Day 327: 1 Peter 1:13-2:10

"...you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he has called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." - 1 Peter 2:9 NLT

A simple question, "Who am I?" is probably the most important one we will ever answer. I remember someone asking me that question in college, and I recall thinking how overly simplistic it was. I am Andrew. I was born in Oklahoma. I enjoy saltwater taffy. My dentist disapproves.

Yet those simple answers won't do me much good when I step into eternity, primarily because they will all become irrelevant. My background and preferences will suddenly cease to matter.

According to Peter, as a follower of Jesus, I should be focusing on these truths:

• I am a part of a chosen people

• I am a priest

• I am a part of the holy kingdom

• I am God's treasure

And these are all a foundation for me to share who I really am with as many people as possible. Backing up to vs. 18-19, I am, first and foremost, someone who has been ransomed by the blood of Jesus. All the language used to describe the ancient Israelites (God’s people) in the Old Testament is now used to identify you and me.

This should be the most important factoid about me. Why? Because it affects everything else, even into eternity.

“Just as believers are a new spiritual race and a new spiritual priesthood, so they are a new spiritual nation which is based now neither on ethnic identity nor geographical boundaries but rather on allegiance to their heavenly King, Jesus Christ, who is truly King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16)." - Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 117)

Day 326: 1 Peter 1:1-12

"So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while." - 1 Peter 1:6 NLT

There is so much jammed into this verse (and the entire 12 verses of today's reading). Like we’ve said before, this may be troubling to many of us who weren't notified that "many trials" are necessary for spiritual growth as a Christian.

Peter is encouraging these suffering Christians to be "truly glad." How could they be glad when they were heavily persecuted within the Roman Empire? They could be glad because their trials would lead to testing, and testing would show that their faith was strong and pure. The fires of trials are revealers of our authenticity as believers in Jesus.

Scot McKnight writes that "Peter sees in suffering a situation from which the believers can learn and grow."

As 21st Century Americans, we would never (outside of a funeral service) use the words rejoice (agalliao - to experience a great state of gladness) and grieve (lypeo - state of sadness) in the same sentence. Yet the first-century Christians were experiencing these realities side by side, keeping a view toward their heavenly destination.

We weren't created in Christ Jesus to just weather the storms of this life. Instead, we are to also see them as honoring opportunities to grow closer to (and identify with) our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Day 325: James 5:1-20

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” - James‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So many of us love the part of this chapter that shows the potential of a sick person we love to experience lasting healing. What an amazing thing it must have been to see consistent miracles happen among the early church members. As time has passed, the frequency of these signs and wonders has slowed.

Even toward the end of the Apostle Paul’s life, we see him offering medicinal healing as a help (1 Timothy 5:23). Yet we should still pray, believing God can even now do the impossible!

The opening of verse sixteen isn’t as fun. We are commanded to confess our sins to one another. Nothing can be harder than to admit that we’ve blown it, especially to communicate that to another Christian that we could potentially let down.

Yet when we do confess our mistakes, we experience healing 100% of the time.

Don’t let your pride (or laziness) keep you from experiencing the fullness of God’s power.

”Mutual confession of sins, which James encourages as a habitual practice (this is suggested by the present tense of the imperative), is greatly beneficial to the spiritual vitality of a church.” - Douglas J. Moo, “James”, pg 229

Day 324: James 4:1-17

"And he gives grace generously." - James 4:6 ESV

The pull of the world is strong. In fact, it is so strong that we don't generally have what it takes to withstand its temptations. We may criticize and look down upon Adam and Eve for their mistake at the beginning. I mean, it was a piece of fruit! The Devil will never tempt us with something that we don't desire. Each temptation that is brought before us is custom fit to our own unique desires.

What is it that really pulls at your heart? Is it the longing for wealth? Sex with someone who isn't your spouse? Is it fame before crowds? Is it to be the expert? What about the desire for everyone to like you?

The Devil knows, and he will exploit every inch of our desires.

So what is your plan to resist the Devil? (verse 7) If you go into any day without a plan to resist our enemy, you are dooming yourself before you start. God wants to equip us with what we need to resist any and all temptations that come our way each day.

Do you want His help?

Maybe we need to start there.

J.B. Phillips powerfully translates 4:7 as "he gives us grace potent enough to meet this and every other evil spirit."

The New Living Translation reads, "He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires."

Realize how much you need Jesus' final work on the cross, and realize how readily available and willing He is to meet you in your time of need. All that's left is to go to Him in prayer right now.

Day 323: James 2:18-3:18

“You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” - James 2:19 ESV

Acknowledging something as true isn't biblical belief.

I can acknowledge that 45-year-old Tom Brady is a statistical anomaly and is good at football, but I am for sure not going to go out and buy his new Buccaneers jersey. It probably isn't fair to go from talking about Tom Brady to bringing up a conversation about demons, but here we go.

The first part of this verse is dripping with sarcasm, and the second part is terrifying. The thought that a demon would know more about the fear of God than I do really bothers me. Darkness is well aware of the light's capabilities.

So, what should separate us from the demons? James says it is the activity of faith. It is the act of getting up every day and submitting our entire lives to Jesus. Like we discovered in yesterday's post, genuine faith in God is going to find its expression one way or another.

I love that the two examples James gives are a patriarch and a prostitute (vs 21, 25). Both Abraham and Rahab were obedient when it counted. Were they always obedient? Well, no. Abraham was a liar, and Rahab was... you know. Yet they found expression for their faith when it counted most, and it is reflected in their legacies.

What about your legacy? Is your faith reflected in what you are leaving behind for future generations?

Sophie Laws says it well when she writes, “For Jesus, whose teaching may be in James’s mind, love of the God who is one leads to love of the neighbour. The challenge to James’s man of faith is to show what response his profession evokes from him.”

Day 322: James 1:19-2:17

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” - James‬ ‭2:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As you can already tell from our short time reading James, he loves to talk about faith and action (works). He mentions faith 13 times in his little book and speaks of works 16 times.

In the original language (Greek), James is doing a little tongue-in-cheek. The word used for faith is the word pistis. Volumes and volumes have been written about this one word! Another way to translate it is as trust or faithfulness or persuasion.

So faith, by itself, is defined as active. It is definitely not a passive word. All we have to do is re-read Hebrews 11 to see that faith is an activator that brings a level of constancy that is needed to sustain the Christian life.

Paul prays the following in 2 Thessalonians 1:11, and it is perfect for sharing here: “So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.”

Do we see needs around us? Meet them.

Do we see racism around us? Actively love those who are different from us.

Are we tempted to shirk the poor to accommodate the rich? May we repent and look for ways to show mercy.

"James shows the inadequacy of a merely claimed faith by the use of another powerful hypothetical example. Someone who is more than a neighbor, a brother or sister in Christ, comes to you in obvious need of the bare necessities of life. What should you do?" - Holloway, G. (1996). James & Jude (Jas 2:14)

“Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Day 321: James 1:1-18

“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” - James 1:18 ESV

We've all done things out of mere obligation. When we do, there isn't much passion behind our actions. Our bodies are going through the actions, but our hearts aren't quite activated. So we lumber forward, putting one dutiful foot in front of the other.

This may be how you think about God's disposition toward you, but it isn't in the least bit true. This verse in James shuts down that thought. The Greek word used for will here is boulomai, and it means to desire to have or experience something, with the implication of some reasoned planning. (Louw/Nida)

Listen, God has eternally thought it through. He's made His decision. He wants you to be the part of his crop that He brags most about (the firstfruits). Jesus hasn't made a haphazard mistake by choosing you. Instead, He has placed your life upon His bedrock of truth. His love for you cannot be shaken from its place.

May this grace fall afresh on you today.

Now we have the perfect place to stand in order to take on all 90 of James' imperatives he lays down in this little book. Our only chance of acting like we should (longterm) is to be fully confident in who Jesus says that we are.

Day 320: Hebrews 13:1-25

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” - Hebrews‬ ‭13:15-16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus’ sacrifice was a setup for our salvation, and all that flows out of this regeneration is to be beautiful. We are now freed to offer sacrifices as an overflow, a response to the sweet saving.

SACRIFICE OF PRAISE // This is the only time this word for praise (ainesis) appears in this way throughout the New Testament. Nida and Louw define it as to speak of the excellence. Regular praising should come naturally from our mouths! Sunday mornings, at work, when we are driving, working out, walking to class—it is appropriate at all times.

SACRIFICE OF GENEROSITY // Jesus met our greatest need. He saved our souls and gave us new hearts. Meeting the needs of others is an obvious response. What plan do you have in place to ensure you never forget to share? Our finances are something we will always be prone to guard and keep exclusively for ourselves, but Psalm 24:1 sings that it all belongs to God; we are just the managers.

Here's the thing about sacrifices. They hurt, stretch, and push us into places we wouldn't have defaulted toward on our own. Praise and generosity are acts of worship that we will never regret offering.

Jesus has done the heavy lifting, and now we get to respond to his great work on the cross.

One more thought. Think about the most joyful Christians you know. The ones that come to my mind are always praising and the ones you can’t keep from giving. It is the overflow of a thankful heart.

Day 319: Hebrews 12:14-29

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering,” - Hebrews‬ ‭12:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I think we’ve all heard our phones declare, “You have arrived at your destination!” It is a relief to listen to these words, especially if we were wandering aimlessly for a while. Verses 22-25 is God reassuring these Hebrew Christians that all of their sufferings are a reminder of what they are now approaching. The detail provided is also helpful for us today.

Now approaching…

• Heavenly City (alluding to Revelation 21)

• Thousands of angels, singing (they’ve been doing this since the beginning, Job 38:7)

• All of our Christian family gone before us (not yet fitted with resurrection bodies—to come later)

• God the Father (the righteous Judge)

• Jesus and His blood (allowing us to approach God the Judge)

Our future is literally bright and will be non-stop joy. The singing, the unity, the majestic presence of God—all will be made right.

“You will one day arrive at your destination.”

Until then, the following quote is great to consider:  'It is interesting that he employs the perfect tense here rather than the future: “you have come to Mount Zion” (v. 22). The heavenly reward of the believer may become complete at the consummation but we can begin to experience it in the present.' - Girdwood, J., & Verkruyse, P. (1997). Hebrews (p. Heb 12:22)

Day 318: Hebrews 11:32-40, 12:1-13

“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” - Hebrews 12:3 ESV

Reading our passage today, and being from the United States, may cause us to feel disconnected from what has been the norm throughout the church's history. Our country provides the freedom to worship, for the most part, without fear of harm.

Yet we are the living legacy of Christians (and Jews) who suffered unthinkably at the hands of their oppressors. Even today, we know that millions of Christians and Jews worldwide live with the reality of putting their lives at risk to follow Jesus. All we have to do is spend five minutes scrolling the World Watch List on the Open Doors website to get a glimpse of what is still happening.

The writer of Hebrews flows from backs being ripped open, to the grandstands of heaven cheering us on, to the example of Jesus and then considering it all as a helpful discipline. This may seem inconsiderate to us, but again, we don't really know what it's like to experience this kind of physical suffering (though it may be in our future, 2 Timothy 3:12).

We do know that God is moving us all forward, encouraging us to take "a new grip" and to "stand firm."

The Christian life is historically hard. Still, at the same time, it is the best life, not only for now but also for all of eternity.

”…as conquerors and as sufferers, they witness to His power and faithfulness; and those who regard them cannot but be strengthened by their testimony.” - Brooke Foss Westcott