In The Light

DEVOTION 1 JOHN IN THE LIGHT 1 John 1:5-7 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. NIV Simply be association the difference between light and darkness is day and night, or good and evil. The deeds done in the light are seen where the deeds done in the night are hidden from sight. Do we live our lives out in the daylight for all to see or do we live, at least a portion of our lives, in the darkness? Do we deceive even our own self thinking we are living in the light, but keep some thoughts, activities, behaviors that are done in the darkness? Now is this speaking about those individuals who simply claim the name Christian, but have not really been born again? They attend a church, on Sunday morning, they think that doing some good deeds will win them a place in heaven, but they simply live for their own human plans and desires. Maybe this speaks to believers who really have not changed their way of living, but claim they have. Could this be to believers that have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, but simply have had their thinking infiltrated by the concepts of human thinking? Maybe this speaks to believers who simply have never changed the way their think, and they still believe in the human effort, still trust in the flesh, in their own efforts to be good. All of those situations would be in some sense walking in darkness, not actually seeing the truth of the scriptures, not actually trusting God for every aspect of their lives as we are admonished to do. Surely no one thinks they have every lived or will ever live without sin in their lives, sin which could be defined as deeds of darkness, but it is not by any human effort that we can be free of all sin, for it is by the blood of Jesus Christ that we are cleansed of sin. That is what is truly meant by walking in the light, knowing it is Christ who has cleansed us. Even in the brightest of light we still fail to achieve perfection, but walking in the light exposes that imperfection, and so we can acknowledge the need for Jesus every moment of our lives and true fellowship, true koinonia means we cannot hide this from each other either. We cannot have those false fronts of perfection, but should admit to each other our inability to be perfect, and our need for Christ and his purification. We need to truly walk in the light.

Complete Joy

DEVOTION 1 JOHN COMPLETE JOY 1 John 1:1-4 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete. NIV Here we have a firsthand account of the truth about the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and that he is eternal, not just another great human being. Do we need more proof? It is clear that Jesus was with the Father from the beginning of what we know as time. It is clear that Jesus appeared to John, and that John saw, heard, and understood the truth which was revealed to him, and now he wants us to know all of it is real and true. If we have never had any actually supernatural event happen in our lives because of the work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we could still believe without any doubt because we have the record of a firsthand witness to all this. Many of us have had supernatural events, healings, miracles, revelations, hearing the voice of God, or some other incredible experience with God. Some of us have never had an event like that, but we still can believe because of the testimony of John which was inspired his experiences with God. John knows that if we believe, we can have the same kind of fellowship he had with Jesus. We can have a partnership with Jesus as John did, we can participate with Jesus as John did. What better thing could ever happen in our life? Could anything this world offer ever come close to that kind of experience? Why we spend so much of our time involved with living life, in human terms, and spend so little time living life in Godly terms when it is the later which can bring us the greatest joy ever known is beyond understanding. Can we have nice things? Absolutely, but it is because God has provided them for us, not us, not our effort. All things accumulated by human effort do not fill our hearts with joy, but those same things when provided by God are evidences of his love for us and that brings intense joy. When we know we have eternal life, the greatest gift from God it is the total fulfillment of joy. Nothing could be greater, nothing could come in a close second, all else fades into oblivion in light of eternal life. My joy is complete.

DEVOTION 2 PETER STAY ON GUARD 2 Peter 3:17-18 17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. NIV There it is, the whole letter in a nutshell, the completion of the idea, summed up for us so we cannot miss it. Be on our guard! There are people out there, wolves in sheep’s clothing attempting to set themselves up as spiritual leaders with masses of followers devoted to their teaching. We need to be on guard against such kind of people. We need to be able to see them for who they are. Their faith is false; it is not the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Their teaching is based on human desires, not upon the desire of God. It would appear that those who listen to them and accept their teachings have been carried away from their secure position in Christ, or do I dare say they have walked away from their salvation and are now among the lost. It is true that people can speak of God, speak of Jesus Christ, speak of religious things, even say they believe in those things, and not be born again, not be saved, not be among the body of Christ, not be a living stone in the temple of God, not be going to heaven, but in fact, will be destined for destruction. We need to be ever vigilant, ever on guard against such kinds of teachings and we can, because we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. One of his gifts is the spirit of discernment so as to be able to know and hear this false teaching and stay clear of it. Instead we should drench ourselves in the truth. We need to grow in grace, the divine influence on our heart, rather than growing in the influence of men. God, himself influences out heart, he teaches us directly, speaks right to us, and draws us closer to him. Those false teachers have human agendas, but God has a divine agenda and we need to grow in his plan. We should also grow in knowledge, always learning more about Jesus Christ, about God’s plan for us. We cannot ever be content with our once learned truth, but we should be growing daily. How could be say we know it all, we have all the answers, we have the truth and we do not need to know anymore? How can we say we are saved and that is all I need to know? If we ever start thinking like, becoming stagnant in our relationship with God, that is when we might let our guard down. The truth of the matter is we live to bring him glory and honor. Stay on guard! In the army men stand guard or watch against an enemy attack that would kill. We stand guard against the enemy who would destroy our soul. Stay on guard!

Patience

DEVOTION 2 PETER PATIENCE 2 Peter 3:15-16 15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. NIV It is not difficult to understand how ignorant and unstable people distort the scriptures for they truly cannot understand them, because of the absence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. It is true the God could have simply wiped out all of mankind, all of the universe and started all over again with another completely new system and a creation that is totally different with people of a different nature. But he did not and has offered a way of salvation, a way to restore our relationship to him to a rightful manner through faith in Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for our sin, our disobedience. Yes he did destroy most of mankind with the flood, but he kept his creation in tact with Noah and his family, with mankind still having the original nature he gave us, with the ability to be disobedient. And he waits, at least in the time frame of waiting as we understand time. He desires that all should be saved and none should perish. Could this actually mean that somehow in his divine way, he manages to get through to unbelievers just prior to their end? At least he manages somehow that they hear the salvation message, and they are offered peace with him, through the cross so they have the choice. The fact still remains that we who believe do understand what the truth is and our hearts and minds are illuminated by the scriptures. We are not distracted by the false words of men who distort the truth into something which can be used for their own benefit, which will ultimately bring destruction upon them. Because they refuse the truth, they make up their own truth. We do not have to make up any truths of our own for we have God’s and he has given us the Holy Spirit to teach us this truth, to guide us through it with understanding. Yet we should continue to endeavor to bring this truth to others, because we do not know the day when his patience will end. Yet back to that question, will he find a way to reach them before their end? Does the way include us? Are we the only way he has chosen to reach them before their death? Or does he use some divine method we are not aware of, and only those in the moment just before death can see? Either way, we need to do our part, as we are called to do, for it is because of his patience that we have the salvation we do. Had he come before we believed would we have been destroyed? Thank God for his patience. Even the patience he has with us during those times we fail him, when we act in a disobedient way. What would we do without the patience of God?

Be Diligent

DEVOITON 2 PETER BE DILIGENT 2 Peter 3:14-15 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. NIV Because we are indeed looking forward to the Day of the Lord, there are ways we should be living. If, however, we allow ourselves to become distracted by all the things of this world we may miss the mark we are supposed to be aiming for. We are admonished to make every effort, to exert ourselves toward certain qualities. This in itself would imply any distraction; any wavering from making every effort would insure our failure. So then when the Day of the Lord arrives will we be spotless? The only spotlessness we could ever hope to achieve would be in Christ. We need to make every effort to remain in him, to firmly ground ourselves in the gospel message. Can we ever be spotless without Christ? I think not. It would also seem rather foolish to think we could ever be with blame unless we are in Christ. That is the whole reason he died on that cross, so the Father would render us blameless, innocent of all charges for which we are indeed guilty. Christ told our sin, our blame for us and so in him we are indeed blameless. Being in Christ also is the treaty we signed with God. Anyone who has refused to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is, in fact, at war with God, and they are going to lose. Who in their right mind would ever think they could wage war on God and win? Satan has and we know even as powerful as he is, he is going to lose. So then we should not allow him to entrap us in his snare, but make every effort to stay close to Jesus, to keep ourselves drenched in his blood, clinging to that old rugged cross with all the energy we have. Will we still fail God? Will we still get catch up at times in thoughts, behaviors, reactions that are not acceptable? Unfortunately we will, not that being human is an excuse, for we should not make that excuse, but we are not divine, we are not perfect as Christ was, and that is the whole of why we needed him and that we still need him, and we will always need him. We cannot achieve salvation, nor can we achieve peace with God without the offering of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for our sin. To this we must be diligent.

Live Accordingly

DEVOTION 2 PETER LIVE ACCORDINGLY 2 Peter 3:11-13 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. NIV It seems rather clear just exactly what kind of behavior is expected from those of us who claim we are born again, or followers of Christ, believers, or Christians. Holy and Godly lives are the words used here, which carry a whole lot of implications. If we were to open them up and see inside, we would think it is impossible. To be holy carries so much meaning in the sense that it could imply that we should live as one set apart for God, but in the sense of what is said, it clearly carries the meaning, in a moral sense, to live pure, sinless, upright, holy lives. Does that mean perfection? It certainly means we should not ever accept being less then holy, that we should make that our goal, or desired lifestyle. We will fail? More than likely, not that we should make excuses, but we will fail at times, yet it still remains our desire to be holy, to live in a manner which pleases God, not our self. That is how this godly living fits in as it implies living in respect of God, or reverence of him. People who do not respect him will not live a holy life; it will not be their priority as it is with those of us who call him Lord. So how do we speed the coming of the day of the Lord? The actually word here implies to desire earnestly its coming, to want it to hasten, to speed up. This would seem to be saying we should not get too comfortable with our lives here, getting all catch up in the pursuit of earthly things, earthly goals and ambitions. We should not be looking forward to the day we can have this thing or do that activity for the sake of self-gratification, but rather use our time for the benefit of the Kingdom of God, looking forward to the time when all this we now know in the physical will be gone and a whole new heaven and earth will be our home, for all of eternity. Now does God bless us with good things and a good life here on this earth? For the most part, at least for us who live in the United States, yes he does, but what about those who live in the 3rd world places, or in countries who persecute believers in Christ? They most likely look forward to the coming of the Lord more than we do, for we have so much of the creature comforts and freedom to worship God in the manner we do. But let us not get complacent in our behaviors. Let us focus on what is to come, and live accordingly.

The Day

DEVOTION 2 PETER THE DAY 2 Peter 3:10 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. NIV There are basically two types of people, those who are looking forward to the Day of the Lord and those who could not care anything about it, yet it is coming for certain. I am not sure what this is going to look like as far as the sky disappearing and the complete earth burned until there is nothing left at all. There is simply no other way to for all the elements to be destroyed by fire, nothing left, the whole of the earth gone, without a trace that it ever existed. It would seem to me that would include anything we have accumulated for our own comfort. But then we need this stuff at least until the Day of the Lord. A question follows as to what kind of people should we be, so I will leave that until then, but it does seem if this day of the Lord is coming like a thief, that is without any warning, just showing up, then it would also seem we should be looking for it. No one can prepare for the coming of a thief. Sure we can have alarm systems which might let us know when it is actually in our home, or even at the front door, but we cannot determine when he is actually going to show up. This is how it is going to be with the day of the Lord. We were already warning about the false prophets and teachings, and they surely must have been claiming they knew the time of this day. Even today the tabloids claim the end of the world is coming on this date or that. Some religious nutcases have claimed certain dates which have come and gone without a trace of this day of the Lord. It is clear not a single human being is going to know when this will happen. It does present us with a clear picture of what will happen when it does come, but then that would simply mean we need to be ready. There is a day coming and we should know about it, care about it, live for it, and tell others about it, so they too can be ready, for this day is going to be like no other day, it is the day of the lord.