Devotions

We are about nine days away from Thanksgiving Day.

The USA looks to one day of national Thanksgiving each year. But our citizenship is in heaven and as chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God’s special possession, we should be thanking God every day. [1 Peter 2:9]

Psalm 107 recounts God’s faithfulness and opens with both the acknowledgement of that as well as the command to speak out about it!  “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!” [Psalm 107:1-2a NLT]

Other translations have translated verse 2 as “Let the Redeemed of the Lord Say So!”

So I am SAYING SO! Our God is faithful. Our God is Good. His Faithful Love Endures Forever!

Can you count the number of times you experienced God’s Faithful Love? Can you recall how miserable your life was before He redeemed you? I am so very grateful that I no longer need to live there. I now live in the Love of God as His chosen people, royal priesthood, holy nation, and His very own special possession.

Thank you LORD! Amen & Amen

I Peter, Chapter 4, ends with a marvelous reassurance. The end of the chapter – the end of the section about “Suffering for Being a Christian,” promises that no matter what we experience being a Christian, our wonderful God who created us will never fail us.

 “But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! … So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.” [vs 16, 19 NLT]

It is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Jesus foretold that “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” [John 15:18 NLT]

There is, however, a manner of suffering that does not please God … “murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs” and other like actions [1 Peter 4: NLT]

We are to “keep on doing what is right,” and it is always right to be true to God’s Word. That will often put us at odds with the world – and will always agitate the enemy of our soul.

There will be a backlash to actions that promote the truth of the Word of God in our world, but we can be assured that when we suffer for doing what is right – our God will never fail us. Praise His Glorious Name. Amen & Amen

I am back to 1 Peter, Chapter 4, this morning. The section in my Bible labeled “Suffering for Being a Christian” begins this way: “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.  Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” [vs 12-13 NLT]

Fiery trials that partner us with Christ in His suffering are common around the world and common for believers throughout history. They are not common in this country – yet. Yes, we have seen isolated violence against Christians and an overall generic disdain for true Christianity, but we have yet to experience the “fiery trials” that are so prevalent around the world.

I have been reading about underground churches in China and the persecution that existed throughout the USSR under communism. I am aware of the persecution in African nations and other parts of the world now.

In many places spiritual maturity is measured in direct proportion to the amount of suffering endured for the faith. The expectation is not so much “if” persecution or imprisonment will happen, but “when” it will happen.

This is not something we like to consider, but my spirit has been awakened to the prospect of those “fiery trials” coming upon true believers in this nation. They may not happen in the next few years, and I might not live to see them, but I truly believe they will come. And we need to prepare – not just our own hearts – but be prepared to provide wisdom and courage for the future generations who likely will see them.

Today is my friend’s birthday. Vaunda and I met 47 years ago. She was in the church nursery with my youngest who was two years old at the time. We worked together on a church banquet and when her husband became the Lead Pastor at the church in Loomis, CA, we followed a couple weeks later.

Patty arrived on the scene a few years later. We shared a lot together…joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, triumph and tragedy, and eventually separation. Vaunda moved to Utah, I moved to Idaho, and Patty went to Montana. Last year Patty, the youngest, went home to her Savior and LORD. Vaunda and I miss her terribly. Most of our conversations begin with one of us saying, “I miss Patty.”

I awoke this morning thinking about how blessed I am to have had wonderful Christian friends for almost one-half century! We have worshipped and praised our Savior. We worked together and laughed together. The three of us would usually end up singing together. Vaunda the soprano, Patty the alto, and me a very shaky tenor. Such joy!

Now God has brought new friends into my life, and I am thankful for the joy they bring.

We need to appreciate our friends (whether we have had them for a long time or a short time), praying for them and thanking God for the blessing they are to us.

“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.” [Proverbs 27:9 NLT]

In 1 Peter, chapter 4, sandwiched between an opening section about “Living for God,” and the ending section regarding, “Suffering for Being a Christian,” Peter gave us a few things to consider.  Prayer. Love. Hospitality. And the last, using God’s gifts. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Peter then sums up the “various forms” of God’s grace given two ways. “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.” [1 Peter 4:10-11]

Speaking and Serving are the two ways we display the grace of God. When speaking we speak the words of God. We don’t revise what God says or omit or add to God’s truths. We simply speak the very words of God with wisdom and grace. Some will like them; others will reject them. Our job, however, is to remain true to God’s truths.

We are also to serve, not in our own weaknesses but with the strength that God supplies. Servanthood is the vocation of everyone who calls Christ Jesus Lord and Savior. We are to serve from a willing heart, wherever God plants us. We are to minister to Him in worship and praise, we are to minister to others in love, kindness, compassion, and generosity.

If we use the gifts God has given us to serve, God will be praised. He receives the glory – not us. “To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”

1 Peter 4 has a small list of actions and attitudes which are to aid us in how he begins the chapter, “Living for God,” and how he ends the chapter, “Suffering for Being a Christian.” The first two are prayer and love, then he turns his attention to ungrudging hospitality. “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”  [1 Peter 4:9]

Hospitality is hospitality in either the Greek or the English. It’s opening our homes, our hearts, to others without grumbling or complaining.

In Peter’s day there weren’t any Motel 6s or Holiday Inns where travelers could find rest on their journeys. Peter encourages his readers to make their homes a bed and breakfast for fellow Christians.

Remember how he began this section?  “The end of all things is near, therefore ….” 

Peter anticipates that the times are going to get tougher as we approach the return of the LORD. Not only do we need to engage in watchful prayer and covering love for each other, we may need to actually open our homes and hearts when the time comes, as we may find ourselves without church buildings, without homes, facing persecution – even martyrdom.

As the family of God, the body of Christ, we need to look out for each other.

1 Peter 4 contains two sections, the first labeled in one of my translations as “Living for God,” and the second labeled, “Suffering for Being a Christian.” Between those two sections, Peter outlines a small series of attitudes and actions that are necessary to do both. The first is about prayer, the second is about love. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”  [1 Peter 4:8]

We are to love each other “deeply” or as the NKJV translates it, we are to “have fervent love for one another.”

That means a love that never ceases. It never grows cold. It never diminishes. That kind of love covers sins. That kind of love is agape love … the love God has for us. Just as we are in a covenant relationship with God to forgive (He forgave us; we forgive others), we share a covenant relationship with Him to love (He loves us; we love others).

It is God’s love that covers our sins. God doesn’t display our sins to others; He doesn’t blab them on the evening news or write them across the skies. He could, but He doesn’t. When we repent, in His love He forgives us, then buries our sins in the deepest part of the seas, as far as the east is from the west. He grants us righteousness and dignity in Him to go on “Living for God.”

He expects us to do the same. We are to love each other, forgive each other, protect each other in agape love. Once that sin has been repented of and forgiven, it needs to be forgotten in love.

I was reading in 1 Peter this morning, chapter 4. My Bible subtitles the beginning of chapter 4 as “Living for God,” and the ending as “Suffering for Being a Christian.”

In the middle there is a paragraph that lists a few attitudes and actions that we should note. When reading I thought these attitudes and actions were vital for both “Living for God” and “Suffering for Being a Christian.

The first is verse 7: “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” 

 The NKJV translates it, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.”

 The end of all things is much nearer now than it was in Peter’s Day. If it was important to be clear minded / serious and self-controlled / watchful then, how much more so now.

Prayer is vital. Peter recommends prayer that isn’t frivolous. Somehow the idea of prosperity prayer seems at odds with “Living for God” or “Suffering for Being a Christian.” But good solid, serious prayer that flows from a heart that is controlled by the Spirit of God, watchful prayer that sees the dangers and traps around us – that kind of prayer is essential.

Holy Spirit, help us to have a serious prayer life, one that is dependent upon You and recognizes that “the end of all things is near.” Amen.

When we enter a covenant relationship with the LORD Jesus through our salvation, we also enter a covenant of forgiveness.  Jesus told us when we pray, we are to say … “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive the debts of others.”  [Luke 11:4]

The Apostle Paul reiterated the covenant in both his letters to the Ephesians and Colossians: “forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you,” and “forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” [Eph 4:32, Col 3:13-14].

A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are numerous examples of covenants in the OT. Most have similar attributes. Both parties are responsible for keeping the covenant, they were often sealed by blood sacrifice, and there were consequences for not keeping them as they were a sacred commitment.

The covenant of forgiveness is simple. God forgave us; we forgive others. Simple. But certainly not easy.

It is a lot easier to forgive someone who hurts us and then repents asking forgiveness than it is when people don’t know or care that they hurt us. The thing about the covenant of forgiveness, our part isn’t founded on what’s in the heart of the offender – only what is in the heart of the one granting forgiveness.

It doesn’t matter if the offender repents or not. It doesn’t flow from our feelings. It is an act of the will. We choose to forgive others because we remember (and are eternally grateful for) the magnitude of forgiveness we received in Christ Jesus. 

I was reading Psalm 27 this morning. It begins with a very familiar verse – “The LORD is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”  Whom, indeed.

One of my translations describes this song as “An Exuberant Declaration of Faith.” David expresses his confident faith in the LORD God Almighty even in the face of being surrounded by evil men. He trusts the LORD to rescue Him. Then David says, “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD….”  [vs 4]

One thing. David wanted to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life for one purpose, simply to behold, to gaze upon his beautiful Savior. As I meditated on that verse this morning, I realized that David sought that one thing – to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD – because he knew that is the only way his faith would remain strong “when evil men advance[d] against [him] to devour [his] flesh.”  [vs 2]

David knew that he would be safe in the day of trouble if he remained in the presence of the LORD, if he kept his gaze on God and not on the evil, the danger around him.  The writer of Hebrews tells us the same thing when he urges us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”  [Heb 12:2]

The world is a dangerous place; it always has been and will continue to be so for those who profess faith in Christ Jesus as LORD. Persecution and martyrdom have always accompanied faith. The only safe place is in the presence of the LORD, fixing our eyes upon Him, gazing upon His beauty.

One Thing ….