2 Chronicles 17:6 and Acts 16:25: I am currently reading in a devotional Bible that has daily readings from both the Old and New Testaments. These two passages appeared in one day’s reading. In the 2nd Chronicles passage we read that Jehoshaphat’s heart delighted in the ways of the Lord. As a result, he tore down the idols found in the land and sent teachers throughout the nation to teach people God’s ways. God rewared him by establishing his kingdom and keeping other nations from making war with Judah. In the Acts passage, Paul and Silas, imprisoned for proclaiming the word of God, were singing God’s praises. It reminds me that delighting in God is not tied to circumstances. When God gives great blessing, I want to respond with great gratitude and when God allows/brings trials, I want to respond with great gratitude. I think this is only possible if my focus is on him and not my circumstances. It is too easy to be complacent when life is good and too easy to grumble when life is hard, but if I maintain my focus on God, he will show me the right response to all of life.
Meditation
Hope
I was recently reading in Romans and encountered three passages about hope that spoke to me. Romans 5:3-5 says sufferings produce endurance, which produces character, which produces a hope that does not put us to shame (because God’s love has been poured into our hearts). Romans 15:4 says the instruction of scripture is so we might have hope through endurance and through the encouragement that comes from scripture. Romans 15:13 is a prayer for the Romans that the God of hope would fill them with joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit they might abound in hope.
Here is how they fit together in my mind: In my experience, the way God fills me with joy and peace in believing is through his word (the encouragement of scripture) where he reveals that he is sovereign, holy, loving, and faithful. Believing this helps me to respond to life’s pressures rightly and to trust him when I am faced with stresses and pressures requiring me to endure. I am never shamed that he is my hope because I am confident of his love (poured into my heart). I do not have a minimal hope, but I abound in hope because I am not creating the hope. Instead, I am receiving hope from the Holy Spirit who gives it without bounds.
I experienced total peace while waiting for the results of a biopsy a few years ago, and I feel at peace now when so many voices are saying that stress and anxiety are normal in this time of the coronavirus pandemic. God’s love surrounds me. It is poured into my heart. It is sufficient. More than sufficient.
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” In thinking about this verse recently, I was struck by the fact that sometimes I am “weary and heavy laden” not because of life’s pressures, but because I have followed the natural inclination of my heart down the path of least resistance. Boredom, lethargy, and restlessness are often the fruit of that. Jesus’ rest is not idleness—it comes with a yoke! He has a work for me that gives life purpose, direction, and meaning. Often that work is done with others and I end up with valued friendships. There is a satisfaction that comes from tackling new projects, being a part of building something, or discovering I have been able to bless someone else. The part of me that desires the soft, easy life does not really serve my best interests.
Other usages for the Greek word translated as “easy” are: useful, profitable, kindly, and to furnish what is needed. When I substitute any of these for the word “easy” in the passage, it gives me something to think about.
Further Note: Jesus tells us, “Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” How odd that the one whose standard is perfection is found to be gentle when we shoulder his yoke. Unlike a perfectionistic boss who always wants more than we can give, Jesus knows we cannot be perfect—and so provides the perfection in himself.
John 5:20
I’m currently studying the book of John and I came across something I don’t remember ever noticing before. This verse says the Father loves the Son (no surprise), but I noticed the word translated “love” is the Greek word “phileo.” I tend to think of phileo as a natural human love, while agape, the other word for love we find in the Greek New Testament, is the one I have associated with God’s love. Nowhere will you find phileo defined as “human love” or agape defined as “divine love,” but there is a reason I viewed these words in this way.
Phileo is the feeling of the heart—the affection one finds in close personal relationships or the comraderie that develops when people work closely together to reach a common goal. It is the fondness one expects when relationships are working well. It is also the word used when it talks about people loving places of honor—such a human-sounding love.
Agape is more a decision of the mind to do what is best for another. This is the kind of love God asks us to give to him and to our enemies. It is the kind of love that motivated Jesus to die on the cross for us and is listed in the fruit of the Spirit. While I know there are times when people act on behalf of those they don’t know or are kind to those they don’t like, the level of love God asks for goes beyond what I think we as people can do without him. Loving enemies is not natural. In 1 Thessalonians we are told to not repay anyone evil for evil; instead we are to seek to do good. Revenge is the more likely desire in the face of someone doing evil to me, but God says, “seek to do good.” I do not believe I have this kind of love within me, hence, I have seen agape as divine love.
The New Testament makes it clear that as Christians we are to give both kinds of love, so I really should not have been surprised that God gives both kinds of love. It broadens my thinking of God’s love to realize that it includes feelings of affection. That God’s affection extends beyond his love for the Son to human beings can be seen in the fact that the Gospels indicate that one of the complaints against Jesus was that he was the friend of tax collectors and sinners—he felt affection for them. It personalizes his love for me to know not only does he act in my best interests, but he likes me.
Addendum: When I reached John 16, I found verse 27 makes it explicit that God has affectionate feelings for people. It says, “…for the Father himself has loved you because you have loved me…” Phileo is the word used for “loved” in these verses.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 says, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” This passage resulted in me spending a fair amount of time considering the phrase “eternal comfort.” To understand why, I need to provide a little background information on the two Greek words that get translated as “comfort” in this passage. Both words come from the same root, which literally is “to call near”. Because we do not have an English equivalent, translators look at the context and use a word that explains why there is a “calling near.” In the New Testament, words such as appeal, comfort, encourage/encouragement, entreat/entreaty, exhort/exhortation, and invite/invitation are likely to come from one of these two words.
In meditating on this passage, I used “calling near” instead of “comfort” and I asked myself, “Why is the first calling near an eternal calling near?” I clearly see the benefit of God calling me near while I live on earth—there are always problems, hurts, or stressors to be faced. But in heaven I will see him face to face. Won’t that be enough? Then the idea came to me that in heaven I will have a new body—a spiritual one that can see the full glory of God. Maybe that calling near will then be an invitation to come and explore the depths of who he is in a way that I cannot do here on earth. He is an infinite God; surely it will take eternity do that. To me, this is the most exciting view of heaven I have ever had.
Thinking on this passage has also helped me remember that words like comfort, encourage, or exhort are used in scripture as an invitation—either to invite others to draw near to God (if I’m called to do the action) or as a call from God for me to draw near to him (if he’s doing the action). God does not just desire to give comfort or encouragement. Instead God wants to be the comfort or encouragement I need. God is always calling me near to him. I want to embrace that call and let his Spirit draw me close, instead of seeking an alternative path.
Idols
I recently spent some time meditating on the 10 commandments and was reminded of the danger of idols in my life. Because I sometimes act as if there are things more important to me than God, I could say, “These are idols.” In reality? In all these things I am serving myself. This means that I am the idol. Every choice I make that is not a choice to serve or obey God is a choice to do what pleases me. I want the final say in my life. I want to make my own choices for how I use my time and my resources. (They are mine!) I live in an age where this attitude is supported by society, but it is not the attitude God asks of his children.
God loves me and desires what’s best for me, and he doesn’t seem to think living a life of ease and pleasure is the best. He’s more interested in building character into my life than keeping my life trouble free. He’s more interested in my having a meaningful life than a pleasant life. He’s more interested in me needing to rely on his grace and sufficiency than being able to find the tasks he gives me a cinch to do. He’s more interested in my finding him to be my greatest joy than in my finding great joy in things that have no eternal value. His eye is on eternity, not just the next five minutes.
I suspect that gratitude goes a long way in keeping God supreme in my heart. Gratitude is a recognition that I am not self-sufficient. It focuses my attention on the one who blesses me instead of on myself. Living with that sense of blessing deepens my appreciation of who God is and what he has done for me. It makes me aware of what I owe God, instead of allowing my imagination to make assumptions about what God, or others, owe me. Grateful thoughts often remind me that God’s will for my life is better than my will for my life. It’s good to serve him instead of myself.