Reflection: Be Amazed

"When was the last time you allowed yourself to be astonished to the limit by Jesus—by his teaching, by his works, by the wonders of your life? I use the word allow intentionally, because I think some of us are so jaded that we need to consciously loosen the tight hold we have on our sophistication and be amazed sometimes."

Reflection: Plastic Words

Peter doesn’t want us to be passively aware of danger. He wants us to actively resist. All of his instructions involve some exertion on our part. “Make every effort to supplement your faith” by adding virtue on virtue. “Be all the more diligent,” “practice these qualities,” “take care,” and “pay attention.” Paying attention isn’t simply a matter of sitting up and looking around. The Greek word is a nautical term that means to keep a ship on a course toward a specific place. Stay the course!

Reflection: Keeping Rank

"The Author and Finisher of our faith prayed that we believers would be one as he and the Father are one. Marching shoulder to shoulder with my fellow soldiers while keeping my eyes fixed on Jesus, who leads the way, will not only enable me to keep rank, but will also encourage those behind me and to the sides to do the same when the fiery darts begin to fly."

Reflection: A Balanced Life

In this life, I will sometimes feel like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. In the profusion of chairs my tail is likely to get caught once in a while. If I don’t get down from my comfortable perch and regularly exercise my discernment muscles, I will become trapped and useless. I can’t sit around yowling about my tail. Rather than seeking my comfort, I ought to be seeking to glorify Christ. My moderation should become evident to everyone.   

Reflection: An Increase of Faith

Surely my faith needs to be increased. I need to view situations as they truly are – absolutely in God’s control. 
I have to remember the person my faith is in – the Ruler of the universe. My problem is not a problem for him.
Be still my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Reflection: Wake Up and Watch

Because the passions of the flesh are waging war against our souls (1 Peter 2:11). As Jesus warned, our flesh is weak. It wants us to give in to our passions. Giving in, lying down, closing our eyes for just a minute, is so much easier than going to war against them. Especially if our passions have become our bosom companions. 
Wage war? How?
Wake up and pay attention. In his second letter, Peter twice states his intention of waking us up completely, stirring us up. 

Reflection: His Precious Blood

"He to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood."
We humans need pictures, and we love drama, but we should also be mindful that our very lives depend on God daily placing himself between us and dangers of every sort all day every day. We seldom see drama in the mere fact of getting home safely from work every day. I know that I don’t acknowledge often enough how spectacular it is that, at the end of each day, I am still alive.   
Even more astounding, though, is that if I know Jesus as my Savior, I have been rescued by Jesus’ blood which he placed between me and Death. This is true whether or not I have a dramatic story to tell. This is true whether or not I think to be grateful every day for the blood of the Master who bought me by his sacrifice.  

Reflection: No More Fire Lighting

   As I look back over the means Jesus has used to form me, I see how gentle he has been with me. We all suffer trauma as we grow, but my burdens were tailor-made for me by my creator. Oh, it hurt at the time! It was unpleasant to have to look honestly at the weaknesses I’d spent a lifetime trying to conceal from the world. It is painful to have that concealment exposed as sin. Thank the Lord, he doesn’t leave us lying exposed without comfort.  
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed (Heb. 12:12-13, ESV). I don’t want to think about the pain I’d be in now if I hadn’t allowed myself to be healed.  

Reflection: A Useful Servant

The Master calls Servant Three worthless. He hasn’t matured, he’s of no use to anyone else, he has borne no fruit. Bearing fruit is a recurring theme throughout God’s Word. Jesus himself warns us that “every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 7:19 ESV). He isn’t in a hurry, though, to cast unfruitful trees into the fire. In a parable in Luke 13, the owner of a vineyard tells his vinedresser to cut down a tree that hasn’t borne fruit for three years. The vinedresser begs for one more year to dig around the tree and fertilize it. Just one more chance, please? Then, if it doesn’t bear fruit next year, you can cut it down.
 

Reflection: The Cost of Obedience

"We are blessed to live in a country where freedom to be obedient to Christ has been guaranteed for over two centuries. We’ve taken that for granted. If I have ever lost anything because of my faith, it wasn’t significant enough to come to mind at the moment. What if that should change?"