Mission Faithwalk

                 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household , (Ephesians 2:19)             Again, Biblegateway.com has provided a passage that at least hints about identity. That means I get to try to say what I was trying to say yesterday, and didn’t, or perhaps to say it better. When someone becomes a Christian, they become a citizen of Heaven. As such, their membership in any other group must – at best – take second place. Or third. Or tenth. Or have no place at all.           Are you a ______? That’s nice. It doesn’t really matter anymore, but that’s nice. And if you hold on to that identity, you’re dividing yourself away from whatever “them” is involved in the equation – and you shouldn’t expect them to treat you as one of their own when you’ve established your preference of beng a _______ over being a Christian.           And it’s true that some people elevate one group over another – e

                   There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)                  There is lots of talk about identity. What do you identify as? According to today’s verse, for a Christian to identify as other than a Christian is wrong. I suspect this idea is where Martin Luther King, Jr. got the idea of being judged by the content of our characters rather than the color of our skin. This passage makes it clear that Christian is the identity we are to maintain when we become Christians. We may be Black, White, Native, male, female, American, Kenyan, Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, rich, poor, or whatever, but those things are – at most – the equivalent of the style and color of the T-shirt we choose to wear.                This is not to say that we don’t need to work on our proficiency in loving others. No one is pretending that our history may make loving might present come diff

                 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)                And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)                  As I was falling asleep last night, one of the main thoughts I had was that I need to strengthen my faith. The first step is to choose something to have faith about. Some may respond, “Everything.” They’re right. Hebrews 11:6 makes that clear, but “everything” is too vague. Today’s main verse doesn’t say, “The work of God is this: to believe in God.” It’s true. but that’s not what it says.                Part of my struggle with “everything” and “believing in God” is that they seem passive. Yes, you’re having faith, and it’s all good, but the faith has no force, power,…life to it. Ultimately, “everything” and “believe in God” are the goals, but how do you know if you’re

                 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3)                  Steadfast: resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.                If someone is steadfast because they trust in God, no matter what goes on around them, they are going to trust in God. If someone really trusts in God, they are going to be steadfast in mind, and they will have perfect peace. It seems as if having a steadfast mind is having peace, meaning that God doesn’t have to supernaturally supply it. We will be given peace if we have peace. Well, what good is that?                The problem isn’t that God gives us something we already have, and only if we have it. The problem is that we need God to add peace to our minds because we can’t be as steadfast as we need to be. We need Him to keep us in peace because naturally, we can’t stay there i

                 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (Romans 12:4-5)                  Do you have someone on whom you can call to be your hands?  Your feet? Your heart? Do you have people in your life for whom you are hands, feet, or heart? One of the big blessings in my life was having a “MacGyver.” Dad was mechanical. For most of my life, if something needed to be fixed, chances were good he could do it.                Romans 12 is about a variety of gifts that God gives for Christians to use to help and bless one another and those outside the Church. We know this, but we seem to ignore it. If someone has a problem, they pray and ask the Father for the solution. I know we’re supposed to ask God to meet our needs, and He loves us, so there’s nothing wrong with praying. The question today is whether we’re doing things in

                 Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165)                  Have you ever used a butter knife for a screwdriver, and ended up with a damaged knife? Or tried to push open a door that must be pulled? Have you ever read or listened to something about three steps to ______, or any other self-help material? Or tried to put together something that is described as “some assembly required”? I recently replaced a flip phone with a stupid smart phone, which I have yet to figure out how to make it let me answer an incoming phone call or turn off an alarm if I don’t already have the screen active. One of my difficulties with a certain philosophical/political ideology is that it maintains that what we need to do is build a system that will make it impossible for people to do bad things – if for no other reason than that it makes it “unnecessary” to do them.                The thing that all the examples above have in common i

                   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)                  Today is one of those days. Maybe it’s just that when I get up, it’s still dark. Not so long ago, it was light before I woke up. Or, it might just be something my body is doing to me. Or, it might not be anything except my imagination. Whatever the answer, the question is, “Why do I feel like I’m one step away from plunging into an emotional gully?”  You might say that I’m issuing a “depression watch” meaning that conditions are right for one. And if one does develop, that’s OK. I’ve been there often enough, I know the dance routine. And I’m thankful that I haven’t had to dance it often recently.                I want to be cautious about this because I don’t want my “awareness” to cause a depression. It might just be that I need another nice big drink of water, after all. But today seems to be a good day to

                 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (I Peter 5:6)                  “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless!     Everything is meaningless.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)                  Last night, I read an account of a person in ministry whose wife “suddenly” unloaded on him all of her pain at his neglecting his family in the course of his success. He was devastated and angry, and more so when someone pulled the two of them aside and pointed out a parallel between their situation and that of a well-known figure in Christian ministry. I didn’t reach any part where everything was made all better. For all I know, it hasn’t been.                Another speaker I heard the day before told about psychological studies that show that it takes very little to get a person to do what they know to be wrong. And there was a movie made in 1997 in which Keanu Reeves played the part of a lawyer hir

               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)                  Have you ever noticed the phrase “along with him” in this verse?  Yes, it’s always been there. Perhaps in different translations and interpretations, it’s not said in those exact words, but the point is that God gives us His Son, with one or more sides of “all things.” Too often, we subscribe to the “dessert first” philosophy and then decide we’re no longer hungry when it comes time for the main dish. We resent the notion that we must eat our vegetables or develop virtues. With a nod to C. S. Lewis, we want Turkish Delight – lots of it – and we want it now.                Another idea to consider. Suppose you were to invite people to dinner and put together a sumptuous meal cooked to perfection. Would you seat some people at one table and give them access to everything you’ve made while seating others at a

                 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God . (Psalm 42:5)                  Following up on what I said about motivation yesterday morning, we should consider that “downcast” and “disturbed” don’t only refer to depressed or sad. They can also mean lonely, confused, overwhelmed, fearful, angry, weary, worried, – or any other emotion that gets in the way of moving forward or trusting God.                Why did David ask his soul why it is downcast? Recently, someone mentioned the idea of the Daily Examen, which in at least one version, involves reviewing the day using five key questions/steps: 1. Become aware of God’s presence. Look back on the events of the day in the company of the Holy Spirit. ... 2. Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God. ... 3. Pay attention to your emotions. ... 4. Choose one feature of the day and pray

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)   As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (I Samuel 18:7)                  Imagine going into battle with David or Joshua by your side. And let’s be real about it. If they stood beside you as an enemy approached, they’d likely tell you to hide in a cave, while they did the fighting. At least, they’d put me in a cave, and probably block it up with stones. They’d probably tell me to boil some water and do the dishes while they took care of the fighting, because they’d want tea when they were done.  None of that is because I’m a woman. It’s because I’m not a warrior and doing them would keep me occupied and let me feel as if I’m supporting the cause while they’re out doing what I can’t. If I fought at their side, I’d probably get them killed. This is why when I see those memes about whether I’d help a cop in trouble, I have to say,

                 Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. (Proverbs 10:17)                  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-15)             As we race along toward the beginning of Autumn (only 34 days from now.) If school hasn’t started, it soon will. While I don’t go to school any more, it’s a pattern of life I can’t seem to stop. It doesn’t help that Church activities resume, that the main vegetable harvest is at hand, or that it’s getting close to the time that snowbirds start heading south. It all makes this the cusp between the end of one part of life and the beginning of another.           All of that means that it’s time to set goals, consider directions, and seek wisdo

                 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”                Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”  He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17)                  “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10)                  When Jesus asked Peter the first two times if Peter loved Him, He used the Greek word we transliterate as agape. Both times, Peter assured Jesus that he loved Him, but he used a word that refers to brotherly love (as in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.) The third time Jesus asks Peter the question, He uses the word referring to brotherly love. And each time, Jesus tells Peter that loving Him will cost something. For Peter, loving Jesus meant feeding Jesus’ sheep.                If you read through Scripture, you’ll find Saul,

                 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Geness 1:26-27)                  The other day I listened to a podcast in which John Ortberg claimed that God made man to be creative. While I don’t disagree with him, there’s a part of my mind that says, “Now wait a second. Where does Scripture say that?” I can’t think of any passage that says “God created you to be creative,” but today’s passage is strongly suggestive. In the act of creating man, God expressed the purpose of creating man in the image of God.                Then, yesterday as I walked past my front garden, I realized that I am creating something there. It’s a derivative creation because I’m using t

                 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? (II Corinthians 6:14-15)                  To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.   (I Corinthains 7:12-13)                  Let’s begin with the second passage as a boundary for the first. We are not talking about breaking up families or other legal relationships or partnerships that exist unless the unbelieving partner takes an attitude of “my way or the highway.”  What the first passage advises is that one not get married to or enter a legal partnership with someone who isn’t Christian

               These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.    Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.   Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Revelation 3:1-3)                  The  “seven spirits” is also translated “sevenfold spirit.” Seven is often used to express perfection. Anything we might say about that would be conjecture, so let’s move on to what is plainer. Jesus knew the deeds of the church in Sardis, just as He knows our deeds and the deeds of our churches. Apparently, Sardis was a church of some reputation, but they were resting on their laurels, sitting back and coasting.                How often are we like Sardis?  Jesus’ advi

                “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. (Revelation 3:14)               Amen: Affirmation of truth; “So be it.” A statement that adds the strength of the speaker to what has been said.               Witness: One who sees or has seen and therefore has knowledge.                  As I look at the definition of Amen, I have to chuckle. We say “Amen” at the end of most prayers. We say and even shout, “Amen!” when we agree with something someone says. What possible good would it do for you or me to say “Amen!” to anything? What strength have we to add to what has been said? Some people could say “Amen” and have it mean something, but I’m not one of them.                But the passage isn’t about our saying “Amen.” It’s about Someone who is the Amen. He adds strength to what has been said – to Scripture.  And He can do so because He has seen God and knows Him. Not o

                 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)                  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (II Corinthians 12:9)                  The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. (Deuteronomy 7:7)                The rest of the passages in the New Testament dealing with the kingdom of God seem to repeat the ideas of those we have considered, so today I’m using Biblegateway.com’s verse of the day as the lead in today’s meditation. Sometimes, when we read or recite this verse from Ephesians, we elevate handiwork to the level of a masterpiece. I checked the Greek word we translate handiwork and it can be used

                 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (I Corinthians 6:9-10)                  I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (I Corinthians 15:50)                The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)                  Uh oh. Paul got radical. In chapter six, he listed ten sorts of people who won’t inherit the kingdom o

                 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (I Corinthians 4:20)                  Yesterday, the kingdom was not about food and drink, but about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Today, it’s not about talk, but about power. For the next few days, we’ll encounter more things the kingdom isn’t about or doesn’t include. So, with my most comic-opera evil chuckle, I’ll say, “Let’s talk about power .”                That’s what we think, isn’t it? If it’s about power, it’s about the ability to make what we want to happen. Right? It’s our job to bring in that righteousness, peace, and joy we considered yesterday. Isn’t it? I just finished a chapter in the book I’m reading about self-discipline. The author suggests that the power we need is power over ourselves. He goes on to suggest that the first means to that power is fasting – choosing to withhold from ourselves something we want, with the goal of being free to make choices instead of

                 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,   because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.  (Romans 14:16-18)                  The fourteenth chapter of Romans deals with believers being free to eat or not eat or observe or not observe holidays by their consciences. And I suspect the response to this was the same thing we see today. “Oh good! I can do whatever I want!”                But Paul tells us that the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking or not eating and not drinking. It’s about doing what is right, being at peace, having joy, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. It recalls the song “Back to the Heart of Worship.” We’re so easily distracted by the weather…that other person…the music…the decorations…that other person’s failures, weaknesses, or sins… or our own

                 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.  (Acts 19:8)                  I’ve heard that Charles Spurgeon wrote hundreds of sermons focused in some way on candles. I’ve also heard that people used to attend lectures and debates lasting several hours, then go home and discuss and debate the subject for several more. Now, if I don’t agree with someone in less than thirty seconds, I’m declared a Fascist. I have participated in discussions lasting multiple days via e-mail. A face-to-face discussion of the kingdom of God that lasted three months definitely has my admiration.                Now, I’ll grant you that there were probably repetitions in the discussion. He might have only gone there for an hour once a week for three months. But the main point I get from today’s passage is that there is probably far more to be said or considered about the kingdom of God than we may first imagine. Even wi

                 They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,   strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. (Acts 8:21-22)                  It seems as if Paul and Barnabas used “the Kingdom of God” in different way than Jesus had. It’s basically the way we tend to use it: more of an event in the future than a present reality. This makes sense. When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God, He was at the center of the range of God’s influence and creating that influence. But Jesus was no longer walking among them. There was (and is) one degree of separation when Paul, Barnabas, you, or I refer to the kingdom. If we made the claims Jesus did about the kingdom, we would be claiming equality with Jesus.                On coming under God’s influence, we enter the kingdom of God, but at the same time,

  When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”                Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”                Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”                He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”                Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”                The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”                Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”                 He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”                Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)             This passage doesn’t mention the kingdom of God, but as I walked the dog, it came to mind as the passage for the day. I believe it deals with the kingdom, and it happens to come after the passages on the kingdom that we explored yesterday and before the pass

                 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.   He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied,  “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered,  “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.   Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.   You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’   The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8)   One of the things