Five Minute Friday: Opinion

Photo by Harris Vo on Unsplash

Today I am participating in Five Minute Friday, where a group of writers get together and free write about a one word prompt for 5 minutes. Today's word is "opinion."

Begin.

After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”

“Yes,” he answered.

When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

“From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared. “But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.”

                                                             -Matthew 17:24-27 (BSB)

This is an interesting passage of Scripture. In it Jesus actually asks Peter’s opinion, what he thinks. Jesus likes to ask questions.

Has He ever asked you a question? I have had Him ask me questions before when He was trying to lead me to the solution to a question I had. It helped a lot.

In the above passage, He also uses the question to provide not only a solution to a current issue, but to do so in a supernatural, miraculous way.

Have you ever gone fishing before? Do you like to fish? I used to go fishing with my dad when I was a little girl. I remember because I would always get some kind of treat from the snack shop. We fished in a stocked pond. I am assuming this expedition for Peter took place in the Sea of Galilee since they were in Capernaum. But in all of my fishing trips, I have never gotten a fish that had a coin in its mouth. How would that even be possible?

Another interesting fact about this passage is that Jesus told Peter to cast a hook. This is the second time Jesus has told Peter to do something regarding fishing and a miracle happened. The first time was with the net-breaking catch of fish when Jesus called him to ministry. Do you think he was building in Peter that he was the solver of all problems?

I don’t think he needed Peter’s opinion, but He might have wanted Peter to arrive at the conclusion on his own.


Stop.

Jesus Heals by Danielle Hitchen

Jesus Heals by Danielle Hitchen is a board book about the healing ministry of Jesus for children. In the book, Hitchen retells the stories of healing found in the Gospels. There is a story for all the major parts of the body, head, ears, mouth, eyes, back, skin, legs, and body. She ends the book with the scripture found in 1 Peter 2:24. 

This is a very unique book. I don’t think I have ever seen a book about healing for children. And this one was very thorough. There are stories from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead. 

Mary fell at Jesus's feet and said, "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Jesus went to the tomb and said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?...Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out."

-John 11:32, 40, 43-44

The illustrations that go with each story are soft and beautiful.  Each illustration also demonstrates the healing of the individuals found in the stories.

I really liked this book.  I love hearing the stories about Jesus healing people.  It demonstrates the goodness of God and who he is.  He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals us.

I recommend this book for parents of children of any age. Hearing about Jesus is what produces faith, and it is wonderful to teach them these truths when they are small, so they will know who he is and what he has done and is still doing.

Many blessings as you grow in the knowledge of him.
~Beth

To learn more about Jesus Heals, please visit Christianbook.com. 

Note: This post contains affiliate links from Christianbook.com. This means if you purchase one of these books after clicking on the link, I will generate a commission from that purchase. This does not influence my recommendation of the books.

The Gospel is Good News

The word Gospel is the Greek word for "good news." The Gospel is that Jesus did what we couldn't do. He took our punishment and penalty for sin. You don't have to pay it now. Even though other people may sometimes make you feel like you have to, you don't. You are free. You are forgiven. You are loved. He was crushed and bruised, so I didn't have to pay for the things I did. Perfect love came down and touched humanity and took in His own body the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. You don't have to pay for it. He became flesh and blood, died for you, and rose for you, so you could become a new creation.

And you didn't do anything to earn it. It's free.

We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.-Acts 10:39-43 (NIV)

A Foundation of Grace: Grace in the New Testament Scriptures

There are 157 occurrences for the Greek word "charis" in the New Testament. This word is most often translated "grace," but when looking at scriptures, I also found that it is translated as "favor, credit, thanks, gift" and a few other words. To read more about the definition of the Greek word "charis," please read an earlier post in the series here.

I thought I would share some scriptures with you about grace today, so you could see them side by side. Sometimes when we see scriptures together, it is like a puzzle with many pieces starting to click and form a picture.

And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.-Luke 2:40

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.-John 1:16

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.-Acts 4:33

Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.-Acts 14:33

Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.-Acts 14:3

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.-Acts 15:11

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.-Acts 20:24

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.-John 1:17

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.-Romans 1:17

being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,-Romans 3:24

For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)-Romans 5:17

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,-Romans 5:20

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.-Romans 6:14

But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.-2 Corinthians 8:7

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.-2 Corinthians 8:9

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.-2 Corinthians 13:14

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,-Galatians 1:6

I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.-Galatians 2:21

There are so many other scriptures about grace in the New Testament, as well as the Old.  But I think we can see from these how important grace was to the Early Church and how it should be to us as well.

Grace and peace to you...

To read more in the series, please join me here, at A Foundation of Grace.

A Foundation of Grace: Water Into Wine

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.  And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.  And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.-John 2:1-11 (NKJV)

Welcome to the second day of the Write 31 Days series, A Foundation of Grace.  Each day I am going to free write about a passage of Scripture where I will discuss Jesus and the grace that came with Him as our foundation. Today, I will be discussing the passage of scripture in John 2 where Jesus turned water into wine.

This was the very first miracle of Jesus.  Up until this point, He had done no miracles, no healing, nothing of any kind.  Those things only took place after He was baptized in the Holy Spirit when John the Baptist baptized Him in the Jordan River.  

Jesus, and his disciples, and his mother were all at a wedding in Cana in Galilee.  Wine was one of the party supplies in use at weddings during this time.  At some point they run out, so Jesus' mother comes to Him. At first, it seems as though He is not going to act.  But then, by what seems the prompting of his mother, he does something that demonstrates who is, what He can and will do, and what He came for.  This is a beautiful picture of His ministry.

There are six waterpots of stone, the Bible says "according to the manner of purification of the Jews," sitting there.  Jesus chooses those in which to perform this miracle.  It would make sense that this was a significant act on His part.  Jews used these jars to wash their hands and their eating utensils, as part of purifying themselves.  In Nelson's Bible Illustrated Dictionary, it says the definition of purification is  "the act of making clean and pure before God and people. The Mosaic Law provided instructions for both physical and spiritual purification."

Then Jesus comes. And He takes something that the Jewish people had been using to purify themselves and He replaces the water with wine.

"Fill the waterpots with water," He tells them. So, they do what He says, and then they draw some out and it is changed. They take some to the master of the feast and Jesus' command, and the master says this:

Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the best wine until now!-John 2:10 (NKJV)

When I was thinking about writing this post, I was reminded that wine was present at the Last Supper.  It is symbolic of the blood of Jesus.  Jesus was replacing their purification rituals with Himself.

If you take this all back to the scripture I shared in my introductory post, "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ," this story is a perfect picture.  The Jews (and the rest of the world) were coming into a new time.  The Old Covenant was being fulfilled by Jesus in the new!  He is the new wine!  He is the best!


To read more in the series, please join me here, at A Foundation of Grace.

A Foundation of Grace

Earlier this year, I felt like the Holy Spirit impressed on me that some pilings were going to be added into my life. A piling is a tall vertical structure made of wood, steel, or concrete, that is put into the ground to give support to a structure. It is part of a foundation that is deep.

About a month or so ago, I got the above image. I felt like God gave it to me as part of what been taking place in my life, and as part of what I am going to write about with this writing challenge I am participating in, Write 31 Days.

John 1:17 says,

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Grace came through Jesus. It came through the Son of God, born as a man, to all of humanity.

In her book, Unveiling Jesus, Tricia Gunn says in Chapter 2 on Grace and Truth vs. Religion, "You see grace isn't a topic! Grace is Jesus. Grace is everything. Grace is the foundation for every teaching and every subject!"

1 Corinthians 3:11 says,

For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
So, we are going to spend the next 30 days exploring this foundation, A Foundation of Grace, which is actually the person of our Jesus. We are going to explore the stories of His life and ministry and this amazing grace that came with Him. We are going to talk about what the love of God looks like and how that is connected to grace. I hope you will join me.


Day 1: A Foundation of Grace

Day 2: Water Into Wine

Day 3: A Place of Rest 
Day 4: By Grace Through Faith
Day 5: Grace in the Greek
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Grace From the Touch of Jesus
Day 8: Grace in the New Testament Scriptures
Day 9: (Past Tense) Forgiven
Day 10: Grace Gives Big Time
Day 11: His Name is John
Day 12: What if Grace Were the Focus?

Day 13: Reigning in Life

Day 14: Moses, Joshua, and Jesus

To learn more about Write 31 Days, a writing challenge where writers all over take a topic and write about it consecutively for 31 days, please go here.

Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar

Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is the foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony.  And we were staying in that city for some days.  And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women there. Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God.  The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.  And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us,  saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay."  So she persuaded us. Acts 16:11-15 (NKJV)

Purple.  The foundation of an influential trade in a Roman world dominated by men.  One woman rises up to take the reins of success in an incredible journey of courage, grit, and friendship. And along the way, she changes the world.

But before she was Lydia, the seller of purple, she was simply a merchant's daughter who loved three things: her father, her ancestral home, and making dye.  Then unbearable betrayal robs her of nearly everything.

With only her father's secret formulas left, Lydia flees to Philippi and struggles to establish her own business on her own.  Determination and serendipitous acquaintances--along with her father's precious dye--help her become one of the city's preeminent merchants.  But fear lingers in every shadow, until Lydia meets the apostle Paul and hears his message of hope, becoming his first European convert.  Still, Lydia can't outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide. Still, Lydia can't outrun her secrets forever, and when past and present collide, she must either stand firm and trust in her fledgling faith or succumb to the fear that has ruled her life.

-Book Description, Tyndale House Publishers

I love the account of Lydia found in Acts 16.  I have read it many times.  So when I found out that Tessa Afshar was writing a story about her, I was so excited! 

She did such an excellent job of weaving all the Biblical details together.  Her fictional portions were very plausible, including how Lydia came from Thyatira to Philippi.  Her characterization of Paul was very believable as well. 

I have read the novel two times now, and I believe I enjoyed it more my second time around.  The first time I was so eager to get through the story, that  I don't think I enjoyed all the details.  This time I picked up on so many things I missed the first time. 

Tessa presents the Gospel in a very simple, loving way, the way I think that God meant it to be presented to people.  It was so inviting.  You travel along with Lydia throughout her story, and when her heart opens to the good news Paul shares, I could feel my heart opening anew.  You will be blessed, encouraged, and refreshed as you read Bread of Angels, the story of Lydia, seller of purple.

To learn more about the author, you can visit her at tessaafshar.com.

To read a sample of the book, visit amazon.com or christianbook.com.

Passion in the Life of Peter

This morning I woke up thinking about passion and the life of the apostle Peter.  He started out almost afraid of Jesus.  When Jesus filled his boat full of fish, he said, "Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man." (Luke 5:8)  That didn't deter Jesus.  He told him, "From now on you will catch men." (Luke 5:10)

He was probably the most vocal of the twelve.  He said so many good things during Jesus' time on earth.  One of my favorites is when people were leaving Jesus and Jesus asked Peter and the others around him if they were going to leave Him too.  Peter says, "To whom would we go?  You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)

Then, when they come to take Jesus, Peter grabs a sword and cuts Malchus' ear off.  Jesus had just told him he would deny Him three times, and Peter still defends Jesus with his whole heart. (John 18:10)

After they take Jesus away, Peter follows.  He is only one of two disciples the Bible records as being there when they are interrogating Jesus.  Then he denies Jesus.  (Matthew 26) He is not recorded as being at the cross, but we see him on Resurrection Day. (John 20)

Later when Jesus appears to them in Galilee, and the disciples are fishing.  Peter is the only one to jump out of the boat and swim to Jesus on land.  Jesus restores Peter at that point with a beautiful conversation about love, and the job He has for Peter.  He does it for Peter, not for His sake.  (John 21)

Peter is in the upper room with the 120 on the day of Pentecost, and preached an awesome message and 3000 people get saved! (Acts 2)

Later, he is responsible for the first Gentiles coming into the Church! (Acts 10) People are healed through him and one woman, Tabitha is raised from the dead! (Acts 9)  He later writes 1 & 2 Peter, two of the epistles found in our Bible today!  

It is remarkable what Jesus can do with the human heart.  He took this timid, fearful man and turned him into a man full of passion and love and a heart for His Lord!  What can He do with you and me?

but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.- 2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)

Voices of the Faithful, Book 2

The stories of missionaries on the field have always been of great interest to me. Anytime a missionary ever came to a church I was attending, I was on the edge of my seat. Voice of the Faithful, Book 2, compiled by Kim P. Davis, and created by Beth Moore, is a devotional full of these stories.

Created to be a 365 day devotional, Voices of the Faithful, Book 2 contains stories and prayers from missionaries spanning the entire globe. This devotional is divided into sections, categorized by months, containing a new topic for each month. Topics include “Divine Appointments,” “Lessons for the Young,” and “Hope for the World.” The daily devotionals contain a scripture, story from a missionary, and a prayer by that missionary at the end that you can pray as well.

I especially enjoyed the introduction by Beth Moore. Her heartfelt passion for the missionaries is displayed in eloquence. In her usual teaching fashion, she explains the heart of God in the lives of the missionaries contained in these pages. As I read through the pages, I was touched by the courage and persistence of the missionaries as well as their ability to learn from mistakes as they continue in the work God has called them to.

If you would like to go to the mission field, but for whatever reason, are not on that path at the moment, I recommend this book. It will give you an opportunity to sow into the lives of other missionaries through the daily prayers you lift up to God on their behalf. This is not a Bible teaching devotional, so if that is what you are looking for, you might want to select another book to meet that need. As I was reading, in my desire to learn and experience the life of a missionary, I was a little disappointed with the lack of details about each individual life. There are details, but I am sure that for the safety of the missionaries and the people they are serving, information must be limited. Voices of the Faithful, Book 2 will be an asset to anyone who desires to serve God and His heart, “who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”