Ponderings

Ponder: To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.

1. Tim Keller : The Acid Test of Being a Christian

How can you tell if you're a Christian or just a moral person?


2. Eric Liddell 

His life is an example of offering your body as living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Pastor Alistair Begg tells the story in his book Made For His Pleasure:

    When Liddell went to the 1924 Olympics in Paris, he was thought to have his best chance at a gold in the 100 meter race. But when the schedules were posted, that race was to take place on Sunday. It was well known that Liddell would not break the Sabbath, and great pressure was put on him to make an exception for this one event. He refused. If it meant that he would lose the chance at a medal, so be it. But Liddell was also scheduled to run the 400-meter race, and that race he entered-and won.

    Liddell had been born of missionary parents in Tientsin, China, and a year after his Olympic victory he returned to that country to begin missionary service himself....and in 1936 accepted an assignment to do evangelistic work in Siaochang. By this time the Japanese had invaded China, and in 1938 Liddell was captured by the Japanese and placed in an internment camp in China. Conditions were very severe, and on February 21,1945 Liddell died of a brain tumor.

Liddell's experience in the Olympics is told in the movie, Chariots of Fire. May our hearts be totally committed to the kingdom of Christ just like Eric Liddell.

3. Alfred Poirier : The Cross and Criticism

  He who doesn't listen to his critics is unwise.

Love Your Enemies Part 2 : God Avenges, You Overcome Evil With Good.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

-Romans 12:17-21 (ESV)

Before we get to the main subject, it's important to look at the context. This is found at the beginning of the chapter 12.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

-Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

    We ordinarily think that mercy involves helping the poor or the weak among us. However, mercy shines brightest when it is given to the most undeserving. And who are the most undeserving of our mercy than our enemies? Consider this,

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

-Romans 5:10 (ESV)

That's who we were before we came to faith in Christ! We were God's enemies and God showed his great mercy towards us. In the Old Testament, there was a propitiatory sacrifice and a dedicatory sacrifice. Propitiation means appeasement. The blood of Jesus is a propitiatory sacrifice that brought forgiveness of sins (Romans 3:25). We were objects of God's wrath but the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is the propitiation that brought favor with God. A dedicatory sacrifice was a response of thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins. So Paul says that because we experienced God's mercy through the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus, we respond by offering our lives in thanksgiving as a sacrifice of dedication.

Read more »

Here is Love - a hymn

God's love is so infinite, words can't do justice to fully describe it. Yet we see divine love in action through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. How can we live if we forget what manner of love the Father has given to us? May this hymn help us remember.

Here is love vast as the ocean,

Loving kindness as the flood,

When the Prince of Life, our ransom

Shed for us his precious blood.

Who his love will not remember,

Who can cease to sing his praise?

He can never be forgotten

Throughout heaven's eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion

Fountains opened deep and wide,

From the floodgates of God's mercy

Flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love, like mighty rivers

Poured incessant from above

And heaven's peace and perfect justice

Kissed a guilty world in love.

Tax Free

A tax assessor is said to have come to a home and asked the man of the house to list his possessions. This was his answer:

First, I have everlasting life.
Second, I have a mansion in heaven.
Third, I have peace that passes understanding.
Fourth, I have joy unspeakable.
Fifth, I have divine love that never fails.
Sixth, I have a faithful wife.
Seventh, I have healthy, happy, obedient children.
Eighth, I have loyal friends.
Ninth, I have songs in the night.
Tenth, I have a crown of life.

The assessor closed his book and said, "Sir, you are a very rich man, but your possessions are not subject to taxation."

The greatest wealth is the gift of salvation and all that comes with it.

- As told by Ajith Fernando in The Call to Joy and Pain

Love Your Enemies Part 1

You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

-Matthew 5:43-45 (ESV)

    This is one of the hardest commands of Jesus to follow. Did Jesus mean to say that as Christians, we have to be chummy with our opponents, critics, and detractors? How do we love people who don't like us?

   First, let's begin with what Jesus said. To "love your neighbor" is a command that is found in the Law ( see Leviticus 19:18) but to "love your neighbor and hate your enemy" is not found anywhere in the Old Testament cannon. DA Carson explains,

One cannot be absolutely certain how the slogan “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” developed, but it is not difficult to make some reasonable guesses. If the text says, “Love your neighbor,” then surely, some might think, there is implicit sanction for not loving those who are not neighbors. That may not be logically sound, but it is understandable enough. And then it is only a small step to the conclusion that it is entirely appropriate to hate certain people, especially certain enemies.

-DA Carson, "Love in Hard Places"

    The social mores of that time allowed some forms of personal hatred as acceptable. It still holds true in today's society. Hatred along ethnic or racial differences is both an ancient and modern day evil. Some harbor hate on those who do not agree with their values or those who possess a different moral compass. Favorite targets of purportedly "Christian" indignation have been : homosexuals, atheists, abortionists, and evolutionists. A "Christian" extremist sect has threatened to hold a public burning of the Koran.

    Jesus, however, mandates something completely different, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." See how radical this is : not only should we love them but we should pray for them also! How very rare it is to find the names of our enemies in our prayer request list. This is not something that we naturally do.

    Why should we obey? Jesus pointed out that this is in keeping with our identity as children of the Father. In the ancient times, and even today to some extent, sons followed in their father's footsteps. For example, Jesus was a carpenter because his father was a carpenter. "Like father, like son,"is a familiar adage to us and this applies to the identity of a true Christian. DA Carson explains,

In a world where most sons ended up doing what their fathers did—bakers’ sons became bakers—the parallels between fathers and sons were often striking. One of the characteristics of the son in this sort of world is that he acts like his father. If you lie and want to kill, the reason must be that your father is the devil himself, for the devil was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). Conversely, since God is the supreme peacemaker, then if you make peace, it is entirely appropriate that you be called a son of God (Matt. 5:9). So also here: if you love your enemies, then you are acting like God, and in this respect you are rightly called a son of God.

-DA Carson, "Love in Hard Places"

    Jesus said that the Father shows his example by causing the "sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." In other words, God does not restrict his providence to good people only, he also gives this blessing to the unrighteous. This is God's common grace: blessings that are given to all people, whether they are good or bad, but not part of salvation. Jesus himself loved his enemies and prayed for them while nailed on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34)."


    Jesus continues on to say,

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

-Matthew 5:46-48 (ESV)

    What makes true Christians different from this world is the way they live out the love of God in their lives. They don't love only those who are like them, they also love those who are different and those who don't agree with their views and value system. It's a way of loving that is so radical, it stands out in this twisted and broken world.

    It's the love of the Father that we are showing to our enemies. As sons of God, we must love likewise. In the kingdom of God, no other kind of love exists. Jesus said, "You therefore must be perfect as the your heavenly Father is perfect." The bottomline is that we must aim for perfection with regards to our morality because, as sons of God, we bear the name of the perfect heavenly Father.

    We learned from this passage that one practical way of loving our enemies is to pray for them. And there's more which I will explore in future posts.

    Have a nice day!

John Piper : 5 Ways to Make God Known at Work

As a Christian, your vocation displays God's glory in many ways. This list by Pastor John Piper is especially significant for Christian believers who work in places where the Christian religion is restricted.

1.  First, the excellence of the products or services you render in your job shows the excellence and greatness of God.


2.  Second, the standards of integrity you follow at your job show the integrity and holiness of God.


3.  Third, the love you show to people in your job shows the love of God.


4.  Fourth, the stewardship of the money you make from your job shows the value of God compared to other things.


5.  Fifth, the verbal testimony you give to the reality of Christ shows the doorway to all these things in your life and their possibility in the lives of others.

Link to John Piper's sermon.

May the excellence of your work help others see the excellence of Jesus Christ!

HT: Josh Etter

"Crazy Love"

    I found Francis Chan's book, "Crazy Love", three years ago as I was searching online for Bible study material that I could use for our small group. Up to that time, I've never heard of Francis Chan but I became curious and wanted to find out more about him because he was of Asian descent and because my mother's maiden name was also Chan. At one point, I wondered if he was a distant relative.

    Little did I know that God would use this book to wake me up from religious complacency. Francis Chan wrote like a prophet. He accurately describes a common spiritual malaise experienced by many Christians today - a "half-hearted, distracted, partially committed, lukewarm" kind of Christianity. That was me. I was a regular churchgoer, tither, and ministry leader. I lived a good and moral life. My life outside work revolved around involvement in many church programs and activities. But I did not truly enjoy God nor fully love Him. I thought that I did. My works seemed to show that I did. But when I examined and looked honestly inside me, I knew that I didn't. Don't get me wrong, I believed in Jesus Christ but I found it too hard to live this faith consistently. It was frustrating!

God used the book to show me what I was missing :

1. I had an inaccurate view of God.

   Francis Chan admits that he grew up believing in God without having a clue what He is like.

I called myself a Christian, was pretty involved in church, and tried to stay away from all of the things that ''good Christians" avoid -drinking, drugs, sex, swearing. Christianity was simple: fight your desires in order to please God. Whenever I failed (which was often), I'd walk around feeling guilty and distant from God. In hindsight, I don't think my church's teachings were incorrect, just incomplete. My view of God was narrow and small. 

-Crazy Love, p. 20

My experience was the same. The Bible shows us that we have an amazing, awesome, eternal God who loves us with an eternal, outrageous love. God loved us rebels and we are unworthy of his love. But God relentlessly pursued us to reconcile us back to himself through Jesus Christ his Son. I did not fully understand this in my life, hence my awe factor of God was small. I was living a "works righteousness" Christianity by generating a righteousness thru my own strength and effort so that God would approve of me. I thought that's how God loved me. Hence, I missed God's tremendous worth and power in saving me from the very thing that I was doing. I lacked the Biblical understanding of his grace. My inaccurate view of God and his love led me to miss the true meaning of the gospel.

2. I assumed that I was good soil.

   The concept comes from the parable of the sower that Jesus told (Mark 4) and also in a simile by the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 6:7-8). In college, I was a student leader with Campus Crusade for Christ. I led Bible studies and organized mission trips. I was actively involved in church. I experienced blessings from God but that did not necessarily prove that my heart was a good soil that produced good fruit. Instead of fruit, I was producing thorns and thistles and I was choking. Thorns are anything that distract us from God and chokes the fruit of righteousness that grows out of faith in Jesus Christ. We're choked by too much of the good life. This is especially true in the Western world where people are able to earn higher income and enjoy the blessings that come with economic prosperity. This comfortable lifestyle ends up becoming toxic by making us complacent. We become the sort of Christians that love and obey God so long as he doesn't impinge on our lifestyle. All this talk about radical Christian living, self-denial, taking your cross, self-sacrifice, and suffering for the gospel are major turn-offs. We'd rather hear preachers and read books that teach us how to be more comfortable, influential, and successful and have God be a benefactor of all these niceties of life.

    I was glad that the Holy Spirit had removed the scales in my eyes such that I could see my spiritual condition. Logically, the next question for me was,"What must I do?" It was through this book that I got introduced to John Piper. Francis Chan quotes him,

The critical question for our generation-and for every generation-is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?

-Crazy Love, p. 100



That question penetrated deep down my soul and exposed where my affections lay. The antidote to lukewarm, selfish, comfortable living is love. Francis Chan writes,

And isn't that what God wants of us-to crave this relationship with him, as we crave all genuine love relationships? Isn't that what brings him glory- when believers desire him and are not merely slaves who serve him out of obligation?

There is often a great disparity between how we feel about faith and how we are meant to feel. Why do so few people genuinely find joy and pleasure in their relationship with God? Why do most people feel they have to either pay God back for all he's done (buy his love) or somehow keep making up for all their inadequacies and failures (prove their love)?

-Crazy Love, p. 101

Because it's in our nature to always want to be in control of everything, we try to control even our faith. We try to muster more love for God and end up loving him out of obligation. Living this way, makes Christianity a boring, guilt-ridden chore!

    I recall praying something like this :

God I need you to help me to love you. I need your help to love my wife, children, parents, siblings, and my friends genuinely. From now on, I want to pursue loving you and delighting in you. Show me how awesome you are. Open the eyes of my heart to see how wide, how deep, and how great is your love for me.

   Right around that time, I started blogging. My first post was a reflection of his bigness as told by the universe that He created. The second post was my futile attempt at measuring his love that had no bounds. The third post was a listing of who I am in Christ - something I first learned way back in my days with Campus Crusade for Christ and one that I must remind myself daily. These were my first steps to falling in love with Jesus Christ to depths that I have never experienced before.

   Gradually, comfort was no longer living the good life but tasting and seeing that the Lord is good! Delight was no longer just a day at the movies or at an ice cream shop but became meditating on the Word of God regularly, wanting to know more of God and his infinite worth. I became dissatisfied with settling for less on Sundays : sermons that make God seem small and man big, a worship experience that seems to say to God, "Lord watch me worship you, you're gonna like it," rather than exalting God's majesty and greatness. For the past three years, I have seen this law at work : if I replace Jesus with something or someone else of lesser value, I will never be truly satisfied.

   On second thought, I am related to Francis Chan through our faith in Jesus Christ. We're brothers!

Ponderings

Ponder: To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.

1. Spiritual poverty :

- Living your life knowing only 10 verses in the Bible. For some, it's John 3:16 and not much else.

-Listening to a sermon where Jesus is hardly mentioned. But you get 10 tips on how to be successful and how to stop worrying.

-Going to church and doing ministry without ever knowing the good news in the Gospel.

2. Found this observation from a blog :

"Theology is practiced in most decision making processes, whether one realizes it or not.”


Everyone has a theology, even an atheist. Either he believes that there is no God, or isn't sure that one exists. That's still theology.

3. The Internet of Things  - In 2008, more "things" were connected to the Internet than people. This technology will change the world. And here's a video showing how:

Amazing isn't it? But for all its promise, we need to remember this :

"And though we have the technology for straightening roads and integrating information, it is beyond us to straighten and integrate human character. Man needs God for that."  - JI Packer

Tim Keller : On True Love

In his book, The King's Cross, Tim Keller gives valuable insight on the difference between false and true love, fake and authentic love.

FALSE LOVE

1. False love's aim is to use the other person to fulfill your happiness.

2. Conditional - You give it only as long as the person is affirming you and meeting your needs.

3. Non-vulnerable. You hold back so that you can cut your losses if necessary.

TRUE LOVE

1. In true love your aim is to spend yourself and use yourself for the happiness of the other, because your greatest joy is that person's joy.

2. Unconditional - You give it regardless of whether your loved one is meeting your needs.

3. Radically Vulnerable - You spend everything, hold nothing back, give it all away.

OUR REAL PROBLEM

Nobody is actually fully capable of giving true love. Tim Keller writes,

"All our love is somewhat fake. How so? Because we need to be loved like we need air and water. We can't live without love. That means there is a certain mercenary quality to our relationships. We look for people whose love would really affirm us. We invest our love only where we know we'll get a good return. Of course when we do that, our love is conditional and non-vulnerable because we're not loving the person simply for himself or herself; we're loving the person partly for the love we're getting."

We feel abused or manipulated when we're on the receiving end of fake love. We must also be aware that our love may be motivated by self-interests.

THE SOLUTION

"What we need is someone to love us who doesn't need us at all. Someone who loves us radically, unconditionally, vulnerably. Someone who loves us just for our sake. If we received that kind of love, that would so assure us of our value, it would so fill us up, that we could start to give love like that too. Who can give love with no need? Jesus."

A true Christian remains in the love of Christ. Being loved by Jesus enables us to love friends and family with true love, a love without neediness. All the fakery and manipulativeness of human love fades away and the love of Jesus Christ, the only true love, will be operative in our relationships.

God's Love and Your Obedience

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

-John 15:10-11 (ESV)

   Jesus' love precedes our love for him and we know this in Scripture (1 John 4:19). Abiding or remaining in his love is linked to our obedience. Now this connection may not be obvious. The key is in recognizing that a Christian's relationship with God is the same as the Son's relationship with the Father.

    A true Christian enjoys a loving relationship with God with the same kind of affection that the Father and his Son have with each other. God's love creates in us a desire to obey his commandments with the same gladness and willingness as the Son obeys the Father. The by-product of this relationship is joy to the fullest. What kind of joy? The same joy that Jesus has with the Father. This is the nature of our relationship with God. And we have it through faith in Jesus Christ.

    Hard to believe isn't it? Sounds impossible, you may think, as you look at the mess in your life. Maybe not. God's gift of salvation is infinitely lavish in accord with his glory and majesty! God does not give cheap gifts. The apostle Paul says this,

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

-Romans 8:32 (ESV) 

Two implications, one is a call to self-examination of your Christianity and the second is a clarification of your Christian identity.

1. God's love is not in you when your Christianity does not culminate in practical righteousness.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

-1 John 2:3-6 (ESV)

    Alexander MacLaren commented, "We are tempted to make too much of the emotions of the religious life and too little of its persistent, dogged obedience." When we only seek the "spiritual high" on Sundays and prefer not to listen to sin-convicting, weighty sermons but only uplifting sermons that make us feel good, how can we learn how to live in righteousness? If we neglect the pursuit of holiness and tolerate the presence of "small, respectable" sins in our daily living, can we truly say that we're Christians? Unless your life backs it up, your public demonstrations of your love for Jesus are in vain.

2. The reality of God's love in you shows in how you live your life.

   John Piper says that when you experience God's love in your heart, you will renounce all known attitudes and behaviors that contradict this demonstration of love to you. Righteousness is attained first by faith then by love. We come to know and believe that God loves us, we love him in return, and love is perfected when we keep his commandments. Some Christians are frustrated that they are struggling in sin and hence, wonder about the reality of their faith. Yet this is exactly how the love of God works in us. We will hate the presence of sin in our lives, we will get rid of sin's entanglements, we will resist the enemy, and we will strive to obey the commands of Jesus Christ.

  So where do you think you stand? Does your Christian life affirm the love of God or does it confirm the absence of divine romance?

Perspective on Failure Part 4 - Grace That Restores

    Peter was at a crossroads. After denying Jesus three times, he did not quite know what his future held. Did this mean an end to his calling as one of the 12 disciples? We experience this sad refrain even today. Some failures are so bad they kill careers, tarnish reputations, and put permanent shame on the person. Peter's failure belonged in this category. He blew it! He was never going to be a fisher of men now, just an ordinary fisherman. He wasn't Peter the Rock by any stretch, more like a stone that easily crumbles. The Peter who rightly confessed that Jesus is the Christ, had put his foot in his mouth once again and this time the harm was unrepairable.

    But Jesus is greater and stronger than all human weakness. Peter was not chosen as a disciple because he had the talent and gifts that was necessary for the job. It was all solely by the irresistible grace of Jesus. It was Jesus who called Peter to follow him. It was Jesus who called Peter blessed and likened him to a rock. No circumstance, no person, not even Satan, can thwart the purposes of the sovereign God.

    Jesus is able to restore Peter because he had completely paid for Peter's denial on the cross.  Satan's accusation against Peter had no power because through Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross, Peter stood forgiven before God. That remains true today. There's thousands of ways that we stumble and fall and for each of these we stand guiltless because of the cross. Our failures, driven by sinful desires, condemn us but Jesus took them upon himself so that we are condemned no longer (Romans 8:31-39). That's lavish grace. That's why we call Jesus, Savior!

    The story of Peter's restoration is found in John 21. This was after the crucifixion. Jesus had rose again and appeared at various times with the disciples and other people. Peter and the other disciples went to Galilee as Jesus instructed them to do before Jesus' trial and crucifixion. Peter and the other disciples were fishing all night and had not caught anything. The irony in this is that even in fishing, supposedly Peter's expertise, he still failed (John 21:3)!

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

   When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

-John 21:4-14 (ESV)

    Jesus knew where the fish was and commanded them to throw it on the right side of the boat. And they caught fish! Jesus is demonstrating to his disciples that for them to succeed they must totally depend on him even right down to their provision. It is Jesus who has the authority and power that they will need to accomplish their commission to spreading the gospel.

    In the midst of failure, we seek redemption, restoration, acceptance, and fellowship with the person we have wronged. Perhaps, that's what drove Peter to jump into the water and swim to shore towards Jesus. As the disciples got out on land, Jesus was preparing a meal for them."Come and have breakfast," Jesus said. Realize the significance of this scene, especially with Peter. Jesus also invited for breakfast the guy who denied knowing him three times. Sharing a meal is sign of fellowship. He didn't give Peter the cold treatment. Jesus did not count Peter's failure against him. Instead, they ate together. That's grace.

    After breakfast, Jesus and Peter finally had the talk over what happened that fateful night in the courtyard.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you."

Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

-John 21:15-17 (ESV)

    There was no recrimination whatsoever with Jesus, only acceptance. Jesus restores Peter three times for the three denials that Peter had done. In each instance, Jesus asks, "Peter, do you love me?" Loving Jesus means to treasure him, to delight in him, and to put our trust in him. Each time Peter says yes and was grieved when Jesus asks him for the third time. "Lord you know everything," Peter said. Peter knew that Jesus could see what's in his heart. Jesus, who had previously discerned his prideful heart, could also see that his love was genuine. When we truly experience God's kindness, it leads to repentance (Romans 2:4) and a right relationship with God. Peter's love for Jesus was borne out of gratefulness of the mercies of God. We love God because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). It isn't the other way around. Indeed that's what Jesus sees and appropriately re-commissions Peter three times. If Peter's failure defined him, he would have remained a fisherman. But because Jesus' forgiveness defined him, he became a fisher of men : a fearless evangelist who played a key role in the founding of the early church and the spread of the gospel.

    The guilt of past failures and sins can haunt and inhibit us in many ways. Satan uses it in his accusations against us. But God's grace is greater than our sin. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We are set free. What a joyful life it is to be forgiven and to be reconciled to God. And when we live under the grace of God, our failures do not destroy us.

Ponderings

Ponder: To reflect or consider with thoroughness and care.



1. Jesus is my Savior. Is he my Lord?

2. I love Jesus. Under my own terms or under the gospel?

3. I'm all convinced that God is Sovereign. Am I just as convinced that he is good?

4. Sundays: entertainment-oriented or Bible-oriented worship?

5. Paradoxes in Christian living: suffering and comfort, humility and glory.

6. Government leaders : rant or pray?

7. AND LASTLY....

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us."

-2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

Indiana Jones got his theology right. It's the carpenter's cup that is able to bear God's glory. Not the golden chalice of kings. Why? Because God doesn't want you to keep staring at the cup.

Video is in Spanish...can't find the English version but you'll get the story.

A Sign You Are Growing in Grace....

    Compiled by Timmy Brister, these are a series of tweets by Scotty Smith on "signs that you are growing in grace". I've selected a few that made me laugh and repent. For more go to Timmy Brister's blog.

How little we know and how much we still have to learn about living in the grace of God!

A sign you are growing in grace is that you are more disgusted with your critical spirit than offended by others’ sins.

A sign you’re growing in grace: As intriguing as iPhones, iPads and all things “i” are, only Jesus is compelling to you.

A sign you’re growing in grace is a commitment to pray for people you’d really rather gossip about.

A sign your’e growing in grace: If you don’t know, you don’t pretend you do.

A sign you’re growing in grace. The gospel still astonishes and humbles you. It’s not just cliche or the name of your tribe.

A sign you’re growing in grace is praying for our government rather than simply being cynical about our government.

A sign you’re growing in grace: The time span between your foolishness and your repenting has gone from days to hours.

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Perspective on Failure Part 3 - Jesus Turns Failure Into Good

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, "You also were with Jesus the Galilean."


But he denied it before them all, saying, "I do not know what you mean."


And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth."


And again he denied it with an oath: "I do not know the man."


After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you."


Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know the man."


And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

-Matthew 26:69-75 (ESV)

    Peter, the loyal, passionate, temperamental, impulsive, and quick-tongued disciple had indeed denied his friend. Jesus turned and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61) and when their eyes met, the disciple immediately remembered Jesus' words. In despair, Peter went out and wept bitterly. The number one ranked disciple had failed!

     Previously, I quoted Pastor Dave Harvey,"If God is truly sovereign, there must be a place for our failures in his plan." Truly this is the case for in Luke's version of the story, we see Jesus saying to Peter this:

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."

-Luke 22:31-32 (ESV)

Sean MacEntee

    Peter's failure had a purpose. Satan was going to sift Peter like wheat. Sifting is the process of separating the true wheat from the chaff. In other words, Satan wanted to test Peter in order to prove that this disciple wasn't real about his faith in Christ. He did it by exploiting Peter's weakness,his pride and bravado. Yet Peter's failure wasn't going to accomplish what Satan had hoped. Peter had Jesus on his side, praying for him and assuring him that he was going to survive this test. In fact, this failure didn't end Peter's apostolic call. Rather, he would come out of it stronger in faith and would in turn strengthen the other disciples. I can imagine Peter saying to his brothers, "If Jesus can redeem a failure like me, surely he will redeem you!"

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