{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "My reflections", "home_page_url": "https://pype.dev/reflections/", "feed_url": "https://pype.dev/reflections/feed.json", "description": "My thoughts and streams of consciousness organized into barely coherent posts about things", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne" } ], "items": [ { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-arise-and-depart/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-arise-and-depart/", "title": "Reflection - Arise and Depart", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon\u0026rsquo;s \u003cstrong\u003eMorning and Evening\u003c/strong\u003e reflection for this morning is Micah 2:10 \u0026ldquo;Arise, and depart\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003econtext\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTypical note about reflections not being deep study. Also noting that Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s meditations are often about what comes to mind from the words of a verse (or part of it) as opposed to the context of the verse.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eMicah 2:10\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArise and go, for this is no resting place, on account of uncleanness that destroys with painful destruction.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo the context of the rest of the verse isn\u0026rsquo;t that consistent with the\ndirection of Spurgon\u0026rsquo;s meditation but nonetheless his springboard is good to\nthink about\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomeday everyone of us will answer the call to \u0026ldquo;arise and go\u0026rdquo; - death comes for\nus all but death isn\u0026rsquo;t itself an existential end, it is the time to obey the\nLord. At his word, I will leave the world and go to where he calls me. This is\ntrue for everyone, it\u0026rsquo;s an inescapable part of the reality that Yahweh has\ncreated for all Creation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeath fills some with dread, but for the Christian it\u0026rsquo;s the passage to\neternity. We live (or \u0026ldquo;are to live\u0026rdquo;) in Heaven today - Jesus brought Heaven to\nearth. But his life, death, and resurrection did not \u003cstrong\u003efully\u003c/strong\u003e bring Heaven to\nearth - the melding is happening, the reunification of Heaven and earth as it\nwas in Eden is taking place, and when he comes again the kingdom will be\nconsummated.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo we live unto his Name and glory, because it\u0026rsquo;s the best thing\nfor humanity. And at the end of our living on this present earth, God calls\neveryone to the next phase of reality. What awaits those who do not believe?\nand who haven\u0026rsquo;t been chosen? I really wouldn\u0026rsquo;t claim to know concrete facts\nbeyond the truth that \u0026ldquo;they are not citizens of heaven, and so they do not live with\nthe Lord\u0026rdquo;. But what awaits the Christian? That\u0026rsquo;s a much easier answer to take a\nstand on - those loved by Jesus are not left dead in the cold dark underground,\nwe are called to the skies - to glory and to the kingdom.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI think this thought of future unification with the Lord, in a newly\nconsummated kingdom, when Death is dead and there is no more competition\namongst the gods, when all Creation is in right relationship with the King -\nthis thought should bring joy and anticipation to the Christian, to me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet me work for the glory of God today, with the right perspective that at any\nmoment I could be called away from this work (my family, my home, my job, etc.)\nand to the next thing Jesus would have me do. I look forward to the call to\n\u0026ldquo;Arise and go\u0026rdquo; and I pray that the future hope of the Kingdom fills me today\nwith joy and motivation to live a godly life and that death never looks like\nanything other than a river to cross with new life on the other side.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nSpurgeon's **Morning and Evening** reflection for this morning is Micah 2:10 \"Arise, and depart\".\n\n!!! note \"context\"\n\n Typical note about reflections not being deep study. Also noting that Spurgeon's meditations are often about what comes to mind from the words of a verse (or part of it) as opposed to the context of the verse.\n\n!!! note \"Micah 2:10\"\n\n Arise and go, for this is no resting place, on account of uncleanness that destroys with painful destruction.\n\nSo the context of the rest of the verse isn't that consistent with the\ndirection of Spurgon's meditation but nonetheless his springboard is good to\nthink about...\n\nSomeday everyone of us will answer the call to \"arise and go\" - death comes for\nus all but death isn't itself an existential end, it is the time to obey the\nLord. At his word, I will leave the world and go to where he calls me. This is\ntrue for everyone, it's an inescapable part of the reality that Yahweh has\ncreated for all Creation.\n\nDeath fills some with dread, but for the Christian it's the passage to\neternity. We live (or \"are to live\") in Heaven today - Jesus brought Heaven to\nearth. But his life, death, and resurrection did not **fully** bring Heaven to\nearth - the melding is happening, the reunification of Heaven and earth as it\nwas in Eden is taking place, and when he comes again the kingdom will be\nconsummated.\n\nSo we live unto his Name and glory, because it's the best thing\nfor humanity. And at the end of our living on this present earth, God calls\neveryone to the next phase of reality. What awaits those who do not believe?\nand who haven't been chosen? I really wouldn't claim to know concrete facts\nbeyond the truth that \"they are not citizens of heaven, and so they do not live with\nthe Lord\". But what awaits the Christian? That's a much easier answer to take a\nstand on - those loved by Jesus are not left dead in the cold dark underground,\nwe are called to the skies - to glory and to the kingdom.\n\nI think this thought of future unification with the Lord, in a newly\nconsummated kingdom, when Death is dead and there is no more competition\namongst the gods, when all Creation is in right relationship with the King -\nthis thought should bring joy and anticipation to the Christian, to me.\n\nLet me work for the glory of God today, with the right perspective that at any\nmoment I could be called away from this work (my family, my home, my job, etc.)\nand to the next thing Jesus would have me do. I look forward to the call to\n\"Arise and go\" and I pray that the future hope of the Kingdom fills me today\nwith joy and motivation to live a godly life and that death never looks like\nanything other than a river to cross with new life on the other side.\n", "summary": "Spurgeon's ** reflection for this morning is Micah 2:10 \"Arise, and depart\".", "date_published": "2026-02-07T04:37:12Z", "date_modified": "2026-02-07T04:37:12Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/revel-in-imparted-righteousness/", "url": "https://pype.dev/revel-in-imparted-righteousness/", "title": "Revel in imparted righteousness", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon\u0026rsquo;s Morning and Evening today is from Jeremiah 23:6.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition warning\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eWarning\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgain with these reflections, I\u0026quot;m not an OT scholar and I don\u0026rsquo;t know, or\ndidn\u0026rsquo;t do a lot of search on, the context of the passage. This isn\u0026rsquo;t\neducational, this if a reflection on what God brings to mind through his Word\nand my time with him, not teaching about the historical context of where the\nwords in Jeremiah 23 actually affect the story\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eJeremiah 23:6\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this\nis the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-lord-is-our-righteousness\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eThe Lord is our righteousness\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#the-lord-is-our-righteousness\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere\u0026rsquo;s a lot of tension in the details of the story of the world in how humans\nand God relate to each other. On one hand, God created everything, and he\ncreated humans with a unique purpose to be his seen-imagers in the physical\nworld who carry out his will. On the other hand, humans take that position of\nprivilege and often destroy the world in our sin and dismay. The theology\nsurrounding this tension is the thing that can affect the Christian\u0026rsquo;s daily\nlife\u0026hellip; As I walk through the world, am I more aware of my position as God\u0026rsquo;s\nchild, with responsibility to bear his Name and steward the earth, or am I more\naware of my sin and the fact that I often make choices Jesus wouldn\u0026rsquo;t be proud\nof? Both things are true, but where I put my mind and heart drives if I have a\ncontented smile on my face or if my brow is sweaty and scunched up in\nfrustration.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI think that if we somehow filtered our view to all \u0026ldquo;true Christians\u0026rdquo; we\u0026rsquo;d see\nthat a majority of them lean in on emphasizing their sin because it is the\nthing that makes Jesus\u0026rsquo; work necessary - it is the un-overcomable thing that we\nhave to be saved from and Glory to God! for saving us. But on the daily, not\nputting equal emphasis on the next step of the story, which is that in God\u0026rsquo;s\nsaving he imparts the righteousness of Jesus right onto us, is a disservice to\nus as God\u0026rsquo;s children.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI want my kids to be proud and secure in their name and place as my kids. I\ndon\u0026rsquo;t want them to spend their energy focusing on where they have contributed\nchaos and disorder to my life, I want them to focus on the things they do worth\nbeing proud of, and there\u0026rsquo;s grace for the rest. I think this must be true of\nthe Lord as well - without a doubt I am a sinner and a wretch who, left to my\nown devices, would end up a drunken addict lying in the street somewhere\u0026hellip; but\nwhy would I \u003cstrong\u003efocus\u003c/strong\u003e on that when Yahweh chooses me, imparts Jesus'\nrighteousness to me, adopts me as his own! The reality of my sin is reality,\nbut the reality of Jesus\u0026rsquo; grace on my life is no less true. Christians\nshouldn\u0026rsquo;t be ignorant of the sin they carry and the choices they make which\ndishonor God, but we also shouldn\u0026rsquo;t be ignorant of the grace God shows to us!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI have noticed in my life, as the scales have tipped somewhat in favor of\nfocusing \u003cstrong\u003emore\u003c/strong\u003e on Yahweh adopting me as opposed to focusing on where I fall\nshort of the glory of God, that\u0026rsquo;s it\u0026rsquo;s more natural for me to be joyful about\nalmost anything in the world (worth experiencing joy over)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMay Jesus call you today if you\u0026rsquo;re reading this and he hasnt\u0026rsquo; yet, and if he\nhas may joy follow your acknowledgement of your adoption rather than sorrow\nover your previous state. Glory to God in the highest!\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nSpurgeon's Morning and Evening today is from Jeremiah 23:6.\n\n!!! warning \"\"\n\n Again with these reflections, I\"m not an OT scholar and I don't know, or\n didn't do a lot of search on, the context of the passage. This isn't\n educational, this if a reflection on what God brings to mind through his Word\n and my time with him, not teaching about the historical context of where the\n words in Jeremiah 23 actually affect the story\n\n!!! note \"Jeremiah 23:6\"\n\n In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this\n is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’\n\n## The Lord is our righteousness\n\nThere's a lot of tension in the details of the story of the world in how humans\nand God relate to each other. On one hand, God created everything, and he\ncreated humans with a unique purpose to be his seen-imagers in the physical\nworld who carry out his will. On the other hand, humans take that position of\nprivilege and often destroy the world in our sin and dismay. The theology\nsurrounding this tension is the thing that can affect the Christian's daily\nlife... As I walk through the world, am I more aware of my position as God's\nchild, with responsibility to bear his Name and steward the earth, or am I more\naware of my sin and the fact that I often make choices Jesus wouldn't be proud\nof? Both things are true, but where I put my mind and heart drives if I have a\ncontented smile on my face or if my brow is sweaty and scunched up in\nfrustration.\n\nI think that if we somehow filtered our view to all \"true Christians\" we'd see\nthat a majority of them lean in on emphasizing their sin because it is the\nthing that makes Jesus' work necessary - it is the un-overcomable thing that we\nhave to be saved from and Glory to God! for saving us. But on the daily, not\nputting equal emphasis on the next step of the story, which is that in God's\nsaving he imparts the righteousness of Jesus right onto us, is a disservice to\nus as God's children.\n\nI want my kids to be proud and secure in their name and place as my kids. I\ndon't want them to spend their energy focusing on where they have contributed\nchaos and disorder to my life, I want them to focus on the things they do worth\nbeing proud of, and there's grace for the rest. I think this must be true of\nthe Lord as well - without a doubt I am a sinner and a wretch who, left to my\nown devices, would end up a drunken addict lying in the street somewhere... but\nwhy would I **focus** on that when Yahweh chooses me, imparts Jesus'\nrighteousness to me, adopts me as his own! The reality of my sin is reality,\nbut the reality of Jesus' grace on my life is no less true. Christians\nshouldn't be ignorant of the sin they carry and the choices they make which\ndishonor God, but we also shouldn't be ignorant of the grace God shows to us!\n\nI have noticed in my life, as the scales have tipped somewhat in favor of\nfocusing **more** on Yahweh adopting me as opposed to focusing on where I fall\nshort of the glory of God, that's it's more natural for me to be joyful about\nalmost anything in the world (worth experiencing joy over)\n\nMay Jesus call you today if you're reading this and he hasnt' yet, and if he\nhas may joy follow your acknowledgement of your adoption rather than sorrow\nover your previous state. Glory to God in the highest!\n", "summary": "Spurgeon's Morning and Evening today is from Jeremiah 23:6.", "date_published": "2026-01-31T05:45:42Z", "date_modified": "2026-01-31T05:45:42Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-galatians-2-19-20/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-galatians-2-19-20/", "title": "Reflection - Galatians 2:19-20", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eGalatians 2:19-20\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e19 For through the law I died to the law, in order that I might live to\nGod. I have been crucified with Christ, 20 and I no longer live, but Christ\nlives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son\nof God, who loved me and gave himself for me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is one of the most common verse-memory verses I think. Probably there\u0026rsquo;s\ngood reason for that - Paul has a lot to say to the Galatians, and these 2\nverses summarize one of the simple truths of the Gospel - the life a Christian\nis given is \u003cstrong\u003efreed from\u003c/strong\u003e the law of death and make alive to Jesus. The gospel\ntruth is that the law is no longer the thing we answer to - everyone will,\ncertainly. There\u0026rsquo;s no mistake to be made that every human has accountability\nfor their own agency. In our \u0026ldquo;free\u0026rdquo; will, bound to sin and death and to the law\nfor approval, we aren\u0026rsquo;t free at all but slaves to an oppressive overlord. Jesus\nfrees the Christian to live a life free from that oppression, in the\nlife-giving security of God\u0026rsquo;s adoption.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"who-love-me-and-gave-himself-for-me\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eWho love me and gave himself for me\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#who-love-me-and-gave-himself-for-me\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGod adopts whoever he chooses. And the ones he chooses are then freely able to\nchoose him in return. Through the life-giving power of God\u0026rsquo;s sovereignty my\nlife can be fundamentally altered, my make-up changed, my family line updated.\nI am free to live my life by faith in Jesus, because he loved me and gave\nhimself for me.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Galatians 2:19-20\"\n\n 19 For through the law I died to the law, in order that I might live to\n God. I have been crucified with Christ, 20 and I no longer live, but Christ\n lives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son\n of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.\n\nThis is one of the most common verse-memory verses I think. Probably there's\ngood reason for that - Paul has a lot to say to the Galatians, and these 2\nverses summarize one of the simple truths of the Gospel - the life a Christian\nis given is **freed from** the law of death and make alive to Jesus. The gospel\ntruth is that the law is no longer the thing we answer to - everyone will,\ncertainly. There's no mistake to be made that every human has accountability\nfor their own agency. In our \"free\" will, bound to sin and death and to the law\nfor approval, we aren't free at all but slaves to an oppressive overlord. Jesus\nfrees the Christian to live a life free from that oppression, in the\nlife-giving security of God's adoption.\n\n## Who love me and gave himself for me\n\nGod adopts whoever he chooses. And the ones he chooses are then freely able to\nchoose him in return. Through the life-giving power of God's sovereignty my\nlife can be fundamentally altered, my make-up changed, my family line updated.\nI am free to live my life by faith in Jesus, because he loved me and gave\nhimself for me.\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Galatians 2:19-20\"", "date_published": "2025-12-28T06:18:57Z", "date_modified": "2025-12-28T06:18:57Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-ecclesiastes-9-10/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-ecclesiastes-9-10/", "title": "Reflection - Ecclesiastes 9:10", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eEcclesiastes 9:10\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhatever your hand finds to do—do it with all your might; for in Sheol—where you are going—no one works, plans, knows, or thinks about anything.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition warning\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eReflection vs Hermeneutics\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI put this little disclaimer on posts where I\u0026rsquo;m sure the direction of my\nreflection isn\u0026rsquo;t necessarily consistent with a exegetical teachin gon the\npassage I\u0026rsquo;m reflecting on. I do not know the intimate context of Ecclesiastes 9\nand so this reflection in very inra-personal and is not meant to be a point in\nteaching in any capacity\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"finding\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eFinding\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#finding\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhatever your hand finds to do\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026hellip; The beginning assumes a search. The faithful\nChristian is not idle\u0026hellip; he seeks to do good because it\u0026rsquo;s God\u0026rsquo;s calling on the\nhuman life to steward creation well which requires \u003cem\u003ework\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinding\u003c/strong\u003e doesn\u0026rsquo;t only presume a search, it indicates finding things on the\nsearch\u0026hellip; There is no shortage of godly things to do because every single day\nwe\u0026rsquo;re faced with choices that either align or don\u0026rsquo;t with the will Yahweh.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo whatever my hand does in fact \u003cem\u003efind to do\u003c/em\u003e I am \u003cem\u003eto do\u003c/em\u003e with \u003cem\u003emight\u003c/em\u003e\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLately I have not done what I find to do with all my might. I think God is so\ngood to me, and has blessed me through years of transformation to align more\nand more of my will with his\u0026hellip; but I\u0026rsquo;ve been meaning to refactor something at\nwork for 7 months that\u0026rsquo;s actually keeping me up at night, I pick up my phone to\nscroll when I have a ticket to work on or worse - when I could be watching my\nkids play. I very clearly \u003cstrong\u003edo not do with all my might whatever my hand finds\nto do\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"grace\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eGrace\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#grace\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd yet God continues to be good to me. He continues to teach me and correct\nme, and in this reflection I feel the same consistent \u0026amp; persistent nudge I\u0026rsquo;ve\nbeen feeling since the end of Summer. Praise God for this nudge - to keep going\nin his grace and seek to make better choices today than yesterday.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy God\u0026rsquo;s grace, the things I do with my might/strength, he often blesses. And I have\nfull confidence in my King that I will be able to work, plan, know, and think a\nlot both in this unconsecrated heavenly age as well as in the eschaton. Sheol\nstill holds some power over me, I have been freed by my King but he hasn\u0026rsquo;t yet\ncome back. In the \u003cstrong\u003ealready but not yet\u003c/strong\u003e the Christian is still to seek the\nLord and trust him.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe\u0026rsquo;s been faithful to me - \u003ca href=\"/ebenezer/\" class=\"wikilink\"\u003eEbenezer\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Ecclesiastes 9:10\"\n\n Whatever your hand finds to do—do it with all your might; for in Sheol—where you are going—no one works, plans, knows, or thinks about anything.\n\n!!! warning \"Reflection vs Hermeneutics\"\n\n I put this little disclaimer on posts where I'm sure the direction of my\n reflection isn't necessarily consistent with a exegetical teachin gon the\n passage I'm reflecting on. I do not know the intimate context of Ecclesiastes 9\n and so this reflection in very inra-personal and is not meant to be a point in\n teaching in any capacity\n\n## Finding\n\n**Whatever your hand finds to do**... The beginning assumes a search. The faithful\nChristian is not idle... he seeks to do good because it's God's calling on the\nhuman life to steward creation well which requires _work_.\n\n**Finding** doesn't only presume a search, it indicates finding things on the\nsearch... There is no shortage of godly things to do because every single day\nwe're faced with choices that either align or don't with the will Yahweh.\n\nSo whatever my hand does in fact _find to do_ I am _to do_ with _might_...\n\nLately I have not done what I find to do with all my might. I think God is so\ngood to me, and has blessed me through years of transformation to align more\nand more of my will with his... but I've been meaning to refactor something at\nwork for 7 months that's actually keeping me up at night, I pick up my phone to\nscroll when I have a ticket to work on or worse - when I could be watching my\nkids play. I very clearly **do not do with all my might whatever my hand finds\nto do**\n\n## Grace\n\nAnd yet God continues to be good to me. He continues to teach me and correct\nme, and in this reflection I feel the same consistent \u0026 persistent nudge I've\nbeen feeling since the end of Summer. Praise God for this nudge - to keep going\nin his grace and seek to make better choices today than yesterday.\n\nBy God's grace, the things I do with my might/strength, he often blesses. And I have\nfull confidence in my King that I will be able to work, plan, know, and think a\nlot both in this unconsecrated heavenly age as well as in the eschaton. Sheol\nstill holds some power over me, I have been freed by my King but he hasn't yet\ncome back. In the **already but not yet** the Christian is still to seek the\nLord and trust him.\n\nHe's been faithful to me - \u003ca href=\"/ebenezer/\" class=\"wikilink\"\u003eEbenezer\u003c/a\u003e.\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Ecclesiastes 9:10\"", "date_published": "2025-11-26T05:04:07Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-26T05:04:07Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-93/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-93/", "title": "Reflection - Psalm 93", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eYahweh is king\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePsalm 93\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e93 Yahweh is king; he clothes himself with majesty.\nYahweh clothes himself; he girds himself with might.\nYes, the world is established so that it will not be moved.\n2 Your throne is established from of old;\nyou are from everlasting.\n3 The rivers have lifted up, O Yahweh;\nthe rivers have lifted up their ⌊rumbling⌋;\nthe rivers have lifted up their pounding.\n4 Mightier than the rumblings of many waters,\nmightier than the mighty breakers of the sea,\nYahweh on high is mighty.\n5 Your testimonies are fully reliable.\nHoliness is fitting for your house,\nO Yahweh, ⌊forever⌋.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"observations\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eObservations\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#observations\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYahweh is king; \u003cstrong\u003ehe clothes himself\u003c/strong\u003e with majesty. \u003cstrong\u003eYahweh clothes\nhimself\u003c/strong\u003e; he girds himself with might.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt seems relevant to focus on Yahweh, the king, clothing himself. He has\npartners, humans, and ceremonial guardians in the spiritual realm (cherubim,\nseraphim, etc) and yet he clothes himself. His court doesn\u0026rsquo;t clothe him - they\npraise him certainly, but no one puts on Yahweh\u0026rsquo;s kingly attire besides\nYahweh himself\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou are everlasting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn my post \u003ca href=\"/by-gods-grace/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"By God\u0026#39;s Grace\" data-description=\"!!! note \u0026#34;Style\u0026#34;\" data-date=\"2025-11-18\" data-preview=\"!!! note \u0026#34;Style\u0026#34;\"\u003eBy God's Grace\u003c/a\u003e I note that Yahweh owns us and everything. He\nis the ruler of the universe because he is everlasting\u0026hellip; no beginning and no\nend\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"reflection\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eReflection\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#reflection\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/by-gods-grace/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"By God\u0026#39;s Grace\" data-description=\"!!! note \u0026#34;Style\u0026#34;\" data-date=\"2025-11-18\" data-preview=\"!!! note \u0026#34;Style\u0026#34;\"\u003eBy God's Grace\u003c/a\u003e the words \u0026ldquo;Yahweh is king\u0026rdquo; are a comfort to me. I am a\nwretch, but a wretch Yahweh is working on, has grace with, and ultimately\ninvites into paradise\u0026hellip; Paradise in that he invites me to be a complete human,\nto fulfil purpose I was designed for. By God\u0026rsquo;s grace, he is king and he\u0026rsquo;s given\nme a will that seeks to align with his\u0026hellip; Amen\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nYahweh is king\n\n!!! note \"Psalm 93\"\n\n 93 Yahweh is king; he clothes himself with majesty.\n Yahweh clothes himself; he girds himself with might.\n Yes, the world is established so that it will not be moved.\n 2 Your throne is established from of old;\n you are from everlasting.\n 3 The rivers have lifted up, O Yahweh;\n the rivers have lifted up their ⌊rumbling⌋;\n the rivers have lifted up their pounding.\n 4 Mightier than the rumblings of many waters,\n mightier than the mighty breakers of the sea,\n Yahweh on high is mighty.\n 5 Your testimonies are fully reliable.\n Holiness is fitting for your house,\n O Yahweh, ⌊forever⌋.\n\n## Observations\n\n- Yahweh is king; **he clothes himself** with majesty. **Yahweh clothes\n himself**; he girds himself with might.\n\n - It seems relevant to focus on Yahweh, the king, clothing himself. He has\n partners, humans, and ceremonial guardians in the spiritual realm (cherubim,\n seraphim, etc) and yet he clothes himself. His court doesn't clothe him - they\n praise him certainly, but no one puts on Yahweh's kingly attire besides\n Yahweh himself\n\n- You are everlasting\n - In my post \u003ca href=\"/by-gods-grace/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"By God\u0026#39;s Grace\" data-description=\"!!! note \u0026#34;Style\u0026#34;\" data-date=\"2025-11-18\"\u003eBy God\u0026#39;s Grace\u003c/a\u003e I note that Yahweh owns us and everything. He\n is the ruler of the universe because he is everlasting... no beginning and no\n end\n\n## Reflection\n\n\u003ca href=\"/by-gods-grace/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"By God\u0026#39;s Grace\" data-description=\"!!! note \u0026#34;Style\u0026#34;\" data-date=\"2025-11-18\"\u003eBy God\u0026#39;s Grace\u003c/a\u003e the words \"Yahweh is king\" are a comfort to me. I am a\nwretch, but a wretch Yahweh is working on, has grace with, and ultimately\ninvites into paradise... Paradise in that he invites me to be a complete human,\nto fulfil purpose I was designed for. By God's grace, he is king and he's given\nme a will that seeks to align with his... Amen\n", "summary": "Yahweh is king", "date_published": "2025-11-19T05:59:43Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-19T05:59:43Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/by-gods-grace/", "url": "https://pype.dev/by-gods-grace/", "title": "By God’s Grace", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eStyle\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis blog was fully orated and transcribed. I edited the transcript with some links and formatting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://dropper.wayl.one/file/a014f1f5-0ea6-46b7-94cd-c2c6f02ad9a6.mp3\" alt=\"You can listen now!\"\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOkay, so I had this thought about, honestly, just like what I would say. If\nsomebody asked me, why do I say the phrase \u0026ldquo;by God\u0026rsquo;s grace\u0026rdquo; so often? And it\u0026rsquo;s\nrelated to a \u003ca href=\"/reflection-psalm-9-1\"\u003ethought I had a while back\u003c/a\u003e where my\nbest friend would, where Michael would say, \u0026ldquo;praise God\u0026rdquo;, out of like forced\nhabit. And it developed into a great point of spiritual maturity to say by reflex\n\u0026ldquo;praise God\u0026rdquo; in you know our slightly older age here, in our young parenthood.\nAnd so it\u0026rsquo;s really related to that - I also say \u0026ldquo;by God\u0026rsquo;s grace\u0026rdquo; a lot\nand why do I say that?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI think it\u0026rsquo;s related to these central themes that have been a part of my\nreflections of freedom but freedom to what? It is freedom to love Jesus - see\n\u003ca href=\"/helkyo-what-is-it-for-god-to-draw-man-to-him/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Helkyo - What is it for God to draw man to him?\" data-description=\"In John 6 there is a curious phrase about how the Father initiates the process of Salvation in the hearts of men.\" data-date=\"2025-10-27\" data-preview=\"In John 6 there is a curious phrase about how the Father initiates the process of Salvation in the hearts of men.\"\u003eHelkyo - What is it for God to draw man to him?\u003c/a\u003e And before that, I\u0026rsquo;m not free\nat all.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition danger\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eDanger\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m just bound by sin.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd that paired with believing loyalty and the choices I make every day - And\nI\u0026rsquo;m free to make the right choice\u0026hellip;\nAnd sometimes even in God\u0026rsquo;s sovereignty, I obey my sin instead of my king.\nWhich brings me to by God\u0026rsquo;s grace.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"god-s-grace\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eGod’s Grace\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#god-s-grace\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy life is not my own, and this is \u003ca href=\"/kind/\" class=\"glossary-term\" title=\"kind - kubernetes in docker\" data-hover-title=\"kind\"\u003ekind\u003c/a\u003e of a cliched phrase almost, but it\u0026rsquo;s\nsomething I think I\u0026rsquo;m just, I\u0026rsquo;m coming to accept in a new way.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eNote\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy life does not belong to me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"belongings\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eBelongings\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#belongings\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI have possessions and I can do kind of whatever I want with them.\nI could break them and mend them and use them or not or let them get dirty or\nclean them. And it\u0026rsquo;s up to me because they\u0026rsquo;re my possessions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd we have lots of Christian language - \u0026ldquo;God adopts us as sons\u0026rdquo; and we\u0026rsquo;re\n\u0026ldquo;co-heirs and co-conquerers with Jesus\u0026rdquo;\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose things are true, but also God owns us.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eNote\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEverything in creation is his.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe redeems us unto himself, not just as a father and son, not just as the\nprodigal son or something like that - all things are made by him and held together by him.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe owns us.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo that\u0026rsquo;s a \u003cem\u003efundamental reality\u003c/em\u003e for all people to either\u0026hellip;\n\u003cstrong\u003eaccept\u003c/strong\u003e or not, because there\u0026rsquo;s nothing they can do to \u003cstrong\u003eaffect\u003c/strong\u003e it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNothing anybody can do will update the reality that \u003ca href=\"/reflection-psalm-93/\"\u003eYahweh is king\u003c/a\u003e.\nPeople can either accept that or not.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy God\u0026rsquo;s grace, I am free to accept it.\nBy God\u0026rsquo;s grace, he has picked me out of the kingdom of darkness and placed me,\nimported me into the kingdom of light.\nHe has made me a citizen of the celestial city.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI didn\u0026rsquo;t choose it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI didn\u0026rsquo;t ask.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe \u003ca href=\"/helkyo-what-is-it-for-god-to-draw-man-to-him\"\u003edrew\u003c/a\u003e me to him.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"freedom\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eFreedom\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#freedom\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI can say \u0026ldquo;by God\u0026rsquo;s grace\u0026rdquo; because it\u0026rsquo;s by no other thing that I have breath\nright now and that I can write this reflection.\nHe holds the universe together.\nMy life is not my own to live to me because I don\u0026rsquo;t own my life.\nI am the possession of the king of the universe.\nAnd I am free to find fulfillment and joy in that.\nI am free to be satisfied by the king.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFreed from the oppression of materialism and worldliness and lust and greed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m freed from the oppression of darkness.\nFreed to accept and call Yahweh my loving king rather than the conquering king\nwho I stand opposed to in the end times, whatever that kind of means.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy God\u0026rsquo;s grace, I get to love him.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so to today, why do I say by God\u0026rsquo;s grace?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause everything that is good that happens to me is by his grace.\nAnd every trial or pain or bad thing I could think of or experience is only as bad as it is by his grace.\nAnd that trial, whatever it was or whatever may come -\nI pray I can echo Paul\u0026rsquo;s words and say that it pales in comparison to the glory of the king.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePraise the Lord.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Style\"\n\n This blog was fully orated and transcribed. I edited the transcript with some links and formatting\n\n![You can listen now!](https://dropper.wayl.one/file/a014f1f5-0ea6-46b7-94cd-c2c6f02ad9a6.mp3)\n\nOkay, so I had this thought about, honestly, just like what I would say. If\nsomebody asked me, why do I say the phrase \"by God's grace\" so often? And it's\nrelated to a [thought I had a while back](/reflection-psalm-9-1) where my\nbest friend would, where Michael would say, \"praise God\", out of like forced\nhabit. And it developed into a great point of spiritual maturity to say by reflex\n\"praise God\" in you know our slightly older age here, in our young parenthood.\nAnd so it's really related to that - I also say \"by God's grace\" a lot\nand why do I say that?\n\nI think it's related to these central themes that have been a part of my\nreflections of freedom but freedom to what? It is freedom to love Jesus - see\n\u003ca href=\"/helkyo-what-is-it-for-god-to-draw-man-to-him/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Helkyo - What is it for God to draw man to him?\" data-description=\"In John 6 there is a curious phrase about how the Father initiates the process of Salvation in the hearts of men.\" data-date=\"2025-10-27\"\u003eHelkyo - What is it for God to draw man to him?\u003c/a\u003e And before that, I'm not free\nat all.\n\n!!! danger \"\"\n\n I'm just bound by sin.\n\nAnd that paired with believing loyalty and the choices I make every day - And\nI'm free to make the right choice...\nAnd sometimes even in God's sovereignty, I obey my sin instead of my king.\nWhich brings me to by God's grace.\n\n## God's Grace\n\nMy life is not my own, and this is kind of a cliched phrase almost, but it's\nsomething I think I'm just, I'm coming to accept in a new way.\n\n!!! note \"\"\n\n My life does not belong to me.\n\n### Belongings\n\nI have possessions and I can do kind of whatever I want with them.\nI could break them and mend them and use them or not or let them get dirty or\nclean them. And it's up to me because they're my possessions.\n\nAnd we have lots of Christian language - \"God adopts us as sons\" and we're\n\"co-heirs and co-conquerers with Jesus\"...\n\nThose things are true, but also God owns us.\n\n!!! note \"\"\n\n Everything in creation is his.\n\nHe redeems us unto himself, not just as a father and son, not just as the\nprodigal son or something like that - all things are made by him and held together by him.\n\nHe owns us.\n\nSo that's a _fundamental reality_ for all people to either...\n**accept** or not, because there's nothing they can do to **affect** it.\n\nNothing anybody can do will update the reality that [Yahweh is king](/reflection-psalm-93/).\nPeople can either accept that or not.\n\nBy God's grace, I am free to accept it.\nBy God's grace, he has picked me out of the kingdom of darkness and placed me,\nimported me into the kingdom of light.\nHe has made me a citizen of the celestial city.\n\nI didn't choose it.\n\nI didn't ask.\n\nHe [drew](/helkyo-what-is-it-for-god-to-draw-man-to-him) me to him.\n\n## Freedom\n\nI can say \"by God's grace\" because it's by no other thing that I have breath\nright now and that I can write this reflection.\nHe holds the universe together.\nMy life is not my own to live to me because I don't own my life.\nI am the possession of the king of the universe.\nAnd I am free to find fulfillment and joy in that.\nI am free to be satisfied by the king.\n\nFreed from the oppression of materialism and worldliness and lust and greed.\n\nI'm freed from the oppression of darkness.\nFreed to accept and call Yahweh my loving king rather than the conquering king\nwho I stand opposed to in the end times, whatever that kind of means.\n\nBy God's grace, I get to love him.\n\nAnd so to today, why do I say by God's grace?\n\nBecause everything that is good that happens to me is by his grace.\nAnd every trial or pain or bad thing I could think of or experience is only as bad as it is by his grace.\nAnd that trial, whatever it was or whatever may come -\nI pray I can echo Paul's words and say that it pales in comparison to the glory of the king.\n\nPraise the Lord.\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Style\"", "date_published": "2025-11-18T13:27:15Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-18T13:27:15Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-go-forward-only-thing-to-do/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-go-forward-only-thing-to-do/", "title": "Reflection - Go Forward - Only Thing To Do", "content_html": "\u003ch2 id=\"reflection\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eReflection\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#reflection\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday I am thinking about the blessings in my life\u0026hellip; In my opinion, I have a\nlot going for me - God has been so utterly good to me that finding fault with\nanything that was outside my control feels near-sinful\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn my adult life I have a reached several \u0026ldquo;checkpoints of success\u0026rdquo; for lack of\na better stupid word\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003esmokin\u0026rsquo; hot wife that loves Jesus\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e2 beautiful daughters\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003estable work that I\u0026rsquo;m also good at\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eby all accounts - excellent physical health\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eby all accounts - very decent mental health (more on this later)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ea house, food, water, and the means to do recreation\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, it\u0026rsquo;s very clear that God has been very good to me - and at the same time\nit\u0026rsquo;s probably wrong to give the impression that there was no sacrifice, pain,\nor affliction in my life so far\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHere\u0026rsquo;s what\u0026rsquo;s on my mind - I \u003ca href=\"/kind/\" class=\"glossary-term\" title=\"kind - kubernetes in docker\" data-hover-title=\"kind\"\u003ekind\u003c/a\u003e of think God has given me so much in my adult\nlife as a byproduct of my childhood. This note will not be full of gory\ndetails, but here\u0026rsquo;s one I find comical (though my wife finds it sad\u0026hellip; you be\nthe judge)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 id=\"breakfast-and-school\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eBreakfast and School\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#breakfast-and-school\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen I was a kid, like elementary school, I would take care of myself to pretty\nextraordinary degrees. The short of this example is that at 5 years old I was\ngetting myself up in the morning, getting dressed, making breakfast, and then\nwaking my mom up to take me to school.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI recently found out that my dad knew this and when he made some work changes\nthat resulted in him being home in the morning, it turned out I wanted nearly\nnothing to do with it! I still wanted to make my own breakfast and do my normal\nroutine.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eNote\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTurns out a lot of that is explained by Autism \u003cem\u003eshrug emoji\u003c/em\u003e who knew?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLooking back, there\u0026rsquo;s deep threads about who I am, my work ethic, outlook on\nresponsibility, etc. that have roots in my childhood morning situation\u0026hellip; but\nto me, what I think are the results of this upbringing are the gifts that God\nhas given me\u0026hellip; not to \u0026ldquo;make up\u0026rdquo; for a lost childhood, but as humans simply\nadapt they evolve and become better at handling what\u0026rsquo;s thrown at them.\nTheologically I would say these experiences teach wisdom, and wisdom is a\npattern in which we are to walk through life in a godly manner.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet me wrap up this short anecdote - my dad was visiting recently and over the\ncourse of conversation this fact about my childhood came up. We\u0026rsquo;re all adults\nnow, my parents are divorced and married to other people, and when this came up\nI saw for just a second some pain on my dad\u0026rsquo;s face. It\u0026rsquo;s probably why my wife\nthinks this is sad too - for the observer, my childhood wasn\u0026rsquo;t taken from me,\nbut it was never given either (again - there\u0026rsquo;s \u003cstrong\u003emuch more\u003c/strong\u003e than this silly\nbreakfast thing). That\u0026rsquo;s sad to emotionally-regulated adults who know what a\nchild needs. And in my journey as a dad I totally see how I was neglected in\nmany ways - but again, I\u0026rsquo;m not upset about it, and at the same time I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t\nattempt to replicate my experience for my own children\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI guess what I\u0026rsquo;m saying is that God is good, and I think it\u0026rsquo;s in spending so\nmuch time and energy in focusing on his goodness that the sad stuff can kind of\njust\u0026hellip; fall away\u0026hellip; It certainly happened, but it happen\u003cstrong\u003eed\u003c/strong\u003e and today is a\nnew day.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally consider Bilbo, The Hobbit, when he falls down deep into the goblin\u0026rsquo;s\ncave, right before meeting Golem. He takes a tumble, gets up, and\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eOnly thing to do\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Go back?\u0026quot; he thought. \u0026ldquo;No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!\u0026rdquo; So up he got, and trotted along\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n## Reflection\n\nToday I am thinking about the blessings in my life... In my opinion, I have a\nlot going for me - God has been so utterly good to me that finding fault with\nanything that was outside my control feels near-sinful...\n\nIn my adult life I have a reached several \"checkpoints of success\" for lack of\na better stupid word...\n\n1. smokin' hot wife that loves Jesus\n2. 2 beautiful daughters\n3. stable work that I'm also good at\n4. by all accounts - excellent physical health\n5. by all accounts - very decent mental health (more on this later)\n6. a house, food, water, and the means to do recreation\n\nSo, it's very clear that God has been very good to me - and at the same time\nit's probably wrong to give the impression that there was no sacrifice, pain,\nor affliction in my life so far...\n\nHere's what's on my mind - I kind of think God has given me so much in my adult\nlife as a byproduct of my childhood. This note will not be full of gory\ndetails, but here's one I find comical (though my wife finds it sad... you be\nthe judge)\n\n### Breakfast and School\n\nWhen I was a kid, like elementary school, I would take care of myself to pretty\nextraordinary degrees. The short of this example is that at 5 years old I was\ngetting myself up in the morning, getting dressed, making breakfast, and then\nwaking my mom up to take me to school.\n\nI recently found out that my dad knew this and when he made some work changes\nthat resulted in him being home in the morning, it turned out I wanted nearly\nnothing to do with it! I still wanted to make my own breakfast and do my normal\nroutine.\n\n!!! note \"\"\n\n Turns out a lot of that is explained by Autism *shrug emoji* who knew?\n\nLooking back, there's deep threads about who I am, my work ethic, outlook on\nresponsibility, etc. that have roots in my childhood morning situation... but\nto me, what I think are the results of this upbringing are the gifts that God\nhas given me... not to \"make up\" for a lost childhood, but as humans simply\nadapt they evolve and become better at handling what's thrown at them.\nTheologically I would say these experiences teach wisdom, and wisdom is a\npattern in which we are to walk through life in a godly manner.\n\nLet me wrap up this short anecdote - my dad was visiting recently and over the\ncourse of conversation this fact about my childhood came up. We're all adults\nnow, my parents are divorced and married to other people, and when this came up\nI saw for just a second some pain on my dad's face. It's probably why my wife\nthinks this is sad too - for the observer, my childhood wasn't taken from me,\nbut it was never given either (again - there's **much more** than this silly\nbreakfast thing). That's sad to emotionally-regulated adults who know what a\nchild needs. And in my journey as a dad I totally see how I was neglected in\nmany ways - but again, I'm not upset about it, and at the same time I wouldn't\nattempt to replicate my experience for my own children...\n\nI guess what I'm saying is that God is good, and I think it's in spending so\nmuch time and energy in focusing on his goodness that the sad stuff can kind of\njust... fall away... It certainly happened, but it happen**ed** and today is a\nnew day.\n\nFinally consider Bilbo, The Hobbit, when he falls down deep into the goblin's\ncave, right before meeting Golem. He takes a tumble, gets up, and...\n\n!!! note \"Only thing to do\"\n\n “Go back?\" he thought. \"No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!\" So up he got, and trotted along...\n", "summary": "Today I am thinking about the blessings in my life... In my opinion, I have a lot going for me - God has been so utterly good to me that finding fault with...", "date_published": "2025-11-05T06:04:16Z", "date_modified": "2025-11-05T06:04:16Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-9-1/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-9-1/", "title": "Reflection - Psalm 9:1", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePsalm 9:1\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI will thank Yahweh with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"praise-god\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003ePraise God\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#praise-god\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe phrase \u0026ldquo;praise God\u0026rdquo; has become a common phrase in my life. I\u0026rsquo;m blessed to\nhave my best friend, Michael, in my life after 15+ years. Back in high school,\nI forget how it came up, but he told me that anytime something good happens, he\nforces himself to just audibly say \u0026ldquo;praise God\u0026rdquo;. Jesus certainly quickened that\nto my heart, and it was again in high school that I witnessed some fruit of,\nnot using the phrase, but practicing giving glory to God in the smaller moments.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome youth group kids were helping a church member replace their roof - so lots\nof high-schoolers tearing shingles off, hauling garbage, etc. As we were on the\nroof, one of the guys nearly fell off (we hadn\u0026rsquo;t even heard of \u0026ldquo;tie-offs\u0026rdquo;\nbefore). Something like a nail caught his shorts and he recovered his grip. I\nimmediately said \u0026ldquo;Praise God\u0026rdquo;, and him and another guy looked at me and they go\n\u0026ldquo;\u0026hellip;. ya! Praise God for sure!\u0026rdquo; and I think they had a similar experience then\nlike I had with Michael, where when something good happens we draw attention to\nthe Lord, and that edifies those around us.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI don\u0026rsquo;t know when it became habit, but certainly \u0026ldquo;today\u0026rdquo; not a day goes by where\nthe phrase \u0026ldquo;Praise God\u0026rdquo; doesn\u0026rsquo;t leave my lips at least once. On one hand, I\nthink Jesus has changed my heart to be more immediately responsive to him as\nthe giver of good things, and so it\u0026rsquo;s natural now that when something good\nhappens not to \u0026ldquo;just say\u0026rdquo; \u0026ldquo;Praise the Lord\u0026rdquo;, but to give thanks and actually\npraise the Lord!. This has been an edifying practice in my life for my own\nheart. However, on the other hand, bringing attention to God\u0026rsquo;s glory in the\nwake of good things is good for others. I have noticed my wife and kids, in\ntheir own ways, adopt a similar response to good things, and that\u0026rsquo;s\nbeen a steady stream of encouragement for me as the Lord continues to shape me\nand my family.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Psalm 9:1\"\n\n I will thank Yahweh with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.\n\n## Praise God\n\nThe phrase \"praise God\" has become a common phrase in my life. I'm blessed to\nhave my best friend, Michael, in my life after 15+ years. Back in high school,\nI forget how it came up, but he told me that anytime something good happens, he\nforces himself to just audibly say \"praise God\". Jesus certainly quickened that\nto my heart, and it was again in high school that I witnessed some fruit of,\nnot using the phrase, but practicing giving glory to God in the smaller moments.\n\nSome youth group kids were helping a church member replace their roof - so lots\nof high-schoolers tearing shingles off, hauling garbage, etc. As we were on the\nroof, one of the guys nearly fell off (we hadn't even heard of \"tie-offs\"\nbefore). Something like a nail caught his shorts and he recovered his grip. I\nimmediately said \"Praise God\", and him and another guy looked at me and they go\n\".... ya! Praise God for sure!\" and I think they had a similar experience then\nlike I had with Michael, where when something good happens we draw attention to\nthe Lord, and that edifies those around us.\n\nI don't know when it became habit, but certainly \"today\" not a day goes by where\nthe phrase \"Praise God\" doesn't leave my lips at least once. On one hand, I\nthink Jesus has changed my heart to be more immediately responsive to him as\nthe giver of good things, and so it's natural now that when something good\nhappens not to \"just say\" \"Praise the Lord\", but to give thanks and actually\npraise the Lord!. This has been an edifying practice in my life for my own\nheart. However, on the other hand, bringing attention to God's glory in the\nwake of good things is good for others. I have noticed my wife and kids, in\ntheir own ways, adopt a similar response to good things, and that's\nbeen a steady stream of encouragement for me as the Lord continues to shape me\nand my family.\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Psalm 9:1\"", "date_published": "2025-10-30T06:12:37Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-30T06:12:37Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-mark-4-1-20/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-mark-4-1-20/", "title": "Reflection - Mark 4:1-20", "content_html": "\u003ch2 id=\"the-soils\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eThe Soils\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#the-soils\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI am in the middle of reprocessing the soils\u0026rsquo; parable - I heard a very\ninteresting interpretation the other day that I\u0026rsquo;m following up on. BUt while I\nwait for clarity in that conversation, there is still obvious truth for me to\nreflect on this morning\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdetails class=\"admonition note\" open\u003e\n\u003csummary class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eMark 4:1-20\u003c/summary\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMark 4:1–20 (LEB): 4And again he began to teach beside the sea, and a very large crowd was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was at the sea on the land. 2 And he began to teach them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, 3 “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, because it did not have any depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. 7 And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it, and it did not produce grain. 8 And other seed fell on the good soil, and produced grain, coming up and increasing, and it bore a crop—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much. 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!” 10 And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, 12 so that ‘they may look closely and not perceive, and they may listen carefully and not understand, lest they turn and it be forgiven them.’ ” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear it, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 And these are like the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then when affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word and it becomes unproductive. 20 And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive it and bear fruit—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/details\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eMark 4:18-19\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e18 And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word and it becomes unproductive.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-thorny-soil\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eThe Thorny Soil\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#the-thorny-soil\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy God\u0026rsquo;s good grace on my life, the Word has been sown and without a doubt my\nfaith has been proven beyond the depths of the path and shallow soils. My life\nhas not been without testing (not that I would ever claim to have not been\ngiven a better life than 99% of humans in the history of the world), but I fear\nthe test of my heart as it pertains to the thorny soil. God has been very good\nto me in work and finances. We aren\u0026rsquo;t ultra-wealthy, but I do have more than I\nneed. And something I notice\u0026hellip; as I\u0026rsquo;ve earned more, and invested more, I care\nmore\u0026hellip; My thoughts often wander around from \u0026ldquo;I should read that Proverb\u0026rdquo; to\n\u0026ldquo;If I can save X more dollars I could retire N weeks sooner\u0026rdquo;. I think what I\ndesire is freedom from the corporate cycle in America, but I fear what I desire\nis the comfort to give into my own whims without having to show up to a job\ntomorrow.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI do not think financial independence is a sin, or the desire of it. But I\nthink it does take a special constitution, a unique gifting from God, to\nsteward riches appropriately in a broken world while submitting oneself to the\nkingship of Jesus. I have known several wealthy Christians - they\u0026rsquo;re hard\nworkers and in general I think they\u0026rsquo;re honoring God with their work\u0026hellip; but do\nI? And in the working, whether honoring or not in the manner that I \u003cem\u003edo\u003c/em\u003e it, am I\nhonoring God in the manner in which I \u003cem\u003ethink\u003c/em\u003e about it? I don\u0026rsquo;t know\u0026hellip; I\nhonestly can only say with 100% certainty that I\u0026rsquo;m thankful God knows my heart\nbetter than I do, and I pray he helps my unbelief and quenches the underlying\nfears and anxieties about the riches of this life and what those riches enable.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n## The Soils\n\nI am in the middle of reprocessing the soils' parable - I heard a very\ninteresting interpretation the other day that I'm following up on. BUt while I\nwait for clarity in that conversation, there is still obvious truth for me to\nreflect on this morning...\n\n???+ note \"Mark 4:1-20\"\n\n Mark 4:1–20 (LEB): 4And again he began to teach beside the sea, and a very large crowd was gathered to him, so that he got into a boat and sat on the sea, and the whole crowd was at the sea on the land. 2 And he began to teach them many things in parables, and was saying to them in his teaching, 3 “Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened that while he was sowing, some seed fell on the side of the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up at once, because it did not have any depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose it was scorched, and because it did not have enough root, it withered. 7 And other seed fell among the thorn plants, and the thorn plants came up and choked it, and it did not produce grain. 8 And other seed fell on the good soil, and produced grain, coming up and increasing, and it bore a crop—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much. 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!” 10 And when he was alone, those around him together with the twelve began asking him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been granted the secret of the kingdom of God, but to those who are outside everything is in parables, 12 so that ‘they may look closely and not perceive, and they may listen carefully and not understand, lest they turn and it be forgiven them.’ ” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones beside the path where the word is sown, and whenever they hear it, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 And these are like the ones sown on the rocky ground, who whenever they hear the word immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but are temporary. Then when affliction or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word and it becomes unproductive. 20 And those are the ones sown on the good soil, who hear the word and receive it and bear fruit—one thirty and one sixty and one a hundred times as much.”\n\n!!! note \"Mark 4:18-19\"\n\n 18 And others are the ones sown among the thorn plants—these are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word and it becomes unproductive.\n\n## The Thorny Soil\n\nBy God's good grace on my life, the Word has been sown and without a doubt my\nfaith has been proven beyond the depths of the path and shallow soils. My life\nhas not been without testing (not that I would ever claim to have not been\ngiven a better life than 99% of humans in the history of the world), but I fear\nthe test of my heart as it pertains to the thorny soil. God has been very good\nto me in work and finances. We aren't ultra-wealthy, but I do have more than I\nneed. And something I notice... as I've earned more, and invested more, I care\nmore... My thoughts often wander around from \"I should read that Proverb\" to\n\"If I can save X more dollars I could retire N weeks sooner\". I think what I\ndesire is freedom from the corporate cycle in America, but I fear what I desire\nis the comfort to give into my own whims without having to show up to a job\ntomorrow.\n\nI do not think financial independence is a sin, or the desire of it. But I\nthink it does take a special constitution, a unique gifting from God, to\nsteward riches appropriately in a broken world while submitting oneself to the\nkingship of Jesus. I have known several wealthy Christians - they're hard\nworkers and in general I think they're honoring God with their work... but do\nI? And in the working, whether honoring or not in the manner that I _do_ it, am I\nhonoring God in the manner in which I _think_ about it? I don't know... I\nhonestly can only say with 100% certainty that I'm thankful God knows my heart\nbetter than I do, and I pray he helps my unbelief and quenches the underlying\nfears and anxieties about the riches of this life and what those riches enable.\n", "summary": "I am in the middle of reprocessing the soils' parable - I heard a very interesting interpretation the other day that I'm following up on. BUt while I wait...", "date_published": "2025-10-21T06:09:43Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-21T06:09:43Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-john-21-12/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-john-21-12/", "title": "Reflection - John 21:12", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eJohn 21:12\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus said to them, “Come, eat breakfast!” But none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew that it was the Lord.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"come-and-eat\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eCome and eat\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#come-and-eat\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus offers this communion with himself every day, and to very believer\u0026hellip;\nSharing a meal with someone is a pretty intimate thing (it\u0026rsquo;s why hibachi with\nstrangers is awkward). Sitting around a table, especially where you\u0026rsquo;d be eating\nwith your hands, is a setting for family, or the family you choose (friends).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus is the King of the universe, and he offers a seat at the table. I want\nthis to sit in my head without some unknown ethereal deep metaphorical\nmeaning\u0026hellip; The simple truth is Jesus offers not only a place to sit next to\nhim, to enjoy his company and wisdom, but the contents of the table. At the\nLast Supper he says he is the bread and cup, and after his resurrection he\ninvites his disciples to sit with him on the beach and eat breakfast here in\nJohn 21. Every invitation to eat with him is to share the same meat, the wine,\nthe conversation with the Saints, and ultimately the prize of time with the\nLord.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus is the \u003ca href=\"/reflection-philippians-3-8/#gain\"\u003eprize\u003c/a\u003e, not what he can do.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI am hesitant to answer this call often\u0026hellip; and it\u0026rsquo;s because I\u0026rsquo;m often more\nsatisfied by drive-thru wings eaten alone in my office than I am around the\ntable with Jesus and his other disciples. But he still offers an invitation\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026ldquo;Come, eat\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"choose-this-day-whom-you-will-serve\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eChoose this day whom you will serve\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#choose-this-day-whom-you-will-serve\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis invitation strikes me as the choice following in Joshua 24:15:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eNote\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus\u0026rsquo; offer to come and dine is him presenting a choice\u0026hellip; \u0026ldquo;choose for\nyourselves today whom you want to serve\u0026hellip;. but as for me and my household, we\nwill serve Yahweh.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe choice is daily, and every reflection of mine comes back to this. Jesus\noffers himself, his table, his righteousness, everything we need for godliness\nand flourishing as creatures made in his image. And yet every day, face to face\nwith the reality of the world the choice is still yours and mine to make -\ntoday, whom will you serve? Every day I have to say \u0026ldquo;as for me and my house, we\nwill serve the Lord\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMay that be true today, and tomorrow but tomorrow has enough trouble of its\nown, so today thank you Jesus for offering the table, to eat and drink\ntogether. And by the grace of his calling, today I will say \u0026ldquo;we will serve the\nLord.\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"John 21:12\"\n\n Jesus said to them, “Come, eat breakfast!” But none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew that it was the Lord.\n\n## Come and eat\n\nJesus offers this communion with himself every day, and to very believer...\nSharing a meal with someone is a pretty intimate thing (it's why hibachi with\nstrangers is awkward). Sitting around a table, especially where you'd be eating\nwith your hands, is a setting for family, or the family you choose (friends).\n\nJesus is the King of the universe, and he offers a seat at the table. I want\nthis to sit in my head without some unknown ethereal deep metaphorical\nmeaning... The simple truth is Jesus offers not only a place to sit next to\nhim, to enjoy his company and wisdom, but the contents of the table. At the\nLast Supper he says he is the bread and cup, and after his resurrection he\ninvites his disciples to sit with him on the beach and eat breakfast here in\nJohn 21. Every invitation to eat with him is to share the same meat, the wine,\nthe conversation with the Saints, and ultimately the prize of time with the\nLord.\n\nJesus is the [prize](/reflection-philippians-3-8/#gain), not what he can do.\n\nI am hesitant to answer this call often... and it's because I'm often more\nsatisfied by drive-thru wings eaten alone in my office than I am around the\ntable with Jesus and his other disciples. But he still offers an invitation\n\n\u003e \"Come, eat\"\n\n## Choose this day whom you will serve\n\nHis invitation strikes me as the choice following in Joshua 24:15:\n\n!!! note \"\"\n\n But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh.”\n\nJesus' offer to come and dine is him presenting a choice... \"choose for\nyourselves today whom you want to serve.... but as for me and my household, we\nwill serve Yahweh.\"\n\nThe choice is daily, and every reflection of mine comes back to this. Jesus\noffers himself, his table, his righteousness, everything we need for godliness\nand flourishing as creatures made in his image. And yet every day, face to face\nwith the reality of the world the choice is still yours and mine to make -\ntoday, whom will you serve? Every day I have to say \"as for me and my house, we\nwill serve the Lord\"\n\nMay that be true today, and tomorrow but tomorrow has enough trouble of its\nown, so today thank you Jesus for offering the table, to eat and drink\ntogether. And by the grace of his calling, today I will say \"we will serve the\nLord.\"\n", "summary": "!!! note \"John 21:12\"", "date_published": "2025-10-17T05:22:12Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-17T05:22:12Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-philippians-3-8/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-philippians-3-8/", "title": "Reflection - Philippians 3:8", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePhilippians 3:8\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than that, I even consider all things to be loss because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for the sake of whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and consider them dung, in order that I may gain Christ\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"loss\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eLoss\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#loss\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaul\u0026rsquo;s words are convicting this morning\u0026hellip; \u003cstrong\u003eI even consider all things to be loss\u003c/strong\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition danger\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eDanger\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDo I?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDo I consider anything and everything as closer to \u003cstrong\u003eliterally nothing\u003c/strong\u003e when\ncompared to knowing Jesus? I don\u0026rsquo;t know, this morning I can\u0026rsquo;t even articulate\nwhat it means to consider allthings \u0026ldquo;loss\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.statically.io/gh/pypeaday/images.pype.dev/main/blog-media/20251014103915_3412470b.png\" alt=\"20251014103915_3412470b.png\"\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat a trivial picture but how often is my mind and spirit stuck between the\ngreen boxes\u0026hellip; fixated again on my retirement, kid\u0026rsquo;s school costs, the fact\nthat ribeye steak is still $20/lbs. I have anxities like anyone else over\nthings in the world, and if my net worth increased by $3M today what would my\nresponse be\u0026hellip; would I consider it a loss when compared to the knowledge of\nJesus Christ? Or would I experience joy and hope for my earthly future\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOf course Paul\u0026rsquo;s note here isn\u0026rsquo;t that we have to just be angry about good\nthings and be sad forever until we\u0026rsquo;re on the other side of a consecrated\nheaven, but I think the point is if my net worth goes up by a lot of down by a\nlot, at the end of the day that\u0026rsquo;s still between the 2 green boxes in my\ndiagram\u0026hellip; And my mind needs to focus on Jesus. Not for what he can do for me,\npursuing him in light of my own fancies makes him out to be a Santa Claus, and\nin light of Paul\u0026rsquo;s words to the Philippian church would miss the point\nentirely. There is nothing for us to pursue for gain - that is the point.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ultimate gift is the knowledge of Christ. This knowledge changs us - by the\nmolding hand of Yahweh through the mediating power and authority of Jesus by\nthe Spirit indwelling our lives - the knowledge of Christ conforms us into his\nimage and likeness. But Jesus is the prize, he is the gain. Knowledge of him\nisn\u0026rsquo;t just knowing his name, it\u0026rsquo;s being known by him through communion and\nmeditation. Through daily repentence.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"gain\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eGain\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#gain\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI just found myself downcast over this reflection, knowledge of Christ is\nhard\u0026hellip; he chooses whome he chooses, frees whom he frees. In that freedom is\nwhere the comparison can be made. Only in the freedom of Jesus can you remove\nyourself from the line between the 2 green boxes in my picture, and even\nconsider the glory of the knowledge of Christ. Before new life all we know is\nthis:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.statically.io/gh/pypeaday/images.pype.dev/main/blog-media/20251014105124_bee8ebbd.png\" alt=\"20251014105124_bee8ebbd.png\"\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe chooses\u0026hellip; but then what? For some, loss must follow. In fact, for \u003cstrong\u003eall\u003c/strong\u003e loss\nwill eventually follow. The degree of that loss is not outside his sovereignty.\nPaul says he \u0026ldquo;suffered the loss of all things\u0026rdquo; - in this experience his\nmind is opened to the reality that was hidden from him, the knowledge that\nthere\u0026rsquo;s more but the only thing worth gaining is Jesus.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI hope I don\u0026rsquo;t have to suffer the loss of all things in order to more fully\ngrasp the gravity of my King. But his will be done on earth as it is in heaven,\nwhatever that may mean for my life. And may it be that I gain Christ.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Philippians 3:8\"\n\n More than that, I even consider all things to be loss because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for the sake of whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and consider them dung, in order that I may gain Christ\n\n## Loss\n\nPaul's words are convicting this morning... **I even consider all things to be loss**.\n\n!!! danger \"\"\n\n Do I?\n\nDo I consider anything and everything as closer to **literally nothing** when\ncompared to knowing Jesus? I don't know, this morning I can't even articulate\nwhat it means to consider allthings \"loss\".\n\n![20251014103915_3412470b.png](https://cdn.statically.io/gh/pypeaday/images.pype.dev/main/blog-media/20251014103915_3412470b.png)\n\nWhat a trivial picture but how often is my mind and spirit stuck between the\ngreen boxes... fixated again on my retirement, kid's school costs, the fact\nthat ribeye steak is still $20/lbs. I have anxities like anyone else over\nthings in the world, and if my net worth increased by $3M today what would my\nresponse be... would I consider it a loss when compared to the knowledge of\nJesus Christ? Or would I experience joy and hope for my earthly future...\n\nOf course Paul's note here isn't that we have to just be angry about good\nthings and be sad forever until we're on the other side of a consecrated\nheaven, but I think the point is if my net worth goes up by a lot of down by a\nlot, at the end of the day that's still between the 2 green boxes in my\ndiagram... And my mind needs to focus on Jesus. Not for what he can do for me,\npursuing him in light of my own fancies makes him out to be a Santa Claus, and\nin light of Paul's words to the Philippian church would miss the point\nentirely. There is nothing for us to pursue for gain - that is the point.\n\nThe ultimate gift is the knowledge of Christ. This knowledge changs us - by the\nmolding hand of Yahweh through the mediating power and authority of Jesus by\nthe Spirit indwelling our lives - the knowledge of Christ conforms us into his\nimage and likeness. But Jesus is the prize, he is the gain. Knowledge of him\nisn't just knowing his name, it's being known by him through communion and\nmeditation. Through daily repentence.\n\n## Gain\n\nI just found myself downcast over this reflection, knowledge of Christ is\nhard... he chooses whome he chooses, frees whom he frees. In that freedom is\nwhere the comparison can be made. Only in the freedom of Jesus can you remove\nyourself from the line between the 2 green boxes in my picture, and even\nconsider the glory of the knowledge of Christ. Before new life all we know is\nthis:\n\n![20251014105124_bee8ebbd.png](https://cdn.statically.io/gh/pypeaday/images.pype.dev/main/blog-media/20251014105124_bee8ebbd.png)\n\nHe chooses... but then what? For some, loss must follow. In fact, for **all** loss\nwill eventually follow. The degree of that loss is not outside his sovereignty.\nPaul says he \"suffered the loss of all things\" - in this experience his\nmind is opened to the reality that was hidden from him, the knowledge that\nthere's more but the only thing worth gaining is Jesus.\n\nI hope I don't have to suffer the loss of all things in order to more fully\ngrasp the gravity of my King. But his will be done on earth as it is in heaven,\nwhatever that may mean for my life. And may it be that I gain Christ.\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Philippians 3:8\"", "date_published": "2025-10-14T05:30:47Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-14T05:30:47Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-119-15/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-119-15/", "title": "Reflection - Psalm 119:15", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePsalm 119:15\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI will meditate on your precepts and look at your ways.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"meditate\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eMeditate\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#meditate\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon had a good thought here\u0026hellip; It is not the act of eating that actually\nnourishes our bodies, it is digestion\u0026hellip; The same is true for our spiritual\ngrowth - merely listening to a sermon will not transform your heart and life,\nthe Word of God must be digested and meditated upon to work in our members and\nchange us.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is it to go to church every week but never spend time musing upon the\nthings of God? If you chew your food and spit it out right after the meal what\ngood did it do you? Maybe you felt good during the songs, liked the taste of\nthe food, heard something interesting from the pastor, commented on the decor\nin the dining room\u0026hellip;. but once you leave, do you remember what you ate? Do you\ntalk about it with those who ate with you? Did you practice cooking that\ndelicious meal later in the week?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo it is with us and the precepts of the Lord.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe law of God, in light of Jesus, is not a burden any longer. We are free to\nfollow, free to choose good. But knowing good takes time\u0026hellip; a captive isn\u0026rsquo;t\nilluminated to all the ways of the free man who saved him the day his bonds are\ncut, he must study the new civilization he\u0026rsquo;s brought into - out of slavery and\ninto freedom, out of death and into life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd in that new life, Jesus - the embodiment of the law and the perfector of\nour faith changes us, molds us, teaches us about good and bad. His word is\nsweet and good.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePhilippians 4:8\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"think-about-these-things\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eThink about these things\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#think-about-these-things\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe instruction from Paul is almost too simple\u0026hellip; \u0026ldquo;just think about these\nthings\u0026rdquo;. By God\u0026rsquo;s grace I think a lot\u0026hellip; \u003cstrong\u003ea lot\u003c/strong\u003e. My thoughts are often hard\nto take hold of, and I\u0026rsquo;m led rather than leading in what I put my attention\nto, but also by God\u0026rsquo;s grace I fixate on the things of God often. This has not\nalways been, and is not always fun or exciting or without pain.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut we are all gifted by God in different ways, and afflicted in different ways.\nAn affliction he\u0026rsquo;s permitted in my life is often a blessing to me as my mind\nsometimes can\u0026rsquo;t let go of things that are pure and pleasing and commendable.\nThe overall thing that\u0026rsquo;s on my mind every day is the freedom Jesus offers to\nchoose good. The choice can only be made by the power of his resurrection, not\nby any moral teaching to be gleaned from his sermons as though he\u0026rsquo;s nothing\nmore than a philosopher.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition success\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eSuccess\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe raised me to life, I didn\u0026rsquo;t attend a lecture.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut what could be sweeter today in our finite lives, than the ability and\nfreedom to participate in bringing heaven to earth?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe have no means to do this though without meditating on the Lord\u0026rsquo;s precepts\u0026hellip;\nHow else can we know what is pleasing to heaven?\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Psalm 119:15\"\n\n I will meditate on your precepts and look at your ways.\n\n## Meditate\n\nSpurgeon had a good thought here... It is not the act of eating that actually\nnourishes our bodies, it is digestion... The same is true for our spiritual\ngrowth - merely listening to a sermon will not transform your heart and life,\nthe Word of God must be digested and meditated upon to work in our members and\nchange us.\n\nWhat is it to go to church every week but never spend time musing upon the\nthings of God? If you chew your food and spit it out right after the meal what\ngood did it do you? Maybe you felt good during the songs, liked the taste of\nthe food, heard something interesting from the pastor, commented on the decor\nin the dining room.... but once you leave, do you remember what you ate? Do you\ntalk about it with those who ate with you? Did you practice cooking that\ndelicious meal later in the week?\n\nSo it is with us and the precepts of the Lord.\n\nThe law of God, in light of Jesus, is not a burden any longer. We are free to\nfollow, free to choose good. But knowing good takes time... a captive isn't\nilluminated to all the ways of the free man who saved him the day his bonds are\ncut, he must study the new civilization he's brought into - out of slavery and\ninto freedom, out of death and into life.\n\nAnd in that new life, Jesus - the embodiment of the law and the perfector of\nour faith changes us, molds us, teaches us about good and bad. His word is\nsweet and good.\n\n!!! note \"Philippians 4:8\"\n\n Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things.\n\n## Think about these things\n\nThe instruction from Paul is almost too simple... \"just think about these\nthings\". By God's grace I think a lot... **a lot**. My thoughts are often hard\nto take hold of, and I'm led rather than leading in what I put my attention\nto, but also by God's grace I fixate on the things of God often. This has not\nalways been, and is not always fun or exciting or without pain.\n\nBut we are all gifted by God in different ways, and afflicted in different ways.\nAn affliction he's permitted in my life is often a blessing to me as my mind\nsometimes can't let go of things that are pure and pleasing and commendable.\nThe overall thing that's on my mind every day is the freedom Jesus offers to\nchoose good. The choice can only be made by the power of his resurrection, not\nby any moral teaching to be gleaned from his sermons as though he's nothing\nmore than a philosopher.\n\n!!! success \"\"\n\n He raised me to life, I didn't attend a lecture.\n\nBut what could be sweeter today in our finite lives, than the ability and\nfreedom to participate in bringing heaven to earth?\n\nWe have no means to do this though without meditating on the Lord's precepts...\nHow else can we know what is pleasing to heaven?\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Psalm 119:15\"", "date_published": "2025-10-12T05:59:30Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-12T05:59:30Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-jude-24/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-jude-24/", "title": "Reflection - Jude 24", "content_html": "\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eJude 24-25\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e24 Now to the one who is able to protect you from stumbling and make you to stand before his glory blameless with exultation, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and now and for all eternity. Amen.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"make-you-to-stand-before-his-glory-blameless-with-exultation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003emake you to stand before his glory blameless with exultation\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#make-you-to-stand-before-his-glory-blameless-with-exultation\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ultimate hope of the one called to Jesus - to be made blameless.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThose who are blameless are those who are free. When we are in debt we are\nlimited - this feels like a pretty natural thing. I owe money on my house, so\nthere\u0026rsquo;s about $1000/mo that I have to put towards that, no options. Worse than\na necessity (cause a place to live is a foundational need for humans) is\nunnecessary debt - debt for free choices.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition danger\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003epay as you go\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHave you seen these pay-as-you-go services? Affirm and Klarna, etc\u0026hellip;. You can finance (go into debt) your door dash orders, uber rides, amazon cart all usually with just a few clicks! They want you poor. Jesus doesn\u0026rsquo;t exactly want you rich with earthly wealth, but we make ourselves spiritually poor in the same manner and it\u0026rsquo;s that poverty that he saves us from.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo on one hand I\u0026rsquo;m \u0026ldquo;born a sinner\u0026rdquo; (take this as my mortgage) and on the other\nhand I make choices that dishonor my Lord - my heart gets worrisome or filled\nwith lust, I abandon my faith for anxiety over my future\u0026hellip; In this reflection\nI\u0026rsquo;m not debating \u003ca href=\"/original-sin/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Original Sin\" data-description=\"The doctrine (**) basically answers this question:\" data-date=\"2025-10-10\" data-preview=\"The doctrine (**) basically answers this question:\"\u003eOriginal Sin\u003c/a\u003e, for me today it\u0026rsquo;s moot\u0026hellip; I do sin, I will\nsin, and Jesus has saved me yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So the hope is a\nblessed gift from Jesus - that I will be \u003cstrong\u003emade to stand before him blameless\nwith exultation\u003c/strong\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo stand before the face of God is perhaps the most terrifying thing\nimaginable, or it should be for anyone in a wretched state. Ultimate goodness\nhas a way of making anyone \u003cstrong\u003eless\u003c/strong\u003e very uncomfortable. We even have a taste of\nthis truth on earth - consider this example. If you were at the gym or\nsomewhere having a conversation with someone who was a pastor and you let a\ncurse word fly, often people\u0026rsquo;s follow-up is to apologize to the pastor\u0026hellip; why?\nMy personal conviction is that cuss-words are just words, and most pastors\naren\u0026rsquo;t offended by them. But we all generally recognize pastors as \u0026ldquo;good men\u0026rdquo;\n(not all, mind you - don\u0026rsquo;t come at me with horror stories of abuse in the Church,\nI know it\u0026rsquo;s there, I hate it too, and those demons aren\u0026rsquo;t who I\u0026rsquo;m talking\nabout). So when we are face to face with \u0026ldquo;goodness\u0026rdquo; we recognize that some\nbehavior isn\u0026rsquo;t appropriate, if only for a second. So we apologize\u0026hellip; But a\npastor is just a man - to come face to face with the Lord Almighty, the very\ndefiner of Good, should horrify anyone not perfectly good themselves. A\nscary thing to have anything bad in me present before the Judge of the\nuniverse.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd yet \u003cstrong\u003eto the one who is able to protect you from stumbling and make you to\nstand before his glory blameless with exultation\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026hellip; Who is Jesus? The one who\nmakes me blameless. To be blameless is to be able to come face to face with\ngoodness. This is my hope, that in Christ alone for his glory and sake alone,\nam I made new and blameless.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"but-hope-isn-t-only-in-the-future\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eBut hope isn’t only in the future\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#but-hope-isn-t-only-in-the-future\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis ultimate hope isn\u0026rsquo;t the only hope though, it\u0026rsquo;s not the only thing Jesus\ndoes\u0026hellip; He saves us from more than just hell, and for more than just an\nethereal idea of goodness. He saves me to be free to choose goodness today as\nhe works in me to align my will with his\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eHebrews 13:20-21\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus left us a helper, the Holy Spirit. This person is the conduit through\nwhich Yahweh works in us to \u003cstrong\u003eequip {me} with every good thing to do his will,\ncarrying out in {me} what is pleasing before him\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHope is for tomorrow, but it\u0026rsquo;s also for today. Jesus makes us free \u003cstrong\u003etoday\u003c/strong\u003e as\nnew creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) to align with his will. You can\u0026rsquo;t choose him\nuntil he frees you to make the choice, and then in that freedom what else can\nyou do? Say \u0026ldquo;no thanks\u0026rdquo;\u0026hellip; lol. His call is the mighty arm of Yahweh reaching\ninto the ocean of chaos and death to raise the corpse of your soul to new life,\nto breath air for the first time, to walk on God\u0026rsquo;s green earth with new feet\nand new purpose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePraise the freaking Lord for salvation - for tomorrow and today. May my choices\ntoday reflect the goodness of my King, and if you\u0026rsquo;re reading this reflection,\nmay God bless you with this blessed hope of salvation.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n!!! note \"Jude 24-25\"\n\n 24 Now to the one who is able to protect you from stumbling and make you to stand before his glory blameless with exultation, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and now and for all eternity. Amen.\n\n## make you to stand before his glory blameless with exultation\n\nThe ultimate hope of the one called to Jesus - to be made blameless.\n\nThose who are blameless are those who are free. When we are in debt we are\nlimited - this feels like a pretty natural thing. I owe money on my house, so\nthere's about $1000/mo that I have to put towards that, no options. Worse than\na necessity (cause a place to live is a foundational need for humans) is\nunnecessary debt - debt for free choices.\n\n!!! danger \"pay as you go\"\n\n Have you seen these pay-as-you-go services? Affirm and Klarna, etc.... You can finance (go into debt) your door dash orders, uber rides, amazon cart all usually with just a few clicks! They want you poor. Jesus doesn't exactly want you rich with earthly wealth, but we make ourselves spiritually poor in the same manner and it's that poverty that he saves us from.\n\nSo on one hand I'm \"born a sinner\" (take this as my mortgage) and on the other\nhand I make choices that dishonor my Lord - my heart gets worrisome or filled\nwith lust, I abandon my faith for anxiety over my future... In this reflection\nI'm not debating \u003ca href=\"/original-sin/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Original Sin\" data-description=\"The doctrine (**) basically answers this question:\" data-date=\"2025-10-10\"\u003eOriginal Sin\u003c/a\u003e, for me today it's moot... I do sin, I will\nsin, and Jesus has saved me yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So the hope is a\nblessed gift from Jesus - that I will be **made to stand before him blameless\nwith exultation**.\n\nTo stand before the face of God is perhaps the most terrifying thing\nimaginable, or it should be for anyone in a wretched state. Ultimate goodness\nhas a way of making anyone **less** very uncomfortable. We even have a taste of\nthis truth on earth - consider this example. If you were at the gym or\nsomewhere having a conversation with someone who was a pastor and you let a\ncurse word fly, often people's follow-up is to apologize to the pastor... why?\nMy personal conviction is that cuss-words are just words, and most pastors\naren't offended by them. But we all generally recognize pastors as \"good men\"\n(not all, mind you - don't come at me with horror stories of abuse in the Church,\nI know it's there, I hate it too, and those demons aren't who I'm talking\nabout). So when we are face to face with \"goodness\" we recognize that some\nbehavior isn't appropriate, if only for a second. So we apologize... But a\npastor is just a man - to come face to face with the Lord Almighty, the very\ndefiner of Good, should horrify anyone not perfectly good themselves. A\nscary thing to have anything bad in me present before the Judge of the\nuniverse.\n\nAnd yet **to the one who is able to protect you from stumbling and make you to\nstand before his glory blameless with exultation**... Who is Jesus? The one who\nmakes me blameless. To be blameless is to be able to come face to face with\ngoodness. This is my hope, that in Christ alone for his glory and sake alone,\nam I made new and blameless.\n\n## But hope isn't only in the future\n\nThis ultimate hope isn't the only hope though, it's not the only thing Jesus\ndoes... He saves us from more than just hell, and for more than just an\nethereal idea of goodness. He saves me to be free to choose goodness today as\nhe works in me to align my will with his\n\n!!! note \"Hebrews 13:20-21\"\n\n 20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, carrying out in us what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever. Amen.\n\nJesus left us a helper, the Holy Spirit. This person is the conduit through\nwhich Yahweh works in us to **equip {me} with every good thing to do his will,\ncarrying out in {me} what is pleasing before him**\n\nHope is for tomorrow, but it's also for today. Jesus makes us free **today** as\nnew creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) to align with his will. You can't choose him\nuntil he frees you to make the choice, and then in that freedom what else can\nyou do? Say \"no thanks\"... lol. His call is the mighty arm of Yahweh reaching\ninto the ocean of chaos and death to raise the corpse of your soul to new life,\nto breath air for the first time, to walk on God's green earth with new feet\nand new purpose.\n\nPraise the freaking Lord for salvation - for tomorrow and today. May my choices\ntoday reflect the goodness of my King, and if you're reading this reflection,\nmay God bless you with this blessed hope of salvation.\n", "summary": "!!! note \"Jude 24-25\"", "date_published": "2025-10-10T05:52:12Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-10T05:52:12Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-numbers-11-11/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-numbers-11-11/", "title": "Reflection - Numbers 11:11", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eAs if the Lord orchestrated Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s meditation to give me a spring board to what I need for the third day in a row\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/reflection-1-kings-19-8/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - 1 Kings 19:8\" data-description=\"Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...\" data-date=\"2025-10-05\" data-preview=\"Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...\"\u003eReflection - 1 Kings 19:8\u003c/a\u003e He showed me that he sustains me unto his own service and glory\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"/reflection-john-4-14/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - John 4:14\" data-description=\"Today Spurgeon\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Morning and Evening\u0026#34; was on John 4:14\" data-date=\"2025-10-06\" data-preview=\"Today Spurgeon\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Morning and Evening\u0026#34; was on John 4:14\"\u003eReflection - John 4:14\u003c/a\u003e He showed me that I\u0026rsquo;ve been pushing away aspects of his provision\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd today I see the trials in my life reveal the status of my faith\u0026hellip; Last\nnight I got a phone call that I missed a credit card payment, which I thought\nodd since everything is on auto-pay. Well, turns out our checking account got a\nsmidge low, low enough that the credit card payment was cancelled\u0026hellip; In reality\nthis isn\u0026rsquo;t a huge deal, but it threw me off and continues to this morning. The\ntruth is, the only issue is my lack of in-depth understanding of our money\nmovement. Our lifestyle and living expenses are well below what we can\notherwise afford, but in my laziness I have mostly neglected each of our\naccounts individually. No doubt this \u0026ldquo;trial\u0026rdquo; is self-imposed but Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s\nmeditation is snapping me out of the funk that threw me into last night\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition success\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003efearless faith\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe text is \u003ca href=\"https://biblehub.com/numbers/11-11.htm\"\u003eNumbers 11:11\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eNumbers 11:11\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you brought trouble to your servant? Why have I not found favor in your eyes, that the burdens of all these people have been placed on me?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe meditation came from \u0026ldquo;Why have you brought trouble to your servant?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdetails class=\"admonition warning\"\u003e\n\u003csummary class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eMeditation vs Homily\u003c/summary\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy reflections over the summer have following the pattern of finding a scripture reference from Morning and Evening and then simply asking God to speak through the words of the text and Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s meditation. Historically I would study the text, but in the season of life I am in, where I do have years of studious foundation, I am trying to exercise trust in God to speak to me in ways outside of connecting theological knowledge dots that construct a mosaic of my own choosing. Instead I\u0026rsquo;m trying to just trust his sovereignty - he brought me to Morning and Evening on October 7, 2025 perhaps so that I could be encouraged in my faith in light of this missed credit card payment event/trial. These reflections are not meant to be educational on the Bible, or even on theology necessarily - I am practicing opening my mind and heart to God speaking to me in ways otherwise uncomfortable but with prudence as I\u0026rsquo;m not approaching these texts in ignorance. As I put these reflections into the world I want to be clear these are personal meditations, not Bible lessons\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/details\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"reflection\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eReflection\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#reflection\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith\u0026hellip; Are the\nsource of those trials my own choices? Other\u0026rsquo;s choices? Some meta-truth about the\nfallenness of creation? I think probably it\u0026rsquo;s all of that\u0026hellip; In reality, it doesn\u0026rsquo;t\nmatter \u003cstrong\u003ewhere\u003c/strong\u003e the trial comes from - directly from the heavens above or\noriginating in our own mistakes (such as mine of note above). There is almost\ncertainly some significance in the source but \u003cstrong\u003eultimately God\nis sovereign over every one of those possibilities\u003c/strong\u003e, and so in another sense,\nit\u0026rsquo;s almost insignificant what I consider the \u0026ldquo;source\u0026rdquo; of a trial. The real\nissue is how I respond to it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast night I was filled in my physical chest with a feeling of dread\u0026hellip; Seeing\nmy checking account low revealed that I have more digging to do to uncover any\ninternal reliance on my own systems of security (like money). And the dumb part\ndear reader, is we have other accounts and plenty of money\u0026hellip; I am in zero\nfinancial strain, but even so - seeing the number too low to make one of the\npayments sent my head into a whirlwind. God has also already provided a way out\nof this trial\u0026hellip; I have budgeting software that I\u0026rsquo;ve been using for a long time\nand am just not on top of. He gave me the software I use and the ability to use\nit but it\u0026rsquo;s my own lack of diligence that I think led to this \u0026ldquo;trial\u0026rdquo;. And yet,\nwith all that knowledge I find that I\u0026rsquo;m still troubled\u0026hellip; I think I have a\nstrong faith and one of my most common prayer is \u0026ldquo;Lord help my unbelief\u0026rdquo;, and\napparently today I need to shout this to the heavens. How \u003cstrong\u003edare\u003c/strong\u003e I allow\ndread to overcome me when I claim to know my God provides.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd in that I know he is still sweet to me. I\u0026rsquo;m a father, and when my kids make\na mess of themselves my first response (often, though I\u0026rsquo;m not perfect) to them\nis to kneel and say \u0026ldquo;hey I\u0026rsquo;m here, you\u0026rsquo;re safe\u0026rdquo;. The trial they make for\nthemselves may fill them with the dread I filled myself with last night in\nmissing that credit card payment\u0026hellip;. If I will approach my kids joyfully in\ntheir own mess, and if I write all these pages about God\u0026rsquo;s love for me and his\npeople, then ought I not adopt the mindset towrads God that I want my\ndaughter\u0026rsquo;s to have when I come to save them?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGod approaches me knowing that missing a credit card payment\nis hardly a bigger deal than my 4 year old spilling milk on the table. But my\nworld can become small just like their worlds are small and then my issues can\nfeel big. I need my heavenly father to kneel next to me and say \u0026ldquo;hey I\u0026rsquo;m here,\nyou\u0026rsquo;re safe\u0026rdquo;. I say I need it, but actually I mean to say that I have it, and\nbecause I have it is the only reason I can in-turn treat my daughter\u0026rsquo;s this way\nwhen their problems fill their little worlds.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePraise God for trials certainly, for what they reveal and for the Gospel truth\nthat by the calling of Jesus our faith can be made pure and complete.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nAs if the Lord orchestrated Spurgeon's meditation to give me a spring board to what I need for the third day in a row...\n\n- \u003ca href=\"/reflection-1-kings-19-8/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - 1 Kings 19:8\" data-description=\"Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...\" data-date=\"2025-10-05\"\u003eReflection - 1 Kings 19:8\u003c/a\u003e He showed me that he sustains me unto his own service and glory\n- \u003ca href=\"/reflection-john-4-14/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - John 4:14\" data-description=\"Today Spurgeon\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Morning and Evening\u0026#34; was on John 4:14\" data-date=\"2025-10-06\"\u003eReflection - John 4:14\u003c/a\u003e He showed me that I've been pushing away aspects of his provision\n\nAnd today I see the trials in my life reveal the status of my faith... Last\nnight I got a phone call that I missed a credit card payment, which I thought\nodd since everything is on auto-pay. Well, turns out our checking account got a\nsmidge low, low enough that the credit card payment was cancelled... In reality\nthis isn't a huge deal, but it threw me off and continues to this morning. The\ntruth is, the only issue is my lack of in-depth understanding of our money\nmovement. Our lifestyle and living expenses are well below what we can\notherwise afford, but in my laziness I have mostly neglected each of our\naccounts individually. No doubt this \"trial\" is self-imposed but Spurgeon's\nmeditation is snapping me out of the funk that threw me into last night\n\n!!! success \"fearless faith\"\n\n If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test\n\nThe text is [Numbers 11:11](https://biblehub.com/numbers/11-11.htm)\n\n!!! note \"Numbers 11:11\"\n\n And Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you brought trouble to your servant? Why have I not found favor in your eyes, that the burdens of all these people have been placed on me?\n\nThe meditation came from \"Why have you brought trouble to your servant?\"\n\n??? warning \"Meditation vs Homily\"\n\n My reflections over the summer have following the pattern of finding a scripture reference from Morning and Evening and then simply asking God to speak through the words of the text and Spurgeon's meditation. Historically I would study the text, but in the season of life I am in, where I do have years of studious foundation, I am trying to exercise trust in God to speak to me in ways outside of connecting theological knowledge dots that construct a mosaic of my own choosing. Instead I'm trying to just trust his sovereignty - he brought me to Morning and Evening on October 7, 2025 perhaps so that I could be encouraged in my faith in light of this missed credit card payment event/trial. These reflections are not meant to be educational on the Bible, or even on theology necessarily - I am practicing opening my mind and heart to God speaking to me in ways otherwise uncomfortable but with prudence as I'm not approaching these texts in ignorance. As I put these reflections into the world I want to be clear these are personal meditations, not Bible lessons\n\n## Reflection\n\nOur heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith... Are the\nsource of those trials my own choices? Other's choices? Some meta-truth about the\nfallenness of creation? I think probably it's all of that... In reality, it doesn't\nmatter **where** the trial comes from - directly from the heavens above or\noriginating in our own mistakes (such as mine of note above). There is almost\ncertainly some significance in the source but **ultimately God\nis sovereign over every one of those possibilities**, and so in another sense,\nit's almost insignificant what I consider the \"source\" of a trial. The real\nissue is how I respond to it.\n\nLast night I was filled in my physical chest with a feeling of dread... Seeing\nmy checking account low revealed that I have more digging to do to uncover any\ninternal reliance on my own systems of security (like money). And the dumb part\ndear reader, is we have other accounts and plenty of money... I am in zero\nfinancial strain, but even so - seeing the number too low to make one of the\npayments sent my head into a whirlwind. God has also already provided a way out\nof this trial... I have budgeting software that I've been using for a long time\nand am just not on top of. He gave me the software I use and the ability to use\nit but it's my own lack of diligence that I think led to this \"trial\". And yet,\nwith all that knowledge I find that I'm still troubled... I think I have a\nstrong faith and one of my most common prayer is \"Lord help my unbelief\", and\napparently today I need to shout this to the heavens. How **dare** I allow\ndread to overcome me when I claim to know my God provides.\n\nAnd in that I know he is still sweet to me. I'm a father, and when my kids make\na mess of themselves my first response (often, though I'm not perfect) to them\nis to kneel and say \"hey I'm here, you're safe\". The trial they make for\nthemselves may fill them with the dread I filled myself with last night in\nmissing that credit card payment.... If I will approach my kids joyfully in\ntheir own mess, and if I write all these pages about God's love for me and his\npeople, then ought I not adopt the mindset towrads God that I want my\ndaughter's to have when I come to save them?\n\nGod approaches me knowing that missing a credit card payment\nis hardly a bigger deal than my 4 year old spilling milk on the table. But my\nworld can become small just like their worlds are small and then my issues can\nfeel big. I need my heavenly father to kneel next to me and say \"hey I'm here,\nyou're safe\". I say I need it, but actually I mean to say that I have it, and\nbecause I have it is the only reason I can in-turn treat my daughter's this way\nwhen their problems fill their little worlds.\n\nPraise God for trials certainly, for what they reveal and for the Gospel truth\nthat by the calling of Jesus our faith can be made pure and complete.\n", "summary": "As if the Lord orchestrated Spurgeon's meditation to give me a spring board to what I need for the third day in a row...", "date_published": "2025-10-07T05:07:19Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-07T05:07:19Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-john-4-14/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-john-4-14/", "title": "Reflection - John 4:14", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eToday Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Morning and Evening\u0026rdquo; was on John 4:14\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eJohn 4:14\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut whoever drinks of this water which I will give to him will never be thirsty for eternity, but the water which I will give to him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeing autistic and growing up in the Church led to a few acute pain points for\nme growing up. A commonplace issue for me was when theological truths were\nexpressed in absolute terms but didn\u0026rsquo;t \u0026ldquo;feel absolutely true\u0026rdquo; for me. I made a\npractice of trying to force myself to just \u0026ldquo;be ok\u0026rdquo; in light of the truth.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition warning\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eA Memory\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarissa was one of my best friends in high school - we spent a lot of time together in church, school, extra-curriculars, etc. She was an ever-present friend to me even when I was difficult to love. I recall multiple times, and one vivid memory for sure where I wasn\u0026rsquo;t doing well and she inquired. But my response was \u0026ldquo;I have Jesus, so I have to be OK\u0026rdquo;. I tried to filter my immediate acute pain through the lens of eternal glory. And yes, Paul muses in this fashion as well, but Paul wasn\u0026rsquo;t a 16 year old undiagnosed autistic\u0026hellip; Was everythign going to be alright in the end when I was 16? Oh ya, but was everything all right then? No\u0026hellip; Marissa was a great friend, and Jesus has been sweet to me in this struggle, but nonetheless it would\u0026rsquo;ve been awesome if someone recognized the pain I was in with the wisdom to address me back then.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday, one of those truths comes up but it is not painful - \u003cstrong\u003eit is so relieving\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"the-heart-is-as-insatiable-as-the-grave-until-jesus-enters-it\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eThe heart is as insatiable as the grave until Jesus enters it\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#the-heart-is-as-insatiable-as-the-grave-until-jesus-enters-it\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYesterday God brought me a truth that he sustains me unto his own service -\n\u003ca href=\"/reflection-1-kings-19-8/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - 1 Kings 19:8\" data-description=\"Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...\" data-date=\"2025-10-05\" data-preview=\"Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...\"\u003eReflection - 1 Kings 19:8\u003c/a\u003e. And today I\u0026rsquo;m reminded that on his sustenance I\nwill \u0026ldquo;never thirst\u0026rdquo;. But of course this isn\u0026rsquo;t a plain and simple truth. I\nthirst for grace more and more every day, but what I\u0026rsquo;m finding in the season of\nending Summer 2025, post/present-multiple years of political awareness, and\nnear-hatred for my financial reliance on some other guy\u0026rsquo;s company that my heart\n\u003cstrong\u003ewants\u003c/strong\u003e for much right now, but even \u003cstrong\u003ein that wanting\u003c/strong\u003e this truth rests\nsoftly on me that Jesus is and ought to be enough. I can be resistant to this\nout of fear of losing a drive to provide more and more for my family.\nContentedness is certainly a gift from God, but as I\u0026rsquo;ve been reflecting I see\nfear in my heart\u0026hellip; As I\u0026rsquo;ve rejected the truth that \u0026ldquo;Jesus is \u003cstrong\u003eenough\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026rdquo; my\nheart longs for satisfaction, and when I get in my own way then fear and sin\ncreep in.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor me and my reflection right now the competing ideas are building financial\nwealth for myself and my family out of a desire for freedom from a system that\nI don\u0026rsquo;t like, but also\u0026hellip; isn\u0026rsquo;t Jesus enough? My heart is in the same cunundrum\nas I was in at 16 when asked \u0026ldquo;are you OK?\u0026rdquo;. But with wisdom, experince, and\nperspective I guess the tension isn\u0026rsquo;t uncomfortable anymore (not that I\u0026rsquo;m\nliving in the tension perfectly). There\u0026rsquo;s work for Jesus to do on my heart, and\nyet I know the work he has done and that proves his faithfulness to me to not\nleave me unfinished.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs he works on me, I have day-to-day choices to make.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhom will I serve?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat will fill my heart?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWill what I fill it with satisfy or like a glass of salt-water at sea leave me worse-off in the end?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJesus has been good to me in ushering my heart through truths like this where\nthere\u0026rsquo;s an \u0026ldquo;already but not yet\u0026rdquo; element to them. Jesus fully satisfies my\nheart, this is true. It\u0026rsquo;s also true that I\u0026rsquo;m still a sinner. I don\u0026rsquo;t feel like\nI always only thirst for more of my Lord - today I thirst for a larger\nretirement account and assets to financially support me for the next 20\nyears\u0026hellip; is this wrong? I don\u0026rsquo;t think so, not with appropriate perspective. And\nI\u0026rsquo;ve been feeling more and more in the last few weeks that Jesus is restoring\nme unto a new season of service and work. I don\u0026rsquo;t know what it\u0026rsquo;ll look like and\naccepting a murky future feels scary, but in the light of the Son - by whose\ngrace my lungs fill with air as I type - I can walk and work with plans that\nchange knowing my faithful God satisfies.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nToday Spurgeon's \"Morning and Evening\" was on John 4:14\n\n!!! note \"John 4:14\"\n\n But whoever drinks of this water which I will give to him will never be thirsty for eternity, but the water which I will give to him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”\n\nBeing autistic and growing up in the Church led to a few acute pain points for\nme growing up. A commonplace issue for me was when theological truths were\nexpressed in absolute terms but didn't \"feel absolutely true\" for me. I made a\npractice of trying to force myself to just \"be ok\" in light of the truth.\n\n!!! warning \"A Memory\"\n\n Marissa was one of my best friends in high school - we spent a lot of time together in church, school, extra-curriculars, etc. She was an ever-present friend to me even when I was difficult to love. I recall multiple times, and one vivid memory for sure where I wasn't doing well and she inquired. But my response was \"I have Jesus, so I have to be OK\". I tried to filter my immediate acute pain through the lens of eternal glory. And yes, Paul muses in this fashion as well, but Paul wasn't a 16 year old undiagnosed autistic... Was everythign going to be alright in the end when I was 16? Oh ya, but was everything all right then? No... Marissa was a great friend, and Jesus has been sweet to me in this struggle, but nonetheless it would've been awesome if someone recognized the pain I was in with the wisdom to address me back then.\n\nToday, one of those truths comes up but it is not painful - **it is so relieving**\n\n## The heart is as insatiable as the grave until Jesus enters it\n\nYesterday God brought me a truth that he sustains me unto his own service -\n\u003ca href=\"/reflection-1-kings-19-8/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - 1 Kings 19:8\" data-description=\"Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...\" data-date=\"2025-10-05\"\u003eReflection - 1 Kings 19:8\u003c/a\u003e. And today I'm reminded that on his sustenance I\nwill \"never thirst\". But of course this isn't a plain and simple truth. I\nthirst for grace more and more every day, but what I'm finding in the season of\nending Summer 2025, post/present-multiple years of political awareness, and\nnear-hatred for my financial reliance on some other guy's company that my heart\n**wants** for much right now, but even **in that wanting** this truth rests\nsoftly on me that Jesus is and ought to be enough. I can be resistant to this\nout of fear of losing a drive to provide more and more for my family.\nContentedness is certainly a gift from God, but as I've been reflecting I see\nfear in my heart... As I've rejected the truth that \"Jesus is **enough**\" my\nheart longs for satisfaction, and when I get in my own way then fear and sin\ncreep in.\n\nFor me and my reflection right now the competing ideas are building financial\nwealth for myself and my family out of a desire for freedom from a system that\nI don't like, but also... isn't Jesus enough? My heart is in the same cunundrum\nas I was in at 16 when asked \"are you OK?\". But with wisdom, experince, and\nperspective I guess the tension isn't uncomfortable anymore (not that I'm\nliving in the tension perfectly). There's work for Jesus to do on my heart, and\nyet I know the work he has done and that proves his faithfulness to me to not\nleave me unfinished.\n\nAs he works on me, I have day-to-day choices to make.\n\n1. Whom will I serve?\n2. What will fill my heart?\n3. Will what I fill it with satisfy or like a glass of salt-water at sea leave me worse-off in the end?\n\nJesus has been good to me in ushering my heart through truths like this where\nthere's an \"already but not yet\" element to them. Jesus fully satisfies my\nheart, this is true. It's also true that I'm still a sinner. I don't feel like\nI always only thirst for more of my Lord - today I thirst for a larger\nretirement account and assets to financially support me for the next 20\nyears... is this wrong? I don't think so, not with appropriate perspective. And\nI've been feeling more and more in the last few weeks that Jesus is restoring\nme unto a new season of service and work. I don't know what it'll look like and\naccepting a murky future feels scary, but in the light of the Son - by whose\ngrace my lungs fill with air as I type - I can walk and work with plans that\nchange knowing my faithful God satisfies.\n", "summary": "Today Spurgeon's \"Morning and Evening\" was on John 4:14", "date_published": "2025-10-06T06:09:02Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-06T06:09:02Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-1-kings-19-8/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-1-kings-19-8/", "title": "Reflection - 1 Kings 19:8", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at\na meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be\nrefreshed from any passage of scripture. This isn\u0026rsquo;t because the Bible is magic,\nand I believe it should be studied appropriately in context (heavily) in order to\nsolidify foundational pieces of understanding.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut I also cannot deny that I serve a living God who actively works in the\nlives of people - and one way he might do that is to encourage through pastoral\nreflection on Biblical truths that may be \u003cstrong\u003ebrought to mind\u003c/strong\u003e though not\nnecessarily instructed in a passage. This is a specific point of Christian life\nthat I have been meditating loosely on lately - to be open in my heart to\nfinding joy and refreshment in Biblical truths that God may bring to mind even\nthough the \u0026ldquo;origin\u0026rdquo; of that thought might be an unrelated passage of Scripture.\nThis has been the case for a few weeks at this point, and today felt\nsignificant as I read Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s thoughts on being supplied for the sake of the\nLord\u0026rsquo;s service.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003e1 Kings 19:8\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition warning\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eQuick Context\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJezebel is chasing the prophet Elijah who has fled into the wilderness. Elijah\nfears for his life and asks Yahweh to simply kill him. Yahweh (well, the \u003ca href=\"/angel-of-yahweh/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Angel of Yahweh\" data-description=\"The Angel of Yahweh is but isn\u0026#39;t Yahweh, it\u0026#39;s the second person of the Trinity, the visible Yahweh to the invisible Yahweh\" data-date=\"2025-10-05\" data-preview=\"The Angel of Yahweh is but isn\u0026#39;t Yahweh, it\u0026#39;s the second person of the Trinity, the visible Yahweh to the invisible Yahweh\"\u003eAngel of Yahweh\u003c/a\u003e\u0026hellip;\nbut we\u0026rsquo;ll do that another time) meets him in his distress resting\nunder a tree - he provides food, water, and protection for Elijah to take a\nnap. He does it again and then tells Elijah to travel to Horeb.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"reflection\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"heading-wear-glyph\"\u003eReflection\u003c/span\u003e \u003ca href=\"#reflection\" class=\"heading-anchor\"\u003e#\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElijah is faithful to the Lord, and finds himself tired and in need. Yahweh\nmeets him, feeds him, and then \u003cstrong\u003egives him more work to do\u003c/strong\u003e. This is the point\nof Spurgeon\u0026rsquo;s writing this morning, that every ounce of work should be poured\nout unto the Lord\u0026rsquo;s service. Every single thing I do should be laced with songs\nof praise to the King. It\u0026rsquo;s easy to say \u0026ldquo;blessed be the Name of the Lord\u0026rdquo; when\nI am in surplus, and even in trial and want I think my faith has been tested\nand proven to some non-trivial degrees\u0026hellip; But what about when I\u0026rsquo;m tired? Do I\nseek rest as a means to be refreshed \u003cstrong\u003eunto his service\u003c/strong\u003e? Or do I seek a\nhollow shell of rest, one that in reality isn\u0026rsquo;t restorative and refreshing, but\nis instead deadening and numbing\u0026hellip; I think I find myself actively pushing\nagainst holy rest out of love for, and slavery to myself. Maybe not quite to\ndoom and selfish as to say \u0026ldquo;myself\u0026rdquo; only, but out of fear of something else -\nmaybe as trivial as failure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGod is bringing to my mind why I haven\u0026rsquo;t built more, why I\u0026rsquo;m disconnected from\nwork, why I zonk out so much\u0026hellip; If I accept refreshment - physical refreshment-\nthrough a God-given grace then I am duty-bound to use it wisely\u0026hellip; But I find\nthat I am afraid of the daunting work of doing something well, and day to day I\nfind myself hesitant to accept the refreshment out of an abandonment of the\ngood that can come through the hard work of doing it well.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGod is telling me to eat and drink, to be refreshed\u0026hellip; I genuinely believe God\nis speaking to me through 1 King 19:8 - to take the strength he provides via\nthe channels I know he provides them, and to wisely-steward the work he\u0026rsquo;s given\nme to do.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis week I\u0026rsquo;ve pre-planned to dedicate time away from work to my own project\nand I feel encouraged going into tomorrow almost with foreknowledge of the\nstrength God will offer me in the morning\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nSpurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at\na meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be\nrefreshed from any passage of scripture. This isn't because the Bible is magic,\nand I believe it should be studied appropriately in context (heavily) in order to\nsolidify foundational pieces of understanding.\n\nBut I also cannot deny that I serve a living God who actively works in the\nlives of people - and one way he might do that is to encourage through pastoral\nreflection on Biblical truths that may be **brought to mind** though not\nnecessarily instructed in a passage. This is a specific point of Christian life\nthat I have been meditating loosely on lately - to be open in my heart to\nfinding joy and refreshment in Biblical truths that God may bring to mind even\nthough the \"origin\" of that thought might be an unrelated passage of Scripture.\nThis has been the case for a few weeks at this point, and today felt\nsignificant as I read Spurgeon's thoughts on being supplied for the sake of the\nLord's service.\n\n!!! note \"1 Kings 19:8\"\n\n So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.\n\n!!! warning \"Quick Context\"\n\n Jezebel is chasing the prophet Elijah who has fled into the wilderness. Elijah\n fears for his life and asks Yahweh to simply kill him. Yahweh (well, the \u003ca href=\"/angel-of-yahweh/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Angel of Yahweh\" data-description=\"The Angel of Yahweh is but isn\u0026#39;t Yahweh, it\u0026#39;s the second person of the Trinity, the visible Yahweh to the invisible Yahweh\" data-date=\"2025-10-05\"\u003eAngel of Yahweh\u003c/a\u003e...\n but we'll do that another time) meets him in his distress resting\n under a tree - he provides food, water, and protection for Elijah to take a\n nap. He does it again and then tells Elijah to travel to Horeb.\n\n## Reflection\n\nElijah is faithful to the Lord, and finds himself tired and in need. Yahweh\nmeets him, feeds him, and then **gives him more work to do**. This is the point\nof Spurgeon's writing this morning, that every ounce of work should be poured\nout unto the Lord's service. Every single thing I do should be laced with songs\nof praise to the King. It's easy to say \"blessed be the Name of the Lord\" when\nI am in surplus, and even in trial and want I think my faith has been tested\nand proven to some non-trivial degrees... But what about when I'm tired? Do I\nseek rest as a means to be refreshed **unto his service**? Or do I seek a\nhollow shell of rest, one that in reality isn't restorative and refreshing, but\nis instead deadening and numbing... I think I find myself actively pushing\nagainst holy rest out of love for, and slavery to myself. Maybe not quite to\ndoom and selfish as to say \"myself\" only, but out of fear of something else -\nmaybe as trivial as failure.\n\nGod is bringing to my mind why I haven't built more, why I'm disconnected from\nwork, why I zonk out so much... If I accept refreshment - physical refreshment-\nthrough a God-given grace then I am duty-bound to use it wisely... But I find\nthat I am afraid of the daunting work of doing something well, and day to day I\nfind myself hesitant to accept the refreshment out of an abandonment of the\ngood that can come through the hard work of doing it well.\n\nGod is telling me to eat and drink, to be refreshed... I genuinely believe God\nis speaking to me through 1 King 19:8 - to take the strength he provides via\nthe channels I know he provides them, and to wisely-steward the work he's given\nme to do.\n\nThis week I've pre-planned to dedicate time away from work to my own project\nand I feel encouraged going into tomorrow almost with foreknowledge of the\nstrength God will offer me in the morning\n", "summary": "Spurgeon picked 1 Kings 19:8 this morning and his meditation was encouraging at a meta-level. Highlighting to me that we (Christians) in maturity can be...", "date_published": "2025-10-05T06:59:52Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-05T06:59:52Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-84-11/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-psalm-84-11/", "title": "Reflection - Psalm 84:11", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon\u0026rsquo;s Morning and Evening today (actually the evening one) is for \u003ca href=\"https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+84%3A11\u0026amp;version=ESV\"\u003ePsalm 84:11\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePsalm 84:11\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePsalm 84:11 (LEB): 11 Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor. He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is it to me to hear and know that \u003cstrong\u003eYahweh gives grace and honor\u003c/strong\u003e? I\u0026rsquo;m asking this because Spurgon\u0026rsquo;s meditation this morning has a particularly striking line in it\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe little conjunction “and” in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: grace and glory always go together.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe translation he was using has \u0026ldquo;glory\u0026rdquo;, I quoted \u0026ldquo;honor\u0026rdquo;. The word is \u003ccode\u003eכָּבוֹד\u003c/code\u003e\n(kabod) which generally basically means \u0026ldquo;weight\u0026rdquo;.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI got very distracted this morning unfortunately and therefore my reflection\nwill be cut short\u0026hellip; I know meditating on these things opens my day up to go in\na better direction\u0026hellip; May Yahweh give grace to me today, to live in a glorified\nand honorable way\u0026hellip; one worthy of the gospel of Christ.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003ePhilippians 1:27\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nSpurgeon's Morning and Evening today (actually the evening one) is for [Psalm 84:11](https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+84%3A11\u0026version=ESV).\n\n!!! note \"Psalm 84:11\"\n\n Psalm 84:11 (LEB): 11 Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor. He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.\n\nWhat is it to me to hear and know that **Yahweh gives grace and honor**? I'm asking this because Spurgon's meditation this morning has a particularly striking line in it\n\n\u003e The little conjunction “and” in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: grace and glory always go together.\n\nThe translation he was using has \"glory\", I quoted \"honor\". The word is `כָּבוֹד`\n(kabod) which generally basically means \"weight\".\n\nI got very distracted this morning unfortunately and therefore my reflection\nwill be cut short... I know meditating on these things opens my day up to go in\na better direction... May Yahweh give grace to me today, to live in a glorified\nand honorable way... one worthy of the gospel of Christ.\n\n!!! note \"Philippians 1:27\"\n\n Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel\n", "summary": "Spurgeon's Morning and Evening today (actually the evening one) is for Psalm 84:11.", "date_published": "2025-10-01T06:34:25Z", "date_modified": "2025-10-01T06:34:25Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-deuteronomy-33-29/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-deuteronomy-33-29/", "title": "Reflection - Deuteronomy 33:29", "content_html": "\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNote reflections are not theological study\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon\u0026rsquo;s Morning and Evening today starts with:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eDeuteronomy 33:29\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDeuteronomy 33:29 (LEB): 29 Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you, a people who is saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your triumph, and your enemies, they shall fawn before you, and you shall tread on their backs.”\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat is it to be saved by Yahweh? It is to be blessed\u0026hellip; Material blessings are the cheapest understanding of this idea\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdetails class=\"admonition danger\" open\u003e\n\u003csummary class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eDanger\u003c/summary\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI feel such a strong need to even say that, in any of my public reflections to try to caveat every statement that someone hostile to my faith might say while reading, or get ahead of a bad idea a less mature Christian might hear me say without enough context\u0026hellip; but ultimately these reflections are not deep study, and when I acknowledge that \u0026rsquo;to be saved by God is to be blessed\u0026rsquo; I don\u0026rsquo;t need to follow it up with \u0026ldquo;but not necessarily with money and possessions\u0026rdquo;\u0026hellip; No, the truth of God flows from the Word and through our lives out of experience with him, and out of that intersection this morning do I proclaim I am blessed and saved by Yahweh\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/details\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe blessing is the saving, and the saving is the blessing. Apart from faith in\nJesus, I see no way to understand this biblical truth appropriately. In\nYahweh\u0026rsquo;s divine grace he has called me - he is the shield of my help in what he\nhas called me to. A simple summary is that he enables me to do the job he\u0026rsquo;s\ngiven. This is why the saving is the blessing\u0026hellip; Any creature is most happy,\nmost safe, most successful when it is operating within the bounds of its design\nand purpose\u0026hellip; An airplane is a fast mode of transportation but if you place it\non the highway - outside the boundaries of the sky and put in the context it\nwasn\u0026rsquo;t meant to operate it, it won\u0026rsquo;t be a very fast or useful means of getting\nfrom A to B.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYahweh\u0026rsquo;s saving act of grace invites humans into the context whereby they can\nlive according to their design and purpose. I believe the humanitarian efforts\nto unite humanity along common grounds are good-faith efforts doomed to fail\nbecause to be \u003cstrong\u003etruly\u003c/strong\u003e human is to be saved by the One Who Saves\u0026hellip; Yahweh\nsaves his people \u003cstrong\u003eback to humanity\u003c/strong\u003e (or forward to a new humanity - I\u0026rsquo;m not\nhere to debate eschatology with anyone at the moment). In this grace is unity and freedom.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMy reflections consistently revolve around what is becoming a central theme in\nmy theology - the meaning of freedom in Jesus. He saved me back to being truly\nhuman, and in my humanity I freely choose to live my life in loyalty to the one\nwho saves me. I\u0026rsquo;m only free to choose the right thing because he enabled me to.\nIn making that choice, whatever it might be, if I choose the godly option it\ncomes with the most blessing. That blessing is being conformed into the image\nand likeness of Jesus. Yahweh molds me into what it means to be hunman\u0026hellip;\nSanctification is the process by which we \u0026ldquo;more naturally\u0026rdquo; choose the godly\nthing. Because as our will is molded to his, our natural choice more often\naligns with what God wants. The blessing has to be understood ultimately as\nbeing saved, as restoration\u0026hellip; To see blessing as money or power or success is\nto remain broken, remaining broken is evidence of not being saved. ie. It\u0026rsquo;s\nonly by the saving power of Jesus that the blessing of being saved can be\nunderstood - this is how Paul can say that even blessings on earth are garbage\ncompared to the glories of heaven.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe picture of the perfect human becomes more clear to me day by day as Jesus\nreveals himself to me, and I pray the freedom in Christ permeates my life\nquickly and deeply so that my free-will choice aligns with God\u0026rsquo;s will for my\nlife. In that state is shalom.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\n\u003e Note reflections are not theological study\n\nSpurgeon's Morning and Evening today starts with:\n\n!!! note \"Deuteronomy 33:29\"\n\n Deuteronomy 33:29 (LEB): 29 Blessed are you, O Israel. Who is like you, a people who is saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your triumph, and your enemies, they shall fawn before you, and you shall tread on their backs.”\n\nWhat is it to be saved by Yahweh? It is to be blessed... Material blessings are the cheapest understanding of this idea...\n\n???+ danger \"\"\n\n I feel such a strong need to even say that, in any of my public reflections to try to caveat every statement that someone hostile to my faith might say while reading, or get ahead of a bad idea a less mature Christian might hear me say without enough context... but ultimately these reflections are not deep study, and when I acknowledge that 'to be saved by God is to be blessed' I don't need to follow it up with \"but not necessarily with money and possessions\"... No, the truth of God flows from the Word and through our lives out of experience with him, and out of that intersection this morning do I proclaim I am blessed and saved by Yahweh...\n\nThe blessing is the saving, and the saving is the blessing. Apart from faith in\nJesus, I see no way to understand this biblical truth appropriately. In\nYahweh's divine grace he has called me - he is the shield of my help in what he\nhas called me to. A simple summary is that he enables me to do the job he's\ngiven. This is why the saving is the blessing... Any creature is most happy,\nmost safe, most successful when it is operating within the bounds of its design\nand purpose... An airplane is a fast mode of transportation but if you place it\non the highway - outside the boundaries of the sky and put in the context it\nwasn't meant to operate it, it won't be a very fast or useful means of getting\nfrom A to B.\n\nYahweh's saving act of grace invites humans into the context whereby they can\nlive according to their design and purpose. I believe the humanitarian efforts\nto unite humanity along common grounds are good-faith efforts doomed to fail\nbecause to be **truly** human is to be saved by the One Who Saves... Yahweh\nsaves his people **back to humanity** (or forward to a new humanity - I'm not\nhere to debate eschatology with anyone at the moment). In this grace is unity and freedom.\n\nMy reflections consistently revolve around what is becoming a central theme in\nmy theology - the meaning of freedom in Jesus. He saved me back to being truly\nhuman, and in my humanity I freely choose to live my life in loyalty to the one\nwho saves me. I'm only free to choose the right thing because he enabled me to.\nIn making that choice, whatever it might be, if I choose the godly option it\ncomes with the most blessing. That blessing is being conformed into the image\nand likeness of Jesus. Yahweh molds me into what it means to be hunman...\nSanctification is the process by which we \"more naturally\" choose the godly\nthing. Because as our will is molded to his, our natural choice more often\naligns with what God wants. The blessing has to be understood ultimately as\nbeing saved, as restoration... To see blessing as money or power or success is\nto remain broken, remaining broken is evidence of not being saved. ie. It's\nonly by the saving power of Jesus that the blessing of being saved can be\nunderstood - this is how Paul can say that even blessings on earth are garbage\ncompared to the glories of heaven.\n\nThe picture of the perfect human becomes more clear to me day by day as Jesus\nreveals himself to me, and I pray the freedom in Christ permeates my life\nquickly and deeply so that my free-will choice aligns with God's will for my\nlife. In that state is shalom.\n", "summary": "Note reflections are not theological study", "date_published": "2025-09-27T06:38:42Z", "date_modified": "2025-09-27T06:38:42Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-romans-3-26/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-romans-3-26/", "title": "Reflection - Romans 3:26", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eFrom Morning and Evening today, Spurgeon has thoughts on Romans 3:26. I need\nmore context personally, so here\u0026rsquo;s a newer translation of 3:25-26\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eRomans 3:25-26\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e25God put Jesus forth as the place of mercy, through faithfulness, by\nmeans of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his covenant justice, because\nof the passing over (in divine forbearance) of sins committed beforehand.\n26This was to demonstrate his covenant justice in the present time: that\nis, that he himself is in the right, and that he declares to be in the right\neveryone who trusts in the faithfulness of Jesus.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoldingay, J., \u0026amp; Wright, T. (2018). The Bible for Everyone: A New Translation\n(Ro 3:25–26). SPCK.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdetails class=\"admonition danger\"\u003e\n\u003csummary class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eNPP\u003c/summary\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;m not here to debate \u0026ldquo;faith in Jesus\u0026rdquo; vs \u0026ldquo;faithfulness of Jesus\u0026rdquo;\u0026hellip; I\nfeel so beyond debating semantics when either way it\u0026rsquo;s Jesus who gives you\nfaith and chooses in the first place\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/details\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon\u0026rsquo;s meditation certainly resolves around Penal Substitutionary\nAtonement, a doctrine I have come to mostly reject, but I have plenty of\ncommon-ground with a conviction of PSA-subscribers and Spurgeon - and that\u0026rsquo;s\nthat we can trust, as chosen people of God, that \u0026ldquo;there is now \u003cstrong\u003eno\u003c/strong\u003e\ncondemnation for those in Christ Jesus\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot only is there no condemnation, but on the contrary Jesus \u003cstrong\u003edeclares to be\nin the right everyone who trusts\u003c/strong\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the great confidence of the Christian, and the source of my comfort -\nthat even though there is sin in my past and future (and I pray sorrow over\nit), I can trust in God\u0026rsquo;s unchanging nature. He says in effect \u0026ldquo;Out of my\ndivine grace to call your name from the grave, by the covering of Jesus and the\nwork of the cross, you are free. Free from condemnation, free from judgement,\nand today (and everyday) free from the yoke of sin\u0026rdquo;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFreedom\u0026hellip; such an interesting word\u0026hellip; It came up recently in my\n\u003ca href=\"/reflection-galatians-5-1/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - Galatians 5:1\" data-description=\"Spurgeon\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Morning and Evening\u0026#34; today is about the freedom we have in Christ. Freedom is a core concept of Christianity, and one no doubt bastardized and...\" data-date=\"2025-09-19\" data-preview=\"Spurgeon\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Morning and Evening\u0026#34; today is about the freedom we have in Christ. Freedom is a core concept of Christianity, and one no doubt bastardized and...\"\u003eReflection - Galatians 5:1\u003c/a\u003e as well. I guess as I reflect here, freedom is\nabout our behavior and what we do or don\u0026rsquo;t do. But confidence is the partner of\nfreedom. A child who has the freedom on the playground to play with whatever\nthey want will sit in the corner if they are afraid of consequences of doing\nsomething wrong - this would come from a place of not trusting in the freedom\nthey\u0026rsquo;ve been given. The child lacks comfort in their freedom to play with what\nthey want unless the faithfulness and goodness of the one who gives the freedom\nis impressed into the child and they can exercise trust in that authority -\nwhich is manifest in their joyful play on the playground.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo for the Christian this obviously doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean \u0026ldquo;free to do whatever I want\u0026rdquo;,\nthe metaphor isn\u0026rsquo;t perfect (it\u0026rsquo;s made better by aligning the walls around a\nplayground with the boundaries of proper-human living)\u0026hellip; Jesus actually gives\nme the freedom to do \u003cstrong\u003ehis\u003c/strong\u003e will over my own, because apart from him I am not\nable to choose anything besides the sinful desires of my own heart.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut this morning, I think the full circle is that when I do choose my own\ndesires, when I fall back into the \u0026ldquo;not yet\u0026rdquo;, when I sacrifice my divine\nfreedom on the altar of my own life for a cheap song, I can \u003cstrong\u003estill have\nconfidence that my God calls me right by the work of my Lord, Jesus\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis great confidence can never excuse sin, can never justify the choice. But\nthe reality is that a good God ordered and created the world, and he chooses\nwhomever he chooses\u0026hellip; By his graceful choice to adopt me, I have confidence in\nhis Name that the sin I run to will not ultimately destroy me - because Jesus\nintervened and gives me new life everyday\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nFrom Morning and Evening today, Spurgeon has thoughts on Romans 3:26. I need\nmore context personally, so here's a newer translation of 3:25-26\n\n!!! note \"Romans 3:25-26\"\n\n 25God put Jesus forth as the place of mercy, through faithfulness, by\n means of his blood. He did this to demonstrate his covenant justice, because\n of the passing over (in divine forbearance) of sins committed beforehand.\n 26This was to demonstrate his covenant justice in the present time: that\n is, that he himself is in the right, and that he declares to be in the right\n everyone who trusts in the faithfulness of Jesus.\n\n Goldingay, J., \u0026 Wright, T. (2018). The Bible for Everyone: A New Translation\n (Ro 3:25–26). SPCK.\n\n??? danger \"NPP\"\n\n I'm not here to debate \"faith in Jesus\" vs \"faithfulness of Jesus\"... I\n feel so beyond debating semantics when either way it's Jesus who gives you\n faith and chooses in the first place\n\nSpurgeon's meditation certainly resolves around Penal Substitutionary\nAtonement, a doctrine I have come to mostly reject, but I have plenty of\ncommon-ground with a conviction of PSA-subscribers and Spurgeon - and that's\nthat we can trust, as chosen people of God, that \"there is now **no**\ncondemnation for those in Christ Jesus\"\n\nNot only is there no condemnation, but on the contrary Jesus **declares to be\nin the right everyone who trusts**.\n\nThis is the great confidence of the Christian, and the source of my comfort -\nthat even though there is sin in my past and future (and I pray sorrow over\nit), I can trust in God's unchanging nature. He says in effect \"Out of my\ndivine grace to call your name from the grave, by the covering of Jesus and the\nwork of the cross, you are free. Free from condemnation, free from judgement,\nand today (and everyday) free from the yoke of sin\"\n\nFreedom... such an interesting word... It came up recently in my\n\u003ca href=\"/reflection-galatians-5-1/\" class=\"wikilink\" data-title=\"Reflection - Galatians 5:1\" data-description=\"Spurgeon\u0026#39;s \u0026#34;Morning and Evening\u0026#34; today is about the freedom we have in Christ. Freedom is a core concept of Christianity, and one no doubt bastardized and...\" data-date=\"2025-09-19\"\u003eReflection - Galatians 5:1\u003c/a\u003e as well. I guess as I reflect here, freedom is\nabout our behavior and what we do or don't do. But confidence is the partner of\nfreedom. A child who has the freedom on the playground to play with whatever\nthey want will sit in the corner if they are afraid of consequences of doing\nsomething wrong - this would come from a place of not trusting in the freedom\nthey've been given. The child lacks comfort in their freedom to play with what\nthey want unless the faithfulness and goodness of the one who gives the freedom\nis impressed into the child and they can exercise trust in that authority -\nwhich is manifest in their joyful play on the playground.\n\nSo for the Christian this obviously doesn't mean \"free to do whatever I want\",\nthe metaphor isn't perfect (it's made better by aligning the walls around a\nplayground with the boundaries of proper-human living)... Jesus actually gives\nme the freedom to do **his** will over my own, because apart from him I am not\nable to choose anything besides the sinful desires of my own heart.\n\nBut this morning, I think the full circle is that when I do choose my own\ndesires, when I fall back into the \"not yet\", when I sacrifice my divine\nfreedom on the altar of my own life for a cheap song, I can **still have\nconfidence that my God calls me right by the work of my Lord, Jesus**\n\nThis great confidence can never excuse sin, can never justify the choice. But\nthe reality is that a good God ordered and created the world, and he chooses\nwhomever he chooses... By his graceful choice to adopt me, I have confidence in\nhis Name that the sin I run to will not ultimately destroy me - because Jesus\nintervened and gives me new life everyday\n", "summary": "From Morning and Evening today, Spurgeon has thoughts on Romans 3:26. I need more context personally, so here's a newer translation of 3:25-26", "date_published": "2025-09-24T05:42:24Z", "date_modified": "2025-09-24T05:42:24Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] }, { "id": "https://pype.dev/reflection-galatians-5-1/", "url": "https://pype.dev/reflection-galatians-5-1/", "title": "Reflection - Galatians 5:1", "content_html": "\u003cp\u003eSpurgeon\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Morning and Evening\u0026rdquo; today is about the freedom we have in Christ.\nFreedom is a core concept of Christianity, and one no doubt bastardized and\nwarped by modern progressive culture (like Ancient Greek modern, not 2010s modern).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFreedom is \u003cstrong\u003enot\u003c/strong\u003e the ability to do whatever I want without consequence\u0026hellip;\nit\u0026rsquo;s not even the ability to do whatever I want! What a nightmarish hell the\nworld would be if each one of us could (and especially did) act on every desire\nthat comes into our hearts\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition danger\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eIsle of Dreams\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s like the Island of Dreams in CS Lewis\u0026rsquo; Voyage of the Dawn Treader\u0026hellip; The\nseaman are all excited about their \u0026ldquo;dreams\u0026rdquo; (long lost lovers, money, etc) but\nthe man they rescue makes it clear to them it\u0026rsquo;s not the place where daydreams\ncome true\u0026hellip; but dreams\u0026hellip;. think of the scary dreams you\u0026rsquo;ve had, or you\u0026rsquo;ve\nheard your kids have\u0026hellip; With that context you probably don\u0026rsquo;t want to go to the\nIsland of Dreams\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cfigure\u003e\n\u003cimg src=\"https://cdn.statically.io/gh/pypeaday/images.pype.dev/main/blog-media/20250919112304_e78b23fa.png\" alt=\"20250919112304_e78b23fa.png\"\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, this childish anti-view of \u0026ldquo;freedom\u0026rdquo; should\nimmediately be rejected by any well-reasoned adult, let alone Christian\u0026hellip; In\nthis view, self-restraint is the antithesis of freedom, and not that I have\nsome well-endowed argument against that - only I\u0026rsquo;d say it feels ridiculous that\nthese 2 ideas would be at odds. It\u0026rsquo;s simply unreasonable to me. But perhaps my\nconviction on that unreasonableness stems from an understanding that the\nfreedom Jesus offers is so much better than whatever pleases my fleeting\nfancies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd by that same token, freedom is not our daydreams\u0026hellip; we were all created\nwith purpose - humans made in the image of God. Accepting and understanding\nthat truth absolutely ought to affect how we live. I am not a \u0026ldquo;good person\u0026rdquo; by\ndefault - I have the \u003cstrong\u003efreedom\u003c/strong\u003e to act \u0026ldquo;good\u0026rdquo; because Jesus saves me, and\ncalls me to a higher standard of living than I would call myself to.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd that\u0026rsquo;s the meditation today - bourne out of the words in Galatians 5:1\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"admonition note\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"admonition-title\"\u003eGalatians 5:1\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf I were to submit myself to my own desires, I\u0026rsquo;d end up a slave to them. I\u0026rsquo;ve\nfelt this reality in many ways over my life, and Jesus has been good to me. He\nfrees me from myself, he freely offers himself to me (aye, his message goes out\nto all the world, and the ones who are called answer). In that freedom I\u0026rsquo;m\nfaced with a choice, the same choice as the Garden\u0026hellip; Do what I want (eat of\nthe tree of knowledge of good and bad) or trust what God says is good, is good,\nand make the choice by Jesus\u0026rsquo; grace to \u003cstrong\u003enot\u003c/strong\u003e eat of the tree of knowledge of\ngood and bad, but instead of the tree of life, presently experienced as\ncommunion with the Holy Spirit and fellowship with my King Jesus.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor freedom Christ has set me free, may I walk in his freedom today.\u003c/p\u003e\n", "content_text": "\nSpurgeon's \"Morning and Evening\" today is about the freedom we have in Christ.\nFreedom is a core concept of Christianity, and one no doubt bastardized and\nwarped by modern progressive culture (like Ancient Greek modern, not 2010s modern).\n\nFreedom is __not__ the ability to do whatever I want without consequence...\nit's not even the ability to do whatever I want! What a nightmarish hell the\nworld would be if each one of us could (and especially did) act on every desire\nthat comes into our hearts... \n\n!!! danger \"Isle of Dreams\"\n\n It's like the Island of Dreams in CS Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader... The\n seaman are all excited about their \"dreams\" (long lost lovers, money, etc) but\n the man they rescue makes it clear to them it's not the place where daydreams\n come true... but dreams.... think of the scary dreams you've had, or you've\n heard your kids have... With that context you probably don't want to go to the\n Island of Dreams\n\n![20250919112304_e78b23fa.png](https://cdn.statically.io/gh/pypeaday/images.pype.dev/main/blog-media/20250919112304_e78b23fa.png)\n\nSo, this childish anti-view of \"freedom\" should\nimmediately be rejected by any well-reasoned adult, let alone Christian... In\nthis view, self-restraint is the antithesis of freedom, and not that I have\nsome well-endowed argument against that - only I'd say it feels ridiculous that\nthese 2 ideas would be at odds. It's simply unreasonable to me. But perhaps my\nconviction on that unreasonableness stems from an understanding that the\nfreedom Jesus offers is so much better than whatever pleases my fleeting\nfancies.\n\nAnd by that same token, freedom is not our daydreams... we were all created\nwith purpose - humans made in the image of God. Accepting and understanding\nthat truth absolutely ought to affect how we live. I am not a \"good person\" by\ndefault - I have the __freedom__ to act \"good\" because Jesus saves me, and\ncalls me to a higher standard of living than I would call myself to.\n\nAnd that's the meditation today - bourne out of the words in Galatians 5:1\n\n!!! note \"Galatians 5:1\"\n\n For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. \n\nIf I were to submit myself to my own desires, I'd end up a slave to them. I've\nfelt this reality in many ways over my life, and Jesus has been good to me. He\nfrees me from myself, he freely offers himself to me (aye, his message goes out\nto all the world, and the ones who are called answer). In that freedom I'm\nfaced with a choice, the same choice as the Garden... Do what I want (eat of\nthe tree of knowledge of good and bad) or trust what God says is good, is good,\nand make the choice by Jesus' grace to __not__ eat of the tree of knowledge of\ngood and bad, but instead of the tree of life, presently experienced as\ncommunion with the Holy Spirit and fellowship with my King Jesus.\n\nFor freedom Christ has set me free, may I walk in his freedom today.\n\n", "summary": "Spurgeon's \"Morning and Evening\" today is about the freedom we have in Christ. Freedom is a core concept of Christianity, and one no doubt bastardized and...", "date_published": "2025-09-19T06:04:58Z", "date_modified": "2025-09-19T06:04:58Z", "authors": [ { "name": "Nic Payne", "url": "https://pype.dev" } ], "tags": [ "reflection", "faith" ] } ] }