Valentine's Day thoughts

Valentine's Day.
What images come to mind?
Red hearts? Candy? Flowers?

How about nails?

Let me explain..... in this week of respite, of peacefulness, the Hebrew word "shalom" came to mind. It is commonly translated "peace." It was used as both a greeting and as a farewell!

It's meanings are far richer than just peace....it means more than just a lack of conflict and strife. It means completeness, soundness, welfare, peace.  Did you know that in some translations, the fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah is given its own title? It's called the Eternal Covenant of Peace by some commentators.
One verse really struck me, and I wanted to share it with you on this day that we celebrate all things loving and romantic. (Grin)

Though the mountains be shaken    and the hills be removed,yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”    says the Lord, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:10)

True peace and the ultimate example of love both come from the same source: Jesus Christ. 

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,.....But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 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 5:1, 8-10)

In God, we have peace. We are made complete. We are sound. The old nature is gone, and the new nature is within us.
We don't boast about the candy. We don't cherish the cards above all else in life.
It's the nails on the cross that we think about....the "valentine" God gave us is our salvation, our hope of glory, our peace in Him.

Shalom!

Prayer requests

This is our respite week; this is our time of rest and thoughtful prayer. As we pray, let's remember the requests that have been made in the past here on the blog.

Bear these folks up to the Lord in prayer, and in so doing, "bear one another's burdens."

If you have a request that you would like to share, please leave a comment.

Also, if you have an answered prayer, a praise that you can share, leave a comment regarding that, too.

He listens. He hears. And He moves in our lives.

Let's pray.

Respite

The past few weeks have been great weeks of study here at the blog. They've also been very intense, and I don't know about you, but I've learned a lot!

I thought it might be a good idea to rest and recharge before tackling new verses to study. "Respite" is defined as "an interval of rest and relief," and Webster adds the word "temporary" to the definition. I like that. We are going to pause and rest.  We won't linger too long; just enough to gather our strength.

It's important to recharge sometimes, and then resume our work and our studies with renewed vigor!

Each day I will post a verse that I feel is helpful, and I hope that you will incorporate these verses into your prayer and personal time with our Father.

Today's verses are here:

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31)

In peace I will lie down and sleep,    for you alone, Lord,    make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)

Join me in a quiet time -- let's focus our thoughts on our Savior. Think about the past few weeks of study, and ask Him if there are areas that we need to work on. Wait in silence, and pray with gratitude.

Life isn't fair, conclusion

"Hey, that's not fair!"
"I'll get you for that!"
"I'll get even with you!"
"So help me, if it's the last thing I do...."
Whether we are listening to the bickering of six year olds or the lines in an old movie, the concept is the same: retaliation! Revenge!
How familiar is that?
We all want to do it. Even if it's just a little verbal "dig" .....

First, let's pause a moment whilst I put bandaids on my toes. I am convicted that I'm needing to work on this.
Next, let's go ahead and talk about how submission means not retaliating when we are wronged.
We have examples of revenge everywhere around us. Politicians stab each other in the back; movies glorify those who seek and kill their oppressors; even in our churches people snipe and bicker and retaliate against real or imagined wrongs.
Our best example, though, is our Lord. When Jesus was wronged, He didn't retaliate in kind. After all, He could have called legions of angels to strike down His accusers. He could have defiantly, selfishly stood up for His rights -- He is, after all, the Lord and Creator of the universe! But He didn't. He always acted selflessly, even when He did confront them. And while we will never be as unselfish as He, it's an example we should strive to follow.

Peter quotes from Isaiah to show how Jesus did not retaliate or seek revenge when He was wronged. He mentions that Jesus did not commit sin; He always acted in obedience to the Father, not in self-will. Next, Peter uses Isaiah and reminds us that there was never any deceit in His mouth. Jesus didn't bend the facts to win an argument. He didn't tweak the facts to get His way. When He defended Himself, every word was truthful.
Peter also tells us (again, this is parallel with Isaiah 53) that when Jesus was reviled, He didn't revile in return. How often when someone insults us, do we blurt out something hurtful in return?
Lastly, Jesus uttered no threats....he didn't respond to verbal abuse with abuse of His own. And neither should we. Vengeance is defined as "infliction of punishment in return for a wrong committed, often involving violence or great force." And vengeance should not be in our toolkit for life:

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:20-21)

That's a power-packed passage there; it quotes from both the Law and the Proverbs. (Deuteronomy 32 and Proverbs 25) and brings it into the New Testament law of love. It's also something that we can look at and shake our heads, convicted by the fact that we haven't lived that way. How can we possibly live like that?
Peter gently reminds us in verse 23:

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (v 23)

There it is -- we need to entrust ourselves to the Father, our righteous judge. Jesus endured the suffering on the cross by entrusting Himself to the Father Who judges righteously. He knew that He would be vindicated..... raised from the dead and enthroned at the right hand of God in heaven.  And He knew that His persecutors and accusers would all be judged and dealt with, according to their sins. So He "delivered Himself up" to God.
We can entrust ourselves to God, too. The way may lead through suffering, but it will lead to the glory that is waiting for us in heaven. Our Father God is the righteous judge, and He will someday right every wrong, and bring vengeance on those who resist His authority. It's our task to trust Him, and to submit to human authority even if we are treated unfairly.

I read an illustration that I wanted to share with you:

It's the story of a Christian boy who had a hostile, unbelieving father. The boy asked if he could attend the church prayer meeting one evening and the father reluctantly gave permission. As the boy walked home after the prayer meeting, a friend saw him and offered him a lift in his car. The father saw his son get out of the friend’s car and said, “You lied to me about going to the prayer meeting! You really went out with your friends. I’m going to whip you for that!” The boy replied, “No, I went to the prayer meeting.” The father exploded, “I’m going to give you a double whipping for lying about it.”
The boy quietly endured the beating and didn’t grow bitter toward his father. He loved his dad and wanted to see him trust in Christ. A few days later the father was in the hardware store and ran into the pastor of the church where his son attended. Not knowing about the whipping, the pastor said, “You sure have a fine son. Last week in prayer meeting, he blessed us all with a fine word of testimony.” The father asked, “Was my boy in prayer meeting last week? I thought he went out with his friends.” The father was broken, sorrowful, and soon came to Christ.

Our greatest goal in life here on earth is to be like Jesus. That sounds lovely until we realize that being like Him means we must submit to proper authority, even if it's unjust.  It means submitting because we want to please God and we want to bear witness to unbelievers. It means following in Jesus' footsteps, and not seeking revenge when we are wronged. It means entrusting ourselves to our Father and His righteous judgments. (Please don't forget that it doesn't mean being a doormat. We covered that pretty well, so please re-read those previous posts if need be, or holler out in discussion.)

These principles are not easy for us to apply. But we need to consider the rebellious spirit of our world today, and ask ourselves if we are behaving properly toward those in authority over us. In all situations, and in all relationships.... Our responses to unfair treatment should be an attitude of Christlikeness. If we put our trust in God, He will look out for us and right all the wrongs.

It's true! Life is not fair!
But as believers, we must deal with unfairness as Jesus would....

So, let's live like Him no matter what.
In faith. leave it up to God.
And stop whining.

Life isn't fair (almost done)

Are ya still hanging in there? Still with me? This is an intense week of study, to be sure, and I hope y'all are still reading and thinking along with me....

I hope you have your Bible open to our focus passage, I Peter 2: 18-23. And if you have a couple of translations, open those, too. Might come in handy, today!
Today we are going to look at our motives for submission when life isn't fair. We've touched on these already, but Peter has more to tell us.
See where Peter says, "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect,"? Some translations say "with all fear."  Now, I don't think that he meant that the slaves should be afraid of their masters, nor do I think we should be afraid of our employers, in today's world. If we look back to the previous verse, Peter made a large distinction between fearing God and honoring the king (or emperor).  So when he says to be submissive with all fear, I think he is pointing back toward that relationship with God.
Here's a clue to why I believe that's the case: twice in our passage Peter says that submitting to unjust treatment finds favor with, or pleases God. He is echoing the teachings of Jesus in Luke....

And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  (Luke 6:33-35) 

The same Greek word is used there....in I Peter it's translated "favor" while in Luke it's translated "what credit." The idea is that God gives grace (the same Greek word again!) to the humble -- not to the defiant, the assertive, or the self-reliant. If we defy and authority that God has placed over us, we are in effect defying Him. So, being conscious of God, we should seek to submit to please Him, and trust Him to deal with the unjust authority.
One practical application of this is to consciously recognize that we don't work primarily for our employer; we work for God.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

If we keep this in mind, and pray that we will be good representatives of Christ on our job and elsewhere, we will be seeking to please God first.
We've talked about another motive for submission -- that is to bear witness to the lost. Peter was addressing the slaves on the surface, and a slave's response to her master had far-reaching implications in that day. There were millions of slaves: men, women, even kids. If Christian slaves were defiant against their masters, the critics could have (and likely would have) accused Christianity of stirring up rebellion. I can see the drama now..... "They are undermining the whole fabric of our society!" So, the theme of witnessing to a pagan world is an important point in this passage, as in Peter's whole letter.
In verse 21, Peter reminds us of Christ's suffering for us. His unjust suffering was what secured our salvation. In a similar way, if we suffer unjustly, it can lead to the salvation of unbelievers if they see the character of Jesus in us. The attitude we show as we struggle for our rights communicates things to the world. Having the right attitude communicates the truth of our being pilgrims on our way to heaven!
Whether we are being treated unfairly at work, or at church, or anywhere else, we may be looking at a tremendous opportunity to be a witness for Christ by our behavior.  If we yield our rights in a Christlike manner, people will notice. They might wonder why, and maybe we'll get an opportunity to tell them. Our words will be backed up by our behavior, and we will have demonstrated powerfully our desire to please God.
One more thing before we close today......there is an interesting word in verse 21, and I wanted to pause and show it to you:

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. (I Peter 2:21)

The word that is translated "example" here is literally "underwriting." It's a school word.  Teachers used to lightly trace the letters of the alphabet so that students could write over them to learn how to write. Or, like in our day, teachers put examples of the alphabet up in the room, perhaps on the blackboard, for students to look at. They look carefully and then form their letters on their own papers. Christ is that kind of example for us.....if we follow how He lived, we will form our lives correctly.
When Peter says follow "in His steps" it makes me think of when our kids would go out with their dad in the snow. They would step in his footprints -- where he went, they went, because they put their feet into those footprints. We are to follow our Savior and Lord in the same way. Peter says that we are called to the same purpose as Christ, so if our Lord's footprints led to the cross, and His suffering unjustly, we can expect to die to self and perhaps suffer unjust treatment, too. If we respond as He did, people will see Him in us. Remember we've said that many people will never open a Bible and read, but they do watch our lives. They should see Christ there, not the same defiant spirit and selfishness that they see in others.....they see defiance and self-will in those who are living for themselves, or for the things of this world. We live for Him; let them see Him in us!

Life isn't fair, continued

Yesterday, we advanced the notion that there were two questions we should ask ourselves when we are being treated unfairly -- these questions were to help guide us as we make a strategy on how to respond.
We said that first, we needed to determine if the person treating us unfairly was in authority over us, and second, we needed to discern if our attitudes and motives were in line with the Word. In other words, are we in submission to our Lord, or are we just all wrought up and reacting selfishly?

I said yesterday that I DON'T think believers are always to be doormats. I think many people take an overly-simplistic view that Christians must always endure mistreatment in silence. These folks truly think that self-defense is always wrong! But Jesus Himself did not do this, nor did the apostle Paul, who wrote under God's inspiration.
I always like to give examples so that y'all know where I'm coming from, so here goes: In John 8, the Jews attacked Jesus' character and His authority. They said that He was not only bearing false witness (lying) about Himself, but that He was also illegitimately born. Did He silently endure the attack? Nope! My grandma would say that He was on them like a duck on a June bug.....He defended Himself as being sent from God, and He attacked his critics by saying they were "of their father" the devil!
Passive?
Nope.
Silent?
Uh, no.
Check out another example, this time in Matthew 23: Jesus lambasted the Pharisees for their hypocrisy; again, He was not silent, but defended Himself.
When Paul was under attack for both his character and his ministry, he wrote defenses in several of his letters -- II Corinthians, Galatians, and others come to mind. Paul put his critics down in a strong (and occasionally sarcastic) manner. He gave solid, reasoned responses to unfair treatment.

Now, here is where some folks get confused. How can we balance these two things? On the one hand, Jesus and Paul give us super examples of vigorous self-defense, and on the other hand, Peter is talking about silent submission! That's where those questions come in.....we need to think about these things before we decide whether to defend ourselves or to silently endure the reproach.  Remember that first question? Are we under the authority of the one who is attacking?  OK, then we need to examine ourselves; we need to look at our behavior and our attitudes to see if we are doing something to provoke the attack. It may be that we've really done something incorrectly: we need the discipline, or we may need to ask help with something we overlooked. We may need to examine our motivation and explain it if necessary. However, if we conclude that our superior is simply out to get us because of our faith, then we'll need to bear up patiently for the Lord's sake.

Here is another concept that we should prayerfully consider: is God's truth being called into question? Is He being ridiculed? In that case, we should clearly (but respectfully) defend the truth. If we think back to Jesus' fake trial before the Sanhedrin, He remained silent until the high priest said this:

But Jesus remained silent.The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God:Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (Matthew 26:63-64)      

There was no mistaking His intent there. He remained silent until He could no longer, and then He gave a ringing defense of the truth of God.

Lastly, we should prayerfully consider our witness to outsiders. To unbelievers. If we are being falsely attacked on the job or elsewhere, we need to ask ourselves how we can best be a witness for Jesus. It may be that a quiet but confident answer is the most effective response. But if they already know where we stand, it may be that quiet submission is more effective. You see, if we are under the authority of the unfair person, we can appeal with a quiet and reasonable attitude. That falls under the category of biblical strategies. But if the appeal fails, we must submit.
Does that mean that we must remain under unjust treatment for the rest of our career, or the rest of our lives? Nope! There is a time for getting out from under corrupt authority. There is a time for moving from a poor employer. But if we move too quickly we may miss out on a couple of things!

First, we may miss what God is seeking to do for us in that difficult situation. He may want to teach us some hard lessons of being like Christ.
Second, He may want to bear witness through us. There are always folks who watch us, as believers, whether they are in the family of faith or not. They consider and gauge our actions and reactions.
If we are defiant, or too quick to move, we may miss out on both of these "golden" opportunities!

Life isn't fair.....how should we handle it?

OK, so we are back in the midst of a topic that is sure to generate some discussion -- hopefully it is thoughtful and we can all learn this week!
When we left yesterday, we said that we can all read our Bibles, and look around us, too, and see that life is not as fair as we might like to think it should be....
So, what is Peter telling us that we should do?
(Here is our focus passage again, so that you don't have to scroll down to our last post!)

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin,    and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (I Peter 2:18-23)

Wait for it......

I believe Peter is telling us when treated unfairly by a superior, or someone in authority, we should endure by entrusting ourselves to God, Who is our righteous Judge.

Ohhhhhh, man!
I can hear y'all now....."C'mon, Snoodles, this is nuts! Are ya serious here?"  and "But that's about slaves, and we aren't slaves!"

That is indeed one of those things that is far easier to say, than to actually apply in our lives. I read a bunch of commentaries, looking for practical, down-to-earth advice for the tough questions raised here.
I found it tough, too, to figure out how broadly we should apply the principles given to slaves, to our modern day lives.... do these principles go beyond the employer/employee relationship to other situations? Is it wrong to defend ourselves? Is it wrong to speak out when we are treated unfairly? Isn't that just making believers be doormats?
Seriously, there were occasions where Jesus and Paul and others defended themselves, and set their accusers straight!
There are a lot of issues here for us, and I want to make certain that we apply all of this properly. Our chief goal is to honor Him and become more like Him, so let's dig in!

First of all, the situation in verse 18 is a situation where Peter calls for submission, and it's also a situation where we are under authority. Peter addresses this to "servants" or in some translations, "slaves." The word does refer to household servants, but they were not just domestic employees that we think of today. Some households have the resources to hire domestic employees for cleaning, cooking, watching the kids, etc, but Peter was in truth talking to slaves. They were the property of their owners.
We immediately want to protest, "Slavery is wrong, it's evil! That's not fair! They should not have to submit to unjust authority! They should revolt and throw off their slave status!"
But that isn't the biblical approach to righting the evil of slavery. The biblical approach was to exhort slave owners to treat their slaves with dignity and with fairness. They were even told to view them as brothers and sisters in the faith.

Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever— 16 no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord. (Philemon v 15-16)

And slaves were exhorted to be good workers and not chafe at their status:

Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22 For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord’s freed person;similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ’s slave. (I Corinthians 7:21-22)

If they had an opportunity to gain their freedom, that was great, but if not, they were to submit.
Now, this wasn't a quick fix to the evils of slavery. It didn't result in a revolt, but it did eventually topple slavery. In the meantime, it demonstrated Christlikeness within the existing social structure in a way that led to the spread of the gospel..... we have biblical examples of households where slaves were part of the family of faith, and who knows how many slave owners were won to Christ through the witness of their servants?

But how do we apply this to our culture? How does this fit into our modern way of life? We aren't slaves to our employers (though we may feel like it at times! and we may inject lots of drama!). Is it wrong to stand up for our rights when they are violated by an employer?
I believe that God would have us think carefully about a couple of questions..... First, am I under the authority of the person who is treating me unfairly?
God has ordained various spheres of authority, right? (Heads nodding) He set things up....He is the supreme authority over all, but we've discussed how under God there is the sphere of human government. Also, there is the sphere of family, where husbands and wives and children have different roles. There is the realm of the church, where elders have been given the responsibility for the flock. And there is the sphere of employment (doesn't matter if it's voluntary or involuntary) in which employees are subject to employers.

The second question after that is to examine our own attitudes and motives -- to ask ourselves if we have a proper attitude, or are we selfishly fighting for our rights?  I am going to say that I believe there is a place for respectful and reasoned communication that seeks to clarify truth and show lies for what they are. In other words, I believe that if our attitudes and motives are in submission to God, we do NOT need to be doormats!  There IS a proper place for self-defense and for confronting the errors of those who have mistreated us, as long as we work through proper channels.

Are you relieved? (Grin)
We'll examine this some more tomorrow......