Verses that inspire

A fact of life.
Of the believers' lives.

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse,deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, (II Timothy 3:12-14a)

Recently, it seems there has been a real increase in the occasions that Christians are being persecuted. In countries across the ocean, believers are asked if they will deny their faith; they know full well that if they stand strong, they will be beheaded, set on fire, or executed by some means.

Perhaps it's not yet come to that in the Western Hemisphere, but I feel it may be coming. Even now, lips curl with disdain, and voices sneer at Christians who "dare" to oppose the groupthink of the day. To stand up for Christ can mean a person is ostracized at school or at work. Perhaps openly mocked. Passed over for awards, scholarships, and promotions. The day may soon come that we will face bodily harm or even death for our Savior.

And the evildoers? Well, they will go on and on, from bad to worse, and it may seem that they never get their "just rewards." Oh, but they will!

According to what they have done,    so will he repay
wrath to his enemies    and retribution to his foes; (Isaiah 59:18)

As for us, let's keep that "attitude of gratitude" as we deal with trouble and persecution.....

My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. 3 You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. 4 If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be. (James 1:2-4)

Yes, Lord, I want to be all that You want me to be!

Take your "vitamins"

We're continuing in II Peter this week, and I hope our title got your attention and started you thinking! (Grin)

Here is our focus passage for our studies:

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, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, 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 whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind,forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. (II Peter 1:5-9)

If our commercials on television are to be believed, humans are obsessed now with good health and longevity. With increased energy and "turning back the years." With staying active and vibrant, and living the "good life."
And, indeed, the vitamins and supplements industry rakes in over 30 billion dollars each and every year! There are multivitamins, nutritional supplements, powdered formulas for smoothies, and whatever the "mineral of the month" may be.... there are health and fitness centers, gymnasiums, and exercise clubs everywhere we look -- that is another industry that takes in billions each year.  Many plan their travels to include wellness centers and spas across the globe. And residential communities and corporations both strive to keep their people healthy and moving well.
Athletes on the professional level may use supplements to "get an edge" on their competition. Pregnant mothers routinely take special vitamins to ensure their health and the health of their child. We may be encouraged by our doctor to take a supplement to provide nutrients that we are not consuming in sufficient volume in our diet.

With all this talk of amino acids, proteins, good fats and bad, and vitamins, I'd like to ask you: did you know there are spiritual "vitamins" too? Spiritual supplements for our growth as Christians. Peter mentions them in our focus passage. He lists seven different supplements, and he tells us to be diligent! To make every effort to add these to our faith.

Years before Peter wrote these words, Jesus told Nicodemas that "unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)  A child is born and then begins to grow....once we are born again, we begin to grow spiritually. If there's no growth, then there is really no life.

Our spiritual growth depends in large part on our spiritual "diet." Many Christians don't work at having a balanced spiritual diet, so they are not as healthy as they could be. There's too much of one thing, and not enough of another. In order for us to be fruitful and effective for the Lord, we must pay attention to our spiritual diet, and to the "vitamins" that Peter lists here! In the first few verses of this chapter, we saw that God has generously provided us with all the things that we need, in order to live a holy life for Him. Now Peter is telling us there is some personal responsibility on our parts.

Please add this passage to your daily readings this week; maybe even write it on a card to take with you each day. We'll study here and try to make some applications that will help us in our daily walk with Him.

Friday slowdown

This worship song (with lyrics for us) retold the story of God's promises and faithfulness that we ended on, this week.

Not gonna wait, wait for the walls to fall
I know a name that will bring them down
I've got a praise, waking within my soul
I'm not ashamed to declare it now
 
Light of the world, trample the darkness
Nothing can stop it, You are the God of the promise
Every word will be accomplished
Nothing can stop it, You are the God of the promise
 
Prepare the way, the King of Glory comes
Before His name, every fear must bow
Throw off your chains, Jesus destroyed them all
Up from the grave, He is with us now
 
Light of the world, trample the darkness
Nothing can stop it, You are the God of the promise
Every word will be accomplished
Nothing can stop it, You are the God of the promise
 
The gates of hell will never stand a chance
Your name prevails, Jesus the great I am
No word will fail, no weapon formed against
Your name prevails, Jesus the great I am

Even more than we could have hoped for....conclusion

Just as Abigail received more than she could have hoped for, from king David, we, too, have received from God countless blessings.
Here are our focus verses:

 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (II Peter 1:3-4)

Wow! I love that! "Great and precious promises." I've heard some sermons and workshops that say there are many thousands of promises found in the Bible. Peter calls them "great and precious" because of the One Who made them...... we all know that a promise is only as good as the person who makes it. We are all humans down here, and may have the best of intentions -- but circumstances may come up and I may let you down. But when God makes a promise, you know it's real.

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.  (Hebrews 6:17-19a)

Have we ever made a promise and then realized that there were circumstances beyond our control? We just couldn't come through on the promise? God is all powerful, and He will never, ever fail to fulfill what he has promised to us.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:20-21)

David's Psalm 89 quotes the words of our Father God:

I will not violate my covenant  or alter what my lips have uttered. (Psalm 89:34)

A promise from God is sure and secure! He has promised to love us and to be with us:

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20b)

He has promised to provide for us on earth and provide us an eternal home:

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3 (John 14:2)

He promised to return for us:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:3)

There's not much in this world that we can count on. But we can count on our Lord.

Notice in verse four, Peter says we are partakers of the divine nature? Well, as Christians, we are born again; we say we are a new creation. The Bible says we are children of God. Because of our relationship with Him, we also have the privilege (and responsibility) of growing more like Him, and of enjoying His protection:

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,    my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:2)

A refuge is where we are sheltered from danger or trouble. Peter also says we are protected from corruption -- a life without our Savior is full of corruption, and the only way to clean it up is to surrender to the One Who created us.

Lastly, we are also protected from condemnation. If we have not been saved, if we do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we are condemned to die. Our eternity will be spent separated from God, in the lake of fire. BUT if we are saved, we can rest in the fact that we are protected from that condemnation! Jesus promised that:

 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life." (John 5:24)

Because we are protected from eternal condemnation, we can live an abundant, victorious life with Christ. This protection is a result of God's amazing mercy. If you are reading with us today and have never been saved, you can be today! The gift of salvation is free, and is secured by Jesus Christ's work at Calvary. If you will turn to Him today and accept salvation, you can be delivered from condemnation..... please look at the upper right-hand side of this study blog and click on the tab "What must I do to be saved?"

It used to be that a person's word stood for something. People used words like honor and integrity carefully, not casually. And they paid a great deal more attention to keeping their word, and honoring their promises. Many people today will betray us intentionally.
But others will fail us unintentionally. Promises are made and then broken unintentionally.
We can trust peacefully in the promises of God -- He never fails us. His promises are great and they are precious. And we must admit as we read them in the Bible, that they are far more than we could have hoped for!

Even more than we could hope for, continued

We're studying in II Peter this week, on these verses in chapter 1:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (v 3-4)

God has truly given to us far more than we could hope for. Just as king David gave Mephibosheth more than he had hoped for, when David called him to the palace.

Let's dig into verse three; it says "has given us everything we need." As believers, we have received countless blessings. We spent time in Psalm 103 counting them! Often we lose sight of just how blessed we really are. One way to avoid that complacency, and that "taking it for granted," is to spend time in God's Word.
Where do these blessings come from? Peter tells us -- God's divine power. He is the source of all the good things (and the things that we can't quite see as good) in our lives.
Have you ever taken a small child to the mall? Their eyes get so big, as they look at the ice cream dots in the courtyard, at the fudge and lollipops in the candy store, and even the electronics store is a place that elicits the same response: "Can I have that?" Now, it's not that they really need anything. They even ate a nutritious lunch before leaving for the mall.... and we know that if we give in, they'll end up with too many calories, too much sugar, too little appetite for supper (or in the case of the electronics store, too many hours spent in front of a screen).  So, since we know it's better that they don't have those things, we say "no." And that is the case of our Father God, too. Sometimes He doesn't give us everything that we ask for, because He knows what is best for us. He might even withhold something because He is protecting us. But we can rest assured that He will provide us with everything that we need.
God's power is limitless - He will provide.

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  (Colossians 1:16)

His resources are not limited - He will graciously give us what we need.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Jesus told us:

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9)

That doesn't mean that God will give us anything that we want. We can't approach Him in a way that treats Him like a genie. If we are in a right relationship with Him, we're not going to be asking Him for a million dollars, a house on the lake, and a new car. (Grin) God certainly has the power to make all of that happen. But God also has the discernment to know what we need, what we can handle, what is best for us, and what ultimately will bring Him glory.
In verse three, Peter tells us that God has provided everything we need in order to live a holy life. He wouldn't tell us to do it, if it were not possible -- and He did tell us in Leviticus, and Peter updated it for the New Testament church:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy." (I Peter 1:15-16)

Is one of the desires of our hearts the desire to be holy? To walk with God daily, and to grow each day? To mature spiritually, and to be led by the Spirit? To bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ?

Around our place, we have a saying, "Use the right tool for the job, and put it back when you are done."  God has provided us with the tools necessary to live a life pleasing to Him. It is up to us to use those tools and talents for His glory.

If we think about it, we have to admit: we have received far more than we could have hoped for!

Prayer requests

I came across an interesting quote the other day, and wanted to share it with you:

               Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.

                                                  John Bunyan

I don't know about you, but I thought the mental imagery here was awesome!

John Bunyan's life story is quite interesting; you might like to read it at some point. He came from humble beginnings, but was blessed beyond measure to have learned how to read and write. He also accompanied his father in his travels with his trade (a tinker) and these gave him opportunities to observe people and nature. His books would benefit from these observations years later. Imprisoned for his faith, he preached in the jail. Released, he resumed the work of a pastor and preacher, and we enjoy his many writings even today.

Prayer is indeed a shield to our souls, when we feel that the world and the people and demons in it are pressing in from all sides.

And lead us not into temptation,    but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:13)

The Word tells us that prayer is a sacrifice to God, and that it pleases Him when we come to Him in prayer.

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked,    but the prayer of the upright pleases him. (Proverbs 15:8)

The last phrase is what really caught my eye. A scourge is a type of whip: it has a handle and multiple thongs of leather; sometimes each piece ends in a piece of metal that proves to tear the flesh of the person whipped.
Not a pretty picture, eh?
Painful.
And we can do that to the devil! Kinda reminds me of the Screwtape letters, by C. S. Lewis. The older demon instructed the younger one to get the Christian in his "care" to pay less attention to his prayer time, and to his Bible study....

Be alert and of sober mind. 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 the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (I Peter 5:8-9)

Not only does prayer help us to resist the devil, but the Word says he will flee from us. Sounds to me like he is running from something painful.....maybe John Bunyan was right!!

Join me today in praying for God to shield us, to accept our prayers as sacrifice, and to "put the hurt on" the devil!

Even more than we hoped for.....

In the first week of our study, we saw that Peter reminded his readers of the grace and the peace (in abundance, he said) that is part of the wonderful life of believers.

Let's resume at verse three and go on to verse four:

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (II Peter 1:3-4)

Abundance.
Extravagance.
Does this make you imagine presents? Gifts? Christmas time?
Probably not many of us who study here grew up in a wealthy family. Far from the "lap of luxury," we probably still have fond memories of a certain Christmas when we had something special in mind as we eagerly awaited the presents under the tree. Perhaps we were hoping for one special gift, and of course, for weeks before, we would have let hints drop repeatedly. Maybe circled a page in a catalog. (Oh, I'm showing my age again.....these days, it's sending a link to a web page, not working with an actual turn-the-pages catalog. But those were WAY more fun!)
Anyway, when Christmas morning dawned, we may have been blown away by the fact that not only was our hoped-for gift there, but maybe some other, smaller things, as well. I know that even when times were hard, we always tried to make Christmas as special and fun as possible for our kiddos.

Have we ever considered the fact that we are blessed with more than we could hope for?
Our heavenly Father is extravagant in His mercy, His grace, and His blessings. He always seems to give us even more than we hoped for!

I've been reading lately in the Old Testament, and two stories have brought this home to me. I hope you'll bear with me as I remind us of two people who received far more than they hoped for . . .

Remember our study of Abigail? Back in chapter 25 of I Samuel, we found her intriguing story.... the men who guarded Nabal's (Abigail's hubby) sheep had been aware of David and his army; they had been around the flocks and helped to protect them all summer from marauders and thieves. When David sent his men to ask Nabal for some food, he was foolish (like his name says) and churlish - he not only refused the request, but he insulted David and the men. David and his men strapped on swords and planned their revenge, while Nabal's servants ran to Abigail and told her what had happened. Abigail quickly put together a mobile feast and loaded it onto donkeys, combed her hair and brushed her teeth (Grin) and set out to see David.
Abigail bowed before the future king and told him that she knew God had appointed him king, and that she wanted to prevent him from future regrets: for unnecessary bloodshed. She asked him to accept the gifts of food, and allow himself time to cool off. Smart lady!
David agreed with her and she went home to her hubby who was celebrating the end of the season, and was quite drunk. The next morning when he sobered up, she told him how his life (and the life of all men on his property) had been saved. Days later, Nabal was dead.
And the end of the story is that instead of being a widow, with no rights or income, or anything, which was customary in that time, she became the wife of the king! David sent for her and she accepted his proposal, and became his wife.  Probably more than she'd hoped for, right?

The second story is that of Mephibosheth. His story is found in II Samuel, and at this time, David is on the throne of Israel. He is searching for any member of the house of Saul -- not to kill him, as would have been the custom after a rival had been vanquished, but to show kindness for the sake of his boyhood friend, Jonathan. Turns out that Jonathan had a son, Mephibosheth, and David sent for him; he had him brought to the palace. I expect that Mephibosheth was pretty scared -- as we said, in those days it was the custom to kill any blood kin of their predecessor, in order to prevent rebellions and such. Mephibosheth approached king David and then "fell on his face and did reverence."  We can see that Mephibosheth was expecting judgement. He was expecting to be killed. He just knew for certain that this was the day he would die.... Instead, he received grace and mercy!
David restored the family lands to Mephibosheth, and commanded servants to work in the fields and bring in the harvest. Then he invited Mephibosheth to live in the king's palace, and announced that he'd be cared for and would eat from the king's table, just as David's own sons did! For all practical purposes, he adopted Mephibosheth!
He truly received more than he'd hoped for.

These stories paint such clear pictures of what God has done for all of us. He's shown us mercy and grace, and sealed our salvation. He has shown us extravagant love and adopted us into His family. There is no way we could ever deserve all the blessings He has bestowed on us! Surely Peter must have had the psalmist's song in his mind -- the same one we studied: Psalm 103.

This will be our theme this week as we study these verses: more than we could have hoped for!