Category Archives: Sunday

Shelter

Posted on June 13, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 7:10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. 11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. 12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.” 13 But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.  14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. NLT

Why didn’t Jesus go to the Feast of Shelters with his brothers?  This feast was one of three required pilgrimages for all Jews.  It was their remembrance of the temporary dwellings they lived in for all those years in the desert.  Why did He change his mind and go?

Shelter:
Noun: A place providing food and accommodations for the homeless.
Verb: To protect or shield from something harmful

Jesus WAS the Shelter!  The miracles were a mixed blessing that could lead people to the Shelter or keep them from Him.  For some miracles were signs of power that verified Jesus’s claim that He was sent from God, but for others they were signs of power that threatened their own reputation.  “Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach.”  Jesus chose to go public at this important festival, not with miraclesa  but with teaching.  A miracle was an improbable display of power in a given moment to direct the focus of those who saw and heard.  Jesus chose to teach them something even more extraordinary; the provision of God that would shelter His people for all time.  

Jesus IS the Shelter that transitions our life into eternity.  He has chosen to “teach” us by His Word that reaches through the ages and redirects our focus to provide nourishment for us that is more than food and to be our Shelter for the circumstances of daily life so we might “honor the one who sent him.”  That’s a miracle!

a John Piper

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Posted in John, New Testament, Sunday

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Works

Posted on June 6, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 6:28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Every person of faith is told we should read the Bible, pray, love, serve and meet together.  We’ve prioritized those more tangible expressions of our faith as requirements God has given that will lead us to Jesus. Many of us could truthfully confess at times we’ve experienced those foundations of faith as the burden of works, the “shoulds.”  Even the faith that is a gift of God does not make us immune to the flaws of a human nature that wants an answer to the wrong question; “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

It’s entirely possible the purpose of the struggle we have with those foundational parts of our faith is to help us recognize we are unable to do the work God requires.  The right question for us to ask is: WHO must do “the works God requires?”  And the answer is right there for us…”The work of God is this: to believe in [Jesus] the one he has sent.”

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Posted in John, New Testament, Sunday

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In Himself

Posted on May 30, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

Is this one verse saying God granted a self-contained life to Jesus similar to what He did for Adam?  OR Is this verse saying Jesus’s life was “God in himself?” That is a bigger truth worth pondering.

The repetition of “in himself” slips by so quickly it’s easy to read it without questioning if there might be something more.  It’s easy to accept Jesus being the living example of the perfection of God, His emissary if you will, sent to be like an extension cord that would connect us to the power of God.  That is the truth of experience but words are gifts I believe God uses to direct devotional thoughts. The idea of “in himself” identifying Jesus as both the extension cord and the power made me think about Jesus as the sacrifice God made for our life on earth even before His sacrifice on the cross.

God “in himself” as Jesus was sacrificed on a cross to assure us there was a  connection that would lead to eternity.  Heaven is surely a blessing to look forward to but we live life our life on earth.  The first sacrifice of God “in Himself” was Jesus living on earth to become the connection of this life and eternity.  God “in himself” as Jesus on earth could teach us by example how to experience a connection to God that would turn every day of life, here and now, into the beginning of an eternity to come.

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Living Water

Posted on May 23, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 4:1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples)… ESV


“You can learn more from a book if you stop and
ask it questions than if you just read it passively.”
John Piper on Bible reading

Why would John have side-noted “Jesus himself did not baptize?”  John knew what his purpose was; to use baptism with water to point to “He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”  He clearly wanted to protect Jesus from the Pharisees and establish the difference between his external baptism and what Jesus was doing.   “Jesus himself did not baptize” because His greater purpose was to accomplish an internal transformation with a new birth and “living water” that would become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

It was “living water” that would make new birth a possibility for Nicodemus.  It was “living water” that took Jesus to the place Jews believed was a mix of spiritually corrupt Israelites and pagan foreigners to offer that new birth to a Samaritan woman. “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” of “living water.”   It was “living water” that revealed true worship doesn’t happen because of an external ritual or a place, but because “the Father is seeking true worshippers to worship him in Spirit and in Truth” in the most unexpected places.

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In-The-Flesh

Posted on May 16, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 2:23 Now when he [Jesus] was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. 

When Jesus was a man, “many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people.” It’s so easy to assume Jesus’s perfect response to His in-the-flesh life was a foregone conclusion.  He was fully God and still retained His shared knowledge with God but make no mistake about it, Jesus’s life in-the-flesh wasn’t a pretend life, set up to create a pretend identity with man.  It had real risk and a real purpose.  The reality of Jesus in-the-flesh life was risking the suspension of all His Sovereign rights to complete His identity with all people.  “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation [to ease the anger or disturbance of a superior being] for our sins.”a

God felt the painful reality of what Jesus would endure in-the-flesh as if it were His very own…because it was.  He was watching a part of Himself struggle to cope with living in a broken world trying to overcome the very flesh that had given Him life without those Sovereign rights.  God did not miss the effect of fear, hunger, fatigue and temptation on His Son.  The real purpose to Jesus’s life in-the-flesh that bears witness to His complete identity with all people is “Although he [Jesus] was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.”b

Obedience to God in the circumstances of life completes our identity with Jesus and still has the power to move God’s heart from Law to Grace on our behalf.

a 1 John 4:10
b Hebrews 5:8 

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Posted in 1 John, Hebrews, John, New Testament, Sunday

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STILL Glory

Posted on May 9, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. NLT 

What does the glory of Jesus look like in real life today?  The dictionary defines glory as magnificence and beauty.  “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”a

There is STILL glory in that broken image I see in the mirror.  It may be puzzling but I have seen the magnificence and beauty of Jesus in the unfailing love and faithfulness of others with perfect clarity this last month simply because…

The Word became human and made his home among us so even brokenness would not be able to hide “His glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

a I Cor 13:12 NLT

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Posted in 1 Corinthians, John, New Testament, Sunday

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Learning to Live Alone

Posted on May 2, 2021 | Leave a comment

John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He existed in the beginning with God.  3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.  4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. [NLT]

It’s almost a month since my husband was killed.  I have been so blessed and comforted by my family.  They have buffered the reality of my loss with their presence.   They’ve flown in from around the country to help me navigate the unthinkable reality of death with the basics of life; food, activity and the practical and legal details that are now a part of my life.  What was previously “normal” activity has now become a reminder of being alone but they have been the hands-on proof of God’s assurance that is not the case.  One by one they’ve returned to their own homes and this week I finally have to face learning to live alone in mine.

It’s scary because I’ve realized I have never actually lived “alone” before.  I moved from my parents home to my marital home nearly 63 years ago.  I chose this book of John to read and ponder in these next weeks because it was important to my husband and the book of John is where my life of faith began long ago.  I wasn’t physically alone then, but it was the place I first read the words that revealed Jesus gives life that spans all time, circumstances and relationships.  What was true then is still truth now. “The Word already existed…with God… The Word gave life to everything…and the darkness can never extinguish it.”  

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Image Bearers

Posted on April 25, 2021 | Leave a comment

Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…”  NIV

I’m sure you’re familiar with the triangle image of the Godhead where each of the three points represents one of the three persons; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  It’s the image of life for those who, by accepting and acting in accordance with Jesus, have been placed securely within that Perfect Triangle.  My life is in that triangle.  So is yours.  Can you be thrilled by what a drawing can show you about how convincingly God can prove to you that your image really is just like His?  Yes!

A simple straight line beginning at one of those thee points and stretching across to an opposite line to establish a connection to that Perfect Triangle always results in a brand new triangle. Something visually  happened as I drew line after line always staying within the boundary lines of that Perfect Triangle.  As long as each straight line began at one of the, now multiple, points to an opposite line, it always became a triangle without my doing anything more.  Each triangle was a different size and had a different shape with different angles but every time I drew a straight line to make that connection three new “points” appeared. The triangles were not a perfect duplicate of the original but without a doubt they visually confirmed a likeness to that Perfect Triangle.

The creator of all mankind chose the simplest of all processes to replicate Himself in those who would be bearers of His image. The more I drew straight lines, the more I recognized how reliable that connection was.  Every one of those imperfect triangles began as a simple straight line but by God’s good purpose He chose to verify that likeness even further for His image bearers as each connection was completed. I saw those three replicated “points;” God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, appear over and over as each line became a new triangle within the Perfect Triangle. That was the visual proof that thrilled me.  

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them;” God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit created within us, every time.  Yes!

 

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Posted in Genesis, Old Testament, Sunday

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Mirror

Posted on April 18, 2021 | Leave a comment

I Corinthians 13:12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. NLT

These are lyrics to a song I wrote many years ago.  I knew they were important to me then.  It was a time when my identity with Jesus was just becoming clear to me and I was so aware, even embarrassed, about what I didn’t know.  All these years later, events have turned those old words into a treasure to remind me God is still “looking” out for me.  I am a new widow.  Jesus has provided an explosion of love through family and friends to help me see myself in this puzzling new role.  There is a new reality in that mirror that is critical for me to see right now.

In the mirror I see
Two eyes looking back at me.
Two eyes trying to see
A picture of what I can be.

That is the “flesh” part of life.  I’m trying to see a “picture of what I can be” without Ken in that mirror but my reflection is clouded with tears…thank God the song goes on…

Won’t you picture God for me my friend?
Won’t you be my mirror when I pretend?
Won’t you help me to see?

There truly is something more than “flesh.”  There is a Spirit of Life that knows I can’t see myself clearly since the death of my husband.  I need someone to “help me to see.”  That is very real right now.  In the midst of unmeasurable pain and grief I have family and friends who are here when my tears distort almost everything I see.  Their physical help, prayers and tenderness are helping me begin to glimpse a new “picture of what I can be.”  I may never remember all they’ve said and done but I will certainly never forget their willingness to “picture God for me,” sometimes unbeknownst to them.  They are showing me the Spirit of Life that assures me there is enough strength, even in grief, to honor the two most important men in my life, Jesus and my husband Ken.” I’ve spoken that phrase many times in the last few days.  One friend responded with “one gave His life FOR you and one gave his life TO you.”  That’s a God-given truth I can “live” with.  Alleluia!

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Posted in 1 Corinthians, New Testament, Reality, Sunday

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Death Notice

Posted on April 11, 2021 | Leave a comment

Death Notice

At about 9 a.m. Friday, April 9, my beloved husband of 62 years, Conrad [Ken] Bedient was killed in a motorcycle accident.  At the end of those 62 years with tear filled eyes I can testify that instead of time diminishing our love, we understood the reality of our love more than ever before. I was still his bride.  He loved me with a love that allowed me to become the woman I am today.  Not even death can take that away. I can imagine him standing beside Jesus right now and urging Him to comfort me.  I believe that because that’s  how Ken lived his life of faith.

I am leaning harder on Jesus that I ever knew possible.  I’m trapped by the desperation to avoid any familiar routine because that seems like a denial that my world has caved in and yet sitting here in the midst of no familiar routine is just as bad. Even a simple thing like making the bed, alone, has reduced me to tears.  Every familiar part of life is going to be a reminder that I am now alone.   I just don’t know how to do life right now.

I find myself sitting with my eyes closed a lot, like I’m trying to shut out the world. I’m heartbroken and shaken to the core. I’m never far from tears and my body is shaking most of the time.  Those are the details of my need for your prayers.   Friends and our two daughters are here with me. Their presence is the one blessing that reminds me there is still constancy I can count on.   I am thankful for them.  Please pray for all of us who knew and loved Ken as we try to cope with this unthinkable loss of husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend.

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Posted in Family, Real Life, Sunday, Testimony

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