Author: Jimmy Gunn

That You May Know

Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 1:15-23 (day three)

“…having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know… what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe…” v. 18-19

We sing many worship songs and hymns about God opening our eyes to Him and to His heavenly realm. Here, in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul lets them know that he was praying exactly that for them, all those years ago. This invisible, spiritual realm has been around since the beginning of time, yet we so often forget that it is there. Paul’s letter begins with his usual greetings and “I’m thankful for you’s”, but he jumps straight into a reminder that there is more to this life than what they (and we) physically see. He prayed for them to know the immeasurable power of God living in them as believers.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the dark, spiritual forces of this world (Ephesians 6:12). But take heart, the Power that defeated sin, death, and those dark, spiritual forces lives inside us if we are believers. Paul reminded the Ephesians of that all-important truth, and he reminds us as well. As you go through your day today and the rest of your week, I pray that you may know the immeasurable greatness of his power living inside you helping you fight back against the dark, spiritual forces of this world.

As Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Knit Together

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

“You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

When we are being formed in our mother’s wombs, many amazing, incredible little miracles occur. One of those little miracles is the formation of our eyes. Around 22 days after conception, our eyes begin developing and forming. Nerves are sent from a baby’s developing brain to the developing eyes while nerves go from the eye to the brain.1 Somewhere in the middle, the nerves meet and form together to make the optic nerve and other nerves. It is an incredible process!

When I read these verses from Psalm 139, I am reminded of these nerves meeting between the eye and the brain, forming together to create sight. Science may explain it as your body knows what to do or explain it in some other way. The words “You knit (or wove) me together in my mother’s womb” take on a whole new significance to me. God does it. We are put together by our amazing God very deliberately and intimately! Every aspect of our created being was made on purpose by God, for His purpose. Now, there are times I bemoan certain things about myself or wonder why God created me in some of the ways that He did. We may not understand those purposes now. But I believe someday we will understand more about why He made us in the ways that He did. Until then, trust that He made us so intimately and deliberately for His glory. You are remarkably and wonderfully made on purpose for His purpose!

So That…

Re:Verse passage – John 9: 1-3 (day five)

“This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” v. 3b

How often do we tend to focus on the small picture right in front of us? Weekly? How often do we get stuck looking at the circumstances or areas that God has called us to, wishing that we were somewhere else or doing something else? Daily? How often do we get stuck wondering why God made us {insert your own answer here}? Hourly?

As humans, we have a predisposition to lose focus on the bigger picture (God’s picture) because of our limited perspective. We forget the Creator and that He created us for His purpose with a bigger story in mind. We may not understand the purposes that He has, but we can trust that God, the Creator, knows exactly what He is doing and for what purpose He created us. When we turn our focus to the bigger picture and to the narrative that God is writing for our lives, it helps us let go of the worries or misplaced focus we have. A correct focus helps us get to a place where we can truly say, “I don’t understand it, but I trust Him.”

Maybe you are struggling with {insert your own answer here} so the power of God could be seen in you. You were created in His image on purpose for His purpose!

A Kingdom of Priests

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

“And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God.” v. 10

Jesus flipped everything upside down when He came to earth. Our purpose and identity changed with that. Back in the Old Testament, we learn how God chose the priests of Israel and how He set apart the tribe of Levi to fulfill that role. This tribe was set apart, had specific duties, and was called to a specific way of life.

Here, now, in the final book of the Bible, we learn how Jesus flipped that role. His death and resurrection caused those of us that have been born again as believers and followers of Christ to assume that role of priest for the Lord. So, no matter who you are or where you are from, when you become a follower of Christ, you become a priest for God. That means that we are set apart and called to a specific way of life, similar to the Levitical priests of the Old Testament.

As you look at your life today and how you go about your week, are you living as a person that has been created by God to be set apart?

The Hard Part…

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 13:24 (day five)

To me, one of the hardest parts about parental discipline is that it is hard and slow work. After discipline is needed and given, I cannot expect my kids to be changed overnight or immediately after a time of discipline and correction. Chances are, there will be more conversations and times of discipline that follow up on the initial moments that follow wrongdoing because our kids (all of us) are prone to sin and selfish behavior. It takes constant vigilance, work, correcting, disciplining, etc. to lovingly and purposefully guide our kids to be who God calls them to be and act how God has called them to act.

But it is necessary. Often, it is tempting to take the easy way out and let things go. Essentially, we are saying that is easier for me to let things go because I don’t want to do it (because we are prone to sin and selfish behavior!). But it is in this grind-it-out, long-term-goal-in-mind where we need to keep steady.

In our personal walk with the Lord, we require daily reminders to follow Him and to do what is righteous in the sight of the Lord. We typically do not change overnight and then consistently follow Him in all we do. The Lord lovingly and purposefully guides us. This is not a “check that box of discipline” off time, but a process of being molded and shaped into who God calls us to be.

It is the same for our kids. Through proper discipline, we are helping our kids know what God has called them to do and who He has called them to be. Parents, do you love your kids? Then keep after it. There is a battle much deeper going on.

Kids’ Time

Re:Verse passage – Proverbs 2:1-15 (day five)

“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;” v. 6

I love the Kids’ Time during our Sunday morning services. It is a moment for us to let kids know that our services are for them, also, and that they can expect that God will speak to them during our time together. They are fun and lighthearted mostly, but there is deep meaning and importance to that four or five minute time with them.

I am extremely excited that while we study the book of Proverbs together, our Kids’ Time moments that occur during the Traditional and Logos services will mirror each other. These times will feature many sayings and writings from various people throughout history that deal with wisdom and knowledge, all presented alongside a portion of scripture from our weekly Re:Verse readings.

During our Kids’ Time together each Sunday, we want to highlight for kids that the world has its own version of truth and wisdom that is contrary to what God says in His Word. There are a lot of times that worldly truth and wisdom looks extremely similar to what God says, but is, in fact, not what God says. Proverbs 2:6 carries this tone for us: all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding comes from God. Only by the Lord’s guidance will we know what is right, just, fair, joyful, honest, good, and so on. The world longs to know these things but looks in the wrong places. Our kids need to know where to look and whom to follow.

So, join us each Sunday as we encourage kids to know God’s Word and guide them to seek the Lord, and not the world, for truth and wisdom. See you Sunday!

The Right Lens

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 6:19-24 (day four)

The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. Matthew 6:22

Of the many blessings that God has given to me, good physical eyesight is not one of those blessings. I have worn glasses or contacts since I was in the sixth grade, and probably needed them sooner than that. My kids always ask me how bad my eyesight is, and this usually leads to me telling them to look at things very close to them (within a few feet) and explaining to them that I cannot see that object clearly at all.

I’m always amazed at how revolutionary and life changing glasses really are. Life would be drastically different for me if I did not have mine. To be able to see clearly just by having the right lenses with which to look through is transformative. My fellow glasses wearers out there can attest to this!

Jesus talks about the importance of having a clear eye, or a good eye, with which to see. We do not have good eyes in and of ourselves. When we become a Christ-follower, God is the lens (or the glasses, if you will) that we are to look through to navigate this world. He is the lens to our worldview, causing our eye (view) to be good and clear.

A good eye leads us to the way of light; that is, following God fully in our life, resulting in storing our treasures up in heaven and serving God rather than anything else. May you see with a good eye that leads to light in your life.

Jimmy Gunn
Associate Pastor, First Kids

Mountains

Re:Verse passage – Mark 11:22-25 (day five)

Mountains have much significance throughout the Bible. Here, Jesus talks of the incredible task of asking God to throw a mountain into the sea. In a symbolic respect, we all face mountains throughout our lives. These mountains can be named whatever after whatever stands before us, blocking our way with an arduous and difficult climb: cancer, death of a loved one, lost job, difficult relationships, etc. Most of us have asked, firmly believing with all our hearts, that God move that theoretical mountain out of our way. While these requests may not seem selfish or wrongly motivated in our hearts, they may not be in line with the plan that God has in store.

So, the mountain remains, unmoved.

And herein lies our struggle. I had a brother that passed away from leukemia when he was two years old. I know my parents, their friend’s, and their church prayed diligently for Peter to be healed (the mountain moved), but God had a different plan. Looking back now 40 years later, we can see that God worked all things for His glory and our good through that time. Peter was healed and is now with the Lord, my family grew closer to God, and I was born soon after.

Faith is hard sometimes. There are times that God leaves those mountains unmoved so we can climb the mountain and grow closer to Him in the journey. We may want things (for a good or okay purpose), but what God wants is always better. When you pray that your mountains be moved, remember that He is a good God even when your mountains don’t move.

Ordinary Moments

Re:Verse passage – Acts 2:42-47 (day five)

“And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.” vv. 46-47a

When we read about what the early church did together in this passage, it tells us that they gave themselves to doing four things. Those four activities are fairly ordinary in the grand scheme of things. They may not be the four things you would have done if you were starting a movement or beginning a new religion. Chances are that we might overcomplicate things to get going. Often, we can overcomplicate the gospel and the methodology by which we share it with those that need to hear it. We can overcomplicate our salvation through Christ, thinking that we need to jump through hoops some hoops to be in good standing for our salvation. We can also overcomplicate how we grow as a church.

As Aaron said earlier this week, we don’t need to wait for a church-sanctioned function to get together and to live life. The first church grew because they sought the Lord in their everyday lives together. Their circle of people spurred them on in the Biblical things they should be doing. It is much easier to grow together and to grow in Christ if we allow Him to permeate the ordinary moments of life, rather than just the Sunday morning or occasional church function. What are the ordinary moments that you can invite others to join in with you? How can you allow the Lord to use those moments to help you grow closer to the family of God?

Jimmy Gunn
Associate Pastor, Preschool & Elementary

Revert

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day seven)

“And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.’ And David took them off.” 1 Samuel 17:39

We usually revert to what we know or are comfortable with. The Israelites reverted to fear because their enemy was stronger than the Israelites. Saul reverted to his use of armor to protect David. For both the Israelites and Saul, they reverted to trusting in themselves or in what they could physically do. David reverted to his stone and slings. But David also reverted to his trust in the Lord.

David had spent so much time trusting and learning from God that the Lord was the point he reverted to. I’ll say it again: we tend to revert to what we know and are comfortable with. When trials of faith come or when attacks threaten to knock you down or defeat you, who is it that you revert to? Do you go to yourself, trusting that you can overcome said trial on your past or on your skills? Do you trust that you will be alright and that this will be something you can handle without going to God first? Or, do you revert to the Lord and to trust that He can do anything, no matter how small and no matter how big? My prayer is that you are ready this week (and all to come!) to gird yourself first with the Lord in all things. We need Him!