peace to live by

Jesus- Not Merely the Man, But God (TMF:2555)

Friday, February 21, 2025
Peace to Live By: Jesus- Not Merely the Man, But God (TMF:2555) - Daniel Litton
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       Moving along to verse 17: “And he [God’s beloved Son] is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” This just didn’t come from Paul’s fanciful mind, but recall, John recorded for us in John 8:58: “Jesus said to them [the Jews], “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”” This verse in Colossians shows the eternality of Christ. Jesus not merely the man, but God, God who becomes man at a point in time. Incredible and hard to fathom—perhaps impossible to fathom. It makes good sense that in the Son “all things hold together.” Notice that all things are said to be holding together as if there is a force that works against “all things.” What constitutes that force? Obviously coming to mind is Satan. That’s obvious. But also it should be noted the rebelliousness of mankind, as we just discussed. The negativity of people—their sin. If it wasn’t for Christ’s consciousness—Christ’s love—that holds the world together, certainly everything would fall apart.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 4 (TMF:2554)

Thursday, February 20, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 4 (TMF:2554) - Daniel Litton
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       And technically speaking, and not to get too off track, really it would appear that God never originally wanted governments to begin with—for they are a result of the fallen world. Now, we do know that Revelation 21 tells us of the New Jerusalem that, “By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there” (Revelation 21:24-26, ESV). Governments then could be part of the New World. To reiterate, though, evil is present in the current governments not because God is perverted—but rather it is because people are that way. God is not authoring evil. Remember, mentioned last week was the verse in Acts 12 where the angel of the Lord struck down Herod. If God had chosen Herod for evil purposes to bring about good, then why would God have struck Herod down? One could say that it was because God was through with him, but the passage doesn’t seem to imply that.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 3 (TMF:2553)

Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 3 (TMF:2553) - Daniel Litton
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       Where the misunderstanding comes, is when we believe that God puts bad people into power because he wants to accomplish good. Though, that’s not to say, he would love to see good come about from it in people turning from their sins. And, it’s not to say that God will not work good where he can, which includes any kind of situation in which he can—but he will not go against people’s freedom to choose. This is serious business we are discussing. What about Romans 9:17 and 18, and Pharaoh, and the fact that God raised him up and hardened his heart? It would seem that God in that instance already hardens a heart that is hardened. So, again, the verse stating “all things were created through him and for him” shows God’s original purpose for the creation—for the “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” And technically speaking, and not to get too off track, really it would appear that God never originally wanted governments to begin with—for they are a result of the fallen world.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 2 (TMF:2552)

Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 2 (TMF:2552) - Daniel Litton
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       Thusly, it only makes sense that God does not work toward evil. Even Romans 8:28 makes that clear in the simplest sense. Though that verse also tells us something—and that is that God works for the good of those who love him. It is qualified. It isn’t that God works for the good in all things, and let’s be clear, for that is because he cannot. Why? Freewill. People have freewill. God cannot go against people’s wills when they do not choose to freely love him. That would be force. God doesn’t operate by force. Where the misunderstanding comes, is when we believe that God puts bad people into power because he wants to accomplish good. Though, that’s not to say, he would love to see good come about from it in people turning from their sins. And, it’s not to say that God will not work good where he can, which includes any kind of situation in which he can—but he will not go against people’s freedom to choose. This is serious business we are discussing.

God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 1 (TMF:2551)

Monday, February 17, 2025
Peace to Live By: God Working Good Out of Evil, Part 1 (TMF:2551) - Daniel Litton
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       So, “all things were created through him and for him.” Does this mean that God has created the evil powers for his own sake, for his own purposes? It depends on who you ask—but the true answer would be no. Let us rewind for a moment and discuss the physical earthly kingdoms again. We know that certain leaders end up being evil leaders, or really, are already evil when they come into power. Again, we really need no explanation of this, and we just saw this with Herod. And we saw how God worked against this. It isn’t that God needs to have the evil present in order to show his power, as is often assumed. But it is that God works good out of the evil that is present, as he did with Peter (and again, this was in response to the believers prayers—don’t miss that). And he did use it to show his power, or course. It isn’t though that he desires it in order to show his power. Why, he created the world and everything in it, a very powerful act—a tremendous display of his power—with no evil present.

What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 5 (TMF:2550)

Friday, February 14, 2025
Peace to Live By: What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 5 (TMF:2550) - Daniel Litton
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       “When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting” (Acts 12:11, ESV). So, God rescues Peter “from the hand of Herod,” from, interestingly enough, the established governmental leader. So, Herod, again, was working through the invisible powers to work to accomplish what God did not want. Of course, as we’ve discussed in the past, a great passage to see these interactions is also Daniel 10, where we have an angel held up by a fallen angel in the unseen realm. That also gives a blatant picture of some of what goes on behind the scenes. And that would be a good passage to read, or reconsider, for further insight into this subject matter. Going back to the text in Colossians 1, and let’s re-read the verse, now focusing on the end of it: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (verse 16, ESV).

What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 4 (TMF:2549)

Thursday, February 13, 2025
Peace to Live By: What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 4 (TMF:2549) - Daniel Litton
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       Note verse 10: “When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him” (Acts 12:10, ESV). Consider and take note of the invisible power of the angel. To appear, to save (to get around the guards), to lead out (passed all the guards), and to have the gate open by its own accord. These are beings God has established to help us, as the writer of Hebrews will later tell us. They work against the evil powers—the satanically aligned powers—and what they want. For Peter himself concludes, in verse 11, “When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting” (ESV). So, God rescues Peter “from the hand of Herod,” from, interestingly enough, the established governmental leader.

What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 3 (TMF:2548)

Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Peace to Live By: What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 3 (TMF:2548) - Daniel Litton
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       But we are told that while Peter was asleep, and even chained to a couple of guards, that what? Let’s read the passage. “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands” (Acts 12:7, ESV). Now we are seeing the invisible interacting with the visible. The invisible powers. Satan had been using the physical government and the chained soldiers to show his invisible power, making it become visible, Now, the Lord brings about his invisible power making it become visible through the angel. After Peter is dressed, the angel of the Lord leads Peter out. Note verse 10: “When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him” (Acts 12:10, ESV). Consider and take note of the invisible power of the angel.

What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 2 (TMF:2547)

Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Peace to Live By: What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 2 (TMF:2547) - Daniel Litton
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       Notice that Herod, who was the leader of people, was evil, and acted in an evil manner, going against the church. We are so used to the government usually leaving us alone in our day and age, but not so during this period of the early church. The government at this point was against the church. If we continue we read there in Acts 12, we see Peter in prison. This obviously was not what God wanted—God didn’t want Peter in prison. It would be nice if that that fact shouldn’t have to be stated, but it can clear confusion in this area of understanding. We know that it isn’t what God wants, because what does God do? Just like we’ve seen in the past (whether in Daniel 10 in the Old Testament, or even Matthew 1 in the New, we see God intervening to bring about what he wants—and interestingly enough, what the church wanted, what believers wanted, for they had been praying for Peter (hence, the difference prayer makes in the invisible realm, and this also in Daniel 10).

What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 1 (TMF:2546)

Monday, February 10, 2025
Peace to Live By: What is Going on Behind the Scenes, Part 1 (TMF:2546) - Daniel Litton
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       What is less clear are the invisible powers. We are told that too, just like in the physical realm, there are invisible “thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” We obviously know that, given a brief review in our minds of world history, that visible rulers and authorities do not always follow what God wants—that needs no real explanation. There are countless examples that could be cited in that regard. Going to the Scriptures, in we go to Acts 12, we can see a detailed interaction of how the visible interacted with the invisible, and how things played out in this instance. We are told, right at the beginning of Acts 12, that “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (Acts 12:1-3, ESV). Notice that Herod, who was the leader of people, was evil, and acted in an evil manner, going against the church.