What do you know about this picture without any doubt whatsoever?

That turtle did not get on that fence post by himself. Someone else had to put him there.

That popped into my admittedly strange mind today when I was reading the first of the letters attributed to the apostle Peter. That rough hewn Galilean fisherman is one of my favorite characters in all of Scripture simply because of his so obvious flaws in character. Impulsive, unlearned, rough, crass, and with an opinion of himself that didn't square with who he really was, Peter was as they say all over the South, "a real piece of work." Now for those of you who are not clued into Southern expressions, that one has more to do with how much work is yet to be done than it ever has with what sort of person the "piece of work" is now.

Peter needed work.

A LOT of work.

Oh he had his moments, but there were always others coming down the road that showed everyone just how short of the mark he was. At root, Peter was all about Peter and how things affected him. He's the absolutely last person I would ever expect to write something like this.

8 Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.
1 Peter 4:8 (MSG)
See, I read that and it made me go "Whoa! How'd he get there?"
I'd say Peter had help getting to that point in his life. He'd been led past "what's in it for me?", and made his way by "what difference does it make?"
Now, with everything he has within him, he's practically begging his fellow followers of Jesus to make love the end all be all of their lives - of every waking moment.
What changed Peter?
His great failure, and Christ's great forgiving grace.
Peter never forgot just what Jesus had done for him. Have you?
Do you need a touch of God's amazing grace today? Open your heart, confessing your need and accept His love as help for your soul. Find the freedom that only a life hid in Christ's love can give.
You can't get there without help.
Grace and peace,

David

When God Writes A Story

1 So the LORD sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: "There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. 2 The rich man owned many sheep and cattle. 3 The poor man owned nothing but a little lamb he had worked hard to buy. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man's own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 4 One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing a lamb from his own flocks for food, he took the poor man's lamb and killed it and served it to his guest."

2 Sam 12:1-4 (NLT)

It's taken me many years of hearing and reading this passage to fully appreciate what it says - to David, and to us. I'd like to think I'm not a newbie at reading and interpreting the Bible, but it is not just another book. But every now and then I get taken deeper into the words and the Word.

So here we have the prophet Nathan, David's pastor, coming before him to tell him a story that God had given him. It was a story written perfectly to capture the attention and the heart of David. It took him back to the days he was the youngest in a poor family scratching out a living herding sheep. Those long hours of solitude for David with the flock must have included times when he carried young lambs in his arms. And what child wouldn't have had a favorite? One that he named - that he treated as his very own.

As David listened, his experiences connected with the story and brought it to life. So much so that he identified with the poor man and burned with anger - and wanted to act!

God, the author Who knows each reader intimately, can do that.

He has done that.

In Jesus.

If I could ask one thing of everyone - Christ-followers and pre-Christians, it would be to have them read every account of the life of Jesus in the Bible. His life was God's Word written in flesh, and watching it changed a group of people who through His Spirit's power - changed the world. Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of 1st John's beginning shows how the Story affected them.

1-2 From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in— we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. 3 We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy! 1 John 1:1-4 (MSG)

As we stand on the cusp of another holiday season, why not spend the next two months reading the Story God has written just for us.

Grace and peace,


David