Tag: awesome

Categories
Christian Living

Only God Is Awesome

Only God Is Awesome: Discover Why God Inspires Our Awe

Discover Why God Should Inspire Our Awe

The word awesome is overused today, so much so that it’s almost cliché. When most people say awesome, what they mean is outstanding or really good. Yet slang aside, the primary definition of awesome is to inspire awe. Given this, in the strictest sense, only God is awesome.

Only God inspires us to be in awe of him. Only he is worthy of our awe. When we think of God—of who he is and what he does—only God is truly awesome.

Here are some of the awesome things about God that should inspire us to be in awe of him.

Our Awesome God Created Us

God’s awesomeness starts with his creation. Us, the world we live in, and the cosmos around us are unbelievably incredible. But we too often view his marvelousness as common, as a given.

God created us. He made our world, down to the most intricate detail. And he placed us in the vastness of space, which we struggle to comprehend.

Only an all-powerful God could do this. This should inspire our awe. In this way, only God is awesome.

Our Awesome God Saved Us

God is perfect, and we are not. We mess up. We make mistakes. Our imperfectness—our sin—separates us from God. Jesus came to earth as a human sacrifice to make right our many wrongs. He died so we won’t have to. Jesus, as the Son of God, saves us.

Only an all-loving God could do this for us. Only God would. Only God is awesome.

Our Awesome God Guides Us

When Jesus rose from the dead and returned to heaven, he and Papa sent us the Holy Spirit. When we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit reveals supernatural truth to us. The Holy Spirit offers us direction. All we need to do is listen and obey.

Through the Holy Spirit, God lives in us. Only our all-knowing God could do this for us. Only God is awesome.

Our Awesome God Wants a Relationship with Us

The God who created us, saved us, and guides us, wants to connect with us. He wants to be in community with us. He doesn’t want to observe us from a distance or watch us as we go about our daily lives. He wants to be in a relationship with us.

This is for both now, while we live here on earth, as well as after we die. And this will last for the rest of eternity.

Imagine that, the God who lives outside of time and space wants to spend time with us. And given all he’s done for us, we should want to spend time with him.

Thank you, awesome God, for who you are, what you’ve done, and what you are doing for us. We love you. Though we don’t deserve it, we approach you in awe, with expectation and thankful hearts.

Only you are truly awesome. May we never forget that.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Bible Insights

David’s Song of Praise

David’s Song of Praise: Psalm 165 from Beyond Psalm 150

Psalm 165 from Beyond Psalm 150

King David secures his throne, and the Almighty blesses him with peace. David desires to build a temple for Yahweh. At first the prophet Nathan agrees, but that night God reveals his perspective to his spokesman.

David is not to build the temple because he is a warrior and has shed blood (1 Chronicles 28:3). Instead, the task will fall to one of David’s descendants.

Nathan reveals God’s instructions to David, and the king accepts the prophet’s disappointing words. David sits before God and prays this psalm to the Almighty.

This psalm (similar to 1 Chronicles 17:16–27) appears in paragraph form and lacks the stanza formatting we’re used to seeing in the book of Psalms.

Nevertheless, the text still sounds like a psalm.

“Who am I, Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far? This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord Yahweh; but you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come; and this among men, Lord Yahweh! What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Lord Yahweh. For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, Yahweh God. For there is no one like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. What one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make himself a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeemed to yourself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods? You established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God. Now, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as you have spoken. Let your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies is God over Israel; and the house of your servant David will be established before you.’ For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer to you.

“Now, O Lord Yahweh, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord Yahweh, have spoken it. Let the house of your servant be blessed forever with your blessing.”

2 Samuel 7:18–29 (WEB)

Reflection on David’s Song of Praise

David was surely disappointed when God prohibited him from building a temple. Yet instead of being upset and responding bitterly, David instead praises Yahweh for his provisions and asks for continued favor.

How do we respond to disappointment? Do we complain to the Almighty or see the good that he has done and praise him for his character? May our character reflect our Creator’s.

Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Bible Insights

We Need to Learn From the Seven Churches in Revelation

Seven Churches

John’s Vision for These Churches Provides Us With Practical Insight Today

Many people love the Book of Revelation, the apostle John’s supernatural treatise of the end times. It’s an epic read of God’s awesome power and the amazing, scary, exciting events that will usher us from this world into our eternal reality.

Yet readers are often in such a rush to read those words, they breeze through the first three chapters of John’s grand tale.

In chapter 1 of Revelation we read the book’s introduction. The exiled apostle has a supernatural experience, a grand vision.

God tells him to write what he sees and send it to seven area churches, those in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Revelation 1:10-11).

For each church God shares words of commendation and condemnation. We do well to carefully consider what he says. Though the immediate application applies to those seven specific churches, the broader function informs our churches today.

What can we learn from these churches to affirm and reform our local branch of Jesus’s church today? First we must celebrate what we do well, without a smug sense of pride and with an eye toward maintaining and growing each strength.

More importantly we must ask if any of Jesus’s criticism for those churches rightly applies to us today. If we’re willing to read with an open mind, we will find much to correct, as well as warnings of what to avoid.

I think a third application provides even greater insight for us on a personal level. How do Jesus’s words confirm and confront us?

We need to read Revelation chapters 2 and 3, not to unveil the future, but to unmask our present. “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” Revelation 2:11, NIV.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Revelation 1-3, and today’s post is on Revelation 1:10-11.]

Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Bible Insights

Malachi’s Prophecy

Malachi’s Prophecy: Prepare the Way

Prepare the Way, Part 1

Malachi 2:17–3:5

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.” (Malachi 3:1)

The opening of Mark’s gospel quotes two Old Testament prophecies about John the Baptist. The first is from Malachi, the final book in the Old Testament.

But Malachi isn’t speaking his own words. He quotes directly from God, the Lord Almighty. In this way, we hear our Lord’s own words through his prophet and servant Malachi.

God says he will one day send someone to go before him and prepare the way for him. The messenger, as we’ll later learn, is John the Baptist. He will go ahead of Jesus to make the way for him.

Now let’s pull back a bit and look at the prophet’s words in context. To do so we’ll need to start at Malachi 2:17 and read to Malachi 3:5.

Malachi writes that the people have wearied God with their words.

“How?” the people ask, not understanding their failings.

They do so by calling evil good (see Isaiah 5:20–21) and assuming God is pleased with them. They also question God’s apparent lack of justice.

In response to these people who weary God with their twisting of words and insulting accusations, he shares his solution. He’ll send a messenger tasked with preparing the way for me to come. And by me, he means Jesus.

After God’s messenger makes the way, then Jesus will suddenly appear. He’ll be the one they seek, the solution they desire.

“But who can endure his coming?” Malachi asks. “Who can stand before him?” These questions may seem like Jesus is someone we should fear. But we can also see this as a reason to revere God as the awesome Lord that he is.

In addition, Malachi writes that the message will purify them and refine them to make them—and us—right before God.

He’ll also speak out against sorcerers (false religions), adulterers (sexually immoral practices), and perjurers (liars). He will oppose those who cheat their workers, take advantage of widows and orphans, and prevent outsiders from receiving justice.

This is our Lord’s response to the naysayers who ask, “Where is God’s justice?”

Jesus will come to bring justice (see Luke 11:42 and Acts 17:31). Even more importantly, Jesus will provide a solution to make us right with Father God.

In what ways might we weary God with our words?

Do we care as much about justice as God does?

Most significantly, have we allowed Jesus to make us right with his Father?

Prayer: Jesus, may we have a heart aligned with yours for justice and then act to pursue it. May our actions to promote justice serve as both an act of worship and as a witness.

[This devotional is taken from the November 29 reading from The Advent of Jesus.]

Celebrate Christmas in a fresh way with The Advent of Jesus. It’s a forty-day devotional that prepares our hearts to celebrate the arrival of Jesus in an engaging read. Begin your Advent journey now and gain a greater sense of wonder for the season.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Christian Living

3 Religious Terms I Struggle With

religious term

Exploring Doctrine, Theology, and Systematic Theology

There are three religious terms I don’t care for. Hearing or reading about them has a negative impact on me. These words are doctrine, theology, and systematic theology. I don’t like them because they take the awesome mystery of God and try to provide structure to something that transcends human organization.

Let’s consider these three terms and what place they might have in our faith journey.

Doctrine

The first religious term I don’t care for is doctrine. Doctrine is a principle or group of principles presented as a body of belief in a religious context. Other words to describe doctrine include creed, canon, and tenet. A fourth word is dogma, which is the root word for dogmatic.

Dogmatic means insisting unexamined ideas coming often from a position of arrogance.

When I read about Christian doctrine, it’s too often presented with dogmatic fervor. This may be a huge reason why the discussion of doctrine so turns me off.

Yet we all form and adhere to various religious doctrines. Some of these have a sound biblical foundation. But many do not.

We learn much of our doctrinal positions through the teaching of ministers. Often these pronouncements support tradition and align with current societal norms more so than being based on Scripture.

I fear, however, that we simply make up too many of our doctrine ideas because they feel right to us. Or because we want them to be true. Or since they allow us to avoid uncomfortable confrontations with biblical truth.

May we base all our doctrinal perspectives on what the Bible says.

Theology

The second religious term I prefer to avoid is theology. For Christians, at a base level, theology is a study of God. In this respect, I love theology. Yet my study of God has the sole purpose of helping me draw closer to him.

It’s a futile attempt to study God for the sake of amassing knowledge about him or to comprehend him from an intellectual standpoint. It’s arrogant to pursue theology if that’s our goal.

Bearing fruit is more important than having a right theology.

God far surpasses are human comprehension. We’ll never understand him in an academic way, at least not with any significant result—or producing any positive eternal outcome.

We cannot organize God, but that doesn’t keep people from trying. This brings us to our third religious term.

Systematic Theology

Systematic theology is a subset of theology. In the Christian sense, systematic theology seeks to condense our understanding of God and our faith in him into a series of interconnected thoughts that constitute a comprehensive and organized treatise. In a way, we can view a systematic theology is an interconnected set of doctrines.

The God who is revealed in the Bible transcends our ability to organize him and force him into a system of our own making. To attempt to do so diminishes him and elevates us to unwarranted levels.

Yes, most people have a systematic theology. Many were taught it and accept what they were taught. Others arrived at their systematic theology with intentionality.

I resist the urge to force the all-mighty, all-knowing, and all-present God who is revealed in the Bible into a system of my own making. It’s simply not possible.

Instead, my desire is to follow Jesus the best I can as I let the Holy Spirit bring me into a closer relationship with Father God. Toward that end, doctrine, theology, and systematic theology don’t matter so much and only get in the way.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Bible Insights

The Branch of the Lord

Branch of the Lord

Let God Prune Us So We Can Produce More Fruit

Isaiah looks forward to the day when the Branch of the Lord will appear. Branch, with a capital B, is a euphemism for Jesus, who will come to rescue God’s people.

Isaiah says this Branch will emerge as awesome and full of wonder, which is an understatement considering all that Jesus did, is doing, and will do. Jesus will produce fruit for the people.

They will take pride in what the Branch produces and glory in it.

Jesus, the Branch of the Lord, will come for us, spiritually feeding us with his fruit: beautiful, wondrous fruit, the source of pride and glory.

Just as Jesus is the Branch, we are his branches, that’s branches with a lowercase b. We are branches connected to the Branch (which John calls the “true vine”).

But being a branch connected to the Branch isn’t enough. Having a mere connection with Jesus is insufficient.

When we’re connected with the Branch of Jesus, we must bear fruit. And we must produce good fruit. That’s what Father God, our Papa, expects from us.

If we produce no fruit, God, our gardener, will cut off our branch. Yikes! He’ll lop us off. We’re not worthy of remaining connected to Jesus if we produce no fruit—if we do nothing for him. That’s a sobering truth.

Having a connection with Jesus isn’t enough if it produces nothing. We can’t pledge our allegiance to him and then coast through life unchanged. He expects us to produce fruit because of our connection to him.

To further the analogy, every branch that produces fruit will eventually face pruning. This isn’t punishment. Instead, it’s a beneficial process that will allow us to produce even more fruit.

While an untrimmed tree will yield some fruit, a tree pruned properly will produce much more. God, our gardener, will prune us so that we can make even more fruit for him.

But to do this we must remain with God, connected to Jesus—the Branch of the Lord—and bearing fruit. Else we risk him cutting off our branch, throwing us into the fire, and having the flames consume us.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Isaiah 1-4 and today’s post is on Isaiah 4:2.]

Read more about the book of Isaiah in For Unto Us: 40 Prophetic Insights About Jesus, Justice, and Gentiles from the Prophet Isaiah available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Bible Insights

Fear is the Beginning of Wisdom

wisdom.

In my last post I noted that the Bible says we are to fear God—and I confessed confusion over precisely what that means.

The next step in my progression of thought is to recall that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and of understanding.

I think that means it’s okay I don’t fully know what it means to fear God, but as I contemplate it, I can begin to understand.

I realize that God is almighty and all-powerful, that he is our awesome creator, our loving savior, and our ever-present guide.

For these things I can revere him, worship him, respect him, and perhaps have a bit of reverent fear.

But there’s more…so come back next week to find out.

Until then, what wisdom do you have as a result of fearing God?

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Psalms 110-113, and today’s post is on Psalm 111:10.]

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Christian Living

The Mystery of God

mystery of God

If We Can Fully Understand God, Then He’s Not a Very Great God

Some people are confused when they hear about Jesus or read the Bible. Because they don’t fully understand everything, they dismiss him, waiting until everything makes sense. It never will. At least not during our existence here on earth. This is the mystery of God.

Though I want to comprehend everything the Bible says, I know I never will. But that doesn’t mean I should stop trying. In the same way I want to fully know everything about God.

Yet in my lifetime, I never will, but I will persist in pursuing him and drawing closer to him each day for the rest of my life.

In many respects, God is a mystery to us. And, for me, the mystery of God thrills me. It’s an allure that attracts me, that draws me to him.

He is the creator, and we are his created. Who are we to presume that we can ever fully comprehend an all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present deity who lives outside of the space-time reality he created for us? See Isaiah 29:16.

Here are some things Scripture says about the mystery of God:

Accept Our Position

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? (Job 11:7, NIV), but then consider 1 Corinthians 4:1.

Love Others More Than Knowledge

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing,” (1 Corinthians 13:2, NIV).

Know the Mystery

“He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:9-10, NIV). Also see Ephesians 3:2-5 and Colossians 2:2.

Declare the Long-Hidden Mystery

“We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began” (1 Corinthians 2:7, NIV). Also see Colossians 1:25-27, Ephesians 3:8-9, and Romans 16:24-27.

Let Everyone Hear the Mystery

“This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6, NIV). Also see Romans 11:25-26.

Pray for Missionaries of This Mystery

“Pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ” (Colossians 4:3, NIV). Also see Ephesians 6:19-20.

Utter the Mysteries

“For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:2, NIV).

Embrace the Mystery of Jesus and His Church

“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31-32, NIV).

Anticipate Being Changed

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, NIV).

Look Forward to the Mystery of God Being Accomplished

“But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished” (Revelation 10:7, NIV).

Mystery of God

These verses are the starting point into pursuing the mystery of God. We’ll do well to contemplate what they mean and how to best move forward.

We don’t need to fully comprehend these awesome mysteries. Instead, we should allow them to draw us closer to God.

Here’s one more verse: “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16, NIV).

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”
​
​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.

Categories
Personal Posts

Birds, Lawn Sprinkling, and Nature

sprinkling

Years ago, on a Saturday, my lawn was again in need of liquid sustenance and I was in watering mode, repositioning sprinklers in half-hour increments. During one mid-morning trek, there were two birds on my deck railing.

I walked by them slowly, wondering how close I could get before they flew off in fear. They never did, even though I passed within a couple of feet. I’m not sure if they are immature, sickly, or both.

This continued for several hours, even when I made no attempt to slow my approach or quiet my steps. Desiring to snap a photo, I retrieved my camera. 

As I was setting it for an outdoor shot, I heard a loud thud. Looking up, only one bird remained on the rail, with the other staggering in an apparent daze on the deck next to the window. Soon his friend fluttered down to join him.

I thought I missed my shot, but 30 minutes later they were again on the railing, where they stayed a few more hours.

The next day, as I rounded the corner of my house, one of them was sitting in the grass and I almost ran into him. He studied me carefully before casually flying to a nearby tree.

Sadly, the following Monday, there was a suspicious pile of feathers in about that same place. Today, the apparent survivor was alone, randomly walking on my driveway, as though not knowing what to do. 

Nature, for all its awesome beauty, can be painfully sad.

Do you like this post? Want to read more? Check out Peter’s book, Bridging the Sacred-Secular Divide: Discovering the Spirituality of Every Day Life, available wherever books are sold.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Categories
Christian Living

How Do You View Jesus?

view Jesus

Revelation Gives Us Insight into Jesus and the Truth May Surprise You

People view Jesus in different ways. To some he is judgmental and mean. Others think he’s a good teacher but nothing more. Some view him as their Savior. They say Jesus is loving and accepting.

To help us get an accurate view of Jesus, let’s look at what he says in the book of Revelation. He says he stands at our door, the door to our heart and to our home. He knocks.

If we open the door to invite him in, he’ll enter and hang out with us (Revelation 3:20).

From this simple illustration, we learn three things about Jesus.

Jesus Is Respectful

First, Jesus doesn’t barge in where he’s unwanted or uninvited. He’s polite. He stands on the outside. He knocks. Though he could open the door and burst in, he doesn’t. He respects our privacy and our lives.

He wants to be our guest, but he won’t force himself into some place he’s not wanted. He’s patient. He waits for us to open the door and invite him in.

Jesus Is Responsive

When we hear Jesus knocking and open the door, he reacts immediately. He doesn’t tarry outside. Without delay, he comes in.

When we’re ready for him, he’s ready for us. He doesn’t play games, though he could say, “You ignored me for years, and now I’ll do the same to you.”

That’s not how Jesus operates. As soon as we open the door for him, he enters. How awesome is that?

Jesus Is Relational

We experience community around a table sharing a meal. As this is true in the physical realm with people, so it is true with Jesus in the spiritual realm.

When Jesus comes in, it’s to hang out. He wants to spend time with us, to eat meals with us.

He desires to be in a relationship with us. This is how it was in the beginning, at creation. This is how it will be at the end, in the new heaven and the new earth. And it’s how Jesus wants it now. He wants a relationship with us.

That’s how we should view Jesus.

Jesus stands at our door, knocking. Will we let him in? All we need to do is open the door. It’s that simple.

Read more in Peter’s devotional Bible study, A New Heaven and a New Earth: 40 Practical Insights from John’s Book of Revelation.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.