The God of the Good Life

Posted on December 1, 2025 by Pete

All Job really wanted was to go back. To go back to the good old days. Back to the “then” before now.

Back to when his children were all around him (Job 29:5). Back to when “everything was going my way, and nothing seemed too difficult” (Job 29:6 MSG), when “my steps were washed with butter” (ESV). The days when he commanded respect from all those he encountered (Job 29:7-10) — and not because he demanded it, but because he deserved it (Job 29:12-13, 15-17). The days when his righteousness and his pursuit of justice were evident and counted for something (Job 29:14).

Yeah, all Job wanted was to go back to those days when God was watching over him.

And Job again took up his discourse, and said:

“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
     as in the days when God watched over me,
when His lamp shone upon my head,
     and by His light I walked through darkness,
as I was in my prime,
     when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
when the Almighty was yet with me.

(Job 29:1-5a ESV)

The days when God watched over me . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

When God watched . . . Literally, when He kept, guarded, gave heed, and observed. The days when God knew what was going on and engaged with what was going on. And for Job, God’s watch was known by the ease and joy and blessings Job experienced along life’s way. For Job, God was being God when he was the God of the good life.

But we know what’s going on behind the curtain (Job 1:1-2:10). Talk about engaged! God’s engaged! Boasting before heaven about His servant Job — the Creator confident of Job’s character. Butting heads with Satan (if that’s even an appropriate word picture to use) about the depths of His servant’s fidelity — the sovereign Advocate allowing the enemy to mess with Job’s life this much and yet not a hair more. Oh, God’s watching.

But Job’s not picking up that heaven is looking down. So much loss, so much sorrow, so much suffering. These days feel nothing like the months of old when God watched. If this was the friendship of God, then what a painful friendship it was. Job longed to experience again the God of the good life.

I’m not faulting Job. Not looking down my nose thinking, “How could he?” Nope. I think I get it . . . at least to some degree.

But what God wants Job to know, and what He reminds me of this morning, is that it’s not about seeing God only in the good life but about knowing the good God in all of life. When, by faith, we know He’s near even when we can’t feel Him. When we trust that all things are under His control even though they are so obviously out of control. When we find a peace that passes understanding because we believe His promise that all things (yes, all things) really are working together for good — at the very least (which is the absolute most), the good of being conformed into the likeness of our risen Redeemer. When after the fire, we look over our shoulder and know afresh that He has been faithful.

The God of the good life. Good because it is life lived trusting in a God who is good.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

—

All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so, so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God.

(Have a couple of extra minutes? Click here to enjoy the Isaac’s version of the song.)

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Hidden Manna

Posted on November 25, 2025 by Pete

It wasn’t easy being them. The church at Pergamum had nasty neighbors. They lived “where Satan’s throne is”. They walked the streets “where Satan dwells”. To stand fast for their faith could cost them their lives (Rev. 2:13).

In a sense, I wonder if we couldn’t think of this counter-cultural congregation as being under siege where, with the world in which they lived, friendship, food, and fleshly pleasures were pretty sparse. So perhaps it’s not surprising that some stumbled as they were wooed by “the teaching of Balaam”, ready to hang out at tables were idol-meats were served and sexual immorality was practiced (Rev. 2:14). But Jesus says to His church, “Repent” (Rev. 2:16). Make a U-turn. Do a 180. Though you hunger now “where Satan dwells”, know that what awaits is hidden manna.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

(Revelation 2:27 ESV)

Hidden manna . . . What is this hidden manna?

I think of manna and it was anything but hidden (Numbers 11). Showed up every morning, six days a week. Sustenance in the wilderness. Sufficient for getting to the promised land. So, what is this hidden manna promised for those who conquer, for those who refuse meat sacrificed to idols?

Then Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: Fill a two-quart container with manna to preserve it for your descendants. Then later generations will be able to see the food I gave you in the wilderness when I set you free from Egypt.” Moses said to Aaron, “Get a jar and fill it with two quarts of manna. Then put it in a sacred place before the LORD to preserve it for all future generations.” Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded Moses. He eventually placed it in the Ark of the Covenant—in front of the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant.

(Exodus 16:32-34 NLT)

Is this the hidden manna? Bread from heaven kept before the LORD preserved for all future generations. Bread found in the holy of holies. Bread from where the glory of God dwells. Bread which Jesus said pointed to Himself (Jn. 6:35-41).

Is Jesus the hidden manna? I’m thinkin’ . . .

Say “no” to the teaching of Balaam, stand firm in the siege, pass on what’s sacrificed to idols, and know the reality of feeding on the hidden manna. Our union with Christ our access to the holy of holies, to the place where the glory dwells, where the manna is preserved, where food for the soul is available. And that food is Jesus Himself.

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.”

“I am the bread of life.”

“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

~ Jesus (John 6:27, 48, 57-58 ESV)

Hidden manna . . . chew on it.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Wooed in the Wilderness

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Pete

A “wife of whoredom.” Who’s entering that into the search criteria in their dating app? “Unfaithful.” “Often doesn’t come home at night.” “Likely to ignore the kids.” No one’s swiping right on those descriptors.

Cue Hosea. Told by God to live out the most costly of object lessons.

“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.”

(Hosea 1:2 ESV)

Slow and down and chew on the first three chapters of Hosea and how do you not finish reading them and say to yourself, “Crazy!” Cause that’s what it is for a man to wittingly and willfully take as his bride “a wife of whoredom.”

What grace. What patience. What hurt. What persistence. What love. Behold our God.

‘Cause in this storyline, we ain’t Hosea. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re more like Gomer — drawn to playing the field with idols of all kinds.

And here’s the thing that jumped off the page this morning; God will intervene with judgment to remove our idols so that He might woo us to Himself in the wilderness.

“Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,
       and I will build a wall against her,
       so that she cannot find her paths.
She shall pursue her lovers
       but not overtake them,
and she shall seek them
       but shall not find them.
Then she shall say,
       ‘I will go and return to my first husband,
       for it was better for me then than now.'” . . .

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
       and bring her into the wilderness,
       and speak tenderly to her.”

(Hosea 2:6-7, 14 ESV)

Behold, the way of God towards a bride prone to wander. Hedge her up and bring her into the wilderness. And for what purpose? To speak tenderly to her.

The work God began in Israel He would fulfill in Israel. Yet, even as He redeemed a people from the bondage of slavery to be His people, He was fully aware that she had a propensity for unfaithfulness. But though she frequently faltered with being faithless, yet “He remains faithful — for He cannot deny Himself” (2Tim. 2:13).

And so, “the Lord disciplines the one He loves” (Heb. 12:6-8). God hedges up His bride with thorns. He builds a wall against her so that, though she lustfully seeks to pursue her lovers, she can’t find them. And He takes her into the wilderness.

Into the wilderness. Not to the woodshed. She can’t pay the debt she owes, only He can do that. But she can return — and the wilderness has a way of reminding idolatrous wanderers of the way home. Coming to her senses, a wayward bride can realize afresh that “it was better for me then than now” and again give her Bridegroom her face and not her back. So, even though she has been treacherous, He will speak tenderly. He will woo her in the wilderness.

I don’t have much of a liking for the wilderness. But I know that whether I think “I deserve it” or not, it’s where I’ve often known His allure, where I’ve again heard again His gentle whisper, where I’ve been ready to clearly pick up on “the voice of my beloved” (Song 2:8) as He beckons (again and again), “Come home. Come to Me. Abide in Me.”

If we’ll receive it, the prize through our sin and in our suffering is Jesus, only Jesus.

For He seeks to woo us in the wilderness.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Guess Who Might Be Coming to Dinner?

Posted on November 19, 2025 by Pete

Honestly, don’t you think we might be more motivated on Sunday mornings if, instead of pushing ourselves out the door to “go to church”, we instead rushed out to get to the “love feast”? That instead of trying to look forward to sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in chairs or pews, we instead anticipated sitting face-to-face around a table? While welcoming another opportunity to listen to a message by a single man, we also relished the chance to get caught up on the lives of our spiritual family? And all this as a build up to the “main course”, the bread and the wine, both “to faith the solemn sign” reminding us “of love divine” (Horatius Bonar, “For the Bread and For the Wine”, mid-1800’s)? Yeah, I can only imagine what Jude envisioned as he talked about “your love feasts.”

But Jude is writing about love feasts because guess who might be coming to dinner?

These people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. These are hidden reefs on your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, looking after themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. . .

These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

(Jude 10-13, 16 ESV)

Hidden reefs on your love feasts . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

Jude was pretty clear as to why he wrote this letter. It was because he “found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith” (Jude 3). And as you read on, it’s not just about standing firm against those on the outside — guess who might be coming to dinner?

Those who blaspheme, not really knowing what they’re talking about. Those who walk in the jealous, vengeful anger of Cain. Those who, like Balaam, compromise their moral compass for the sake of gain. Those inside the camp who, like Korah, yield to rebellion. People in our midst who are really in it for themselves.

Waterless clouds . . . fruitless trees . . . wild waves . . . wandering stars.

Grumblers . . . and malcontents . . . and loud-mouthed boasters . . . oh my!

Though there on a Sunday morning, these are not the faithful but those showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Guess who might be coming to dinner? Hidden reefs on your love feasts.

So, am I to be searching for heretics in the seats around me? Seeking to call out those who I think may “have crept in unnoticed” (Jude 4)? I don’t think so.

Instead, I am to contend for the faith. To test what is true (1Jn. 4:1). To become so familiar with the real, authentic thing that the counterfeit thing will expose itself. And then, I am to love at the love feast. Embracing brothers and sisters as together, by the leading of the Spirit, we worship the Son, to the glory of the Father.

While I need to be wary of who may be coming to dinner, I need not worry — for “God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His” (2Tim. 2:19). While not a troubled worrier at the love feast, I should purpose to be a “true worshiper”, one who worships “in spirit and truth” (Jn. 4:23-24). Not nervous but not naïve either.

By His grace. For His glory.

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There’s a Kingdom for the Saints

Posted on November 18, 2025 by Pete

If you ever read Daniel, you know it’s true. You go from chapter six to chapter seven and it’s like someone has thrown a switch. One moment you’re in the world of Sunday School stories, the next you’re at a prophecy conference. Dreams and fiery furnaces and lions’ dens suddenly give way to beasts and horns and battles, oh my! Simple math gives way to calculus. No wonder Daniel, after receiving his own set of dreams to interpret, is “in shock . . . like a man who had seen a ghost” (Dan. 7:28 MSG). No wonder he “walked around in a daze, unwell for days” (Dan. 8:27 MSG).

So, maybe I don’t feel so bad if, after reading Daniel 7 and 8 this morning, my head’s spinning a bit too.

But while there might be some stuff here that’s hard to understand, there’s some stuff that’s actually pretty clear. If the first part of Daniel wanted to drive home the point that “the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom He will” (Dan. 4:17, 4:25, 4:32, 5:21), then it seems part 2 of Daniel wants me to focus on a pretty clear message as well, that there’s a kingdom for the saints.

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me. I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things. ‘These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.‘”

(Daniel 7:15-18 ESV)

The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever . . . Chew on that a bit. And keep chewin’ — ’cause it’s repeated two more times in this opening salvo of mind-stretching prophecy (Dan. 7:22, 7:27).

We’re gonna receive a kingdom. We’re gonna be part of a reign. There’s a lot we may not know exactly about what happens between now and then, but we know there’s a kingdom for the saints. And this isn’t it!

For all our political posturing, for all our “salt and light” aspiring, for all our “Your kingdom come”-ing, this ain’t it yet. But it IS coming. The saints of the Most High SHALL receive the kingdom.

So, while our heads may spin, and our stomachs might churn as we try and figure out what’s going on in this world, let’s, like Daniel, “be about the King’s business” (Dan. 8:27).

Because the day is soon approaching and there’s a kingdom for the saints.

By His grace. For His glory.

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One of the Exiles

Posted on November 17, 2025 by Pete

You’d think that after 65+ years in the land, he’d be recognized as one of them. That after being trained among the king’s elite; after having risen meteorically within the king’s courts; after being retained as a top official by not just one, but two subsequent kings, that he’d no longer be referred to as if he were an outsider. Well, evidently, he still was.

I’m reading in Daniel 6 this morning. It’s a new era in Babylon. The Medes, having overthrown the Chaldeans (Dan. 5:30), are now running the show. Darius, the new king, puts in place his administration — 120 governors to provide regional rule under the oversight of three high officials, “of whom Daniel was one” (Dan. 6:1-2). Not bad for a kid from Judea.

But this kid from Judea was no longer a kid. If he was in his mid to late teens when first brought to Babylon, the dude is now in his 80’s. But still going strong. Still serving at the highest levels of government. And, as pops for me this morning as I read, still “one of the exiles.”

Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

(Daniel 6:13 ESV)

One of the exiles . . . One of them, not one of us. A neighbor, but not a native. A foreigner, not really from around these parts.

Come on! After over six decades, you’d think he’d be a little more assimilated, a little more accepted. Like I said before, evidently not.

This is the third time Daniel’s been referred to like this in the book that bears his name. Once for every king. When King Nebuchadnezzar gets a bit grumpy over a bad dream, it’s Daniel, “found among the exiles”, who’s brought before him to make known the dream and its interpretation (Dan. 2:25). When King Belshazzar gets a bit loopy and starts to see the writing on the wall (literally), it’s Daniel, “one of the exiles from Judah”, who is called to read the writing and translate it (Dan. 5:13). And, under King Darius, when Daniel’s peers get a bit crafty and seek to submarine Daniel’s promotion “over the whole kingdom” (Dan. 6:3b) by feeding him to the lions for praying to his God (Dan. 6:11-12), he’s still referred to as “one of the exiles.”

Hmm . . . I read that and it sticks (not just with him but with me). But then I read this and it makes sense.

Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”

(Daniel 6:19-20 ESV)

After almost seven decades in Babylon, how did Daniel remain distinctively “one of the exiles”? Though he was singled out by king after king after king, he never ceased distinguishing himself also as a servant of the living God. Though in Babylon he sought “the welfare of the city” (Jer. 29:7), he never stopped serving His God continually. Thus, Daniel would always be known as one of the exiles.

Though Daniel was in the world, he was not of the world (John 17:13-14). Though he faithfully stewarded his talents well in the world’s system, he didn’t fall in love with the world’s ways or the world’s things (1John 2:15-16). If he had he would have lost his distinctiveness as “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), as a servant of the living God, the Creator of the world.

One of the exiles . . . even after a lifetime in a foreign land.

Only by God’s grace. Only for God’s glory.

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. . . and I Make Four (2015 Remix)

Posted on November 14, 2025 by Pete

John presents kind of a simple argument in the first part of the fifth chapter of his first letter. Premise One: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God (5:1a). Premise Two: Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world (5:4a). Thus, the victory that overcomes the world is what we believe in, our faith (5:4b). Pretty straight forward. Pretty incredible.

But really, is it that simple? With all that’s going on in our world . . . with the darkness around us that increasingly says that what’s wrong is right, and what’s right is wrong . . . with the spreading callousness which denies the Creator and thus the sanctity of His creation . . . with the increasing violence at home and abroad . . . can victory really be found in something as intangible as what we believe? Apparently!

For it’s not just that we have faith, but what our faith is in. Not just that we believe something, but that we believe in Someone . . . . Jesus the Christ . . . Jesus the Son of God. It’s not some faith of our own making . . . not some fanciful story of our own design. In fact, concerning the truth of who Christ is and what He has done there are three that bear witness.

This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that He has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.

(1John 5:6-10a ESV)

There is the witness of the water, Jesus’s baptism. His self-identification with those He came to rescue culminating in the heavenly declaration by the Father who sent Him. A thundering voice from heaven echoing over Him as He was lifted out of the Jordan, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

There is the witness of the blood. A divine reality which settled over the city as Jesus was crucified. The skies darkened as He who knew no sin became sin for us. And when the work was finished, when the blood, once shed for eternal redemption, flowed, the earth shook, the temple curtain was torn in two, graves were thrown open, and heaven’s declaration was uttered through a lone centurion, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

And there is the witness of the Spirit. The Third Person of the Godhead quietly, yet convincingly, bearing witness that Christ is the Son, that He came as the Lamb, and that He rose from the grave in triumphant declaration that sin and death had been defeated. “He is alive!”

The water, the blood, the Spirit. They all testify. They all agree. Jesus is the Son of God come to save the world.

But wait, there’s more . . .

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.

I have the testimony in me.

There are three that bear witness . . . and I make four.

Indwelt by the Spirit of revelation and illumination, I know, by God’s grace, these things to be true, as well. I may not be the most studied, nor the most learned, nor the most articulate, but I am most regenerated.

Though once I was an enemy, now I am a son. Though once I was blind, yet know I see. Though once I was content with darkness, now I hunger for marvelous light. Though once I was far off, yet now I draw near. Though once I knew nothing, now I abide in Him who knows everything–the Alpha and the Omega — and He in me!

You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

There are three . . . and I make four.

By God’s grace . . . and for God’s glory!

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Don’t Let Me Miss the Glory

Posted on November 11, 2025 by Pete

Continuing to read in Ezekiel and it’s got me thinking about the temple. The bottom line is — after all the specs and details of how to build it, how to furnish it, and who can enter it — that the temple was meant to house the glory of God so that God could be in the midst of His people.

The temple’s predecessor, the tent of meeting, did just that. When the “pack-it-up-and-carry-it-with-you” mobile temple of the wilderness wanderings was set up, then the cloud would cover it and “the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle” (Ex. 40:34-35). When Solomon built the “permanent” version David envisioned, upon its completion and consecration “a cloud filled the house of the LORD . . . for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD” (1Kings 8:10-11). And, when the people’s rebellion and sin had fully tested God’s patience and provoked God’s wrath, the glory left the temple (Ezek. 10).

So, it shouldn’t be surprising that when God tells Ezekiel to prophecy of a future temple, it is so that the glory would again be present.

Then he led me to the gate, the gate facing east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of His coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. . . And I fell on my face. As the glory of the LORD entered the temple by the gate facing east, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

While the man was standing beside me, I heard one speaking to me out of the temple, and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever.”

(Ezekiel 43:1-7a ESV)

Yeah, I think it’s pretty safe to say that where the temple is, the glory will be found. Not because of any intrinsic beauty or worth found in the temple itself, but because God has sovereignly and graciously determined the temple to be the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people.

Where the temple is, it will be filled with the glory of God. And where the glory of God is, God is in the midst. Noodle on that for a bit.

And then chew on this . . .

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

(Ephesians 4:19-22 ESV)

A holy temple . . . a dwelling place for God . . .

That, my friends, describes the household of God, it portrays the church.

Think about it. The church — the body of believers you gather with each Sunday — is the temple, a dwelling place for God. Not built with brick and mortar, but with living stones (1Peter 2:5) and the Holy Spirit. And as the temple it is filled with the glory of God.

Yeah . . . every Sunday . . . whether you recognize it or not . . . when you come together to worship — offering the sacrifice of praise, receiving the living word, and breaking the bread of holy remembrance — there glory is there. ‘Cause that’s what the temple of God does, it houses His glory, it is His dwelling place.

If we are not aware of God in the midst on a Sunday morning, it’s not because He’s not there, it’s because we don’t have eyes to see and ears to hear. If we just go through the motions then we’ve missed that it really is God moving. If we but “faithfully” endure that 90 minutes every week, then it’s because of our low expectations. If it’s boring, it’s because of our unbelief.

But if the church is the temple — and it is — then behold the glory as you gather. See His presence in Your midst through the fellowship, the prayer, the preaching, and the Lord’s Supper.

If the church is the temple — and it is — then ask God as you head to church on Sunday, “Don’t let me miss the glory.”

By the gift of His grace. For the glory of His praise.

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Buried, Bagged, and Blanketed

Posted on November 10, 2025 by Pete

It’s like Job has read Proverbs but not Ecclesiastes. He knows what should befall the righteous but doesn’t recognize the enigma of what actually happens “under the sun.” But even without those other pieces of “wisdom literature”, Job’s intuitive sense of justice tells him that life should go just a little bit better for those like him — those who by God’s own repeated declaration are blameless, upright, fear God, and turn away from evil (Job. 1:8, 2:3) — than for the wicked. But having lost everything and being baked in boils and condemned by “comforters”, Job’s kind of struggling.

And as I read Job continuing to verbally process the confusion around the “why” of his calamity, I also see that Job intuitively knows that “if God wanted to, God could.”

Even though Job is not aware of any sin which may have provoked God’s wrath to be poured out on him (’cause there really wasn’t any), he concludes that, theoretically, even if sin was present then, if God wanted to do something about it, He could.

If a man dies, shall he live again?
       All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
You would call, and I would answer You;
       You would long for the work of Your hands.
For then You would number my steps;
       You would not keep watch over my sin;
my transgression would be sealed up in a bag,
       and You would cover over my iniquity.

(Job 14:14-17 ESV)

Job reasoned that if resurrection was a possibility, only the righteous could hope for it. He also knew the propensity of men and women to sin and that righteousness was only restored through sacrifice (Job 1:5). Thus, Job reasoned that, if God wanted to, when it came to men’s sin God could bury it, bag it, and blanket it.

If God wanted to, He could justly choose to not keep watch over my sin. He could bury it, removing it as far away as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12) and thus rendering it out of sight.

If God wanted to, sin could be sealed up and bagged. Locked up and the key thrown away. If God wanted to, God could do what needs to be done to remember sin no more (Jer. 31:34).

And, if God wanted to, He could cover over my iniquity. Plaster over it. Blanket it, covering it with a robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10).

If God wanted to, our sin could be buried, bagged, and blanketed.

Guess what? God wanted to.

And He did. It’s a done deal (Jn. 19:30).

By His grace. To the praise of His glory.

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The Word of God in our Hands, the Spirit of God in our Hearts

Posted on November 6, 2025 by Pete

This morning it’s the concluding verses of 1John 2 which grab my attention. Like, REALLY grab my attention! As in, “Don’t skim past this, Pete . . . This is profound! This is jaw-dropping! . . . Hover over it . . . Chew on it . . . Don’t walk away from it the same as you encountered it.”

I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie —  just as it has taught you, abide in Him.

(1John 2:26-27 ESV)

Deceivers are gonna deceive. John writes to his beloved children, “Don’t let them do it!” They may have gone out from us, John says, but they’re not of us (1Jn. 2:19), they are trying to deceive you. But don’t let them, for you have no need that anyone should teach you. Because the anointing that you received from Jesus abides in you.

The anointing . . . aka The Spirit of God . . . Third Person of the Triune Godhead . . . God Himself. Where? In you.

Come on! Noodle on that for a bit and tell me that it doesn’t send the awe-o-meter off the scale.

Unless of course, we don’t really believe what we say we believe. That when the Son said that He would ask the Father to send to us the Spirit to be with us forever, dwelling with us and being in us (Jn. 4:16-17), He didn’t really mean it . But guess what? He did mean it. And we did get it (Eph. 1:13-14). And guess what, too? Jesus said the Spirit would teach us all things (Jn. 14:26).

The Truth-teller would expose fanciful tales. The Comforter would bring clarity to confusion. The Illuminator would dispel darkness. And from where? From inside us. Do we believe it? Lord I believe, help my unbelief.

And how does He do that? The Spirit of God in our hearts teaches us about everything through the word of God in our hands. Open the book and hear His voice. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, every time we open our bibles we should be anticipating an encounter of the divine kind. Word of God speak! Or, as the psalmist puts it:

Open my eyes, that I may behold
       wondrous things out of Your law

(Psalm 119:18 ESV)

Open my eyes . . . That’s Holy Spirit talk. That’s an ask of the Anointing. An ask we’ll only make if we really believe that His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true.

Like I said, chewing on this should be jaw-dropping. Mere mortals indwelt by the Mighty Maker. Our spirits supernaturally one with God the Spirit. Teeny, tiny brains somehow enlarged to grasp cosmic, eternal truths. All because we have received His anointing. All that we might abide in Him.

The word of God in our hands, the Spirit of God in our hearts.

What unfathomable grace. To God be the glory.

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