Author: Danny Panter

Re:Verse passage – Colossians 1:15-24(day six)

For God in all his fullness
    was pleased to live in Christ,
²⁰ and through him God reconciled
    everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
    by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Colossians 1:19-20

The Son of God became a flesh and blood man. He hugged his parents, worked with his hands, had dirty feet, picked figs off trees, and likely had a favorite food. This is important because it means Jesus reconciled all our humanity and creation to God, and not just part of it. If God were not interested in redeeming our physical bodies, he would not have sent his son to take on a human body. He would not have sent his son to enter creation if he were not interested in redeeming the earth.

When we over-spiritualize God’s work of reconciliation, we can miss what he is up to. Christ’s blood on the cross does far more than provide forgiveness; it gives us tangible peace with God, others, creation, and even ourselves…forever.

Through Jesus, God reconciled everything to himself. That’s what it means to be human.

Re:Verse passage – Romans 12:1-2 (Day 6)

This post could be part two of Bryan’s post, Real.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2

What Paul describes in Romans 12:1-2 is not new, but very old, all-the-way-back-to-the-beginning old. It isn’t extraordinary or exceptional, but as image bearers, it should be the most real and normal thing a human can do. In fact, we are our truest selves and the most alive when we give ourselves wholly to God and see the world through his wisdom.

Paul asks us to “Be everything God created you to be. Be normal.”

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 31:8  (day six)

“Of all the people in the kingdom, you have the power, privilege, and responsibility to bring change where needed most.”-King Lemuel’s mom. Proverbs 31:1-9

To be a king means to love and lead a kingdom. A kingdom is not wealth or land; it is people. King Lemeul’s mom knew her son could squander his power on pleasure and privilege or be truly kingly and advocate for the most vulnerable in his kingdom.

Like King Lemuel, the church is best positioned to bring real change to those who need it most. We are image bearers, heirs of the King, called to provide a foretaste of the fullness of God’s Kingdom.

We are a privileged people.

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 139:13-16  (day six)

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! Psalm 139:17

It should amaze us that we are on God’s radar at all; that we are not some project only to be discarded once completed. God is fully invested in us, all the way down to his thoughts; we are on his mind. If God, being eternally holy, and we being infinitely small in comparison, dignifies our humanity in this way, how much more should we dignify every human life, no matter how small?

Re:Verse passage – Psalm 139:13-16 (day six)

No one knows you like God knows you. He knows everything about you, even the hidden, mysterious parts of your formation. His intimate involvement in your life from the beginning to the very end is a source of safety, security, and thanksgiving.

More than anything, Psalm 139 is a celebration of God’s presence (like Megan wrote about this week) and his intimacy. For David, this is a reason for comfort and thanksgiving, not fear.

Does God’s intimate knowledge of your life comfort you? It should; being made in God’s image, you were designed for intimacy.

“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man…” John 9:1

Jesus saw the man. The disciples would likely not have noticed him if it were not for Jesus. There is little doubt the encounter caused awkward tension for the disciples. They were used to avoiding eye contact and moving along. Rather than say something to the blind beggar, they said something about him; even better, they asked Jesus a theological question. More avoidance.

Jesus wouldn’t have it. He answered their question, then moved in and touched the man.

Jesus challenged me this week to consider the number of people I pass by along the way. Sometimes, even my momentary kindnesses are yet another form of avoidance: smile, greet, move along. 

What if I really saw people? Rather than moving along, what if I entered someone’s universe? The truth is, I might just see the power of God on full display.

Re:Verse passage – Revelation 5:9-10 (day six)

For the Lord your God is living among you.
    He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears.
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17

The world is filled with song. Wherever you go, people sing. Every tribe, people, and nation has songs to sing. We celebrate, commemorate, and narrate in song. John reminds us just how important songs are by capturing for us ” a new song.” This song comes from a long line of redemption songs: Exodus 15 (the first song recorded in the Bible), 2 Samuel 22, and even the Magnificat in Luke 1, to name a few.

It makes you wonder if, from the beginning, we were made to sing the glories of God. We were made in his image, after all, called to fill the earth with his glory, but what if the clearest and truest singing voice is not our own but God’s?

I can’t wait to hear it.

Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:28-30 (day six).

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28

God is all in. No one is more invested in your life than he is. He is so committed to you that he is working in and through “everything.” No matter the circumstance, heartache, or disappointment, he alone is working things out for your good. Even when you can’t see it or feel it, you can be certain he is working.

Like Joseph, you can declare, “What was meant for evil, God meant for good.” (Gen. 50:20) This good is as certain as Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. You can bet your life on it.

Re:Verse passage – 1 John 4:19–21 (day six) 

Loving others is our superpower. We are never more like God than when we love. It’s why John writes, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” In other words, when we love like God loves, God reveals himself to others through us. And that is a pretty powerful and cool superpower!

Scott is absolutely right. “What if people see our love for each other, and that leads them to discover and understand God’s love for them (Friday’s blog)?” As image bearers, we were always intended to reflect God’s love (sin messed that up), so when we do, it has a superhuman way of lifting others’ eyes and ears up to see and hear God.

Flex your superpower today!