MAKE A DIFFERENCE

"Lord, let me make a difference for You
that is utterly disproportionate to who I am."

~John Piper

God does not stand afar off

"God does not stand afar off as I struggle to speak. he cares enough to listen with more than casual attention. He translates my scrubby words and hears what is truly inside. He hears my sighs and uncertain groppings as fine prose." ~Timothy Jones

Wealth from Oppression

Psalm 62:10
Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression! Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery! If wealth increases, do not become attached to it!

Buck Up

"If one has never suffered,
one cannot understand
what hope is."
~Martin Luther
(See also Romans 5:3-5 & 2 Corinthians 1:4)

In the secret place

" In the secret- in the quiet place
In the stillness, You are there
In the quiet hour
I wait for you
'Cause I want to know You more...

I want to know You
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more
I want to touch You
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more."

~Andy Park

The Great Tragedy in Life

"The great tragedy in life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer." ~F.B.Meyer

Can't sleep?

"Find rest,
O my soul,
in God alone;
my hope
comes from Him."
~Psalm 62:5

Swap the Sloop for a Skiff

Ahoy Mateys- If you're one of the wee few who follow the PP&P, you probably already realized this, but you can now follow this blog on the go. Check us out on your phone, iPod or favorite mobile device. Blogger now makes us compact & convenient! Tell your friends. Maka Pule!

Stark Contrast

²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 

³¹ But seek His kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 

~LUKE 12:29-31

Here's a stark contrast between what God wants us to do and what we naturally want to do left to our own devices. We worry and fear and compete. God wants us to trust Him, depend on Him, and do as He does/has shown us to do. We want to gather, accumulate and defend what we've hoarded. "Mine, Mine, Mine!" And we do it all following Machiavelli's philosophy "The ends justifies the means." Following the world's rules; "all's fair in love and war" and "finder's keepers, losers weepers," "possession is 9/10ths of the law," and "he who dies with the most toys wins."

Whereas, God doesn't want us to use people and love things, He wants us to use things and love people.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, to love and pray for our enemies and to sell our possessions and give them to the poor. After all, what is His kingdom? Is it the political revolution that the crowds were clamoring for in John 6:14-15? If it were, instead of being sacrificed on a cross, like a sheep lead to the slaughter, wouldn't his followers, or even the angels, come and overthrown the Romans and established a thousand year reign in Jerusalem (see John 18:36)?

Isn't Jesus' kingdom about reconciling sinners with God? Isn't it about grace, forgiveness, and mercy? Isn't His new commandment to love one another? Therefore isn't expanding God's dominion achieved by spreading love joy peace and patience? Aren't the statutes and regulations of the Kingdom, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control? 

It is counter-intuitive, but lots of things in life are like that. The harder you chase after things, the more you lose. "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?(Mark 8:36 & Luke 9:25)" But if we unclench our greedy fists and open our hands in praise & thanksgiving, God pours out His blessings beyond what we can hold or hope to collect on our own.

This is the difference between our selfish, sinful human nature- like Thomas Hobbes described; all mankind in a constant struggle and war for security, resources, and power- AND- selfless, Christ-like new creations producing the fruit of the Spirit. And what do you do with fruit? Pick it, eat it, and use whats left over to plant more fruit trees! 

"Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness" ~James 3:18

"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness." ~2 Corinthians 9:10

Hymn stanza for Lent

Challenge for Lent; Say WHAAAAT?!! A Valentine Prayer for your Arch-Nemesis?!

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," ~Jesus (Matthew 5:44 ) 

“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Okay, so I try to actually do what Jesus says, even as counter-intuitive and counter-cultural as it seems. But, what about that total jerk (I'd use profanity, but after all, this IS a religious blog). That MONSTER that I just can't deal with? What about the person who DESERVES my loathing and not my loving?

Really? Isn't that ALL of us? Seriously. Maybe there's someone who just seems to constantly make your life a living hell. Maybe its their attitude, their behavior, things they say. Maybe they're really "gunning for you," they really enjoy hurting you or demoralizing you day in and day out. 

First of all, I bet that if you step back and get some perspective, you may realize that you're just might be being a little bit paranoid. Odds are they're actually indifferent toward you.

But okay, so for whatever reason, you've neurotically given them way too much space in your head. Even if it IS just your imagination, what ABOUT that person? How on Earth do you ever muster the humility or self-discipline to pray for THAT person?

When in doubt, read the instructions. Most people who've been reading the Bible for a while will tell you that St. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13 is the "Love Chapter." I'll bet you see it quoted all over the place today since its Valentine's Day. 

So here's my idea. Take verses 4-6 in particular and pray them FOR that person. A Pentecostal or Charismatic blogger might tell you to pray them "over" that person. Here's the passage, followed by how a prayer like this might look-

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

"Dear God, __________________ is driving me CRAZY! I don't know if they hate me or if they're deliberately trying to make me feel like this, or if they just don't care how they treat anyone.

Lord, PLEASE change their heart, change their attitude, change how they treat me.

Make them patient, make them KIND! Don't let them be jealous (if that's whats going on), make them be humble, make them respect others, help them not be so selfish. Whatever I may have done, help them not be so angry with me. Help us to start over. Help them see things more clearly.

In Jesus Name, Amen"

Yeah, come to think of it, this might require that you read 1 Cor 13 over and over again until you have it memorized so that you can apply it like this. That, or you'll have to pray for that person the next time you crack open your Bible, or start carrying a small Bible around with you, or download one of those free Bible Apps onto your iPod or smart phone. Well, really, would any of those things be such bad ideas?

Challenge for Lent; Love our enemies

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," ~Jesus (Matthew 5:44 ) 

“The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Here's a challenge for Lent: instead of giving something up, start something. Start praying for your enemies.

Who are your enemies? You figure you're such a good person that you don't have any enemies?

How about the person who cut you off in traffic or took the parking spot you were hoping for? How about the family member or in-law who makes snide remarks or jabs about something you did or said? How about the ex who you feel betrayed by? That co-worker or boss or customer or whoever at work that just knows how to zap the joy out of your day or trample on your last nerve?

What if, instead of wasting your energy on being ticked off at them, you said a quick prayer for them?

Sure, you COULD say a prayer ABOUT them; "God give me patience with this jerk" or "God, would you DESTROY this idiot?!!"

But what if you prayed FOR them? "Lord, I don't know why this person said that (or acted a certain way), but please help them to have peace- if only so that they won't be such a jerk." or how about "Lord, please help them to realize that the way they just said that makes people feel like crap."

Oh, I know it doesn't come naturally, and it won't be easy. But I'm putting out the challenge. ( I may or may not be able to write something about this throughout Lent, but with God's help, I'm going to try to do it for the next 40 days.) Join me if you have the guts. If we say we believe in Jesus, this is one way we can actually comply with His directions, not to mention imitate His example.