spiritualsnippets.com

Seeing life's events in the light of God's Word.

Sep 25

Jesus, the Rock of Our Salvation

by Brenda Poulos

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Matthew 16:13-18   

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[a] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[b] will not overcome it.”

 

In my last blog, I became a victim of what can happen when one takes a verse out of context.

Yes, I usually do use just one verse in each of my weekly Snippets. However, that is not always a good idea, especially if one does not carefully read the verses preceding the highlighted verse.

That is precisely what happened when I chose Matthew 16:18. I made a common mistake in thinking that the verse referred to Peter as the rock, when, in fact, it does not.

So, I want to attempt to correct my error by studying verses 13-18 in Matthew this week.

In verse 13, Jesus is asking his disciples if they really know who he is. Verses 14 and 15 record their replies. Then, in verse 16, we see that Peter understands that Jesus is the Son of God. And, in verse 17, Jesus says that God the Father had opened Peter’s eyes to who Jesus really was. (Jesus had never before explicitly taught the disciples the “fulness of his identity.”)

So, we see in verse 18, that Jesus is referring to himself–that he is the rock–the foundation of our faith—and not Peter.

I hope I have adequately explained these important verses. I stand corrected by God’s Word.

 

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Sep 18

UNMOVABLE

by Brenda Poulos

 

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Matthew 16:18– “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

So, what does it mean to be a “rock”?

We’ve heard the term “rock hard” as pertaining to muscles.

We’ve heard it when talking about someone having steady nerves.

It also means to have resolve and be unmovable.

When Jesus called Peter the “rock,” He gave us a visual picture of the very foundation of a building.

Jesus was beginning to build his church. Not a physical building, but a company of believers. Peter, the “rock” was there to support the others as they spread the “GOOD NEWS.”

Just as Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith, we need to be prepared to support fellow believers in their daily Christian walk.

Whatever the future brings, His strength will uphold us and together we will be unmovable.

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Sep 3

A Glimpse of Heaven

by Brenda Poulos

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1 Corinthians 2:9-  “…What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

 

 

Mom’s eyes were filled with tears when she recounted last’s night’s dream.

“I didn’t want to come back,” she sobbed.

“What do you mean? Come back from where?” I held her hand and brushed the soft gray hair away from her face.

“From Heaven. It was so beautiful. I just wanted to stay there forever.”

I slid my chair closer. “What was it like?”

“Oh. I-I-I don’t know how to explain it.” She paused, a faraway look in her eyes. “It was all laid out before me. It went on forever. And, all the colors. I’ve never seen colors like that before. The jewels—they sparkled like… Oh, it was so wonderful. I want to go back.”

I thanked God for the little glimpse of Heaven given to my dear mother who is now experiencing the last stages of Alzheimer’s—and for the reassurance given to me as she spoke those words just a few days ago.

Not that we necessarily want this life to end, but most Christians would say that they, too, look forward to Heaven.

Streets of gold, colors beyond description…

Although we may imagine what it will be like, our human brains cannot even conceive of its magnificence.

Jesus will be there and I cannot even begin to understand what it will be like to be in His presence, to sit at His table, and talk with Him face to face.

For now, though, I’ll just have to be content to dream along with Mom.

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Aug 28

When God Brings You To It

by Brenda Poulos

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I Kings 17:2-4  “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah:  “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

 

I was talking with a friend about a move to another state that she believes God is calling her to make. She will be living in a community of people who, for the most part, do not speak English.

When I remarked that a move there could be a problem since she does not know how to speak any foreign languages, she quoted a familiar saying. “When God brings you to it, He will see you through it.”

She is right. God will take care of us when we follow His leading. I love this verse from I Kings because it gives such a beautiful picture of birds, sent by God, to feed Elijah as he sits by a crystal babbling brook. I imagine the peace he feels as God’s promise comes to pass.

We all have heard of people whose needs—financial and otherwise—have been more than adequately supplied by God. They may have not been fed by a raven, but perhaps God urged a friend to supply a meal, cut someone’s lawn when they were recuperating from surgery, or write a check to cover an electric bill.

Maybe you, yourself, have given money to a homeless person or missionary at God’s leading, then experienced the joy of an unexpected check in the mail for the exact amount you need to pay your mortgage payment!

Whatever the call God makes on your life, it is such a blessing to be used to fulfill His purposes.

His Word tells us that He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory.

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Aug 21

Turning Darkness Into Light

by Brenda Poulos

Psalm 18:28- “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”

 

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Tomorrow many of us will be witness to a solar eclipse.

This hasn’t happened since 1979, so it is a big deal. People from other countries are even traveling to the United States to be part of it all.

The total eclipse will last for as long as a couple of minutes in several places.

Total darkness.

Devoid of light.

We know it will just be a short time before the light will again be restored and we will go on about our daily routine.

Many times, the Bible uses the term darkness to refer to times in our lives that are filled with sadness.

In movies, gloomy skies are often a sign of impending doom. The villain in stories is often portrayed as sinister by describing his dark eyes.

Troubled individuals often describe their lives as “dark.”

But, the psalmist in the verse above says that Jesus is able to turn sadness in to joy and bring light into the darkest of lives. He is able to bring hope where there was none.

His word says that Jesus is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

As you watch the eclipse, there will be a heart throbbing moment when the light once more begins to appear. It will get greater and greater until the sun—the light of day—will once more rule the heavens.

The Son of God, who spoke the divisions of darkness and light into their very existence and “called the darkness night and the light day” wants to rule in our hearts. He wants preeminence in our thoughts and lives.

Pure, blameless, perfect…light.

Jesus—The Light of the World.

 

 

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Aug 13

The Healing

by Brenda Poulos

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Luke 4:5-7   “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

 

I read a horrific story about a young man who was desperate to save his dying child. He had spent all of his money, borrowed from his mortgage, and sold all of his belongings in order to pay for the boy’s medical treatments.

Now, at the end of his resources and without another hope, he had an idea. He would bargain with Satan. He would offer to give his own soul to the devil if only his son’s life would be spared.

One day, he told his plan to an older man in the hospital waiting room. That man was able to share the scripture from Luke with the distraught father. He told him that in Jesus there is life. That all things were given to Him by God. That all authority is His, to the glory of the Father.

He convinced the young man that although Satan often tempted people with money, position, or power, the very idea that Satan had any authority to give these things was all lies. The older man persuaded the young father to put the life of his boy in the hands of the great healer—the author of life.

Just as Jesus wasn’t fooled by Satan’s offer of power and authority as they stood atop a mountain in Jerusalem, neither was the young father in this story.

Sadly, the little boy in this story did die. However, the young father’s faith was not shaken because he understood that his child was now with Jesus and that he would see him again one day.

He realized that it was he, himself, that had experienced healing—the healing of his own soul.

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Aug 6

Jesus, Others, and You

by Brenda Poulos

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Romans 12:10- “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

 

A young man, appearing to be in his early twenties, sat on a wooden crate on a street corner in Bellingham. He strummed his guitar and crooned a song about love. The point of the song was that one could not completely love another, unless he first learned to love himself.

A handful of young people clapped to the beat, nodding to each other in agreement.

I’d heard the song before. In fact, there have been quite a number written which echo that same theme. I shook my head as I continued to walk down the street.

When I was a child, I learned the song, “J.O.Y.” in Sunday School. It’s a simple song with an enduring message: true joy can only be found when we live by the biblical principal of putting Jesus, first. That is followed by loving others; and finally by putting ourselves last.

In the world we live in today, this world of I Phones and I Pads—this life filled with television commercials enticing us to buy whatever looks good to our eyes—it’s hard for us to comprehend that true joy and peace are only achieved by acting in a way which is contrary to our love of self.

But, that’s just what Jesus asks us to do. Because, like the song says, putting Him first in our lives, followed by love for others is the way to a “peace that passes understanding.”

Jesus, Others,—and You.

 

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Jul 31

A Place at the Table

by Brenda Poulos

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Revelation 19:7a- “Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

 

Growing up, my Dad had a favorite chair in the living room. It was off limits, if he was home. It was his chair.

At the kitchen table, each of us had a designated chair. When Mom called us to dinner, we took our predetermined seats.

It probably works like this for most families—at least that’s what I’m told.

My sister is a terrific cook. When we eat at her house, we don’t care which chair we sit in. We’re happy just to be invited to dinner.

I look ahead to Heaven and the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, as described in the book of Revelation. Imagine having dinner with our Lord and Savior!

I hope to be surrounded by family and friends, but I don’t care how the table is decorated or what kind of food is served.

I will be grateful just to be there—to have a place at the table.

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Jul 23

STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN

by Brenda Poulos

Luke 6:42-  “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

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My son ran to my side, hiding behind my full skirt. “Mom, she pinched me!”

“Well, he started it.” My daughter retorted, hands on her hips.

I sighed. Would this bickering back and forth ever end?

“Can’t you two just be nice to one another for a single afternoon?”

My daughter rolled her eyes. “I’d be nicer if he would.”

“Well, I’d leave her alone if she’d stop bothering me, first.”

 

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone else would change their behavior and we could just go on behaving as we always have?

But the Bible says that we need to look within and see our own faults as they really are—and be willing to be the first one to change. When we are perfect, then we can start to work on the other guy.

God says that the way to truly change marriages, friendships, and business interactions is for us to be the catalyst for change.

It may be no fun to look within.

And, change is hard…especially when we feel it’s clearly the other person who should be making the effort.

But, the change we want will only happen when we

STOP complaining,

LOOK within and

LISTEN to God’s direction.

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Jul 17

THE SWEATER

by Brenda Poulos

Matthew 25:43-45 “I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

 

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I scrambled around for an hour or so, decorating the room for the church Christmas Dinner.

I had turned the temperature down low, anticipating that the room would become warmer once it was filled with people. When all the tasks were accomplished, I sat down to rest. After a few minutes, I shuddered, running my hands over the goose bumps on my arms.

I headed to my car to get my sweater only to find that I had forgotten to bring it.

Back inside, I hugging myself to keep warm, a lady I barely knew offered to let me wear her sweater.

Even though I protested, she insisted that I take it. I thanked her and took my seat.

Why would I remember a little incident like that?

I guess because a near stranger had given up something for me.

The Bible tells us that even small kindnesses, done in the name of Jesus, are noticed by Him.

Giving a bottle of water to a man on the street, holding the door open for an elderly lady, helping a young mother wipe up a spill on the floor of a fast food restaurant.

When we seek to show God’s love to others, we can be a blessing in someone’s life.

We can warm their hearts by being the hands and feet of Jesus.

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