Posts

Posted on

PJVV

He who started a good work in you is faithful to complete it. — Philippians 1:6, PJVV

There are a lot of different translations of the Bible out in the world today spanning from different languages to English translations that emphasize different things like ease of reading or literal word for word translations. I don’t believe that God is limited to a specific translation when He’s trying to speak to His children.

You like many have probably never heard of PJVV. It’s a fairly recent translation and it only includes a few verses. It’s origin started roughly 30 years ago when a boy was born and given the name Peter J. Vall. This boy accepted Jesus and grew up into a man. One day that man was feeling a little down and God reminded him of a verse, “He who started a good work in you is faithful to complete it.” That verse was exactly what he needed to hear at that time: that God is faithful. Later that day that man heard from a friend who was feeling really down. The man told the friend the verse which God had given him and the friend started feeling better.

Later that evening the man searched scriptures and found Philippians 1:6 and it wasn’t exactly how he remembered, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God is amazing! God used what was available to help comfort a friend and me by telling us what we needed to hear. I’ll be the first to say that my memory isn’t perfect (some may disagree with that even if it is true), there was still something there that God could use. Although the PJVV translation is not perfect, it still lines up with the rest of scripture.

If you’re feeling down and even if you aren’t, just remember that God is faithful. You never know when that’s just what you or someone around you needs to hear.

Originally posted January 8, 2010.

Posted on

Do I Dare Ask?

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” — Matthew 19:20

In Matthew 19 we find an account of a rich young ruler talking to Jesus. First he asks what he must do to earn eternal life and Jesus answers him. The rich young ruler isn’t satisfied with the answer so he asked Jesus the follow up question in today’s passage: “What do I still lack?”

As you well know we serve a God Who is very much alive. And because of that fact when you ask God a question, you may get an answer whether you really wanted one or not. The question the rich young ruler asked in today’s passage is a question that I believe is important for every Christian to ask every so often. Sometimes the question could be rephrased like: “Am I still in Your will?”

Today I’d like you to ask God what you still lack. You might have something you need to change pop into your head right away or maybe it will come a few days or weeks down the road. You might even have a close friend bring something up. Whatever the case is, don’t respond like the rich young ruler who walked away sad.

Originally posted January 7, 2010.

Posted on

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” — Mark 8:27-29

How you answer the questions that Jesus asks in this passage will influence how you live your life. Jesus started off by asking who others thought He was. Sadly I believe too many Christians stop at the first question. Jesus followed with a more important question: “How about you? Who do you say that I am?”

As a young child you may have been told that the stove was hot. More than likely you found out the hard way that your parents were not lying to you. Now if I was to turn on a stove and ask you if you wanted to touch it you would have absolutely no desire to. In fact if I tried to force you to touch the stove, you would frantically struggle to get away. Do you have that kind of belief as to who Jesus is? Do you believe that He really is the Christ? Do you believe that He lived a perfect life as a ransom for yours? Do you believe that He suffered and died for your iniquities? Do you believe He rose again from the dead on the third day? You may answer yes to these questions and many more related to who Jesus is and what He did for you but that only brings up the next question: “In what manner should someone who believes these things live?” It’s a sobering question but it’s still one that needs to be answered.

So how about you? Who do you say that Jesus is? Does your life reflect that?

Originally posted January 6, 2010.

Posted on

Eyes Wide Open

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. — Luke 24:45

Imagine, the disciples were with Jesus for His entire public ministry and they still needed their minds to be opened to the Scriptures. Far too often new believers and even older believer get down on themselves because they read and read the Bible but still don’t get anything from it. It seems there’s a point in a Christian’s life where a little switch gets flipped. At least that was the way it was with me. I can remember the days when I absolutely hated reading the Psalms. I can also remember the time when I started reading them again and absolutely loved them. It’s kind of ironic but Psalms is probably my favorite book of the Bible.

That change was not because I earned the right to start understanding the Bible just as it wasn’t because the disciples deserved to have their minds opened. In fact Jesus scolded them because they still didn’t get it (Matthew 15:16). The change is only because of God’s grace and His desire to equip you to do the things He has planned for you. Today I’m praying that God would open up your mind even more to understand His Word!

Originally posted January 5, 2010.

Posted on

Whisper

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” — 1 Kings 19:11-13

It’s sometimes easy to think that if God is going to do something, He will do it the same way we would or more accurately, the way we want Him to. The Bible explicitly says that His ways aren’t our ways and His ways are better (Isaiah 55:8-9). Elijah was a great prophet. Elijah was not moved by a great wind, earthquake, or fire. Elijah moved when we heard the gentle whisper because he knew God was in the whisper.

Continuing from yesterday, what if you are trying to hear His voice but you aren’t. The answer might be as simple as you’re not paying attention. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard the audible voice of God but I have heard God’s voice before. I’ll tell you one of the coolest ways God has ever spoken to me and how I almost missed it because I was busy looking for “a powerful wind, earthquake, and fire.”

One day at work I got an e-mail from a friend. There were only a couple sentences. Basically he had a dream and he needed confirmation to tell it to someone. He asked me to tell him what his dream. Immediately after reading the e-mail I started thinking about a movie. I asked God to forgive me because I couldn’t concentrate for a few minutes and asked for His help because I know I couldn’t do it on my own. This happened several times throughout the day and I purposely did not talk to my friend until later that evening to give God every opportunity to use me if it was His will. When I talked to my friend I said that I was sorry and I have no idea unless the dream had something to do with a movie. When I described the scene from a movie that kept playing through my mind, to my surprise he said that was a perfect description of his dream. I could have responded back within a minute had I been paying more attention. It was a very cool but also very humbling experience.

Remember to not require God to act in the way you want. God speaking to you might be an unexplainable sense of peace while you’re praying or a passage in scripture that just jumped out at you while you are reading it. Most importantly don’t give up or lose heart. For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity (Proverbs 24:16).

Originally posted January 4, 2010.

Posted on

My Sheep Know My Voice

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” — John 10:1-5

I find it interesting how often over the past year I have been asked, “How do you know if it’s God’s voice?” There are some ways of determining that it’s not God like if it goes against the Bible but sadly I do not know of a formula where if all the criteria are met, then you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was God. I do however believe that Jesus gave us the parable in John 10 for a reason.

One of my neighbors from my childhood told me an interesting story one time. He said that his wife could stand out in the middle of the field with with a bag of feed and the sheep would just stand there but when the sheep caught a glimpse of him, they would come running. I don’t know how accurate the story is but I believe there is some truth in it. If you think about it, who’s there when the sheep are born? Who’s there nursing the young lambs with a bottle until they are strong enough? Who’s there letting the sheep out into the field in the morning and back into the barn at night? Who’s voice do they hear during these times? The answer is obviously the Shepherd’s and that’s why his voice means food and safety to the sheep.

If you want to know God’s voice, make sure you are spending time with Him. It’s not a one day, week, or even year process. It will take a lifetime commitment but it will be worth it.

Originally posted January 3, 2010.

Posted on

Place at the Table

And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table, and he was crippled in both feet. — 2 Samuel 9:13

Last weekend I was reminded about Mephibosheth through an International House of Prayer web stream and it’s really stuck with me. When Mephibosheth was five his father (Jonathan) and his grandfather (king Saul) died in a battle. When news made it back to Mephibosheth’s nurse, she fled with him for safety. Mephibosheth fell and became crippled. Talk about a bad day but that’s not the part of the story I want to focus on.

During king David’s reign, David decided he wanted to show kindness to Saul’s family for Jonathan’s sake. And that’s where Mephibosheth enters back into the picture. David tells Mephibosheth that he will restore Saul’s land back to Mephibosheth and Mephibosheth will always eat at king David’s table.

I believe Mephibosheth’s response to David in verse 8 is quite similar to our response to God sometimes when He shows us kindness. Dogs are more important than me, why are you taking notice of me? And it’s true, why would the God who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them take notice of you or I? The answer is as simple as He is a gracious God Who loves us.

Next time the tempter comes to tell you how undeserving you are, agree. But make for sure that you also tell him that your daddy is the King and He has a special seat at His table for you.

Originally posted January 2, 2010.

Posted on

Really?

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent. — Exodus 33:11

When Moses was leading Israel through the dessert they had something called the tent of meeting. There God’s presence would rest and Moses would talk to God face to face. Sounds cool right? But I want you to focus on the last part of the verse. What does it mean when it says Joshua didn’t leave the tent?

My study Bible has a note that says Joshua probably had a task to guard the tent against intrusion by others. I personally disagree with that. One very important thing to realize is that commentaries and study notes are not always God inspired. The same thing could be argued about these devotionals I’m writing.

In Act 17:11 the Bereans were commended because they searched the scriptures with great eagerness to find out if everything Paul said was true. Personally I believe that Joshua never left the tent because he was enjoying the presence of God. I encourage you to search the scriptures as you read these devotionals to make sure everything is true.

Originally posted January 1, 2010.

Posted on

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who followed along in #hopemas!  I pray you were blessed by the devotionals and your 2018 is filled with hope!

Keep an eye out for future devotionals by liking the Facebook page or subscribing to the RSS feed.

Which were some of your favorite #hopemas devotionals and why?  Don’t forget to share them with your family and friends who could use a little more hope.

Posted on

Awakening Hope – Part 4

Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” – John 21:18-19, NKJV

Yesterday we looked at how Peter declared he would die for Jesus (Matthew 26:31-35) but then denied Him three times. Ask yourself, why would Peter say something so bold? Was it because Peter said lots of things he later regrets? It’s possible, there’s plenty of evidence throughout scripture of Peter talking without thinking (both positive and negative examples). Personally I believe there is another reason.

What if God put that desire in Peter’s heart? What if God planted a seed in Peter’s heart that one day he would die for his Savior and Lord? It’s really hard to know for sure if that’s what happened but I do know this: if God plants a dream or desire in your heart, not matter how large or small it may be, God will also provide everything you need to accomplish it at the absolutely perfect time.