Our Hope is in Him

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

 OUR HOPE IS IN HIM

1 Peter 1:17-21

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

NIV

We do call on the Father in Heaven. So often it seems it appears that we are calling on Jesus, but the fact is that we pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus. Jesus consistently taught that we are to ask the Father and, in fact, we can ask the Father for whatever we need and ask him in the name of Jesus, and it will be given to us. So here we are told again to call on the Father, but we are also told that our Father judges each of our works impartially. This is the reason we should live our lives as strangers here in reverent fear. Perhaps we should explore just what works Peter is talking about here. That almost sounds like works have something to do with salvation, and we know that simply is not true for salvation is a free gift of God, through faith in Jesus. If we take the whole of the truth Peter is saying here, we have to come to the issue of the work in the light of our faith and hope in God. It is certain that faith and works are in opposition to each other in regard to salvation. A look at the Greek word translated as works might give us some clues. In the general sense, this word ergon means to labor, as in employment. It is also used as to anything accomplished by hand, such as art, industry, and mind. It also can mean an act or deed, something done. So then what God judges is how we live our life, how we work in our daily affairs, how we live in our walk as a believer, that is how we deal with faith, with our believing, our trust in the Father. Jesus told us the work of God is to believe in the one He sent. This work has everything to do with how we exercise our faith or belief in Jesus. Being a stranger here implies the work has nothing to do with the affairs of the world. If we live as strangers in the world than none of the work which corresponds to worldly efforts count. That would even apply to what is considered good deeds. If we do something considered good, the only reason would be so that we could bring glory to the Father. What good is any good deed if men praise us for our good acts? That is what men do in the world. They work for the praise of men, but we work for the praise of God. Our faith is in Jesus, our hope is in Jesus, and so how do we live out our faith in a manner as strangers living in reverent fear of God. If we live in the same manner as the empty way of life we were born into, then we trust in man, we trust in ourselves, our efforts, our abilities, our skills, our education, for the attainment of whatever we want. We trust in silver and gold rather than in God. That is an empty life, having no faith other than maybe for our salvation. How can we say we believe God for salvation, but for nothing else in our lives? Is that the work he judges impartially? How much do we believe? How do we work out our salvation? How do we live out our faith? How do we demonstrate we believe God for everything in our lives? All that we are, all that we have, all that we do are a result of Christ in us. It is he who works in us, and through us. All our hope is in Him.

Thinking Clearly

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

THINKING CLEARLY

1 Peter 1:13-16

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."  

NIV

To begin, we need to see the, therefore. He is referring to our salvation, the grace of God, and that we are to search intently with all care concerning the revealing of Jesus Christ and for us, His second coming. So then, we should prepare our minds for action. It is interesting how this version uses the word, self-controlled, while other versions along with the meaning of the Greek use the word, sober. The Greek says that we should gird the loins of our minds, being sober to the end. Although this same Greek word is used to be referred to as not being drunk from drinking too much wine, or any other adult beverages, it has the meaning here or clear-minded, unconfused thinking, not cluttered with nonsensical things. This could pertain to all sorts of matters that would not be clear-minded thinking to the end. If we set our hopes on anything other than grace to be given to us when Jesus is revealed or in this case, returns for us. That would mean we should not set our hopes on those matters that confuse our thinking, such as the hope in material matters for our future. In our modern age, there are so many media forms that are filled with commercials suggesting our hope should be in a proper enough portfolio that will last us through our retirement years. Yet, Jesus has told us, commanded us not to store up treasures for ourselves, where rust can corrode or thieves can break in and steal, but store up treasures in heaven, because where our treasure is there also is our heart. So then we are to fully set our hope, all our trust, all our treasure, in the grace, the gracious act of God, the divine influence upon our heart, living fully in His grace, waiting fully prepared Jesus to be revealed as he appears in the clouds with the sound of the trumpet, and calls us home. Peter goes on to tell us to be as obedient children, but not to be a child in this manner, but to be compliant to the word of the Lord, compliant in his grace, his influence on our hearts. The comparison is between living without his grace, his influence, and living in accordance with his influence. We are not to conform or no longer live without his influence for when we live void of the influence of God, we live in accordance with our own nature, which is evil. This is due to being ignorant, lacking the knowledge of God, lacking the knowledge of his word, and his desires for our lives. This is living with the lack of knowledge regarding his call for us to be holy as He is holy. That is ignorance to the highest degree and without this knowledge, we live in want, we live lacking hope, we live in all sorts of evil manners. However, having that knowledge, setting our minds fully and completely, unconfused, uncluttered on the Lord, we desire to be holy as He is holy. Now, this could seem to be a bit confusing as we are not even able to be as holy as God is, for we are not God, but rather his creation, and as human, we are still in a corruptible form, even with our sin forgiven. So a more complete understanding of this word holy is needed. The meaning of the Greek word Hagios is varied. It properly means revered, as God is revered. To walk in a revered manner. Yet we would not look to be revered by men, but rather by God. This word also means to be set apart, to be fully God's. It also carries the meaning, as suggested by the Greek scholars, as in a moral sense, to walk pure, sinless, and upright. This could create internal chaos as we are fully aware we cannot walk totally sinless, and if we were able to, we would have no need of Jesus. Nevertheless, we are to be holy, to be fully set on living for God. We should be holy in the sense that we desire to be pure, desire not to sin, desire to live uprightly, and be under His influence rather than our own tainted influence. So we desire to be holy and we know we need to think clearly regarding all things.

With the Greatest Care

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

WITH THE GREATED CARE

1 Peter 1:10-12

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 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. Even angels long to look into these things.

NIV

Peter had just told us that we have received the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Now he turns his attention, as directed or rather inspired by the Spirit, to the salvation the prophets spoke of. Peter calls it the grace that was to come to us. Again, this is the Charis type of grace, the divine influence on our hearts, which is exactly who Jesus is. He is the grace of God also in the sense as the free gift from God or the divinely gracious act of God. Peter tells us the prophets, although they spoke under the influence of the Spirit of God, as men, they still searched intently with the greatest of care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them they knew what they were saying, but did not know the when, and where, and perhaps even the exact who and how and maybe even the why. But they searched intently with the greatest of care trying to find those answers. This should give us a clue as to several things we should see in our lives. First, we should be speaking under the influence of the Spirit. This is especially true of those who preach from the pulpit. These individuals had the added burden of being responsible for the spiritual guidance of the local church, or the flock God has given them to care for. A pastor we had many years ago told us that each pastor has the number of people, he is capable of shepherding. That is some can shepherd more than others, but to be sure, each pastor has the exact number God has brought under his care. Second, we should be searching intently and with the greatest of care the scriptures concerning the events yet to unfold. As the prophets searched for the time of the Christ, who we know now is history and have gained a great deal because of his coming, suffering and dying on the cross for the salvation of our souls, we should be searching for the time and circumstances of his return to take us to where he is now. Many of us shy away from that search because it appears to be a mystery, yet the Spirit gave the revelation of Jesus to John. It is interesting the Greek word translated as revelation means to disclose or to be revealed. If something is disclosed or revealed then there is no mystery in it. Only when there is no discloser, or nothing has been revealed can we say there is some mystery surrounding an event. In addition, if we take the scripture as the truth of God, then as according to Paul’s second letter to Timothy:

2 Tim 3:16-17

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

NIV

We would then have to take this to heart and know that if we search intently and with the greatest of care, we will find the circumstances surrounding his second coming, although we will never know the time, as we have been clearly told the time is only for God to know. What we also know is that as we preach the gospel, we are not serving ourselves but those who hear our words, just as the prophets knew they were serving us. All of this points us to search intently with the greatest of care for the glories that will follow.

Inexpressible an Glorious Joy

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

INEXPRESSIBLE AND GLORIOUS JOY

1 Peter 1:3-9

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 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 — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

NIV

Having looked at our inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade that is kept in heaven for us, and that we are shielded by God’s power, we now move on to rejoicing. This rejoicing is even during a short while that we may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. We will get to the reason, but for now, let us consider this suffering grief in all kinds of trials. Maybe we should just let this apply to those first recipients Peter wrote to and forget about any trials we might face. But that is not the case, for we are faced with different kinds of trials they may have had, but the fact remains life is not always a bed of roses. What about the trial of losing our job, or of watching a loved one become so ill, that death is imminent? What about facing an illness ourselves that seems overwhelming, or having to deal with constant pain in our body? What if we are falsely accused of some wrongdoing? We may have to watch a loved one go down the wrong path, living in sin, or seeing them act out in ways we are both morally and socially opposed.  Life simply brings all sorts of experiences or trials that could steal our joy, if we allowed it to. What if we had a financial setback or crisis? Worry, anxiety, fretting, frustration, envy, jealously, and yes, even pride are all trials we would suffer that would steal our joy. Trials, not in a physical sense, but trials in our hearts. No matter what may happen in life, our inheritance is kept in heaven for us and we should always be in an attitude of rejoicing because we know our Lord has it all under control. However, we also see that these trials come for a specific purpose. They are specifically to do with our faith, how much we believe in Jesus. This faith, this trust in Jesus is worth more the gold, which perishes even though it is refined by fire. That is even this 24 carat, pure gold, the finest gold ever refined, will someday perish as all material things will, but our inheritance is kept safe for us in heaven. When we allow these things of the world, these trials to steal our joy, then what kind of faith do we have? Are we looking at trusting in things, or in people instead of trusting Jesus? When we have to go through some trial, some temptation to feel disappointed, or to grieve over a situation or some loved one, and we lose that joyful heart, what has happened to our faith? Have we failed, is our faith not genuine? Has it not been proved to be genuine faith? Has our faith not resulted in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus is revealed? Does that revealing refer only to the time of his return? Is that the only time we should be concerned about proving our faith? We think not? Every time we face some trial and we look to Jesus, instead of the trial, he reveals himself to us. The reason he reveals himself to us is that we are looking to him, trusting in him, having faith that is more precious than gold, and then when we see his working in our lives through those difficult times, we rejoice, we give him praise and honor and glorify his name. We remember the lesson we learned way before we believed. As a youth having to be involved in some sport, being an officer in ROTC, I was tall enough, thin enough the track coach wanted me to run hurdles. As I practiced and practiced the sixth hurdle always seemed to trip me up. He finally figured it out, I was looking at the hurdles instead of the finish line. Once I kept my focus on the finish line, the hurdles seemed to fade away. It was simply a rhythm of steps and stretches to the finish line. A life lesson from Jesus, even before I knew him. Now, we can rejoice in the rhythm of life, because we are focused on the finish line. We rejoice because we believe and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy for we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our soul.

Shielded

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

SHIELDED

1 Peter 1:3-6

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 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 — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

NIV

There is so much in these words, it is difficult to know where to begin. It does seem strange that Peter would consider God the Father, the God of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why would Peter not include Jesus as God? True, God is the Father and Jesus is the Son, but both the Father and Jesus are also God. Nevertheless, it may be that this is the way Peter is revealing the relationship between the Father and the Son. Paul uses this same phrase in his letter to the Corinthians and so it may be the only way in which they can explain the Father. Peter only knew the care and compassion of Jesus as he walked with him for those years of Christ’s ministry. Peter was the one who answered the question Jesus asked while in Caesarea Philippi, “Who do you say I am”, by saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. So Peter knew full well who Jesus is, and here he simply defines who the Father is as well. He is giving the praise and honor to the Father for his mercy to us, by sending Jesus to be the method by which he gave us a new birth. Because these words are inspired by the Spirit, we might understand this new birth as meaning in two ways. First God the Father and the Son along with the Spirit created us in their image, which could imply our first birth, our first breath, as human beings, having breath because of the breath of God. Still, we also might consider our natural birth as human beings through the method God determined man and woman would multiply and fill the earth. This would be our first birth which will inevitably end in death, at least of the body, for we are, in truth, a spirit who has a personality and lives in a body. That is the triune image of God of which we were created. So we have this hope of a new birth, a rebirth of our spirit as Jesus explained to Nicodemus. Because of our sinful nature, and before we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were missing part of who we are, our spirit, as it was dead, so to speak. It was not actually dead, as that is who we actually are, but it was considered as good as dead because we were doomed for destruction, the second death. That is the wages of sin, death. But the free gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what Peter is saying. We have life because Jesus was resurrected from the dead, and He is the firstborn from among the dead. We were dead in our sin, but now we have been resurrected into a new life, an eternal life in Christ. We have been born again. Because of our first birth in this body, we were born into that which would perish and fade. But because we have been born again, in our spirit, we are now born into a life that will never perish or fade, or spoil, it will be eternal, having no end, ever. Everything else in this world will perish, it will spoil and it will fade, but we are shielded by God’s power and are no longer subject to the way or the end of this world. We are already being kept in heaven, or at least our inheritance is. It is ours because we are in Christ and He is in us. We are shielded.

Grace and Peace

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

GRACE AND PEACE

1 Peter 1:1-2

1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

NIV

Having understood this letter is also written to us, the Gentiles who are scattered among the nations, although we were not part of the original recipients. What we still have to consider are the words that are typically used in many letters written by the Apostles, “Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” So often we read through those words and pay little attention to them. However, over the past years, we have been impressed to spend more time on these words and investigate the meaning and the ramifications of them on our lives. Grace is often seen as the unmerited favor of God. Although it is true the God displays his favor without any merit on our part, which is we cannot earn it, or pay for it, or pay it back. However that Greek word is always translated as a gift. The free gift of God is eternal life.

Rom 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

KJV

This word Gift is the Greek word Charisma, which means a divine gratuity, i.e. a deliverance from danger or passion, a spiritual endowment. It is a gift, a free gift from God. But that is not the Greek word used by Peter and the other Apostle in their greetings. This grace is the Greek word, Charis. Although both Charisma and Charis are in the same root word, here the Apostle used Charis which carries the meaning of the divine influence upon our hearts and how that is reflected in our lives. It is specifically used as graciousness, the act of graciousness. Peter was writing to believers who already received the free gift of God, Charisma, so he did not use that form of the word, but the form that indicates a gracious act of God upon us, influencing our hearts. How we so desperately need his influence in our lives and we have it, and we have his influence multiplying in us, which is the meaning of the word translated abundance. In other words, his influence is continually increasing in our lives, or at least it should be. The Greek word translated as peace, eireenee, can and is used to define a state of national tranquility, free from the rage and havoc of war. We can see how that would apply to a person, as is how Peter intended it to be used. We are free from being at war with God, or we are at peace with God, we have a peace treaty which is made with us through Jesus. However, within Christianity, this word has taken on a meaning which carries into the way we live, the condition of our heart. This word has the meaning of a tranquil state of our soul, we are at peace within, we are assured of our salvation through Christ, and so we fear nothing from God and are content with our earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is. Paul used this context in his letter to the Romans.

Rom 8:6-7

6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

NIV

This is that peace, that contentment within, that tranquil state of our heart, which should produce freedom from anxiety, or the stresses in life. All this life is temporary and each day has enough trouble of its own and we are told not to be anxious about tomorrow or the next day, or a week, or year, or our later years, but to be free from fear because we have the peace of Christ ruling, being multiplied continually, in our hearts. We have the grace and peace of God within us and that should give us great comfort. Let us live in that comfort, enjoying his grace, his influence, and his peace, his contentment, his tranquility.  

To Us

DEVOTION

1^ST LETTER OF PETER

TO US

1 Peter 1:1-2

1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

NIV

First, it is most interesting that in the Greek the word elect is not there, but in the interlinear, it is added for clarification. The question is, by whom. It would appear that if it was added, then Peter did not use that word to describe these strangers in the world who were scattered. What is thought by some of our scholars of old is that Peter is writing to the Jews of the dispersion, those Jews who were scattered all over the nations surrender Israel? If this is the case, then of course they are God’s chosen people, which could be called His elected people, the nation he elected or choose to reveal himself to the world. This would fit right into the His foreknowledge as before the nation of Israel existed, God determined they would when he called Abraham and made a covenant with him. Of course, if these are Jews scattered all about the nations, then these Jews are converted to Christianity, although they may not have been called Christians yet. Nevertheless, it is true that whomever Peter is writing to, they have been sanctified through the work of the Spirit, and they are believers in Jesus Christ. This seems to be the first impression that these are the scattered Jews, but if we look throughout the rest of the letter we see words like called out of darkness, once you were not a people, but now you are, give us the impression these were Gentiles who lived as pagans in the dark world and now have been called into the light of God. In any case, because this letter of Peter having been kept and included in the Canon, and is considered God’s word for his people, this means that all scripture is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be fully equipped for every good work, so then we have to read this as though Peter wrote it to us. We are certainly strangers in the world and we have been scattered throughout the world, as there are believers in many nations. Each of us, no matter where in the world we are strangers, we are still strangers here. The Greek word used here means a resident foreigner, an alien. That means we are not citizens of the world, but of the kingdom of God. Because we are foreigners, we do not have the same language as the world. Because we are aliens we do not belong to the world. As strangers or pilgrims, we are just passing through this place on our way to our home. It is true as foreign residences, we live among these people, but are not part of their family. The Holy Spirit has sanctified us, set us apart for God, and as such we live differently from the rest of the people who live for other reasons. So if we take the word elect away, or the word chosen, which neither appears in the Greek then this letter would read that it is by the foreknowledge of God that we are sanctified, or purified, or made holy, set apart, by the work of the Spirit. That is what God foreknew. That is what God predetermined as to how people would come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that he foreknew it would be by the shedding of the Blood of Jesus that people would be saved. The foreknowledge has nothing to do with which person or an elected people, but by the method, whosoever chooses to believe. The Holy Spirit comes to convict, but we must respond to that conviction and repent and come to Jesus. So having come out of the darkness, having believed, this letter is for us. Let us read it for education, teaching, our rebuking, our correction, and our training in righteousness.

A Dreadful Day

DEVOTION

MALACHI

A DREADFUL DAY

Mal 4:1-6

4:1 "Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty. 4 "Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

NIV

Surely the Lord is speaking of the last day, the Day of the Lord when the wicked will be judged and their names blotted out of the book of life and then they will be cast out into the lake of burning sulfur. This is the picture which is painted for us in the words, “burn like a furnace”. Of course, that can also speak of what occurs on the earth during the great tribulation when the angels blow the trumpets and pour out the bowls. These words also speak of the parable Jesus told about the vine and the branches. If the branch does not bear fruit it is cut off and burned up. This is the fate of the wicked. Horrible as it seems, there is no escape for the wicked. Why would someone give up the opportunity of eternal life, for a temporal time of wickedness? Perhaps the wicked either do not think it matters, that they will still go to heaven, because they are a “good person”, or they simply do not believe in God at all, or that there is no such thing as eternal life.  They may think it is all about this life and they make the best of it for their pleasure. Have they not been told the truth? Would they believe the truth if they were told? We know that we were once one of those wicked, we lived among the wicked, thought as the wicked think, and did things as the wicked do. But we heard the truth and believed. Here in these words are also the promise to those who believe. We will see the sun of righteousness rise and we will be healed. This sending of Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord may well be speaking of the day spoken about in the Revelation given to John when the two witnesses come to the earth. These two may well be Elijah and Enoch the two who the Lord took, who never died, and never buried. However, Jesus told the people that Elijah had already come, and he was talking about John the Baptist. John’s mission, his words matched those of here in Malachi about turning the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. His message was about repenting and make straight the way for the Lord. This final message, this final warning, the Lord is coming, either be prepared by believing, or else be ready to be trampled by those who believe. The choice is up to each person. It seems harsh to think we will trample down the wicked, that they will be ashes under our feet. Why wouldn’t we want to tell them to believe? Why would we want their end to be as it is described here? Do they not understand they were wicked? Again, wicked does not mean evil or doing evil, as we think of people of great evil deeds. The wicked are simply people who do not believe. As we are not truly righteous, as Jesus is the only one who is actually righteous, but righteous is defined as one who believes. So there is the nonbeliever, the wicked and the believer the righteous. Yet those who do not believe will not see eternal life and that is sad. So then who will go and tell them? Have not we all been called to go forth into the world and give them the message? Why would we want them to be stuck with a curse, where is our compassion for them? We have to tell them the Day of the Lord is coming, a dreadful day is coming.

Treasured Possession

DEVOTION

MALACHI

TREASURED POSSESSION

Mal 3:13-18

13 "You have said harsh things against me," says the LORD. "Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' 14 "You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.'" 16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. 17 "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

NIV

There is a danger in watching the wicked prosper and wanting that same sort of experience. Not that it would be right to envy the wicked, for we know their final end, however, at the present time it seems they have so much while we live a more meager life. But they are arrogant to the point of saying they do not need God, for that matter have no concern about God, even to the point of saying there is no God, that he is an invention of man. When the arrogant say they do not need God, those are the harsh words Malachi is saying the Lord is speaking about. They say it is futile to serve God. There is nothing to gain by living by his standards, his commands. The arrogant look to themselves, their abilities, their education, their knowledge, and supposed wisdom to generate the resources to fulfill their desires. How foolish and short-sighted this type of person is. They make their plans for their future, storing up wealth for themselves, so they can sit back, live a good life, and relax, much like that foolish rich man who built those bigger barns. That old slogan of a brewery that says; “you only go around once in life, so grab all the gusto you can”, said it all about the philosophy of the world of the arrogant, the evildoers, those who think it futile to serve the Lord. What they do not know is their future is the lake of burning sulfur. We have to make sure we do not live in that short-sighted way, or envy those evildoers who prosper in material ways, striving for that fame and fortune and attaining both. They will not escape God. We have to understand that we are already living out our eternal life, for death holds no grip on us. Sure our bodies have an expiration date, if fact, one determined by our Lord. Our soul or Spirit, on the other hand, has no expiration date, it is eternal, and we will live forever in the presence of our Lord. Then as we have already begun this eternal life, we are already living it out in his presence. Because we fear the Lord, which does not mean we are afraid, but revere Him, and we honor his name, the Lord says we are his, in fact, He calls us his treasured possession, or as one writer puts it we are his peculiar people. We are God’s treasured possession, that is so awesome to consider when we think how majestic, how all-powerful, all-knowing, almighty He is. No one can stand against God, but because we revere and honor him, we will stand before him in all his glory for we are his treasured possession.  

From A Cheerful Heart

DEVOTION

MALACHI

FROM A CHEERFUL HEART

Mal 3:8-12

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'

"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

NIV

How could anyone ever think it is appropriate to rob God? When many people, especially those of the world think of robbery, it would be as a crime, such as robbing a bank. However, God is speaking of not giving to him what is his due. If we do not bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, it would seem we would be under a curse. But wait, this is Old Testament stuff, it has been finished. We are under a new covenant, we no longer are under the Law, for Jesus fulfilled the Law and therefore we too, being in Christ, have fulfilled the Law and are no longer subject to it. Yet, it seems we do take some of that Law and want to live by it, such as the Ten Commandments. They are part of the Law. We also still consider tithing as a practice we should observe. We make every effort to bring tithing into the New Testament, but what we find is words depicting giving, such as the Lord loves a cheerful giver. However, the first part of the verse says that a man must give as he has decided in his heart, not under compulsion or reluctantly. It is not about the law, a hard-fast rule of law, it is out of love for the Lord that we give, that we bring a tenth of our income into the house of the Lord so there might be food in the storehouse. However, although we firmly believe the Lord does indeed open the floodgates and does pour out a blessing so large we do not have room to contain it, we might have missed the point of the storehouse. The Hebrew words translated as storehouse are the two words that mean house and depository. Joseph, while he was in charge in Egypt collected grain, putting into a depository or storehouse so that when the time of need came, the people could have grain. Of course, he sold it to them and made the Pharaoh even richer, but the point was the same. A storehouse is a place we bring our tithe so that when we have a need the tithe is there to give it out. But we have turned it into something else. We have made the tithe for the purpose of paying for a church and all the staff within it. We have created budgets and forecasts of future needs informing the people of how much we are either ahead or behind in our budget and sometimes we even ask for a special offering when the budget has a shortfall, and cannot meet a special need. It has become a business ordeal and we may have missed this whole truth. If we are to bring our tithe into the storehouse, then the storehouse needs to be a storehouse, not a church budget. Yes, we need to pay for the staff. That is the way we run things today. Yes, we need to pay for the heat and air conditioning, and lights, and all that stuff. That is the way we do things in this culture. Yes, that requires a budget, it is the way of the world, and it has to be if we are going to conduct the affairs of the church. But let us not confuse all that as tithing as onto the Lord. For if we were tithing as the intent in the Old Testament, then we would have so much of a blessing we would not have room enough to contain. Do we? Are we blessed that much? Are their poor people who tithe? Are there people of God who are just getting by? Maybe they are not tithing. But what of us who are? Are we simply living based on our income level? Is that a blessing we do not have enough room to contain? It seems this is a true conundrum. How much of the Old Testament do we pay attention to and how much do we tie into the New Testament and how much of both do we just pay attention to the portions we want? How much have we changed to meet what we think is how it needs to be in our time and place? Then we get into the rules or regulations of just what do we tithe on, gross or net income? It just gets messy and maybe we need to just give as we have decided in our heart and give cheerfully.

Turn From and Turn To

DEVOTION

MALACHI

TURN FROM AND TURN TO

Mal 3:5-7

5 "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty. 6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.

NIV

Although God is not happy or rather we should say very unpleased with the way Israel is behaving, especially in the way they are bringing offerings for sins. In essence, they have been cheating Him, they have not been honoring Him, but rather looking out for their own benefit. They have partnered with the world, taking foreign women as wives, accepting their foreign gods into their homes and now Malachi speaks for the Lord against these practices Israel has involved itself in. The Lord says He will not be slow to testify against such things as sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, nor against those who cheat their workers or oppress widows and the orphans and deprive aliens of justice. Right away, we can see we have nothing to worry about for we would never engage ourselves in any of those sorts of things. Still, it would seem it might be so subtle in some cases we are not aware of how we might be getting too close to some of these things. We would never consider being or consulting with a sorcerer, however, for instance, we may talk about what sign of the zodiac we were born under and how that determines our personality. We might, just for fun, check our horoscope to see how close it is to who we are. What about the fun we have, perhaps even laughing about it, when we crack open those fortune cookies. We already have considered the fact that if we get too much like the ways of the world, especially in partnering in financial matters. We could without even knowing being investing, partnering with a company that supports organizations we are morally and spiritually opposed to. That would be a form of adultery we cannot afford. Again, although we would never consider lying on the stand in a court of law, which the word perjurer brings to mind, to tell an untruth might also infer being a gossip. So often this gossip does not come from first-hand knowledge, but rather from the mouth of another gossip. Rumors can cause so much harm in the body of Christ. We have often said that if we are not part of the problem and not part of the solution, we do not need to know any details. However, we have also witnessed believers concealing their gossip by making a prayer request for someone. Is that not being a perjurer? We do not have the time to explore all these practices, but it would be good to consider them and how they would fit into today’s church. We always have the hope the Lord gives. That if we return to him, he will return to us. That is, if we are engaged in any way in matters that displease Him, we need to repent and He is always there to forgive. He promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. Still, we should make every effort to live in a manner that pleases Him. He has never changed, He did not like the sin of Adam, nor of any of the Israelites. He does not like our sin either. But he was always there to forgive their sins if they turned to Him. Because of Jesus, our sins have been forgiven. He has not changed, to have our sins forgiven we must turn to Him, turn to Jesus.

Offering in Righteousness

DEVOTION

MALACHI

OFFERING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

Mal 3:1-4

3:1 "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.

NIV

Three are several very interesting concepts going on here. First, the Hebrew word translated as a messenger is Mal’ak which does mean a messenger or representative, however here in this verse the word is extended or in the form of mal’aakiy. The name of this Prophet, Malachi, which means, my messenger, is based directly on the Hebrew word.  In some sense he is referring to himself as a messenger from God preparing the way for the Lord, however, we also know he is referring to John the Baptist. Malachi was the last Prophet before the coming of the Lord, so in that sense that is why he is referring to himself as there will be no more to follow him to declare the word of God to the people until Jesus appears. Still, he makes direct reference to John the Baptist by using the same words, “Prepare the way” as the prophet Isaiah used.

Isa 40:3

3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  

Both Isaiah and Malachi are foretelling about the ministry of John the Baptist. Malachi goes on to foretell about the coming of the Lord. Jesus will come to the temple. We know from the gospel accounts that Jesus taught in the temple courts many times, but we also saw how he cleansed the temple courts of the money changers. What Malachi is saying is that after Jesus comes everything will change. What was not acceptable as an offering, will now be the most excellent offering, Jesus himself. What men could not attain righteousness through their offerings, Jesus brought his righteousness to men through his offering of himself. This should give us insight into how we approach our lives. We cannot ever think we have any form of righteousness whatsoever, just because we are trying to live a righteous life. Although we are admonished to offer our bodies, that is all our strength, efforts, abilities, as a living sacrifice, nothing we do is ever good enough and that is why we need Jesus. He is our righteousness. The other interesting concept, which also fits as Jesus being our righteousness, our true and righteous sacrifice is that Malachi makes the point the Lord will come to his temple. Although the temple was there when Jesus was physically in Jerusalem, it no longer stands, but we are now the temple of the Lord and Jesus has come to his temple. He purifies his temple, as a refiner. Malachi says the Lord will purify the Levites, who were the nation of priests. We are now the nation of priests, we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood and Jesus comes to us and refines us like gold and silver. The point is we cannot refine ourselves, we cannot live refined enough based on our efforts, for we need Jesus to purify us. That does not mean we are able to live pure, but that we are holy and blameless in the eyes of the Lord because we are in Jesus and He is in us. However, it also does apply to the work of the Lord is refining us in our daily lives. We are changed, we are refined in the sense that Jesus rids us of the slag, the impurities. But again that does not mean we are pure as twenty-four-carat gold. We are not perfect until we reach heaven. Yet being in Christ, God sees us already as pure as gold and silver. When we arrive in heaven the only offering in righteousness we can bring is Jesus.

One Flesh

DEVOTION

MALACHI

ONE FLESH

Mal 2:10-17

10 Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another? 11 Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. 12 As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD cut him off from the tents of Jacob-even though he brings offerings to the LORD Almighty. 13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. 15 Has not [the LORD] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. 16 "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. 17 You have wearied the LORD with your words. "How have we wearied him?" you ask. By saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them" or "Where is the God of justice?"

NIV

Historically, we know that priests forsook their Hebrew wives and took wives for themselves from foreign lands, who worshipped foreign gods. We also know from a historical perspective they defiled themselves by allowing these foreign gods, idols brought by their foreign wives into their homes. How can the Lord accept any offering from their hands as long as they have broken faith with him and with their wives who he has made them one flesh with? We could use this example to illustrate that as believers we can never divorce and remarry.  However, in our society today, it seems that this concept is not a matter of concern. The divorce rate within the church may not have reached the number of those that happen outside the church, In fact, it is significantly lower, but it has been climbing over the years. The Lord is angry with them because they have broken covenant with their wives. Here is a take away for us today in regard to our daily lives as believers. We are in a covenant relationship with the Lord. The question we must ask ourselves is if we have broken covenant with him. We are the bride of Christ, and as such we cannot take another husband, so to speak. It is said in another way when we are told that we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve both God and money. We will either love the one or despise the other, but we cannot love both. Of course, the money issue is never really spoken of in the church. Sure,  it is spoken of in regard to tithing or giving, but nothing is said about how we live our daily lives and our concerns about money, about investments, about retirement accounts, or the like. The question we have to ask is through investments are we partnering with the secular world for the sake of financial gain. In essence is that in some form of having an affair with the world, or committing adultery with the world? Is that is some way of breaking faith with the Lord? Is that is some way of bringing a foreign god into our homes? We think we have to be careful as to not judge anyone, but yet it appears God is judging these priests for their offense through the prophet Malachi. Let us not be in that position, let us serve the Lord and him only. Let us be as one flesh with Christ.

Honor, or Else Dung

DEVOTION

MALACHI

HONOR, OR ELSE DUNG

Mal 2:1-9

2:1 "And now this admonition is for you, O priests. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me. 3 "Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4 And you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue," says the LORD Almighty. 5 "My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin. 7 "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction — because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. 8 But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi," says the LORD Almighty. 9 "So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law."

NIV

Here is an admonition as well as a clear message of what a correct heart looks like. First, the Lord is truly against those who do not set their heart to honor him. This is especially true of the priests. Those who have been called to serve Him in the temple need to have their heart set to honor the Lord. This would be true of the modern-day pastor who has been called to serve the Lord in the pulpit. Here God tells them even if they give someone a blessing, he will curse their blessing because their hearts are not about honoring him, which could only mean they are all about honoring themselves. What is interesting is that God will spread the dung or excrement of their festival sacrifices on their face. Just think how humiliating that would be. As they prepare an animal cutting up and making either a fat offering or other parts of the animal, God will take the dung of the animal and spread it all over their faces. That is how upset he is over their showing partiality in the matters of the law as well as in the way they have broken the covenant he made with Levi. Here we see how God honored Levi because Levi honored the Lord. His covenant with Levi was one of life and peace and the covenant called for reverence and Levi revered the Lord and stood in awe of him. The lips of the priest, and today the lips of the Pastor ought to preserve knowledge and from his mouth men should seek instruction, because he is a messenger of the Lord Almighty. This is an awesome responsibility and those who have been called to preach the word of the Lord should be careful to revere Him and stand in awe of the Lord. To fail might just mean to have a face full of dung. Certainly today there should be some dung faced speakers using the word of God for their own self-interests, breaking a covenant of the Lord, being a messenger, preserving knowledge, and giving correct instruction to the people. They should be humiliated by God in the manner he did with those priests. That seems harsh, but God cannot be pleased with self-serving preachers or pastors. The task, the calling is to instruct the people in the ways of the Lord, without perverting it. It is essential to have the anointing of the Spirit, to have a heart for God, to hear from the Lord, to revere Him, to honor Him with our heart and thus our lips. If we honor God, he will honor us, if we despise the Lord, he will despise us. It seems that simple. So, let our hearts and our lips always be about giving honor to our Lord.

Without Spot of Blemish

DEVOTION

MALACHI

WITHOUT SPOT OF BLEMISH

Mal 1:10-14

10 "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the LORD Almighty, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, 'It is defiled,' and of its food, 'It is contemptible.' 13 And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the LORD Almighty. "When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the LORD. 14 "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.

NIV

We continue with the warning about being a cheat. The Lord knows all things, and he knows full well those who bring their blemished animals as their sacrifice have acceptable animals in their flock and what is worse, have vowed to bring the acceptable ones. They should have known better to vow anything to the Lord. Why does a man think he can outsmart the Lord? Or is it that man thinks more highly of himself then he should. Did that actually think they could build a better flock by ridding themselves of the blemished animals, and then use them as an offering to the Lord? God deserved the best of their flock and if they have offered their best, he would have blessed them beyond measure.  His name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. Although it would seem those words of his have not fully happened. There are still nations today who profane his name. There are still people in our nation who profane his name. We have to make sure that he is great among us or within us. Once again, it is about bringing our best, bringing our “A” game to the Lord. Anything else would be cheating Him. Even if we brought our “B+” game it would not be the best we have, it would be blemished in some way. But what does our very best look like? How can we tell we are giving our all, our very best in all that we do? We know we cannot ever be good enough to qualify for our inheritance in the saints. We know we can never be good enough to gain eternal life. But once we have accepted Jesus, God's very best, as our Lord and Savior, he is then due our very best. It is not that it is a repayment, for we know we cannot ever repay the price He paid for our salvation. We cannot buy it, earn it, our pay it back. But, again it comes back to offering our bodies, or efforts, our abilities, our gifts or talents, as living sacrifices, which is our act of spiritual worship. Of course, this also depends on the fact that all the nations know we are God’s people. Certainly, by now the children of Israel have been seen by other nations. Other nations have witnessed their history. They have been living in the best land, but also have been taken into captivity and rescued many times by the Lord and brought back to that land he promised to Abraham. Other nations have been to Jerusalem and have seen the great temple of the Lord. What we have to know is that as we witness to people, not so much about Jesus, but that we are Christians, that we believe in Jesus, we then have this great target on our back, or our rather our life. People are watching us, to see how we live as Christians. That means we live our very best, we give our all at work, for we are told to work as to on the Lord. We do not cheat our employers by slacking off one bit, which is giving them our “B+” work effort. His name will be great among our hearts. As Joshua once told the people of Israel that they should choose this very day, but as for him and his household they will serve the Lord. How can we serve the Lord with anything but our very best? How can we cheat him by bringing anything that is blemished? Christ is in us and we are in Christ, therefore we are holy and blameless in the sight of God. We are acceptable because of Jesus being in us. So then we still offer our very best, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, without spot or blemish. In doing so we fear or revere the Lord.

Best Sacrifice

DEVOTION

MALACHI

BEST SACRIFICE

Mal 1:6-9

6 "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?' 7 "You place defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?' "By saying that the LORD's table is contemptible. 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty. 9 "Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?"-says the LORD Almighty.

NIV

Israel had gotten into a very bad habit of bringing less than the very best to be a sacrifice for their sins. They brought the blind, crippled, or diseased animals to the altar to be a sacrifice to God. In essence, they were saying he is not worthy of their best, but as long as they have these defective animals it would serve their flocks better to thin those defective ones out so as not to weaken the flock or herd by passing on their genetic defects. They did not honor God with an animal without defects. Can we say that we are not guilty of offering God our very best? God loves us so much that he offered his very best for our salvation. He offered His Son to reconcile himself to his creation. What is our very best that we can offer to the LORD? What sacrifice do we have that would not defile his altar? The first sacrifice we think of is to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the Lord, this is our spiritual act of worship. Most of the time we look at that as not defiling our bodies and that is where many believers have come up with the, don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t dance, and so other don’ts. But they seem to forget the, don’t overeat. But that is not what Romans 12:1-2 is all about. We have to remember that the Israelites offered dead animals, or at least they were slain on the altar, therefore they could not be offered again. This is also true of Jesus. He was slain for our sin, he was offered once, as he died on the cross. Jesus does not need to be offered again. However, we are to continually offer ourselves, living furiously, with vigor, in serving our Lord. We are to devote the active powers of our body and soul to the service of our Lord. If all we do is try to live up to what we think defiles our bodies, we have missed the point. Jesus said that it is not what goes into the body that defiles it, for what entered also leaves. But what defiles our bodies, our souls, is what comes out of our mouth. How we live, what we say, how we interact with others but most importantly is how we worship. If our worship is lack-luster, hum-drum, ho-hum, are we offering God less than our very best and thus not honoring him by not bringing all we are as living sacrifice? It is not about what we don’t do, it is all about what we actively do in our daily living and in our daily worship of our Lord, including our active vivacious worship together as we gather in the house of the Lord. That is when we might sing that song, if you happy and you know it, your face will surely show it. This applies to both our daily lives and in our worship. We are happy because we have brought the Lord our best of our living sacrifice, but more importantly, we are happy because God brought us his very best sacrifice.

Great is the Lord

DEVOTION

MALACHI

GREAT IS THE LORD

Mal 1:4-5

4 Edom may say, "Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins."

But this is what the LORD Almighty says: "They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. 5 You will see it with your own eyes and say, 'Great is the LORD-even beyond the borders of Israel!'

NIV

The kingdom of Edom is now in the modern country of Jordon, although what was Edom or may have been their great city is no longer occupied, but is the tourist destination called Petra. This vacant city is carved out of red earth, or stones as Esau was a red-haired man. It appears these people were always at odds with Israel and because the Lord had chosen Jacob who he changed his name to Israel, the Lord was with odds with the descendants of Esau, the country of the Edomite’s. It is strange that Jacob was the deceiver who, with the help of his mother, stole his brother Esau’s birthright. This was prophesied, but still, it is strange God chooses the deceiver over the firstborn son. It does appear that Edom is under the wrath of God, but then they also were not worshipping God. Of course, Esau did sell his birthright to Jacob for a cup of stew, but that still did not sit well with him after Jacob deceived their father into giving him the firstborn’s blessing and there was a great divide between Esau and Jacob. They did resolve it years later which we have the biblical account of their meeting. Nevertheless, Edom was not Israel and did not worship Yahweh, but rather the gods of those who lived in their area, El, Baal, Asherah, or others. If they did not worship Yahweh, then they were are war with him, and thus objects of his wrath. This is our story, the choice given to all people to either be the object of the wrath or to be the people of God. The New Testament is full of this very comparison of Jacob who worshipped Yahweh and Esau who did not, the righteous and the wicked.

Eph 2:1-6

2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath . 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.

NIV

Col 1:21-23

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

NIV

1 Peter 2:10

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

NIV

And so we cannot think that Esau was actually hated by God, but that Esau chose to become an enemy of God, an object of God’s wrath. We know this is true for In the gospel of John we are told that God so loved the world, which would have to have included all the world in all times, thus he loved the Edomite’s and it was his desire for them to come to him, but because of their refusal, because of their disbelief, he demolished their stronghold. He demolished what they had made for themselves, looking to other gods, looking to their great abilities to smelt copper, to be a great nation in their own strength. Can we not see the truth here? Can we not understand that we cannot afford to look to our strength, but to rely on the Lord Almighty for all we are, all we have and all we do? Because we believe in the Lord, we have been grafted into the line of Jacob, the line of Israel, for we are true Israel having been circumcised in our hearts. Those who refuse the Lord, who live for their own god’s, although God still loves them, are objects of his wrath and their lives, their plans ultimately will be demolished. Let us never forget who we are and who our God is. Let us not made ourselves our little god. Let us not see ourselves great in any area of endeavor, for our strength comes from the Lord. Just as Edom found out the Great is the Lord, even beyond the borders of Israel, all peoples will find out someday, that Great is the Lord, even beyond their borders. 

Loved and Restored

DEVOTION

MALACHI

LOVED AND RESTORED

Mal 1:1-3

1:1 An oracle: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.  

2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. "But you ask, 'How have you loved us?'

"Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" the LORD says. "Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals."

NIV

This may prove to be interesting as we do not think we have ever explored the prophets. Having worked through the entire New Testament as well as many of the Old Testament books, we have not looked at the prophets. Although the main theme of this book is the closing history of Israel and how it shows the dark side somewhat, it also shows the great reforms needed to prepare the way to the Messiah. We start out with these words from the Lord, “I have loved you”. This is not a past tense love. How can God have loved, which would mean he no longer loves. No, the word loved is love in the always sense. To think that God once loved us but the love is no longer would be the worst life could ever offer. How can we even live without the love of God? It is true that people can say at one time they love someone and then at a later time say they no longer love that person. We are so imperfect in our ability to love. However, God is perfect in his love, and his love has always been, is now and will always be. What Israel was experiencing regarding love, was their imperfection in loving God, but he always loved them and that proof is in the fact he sent Jesus to Israel as an Israelite. He chooses Israel to reveal His Son to the world, what greater love could he demonstrate to them? Yet, we too experience that kind of great love as God so loved the world He sent His Son so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Let us not question for on split-second his love for us. We should speak about this phrase Malachi uses in saying that the Lord says that he loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated. What the Lord hates is sin, but not his creation, of which Esau is one of His creations. After some investigation into this idea, we have discovered the Hebrew word here is the very same word used about Jacob’s relationship with Leah. Certainly, Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, yet He laid with Leah, she provided him with sons, in fact, his firstborn son. Jacob did not hate Leah, yet it is the same Hebrew word used to describe how he loved her less than Rachel. This is how we need to see how the Lord loved Esau less the Jacob. The Lord even foretold that the older would serve the younger, and Esau was the firstborn and he served his brother, Jacob, in a sense. From a historic record, we know Jacob because Israel and Esau became that nation of Edom. God did demonstrate greater love for Israel over Edom in that he gave Israel his law, the church, temple, and prophets and subjected Edom to them. However, as God hates sin, he subjected both Israel and Edom to being taken over by the Chaldees for punishment. However, he did restore Israel but not Edom. So, the word of the Lord always speaks the truth, but we need to seek that truth out for better understanding. The greatest is in that fact, he loves us and has restored us into a proper relationship with Him through Jesus.

"Follow Me"

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FOLLOW ME

John 21:20-25

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."  23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"  24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

NIV

Jesus had told Peter that he must follow him. It certainly appears Peter had no intention not to follow Jesus, but he did wonder why Jesus made such a big deal about asking him if he loved him and about feeding His sheep and did not say anything about John, the author of this gospel. Of course, John had not authored this gospel yet, but Jesus had already transferred the care of his mother to John at the cross. So Peter wants to know about John. He asked Jesus what about him. As John makes it clear, Jesus never said that John would never die, but only that Peter needs to be concerned about the calling Jesus has on his life and not be concerned about the calling Jesus has on John’s life. This has a direct bearing on our lives. We each have an individual calling upon our lives. Although we all have the calling to follow Jesus, he has individual tasks or places within his body that he needs us to function. Some believers have the most incredible gift with their voice and music. It is clear Jesus has called them to lead people in worship through music. We were not called into that area. What is interesting is that we took up the interest in visual communication, but Jesus called us to verbal communication, an area we had no training or talent in whatsoever. From our perspective, we can only say that the visual was our desire, the verbal was His. So then, any means in which words are used and if they are in any way effective in communicating the truth of His words, Jesus gets all the glory, for it is Him and not us. Others have been called to other skillsets for his glory. Peter was to do what Jesus wanted Peter to do and John was to do what Jesus wanted him to do. That is our story as well. If we could just get that, it would eliminate any jealousy or envy as well as any pride. We would all know that we are all doing and being exactly what Jesus has called and gifted us to be and do. We think where it might get a little messed up at times, is when we want to be and do what we want instead of what Jesus desires. When Paul wrote those words about being content in whatsoever situation he finds himself in, whether he has everything or he is in want or need, rich or poor, well feed or hungry, free or in prison, none of that matters because he is in Christ and Christ is in him. Paul’s concern was to run the race, to make it to the finish line. Of course, his calling was to bring the truth to the Gentiles, to preach, to teach, to travel to the world telling the story of Jesus. He did it and he did it with gusto. That should also give us a clue as to how we should follow Jesus, with gusto, with all our being, doing that which he has called us to do, whatsoever that may be. Our calling is to follow Jesus. Jesus calls out to us, “Follow me”.

Restoration

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

RESTORATION

John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."  16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."  17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" 

NIV

There are several interesting truths that are within this exchange with Peter. First, the Greek word Jesus uses all three times he asks Peter if he loves him is agapaoo. It is a variation of what we use as agapee and carries both the meaning of social or moral love and of the love God has for his creation by sending Jesus for their salvation. Peter, on the other hand, uses all three times the Greek word Fileoo which is used as brotherly love or to be friendly toward. This is the word which it seems the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, gets its name. Jesus asks if he loves him in one sense and Peter responds that he does in another sense. But then, how can a man love as God loves? Perhaps we need not try to, but be content to love each other as brothers. Those who serve or had served in the armed forces understand this concept of being a band of brothers, willing, if needed, to give their lives for others. This is the type of brotherly love, friendly toward each other love, Peter, and we are capable of. But to think we can have this agapaoo, benevolent type love that God has for us would, we would only be deceiving ourselves. The other interesting truth is in regarding Jesus telling Peter to feed His lambs, take care of his sheep, and feed his sheep. He does use two different Greek words, one for lambs and one for sheep. Here we have to get the idea there are both young Christians, recent converts, and those who have been walking with the Lord for years. Because Jesus used the word to feed twice and the word that means to tend to once, and it was directed to Peter, and perhaps to the others, as we are not told Jesus pulled Peter aside for a private conversation, but that all the others were hearing this exchange. This would then also apply, by extension, to all those who are called to feed the lambs, feed the Sheep, and tend to the flock, such as those called to be pastors. Feeding would always apply to giving them the word of God, and tending would apply to caring for, being concerned about their lives, both spiritual and physical. This would certainly apply to those who can devote their lives, full-time to this type of calling, or ministry. However, it does not relieve every believer from caring, loving each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. But there is something special about this full-time calling, this feeding both the newly born again believer and those who have walked with the Lord most of their lives. There is one more truth that applies directly to Peter, which is interesting how Jesus always speaks into our lives as well. Peter was one of the most outspoken of the disciples, as we are aware. It seems he is the one who is always speaking up and made the boldest of professions of faith. Peter is also the one who ended up denying he even knew Jesus three times. So here Jesus asks him three times to profess his love once again. It is as if Jesus is giving an opportunity to be restored in his love. Jesus is cleansing Peter’s three denials, with his three professions of love. What truth for us, as when we fail him when we yield to some temptation, whatever kind that be, and we once again repent seek forgiveness and Jesus forgives, he cleanses us and restores us. Whether it is three for three or one for one, Jesus is always about restoration, loving, and caring for his flock, us, the people of God, because there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.