Category: Pondering Passages

(You will note that I have changed my Wednesday blog title from Prayer Mentoring to Pondering Psalms. This is because I am being mentored in my praying as I ponder the Psalm. And since my Friday post is no longer a pondering post I wanted to use Wednesdays for my pondering of Scripture. Two birds with one stone so to speak.)

To read Psalm 63 in its entirety you can click HERE.

¹ O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

 ¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Since the beginning of recorded history, the entire world has been at peace less than 8% of the time! Of 3530 years of recorded history, only 286 years saw peace. Moreover, in excess of 8000 peace treaties were made & broken. During this period there were 14,351 wars, large & small, in which 3.64 billion people were killed. The world needs peace among the nations.

Millions and millions of people suffer with depression, anxiety, and worry. Millions and millions of dollars are spent each year trying to find a medical fix to the problem. People need peace in their inner being.

Every person who has ever been born since the Fall has been at war with God and has tried to solve this problem through either a personal or institutional religion. People need peace with God.

Enter Jesus. The Prince of Peace. Jehovah-Shalom. The Scripture says here in 2:14 that “He himself is our peace.” True peace will not be found anywhere else but in Christ. He is The Peacemaker.

There is a word that is used in this passage that is one of my favorite words in the New Testament. Reconcile. It has to do with conflict resolution; with settling differences; with restoring relationships. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might be reconciled to God. We were reconciled to God at the cross. No cross, no reconciliation. This is what makes our faith unique. This is why Christianity is not just another religion. It is based on the relationship between God and man and God’s unceasing willingness to bridge the great divide that was caused by sin. The relationship was broken but the relationship can be restored. Reconciliation! The Cross! The Prince of Peace! Jesus!

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Ephesians 2:19-22

So, for all of you hung with me through 2011 and pondered all the passages with me – here is my plan for 2012. It is two-fold and I invite you to be a part of however much you are so inclined to join me on.

1) Pondering – I had a great time last year pondering great passages of the New Testament. For this year my plan is to ponder my way through the book of Ephesians. As I have mapped it out it looks like it will take pretty much the whole year to do this. Some weeks we will look at just 1-2 verses and some weeks we will look at as many as 5-6 verses. This is a very rich book that is FULL of both deep theology and great practical application. I’m very much looking forward to mining it for all it’s worth. I will also include a Scripture memory part of the pondering with the hope of memorizing several chapters before the end of the year. If you are new to this and want to join me on the adventure then you might check out my post from last year on “How to Ponder a Passage”.

I will post my pondering thoughts on Friday mornings (last year it was Thursdays). My first post will be next Friday, January 20. Between now and then the assignment is this: Read through the book of Ephesians in one sitting (to get a feel for the book as a whole) and then ponder Ephesians 1:1 and begin memorizing it.

These posts should show up on Facebook and Twitter (@sreyner) but you might also want to click on the email subscription button if you want to get notifications in your inbox when I post.

2) Praying – I am adding a prayer component this year mostly because I need to learn how to pray effectively. Each week I will post a quote or paragraph from someone who is mentoring me in prayer – usually an author or pastor. Often it may be no more than this but sometimes I may comment on the quote with a few thoughts. Hopefully the encouragement I receive from these pray-ers will spur me to a deeper walk with God as I learn to better communicate with Him. My plan is to post these on Wednesdays – the first one should show up this Wednesday, January 11. Maybe they will be an encouragement to you as well.

This much I know – 2012 has the potential to be a year wrought with the miraculous as His Spirit is unleashed to work in ways that I have not allowed Him to in the past. Pray for me that I will be teachable and hungry as I ponder and pray.

I’m just sayin’!

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²²If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

(I am posting today instead of Thursday because of our travel schedule)

So this will be my last post of the year. You will not hear from me until 2012 because I will be visiting my daughter and son in law in India over Christmas. I chose this passage as my last passage to ponder for the year because it contains, for lack of a better term, my “life verses”. Some of you may remember that I preached on this passage about 3 years ago – it was the message that started off with me saying that I was going to die.

My dad died when he was 42. Both of my granddads died in their mid 50’s. Men die early in my family. When I was 30 I began praying that God would allow to live to be 50 so that I could influence my kids  at least until they were out of high school. Now that I am 53 I feel a bit greedy wanting to hang around to influence my kid’s kids. So why does God keep me around? That is the question that this passage answers for me.

Paul is ready to die because he knows it means that he will be with the Lord. But he also knows that God may not be finished with him yet. That is where I find myself. I love the last 2 verses of this passage. It details Paul’s mission for the rest of his life. Essentially he says that as long as God leaves him here on this earth that his job will be to help others make progress in their faith and to find joy in knowing Christ. I think that is also why God allows me to linger among the living. Perhaps He wants to use me to help  others in the same way.

That is one of the reasons that I started blogging a little more than a year ago. Not only did I know that I needed the discipline of pondering these passages and intentionally thinking them through, but I was also hoping this discipline might benefit others as well. I have found through my years of ministry that most folks have great intentions when it comes to regularly spending time in God’s Word but that more often than not those good intentions don’t go anywhere. So if you are still reading at this point I hope this exercise in pondering passages has helped you at least a little bit to make progress in your faith and has fueled your joy in knowing our Savior.

I’d love to hear from you if this year of pondering has been helpful. My plan is to take these next 2-3 weeks off and then start back in early January. In the meantime I hope you have an incredible Christmas as we celebrate the incarnation and that your joy in our Lord grows deeper and deeper as you ponder the staggering news that in Christ the Word became flesh and appeared among us.

I’m just sayin!’

Grace and Peace to you!

This Weeks Passage and Memory Verse (in red):  ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. ⁸ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. ¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

So the most intriguing phrase in this passage to me is found in verse 10 where Peter says “after you have suffered a little while.”  It sounds to me that God could pull the plug, so to speak, on the suffering we go through at any time BUT He is waiting a little while to do so. Why?

It would seem that God has a purpose for suffering. Now this doesn’t much make sense to us because we despise it so much. But to God it is all a part of the big picture. This passage does not so much address the why of suffering as it does the what to do while you are suffering. It  assumes that we understand why suffering takes place because of what Peter has said in chapter 1 of this epistle. So what to do while we are going through times of suffering:

Humble yourselves – The best way to do this he says is by “casting all your cares upon Him.” v 7. Suffering has a way of bringing us to our knees, of driving us to complete dependence upon God. We realize that when we are going through trials and difficulties that we cannot fix things on our own. And lets face it – we like to fix things. We like to fix our messes. We like to think that we are in control and so we like to take control of our own lives and prove to ourselves that we can handle anything. But the fact of the matter is that we CANNOT. We need God. Suffering has a way of reminding us of this. And when we are willing to lay aside our pride and acknowledge that God is in control (and that we are not) by throwing everything in His lap and essentially saying ” God You fix this mess, I realize that I can’t”, then God can begin to shape us mold us for His purposes.

Be alert – Suffering is the perfect time for the evil one to try to wedge his way into our lives. It is a time when he says to us ” Look, this God you say you serve doesn’t really care about you. If He did He wouldn’t let you go through what you are going through.” So especially during suffering we need to be reminded that we are in a war. And the only way to survive the war is to rely on our commanding officer. So do not be at all surprised if you feel under attack when times are tough – because you are. So…

Resist the enemy – How? Run to the Word and not away from it. Cling to the cross gratefully. Rally the troops around you and let them help protect you. Just as you need God you also need your comrades to stand with you and to help sustain you. Again our tendency is to try to get through things without anyone else’s help, but one reason that God designed the church is so that we can fight together the fight of faith.

Rest in God’s grace – Never forget that the God who rescued you from sin and raised you from life to death also has a future in store for you that is literally “out of this world.” What you are going through is temporary; what He has in mind for you is eternal. What you go through during times of suffering reveals your weakness; He wants to use these times to empower you with His strength. So rest in His amazing grace. Rest in the joy of your salvation. Rest in the comfort that God IS in control even when things seem out of control. Rest in the hope that one day all will be made right.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Philippians 1:20-26
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Philippians 1:21

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red):  ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵ John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” ¹⁶ From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Today I am going to pose a bunch of questions based on verse 14 only. No answers. No thoughts. Just questions. Why? Because it would seem that I am preaching this Sunday at Ridgecrest and this will be my text. Think of these questions as the trailer before the full version is released. Hopefully they will get you thinking ahead of time and anticipating the preached word. The title of my message on Sunday is “The Greatest Mission’s Text in Scripture”. Here are the questions:

Why does John refer to Jesus as “the Word”?

Why was it necessary for the Word to “become flesh”?

What is the Old Testament allusion that is inferred in this verse?

What does “we have seen his glory” refer to?

Why did John add the phrase “the glory of the one and only”?

What is meant by ‘one and only”, i.e. “only begotten”?

What are the implications of the phrase “full of grace and truth”?

Why is the doctrine of the incarnation vital to the Christian faith?

Who was Athanasius?

What does this passage have to do with missions?

Perhaps these are some of the same questions that came to your mind as you pondered this week (maybe not the next to last one). What an incredible verse (and passage)! I’ll post answers to all these after I preach on Sunday. Hope you can be there.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: 1 Peter 5:6-11
Next Week’s Memory Verse: 1 Peter 5:7

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

If I were to outline this passage I would have 2 main points: 1) How to know the peace of God (vs 4-7) and 2) How to know the God of peace vs 8-9). Let’s look at each of these.

1) How to know the peace of God: We tend to find joy in a lot of things that have nothing to do with God. Our favorite sports team. Food. Another person. Our children. A good book or movie. Nothing wrong with these at all. And it is evident by the way that we talk about these things that they bring us much joy. The problem is that all of these things are temporal and most of them at one time or another will seriously disappoint us which will wreck any sense of peace that we might have concerning them.

That is why Paul stresses that our joy is to be first and foremost IN THE LORD! He will never disappoint us. This is a great starting point for experiencing the peace of God. Make sure that He is your joy above all other things. And then never ever forget that “the Lord is near.” Sometimes the pressure and the pain of life makes us feel like God is nowhere to be found when in fact He is as close as a prayer.

Prayer is not supposed to be a last resort that we utilize to get rid of our worries and anxieties. Our prayer life should be such that we have been praying about EVERYTHING, thanking God for EVERYTHING. And by so doing we are building up a fortress of protection around our lives so that when the difficult days come our hearts are safeguarded against the evil one who wants to destroy our peace.

2) How to know the God of peace: Thesis – We will never know the peace of God until we know the God of peace! Paul makes an incredibly bold statement that few of us would ever make. He basically says “If you want to know God then watch what I do, listen to what I say, and you do the same.”

Here’s my take on what he means by this. Paul was a man who lived, breathed, and ultimately died for the gospel. He was passionate about knowing Christ (see Phil 3:8-11) and equally passionate about making Christ known (see Phil 3: 12-18).

So Paul is saying in effect that if you want to know the God of peace then consume yourself with the gospel. Consume yourself with the life, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and exaltation of Christ. If you live the gospel the gospel will live in you and you WILL know the God of peace – and then as a bonus you will know the peace of God.

I’m just sayin’!

(Happy Thanksgiving! I’m grateful to all of you who take the time to read my ponderings and have encouraged me along the way to keep it up. It has been a very good exercise and discipline for me.)

Next Week’s Passage: John 1:14-18
Next Week’s Memory Verse: John 1:14

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red):  ⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. ¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. ¹² Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

This week I want to make a few brief comments about our passage, share a famous quote with you, and then wrap it up.

There are a lot of graphic phrases in this passage which describe believers that merit pondering. The one that most captures my attention is “royal priesthood.” It seems to be a mixing of two metaphors – political and religious. But in doing so it gives a succinct portrayal of who we are in Christ.

1) We are royalty – We are heirs of the King. The King of Kings is our Dad. As such, we have a special place reserved for us in Heaven. We have wealth beyond compare. We have an angelic army fighting on our behalf. We have been elevated not just from dead to alive but from peasants to prince/princesses.

2) We are priests – We are not royal despots we are royal servants. It is part of our responsibility to mediate between God and man. We are ambassadors of reconciliation. We have been given a royal position so that we can help others to know God by displaying His glory as we serve the needy and supply hope for the helpless.

The other phrase that sticks out to me is “which war against your soul.” I am being continually reminded these days that we are at war. As I was thinking about this the following WWII story popped into my mind. It is one of Sir Winston Churchill’s most famous speeches and has as many spiritual implications for today as it did 70 years ago for the war…

Upon his very first entrance into the House of Commons as Britain’s new Prime Minister on Monday, May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill only received a lukewarm reception from the assembly, while at his side, outgoing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was heartily cheered. Churchill then made this brief statement, which has become one of the finest call-to-arms yet uttered. It came at the beginning of World War II when the armies of Adolf Hitler were roaring across Europe, seemingly unstoppable, conquering country after country for Nazi Germany, and when the survival of Great Britain itself appeared rather uncertain.

“…We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: victory; victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival….”

These indeed are perilous times for believers and for the Church. We are being assaulted and assailed. Damaged and derailed. And yet we march on because we have the sure confidence that victory will be ours. It has already been won for us at the cross. D-Day has come. The enemy is doomed and defeated – he just doesn’t know it yet. So the war continues to rage around us and within us until V-Day – until the great and glorious day of our Savior’s appearing and the  victory is complete.

So never forget that we are at war – the battle is for your soul and the glory of God is at stake.

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: Ephesians 5:15-20
Next Week’s Memory Verse: Ephesians 5:15-16

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red): ¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

The first question that comes to my mind is this: What does loving the world look like in real life? In other words, how can I tell if I love the world – especially in the culture in which we live where materialism is prized so much more that spirituality and a relationship with God.

I’m having a difficult time with this question. It would be easy for me to come up with a nice answer that sounds spiritual and that justifies my lifestyle. Our lifestyle. I mean let’s face it – I love the world that I live in. I love the fact that I was born in America and not in Haiti. I love my house with all its bedrooms, it’s garage, and big yard. I love my big screen TV. I love the fact that at the push of a button I have electricity and running water. I love air conditioning. I love my comfy bed and my refrigerator which is full of food that I can get to any time that I want. I have a smart phone, an ipod, 2 computers, and a kindle. I am amazingly wealthy – probably among the top 1% of the world’s population. Do I love the world? Of course I love the world. Would I care if I lost it all? Of course I would care.

So here are the questions that I am left to grapple with:

Do I CRAVE worldly things? (v 16)

Do I LUST for more stuff? (v 16)

Do I BOAST in my possessions? (v 16)

Does all the stuff hinder me from doing the will of God? (v 17)

It is that last question that stumps me. If I did not have all that I have would I GO overseas and take the gospel to an unreached people. Would I be willing to GO and live in Haiti among the poorest of the poor to serve among “the least of these?” Instead of finding security and safety by everything that I own am I actually being crippled by it.

I’m not sure that there is a right answer across the board for all of us who are as rich as we are. I mean let’s face it, if you are reading this then you also are one of the wealthiest people in the world. So much of the answer has to do with attitude and desires of the heart. And I can’t speak for you. I can only speak for me.

I do love how the Apostle John does not mince words – especially as he closes out his letter at the end of chapter 5. Instead of saying “Hope to see you soon,” or “May God be with you,” or some other nice way to close out his letter – he simply says… “Keep yourself from idols!”

As I continue to ponder this passage this seems like a good place to start and a great way to begin praying.

“Father, would you root out the idols of my heart that cause me to love the things of this world more than I love you. And would you plant in their place a passion for the glory of Your Name and a hunger for your great and astonishing Word”

I’m just sayin’!

Next Week’s Passage: 1 Peter 2:9-12
Next Week’s Memory Verse: 1 Peter 2:9

This Week’s Passage and Memory Verse (in red):  ¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

This passage has always been one of my favorite passages in the NT. It has weeks of ponderable stuff in it. For the sake of this post I’m going to focus on verse 16. This is one of about ten “3:16” verses that has beau coup truth in it. Some thoughts…

Praying for his friends to experience power was at the top of Paul’s prayer list – When I read here (and elsewhere in Paul’s epistles) what and how Paul prayed for his friends I am challenged to overhaul my pitiful prayer life. I readily admit I am a terrible prayer. I do not pray often enough. I do not pray bold enough. I do not pray tenacious enough. And when I do pray it is mostly puny, unbelieving prayers. I often wonder do I even believe in the power of prayer. The answer of course is “yes”. And the answer of course is also “no’. To quote my son (who tweeted this last week): “I wish I believed what I believe!”. Paul believed in prayer and he believed that his praying would make a significant difference in the people he prayed for. He saw a church filled with anemic, weak-kneed Christians and decided to something about it – so he prayed!

Power comes from God – The passage says that power for believers comes “out of (God’s) glorious riches.” Worldly power comes from status. From fame. From wealth. Spiritual power comes from God and manifests itself quite differently. It shows up in the form of faith (v17) and love (v18).

Power comes through God’s Spirit – Every believer has the Spirit of the Living God dwelling inside them. And yet how many of us are living spirit led lives? We like to be in charge. It is very difficult for us to relinquish control. But if power is going to be unleashed through us then we must be willing to submit to God’s authority and surrender to His supremacy.

Enough commentary on my part. I think I’ll close out this post by writing out a prayer. If you have never written out your prayers it is a great exercise to pursue because it makes you really think through what you are praying and not just go through the motions of prayer – which is something most of us do all too often.

Father,

I want to acknowledge that You alone are God. And I want to acknowledge that more often than not I live my life on my terms and not Yours. I confess that I like to be control and I have difficulty living a surrendered life. I confess also that I am weak kneed and anemic in my faith and I do not have the strength of Your power fueling me and filling me to live a Christ exalting life. As Paul prayed for his Ephesian friends I also want to ask that out of Your glorious riches that you would empower me so that I can I live by faith; that I would expect great things from you and attempt great things for you. That I would grasp the magnanimous love of Christ and display this love to people who feel helpless, hopeless, and unworthy of Your love.

And I pray for my church. That together, with contrite hearts, we would quit trying to find favor in Your eyes by doing a lot of religious stuff, and instead call upon Your grace and mercy and compassion to rescue us through the power of the gospel and empower us  to be agents of reconciliation in our community and around the world. That the gospel would magnificently triumph through us as we courageously take Your Word to our schools and workplaces and neighborhoods. That we would not expect people to come to us but that we would go to them. That Your Spirit would revive  a city that is morally decayed and spiritually decrepit as the saints of Ridgecrest  jubilantly advance the gospel for the sake of Your great and matchless Name.

Amen and Amen!

I’m just sayin!

Next Week’s Passage: 1 John 2:15-17
Next Week’s Memory Verse: 1 John 2:17