Light or Dark

I began reading 1 John today. It starts off by letting us know who Jesus is. Then changes to what Jesus told the disciples. I saw something that was very interesting here.

First of all John says, "God is light; in him there is not darkness at all." (verse 5) He goes on to tell us that we are liars if we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet walk in darkness. That seems a bit harsh, since I am a sinner and will sin so I want to know what the phrase "walk in darkness" (verse 6) means.

In his commentaries, Matthew Henry uses the word practice to explain the meaning here. So to "walk in darkness" could say "to practice darkness." To me, this distinction is important.

Practice: to do or perform often, customarily, or habitually

So if I perform often, customarily or habitually an act of sin I am then walking in darkness and therefore a liar if I say I have fellowship with Him. Why is this distinction important to me as someone who is trying to figure this "walk" out? Keep reading.

Verse 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."

If I walk (perform often, customarily or habitually) in the light (that is, after Jesus) the blood of Jesus will purify me from all sin. Notice it didn't say I would not sin. That is huge for me. It says His Blood will purify me from the sin. Read verses 8-10 on your own.

What a relief! Not that I don't have to worry about what I do. It does say that if I "walk in the light" I will be purified. I have to walk or practice the ways of Jesus and that is no small task, but I am not expected to be perfect. Which is good news for someone like me.

May you and I WALK in the Light of Christ and be purified by His blood!

On Guard!

2 Peter 3:17-18

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from you secure positions. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

We have been forewarned. Now we must be "on guard"

I think you would agree that it is easy to be carried away. I really have to be focused to stay on my guard. So how do I do that? I have to work on my relationship with God. I have to speak to Him and read His word. I need people in my life that will challenge my thinking and my actions.

These things are not easy to do when we are in the throws of living, but they are necessary to be who we really want to be. When I wanted to get a degree in college I spent a lot of time studying. When I wanted to fool Kelley into marrying me I spent a lot of time getting to know her.

If I want to be "ON GUARD", I must study His book and spend time to get to know Him.

False Teachers

2 Peter 2 is a warning to the followers about false teachers that will come. And come they will. Why is that? Why do people want to join in on a growing, hot, energetic entity only to distort the message and lead people astray?

Look at this example. It may not be perfect but I think it fits. You borrow some money, buy a home, and pay back with interest. Pretty simple. But enter Mr. whoever, and you have "interest only", a loan that only requires purchasers to pay interest on the borrowed money. This also allows buyers to borrow more money than they would have originally borrowed. But bigger than that, now an entire group of people who couldn't have qualified for other loans can make the interest only payments and now buy homes. I don't want to politicize this post, but it is fairly easy to see how this contributed to where the economy is today. Why did someone change the message of mortgages (and therefore home buying)? Was it to help us?

OK, whether you agree or not with that example is irrelevant, hopefully it illustrates what I am getting at. We could all come up with examples of how something good has been distorted by a change in wording 0r description. But again, why would this be done?

Verse 3a:

"In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories."

The root cause of sin is me. I want what I want and I want it now. I will use most any means to get it. I will confuse people with double talk and half truths to get them to "believe". I will change little by little until I have led people miles from where they should be headed.

You have heard put a frog in boiling water and he will jump out, but put him in cold water and turn on the heat and he will boil to death. The same is true for us. We don't notice small changes.

The problem with man is and will always be man. I am so consumed with myself that I struggle to lead people to the God who has saved me.

Do not believe everything you hear or see. I have said many times, "everyone is selling something." God has given us His Word for learning. He wants to be our ultimate teacher.

Abundant Grace & Peace

I began reading 2 Peter this morning and found something interesting. Peter says in verse 2:

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

So abundant grace and peace are ours through the knowledge of God and Jesus. That sounds simple enough. So why did this stand out to me?

Read verse 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."

If abundant grace and peace come through the knowledge of God and Jesus I certainly don't want to be ineffective in that. I want to know what these qualities are. Verses 5-7 hold the key:

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love."

I don't know about you but reading this list I am far away from qualifying for that abundance! Realizing my short coming, the question becomes what am I doing to move in this direction. As Andy Stanley says, "it is direction not intention that determines destination." (This is from his book "The Principle of the Path.")

I have Faith but what am I doing that is "good"? How am I adding "knowledge"? Do I exercise "self-control"? Am I "persevering"? Do I exhibit "godliness"? Am I showing "mutual affection"? Do I "love" others?

These are tough questions and even harder to accomplish but I must move forward. I must take steps. I must get on the path to abundant grace and peace.

Faith + Goodness + Knowledge + Self-control + Perseverance + Godliness + Mutual affection + Love = Abundant Grace and Peace

To Him be the Glory!

As I continue to read 1 Peter 4, there are many great nuggets but, today verses 8-11 stand out.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If you speak , you should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If you serve, you should do so 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.

Love each other!
Offer hospitality!
Use whatever gift!

When I read these verses and remember that Peter is writing to "God's elect, exiles scattered throughout..." (1Peter 1:1) I am reminded, he is talking to me. I understand the following:

I am to love each other!
I am to offer hospitality!
I am to use whatever gift!

I know this. I have known it. I try to do these things and at times am reasonably accomplished at doing it. Where I stuggle is:

I am to love each other so that God may be praised!
I am to offer hospitality so that God may be praised!
I am to use whatever gift so that God may be praised!

Honestly, there are many times that I do things so that I may be praised. Just being honest! There are times when I want praise. Now I think that everyone needs to be recognized and praised for doing the right thing and hard work, but I can't have that desire. And I do. Now what?

In verse 7 Peter says, "The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray." Of course, I have a picture of what being unsober is, so I picture sober as the opposite. Well that is not entirely true. So we look at our old friend the dictionary.

Sober: marked by sedate or gravely or earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor; marked by temperance, moderation, or seriousness

So this is what I see. If I am seeking my own glory, I will be upset if I don't get it. After all I used "I" or "my" 4 times just to write that sentence. If I am alert (or using sound judgement as the NIV states) and I am of a sober ,or marked by an earnestly thoughtful character or marked by temperance or seriousness, mind I can allow the "glory" to fall where it belongs rather than wanting in for myself. Actually, when I am sober or thinking clearly in this way, I want the glory to fall on God rather than myself.

1 Peter 4:11b

To Him be the Glory and the Power for ever and ever. Amen

The Choice!

Today I started reading 1 Peter 4. I made it half way through verse 1 when God said "did you see that". No I did not hear His voice, it was within my spirit. Another one of those, "you need to know this point" lessons. So now I write. Sorry!

1 Peter 4:1

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attiude, because those who have suffered in their bodies are done with sin.

So what was the attitude of Christ during the suffering and why do I need it? Yesterday, I wrote about "Power"ful Living and how we are to live as Jesus did with a "power under" mentality (for more info on that refer to the previous post). Here Peter is telling me that I need to arm myself with Christ's attitude. Jesus did suffer in "his body". Physically he suffered tremendously but his attitude was one of great willingness to do and allow God's will in His life. He submitted his physical comfort to the work of God.

I need this attitude of submission of my physical comfort to allow verse 2 to become real.

1 Peter 4:2

As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

So, when I arm myself with His attitude of submission I end up being done with sin. And only when I am done with sin can I live for the will of God. The only way to live for His will is to give up the things I desire. I am not just speaking of stuff, I must give up how I want people to treat me. It doesn't matter how I am treated, good, bad or indifferent; I must desire God more than I desire someone to treat me well. I have to give up the desire to get my way or be "right". It doesn't matter if I am right or wrong, His will is all that matters.

In the end, I ask why does this really matter? I read further:

1 Peter 4:3

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do...

"Power"ful Living

Power is an interesting thing. I looked it up and there are 9 entries for Power. However the one I want to write about is:

possession of control, authority, or influence over others

Generally when we think about power in regards to people, this definition is what we think about. Castro has power and Obama has power they gained the power in different ways, but they have power. My boss has power, my parents have power. The police have power and even the librarian has power (you know you whisper in the library).

I don't usually think about it but I have power as well. And if I am not thinking about it I am probably using it the wrong way at times.

I am reading this book a friend let me borrow, (The Myth of a Christian Nation). I am only a couple of chapters in. The author (who shall remain nameless, because I forgot his name; now that I think about it I could look it up, but so can you, so there is your homework), writes about how power is used either over or under other. It is very enlightening.

When I think about having power over someone, my mind goes to getting them to do what I need done. After all, why have power if you can't gain from it, right? In a "power over" world that is right, but as a Christian I am called to something bigger, something better, something Christlike.

Consider the life of Jesus, He exercised power over evil and things. He ran demons out of people, he multiplied fish and bread, he turned water to wine. But, he exercised power under people. He healed their bodies, he raised them from the dead, he washed their feet, he died for them.

When Jesus was betrayed, he was captured in the garden, Peter drew his sword and cut off an ear. Jesus picked up the ear and healed the man. He exercised power under those who were going to kill Him. His example for us is clear.

So what does this have to do with how we live? I know it is obvious to you at this point, but humor me if you will. For me to live a "powerful" life I must exercise "power under" those that I influence. I must be a servant. I must consider their needs before mine. This is against my nature more than I care to acknowledge.

1 Peter 3 starts off by telling wives to submit then tells husbands to be considerate and then says to all of us in verses 8-9:

"be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit the blessing."

These things can not be done when I am exerting power "over"; I have to use all of my power "under" others, just as Jesus did!

Then and only then will I experience "power"ful living.

Cravings

As I mentioned in the previous post, I am reading 1Peter 2.

Verse 2 says, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,"

So I must do the craving? Another conscious decision! It is not natural, it is not easy and it changes me.

CRAVE: to ask for earnestly : beg , demand
to want greatly : need
to yearn for
to have a strong or inward desire

Have you ever thought about how cravings begin? Me either. But now that I am thinking about it, all the cravings I have are of things I like. A craving is a strong desire that comes from missing what I want. I have created cravings. I crave time with family, sex, good food, sports, bad food, friends and just ok food. I have many cravings. They come from enjoying things that I have tried. You can not have a craving for something you haven't tried. How could you crave chocolate if you never tried it? You couldn't!

So, when Peter tells us to "crave pure spiritual milk" what is he saying? We must crave God's Word like we craved milk when we were babies. How can I CRAVE God's word you ask? Look at verse 2 as written above, did you notice the comma at the end? That means verse 3 continues the thought.

"now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."

I have to taste the Lord before I can crave Him. I have to be in His Word before I can crave it. Check this out. When children were learning the Torah (the 1st 5 books of our Bible) they read the words and then honey was put on the paper or tablet and they licked the honey from it. The purpose was for the child to see the Torah as being as sweet as honey and to crave more.

This is what Peter is telling us. I need to crave the word because it is as sweet as honey and the "perfect food" for my spirit. It never spoils.

The more I "eat" of the "perfect food" the more I want it. When I abstain from it I lose the desire for it.

So I must be in God's word to crave it, and I must stay in God's word to feed the craving. When I don't feed the craving it eventually fades away.

I have tasted the Lord and I know He is good. I crave more of Him. I pray that I will continue to feed.

Rid Yourself

Today is Communion day at NorthStar. We set aside the entire day for our congregation to come by and partake of communion. It really is a great day!

While I was sitting in the room this morning, I was reading 1 Peter 2. God brought out many things, but I have 2 I will write about today. One of them, I will not post until tomorrow.

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of every kind.
1 Peter 2:1

When I read this, it hit me that Peter is telling me to rid myself. I know how we use the word "rid" but I have never looked at the definition. It says the following: "to make free" Interesting, so Peter is saying essentially that I am not "free" from those things.

Sometimes when people tell me things, the first thought I have is "who do you think you are." So I thought, who is he to tell me this. I know that you know who Peter is but just as a reminder. Peter is a tough guy. He is the first to speak up. He is so passionate he acts without thinking. Peter is the guys who jumps out of the boat to walk on water and then says to himself, I can't walk on water. Peter is the guy who pulls a sword and cuts off an ear. Peter is the guy who swears he will not deny but does, three times. Peter is mentally all in but not prepared for the heat. Christ corrects him each time he stumbles. He looks at him when He is denied the third time.

I am much like Peter. I spout off that "I will never." Not thinking how difficult it will be to "never."

Peter says we have to "rid ourselves". You mean I can do that? YES!! I can do that. It is a decision I have to make day-by-day, hour-by-hour and for me moment-by-moment. How? I must abstain from the sinful desires I have.

1 Peter 2:11 says, "Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires."

Abstain: to refrain deliberately and often with an effort of self-denial from an action or practice

I can do it!! You can do it!!

God, prompt me to abstain and rid myself!

Hand me downs?

I was reading 1 Peter this morning and saw something interesting that got me thinking. Read chapter 1:18-19.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."

The words that I have in bold above really jumped out at me when I read this. I don't know about you but if I am completely honest I was handed an empty way of life. There was really nothing spiritually filling about how I was raised. It was fun at times, it was rewarding at times, but it was in retrospect "empty." Obviously, I survived and I am trying to live a full life through Christ now. I thank God He redeemed me. But, I wonder what kind of life am I handing down to my future ancestors?

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Wow! I have a lot of responsibility. I want my children to follow a better path than I did when I was young. I want to "hand down" a better way of life to my ancestors. So how do I do this.

Verse 24 says, "For, All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever."

So if I am like grass and my glory is like the flowers, I will wither and fall, and the only thing of value that I have to HAND DOWN is that which endures forever. THE WORD OF THE LORD.

Today, and I pray everyday going forward, I will ask myself, "What of the Lord's Word are you handing down to your ancestry?"

That is a challenge!

I pray that you will have a wonderful Easter weekend, remembering what He did to redeem you.

Praying & Thanking

As I opened my Bible this morning, I somehow turned exactly to Philemon. That may not sound like such a big deal, but I have a "slimline" Bible. That means it is small and the words are even smaller. So, Philemon is on page 1106, that is it. And really only a little over half the page at that. So to turn exactly to that page is less than probable. I know whatever.

Anyway, I know that Paul starts out many of his letters by letting his reader know that he is praying and thanking God for them. His line is something like it is in Philemon, "I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers..." So it occurred to me that if this is something Paul did consistently and he has many writings published, maybe it is something I should be doing.

Really, why is this a problem for me to do consistently. I have thoughts all day about people. I am sure it happens to you. I am sitting at my desk and Kelley's name will come across my mind or one of my girls (Dresden & Sierra) or someone in my Crown group or a co-worker, someone I met at the ballpark, whoever. Now that I think about it why would those names just pop into my brain while I am doing something totally unrelated? And this doesn't even count the names that come up related to what I am doing. Could it be that God is giving me those names?

Here is my problem with praying & thanking. Simply, it is my ritualistic thoughts about prayer. Its the close my eyes, bow my head, complete silence, 3 minute prayer for everything that I can think of type of prayer. If I stopped and did that every time a name popped up I would never work, or be with my family or sleep. And, God forbid, I wouldn't have time to eat.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, "pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Another letter from Paul. He says to pray continually. Give thanks. This spoke to me.

If I am to pray continually and give thanks and still work and show love to people and eat and sleep, I can't pray in my ritualistic style. These have to be prayers like, "thank you God for Kelley, protect her today," or "God, thank you for Dresden & Sierra allow them to be a light for you today," or "God grant grace and peace to Niki today." Nothing wrong with that.

I thank God for my wife, who not only is a great partner in marriage and a great mother to our kids, but she is making a difference in the lives of people at our church and in our community. I thank God for my two girls, they are very special, they love others and are leaders in their area of influence. I thank God for my friends and co-workers I can't mention them all by name here, after all, I have over 90 friends on Facebook. They have all had an impact on my life and this world. All of them love people and are striving to make a difference in our community and this world.

God thank you for giving me such incredible people to walk with as we all work toward being more like your Son and bringing the world with us.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon 1:3