Alas, Poor Peter, I Know Him Well

 

The apostle Peter was a man of extremes.

There they are in the upper room celebrating Passover when Jesus gets up from the table, strips down to his loin cloth, wraps a towel around his waist, and starts going around the table washing 24 feet. He gets to Peter who humble-brags, "You shall never wash my feet!"

Jesus replies, "If I don't wash your feet, you won't have anything to do with me anymore."

So Peter does a one-eighty, cranks up the intensity, and says, "Well, then, not just my feet! ♪♫ All of me! Why not wash all of me? ♫♪" (John 13:2-9)

Then later, when Jesus drops the bomb that somebody in the room is going to betray him into the hands of the religious leaders who want to kill him, Peter gets all defensive and says, "Not me! No way! I would die before betraying you!"

Imagine how completely broken Peter must feel just a few hours later when someone as non-threatening as a servant girl causes him to revert to his sailor-talking self and swear that he doesn't even know Jesus, let alone follow him. (Luke 22:31-34; 54-62)

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Truth is...I know what it's like to do something you swore you would never do. And like Peter, I know what it's like to be forgiven and accepted and loved anyway.

A Word I Have No Need For

 

This is the 14th time Truth Is... has featured a word from John Koenig's The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, and it's the first time I've chosen a word  -  not because it resonates deeply within me  -  but precisely because I do not experience the "obscure sorrow" it talks about.

What word, you say?

redesis (Middle English rede, advice + pedesis, the random motion of particles. Pronounced "ruh-dee-sis.") n. a feeling of queasiness while offering someone advice, knowing they might well face a totally different set of constraints and capabilities, any of which might propel them to a wildly different outcome  -  which makes you wonder if all of your hard-earned wisdom is fundamentally nontransferable, like handing someone a gift card in your name that probably expired years ago.

There's another word that figures into why I've never experienced redesis ... at least when considering the advice and information I dispense in these here parts.

What word, you say?

Whosoever.

As in the King James Version of John 3:16...

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

No waffling around with thoughts of "My truth may not be your truth" or "You've got your opinion and I've got mine."

No. 

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Truth is...No matter what "set of constraints and capabilities" you're living with, Yahweh offers everlasting life to you. No redesis about it.

I'm Undependable

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5

Thomas à Kempis really sat me in my place this morning with what I read in The Imitation of Christ (compiled and edited in today's language by James N. Watkins).

Because grace and understanding are often lacking in us, we cannot place any confidence in ourselves. There is little light within us, and what we do have we quickly lose by negligence. Often, we don't recognize how great our inward blindness is. We often do wrong and, worse, excuse it. Sometimes we are moved by human passion and count it as godly zeal.

It's so bad, even the things I depend on and put trust in are untrustworthy.

Sadly, we will fall away from God if we set our value on any worldly thing. Let nothing be great, nothing high, nothing pleasing, nothing acceptable to us except for God himself or his works. Consider any comfort absolutely useless if it comes from a created thing.

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Truth is...There have been many times when I have (dare I say we have?) thought that we could finally be happy, content, and secure if only we possessed this one thing more or just reached this one income level or experienced this one relationship or event. But things, money, and experiences are not a dependable source of joy, security, or contentment...and you can depend on that.

Church? I Don't Need No Stinkin' Church

 

You've heard it before. You may have even said it yourself.

"I love Jesus, but I'm not religious."

"I follow Jesus but I can't stand church."

And I get it, I really do. If your concept of being religious is shouting "Praise the Lord!" about every bit of good fortune or every clever turn of phrase, I don't blame you for choosing to tone it down a bit.

If your experience of church is a group of people looking down their noses in judgment and self-righteousness at those they consider to be outsiders, no wonder you don't want anything to do with it.

But when I say religious, I'm thinking more along the lines of what James 1:27 says: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

And when I think of church, I think of what Acts 2:42 says: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. I think of what Galatians 6:2 says: Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

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Truth is...sometimes a meme is just funny, but the following one rings out with Truth.

A Nation Divided, a Faith United

 

Depending on who you talk to, the United States of America is either on the verge of collapse and chaos or on the cusp of a new era of effectiveness and glory.

Depending on which political party has captured a person's allegiance, the United States of America is led by either a narcissistic megalomaniac or a genius visionary.

One thing is for sure, though.

The United States of America is NOT united.

But that's not what concerns me today. The issue that brings me to my computer with a heavy heart is that the conflict and division I've just described is not only affecting politics.

There are men and women...people who are doing their best to love Jesus...who have built figurative walls between each other because of what they think about government spending and executive orders.

With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.

James 3:9-10 CSB

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Truth is...Politicians whither and governments fade away. Entire nations rise and fall. But there is only one name known to mankind by which we must be saved. Only one who has promised and proven to be with us always...even to the end of the age. I pledge to keep the main thing the main thing. I will continue to lift up Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, as each soul's savior, and I look forward to seeing him draw everyone to himself.

Light vs Darkness: No Contest

 

First John 1:5-7

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

What I am about to say may seem controversial, but I am convinced of its truth:

There is no such thing as darkness.

What we think of as darkness is just an absence of light. For instance, we have these magical sticks where you can press a button or click a switch and a beam of light shoots out. They are called flashlights.

However...

There is no such thing as a flashdark.

And contrary to what some movie reviews may say, there is no classic contest between dark and light. You turn on a flashlight and the beam of light doesn't struggle to get out. It doesn't have to slowly and with much effort push back the darkness.

No.

When it comes to darkness. Whenever light shows up, light wins!

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Truth is...That's the way it is with Yahweh, too. What did John say? "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin!" Let the light of God reach every remote corner of your soul and you can celebrate being purified from all sin!

Learning from Experience

 

If you're in the middle of a pickle or located in another fine mess and in need of some confident hope, you could do a lot worse than turning to the Psalms. Often, King David exudes confidence in Yahweh's loving care for him.

Case in point, Psalm 27:1-3 (CSB)...

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—

whom should I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

whom should I dread?

2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,

my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army deploys against me,

my heart will not be afraid;

though a war breaks out against me,

I will still be confident.

Why is David so fearless?

The answer is right there in the middle two lines. David could review his personal history and recall times when God came through for him. Yahweh had helped him...indeed, saved him...in the past. There is no reason to suspect Yahweh will fail him in the future.

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Truth is...Past protection leads to current confidence.