Meat for the Hungry

https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/unveiling-ceremony Do you ever watch makeover shows? You know, the ones like Extreme Makeover that changed the person’s appearance and made them beautiful. Or maybe you enjoy programs that transform houses or apartments. Still, it’s possible you don’t care about those at all. But I’ll bet you’ve seen Instagram or Facebook videos with a pregnant couple discovering their baby’s gender. And with any of these, what do we breathlessly wait for at the end? Right! The Big Reveal .   A few weeks ago, I was writing a lesson for our Sunday School Class, and my study led me to First Peter. I can’t remember how I got there, other than one Scripture must have cross-referenced 1 Peter 1:5: “who are KEPT by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”   “…Revealed in the last time…” made me think of all those “revealing” shows. But this verse started in the middle of Peter’s sentence. So, I had to bac...

  “I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”   Maybe you’re thinking, “I only want good news. I’m tired of the bad.” I fully understand. So, here's my good news:  God gave us the bad news first. What?   Yes, Almighty God established a LAW —man broke it— SIN entered the world and brought a penalty— DEATH —both physical and spiritual. Physical bodies age and eventually return to dust. For Adam, that took 930 years. However, his spiritual death—separation from this Holy God—began immediately. Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God ; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”   That’s a lot of bad news. And  I know you’ve heard it all before. But please stick with me. I do have a point. You see, if there were no good news to follow the bad, we would be doomed and rightly proclaim, “…Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” [1]   Thankfully, God followed H...

  Driving home the other night, a brilliant coral-pink sunset lined the western horizon. As my eyes drifted upward, the coral melded into a radiant teal-blue. To the south, grayish clouds swiped the sky as though a painter’s brush stroked a canvas. To the north, a straight line of speckled clouds marched across the heavens, and in my imagination, they were birds flying south for the winter. Closer to earth, trees appeared as silhouettes against the vibrant coral being swallowed up by deepening blue. Soon the “birds” dissipated, and one lone star emerged, glimmering like a tiny diamond.   A flash of awe struck me—my God is the Painter, and this is His handiwork. I let go of the day’s turmoil and just gloried in His greatness. How amazing such a small, ordinary thing can, in a moment, transport me into God’s presence and cause spontaneous worship.   I wish this would happen to all humans, yet sadly, not everyone who sees this beauty understands the majesty of its ...