NTDS (83): Do Not Be Surprised!

1 Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. NIV

Do you ever get caught off guard when all of a sudden you find yourself in the midst of a trial? You wonder, “what did I do to deserve this?” You may even ask God, “why do I have to go through this?” It seems that many of us, when we became Christians, might have thought our lives would just be so blessed, that we wouldn’t have to go through severe trials.

What we learn in chapters three and four of 1^st Peter, is that sometimes our blessing comes from the trials themselves. Wait a minute, I’m not sure I like that. I don’t know if I want to suffer a trial in order to be blessed by God! That would be a normal reaction. None of us like to go through fiery trials, as the NASU puts it in the key verse.

It is important to understand what type of trial it is, that Peter is talking about here. Throughout these two chapters, Peter speaks of suffering for the sake of Christ and righteousness. Look at these verses:

1 Peter 3:14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. (NIV)

1 Peter 3:17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (NIV)

You see then, that it is suffering for the cause of Christ and doing good, that brings blessing into your life. You might be thinking, “that sounds good, but I would still rather not suffer. It might not be worth the blessing! By the way, how can it really bring blessing?” Good question. Peter has some answers.

1 Peter 3:9-12 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.11 He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (NIV)

Peter quotes Psalm 34:12-16 here, to let us know how God looks at those who desire to do good, rather than evil. He is teaching us that those who do good, have God’s full attention (v12). He sees their good deeds and hears their prayers.

Then, in 1 Peter 4:1-3, He speaks of a great blessing for those who have the same attitude that Jesus did. “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2 As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.” (NIV)

He says that those who have suffered bodily for Christ’s sake, get the blessing of having overcome the natural tendency to live for the fleshly desires. Instead they live only to do the will of God. Isn’t that the desire of all of our lives, to live for the will of God? But it seems so very hard to get to that place. Suffering in the body, which sometimes is the will of God for us (see 4:18), can bring us to that point.

Paul was a great example of this. Listen to what he said in 2 Cor 4:8-12 “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (NASU, emphasis mine)

Paul went on to say this in Gal 2:20-21 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (NIV)

Paul’s suffering in the cause of Christ had brought him into the place of true selflessness. His life was completely immersed in doing the will of God. What a blessing that is! It would be hard (if not impossible), to come to this place in our lives without ever having suffered for being Christ like in our actions. The truth is, that when you are living a life led by the Holy Spirit, you will face times of resistance, persecution and suffering. So when it does happen, remind yourself of what Peter said and don’t be surprised! Instead, when those times come, remember what you read today and rejoice in the blessing that God will bring to your life.

God bless you

Coach

Walk in the Way

The first 59 posts of the The New Testament Devotional Series, have been revised and updated to form a new devotional ebook. The title of the book is "Walk in the Way."

This series is a unique blend of devotional verses and in depth bible study. You can use it for daily devotions, weekly study or combination of both.

I hope you will check it out. I am sure you will be blessed!

Click on the link to order!

God bless you,
Coach

http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Way-New-Testament-Devotional-ebook/dp/B01EMFGL1K/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

NTDS (82): Living Stones

1 Peter 2:5 …you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. NASU

The Bible often uses stones and rocks as metaphors to teach us truths contained in scripture. It might be a little hard for us living in today’s modern society to understand what is being taught here, because we don’t normally think of stones and rocks as building blocks. Rather we may think of them as objects to throw or annoying hindrances to digging in our gardens. But for the immediate audience to which Peter wrote, this was a very useful picture of how God wanted their relationship with Him to grow.

In the construction methods of the time, when a structure was to be built, a choice stone would be laid (or at least designed) in one corner first. That would be the foundation for the whole building. It was called the “chief cornerstone,” and it would dictate how the rest of the building would go.

The analogy then becomes very clear. Peter tells us that as believers, our foundation, our chief cornerstone, is Jesus himself. He is the cornerstone of the church and we are the rest of the stones, used to complete the building. Our key verse calls us a “spiritual house.” This is a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ is “fitted” together and reminds us that we are interdependent. We need each other to be complete and we all need Jesus to be the foundation of our lives. If He is not, we will surely fall apart.

Peter goes on to say that we were chosen for this spiritual house so that we might proclaim …the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9) NASU

Though we are certainly to proclaim this in words, throughout this chapter Peter is telling us that our deeds, our actions, are what truly proclaim this. Look at these instructions in 1 Peter 2:11-12, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” NASU

He began the chapter with this exhortation: “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,” (1 Peter 2:1-3) NASU

You see, the truth of the gospel is proclaimed when believers dwell together in love and unity. Jesus said that the world would know that we are His disciples by our love one for another (Jn 13:35). This means that we must be willing to put aside petty differences, in order to grow as believers and proclaim the truth of the gospel.

Those petty differences, by the way, come not from others and their personality quirks, but from our own selfishness and pride.

We must remember two things. We were saved by grace, not because of any goodness in us and we are not perfect. In fact, our personalities may be just as irritating to someone else as theirs is to us!

Let us strive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to “fit” closely together. Let’s be content with being one humble stone of God’s spiritual house and rely on the chief cornerstone to hold us together. In that way, we proclaim that Jesus is alive and living in us.

God bless you

Coach

  

NTDS (81): Perishable and Imperishable

1 Peter 1:3-4 In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade… NIV

Three times in the first chapter of Peter’s first letter, he speaks of things that are either perishable or imperishable. It would seem that he is trying to make a point of emphasis to his readers.

In the above verse, Peter tells us that we have an inheritance that cannot perish. An inheritance that cannot be spoiled and will not fade. In fact, he says that it is “kept in heaven” for us.

It makes sense that it is not something kept on earth. Just by observation, we can see that earthly things perish. In verse 7, Peter uses gold as an example. Even though gold, especially after it has been refined by the fire, can last a long time, eventually it perishes. It is not eternal.

In verse 18, he includes silver as another example of things that perish. Why does he use these precious metals as an example? I believe it is because we think of them as precious or valuable. But even though we may consider them as very valuable, they do not last forever.

I think most of us would agree, that there is something even more valuable than any precious metal. Life, especially human life is as precious as it gets. But Peter will point out that life too is perishable. In fact, he says in verse 24 that men are like grass, their glory is like the flowers of the field. Both will fade and both will fall.

What is the point of all this? Why is this important? One word, perspective. Peter wants us to have a proper perspective concerning the things of this life, perishable things, as compared to eternal things.

We tend to get caught up in things that seem important, but ultimately have no value in eternity. We get so concerned about what clothes we will wear, what car we will drive, what house we will live in, but those things will only last a short time.

When Peter wrote this letter, Christians, were going through a great time of persecution and suffering yet Peter says that in spite of this, they greatly rejoiced in their eternal inheritance, salvation!

He encouraged them to continue to live holy lives (vv 13-15) and to set their hope fully on the grace given by Jesus Christ. That message is given to us as well. No matter what we are going through, no matter what our current circumstances are, one thing is certain. We, who are in Christ, have an eternal inheritance. Our salvation guarantees us life eternal in the presence of our Lord. It is an inheritance that will never fade; it will never perish!

The question is, are you setting your mind fully on Jesus today? Are you rejoicing in your eternal, imperishable inheritance or are you getting caught up in the day to day trials of this life? Jesus said this, Matt 6:31-34 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'  32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NASU

In verse 7 of our chapter, Peter reminds us that the trials we face have a purpose. They test our faith. They refine us in the same way that gold is refined. They reveal to us whether our faith is genuine or not. If we have genuine faith, then we can rejoice in the fact that our trials here are only temporary, they will pass. When we lay hold of that fact and remember that we have an imperishable inheritance to look forward to, then we, will experience the same “inexpressible and glorious joy,” that those early believers did.

God bless you

Coach

NTDS (80): Power in Prayer?

James 5:16 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. NASU

Prayer can seem to be a mystery to us. We know that God is sovereign so we wonder why should we even bother praying. We are not going to change His mind are we? He is always going to do what He chooses to do, right? If that is the case, why bother asking? Besides, even when I do ask, I don’t see an answer to my prayer anyway.

If you look at this verse in James, he would beg to differ with that type of thinking. In fact, just before the key verse, James tells his readers to call for the elders to pray for those who are sick. He says to confess our sins to each other and pray for healing. In verse 13 he says that if anyone is suffering, let him pray. Evidently, James believes that not only should we pray, but that our prayers bring results!

 Let’s look closely at verse 16. James says the prayer of a righteous man (or woman) can accomplish much. He prefaces that with the phrase, “effective prayer.” What does that mean? The word here in Greek for effective is energeo. It is defined as “to be active” or “efficient.” It is where we get the word energy or energized. The NIV puts it this way, “The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

So we need to know, who is considered righteous? Simple, one who has put their trust in Christ. His righteousness has been given to us in an exchange at the cross. He took the penalty of our sin upon Himself and placed His righteousness upon us. When we pray to the Father, He considers us as righteous because of His Son and thus, hears our prayer.

Lastly, James says that these prayers accomplish much. The Greek scholar, AT Robertson says that this could be rendered, "has much force." Think about that. It may not be that our prayer will accomplish exactly what we wanted, but that does not mean it does not have force or power. It just may not have been exactly what God wanted. But sometimes, God, in His foreknowledge, has an event planned out to match the exact timing and nature of our prayer and then we get to watch what He does. We get to participate in accomplishing God’s will. How amazing that is!

James gives us an example of this in verses 17 and 18. He says that Elijah, a man just like us, not more holy or more spiritual, called for a halt to rain and the rain stopped. It stopped for 3 ½ years! Then he prayed for it to rain and it did. His prayer evidently had “much force.”

Jesus taught us that anything we would ask in His name (which means in His will), He would give to us (Jn 14:13,15:16). The key for us in asking for anything in prayer, is to first seek God’s will. We want our hearts to be aligned with His. That means asking Him each day, to lead and guide us in our prayer life by the power of the Holy Spirit. It means that we lay aside our fleshly desires and ask Him to place His desires in us. When that happens, we will see that our prayers are effective, that they will accomplish much because what we are asking for, is what He wants!

The apostle Paul tell us that we ought to pray constantly (1Th 5:17). James tells us earlier in his letter, that we should pray believing that we have what we ask for (1:5-8). Jesus told us over and over again to ask, in faith, for anything in His name. I want to encourage you to continually go the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to guide your heart, helping you to pray for His will to be done in every circumstance. If you do, then your prayers will be the ones that accomplish much and your faith will grow!

God bless you

Coach

NTDS (79): Faith or Works?

James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. NASU

Few doctrines in the Christian faith stir up people’s emotions like the debate over what part good works play in a person’s salvation. The question is, why? Jesus certainly never declared that there were any works you could do, that would save you. In fact, He said that whosoever believes in Him, shall have everlasting life (John 3:16). He did not put any other requirements on salvation. In Acts 2:21, Peter quotes the prophet Joel, who says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, nothing about works contributing to that salvation.

Paul made it abundantly clear that we are saved by grace, through faith and not of works. Consider these statements:

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Rom 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation

Rom 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

If you read all of Romans, you realize that Paul is explaining the gospel and how we are saved by grace through faith and not of works throughout that entire letter.

So why the debate, why the controversy? Well, it comes because of some statements that James makes in chapter 2 of his epistle. He says this, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him ?” (James 2:14) And then, in James 2:24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

He then uses two examples from the Old Testament. One is Abraham. He says that when Abraham offered Issac up to God, he was then justified. Then he speaks of Rahab, who hid Joshua’s spies in Jericho and says that she was justified by her actions.

At first glance, this could seem completely contradictory to what the rest of the New Testament teaches. Some people have gone so far as to say that because of these apparent contradictions, James should not have even been included in the Bible! Is this true? Is this really a direct contradiction?

The answer is, not at all! James is not contradicting anything that is taught elsewhere in the New Testament, but rather, he is supplementing our understanding of what true faith is. Think about it, would one act of any individual, really be able to save them from God’s judgment? If that were true, wouldn’t we all be looking to find that one good deed, that would bring us into salvation? That would be ludicrous in light of what the Bible teaches. In fact, if that were true, then Jesus died in vain. There would have been no need for Him to pay the price for our sin.

If you read the entire passage, you begin to understand what James is really trying to teach us. You see in verse 18, he prefaces these examples by saying that faith is demonstrated by works. James is a no nonsense, show me don’t tell me, kind of guy. He makes it clear, that a person who claims that he or she is a believer, will show evidence of that in their behavior. Paul would completely agree with that. Immediately after Paul said that we are saved by grace and not by works, he said this, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Eph 2:10) So Paul and James are in complete harmony.

In our key verse, James is illustrating that before we came to Christ, our spirit was dead. When we received Jesus into our lives, we were born, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit (see John, chapter 3). The evidence of that new birth will demonstrated by good works. Not, should be but will be!

This is not meant to lay a burden upon us. We have no ability in our flesh to complete those good works. They come out of a heart of love for our Savior and by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. The closer you draw to Jesus, the more you surrender the desires of your flesh and allow yourself to be controlled by His Spirit, the more you will demonstrate the evidence of that faith by good works.

That is the message that James brings to us. Galatians 5 supports that teaching. Those who walk by the Spirit will not fulfill the deeds of the flesh but instead, demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. May you walk in the Spirit of God today and every day!

God bless you,

Coach