Author: Danny Panter

Danny is the Associate Pastor for NextGen Marrieds & Community Missions at FBCSA.

Born Again

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 1:10-17 (day six) 

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

There is nothing quite so dramatic as new birth. For nine months we wait, all the while a little human being mysteriously and miraculously is being formed in its mother’s womb, AND then at just the right time a new life arrives in dramatic fashion.  New life’s presentation is followed by great joy, adoration, blessing and praise!

Borrowing the words of Jesus, this is how Peter describes the reality of this new life we have been given. And what a great way to summarize our present condition as chosen foreigners (v. 1), a stark contrast between now and our former life.

There is only one thing more dramatic than our new birth (which our new birth in fact points to), our bodily resurrection. Both realities are inseparable; in fact Paul writes

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn (speaking of his resurrection) among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

We are and will be a dramatically different people! So, let’s be glad! AND let’s take action and really live BORN AGAIN!

 

From Faith to Faith

Re:Verse passage – 1 Peter 1:1-9 (day 6)

8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9

Have you ever considered that your faith in Jesus comes by way of the testimony of others? From faith to faith, we have been the recipients of the greatest story in all history, of a savior we have never seen with our own eyes. The Apostles, like Peter, were the first of us, although he saw Jesus with his own eyes, and the prophets before him. Even now, their testimony leads us, all the more, to love and trust so great a Savior.

And so it is with us, our most powerful and compelling testimony, is not our colonnade of theological truths, but the story of knowing and loving Jesus, the Son of God who became a man, and then a servant, furthering humbling himself by dying on a cross for the sins of the whole world.

Do you love him? Do you trust him? And does his story pass from your lips into the hearts of others? If not, remember, from the very beginning his story was to travel from faith to faith, even yours.

Take the Risk

Re:Verse passage – Hebrews 10:19-25 (day six)

The main reason we are better together, it would seem, is because we are more likely to finish the race when we are together. That is the main thrust of this text. Afforded by the blood of Christ, we discover new life (forgiven and cleansed), not independent, but dependent on others.

When we are together we are better at holding tight to the hope we have in Jesus, we are better at encouraging each other to obey Jesus even when life is hard, and we are better at finishing strong.

Don’t let the world convince you, you are better on your own. It’s a lie.

Take the risk, be very intentional, invite others into your life, step into the lives of others-be better together!

Mercy

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:15-35 (day six)

Jesus is introducing a new kind of community to the disciples. He is answering the question, “How should we relate to one another?” No longer are they to pursue personal greatness through jockeying for position, but through mutual care for one another; the kind of care that goes to great lengths to preserve the other through accountability, forgiveness, and restoration.

Peter was intrigued. “How many times should we forgive each other? Surely, there is a limit?”

Jesus responds with a question of his own, “Is there any limit to God’s mercy?” There is no limit, save for the person without mercy.

Our merciful care for one another is fueled by God’s limitless mercy towards us. Our mercy should have no end, because his doesn’t.

Like an Angel

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:5-14 (day six)

“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my Heavenly Father.“-Jesus, Matthew 18:10

Keeping in mind Jesus is no longer talking about children here, but disciples who are like a child, there is a lot we don’t understand about this verse.  Is Jesus saying we all have guardian angels? We really can’t be certain as to the meaning of “their angels,” which is beside the point.

Jesus’ purpose is not to divulge some mystery about guardian angels, but to motivate his disciples to take up the same cause as the hosts of heaven. When the world is enamored by the next rung in the ladder, Jesus reveals the concern of the hosts of heaven is the preservation of these little ones-those with child-like humility.

Simply, if the angels in heaven are gravely preoccupied with the spiritual well being of our brothers and sisters (church family), we should be too.

Your True Self

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 18:1-4 (day six)  

Jesus wasn’t using children as a mere object lesson. No, I think he really enjoyed being with them; listening to them, playing with them, answering their often whimsical but sincere questions. There is an authenticity to children that is rare among the aged, beginning as early as the tween years. Younger kids, most often, are what you see is what you get. They have no pretense or guile; they embody a true freedom to be themselves.

This was a significant contrast with the whitewashed tombs of many of the religious leaders of the day. All pretty on the outside, but full of dried up bones. Not so sure if Jesus enjoyed spending too much time with the likes of them.

At the end of the day, humility is the ability to be authentic; a keen self-awareness that doesn’t mind being fully seen and known…and redeemed.

Climb

Re:Verse passage – Luke 19:1-10 (day six) 

There is a child-likeness to Zacchaeus’ faith. With little concern about those around him, he hustles himself up into a tree to get the best view of Jesus. He didn’t want to miss this; he had heard the stories after all. One of his disciples was a tax collector.

It is this kind of faith that Jesus praises in the children who came to seek his blessing in chapter 18 (a foreshadowing of Zacchaeus). Child-like faith is persistently eager, rambunctious even or single-minded in its efforts to have the best view. 

It is willing to climb if it has to. Today ask the Lord to renew a childlike faith in you.

Greatness

Re:Verse passage – John 13:3-17 (day six)

[Jesus] got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin.  John 13:4

If you want to become great, then become a servant to all.-Jesus, Matthew 20:26.

Jesus took the form of a servant. He took off his Rabi/teacher garb, then put on what a servant would normally wear in order to wash people’s feet. I wonder if that was hard for Jesus to condescend to that position, to lower himself? I find myself, often enough, out of some sense of self-importance trying to hold onto personal significance (greatness), not give it up.  That’s my knee jerk, self-absorbed reaction. It is as if I might lose something of myself, some semblance of status or position, or become less, if I were to take the position of a servant.

The irony is Jesus did not dwindle into becoming a servant, he became (in the eyes of his disciples) great. Even in my own personal experience, the people I admire most are those who serve others, when they could easily demand service from others.

How about you? Will you be great today? Greatness does not cling to privilege or power or status, greatness gives it up in order to serve others.

Bigness and Smallness

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:5-13 (day six)

Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need…Matthew 6:9-11

There is a flow to Jesus’ model prayer. Not surprising. He wanted his disciples to know praying should have both a bigness and smallness to it; the one flowing out from the other. The authentic kind of praying comes from a person who not only marvels at the holiness of God, but also longs for his glory to fill the earth. That’s bigness in praying; praying for the kingdom to come. The most authentic praying can’t help but pray that way.

But authentic praying is also small. It wonders and muses and asks about the details of the kingdom journey. How will God’s Kingdom come in my home, in my relationships, when I fail? Small praying is no less significant, because it longs to see God’s kingdom reign in the smallest parts of life. Small praying never gets ahead of itself; it concerns itself with today.

Is your praying both big and small? Try it out. It may just reorient your whole life.

Beating the Odds

Re:Verse passage – 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 (day six)

There is no way around this, the kingdom minded person is a generous giver. They are giving because there is always a good kingdom return on their investment; it bears lots of fruit, and that makes them glad. And by giving I mean money. That’s what Paul means when writing to the Corinthian church.

Our church family doesn’t beat the national average, roughly 20 percent of our church family has a rhythm of giving a tithe (the Old Testament command to give 10 percent of your first fruits to the temple). So out of, say, 500 possible unique givers at FBCSA, only 100 actually give regularly. Consider the harvest of those 100 faithful, cheerful givers: a dedicated and gifted ministerial staff, beautiful new and historic facilities, planted churches, ongoing ministry and missions, mobilizing thousands to the international mission field, supporting career missionaries through cooperative giving, supplying resources to the poor in our city, beautiful creative arts-the harvest is plentiful! BUT imagine if 50 percent gave cheerfully and expectantly, rather than just 20. 70 percent?

What if generous givers (not defined by quantity, but the quality of the giving) weren’t the minority in our church family? What if we transcended the national average? What if we all really believed Jesus when his said, “It is more blessed to give, than to receive.” Can you imagine the harvest of that kind of generosity?

Maybe that is why so many of us struggle with giving generously. We rarely connect our giving to the harvest. We disconnect the giving from the yield. So we either give because that is what we just do, or we don’t at all. Paul says, “be a giver, and watch what God will do with your generosity.”

Do you believe Jesus and Paul? Out of what he has given you, do you give cheerfully and consistently? Is there a rhythm of Gospel generosity in your life?