Jesus is our faithful peacemaker . . .

Someone called me yesterday in great anguish. A person close to her had verbally attacked her, viciously unkind and accusing her of things not true. My friend felt as if a demon had attacked her, but she was unsure and wondered what she had done to deserve this.

I’m certain she had done nothing, but rather than focus on the attack, she needed to focus on the remedy. We talked about the loving power of God and how the Holy Spirit never stabs us. Even when He convicts us of sin, He does it with a hug and with clarity. The enemy always accuses with fuzziness, making us uncertain and fearful. God is faithful; He does not treat us with accusations and a mean spirit. I encouraged my friend to pray for this other person. This would help her avoid an attitude of retaliation. It is the enemy that promotes strife and ruined relationships. Besides, in prayer God would help her know the best response.

Today’s devotional is about the faithfulness of God. It is good to be reminded that we rely on Him to help us through life’s puzzling and hurtful events.

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:10–13)

The psalmist reminds us that we are prone to turn away from God. Like the ancient Israelites, we can even fake our faith and often rebel, yet God remains faithful:

“In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant. Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert! They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe . . . .” (Psalm 78:32–42)

I know that God will take care of my friend and bring something good out of this for her. Trusting Jesus when another person turns against you is a difficult and challenging test, one that we cannot endure on our own. It is so important to cling to the faithfulness of God.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:22–25)

It is also good to remember just how dependent we are on the Lord. He chose us; we did not initiate or cause our salvation or our walk with Him. He began it and He will finish it:

“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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3–6)

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)

My friend needs to guard herself from sinning as a backlash to this unexpected and unfair treatment, but even if she remains angry and retaliates, the Lord Jesus has it covered:

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1–2)

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, because You cover the sin of the world, we also need to forgive those who sin against us. You died for the sin I commit, yet You also died for the sins people commit against me, against those I love. Forgiveness is a huge peacemaker. I pray You will bring peace to my friend’s heart and to the relationship between her and this other person who attacked her seemingly with no reason. You are our faithful Prince of Peace, and we need You for this and for everything else in our lives.

The sound of unity

What is unity? Does it mean that everyone thinks the same way? This is the assumption of many, including religious cults. All their people must believe exactly the same. If they think outside of what they are told to think, they cannot be a member of that group. This unity would be like an orchestra that had only violins, or only saxophones.

Christian unity is not like that. It is oneness based on faith in one Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our unity, our orchestra leader. We may not have the same ideas, gifts, plans, and way of doing things, but when we are filled with His Spirit and following His direction, everything we do will fit the plan of God and be in harmony. This is an orchestra with all the instruments, each doing their part and following their score for the same piece of music. Together, the sound is incredible.

The Bible says the church is “the household of God” and “the Body of Christ.” It is a “whole structure” that is “joined together” with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone. It grows by addition but also grows spiritually and is becoming “a holy temple in the Lord.” (Ephesians 2:19–21)

But God does not build His church the same way we would build an orchestra or a house. We talk about His ‘mysterious ways’ without thinking how truly mysterious they are! One of those mysteries is that He builds the church through the blood of the martyrs.

Stephen was the first. When he was stoned for preaching Christ, the rest of them scattered, but they continued “preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.” (Acts 8:4–8) Because of persecution, Samaria heard the music.

If I was forming a group and wanted unity, persecution would be considered a setback, not a catalyst, but God used persecution for His purposes. Jesus even told the disciples this mysterious and outlandish truth about persecution: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12)

If the church today was dispersed and threatened, I might be more than worried. How would I react? Jesus anticipated how His followers would fear opposition and be concerned about their response. He also anticipated what would become their priority; they would have such a strong desire to tell others that opposition would not stop them, but they would be worried about what to say when it happened.

For that, Jesus said, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:17–20)

This too is mysterious. God put such a desire in the hearts of His people to share the Gospel that they were more worried about loss of words than they were about loss of comfort, even loss of life. They were prepared to die for Jesus rather than freeze over at the mouth and stop telling others who He is and what He had done.

Paul had this incredible focus also. He went through non-stop trials because he wanted the good news known. He said, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect (those God picked so they could tell others), that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:10–13)

The key to such endurance is dying to self, not caring what happens to me because I’m not concerned about my own destiny. Because of that assurance, I can love others so much that I am willing to endure anything so they can be saved. This is about having the mind of Christ and being motivated by the heart of God.

When it happens to a group called the church, God uses the resulting unity as incredible music, drawing others to its sound. 

Sayings to live by

As many facets of life, Christianity has axioms and sayings, like “Christ is the answer” and “Let go and let God.” Some of them are powerful, some cliches, and some make me shake my head because they are pat answers or need a paragraph of explanation.

Paul wrote letters to Timothy and Titus, two younger pastors. In those days, some axioms must have been circulating too because he mentioned several as being “trustworthy.” Unlike today’s short phrases that become posters and the text of greeting cards, most of them were a bit longer and probably not put on plaques to sell in gift shops. Here are the five that I could find, putting the “saying” (as near as I can determine) in italics.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. (1 Timothy 1:15)

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. (1 Timothy 3:1) 

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:7–10)

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:10–13) 

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:5–8)

If I were to put these trustworthy sayings on my wall, I might shorten them. They would serve as reminders of five important truths.

CHRIST JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS. As Paul, when I think about myself as a sinner, the word ‘foremost’ comes to mind also. This saying has a humbling effect.

LEADERSHIP IS A NOBLE ASPIRATION. Many will not get involved in Christian service because they know and fear that those on the front lines receive the most criticism and face the greater challenges. This saying looks at the other side of the coin and encourages me to step up to any task God asks me to do, even leadership.

GODLINESS FOR LIFE • GODLINESS FOR ETERNITY. Our faith is not pie-in-the-sky but practical. This blog is about living for Jesus in the here and now, finding His direction for godliness in my life. This saying is the overarching principle of why I am on this earth and what I will be like in eternity.

DEAD TO SIN • ALIVE TO CHRIST. Godliness is about dying to self and living for God. It is about endurance and knowing the power of God and His faithfulness in my life now and for eternity. This saying motivates me to be faithful to my calling.

SAVED — NOT BY MY WORKS BUT BY HIS GRACE. This is like the first one. There is nothing I can do to secure forgiveness and eternal life. Jesus did it all. I am an heir to all God promises because God the Son died for me. This saying is vital. By knowing I am no longer condemned, I am free to do good – for God and others — without self-serving ulterior motives.

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Lord, Your Word does not give enough information to show me how these “sayings” were expressed in New Testament times, but today Your Holy Spirit blesses me with these trustworthy thoughts. You remind me of what Jesus has done, of who I am, and of how You want me to respond to Your faithfulness. While I would not argue with the Apostle Paul, it seems to me that every saying in the Bible should be called faithful and trustworthy because that describes You, the Author and source of these encouraging words. Thank You.