1 John Chapter 2

In the “Cost of Discipleship”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” (p. 47)  Cheap grace means living without the demand of obedience.   In practice, where there is no call for obedience, then all things are tolerated.  Nothing can be sinful.  There is no clear right or wrong.  John calls us to obey the commands that God gave us (2:3) is the basis for assurance.

In light of what John wrote about human sinfulness and our need for confession, obeying God’s commands does not require perfect obedience.  The fact that no one can do this – “to live in Him (one) must walk as Jesus did”  doesn’t mean “perfect obedience” but Jesus’ life as a whole – to be consistent in our discipleship and not the individual acts in isolation.  For example, checking off a list of do’s and don’ts, or following a set of directions that humans have written.  Legalism, takes us back to negating the sacrifice of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Following Jesus means a commitment to who Jesus is and what He asks us to do.  This takes us back to Pastor Graham’s sermon on September 9 about what it means to be committed to Jesus as a believer.  There is a cost to discipleship.  That cost is our willingness to put a higher priority on living as a Christian  over that of believing we are Christians.  To me, God wants disciples that are willing to put aside our priorities to tend to God’s priorities first and then tend to ours.  To me, this is what it means  to strive to conform ourselves to the character of God.

1 John Chapter 1

“God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5b

The words of the Word – they often read eloquently and, especially in translations such as the King James Version, I am delighted as I read the prose and turn of words.  In the above statement “God is light”, it seems unnecessary to add “and in him there is no darkness at all”.  However, therein lies the eloquence, the reassurance of the truth that God truly is entirely “light”.

I think about us.  We too are to walk in the light, even as God is light.  I picture in my mind an attractive covered box with a lid, symbolizing us as we walk into church.  The box looks sturdy, well-kept, the lid nicely secured on top.  If all goes well, we think, we will leave the church exactly as we entered it.  Intact. Unchanged.  Secure.  

But what happens if we allow the lid to our covered box to be ajar?  What if we let the Holy Spirit come in and “rearrange” us as He will? What if we throw caution to the wind and let ourselves be changed if the Holy Spirit should nudge us?  That takes an agreement from us, a willingness to trust those around us, certainly trust in God that He has better ideas than we.

To go even further, what if we don’t just let the lid to our covered box be ajar?  What if we remove it altogether, letting the Light of God rush in and rearrange every corner, shedding light in every shadowy place? What I know for sure is that any secret corner of our box that we retain and restrain from surrendering to God becomes the shackles that bind us.  Whatever we resist giving up becomes our ball and chain from which the enemy can come in and trick us with lies and deceit.  The very things that we think keep us “in control” is what keeps us in bondage.  God’s way really is the best way and we can trust Him.  After all, God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.   

2 Peter Chapter 3

So Peter tells us right upfront in this chapter that he is trying to stimulate wholesome thinking and refresh our memory.

Okay, I am all ears!  My wholesome thinking is always being challenged by weird thinking that has no place in my mind.  And as far as refreshing my memory,  Randy Travis said it best in his country song “time takes its toll on a memory, makes people forget things they knew”…and since that is true with me…I am also in need of having my memory refreshed.

Peter wants to refresh my memory that Christ will come again.  It is planned and I can bank on it!  But, before it happens, scoffers (I think I saw some of these on Halloween) will come trying to distract me from wholesome thinking and send me sideways making me forget things I knew.

Peter also tells me that this is serious business, everything as I know it will be destroyed, but I do not have to fear this.  Instead, I can look forward to new heavens and a new earth that He has promised…as he puts it “a world filled with God’s righteousness”.

I will try to wait for this patiently, knowing God has more work to do before He brings this about.

2 Peter Chapter 2

Have you ever been under the influence of a false teacher?  Or maybe have been in a situation where you sensed that things weren’t quite right? If we haven’t, Peter tells us we should get ready because there will be ‘false teachers’ among us, and we need to be prepared to spot them.

Peter tells us that false teachers have the following markers:

·      They deny the sovereign Lord Jesus

·      They are full of greed

·      They are lovers of pleasure

·      Their eyes are full of adultery

·      They seduce the unstable

·      Their words are empty and boastful

·      They despise authority

·      They are creatures of instinct

These are obvious characteristics, and we would all hopefully run from anyone that resembles this kind of person. However, Peter tells us they are secretive too.  They entice those who are vulnerable, those who are escaping from error.  It might not be as easy to spot them as we think.

When I read a passage like this, it makes me appreciate the Christian sacraments of communion, baptism and marriage.  I think God gave us these sacraments to protect us from false teaching, and help us see and remember who Jesus really is, and who we really are in Jesus.  It also make me appreciate early church leaders who gave us the creeds – the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed and more. I think they gave us these creeds to protect us from false doctrine.  If you haven’t looked at them in a while, I would encourage you to give them a fresh reading.

Lastly, Peter reminds us that in the end we are all slaves by whatever masters us.  Either we will be slaves to sin and false idols, or will allow ourselves (submit) to be mastered by Jesus.  False teachers are mastered by ‘depravity’, but God knows how to rescue the godly.  Be on guard, and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

2 Peter Chapter 1

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) 

“Practice makes perfect” 

“If you don’t use it you will lose it” 

When you read these sayings, what do they mean to you?  

For me I instantly imagine a talent that I possess and if I do not practice to hone my skill then I will most certainly lose it. I will grow weak and my skill sets will surely diminish.  

What came to mind after reading this chapter. Was thoughts of my daughter, Victoria. Ever since she was a little girl, she loved to draw. Drawing supplies were always a requests. We always had a supply of paper, markers, pencils, crayons, everything she needed to create her works of art. I think around 10  years old, she wanted to learn to draw hands. In order to accomplish that skill, she decided the only way to learn was to get a book from the library that taught her how to draw hands. Then everyday she would practice until she successfully learned that skill. Now at 23 years old, she is still drawing, every day she makes time to sit and draw. She’s an amazing artist. Its taken years but she has mastered the skill she set out to do. She continues to learn new skills, while using different mediums. My point is she has never  stopped learning.        

Peter is nearing the end of his life and his hope is that all believers would desire to have a personal and intimate relationship with our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So that grace and peace would abundantly be given to us. Verse 5-8 say, “5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s an urgent request that we not be idle, rather that we stay active, growing our faith, until we reach maturity. So that we do not fall back into our old sin ways. I believe the message that Peter is urging to all believers, is that we never stop learning. Proverbs 24:5 says, “The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger.

1 Peter Chapter 5

In 1 Peter 5  Peter is speaking to the Elders and Young men.  He instructs the elders to be shepherds of God’s flock, and to do it with an eagerness to serve.  Not for money or lording it over those entrusted to them, but being examples to the flock.   

To the young men he instructs  them to be submissive to their elders and to do it humbly, to be self-controlled and alert resisting the devil.  Standing firm in the faith and God will restore them making them strong.  

“In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus.  So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.  All power to him forever! Amen”

How true are these words today!  Just as much today as back when Peter was writing to the churches in Babylon. 

1 Peter Chapter 4

I just said good night to two littles that bring me so much love and joy. My night with them was wonderful! We made pizzas and played with Lincoln Logs. We talked about hugs and that they have two arms. Cooper, the littlest of the little, showed me this many times as he crashed into me and wrapped his little arms around me. “See, Julie, hugs have two arms!” And then a crash demo. They are so easy to love. 

But not all people are, as we all know. Some people are what we call in our house “EGRs”—extra grace required. These are not the easy-to-love people. But in verse 8, it doesn’t talk about only loving the easy to love. He says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” The first part of the verse is Above all; it’s at the top of the list of things we are called to do. The second part, love each other deeply. There are no exceptions in there for the EGRs or anyone else. It’s direct. It’s a “Just do it” kind of thing. And then the why… because love covers over a multitude of sins. Jesus’ love covered all of our sins, and we are called to love deeply to cover not one sin but a multitude of sins. Like maybe 70 x 7. 

 Whether it’s my sin or your sin or our sin, I’m going to make love a priority. 

1 Peter Chapter 3

Here, Peter is describing the duties of husbands and wives to each other, but begins with the wife. The apostle is talking about the wife's submission to her husband in the home.

In the past, whenever I heard the word "submission" in the Bible, in regards to women submitting to their husbands, it would immediately provoke a slew of emotions in me because I viewed  the word to be just as the dictionary states it  - "the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person" and my feministic nature kicked in.  I was not going to submit to my husband or any other person who wanted me to yield to them, especially if I didn't agree.  And yet, I had professed my life to GOD and was willing to put him first in my life by following him and essentially submitting to his will,  but beyond that, NO WAY!

Peter is not asking women to be submissive to their husbands as a way to make men superior to women, but instead, suggests that if a woman adopted a different religion back in the day when this was not common (such as following Jesus),  they needed instructions on how to bring their husbands to Jesus.  Peter encouraged women to not use their outward beauty with fancy hair braids, gold jewelry and fine clothes to win over their husbands, but instead,  to use the beauty of their inner self and "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight".  Peter was calling women to live such good lives with their husbands, that they may be won over by the wife's actions and showing the life of GOD in them,   this was a way to introduce unbelieving husbands to the life and work of Jesus.

God's plan is one where he wants each of us to forsake our own desires and live for Christ, not ourselves.   So in this Chapter, and in God's order, Christ is the head of the husband, and the husband is the head of the wife. The wife then submits to her husband who is called to lead and serve his wife while he simultaneously submits to Christ

Being submissive which includes being humble, deferential, cooperative, loyal and respectful is a characteristic of Christ like living.    As believers, the life of God  in us, is about cooperating, taking on responsibility and carrying burdens for each other, even if others we are surrounded by  don't yet believe.  We submit, in order that the life of GOD might be seen in us and that those who see that life,  might glorify GOD on the day he visits us.

1 Peter Chapter 2

LIVING WITH HONOR

We don’t often talk about ‘honor'. It's not a word that frequents our vocabulary on a daily basis. However, it's a word that carries much weight and this passage of scripture highlights its power.

Honor means to hold something in “high respect or esteem”, it leans into the strength of integrity and the notion that all people who see it, respond with a sense of recognition. Honor is given by others but earned by the person. Gaining honor is hard work… and it reflects the wonder of God.

11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

How's that for a truth bomb! Your honorable behavior here on earth will result in others giving honor/glory to God in eternity. 

What can you do today to live with honor in your home? On social media? At work? At the next sporting match?

I've heard it said that it takes many years to build honor, but we’re always one decision away from tearing it down.

Honor is earned through our actions. 

13 For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.

We can even honor someone we disagree with. When we live with honor, the Bible says it will silence the accusers when they come pointing fingers.

15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.

So to recap, honor is a complex and powerful word. It is earned, and given; It is loud, and yet it silences; It is eternal, but operates in the mortal. 

How cool is that! 

1 Peter Chapter 1

1 Peter 1 is packed with so much information. This chapter touches so many different topics that are so often discussed in the Christian world. It touches topics on suffering, heaven, grace, God’s judgment, faith, and God’s power. All of these topics are immense. The part of this chapter that was the most encouraging to me was verses 3 to 9. These verses talk about our suffering, our faith, and our salvation. They remind us that though life here on earth may be difficult and often times beyond our own understanding, God has given us an inheritance that will not perish, spoil, or fade. This encouragement can be a powerful reminder of the God we know, love, and are devoted to. He is mighty and bigger than our problems. He has prepared a place for us and though times are hard our faith stands firm and because of this we will receive the end result of our faith, which is salvation. For me this is a comforting thing. It reminds me that I am not alone in my sin and struggle. There are others who have gone before me and struggled the same way as me. It also encourages me because it reminds me that God is near and to be honest that is all we need. All we need is God.