, and all she wanted to do was to take care of Jesus' body so that He could have a proper burial. And now someone has deprived Him of even that.

Before we read on, it's worth pausing to ask if we ever feel the way Mary, Peter and John must have felt. Do we ever ask ourselves or ask God, "What's going on? This doesn't make sense! I want to find You, Lord. I feel so alone."

That's how Mary felt. I'm sure it's how Peter and John felt too. So when Mary suddenly saw a man she thought to be the gardener, she asked him if he could help her find Jesus amidst all her confusion. Then that gentle man said to her, "Mary!" and her eyes were opened! It was Jesus! There's Jesus! Alive! Standing right in front of me, speaking to me! So she fell at His feet and clung to Him with tears of joy! But Jesus told her she must go and tell the disciples that He was alive.

Again, we've got to stop and ask if it's possible that Jesus is standing right in front of us and we haven't even recognized Him. All He needs to do is say our name – and how thrilling it is when we hear Him say our name – and we see Him standing there! We see Him where we couldn't see Him before and our alarm and despair dissipate, just as the darkness does as the sun begins to rise. We still may not understand what's going on, but it's enough to see Him standing before us, speaking to us softly and lovingly. A Light has come and we find such comfort in His light.

There's so much more we could explore from this story – a story I never get tired of imagining. Wouldn't it have been something to personally witness the resurrection? But perhaps in a way, we can, right here and now. 

I believe God wants us to experience the excitement of that morning every time we discover the risen Christ amidst confusing and troubling circumstances of our own life. He's there even when we don't recognize Him. But to make sure we do, He speaks to us in a voice we can't mistake – a voice that provides all the comfort we need! And though He may not answer a single question we have, it feels enough to know that Jesus is indeed alive, loves us, and still remains our glorious Lord and Saviour!

© 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