For This Very Reason

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.” 1 Peter 3:9-11 

We were called to bless.  

I have written about this verse before, but it continues to reverberate in my heart. There is more I need to learn here.

I have always thought of a calling as something wonderful and important, like being a missionary or a pastor or teacher – certainly there is a calling to be a mother or father. But as I was reading this verse the other day, that phrase struck me again: to this you were called. To bless! To this I was called: bid, called forth, called by name, invited.¹ To be honest, how often is blessing others at the front of my mind as I am going through my busy day – especially blessing those who are doing me evil or reviling me? But this verse says that is the very reason that God called my name, called me to follow Jesus. I wondered – to what else are we called? This is what I found: 

We are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 

And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. Romans 1:6 

We are called to have fellowship with Jesus Christ our Lord. 

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9 

We are called to endure suffering for doing good, without retaliation, trusting our lives to God. 

For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 1 Peter 2:19-23 

These last two callings together remind me of this verse: “… that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death …” (Philippians 3:10) 

We are called to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. 

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6 

We are called to be free. 

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5:13 

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32) 

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:2 

We are called to be completely humble and gentle, patient, bearing with each other in love.  

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3 

You were called to peace. 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15 

There is not a lot of peace these days. Yet, we are called to let Christ’s peace “rule in your hearts,” to seek peace and pursue it” (1 Peter) and to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4: 3). 

We are called to be holy. 

For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 

… to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:2-3 

We are called to His eternal glory. 

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10 

Lord, help me to remember that I am yours, and I have a calling to bless, to love, to walk with you, to endure suffering, to seek peace, to live a holy life. That is the reason you called me. And, as I go through my days, give me the grace and strength – the everything – that I need to do your will and bring glory to you who called me by name. 

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, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ … Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8, 10-11 

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus … Hebrews 3:1 

¹Definition from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. 

Photo, Helping Hand, by Howard J https://flic.kr/p/2iKzd6h

Listening to the Light

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.” Luke 8:4-5 

 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.” Luke 8:16 

Now Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” Luke 8:19-20 

The verses above are from a passage in Luke 8:4-21 where Jesus talks about three seemingly very different topics: planting seeds (in the Parable of the Sower), lighting a lamp that goes, not under the bed, but on a stand, and then Jesus comments on his family wanting to interrupt his preaching. These appear to be three disparate themes, yet a thread runs through them all: hearing.  

Jesus mentions hearing or listening eight times in these seventeen verses. 

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” Luke 8:8 

‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ Luke 8:10 

Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away … Luke 8:12 

Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. Luke 8:13 

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but … Luke 8:14 

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:15 

Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Luke 8:18 

“My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Luke 8:21 

Verse 18 was especially curious to me. Jesus is talking about a lighted lamp that should be put up on a stand “so those who come in can see the light,” but then he warns, “Therefore consider carefully how you listen.” I wondered about this until I realized that both the seed that is scattered and the light of the lamp are both the Word of God. 

The seed is the word of God. Luke 8:11 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory … John 1:14 

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105 

So what is Jesus saying when he advises, “consider carefully how you listen”? Personally, I think the key to this passage is in verse 15: 

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it (hold it fast, cling to it), and by persevering produce a crop (bear fruit). Luke 8:15 

Those two words describing the heart, noble and good, tell the story. The word translated “noble” means “attractively good, good that inspires (motivates) others, winsome, appealing.”¹ 

In Matthew 5 when Jesus talks about the light on the stand, he concludes with, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” 

Attractively good, good that inspires and motivates others, winsome, and appealing. I love that! But how different we appear to the world at times. Certainly, not attractive. As pastor Troy Gentz says: “Nobody wants to follow somebody whose followers are jerks.”²  

Unfortunately, it is easy to be a jerk at times. It is not so easy to persevere, slog through, soften the soil, pull up the weeds, produce appealing fruit. And what is the appealing, attractive fruit, the light worth putting up on a stand for all to see by? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). This is not something we can produce in our own strength. The word translated “good” in noble and good heart has the merciful, grace-filled answer to that problem. 

The word is agathós (ἀγαθός), which means “good, benefit” … “as to the believer, [it] describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life, through faith.”¹ 

Wow, yes! A noble and good heart hears and holds fast to the Word and perseveres, empowered by God, to produce fruit. This whole passage is about hearing and responding to and obeying and allowing the Word of God to change us. And as we do this we will be becoming like Jesus, crucified with Him. Attractive. 

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. John 12:32 

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works … Titus 2:7 (ESV) 

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit … Matthew 7:17 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. James 1:22-24 

“My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Luke 8:21 

¹Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the HELPS Word-studies from the Discovery Bible. 

²Pastor Troy Gentz, from the Refresh series, October 16, 2022 Sunday Gathering  | Sunday, October 16,  2022 

Photo by Jack Bair

Broken Walls Made Whole

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psalm 27:14 (ESV) 

When I looked at the original language of this verse, I found something unexpected, what seems like a vivid contrast, or even an oxymoron. 

I have always thought of waiting as a still (maybe frustratingly so, like sitting in a traffic jam) and almost sedentary activity, and patient waiting as almost an impossibility.  

The Hebrew word qavah (קָוָה), translated wait, is used twice in the verse. It means to look for, wait patiently, tarry, wait for, wait on, wait upon. It has this underlying meaning of the “tension of enduring, waiting.”¹ But the words translated “be strong” and “take courage” are far from still or sedentary in their meanings. 

The word translated “be strong” is chazaq (חָזַק). It means “to be or grow firm or strong, strengthen.” In its various verb tenses it carries the meanings of prevailing over, the sound of a trumpet growing louder and louder, securing a kingdom. It means to seize, grasp, take hold, retain, and keep, restore to strength, make strong and encourage. In Nehemiah it is used of the repairing of the walls of the city. 

Wow, these biblical images sound familiar and do not sound like passive waiting. They almost don’t seem very patient either.  

The word translated “take courage,” or be courageous is amets (אָמַץ). This word means to confirm, be courageous or of good courage, steadfastly-minded, be strong, make strong, strengthen yourself, fortify, to be alert, physically (on foot) or mentally (in courage), increase, prevail. 

So, the psalmist appears to be saying we have something to do while we wait: 

Wait for the Lord. But while you are waiting for Him, secure the Kingdom. Seize, take hold, restore. Sound the trumpet of the Good News. Strengthen yourself and others in the Lord. Repair the broken walls of the church. Be alert for the attacks of the enemy and resist him.  

It seems like the psalmist is saying while you wait conquer, prevail over the enemy, bring the lost into dwelling place of the Most High, our most loving God. And I absolutely believe that is true.

But to tell you the truth this study has left me feeling guilty and deficient. I am in a place right now as a caregiver where I cannot do much for the Kingdom – or so it seems. I find myself overwhelmed, burdened with necessary responsibilities, unable to do one more thing, even sometimes it seems to take one more breath. Obvious, visible doings like volunteer work and helps ministries are impossible right now. And I feel sad and stymied. 

But then the Lord showed me something. Could it be that by waiting patiently – yielding to Him and the place He has me in right now, serving Him though “the least of these” – focused on Him and together with Him, I conquer my self-life, prevail over oppression in the unseen spiritual realm, I witness to my faith, and encourage others by my perseverance. Maybe in this waiting-yielding time I become better, as Chris Hendrix recently blogged Becoming Better.  

Maybe this is a refining time for me. I have always wanted to do big things for God, maybe for the wrong reasons. Maybe I have wanted to be wonderful and seen, when He wants me to be hidden in the One called Wonderful. And who is to say whether our patient waiting and enduring and persisting in love is not as powerful an encouragement and witness to others as physically sounding trumpets and repairing broken walls? Aren’t the faithful prayers of one person powerful and effective according to scripture (James 5:16), even though only heard by God?

So, if you are with me in that place of impossible burden, feeling guilty and useless, not just hidden but buried, be encouraged. Put on your armor, grow strong, stand your ground, hold on, keep loving the hard to love, keep lifting up your prayers. Maybe be still and let God repair some broken walls in your soul. Cultivate the fruits of the Spirit. Let them beautify walls made whole. And you and I will come out of this with a witness of God’s faithfulness. We will come out better. 

But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Jude 1:20-21 

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. 1 Timothy 1:18-19 

For our struggle (fight, conflict, wrestling bout) is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground (take a complete stand against, withstand, resist, oppose, refusing to be moved, to keep one’s possession; ardently withstand, without giving up), and after you have done everything, to stand. Ephesians 6:12-13 

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Matthew 25:40

… Occupy (do business, make legitimate gain, bear much fruit, the opposite of being fruitless) until I come. Luke 19:13 (KJV)  

… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23

¹All definitions from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Discovery Bible, NAS Concordance of the Bible, and Thayer’s Greek Lexicon. 

Image, Pomegranates hanging over wall on our climb to the castle, by ralmonline alm, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pomegranates_hanging_over_wall.jpg  

Gaping Holes

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3 

Recently, a visiting pastor, Craig Darling, spoke about the above verse. One thing he said really stuck with me. He said, “There are gaping holes in the garments of our sanctification.” I thought, yes indeed. If you look at what Paul is urging of us you can see where those holes might be. He is asking for, not just some humility and gentleness, but complete humility and gentleness! All the time humble and gentle? Patience, putting up with people, love, unity. Those are all the hard ones. Those are the ones you want to read quickly and go on, the ones you want to make excuses for. 

Yet we are supposed to wear these things like a garment: 

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14 

Why a garment? So that when people look at us, they see Jesus.  

Sanctification and justification are two different things. Justification takes a moment; the moment we receive, believe that Jesus took our sins when he died on the cross and gave us in return His righteousness before God. Sanctification, however, takes a long time it seems, as the Spirit puts his finger on sin, and we yield to Him, things like self-righteousness, self-justification, self-pity, fearfulness and doubt, unforgiveness, uncontrolled anger and tongue – and an entitled attitude to hang on to all those things. Some of it needs deep heart-healing, even becoming aware that we need healing. Some of it needs death to self and pride. A lot of it needs letting go of the hurt, the expectations and demands, the desire to control, to inflict vengeance and our own brand of justice. It takes committing it all to God. 

“So my decision to receive Him, although made only once, I must affirm in thousands of ways, through thousands of choices, for the rest of my life–my will or His, my life (the old one) or His (the new one). It is no to myself and yes to Him.” — Elisabeth Elliot, A Path Through Suffering

And right there, that is the key. Our garments have holes in them because they are our own old garments, not the ones God wants to clothe us with. The garment God wants to clothe us with is woven by the Spirit of God. It cannot come from us; it is the fruit of the Spirit.  

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22 

A recent excellent blog by Beholding Him Ministries confirmed what the Lord was saying to me.  

“… sometimes when we are discussing the fruit of the Spirit, it comes more about if we can list all nine from memory rather than “am I allowing God to have His way in my life?” Sometimes we spend all our attention on the first couple: love, joy, peace, patience and none on “kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Perhaps that is needed by the body of Christ, for our “kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” will prove out our love, joy, peace and patience.” — One Who is Faithful (emphasis mine) https://beholdinghimministries.org/2022/06/24/text-51/ 

Lord, I want the world to see You. Take off my holey garment and replace it with your holy garment. Only you can make me complete or completely anything – especially completely humble and gentle.  

He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. 2 Timothy 1:9 

Still wrestling …

Image from Wikimedia Commons, used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Debbie_Reynolds_Auction_-_Charlton_Heston_%22Col_George_Taylor%22_primitive_robe_of_rags_from_%22Planet_of_the_Apes%22_%285852145450%29.jpg#metadata