Category Archives: 1 & 2 Peter

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Jesus is Risen—Nothing Else Matters

Hope Is Alive

SYNOPSIS: Jesus died on Good Friday, but rose again on Easter Sunday, so that you and I can live with hope on Monday—and every other day of the week, month after month, year after year, throughout the rest of life and for all eternity. That is what the Bible calls living hope. When you fully embrace this living hope, you will quit living like Jesus is still dead! That is our problem: We embrace Good Friday and rejoice in Resurrection Sunday but go back to work or school on Monday and live as if the Lord’s body is still in the tomb. He is not there, he is risen indeed!

Easter Monday

Moments With God // Matthew 27:50, 1 Peter 1:3

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit…. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Jesus died on Good Friday, but rose again on Easter Sunday, so that you and I can live with hope on Monday—and every other day of the week, month after month, year after year, throughout the rest of life and for all eternity. That is what Peter calls living hope:

Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy, he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope. (1 Peter 1:3)

When you fully embrace this living hope, you will quit living like Jesus is still dead! That is our problem, I think: We embrace Good Friday and rejoice in Resurrection Sunday but go back to work or school on Monday and live as if the Lord’s body is still in the tomb.

The story is told of Martin Luther, who once spent three days in a deep depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife, Katie, came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. Luther asked, “Who’s dead?” She replied, “God!” Luther was offended, “What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die.” Kate replied, “Well, the way you’ve been acting I was sure He had!”

Peter calls to us today, to snap out of perpetual post-Easter funk, because Jesus lives! We have a living hope that really matters beyond Easter!” I love how historian Jaroslav Pelikan said it, “If Christ is risen—nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen—nothing else matters.”

What difference does an Easter resurrection make on a back-to-work Monday?

  1. Christ’s death and resurrection are the foundation of your faith. The fact is, without the resurrection, your faith (and life) is meaningless. I Corinthians 15:14 says, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”
  2. Christ’s death and resurrection are the basis of your hope. 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 says, “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than anyone else in the world. But Christ has been raised to life! And this makes us certain that we will also be raised to life.” Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.” Romans 5:5 say this “hope does not disappoint us!
  3. Christ’s death and resurrection are the guarantee of your resurrection. Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” If you do—believe, that is—the cross and the empty tomb become God’s signature on the Divine contract with you assuring you of eternal life after you die.

Yes, Christ is risen, and nothing else matters!

Take A Moment: When you wake up tomorrow, try singing, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” It just may fill you with hope, and that can’t hurt.

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Bad Investments

Read: II Peter 3

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?” (II Peter 3:11)

There are quite a few of us believers who live like Planet Earth is our forever home. We set our priorities, plan our activities, and spend our money like this is all there is.  We’re investing pretty much all we’ve got in this world.

Over the past seven years, I have made sixteen trips to poverty stricken regions in Ethiopia to plant churches, train leaders, and do humanitarian work.  In these previously unreached areas, the churches we have planted, now over 1,800 of them, are thriving beyond our expectations.  Over 80,000 new believers gather each week for worship and the kingdom of God is advancing much like we read about in the book of Acts.

And individually, these poor African believers are thriving as well!  By watching their lives, you quickly come to realize that they who have so little have so much more joy that we who have so much, yet have so little joy.  By comparison, they are the far richer people

Why?  Because they have put their hope in the Lord.  They are looking forward to a city whose architect and builder is God.  They have very little by the world’s standards, and even what they do have, they hold loosely. They have invested everything—sometimes they even have given their lives as an investment—in the eternal kingdom of our God.  They have made good investments that will produce ever-increasing returns throughout all eternity.

We need to take stock in the kinds of investments we are making.  Ask somebody who knows you well what they have observed your priorities to be.  What does the way you spend money or plan your calendar or live your life in general tell them about you and the things you value?

If your life is like mine, others might very well conclude that we are making far too big of an investment in a world that is soon going to come to a fiery end.  And truthfully, that’s a very bad investment.

Peter asks the question that given the fact of Planet Earth’s soon coming fiery demise, what kind of people then should we be?  How then should we live? Since everything we see, every material possession we own, every physical thing we’ve worked so hard to get will one day go up in smoke, what kind of attitude toward those things and this life should Christians hold? Then Peter gives the answer:

  • We should make every effort to live holy and blameless lives: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives…since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (II Peter 3:11,14).
  • We ought to be anticipating God’s promises rather than promoting the things of this earth: “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (II Peter 3:13)
  • We ought to be focusing on Christ’s return more than the remainder of our days on earth: “Look forward to the day of God and speed its coming…we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth.” (II Peter 3:12,13)
  • We ought to be at peace with God and keep pure in our faith: “Since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” (II Peter 3:14).
  • We ought to be giving every effort to our spiritual growth: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 3:18)

To live any other way shows that we are still investing in the ephemeral stuff of earth rather than the everlasting stuff of heaven.

Take a look around.  Whatever you see is going to vanish soon.  Only what is done by faith will carry over to and count toward the next life.

Today is a great day to begin a new trend of making much better investments.

Lord, my hope is in you and not in the things of this earth.  I will hold them loosely, but cling tightly to you.  Enable me to live the kind of life today that will show on that final day that I have been rich toward the things of God.

“The one and only characteristic of the Holy Spirit in a person is a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ and freedom from everything that is unlike Him.” ~Oswald Chambers

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Money, Sex and Power

Read: II Peter 2

“But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (II Peter 2:1)

Oswald Chambers said, “The Bible treats us as human life does—roughly.” In the entire second chapter of Peter’s second letter, the Apostle really goes after some people—and he treats them roughly.  He is going after false teachers—religious figures who pervert the Gospel for personal gain and manipulate God’s people for their own pleasure.

Peter is telling us to be on the lookout for such people. His message is clear:  We are not to be duped by these phony spiritual leaders. And by the way, in case you didn’t know it, there are plenty of them even in our day.  Just surf through the religious program on your TV set and you will see one before you know it.  But they’re not just on TV; they are in denominational headquarters, they teach in seminary classes, they fill pulpits and lead small groups all around the world.

So how do you spot them?  It’s not all that hard really, because no matter what era you are in or what position of authority they are in, these phonies fall into predictable patterns.  You can spot them because they are always grubbing for money or they are always trolling for sex or they are always maneuvering for power—or all three.

If you spot a religious figure who seems to be preoccupied with money—watch out! I’ve seen plenty of pastors and TV preachers who were pretty good at that. They are slick, so don’t be fooled!  Peter says “in their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money.” (verse 3)

Likewise, if you run into a spiritual authority that seems to be a little too loose with the girls (or the guys)—have nothing to do with them.  They are bad news, and when they fall, they will take people down with them.  Peter says that God will be “especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire and who despise authority” (verse 10).  If a spiritual leader is unwilling to be accountable for his sexuality, that is the kind of person Peter is talking about.

And finally, whenever you find a religious figure that is egotistical, prideful, and self-serving—you have found the makings of a false teacher.  When you get on the inside of their world and you don’t see humility, sacrifice and grace, you’ve got a leader who is, among other things, driven by power.  Peter warns of them in the last part of verse 10, “These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings without so much as trembling.” Verse 13 says, “they scoff at things they don’t understand.” Verse 18 tells us, “They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting.”

Peter is really quite rough on these people: “These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness.” (verse 17)  He calls them “a disgrace and a stain among you.”  And he says, “they live under God’s curse.” (verses 13-14)

Tough chapter, I know.  But as I mentioned at the beginning, the Bible sometimes treats us roughly in order to protect us from evil influences and preserve our salvation.  And as it relates to so-called spiritual leaders, it is time we do the same.

A little rough treatment might clear some of them out of the body of Christ and off the airways.

Lord, cleanse your church.  Make us holy—the holy Bride of Christ—without any spot, or wrinkle, or blemish.  Give us greater discernment and courage to root out the false teachers among us so that we can be the kind of church with whom you are well pleased and in which the world cannot find fault.

“Hypocrisy desires to seem good rather than to be so; honesty desires to be good rather than seem so.” ~Arthur Warwick

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What Makes The Bible So Special

Read: II Peter 1

“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (II Peter 1:20-21)

What makes the Bible any different from all the other religious books that exist throughout the world? And why should you be so singularly devoted to it when there is so much other positive and uplifting literature available to help you to be a better version of you?

The answer is easy: No other book but the Bible has been authored by God himself. The Bible is the only book that is fundamentally and completely divine in its origin and content. It is God’s book. So why would you want to go to any other source for instruction and inspiration when you can go right to the Author of all authors and find out what he has to say?

What Peter is showing us is that these letters, accounts, poems and prophecies that make up the Bible all originated in the mind of God, who chose holy men and breathed his Spirit into them as they recorded his thoughts, desires and plans for mankind. Now keep in mind that these writers were not simply God’s dictation machines. They had their own minds and personalities and styles that God used—that’s why each book is so different. But the source and the inspiration for each book came from the Holy Spirit himself—which is why there is an undeniable and remarkable unity in this diverse collection.

By the way, if you go back a few verses to II Peter 1:16, you will find that Peter says the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures was authenticated by the miraculous life of Jesus Christ—which Peter, himself, witnessed first-hand.

For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

That’s why Peter has such confidence in the authority of the Scripture, and that’s why you can have the same confidence he had.

We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (II Peter 1:19)

Now does that mean all other literature outside of the Bible is unhelpful? No. There are plenty of sources for encouragement and insight. But keep in mind that all other books, even ones authored by the most godly, brilliant and esteemed people imaginable, still represent a human, and therefore, finite, view of things.

Not so with the Bible. It represents God’s interpretation of things—and he always has the right interpretation. So you would do well to be singularly devoted to it. As A.W. Tozer said,

“The Holy Scriptures tell us what we could never learn any other way: they tell us what we are, who we are, how we got here, why we are here and what we are required to do while we remain here.”

I hope you enjoy God’s Word today!

Lord, your Word is light, truth and life. I will hide it in my heart that I might not sin against you. I will feast on it daily that I might be nourished by it spiritually. I will dedicate myself to it completely that by it I might grow in my knowledge of you. Thank you for your Word—I will cherish it forever.

“The Bible is meant to be bread for our daily use, not just cake for special occasions.”

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Constant Casting

Read: I Peter 4-5

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7)

It has been said that the only person whose problems are truly all behind him is a school bus driver.  The truth is, everybody “gots” problems—lots of them!  There are more than enough worries, anxieties and challenges to go around in this day and age.

But that doesn’t mean you have to live your life paralyzed by your problems.  As Martin Luther said, just because the birds fly over your head doesn’t mean you have to let them build a nest in your hair.  Nor do you have allow your problems to shackle you with fear and anxiety.  God didn’t create you to live that way.

Someone has said that “worry is a think stream of fear which, if encouraged, becomes a wide channel into which all other thoughts flow.” English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote, “Anxiety is not only a pain which we must ask God to assuage but also a weakness we must ask Him to pardon—for He’s told us to take no care for the morrow.”

So rather than holding onto those worries allowing them to become a river of fear, cast them onto God. That’s what Peter says.  Cast your worries, fears and anxieties on him.  All of them!  Big ones, for sure.  And even the little ones.  He will take them all, because he cares that much for you!

That means you will need to practice the art of constant casting. You will not simply be able to cast your cares onto God once and be done with it.  You will need to do it continually because you will never be far from problems.  And those problems will be continually feeding that tributary of worry, and that tributary will be continually flowing into that river of fear that threatens to sweep you under.  That’s just the reality of your life and mine.

So the next time you find yourself worrying—which will probably be within minutes after reading this post—just cast it back to God and say, “Lord, this one is too big for me.  Here, you handle it.”

Sounds simple, I know, but just try it.  Try it for a week.  Take every single one of your anxieties, worries and fear in the next seven days—all of them—and consciously cast them onto God, and just see what happens.

If you will, God’s promise is that you will find yourself in his care (I Peter 5:7) and experiencing his peace (Philippians 3:6-7).

Lord, here they are—all of my problems.  They are too big for me.  I refuse to stay up late worrying over them one more night.  Since your Word says you never sleep nor slumber…since you’re going to be up anyway, why don’t you worry about them while I get some restful sleep!  So I give my anxieties to you, and in exchange, by faith, I will rest in your care and I will receive your peace.

“We often think of great faith as something that happens spontaneously so that we can be used for a miracle or healing. However, the greatest faith of all, and the most effective, is to live day-by-day trusting Him. It is trusting Him so much that we look at every problem as an opportunity to see His work in our life. It is not worrying, but rather trusting and abiding in the peace of God that will crush anything that Satan tries to do to us. If the Lord created the world out of chaos, He can easily deal with any problem that we have.” ~Rick Joyner

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Irresistible Integrity

Read: I Peter 2-3

Live such good lives among your unbelieving neighbors that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:12)

One of the greatest examples given to us in Scripture of integrity is the Old Testament character, Daniel. Daniel is remembered best for his miraculous deliverance from the lion’s den, but what got him there in the first place was his integrity.

He was a man of such solid character and indisputable integrity that his enemies couldn’t accuse him of any wrongdoing, so they accused him of “right doing”. However, God used Daniel’s integrity not only for his deliverance, but to shame his enemies and to share his faith with the king of the Persian Empire.

Hopefully your integrity will not get you thrown into a lion’s den—although that does make a powerful testimony—but your integrity will open doors to share your faith with those who otherwise might not be ready to listen to the Good News. In this verse, Peter says that your unbelieving neighbors will one day have to give glory to God if you live in such a way that your behavior matches what you’ve said you believe. That’s the irresistible power of the life of integrity.

Now keep in mind that this irresistible power doesn’t stop with just your unbelieving neighbors. Even a godless society will have to take notice when, collectively, Christians live out what they preach:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (I Peter 2:13-17)

So will people in the workplace. When you walk the walk in the marketplace, people who don’t even like you because of your faith will take notice of the God you claim to follow:

“Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” (I Peter 2:18-20)

And in the home, Christian wives will win their unbelieving husbands not by preaching at them, but by loving them as if they were loving Jesus himself. Likewise, husbands will really impress God if they love their wives as if they were loving Jesus himself:

“Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (I Peter 3:1-7)

It goes without saying that we need to be ready to verbalize our witness to unbelievers, but we will never be effective with our words if we first don’t have the witness of a life that matches them. And even when we are prevented from speaking verbally, there is undeniable and irresistible power just in the integrity of our lives alone:

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” (I Peter 3:15-16)

Our lives are Gospel…or at least they should be! So go forth and do the Good News. Be Jesus—then you’ll have the right to talk about him.

Lord, on this day, help me to so live my life that people will see you in me.  Help me to be such a person of integrity that through the purity of my being, others will be drawn to you.

“Character in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.” ~Oswald Chambers

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Got Milk?

Read: I Peter 2-3

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. (I Peter 2:2)

What do you crave?  Perhaps like me, at various times you crave a variety of “things” — comfort, success, wealth, respect, power, relationships, and among them, the knowledge of God.

There is nothing wrong with any of those earthy “things”, if God grants them.  But if growth in the knowledge and likeness of God is not your primary pursuit, then all of those other “things” will not only be unfulfilling, they will become a detriment to your spiritual growth.

The greatest “thing” in your life is your salvation.  Nothing even comes a close second.  All of these other pursuits are ephemeral, but your salvation is eternal.  Obviously, therefore, growth in the knowledge of our salvation ought to be the number one craving in our lives.  And the primary path to spiritual growth is the Word of God.

So the question Peter would ask is, “Do you crave the Word like a newborn baby craves milk?” If your answer is “no”, then it is time to begin rearranging your priorities around the study of God’s Word.  King David wrote in Psalm 119:36-37, “Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.”

If you want to take up Peter’s challenge, do what David did.  He first prayed and asked the Lord to give him a new craving for the Word—stronger than any other earthy craving he had.  Maybe you should pray that prayer right now—and keep praying it until your cravings turn into a commitment to the daily study of the Bible.

But David not only prayed that prayer, he was then willing to subordinate all other desires as secondary to his love for God’s Word. All other things he saw as “worthless things” in comparison to Scripture. And he was willing to arrange his schedule around it; he was willing to get up before the day began to mediate on it; he was willing to make it the topic of conversation as he interacted with others; he was conscious of applying it to his daily life.

Perhaps a good assignment for you, if you are serious about Peter’s challenge, would be to make a study of Psalm 119, and list out the various ways that David made God’s Word a practical part of his daily life.  And then make them action items for your daily “to do” list.

When you want growth in the knowledge of your salvation more than life itself, you will grow in the knowledge of your salvation.  And everything other desire in your life will pale in comparison.

Dear God, change my earthly cravings into an insatiable appetite for your Word.  Lord, may all else turn my stomach in comparison to the sweetness of knowing you and growing into the knowledge of my salvation.

“The Bible is meant to be bread for our daily use, not just cake for special occasions.”