From: November 23, 2023
“You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart” (1 Peter 1:22 NLT).
The apostle Peter taught that the foundation of being a Christ-follower is obedience to the truth, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. For the one who has believed that Jesus died for their sins, was buried, and raised on the third day, has been cleansed of their sins, justified by faith apart from works. Yet, the distinguishing mark of this justification is love. For the believer has a sincere and familial love for other believers. Sincere, meaning without any hypocrisy or hidden motive. And familial, in that their love for fellow believers is like that for brothers and sisters. Since this mark of love for one another is evidence of the new purified soul, Peter instructs us to love deeply and whole-heartedly.
Peter had learned this teaching from Jesus, who said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).
Peter no doubt must have remembered Christ’s thrice repeated question to him, “Peter, do you love Me?”, as he wrote this epistle. For faith may be the foundation, but love is the mark of true Christianity.
PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You first loved us. Fill us afresh with Your Spirit, so that we carry the mark of love, which is the first and greatest aspect of the Spirit’s fruit. Help us to love as You love, so that the world will know that we are Your disciples. In Jesus’ name, amen.
From: November 23, 2022
A PRAYER FOR GOD’S PERSPECTIVE
The psalmist asked the Lord to help him turn his eyes from “worthless things,” so that his life might be revived by following God’s perspective. He recognized his temptation to focus on things that do not last and to spend his life pursuing them. And in the process of pursuing them, he saw how his soul was diminished and in need of revival. He therefore cried out to God for help.
We struggle with this same fixation on “worthless things.” Our eyes are continually bombarded with worldly advertising, especially (and ironically) during the holiday season. We are tempted to spend our money on things that make rich promises, but turn out to be empty. We run up huge balances on our charge cards, spending money that we don’t even have, then we are left with the bills and nothing to show for it.
This tendency to focus on worthless things is connected to the fact that we were created to worship God, but sin warped our worship. As a result, our focus for worship has fallen from the Creator to created things (See Rom. 1:25). For worship has to do with recognizing worth and then giving what it’s worth. Yet, because of our sin nature, we waste our worship on “worth-less” things, rather than worshiping God.
This is why the Lord asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isa. 55:2). Why not ask the Lord for His perspective?
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to pull our eyes off of worthless things and to put them on You. We worship You. We thank You that You are our source for life. You are our food and shelter. You clothe us in Your righteousness. Revive us as we follow Your way. For Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And we follow Him. In His name we pray, amen.
From: November 23, 2016
Who is this “prince?” And where is this temple wherein such offerings are to be made? Ezekiel’s prophecy of a temple, and a “prince” that brings offerings while standing at the eastern gate, has yet to be fulfilled. The temple that was rebuilt by Zerubbabel after the Babylonian exile, and later enlarged by King Herod, did not approach the immensity and grandeur described by Ezekiel. There has been no temple worship since 70 AD when the Romans destroyed it. If Ezekiel’s prophecy is to be taken literally, then it must be considered yet unfulfilled. It appears to point to the time of the Millennium, the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, when Ezekiel’s temple, a Millennial Temple, will stand again in a new Jerusalem. However, the identity of the “prince” remains elusive. Many see him as the Messiah, the Christ, because of his special mediatorial role, however, there is a major difficulty with this–– Christ has no need to “provide for himself” a sin offering (see Heb. 7:27). So, the identity of the “prince” remains a mystery to those of us who seek to understand such things with a high view of Scripture. Who is this “prince?” Only God knows.
From: November 23, 2015
A prayer for godly perspective and vision. “Lord, turn my eyes from ‘worthless’ (vain, empty, deceitful) things, and put them on Your eternal things.” Our eyes are continually bombarded with worldly advertising, especially (and ironically) during the Christmas season. We are tempted to spend our worship on worthless things that will not fulfill and will not last. And having spent our worship in the wrong place, we have nothing left for God. As Jesus said, “Do not store up your treasure on earth” but instead “store them up in heaven” (Matt. 6:19-20). And as Paul said, “Set you eyes and affections on things above, not on earthly things” (Col.3:1-2). Stop seeking worthless things and start seeking eternal things.
From: November 23, 2014
The Church is not a place, but a people. We have not built it, we are being built into it. While God builds the Church, we are to be the Church. For we are all “holy priests,” offering worship to God through meditation of Christ, the Cornerstone and Great High Priest.