Psalm 77:13-14

Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. Psalm 77:13-14

He is a holy God, a great God and his greatness can be seen in the miraculous things He does for people all over the world. Note the present tense: You ARE the God that performs miracles. It’s not something God did way back in olden times, it’s something God is doing more in our day and time than in any other time in history. Our God is a powerful God who does mighty things so that all people everywhere will acknowledge that God alone is the one true God who alone deserves all the glory and praise.

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1 John 2:15-16

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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. 1 John 2:15-16

The Bible has a tendency to make these very black and white statements with two possible alternatives and nothing in the middle and here’s another one! Obviously the ‘loving the world’ camp is not the best one to pitch your tent in, (talk to Lot – God rained hell fire and brimstone on his parade!) but what does ‘loving the world’ really mean? Because we live in the world, and we have to do business with the world. We have bills to pay, and nice things that we would like to own. I think the key is to hold ‘the world stuff’ loosely. There are definitely times in our life when in order to serve God well, we have to let go of some ‘worldly benefits’ and we do it because we know the benefits that come from serving God and putting God first will far outweigh anything the world has to offer. It’s called delayed gratification! In a nutshell enjoy the good stuff but don’t let it become your primary focus because there’s so much more to real life than the acquisition of material things or recognition from the world.

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Matthew 9:20-22

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed." Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment. Matthew 22:20-22 (NIV)

This is one of these special recordings for me. I’d like to suggest a way that you can engage with this text in a fresh way. Imagine yourself in the place of the woman and imagine that you’re fighting your way through the crowd because you want to touch Jesus. You have a urgent need, perhaps it’s physical or maybe emotional, but you know that Jesus can give you what you need. Then imagine yourself touching Jesus cloak and then in faith receive what you need. Remember this woman had no special connections to Jesus, but rather it was her faith that drew forth from Jesus the power she needed for her situation. Just reach out in faith and receive.

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1 John 2:9-10

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 1 John 2:9-10 (NIV)

This verse deals with one of the central themes of the Bible; loving others. Our response to our Christian brothers determines the quality of our own lives. This verse doesn’t spell out what stumbling entails, but it doesn’t sound very pleasant or pain free! In keeping with Jesus teachings, Peter presents us with two clear options and no middle ground – either we love or we hate. It’s definitely a challenging verse but this is how God wants us to live.

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2 Peter 3:13-14

But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. 2 Peter 3:13-14 (NIV)

Peter keeps bringing our attention back to the big picture; this earth is not our final destination. The previous verses talk about the earth being destroyed by fire on the day of the Lord. It sounds like something out of one of those movies where planet earth is being threatened by some catastrophe. It’s like reading the last chapter of a story and knowing how the story ends but how we arrive at that end point and in what condition is the key thing. Will we arrive ‘spotless’ and at peace with God or will we arrive with shame and deep regrets? We have a wonderful hope and future ahead of us so lets live for God.

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1 Samuel 2:8-10

For the foundations of the earth are the Lords; upon them He has set the world. He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness. It is not by strength that one prevails; those who oppose the Lord will be shattered. He will thunder against them from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. 1 Samuel 2:8-10 NIV

God is all powerful and almighty. He guards our paths and keeps us safe, at the same time storing up judgement for those who oppose the plans and the people of God. God is unstoppable. No one can successfully oppose God or change His master plan for redemption and salvation. God will prevail – He will vindicate those who are His and judge those who stand against Him. He is truly a mighty and awesome God.

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2 Peter 3:8-9

But do not forget this one thing dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9

Imagine living 24 hours and by the same time tomorrow being 1000 years older! You could really get a lot done!! This verse is a reminder that God is not locked into time on a moment by moment basis like we are. But neither does He lose track of human time frames. He doesn’t get distracted, look back and think, now where’s that person? Oh woops they died 100 years ago! God is precise down to the last second.

It’s also a reminder to us that just because something happened thousands of years ago, ie the flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, in God’s perspective it happened just a week or so ago. These judgements of the past are reminders for us to live careful and holy lives for God.

This verse is also a good balance to those that subscribe to the ‘God has already chosen who will become Christians therefore we don’t have to do anything’ theory. If God had His way, every single person on the planet would be saved. And by delaying His return, it works to the advantage of those who don’t yet know Jesus.

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Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

Jesus said I am the light of the world but here He states so clearly that we also are the light of the world. I think it’s easy to under-estimate what we have as Christians. We have as much advantage over the non-Christian as a person walking through difficult terrain in daylight has over a person stumbling along through darkness. In the living Bible in 1 Corinthians 2:15 it says ‘But the spiritual man has insight into everything, and that bothers and baffles the man of the world, who can’t understand him at all.”

I think too often we defer to the ‘experts of the world’, but as Christians we have the perspective and the insight to bring order out of chaos and solutions that will lead mankind to a truly bright future. We don’t need to be arrogant about that, but neither should we be hiding our light under a bowl, but rather we should let our light shine before men.

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2 Peter 1:5-7

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter 1:5-7 NIV

I’ve always found these verses interesting. I’m not sure if this list of virtues is strictly progressive, but certainly love is the ultimate and highest quality.

In the previous chapter in 1 Peter 4: 8 it says ‘love one another for love covers over a multitude of sins’. I think the key point is in the word ‘add’. We need to progress in our Christian faith and character. We need to observe ourselves and take note on how we’re doing in these different areas. Yes God is the one who makes the changes within us, but He does it with our co-operation and awareness.

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Matthew 7:7-8

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 NIV

These verses are a good encouragement for us to ask. We can’t just wait for a miracle to drop out of the sky, we have to show initiative and pursue it in faith. Faith is active and this is what attracts God’s attention, His favour and ultimately the release of His power.

It’s interesting to note that in the gospels, 99% of people who had their requests granted by Jesus were people that strongly pursued it. Ask, seek, knock, and remember God loves to give!

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1 Peter 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV

Humbling yourself under God’s hand has a lot to do with submitting yourself to God’s plan and will for your life, even when it appears very unspectacular! God will promote us but in His time, not ours.

Verse 7 is a wonderfully encouraging verse. Often I imagine my cares and worries as a heavy object and with my hands I lift them it up and release it to God. It’s my way of releasing it into God’s hands and demonstrating an active trust. He cares for us, which means He will work out what is best for us. We can rest secure in that knowledge.

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Matthew 6:25-27

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27 NIV

Worry, the cousin of fear, and something that I’m sure we all battle with from time to time. I read somewhere that I think it was 90% of what we worry about never comes to pass, and around 5% of what we worry about is not something we would have any control over or power to change.

The bottom line is God loves us tremendously. We’re incredibly valuable to God and He is going to look after us. This verse is not a promise that we’ll never experience any lack in our life, otherwise why did Paul talk about how he had learned to be content in situations of plenty or want? I think the key point is that with God it’ll turn our all right, so let’s make the choice not to worry, and instead trust completely in a God that loves us so deeply. Think of all that energy you’ll save by not worrying!!

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1 Peter 3:9

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9 NIV

This is a great verse to remember in the heat of the moment. It takes a lot of self-control to hold your tongue and not respond in like manner.

I like the way the living Bible puts it as well; ‘Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t snap back at those who say unkind things about you. Instead pray for God’s help for them, for we are to be kind to others and God will bless us for it.’

Don’t snap back – that’s the thing isn’t it! In fact not only that, but we are commanded to pray something good over their lives. Isn’t that typical of Jesus to take it one step further than what might be considered reasonable. It a real challenge to our ‘they don’t deserve it’ mentality. But if you think about it, we don’t deserve God’s grace either, so this way, we get to practice being like God. Cool ay!

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