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Chapter 13

Good Monday Morning to this week 13 of 2021

“The message of Easter is that God’s new world has been unveiled in Jesus Christ and that you’re now invited to belong to it.”  N. T. Wright

a few more thoughts of the book “Surprised by Hope”

Let’s go back to the ancient Jewish expectation, which is rooted in Daniel and in the Psalms and Isaiah, that one day God Himself would come back and would overthrow the powers that have been running the world.

This is the great revolution, which like revolutions of our own day, is all about people who have been chafing under alien rule and feel their lives being squashed and crushed when they suddenly find that someone has done something to overthrow the tyrant.

That is precisely what happened when Jesus died on the cross. The “revolution” was secret for two and half days because it was only with Jesus’ resurrection that anyone could look back at His cross and say, “He’s defeated sin so the power of sin, the power of evil, has been overthrown.”

Easter a genuinely revolutionary movement that happened.

Easter commands us to think about a non-corruptible physicality, about a physical world that isn’t subject to decay and death anymore.

How about another angle to celebrating Easter? We could do in creative new ways: in art, literature, children’s games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. This is our greatest festival. Take Christmas away, and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else. Take Easter away, and you don’t have a New Testament; you don’t have a Christianity; as Paul says, you are still in your sins…

…if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. Christian holiness was never meant to be merely negative…. The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving. But if you really make a start on it, it might give you a sniff of new possibilities, new hopes, new ventures you never dreamed of. It might bring something of Easter into your innermost life. It might help you wake up in a whole new way. And that’s what Easter is all about.”

Wishing you a blessed start into this new week!

Philemon

Chapter 12

Good Monday Morning to this week 12 of 2021

Omnis Scriptura divinitus inspirata ….

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 2. Timothy 3.16

A few thoughts from Peter Enns : The Bible Tells Me So

If your dominant vision of God is of a sovereign king, enthroned above, who communicates to his subjects through written decrees mediated to inspired men borne along by God’s spirit to insure the accuracy of the divine oracles, you will likely describe the Bible as necessarily: historically accurate, logically consistant, self-evidently divine, inerrant, fully and absolutely authoritative in all it teaches.

Passages, such as 2 Tim 3:16, are elevated as a super-authoritative standard that trumps any alleged “evidence” to the contrary.

Perhaps it is not the view of God that yields the expectation of Scripture, but the need for a certain type of Scripture that yields a particular view of God.

Ot maybe a little of both?

Either way, our view of God and our view of the Bible go hand in hand—paying attention to the one will always tell us something about the other.

The Bible presents a variety of points of view about God and what it means to walk in his ways. This stands to reason, since the biblical writers lived at different times, in different places, and wrote for different reasons. In reading the Bible we are watching the spiritual journeys of people long ago. Jesus, like other Jews of the first century, read his Bible creatively, seeking deeper meaning that transcended or simply bypassed the boundaries of the words of scripture. Where Jesus ran afoul of the official interpreters of the Bible of his day was not in his creative handling of the Bible, but in drawing attention to his own authority and status in doing so. A crucified and resurrected messiah was a surprise ending to Israel’s story.

This is the Bible we have, the Bible where God meets us. Not a book kept at a safe distance from the human drama. Not a fragile Bible that has to be handled with care lest it crumble in our hands. Not a book that has to be defended 24/7 to make sure our faith doesn’t dissolve. In other words, not an artificially well-behaved Bible that gives false comfort, but the Holy Bible, the Word of God, with wrinkles, complexities, unexpected maneuvers, and downright strangeness. This is the Bible God has given his people. This Bible is worth reading and paying attention to, because this is the Bible God uses, as he always has, to point its readers to a deeper trust in him.

We are free to walk away from this invitation, of course, but we are not free to make a Bible in our own image. What the Bible looks like is God’s call, not ours.

Wishing you a creative handling of your spiritual journey this week.

Philemon

Chapter 11

Good Monday Morning to this week 11 of 2021

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared Titus 3.4 following to 7

The power source is the transforming love of three in one God announced in the gospel.
Apostle Paul wrote a very beautiful poem to help us UNDERSTAND IT.

****************
When the KINDNESS and LOVE

of GOD our Savior appeared,

He SAVED US

Not because of our right behavior,

But because of His mercy

We were saved through the WASHING

of REBIRTH and RENEWAL

Through the HOLY SPIRIT,

Whom God poured out on us through

JESUS  the Messiah, Our Saviour.

And so we are DECLARED RIGHTEOUS

By His G R A C E

And become heirs

of the HOPE of ETERNAL LIFE

*****************

Wishing you week filled with the kindness and love
of God!

Philemon

Chapter 10

Good Monday Morning to this week 10 of 2021

But above a servant, a brother beloved. Philemon 1.16

Philemon is a one page letter, the shortest book of the Bible.

Onesimus is a metaphor for us all.

This letter mainly concerns a slave named Onesimus who belonged to
Philemon and, at one time, had been rather useless; but after being with Paul and
receiving the gospel, was changed and became useful.

Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Forgive as the Lord forgave.

Christianity is a faith which erases ethnicity, social distinctions, employment status, etc. All are equal in Christ and must be treated as brothers and sisters.

Christ forgave us everything, and welcomed us in as equal brothers and sisters we are one in Jesus.

So this onus is for us, now that we are all “useful”.

The power of the gospel will and can transform a person from useless into useful, from someone with a slave mentality to a son and daughter, to a brother and sister in the family of God. Christ alone can work these holy transformations, changing a temporal servitude into an eternal brotherhood

And that, my friends, is why this little “book” is such an important part of our Bible.

Wishing you a good start to this week in this concept of justified equality.

Philemon

Chapter 9

Good Monday Morning to this week 9 of 2021

How does one find and write about “only one” verse to write about in Hebrews? There is so much wisdom shown in and through this book.

And now we have run into his heart to hide ourselves in his faithfulness. This is where we find his strength and comfort, for he empowers us to seize what has already been established ahead of time—an unshakeable hope! ¹⁹ We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat Hebrews 6. 18-19 TPT

The consolation (comfort after loss, disappointment or distress), received from God, is strong enough to support us, His people, under their heaviest trials. Here is a refuge for all who flee to the mercy of God according to the covenant of grace, laying aside all other confidences.

Though we be as ship at sea, tossed up and down and in danger of being cast away, we need an anchor to keep us sure and steady. First we experience his consolation as we hide in his faithfulness. Out of this place of protection, tent of his faithfulness we find, this certain hope, strong and unbreakable, as an anchor in the storms of this time empowering us to seize what is promised and lies ahead of us.

Wishing a very good start to this week!

Philemon

Chapter 8

Good Monday Morning to this week 8 of 2021

Today from the book of James

The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:18

St Mary’s Catholic Church in Umbarger, Texas, was an unlikely place for an international work of art. But toward the end of World War II, seven Italian prisoners of war, who were being held at a large camp nearby, were chosen to help decorate the church’s plain brick walls.

The prisoners were reluctant to aid their captors, but they agreed on the condition that their efforts be considered a contribution toward Christian brotherhood and understanding. But as they worked on their paintings and a woodcarving of the Last Supper, one of the POWs later recalled, “A spontaneous stream of good feelings began almost at once to flow among us.” No one spoke of the war or the past because “we were here for a work of peace and love.”

Our lives are filled with unlikely settings for introducing God’s peace. We can feel imprisoned by hard feelings, strained relationships, and confining circumstances. But peace has the power to break out anywhere. James reminded us that “the wisdom that is from above is . . . peaceable, gentle, willing to yield . . . . The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17-18

The best peacemakers are those who know the peace of God.

Wherever we are today, ask God to use you as His peacemaker.

Wishing a good start to this new week!

Philemon

Chapter 7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1. Peter 5.7

Good Monday Morning to this week 7 of 2021

There is no question that we live in a high-pressured time, we have responsibilities, personal expectations, work, family and alongside many personal goals. The further and the longer this pandemic goes on, the more anxiety is around, not knowing of how the illness or the consequences will change us or augment anxiety. Often anxiety can be like an inner pressure-cooker.

King Solomon wrote: “Anxiety in the heart of a person causes dejection, but a good word will turn it into joy.” The Hebrew word and thinking we find for dejection – “yashchenah”, has three different meanings, depending on how the word is read. It can mean:

1. to suppress.
2. to ignore.
3. to articulate.

A first level – Suppression

Suppression can be necessary in terms of both ourselves, and of the situation. Very often we become so obsessed with a situation that we forget that there are other important and issues. Recognizing this can lessen its intensity. The problem may still be there, but it has been cut down to size and no longer threatens to crush us. This all in regard to anxiety.

Another level – Disassociating

Ignoring like in separating ourselves from it, disassociating from it. The lesson here is that the mind is never empty. According to the laws of physics, nature abhors a vacuum, and emptiness is going to attract something. Therefore we remove ourselves from the negative by ignoring it, separating ourselves from it, and embracing “the God” perspective

A third level – Articulating

Is this where Peter comes in? Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you!

“If there is anxiety in the heart of a person, articulate it, speak about it, and a good word will bring joy. We need to have people in our lives who we respect and to whom we turn for advice. In the Torah the idea has often been advocated, of having someone to speak with, finding a counselor, someone with whom you can speak and who can help give you guidance. When we speak about something, we bring it out into the open and in Peter’s words we bring it to the Creator.

He who best can do something about it. With renewed strength and perspective we walk through anxiety.

In Psalm 55.22 it says, “cast your burdens/anxiety upon the Lord, he shall sustain thee!

Wishing you peace within!

Philemon

Chapter 6

Good Monday Morning to this week 6 of 2021

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3.9

Peter continues to answer the mocking of the false teachers. They ask, “Where is this coming Jesus promised?” They teach that it’s been too long, He is not coming. The first reminder was to remember that God is not bound to human time. For God, a thousand years is like a day and vice versa. God is not subjected to our limitations of time, or even our confusion about it, or the way we get stressed about it.

Peter insists that this implies in a equal way, as to the question of time, it implies to his promises. God is not slow in keeping His promises, He the one who set the schedule. He cannot be “late.” nor ahead of time. Instead, God keeps these His promised, every promise at His, God’s time.

For us this feeling of being delayed, can mean the opposite, it is a witness of God’s patience not his tardiness. In His love-driven patience, God is willing to give more time for the fulfillment of the promises and the enfolding of His coming Kingdom. In the heart of God is that none be lost, not even “one of the 100 sheep” as in another parabol. In His sovereignty and power God decided not to demand by force. Peter shares and show us this exactly, God’s heart for his people. Mercifully God is creating more space and time for the fulfillment of His promises.

This thought fills me with hope, it’s not just God’s patience, but His time creating more space for the fulfillment of His promises!

Wishing you a good start to this new week!

Philemon

Chapter 5

Good Monday Morning to this week 5 of 2021

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. 1 John 5. 14-15

This is the confidence – the liberty of access and speech, that if we ask anything according to his will, that is, which he has promised in his word.

His word is a revelation of his will, in the things which concern salvation and redemption. All that God has promised we are justified in expecting; and what he has promised, and we expect, we should pray for.

Prayer is the language of God. He who is been received of God speaks this language. He calls God Abba, Father, in the true spirit. Prayer also is the language of dependence on God. Faith and prayer are not boldly to advance claims upon God; we must take heed that what we ask and believe for is agreeable to the revealed will of God.

What we find promised, that we may plead.

This phrase “according to his will.” is only used two other times in the New Testament. In Luke 12, a parable is told about a servant who did not act “according to his [master’s] will” and received judgment. In Hebrews 2:4, the author mentions gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed “according to his will.”

Verses such as this clear up the common misconception that God promises to give us “absolutely anything” we ask for, no matter what. God is not a vending machine, or a robot. He acts according to His ways, not ours.

He hears our prayers, but it should come as no surprise that He responds to those prayers “according to His will”. This all reminds me of the other 3 principles; Ask, Seek, Knock!

“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7.7

Pray, as in asking.
Seek, with diligence .
Knock, persevere importunately in that diligence.

All in great confidence as we continue to approach God!

Yes, I have this confidence, but in regard to the many people I know, living in great poverty, and praying exactly these prayers, I conclude that without the faith in the confidence I am not completely satisfied. These verses remain a challenge to me as I think and pray for many in great need.

Wishing you a good start to this week!

blessings

Philemon

Chapter 4

Good Monday Morning to this week 4 of 2021

And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. 2. John 1.6

Second John was written around 95 A.D. from Ephesus where John served after being released from exile on the island of Patmos. If there is one thing to summarize the message of 2 John, it’s walking with God. So how are we to walk with God?

Twenty-five people embarked on a trip from Urfa to Hebron about 900km from Turkey to Israel, following Abraham’s legendary walk from what may have been his place of birth, to the place he is believed to be buried. This journey, from womb to tomb, laid the foundation for a visionary and hopeful project: the development of walking trails approximating the travels of Abraham and his family in Mesopotamia, who shared hospitality with people they met along the way. Walkers foster friendships across sometimes challenging divides, enriching understanding of this region and its peoples.

Walking is a tool for deepening understanding of self and other; it allows an experience of culture that is unattainable from the seat of a bus. The simple act of walking has connected people around the world since time immemorial. The Abraham Path Initiative has seeded walking trails here in order to reintroduce this storied region as one of irrepressibly hospitable people. This walk evokes the beloved regional origin story that shows up in everyday life: residents welcome strangers in honor of Abraham, a spiritual ancestor of over half of humanity.

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11.8

This verse defines the kind walk John speaks of. Here, it means obeying or walking God’s commandments, also in faith! Love is not merely an emotion, but requires actions based on truth and movement along with a selfless focus on other people

John re-emphasizes that this command is one the reader should already be familiar with and apply by being able to “walk in it” or obey it.

Wishing you a good walk of faith in this week!

Philemon