All posts by Luella Campbell

PAUL’S HAPPY LETTER…PEACE – 1b

Bible Study, ,

Paul’s greeting to the Philippian church sets the tone for his whole letter… “grace and peace to you!”

If grace is the motive for God’s goodness, peace is the outcome. 

God’s peace is much more than a feeling of tranquility, a kind of inner calm when things are going crazy outside. God’s peace is a powerful force that is continually active within us despite our circumstances. 

“In the Bible, shalom (Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם) is commonly translated as “peace”, but it means much more than the mere absence of conflict. Derived from a root meaning “to be complete, sound, or whole”, shalom represents a holistic state of flourishing, harmony, and well-being in all aspects of life—physical, relational, and spiritual.

To explore the richness of shalom in scripture:

  • Wholeness and Completeness: The root can refer to a perfectly shaped stone without cracks or a fully completed wall. Biblically, it describes a life where nothing is missing and nothing is broken. 
  • Relational Healing: To “bring shalom” frequently means to restore broken relationships, reconcile with an enemy, or provide restitution for a wrong. 
  • Divine Peace: True shalom is rooted in God’s presence and covenant. It is even used as a name for God (Yahweh-Shalom – “The Lord is Peace”) and points toward Jesus, who is prophesied as the “Prince of Peace”. 

(Source: Google AI)

When Adam decided to go it alone, he forfeited the three great “states” or conditions that prevail in God’s realm…in God’s presence…His love, joy, and peace. He was catapulted out of the “air” of heaven into the atmosphere of a life without God…chaos and confusion. 

On the other hand, Jesus promised His disciples, in the upper room, on the eve of His death, that He would leave a legacy for them…His love, His joy, and His peace, heaven’s “air” restored. Even now, in the midst of earth’s chaos, God’s people breathe the air of heaven. 

Now, let’s explore this peace…this state of “shalom” that we enjoy this side of heaven. 

What is its source? 

God is the source of true peace. 

“The God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭15‬:‭33‬ NIV

God’s peace comes to us through Jesus. 

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We can never enjoy this state of wholeness outside of God and what Jesus has done for us to restore us to fellowship with God…”peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”

Jesus settled every issue that stood between us and God by His  death and resurrection. The great sin chasm has been bridged…atoned for by His blood, the debt paid, the blood sacrifice for sin accepted…once for all. 

The outcome is peace…between God and us and…between us and our guilty conscience. Peace instead of shame and fear…wholeness instead of brokenness emptiness, and loss. 

What does peace do?

Peace is not just a state of being. Peace has power in our lives. 

Peace is the referee that keeps us walking in the right direction. In the game of life, God leaves nothing to chance. When we step out of line, we lose the sense of wholeness. Something is out of sync inside. We feel that restlessness that tells us that our fellowship with God has been disturbed. 

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The way back to peace is through the blood of Jesus. 

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin…If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬, ‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 Keeping short accounts with God…monitored  by the peace in our hearts…will keep us on track and protect us from drifting away from the truth that saves us. 

Peace also guards our hearts from the anxieties that neutralise our faith and drive a wedge between us and the awareness of God’s presence. 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus…”

We can only have a 24 hour/7- day-a-week guard on duty around our minds when we choose to let our anxieties go and replace them with trust in God. We must make that deliberate exchange…in prayer…with God. 

When we do that, we not only get the peace from God but we also… when we choose to fill our minds with the right thoughts…have the guarantee of the awareness of God’s presence. 

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7‬, ‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I say “awareness” because, whether we feel His presence or not, God has promised never to abandon us. However, when we fill our minds with His word and refuse to give in to worry or anxiety, the God of peace actively works in our behalf…as He did for Joseph…

“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.”

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭39‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…David

“In everything he (David) did, he had great success, because the Lord was with him.”

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭18‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a prayer to pray for family, friends…and even enemies! Instead of leaning on their problems and bewailing their situations, why not speak God’s promise of grace and peace over them! He will always make good on His promises. 

To be continued

PAUL’S HAPPY LETTER…HELLO – 1a

Bible Study, ,

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Have you noticed how much our protocols have changed over the last few years? I learned at school how to write a formal and an informal letter. There were rules and a structure to the way we addressed people…not only in our letters but also in our interaction with people…family, friends, strangers…in everyday life. Nowadays, for example, in American culture, I have noticed, that the most common way to greet is to say “Hey!”

Electronic messages have upgraded “snail mail”, often replacing the formal greeting “Dear So-and-so,” with “Hi!” I must confess…I prefer the more formal and polite way to start a letter, even if today, we use the shortened version. 

As with all Paul’s letters except for one, his letter to the Galatian church, Paul begins with a greeting and a prayer, which was the accepted way to write a letter in his day, it seems. 

Of course, as a believer in Jesus,  Paul’s greeting would have been God-centred. He was a messenger for the Lord, representing Him to the Roman world. So, Jesus was the core and focus of his entire existence.

What better way, then, to say “Hello” than to confer on Paul’s readers the highest, greatest, and richest of all God that could do for them, as a greeting and a prayer. 

Paul starts his missive by greeting his readers with the title that put them in the standing of who they really were in God’s sight…God’s holy people, and focusing on the one from whom all blessing and favour flow, putting his recipients into the mainstream of who God is… grace and peace. 

What is grace?

Let’s look at the summary of the meaning of grace that AI provides in Google. 

“In the Bible, grace means unmerited favor. It is God giving us His love, forgiveness, and blessings freely, even though humanity does not earn or deserve them. 

The Original Languages

To fully understand the meaning, we look at the original Bible languages:

  • Old Testament (Hebrew – Chen): Often translated as “favor” or “grace”. It denotes a gift of kindness given to someone who has no right to demand it. 
  • New Testament (Greek – Charis): Refers to kindness, goodwill, and unearned favor. It is where we get the idea of grace as a completely free gift from God. 

Key Aspects of Grace

  • Salvation: The Bible teaches that salvation is a gift. You cannot earn it through good deeds; it is entirely a result of God’s grace.
  • Empowerment: Grace is not just a free pass; it is also a transforming power. Biblical grace gives believers the strength to overcome sin and live a life that honors God.
  • The Person of Grace: In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is viewed as the ultimate embodiment and source of God’s grace. 

“Grace” is the atmosphere…the conduit…the pipeline… the motive…attitude…characteristic…God’s “bent”… from whom and through which He works, and provides the strength to be and to do for those who trust in Him. 

The word “grace” is sometimes accompanied by the word “freely” in Scripture. “Freely” means “without a cause”…for no reason at all except that gracious is who God is. 

His grace is the reason for, starts the process, and provides the means through which we receive all the blessings of His salvation. 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬ ‭

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us…”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Through grace, God gives us the power to overcome all the issues that trouble us on our journey through life. Paul found out…

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Grace takes over and provides God’s strength in place of our weakness, whatever the situation. 

Just Imagine…Paul’s prayer for his readers answered…every moment of every day…God’s people experiencing ever-increasing wholeness…all the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection restoring what sin has broken…flowing increasingly because of God’s grace…His undeserved favour…just because that’s who He is…

…and Peter echoes Paul’s prayer with a promise…

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To be continued

MOLLY AND ME…ABANDONED?

Christian Life, ,

A few weeks ago, Molly, my nine-year-old dachshund, stepped out of line. I scolded her soundly and lectured her on what not to do. She took my rebuke in good grace but, that night, as she lay on my bed…looking at me earnestly with her soft, expressive, brown eyes, I read the words her eyes spoke to me. “Mama,” she said, “if you abandon me, I have no one!”

O, how my heart broke. How true! I am her whole world. I do everything for her. I anticipate her needs. I treat her ailments, sometimes at great cost. I feed her with the best food. I take her for walks. I sacrifice for her. Without me, she is lost. She would die. 

What a message for me as a child of God! Without Jesus, I am nothing. I am lost. I would die. “Jesus, if you abandon me, I have no one!”

Before I left my home of eight years to relocate, going into the unknown, I told the Lord, “Lord Jesus, I will lean my whole weight on you.” …and I have. The first few months of settling into my new home have been a bumpy ride. Without Jesus, I might have given up…but I have leant on Him…and He has not failed me. 

I have His promise, spoken to His disciples before He left them to go to the cross. 

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭5‬

There is no disaster, no worry or concern big enough to separate me from His love. 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭38‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus sent His Spirit to take His place…not just with but in me. 

So, just as I reassured Molly that night, “My Babygirl, as long as I am alive, I will never abandon you,” so, Jesus reassures me that, as long as He is alive, He will never abandon His child…and that means forever. 

GOD STILL SPEAKS…ETERNAL LIFE – 13

Christian Life, ,

I have traveled a long road…seventy years with Jesus. What can I say? 

In Jesus’ high priestly prayer on the eve of His death, He defined for us, for me, the true meaning of eternal life…

“And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

…not one day when I die but a powerful reality here and now…in this fallen, broken world…under divine authority and divine supervision. 

Did Peter remember Jesus’ prayer when he concluded his second letter with these words…

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

If knowing God…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…is the essence of eternal life, then, all of life’s experiences…including failure, brokenness, and loss…are the arena in which He reveals Himself as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and full of covenant love. 

Looking back over seventy years of life…raw, rough, and full of every kind of failure…I can say with utmost confidence that I know Him. I have seen and experienced a tiny fragment of the God who rescued me from self-destruction, loved me in my worst and darkest moments…when I was utterly unlovable…and has been faithful to His Word and to me beyond my wildest imagination.

The God whom I heard about in Sunday School, and read about in His Word, is the God who met me in a marquee tent on 1st April, 1956…raised me from spiritual death to spiritual life, and set my feet on the Way…in Christ…to know Him. 

Do I know Him? Yes and no! I know fragments about Him because He has spoken to me…in my spirit across the span of seventy years…in my ignorance…in my disobedience…and in my feeble efforts to follow Him. 

I knew Him whenever I took a wrong turn and headed in the wrong direction, He gently steered me back to the path. 

I knew Him when He blessed me way more than I could ever deserve. 

I knew Him when He gave me rest from my futile self-effort and reassured me that it was okay just to be me. 

I knew Him when I fell…hard…when He forgave my sin, time and again, picked me up, washed me clean, held me close…and walked on with me…at His side. 

I knew Him through the years of peaceful work in the company of His people…safe and tranquil…as well as the years of labour and learning in the rough and tumble of an evil world.

I know Him now as the God who loves the elderly, who causes me to flourish in the environment He  has chosen for me.  

I know Him when hears my prayers for my wayward family and my suffering nation and the nations of the world, patiently unfolding His plan in mysterious ways that reveal His wisdom and power. 

I know Him when He reassures me that He rules on the earth and that His kingdom is here now, and coming in its fullness when Jesus returns. 

I know Him when I dwell on His goodness, mercy, and favour that have followed me all the days of my life. 

I know Him when I anticipate with great joy the prospect of being with Him forever…my eyes on the glories of the yet unseen that await me and all those who long for His return. 

Do I know Him? Yes, I do…because He has revealed Himself to me in my short life.  Do I know Him? No, because He is more than time and eternity can ever reveal. 

And so…the prospect of knowing Him stretches before me into the eternity that awaits me and all who love and follow Jesus. 

My eighty-sixth birthday is just around the corner. Will I reach it? I have no idea. One thing I know…God will finish what He started!

“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you (me) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Concluded

GOD STILL SPEAKS…INCOMPLETION – 12

Christian Life, ,

My third revelation, at least for this series, is the story of a woman whose love for Jesus almost destroyed her…. but let me not run ahead of myself. 

It’s the story of Mary of Bethany in three parts…she listened…she lost…and she learned!

There was one place outside Jerusalem that became a haven for Jesus…the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus…in Bethany. He and His disciples were always welcome there. The responses of the siblings to His presence were always the same…Martha served…Mary sat…and Lazarus? Not there, it seems!

Mary loved to listen to Jesus. Protocol aside, even among the disciples,  she sat as close to Him as she could…at His feet. She drank in His words…loving His teachings from Torah… absorbing His messages about God’s kingdom…and, despite Martha’s protests, Jesus approved. He gently rebuked Martha for her resentment towards her sister for not sharing her labour in the kitchen. Mary was in the best place, doing the best thing…listening and learning at Jesus’ feet. 

Mary was learning  to love Jesus…passionately…as much as her understanding of Him would allow her. He could do anything. She believed in Him…even when tragedy struck. Her “baby brother”, Lazarus, became deathly sick. Jesus would come and heal him when they called. Of that she was certain. Lazarus would be well again…the crisis behind them…and life would go on with the memory of a miracle under their belt…so she believed. 

It didn’t happen that way. Yes, the sisters did call Jesus…urgently… “Come quickly. Lazarus is dying!”…but He didn’t come. Not then…not the next day…or the next day…until it was too late! Lazarus faded, then took his last breath. Lazarus was gone…and Jesus didn’t come! Why? 

Mary was devastated…shattered…destroyed! She wept until she had no more tears…for Lazarus, but even more…for her own disillusioned, broken heart. She had trusted Jesus…but He didn’t come! Why? Why didn’t He come? Didn’t He care? Where was He? Her entire being shut down. She fell into a dark hole of hopeless despair. 

When Jesus finally arrived…four days later…she didn’t want to look into His face. She didn’t even want to see Him. She shut herself up in her room and refused to come out. Nothing mattered any more. Lazarus was dead…and Jesus didn’t come!

Finally, in her pit of darkness, she heard them calling…” Mary, come! Jesus is calling for you!” She kept hearing the same words, “Mary, come…” until the sound penetrated her thick fog. She moved…slowly at first…and then…she ran…not because she wanted to see Him but because she wanted to tell Him how much He had hurt her. 

Her bitter words of rebuke tumbled from her lips…”If only you had come, my brother would not have died!” In those few words, Mary said it all. “I trusted you but you have destroyed my trust. I listened to you but now…your words are empty and meaningless.  Why did you do this to me…to us?”  

Jesus wept…the shortest verse in the Bible but in it, a world of revelation. Many have offered explanations for Jesus’ reaction…He cried in sympathy with Mary… He wept because the one He loved was dead…and so on. 

However, if we put Jesus’ reaction in context, a different reason emerges. Scripture records three occasions when Jesus wept. He wept over Jerusalem because of what was coming on the city and its people…and they had no idea of what would soon happen.  He wept in Gethsemane…over the ordeal He was facing. Why? Perhaps because He was aware that He of the possibility that He could fail. 

Then He wept in Bethany. 

Each time Jesus wept, it was not about Himself or His own pain. It was grief for another’s suffering. Why? Was it because, if they would only trust Him, His presence would make all the difference? 

On His way to the cross…the heavy crossbeam weighing Him down until He collapsed in the dirt under its weight,  blood dripping from His mashed flesh after the flogging…He stopped…

“A large crowd trailed behind, including many grief-stricken women. But Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬

No, Jesus did not weep for dead Lazarus. He did not weep for Mary’s loss.  He wept for Mary’s faithlessness. Mary had abandoned the only thing that could have held her steady in her time of sorrow…her trust in Jesus. Instead, she accused Him, blamed Him for her loss, dismissed Him for His failure…and cut herself off from her only hope. 

What does Mary’s reaction to Jesus say to us…to me in any time of testing? This lesson has stuck with me…speaking loud and clear when I face impossible situations…Let Jesus finish what He started!! 

God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit NEVER do anything in my life without a purpose. God is ALWAYS intimately involved in the details of my life. Do I really believe that? If I do, then I must let Him finish what He started before I have an emotional meltdown. 

I think that Jesus wept because Mary put herself into an emotional “black hole” when she could have waited long enough to allow Him to write the whole story…to its conclusion. Bottom line…she did not trust Him. 

Is this not the worst that we can do to God? Unbelief still causes our God sorrow! The Bible is littered with expressions of God’s pain because His people refused to believe Him…refused to obey Him until He finally abandoned them to their enemies. He did it…not because He wanted to punish them…but because He had no other option. 

 If our faith in God is so precious to Him that He tests us repeatedly, surely then we should allow Him to finish what He starts without judging Him before we fall apart when the trial comes. 

“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

To be concluded