1 Peter 3:8-12. From The Message
Summing up: Be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions.
No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm.
Instead, bless -- that's your job - bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; snub evil and cultivate good, run after peace for all you're worth.
God looks on all this with approval.....
One Thing I Ask of the LORD
Psalm 27 -- "One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD..."
David's supreme priority is to 'gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.'
'Gazing' is not a one-time glimpse, but a steady, sustained focus.
It is not a look or prayer of petition, but a time of praising, adoring, worshipping and enjoying God just for who He is.
David finds God Himself beautiful, not just a bestower of gifts.
'This only do I seek,' says David.
Father, I know there is only one thing I really need in life. And I choose to want You above all else, I want more than just believing in You, joyful as that is. I want to see and sense Your beauty and love You for Yourself alone. I may not even understand that right now, but I know I want David's prayer to be my prayer, my gracious, kind Father.
Amen
Consider Peter --
Have you ever felt like your failure disqualified you from God's service and purpose for you? Like one minute you're "in" and the next you are "out" -- forever?
Peter surely did. The record says he "wept bitterly" when he realized how he had himself betrayed his best Friend and Savior!
He went from swearing loyalty 'no matter what' to denying Him! A devastating collapse (Matthew 26:69-75).
Have you experienced something like that? (I have.)
A mistake so painful that you replay it in your mind over and over, re-condemning yourself and shuddering in self-hatred.
But Jesus shows us that a single event -- no matter the gravity -- is not the end of the story!
What if your greatest regret could become your greatest testimony?
When Jesus rose, He didn't ignore and avoid Peter. He searched him out. He didn't chastise him. He didn't ask, "Will I ever be able to trust you again? Or, "Why , Peter, did you do that?"
No. Jesus recreated the scene of Peter's failure, a charcoal fire, and made it a moment of divine, gracious healing. Because Jesus doesn't just forgive our sins, He transforms the whole event -- for our good and His glory.
Would your life change if you knew Christ wanted to restore you? Not punish you or replace you in His Kingdom plan?
Read again John 21.
Are you ready to let Jesus turn your setback into a comeback?
Resurrection isn't just a gift -- it's a promise. And that promise is that your story isn't over. And today is the first day of the rest of your life!
More About That Veil! Part 2. (Cont'd from yesterday)
3 PM - At the Cross - Jesus gave up His spirit, at that moment the veil in the temple was torn in two, and the earth quake shook the area and the tombs of followers of Jesus opened up.
Notice the timing -- who was in charge every minute? God Himself! Every detail was orchestrated by Him!
At 3 PM on Passover the evening sacrifice would begin, requiring the presence of many priests in the Holy Place, engaged in their duties in front of that curtain! God wanted the splitting of that curtain to be witnessed and not disputed! And so He had an audience!
And it happened at the same time as the earthquake!
And at the cross, those witnesses knew Jesus died and that then the earth quake occurred!
There were never any arguments about when these events happened!
3 PM - the Passover Lamb was slain. Immediately the veil was torn and access to God revealed for all to see! And there was the earth quake!
So when the curtain, the sign of the separation sin had created between man and God was removed, it announced that the sin requiring the need of that curtain had also been removed!
The tearing of the veil was symbolic of what Jesus had just actually done on the cross. Jesus had forever settled the problem of sin that barred man's intimate fellowship with God. No further obstruction remained for those who would draw near to him through their faith in Christ...the problem been removed...forever!
****[note about some of those priests - see Acts 6:7 -- "So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."]
"Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded His Spirit. And, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, and the earth quaked and the rocks were split"(Matthew 27:50-51).
No small miracle occurred when that veil was split.
The temple veil was a significant feature of the temple. It was a thick curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
The priests could enter and serve in the Holy Place, but only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, but only once a year on the annual Day of Atonement.
The Holy of Holies housed the sacred Arc of the Covenant, the abiding place of God's shekinah glory, which signified God's dwelling place among His people.
The veil was massive: about 60 feet in height and 30 feet wide. It was quite heavy, requiring 300 priests to move it when it needed cleaning. It was about 4 inches thick.
With the curtain torn and open, all the old ways of worship were transformed.
The mercy seat covering the top of the Arc could now be seen by everyone with the glory of God gleaming above it.
With the death of Jesus we now have an unhindered revelation and pathway to God. Direct access to God is now permitted and is the privilege of every believer in Christ. We may now come with confidence to the throne of God and receive His heavenly grace. And call Him "Father"!
"Let us now come boldly to God's throne of grace so that we might receive mercy and receive grace to help in our hour of need" (Hebrews 4:16).
And with His death, since He was the perfect and final sacrifice, all other sacrifices were finished forever.
"It is finished," He said. He paid the final price. Our owed invoice says, "Paid in full." We are free!
He wore the crown of thorns so we could receive His crown of life! He took our punishment so we wouldn't have to. He was treated as a criminal so we could be treated as Sons of God -- Princes and Princesses and heirs of God!
Look back at the cross -- every day -- and marvel with the soldiers, "Truly this was the Son of God"!
"He took our pain and bore our sufferings...He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5).
O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
I've been thinking about another old hymn today - about 150 years old, written by George Matheson.
I didn't hear it sung much in church when I was growing up. But I do remember seeing it in our hymnal and pondering its gentle, sweetly powerful words.
I remember thinking about who wrote it and wondering if I would ever know anyone who knew God that well.
In the passing years I have met a few -- a few-- saints who loved God and worshipped Him like the author of this hymn.
I think anyone singing it must bow their head in prayer and in awe.
I really isn't a congregational hymn, I think; It is too personal. Sometimes I sing it when I am alone with God and no one is listening....
O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee.
I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths
its flow may richer, fuller be.
O Light that follows all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee.
My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine's glow
its day may brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee.
I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that lifts up my head, I dare not ask to hide from Thee
I lay in dust life's glory dead, and from the ground there
blossoms red, life that shall endless be.
He is our LOVE, LIGHT, and JOY. He is everything we want and need, but it all starts at the CROSS.
"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said 'Peace be with you!' After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.' And with that He breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit."
-- John 20:19-22
Sometimes we just don't know what to expect next. Nothing seems to be working out as planned.
Doubts whisper and fears scream at us from every side.
That's where the disciples were that night. They had followed Jesus, sometimes faithfully, and sometimes fearfully, only to stand and watch Him die a horrific, brutal death. They had no future left.
They locked themselves in a room, afraid to be seen.
Then Jesus mysteriously appeared among them.
He didn't chastise them for hiding, or doubting, and for being fearful -- He greeted them with peace, precisely what they didn't expect!
After revealing His scars, proving His identity, He breathed on them. That breath was not just air - it was the breath of life. He gave them the Holy Spirit, empowering them to move from frightened followers to become courageous witnesses of His resurrection.
Jesus was not sending them out in their own strength; He was giving them His own presence, guidance and power through His Spirit.
(What happened next? Read Acts, chapters 1 and 2.)
Sometimes we feel we need to have it all figured out before taking the first, or next, step, but God equips us just in His perfect timing. Just as He breathed life into Adam, Jesus breathed new life into His disciples and now into us.
He is equipping us for what He is calling us to do, even when we feel unprepared and incompetent. Maybe you feel tired, uncertain, or afraid. Invite the Holy Spirit to breathe new life into you and step aside and see what God will do for and in you!
Start now! Breathe, inhaling, deeply!
We call it Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday. The disciples called it Day of Firstfruits -- one of the festival days God commanded His people to observe. Read about it in Leviticus 23:9-14. In Hebrew it is "Yom HaBikkurim."
It was observed by waving the first sheaf of the spring harvest before the Lord, offering it to Him to express thanksgiving for all His provision of all their needs, acknowledging that everything comes from and belongs to God.
It showed their faith in God's providence and confidence that a full, rich harvest would follow, and their complete dependence on Him to supply their needs.
This ceremony always fell on "the day after the Sabbath" during Passover week.
(Many years ago farmers in this country often auctioned off their first bale of cotton, in an exciting celebration of what rich bounty was to come! That bale was the 'first fruit' of their labor and predicted what a plentiful harvest they would have!)
Paul described Jesus Christ as "the first fruits of them that slept" in 1 Corinthians 15:20. Just as first fruits anticipated the full harvest to come, the resurrection of Christ guarantees our resurrection and eternal live to come!
The resurrection was not a stand-alone miracle event, it was the culmination of a promise embedded in Jewish worship, a divine pattern established before and planned in advance in detail.
In Hebrew understanding, the first fruits weren't merely symbolic -- they were a sacred pledge that the complete harvest was assured.
A small sheaf of barley or wheat - the first fruit of a great harvest!
A crucified, risen Savior - the first fruit of God's eternal Kingdom - that includes us!
And now we listen for that trumpet call that will bring in His final harvest! Maranatha, Lord Jesus!
What Else Happened on Good Friday?
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
This verse talks about two transactions: (1) believers' sins are placed (imputed) on Christ, and He pays the total penalty due in full, and (2) then His righteousness is placed (imputed) on them and they are rewarded for it!
This process is sometimes called the "Great Exchange."
It's like I bundled up in a trash bag all my garbage - my sin and guilt, sadness, brokenness, disappointments and hurts and all the other negatives stuff I have accumulated and hoarded over the years - and handed that bag to Christ.
He took that bag from my hands and presented me with a treasure chest - a chest full of priceless jewels: forgiveness, cleansing, hope and joy, meaning and purpose - a limitless overflowing supply to last me for all eternity! - and a place in God's family where I could be with Him forever!
Exchanging my garbage for His treasure chest is the best deal in the universe! How could anyone ever turn that deal down?
Our Lord's prefect righteousness is like a glorious mantel that covers all our imperfections and gives us the right to be His children!
Isaiah said it this way: "He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robes of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10).
In other words: God treated Christ as if He had sinned all my sins, so He could treat me as if I ever sinned at all!
Christ took all the abuse I deserved, so God could give me that royal treatment He deserved!
It is, any way you look at it, amazing grace!
(To 'impute' is a legal term. It means to legally transfer ownership of something from one person to another. The noun is 'imputation.')
Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' Because I have said these things you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:5-7)
