Author Archive: joe

A short pause while we think about a very short passage. Got to thinking about part of an old song that said "How excellent is your name in all the earth…" When I went looking for those words, the trek ended up in Isaiah 12. Now, there are only 6 verses in this chapter, but enough words [more](other than "excellent") to set your heart and mind on fire.

These are words of thanksgiving – lots of them. I suppose that if we went looking for the historical reason for this chapter (you know, the when and where and why) , we would have a fuller story. Forget the fuller story! Take it at face value and let the words sink in.
[html]
<ul><li>Thanks that You (God) were angry at me, but You (God) have put that aside and are willing to comfort me in my sadness – How much love is that?
<li>You are trustworthy, not like the people around me
<li>Let everybody know who You are – remind them how much greater You are than anyone else
<li>Tell the world how absolutely awesome You are – You do awesome, excellent things
<li>Don't keep it bottled up – shout it from the rooftops!</ul>[/html]
Just take it in – read it over a couple of times, and then let the words flow from your lips.

For those who don't know, that's a line from the past. Had to do with the guy upstairs removing his boots/shoes just as you drifted off to sleep. The first boot woke you from your sleep, and now you were just waiting for the other boot to drop to the floor so you could get back to sleep.

What I have here is a pause while you wait for the other shoe…

First and Second Peter are done, but in the meantime, I read a book that has been out since 1996, "Left Behind". What a thrilling end to my reading of Peter's letters. Somewhere in my past, most of what was in "Left Behind" had been covered in many discussions with other believers. But actually reading the book made me remember some of the things that I studied in the '60s.[more]

What struck me was how Peter (more than once) warned the early believers to beware of those who would distort the Gospel message – either to deceive them or, just to make themselves look good. Between Peter and the book, it reminded me of little kids (and some adults) who have not been paying attention – anything can lead them astray. Read the book – it's worth reading. In fact, there is a whole series, but don't start out of sequence.

We work so hard to teach our kids not to "go with strangers", or "take candy from strangers." Yet…we ourselves don't want to take the time to make sure that what or who we follow are what or who we should be following. After all, it is easier to take someone else's opinion as our own – that way, we don't have to think.

That way, we can blame them when it all goes wrong.

Or can we?

Thump!

Peter clears up all those loose ends at the end of Second Peter, Chapter 3. His words are tied to Paul, when he reminds his readers not to forget what Paul had to say. Interesting that someone who was right beside Jesus for three years would think that the words of someone else said it better.

What both Peter and Paul wanted us to remember was that not everything will be understandable now. And just because they are not understandable (they don't make sense or defy our logic or we just don't agree with them/it), it becomes easy for people to confuse us. [more]Simply because we don't understand the language, or have not studied the Bible enough, we easily fall prey to those false teachers. They stretch and distort the truth and we go along with them.

God reveals Himself to us in many ways. We need to be cautious that we don't get hung up on what we don't understand. When we can't get past verse "A" because it doesn't make sense, we can miss what God has for us in verse "B". Maybe it's possible that when we get to the end of a chapter or book that all of a sudden the meaning of the unclear becomes clear.

The challenge is there in verse 18 – "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord…" We can grow, or we can stagnate, but it is our choice.