It was my fault.

Questions swirled as I drove to the top of the Interstate exit ramp toward the hospital to visit my eighty-three-year-old widowed mom. “Congestive heart failure” rang in my ears.

Will Mama be safe living alone? Would she move in with us? Will the new meds help?

Deep in thought, I steered my Camry the wrong way onto a one-way street—straight into the headlights of a young man’s car.

I stared through the cracked windshield in disbelief. Thoughts flashed like lightning: I went the wrong way! Is he hurt? Why isn’t he getting out? It’s my fault. What should I do?

Guilt and fear captured me. My head throbbed in rhythm with my heart.

I cried, “Oh, please help me, Father God. Look what I did. Please let that man be okay. Help me, Father.”

Although I stood on wobbly legs when I exited the car, a sense of calmness soothed me. While I watched the other driver and the policeman who observed the accident walk toward me, my heavenly Father whispered assurance as if to say, “I am here. All is well.”

The external situation did not change. Traffic backed up and people gawked. My car, pointed in the opposite direction of the one-way arrow, announced, “It was her fault.” Deep inside, something did change. Peace replaced panic because of the One who stood beside me.

God didn’t arrive at the scene of the crash; He was there all along, ready to tend my troubled state. The balm of His presence relieved the flames of fear that engulfed me.

Months later, when my mother met Jesus face-to-face, the Lord soothed my heart again. Since the accident and Mama’s death, I’ve thanked God numerous times for His relief and answered prayer. When troubling news or a challenge careens down mental streets threatening to crash into my contentment, I often confess, “Father, I need You. Please help me.”

When I experience His willingness to exchange my unrest for His solace, I proclaim,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation …” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NKJV

The author of Psalm 66 also remembered the way God nurtured his soul. Perhaps he yearned to shout with joy and beckon those he knew to listen when he wrote,

“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul.” Psalm 66:16 NKJV

Maybe the psalmist recalled Yahweh’s peace in fearful times or deliverance when enemies advanced. Surely, like us, he encountered daily challenges which prompted him to testify of God’s care.

Like the psalm writer, in the face of trials and challenges, believers can turn down the one-way street of prayer to seek the “God of all comfort.” Regardless of the roadblocks we face or the errors of our ways, His consolations are limitless.

We could compose our own song of praise in a journal or in prayer to thank God for caring for our souls. What do you remember about the times God cared for you? Do you need His reassurance today? Like the gel of an aloe plant relieves sunburned skin, the balm of divine comfort quiets anxious hearts.

I moved my mother to a new, downsized apartment. Like most of us, her money is tight. At times the process involved careful sorting and packing; other times demanded chucking things in boxes or in the trash. At the end of the move, the walls were bare and wounded with nail holes and plastic drywall anchors; the carpet lay lined and pocked with impressions of once-arranged furniture; and the windows stood stark and vacant against the sunlight. The furniture and decorations that once made it home were gone, leaving only an empty shell.

Throughout our lives we may go through some phases with great care and others with wild abandon. And at each phase of life, we will leave the previous one behind—like a place that was once home but is now gone, like an empty apartment.

At death we may leave behind money and furniture, but the life we lived—the space we took up on this earth, the “us” that people knew—will be gone, empty as a moved-out-house.

No matter how sentimental, or wounded, we may be about the past, we must leave it as we enter a new phase of life. A wise person will cling to nothing, and live according to what’s ahead. In a way we all know this, and my talking about it is clicheish. But humans have an innate tendency to cling. We fill our closets and garages with stuff we’ll never use again. We hold on to nostalgic versions of memories and edit out the unhappy parts. We want life to keep going the way we like it.

But we can’t do that forever.

Jesus tells a parable of a guy who was a lot more similar to many of us than we’d like to admit. The story goes like this:

“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21 NIV).

If we cling to our stuff, we’ll only get into trouble—both in this life and the afterlife.

Not clinging takes unending attention. None of these come easily: not clinging to old toys and the piles of stuff that too often defined who we were; not clinging to comfort zones, hurt emotions, and the way things used to be.

Like a rented apartment, our lives may seem like our own, but ultimately they are not. We live and breathe in the hands of God, who created us. When our life’s lease is up, all we leave behind will be emptied of us.

The Apostle Paul similarly calls believers to let go of our stuff. The more we let go of here, the more we can expect to receive in the place God has prepared. Here is the amazing promise:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV).

 

Paying Attention to How We Live

By: Charles Stanley, crosswalk.com

Luke 12:16-21

One day we’ll give an account of ourselves to the Lord (Romans 14:12). We must, then, pay attention to how we live.

The rich man in Luke 16:19-31 made the tragic choice of living for himself without regard for the Lord. He also made two other mistakes.

First, he invested everything for himself and nothing for the life to come. When we are blinded by our own desires and personal satisfaction, it is easy to become lukewarm about spiritual matters. We forget that this life is not all there is. Scripture tells us to store up treasures in heaven, not on earth. Where our treasure is reflects where our heart is (Matthew 6:19-21).

The rich man’s other mistake was to prepare everything for himself and nothing for others. Crumbs falling from his table (v. 21) were the only form of assistance he gave a poor man named Lazarus. The one who had much wealth did not share it with the one who had little. Jesus explained what our priorities should be to love the Lord wholeheartedly and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Luke 10:27).

We see the rich man’s mistakes repeated in another parable. This time a wealthy man builds bigger barns to store crops so he will have plenty for the future. God calls him a fool for such shortsightedness (Luke 12:20).

The Bible repeatedly warns us to pay attention to spiritual matters—the Lord is to have first place in our lives and be the center of our affections. He urges us to store up heavenly treasure by caring for the lost and hurting people around us. On whom is your attention focused?

 

The Rich Fool

 

Scripture Reading — Luke 12:13-21

“[The rich man said,] ‘I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool!’”
—Luke 12:19-20 —

A fool! That’s what God calls the person in today’s parable.

That may seem a strange way to describe someone who would have been the envy of many people in the community. The man had worked hard, putting in long hours, and it had paid off. He was set to enjoy the fruit of his labors. He was going to “take life easy” and “eat, drink and be merry.”

When you work hard all your life and you have built a suc-cessful business or career, along with some good investments, haven’t you earned the right to take life easy and enjoy your retirement? That’s how the rich man reasoned with himself.

The Bible makes clear that God does not begrudge his people the rewards of a life well lived. He does not call the man a fool because he was rich. God was the one who allowed him to be successful. God called the man a fool because he had stored up things only for himself. Instead of recognizing God’s blessing and working to build God’s kingdom, he had been building his own.

Many people are like the rich fool, willing to sacrifice almost anything to get ahead, trusting in money and status for their security and leaving God out of the picture. Take a few mo-ments today and ask yourself, “Would God call me a fool?”

 

The Parable of the Rich Fool

“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (vv. 20–21).

– Luke 12:13–21

According to Jewish custom, rabbis could settle legal disputes when it came to the division of property between heirs, and that explains why the man described in today’s passage came to Jesus to get a share of his brother’s inheritance (Luke 12:13). But what is immediately striking about this passage is that Jesus did not take the opportunity to exercise His right to judge between the two brothers. Instead, the encounter provided Him with an opportunity to speak a parable warning about covetousness.

One of the most remarkable things about the Ten Commandments is that God includes in it a law against a covetous disposition (Ex. 20:17). If we were to come up with a law code, we would not likely put such a rule in place; rather, we would focus on external sins such as murder or theft. But our Creator’s adding a law against covetousness represents a profound understanding of human nature. Untold destruction of families and nations has been wrought as a result of an individual’s unlawful desire to possess that which rightfully belongs to another. Wars between nations typically begin because one side wants something that belongs to the other. In fact, covetousness is actually one of the primal sins of humanity. Adam and Eve coveted the knowledge of good and evil—they wanted for themselves what was proper only to the Creator—and so they grasped for it, plunging the universe headlong into ruin (Gen. 3).

Covetousness manifests itself in a lack of gratitude and generosity. There is nothing inherently wrong with being wealthy or seeking to increase one’s prosperity. The danger arises when we make riches our chief end, when we are never satisfied with what we have but think that acquiring more stuff will make us happy. That is what we see in the parable of the rich fool. The rich man did not stop to thank the Lord for his prosperity. He was dissatisfied with what he had and wanted bigger and better barns so that he could hold even more. He strove to acquire more and more because he prized self-sufficiency instead of a life of dependence upon God. He did not seek to help the poor, and thus failed to show trust that the Lord would continue to provide for him (Luke 12:13–19).

What was the end of this man? God judged him for his idolatrous treatment of his wealth (vv. 20–21). People who are impenitently covetous will be likewise condemned for their lack of thankfulness and generosity.

“We should name him Nemo,” I teased as we lowered our goldfish into the backyard pond. But then, there were those two cute dots at the base of his tail and two bigger dots on his fins.

“How about Duce?” my husband suggested.

“Perhaps Dos?” I countered.

And so, it was decided; his name would be Ducy-Dos. We were happy and so was our goldfish, but that changed the day of the accident. While we were cleaning the pond, Ducy-Dos tumbled into the pump housing.

For weeks, I kept the pump lid off, waiting to catch a glimpse of Ducy-Dos. I placed a net pondside, so I’d be able to take decisive action. I tempted our goldfish to surface, enticing him with tasty snacks. After three months of frequenting the pump housing, hoping to save our fish, I positioned the lid back into place.

“Honey, don’t give up so fast.” my husband encouraged.

“He’s not coming out of there.” Unable to retrieve Ducy-Dos, I had concluded our prized fish was dead.

“But we prayed …”

My husband’s words, “but we prayed,” echoed within me like a soft hammer. Sure. We had prayed three months ago, when the accident first happened. So why hadn’t I sighted our beloved fish on the first day we had prayed? I was convinced our prayer was too trivial for God’s ears. Besides, why should He retrieve our fish when I should’ve been more careful positioning the pump lid?

But then, there was the lightning storm and subsequent power failure. When the pumps switched off, I raced to the edge of the pond to make sure they would start correctly when electricity was restored. Sitting in the rain, listening to the thunder, I thought about Ducy-Dos. But we prayed. My husband’s words echoed in my heart once again, along with the scripture that nothing—absolutely nothing—is impossible for a holy God.

“… nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20b

Scripture echoes the same sentiment in I Peter. Because I am the Lord’s, I am:

“a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,” and I should be able to “shew forth the praises of him who hath called… [me] …out of darkness into his marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 KJV

Ducy-Dos, if alive, was very much in the dark. But, wasn’t I as well? I wasn’t putting faith in the words I had spoken to God. I needed to believe He could raise Ducy-Dos out of that pump housing. I wanted to tap into the realm of God and be different — yes, peculiar — because of my faith. I surrendered my little fish to the Lord and trusted Him to give or take Ducy-Dos at His will. I was at peace, even while the rain pelted me, drenching my clothing through to my skin.

To my utter amazement, when the power came on and the pumps re-started, a big gulp of water, air, and algae came spouting into the air, and with it our beloved fish! Ducy-Dos landed splat into my open hands, which by reflex I grasped onto tightly.

“Ducy-Dos!” I cried, examining him as if he was a newborn babe. His color was faded, but other than that, he was unharmed. We renamed our goldfish Nemo and thanked God for this unusual answer to prayer.

Friends, never give up on something you’ve prayed about. God has a wonderful way of granting surprises because He is good, and He loves you. Make the decision to praise Him even when you’re experiencing the storms of life.

Thank You, God, that with You, all things are possible through prayer.

Most of us have played the game Tug of War. The purpose is to get an equal number of people and strength on opposite sides of a rope. To make things interesting some people put a pit of mud in the middle. Those who lose the battle fall into the miry pit.

We are in a tug of war every day. The war is with our hearts. We have Satan and his demons on one end of the rope and the Lord and His angels on the other. So you may think, “Oh that is easy; Jesus will win every time.”

Each day there is a tug of war in the spiritual realms for our soul. Ephesians 6:10-12 says:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (NIV)

You feel this tug of war in your spirit. Sometimes you choose to side with the Lord and sometimes you take sides with Satan and his demons. I don’t have to tell you when you take Satan’s side; you already know.

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, NIV)

You see, it is our choice what side of the rope we are on each day. Also, each day we can waver back and forth to what side of the rope best fits our desire. The rope represents our life and that there are forces we cannot see struggling for our minds. Everything we do is a condition of our heart.

Since we are all sinners (Romans 3:23) and our hearts are deceitful, we can easily wind up on Satan’s side of the Tug of War game. But the Lord’s side is the only side we will have victory.

Today, Satan and his demons desire for our hearts to be self-centered. We may gravitate to do what we feel we deserve, no matter what the cost to others. We may take shortcuts and not be entirely truthful. We are all a selfish group of men and women who need a heart transplant every day. But in order for anyone to get a heart transplant, they need to go to the hospital.

Most of us wait too long to get the help we need and Satan wins another battle. No matter how deep we are in the pit, no matter how far we have fallen, it is never too late to get on the Lord’s side of the rope.

And that is just the beginning. When we get on the Lord’s winning side, we still need to fight. We still need to pull our weight on the rope. Fight for purity and righteousness. Fight for the desire to be on the winning team and not get lulled onto the losing team.

All of us have a choice in every decision we make today. Today has enough decisions of its own; don’t get bogged down with the future. The future is in God’s hands. Right now, as you are reading this, you are already in the war for the day. Do you know whose side you are on? Please don’t be on the side pulling against Jesus and other believers. It is easy to do when we are leading a sinful life and don’t care. Plead your case to Jesus. He always hears you and wants to restore you to His side. Remember, in one breath Jesus can obliterate the other side if he so chooses.

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Go Ahead, Shine

Two birds battled in our driveway. The beak of one was clamped firmly on the leg of the other and it would not let go. The captured bird wrestled frantically to break loose. They jerked, thrashed, and rolled. I sat spellbound as they continued to lurch and tumble as each fought to gain the advantage.

I spotted the birds as I was leaving home to run an errand. I don’t know how long they had been locked in combat, but it looked like a fight to the death. After watching almost ten minutes, I needed to go, but the birds blocked my path. When the front tire of my car was within a foot of them, the attacking bird finally released its grip and the two flew away, free.

The battle reminded me of a time my husband, Robert, and I had struggled. We must have looked just like those fighting birds. Conflict threatened to destroy our marriage and we couldn’t seem to work through it. We kept thrashing and tumbling as we sought to gain advantage. At every turn, one or both of us was hurt. I thought the emotional bumps and bruises would never cease.

Our struggles in relationships are often lengthened because, like the birds, neither gives in. We hold on, refusing to let go. We don’t realize that as long as we maintain our grip, we are trapped too. We are jerked, tossed, and tumbled, being wounded along with the other.

Throughout the struggle with Robert, I never guessed that I held the key to stopping it. Freedom came after I finally realized I was holding onto Robert’s leg through judgment. My judgment of him kept us locked in conflict, destroying the peace we once knew.

Initially, I didn’t approve of a decision Robert made and was afraid our family would suffer. My fear led me to be too forceful when we first talked about my fears, and nothing changed. Even as I tried to be respectful and supportive, I was thinking, “you shouldn’t be doing that,” and “You ought to …” I held him by the leg with my shouldsand oughts and continued to judge his decisions. I was not aware of my judgment, just of the fear of the consequences we could suffer from his choices.

Meanwhile, it felt to Robert like I didn’t respect him and he couldn’t do anything right. Even when I didn’t say anything, he sensed my underlying judgment. It was hard for him to hear God because of fear of my reactions.

As the conflict continued, my greatest concern was Robert’s lack of seeking the Lord. How could we expect God’s blessing if we didn’t seek His direction? What I didn’t realize was that I was standing between my husband and God. He was so afraid of my reaction that he couldn’t find the Lord. I was in the way.

Jesus’ words are so true,

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2 NASB).

As long as I remained judgmental against my husband, I felt judged by him. The consequences of my judgment were worse than those from his decisions. For months, we scrambled like two birds in the driveway.

When I released Robert from my shoulds and oughts and trusted God to work out His purposes, Robert and I were both freed. He was free to hear God, and we both found peace with God and could reestablish the fellowship we had once enjoyed with each other.

The same principle holds true with my in-laws, pastor, co-worker, and neighbor. If I dwell on how they should and ought to be doing something, there is conflict. If I trust God to work in their lives, I don’t get caught up in struggles I can’t get out of. Instead of holding on, I need to release people and circumstances into God’s hands. He is the judge.

“Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Romans 2:1, NASB).

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Some of my favorite moments with the Lord have been when I’ve gone out to interact with Him in nature. When I was pastoring in Pennsylvania, I’d love to drive into the Allegheny National Forest to read my Bible, pray, and meditate as I sat on the side of a small mountain overlooking the Allegheny River.

That little patch of earth is called “Hearts Content,” which is a very good name for such a place.

I felt His presence in a very special way another time when I visited the Grand Canyon. I arrived at the rim of the canyon and looked across, then down, down, down, down. At first, I was speechless. Then when my breath returned, all I could say was “glory to God.”

I remember first sensing God in nature as a small child. In my hometown there’s a beautiful place called Presque Isle State Park, which is a seven mile sandy peninsula that juts out into Lake Erie, creating a placid bay on one side and the mighty waves of an inland sea on the other. The land in between is a series of long fingers of sand lined up in rows with small lagoons dividing them. Over time, forests have grown up in the midst of these bands of windblown sand so that deer, fox, raccoons, and other animals make their homes along the edge of the numerous ponds.

Spending time in wondrous places like these always fills me with a sense of God’s peace and joy. Scripture says:

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made… ” (Romans 1:20 ESV)

I grew up in a family of seven children and when we were kids, my parents would crowd us into the van and take us down to Presque Isle. The lakeshore is situated on an angle, so it appears like the sun is sinking down into the water at sunset. In the summertime, my dad would come home from work and we would go down to the beach to catch the sunset.

Sitting on a weather-worn wooden picnic table, the August wind whipped through our hair as the soft sand gathered between our toes. Hugging each other as young families do, we would watch as the giant orange orb slowly descended into the rippling water – sending out vibrant rays of purple, gray, and orange across the dark greenish-blue water. I don’t remember who first came up with it, but someone started saying, “Our Father, who ‘arts’ in heaven…” and we all chimed in.

As a little boy, I was surrounded by artwork. My father was a prolific portrait artist, so he was always working on another painting. The smell of oils, acrylics, and turpentine filled his studio. I knew him as “my father who ‘arts’ in Erie.”

But it was those wonderful moments with my family out in nature that first planted the fire in my heart to also know my “Father who ‘arts’ in heaven.”

I believe that life is a never-ending process of learning to know and love this God of wonders. If we are looking for Him, God will reveal Himself in any number of ways; through loving family members; through a pastor or friends at church; through the beauty of nature; through tragedy and sorrow, or through joy and triumph; through His wonderful Scriptures; and even through a glorious sunset.

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For now, the calendar causes me to think about the Transfiguration and its prominence. My trusty old Church Calendar places the commemoration of the Transfiguration at last Tuesday, August 6th. Our nervous times would benefit from some renewed grasp of the beauty and awesomeness of that day in Christs glorious and earth-shaking life, and I hope a discussion will improve our focus.

My latest study began in the first 13 verses of Matthew 17 and benefited as expected from the accounts in Luke 9:28-36 and Mark 9:2-13. And then, of all things, I quickly remembered the ludicrous effort of a pastor I encountered some time back to preach about the Transfiguration. A nice man, and educated (in the wrong things, obviously), he was outright silly (in my opinion, of course) in “explaining away” the Bibles accounts of miraculous events, which cant be done if you read the Bible as the Word of God. But this weeks remembrance of his feeble attempts truly drove home the deep truth of this important section of Holy Scripture, which is the revelation of the glory of the Son of God, a glory hidden now but to be fully revealed when He returns.

According to The New International Dictionary of the Bible, the name Transfiguration is derived from a Latin term meaning, “to change into another form.” The accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke portray the transformation as outwardly visible and consisting in an actual physical change in the body of Jesus.

“The appearance of His face changed” (Luke 9:29, NIV), “His face shone like the sun” (Matthew 17:2), while “His clothes became dazzling white” (Mark 9:3). The three apostles accompanying Jesus Peter, James, and John testified that the glory was not caused by the falling of a heavenly light on him from without but by the flashing forth of the radiant splendor within. He had passed into a higher state of existence, His body assuming properties of the resurrection body.

Remember, beloved, this was the Son of God, not some earthly creature dispatched on a mission. He wasnt like everybody else; He conversed openly with such Old Testament guys as Moses and Elijah.

The rendezvous was held at a place simply identified as “a high mountain” (Mark 9:2). Tradition has identified it with Mount Tabor, but because of its distance from Caesara Philippi and the fortification on it at that time, a spur of Mount Hermon seems more probable, according to the New International Dictionary. Jebel Jermuk has also been suggested.

Sometimes its hard to think in these terms since, after all, this was the Son of God (God Himself) but this whole experience gave encouragement to Jesus, who was setting His face to the Cross. To the shocked disciples, it confirmed the necessity of the Cross, since all the accounts told of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus speaking of Christs “departure” as well as the divine endorsement on Christs teaching. It inseparably linked the suffering with the glory and crowned with glory the perfect human life of Jesus.

In effect, this was an entry for Jesus into the glory in which He would reign. It constituted, one might say, a typical manifestation of the king coming into His kingdom.

Yes, good folks, the mountains were terribly significant and important to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us bow down before Him! Amen.

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He was a relatively successful businessman — a tradesman, heartily plying his craft with a small fleet of fishing boats that he shared with his brother and his friends. He knew the sea, his boats, his friends, his family — and as a God-fearing Jewish man, he knew his religion. But religion was more for the formative years. It was for his wife and his children. It’s not that he didn’t believe, but he was a busy man, trying to earn an honest living and put bread on the table.

He was well-respected among his peers. He was tough. He was wise to the ways of the world. He was no nonsense. He called it the way he saw it — no frills, no pretense, no foolishness. He was the kind of man who would fish all night to bring in a catch.

So when this man called Jesus arrived in his hometown of Capernaum on the banks of the Sea of Galilee, Peter paid little attention to all the chatter about the young religious teacher.

But that all changed when Jesus decided to teach the multitude at the edge of the sea.

It had been another difficult, exhausting night for Peter, his brother Andrew, and their friends James and John. Even with all of the years of experience, and the tricks of the trade, sometimes you come up empty-handed. Peter was tired and frustrated, and the crowd pressing around them as they cleaned their nets was making him furious. The nets needed to be stowed away, and he wanted to hurry home to get some sleep.

Suddenly Jesus called to him, “Simon, I’m going to jump into your boat. Push me out a little way so that I can speak to the crowd.”

“Oh great,” Simon thought, “I’m going to have to wait until he’s done preaching before I can go home.” Now he was boiling with frustration. But he had no choice. The entire town had gathered to hear this rabbi. How would he look to his friends if he refused? Reluctantly he pushed the boat out into deeper water.

Jesus stood up in the boat and began teaching the crowd. Peter tried to ignore him as he continued tidying up the boat, but even through his frustration the words spoken by this young man captured his attention. His teaching was not pompous and full of religious pleasantries like other teachers of the law. The words of Jesus were simple, straight to the point, and practical.

Simon kept working on the nets, but Jesus now had his ear.

Jesus had captured Peter’s attention, but now he was ready to capture his heart. When he finished his sermon he called to Peter, “Simon, take your boat out into the deeper water and let down your nets for a catch.”

Peter had just finished stowing away his neatly-folded nets. The impromptu religious service was over. The boat was tidy. It was time to go home for a few hours of sleep. Who did this teacher think he was talking to, anyway? The fish weren’t cooperating.

Standing chest-deep in the water next to his boat Simon paused for a moment to asses the situation. He didn’t want to be rude. After all, this was an impressive teacher of the law. Looking up at Jesus he responded with a slight laugh, “Master, we have fished all night and caught nothing.”

He paused and waited for Jesus to respond. Surely he would yield to the wisdom of a seasoned fisherman. But Jesus didn’t bat an eye. He simply smiled and waited for Peter to enter the world of wonder that lay before him.

The seafarer looked around for support from his partners, but their raised eyebrows and puzzled looks provided no way of escape for him. The whole town stood on the muddy shoreline waiting for his response. Again he laughed and turned his face toward Jesus. Slowly the words slipped passed his lips, “But at your word, we’ll let down our nets.”

Though they were exhausted, the small band smiled as they climbed into the boats and pushed out to sea — destined to begin an adventure of faith that would take them beyond their wildest dreams.

Peter knew exactly where he wanted to go; just out far enough to be in the deep water, but not so far that they couldn’t get back to shore quickly when they proved to Jesus who knew more about fishing.

The young rabbi sat silently in the bow of the vessel — a slight smile raised the corners of his mouth as he watched the men methodically carry out their assignments. Peter was particularly gruff as he barked out orders to the other men. He was used to being in charge, and he didn’t like being led where he didn’t want to go, especially when he was tired. “Come on, John, pay attention. Keep the lines tight,” he snarled at the youngest, and most impressionable of the group.

At the count of three they heaved the nets into the turquoise-colored water. Immediately the nets churned with activity. Across the surface of the sea, silver-bellied fish slithered over each other in a frenzied dance. Instinct took over and Peter hollered, “Bring it in, bring it in.” The men snapped into action, the muscles in their arms and legs straining as they pulled thousands of glimmering fish into the boats. The weight of the catch was so massive that the nets themselves began to break.

Jesus joined in the laughter as he watched the men fill both of the vessels so full of fish that they began sinking. “Bail some of the catch, quickly,” Peter hollered to his mates.

As the fish writhed and hopped in the bottom of the boat Jesus stood and grabbed hold of the mainsail. Suddenly the reality of the situation struck Peter and he shuddered. This was certainly not a normal catch, and this man now standing above him, his long hair whipping in the Galilean wind was no ordinary man. Peter stopped and looked up at Jesus. It was as if this teacher could see right through him. He felt almost naked before him, like Jesus was able to read his thoughts and see every wicked thing he had ever done.

This Jesus was truly a man sent from God.

Peter lost the strength in his legs and fell down to his knees among the fish at Jesus’ feet. Unable to raise his eyes to meet the gaze of this man of power Peter declared in a quivering voice, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” The others stopped their activity and watched the drama unfold. With a look of gentleness and compassion Jesus leaned over and put his hand on the back of Peter’s neck. Trembling, the fisherman looked up into his eyes through tears as Jesus declared, “Don’t be afraid. From now on, you will be a fisher of men.”

Peter didn’t know exactly what he meant by this, but he did know that his life would never be the same. When Jesus gave him the command to follow him he did so without hesitation. It was the beginning of an odyssey with Christ that would challenge and perplex him; that would take him to the dizzying heights of transfiguration and miraculous power, and the grinding depths of betrayal and bewilderment.

And along the way, Jesus would provide one opportunity after another for this outspoken born-leader to be tested, and tried, and to be sifted like wheat. But in the end, Jesus would establish Peter as an Apostle of Faith. And on the day of Pentecost, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter would shake himself loose from the coils of his ordinary life, and live an extraordinary existence that would turn the ancient world upside down!

~

We find this passage in Matthew 16:13-20 (NASB):

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’

“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?'”

“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'”

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.'”

“Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”

We see here that Jesus had led his disciples north from the predominantly Jewish territory, more than likely to escape the crowds and to spend time privately with his disciples. They have journeyed some twenty-five miles (and seventeen hundred feet uphill) from the Lake of Galilee to the source of the Jordan River near the ancient city of Dan. This was the northern boundary of ancient Israel.

The area had only recently been renamed Caesarea Philippi, and it was the most paganized territory in Israel. It was famous for its grotto where people worshiped the Greek god Pan.

Jesus is not swayed by the paganism of the territory — in fact, he doesn’t even mention it. By leading his disciples to this place, we can see the theme of Jesus’ universal mission in his Gospel. This fits in to the overall message behind this interaction with Simon Peter: that Jesus is the Christ and the time had come for Him to be revealed to the world outside of Judaism – first by His death and resurrection. Then, as the Great Commission of Matthew 28 declares, He is to be revealed by the witness of these followers going into the whole world to make other disciples.

The Matthew 16 passage is a kind of “final test” for the disciples under Jesus’ tutelage. Like all students, the disciples had to pass the final exam before they were sent out into the world. Jesus had trained his followers to teach others, and therefore it was highly important that they should understand the truth themselves.

Jesus gathers his disciples on the side of this small mountain and asks the key question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Peter once again takes his role as the spokesman for the group: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Since the early part of his ministry, Jesus had avoided the word Messiah or Christ because of its political meaning to the people. But now Peter plainly calls Jesus the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Son of the God, the Living One.

This great confession of Peter shows that he and the other disciples believe in Jesus as the Messiah and are still true to him in spite of the defection of many of the other disciples. The inner circle of disciples express their conviction in the Messiahship or Christhood of Jesus as opposed to the divided opinions of the populace.

Far from correcting or rebuking Peter for his declaration, Jesus blesses him and accepts the confession as true. Thereby Jesus solemnly claims to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God — He reveals His deity at this crucial moment.

Jesus declares to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church…” (verses 17-18)

The question that is raised from this passage is, “Who is the rock that Jesus is referring to?”

Theologians provide three main interpretations:

• Peter is the rock;
• Jesus is the rock;
• The revelation that Peter receives is the rock

From the Greek we can see the meaning behind the verse. Jesus declares, “You are Petros,” which means ‘small pebble,’ “and on this Petra,” which means ‘rock’ or ‘boulder,’ “I will build my Church.”

Jesus is not saying that Peter is “the rock.” He calls him the “small pebble.” And He is not pointing to Himself in this passage, though in other parts of the Bible we see Jesus referred to as “the rock.” But in this passage, Jesus is declaring that His church will be built on “the rock of revelation” from above; that is, the revelation from God in heaven about the true identity of Jesus as the Christ.

It is by revelation through the Holy Spirit that we come to know that Jesus is, in fact, the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This brings us to the point of repentance and opens the doors for us to become born again as children of God. It is through this divine interaction that each of us become Christians — and thus we are part of the Church that Jesus is building.

Later the Apostle Peter would write to the Church, “…you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5 NASB)

It is likely that Peter was looking back on this intimate moment with Jesus when he declared that every believer is “small stone” that is being fit together into the Church that Christ is building!

In his commentary, Matthew Henry notes that ministers must be examined before they be sent forth, especially concerning their sentiments toward Christ, and who they say that he is; for how can they be owned as ministers of Christ, that are either ignorant or erroneous concerning Christ? “This is a question every one of us should be putting to ourselves, “Who do we say, what kind of one do we say, that the Lord Jesus is?”

Henry also points out that Christ reveals his mind to his people gradually – another element of his leadership style. “From that time, when the apostles had made the full confession of Christ, that he was the Son of God, he began to show them of his sufferings. He spoke this to set right the mistakes of his disciples about the outward pomp and power of his kingdom. Those that follow Christ, must not expect great or high things in this world. Peter would have Christ to dread suffering as much as he did; but we mistake, if we measure Christ’s love and patience by our own.”

This discourse provides a major turning point in the Gospel of Matthew. The confession and rebuke of Peter is placed just before the transfiguration of Jesus in chapter 17, indicating the end of Jesus’ Galilean Ministry and beginning of His journey to Jerusalem, and the march to his death and resurrection — the gateway to the birth of the Church!

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Streams in the Desert – July 27

Times have changed, but life’s hard times haven’t

Prove me now (Malachi 3:10).

What is God saying here but this: “My child, I still have windows in Heaven. They are yet in service. The bolts slide as easily as of old. The hinges have not grown rusty. I would rather fling them open, and pour forth, than keep them shut, and hold back. I opened them for Moses, and the sea parted. I opened them for Joshua, and Jordan rolled back. I opened them for Gideon, and hosts fled. I will open them for you–if you will only let Me.

On this side of the windows, Heaven is the same rich storehouse as of old. The fountains and streams still overflow. The treasure rooms are still bursting with gifts. The lack is not on my side. It is on yours. I am waiting. Prove Me now. Fulfill the conditions, on your part. Bring in the tithes. Give Me a chance.
–Selected

I can never forget my mother’s very brief paraphrase of Malachi 3:10. The verse begins, “Bring ye the whole tithe in,” and it ends up with “I will pour” the blessing out till you’ll be embarrassed for space. Her paraphrase was this: Give all He asks; take all He promises.”
–S. D. Gordon

The ability of God is beyond our prayers, beyond our largest prayers! I have been thinking of some of the petitions that have entered into my supplication innumerable times. What have I asked for? I have asked for a cupful, and the ocean remains! I have asked for a sunbeam, and the sun abides! My best asking falls immeasurably short of my Father’s giving: it is beyond that we can ask.
–J. H. Jowett