Monthly Archives: February 2012

Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

True security comes when God is the center of all that we think or do. The Psalmist knows that circumstances shift and people can come and go, yet it is God who keeps us safe in the midst of change. This could explain why God portrays Himself as jealous for us, for He is the only One who is the same yesterday, today and forever. Those who embrace this find a place of shelter from the storms of life.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Paul does not leave it up to us to define what living a life of love is. We may try to define it as having strong feelings for someone, or displaying passionate enthusiasm like we do at sports events, but Paul has a different standard. Love is based upon how Christ has loved us. Jesus Christ laid down His life so we could live for God, now we are called to lay our lives down for others. This is what it means to be an imitator of God.

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

It is unnerving when we understand that the sinner that James is referring to is a believer. It seems that to passively watch while other members of the household of faith drift from the gospel is not acceptable. We are called to engage with others in such a way that we are willing to leave the ninety nine to go after the one who strays, for God rejoices when his sheep are brought back.

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

The woman at the well only saw a stranger who seemed very forward, but Jesus saw a woman who was trying to quench her thirst for God by relationships with men. Jesus was offering her something better. We can try to satisfy our thirst with career, money, and a host of other things, but can we see the gift of God in Jesus Christ, and are we willing to approach Jesus in prayer and ask for a drink? Living water is waiting to quench the real thirst in our souls.

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

The shocking thing about this story is that Moses was protected and raised by the very people who were massacring every newborn Hebrew boy they could find. The great deliverer of the Jews was nurtured by the Egyptians. Do you feel overwhelmed by your circumstances? Remember that God can use anything to bring about His purposes.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The word “rescue” implies that we are in crisis and need help. What does Christ rescue us from? Our sins and this present evil age. Our struggles are both internal and external; we struggle against our desire to rebel against God, and we are bombarded by a world that wants to pull us into its grasp. Yet God is greater than both, for Christ died to take our internal turmoil upon Himself and empower us through the Holy Spirit to flourish in this world.