Jeff Englund

June 22, 2020June 22, 2020

1 Peter 1:12 (a) — Whom do you serve?

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

What sets a prophet apart is being called by God to be a messenger of God’s Word. I am capitalizing “Word” because these messages are holy. Mundane or spectacular, the Word from God is special. But never forget, prophets are people, too. They are not Superman. They have feelings like you and me.

June 21, 2020June 20, 2020

1 Peter 1:11 (c) — Glory

Stained glass window showing face of Jesus in glory.

…and the glories that would follow.

Today’s passage rounds out the thought that Peter is sharing with us in this passage. The prophets of old were hungry to know about God’s plan of salvation. They understood that the Messiah would come. The question was, “When?” They understood he would suffer for our sins. The question was, “How?” They also understood something else: Glory would follow suffering.

When Jesus finally came, the whole world turned against him and cried, “Crucify him!” When the whole world seems to turn against one person, how is there any glory in that for that person? The answer depends on your point of view.

If you are standing with the devil the sight of God’s Son dying on the cross seems like a victory. The glory goes to the victor and Satan appears to have won. But Satan doesn’t win. The victory is fleeting. Like everything else about Satan, this victory is false.

The Author of Life has endured death on the cross for a very specific purpose. He is, as Isaiah prophesied, our redeemer. (Isaiah 47:4) From the perspective of God, the death of Jesus was not a loss, but a gain. Having endured the shame, accusations, torture, abuse, and crucifixion, Jesus rises above it all and draws us to him. Jesus has accomplished the will of his Father. (John 19:30) That is glory. Everyone redeemed by Jesus knows what he has done. That is glory. When Satan himself is thrown into the lake of fire, he, too, will know that Jesus is King. That is glory.

Each victory over Satan, no matter how small, brings glory to our King. The “glories that would follow” include your victory over sin and mine. Praise God!

Application: Think about how far you have come and where you would be if it were not for Jesus. Then give glory to our God.

Food for Thought: What other thoughts do you have about glory?

Please click ‘’Continue Reading” for comments.

June 20, 2020June 20, 2020

Jeremiah 45 — Hanging Out With The Prophets

When Baruch son of Neriah wrote on a scroll the words Jeremiah the prophet dictated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah said this to Baruch: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’ But the Lord has told me to say to you, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the earth. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’”

The prophets of God are an amazing group of people. Being called to be a prophet was a great honor, but the burden that went with the honor was also great. Since we are talking about prophets, and in light of the events that have been in the news recently, I wanted to share this short passage from Jeremiah.

June 19, 2020June 19, 2020

1 Peter 1: 11 (b) — The Value of Hindsight

A closeup view of a car's rearview mirror.

…when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah …

The suffering of the Messiah is the pivotal event in all human history. Without a willing Messiah, humanity would have eventually burned itself up. In the final analysis, after all the souls were counted, God would not have had much to show for his trouble. The rest of us would have ended up in the eternal garbage bin, languishing forever in the vacuum of rejection we had crafted for ourselves.

But that is not how it played out. Instead, the God who created us became our savior. More than that, our salvation was not an impulsive gambit. It was not a last-minute effort to save the day. Instead, our God knew from the very beginning that a savior would be needed. (See Genesis 3: 14-15) He also knew who that savior would be, and the point in history when salvation needed to occur.

June 18, 2020June 18, 2020

1 Peter 1: 10-11 (a) — Decoding God

A picture of the WWII encryption machine called "Enigma."

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing …

What is the best way to decode what God is saying? Over the years since the days of Moses, there have been two general approaches to this problem. One approach is to listen to God’s Word with an open heart and an open mind, willing to follow God wherever he leads. The other approach is to try and smoosh God’s Word into a box that fits with our personal expectations.

June 17, 2020June 17, 2020

1 Peter 1:9 — Random Thoughts

Hundreds of small multi-colored cubes floating against a black background.

… for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

So what is the point of having faith in Jesus? Why would anyone want to believe in someone that they cannot see? Well, the answer it turns out has to do with something else we cannot see; the salvation of our souls.

Two days ago, in the post, “Testimony,” I shared the short version of how I came to believe in Jesus. Along the way, I had to come to believe in “all things visible and invisible” as it says in the Nicene Creed. One thing I firmly believe in is the existence of my soul. If I were no more than a stalk of celery or a blade of grass I wouldn’t care what happens to me. But I do care. I care a lot. And the fact that we care about what happens to us sets you and me apart from almost everything else in Creation.

June 16, 2020June 20, 2020

1 Peter 1:8 (b) — Joy

…and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…

Who could object to having inexpressible and glorious Joy? Even for a moment, let alone for a lifetime. But for eternity? Really?

To put this verse in context Peter says, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and…you believe in him … and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy…”

In yesterday’s post, “Testimony,” we discussed why people believe in Jesus even two thousand years after he lived on earth. The answer, it seems, is that God calls us to believe and makes it possible for us to believe. But how? How does God do this?

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020

1 Peter 1:8 (a) — Testimony

Cartoon image of man speaking before a microphone.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him …

This is truly one of the great mysteries of our Modern Age. How is it possible that two thousand years after a man named Jesus walked this earth, people still to this day believe that he is alive?

In Acts chapter 5, there is a story about the Jewish Council (called the Sanhedrin) who condemned Jesus to death for claiming to be the Messiah. Two months after they had rid themselves of Jesus they expected things to go back to normal. But they didn’t. Instead, the disciples of Jesus, now called Apostles, kept talking about Jesus like he was alive. To complicate things, they did miracles of healing in the name of Jesus. Thousands of people were coming to believe that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah.

June 14, 2020June 14, 2020

1 Peter 1:7 — Refined by Fire

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

I don’t know about you, but I find this sentence confusing. I glanced through several other translations of this verse and you know what? They confused me, too.

Let’s deconstruct what Peter is saying here:

These have come…

In verse six, Peter talks about the grief believers suffer because of “all kinds of trials.” Peter knows what he is talking about here. He certainly has experienced all kinds of trials! But why do trials come? Why do we suffer if God is watching out for us?

June 13, 2020June 14, 2020

1 Peter 1:6 — Congratulations Graduate!

A large group of graduates throw their mortarboard hats into the air.

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

Are you graduating this weekend? Congratulations!

Are you the parent or grandparent of a graduate? Congratulations to you, too.

Let me ask you a question: Does how much you had to go through to get to graduation have any bearing on how happy you are to graduate? To put it another way, if your school is handing you a diploma for simply signing up and showing up to class a few times does that have any meaning for you?