How to Be a Faithful Stumbler

When you’ve failed, what’s more natural for you — to deny your failure, or to claim it? Here Peter’s example shows the good that can come from failure. (This is an excerpt from the NIV Life Journey Bible by doctors John Townsend and Henry Cloud.) -Adam Forrest

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. “You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said. But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.

When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.” Again he denied it. After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.” Immediately the rooster crowed the second time.

Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept. -Mark 14:66-72

Mistakes are not the end

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Peter had failed profoundly. Rather than stand up and publicly state his allegiance for his endangered Lord and friend, Peter denied knowing Jesus. And though this failure was significant, it was not final. Peter grew from his mistakes, and Jesus reinstated him [see John 21:15-19]. By all Biblical and historical accounts, the restored Peter was a tremendous leader in the early church.

We need to embrace failure when it occurs. People who spend their lives trying to avoid or deny failure are also eluding maturity. The Bible is full of examples of faithful stumblers who through perseverance and love of God became mature people…

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2 Opposing Pictures of Greatness: Herod the Great vs. Jesus the Child

Does it seem strange to you that Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, entered the world as a helpless infant? What are we to make of this? John Ortberg reflects on the crucial differences between Jesus and his contemporary, King Herod, in this excerpt from Who Is This Man. -Adam Forrest

The friend of Romans and the friend of sinners

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He entered the world with no dignity.

He would have been known as a mamzer, a child whose parents were not married. All languages have a word for mamzer, and all of them are ugly. His cradle was a feeding trough. His nursery mates had four legs. He was wrapped in rags. He was born in a cave, targeted for death, raised on the run.

He would die with even less dignity: convicted, beaten, bleeding, abandoned, naked, shamed. He had no status. Dignity on the level of a king is the last word you would associate with Jesus. There is a king in the story, though. Jesus was born “during the time of King Herod.”

To an ancient reader, Herod — not Jesus — would have been the picture of greatness. Born of noble birth, leader of armies, Herod was so highly regarded by the Roman Senate that they gave him the title “King of the Jews” when he was only thirty-three years old. He was so politically skilled that he held on to his throne for forty years, even persuading Caesar Augustus to retain him after he had backed Caesar’s mortal enemy, Mark Antony. He was the greatest builder of his day. “No one in Herod’s period built so extensively with projects that shed such a bright light on that world.” The massive stones of the temple he built are visible two thousand years later.

Jesus was a builder. A carpenter. He likely did construction in a town called Sepphoris for one of Herod’s sons. Nothing he built is known to endure.

In the ancient world, all sympathies would have rested with Herod. He was nearer to the gods, guardian of the Pax Romana, adviser to Caesar. The definitive biography of him is called: Herod: King of the Jews, Friend of the Romans. The two phrases are connected: if Herod were not a friend of the Romans, he would not be king of the Jews.

Jesus would be called “friend of sinners.” It was not a compliment. He would be arrested as an enemy of the Romans.

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When Life Turns You Upside Down

Sometimes life turns you upside down, writes Christine Caine in this excerpt from Undaunted. We can’t control when life-changing news hits, but when it does, we (and God) can still do something about what happens next. I was inspired by Christine’s insights and I hope you’ll enjoy this too. -Adam Forrest

“What are you going to do?”

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Life will eventually turn every person upside down, inside out. No one is immune. Not the mom in the suburbs who finds out her teen daughter is pregnant. Not the husband who is entangled in an affair with a woman not his wife. Not the kid whose parents are strung out on drugs. Not the girl entrenched in human trafficking. Not the boy with HIV or his brother hungry and without any prospect of enough to eat.

Not the woman who finds out her whole sense of identity is based on a family connection that turns out to be a lie.

Not you.

Not me.

But just as life will upend you, so will love.

Love has the power to undo you for fear of losing it, as it did my parents over the thought of George and me discovering our adoption. Love has the power to bewilder, as it does when a baby, new life, comes to you.

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Can You Change Someone Else?

Can you change someone through prayer, good advice, and lots of elbow grease? Find out what doctors Henry Cloud and John Townsend have to say in this devotion from the NIV Life Journey Bible. -Adam Forrest

Influence vs. Control

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Moses did what he could, but he did not try to change things outside of his domain. He changed himself by mustering his own courage, appearing before Pharaoh and delivering God’s message. But he could not change Pharaoh’s heart, nor did he try. Yes, he worked to influence Pharaoh, but he did not have the power to make Pharaoh follow his wishes.

Though Pharaoh was clearly in the wrong, it was not Moses’ job to change him. It was his job to deliver the message.

Like Moses, our boundaries help define what we do not have power over: everything outside of them! As the “Serenity Prayer” reminds us [see below the jump], we need the courage to change the things we can and the peace to accept the things we can’t change. In other words, “God, clarify my boundaries!” We can work on submitting ourselves to the process and work with God to change us. We cannot change anything else: not the weather, the past, the economy — and especially not other people.

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How to Become Undaunted

This is the second in a 2-part story from Christine Caine’s Undaunted. In part one Christine sets the stage for her encounter with recently-freed sex slaves and their challenging questions. -Adam Forrest

“Why didn’t you come sooner?” They asked…

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“I don’t know,” I stammered at last. “I don’t know why I didn’t come sooner.” Such weak, small, light words for such a weighty question. “I am sorry. I am so sorry. Please forgive me.”

The silence became even more pronounced. Time seemed to have stopped. Nothing else mattered to me at that moment but these girls, their despair — and what healing God could bring to them. Though the silence seemed to last for an eternity, I felt so clearly present, so tuned into the now.

“I want you to know,” I said with new conviction, “that I have now heard your cries. I have seen you. I see you now.” I turned to Mary. “I see you, Mary…” I turned to Sonia. “I see you, Sonia.” I looked intently at each girl seated at the table. “I see each of you. I hear you. I know you by name. I have come for each of you.”

I wanted to see these girls as Jesus saw them — not as a sea of needs, but as individuals he had called by name and chosen one by one and loved. I heard his words before I spoke my own: Tell them I have their names written in my book. That I came to give the good news to the poor. To heal the brokenhearted. To set the captives free. Tell them these promises are for here. Now. As well as for eternity. [Psalm 69:28; 139:16; Isaiah 49:1; Revelation 3:5; 17:8; 20:12-15; Luke 4:18].

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When You’re Safe But Not Free

This is the true story of an intense encounter between former sex slaves and author Christine Caine. As Christine reveals in this excerpt from Undaunted: Daring to Do what God Calls You to Do, the sex slaves had just recently been freed by police — but were perhaps still less than free.

I was personally very moved by this story. I’m thankful that Christine shared it so that I could share it with you here. -Adam Forrest

“Why are you here? Why did you come?”

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Though no longer in a physical prison, Mary remained silent, constantly tormented by recurring nightmares. The daily horror may have ceased, but the pain screamed nonstop.

Mary was safe but not yet free.

Stunned, I sat quietly for a moment after Mary finished her story. Around me, the young women at the table remained quiet too, almost reverent… Questions hammered at my broken heart: How could this possibly happen in our world today? No matter how much money is involved, how can anyone be so depraved as to make sex slaves of others — let alone make it an international operation, enslaving not just one girl but hundreds of thousands, again and again and again?

Sonia, a Russian girl who had arrived at the shelter the previous day, interrupted my flood of thought. “Why are you here?” she demanded, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why did you come?”

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What Song Do You Sing? (A Profile of Deborah the Judge)

We all choose a song to sing. What’s yours? We gain insight from Deborah’s song in this devotion excerpted from Once-a-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional.

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“So may all your enemies perish, Lord! But may all who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” -Judges 5:31

What song do you sing? This verse is the last stanza in the famous song of Deborah, the fourth (and only female) leader of Israel during the long and difficult period following Joshua’s death. She organized a military response to the aggression of Jabin, a Canaanite kingpin, whose army included a fearsome 900 iron chariots. Foot soldiers facing this armada would be like modern infantry advancing against tanks and artillery.

In Israel’s army, the determining factor was never the order of battle, but always the faith of its leaders. In an ugly, evil era, Deborah called the nation to its mission. For 40 years the people prospered under her leadership. In one decisive moment, she did not flinch at Sisera’s overwhelming military advantage, but pressed her countrymen to victory — by prayer, words of encouragement and her presence. In the end, her bully adversary lost his army, his life and his honor.

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A Clear Picture of You

Q: Who has the most accurate opinion of your worth?
A. You
B. Strangers
C. The people who know you best
D. God’s Word

You’ll find an answer in this devotional message from The Great Rescue Bible (NIV).
-Adam Forrest

God’s picture of you

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When we look in the mirror, what do we see? Just an average person trying to get by in life? Know this: Visible-world mirrors are known for telling lies.

[READ]
There’s a huge difference between what we think of ourselves and what the Bible says about us. If we look with kingdom eyes, we’ll see our real reflection: A child of the King (see John 1:12; 1 John 3:1), God’s special possession (see 1 Peter 2:9), home to God’s Spirit (see John 14:17; Ephesians 1:13), and seated with Jesus in the heavenly realms (see Ephesians 2:6). When the kingdom comes in its fullness, we’ll even have a role in the judgment of the world and of angels (see 1 Corinthians 6:2–3). We might think we’re average, but that’s far from the truth.

[THINK]
Sometimes we think the Bible is just trying to encourage us with verses like those because we need something to lift us up when we’re down. But God is giving us a picture of who we really are.

We’re actually clothed in Christ, and his Spirit is actually living in us. Like two metals that have melted together, we blend. In The Real World, no one can tell exactly where Jesus ends and we begin. We can never be separated from who he is.

If we really believe that, we won’t be discouraged for very long, we’ll stand up to the giants in our lives, and we’ll see God working when others think he isn’t.

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The Bottom-line Motivation for Ministry

What motivates Jesus-followers to serve others? To find out, let’s look at a key conversation between Jesus and Peter. (This is a devotion excerpted from Once-a-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional.)

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The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time … Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” -John 21:17

Much has been made of the question Jesus asked Peter three times: “Do you love me?” Pastors and teachers talk about how this question intentionally parallels Peter’s three denials of Christ. Others stress the different Greek words translated as “love” in this passage. But we must also recognize the emphasis Jesus placed on ministering to others.

“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said each time Peter affirmed his love for Christ. If Peter really loved Jesus, he would care for those who belong to Jesus. Notice that not once did Jesus ask Peter if he loved Jesus’ sheep. The bottom-line motivation for ministry was and is love for Jesus and a willingness to act.

There is another message here as well. “Even if you have failed,” Jesus seems to be saying, “I can still use you in the lives of others.”

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