And once again Lord, we lay behind us yet another lovely weekend filled with family, friends and Your obvious Love for us all. While the scorching weather restricted our outdoor activities, there were many Blessings to be found inside with good company, good food and great fun to be had by all. Thank You so much for those days of respite Father!
Today’s Meditations Monday Scripture comes from Chapter 9 of the Gospel of John:
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”” – John 9:1-3 (NIV)
Now Father, something I hear quite regularly from people going through difficulties in their lives is “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why is God doing this to me?”. I’ll admit it, I’ve even had those thoughts myself over the years. In the case of this passage, when Jesus and His disciples came across a man who had been blind since birth, the question was raised as to whose sin was at fault for his affliction; the man’s or his parents. Jesus clearly replied that it was in fact neither, but instead was intended to allow for Your Grace to be made manifest.
This is an important and powerful truth Father, and one that I fear we all miss now and again. As the limited beings we are, we try desperately to put everything into a “Cause and Effect” bubble. And while quite often there are certainly consequences for our actions, not all earthly suffering is a direct result of a specific “Instigating” sin.
When my son Jonathan was born and we were initially given his grim diagnosis, I spent many hours asking “Why?!?… Why would You do this to us?!?” I was angry, and scared, and very insistently sought answers that at the time, seemed never to come. Ten years later, I realize now that Your Plan for his life, and for mine to a great extent, needed those events to unfold as they did. Our lives, and the lives of many others were altered by his struggle, and Blessed in ways we’re still unraveling today. We weren’t being persecuted for something we’d done, but were instead walking a journey designed by the One with the “Big Picture” in His sight.
“but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
Heavenly Father, as this week begins I pray that in times of trial you open our hearts and minds to this fundamental truth. Let us see past our desire to seek fault and lay blame, and gain strength from the knowledge that Your Path for our lives comes from a far greater perspective than our own.
You know Lord, I love it when You plant a seed in my heart and it drives me to seek out answers. Such was the case with the Scripture verse I posted to my Facebook Wall today:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
But apparently You weren’t done with me on this one. Over the following hours, the phrase “Strive for full restoration…” kept running through my head, over and over. Finally, I decided to do some research on that particular expression in context and see where it led me.
Now Father, as You know I usually reference the New International Version (NIV) Bible as that’s the version that speaks to my heart most often. However, when I run into a passage that churns in my head one of the first things I do is to compare it to other translations to see it from other perspectives. In the case of this verse, the variance seems to be significant across translations… even in the case of the previous NIV (1984):
“Finally, brothers, good‑by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NIV 1984)
“Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.” – (KJV)
“Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice, set things right, be encouraged, agree with one another, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.” – (NET)
“And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.” – (MSG)
Wow… There’s obviously some differences there Lord. Realizing that these translations stem from words that may not have an exact English equivalent, I then decided to dig deeper and see what the Biblical Scholars had to say on this phrase. From what I found, it appears the original word was Καταρτιζεσθε, which according to Clarke’s Commentary converts to mean : “Be compact; get into joint again; let unity and harmony be restored”. Other commentaries were similar, but the description that finally settled my heart was from Wesley’s Notes which stated : “Be perfect – Aspire to the highest degree of holiness.”.
Strive for full restoration…
I love seeing where Your whispers take me Father.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for making Your Presence known through these quiet instructions to my heart. I pray that You continue to challenge me to dig deeper into Your Word, so as to bring my Walk even closer to Your side. Amen.
Well Father, we come again to the end of yet another work-week and I’ll admit to being excited this time. Tomorrow morning, my family and I leave for a week’s vacation at Chestnut Grove Resort in the Pocono Mountains. The kids love it there Lord, and I’ve found that it’s someplace that I can truly relax and spend quiet, meditative time in Your Presence. As Internet connectivity is quite limited, I don’t expect to be able to post our conversations every day, but hope to be able to at least a couple times over the course of the week. Funny enough, it makes perfect sense that in places where my connections to the world are more limited, my connection to You opens up wider. 🙂
In preparation for our time away, I spent some time yesterday picking out new books to read, and music to travel by. For reading material (other than my trusty YouVersion.com Bible App on my Android tablet), I have “Heaven is Real” written by Don Piper, and “Just Too Busy: Taking your Family on a Radical Sabbatical” by Joanne Kraft (Thanks so much Elaine!). As for music, while my iPod is already quite loaded with inspiring songs, I just had to add the albums “Blessings” by Laura Story, and “On Fire” from Peter Furler to the mix. Peter’s song “Reach” has been running through my head a lot the last couple weeks, so I’m excited to have the rest of his solo premier album to enjoy as well…
While we’re up there, we’ve also been invited by friends of ours to attend services at Pocono Community Church. From what they tell us, it’s a wonderful House of Worship and we’re very much looking forward to hearing the Pastor’s message on Sunday morning.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for all the Blessings You’ve bestowed on us this week, and for Your abundant Presence in our lives each day. I look forward with anticipation to spending communal time with You this coming week, and pray that You’ll keep us in Your Loving Embrace as we venture away from home. Amen.
Well Father, tonight begins the start of a 3-day holiday weekend in observance of Independence Day here in the United States. Over these next few days, we celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence which declared this country’s freedom from the control of the Kingdom of Great Britain. Thinking about the freedoms we enjoy on the drive into work this morning, it dawned on me that while celebrating our liberties this weekend, we should also be giving thanks for our most important freedom of all…
The freedom from sin You gave us through Your Son, Jesus Christ.
Your Word clearly shows us that although we are all besieged with sinful natures, if we confess and repent of our sins, and turn to You through Christ, we can be freed from the bondage that sin tries to hold us in.
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” – 1 John 3:4-6 (NIV)
“But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” – Romans 6:17-18 (NIV)
We have so many freedoms in this country that we should all be truly thankful for Father. And as I contemplate and celebrate those things which set our nation apart, I’ll also be giving thanks and praise for the greatest gift of freedom ever given; the freedom Jesus paid for on the Cross.
Quite often Lord, when I sit down to write out my list of Blessings for the Thankful Thursday post, I have a difficult time putting them in writing. It’s not that I don’t feel Blessed of course, just that for some reason my mind goes “fuzzy”. When that happens, I replay the previous week’s events in my head, a day at a time, and when I reach something that makes me smile, I write it down.
What a wonderful exercise that’s turned out to be Father.
Forcing myself to go back, step-by-step, and taking special note of the Blessings You’ve graced me with over the past seven days makes me realize even more thoroughly how much You Love me. We allow so many of Your Gifts to slip by unnoticed, that the thought of “catching” some of them and giving thanks while they’re still fresh very much appeals to me.
And to that end Father God, this week I want to give special thanks and praise for:
106. Sixteen years of marriage to my wonderful wife Shannon.
119. No obvious significant issues found at Jonathan’s yearly checkup with his oncologist today. 🙂
120. A Heavenly Father that listens patiently to my prayers.
I have so much to give thanks for Lord…
Heavenly Father, thank You for all the Blessings you gift us with each day. Please open our eyes and our hearts to better recognize those moments around us that radiate Your Glory, and guide us to share those Blessings effectively with others. Amen.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day.
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
