Tag: Bible

God Loves Us!

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 26, 2012

Sometimes when praying or meditating I’m profoundly struck with the powerful realization of just how much God loves me, that he really, really loves me. In fact, he loves you, too! God’s love is always there.

I shake my head in amazement and wonder why. I don’t deserve God’s love; I have not earned his affection. I have done nothing noteworthy to garner such attention. But it’s there nonetheless.

In my mind, I know that God’s love for me is unconditional; that I don’t deserve it and that I can’t earn it.

Intellectually I am aware that there’s nothing I can do to cause him to love me anymore nor is there anything I can do to cause him to love me any less. This reality overwhelms me.

But in my heart, I waver; my soul doubts—just a bit—that this could really be true. Why, God?

Why do you love me with such overflowing, non-ending, unwarranted capacity? Don’t I need to do good first? Don’t I need to behave in a certain way to get your attention? Don’t you have a list of prerequisites for me to achieve?

Thankfully not.

Earning God’s love is not up to me; it’s all on him. God loves us and it’s a gift.

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.

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Tags Bible, love, prayer

Christian Living

Why You May Be In The Top One Percent

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date November 13, 2011

I’m weary hearing about the top 1 percent, the wealthiest people in the USA. While too much has already been said about this from a political, social, and philosophical standpoint, I see it as a spiritual issue.

For most of us in the US, the bottom 99 percent, we need to guard against a spirit of envy. In fact, we should be happy (the Bible would use the word “rejoice”) for just how much the top 1 percent has gained.

Let’s not forget that we, too, have gained. But it is spirit of envy that objects to someone else who gains more than us.

For the top 1 percent in the USA, let me provide a spiritual reminder: you are blessed to be a blessing. That is, help others with your money. You don’t have to give it all away (but you could).

I’m not advocating socialism or higher taxes, but I am suggesting a spirit of generosity that continually seeks to do the most good with the money that God has allowed you to earn.

However, there is a bigger picture that we need to look at, a worldwide one. According to the website globalrichlist.com, if you make over $49,000 a year, than you are in the top 1 percent worldwide.

You are blessed and need to be a blessing to others. Don’t be envious of the few who make more; be generous to the 99 percent who make less.

Did you know that about half the world lives on less than $4 a day—and that about a billion people live on less than $1 a day?

Consider that next time you buy a gourmet coffee or rent a movie—your trivial expenditure equals the daily income of someone else.

Helping those in need is a spiritual issue, so is realizing that you are not part of the problem, but the solution.

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Tags Bible, generosity

Christian Living

God Says You Are Holy

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 2, 2011

Last week, I blogged that God is “holy, holy, holy”—or “all holy,” which I called “omniholy.” In researching that post, I came across a phrase that caught me off guard: “You are holy.”

Really? I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel holy. However, it is apparently true that we are holy—or at least that we can be holy.

Of the five Bible translations I checked, the phrase “you are holy” appeared in four: The Amplified Bible, the New Living Translation, The Message, and the Contemporary English Version.

The New International Version, however, instead uses the word “consecrated.”

The definition of holy that best applies is “Living according to a strict or highly moral religious or spiritual system; saintly.” Whereas, consecrate means “set apart.”

When I think about these two words in a practical sense, I am struck with contrasting images.

One is a negative image of someone who wears special clothes, talks in a monotone drone, and moves at a painfully plodding pace. To me these people are putting on airs, they are posers—not holy, only pretending.

The positive image is a person whose actions are different, in an unpretentious and comforting way; they carry a calm assurance of who they are and what they do, not calling attention to themselves, but making a quiet difference everywhere they go.

While some people can pursue this through an act of will, the real solution is having the presence of God inside us to such an overflowing extent, that his essence exudes from us.

Yes, though God, we can be holy and consecrated—just as the Bible says.

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Tags Bible, holy

Bible Insights

A Different Perspective on the Bible

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date September 8, 2011

In one of the blogs I read, someone posted a comment. The message only somewhat tied in with the topic and the backlink was to an unrelated website.

I dislike the idea of giving the author’s rant any more exposure by repeating it, but once I set aside the invective nature of the post, I saw both truth and insight within. Here is the comment:

“The bible is a poorly edited anthology of 3rd Century literature. Calling it ‘God’s Word’ perpetuates the church’s fraud.”

Let’s break it down:

Poorly Edited

Yes, the Bible is poorly edited. In fact, aside from what is necessary in the process of translation, the intent is that it is not edited at all. This is a good thing.

Anthology

An anthology is a collection of literary works. With the Bible’s creation spanning a couple of millennia and written by about forty authors, it is definitely an anthology.

Third Century

This is only somewhat correct and a great oversimplification. The components of the New Testament were being compiled in its present assemblage in the third century, even though that effort started a couple of centuries prior.

The contents of the Old Testament were assembled much earlier. The actual writing of the various sections, called books, of the Bible, however, certainly predates the third century.

Literature

The Bible is literature—great literature, in my opinion. Based on worldwide sales, it is the most popular literary work ever.

God’s Word

Yes, this is what many people call it. I do too!

Perpetuates the Church…

The Bible is a resource that propels the church forward, though I believe that could happen even without the Bible.

Fraud

The Bible acknowledges that its message will seem as foolishness and be offensive to those who’ understand it (1 Corinthians 1:18-25), so the writer’s conclusion is consistent with what the Bible says.

My only hope is that the author who penned this comment will one day see fit to change the final word from “fraud” to “faith.”

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 1-4, and today’s post is on 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.]

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Tags Bible, church

Christian Living

What’s Your Motivation for Holy Living?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 20, 2011

Lately God has been prodding me through his Word and his Spirit to pursue a more holy lifestyle. To me, holy living means right living, what God calls righteousness.

Sometimes I make progress towards fulfilling this call, but most times not so much. I’m okay with that; I’m on a journey and the important thing is to be making progress. What I am not okay with is my attitude.

To my chagrin, during my moments of better behavior I have increased expectations of God. I act as if he owes me something, that I deserve his provision and blessing, and that I’ve earned his attention.

However, when I fail in my pursuit of holy living—as is often the case—I have no such expectations. Whatever God does for me—which is a lot—I receive with great joy and much appreciation.

Pursuing a holy life should be because God asks us to and as a response to his love for us. Acting holy simply to get something from him is just wrong.

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Tags Bible, holy, love, righteous

Bible Insights

The Armor of God is For Protection

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 18, 2008

In the Bible, there is the instruction to “put on the full armor of God.”

To the casual reader, this might seem like a call to arms or a provocation for military action.

Yet I don’t see this as a militant statement, but merely a memory aid to help people remember key items needed to prevail in spiritual conflict, namely: truth, righteousness, sharing the gospel, faith, salvation, and the word of God (the only offensive tool of the group).

Paul, in Ephesians 6:11-17, seems to be painting a word picture using the soldier of the day (which readers would have been most familiar with) connecting his essential gear with these key spiritual elements.

Then, to recall Paul’s list of six items, readers needed only to envision a soldier in uniform and associate each spiritual element with its physical counterpart. For example:

Belt: truth
Breastplate: righteousness (that is, right living)
Shoes: a readiness to share the gospel of peace
Shield: faith
Helmet: salvation
Sword: the word of God (the spoken word of God)

It’s not about a physical fight (which many people have missed throughout the ages), but instead a spiritual conflict for which followers of Jesus must be prepared to engage in using: truth, righteousness, sharing the gospel, faith, salvation, and the Bible.

This is what is meant by the metaphor of the armor of God.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Ephesians 4-6 and today’s post is on Ephesians 6:11-17.]

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Tags Bible, faith, gospel, righteousness, salvation