God's Minute

November 17

Praise the Lord, call upon His name.--Isaiah 12:4

ALMIGHTY GOD, our Heavenly Father, inWhom we live and move and have our being, from Thy kind hand comes down every good and perfect gift; and we humbly thank Thee for all Thy loving kindness to us.

We come before Thee confessing our sins, for which we ask Thy forgiveness. Bless us in our bodies and our spirits, which are Thine. Grant us food and strength and clothing and shelter as we need. And give us grace to know and do Thy holy will. Make the path of duty plain before us; keep us from temptation and from sin, enabling us to glorify Thee upon the earth.

Bless, too, all our loved ones whom, in the arms of our prayer, we would bring before Thee. Heal any who are sick, comfort the sorrowful, and strengthen any who are faltering; grant them each one Thy favor, in which is life; Thy loving kindness, which is better than life.

Remember graciously the community in which we dwell, in all its interests temporal and spiritual. Prosper Thy Church among us, and give success to its work. Bless our country, and make us that happy people whose God is the Lord. Send out Thy light and Thy truth, and hasten the coming of Thy Kingdom.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thomas H. Law, D.D.,
Spartanburg, South Carolina

Reflections on Peter

I've been doing Today's Bible Reading from Bible Gateway for awhile.

Today we started 2nd Peter.

I've always liked Peter. Of all the Apostles, I think he's the easiest to relate to. He was bold, brash, and enthusiastic. He didn't always think before speaking. He wasn't always faithful, but he always had faith. He was not afraid to be transparent before Christ.

When we read through the Gospels and the Book of Acts, we can see Peter growing in "the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ, our Lord." We can virtually see him changing from the one who betrayed Christ into the man who could stand up on the day of Pentecost and boldly proclaim, "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."

We can see ourselves in Peter's weaknesses and failings and we gain hope from seeing his growth and the way God used Him for His Kingdom.

In today's reading I lingered over the first verse:

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ

Notice, here, that he calls himself "Simeon Peter." Christ, Himself, gave him the name of Peter, and one would think that with such an honor as that, he might have dropped the "Simeon" altogether. But Peter doesn't set aside his former name, or his former self so quickly.

Here in this first chapter, he is exhorting his readers to develop the Christian attributes of virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. In verse nine he tells us, "For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins."

Peter never forgot the former sins from which he was cleansed. He remembered the "Simeon" part of his life; he remembered that he had been cleansed, and from what he had been cleansed.

He tells us in verse 13, "I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things."

Peter was drawing near the end of his life and he wasn't interested in burnishing his own reputation, he wanted his readers, then and now, to examine their lives as he did.

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

Did you catch that? Peter calls us, "those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours." Just stop and think about that for a moment. Sometimes I think we put the disciples and the Apostles on pedastals, thinking that they are a different "level" of Christian than we are by virtue of their intimate relationship with Jesus while He walked this earth and by the way He used them after He ascended to the Father. And without a doubt, they were all remarkable men who had a unique place in the Kingdom of God.

But they obtained their faith and standing the very same way we do; through faith in Christ--in His obedient life and His sacrificial death on our behalf. Peter knew this. He knew himself to be particularly blessed by his friendship with our Savior, but he did not translate that into thinking that he was in anyway different than all of us. While he made reference to his having been there on the Mount of Transfiguration, he doesn't stay there; he directs us all to God's revealed Word, "something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place." He doesn't stay in the brilliant light of the transfiguration, he brings us to the brilliance of the Word.

First Snow

I have always loved the first snow of the season--there is something magical about it, even if it is only a dusting, like we have this year.

As a child, I remember sitting in a third or fourth grade classroom on the second floor of Osborn Elementary School, dreamily watching the first snowfall of the season come drifting down in big, fat flakes and wishing I could be outside, feeling them fall onto my upturned face, just like Linus and Lucy in "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

I loved waking my boys up in the morning and announcing, "Look out your window! It snowed last night!" Watching their excitement as they wiped the fog of their breath away from the window is one of my favorite memories of the boys. My boys are grown now and would rather sleep undisturbed, but I still have the urge to make the yearly snow announcement. In fact I did just that this morning. Sam groaned and rolled over. I'm not sure he even heard. But I have hope that someday, he'll see the first snow through the eyes of a father and announce to his children, "Look out your window! It snowed last night!"

God's Minute

November 16

Ask what you will, and it shall be done unto thee.--John 15:7

O GOD our Father, Thou hast watched us during the hours of sleep, and under the shadow of Thy wings we have rested in safety. Grant that now, when we awake, we may be still with Thee. May we walk with Thee and work with Thee through all the hours of the day, seeing Thee in all the life about us, and finding it our meat to do the will of Him who sent us, and to finish His work.

In the busiest moments, may we never quite lose sight of Thee, or slacken the hold of our souls upon the things that are eternal.

Defend us from all dangers, but above all from our own faults and weaknesses. Help us so to pass through this day that we shall cast no shade on other lives, but shall bring brightness into the world about us.

And when the day draws to an end, may we have the quiet joy of knowing that, by Thy grace, we have been able to win and to manifest something of that eternal life which is found in doing justly, with loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. In the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

William Pierson Merrill, D.D.,
New York City, New York

William Pierson Merrill wrote the lyrics to a familiar hymn.

Rise Up, O Men of God

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?

I've been thinking about posting a reader participation post. Could be embarrassing if no one participates, but I KNOW there are a few readers out there, so indulge me, OK?

I found this at Life in the Slow Lane, and since I have loved the Lord of the Rings since I was a kid, I thought this would be fun.

I'm an Ent.

Entish

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
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