The good news is that even while we wait, we can experience God’s purpose for our lives. In Psalm 27, David shows us a sense of purpose that coronavirus can't take away. David is a man on a mission, stating something he wants to spend “all the days of his life” doing. He has a clear goal that he is seeking after: to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord.
Read MoreAs we consider how to make the best use of our current season, I’ve got a question for you: How is your prayer life right now?
Too many times, our prayer life is stale, lame, and meager because we’re missing the larger context of the world and our Father’s work in it. Amid our responsibilities, routines, and sheer scheduling of life, prayer seems to be the one “activity” we leave for another day. Rather than taking advantage of the direct line we have to the very throne room of God our Father, we try to soldier on through one more day on our own.
The mere fact that on virtually every page of Scripture we can find either someone—including Jesus himself—praying, or believers being invited, urged, and instructed on how and why to pray tells us that prayer is not an optional piece to the Christian life.
Read MoreDon’t you wish we could take a peek at which books made the Apostle Paul’s Isolation Reading List? What filled the pages he requested? Poetry? Scripture? Letters? Philosophy? While we can never know for sure because he doesn’t say, we can perceive that those books meant a lot to him; the parchments were valuable at a time when Paul was feeling very alone.
Paul’s ask comes in the middle of a long list of people who have abandoned him.
Read MorePaul was acquainted with isolation. Whether he was under military-style house arrest or sitting alone in a public prison, he knew what it is like to be alone. In Acts 28:16, Luke explains one of his situations this way, “When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.” Can you imagine that? Perhaps at this particular moment we can imagine it. We are asked to stay home, even though we do not have soldiers guarding our door.
What did Paul do with his time? One thing we know he did was write incredibly personal and encouraging letters to others, and God used these letters in mighty ways
Read MoreHumans need purpose. Quite literally, without it we die. A number of years ago the staff at a nursing home conducted an experiment to answer the question, What would happen if we brought pets into the facility and gave the residents the responsibility to take care of them? What they noticed in the residents was an increase in energy, health, and even overall life expectancy because of a new found sense of purpose.
One of the hardest things about being in quarantine over the past couple weeks can be a feeling of purposelessness.
Read MoreWe live in a time where self-expression is prized as a highest good. From the moment we wake up—including in the middle of the night—to the time we lay our heads down to sleep, we want our voice to be heard on matters large and small. We crave for everyone within earshot to know exactly what’s on our mind, and even on our dinner plates, at all times.
Read MoreJesus knew. His understanding reached deeper and further than anyone else’s at the table. He knew what was already in motion, what had been planned from the beginning. He knew he was headed to the cross at the hand of his betrayer. He also knew Father God had “given all things into his hands.” Though betrayal, suffering, and death were guaranteed in the days ahead, they were not the end; Jesus knew his painful journey would ultimately lead him--and all those in his hand--to the presence of God.
Read MoreAs Jesus approached the last hours of his life we see him expressing his last wishes, and what he wanted more than anything was to share a meal with his disciples. He says in Luke 22:15, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.” Jesus earnestly desired to share this meal with them because it was a meal they would never forget. Not because the food was unforgettable; in fact, the menu items Jesus chose were quite underwhelming. What made this a “meal of remembrance” was what the menu items meant.
Read More“This will probably be the toughest week…there will be death.” — President Donald Trump
The president used sober and serious words to describe the terrible week that awaits many around the world. There will be grief, suffering, loss, and death. It is the kind of week that you would run away from with all your might, the kind of week you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
Ironically, 2000 years ago, you could have used the president’s exact description to portray the week that awaited Jesus. It began with rejoicing and celebration, but it would without question be the toughest week of Christ’s life. It would hold the most violent and horrific death any human has ever experienced.
Read MoreIf you could ask God one question, what would it be?
This is a thought experiment people like to play. In fact, there are entire discussion boards online devoted to this question.
Sometimes people will pose questions from a general curiosity about the world: What did they keep at Area 51? What would my dog say to me if he could speak?
Others will ask philosophical questions: Why did you allow evil in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people?
People who have been through pain have questions like: Why did you allow that to happen to me? Perhaps from recent days we’d ask, Why did you allow coronavirus to spread?
The last phrase in 1 Peter 1:7 describes the scenario posed in the question above. He describes the future day of the “revelation of Jesus Christ.” This is the moment when you and I will stand before the God of the universe and perhaps even have the opportunity to ask him a question.
Read MorePeter says this is the kind of value you should place on your faith. There is nothing in your life more important, more valuable, more precious, and there is nothing you should be unwilling to forgo for the sake of your faith. There is no possession or person more critical to you than the faith that unites you to Jesus Christ.
Given how important our faith is, we should respond in two ways: testing and tending.
Read MoreWe ask this question of those causing us some amount of frustration, difficulty, or pain. When we think about the trials we face in life, we may want to direct that same question towards God. Is that really necessary, Lord? Peter, a man who went through some trials of his own, would say, “Yes, they absolutely are.”
Why does God allow us to suffer? Why does he allow us to experience long seasons of pain and struggle? There are a variety of answers to that question, some answers he reveals to us, others he keeps to himself. But verse 7 shows us one of the most important reasons: to test the authenticity of the most precious thing in our life--our faith.
Read MoreIn the first 5 verses of 1st Peter, we have enough good news to fuel an entire lifetime with joy. That’s why Peter says “in all this” you greatly rejoice. In all what? Everything he just said in vs. 1-5. In verses 1-2, Peter describes God’s loving choice to make us his very own. In v. 3 he describes a true and living hope we all hold because of the resurrection of Jesus. In verses 4-5 he tells us about an inheritance we have been given that will never cease to amaze us and that can never be taken away.
Read MoreOne of the most painful experiences during trying times is that of loss. As Peter writes to exiles, he recognizes that his readers no longer have things that they once relied on and even treasured. Some have lost positions in society, familial relationships, and valuable possessions.
Loss is a word we hear a lot about right now. Some of us are experiencing it quite painfully. All have lost a sense of normalcy in life, some have lost life savings or jobs through economic trouble, others have even lost family and loved ones.
Read MoreMay God bless America. May God bless us during these trying times. May God grant us his blessing as we fight this virus. During difficult times, these are all phrases we are bound to hear in one form or another. But when Peter spoke into difficult times, he pointed words of blessing in an unfamiliar direction to many of us. Instead of saying “God bless us,” he tells Christians, “Let us bless God.”
To be blessed quite literally means to be happy, favored, praised, or spoken well of…
Read MoreSome have described the phrase “elect exiles” as a two-word sermon because of how packed it is with meaning. Let's consider each word:
An exile is someone who has been rejected. They no longer have a place they can call home. This idea is further elaborated when Peter uses the word dispersion. These are God’s people who have perhaps been rejected and have been dispersed, living in places unfamiliar and inhospitable. For an exile, the areas of life once relied on and trusted in are now very uncertain.
Read MoreReceiving a letter from someone important can mean a lot…especially during hard times. I can remember personally, during some of my hardest days in 15 months of drug rehab how excitedly I would open letters from my family. Receiving a personal note of encouragement and care in the midst of difficult days made everything a bit more bearable.
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