The Sanctifying Impact of Others’ Sin

Posted on October 6, 2025 by Pete

Life under the sun. Kind of rough, if I’m picking up on what the Preacher is laying down. So many of what we might consider to be the “should be’s” just ain’t necessarily so. I was reminded of that, right off the bat, in this morning’s reading.

In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.

(Ecclesiastes 7:15 ESV)

Hmm . . . Shouldn’t it be the other way around? The righteous man’s righteousness prolonging his life while the wicked man’s ways cut his life short? Wasn’t that an implied take-away from Proverbs?

The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
       but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

(Proverbs 3:33 ESV)

The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
       the expectation of the wicked in wrath.

(Proverbs 11:23 ESV)

Oh, the difference it makes — the vanity, one might say — that comes from measuring life only by what happens “under the sun”. If we’re expecting to get “here and now” results from promises intended for a “there and then” reality, it can lead to a lot of frustration.

But in the “here and now”, here’s what we can get — wisdom. And growing in wisdom is becoming more like Jesus. For, Jesus is wisdom (Prov. 8:12-31). And becoming more like Jesus? Well, we call that sanctification.

And as I continue to read what the Preacher has to say, it’s these words I end up noodling on this morning.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

(Ecclesiastes 7:20-22 ESV)

Nothin’ worse than being slandered (well, maybe there is . . . maybe lots of things are worse . .. but being slandered feels pretty bad). No one likes being bad-mouthed. No fun being the subject of gossip. It’s the kind of thing we righteous ones are inclined to respond to by setting the record straight with some “righteous indignation”. But, says the Preacher, don’t pay attention to it — don’t take it to heart. How come? Because surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Because your heart knows that many times you yourself have slandered others.

And what I’m picking up from what is being laid down is that other’s sin, even when it is sin against me, might just be a mirror which God is holding up to my face in order for me to see my own sin. The sin might be different in kind or severity but, as Jesus would say centuries after the Preacher, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone” (Jn. 8:7). While others might legitimately need to repent of their sin, their sin can remind me of my “me too” reality.

And in that, God’s kindness can lead me to repentance. And that can be used of Jesus to do some refining work in me. And that always leads me to the cross. And that can make me pretty tender to others like me who are also sinners saved by grace, who, while “under the sun”, are ever, like me, in need of grace.

And so, it seems to me that there can be a sanctifying impact of others’ sin — even when that sin is against me.

Make sense? Worth chewing on?

I’m thinkin’ . . .

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Ecclesiastes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Beloved of My Soul

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Pete

The heart of God. That’s what jumped off the page this morning. And in a kind of unexpected place.

Book of the Bible? Jeremiah. Chapter in this prophet’s oracles? Twelve. Context for his words? God’s judgment of His people. Impact on this guy? To quote Crowder, “Oh, how He loves us.”

“I have forsaken My house; I have abandoned My heritage; I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies.”

(Jeremiah 12:7 ESV)

The beloved of My soul . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

The beloved of God’s soul. Synonymous with God’s heritage, synonymous with God’s house . . . aka, God’s people.

Not just beloved, but “dearly beloved” (NKJV). More than just one of many things loved, but “the love of My life” (CSB).

If God is love — and He is (1Jn. 4:16) — then what it is it to be the beloved of God’s soul? What is it to occupy such a place within the heart of the Fountainhead of affection?

Independent of our best days and unconnected to our worst, impossible for Him to love us anymore and unthinkable that He would love us any less. For, whether it’s knowing the blessings of His goodness or the severity of His discipline, we are the beloved of His soul.

Because of who we are? Because of what we’ve done (or not done)? Nope! But only and always because of our union with Christ, because we are “in Christ” — God’s beloved Son, the One with whom God is “well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

Oh, how the Father loves the Son!

Oh, how He loves us!

According to His grace. Always for His glory.

Posted in Jeremiah | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Seasons of Siege (2020 Rerun)

Posted on September 30, 2025 by Pete

Talking to a neighbor last night as we kept an eye on her kids and my grandsons playing together in the street. She had some questions about the bible. “Who are the Nephilim?” she asks. “Oh brother,” I think, “can you ask me something simpler like ‘Can you explain the Trinity?'” (This is our second conversation. We’ve already talked a bit about why God allowed Adam and Eve to eat bad fruit in the garden.)

She’s reading her bible again. I asked her what’s spurred this renewed interest to reconnect with the God she had learned about in her youth. She said it’s the crazy times we live in. She’s struggling to make sense of what’s going on in our world. Seems like God in His kindness is working in her heart to tether her to another world.

Times like our current times can be used of God in that way. Kind of like the season we experienced 5-years ago. Here’s some thoughts from then that came out of this morning’s reading in Jeremiah.

Not gonna lie, this season has a way of amplifying my readings in the major prophets. Not that I equate America with Israel. Not that I believe God is in the final judgment business in this age of grace. But that I believe the God of the prophets is an unchanging God, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thus, the sin which provoked Him to anger in Jeremiah’s day will, no matter where it is found, provoke Him to anger today. To be sure, there is a place for that anger to be quenched, the cross of His blessed Son, but only for those who run to it. And God, just as He did in the days of the prophets, even today intervenes to reveal Himself, and to point people to the way of rescue through seasons of siege.

. . . they weary themselves committing iniquity. Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit, they refuse to know Me, declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will refine them and test them, for what else can I do, because of My people?”

(Jeremiah 9:5b-7 ESV)

They’re lost. They’re hard-hearted and stiff-necked. They’re running themselves ragged with sin. They refuse to know Me. So what else can I do, says the LORD, but turn up the heat? To refine them in the fire, to test them under pressure, that they might come to their senses.

Even as God was mustering up the Babylonian horde to evict the people from their land because of their persistent, perpetual rebellion and unfaithfulness, He calls them to return. Even as the Babylonians set up siegeworks on Jerusalem’s doorstep, hemming them in, God appeals to His people through His prophet, wanting their season of siege (talk about your shelter in place!) to act as a wake up call and a catalyst for repentance.

“Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. . . . For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place . . .”

(Jeremiah 7:3, 5-7a ESV)

And while their return to God would be manifest in amended ways and deeds, what strikes me this morning is that it would be initiated through understanding and knowledge.

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

(Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV)

Nothing new under the sun, those who reject God are those who are full of themselves. Trusting in their wisdom, confident in their strength, relying on their wealth, they say to themselves “Self, we got this. We don’t need no God.” True of fallen Israel, true of fallen empires throughout the ages — even during this age of grace.

But, I’m thinking, God turns up the heat on the nations He has loved –and loved unto death on the cross–so that when their wisdom and their strength and their riches are no longer sufficient to maintain control of their lives, they’ll look up . . . look wwaayy up! And they’ll understand and know there is a God.

They’ll understand. They’ll give attention to, ponder, look towards. Clarity will come. The light will go on.

They’ll know. They’ll recognize, discern, confess to be true, and experience. They’ll taste and see.

And what will they understand when the light comes on? What will they know and admit when they taste and see? That the LORD is not just the God of steadfast love, but also of justice and righteousness. And not just in ancient Israel, but “in the earth.”

They will know there is a God. They will understand He is the Sovereign Creator of all things. And they will experience the holy, put-you-on-your-face-in-reverent-awe fear that saves the soul. And then, by His wisdom, and by the power of His might, and as heirs of His eternal riches they will have the desire, strength, and ability to amend their ways.

What can I do, says the God who loves a people who have strayed? What can I do but refine them and test them? That they might know Me and live.

Even seasons of siege are by His grace. That our boasting in Him alone, though for our good, might be for His glory.

Posted in Jeremiah | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Hold Fast with Humility

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Pete

Okay, I may be about to misapply a principle of salvation, but here goes. Let’s see how this plays.

Reading in James this morning. Reminded that our salvation is God’s doing, that it is He who “brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). That “He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word” (NLT). That He gave us new life. How? Through His word. The B-I-B-L-E . . . yes, that’s the book that saved me.

So, says James, there’s a two-fold posture we are to take towards the word, the second of which I’m guessing most of us are pretty familiar with: “Be doers of the word” (James 1:22).

But it’s the first exhortation I’m hovering over this morning — the one I’m guessing would be less likely to come to mind when we think about how we are to approach the word of God.

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

(James 1:21 ESV)

Receive with meekness the implanted word . . . that’s what I’m chewing on.

Get rid of the weeds of sin. Root out the “spoiled virtue” (MSG) of a deceptive heart tied to the old man. Cast off the “cancerous evil” (MSG) of a world in rebellion to its God. And having cleared the ground and tended the soil, receive with meekness the implanted word.

The implanted word, which is able to save your souls. We were born through the word, and we will be sanctified by the word. The salvation begun through the word is the salvation that will be completed through the word. True? Okay, then how does that implanted word do its sanctifying work? It’s as we receive it with meekness.

Even for those of us who at first resisted the word, maybe even kicking against the word, when we first received the word, it was with meekness. When we first believed, we yielded. We assumed a certain posture of humility as we opted to receive what we didn’t necessarily fully understand. And, says James, just as we were first saved by receiving with meekness the implanted word, so too the consummation of the saving of our souls will be realized as we continue to receive with meekness the implanted word.

That’s the way of salvation — how it began is how it’s going to be finished. Our salvation which began by faith will be a salvation that is finished by faith — we are saved by faith for faith (Rom. 1:17). The new life initiated as a work of the Spirit will be the new life perfected through the Spirit (Gal. 3:2-3). Similarly — if I’m rightly connecting dots and accurately applying the principle — the salvation which began with receiving the word in meekness is the salvation that will come to full fruition by receiving the word in meekness.

So, if the way of the word is to receive it with meekness, then why is it that when we seek to stand on the word, we so often feel the need to do so with forcefulness rather than with humbleness? Why is there so often an air of arrogance when it comes to rightly dividing the word and contending for the faith? While the word of God is “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17), and while it will “pierce to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intention of the heart” (Heb. 4:12), why do we feel we need to wield the sword and do the slicing and dicing and not allow the Spirit to do His work? Why would we not trust that an implanted word which is received with meekness is an implanted word able to work from the inside out and thus save its hearers to the uttermost. And if that’s true, then shouldn’t the word we are to receive with meekness be passed on with meekness? I’m wondering . . .

Meekness isn’t weakness. It is not a fragile position; it is a Christ-like posture. We can stand firm; we can contend for the faith; we can uphold the truth of God, AND we can do it with meekness. The same meekness we are to have when receiving the implanted word.

When it comes to the word, we can hold fast with humility.

Make sense?

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in James | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Much Vexation?

Posted on September 26, 2025 by Pete

Much Vexation?

What!?!? Wait a minute! Stop the train! Back up the bus! What is going on here!?!?

I’ve just finished taking in thirty-one chapters of wisdom. You know, wisdom — better than silver, more profitable than gold, more precious than jewels, “and nothing you desire can compare with her” (Prov. 3:14-15). Wisdom, the source of long life; the door to true riches and honor; offering the ways of pleasantness and the paths of peace — “a tree of life to those who lay hold of her” (Prov. 3:16-18). Thirty-one chapters of wisdom in the tank and then the same guy that wrote that book writes another one and here’s what he says:

I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

              For in much wisdom is much vexation,
                            and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

(Ecclesiastes 1:17-18 ESV)

In much wisdom is much vexation . . . Much wisdom earns you “much trouble” (MSG) . . . “much sorrow” (CSB) . . . “much grief” (NASB) . . . an “abundance of sadness” (YLT). What!?!?

So, here’s the thing, whether wisdom is sweet or sour depends on the foundation from which she is sought. Back in the book of Proverbs, Solomon’s starting point was that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov. 9:10). But the Solomon of Ecclesiastes has a different starting point. Rather than placing his stake in the ground in heavenly places where the Holy One reigns, he instead sets his anchor “under heaven.”

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
       vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil
       at which he toils under the sun?

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

(Ecclesiastes 1:1-3, 13-14 ESV)

All is vanity under the sun. Under heaven it is an unhappy business. And thus, in much wisdom is much vexation.

People! We gotta look up! Like, way up!

We are not simply a people under the sun. Rather, we have been raised up with Jesus, the Son of God, and even now we are seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). We are not simply people of the here and now, our hopes realized or dashed on how things play out on this orb. Instead, we live in the context of “the coming ages”, ages when we will fully know “the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). And with that mindset, oh the beauty of pursuing wisdom. Oh, the riches of knowing the ways of God. Oh, the prize that is offered in a “there and then” that is so worth pursuing “here and now.”

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

(Colossians 3:1-2 ESV)

Minds set on the things of the earth? Frustration. So that in much wisdom is much vexation.

Minds set on things that are above? Now that’s a different story, a story where wisdom brings about flourishing.

A story of God’s ever-present, abundant grace. A story for God’s everlasting, all-deserving glory.

Posted in Ecclesiastes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Eat Your Greens

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Pete

Two more helpings of greens this morning as I wrap up Hebrews. Thought I’d go back and chew on all the “let us” that’s been served up over the past four weeks.

Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

(Hebrews 4:1 ESV)

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

(Hebrews 4:11 ESV)

Since then we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

(Hebrews 4:14 ESV)

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:16 ESV)

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

(Hebrews 6:1 ESV)

Since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

(Hebrews 10:21-23 ESV)

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

(Hebrews 10:24 ESV)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

(Hebrews 12:1 ESV)

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

(Hebrews 12:28 ESV)

Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured.

(Hebrews 13:13 ESV)

Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.

(Hebrews 13:15 ESV)

That’s a lot of “let us.” 14 portions. And most of them (12) accompanied by a “therefore” (6), or a “since” (3), or a “then” (3). So, what’s the therefore there for? Why should I attend to all the “let us”?

Because of the surety of “better things — things that belong to salvation” (Heb. 6:9). A better hope by which we draw near to God (Heb. 7:19). A better covenant enacted on better promises (Heb. 8:6, 7:22). All because of better sacrifices (Heb. 9:23). Thus, a better and abiding possession (Heb. 10:34) in a better country (Heb. 11:16) guaranteeing a better life (Heb. 11:35). All through a better revelation (Heb. 1:1-3). The revelation concerning a better Savior — superior to anyone or anything else — having the name above all names (Php. 2:9-11), Jesus the Son of God.

Therefore, eat your greens . . .

Therefore, let us . . .

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Hebrews | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Touch Me and See

Posted on September 24, 2025 by Pete

Hovering over one of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, this morning. A disconcerting experience, says Luke, one that “startled and frightened” those who had witnessed Jesus’ death and were now hearing stories that He was alive. A scary encounter of the divine kind because they “thought they saw a spirit” (Luke 24:37). A spirit, a disembodied soul — that was the only logical conclusion you’d come to if you were looking eyeball-to-eyeball with someone who you knew had died. But the resurrected Jesus was no apparition.

And [Jesus] said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.

(Luke 24:38-40 ESV)

“I’m no spirit,” says Jesus, “For a spirit does not have flesh and bones.”

Hmm. Think about it. Jesus, today, is flesh and bones. The risen, ascended, seated at the right hand of the majesty on high Christ has a material body. Though God is spirit (Jn. 4:24), and Jesus is fully God (Jn. 1:1, Isa. 9:6, Rev. 1:17), yet in order to redeem us Jesus “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men . . . being found in human form” (Php. 2:6-8a). And that “human form” is a “flesh and bones” form forever.

But it is not the frail form of our fallen world, not an earthly body, but a heavenly body (1Cor. 15:40). A body which is imperishable, glorious, and infused with eternal power — not a body which is spirit, but a “spiritual body” (1Cor. 15:42-44). That’s why, one day, we will be able to see Him face to face (1Jn. 3:2, Rev. 22:4).

But as mind-stretching as that “flesh and bones” thought is, it’s Jesus’ invitation that captures the heart.

Touch me, and see.

It doesn’t say that the the disciples acted on Jesus’ offer, but the invitation was there nevertheless. Though they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, yet they did believe as they responded with “joy and were marveling” (Lk. 24:41). Like Thomas, they didn’t need to act on the opportunity to examine His hands with their fingers, nor take their hands and stick it in His side, but just hearing the invitation they too, in effect, responded with “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20:27-28).

What will it be to see the flesh and bones of Jesus? To behold Him “who for a little while was made lower than the angels crowned with glory and honor” (Heb. 2:9)? To see Him as did Peter, John, and James on that mount where Jesus was transfigured — His face shining like the sun and His clothes white as light (Mt. 17:1-2)? What will it be to behold our Redeemer? What will it be to hear His voice? Might we also hear the same invitation, “Touch me, and see”?

I don’t know. But I imagine that if we did, rather than reaching out to touch Him it’s more likely we’d go facedown to worship Him.

So, why wait until then?

Hear His voice today . . .

“Touch Me and see.”

And then bow down and worship . . .

“My Lord and my God!”

All because of grace. Only for His glory.

Posted in Luke | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Divine Location Services (2015 Remix)

Posted on September 23, 2025 by Pete

“Enable Location Services?” It seems that almost every app asks me that same question. While for some of these apps, like my maps, I know it’s because they want to know how to direct me, for others I’m pretty sure it’s because they want to know how to sell me. Either way, locations services is a pretty big deal in the mobile world.

Realized this morning, while reading in Hebrews, that location services can be a pretty big deal when it comes to spiritual things as well.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

(Hebrews 12:22-24 ESV)

Better . . . that’s the underlying theme throughout Hebrews. Better revelation . . . better covenant . . . better Priest . . . better sacrifice. And this morning I read about a better hill.

The old hill couldn’t be touched. Like literally! No touching it! No living thing was to touch the holy hill. If they did, man or beast, they were to be put to death. A blazing fire, darkness, gloom, and a tempest enveloped it as the holiness of God descended upon it. The sight of it was so terrifying that even Moses, the man who talked with God face to face (Ex. 33:11), said of it, “I tremble with fear” (12:18-21).

But . . .

There it is again, that glorious word, “But!”

But that isn’t the hill we’ve come to. Allow your divine GPS, God’s Perfect Spirit, to enable your heavenly location services and you’re reminded of the better place to which you have been called. To a hill known as Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.

Far from cowering in fear beneath its shadow, we’re invited to draw near in full assurance of faith. For there, instead of darkness and gloom, is a joyful gathering of countless thousands of angels. There we find our people, the assembly of the firstborn. Those who have been enrolled in heaven. Their names written in the book of life (Rev. 20:15). Their table reserved for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9).

Rather than being prohibited from touching the hill because His holiness abides there, we are beckoned to boldly approach God’s throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). Not in fear of the One who is the judge of all, but confident that our judgment has been born in full forever by His all-sufficient provision — the offering of His Son for our sin.

And thus, we join the spirits of the righteous made perfect. Made perfect not because of who we are or what we’ve done, but only because of who His Son is and what He has done — Jesus, the mediator of new promise. Jesus the One who offered a blood sacrifice so superior to anything offered under the old covenant that sins are forgotten (Heb. 9), put away as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12).

Saint, are your divine location services enabled? No matter where you are this morning, no matter what your starting point, this is the hill to which we have come, and it is the hill to which we are going. This is our destination.

Sure, there might be some wrong turns along the way . . . some slow traffic . . . some heavy hauling . . . some “re-routing”. But remember this, where we are going to is where we’ve already come to — to the city of the living God, a city on a hill. A better hill based on a better promise because of a better sacrifice through an eternal loving Savior.

Sometimes, you need to refocus on where you’re going in order to know where you currently are. Praise God for His word, His divine location services.

All because of His abundant grace. All for His eternal glory.

Posted in Hebrews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Be Careful What You Sing

Posted on September 22, 2025 by Pete

A little bit of search engine work and I find out the song is now 30 years old. How I remember the emotion it so often stirred within the heart as we sung it. Even as it comes to mind this morning, there’s a fond, familiar flame kindled.

Holiness, holiness is what I long for
Holiness, holiness is what I need
Holiness, holiness is what You want from me.
(Take My Life, Scott Underwood)

Holiness is what I long for . . . We sang it. We sang it heartily. We sang it meaningfully. But I wonder if all too often we might have sung it naively. Hebrews reminds me this morning that to sing the song is to welcome the realities of sin and suffering.

Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

       “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
              nor be weary when reproved by Him.
       For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
              and chastises every son whom He receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? . . . He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

(Hebrews 12:3-7, 10b-11 ESV)

Longing for holiness? Then we’re inviting discipline. The discipline of hardships resulting from sin. The hardships brought on through the overall effect of sin on our fallen world, such as sickness and death. The difficulties brought on through our own foolishness as we yield to sin. When received as the Father’s discipline, it’s the endurance of sin and suffering which allows us to share His holiness.

Sharing in His holiness . . . That’s the good able to come out of all our difficulties, through all our storms, and in all our sorrows. The good of knowing His holiness as our neediness propels us towards pursuing His rest, longing for His comfort, asking for His strength, and relying on His grace. We need Him so we seek Him. We seek Him and so we find Him. We find Him and so we share in Him. And in Him we share His holiness.

The prize is always Jesus, the Holy Son of God. He is the peaceful fruit of righteousness that comes to those who have been trained by difficulties.

And so, we keep on keepin’ on.

Though sometimes it seems like we’re just hanging on by our fingernails, if we endure — and that too only by His grace — then we will look back and realize that more than just surviving, we were in fact thriving. The holiness we longed for, a bit more evident. The holiness we need, a bit more present. The holiness He wants from me, His holiness — the holiness of the Vine showing up as fruit in the branches abiding in Him.

Be careful what you sing, you might just end up with more “discipline” than you wanted. But don’t stop singing. To share His holiness is worth it all.

By His grace. For His glory.

Posted in Hebrews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

This Day

Posted on September 19, 2025 by Pete

It’s easy to get consumed with “the day.” Easy for all our mental energies to be sucked into the vortex of trying to figure out this “current cultural moment.”

But this morning I’m reminded that I need to step back and take a bigger view of “this day.” Not a “this week” view, or a “this year” view, but a much, much bigger view. And when I do that, then my thoughts are consumed with the reminder that God has “provided something better for us.”

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

(Hebrews 11:39-40 ESV)

“All these” are Abel, Enoch, and Noah. They are Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. They are Moses, his parents, and those he led across the Red Sea. They are those who marched around Jericho, and the harlot who was spared at Jericho.

They are Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel. They are those who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight, and received back their dead by resurrection.

They were also those who were tortured, mocked, flogged, enchained and imprisoned. Those who were stoned, sawn in two, and killed with the sword. Those who went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. Those “of whom the world was not worthy.”

“All these” are those of Hebrews 11:1-38.

But not one of these, “even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised” (Heb. 11:39 MSG). ‘Cause it wasn’t gonna happen apart from us. Not because we are anything special, but because of what we are part of.

We are part of “this day” — not meaning today, nor this week, nor this year — but this day ushered in 2,000 years ago when Jesus came proclaiming “the gospel of God”, that the “time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mk. 1:14-15). This day in which it has been revealed to us how a holy and just God can dwell among an unholy people. This day when we understand how the chains of sin are broken and how the fear of death is defeated. This day when we know the source of lasting righteousness and the assurance of eternal salvation. This day when the way to realizing the fullness of the promise has been revealed. This day which has shown the means by which all of God’s people — past, present, and future — will be made perfect. This day which is under the shadow of the finished work of the cross, and in the glow of an empty tomb — the final puzzle pieces enabling God to complete the work of gathering to Himself a people. This day when God has spoken to us by His Son (Heb. 1:2).

“All these”, though commended through their faith were waiting for “this day”, the day we are a part of.

That’s “the day” I am entering into. The day my mental reserves should be consumed with. The day “a great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) has been waiting for. The day of God’s promises made possible.

Apart from us they should not be made perfect . . . because of “this day”. This wondrous, glorious day of salvation.

A day by God’s grace. A day for God’s glory.

Amen?

Posted in Hebrews | Tagged | 4 Comments