John 20-21

A son took his aging father out for dinner one evening.  He was excited to spend time with his father who wasn’t able to get out of the house much these days.  But as they entered the restaurant many patrons began to stare, for his father was very feeble and his weak stature was difficult for some to look upon.  During dinner, his father was dropping food on his shirt and trousers and the stares became more pronounced.  One woman loudly questioned why anyone in that condition would eat in public.  The son’s uplifting evening was now turning into one of ridicule, disappointment, and even anger.  But after finishing eating, he quietly took his father to the washroom where he caringly cleaned him up.  They came out of the washroom, settled their bill and started walking out of the restaurant when a man called to the son and said, “I believe you’ve left something behind.”  The son looked back at the table and replied, “No sir, we haven’t.”  And then the man continued, “Yes, you have! You left a valuable lesson for every son and hope for every father.” The son experienced an array of emotions that evening.

Elation, discouragement, joy, disappointment, happiness, and despair likely describe the emotional rollercoaster that we have all been exposed to numerous times during the course of our lives.  So, let’s try to put ourselves in the sandals of those who were close to Jesus, especially Peter, and try to imagine the multitude of feelings rushing through them in this text.  Maybe no one in this group experienced more of an emotional rollercoaster than Peter himself.

We know through scripture that Peter was an emotional person.  You might describe him as a “Fire, Ready, Aim” kind of guy who had a tendency to speak well in advance of his thoughts.  We see a great example of this in John 13:36-38, when prior to Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter, feeling very bold and full of pride, tells the Lord that he will lay down his life for Jesus.  But Peter is quickly brought back down to reality when Jesus says that before the rooster crows that very evening, Peter will deny Him three times.  In chapter 18 we then see Jesus’ prediction come true as Peter denies his Lord three times followed immediately by a rooster crowing.  The Gospel of Luke tells us that as soon as Peter denied Jesus the third time, Jesus turned and looked at him and Peter went out and wept bitterly.  And when you think one’s emotions couldn’t get any lower, the one Peter confessed as being “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” is crucified.  Peter’s Lord is dead and he along with the other disciples fearfully hide themselves behind locked doors.

Then, on that first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene and the other women rush to tell the disciples that Jesus’ tomb is empty so Peter and John run to see for themselves.  However, John 20:9-10 tells us, “For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.”  Peter remains emotionally devastated, remembering that he blatantly denied his Lord in public and now He is gone.

But Peter is about to be restored in one of the most incredible examples of love in all of scripture, second only to Jesus laying down His life for all. After the resurrection when Jesus appeared to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, He asks Peter three times, “Do you love Me?”  Through this one question asked three times, Jesus lovingly erases Peter’s three denials, completely restoring his walk with the Lord.  As emotionally distraught as Peter was after denying Christ, Jesus restores Peter’s relationship with Him to a point that lifted him to spread the gospel ultimately throughout the world.

It is important for us to remember, that just as the story of the son being emotionally restored by the man in the restaurant, Jesus stands ready to completely restore us in our failures, if we truly seek Him.  And through this restoration, we too, will be driven to spread the gospel to all of those around us.

John Carter

John 5-6

“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” ~ John 6:35

“Give us this day our daily bread.” ~ Matthew 6:11

Jesus is the bread. Will we feast?

The crowd’s bellies were fed, so they followed Jesus to see him do it again or maybe something even more impressive. Yet when they ask him a question, Jesus gets real with them very quickly…

6:27 “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you for on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 

48-51 “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 

63 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I’ve spoken to you–they are full of the spirit and life.”

Let’s talk about manna. It fills bellies, yet it perishes. In the same way that manna was needed for survival, we need our fresh manna, a.k.a. the Word, every day.

Don’t mishear me, the Word never returns void or perishes.  Dare I say ALL of our problems are answered in the Word.  Therefore, we need to eat daily. Skip a meal and you feel it. Skip time with the Father and you feel it. Or do we? Are we so comfortable with malnourishment? Comfortable with our ribs popping out?  He has called us to life and life abundantly. Yet we settle for a scrap here and there. We must learn how to feed ourselves. We cannot rely on a pastor or spouse or parents to feed our soul. We must get alone with the Word. We must get alone with the Father. We must experience true intimacy with our Creator. Second hand revelation will not do!

If someone came to your door tomorrow and offered you 1 million dollars to simply not read the word for a year, would you take the deal? What if it was a month? What if it was a week? For a million dollars! At what point do we stop cherishing the Word? Are we so satisfied with our sporadic fast food diet of our daily bread?

I think I can speak for a lot of us and say we are not satisfied. These words prick me just like they might be doing to you. That’s ok. That’s good actually – it means we’re still alive. Not spiritually dead.

We still have time to feast.

Let’s be quick to turn to the Word. Let’s cherish the literary masterpiece we’ve been given.  Let’s swim in the Word. Let’s get obsessed with the Word. Let’s truly enjoy the love letter sent to us. Let’s run the race with joy. Let’s finish the fight strong. Let’s make our Dad proud.

Let’s answer with Peter: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the holy one of God” (vs 68).

Holy Spirit, please let your truth come through. Let everything of me be overlooked and forgotten. And let everything of You take root and grow to beautiful fruition. Be glorified by these words. Lord Jesus, soften our hearts. Help us to cherish your Word. Teach us to feast and love it. Let us only be satisfied by you, the living Bread,

Amen.

Ben Link

2 Corinthians 1 – 4

Too many times I have heard a well-intentioned person tell a brother or sister in Christ who is suffering through a difficult situation, “God never gives us more than we can handle.”  They might as well say, “If you weren’t so strong, God wouldn’t be putting you through this.”  What an awful thing to say to someone whose world is falling apart around them!  How is that supposed to comfort someone whose heart is broken over the loss of a loved one, or is suffering with a chronic illness or a cancer diagnosis, or is dealing with financial difficulties or clinical depression or… or….or.  You fill in the blank.

It’s not a true statement.  It is a poor way of translating 1 Corinthians 10:13 where Paul writes, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.  And God is faithful.  He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”  Paul is speaking about temptations.  He says nothing about the difficult trials of life in this verse.  However, in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, Paul talks about, “the trouble we went through in the province of Asia.  We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.  In fact, we expected to die.”  Sounds like more than they could handle to me.

So how should we comfort a person suffering through life’s tragedies without coming across like friends of Job?  Paul tells us in  2 Corinthians 1:4, “He (God) comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

How has God comforted you?  Has He provided a kind word when it was needed most?  Maybe reminded you that the trial you are suffering through is not a punishment from Him?  Has He sent someone your way to give you a hug, tell you you are loved, sit with you and let you just talk about your situation or vent your frustrations, or be a shoulder to cry on?  How has He provided comfort for you?  That is how you can comfort others.

So instead of misquoting a scripture that just leaves a person feeling more depressed, let’s quote scripture to our Christian family that can be encouraging and comforting.  Let’s remind each other that God loves us – (John 3:16-17).  God loved us even when we were sinners – (Romans 5:8).  God doesn’t condemn us – (Romans 8:1).  We are never alone – (Deuteronomy 31:6).  He is close to the broken hearted – (Psalm 34:18).

Similar to how temptations we face are no different from what others experience, trials we’ve gone through are often the same trials others are going through.  Who better to comfort someone going through a difficult situation than a person who has been there – done that – and survived?

The best news of all regarding the trials of this life is this: “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now, rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Pam Jackson

Romans 12:1 begins, “Therefore” (KJV) “And so” (NLT) – and ‘so what’ you ask?  That is a very good question!  To understand this passage, we first have to back up into the books of Romans….

After Paul’s salutation in his great treatise to the church in Rome he shows clearly that the whole world stands guilty before a Holy and Righteous God, there is no one who is good, only God!  (Luke 18:19) Before Him all humanity stands condemned with nothing to say.

An idiom of speech is to be ‘gob smacked’ – literally with one’s hand over one’s mouth and dumbstruck.  (3:11-12 ) The reality of our sin is shocking and overwhelming. Yes, we all fall seriously short of God’s perfect standard (23) we are sinners under condemnation.

But this is not the end of the story…’yet God’ – don’t you just love the ‘But God’ verses of the Bible!  3:24-25 “Yet now God (or BUT GOD) in His gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”

On the foundation of our salvation by grace alone through faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ alone Romans 4-8 develops this further with our Sanctification.  Romans 9-11 expands on God’s Sovereignty to Jews and Gentiles ending with the wonderful benediction of verses 33-36.

Now we can understand the context of Romans 12. “AND SO!”  Because of God’s great mercy towards us, the withholding of what is due by His grace, kindness and compassion, Paul pleads with us to offer or present our bodies to God as a LIVING SACRIFICE.  Now here is a beautiful picture from ancient times when a bride was presented to her husband.  The father places her hand into the hand of his son to be his wife.

And so – we have the practical application chapters of Service, first to GOD and then in like manner to His body – ONE ANOTHER.  Mark 12:30-31.  We love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and one another!  One pastor took an epilogue on Romans 12:1-2 and said, “I’ll tell you exactly what that means, “If God calls you to go to darkest Africa tomorrow, you go!”  Guess where we ended up!  Are we willing to say, wherever, whatever the cost…?

We give him our bodies (12:1 ), our minds and will (12:2).  So instead of being molded into the pattern of the world’s thinking (watch any TV commercial) our minds will be ‘metamorphosed’ = to be transformed and renewed in our thinking to do what is pleasing to our Lord and Savior.  Gosh just like a caterpillar into a butterfly so God will transform our minds and renew them beautifully to be as His! Then…having a right estimation of ourselves with our identity in Christ (3) we will function in our God given gifts of His grace (4-8)  (1Cor. 12:12-18).

However the verses that really grabbed my attention this time were verses 9–18.  Seriously, are we devoted to one another? Is our love genuine?  Do we honor one another?  Are we lazy or zealous?  How about our prayer life?  When did you last pray for me or I pray for you?  Hosting and Hospitality – when did you last invite someone outside of your circle of friends in for a meal or give them a bed?  One of our pastors was great at doing both for us, right here in Lebanon.  Do we empathize with one another?  Are we happy for them and do we cry with them?

Lots of questions we could and should be asking ourselves – me too!  Just scratching the tip of an iceberg.

Rosemarie Baghurst

(see also life in Col. 3:3, Gal. 2:20 and love in 1 John 4:10-11)

For most of us, the word “persistence” can conjure up both positive and negative thoughts. Perhaps you think of a time when persistence enabled you to accomplish something fulfilling (finishing a college degree, weeding an entire garden bed, working out and losing weight). Then there are those other examples of persistence, like when a child asks you over and over again for something and you finally give in just so you don’t have to hear them ask anymore! Or perhaps when a family member persists in sharing their advice or opinion even though you have made it clear you are not interested.

One definition of persist, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “to be insistent in the repetition or pressing of an utterance (such as a question or opinion).”The Bible talks about this matter of persistence in the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). Here, Jesus tells the following parable:

“In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. ³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming (Luke 18:2-5, ESV).”

Jesus then goes on to say that if this unrighteous judge ultimately gave this woman justice because of her persistence, will not God give justice to his own children, who cry out to him day and night?

When we consider our prayer lives, are we quick to give up and lose heart when we don’t receive an answer from God? Do we persist in our prayers even when frustrated, disappointed, discouraged? Do we think, “Well, I serve an all-knowing God; I’ve already asked Him once, so surely I don’t need to keep pestering him over and over with the same request?”

If we look through Scripture, we can find many examples of persistent prayer. David fasted and prayed all night for his child to live (II Sam. 12:16), Paul prayed numerous times for God to remove a thorn in his flesh (II Cor. 12:7-10), Samuel prayed all night over Saul’s disobedience (I Sam. 15:11), and Jacob wrestled all night with the Lord until he received a blessing (Gen. 32:22-30). If we look back at the parable of the persistent widow, Luke had prefaced the story with “And [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1, ESV).”

So why does God ask us to be persistent in our prayers?  When we look at Paul’s request for God to remove the thorn in his flesh, it becomes apparent that persistence in prayer can be used by God to mold, transform, and purge our desires and grow our relationship with Him. When Paul realized that God was not going to remove the thorn, he instead asked God to help him rely on His grace and power.

Praying with persistence molds our desires, teaches us patience, and grows our relationship with Christ.If you have been praying about something for a long time, don’t lose heart. Know that God wants to hear our prayers, He tells us to persist in our prayers, and He wants to deepen our relationship with Him through our prayers. Don’t give up!

Melissa Piper