Past Devotions

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.

When someone hurts us and repents and asks forgiveness, it is a lot easier to forgive than 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’s 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.

I was in Walmart early Monday morning walking through the boxed furniture aisle when I met with a dear pastor and his wife who share our church building. It must have been a divine “coincidence” … no one is in the Walmart boxed furniture aisle early Monday mornings. I know that because while we talked for about 30 minutes, no one even came near the boxed furniture aisle.

We had a great time talking about the LORD. As we talked, we discovered that our messages have even been similar over the last few months. (I’m pretty sure that’s because “what the Spirit is saying to the churches” is the same warnings and encouragements everywhere.)

God is calling all the Body of Christ to put aside the things that keep us apart. Sure, we may think differently on some things. Our church meets on Sunday, theirs meets on Saturday … may I say, who cares! What if we all just decided to meet on Tuesdays? Or Mondays? I doubt it matters much to God which day of the week we meet as long as we gather to worship Him.

As we shared Monday morning, it was clear that the core of our focus is one.  We both lovingly and faithfully serve the LORD Jesus (Yeshua), Him crucified and raised from the dead. We are brothers and sisters in the LORD, not rivals but sister churches who meet in the same building.  When we first began our church, they blessed us enormously, helping us to continue when times were tough. Now times are a bit tough for them and we have been granted the privilege of blessing them.

I loved our conversation Monday morning in the boxed furniture aisle in Walmart. I was blessed. Maybe I need to hang out there more often!

I just responded to a “question of the week” sent to my email.  It asked me, “have you ever felt uncomfortable being labeled as a Christian?” The choices to respond: Yes. No. Not sure.

What kind of a question is that? How can you answer it with only those three responses?  And what exactly do they mean by “labeled?” Labeled by whom?

Have I ever been uncomfortable being a Christian?  You bet, especially when I hear a message and feel the prompting of the Spirit of God in my heart that I need to change. The Gospel at times has made me very uncomfortable because I know I’m not measuring up.

Have I ever felt uncomfortable when other Christians are acting very un-Christlike? Yep. Nothing more embarrassing than being around people who call themselves Christian but don’t act any differently from the world.

Have I ever felt uncomfortable being labeled a Christian by someone (or society) that doesn’t want to hear the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus? That would be a negative response. I feel sad that people don’t want to hear the Good News – perhaps some of that is of our own making because we have been far less compassionate and kind than we should have been. Still, I’m hanging with Paul on this.

“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes …. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’“  [Romans 1:16-17 NKJV]

If we are going to do this Christian walk correctly, it’s not going to be easy. What is “freely given” – our salvation – costs a lot! Jesus even warned His followers that they needed to “count the cost.”  [Luke 14:28]

Paul commanded his readers to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Then he told them what that would cost to do so.  “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” [Eph 4:1-3 NIV]

That means it’s going to cost me my arrogance (to be completely humble) and my anger (to be gentle.)  I’ll need to throw in my irritation (so I can be patient), and my indifference (so I can bear with others in love.)

And if I am going to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, that will cost me my divisiveness, murmuring, gossiping, envy, and resentment.

Paul didn’t stop there either. He came right out later in his letter and identified even more cost! “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”  And finally, He said we are to “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”  [Eph 4:31-32 NIV]

It’s going to cost even more when I must get rid of my rudeness (so I can be kind), my heartlessness (so I can become compassionate) and finally my unforgiveness (so that I might reflect the forgiveness I received in Christ).

Yes, to do this walk right will cost quite a bit.

A recent Fox News report indicated that we saw more than 500 tornadoes in the month of May across the United States. To add to that, Hurricane Season began June 1!  This has been a wild weather year so far and it’s not even half over.

When Jesus was questioned by His disciples about the signs of His return, He began “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” [Matt 24:4-8 NIV]

We might be able take today’s headlines and fit them into this prophecy, although I’m sure that isn’t the wisest thing to do. I don’t know if the crazy weather pattern we are experiencing is the “beginning of birth pains” or just some fluke of nature confined to this year. I’ll leave that to scholars to determine.

I do know that the return of the LORD is closer now “than it’s ever been,” and that we need to heed the words of the LORD and “see to it that [we] are not alarmed.” 

 Our LORD will return, whether we go with Him in a rapture or at His Second Coming when all will see Him, matters not to me. Just to hear Him bid us home, just to see Him coming in clouds of glory, that will be enough.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhF3nXw8kIo     (Ivan Parker, “Midnight Cry”)

While we are living in this world most of us have experienced what Jesus warned us about: In the world you will have tribulation [John 16:33 NKJV]

Jesus wanted us to understand that it is not about “If” we are going to have trials or tribulations, it is “when” we are going to have them. It’s a given; trials do come.

Yesterday we saw that James gave us a blueprint for handling our trials when they come. He said we are to “Count is all joy when you fall into various trials.”

 There are two parts of that blueprint that are crucial. The first is the command to Count.  Count means to evaluate. It’s a financial term. We are to determine if the trial goes in the asset or the liability column.

The second crucial part is the timing of that accounting.  Do we wait to the end to see if God really does work all things to our good?  Or do we do it at the beginning?  James says we count our trials as all joy “when [we] fall into” them.  We aren’t to wait until we can look back and see how the trials benefited our walk with the LORD, but we are to put the joy at the beginning of the trial.

Our outlook, or attitude, will play heavily into the outcome. We are far more likely to mature in our Christian walk if we go into a trial with joy, expecting to draw closer to the LORD in it, than if we murmur and complain through the experience.  Not saying it’s easy. Just saying it’s necessary.

Everybody has them. Nobody likes them, I’m sure. They pop up at the most inconvenient of times. They are trials.  Some are small, others are overwhelming, and they come to us from different sources.

Some trials come from the fact that we are fallen. We make mistakes, we are foolish, stupid, or we allow sin in our lives. When those trials come, repentance must happen before anything else.

Some trials come because we are human. Our bodies age, we acquire a disease or illness, we are involved in an accident or we lose our jobs or find ourselves economically unable to keep up.

Some trials come because we are Christians. Peter reminded his readers, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.”   [4:12-13]

So, if we are going to have trials anyway, why not use them to our advantage? Why not use them to grow closer to the LORD? James says our outlook can determine the outcome. His blueprint is to “Count is all joy when you fall into various trials.”

 I seldom put “joy” and “trials” in the same sentence. James wants us to count our trials as “all joy.” I think I need to mull this over a bit. Tomorrow!