Tag: gospel

  • Facing Into the Wind

    Dealing with stress and worry

    Frost covered bison - source https://www.rawpixel.com/image/4038803/photo-image-animal-public-domain

    When we lived in the Edmonton area, we frequently visited Elk  Island National Park to observe the bison (buffalo) and other wildlife. It was always a treat. 

    Unlike horses and cattle, the bison often seemed to face into the storm, rather than away from it. Their thick, heavy coats and high metabolism allow them to face cold and storms extremely well. Many police forces had winter coats made of bison hide to keep out the winter.

    I’ve read places where people have romanticized the bison’s behavior as facing into the storm or walking towards it as the best way to get through it. I think that’s a pretty suspect interpretation, but it does make for good imagery.

    How do we react to the storms of life? Do we face up to them or do we try to hide away?

    Life comes with storms of many kinds. They can be like squalls, sudden, unexpected, and short. Or they can be like blizzards, you can often see them coming, they blot out everything, and seem to last forever.

    No matter the type of storm, they are seldom pleasant to endure. I was tempted to write “never pleasant”, but someone would have thought of an exception.

    Believers have a huge advantage over non-believers when the storms come. We’re anchored in Christ and He walks with us, no matter what comes.

    For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

    My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28

    If you aren’t in the middle of a storm right now, rest assured, there is one coming because life is full of them, and God uses them. The storms discipline us, change us, and strengthen us. They teach us to follow His ways and rely on Him.

    When the storm hits, face into it. Trust Jesus, and He will walk you through. 

    Jesus has got whatever you are facing, and with Jesus, you’ve got it too.

    Kevin

    Check this out

    Unexpected – thoughts on worry

    Your identity in Christ

    The gospel – best news ever

    The power of the natural world leads us to God

    Storm Clouds

  • Reading Paul’s Mail – A Taste of the Pauline Epistles

    a row of Canada Post community mailboxes

    I order some of my shirts online. I’d rather shop locally, but can  rarely find what I want, and if I do find it, the sizing is wrong or the pricing is outrageous.

    The one company delivers via the postal service, and I’m expecting a delivery, so I have been thinking about the mail recently.

    I do miss getting regular mail delivered to our door. Now we have a community mailbox, and 95% or more of what we get are flyers and the occasional bill. I’m old enough to remember when the post was the most common way of getting news and keeping in touch. Long-distance calls were made after 6 PM or on weekends and were still expensive, so you rarely phoned, sending a letter instead.

    The Apostle Paul was a prolific letter writer. He didn’t have the phone or the internet. Depending on which scholars you believe, Paul wrote between seven and thirteen of the New Testament epistles. I’m sure that he wrote many more that never made it into the canon of Scripture.

    Every one of his letters contains a corrective of some kind to the church. I’m certain that receiving his letters was a mixed blessing.

    This morning, I was reading and praying through his missive to the church in Rome. There is some powerful stuff in his epistle, starting from the opening lines.

    Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:1-7

    He opens by identifying himself. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.. Our culture is very sensitive about certain topics. The word servant here is doulos in the Greek, and it is sometimes translated as bondservant. What it really means is slave.

    Paul understood that he owed everything to Christ, and his life was dedicated to the Lord’s service. How many professing Christians today understand that truth?

    His task was “to bring about the obedience of faith.” That’s interesting wording and a mind-blowing concept.

    Coming to faith in Jesus is an act of obedience to God’s calling on our lives. We can debate the mechanics of how that occurs, but to reject God’s call is an act of willful rebellion, an act of incredible sin.

    Even our ability to move in that obedience is up to Him. The faith to respond is a gift.

    For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

    The Lord created us. He died in our stead. He calls us. He empowers us with the faith we need. All that we are and will be is because of His great love for us. 

    He did all that despite our broken and sinful nature, wandering hearts, and tendency to wander. What an incredible set of gifts He has given us.

    In reading his letters, we can see that Paul understood all that. By God’s grace, Paul was transformed from a hater of Jesus to a willing slave. How can we not follow his example to love and serve the one who has done it all? 

    Take some time today to offer praise and thanksgiving.

    Kevin

    You might also like

    Your local church needs you

    Celebrate your identity

    Paul’s path to humility

    Interpreting Scripture – Written for us not to us