Every reason to be joyful

God, true to His promises, has given me all that I need to live for Him. I’ve no reason or excuse to whine, complain, or be dissatisfied. Nor do I have any reason to blame Him for my faltering and failures . . .

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

This wonderful passage follows up with the root of all short-comings — being lax about doing my part:

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2 Peter 1:3–10)

Obedience has always been an issue for God’s people. Today’s devotional points to an OT call to obedience in which His people are to rebuild the temple. God tells them to remember the first structure:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built . . .’”

This was not an easy time. They were told to be strong even though the rebuild would happen because of God’s blessings:

“ . . . But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the Lord of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace. The vine shall give its fruit, and the ground shall give its produce, and the heavens shall give their dew. And I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.” (Zechariah 8:9–13)

The NT affirms how much we need His blessings. He affirms them to us in words like, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places . . . .” (Ephesians 1:3) Then He goes on to describe all that He has done . . .

He chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless before Him.

He lovingly predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ.

He fit us into His will, to the praise of His glorious grace.

We are blessed in the Beloved Christ, redeemed through His blood and forgiven according to the riches of His grace.

He has lavished grace, wisdom and insight to us, making known the mystery of His will.

His revealed His plan to unite all things in Christ.

In Christ we have obtained an inheritance which is our eternal hope to the praise of his glory.

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:4–14)

These truths are repeated many times so that we will not forget what He has done which enables us to remember what our response must be. We can bless Him because according to His great mercy . . .

“He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

The nitty-gritty is that no matter what is going on, God gives me every reason to be joyful:

“. . . In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:3–7)

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Oh precious Savior, forgive me for letting my mind drift toward the discomfort of trials and my own inadequacies instead of focusing on You and all that You have done. I’ve every reason to be joyful, to have strong hands, and to praise You continually for your marvelous and lavish love and grace.

No limits to God’s saving power

People sometimes wonder about those in cultures and places who have never heard the Gospel. How can they believe in Jesus and be saved unless they know about Him?

I’ve realized that such doubt actually expresses the idea that God is powerless. Is He not able to save those that He wants to save? I know He can do whatever He pleases.

In Jesus’ day, His disciples were Israelites. This was also true in the early church. However, before long it pleased God to call and save a devout Gentile.

“At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God come in and say to him, ‘Cornelius.’ And he stared at him in terror and said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa and bring one Simon who is called Peter.’” (Acts 10:1–5)

Cornelius did what the angel said. In the meantime, God had to convince Peter that he must go to the house of a Gentile, which the Jews considered would make them unclean. Yet God prevailed and Peter went. After he arrived, Cornelius invited him to speak what God had put on his heart.

“So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him’” (Acts 10:34–35) then he shared with this man what Jesus had done and what it means to follow Him.

After Cornelius heard the gospel, he believed. His faith was obvious, as was the transformation in his life by the Holy Spirit. Peter baptized him and the other Gentiles who believed — and changed the course of history.

This story shows that God is able to reveal Himself to anyone He pleases. Not only that, He is also able to send His disciples to do the telling, even the most reluctant of them.

Later, Peter wrote how God is also able to keep His disciples so that each of us can live a godly life. Putting the story of Cornelius alongside this encouraging passage builds my faith. Nothing is too hard for God!

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” (2 Peter 1:3–10)

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Jesus, You are the author and the finisher of my faith, and for all who put their trust in You. You save people from every culture, every part of the world. No one is beyond the reach of Your grace. I love You and I am grateful for Your mighty power and Your ability to save sinners, myself included!

Be merciful to me, a sinner . . .

Sometimes self-righteousness looks pious. Way back when I was a new Christian, I met a man who claimed to be sinless. He sincerely believed it because he thought being sinful was an insult to the saving power of the Gospel. His claim made me feel as if I was not a Christian. Only later did I find these verses:

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us . . . . If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 and10)

I hesitate to judge this man, yet am able to judge his doctrine based on what the Bible says. Being a Christian does not mean being sinless.

This week, I heard a different version of the same idea. In a Bible study, one person noted that these days, confession of sin seemed a rare part of prayer. After many others commented, I said that I firmly hold to the verse between the two verses quoted above, even thinking it is the most important verse in the Bible for spiritual growth and well-being. It says:

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

I also said that keeping short accounts with God about specific sin makes it much easier to pray with clarity and with knowledge of His will. It also seems the best way to finally be rid of those sins that we keep doing, because each confession of what I did eventually brings me to the root of why I was doing it. Once that was acknowledged to God, the problem disappeared, resulting in a wonderful freedom.

However, one person said, “I believe all my sin is forgiven: past, present, and future. When I pray, I don’t confess sin, and don’t even think about myself. I just pray about the needs of others.”

My first thought was that maybe my theology about confession is in error, or I’ve been self-centered in the practice of confession, too concerned about my relationship with God. After a while, the Holy Spirit put this parable from Jesus in my mind:

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9–14)

The temptation to be ‘thankful that I’m not like’ those who boast of their spiritual piety is often strong, yet I know that in my flesh is no good thing. Confession is denying those kinds of temptations and feeding my soul with truth, even if sin is hard to admit. It is part of moving forward, of becoming more like Jesus.

That said, forgiveness is complete. God gives His children all we need to live the way He wants us to live. Our part is to simply do it, putting sin aside.

“His divine power has granted to me all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called me to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to me his precious and very great promises, so that through them I may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, I must make every effort to supplement my faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are mine and are increasing, they keep me from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, Elsie, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." (2 Peter 1:3–10, personalized)

Because of God’s grace, I am in Christ Jesus. He is my wisdom from God, my righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). The Christian life is about growing up into what I already am, about living like Jesus instead of being governed by my fleshy nature. I’m to put off the old, put on the new. It has been my experience that confession is like taking off old clothes. As 1 John 1:9 says, when I confess, He forgives and cleanses. That ‘already but not yet’ reality brings me closer to what I already am.

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Oh, my Lord Jesus Christ, confession of sin, particularly specific things like doubt, frustration, complaining, envy, and so on, always brings me into deeper communion with You. Confession is both humbling and freeing. It says You are right in Your evaluation of sin, but it also invites You to deal with the sin and bless me with a greater desire and ability to say no to those temptations. I am not thrilled to be in this battle, but I am thrilled by the joy and peace that comes with keeping short accounts. I’m also thrilled that Your Word has answers to all doubts and challenges to the faith You have given me.