Danny Panter

Good Work

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22-25; 1 Timothy 6:1-2; Titus 2:9-11 (day six)

“…so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” Titus 2:10

The Gospel changes both how we think about work and how we do work. Certainly God provides us good work as a means to meet our basic needs, but work also transcends a paycheck. The reality is that God uses our work to both sustain his creation and restore it. That is the work itself is more than a platform or place for ministry, but is a means through which God holds all things together and brings creation back in order. So, truthfully the Gospel restores work into its proper place, as a manifestation of being made in the image of God.

This reclaimed reality changes how we work. We begin to realize that work, either glamorous or mundane, serves God’s purposes; both farmers and lawyers are apart of God’s sustaining work in society. So work hard and with excellence, because you are indeed serving unto the Lord.

The Least Likely

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 20:13-17; Leviticus 19:16-18; Zechariah 7:8-10; Matthew 5:13-16 (day six)

“And who is my neighbor?” he asked (Luke 10:29). That is a wonderful and honest question. It was honest because the lawyer asking Jesus wanted to know the limits of the second greatest commandment; surely it doesn’t mean for us to love everyone. It was a wonderful question because Jesus’ answer serves as a great reminder for us as to whom we are called to love in every day life.

Jesus uses a simple parable to say that even the least likely person is your neighbor. The one on the opposite side of the road. The one with opposing views. The one no one else will love. The bloodied. The violated. The poor. The ones we normally would try to avoid when we are too busy, or because their need is too great. The least likely person is our neighbor. Will we love our neighbor? Will we shine our light to our neighbor? I am willing to repent of lovelessness, and eager to learn how to love as I ought.

Enemies with Benefits

Re:Verse reading – Luke 6:27-36; Romans 12:17-21 (Day Six) Jesus makes it clear, there is no benefit to withholding good from those who offend or hurt you. There is no benefit to holding grudges, cold shoulders, Facebook jabs, one-line zingers, (you know the kind that you conceive of well after the offense, only wishing you had thought of it in the moment)and the list goes on. None of it has any benefit to you; zero, nada.

Jesus declares, “if you want a great reward-love and do good to those who hurt you.” There are two rewards that are mentioned in our re:verse texts this week. Romans 12:20-21 tells us that evil isn’t overcome by more evil, but by good. One reward is heart change. God uses the good we do to our enemies to bring about a guilty conscience and repentance. Retaliation, no matter how justified, will always result in the hardening of a heart, not softening it. The second reward mentioned is our inheritance as sons and daughters of God. Jesus tells his listeners that kindness towards your enemies is a spiritual DNA marker; it informs others as to your truest identity as children of God. The momentary reward of the swelling of ego and pride that accompanies retaliation is infinitely small compared to the reward we will receive as children of the Kingdom when we “love our enemies.”

Friends?

Jonathan and David’s friendship only leads me to ask many questions about my own. What should friendship between men even look like? How do we love one another? Is David and Jonathan unique, or does God intend for all of us to have such a friend or friends? Given how busy we are, is this even realistic? How can I get to a place where I am more comfortable sharing my struggles and hopes with another man? Do I even need that type of friendship? Does God want me to be that friend for someone else? Have I ever even approximated a friendship like David and Jonathan’s?

Lots of questions; for some the answers comes easy. I do know that God wants us to have good friends; to share life with good people, who will help us and do us no harm. In many ways I think I only scratch the surface of true friendship, but I am eager and willing learn how to be the kind of friend I need to be.

Obedience

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 20:12; Luke 2:45-52; John 19:25-27 (day six)

Not sure if this is the case for everyone, but the word Obedience often has a negative connotation. In our culture, it can have the meaning of less then, subservient, or demeaned. “Subjecting yourself” is the very antithesis of the American Dream; we are told to “be true to yourself,” “do what you please,” “be subject to no one.”

The call to obedience is not a call to oppression and servitude. We don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood, but the Scriptures make one thing clear, he obeyed his parents. Of all kids, Jesus alone has the grounds to say, “no, dad.” He is the Son of God, he didn’t need Mary and Joseph bossing him around, and yet he “continued” to obey them.

The Scripture connects two truths when it comes to obeying parents, wisdom and love. Both the commandment and Jesus’ growth in wisdom teach us that it is not only right to obey parents, but there is wisdom to be had in it. Obedience is also an expression of love. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey me.”

Jesus obeyed his Father in heaven, by obeying Mary and Joseph. The call to obedience is not a call to be “less than who you are,” but rather by design to fulfill who you are to become.

Along the Way

Re: Verse reading–Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 22:6; Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (day six)

The most significant thing any of us can do for our children, without doubt, is to teach (and model) them to love God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. Not sure any of us would debate that. Deuteronomy 6 presents to us though, a particular value in discipleship that we do struggle with, a lot. And that is we are called to disciple our children in all of life. We are to disciple our children as we go, or when we rise or lay down. It gives a picture of discipleship that is very different from the one we are accustomed to; we tend to lean towards programming or events to be primary, but in fact as valuable as those may be they were never intended to be. Sunday school or VBS are best served as supplements to what we are called to do with our children in the ongoings of our normal hectic lives.

So, let us all be encouraged to point our children to see and love Jesus in and throughout all of life.

Seeing is Believing

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 5:21-33 (day six)

Marriage is an amazing thing. It is beautifully complex, and yet there is nothing as simple (or whole) as the number one, as in one flesh. From the beginning God makes it clear that marriage is not the cooperation of two individual parts but a oneness, two parts combining into one, becoming something new. Paul affirms this reality, and then amplifies it. He makes the case that when a husband and wife become one flesh something remarkable happens, they unveil the mystery of the Gospel.

Perhaps the greatest evangelistic message in your home is your marriage. Perhaps the mystery is even unveiled beyond the threshold of your home into the neighborhood, or the workplace. Could it be that God designed our marriages to powerfully portray His love for His church? Could it be that how you love your wife just might help your neighbor see and know the love of Jesus? Loving my wife (laying down my life for her) just became that much more important!

Lord Knows

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 16:1-7; Psalm 139 (day six)

“You knew me thoroughly, my bones were not hidden from you… Examine me and probe my thoughts! Test me and know my concerns.” Psalm 139:14-15,23

You cannot know, relate to, or love yourself as you ought apart from God. Period. It is not that you are not capable of knowing the ongoings of your heart and mind, it is just that only God can provide proper perspective; he offers you the right view. Left to ourselves we see a distorted picture, a Picasso of the human self. We emphasize some things, and diminish others. We exaggerate; we are dishonest with ourselves. And enamored with what we can see with our eyes, we accommodate the expectations of the world by trying so hard to look the part. We idolize the outside with no consideration for the whole.

David asked God to search him (God needs no invitation), to shed light on who he really was, to offer the right perspective. Are you doing the same? Do you know yourself? Or is the world your guide? Run to Him, consume His Word, take a deep breath of the divine perspective, and you will see Him, and then see yourself. You cannot know yourself without God; anything else is a shallow facade.

Peace

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day Six)

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “God is seeking worshippers who worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:23) We are those worshippers, and not of our own making, but God’s. In Jesus’ death we have forgiveness of sin for all time, but in the resurrected life of Jesus we find our righteousness. In other words God required more than forgiveness for us to be at “peace” with Him; He required a righteousness that forgiveness alone could not provide (Romans 4:25). God transferred the infinite and beautiful righteousness of His resurrected Son onto us, those who by faith rest in the Son. So our slate was not only wiped clean from past and future sin, but our sin was replaced with the righteousness of God’s Son! That jaw-dropping transfer gives us “peace” with God, giving us the privilege to come to God as worshippers.

And by the way, this is no tenuous peace, but a true peace. It is not like King Saul, who changed his relationship with David on a dime. David never knew what Saul he would encounter. An angry Saul? Friendly? Ally? Enemy? Not so with God. The resurrected life of Jesus affords us true everlasting peace with God; we can “boldly approach the throne of grace!” (Hebrews 4:16) God made that happen; He sought after you and made a way!

He Leads, We Will Follow

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 39:32, 42-43; 40:1-2, 16-17, 32-38 (day six)

The presence of God is synonymous with His leadership. The Tabernacle not only served as a visible reminder that God was with the Hebrews, but that He also intended to lead them every step of the way; expecting them to follow. This serves as a great reminder to us that God is always in the business of leading us as individuals and as a people, His church. It is intended that we not only feel his presence, but also follow his leadership. When he moves we move.

Sometimes we don’t always appreciate this. We enjoy sensing the presence of God, but we aren’t always keen to follow Him when He moves. Maybe because He leads us away from what we are used to, or perhaps His leadership exposes our sin; areas of our life that need redeeming. Regardless we can’t have one without the other. We cannot hope for His presence, and ignore His leadership in our lives. It simply cannot be so, for to delight in the presence of God is to follow wherever He leads.