John 6:52-59

Hmmm... I don’t know if it’s the busyness of Missions Conference week or just spiritual lethargy, but I’m having a hard time getting in the word lately. Probably a little bit of both. If you read this anytime near when I post it, please pray that God would incline my heart to His word (Ps 119:36) and that I would discipline myself for godliness (1 Tim 4:7). Thanks!

Anyway, on to the passage at hand… Jesus describes the gospel in the most interesting terms: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (v 54). What does that mean? Jesus explains Himself in v 56: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.” This sounds like the language of John 15, where He says: “Abide in Me and I in you.” The strong connotations of life-giving fellowship are there. This gets more clear in the next verse: “As… I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he shall live because of me.”

So back to the original point about the gospel… Jesus says two things here about eating His flesh: eating Christ’s flesh leads to heaven (v 54) and eating Christ’s flesh is life-giving fellowship (v 56). Connecting these two means that the gospel brings us into life-giving fellowship with Christ. Or, better said, those in intimate fellowship are those who get life. Knowing Christ in personal experience isn’t a nice extra—it’s the gospel!

1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Some verses are so profoundly convicting, they leave me speechless. This is one of them.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Jesus’ death bought not only forgiveness and heaven for me, but also holiness and godliness in this life. Sometimes my progress in sanctification seems so slow, but I don’t have to despair—Jesus’ death assures my growth. And then there are those times when I am more aware of my progress and growth, but I can resist the temptation to boast—Jesus’ death empowered those changes in me, not me.

I especially love the paradox of the last line: my spiritual and physical health was purchased by Jesus’ spiritual and physical suffering. Healing comes to us by the wounding of Another.

1 Peter 2:9

I'm back at The Springs, this time for an elders’ retreat. I do so love this place! This morning I couldn’t help reading over my journal entries here at Gilman from my two other visits this year. Lots of memories. Lots of emotions. Lots of experiences with God.

Anyway, this is an amazing verse, the way Peter talks about the church and what we are to God—“a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” But I’m particularly struck by the phrase “called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Pre-salvation = darkness. Salvation = light. Darkness implies ignorance, immorality, alienation, loneliness, and all that comes from not knowing God. But when He called me into His marvelous light, all that changed. I know what I ought, I live like I ought, I love Who I ought because He called out my name in the darkness and summoned me to live with Him in the light.

Why did He do it? Simply because He chose to have mercy upon me (v 10, cf. Rom 9:15). And what comes to my heart when I meditate on these things? Humility and joy…

1 Peter 1:13-25

Peter opens this letter with a gushing torrent of exultation in the gospel (vv 1-12). There’s lots of amazing stuff in those opening paragraphs, but it leaves us begging to know what to do with all this glorious truth. Happily, he gets right to the point with two broad categories of application: 1) think a certain way and 2) act a certain way.

How to THINK: Prepare your mind for action (v 13). Be sober-minded (v 13). Set your hope on the future that is yours in Christ (v 13). Remember that your Father is also the impartial Judge of the universe (v 17). Know that Christ bought a new way of life for you with His precious blood (vv 18-19). Because of Christ’s resurrection and glory, trust and hope in God (v 21).

How to ACT: Be an obedient child (v 14). Be holy (vv 15-16). Live in reverence (v 17). Obey the truth (v 22). Love each other (v 22).

And just to make sure that we don’t get the idea that we ought to run out and just do it in our own strength, Peter brackets the entire exhortation with the gospel. We need to remember that these applications flow out from the glorious gospel he’s just described in verses 1-12.

The chapter concludes with a reorientation to the gospel once again. Peter goes to great lengths to make sure we know that this holy lifestyle—particularly our love for one another (v 22)—comes from a heart made pure and clean by being born again through the living and abiding word (vv 23-24). What word? The good news—literally, the gospel (v 25)!

Interesting side note worth exploring some time: Peter has a little running contrast going between “imperishable” things and “perishable” things in this chapter (cf. vv 4, 7, 19, 23). Definitely worth thinking about further…

John 4:43-54

This story seems calculated to bring me face to face with one huge question: what is my faith in Jesus based on? Do I believe Him only as long as He brings good gifts my way, or do I trust His word no matter what?

Verse 44 seems like a key: Jesus testifies that a prophet has no honor in his hometown. That sets us up to avoid getting confused by what follows. The very next verse says that the Galileans welcomed Him. At first that seems odd, cuz Jesus’ hometown is in the region of Galilee, and based on what Jesus said in the previous verse, we’d expect that the Galileans would not welcome Him. But a closer look shows that they aren’t really excited about Jesus Himself. They’re just impressed with His miraculous deeds. That’s the point of the rest of verse 45: they saw all the cool stuff He’d done in Jerusalem earlier. And Jesus criticizes them for their consumeristic faith in verse 48. (NOTE: The English doesn’t show us that Jesus uses plural pronouns here, which shows that He’s criticizing the crowd, not the single man who just asked Him to heal his son.)

All of that is contrasted with the faith of the official. He believed Jesus’ word immediately, even before he knew if the healing had actually happened (v 50). And when he learned that the boy had begun to get well at the exact moment Jesus spoke, he and his entire family believed (v 53), presumably the sort of belief in Jesus that John talked about in chapter 3—the kind of belief that saves (cf. 3:16, 18).

So the point, once again, is a question: why do I trust Jesus? Is my faith strong only as long as He keeps on wowing me with blessing and bounty? Or does my faith rest on His unchanging word and His perfect character?

1 Peter 1:1-9

This is one of those days where I just don’t feel like doing much of anything I’m supposed to do. I’d much rather be biking around Kensington or walking the Lake Michigan shoreline or kicking through fallen leaves in the woods somewhere.

I found some of the things I read in Ecclesiastes 10 pretty interesting, but I’m not quite sure how to take them. Ecclesiastes is such a strange book. The author is so skeptical, I’m not sure whether to take what he says seriously or just to chalk it up to the musings of a life without God.

And then I read Jeremiah 32-34 and was amazed all over again at God’s commitment to restore His rebel children and be good to them with all His heart and all His soul (32:40-41). The restoration He promises in chapter 33 is incredible, especially in light of His anger in 32:26-35.

But the rapturous exultation in God which opens the book of 1 Peter is what really caught my attention:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Absolutely awesome. I am going to print these verses on a card and memorize them.

James 5:11

James brings Job to our minds as an example of steady endurance in suffering. But how can we be like Job? Should we just suck it up and get with it, gritting it out? What if we don’t have that kind of strength? James commends three thoughts to help us endure:
1) God designs and brings our suffering to us Himself. What happened to Job was not ultimately by Satan’s design; it happened by “the purpose of the Lord.” Every disappointment, every stress, every heartache, every discomfort is ours by God’s set plan.
2) This doesn’t make God our enemy or a cruel Sovereign, for “the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” Every loss comes to us from the hands of a loving Father.
3) Ultimately, suffering is for our good, and a blessing awaits us if we remain steadfast.

With these ideas in mind, my suffering takes on a whole new quality. Every trial, no matter how large or small, is a gracious gift from my kind Father designed with my best interest.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take –
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and will break
In blessing on your head.

James 4:6-10

I’ve definitely felt convicted by this weekend’s Conference—convicted about my own halting obedience to God and prayerlessness and avoidance of suffering and self-pity and complaining spirit. This passage is a warning in no uncertain terms: humble yourself, purify your heart, draw near to God, and resist the devil. Don’t take God’s conviction lightly. It's time, by grace, to change.

John 2:13-22

I come to the word this morning so aware of my own sinfulness and God’s right to be angry with me. In fact, He ought to be angry, for I am sinful and He is morally and personally obligated to show wrath against sin. I read in Jeremiah 14 and 15 about His fierce anger with Jerusalem and His plan to bring horrible punishment on them for their idolatry and rebellion. And so I’m so aware of my need for a mediator, a sin-bearer, anything to hide me from Him or repair the breach between us.

With all that in mind, I come to John 2 and hear Jesus say, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The temple—the place of sacrifice, the scene of sin-bearing, the only hope for those who long to have the breach repaired. Guilty people came to the temple. Sinful people. After all, the central feature of the temple was the altar, bloodied and burning to atone for sin.

And Jesus blows the whole thing away by claiming to rebuild in 3 days what it took 46 years for them to construct, clearly indicating that His words pointed to more than meets the eye. Verse 21 makes plain His point: His body is the new temple. He Himself is the place where people meet with God. Guilty sinners find forgiveness and cleansing in the body of Jesus. Guilty sinners like me. Jesus bore God’s wrath so that I could enjoy His favor. Today.

Weak and wounded sinner,
Lost and left to die,
Raise your hand for Love is passing by.
Come to Jesus.
Come to Jesus.
Come to Jesus and live.

Jeremiah 10:1-16

Thank you, God, for this passage! What a fitting word for me to hear today. Since Friday my world has been a hurricane, leaving me feeling confused, pressed, torn, undone. But these verses put my feet back on a massive foundation of granite truth, unshakable and unchanging.

What do I see here? 1) My God is the only real god. Rival gods exist, but they are powerless, ignorant, and dead. 2) My God’s power is absolutely awesome. He formed this world. He wrote the laws of nature, and He can alter them at His pleasure. 3) He is personal, knowing His people and making Himself known to them.

Our God is an awesome God.
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power and love.
Our God is an awesome God!