Mission Faithwalk

                  Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us . (II Peter 2:11-12)                 “Even though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God…”? Huh? When Peter wrote this, the Roman Emperor was considered (at least by himself) to be a god. To refuse to acknowledge him as such was considered evil. People were permitted to worship other gods, too, but the emperor had to be among them. Many cities had their own patron gods, such as Diana of the Ephesians. Again, you could worship other gods, too, but if the city’s patron god was not among the...

                   But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)                 Yesterday, I mentioned these verses in my post. Today, it is the passage of the day on my Bible platform and I can’t think of another verse to discuss instead. It doesn’t help that I’ve discussed this passage at length in the past. So, when all else fails, go with the obvious. The singular fruit of the Spirit is all these virtues. No one consistently demonstrates all of them to their fullest degree except God, but there might be moments when we display one or another to a degree. Perhaps to a remarkable degree. Sometimes, we hear or get the impression that if someone does not epitomize all of the best of Christianity, that we are hypocrites or...

                 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13) For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:5-8) A few days ago, I focused on II Peter 1:5-8 (the second passage above), discussing it as a progression. Each element needed to be there before the next is added. Peter started with faith. Paul did the same thing, though he didn’t list them in order. He wrote, “as you trust in him.” Even though trust is listed in the middle, it ...

  A psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3) Before we launch into comparing ourselves with David as he describes himself in this passage, we need to remember that there are also times when he laments his sinfulness and when he whines at God, calling on God to shatter the teeth of his enemies. Today’s passage is the “mountaintop” and the circumstances we believe we want, but it wasn’t even David’s reality all the time. At the same time, it was David’s reality, and ours. As we read it, we think of living a pleasant pastoral life, wandering from pasture to brook along pleasant, well-tended trails. If you read a shepherd’s understanding of what the psalm says, it’s all stuff that sheep need for their well-being. A good shepherd would do these things. But, He makes me…He leads me…He guides...

                     Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Colossians 3:11-12)                 The second half of this passage makes it sound as though we’re supposed to wear our hearts on our sleeves. That’s why I backed up a verse to give it some context. Paul wrote that the various tribes and cliques did not belong in the Church. It didn’t matter what you looked like, what your social status was, or how you had identified before coming to Christ. Once you were in Christ, you were part of the family, and the behavioral code for family members was different from the behavioral code for everyone else....

                 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided. (Proverbs 16:6) The best example of the first half of this verse is, of course, the love and faithfulness of God that led to the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But it is because of our love for others and our faithfulness to them and/or to what is right that we seek reconciliation and make restitution for wrongs done to us and forgive those who have wronged to us and seek reconciliation with them. We can atone for our sins against others and we can forgive sins committed against us. The second half of the verse is something I've discussed before. It's not about a phobia. It’s about healthy fear. I used to be phobic of spiders. Now, I have what I would describe as a healthy fear. I’m not likely to try to agitate a spider or even to handle it. But I’m also not likely to leave a building becau...