Category: Devotions

TUESDAY October 24^th

 

1 Peter 5:8–9

‘Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.’

 

This is the third time that Peter has called the believers to be sober-minded, (see 1:13, 4:17) and here he adds to it the words ‘Be watchful’. He then explains why it is so important for us to be sober-minded and watchful, ‘Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.’

 

What a picture Peter is painting here, and we need to try to visualise what he is saying in our minds, the devil is prowling around, thankfully he is not omni-present, but he is dangerous, and he is seeking someone to devour, to destroy, to bring to ruin! Imagine being in a wildlife park, and suddenly an announcement comes over the speaker system, ‘Run for safety. A lion has escaped, and he is dangerous, oh, and by the way he hasn’t been fed today so he will most certainly devour you if he gets you.’ I can guarantee that every one of us would run and hide as quickly and as safely as we possibly could—no way do we want to be the lion’s dinner!

 

Likewise, we need to ensure that we are doing all we can and using everything which God has made available to us to be able to do what Peter says we need to do, ‘Resist him, firm in the faith’. We need to ensure that we walk so close to God and so far away from the world to ensure that the devil doesn’t get a foothold in our lives which would eventually lead us to being destroyed.

 

How can we do this? By walking close to God, by walking close to our brothers and sisters in the faith through fellowship and friendship and by living according to his word.

 

In the context of these verses Peter continues with more concerning the suffering that will come to those who walk closely with God and reminds all that are suffering that they are not alone. We are a part of what Peter calls ‘your brotherhood throughout the world’. You or I as an individual are not alone! Not only is God with us and for us, but we also have a wonderful family which is a worldwide family who are willing to stand with us, oh how essential fellowship with each other truly is. The devil is going about like a roaring lion, and those who stand firm through testing times, or through periods of suffering will be those who are already standing firm in the faith, ready to resist him.

MONDAY October 23^rd

 

1 Peter 5:7-8

‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.’

 

Humility is such an important characteristic that should be found in the lives of God’s people, and yet sadly often times it is so lacking. Peter reminds us that God opposes those who are proud, James in his letter also says the same thing in James 4:6 ‘Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Both Peter and James are giving their take on Proverbs 3:34 ‘Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favour.’

 

Here in Peter’s letter, we are told to humble ourselves ‘under the mighty hand of God’, this speaks of coming to a place of total surrender and obedience to the will of God, which we know from Romans 12:1-2 is good, acceptable and perfect. It Is all about us saying ‘Less of me and more of God’, ‘Less of what I want in my life and more of what God has for me in my life’, it is coming to the place of accepting that we do not know what is best, but God does, therefore I will humble, swallow any traces of pride and allow him to rule over me and within me.

 

Taking the thought from what we have already considered in these verses, it is allowing God to have oversight of my life. The end result will be that in due time God will exalt you (or me). To understand this, we go back to verse 5 where it says that God will give grace to the humble. He will lift us up in times of trouble and weakness, he will give grace upon grace to enable us to persevere, he will direct us and as we go back to the proverb, we have quoted already he will grant his favour upon our lives.

 

Peter then continues saying that if we are found in the place of humility, we can cast all our cares on God because he cares for us. This is such a comforting thought, that once we have humbled ourselves before God, we will have positioned ourselves into the place where we can know his constant care over us.

 

I wonder how often we have quoted just the words ‘casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you’, without realising that to do so we need first to humble ourselves before God.

The care and the comfort of God is amazing, and we all need it as we progress through our Christian life and walk with God, there are a couple of other Scriptures which encourage us concerning the care of God, first from Psalm 55:22, ‘Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved’, and secondly from Matthew 6 we have the section from verses 25 to 34 that remind us that God cares for us, for example verses 30-34, ‘But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.’

 

Can I suggest that the instruction to seek first the kingdom of God is closely linked to the need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God.

FRIDAY October 20^th

 

1 Peter 5:5-8

‘Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.’

 

It would seem that Peter has used a play on words when we get to these verses, for having referred to the elders he now turns to those who are younger, yet the word ‘elders’, is not a reference to the elderly, but to those who are in a leadership role having oversight of the churches.

 

But in the word play, he seeks to address those who are not necessarily young in age, but younger in the faith,  to be subject to those who are more mature in the faith. He uses the words ‘be subject to them’, these are almost unacceptable words in the culture in which we find ourselves in today, for there is such an aversion towards any form of authority in so many walks of life.

 

But within the context of the Church setting, Peter is instructing those who are younger or less mature in the faith to come under the instruction and oversight of those who have been given the responsibility of leadership, oversight.

 

It is important to understand this subjection in light of what Peter has already spoken to the shepherds, those in oversight. I will put it this way, they are not to lord it over the younger but to love them, they are not to castigate the younger but to care for them, they are not to be domineering over the younger but to be a demonstration of what it truly means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

When leaders lead in such a way it will be a delight for the younger in the faith to come under the care of the oversight, to be subject to them as Peter says. For it is through this that they will be fed, nurtured and matured within the Christian faith.

 

It is while instructing the younger that Peter gives an instruction that we need to notice is not just for the younger ones in the faith, but also for the oversight, ‘Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility for one another’. At first glance it could be taken to be saying ‘all the younger ones clothe yourselves with humility’, but I read the ‘all of you’ to include both the elders and the younger. Humility is such an important characteristic within the setting of the church, we will consider it further in our next devotion for Peter continues with what we will look at next, ‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you’, but for now, the greatest example of humility we have in the word of God is that of Jesus himself, he who Peter has just called the chief Shepherd in verse 4 who had taken a towel and washed the feet of his disciples.

THURSDAY October 19^th

 

1 Peter 5:1-4

‘So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.’

 

The theme in our verses today is primarily for those in leadership in a Church setting, but it is useful for those who are under the leadership as leaders need to be held accountable to that which are the responsibilities that God has placed in their lives. Peter himself was through this letter seeking to shepherd the flock of God from afar, but he was wanting to ensure that those who were in positions of leadership among the people were also doing the same.

 

He was giving to them an example that they should follow, and this is such an important lesson, those who are in leadership should be a good example to those who are the flock of God that is under their care. Perhaps one of the most important words in these few verses is the word ‘eagerly’. There should be an eager desire in the heart of a shepherd toward the flock that comes out of the love that he has toward the sheep.

 

I mentioned in a Bible study recently about the shepherd / flock / sheep picture that we get in Scripture concerning the people of God, both of Israel and of the Church and it is a wonderful picture, for when it comes to having a flock of sheep, the shepherd really does need to have a heart that is eager to shepherd the sheep, in the natural it is not an easy life, long hours, tough work, whatever the weather and some sheep can be extremely awkward, but it is extremely rewarding.

 

It is a reflection of what it means to shepherd the flock of God, it is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly and most definitely cannot be taken half-heartedly. It is a serious and yet a great privilege.  To shepherd the flock of God is a high calling, one that I trust that you see me taking seriously as you should see as the case with each one of us in the oversight of the local Church.

 

A while back while doing pastoral training, I had to write an essay on ‘The responsibilities and privileges of being a shepherd’ and when it came back after being marked by the lecturer his comments were ‘Only a farmers son could write such a beautiful essay’, well writing an essay is one thing, actually putting it into practice is another. It is Peter that helps those of us who shepherd the flock to understand how the task should be carried out and Paul in Acts 20:28 who gives this advice ‘Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.’

WEDNESDAY October 18^th

 

1 Peter 4:19

‘Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.’

 

This verse follows on from our previous devotion, and it gives to us the key to how we can persevere through the fiery trials that will come upon us as God’s people, and even though perhaps for many the trials will be less severe than for others, especially as we compare our lot in the UK today in comparison to many in other nations who are undergoing severe trials and persecution for their faith.

 

The key is to entrust our souls to the faithful Creator, for, God who has called us to himself through his Son is a faithful God, Scripture further reminds us that he will not cause us to undergo more than we can bear, ‘No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability’ (1 Corinthians 10:13), at first that seems a little difficult to grasp, for some seem as I have already mentioned to go through what we would consider unbearable suffering, even torture for their faith. How do we tie this in with this Scripture? Paul continues with this ‘but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.’ And because we acknowledge the faithfulness of God we also have to acknowledge (even though we may not fully understand it) that the way of escape might for some actually be through martyrdom for their faith.

 

What Peters says to us is that we need to entrust our souls to God, this means that we place our confidence, our trust and the outcome of our trials into the hands of our God who is faithful, in 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul says ‘. . . which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.’

 

Because the word ‘entrust’ is used in our text today, it automatically means that we will be faced with circumstances where humanly we can have no control over, or no idea concerning the outcome, but in ‘entrusting’ our souls to God, we are declaring that we know and accept that he is in control, he will work all things out according to his eternal purpose.

 

When I think of these things, a verse of Scripture always come to my mind from the time when Paul asked the Lord to take away whatever it was that had become a thorn in his flesh. This is what the Lord said to him, ‘“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”’ In response Paul replies  ‘Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong,’ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

 

Oh the miracle of God’s grace. It is his amazing grace that saved us, his amazing grace that is keeping us and it is this same amazing grace that he will pour with sufficient measure into our lives as we face through whatever this life throws at us.

TUESDAY October 17^th

 

1 Peter 4:17–18

‘For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And  “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”’

 

To understand these verses before us today, we need to look at the verses that have run before them, which I considered a week or so ago under the subject of suffering, which say ‘Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.’

 

If we go back to the first chapter and verses 6-7 we read ‘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 honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’

 

Peter would seem to be indicating that the trials etc that we go through are the way in which God can judge or perhaps for want of a better word, determine the genuineness of our faith. See it is possible that we can make a ‘commitment’ to the Lord Jesus Christ, but in reality we are just doing so for the sake of seeing it as our ticket to heaven, but the claim of the gospel on a person’s life is far more than that, in that after the initial commitment we need to grow, mature and become more Christlike and live with desires that are according to the desires of the new nature rather than that of the old. And it is the trials that test us, if we have really, genuinely committed our lives to Christ then we shall come through as more precious than gold, our lives will be seen to result in the praise, glory and honour of Christ. If the ‘commitment’ has been just to get a ticket to heaven then we run the risk of falling, failing when the trials come.  

 

May God helps us all to stand firm when these kinds of trials come upon us, but the seriousness of it all is seen in the sentence that says, ‘what will become of the ungodly and sinner?’

 

It is far better to go through the fiery trails of testing in the here and now and come through as more precious than gold than to fail through the testing trials that come and eternally end up in the fire that will burn for eternity.

MONDAY October 16^th

 

1 Peter 4:10–11

‘As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.’

 

After encouraging the believers to love one another and to give hospitality to one another, Peter moves on to talk about the gifts or talents that God had given each one of them and to encourage them to use these gifts to serve one another. He uses these words ‘as good stewards of God’s varied grace’.

 

God gives to each one of us a gift, talent, ministry that comes from his varied grace, God is a God of variety, his grace is muti-faceted and from out of it springs the various ministries we have within the Church, the body of Christ.

 

There are some things that I can do well, but there are other things that I might struggle with, it is the same for each one of us, and the reason is because God has given those things that I can do well as a gift to me from his varied grace, and the things that I can’t do so well he will have given to someone else to do as a gift to them from his varied grace.

 

We are all familiar with the phrase, ‘jack of all trades but master of none’, which describes a person who will have a go at anything and everything, but he doesn’t quite master how to do it all, well. In the body of Christ, we are not meant to be a master of all trades, in other words not one of us has every single varied grace gift that God gives, what we need to do is to concentrate on that which he has given us and seek to do it well. Notice what Peter says, ‘whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies’, in other New Testament letters we read of other gifts, ministries, all given for the body of Christ to function as it should.

 

Another well-known phrase is about trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, it speaks of trying to do what we are not meant to do, Peter would say to us find out, identify what your grace gift is and seek to do it well, first to serve one another and then he concludes with a phrase that we will look at another time, ‘in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.’

FRIDAY October 13^th

 

1 Peter 4:8-9

‘Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.’

 

These two verses are a reflection of what relationships should be like among those who are a part of the family of God. We should love one another and be hospitable to one another.

 

We could give a number of reasons why we should love one another, the first being because it is an instruction that Jesus gave which was re-echoed by the Apostle John in his letters, a second reason would be because we are all a part of the wonderful family of God and I will just suggest a third reason, and it is because we need to love one another earnestly as Peter says, because the world hates us, and as we learn to love each other as we truly should be doing so, we have each other’s backs, for out of genuine love would flow the care and concern we should have for each other as brothers and sisters, and although we may have a closer connection with some than others through whatever reason, we should not love or care just for some in the Church family to the exclusion of others. We should treat each other as equals.

 

Peter’s letter suggests that out of the mutual love we should have for one another hospitality should be shown, willingly and not grudgingly, now this means initially hospitality in our homes as brothers and sisters, it is interesting what the Hebrew writer says about love and hospitality in 13:1-2 ‘Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares’.

 

As I have considered these verse I thought of hospitality being extended to more than just being hospitable toward one another within our homes, but of how we can be hospitable in other ways. We can show our love, care and concern for others when in need, when someone needs a hand to do something, even by giving a lift to someone that has difficulty to get to Church because of transport issues.

 

But what about the little phrase ‘love covers a multitude of sin’, well firstly it doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye, for we should point out a sin if it is detrimental to the spiritual well-being of a brother or sister, I think it has this as its application, that we should not hold grudges against anyone who may have wronged us (sinned us as a person, rather than a sin against God) in the past, for example, a brother or sister may have spoken harshly to us, which at the time hurt us and may have began to cause a rift in the relationship, but genuine love, or as Peter puts it ‘loving one another earnestly’ enables us to look over or past that which hurt us and we get over it and move forward for the sake of unity within the household of God, our love for that person covers over the wrong they have done and loving one another in the same way that God has loved us means we can remain in good relationship with each other.

 

I introduced a song to the Ladies Fellowship at the beginning of the month which has the line ‘He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs’. We all have faults, following Peter’s instruction, we need to look beyond the faults and see the needs of each other and seek to do all we can in being loving and being hospitable toward one another. This is a part of our Christian duty.

THURSDAY October 12^th

 

1 Peter 4:7

‘The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.’

 

Well, if Peter thought that the end of all things was at hand when he wrote this epistle, how much closer to the end must we be today, some 2000 years later! The fact is that none of us know when the end of time will specifically be, but what we do know is that we are living in the last days. Because of this it is all the more important that we live in a way that today could actually be the last! No one knows the day in which Christ will return, only the Father who is in heaven, he is the one who has set the times for all that has and will yet happen. Our responsibility is to live in expectancy, live with expediency and live with excitement in our hearts that Jesus could come at any moment.

 

So, we should live in such a way that we would not be found ashamed at his coming. Peter wanted his readers to understand this, and tells them to live lives that are self-controlled, if we take this back to what he has just written, it is to live with self-control towards the manner of life that we are living and he says to also be sober-minded. Peter has already given this instruction back in chapter 1 and verses 13-14 ‘Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ’ and he followed this up with the call to holiness, ‘As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”’ Somehow, no matter how much we may want to get away from it, we can’t!

 

Imagine signing a contract and a little while later you want to get out of it or at least make some adjustments and you are directed to the small print and you think to yourself, ‘I wish I had read that before I signed’. Well, when we come to accept Jesus, there is no small print, no hidden instructions or commands, it is plain to see in the word of God, that accepting Jesus requires us to consider first, counting the cost and then to being willing to forsake the sinful pleasures and desires of the world, those things that are not beneficial to our Christian testimony and to follow him. Jesus would say to us these things are non-negotiable.

 

Now Peter links the need to be sober-minded and self-controlled to our prayers, the ESV links this back to Matthew 26:41 ‘Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ This was at the time when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and the disciples fell asleep! See the crucial hour had come in the ministry of Jesus, he was about to go to Calvary to lay down his life for the sins of the world. And the hour we live in is critical and crucial for us as believers, so much is being raised up that is anti-God and anti-Christian, we need to be sober-minded so that in the urgency of the hour we stay awake, and become prayerful so that we do not fall into temptation.

WEDNESDAY October 11^th

 

1 Peter 4:3–5

‘For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.’

 

Following from our previous devotion, and Peter’s continuing message, we need to also remind ourselves of what he has already written in chapter 1 ‘As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”’

 

If we have chosen to live for Jesus, then there are no if’s and no but’s in regard to living differently to how we once lived as unbelievers, Peter says ‘With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery’. Now please forgive me for asking here, but when it comes to our lifestyles are those who we consider as unbelievers that we have relationship in different ways ‘surprised when we do not join in them’ or is there no surprise because we do join in with them?

 

It is a serious question, because I believe the subject of holiness and separation is serious. I am going to quote not word for word but something that the preacher said in the sermon I mention previously, ‘as Christians we live with different rules to the world’, and even if we think that some of the rules are tough or difficult, as our heavenly Father he knows what is best for us and he knows what is good for us.

 

The latter sentence is a warning in two ways, a warning to those who are unbelievers that one day they will have to give an account to God for the ways in which they have lived, living in ways that showed total disregard and a total rejection of God. They are also written to warn us as believers, if unbelievers are going to be judged, how much more will be judged if having come to repentance and salvation we have continued to walk and live in ways that are the same as those who reject God and show disregard to who he is and that which he has commanded. That is why Peter says in verse 2 that we should ‘no longer live for human passions but for the will of God’.