visions and grace

Within the last few years there have been various “stories of heaven” types of books that have quickly climbed (and stayed) on the bestseller list in Christian books.  I have about 10-15 reasons why I am not a big fan of Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven, Bill Wiese’s 23 Minutes in Hell, and this new book Heaven is For Real.  But my biggest reason comes from 2 Corinthians 12. 

Here Paul speaks of a heavenly vision that “a guy he knows” once had.  Of course Paul is simply using the classic…”I need some advice about, a uhmmm friend…named…uhmm Mark…”  Paul isn’t doing it because of embarrassment but because of humility and to make a greater point.  And it is that greater point that gives me pause when consider books like 90 Minutes, 23 Minutes, Heaven is for Real, or various other “3 hour tour with Jesus” type of books. 

Consider 2 Corinthians 12:4-6

and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses—6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

In other words Paul is not really permitted by the Lord to speak of this awesome heavenly vision that he has received.  And he explicitly spells out why he refrains from writing a bestseller about his experience—because the revelations/visions is not to the means by which Christ is exalted. 

Instead Paul is given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble.  Paul is told by the Lord, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”.  This—weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities—will be the platform that shines a spotlight on the glory and majesty of Jesus through the apostle Paul.  And not visions and revelations. 

It is easy to point a finger at those writing, those purchasing, and those promoting these books.  But the finger also needs to be pointed back at me.  I too am also guilty of not finding sufficiency in grace but instead attempting to exalt things other than Jesus.  Sometimes I do this for shock value, novelty, or a vain desire for attention.  Other times I do it because of a lack of faith and trust in the all-consuming power of grace. 

And yet grace continues to pursue and transform my wayward heart.  Jesus is constantly drawing me to himself and teaching me—with every shattered idol—that His grace truly is sufficient. 

I am here reminded of two quotes that have meant much to my life and ministry.  The first from Samuel Rutherford:

…nay, whether God come to his children with a rod or a crown, if he come himself with it, it is well.  Welcome, welcome Jesus, what way soever thou come, if we can get a sight of thee.  And sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bed-side, and draw aside the curtains, and say ‘Courage, I am thy salvation,’ than to enjoy health, being lusty and strong, and never to be visited by God. 

Jesus is enough and precious rather he come with a rod or crown!

Secondly, from (I think) James Denney:

“No man can bear witness to Christ and to himself at the same time. No man can give the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to save.

It is through our weakness and lack of “cleverness” that they many will see that Christ is indeed mighty to save! 

So enough with these revelations/visions and all the other strong, powerful, and clever things that we trust in for security.  May his grace be sufficient! 

Hoarding v. A Daily God

I’m growing, but I still have pack-rat tendencies. 

There are still a few objects that I have a really hard time getting rid of: screws, bolts, springs, various parts that I have no idea what they are or what they are for, old shirts, ratty jeans, and “important” papers that will probably in reality remain unnecessary until well after Jesus returns. 

I keep these things because, hey…you never know when you might need them.  Which has proven itself true maybe about three times in my life.  There was that one time that I was able to use a spring, then I needed some ratty jeans for a paint job, and I just so happened to still have an “important” paper.  But mostly, it just piles up and makes it to where sometimes I cannot find things that I actually need. 

Now, this is not a HUGE problem.  I do not need to go on that Hoarders show…at least not yet.  But at root I have the same heart issue.  And I am guessing you might too. 

Hoarding in Exodus

We see this same tendency manifest itself in Exodus 16.  The people of Israel are starving in the wilderness.  God provides manna.  But he is only going to provide it every morning.  They cannot keep it.  (except before the Sabbath—when there will not be any that morning). 

If you try to hoard manna you get a mouth full of worms and stank when you try to chomp into in the morning. 

But even though they are warned of the worm and stank deal, there are some people that try to keep the manna for tomorrow…because, hey can I really be sure that it will be there in the morning?  And so some of them kept some manna around just in case. 

You see the reason why God does this is because He wants the Israelites to know that He is a daily God.  “His mercies are new every morning”.  He also wants them to know that their relationship of faith and trust is also a daily necessity.  Our God is an everyday is God.

Or at least He should be. 

A Daily God

But I must confess that often I do not have a daily experience of God’s grace.  My relationship with God is often more like a roller coaster, with extreme highs and lows.  I am convinced that our relationship with God is more like the Thunder River than the Screamin’ Eagle; a long, slow journey together through various dips, waterfalls, etc.  rather than a quick jaunt up and down huge inclines and declines. 

As I reflect on Exodus 16 I begin to wonder whether part of the reason why God doesn’t seem like a daily God is because I hoard.  Like the stupid servant in Luke 19 I bury talents, treasures, “manna”, in the hopes of being able to keep it…you know, just in case. 

God isn’t calling us to keep things for tomorrow, “just in case”.  God is calling us to live by faith everyday so that we can see the wonders of a relationship with a daily God.  Today I want to enjoy this day and not have a hoarding mentality that tries to protect tomorrow. 

For an amazing look at this Manna Principle I would suggest purchasing Ed Welch’s book Running Scared.

no labor is in vain

“Well, that was for nothing”

That is a really dangerous statement when it comes to ministry.  (Do not hear, “vocational ministry”—I mean the ministry that every believer is to be engaged in).  It’s a dangerous statement but I bet we have all said it.  As one that preaches, teaches, leads, writes, etc. there is much of my labor that I never see the fruit to.  And sometimes I can be given to discouragement and think—“well, that was for nothing”. 

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is encouraging the church at Corinth to steadfastly engage in ministry as a result of the truth of the resurrection.  For 57 verses Paul defends and expounds upon the reality of the resurrection.  Then in verse 58 he makes this doctrine practical:

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

In other words Paul is saying, “because of the reality of the resurrection—drink from no other fountain, bring others in to drink, and do so confidently knowing that every bit of kingdom work is not in vain.” 

The resurrection of Jesus marks of his exclusivity.  Jesus is the fountain of life.  All other fountains are murky waters that only sustain you for a season.  Only the fountain filled with the blood that flows from Immanuel's veins is able to remove the sting of death.   All others cannot remove our death sentence.  But Jesus gives eternal life and immortality. 

Because of this exclusivity we must “be steadfast, immovable”.  That means that we must reject the silly notion that any other fountain may satisfy.  With Spirit-induced power we must resist the fleeting glamour of the perishing and cling to the often unattractive but yet eternally satisfying fountain of grace. 

This also means that our enjoyment of Jesus is tied up in “abounding in the work of the Lord”.  Jesus is not satisfied until all His people are home.  And while we drink from the fountain of grace we do it with one compassionate eye towards those that are drinking themselves full of the perishable. 

And we do all of this—both our own clinging and our calling others—knowing that no kingdom work is ever in vain.  Everything else has the danger of vanity and emptiness.  But that which will be eternal—namely, the kingdom of God—is the only thing that is never in vain. 

Lord help me remember that my plodding today is not in vain.  May I remember that the shiny moments and the dull moments are both—if done “in the Lord—for the sake of the kingdom and therefore are never in vain.  May I, with my brothers and sisters in Christ, be about kingdom work.  May this be my eternal aim.

Mustard Stains and Stuttering Speech

One mustard stain can ruin everything.  It doesn’t really matter that 99.4% of my shirt is clean.  It’s that .6% of mustard stain (or maybe 15% pending on how I tackled that sandwich) that my eyes immediately go to. 

We are like that aren’t we?  Some more than others.  We tend to focus on the blemishes.  Blemishes have a tendency to register a pretty hefty on the “am I cool or not” scale.  Enough blemishes (whether perceived or real) and you won’t feel adequate even if you have a staff that turns into a snake or a hand that can change from leprosy to healed quicker than a Hollywood “marriage”. 

In Exodus 4 an insecure Moses tells the LORD that he is afraid the people will not listen to him.  To help Moses God empowers his staff to turn into a serpent and back again.  If that doesn’t do the trick then he will do his sweet leprosy-hands trick.  If even then they do not listen God assures him that this third thing will certainly garner their confidence…he will turn water from the Nile into blood. 

To this Moses responds:

“Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and tongue.” 

Seriously, Moses?  You have a staff that can turn into a snake and you are afraid people will laugh at your lisp? 

But maybe Moses is on to something.  I mean what do you remember about Mike Tyson?  Of course you remember that he was a beast in the ring, he bit a guys ear, he did time in prison, etc.  But you also remember his voice don’t you?  It kind of made it hard to take him all that seriously because no matter how hard he could punch his voice didn’t match the muscle and we couldn’t take him serious.

His Grace is Sufficient

So, why then doesn’t God change Moses’ speech?  That seems to be something that Moses is sort of asking when he says, “or since you have spoken to your servant”.  It seems as if Moses is saying, “heal my tongue and I’m all yours”. “Cure my blemish, God, and I’ll jaunt into Pharaoh’s house right now and tell him what’s up”. 

But that is not what God does is it?  Instead he says, “I’ll be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak”. 

Fast forward a few millenniums to the apostle Paul, who has a thorn in the flesh.  We have really no idea what this thorn is other than that it was a “messenger of Satan sent to torment”.  This is Paul’s “blemish”.  He, like Moses, pleaded with God to take it away.  And just like with Moses, God’s response was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. 

What does this mean for you and I?  It means that God probably is not going to fix all of our weaknesses or cure all of our blemishes.  It also means that He doesn’t need to.  Our life is about magnifying the Lord—His power is made perfect in our weaknesses.  So, may we like Paul

“boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

In other words God loves, uses, and magnifies himself in the midst of mustard stains—no matter how many or how large.  His grace truly is sufficient. 

You’ll Know When You Get There

I tend to give the type of directions that people hate.  Actually, I give the type of directions that I hate.  You know the ones that are never detailed and usually end with something like, “don’t worry you’ll know when you get there—you can’t miss it”. 

Well, what if I do miss it?  What if I’m a total moron?  I am the guy that once stopped at a gas station to get directions for the building across the street.  It is possible that I could totally miss the obvious building that even a monkey could drive to. 

These type of directions stress me out because they require a good amount of trust in the person giving them.  First of all, I have to trust that he/she knows my level of imbecility.  I have to trust that if he says I cannot miss it—he genuinely knows that I CANNOT miss it this time.  Secondly, I have to trust that he/she really can guide me to this “obvious” location. 

God’s Answer to Moses

“Trust me” type of directions can be really disconcerting.  And it is precisely these type of directions that God gives Moses in Exodus 3. 

Moses says to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”  His question is certainly sensible.  Who is Moses that he—a stuttering murderer—should lead Israel out of Egypt? 

If I were Moses and God responded to me in this way, I’m not sure that I would have found what he said helpful.  Check out God’s response:

“But I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain”.

In other words God is saying, “once you’ve brought them out of Egypt then you will know that I called you to bring them out of Egypt”. 

Is “I will be with you” enough?

I wouldn’t have been cool with this response.  I should be cool with this response—but I’m not.  The problem is with me, not with God’s answer.  But I don’t want God to say, “trust me, you’ll know it when you get there”.  I want God to give me a picture now, map it out.  Don’t just tell me—once this has been accomplished you’ll look back and say—see I told you so.  I don’t like that because that takes some serious trust. 

The key to this text—the foundation of what God said to Moses—is this statement: “But I will be with you”.  That should be enough shouldn’t it?  Moses asks, “who am I”, to which God responds, “It’s not who you are, Moses, that matters.  What matters is that I AM, and I am going with you.” 

Is it enough for me today that God says, I am with you?  Because in Jesus I have the certain promise, “I am with you always”.  Christ has not left us as orphans—through His Spirit, He is now with us always.  Is that enough?  Is God’s presence enough for me today or do I need a map?

Do I trust God enough for him to say, “You’ll know when you get there”? 

Hold ON!

“Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face”.  Job 13:15

This verse has long been a hallmark of rich biblical faith.  It is, but it may not necessarily be in the way that you think.  Often Job’s faith, here, is compared to that of Habakkuk. 

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  God, the Lord, is my strength…”

Habakkuk is trusting that God knows best even if it hurts.  Habakkuk has come to learn that even though there is great suffering and loss he can trust a good God.  Habakkuk finds His joy in God and no longer in circumstances. 

Is Job’s faith in 13:15 like Habakkuk’s? 

I submit to you that it is actually more like Peter’s in John 6. 

Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.

Peter’s confession comes on the heels of Jesus’ famous “eat my flesh and drink my blood” sermon.  That one did not go so well (at least on Jesus’ ACP report).  The beginning of John 6 is a rousing“we love Jesus” rally, with the hopes of crowning Him as the their King.  John 6 ends with these same people leaving…probably thanking YHWH that the cannibal Jesus didn’t accept the crown. 

As everyone is leaving Jesus turns to the disciples and asks, “are you going to join them?”  To this we have Peter’s response…there is nowhere else to go. 

Peter’s faith is more like Job’s in 13:15.  Job is not chipper or speaking of joy as Habakkuk does.  Job, just as I am assuming Peter and the disciples were, is still scratching his head.  He is still longing for answers. 

Job wants and audience with God even if it kills him.  Why?  Because he knows that God is the only one that “has the words of eternal life”.  He knows that God is the only one that can redeem him, and so even though it may kill him he ventures to have an audience with God. 

I have no idea what many of you are going through.  Some of you are perhaps at a spot of Habakkuk faith—where you are finding joy in drinking from the fountain of God’s riches, despite outward circumstances that still cause pain. 

Some of you may be closer to Job.  He’s just sitting in the fountain wishing he could enjoy a drink.  He knows that there is no other fountain to find life in, that is why he is sitting in this one.  But Job isn’t at a spot yet where he can taste and see that the Lord is good. 

Hold On!

Why Did This Tragedy Happen? Response.

Paul Tripp has wisely stated that we are all “meaning makers”.  We are constantly looking for meaning and answers.  One of our favorite questions is, “why”. 

These questions are never more prevalent than when tragedy strikes.  And usually there are plenty of pundits that rise to the occasion to give us reasons why this happened.  Within Christian circles the answers are…wait for it…diverse.

Consider what happened to Job or the Hebrews in Egypt.  Think through that story and consider how many different “Christian” responses there would be to this tragedy. 

Different Responses

You would have the Westboro Baptist type of folks that would without a shadow of a doubt—nor a shred of humility—“this obviously happened because God is judging Job for his sinfulness.”  Then of course there would be the people that would be quick to absolve God from any sort of involvement but almost fall into dualism:  “God did not wish that these tragedies happen, Satan has obviously gotten a foothold, but don’t worry God will beat him up in the end”.  Then there are about a million different responses somewhere in between. 

Apart from a long embrace, to me the best response is simply this:

Job, I don’t know why all of these things have happened to you.  I know that God is in control.  But that is not new information for you.  I also know that God is good, even if that is hard to believe right now.  I am hanging on to the promise of Romans 8:28 that, “all things work together for good”.  You and I know, Job, that our greatest good is conformity to Christ.  That does not necessarily take away the pain, but it at least mixes the pain with hope.  Somehow through this you will be brought into a deeper enjoyment of Jesus.  So in the midst of this hurt and pain just hang on.  And I’ll be hanging on with you. 

Conclusion:

I am convinced that pat answers do not really help suffering people.  In fact most people that are suffering KNOW that God is in control.  That is what is bothering them.  It’s not His sovereignty they question—it is His goodness.  And that is what we somehow must hang onto. 

Why do tragedies happen?  I don’t really know.  All I know is that we cannot hide behind saying, “the devil did it”.  This undercuts our hope; because if God couldn’t stop this cancer then what makes me think He can resurrect the dead?  Nor can we arrogantly assume that we know the specific “why”.  All we can really do is cling to the promise that our suffering will pale in comparison to the glory that awaits us. 

Suffering (as if I truly know anything about it) is painful.  It sucks.  Cancer, rape, adultery, murder, death, genocide, starvation,…the list could go on and on…are horrendous and they hurt.  So, I have to wonder how amazing must Jesus be that when we finally “attain” Christ that we would look back on these horrible tragedies and say, “what suffering?” 

I don’t know what your “tragedy is” or what the specific reasons why.  But I do know the One that is so glorious that the real pain you feel pales in comparison to His very real glory, splendor, and joy-producing majesty.

Why Did This Tragedy Happen?

Tragedy strikes a small up and coming nation.  They are in the middle of a fierce drought.  They are ravaged by this famine.  People are starving to death.  Babies are starving to death.

The famine gets so bad that this nation is easy prey for a much more powerful nation.  At first it is a good relationship.  The more powerful nation takes this fledgling nation under her wing to protect her from the famine.  But eventually the policies change.  It’s not long before the bigger nation enslaves the smaller nation.

As if slavery were not enough, these people are abused by their owners.  They are no longer starving but now they are being made to work ruthlessly for cruel task masters.  These are cruel task masters that eventually attempt ethnic genocide.  They put together a cruel plan to kill every male child among this people.

For those knowledgeable of Scripture you probably guessed that this was the beginning of the history of Israel.  Hang with me as I ask a rather deep question.  Was this part of God’s plan?

Mull that over for a moment while we consider Job. 

A guy loses EVERYTHING…well, all accept his unhelpful friends and his very unhelpful wife.  The same wife that told him after this tragedy, “curse God and die”.  So, yeah Job lost EVERYTHING. Was this part of God’s plan?  Or was it an aberration; a plan “B”, of sorts?

Listen I do not understand how all of this fits together but I do want to let Scripture speak for itself.  Consider what God said to Jacob before he began his journey into Egypt:

“I am God, the God of your father.  Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation.  I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” 

God is reassuring Jacob that going to Egypt is keeping with his promises.  Notice how God recapitulates his promise to Abraham.  We can see the themes that will run throughout all of redemptive history: “I will make you a great nation…I will be with you…I will also bring you up again”. 

The Israelites are in Egypt because the all-knowing God told them to be there.  This is not plan B.  God is reassuring Jacob that their presence in Egypt is absolutely NOT plan B.  This is plan A.  And certainly this includes their slavery. 

Or consider Job.  You know how he answered our question?  In Job 12:9-10 he says, “who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?  In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” 

This whole chapter is Job proclaiming the absolute sovereignty of God.  If something happens ultimately it happens because of God.  Job does not allow us to hide behind secondary causes.  You can say that he was a loon, a raving mad man.  Job said this much about himself.  But at the end of the story it is Job that God says has the proper theology.  It’s hard to get around that. 

When tragedy strikes we like to say, “the devil did this”.  I am not so certain that Scripture allows us that freedom. 

So what does all of this mean?  Ultimately you will have to wait for eternity to get that one.  But I hope to try to tie a couple of loose ends together and consider where Jesus is in the midst of all these question. 

For that you will have to read my response....

Michael Scott and the Reading of Scripture

This is one of my favorite quotes from The Office (sorry for the quality):

Do you ever feel this way after reading Scripture? 

Sometimes the word feels like somebody “took my heart, and dropped it into a bucket of boiling tears”.  Then I turn to another Scripture and it feels like it “is hitting my soul in the crotch with a frozen sledgehammer”.   Then my third reading in Scripture “starts punching me in the grief bone”. 

Conviction hurts.  And the Holy Spirit is fond of using the Word to bring conviction.  Indeed “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account”. 

Though that is on occasion my experience I am convinced that it may NOT be the right way for a believer to read the Scriptures.  Yes, Scripture brings conviction; but it is never meant to stop there.  If my reading of Scripture feels like a frozen sledgehammer to the crotch then chances are I am not applying Jesus. 

Consider what Paul says in Romans 15,

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope”. 

God’s Word is not meant to merely punch us in the grief bone.  The Scriptures are meant to give us hope because they are meant to point us to Jesus—who is Himself our Hope. 

Jesus Has More Power Than My Lack of Bread

The disciples frantically shuffle through all their belongings hoping to find some bread.  “I thought Andrew was bringing the bread”, remarks a beleaguered Thomas.  “No, it was Thaddaeus”, Andrew responds.  Back and forth they go only to find one measly loaf of bread. 

Then their greatest fear is realized.  Jesus says, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 

“GREAT! The Master knows.  Our foolish act of forgetting bread has been exposed.  And now Jesus, speaking in parables like he always does, is rebuking us for being so dense.  We are going to starve out here in the middle of the ocean all because none of us remembered to bring the bread.”

Then Jesus interrupts.  “Fellas, I’m not talking about bread here.  Is this really what you are worried about?  Are you really so dense to get this worked up over bread after I’ve just fed 5,000 and then again 4,000 with only a few loaves of bread?” 

Silly disciples. 

Better yet, silly me.  Just like the disciples I can have my eyes blind to what is really significant to Jesus.  And just like the disciples I can get worked up over my failure to do something, like bring bread, but neglect the much bigger picture. 

Jesus is less concerned about having perfect bread bringing disciples than he is about having disciples that—in the midst of their brokenness and failures—stand in awe of his power to take our lack of bread and transform it into an abundance of bread.

What matters in life and ministry is not that you brought the bread.  What matters in life and ministry is that Jesus has power, He is building His church, and nothing will stand against Him. 

Not Being Eliphaz

I hope I am getting better at pastoral counseling.  When I first began doing ministry I figured that the key to effective counseling was knowing answers and giving those answers to hurting people.  I’m not so sure of that anymore. 

I take my cues from the book of Job.  Consider this little snippet from Eliphaz’s counsel to his hurting friend Job:

“8 As for me I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause…17 Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.  18 For he wounds, but he binds up;  he shatters, but his hands heal.  19 He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no evil shall touch you.” 

That is good solid counsel is it not?  Calamity has come upon Job.  Depressing, “my life will never be the same”, type of calamity.  Is it not good advice to tell a hurting man to entrust Himself to the Lord’s care?  Eliphaz is reminding Job that this is a period of discipline but trust in the Lord and eventually he will heal you.  Eliphaz essentially tells Job to “turn that frown upside down” God will bless you again eventually. 

Every one of those verses can find other Old Testament Scripture to back it up.  Whether it be from the Torah, the Psalms, or the Prophets what Eliphaz is saying is biblical. 

Then why this:

“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”  (Job 42:7, emphasis mine)

So what is the problem; is Eliphaz’s problem a theology problem? 

As I read Job I am becoming increasingly convinced that the problem with Eliphaz and his two friends is not that they have horrible theology.  These men aren’t the Dr. Phil and Oprah of the camel riding days.  They have pretty solid theology (especially given their historical place in God’s unfolding revelation).  Theology is not really their problem.  Their problem is that they are wrongly applying pretty solid theology.  And because of this they are not speaking accurately of the LORD. 

Notice in 5:17 that Eliphaz encourages Job not to despise the discipline of the LORD.  That is true.  But it does not apply to Job because this is not happening to Job because of the Lord’s discipline.  So everything that Eliphaz says—no matter how true theologically—is off the mark.  It is crappy counsel. 

Those of us that are pastors need to be extra sensitive in seeing ourselves in Eliphaz.  We spend a good amount of our time studying Scripture, rubbing shoulders with people, and learning the ways of the LORD.  We typically know the right answers.  But we are prone to being like Eliphaz where we try to make our theological answers fit every situation.  Sometimes we need to just listen and humbly say, "maybe I don’t have the answers to this one”.

Tommy Boy and Idol Destruction

Do you remember that scene in Tommy Boy where Chris Farley backs David Spade’s car door into a pole and it rips the door off?  Remember how Tommy (Farley) tries to “fix” the problem and simply place the door back on, so that whenever Richard (Spade) open the door it falls off in his own hand.  As the door falls off into Richard’s hands Tommy is heard screaming in shock (the way only Farley could do), “What’d you do!” 

Doesn’t this seem very similar to what Adam and Eve did in the Garden?  Isn’t this what you and I still do today? 

Rather than coming to the Lord in faith and repentance we are like Adam.  We try to flee the presence of the Lord.  I don’t think it is necessarily that we do not desire a relationship with the Almighty. 

We want to be in His presence. 

But we don’t want to be naked in His presence. 

And so we run away and try to sew fig-leaf garments for ourselves.  We’d rather have itchy undies than face up to our fall.  And so we hide and try to fix things on our own.  And when our shallow efforts at “fixing it” are exposed we turn to our fellow man and say, “What’d you do!” 

It is because I do not want to be naked in His presence that I often run away from the heart work of exposing idols.  It takes much grace for me to come to a spot where I am willing to look at the idols in my heart that are often driving me more than the Lord Jesus. 

But whenever I remember verses like Romans 8:1 I decide to come out of hiding and face some of these idols.  In those moments i have found Tim Keller’s book, Counterfeit Gods, to be very helpful.  Here he gives a few suggestions for uncovering idols of the heart.  I will summarize these four questions:

1. What do your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention? (That may be what you are daydreaming about right now)
2. How do you spend your time and money?
3. How do you respond to unanswered prayers and frustrated hopes? What are those things in your life that when God says “no” or “wait” it is met with explosive anger or deep despair? These are your functional idols.
4. What are your most uncontrollable emotions? Where do you find fear? Anger? Despair? Guilt? This is often where we can find many of the deep idols in our hearts.

I know from the character of God and the work of Jesus that whenever these idols are exposed, and whenever I bring them to the Lord through faith and repentance, they will be met with love, mercy, and grace. 

There is never a time when I will go to the Lord with an idol that is so vile that He will refuse to meet it with grace.  Though the idol and its damning effects may be more than I can bare to see—I know that Jesus Christ has already peered into the cup of wrath, saw that sin, and drank it’s punishment to the dregs.  None of my idolatrous affairs will surprise Jesus. 

Brothers and sisters, we cannot take idolatry as a passive thing. The beautiful thing about our union with Jesus is that he does not just sit passively by and allow us to wreck our lives on these idols. No. He lovingly exposes our less wild lovers. He exposes and strips bare those false gods that will only leave us wrecked and ruined. He does this because He desire to replace them with strong affections for Himself. Christ is a jealous husband. And that is a good thing.

He will not let you go. He is passionately dedicated to you in this rooting out of sin and unbelief. We will find that each idol will be met with grace, love, and power to change our affections and our worship. Christ is a jealous husband but He is also patient.

May we join with him in rooting out these idols. They are ripping us off. I pray that we might join with the Spirit in searching our hearts for God-belittling idols and that in so doing we might also trust Him to root them out and replace them with God-honoring affections.

Sifting Through Donkey Dung

In Mark 5 we read of a woman

“…who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”

There were many options for this lady to find healing.  The Talmud lists eleven.  In Lightfoot’s Commentary we are made privy to a few of the more ridiculous ones:

• “Take of gum Alexandria, of alum, and of crocus hortensis, the weight of a zuzee each; let them be bruised together, and given in wine to the woman that hath an issue of blood.
• But if this fail, “Take of Persian onions nine logs, boil them in wine, and give it to her to drink: and say, Arise from thy flux.
• But should this fail, “Set her in a place where two ways meet, and let her hold a cup of wine in her hand; and let somebody come behind and affright her, and say, Arise from thy flux.
• But should this do no good, “Take a handful of cummin and a handful of crocus, and a handful of faenu-greek; let these be boiled, and given her to drink, and say, Arise from thy flux.
• But should this also fail, “Dig seven trenches, and burn in them some cuttings of vines not yet circumcised (vines not four years old); and let her take in her hand a cup of wine, and let her be led from this trench and set down over that, and let her be removed from that, and set down over another: and in each removal say unto her, Arise from thy
  flux.”

Apparently she never Arose from her flux.  MacArthur gives us a few more examples:

• One was that you had to carry the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen bag in the summer and transfer them to a cotton bag in the winter...
• Another was that you had to carry around on your person a barleycorn that had been found in the dung of a white she-ass**

I would imagine that within that twelve year period of time this woman drank plenty of potion, slung around a good amount of corn found from donkey rear, and heard more than her fair share of “Arise from thy flux”.  But NOTHING worked.  (Don’t seem so surprised). 

This issue of blood would have left her ceremonially unclean.  So, this is more than just a physical malady.  This is something that is hindering her worship and making community almost impossible.  This woman is in much pain. 

One day she hears of Jesus.  Maybe he can help.  She probably thought to herself “I’ll drink anything, touch anything, be told anything, etc. I just want to be healed.  This guy seems pretty powerful so perhaps if I touch the hem of his garment I will be better”.  Maybe it was superstition and Jesus was just another name on her list of “Junk I’ve Tried”. 

Or maybe not.  We don’t know. 

But what we do know is that she grabbed hold of the only thing—the only Person—that could actually give her healing.  That which potions, doctors, magical chants, and ostrich eggs could not fix Jesus was powerful enough to heal by her touching his robe. 

Dung Sifting in the 21st Century

There is a lesson here for us as well, because we are like that woman.  We would often rather feed a donkey some barley, follow him around with a pooper-scooper, and sift through his dung than we would actually follow Jesus.  Because if I get my hands stained with donkey excrement I can at least say that I’m dedicated and that I discovered my own cure. 

Actually we are worse than that woman.  She didn’t have a dusty Bible sitting on her shelf.  She hadn’t heard of Jesus.  She only knew of a few remedies to “Arise from thy flux”.  Not us.  We know Jesus.  We know his power.  And yet for some reason we still shuffle through donkey dung looking for barleycorn while we neglect Life Himself. 

Today I want to be humble enough to take my burdens to Jesus.  I want to start, progress, and end with trusting Jesus to make me “Arise from thy flux”.  (Though I’m not certain if dudes can have a “flux” or not).  I want to find all of my feeble solutions to healing and discard them on the way to following Jesus.  Only Jesus.  Only Jesus.
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**As a side note if a preacher wants to wake up the snoozers a sure remedy is to say the words “white she-ass” in your sermon.  That will wake them up.  It may be the last Sunday you preach…but you’ll have their attention for at least a couple of minutes.

Scooped Off the Ocean Floor

I had suddenly found myself too far away from the shore.  For somebody like me that cannot swim this is a major deal.  The water was at least twenty feet deep so there was no chance of touching the ocean floor and peeking my head up out of the water simultaneously.  Nope.  I was sinking faster than LeBron’s popularity. 

As I began flailing in the water, taking in huge gulps of my demise, I suddenly noticed another poor chap that was about 300 yards out further than I was.  Homeboy was further from the shore and sinking in much deeper water.  So, I thought to myself at least I’m not this guy.  Of course, I’m going to die but at least it won’t be as far away from the shore as that loser.  As I breathed my last I took a little solace in the fact that I was better than my fellow shark bait. 

Isn’t that the way that we often treat our standing with the Lord?  We readily admit that we mess up.  “Nobody is perfect right?”  But then we are quick to point out at least a bit of our righteousness. 

“Yeah, I mess up from time to time.  I get angry with my kids.  I harbor bitterness.  I have a tendency to be prideful and judgmental.  But at least I don’t meth up my life.  At least I’m not a male hooker.” 

Scripture has a way of leveling things out though.  Paul does this much in Romans 3. 

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…”

To use our analogy, “There is no distinction: we are all drowning in an ocean of God-belittling sin AND we are all justified through the same gracious life saving, hell-rescuing, blood of Jesus.”

It is pretty stupid to pride yourself on drowning in only twenty feet of water compared to the poor dude that is drowning in fifty.  But isn’t that what we do whenever we compare our own “righteousness” to the unrighteousness of another? 

The only solution to being rescued from a judgmental heart and attitude is to really come to grips with our standing apart from Christ.  And then to realize that it was only grace that rescued us from the bottom of the ocean, revived our dead hearts, and has blessed us abundantly more than we deserve. 

It’s kind of hard to laugh at those drowning when you’ve been scooped off the ocean floor…

Hung From Our Own Gallows

I have never had Road Runner meat but it must be awesome.  What else would drive Wile E. Coyote’s obsession?  At some point in time he had to have either ate Road Runner meat, heard his grandfather tell of its delicacies, or maybe he’s just a loon and is fixated on the chase rather than the meat. 

You would think that he would give up.  But he doesn’t.  Year after year, episode after episode, Wile E. Coyote keeps setting traps that end in his demise. 

But that is what happens with an idolatrous obsession isn’t it?  With every “beep, beep” the Coyote gets further infuriated and redoubles his efforts to catch the uncatchable.  It doesn’t matter how many times his quest for that tasty blue meat drives him off a cliff.  He must have his desire fulfilled. 

Not About Addiction but Obsession

You probably think I am going to talk about some sort of addiction don’t you?Maybe.  But this is more of an obsession than an addiction per se.  I am talking about an obsession that manifests itself in judgmental actions stemming from a harsh and judgmental heart. 

We see it clearly in the life of Haman (of Book of Esther fame).  He is one of the Wile E. Coyote’s of the Old Testament.  Mordecai is the Road Runner.

The viewer is left uncertain of where this obsession with catching the Road Runner begins in the life of Wile E. Coyote.  Maybe it was a family tradition.  Perhaps he simply heard too man “beep, beeps”. 
The reader of the Old Testament does not have to wonder where Haman’s obsession with offing Mordecai comes from.  With Haman, Jew-hating is a family pastime.  It goes back as far as Saul’s (Israel’s first king) battles with Agag the king of the Amalekites.  This is an early version of the Hatfield’s v. McCoys, Palestine v. Israel, Browns v. Steelers.  Amalekites don’t like Jews.

Haman’s personal opportunity for offing the Jews comes when Mordecai refuses to pay homage to him.  Of course with Mordecai it’s nothing personal; he’s a Jew and Jews don’t bow to anyone except YHWH.  But with Haman it is personal.  And it becomes an obsession.  For four chapters we read of Haman plotting on the Jews and specifically focused on seeing Mordecai hanged. 

It doesn’t matter that people in his life are telling him that he is going overboard (see Esther 6:13).  He will not listen.  Mordecai must be hanged.  And not just hanged.  This is Haman pulling out all stops and buying the best materials from The Acme Corporation to make sure to get the job done.  He wants to see Mordecai hang from a 75 foot tall gallows.  That’s more than just perverted “justice”.  This is a rage filled obsession and a desire to make a public spectacle out of Mordecai’s shame-inducing refusal to pay homage. 

Hung From Our Own Gallows

Haman's story ends with him hanging from the very same gallows that he had built for Mordecai.  Not a good ending.

Apart from Jesus I’m certainly not innocent little Mordecai in this story.  I’m Haman--that will stop at nothing to see my desire for perverted justice fulfilled.  And sadly I see Haman crop in my heart from time to time even still.  Apparently I’m not alone.  Jesus warned in Matthew 7:1-2

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

In other words a judgmental heart puts you in danger of hanging yourself from your own gallows.  Just like Wile E. Coyote and just like Haman whenever I call the Acme Corporation to load me with ammo to bring down others I am in danger of having the best ACME has to offer come back on my own head. 

From this message I am putting a simple principle into my life--and I hope you see it reflected in my writing—I will give people the benefit of the doubt and “judge them” according to the measure that I would like to be judged.  And let me tell you I want a lot of grace.  I want truth.  I want to be righteous, holy, and pure.  And I want to want that for my brothers and sisters in Christ.  But I know in my own life that no matter how righteous, holy, and pure I am becoming that I am still but a man…and I’m a man that is desperately in need of grace.  I need others and especially the Lord Himself to remember that I am but dust. 
I have a few more thoughts on this that will have to wait for tomorrow…

The Golden Rule for the “Cousin Eddie” In Your Life

As you sift through your junk mail one particular letter catches your eye.  It claims to be from the office of the President of the United States.  You open it, figuring it to be a scam.  To your surprise it is legit.  President Obama has written you a letter thanking you for your awesomeness.  He says that he desires to honor you with whatever you desire.  All you have to do is ask and it is yours. 

Start dreaming. 

You write up your wish list and send it in to the President.  To your dismay two weeks later everything you “ordered” is delivered on the lawn of your least favorite neighbor.  (You know the smelly guy that gets his morning paper in his not-so-flattering boxer shorts while his dog poops in your yard.) 

Thinking there is a mistake, you quickly jaunt over to Cousin Eddie’s feces-free yard to inform him that there has been a mistake and that all of his grand prizes were meant to be delivered to your house.  But they weren’t.  The postal service didn’t mess up this time.  It was the original letter that was meant to go across the street.  Your smelly neighbor was to be the recipient of the President’s blessings. 

Now here is the million dollar question.  Had you received a letter from the President requesting his help in blessing your loser of a neighbor would you have given him much less than you requested for yourself? 

I would. 

And apparently so would Haman.  We read in Esther 6 that he unintentionally followed the Golden Rule.  He blessed Mordecai thinking that he was going to bless himself.  He unwittingly “did unto others as he would have done to himself”.

Looking at Haman’s heart is a rebuke to my own.  I am too much like Haman.  I dream bigger dreams for myself than I do others.  My prayer life is a reflection of that.  Yeah, I seldom pray for people’s heads to be on a platter.  That’s good.  But I also seldom pray for an overflow of God’s blessings in their lives. 

So, I’m praying today that the Lord will change my heart to dream big dreams for other people.  I want to reflect the Lord Jesus in giving my life to bringing others into a vast enjoyment of God.  I want to have a heart that is opposite of Haman’s. 

Father, forgive me for having a Haman type of heart.  Forgive me for a jealous and covetous heart that longs for more in my own life.  Forgive me for often turning an uncaring eye to others.  Replace my Haman-heart with a Christ-like heart that “counts others more significant than myself” and that “looks not only to my own interests but also to the interests of others.”  Amen.

Grace. It’s Not Being Right.

There is a verse in Acts 22 that is very humbling, and to be honest a tad scary, for us nerdy theologically minded type of people.  Paul says of the Jesus-rejecting, church-persecuting Jews:

“…being zealous for God as all of you are this day…”

It is possible to very passionately “defend God” and uphold really good theology but all the while completely miss the gospel.  That is what happened to this Jewish crowd.  It’s what happened to Paul.  And it’s what has happened to me before.  We are absolutely convinced of something, we passionately fight for it, we even use Scripture, but we are dead wrong. 

That is scary.  It’s especially scary in a postmodern world where many say that truth is relative.  The fact that you can be passionately wrong—and in fact often are—seems like ammunition in the gun of the relativistic argument.

But this really shouldn’t be scary.  After all it’s not necessarily my theology that saves me.  I can have really good theology—like the demons—and still go to hell.  As Russell Moore has wisely said:

“There are some, I fear, who will be able to diagram in Greek the last words they ever hear voiced: ‘Depart from me, you worker of iniquity.’ Such cognitive expertise is of little use in wrestling demons.”  (Moore, Tempted and Tried, 182-83)

Moore, I believe, is right because such cognitive expertise can cause some to vigorously argue theology (even being right) but in the end be just as much a son of hell as Judas Iscariot.  It certainly can even cause those that have been bought with the blood of Christ to argue and sling slander like heaps of excrement spewing from Satan’s mouth. 

We do this because as Dr. Moore elsewhere states, “We’d rather be right than rescued”.  And that is what matters. 

Grace. 

Not theological accuracy. 

Not passionate defense of “God’s truth”. 

Not stamping out heretics. 

Not being zealous for God. 

Grace. 

On Being a son of Sceva

I have always loved the story of the Sons of Sceva (Acts 19).  To me it’s pretty funny that these guys think they can exorcise a demon only to wind up naked, wounded, and running away.  I like to laugh at these goons. 

But I’m not really laughing as hard this morning.  It’s easier to laugh when I distance myself from them.  Today I don’t feel so different than these Sons of Sceva. 

I could easily seem myself trying the same thing as the Sceva kids.  Yeah, I don’t really try to exorcise demons.  But in a way I kind of do.  I preach in the hopes that people may turn from darkness to light.  I counsel people.  I teach.  I write.  I plan programs/ministries.  I do many things with the hopes of overturning darkness and healing those wounded by evil. 

And I sometimes undertake this “ministry” the same way Sceva’s boys did it:

“By my degree in Christian Education I adjure you…”  “By the Jesus I read about in a Piper book I command you…”  “By the name of Jesus that I learned about in Romans: Syntax and Exegesis be healed”  “By the wisdom and power of John Newton’s Jesus be gone Satan…”

The danger of second-hand faith

A second-hand faith doesn’t have any power.  Not because the degree of second-hand faith is deficient, but because that faith is misplaced.  A second-hand faith has its object as a person that has faith, or even faith itself.  But the only type of faith that matters is the faith that is placed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

Second-hand faith will only leave you wounded, naked, and running.  This goes for life and this goes for ministry.  It’s not enough to simply speak about Jesus, or know about Jesus, what is required for hell-jarring ministry and living is actually knowing and believing Jesus Himself. 

None of this is to discredit the importance of reading good Christian books.  I’m not at fault for admiring Newton.  In fact I’d be stupid not to.  I’m at fault whenever I stop there.  If reading John Newton doesn’t lead me to worship His Jesus then I’m wasting my time and not reading him rightly.  Same goes with my pursuit of a degree at SBTS.  This labor and sweat is meant to lead to more passionate worship.  If it doesn’t then I’m wasting my time and only training myself to be a better son of Sceva. 

The only source of power

This story isn’t primarily a call to not be like the sons of Sceva.  This story is primarily about the power of the word of God.  Notice in 19:20 that Luke sums up the story by saying, “so the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily”. 

Did you notice that?  Earlier we saw that the demons “overpowered” the sons of Sceva.  Why?  Because they only had a second-hand faith.  But look what the word actually does.  It overpowers or “prevails mightily” over the darkness. 

We see this illustrated in the bonfire.  These former magicians realized that Jesus is more powerful than silly magic or feeble Jewish exorcists.  They came to place their faith in Jesus and it caused some serious repentance.  Not only did these former magicians come together to confess their sin but they also burned their old books in the sight of all.  At this bonfire they burned some (in today's’ currency) 6 million dollars worth of goods.  That’s some serious repentance. 

What brings about this change?  The powerful name of Jesus displayed in His proclaimed Word. 

So, I’m convinced that if I want to see a massive bonfire of repentance then I probably have a few “magic books” that I need to throw in the fire myself.  I have some second-hand things that I am trusting in to be successful in ministry.  If I trust in these things I’ll wind up naked, wounded, and running.  But if I stake all my life and ministry on the power of Jesus and His Word then I might see a $6 million bonfire. 

Tornadoes, Death, and the Goodness of God

Tornadoes ripped through Joplin, MO this past weekend.  Over 100 hundred people died. 

My wife’s grandmother battled cancer for years and finally “lost” that battle on Tuesday. 

Those are only two of the events of suffering that happened in the last few days.  There were many more.  Somebody’s daughter was raped.  A little boy lost his father.  A child died of starvation.  A young man lost his job.  A little girl’s puppy ran away.  Suffering, suffering, suffering. 

Yet there was also sunshine.  Some little girls puppy came home.  A young man finally secured a job to support his family.  A child on the brink of starvation was rescued and adopted.  A little boy was reunited with his estranged father.  A dad joyously gave his daughter to away to a godly young man.  Joy, joy, joy. 

The truth is you never know which paragraph you will be in.  And furthermore, the paragraph break isn’t always so noticeable.  Sometimes you have joy in the midst of suffering.  Sometimes your joy is a tad bittersweet (like the father giving away his daughter in marriage). 

There is one thing that we all hold in common.  We’ll be in both paragraphs at some time or another.  In the good times it can be easy to forget that these are blessings and grace that come from a very good Father.  And in those really dark times it can be easy to forget that God is good and that the Judge of the earth ALWAYS does what is right. 

It seems to me that I always vacillate between believing God’s power to the exclusion of God’s love or I believe God’s love to the exclusion of God’s power.  But the biblical narrative is that God is not only powerful He is also loving and He is also good.  In other words God is powerful enough to accomplish His loving purposes. 

Good and Powerful in Genesis 18

At the beginning of Genesis 18 we see the Lord revealing His plan to Sarah.  Within one year Sarah, who is “advanced in years”—and according to her own proclamation “worn out”—will have a son.  Her response is a doubting type of laughter: “Seriously?!  It can’t happen.  I’m too old.”  Sarah will slowly be learning that God is powerful and can do what he wants. 

At the end of Genesis 18 we see the Lord revealing His plan to Abraham—concerning Sodom.  He is going to destroy them.  Abraham was a tad confused.  “How could God sweep away the righteous with the unrighteous”, Abraham thought.  So, he begins to barter a little with God.  He stops at “if there are ten righteous people” in Sodom.  Abraham is slowly learning that God is good—He’d never destroy Sodom if they were righteous. 

So, this (and numerous other places in Scripture) leaves me with this one conclusion.  The sovereign Judge of the universe will always do what is right and He is powerful enough to do that which is right. 

What does that mean for tornadoes and a dead grandmother? 

I’m only left with one option: trusting a good and powerful God that promises He will eventually work all things together so that we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.  It would be one thing to help us “get through” the suffering.  But God promises to do more.  He promises to turn those bad things on their head so that eventually somehow tornadoes and dead grandma’s are actually a GOOD thing because they brought us into conformity with Jesus—and this is our GREATEST good. 

Praying Expectantly

When Isaiah was only a few months old we had a little problem with him.  He couldn’t poop.  It had been something like 5 days since he had went potty and we were starting to get concerned. 

Isaiah made a good amount of trips to the doctor in his first few months because he had what is known as GIRD.  That’s the medical term for exorcist puking.  Seriously.  Somehow my little guy would drink four ounces and spew up six—or at least that is how it appeared.  Because his belly was like a trampoline we were frequently worried about dehydration.  One way to check how well a little guy is hydrated is to monitor how often they are peeing and pooping.  So, when little guy hasn’t pooped for 5 days mommy and daddy start to get a little worried. 

So, Nikki and I did the only thing we knew to do.  We prayed. 

It felt really weird praying for my son to poop.  I realized that I had entered into a new phase in my life when I was praying that another human would be able to go potty.  But we prayed, and we prayed pretty desperately. 

No sooner did I say, “Amen”, then my son let out a wild grunt and filled not only his diaper but a good portion of his back too.  God answered prayer.  Nikki and I were completely shocked.  Maybe not shocked that he had answered our prayer but that he had done it so speedily. 

But why is that?  Why are we so often shocked when God comes through and answers our prayers. 

Apparently we aren’t alone in that.  When we read the story in Acts 12 we see that these pillars of the church are praying fervently for Peter’s release*.  Peter has been arrested and now the other disciples are together, probably praying for Peter that the same fate as James will not befall him.  In verse 13 the story gets somewhat humorous:

13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

First of all, it is hilarious that she didn’t let him in but shut the door in his face and left him outside.  Secondly, notice that the men can’t believe that God would have answered their prayers so quickly.  It’s not Peter—it must be his angel.  Certainly, he’s dead. 

Now, again, we do not know for certain what these men were praying.  But it is not a leap of imagination to believe that they were praying for Peter.  But maybe they weren’t praying with a ton of faith or at least they weren’t praying expectantly. 

I want to learn today to pray expectantly.  As for me, I don’t think it is God’s power that I doubt.  I have to humbly confess that it’s his love and care that I doubt.  I don’t want to do that.  So, would you pray for me today (expectantly even) that God would continue to convinced me of his absolute love and dedication to me.  I’m still growing in learning that.

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*This connection is not original with me.  The first time I had heard this point made it was from one of my college professors, Dr. Morgan.