Make every Effort
(NRSV) 2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust and may become participants of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today let’s look at Peter’s letter to the churches in Asia Minor who were under attack both from false teaching and dissension within the church. Peter encourages the churches to make every effort to build up their faith through goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, and love. It is no less important today to build ourselves up by seeking holiness.
How do we seek holiness? There is no better way to become strong in the faith than through Bible Study and Prayer. The more I am in the Bible, the more I want to stay in the Bible. There is something both mysterious and revelatory in these ancient texts, yet as truth after truth is opened up we find both the strength and the divine understanding to grow and to take others along with us.
Likewise, we should do a self-check on a regular basis to determine if we are behaving as true Christ followers. Responding in anger? No. Withholding forgiveness? No. Taking God’s name in vain? No.
May we always model Jesus in everything we do and say.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Have You Not Heard?
(NRSV) Is 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
I have been reading the Bible for most of my 74 years, and I have noticed certain phrases stand out to me. “Come and see,” the wonderful invitation from Jesus to His disciples; “Watch and Pray,” the cautionary phrase Jesus spoke in the Garden the night He gave Himself up for us; and, of course, “Have You Not Heard,” the question Isaiah posed to those under captivity to the Assyrians. In other words, “Have you forgotten Who God is and all that He has done.”
The Hebrews had been in captivity to the Assyrians for more than forty years, and their perspective was one of a perpetual captive. The hope we have in God is not transitory, nor is it conditional. Our hope in God is a confident expectation that God will accomplish all He has set out to do.
When I was suffering from my first heart attack at age 50, a strange phenomenon occurred; my eyesight was impacted and I was unable to read anything. But I could still write. It was then that I began to write my devotionals as well as resuming poetry, a lifelong pursuit that began when I was six years old.
I am closing today with one of my poems from that time more than twenty-four years ago.
Hope
Hope drifts in on angel’s wings, barely
disturbing the air, the room, we
hardly know it’s there.
Yet, it arrives, unhurried, but
not unwanted.
We see it in the
face of a friend, the
trace of a smile, or simply
a kind word. It is the promise
of good things to come, the
assurance that we are not alone. It is
what gets us through another day
when we think we cannot go on.
May we know, understand and believe that we can place our hope in the Lord, and that He will sustain us.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace that is Greater than All Our Sins
PSALM 103:12
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:12
MICAH 7:18
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” – Micah 7:18
EPHESIANS 1:7
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” – Ephesians 1:7
ISAIAH 1:18
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” – Isaiah 1:18
I mentioned in previous devotionals that the hymns of my youth are really coming to the forefront of my memory. “Grace Greater Than Our Sin” was written by Julia Johnston in 1910, and it reminds us that whatever the sin, it is covered by the blood of Jesus.
One thing I love about our traditional hymns is the way the majority of them are so grounded in the Scriptures. May I share with you that as a pastor, whose primary ministry was focused on the elderly, I have witnessed those whose memory was attacked and altered by dementia. Yet, those whose foundation was in God and who learned these old hymns in their youth still remembered the songs AND they still remembered the Scriptures.
Many churches, including Rock Creek, have shifted from Chancel Choirs to Praise Bands. I have to tell you the more people I meet in our praise band, the more I love the music. The people have a genuine love for Christ and the fellowship I feel with them draws me into worship. I arrive each Sunday eager to add to the worship experience, if not with my singing, then with my prayers and my praise.
But until Sunday, allow me to close with the previously mentioned hymn.
1 Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured–
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 