All the More Eager

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ALL THE MORE EAGER

2 Peter 1:10-11

10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

NIV

The, therefore, is referring back to all the attributes, or qualities that we are to add to our faith. It also is a reminder that we should not be nearsighted and blind and never forget that we have been cleansed of our sin. So then in accordance with all that we should add to our faith, then be even more eager or as the Greek word translated as more eager, has this meaning of to use speed, make every effort, be prompt or earnest, to make our calling and election sure. Here we have to take a look at the Greek to get a clearer picture of just what we are to make sure we are prompt or all the more eager to do. This calling is more like an invitation, rather than a vocation. Sometimes we use that word calling as what type of service or ministry we have been called into. This would be such as we have been called to preach or we have been called to write, or be a deacon, or to clean the church, or be a missionary, or sing or whatever. But this word invitation makes it sound more like God calling us to himself for our salvation. God invites us into his kingdom. Then we need to respond to his invitation and come near to Him, and of course, he will come near to us. It is more like being invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Then we have this word election and that is precisely the meaning of the Greek. Choosing or the act of picking out. This would sound very much like it would be on the side of Calvinism. However, we do need to remember that Peter was chosen to preach to the Gentiles, who God chose to include to give salvation to before the foundation of the earth. There is no doubt that God chose Israel to be the nation which he used, or chose to come to earth through. It would be right to say they are God's chosen nation, as all things are a result of God. He is the God of all creation, all things have their life in Him. He chose to create mankind in his own image. In that sense, all mankind is chosen by God. As he came to Israel in the form of man, it would be right to say Israel was and is his chosen people. He also gave Peter the vision of the sheet with all sorts of animals, showing him that all peoples have been chosen by God to be invited into his kingdom, so Peter was to go to the Gentiles and offer God’s invitation. So, then as Gentiles, we have been a chosen people. So then having been chosen by God to be invited and having accepted his invitation and are in the process of adding all those qualities to our faith, we now see we are to be even more eager to make sure our invitation is good, and that as Gentiles we are assured of our invitation and so in being this confident, we will never fall. That is we will never leave the faith, we will never walk away from His invitation, or his chosen to include us, as Gentiles, in His kingdom. Because of we are even more eager, being prompt, with speed, adding all those qualities, and being sure of our invitation and never falling, which carries the meaning of finishing the race, running it with all speed, never giving up, always being on course, or staying the course, we will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord. That is we will hear those words, “Enter my good and faithful servant”. What a day that will be, when my Jesus, I will see, when I look Him in the face, the one who saved me by his grace. What a day that will be. Therefore we live being all the more eager.

Ever Increasing or Effective and Productive

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

EVER INCREASING

OR

EFFECTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Having investigated all the qualities we are adding to our faith, we now can see the reason why we need to add them. Who or which believers would, in their right mind, what to be ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is that not one of our goals, perhaps the main, or foremost important goal in our lives? At least, we should be effective and productive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In order for this to happen, it is not just about adding those qualities once to our character, but it is adding them in increasing measure. That would mean that is it not good enough to have virtue, or a high moral standard, we are to continually increase in our virtue, or goodness as well as all the others. It would give us the impression this Christian life is not a static one, but rather an active ever-advancing life, never attaining the highest mark, but always on the move in its direction. This life is not about setting goals for our future, or making plans for our retirement, or storing up enough wealth or striving for material goods. This life is not about our physical self, and then making some room for our spiritual side, fitting God into our schedule, in a manner of speech. Our life is all about our relationship, our increasing relationship with our Lord, and His plan for us, fitting in our physical self, so to speak. That is fitting our self into His plan and doing so in ever-increasing amounts. How could we ever think of ourselves as nearsighted and blind? How can we ever forget we have been forgiven of our past sins? Being nearsighted is all about seeing only our self, we do not see beyond self, so we see no need to add these qualities in increasing measure. We only see that we are pretty good now, that we have established a pattern of life according to the list of things we have developed we think are scriptural. Some think that as long as they do not do certain things, and do a few good things, they are “Good Christians”. But we cannot settle for that kind of life as a believer, for we have to be ever-increasing in our knowledge of our divine nature, of our moral standard, or our patience in waiting for our Lord, in our being in control of ourselves, and in our reverence for God, as well as always increasing in being kind to others and our love for them. Again, this is not about being static, accepting where we are in our walk with the Lord, being in a daily pattern, or routine. Someone once told us that the only difference between a routine, which is just a fancy word for a rut, and a grave, is the length. Jesus rose from the grave and so must we, getting out of the rut we are stuck in and start increasing in amount, always increasing, always learning to be more and more like Jesus until that day we see him face to face. We need to be forever being effective and productive in our knowledge of the Lord.

Adding Love

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ADDING LOVE

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Well, we are down to the last quality we are to add to our faith and that is love. This is the agape type love rather than that agapaoo, or social type love. This agape love is the affection, or benevolent, especially (plural) a love feast. This word was used to express the love of God toward men, the love of men to men, men to God, love of God to Christ, and the love of Christ to men. It is an all-encompassing type of love. If this is the type of love God has toward us, then we would have to believe His love for us is unconditional. The reason we have to believe that is because He died for us while we were yet sinners. God did not say to us that the only way we could accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior was if we first gave up our sin. Even the worse of sinners, if there can actually be, Christ died for them because of the Love of God toward them. God does not condemn anyone to hell, it is the person’s sin that condemns them, but if they confess that sin, repenting, by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they are saved. It is that simple, because of the agape love of God. His love is not judgmental, although he will judge the living and the dead. But his judgment is not about the quality or quantity of sin or of good deeds. His judgment is between the goats and the sheep, or between those who believed and those who did not believe. No amount of sin or of good deeds lends to his judgment and he judges without favoritism. What this tells us is that if we are to add this type of love to our faith, along with all those other qualities we looked at, then we know how we are to love others. This would mean we have to love them just as they are, with all their faults, all their imperfections, all their sin, even if they offend us or do not love us. Again, this is not a reactive type of love as we do with God. He has told us we love God because he first loved us. But it is the first loves us, that we get the clue about how we must first love others. It is an active love, not reactive. That is difficult. It requires we set aside all judgment and all prejudices, which is a preconceived opinion that is not based on facts or actual experience. It is true that God hates sin, but he does not hate the sinner. Because we love others unconditionally, it does not mean we accept their sin as acceptable, if fact, we can hate their sin, but we need to love them. That is we always demonstrate a pure love toward them. This is the same agape love that is defined for us in the letter to the Corinthians which is most often read at weddings. This is the unconditional love of God toward us, and it is that love with which we need to add to our faith.  

Adding Kindness

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Here we go again, adding one more quality or character tract to our lives. We know that we are to be extremely diligent to add to our faith, goodness or virtue, that high moral standard and to that goodness, we are to add knowledge of the divine nature within us and to that we need to add being in control of ourselves as well as this patient endurance while we wait for His return and to that perseverance, godliness, which we understand is having reverence toward God. Now we have to add brotherly kindness. This is Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, type kindness. Here is one of those traits or qualities which we are required to have specifically toward each other. What this would entail is not causing any harm to each other. If we are kind toward each other then we never say anything which would cause someone harm. This is directly or indirectly as in the form of gossip. But this being kind is not just a passive directive, that is not doing something to harm another, but it seems to be an active, or an action we are to exhibit toward each other. That is we are show kindness, not just think to be kind. But how do we show kindness? What does kindness look like? It might fit well with this building each other up until we reach unity in the faith. It might well fit to encourage one another daily, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us or to encourage the weak or timid among us as Paul writes to the Thessalonians. This is more than not harming someone, which is passive. This is going out, extending ourselves to actively seeking to exhibit kindness. It might be as simple as writing a note or sharing our thoughts regarding the word of God. There can be several forms of building each other up, but it seems that is the intent of kindness. So let us add this, or make every effort to show kindness, to build, encourage, not tear down or destroy. This would also require not thinking more highly of ourselves then we should, but being humble toward each other. We also have to remember, as we will get to soon, that all these qualities are to ever be increasing within us. In other words, kindness is not something we can just have, we have to always be growing in kindness. So we know we always have room to improve in our acts of kindness.

Adding Godliness

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ADDING GODLINESS

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

The next attribute we are to add to our faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, and perseverance is godliness. We are getting the picture this is becoming a complete overhaul of our character. We remember the early days of our faith when a dear pastor gave us a definition of the difference between our personality and our character. Our personality is who we are when we are with people, while our character is who we are when we are alone. Of course, we are not truly ever alone as we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. However, the point is that being alone means not in the presence of any people, and thus who we really are, our character makes an appearance. These qualities are not just for our personality, but for our character. Thus we need to add to our inner being, our true self, our character, godliness. One definition of the Greek word carries the meaning of piety, especially the gospel scheme, while another implies reverence, respect, piety toward God. It is interesting how we might get the wrong idea of what godliness is. The dictionary defines godliness as the act of being devoutly religious, piety. Some scholars see this as conforming to the laws and wishes of God, devout, pious, and coming from God. It would seem this godliness is not acting godly, or acting holy and super spiritual, looking as if we are without sin, so to speak. That would be in regard to our personality and not our character. So then, what does it mean to have godliness in our character? Piety is the quality of being reverent and in our case, toward God. This would mean that within our inner being, when we are all alone, with no one watching, or observing us, we revere God. This is the very fiber of our core being. Of course, when it is contained within our inner being flows out from our character into our personality. It would almost be impossible to hide our character from our personality, however, we might well be able to hide our personality from our character, or try to hide our character with our personality, building a façade to cover over our true self. However, the scripture tells us in Proverb 23:7 that as a man thinks, so is he. The various translations have somewhat hidden that meaning, but in the original Hebrew text, that is what it means. This simply implies that who we are in our heart, our character is who we are on the outside, how we interact with others. This reverence for God is reflected in how we respond in our life to various situations. This is just another additional quality of being a believer, a child of God.

Adding Steadfastness

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ADDING STEADFASTNESS

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Again, in review, we know we are to be diligent in adding to our faith, which again, is a gift of God, goodness, or virtue, that high moral standard, and to goodness we are to add knowledge, specifically about the divine nature within and to this knowledge we are to add the control of our self, being in charge of our own thoughts, feelings, and behavior, which is being active rather than reactive. Now as we keep all this that we have already added to our faith, we now need to add perseverance. Before we get ahead of ourselves we should note the meaning of the Greek word translated here as perseverance. It carries the meaning of steadfastness, constancy, endurance. It can be used as a patient steadfast waiting for, it can be used as a patient enduring, sustaining. What this appears is that we should not be given to be in a hurry. That is not in the sense of not rushing around, but to be patient and steadfast for the return of our Lord. Not that we do not want him to return so that we can have more of this life, and the things the world has to offer, but that we should be steadfast in our waiting for his return. Again, this does not mean that we should just sit and wait, doing nothing in this world. We have been told to occupy until his return. The parable Jesus told about the master giving his servants money and to put it to use until he returns gives us the picture, not about money, but it is a parable about the gifts we have been given or those gifts the Spirit manifests through us. We are to occupy, that is employ those gifts we are blessed with for the benefit of the kingdom of God. Remember the servants were required to return their profits to the master. The whole point is that we are not to occupy for self-advancement, but for the advancement of the kingdom of God. So we steadfastly, with patient endurance, employ the gift, or gifts we are blessed with until our Lord comes back for us and asks how have we advanced or benefited his kingdom. We are to continue with constancy doing that which we have been called to do. We are not to grow weary or lose sight of his return. While we patiently wait for his return, we continue on with our faith, our high moral standard, knowing our divine nature and having control of our self, we remain constant, steadfast, with endurance, being faithful in our benefiting His kingdom.

Adding Self-control

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ADDING SELF-CONTROL

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Having learned we need to make every effort to add to our faith goodness and to this goodness, or virtue, a high moral standard, knowledge, now we see we need to add to the knowledge, self-control. This is one of those gifts of the Spirit as well. But what does it mean to be in control of oneself? Some translations use the word temperance, as well as the Greek word could suggest. In this case, self-control suggests that we are moderate in our actions, thoughts, or feelings, which would imply we would not be given to anger, rage, yelling, or screaming. This temperance or self-control could also be applied to restraint or habitual moderation in the indulgence of appetites or passions. It can also be used as moderation in or abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages. As we observe the community of faith, it would seem the latter definition is the most common. This could imply as long as we are either moderate in our use or absolutely abstaining from the use of alcoholic beverages, we can lose our temper or overeat and still qualify as being or having self-control. That seems way too bizarre to be the truth. It would seem it would be far better to have control over our passions, our emotions, or feelings, then just considering moderation in drinking or total abstinence is the meaning of self-control. To be in control of our self, to not allow someone else to take charge of our emotions. We remember a short movie of a grandfather teaching his granddaughter how to drive. As they approached an intersection another driver almost cut them off and the young girl got all upset and started to yell at the other car. Her grandfather simply asked her way she yielded her emotions, her self-control, to a stranger. That is the real sense of this self-control. To be in charge of our own emotions, our own feelings, our own thoughts, and behavior. This means we are not reactive but rather active in our thoughts, emotions, and actions. We are to be in charge of ourselves, our self. Of course, that also does mean we should not yield ourselves to the influence of the devil, or of any evil thoughts or actions as well as not be drunk with wine, but rather with the Spirit. It does not preclude drinking wine, just not giving ourselves over to drunkenness, which is giving ourselves over to the influence of too much, thus being drunk, or out of control of self. Moderation or temperance seems to be the key here, or not be one of the extremes in our thoughts, emotions, or actions, not yielding our self to others, except of course, the Spirit. So we add to our faith goodness and the knowledge of our divine nature and now the control of our self.

Adding Knowledge

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ADDING KNOWLEDGE

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Alright, it looks like we are still going to have to make every effort or be diligent to add to our faith goodness, which we looked at and now we need to see how we have to add to that goodness or virtue, that high moral standard, knowledge. There is no other way to translate the Greek word other than knowledge, the act of knowing. However, what is at the center of Peter’s point is what that knowledge should be about. Because we are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption of the world, we have to believe this knowledge has nothing to do with knowing about the world, but rather about the divine nature that resides within us. It is associated with our faith, which again is a gift from God. Therefore, if our faith is from God, and the only example of pure virtue is God, or we could say Jesus or the divine nature within us. How do we learn or add this knowledge about our divine nature? It can only be learned through the word of God, with the inspiration, or guidance from the Holy Spirit. We can listen to all we want to the words of men, and that is not saying we shouldn’t, but all men do not speak the truth. This even applies to godly men, as they are still men and thus fallible. We know this because we are fallible and we are also considered godly men, or people. That being godly is not to say we are holy and pure, although we are in the sight of God because we are in Christ, the meaning of godly is the opposite of being ungodly. That is we are either believers or non-believers, saved by grace or condemned by sin. Being godly simply means we are believers, it does not imply that we are perfectly holy, without sin. Nevertheless, let us consider the fact that even godly men do not always speak the truth. We know this by having listened to men who profess to be holy but speak of the wisdom of this world, which is foolishness to God. We also know there are ungodly men dressed in godly clothes, wolves in sheep’s clothing, with the purpose of destroying the flock. This is also why the Spirit brings his gift of discernment with him, so we can know the difference between those who speak the truth and those who just appear to speak the truth, but in actuality speak enticing words, lies to deceive the elect. Paul warned the Colossians about this very thing. Enticing words, the philosophies of the world, fine-sounding arguments, but in reality all lies, with just a smidgen of what sounds like the truth so to entice us to listen. But we know that we are better off listening to that still small voice within, the Spirit speaking into our being, discernment regarding the words we hear from the voice of men. Those who we know speak the truth, we should hear, those who speak lies, we should close up our ears, our hearts, our minds, to not to be deceived. This applies even more to those who write words. There is a multitude of writings available and many are from those who profess some affiliation with the community of faith. Again, we have to rely on the Spirit to discern which writings are helpful in adding knowledge about the divine nature, and which are not helpful, but they only attempt to persuade us to their point of view. Having His divine nature within us, applying ourselves diligently to virtuous attitudes and behaviors, we now open our hearts to the Spirits calling to the knowledge of how this divine nature works within us, as we gain knowledge of Christ.   

Adding Goodness

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

ADDING GOODNESS

2 Peter 1:5-9

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

NIV

Because we participate or share in the divine nature and thus escaping the corruption of the world caused by evil desires, we are to make every effort to add certain qualities to our faith. Although we know that our faith is a gift from God, as it is to all men. He does not show favoritism so he has gifted all his creation, every person who has ever lived, faith. However, as with any gift in order to take advantage of its benefit, it has to be opened. So having opened this gift of faith and thus sharing in His divine nature, we are now admonished to do something, which appears to be by our effort. Because there are so many qualities we should add to our faith, we need to examine each one separately, then we can put it all together. So this adding goodness to our faith, the Greek sounds a little better as it reads, and besides this, giving all diligence add to your faith. That does still imply making every effort, but being diligent is even a stronger word. This Greek word translated diligence carries the idea of eagerness, earnestly, with haste. In other words, we should not be lazy about this, or think of it is by happenstance, but that we are to apply ourselves, to resolve to be committed to changing the way we think and behave so as to exhibit outwardly the faith which resides inwardly. Although adding goodness to our faith might also be an inward quality, it can also be an outward action. The Greek word translated goodness has the meaning of a virtuous cause of thought, feeling, or action. This is having a high moral standard which would affect the way we think and behave toward others. Having a high moral standard is not about some list of don’ts, but more of a list of do’s. Typically, when we think about goodness, we think of being good, that is not bad. But this Greek word that carries the meaning of having a high moral standard implies thinking like, always telling the truth, having courage, keeping our promise, not cheating, treating others as we want to be treated, no judging, be dependable, be forgiving, being loyal, not destroying property, seeking justice, having humility, and being generous, just to name a few of the thoughts and behavers of being virtuous or adding goodness to our faith. We can see how this is a responsive action both in thought and behavior, so let us apply all due diligence to adding goodness to our faith.

Corrupt to Divine

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

CORRUPT TO DIVINE

2 Peter 1:3-4

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

NIV

It is interesting that we strive so much to get so little when we have His divine power that has already given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him. Of course, our striving is not for everything we need for life and godliness. What we spend most of our energy, our striving on is for material things this world has to offer. That age-old bumper sticker, “He who dies with the most toys wins” seems to be the major philosophy of the world. But toys cannot give us everything we need for life and godliness. All the materialism in the world will not give us life. Of course, Peter is referring to eternal life. While we are still here, we still want all the toys, we want to have it all. But we have to be careful not to allow our things to define who we are. The world does that, always listing both their accomplishments and their material success. Peter is telling us through the influence of the Spirit that we can escape, in fact, we have everything we need to escape from the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. God has given us His very great and precious promises so we can participate in the divine nature. It would appear this is an either/or situation, not a one and the other. We either participate in His divine nature or we allow ourselves to be corrupted by the evil desires of the world. It goes back to wanting all the toys, although, for the most part, we do not think of all the things we have as toys. They are more like the necessary things we enjoy having. It does not appear God desires for us to be homeless, poor, and without anything. In Fact, He has blessed us with so many material things and we should always be aware of thanking Him and not ourselves. But we also have to remember where we live. Our culture, its materialistic nature is far different than in some of the more depressed parts of the world. There are believers who have never driven a car, or may only have one light bulb in their living space. Materialism comes in many shapes and forms depending on the culture we live in. However, the point Peter is making here, is the desires of this world will corrupt us and we need to always be aware that we are partakers of the divine nature. We are living with the divine nature within us, which is Christ in us. Jesus told us that we are to remain in him and he remains in us. He is the vine or root and we are the branches or shoots, and if we remain in Him, participating in the divine nature, that we would bear much fruit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. We have this choice, to live corrupt or in the divine nature. Bearing fruit is the essence of our purpose here. We are to bear love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, joy, and self-control. But as we have said before and we must remember that we do not bear that fruit for our own benefit. An Apple does not benefit the tree it grows on, but only benefits those who come along and pick it off and enjoy its taste. So it is with us living in the divine nature, we bear this fruit so others may come along and pick it from us, enjoying the taste of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness that the Spirit bears within us. Living in the divine nature of God is all we need to live a full and rich life now and for all eternity. We have escaped from corruption into the divine.

In Abundance

DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER OF PETER

IN ABUNDANCE

2 Peter 1:1-2

1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

NIV

As we begin to take a look at this second letter Peter needed to write, we notice something different in this letter than from his first. As we discovered going through that first letter we saw how Peter was warning them about the dangers they face from outside the church. They were being persecuted, they were experiencing sufferings from the hands of men outside the community of faith. Now there are also problems within, influences that need to be addressed. We should get to those and hopefully find truths we can apply to our lives in the process. Peter starts this letter, once again establishing his authority to instruct them in proper Christian living, correcting and or rebuking any erroneous patterns. The people he addresses, although they are long dead, his statement as to who this letter is for includes us. We have, through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, received a faith as precious as Peters. What we know is that God does not show favoritism and if he gives every man a measure of faith, then it would make perfect scriptural truth that every man has received the same measure of faith. Thus we have received the same faith that Peter received and we should consider just how precious this gift is from God.  Without faith, we are simply dead men walking. That phrase, dead man walking, has to do with a prisoner on death row, who is making his final walk to his execution. He might be alive at the moment he is walking, but he is already dead. This is the sense of those who have not taken advantage of the faith God offers in Jesus Christ. We can give a gift to a friend, but it would do them little good unless they opened it.  We have received this gift from God and praise His Holy Name, we opened it as well as we know just how precious that gift is, as it cost Christ that agony on the cross, so we could although we will experience the death of the body, we will live forever with Jesus. We have also received his grace and peace in abundance because we know, we have the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. That may sound boastful, saying we have the full knowledge of God and of Jesus. So let us just say we have that knowledge in abundance. The Greek word translated as abundance can mean just that, however, a more direct translation would be to multiply, increase, and that is an active, present tense, transitive verb. That is, it deals with a subject, a noun, or nouns, in this case, grace and peace. They are transferred from God to us. Therefore we have the grace and the peace of God. This is not a grace or peace any man can give another, for this is given to us from God. Sure we might be able to extend a gracious act toward another, but that is so minuscule compared to the grace of God. We might also be able to live in peace with someone, but again that does not compare in any sense of living with the peace of God in our hearts. Having God’s grace and peace means everything. Again, we see this grace as both the gracious act of God, Jesus on the cross, shedding his blood for the forgiveness of our sin, and his divine influence on our heart and how that is reflected in our lives. His peace can be seen as the opposite of being at war with God, and we know the outcome for those who war against him. However, His peace can also be seen as the tranquil state of our soul, assured of our salvation through Jesus, and thus we fear nothing from God, and we are content with our earthy lot, whatsoever that is. All that is ours because we have the knowledge of God and of Jesus. We know them, we know who they are and what God did for us. So this grace and peace are forever increasing, multiplying, being in abundance, being transferred from God into us.

Stand Fast in Grace

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

STAND FAST IN GRACE

1 Peter 5:12-14

12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

NIV

It certainly looks Silas had something to do with this letter. Was he simply a scribe or did he contribute to the content? Perhaps he was a resident of the same group Peter was writing to. However, in all reality we do not know much about Silas other then there was a Silas that accompanied Paul as well, but still we do not know if he is the same person. What we know is that Peter is giving Silas some credit for this letter being written. He is also making sure the readers know that Silas was a faithful brother. This points to the humility of Peter, not making out something he is not. Yes, Peter was with Jesus. Peter walked on the water, he got out of the boat, living his faith. Peter was the one who declared in response to the question of Jesus as to who they think he is, He is the Son of the Living God, the Christ. But then Peter was also the one who so boldly said he would follow Jesus wherever, but then denied Jesus three times. Peter understands his human condition and does not think more highly of himself then he should. He is writing to these believers as a servant of the Lord, and giving credit to Silas is an expression of showing the grace of God. He is telling the readers in his letter that he is encouraging them and us that he is giving testimony to the true grace of God. This true act of graciousness toward them and for that matter toward us. We are saved simply by the grace of God, there is no other reason. God does not have to save us. He did not have to come to earth as a man, limiting himself within a body, that felt the pain and suffering of the crucifixion, for us. God could have wiped all mankind out, as he did in the time of the flood, except of course for those eight in the ark. He could have started all over and made a perfect man in a place where no temptation was available. God could have had any way he desires, and he did. We are living proof that this is exactly how God desired his creation to be. In his graciousness, he gave his creation, man, the free choice to serve him and live or walk his own path to destruction. That is grace to the fullest. God is not the puppet master pulling every sting of our lives so we have no choice in the manner in which we live. His grace, his divine graciousness allows us to make our own choice. True, once we decide to follow Jesus, follow His ways, God comes to us to guide our path, to be a light onto our feet. His grace provides a way for us to find our way, and yet we still have to make that stand, we have to stand firm, stand fast in the grace of God. Although God is all-powerful, he allows us the opportunity to stumble around, or stand fast, because he personifies grace. Both the grace of this act of graciousness he did for us and this grace of his divine influence upon our heart. He is grace, let us stand fast in the grace of God.  

Being Alert

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

BEING ALERT

1 Peter 5:8-11

8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

NIV

It certainly requires being in control of oneself and to be very alert against the schemes of the devil as Paul’s letter to the Ephesians warns us as well. That devil is out there prowling around looking to see if anyone is weak enough to devour. A Lion rarely attacks the strongest animal in a herd, but usually will search out either the weaker one or one that has strayed from the herd and is out alone and more vulnerable. There are times, however, a whole pride of lions will take on anything if they are hungry enough. Peter gives us this picture so we can see that the devil and his pack of demons are just like those lions. First of all, we see the need not to be weak in our faith, but to be one of the stronger ones, standing firm in the faith. We should not waver, always keeping strong in the faith. Second, we also see the need to not wander off from the rest of our fellow believers, being aware of their struggles in life, therefore holding them up as well. It is when we feel we are all alone, when we keep to ourselves, forgoing not just the assembling of ourselves, but when we become isolated in our spirit, we become more vulnerable to the schemes of the devil, his attacks against our weakest areas. So we stand alert, always on guard, clothing ourselves in the armor of God, which He has provided. We stand firm, watchful for that roaring lion, the devil, and resist his attacks. That is we do not turn and run, but we take our stand facing our enemy, watching for him sneaking under the bush, and we are not surprised when he makes an effort to pounce on us. We are also aware, alert, watching carefully that scheming devil does not try to drive us into a trap, as we try to avoid his advance. In doing so, in standing firm, in being alert and self-controlled we can be assured the God of all grace, not some grace, but all grace will restore us. That is if we received any wounds from the attack of that devil, God in all his grace, will restore us, for we are making every effort to resist those attacks, however, maybe even being wounded in the process. However, we can always rest assured God will restore us. Still, we need to be alert.

Father Knows Best

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

FATHER KNOWS BEST

1 Peter 5:5-7

5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."   6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

NIV

This would seem that young men should not be considered for the position of shepherd or overseer, who we now call pastors. That should be held by the senior men who have had both significate time to experience life and to study the scriptures. There may also be some other reasons as young men still have the drive for both advancements as well as have young families that require much of their time. However, or for whatever reasons, these younger men should show respect to the senior men, using them as mentors. However, all of us believers should clothe ourselves with humility toward one another. This requires not thinking too highly of oneself. All too often it can be easy to think we are better in some way then another. Maybe that could be due to whatever secular education we have, what degree we hold. Maybe that could be due to having some position in the church, on the board, elder board, deacon board, trustee board, or whoever boards it is called in each denomination. It could be due to many reasons that we might feel pride in our accomplishments, and that could translate into thinking more highly of ourselves then we should. We could become prideful due to thinking we do so many good deeds. That fact is we are all equal in the sight of God. There is nothing we do or have accomplished that carries any weight with God. What matters is that we humble ourselves before him and in our relationships with each other. We are told to serve one another. We are told any gift the Holy Spirit manifests in us, is for the benefit of others. Jesus gave us that example and told us that he did not come to be served, but to serve. He washed the feet of his disciples, humbling himself to the task of a house servant. He humbled Himself to the humiliation of the cross. Do we think we are any better than Jesus? Being humble is an attitude of the mind which comes from the heart. Still, the major issue Peter seems to be coming to is that we should humble ourselves to the mighty hand of God. That would have to mean that we do not make our life choices, we do not call the shots, that we are not supposed to decide everything about our lives, and then include being a Christians, or make being Christian part of our life. This means that when we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, he may well call us into some area we have absolutely no training, no skill, and no ability in at all. This is why then He would get all the credit, all the honor, all the glory because it is his hand which has directed our lives, not ours. Then, if we do humble ourselves under his mighty hand, we also have no reason for any anxiety for God is in complete control of our lives. Because God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all caring, how could we ever be anxious about what he is doing in our lives, directing our paths, taking us to the place he desires us to be, so we might serve his purpose for us within his kingdom. We are living stones being built, not by our hand, but by the hand of God into his holy temple. The place he puts us is right where He needs us to be. Therefore no anxiety at all for we know Father knows best.

A calling

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

A CALLING

1 Peter 5:1-4

5:1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

NIV

This is specifically directed to those who are pastors of the church. Local pastors who have been called to shepherd the flock of God. We are not sure just how that was exactly fulfilled in those days, however, today we have several methods. The first are those denominations who assign their clergy to a specific local church. The second are those denominations which do pastor searches, and interviews a prescriptive minister for specific job title, such as Senior Pastor, Assistant Pastor, Youth Pastor, Worship Pastor, or whatever other titles they come up with. The point is this type of situation can appear in some respect like a job, a paid position of ministry. We cannot be sure that was the case in the day of Peter, but we live with this way of pastoring today. Either way, being a pastor of a church should be a calling from God, not a life choice as many professions are. Again, we are not sure how all the seminaries and Bible colleges all fit into the church today as it would seem in order to fulfill the call of God, one must undergo paying for the right to obtain a license and then paying, even more, to obtain an ordination within many of the denominations. It almost seems they have turned the call of God into a business. But then we have to make sure those who are pastors are, in fact, called by God. It also appears there are those who are not called by God but work as ministers. Peter is making the point that those who are called by God to shepherd the flock, should indeed by shepherds, not paid staff. He makes sure they are not to be greedy for money, but rather be eager to serve. It is not that Peter is saying to be a pastor, a shepherd, one must be poor, but simply not looking at this work as a job, being concerned as to how much is the pay, what are the benefits, is there an expense account, insurance, housing allowance and all the other concerns any job interview would contain. Of course, Paul also makes it clear that those who conduct the affairs of the church are due double honor, that pastors should not muzzled, for a worker desires his wages. Just don’t get greedy. He makes sure this is not so much a position of authority as much as it is one of service, not lording the position of the pastor as some high and mighty leader, but rather live as an example, so show those entrusted to them, by God, the way of life as a believer. This puts a whole new spin of all this televangelist out there who are not living as an example but certainly appear to be greedy and looking for praise from men rather than from God. They are not what Peter is referring to as shepherds of the flock. The local pastor who knows his sheep, and who lives among them being that example. This cannot be a choice, or a job, but a calling.

Committed

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

COMMITTED

1 Peter 4:12-19

12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"   19 So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

NIV

Another difficult passage that we need help from the Spirit to understand. It appears Peter has his eye on this proverb and expands on it as be begins with, “Dear friends”.  The problem we are having is in the translation of this proverb.  Peter has quoted proverb 11: 31 as if it says that it is hard for a righteous person to be saved and if that is the case what will become of the ungodly and the sinner. In the Hebrew, the proverb reads, “Behold the righteous receive shalom on earth much more the wicked and the sinner”. We cannot be sure this is what Peter was talking about, as it appears he is making this proverb the central theme of his statement about the fact we could suffer for being a Christian, but somehow, to us, we do not see this proverb saying the same thing Peter is saying. Our scholars of old are at odds with each other over the meaning of what Peter is talking about. Some think he is referring to how Rome invades Jerusalem and many Christians are able to escape but the Jews are dealt with by the hands of the Romans. Others want to bring it into our day and speak about how difficult it is for us to remain saved amidst all the temptations of the world. Yet, the fact remains we cannot save ourselves as we are but mankind, and we need Jesus. Still, Peter is making a point that because we are believers, we may well experience some form of suffering, and if we do we should count it a blessing. But was Peter only making this point to the original readers, because Christianity was one of the most difficult choices to live in those days when it was under much persecution? In other parts of the world today believers are being put to trials we have not ever come close to here in our county. They have been burned alive in cages, dragged by their feet behind a speeding truck until their skin was ripped from their bodies, brutal deaths no man should have to endure. However, today we do face a multitude of temptations that, if we are not watchful, could entice us, drag us away, burn within us, until we begin to think we have more to do with our life then God does. We could begin to think we are in charge, that we make all the right choices for our life, the direction we go, setting our path for retirement, financial security, trusting in our abilities, our ways, instead of His ways. We could get caught up in all sorts of temptations that would make it difficult for us to continue to put our trust in Jesus, always questioning if our deeds are good enough, or that if we failed to do enough, would we make it to heaven. The judgment Peter speaks about is whether we trust Jesus for our lives. We will be judged for our faith, do we or do we not believe, but how severe the judgment for those who refuse to have faith in Jesus. Maybe someday we may have to suffer some harsh form of persecution, if so let it be for the sake of Jesus, not because we are wrongdoers. But for now, we need to take our stand against the forces of evil in this dark world, partnering not with them or their ideologies and philosophies, nor their form of religion. We may stand alone in the world, but we stand in heaven with Jesus. Let us not waver. We are committed to our faithful creator.

All Glory and Power

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

ALL GLORY AND POWER

1 Peter 4:7-11

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

NIV

Still not being sure just exactly what Peter thought how near was the end of all things and that we have decided we need to be clear minded and self-controlled so our prays will be effective and that we need to love deeply, which means not shallow, hollow, superficial love and somehow work out this being hospitable without grumbling, we now need to explore our gifts and why we get them. First, we should note that these are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There has been the thought that our natural gifts or talents are still from God, which is we were born with a certain propensity toward learning a certain skill, trade, or profession and we see people as gifted in that arts, science, teaching, business or whatever. But these are not the type of gifting which comes from the Holy Spirit. These gifts are specific in spirit, not in nature. However, the point is whatever our gift, even if we were to consider those natural born “gifts”, they are not for our furtherance or betterment in this world. The only reason we have been gifted is so we use it to serve others, and in doing so faithfully administering God’s grace, his divine influence on our heart in its various forms, as to how his influence is reflected in our life as we serve others with the manifestation of the gift the Spirit is working in and through us. We have to understand this gift is not ours, we do not own this gift as we would own a physical gift given to us by a person. These gifts are the Holy Spirits and he manifests them in and through us whenever they are needed for the benefit of someone. Peter identifies two specific gifts and maybe these are the only two he is referring to, although we should apply this same principle to all the gifts. If any of us utter words, as the Greek word implies, or speaks, or as it could imply preach, we should do so as an oracle of God. However, since we all are not called to be preachers, in fact, some of us are slow in speech, which means we do not think fast on our feet, so to speak, we still have conversations in our daily lives. Then we would still have to consider whatever we say in those conversations that we are speaking and so then we should be speaking the very words of God. Yet, it would seem this does directly point to those who preach from the pulpit. However, this gift of serving, or those who serve, and we all should be serving somehow, we obviously do not serve ourselves, but we serve others. But, again our service is not to bring attention to us or to be praised or thanked for what we do, but its sole purpose is to bring glory to God. We also should note that our service is again not a natural human-based effort, or from our own skillset, or abilities, but this service is because of the working of God in our lives, it is from his strength, not ours, least we boast about how much we serve and get any credit for our service. Everything we do, all that we are, is due to the work of God in our lives. All praise, power, and glory belong to Him, forever and ever, amen.  

Hospitality

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

HOSPITALITY

1 Peter 4:7-11

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

NIV

Now that we have settled the matter that because the end being near, although we are not sure how near is near, that we should be clear minded and self-controlled so we can pray and love deeply, we move on to the rest of these sharp statements. We are to offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. This is much different today than in the culture which existed for the first recipients of this letter. In those days it would have been common for them to offer their home to a traveler for several days, or to offer them a meal, and sit and talk for hours or perhaps days. We get a small picture of that type of hospitality from the account of the three persons who came to Abraham. Surely that was the Lord and two angels, but the point was that Abraham bid them sit and stay while a calf was slathered, cleaned, butchered and cooked, meanwhile, Sarah was to knit some flour into bread and bake it. He offered them water to wash their feet and while all the food was being prepared he offered them some curds and milk. This was not a quick microwaved pie and some coffee we might give some friends who we had to make an appointment on our calendars for some date to get together that we both were free. So how do we suppose this hospitality might work in our culture today, or because of how we live such a busy life, we just forget about being hospitable, because we just do not have the time or the inclination? Maybe we are just private people, not really that social to start with. Still, in our culture, we do not have travelers walking by in a land where we are the only tent for miles and miles. We do not even sit on our front porch that much to offer rest and refreshment to those that are either walking or runner past our home. We would rather sit in the solitude of our back deck, under our canopy, refreshing ourselves after a busy day. It might be possible that out of town friends from our past would like to visit and then offering them our home, food, but mostly our time would then seem like offering hospitality and to do so without grumbling. This takes time and effort, but mostly time which somehow seems more precious to us than anything else. Offering that kind of hospitality would mean having to set our own agendas aside, and do whatever we need to do in order to make our guests feel extremely welcome into our home. If we have no quest, then maybe we should be offering those passing by something to refresh their walk. Just a thought Again, not sure just how we make this hospitality matter work in our culture. Surely as far as the church as a whole, when a stranger appears, we welcome them to the service, but then again, how often do we immediately invite them to our home after church, or out for breakfast? How much hospitality is being hospitable? Just a thought to ponder on and maybe adjust our thinking.

Clear-Minded

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

CLEAR MINDED

1 Peter 4:7-11

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

NIV

There is a whole lot of short, straight to the point, sharp statements here that we need to take one at a time. First of all the end of all things is near. Well, just how near are they if Peter wrote this some two thousand years ago and the end has yet to happen. What is considered near? The Greek word does mean to approach or to make near, so it is sure Peter meant what he said. The end of everything is coming soon, it is approaching and therefore we need to be clear minded and self-controlled so we can pray. The opposite of this would be to have a confused mind, and in the Greek, there is a sense of abstaining from wine, or not being drunk, or not in control of our faculties so then we can hear the Spirit helping us to direct our prayers in accordance with the will of God. However, wine is not the only thing that causes a confused mind. Listening to the voices of strangers, yes, even preachers we do not know, can cause confusion in our spiritual thinking or matters of the heart. We only have to remember the past fads, such as Oral Robert's seed-faith teaching. He taught that if whatever we need, we should give or seed.  If we needed love, give love, if we needed money, give money, and of course give it to him, which was his central theme. Then there was the name and claim it, groups, using Mark 11:22-24 as their bases for their teaching. Of course, they always left off the qualifier, verse 25, which includes the part about when we stand praying, if we hold anything against someone, forgive them. Nasty little truth there. In order to receive anything we ask for, we cannot hold on to any ill feelings toward anyone. Peter makes that very clear in saying that above all, we must love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins. It is not up to us to judge or to hold a grudge, or to keep a record of someone’s wrongs, even when it is against us. We are to always, all the time, all day long, forever, forgive and that means we will never bring it up to them ever again. Now, we may not forget what happened, our memory is like that, but those are the times we have to forgive again and again, which might well mean what Jesus said about forgiving seven times seventy. If we love deeply then we will always forgive and that is clear-minded thinking and being in control of ourselves. When we allow ourselves to get upset and angry at someone for what they are doing or have done against us in any way, then we are not clear-minded and we are allowing them to control our thinking, our attitude, and our emotions and thus we are not in control of ourselves and then our prayers will be ineffective, or could we even say, useless. This may well be a reason the body of Christ is torn apart. If we are not clear-minded, and self-controlled and we do not love each other deeply, all those ill-feelings, judgmental and unforgiving attitudes are a sign of a sick church that is in the throes of death. We cannot afford to allow our prayers to be hindered by confused thinking, and lack of control over our mind, our attitudes, our heart, and thus our tongue. Let us love deeply and pray accordingly, with a clear and controlled mind.

Alive in Spirit

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

ALIVE IN SPIRIT

1 Peter 4:1-6

4:1 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. 3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do — living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

NIV

Because Jesus suffered in his body, we should arm ourselves with the same attitude. That is the attitude that we are done with sin. Because Jesus died on that cross, suffering the worse type of pain and humiliation without saying a word against those who caused his death, in fact, he forgave them, for indeed they did not really know they were fulfilling the will of God. They thought they were fulfilling their own evil plot, yet they were doing the will of God, bringing salvation to the word. However, because Jesus took all our sin upon himself, and put it to death, then we too should put sin to death in our attitude. We may not be able to be completely free of sin in our body, but in our attitude, in our spirit, we need to put it to death. That is sin is not our desire, it is not our plan, nor our way of life. We do not live the rest of our earthy life for the purpose of our wicked human desires, but we live the remaining years of our life for the purpose of doing the will of God. It is all too true that we spent enough time living as the pagans choose to live. We were not always living for God, but we lived for our own carnal nature, doing whatever felt good. We had no conscience and we were not conscious of living in sin for we had no care for or about God. However, as we now stand forgiven of all our sin, righteous in the sight of God, we have taken on the attitude that sin is dead in us, and we live for the will of God. Those who still live in a sinful manner, not caring for or about God think we are a tad bit strange. Not those who we live with on a daily basis, for they know our life, they see our faith, and in some respect, accept that we are different. It is those who do not know us, the haters of God, their wicked and perverse generation who live for their wicked pursuits, they hate what we stand for. They do not understand why we do not plunge into anarchy or other human passions of their design. They heap abuse on us because we will not join in their cause of personal desires. However, make no mistake all mankind will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Those who are alive in their spirits, and those who are dead in their spirits, will stand judged. Here again, we have one of those statements which is difficult to find the meaning. Peter says that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead. Does he mean those dead in sin, or those who are dead in the grave? Does that fit with Jesus going to preach to those in prison? Again, it seems strange that only some people who were in the grave while Peter wrote this letter would get that second chance at salvation. So then would the best way to see this as the gospel has been and is preached to all who are dead in sin so that no man is without excuse, for what may be known about God is plain to them through that which is created. All of creation speaks of Christ, for nothing was made that was not made through Him. Therefore all who are dead have had the gospel preached to them, so when all stand before God, we all will be judged. The sheep and the goats. All believers will be invited into the peace of God, paradise. We will hear those words, enter in my faithful servant. But those who remained dead in their sins, will not be invited in, but rather cast out into utter darkness in the lake of burning sulfur. So let us not be judged according to men, but as we live in accordance to God in our spirit.

Love to Tell the Story

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

 LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

1 Peter 3:13-22

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."   15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.   17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

NIV

Having tormented ourselves with a question we do not know the absolute answer regarding where and who and why did Peter include the information about Jesus preaching to those in prison. Again, Peter used the Greek word for prison, a guarded place. He was very familiar with prisons, having been in them and having an angel visit and free them. He did not use the word for Hades, or Sheol or hell. However, we still have to deal with the first part of this exhortation of not being afraid. The point Peter is making here is that we cannot live in fear of what might happen to us because we live in a world filled with anger, and hatred toward God. It is possible that we could suffer in some way because we live rightly, that is we do not hold to the same value system as the world. We do not agree nor engage in the pattern of living or their ideologies or philosophies. We might be considered odd, or weird because we will not join in their way of thinking or partner with their endeavors. So be it, if that is the case, if they persecute us in some manner. Sure, we might not be nailed to a cross, or tied to a stake, or beaten and chased out of town, or our house burned to the ground. We may even be tolerated, but not befriended, not thought of as part of their group, that we are different, someone to be kept a distance from, to be kept at arm’s length, so to speak. If so, we are blessed. We are to, and have, set our heart on Christ as Lord. We are always ready to give an answer, to tell our story of how Jesus came into our lives and what a difference he made in us and all that he did in our life. We are always ready to tell our story that from day one we have been blessed by miracle after miracle. We are always ready to tell His story, of coming to earth to die on the cross to free us from the penalty of sin, and thus they can also be freed from that penalty through faith in Jesus. We are admonished to tell our story and his story with all humility and gentleness, respecting them as people who are also God’s creation. We are to have mutual respect for all people, no matter their lifestyle, their life choices, or their beliefs. We understand that if it were not for the grace of God, we would be as there are. When we see someone steeped in sin, we can say, there but for the grace of God, go I. So, without judgment, without thinking more of ourselves then we should, without condemnation, but with respect, we are ready to tell our story, which is due to His story. Oh, what a story we have to tell. I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story ‘twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.

Of Water and Spirit

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER OF PETER

OF WATER AND SPIRIT

1 Peter 3:13-22

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."   15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.   17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand — with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

NIV

Once again, we have arrived at a very difficult passage or portion of this letter. We should pay attention to the idea of not being harmed by being eager to do good and maybe we will get to that at some time. What draws our attention the most and which has always been the most significate question within us, is this statement about Jesus preaching to the spirits in prison during the days his body lay in the grave. What is of interest in our investigation is that if, in fact, Jesus went to hell, hades, or as the Roman Catholics believe, purgatory, then why did he select only the spirits of those who were disobedient in the time of Noah? God saved only eight and destroyed the rest of mankind in the flood because of their wickedness. Why then would Jesus go to the place of confinement of those spirits and offer them redemption? Did not Noah preached to them in those hundred years he took to build the ark? We know the Apostles Creed says Jesus descended into hell, or to the dead, but it does not indicate that he preached to anyone. This is the idea of Jesus preaching to those who lived and were disobedient while Noah was building the ark. Why would Jesus show favoritism to just those who were destroyed by the flood, and not to others who died in disobedience after the flood? It is a question we will most likely never know until we arrive in heaven. What is also interesting is to bring in the concept the Jews, which Peter was, believed about the spirit of a man at death. It was a customary idea that when a man was put into the grave, or a tomb that spirit hung around for three days, and then on the fourth day left, for the place of the dead.  We believe that is why Jesus waited for Lazarus, his friend, to be in the tomb for four days before raising him from the dead. As far as the Jew would have been concerned it would not have been much of a miracle for Jesus to merely have the spirit hanging around in the tomb to rejoin the body. If that were the case, if then they believed that, would not Peter also believe that and so why would he infer the spirit of Jesus left the tomb to preach to only a specific group of disobedient spirits who died in the flood? Again, we are not going to be able to answer this question satisfactorily for ourselves. So then do we just have to accept the generally held interpretation? There is an abundance of scholarly works debating the interpretation of this passage in Peter and how it relates to the idea within the Apostle Creed about Jesus descending into hell. It would take us a whole book to explore this to its fullest, reading all the historical works of the origins of such thinking about Jesus preaching to this specific group of people in Hell. So then, do we just pass it by and leave it for another day? That seems the best for now. What we do know is that Jesus is alive and he is sitting at the right hand of God making intercession for our disobedience. Yet, at the same time we have been both baptized by water, and of the Spirit.