Danny Panter

Found

Re:Verse passage – Luke 2:21-38 (day six)

There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Luke 2:36

Luke doesn’t waste words. Every detail matters. Anna’s lineage is not incidental; it is theological.

The tribe of Asher was one of the lost northern tribes, scattered during the Assyrian exile centuries earlier. These tribes were never fully reconstituted as a people. Many assimilated into surrounding nations; others quietly migrated south into Judah. By the time of Jesus, Asher existed mostly as a memory, fragmented, overlooked, and seemingly beyond restoration.

And yet here she is.

Anna stands in the temple, faithful, prayerful, and waiting. Luke names her tribe to signal something deeper: the Messiah has come not only for the obvious heirs of promise, but for those history seems to have forgotten. In Anna, we glimpse the Messiah’s redemptive reach and the heart of God’s Kingdom, a Kingdom that gathers the scattered, restores the overlooked, and remembers what the world has written off.

Filled

Re:Verse passage – Luke 1:57-80 (day six)

In Luke 1:67, the Holy Spirit fills Zechariah, and immediately, he speaks about Jesus. After months of silence, his first words are not about his son’s significance, his own suffering, or Israel’s political future. They are about God’s faithfulness and the coming Savior. This is one of the clearest signs of the Spirit’s work: the Spirit always bears witness to the Son.

The signs of the Spirit are not power, wealth, or influence. Nor does he draw attention to human achievement. Instead, he opens mouths to proclaim Jesus, his mercy, his kingdom, his salvation.

This invites an honest question: What do our words reveal about what fills us? When the Spirit is at work, Jesus becomes central. Our stories, hopes, and longings begin to orbit around him.

True Adam

Re:Verse passage – Luke 1:26-38 (day six).

When Gabriel tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will “come upon” her and that the power of the Most High will “overshadow” her, Luke is deliberately recalling the opening scene of Scripture. In Genesis 1, before anything is formed or filled, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters,” brooding, moving, preparing to bring order out of chaos and light out of darkness. That same Spirit now descends on Mary, not to establish Jesus’ divinity (for the Son is eternally divine), but to bring forth a new kind of humanity; humanity reborn, humanity remade.

In Jesus, God is beginning the new creation. He is the true Adam, fully human and fully divine, the one through whom God will restore what was lost. The same Spirit who hovered over the waters now brings life in Mary’s womb, announcing that the world’s renewal has begun.

Christmas is not just the story of a birth; it is the dawn of new creation. And the miracle is this: the same Spirit who brought forth Christ now brings new creation in us (John 3:5; 2 Cor. 5:17).

In The Spirit of John the Baptist

Re:Verse passage – Luke 1:5-17 (day six)

John the Baptist’s story isn’t just an announcement about the coming Messiah; it’s a picture of the kind of people God forms by His Spirit. When Gabriel speaks to Zechariah, he describes a child who would be filled with the Holy Spirit even in the womb and sent as a voice crying in the wilderness, calling people to repentance and renewed allegiance to God’s Kingdom. John’s whole life pointed away from himself and toward the One who was coming.

And here’s what has been stirring in me: isn’t that also what the Spirit does in us?

Every follower of Jesus is reborn by the Spirit, brought into a new identity, and empowered to bear witness to the King. We live between two great moments, looking back to the first coming of Jesus and pointing forward to His return. Our lives, our words, our hospitality, our faithfulness become small but real reminders that the Kingdom of God is here and the King is coming again.

Good Theology

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day six)

When Peter tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18), he’s inviting us to practice good theology, not as academics, but as disciples who want to know God truly. The reality is, we’re all doing theology all the time. Every prayer we pray, every worship song we sing, every moment we try to make sense of life through Scripture, we’re already thinking and speaking about God. That’s theology.

Some say, “Don’t give me theology, just give me Jesus.” But the moment we open the Bible and describe who Jesus is, we’re doing theology. The real question isn’t whether we do theology, but whether we do it well. Doing good theology is more than the accumulation of knowledge; it shapes how we live in the world.

As Basil the Great said, “True theology isn’t curiosity; it’s devotion in the service of God.” (4th century)

Mercy

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:8-9 (day six)

We are impatient people, especially when life is hard. When God delays, when prayers go unanswered, when justice seems postponed, when the world feels stuck, we assume He is slow, distant, or indifferent. But Peter reminds us of a deeper truth: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise… He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8–9)

What we count as slowness, God counts as mercy.

Every moment God waits is another moment for someone to turn, another opportunity for grace to work its way into a hardened heart, another chance for redemption to break in. God’s “delay” is not neglect; it is compassion. It is the long, steady heartbeat of a Father who refuses to abandon His creation.

Instead of resenting His timing, Peter invites us to receive it as mercy – God’s patient work of gathering His people home.

All Things New

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:1-7 (day six)

God’s judgment isn’t destruction for its own sake; it’s restoration through renewal. Peter writes that “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,” but this fire is not the fury of an angry God. It is the refining blaze of a Creator committed to His creation. From the flood to the final fire, God’s purpose has always been the same: to burn away corruption and bring forth purity, to destroy what is evil so that what is good may flourish.

Judgment is mercy refusing to let sin and corruption have the last word. It’s God’s promise that the world will not stay broken, that love, justice, and truth will prevail. And in the end, when the smoke clears, the risen Jesus declares, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Living Water

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:17-22 (day six)

Peter describes the false teachers as “springs without water.” They looked life-giving, but when thirsty souls came close, there was nothing to drink. Their words promised wisdom, but they delivered only emptiness.

Kingdom life, on the other hand, flows with the living water of Jesus. It’s the life that refreshes, restores, and gives hope to weary people. When the Spirit fills us, we don’t just speak truth—we become channels of His grace.

The question is not whether you look like a spring, but whether living water actually flows through you. Are people left thirsty after encountering you, or do they taste something of the goodness of God?

Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me… rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Let’s live as people whose lives overflow with His presence.

Living in Humility

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:10-16 (day 6)

The false teachers Peter describes were proud and arrogant, despising authority. Pride always begins with the same lie whispered in Eden: You don’t need God. You can decide what’s good on your own. But humility is the joyful posture of remembering that life, meaning, and goodness begin outside of us, in God Himself.

Life in the Spirit begins here. The humble heart knows that every breath, every insight, and every step of wisdom is a gift. It’s not self-deprecation; it’s dependence. It’s Adam and Eve before the fall—walking with God in trust. The proud say, “I’ve got this.” The humble say, “I need You.”

When we live in humility, we make space for the Spirit to lead, teach, and bear fruit in us. That’s where true freedom begins.

Staying Put

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:4-9 (day six)

Faithfulness doesn’t always look exciting. Sometimes it looks like simply staying put, holding fast to what’s true when the world is chasing what’s next.

Peter knew that false teachers, who doubted Jesus’ return and future judgment, were promising something new, something more appealing than the message of the gospel. But the truth about Jesus doesn’t need to evolve or be improved. It’s not a trend to update; it’s a reality to live into.

Peter reminds these young, fragile churches that faith isn’t about chasing new ideas; it’s about clinging to what is real. “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,” he says (2 Peter 2:9). God has not changed. His truth has not shifted. And His promises remain secure.

In a world obsessed with progress and novelty, maybe one of the most radical things we can do is to stay put – to remain rooted in the truth that Jesus is Lord, the gospel is enough, and God’s Word still leads us home.