Tag Archives: God’s perspective

May 23
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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  (Colossians 3:12, NIV)

In the tug and pull of daily living, we are apt to forget how God feels about His children; but Paul offers to us this reminder: We are “holy and dearly loved.”

To be holy is to be like our heavenly Father, because He is holy — which is to say, “separate,” or “uncommon.”  Separate, because we follow only our God.  Uncommon, because the world doesn’t see many who live as we live: “[Clothed] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

To accept that we are “dearly loved” is the fire of inspiration; it is the freedom to go beyond ourselves; it is the frame that informs and circumscribes all of our choices.

It is a rare and wonderful state to be holy and dearly loved by God; and that is us.  Today.  Live it!  – Luther

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May 14
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“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.”  (Proverbs 25:20-21, NIV)

What may be regarded by the common person as foolishness is tactical brilliance in the eyes of God.

Today’s scripture is a blueprint for how the Christian disciple is to engage his or her adversary.  The benefit of this counter-intuitive approach is two-fold: (1) It confounds the enemy beyond words and: (2) it assures the positive notice of our heavenly Father.

To act in this way toward our enemies requires faith in God, and courage.  Be neither ashamed nor afraid to stand both firm and fast wherever it is that God has directed.  – Luther

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February 5
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“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”  (Romans 8:22, NIV)

Making sense of the apparent senselessness of many of the things we encounter in life is frustratingly difficult unless we maintain a perspective that is informed by God’s viewpoint.

In today’s passage, Paul states that all of creation is in transition.  If we do not believe that God’s perfect creation was — and is — corrupted by sin, it is frustratingly difficult to account for the dysfunction we see in every aspect of life.

If we do not believe that God’s plan of redemption is at work, both in the past and in the present; and that this plan is moving toward a divinely-ordered end, our frustration will soon become despair.

Do all that you must to maintain God’s point of view, particularly in the difficult spots.  – Luther

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