Hosea 7 & 8 -- Thinking God Doesn't Have A Clue

God’s words about Israel in these chapters reminded me of being a parent of a teenager – knowing and remembering what teenagers do and think yet being thought of by the teenager as not having a clue about everything they’re doing. 

God said, “It never enters their minds that I remember all their evil deeds… The bad things they do are all around them; they are right in front of Me.”

What are some of the things Israel has done?  “They make agreements with those who do not know the true God … Israel’s pride will cause their defeat; they will not turn back to the Lord their God or look to Him for help in all this…. They chose their own kings without asking My permission.  They chose their own leaders, people I did not know … I have written many teachings for them, but they think the teachings are strange and foreign … Israel has forgotten their Maker.”

God even saw through their lame attempts to appear sorrowful:  “They do not call to Me from their hearts.  They just lie on their beds and cry.”  They weren’t displaying genuine repentance.  They were only sorry because they were having to be punished.

Father, again and again the wisdom packed into Your words warns us, and You provide ample opportunities to either avoid sin or to become right with You after we have sinned.  Yet too often we let our stubborn human pride get in the way of our healing.  I pray that You will stay on me, keeping me honest with You about my sin, and that You will never hesitate to point out my ignorance or my apathy if I try to move away from You as Israel did.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Hosea 5 & 6 -- What God WANTS Versus What We Too Often Give

God did not like what He saw in His people:

“I know all about the people … what they have done is not hidden from Me…. They will not give up their deeds and return to their God  They are determined to be unfaithful to Me; they do not know the Lord.  Their pride testifies against them.  The people … will stumble because of their sin … They will come to worship the Lord … but they will not be able to find him, because He has left them.  They have not been true to the Lord; they are children who do not belong to Him.  So their false worship will destroy them and their land.”

Hearing all this, the people decided: 

“Come, let’s go back to the Lord.  He has hurt us, but He will heal us.  He has wounded us, but He will bandage our wounds.  In two days, He will put new life in us; on the third day He will raise us up so that we may live in His presence and know Him.  Let’s try to learn about the Lord.”

That certainly sounded genuine and heartfelt, but my commentary says, “Upon closer examination, we see that no sin is specifically confessed.  The repentance is shallow and insincere.”  God saw through them and continued to try to bring them around:

“Your faithfulness is like the morning mist, like the dew that goes away early in the day … I want faithful love more than I want animal sacrifices.  I want people to know Me more than I want burnt offerings.  But they have broken the agreement as Adam did; they have been unfaithful to Me.”

Just like Adam, looking at the forbidden fruit, they didn’t trust God, and they picked the fruit instead.

Father, help me to give up everything in my life that’s not of You.  Lead me to see how my intentional sin hurts my relationship with You.  Cause me to remember these sins and specifically confess them when I commit them.  Don’t let my worship be false.  Remind me to maintain faithful love for You.  Reveal Yourself to me as I strive to know You more.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Hosea 3-4 What Was Causing The Drought?

What was Israel doing to incur God’s judgment?  Perhaps it would be better to ask what they’d not been doing!  They’d not been true or loyal to God.  They were cursing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery.  As a result, they were experiencing severe drought.  In 4:4, God said, “No one should accuse or blame another person.”  In other words, “It’s your own fault.  Take responsibility for it!”

The people had strayed for so long that they’d lost their knowledge of God.  They’d forgotten His teachings  and refused to learn them.

God wants to use Hosea as an object lesson to the people of Israel about His love for them and the way in which they desecrated that love.  His command to Hosea was this:  “Go, show your love to a woman loved by someone else, who has been unfaithful to you.”  Why??  “In the same way the Lord loves the people of Israel, even though they worship other gods and love to eat raisin cakes (a food normally used in idol worship).”

God summarized Israel’s behavior this way:  “They love these disgraceful ways.”

The sidebar in my Bible by Charles Colson said this about how we can relate to Israel’s problems:  “If I had to pick one thing that has caused the most failure in obeying God, it would be that we figure God’s time is our Bible study, our prayer time, and our church time.  That’s just not true.  God’s time is every moment of our lives … We don’t put Him on and take Him off like a suit of clothes … If we would ‘wear’ Him all day long, we would discover obedience becoming a reflex action.”

Father, help me not to put You on and take You off during my days.  Remind me every moment and with every circumstance that You want be Boss of every single second of my life.  Set off alarm bells in my heart when I try to disconnect from You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Hosea 1-2 You Want Me To Do WHAT?

“What was it You just said, God?”

“Go marry a prostitute.  She’s still going to do her thing, and the kids you’ll have (yes, there will be kids) are not going to be the best, either, but I’m using your life to build a living illustration to your nation of what I see in their relationship with Me.”

“Wow …. okay.  One more question … am I also supposed to love her?”

God was looking upon His people, seeing the nation of Israel as a prostitute because they were selling themselves out to the idol Baal.  Instead of reacting as most men would, divorcing her and removing themselves from the whole mess, God instructs Hosea in the amazing way He loves His children.  Despite everything we do to disrupt our relationship with Him by our sin, He pursues us with fervor.  He doesn’t want to leave us where we are in our sin.  Instead, He changes our circumstances, even at times withdrawing the blessings He’s given, to grab our attention once again and focus us on what our sin has done to our relationship with Him.  And though we are unfaithful, He is not.

Father, I’ve witnessed such love from You for me.  It’s unexplainable and unfathomable.  I was just damaged goods, but You loved me and drew me back when I least deserved it.  In the process, You showed me that You forgive, You forget, and You are more concerned with our availability than our ability.  Such love is hard to imagine, but it’s also exactly what You want me to practice.  Forgive me when I fail to love as You have loved me, warts and all.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 9-12 A Little Knowledge Can Be A Dangerous Thing

I am always so glad when I finish Ecclesiastes!  It sure shows how futile the desire for wisdom can become apart from God.  Solomon ends up contradicting himself, changing his mind, and flat out wrong at times. 

I think back to the humble prayer he prayed when he was about to become king and knew he wasn’t prepared for it.  He didn’t know how to lead and knew that he lacked wisdom.  He wanted so badly a heart that beat for God.

But the wisdom he asked for brought with it pride and this first of all sins began to erode his need for God and His commandments.  Intellectual haughtiness developed, and before long his pursuit of more and more wisdom led him down paths he might never have traveled had he not sought it.

“A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing” might certainly apply to Solomon.  Far better to simply trust God to have all the answers than to lose God in trying to find them.

Father, our so-called wisdom fools us into thinking we know better than You.  Thank You for helping me to see the lie in that.  Guide me to seek You and to let You show me what You want me to know and believe.  Satan can have the rest.  It’s not important.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 7-8 Be Careful What You Hear

Of all the “under the sun” philosophies Solomon mentions here, the one that seemed to stand out this morning was this:

“Don’t listen to everything people say, or you might hear your servant insulting you.  You know that many times you have insulted others.”

My commentary said, “A healthy sense of our own imperfection will help us to take criticisms in stride.  If we hear a servant cursing us, though he is much lower on the social ladder, we can always be glad he doesn’t know us BETTER, because then he would have more to curse! … And we should always remember that we have been guilty of the same thing.  Many times we have cursed others in our heart.  We can scarcely expect others to be perfect when we are so far from perfect ourselves.  That is one of the frustrations of a perfectionist.  He wants everything and everyone else to be perfect, but he lives in a world of imperfection, and he himself cannot reach the goal he sets for others.”

I think these verses go a long way in helping us shrug off comments made by others, especially in the church, where I find myself hurt more by the words of others than I do out in the world.

Father, I want God-sent constructive criticism.  Help me to be willing to listen to it.  But also guard my ears from small talk and unfounded criticisms that the devil might try to use to take me off the field.  Keep me in the game and on Your side.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 5-6 Wealth Words From The Wealthiest Man Ever

The richest man who ever lived talks about wealth.  He said, “God gives some people the ability to enjoy the wealth and property He gives them, as well as the ability to accept their state in life and enjoy their work.  They don’t worry about how short life is, because God keeps them busy with what they love to do.”

The Bible also says that God fearfully and wonderfully creates us, He knows us completely, and He gives us the desires of our hearts (meaning that He’s the One who plants the desires within us that lead us to the life He has for us).  So ideally, if we are pursuing Him and doing those things which He’s uniquely created us to do, we should be happy.  It goes along with the old adage, “Find a job you like and you’ll never work a day in your life.”

Yet Solomon also warns against falling into the trap of ceaselessly chasing more riches.  God doesn’t want us worshiping materialism, but Himself.  He blesses us with resources in order that we can bless others and spread His glory, not so we can hoard those resources.  In Malachi, He challenges us to test him in this and see if He won’t open the windows of heaven and pour out even more blessings.  I know that I’ve learned that I can never OUTGIVE God.  If I will listen and see Him at work and join Him in that work, sharing what He’s given me, He will insure that my basic needs are met and then give me additional resources to give away again.

Father, thank You for teaching me to trust You.  Help me not to hoard Your blessings, but instead help me to help others with them.  You are so faithful and I’m thrilled that You asked me to trust You and then showed me why I can.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 3-4 Normally Sad Times Could Be GLAD Times

Reading through all of those “there is a time to …” comparisons and contrasts, God seemed to be showing me that these don’t have to be seen as contrasts between good things and undesirable things.  There are indeed times when what we might at first blush consider undesirable would instead, because of present circumstances, be considered the right and appropriate and desirable thing to happen.  For instance, “There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants .. a time to destroy and a time to build.” – The natural end to a crop season is the harvest, and pulling beets or potatoes or carrots out of the ground is a time of celebration of that harvest.  Yet often we view these verses as the scene outside my window – a plant didn’t survive the drought despite watering, and it lies dead in the flower bed.  While I might “mourn” the death of the plant, pulling it up will lead me to planting another in its place, expecting rain and future growth.

“ …. A time to keep things and a time to throw things away” reminds me of the flood we had 4 years ago.  What I might have otherwise cherished or simply kept just in case, I was ready to simply throw away once it had been soaked by the muddy water.  But we could also look at these verses as representing a time of prosperity and even charity as we pull out our clothing or household goods we never use and donate them to others in need, as many were during that flood.

Perspective seems to be the key here.  Solomon’s perspective had been one of someone under the sun – a worldly view.  Ours is to be the perspective of one under the SON, seeing things from His point of view, including God’s provision for us and for others through us, even in the toughest times.

Father, thank You for revealing to me that I need to watch for Your provision for me even during the toughest times.  Give me strength to endure them and a spirit of hope.  What would I do without You?

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 2 -- What We REALLY Want

Solomon wanted answers.  It seems that the prayer he’d prayed for wisdom had led him to actually believe that he would find ultimate pleasure on this earth.  The list of what didn’t work grew longer by the day:  gratification of his personal desires, wild fun, wine, grand architectural projects, the accumulation of “stuff”, being served, music, sex, prestige, and intellectual pursuits to name a few.

In the end, this illusive treasure hunt galled him because he’d amassed so much only to realize that whoever inherited it couldn’t possibly find enjoyment in it all and would likely squander it!

He found that “true pleasure comes from noble renunciations rather than from frenzied accumulations,” my commentary said.  It added, “I can discover within me no power of perception which is not glutted with its proper pleasures … Man has surely some latent sense for which this place affords no gratification.”

A former athlete was quoted in my commentary, after having tried the same tactics Solomon had:  “I knew in my heart that no one could meet my need but God Himself.  Soon after, I found in Christ what I could never find in the world.”

Solomon discovered that satisfaction comes from honest work, and that man does not have the power of enjoyment UNLESS it is given to him by God, my commentary also stated.

Father, I agree that You created me with a God-shaped hole in my heart, and my heart will NOT rest until it finds rest in You.  Keep me from looking anywhere else for what only You can give.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 1 -- He DID Learn SOMETHING

Solomon would have made a terrible fiction writer.  His first sentence would probably have been, “The butler did it.”  For once he had determined that life on this earth without God was futile, he spilled the beans, and he did it often.

He gave real meaning to the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.”  He’d asked for wisdom, and God had said, “OKAY..”  Solomon said, “I have become very wise … I know what wisdom and knowledge really are … This turned out to be like chasing the wind.”  There’s real satisfaction if I ever saw it.

In verse 7 he says, “All the rivers flow to the sea, but the sea never becomes full.”  I don’t think he was trying to impress us with his knowledge of the science involved in the evaporation cycle of water.  Instead, I think he was talking about his desires, and the fact that he never became satisfied from anything.  That’s exactly what we will find when we try to derive our satisfaction from anyone or anything other than God.

Father, my own quest for knowledge left me terribly empty and far from You.  It was only when You drew me back and taught me to find my satisfaction only in obeying You that I found real happiness and fulfillment in this life.  Thank You for showing me what eluded Solomon all those years!  And keep me knowing it for the rest of my life on this earth.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

3 John 1-15 Which One Of Four Am I?

John’s short letter to a dear friend shows us, warts and all, a glimpse into what was going on in the early church years after Jesus had ascended to Heaven.  John was a respected elder statesman of the church – probably one of the few left at the time who had actually spent time with Jesus.

He was writing to his spiritual brother Gaius.  Gaius didn’t appear to be a preacher or a teacher.  But he was definitely supporting those who did preach and teach.  Back then, the love offerings were probably small, and honorariums probably nonexistent for visiting preachers.  But Gaius opened his home and his pantry to any who came to preach or teach, putting their minds at ease about their well-being when in his city so that they could fully devote themselves to delivering God’s messages.  John says that when we do this type of ministry, we share in the work they are doing.

Gaius wasn’t doing all this for recognition, but people in the church certainly knew and approved of his hospitality ministry.  Another man wasn’t so fortunate in the area of public opinion, however. 

Diotrephes had become a virtual dictator in his church, lying about the apostles and directing others not to accept certain believers into the church.  He even kicked out those of his own church who dared to go against his commands.  John said, “So if I come, I will talk about what Diotrephes is doing …”  He wasn’t planning on tiptoeing around the subject.  Diotrephes was evil and infesting the church.  John’s promise to discuss it tells us that any such behavior shouldn’t be stepped lightly around in our own churches.

I suppose there could be four possibilities for church people and individual responses to what they do in the church:

1)       Good people like Gaius doing good things and being uplifted by church members for what they are doing.

2)       Evil people like Diotrephes doing evil things and being seen for what they are by church members.

3)       People who are doing good, but who encounter opposition within the church for no good reason.

4)      People who are doing “not good” things, but who aren’t being called to task about doing so by the church.

John’s letter and my commentary seem to challenge each of us to truthfully place ourselves into the appropriate category and then, once we see where we really are, we’re challenged to move to the category where God would have us, if necessary, whether in the “doing” department or in the “viewing” department.  If we’re doing wrong, it needs to stop.  If our view of what others are doing is incorrect, we’re to see it as God does and agree with Him, rather than simply attacking because we don’t like it.

Father, I pray that I will never be a hindrance to what You are doing in the church.  Keep me from ever speaking evil about someone who truly is doing Your will.  However, knowing that evil thrives when good men do nothing, let me never fail to speak up, as John did, against those who would, through their actions or their comments, try to cause unneeded strife in Your church.  Please allow me to carry out Your will as part of our church as You reveal it to me, and protect me from those who would wrongly stir up trouble as Diotrephes did.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 John 1-13 -- Love And Living The Way God Commanded

“I ask you that we all love each other.  And love means living the way God commanded us to live.”

If we stuck that definition of love back into that first sentence, it would read, “I ask that we all live the way God commanded us to live [toward] each other.”

It sounds like, therefore, we aren’t loving others if we aren’t living the way God commanded us to live!  In other words, our all-knowing God has determined throughout history the best way for each person to live to glorify Him.  Doing so will not only bring glory to God.  It will also result in the fullest, most beneficial life for that person.  But, in God’s wisdom, it will also at the very same time result in a fuller life for every believer (and, in fact, every unbeliever) we might ever know!  God planned for us to love others as part of our Christian life, blessing them as well as ourselves in the process.  Just imagine what this world would be like if every Christian lived as God would have him live!  Love would super-abound!

Father, when I live as You commanded, I’m not trying to get all A’s on a spiritual report card.  Instead, You will be using me to show Your love to others as well.  Help me to keep in mind that it isn’t ever just about me.  We are all a community of believers, and working together in love, we glorify You in the eyes of the world in the process!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 5 -- Getting Down To The Basics

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is God’s child.”  My commentary added:  “Belief here is not mere intellectual assent to the fact, but rather a committal of one’s life to Jesus as the Christ.”  In verses 2-3, John talks about the actions of those who are truly saved:  They will be characterized by a desire to DO the will of God – willing obedience to His commands.

He also says that God’s commands are not too hard for us.  My commentary added:  “He doesn’t mean that they are not difficult, but rather that they are the very things which born again people love to do.”  It was likened to a mother being told to care for her newborn.  Yes, it’s work, but it is also exactly what she would enjoy doing.

In verse 12, he says, “Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  In my commentary:  “Eternal life is not found in education or philosophy or science or good works or religion or the church.  To have life, one must have the Son of God.”

Years ago, I fell into that trap of intellectualism, wrongly convinced of what I thought I knew.  But I’d let myself forget who knew me and loved me enough to die for me.  He loved me enough to draw me back to Himself, out of my wrong-headed thinking.  Eternal life is not a philosophy – it’s a Person.  And simply acknowledging that He lived is not enough – He requires a committal of my life to Him as Lord.

Father, I make it a point now to tell others what it took me so long to discover – that Jesus wants to be the Boss of my life, and I must let Him be that Boss.  Thank You for revealing Your truth to me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 4 -- Figuring Out "Him In Us, And Us In Him"

I remember years ago how hard it was for me to grasp the concept of all the “Him in us, us in Him” wording that John uses here.  After all, we don’t have that type of relationship with anyone but God. 

My commentary provided great examples to help me understand it all.  Verse 15 says, “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God has God living inside, and that person lives in God.”  My commentary said, “It is hard for us (Yea!  Not just me!) to visualize such a relationship, but we might compare it to a poker in the fire, a sponge in the water, or a balloon in the air.  In each case, the object is in the element and the element is in the object.”

Wow!  That’s so much easier to see.  I particularly like “the poker in the fire (and the fire in the poker).”

Father, help me, and others, to get around the “church talk” that we sometimes so freely use but which may stump not just unbelievers, but Christians as well.  Remind me often of this illustration so that I can see more clearly the very close relationship I am to maintain with You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 3 -- A Christian Sinning

John tells us a lot about what a believer ought to look like and how he ought to live.  Since we all still sin while we are living in these bodies that are sin-infected, it's important to distinguish what he says about believers vs. nonbelievers.

 

In 3:4 my commentary says, "Sin is lawlessness.  It is insubordination to God, wanting one's own way, and refusing to acknowledge the Lord as rightful Sovereign.  In essence, it is placing one's own will above the will of God.  It is opposition to a Living Person who has the right to be obeyed."

 

The focus seems to be on willfullness and defiance of God.  In 3:6, my commentary said, "John is not here speaking about isolated acts of sin, but rather continued, habitual, characteristic behavior.  This verse does not imply that when a Christian commits an act of sin, he loses his salvation.  Rather, it says that when a person sins habitually, it is conclusive that he was never regenerated."

 

About 3:9, it also said, "Verse nine repeats the impossibility of one who has been born of God going on in sin ... The believer does not have thie sin habit.  He does not defiantly continue in sin ... Rather than being an excuse for the Christian to go out and sin, his eternal security is a guarantee he will not go on sinning.  He cannot sin habitually because he has been born of God.  This divine relationship precludes the possibility of continuance in sin as a lifestyle."

 

When Christians do sin, we should be quick to confess and forsake our sins, because the Holy Spirit will be speaking to our hearts about it, causing us to feel the separation from God that our sin has caused, and we will not want to place our own will above the will of God.

 

Father, I thank You that You do guarantee that I have eternal life because I have believed in Your Son's sacrifice for me.  Help me never to take that sacrifice lightly by uncaringly sinning against You.  Prick my conscience when I do sin, and cause me misery in my soul so that I will confess and forsake my sin and come running back to You.

 

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

1 John 2 -- Not "Just A Little", But "None"

John says that he writes to us so we will NOT sin.  He did not write, “ … so that you sin just as little as you can,” my commentary said.  It also pointed out that Jesus likewise told the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin NO MORE.” 

God knows we are dust, and that we will sin again, and when we sin (not when we confess our sin), He comes to us to repair the broken fellowship with us.  He seeks to bring up to the point where we desire to confess our sin and stop doing it.  Our sin breaks our fellowship with God, but never our relationship, it added.

Verse 3 reminded us of a very important fact, “We can be sure that we know God if we obey His commands.”  And that amounts to not sinning.

Father, how each of us would probably dearly love to never sin again and hurt Your heart.  Yet we do it anyway.  And in ways we can never imagine or fathom, You continue to love us anyway, despite ourselves.  Thank You for such love.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 John 1 -- It's Not Like We Can HIDE It Anyway

God wants our joy to be full, not just halfway there.  So He led John to address things that can stifle our joy.  We have to make sure that we understand something about God:  “He is absolutely holy, absolutely righteous, and absolutely pure.  God cannot look with favor on any form of sin,” my commentary said.  “Nothing is hidden from Him.  All things are naked and open to His eyes.”  With that as a starting point, John can address sin in our lives and its effect on our fellowship with our Creator.

“In order for a person to be in fellowship with God, there can be NO hiding of sin.  Light and darkness cannot exist in a person’s life at the same time.”  My first-blush thought was, “But I do sin!  Where does that put me?”  That “at the same time” I think is important to answering that.

In verse 8, we find that fellowship with God requires that we acknowledge the truth concerning ourselves.  We have to admit that we do sin.  John uses the word sin in verse 8 (meaning our corrupt, evil nature) and sins in verse 9 (meaning the evils that we have done).  My commentary said, “What we are is a lot worse than anything we have even done.”  That potential for sin is infinitely greater than our history of sin.  But thankfully Jesus died for it all.

When we believe in Christ, that sin nature does not go away.  Instead, God gives us the power in Him and in His Holy Spirit to be victorious over that sinful self.

Since God does know everything about us, He expects us to acknowledge the sins we commit in order that deception does not create a distance between us that causes us to lose our joy.  My commentary says He expects us to confess:

            1)       Sins of commission – things we do
            2)      Sins of omission – things we fail to do
            3)      Sins of thought
            4)      Sins of action
            5)      Secret sins
            6)      And public sins.

 “We must drag them out into the open before God, call them by their names, take sides with God against them, and forsake them (stop committing them).”

God guarantees to forgive and also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  So why would we not tell Him ourselves what we’ve done?  Often it is simply our pride.  We don’t want to have to admit that we fail.  If God does forgive us (yes, He does), then we have to be willing to forgive ourselves.

Father, help me to make sure that every part of this remains with me all the time.  I can’t hide it, and You already know it, so don’t let me even try to deny it when I sin.  Knock the props of pride out from under me and keep me honest before You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Peter 3 -- Are We THERE Yet?

Peter must have felt like an adult driver with a van full of kids heading somewhere on an 8 hour drive:  “Are we THERE yet??” must have been ringing in his ears.  Peter knew that, as more and more days, weeks, months, and years passed since Jesus ascended back to Heaven people would begin to wonder if He ever was coming back.  His answer?

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends:  To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.  The Lord is not slow in doing what He promised – the way some people understand slowness.  But God is being patient with you.  He does not want anyone to be lost, but He wants all people to change their hearts and lives.”

God is a God of second and even third and fourth chances.  He knows we are dust, yet He loves us in spite of ourselves and wants us with Him.  After all, He created us solely for Himself, for His own glory.

So what are we to be doing as we wait?  Aside from going, teaching, and making disciples, Peter said, “Do your best to be without sin and without fault.  Try to be at peace with God … Be careful.  Don’t let those evil people lead you away by the wrong they do.  Be careful so you will not fall … But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “  My commentary said, “Growth in grace is not increased head knowledge or tireless activity;  it is increasing likeness to the Lord Jesus.”

Father, I know that there is so much more I can learn about You and Your Son.  I’m thankful that You are holding back from returning, not only so more people will come to know You and Your Son, but also so that I can have time to become more like Christ, for He said, “This is eternal life – to know Christ and the One who sent Him.”  I’ve still got a lot of growing to do Father.  Let Your Holy Spirit open my heart and mind to what I need to learn and enable me to change.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Peter 2 -- Don't Let ME Be A False Teacher

Peter warned early Christians about false teachers.  The church was just getting started and already the problem was cropping up. 

In the middle of everything God was giving him to say about false teachers, Peter mentions Lot.  He said, “Lot was a good man, but because he lived with evil people every day, his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.”  I struggled to understand why this was mentioned in a section about false teachers.  What God seemed to be telling me was that even a good heart can be corrupted by the evil around it, and that the teaching can be done by the society and culture around us, as much as by a teacher or preacher of a church.  I thought about the TV shows, movies, and video games that my boys are exposed to every day.  My boys constantly claim that they don’t pay attention to the cursing in the games and movies, but I’m reminded of a visit my family once made to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.  They showed us a huge pendulum that was started each morning and, affected by earth’s gravity, it slowly turned in a circle, knocking down pegs one after another.  The amazing thing was what they said about the pendulum at rest.  They said that despite the weight of the pendulum, it would begin to swing back and forth if someone bounced a ping pong ball off of it repeatedly!  That’s what the continual bombardment of sin will do to us.

I think we have to be careful not to simply be on the lookout for charlatan preachers.  False teachers is the phrase Peter used, not preachers.  It could include even a well-meaning Bible study teacher.  My commentary gave the example of an unsaved person who has a change of heart and attends a church service where he or she expects to hear the gospel, but instead they hear sin condoned and permissiveness encouraged.  “It all comes as rather a surprise;  they had always thought that sin was wrong and that the church was against it.  Now they learn that sin is given religious approval!”

This says a lot about our being unapologetic in defending God’s Word rather than trying to water it down to make it palatable to the unsaved.  God has given them a sense that their sin is wrong, and they want to hear that reinforced.  When instead they hear only “love the sinner, hate the sin”, they can be less encouraged to change.

Father, help me not to be so concerned with stepping on toes that I actually teach a false message rather than tell it like it is in Your Word.  Allow me to have the words that Your Son would use if He were teaching today, and let those words cause change in the hearts of those You are drawing to Yourself.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Peter 1 -- Wow! A Spiritual Fitness Program

Wow, Your timing is perfect for this, Father!  Peter was talking to fellow believers and reminding them of the importance of spiritual discipline to work towards holiness, and remembrance and repetition are key to growing in holiness, he said.  My commentary really fleshed it all out today:

“We do better by dwelling in the secret place of the Most High than by making occasional visits there.”

Peter talked about “the corruption that is in the world through lust” and how God has promised ALL that we need to resist temptation … He has promised that the more we think about Him, the more we will become like Him,” and less like those of the world.  “God has given us all that is necessary for the divine life.  Because He has, we must be  diligent in cultivating it.  God does not make us holy against our will OR without our involvement.  There must be desire, determination, and discipline on our part.”

“Someone has defined discipline as the controlling power of the will under the operation of the Spirit of God.  There must be discipline in prayer, in Bible study, in the use of time, in curbing bodily appetites, in sacrificial living.”

Paul had said, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Peter lists several characteristics of a godly life:  faith, virtue, an experiential knowledge of God, discipline or self-control, patience, service to God, brotherly kindness, and love.  It sounds like we should regularly (since Peter mentioned reminding them) assess which of these needs more work in our lives, and pour concentrated effort into that area.

We also have to watch out for shortsightedness (living for the present rather than the future), blindness (not aware of what’s central in life), and forgetfulness (toying with sins that caused the death of God’s Son), my commentary added.

WOW!  It’s almost like a spiritual fitness program!  Instead of working on muscle groups, we’re told to strengthen the weakest areas of what helps us grow in holiness – becoming more like God.

Father, thank You for Peter’s faithfulness to write down a reminder that would last for millennia.  Help me to gauge what needs the most work right now in my spiritual life, and give me the discipline and the power from Your Holy Spirit to accomplish this.  You promised You would, and I know You as a Promisekeeper!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philemon 1-25 I Was Reluctant, But ...

I have to confess that as I looked to see what book was next on my reading list, I saw Philemon and I really didn’t want to read it.  My first thought was, “Oh, great.  Conflict between people again.”  I prayed and asked God to show it to me differently this time, because each time prior I imagined Philemon getting  this letter and feeling put upon by Paul to accept something he probably wouldn’t be wanting to accept.  I also wondered if Philemon would be rereading the letter and thinking how Paul worked it to sort of suck Philemon in before springing the news upon him.  There was a paragraph in my commentary that spoke to exactly that:

“Some suggest that Paul is using diplomacy … to soften Philemon’s heart to receive Onesimus back again.  This ascribes an unworthy motive to the apostle and casts a shadow over the inspired text.  Paul would not have said it if he had not sincerely meant it.”

Once I thought about it that way, it changed the whole landscape of the letter for me.

Philemon was a true Christian, a dear friend to Paul, and a worker with him.  He also happened to be a slave owner, and his slave apparently hadn’t been an ideal employee, having stolen from Philemon and run away.

As Paul unfolds this story in his letter, I imagine Philemon was first surprised that Onesimus had run into Paul in Rome (small world) but he had to have been amazed that as a result of this divine appointment his slave had become a believer.  Philemon could have witnessed to Onesimus on several occasions prior to his running away, with no effect.  We don’t know.  But the fact is that God used Onesimus’ sin to bring him to salvation!  Being in somewhat of a ministry position, I think this probably thrilled Philemon.

Had Onesimus simply returned to the house, things would really have been awkward for years.  But this way, the fundamental relationship between master and slave would be altered in an incredible way!  Philemon now is finding that his faith and obedience are being tested by God in how he responds.  Will he forgive and restore as God does?  Would Jesus’ words be echoing in his heart and lead him to where God wants Philemon to be – “….and forgive us our trespasses just as WE forgive those who trespass against us.”  The only possible thought Philemon could have formed upon reading Paul’s letter was, “How could I possibly call myself a Christian if, upon seeing what God has already been doing, I refuse to join Him where He’s working?”

Father, there are a lot of conflicts between people that need Your attention right now.  Please be working on them as You did here, and help me to know that You wouldn’t have left this book in the Bible if this story didn’t turn out any other way than the very best!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford