Monday, July 25, 2011
July 25, 2011 … Add Perseverance and Godliness
My Journal for Today: Yesterday we were aided by John MacArthur (from his devotional in Strength for Today) to see that one clear sign of the true, maturing Christian is temperance (or “self control”). Today from the latter portion of that same verse [from 2nd Peter 1: 6b] Peter takes Christlikeness beyond “egkrateia,” adding “hupomene,” or perseverance. Ultimately, as one reads in the last phrase of 2nd Peter 1: 6, Peter is saying that adding perseverance to self control leads to “godliness,” [the Greek term for the latter being “eusebeia”].
Perseverance with any of the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal. 5: 22-23) is necessary for one to build a Christlike character. And the word picture I like to use for “perseverance” is that of a rock climber grabbing on and clinging to a rock because his very life depends on it. And that’s true of our life as a Christian. In faith, believing in the saving/enabling grace of Christ, we need to grab onto Christ, THE ROCK, clinging to Him by belief in His word, and holding on for dear life – our life of worship with Him as Lord. And to add another word picture of “hupomene” … is like a bulldog, who is gifted with supernaturally strong jaws to hold on to whatever it bites, … never letting go. In the Christian life, perseverance is the living out of 2nd Cor. 12: 9 and 1st Cor. 10: 13; and it is dogged trust revealed in Prov. 3: 5 – 6 and Rom. 8: 28. [I’m assuming by now that you have all those verses duly memorized!].
Our model, as always, in any of these character traits, is Jesus, Who exhibited the quality of “hupomene” perfectly and completely as we read in Hebrews 12: 1 – 2 [see below], … this quality of never letting go of God’s will, the attitude quality to which all Christians should aspire.
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SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 12: 1 – 2 ... 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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Living out self-control, with perseverance, produces a lifestyle of godliness [or “Christlikeness”], according to Peter in today’s passage … a lifestyle of true worship or living sacrifice, to which the Apostle Paul addressed in Romans 12: 1 – 2 (another passage you should have memorized). And when a Christian experiences such “living sacrifice” (i.e., perseverance in self-control), other Christians can take note of a life filled with ample evidence of the reality of salvation, … one who is living out the command of Christ for discipleship (see Luke 9: 23).
And to move to completion of our topic this month, such a Christian will be one who is well assured of his/her salvation. I pray that all who read here with me are Christians growing in that confidence. I’m sure not there yet; but I’m getting there.
My Prayer Today: Help me hold on to You, Lord, as my life depends on You. Amen
Saturday, June 11, 2011
June 11, 2011 … Integrity Results in Fruitful Witness
My Journal for Today: Today’s highlight verse seems like such an innocent tag line to the end of the first chapter of the book of Daniel. However, upon analysis, and later reading in the book, we discover that Daniel was blessed by God’s favor to have great influence over the Babylonian nation/culture in those times for many years and through three kings … well into the take-over of the Medo-Persian Empire under King Darius (also known as “Cyrus”). This was a full seventy years after Daniel had come to a position of influence under Nebuchadnezzar and later Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, most certainly illustrating just how much God blessed Daniel, the young man whom we read about and are using as a biblical character model of spiritual integrity.
Now, we might not have the socio-political influence of a Daniel in our post-modern culture and world, especially in the highest office in America as I write this; but as believers in the same God Daniel worshipped, we can hold the same degree of integrity, faith, and commitment to THE one true God. And thereby, like Daniel, being obedient to our God, we can expect God’s grace to favor us … maybe not in the same way; but most certainly we can expect God’s blessing in HIS way and in His time to be ours.
John MacArthur, in Strength for Today, points out in his devotional for this date, that we should all live expectantly to hear the words of The Messiah, as I’m sure Daniel heard from the Lord in heaven when he departed this earth, …“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master's happiness!.” [Matthew 25: 23] Could there be any more motivating truth to guide our lives, seeking after Christlike integrity, than the anticipation of these words from Jesus when we enter into His presence in glory?
My Prayer Today: That is my prayer, Lord, … to be Your faithful servant and to be an effective witness in Your Name. Amen
Monday, May 30, 2011
May 30, 2011 … Endurance: Look to the Future
Passage of the Day [NASB]: 2nd Corinthians 4: 17 … 16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
My Journal for Today: Today, we look on the same passage as we did yesterday; but with a focus on verse 17 [bold and underlined]; and for a seeker’s benefit, I have taken the liberty to add the NASB version to the NIV in today’s study.
We see here that Paul is asking Christians to focus clearly on our future hope in Christ, which, he reminds believers, far outweighs any present (or past) trials we might endure (“momentary, light affliction” in the NASB – but which may not seem so “momentary” and “light” to those enduring the pain). It is interesting that Paul, having experienced so many near-death trials [see his description in 2nd Cor. 11: 21 – 28], refers to any afflictions we experience as being “light.” I don’t know whether I would have had that kind of attitude; but he is right. Anything I’m going through now is “light” compared with the affliction our Lord, Jesus, went through on the cross to secure my eternal glory.
The Apostle James (see James 1: 2) even wrote that we Christians should consider it all joy to endure such trials which confront us in Christ’s Name. But back to Paul’s exhortation in today’s passage, the temporary pain we experience from ANY temporal or corporal challenge is simply inconsequential when weighed against “the eternal weight of glory.”
In his devotional for this date from Strength for Today, John MacArthur evokes the same word picture referred to by Paul’s writing in today’s passage … that of the old balance scale used to measure the weight of any element. We’re asked, as believers, to see our lives on one side of that scale with the weight of any momentary earthly trial, which is weighed on the other side of the scales against the infinite eternal weight of being with Christ in glory. NO CONTEST!!!
The weight of any passing temporal pain we might have to endure or cross we may have to carry (see Luke 9: 23) is ALWAYS far outweighed by the cross Christ had to endure so that we could praise, serve, and glorify Him for eternity.
My Prayer Today: For You, my Lord, I must bear any weight. Amen
Sunday, May 29, 2011
May 28-29, 2011 … Joy and Endurance in the Spirit
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May 28, 2011 … Joy in Spite of Death
Passage of the Day: [Repeating] Philippians 1: 21 … 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain …
My Journal for Today: Continuing with the same verse and theme from yesterday’s entry [5/27] , the Apostle Paul, according to John MacArthur in his devotional from Strength for Today for this date, had three reasons to be confident – even in the face of prison or other dire circumstances.
First, Paul had confidence in the power afforded by God through prayer … see Rom. 15: 30 …
SCRIPTURE<: Romans 15: 30 … I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
Secondly, the imprisoned Apostle just knew the Holy Spirit would sustain him in the face of his trials, which is Paul’s message in two of my favorite and most called-upon verses in my arsenal of memory verses, 1st Cor. 10: 13 and 2nd Cor. 12: 9, both of which I really hope any reader of this entry would have memorized and deeply embedded in your heart by now. Peter had also expressed the same confidence that God gives us all we need to face life (see 2nd Peter 1: 3). …
XRIPTURE: 2nd Peter 1: 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.
And finally, Paul had consummate confidence in Christ’s promises … that God had called him (Paul) into ministry (see Acts 26: 16 - 18) … that he would never suffer shame in Christ’s Name (ala Mark 8: 38) … and that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, would never abandon His sheep (after John 10: 27-28).
Paul knew, as should we, that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and will never forsake us (Hebrews 13: 5, 8). And prayerfully, we can all realize that we can forever place our confidence in our God in moments of trial.
My Prayer Today: Lord, You are all I need. Amen
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May 29, 2011 … Endurance: The Value of the Spirit
Passage of the Day: 2nd Corinthians 4: 16 – 18 … 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary; but what is unseen is eternal.
My Journal for Today: Maintaining our bodily temple is certainly important. If fact, the Apostle Paul had also written to the Corinthians about that (see 1st Cor. 3: 16 – 17) …
SCRIPTURE: 1st Cor. 3: 16 – 17 ... 16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
However, as Paul declares in today’s passage, we should realize that our bodies, while being maintained in proper stewardship as God’s temple, are just temporary (see again 1st Cor. 15: 35 – 57 - linked here); and so, our primary focus should be on our eternal relationship with Christ.
Admittedly this can be challenging at times, because this latter focus is “unseen,” as Paul states in our passage for today. In Colossians 3: 2, he also exhorted the church that we need to “… Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” In all of this Paul recognized that the Christians of his day, as is the case today, were under great pressure by Satan, the world, and their (our) own flesh to concentrate on the temporal or corporal here-and-now, especially as the church was being persecuted. However, Christians must, according to Paul, grasp and cling to the truth that our hope is not in those elements we can see now, but in Christ and what is unseen in glory.
Peter was also helping the early church to grasp this truth by encouraging them (and now us) to understand that our sufferings would help them (us) prepare for the great eternal life ahead (see 1st Peter 5: 10) ...
SCRIPTURE: 1st Peter 5: 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.
And there is, of course, the uplifting word of God in Isaiah 40: 28 – 31, where we read that God will always provide the strength for a believer, who avails himself or herself of God’s grace, to meet the physical demands involved in the temporal challenges of life (and we’re also encouraged by Is. 41: 10, 1st Cor. 10: 13, 2nd Cor. 12: 9, and James 1: 2 – 3).
If we know and believe God’s word and promises in these passages, there is no trial or persecution which should dissuade us from our hope, Who is Christ.
My Prayer Today: Lord, You are the strength I need. Amen
Sunday, May 22, 2011
May 22, 2011 … Entrusting All to God
My Journal for Today: This is the closing “tag line” to the passage we’ve been looking at these past few days, writing in historical context to Christians who were witnessing their faith under an extreme cloud of oppression and danger, … many being burned alive because they were unwilling to deny Christ. And the Apostle Peter closes his exhortation to these committed believers by charging them to “keep on keeping on” in their faith – no matter what!
As I consider this charge in my own life, the exhortation of Paul in Romans 12: 1 comes to mind …
SCRIIPTURE: Romans 12: 1 … Therefore, I urge you, brothers [and sisters], in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
Both Peter and Paul are encouraging fellow believers to join them (and they certainly were exemplary martyrs for the faith) in being willing to live - or die - for their Creator and Christ.
The term “commit” in all caps above in the NIV version of 1st Pet. 4: 19 is the Greek term, “paratithemi,” which can also be translated “entrust” (as it is, for example, in the NASB version). MacArthur, in his Strength for Today devotional for this date, points out that this is a Greek banking term; and therefore, these Apostles are saying that our acts of faith, what Paul referred to as “living sacrifice,” in Rom. 12: 1 [e.g., doing good in the face of trials], are faith deposits, placed in the safest of all “banks,” … in the Name of none other than God Almighty. Acts of faith, therefore, done in sacrifice in Christ’s Name and for His glory, are deposits which will be banked for eternity by God; and I believe God will honor them with His interest, which will be crowns in heaven.
So, in the face of trials, even ones like those of the Roman Christians being burned, where it becomes very tempting to cut and run, as did Christ’s Disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, we must be willing to ask ourselves whether our faith has matured to the point that we truly believe and are “living sacrifices” to the truth of Romans 8: 28 or 12: 1. And yes, as declared by God through Paul in 2nd Cor. 12: 9, we are weak; but if we believe in Christ and receive His grace, enabling us to prevail, as also promised in 1st Cor. 10: 13, we will be overcomers as was Christ, Himself (see also John 16:33).
My Prayer Today: Lord, may this life, mine, be a living sacrifice in Your Name. Amen
Monday, May 09, 2011
May 9, 2011 … Trials’ Lessons: Seeing Greater Reward
My Journal for Today: Yesterday in my devotional journal I reflected on the reality that often it is hard to remember God’s love and to trust that He wants the best for His children, especially when we’re confronted with horrible circumstances. I can’t even imagine how difficult it might have been to remain faithful and positive, trusting steadfastly in God, in the midst of the suffering endured by Christians through that horrible far eastern Christmas eve tsunami or after hurricane Katrina when it hit the Gulf Coast. And even here I sit this morning with a grandchild in the hospital fighting off a severe case of pneumonia where the doctors are considering surgery to relieve the pressure of fluid leaking from her lungs into the pleural sacs. So, it’s difficult this morning for yours truly, and I’m sure the mother of our grandchild, our daughter to have enjoyed a Mother’s Day yesterday with her child in the hospital suffering.
Intellectually, I can see what the Apostle James wrote about in James 1: 2 – 3 … that suffering helps to produce endurance in faith …
SCRIPTURE: James 1: 2- 4 … 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
How difficult it is – within our own mind/strength – to “consider it pure joy” when we’re encountering trials and suffering. I think any rational person, with any degree of life experience, would say that we learn the most and do, in fact, develop perseverance more readily from trials than from the smooth and easy times. However, that doesn’t make it any easier to choose to be joyful and faithful in the midst of troubles or pain.
However, Peter is teaching in today’s passage, and we must accept, that our completion (i.e., sanctification) as Christians will take place as we experience suffering in Christ’s Name and for His sake; and we do so that we might one day reign with Him in glory (see also 1st Tim. 2: 12). Christ suffered the most for God, the Father; and now He has been raised to the highest position, at the right hand of God. And like James and John had to learn (see Matt. 20: 20 – 23), … in fact all of Christ’s disciples had to learn and accept that we must become suffering servants, as was Christ (again read Isaiah 53), so that we can be come elevated and glorified as Christ was in heaven.
Therefore, to the degree that I’m willing to serve our Lord and to suffer for Him, denying self. and seeking to follow our Savior, I will be lifted up to a more exalted role of lauding Him in heaven.
My Prayer Today: Worthy is the Lamb!!! Amen

