John 1:1-34 Illuminating MY Darkness

We were so darkened in our souls by sin that we couldn’t fathom that God was loving enough to do something about it.  He illuminated the problem, and His solution, by giving John this incredible new message.

 

Imagine the Jewish leaders going out to see just what he was doing and why – because they couldn’t comprehend God’s plan either.  They asked John, “Who are you?”  He said he wasn’t the Christ.  Then they dared to ask, “Are you Elijah?” “No.”  “Are you the [promised] Prophet?” “No.”

 

He then quoted from Isaiah 40:3, which they knew to be a Messianic verse.  He was a herald.  There was another coming, who would “take away the sin of the world.”  This they couldn’t imagine!  Only God could take away sin!

 

He revealed to them what God had told him:  “You will see the Spirit come down and rest on a man; He is the One … the Son of God.”

 

Don’t you know they ran back and caused an amazing stir among their peers?  “How did we miss the boat on this?  Is this guy nuts?” 

 

John, when he saw Him, said, “Look the Lamb of God …”  John knew Jesus was going to be the sacrifice that would take away the sin of the world.

 

Father, thank You for illuminating my darkness.  Thank You for Your Spirit inside of me, guiding me toward more light from Christ.  Thank You for sending Your Son, as a bay, to live through all that has tempted me, to show me it is possible not to sin, but not in my own power – only in Yours.  Thank You for making Him my sacrificial Lamb.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Peter 5 -- Peter's Final Three Preparation Thoughts

Having warned Christians of the fiery trials to come, Peter wanted the entire church family to be prepared for them, and he gave us three important admonitions to obey so that we would glorify God in those difficulties, my commentary said.  They are:

 

1)      Be humble – “Humility is not demeaning ourselves and thinking poorly of ourselves.  It is simply not thinking about ourselves at all.”  It added:  “One of the evidences of pride is our impatience with God, and one reason for suffering is that we might learn patience.

2)      Be watchful – Regarding Stan we are to respect him because he is dangerous (the way we respect high voltage); recognize him because he is a great pretender; and resist him.  “Before we can stand before Satan, we must bow before God.

3)      Be hopeful – “A Christian always has hope.  We have God’s grace, we know we are going to glory, our present suffering is only for a while, and we know that our trials are building Christian character.”

 

Father, I know that when I’m in the middle of my circumstances, it can get awfully difficult to see You.  But I trust You and know that You are with me.  Show me how to remember all of this in my circumstances so that I will be able to see You and trust You in the middle of them all.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Peter 4:7-19 What We Are To Do While We Wait

Peter left us ten commandments to keep us in balance as we wait for Christ’s return, my commentary said:

 

1)      Keep your mind steady and clear

2)      Be alert and controlled in your praying

3)      Have love for your Christian brothers and sisters – love that you work at like an athlete does

4)      Share your homes with other Christians in hospitality

5)      Minister with your spiritual gifts – you have been given at least one

6)      Don’t think it strange that you are persecuted

7)      Rejoice

8)      Don’t be ashamed of being a Christian or of the way the world treats Christians

9)      Glorify God

10)   Commit yourself to God

 

He also told us to expect suffering.  “The world does not persecute religious people, but it does persecute righteous people,” my commentary said.  “Persecution and trials do not just happen.  They are a part of God’s plans and He is in control.”

 

“It is important to examine our lives to ensure that we aren’t suffering because of our own sin.  The fact that we are Christians is not a guarantee that we escape the normal consequences of our misdeeds.”

 

In our sufferings, we also need to ask, “Am I ashamed or glorifying Christ?” and also, “Am I seeking to win the lost?”, for if we keep our focus on these areas while we are suffering, the lost will be able to see Jesus more clearly through us.

 

Father, it’s so very easy to become self-centered in the midst of suffering, yet Your Word clearly tells us to be God-centered, for You use our suffering to glorify Yourself to a sinful, lost world.  That should help us to stay the course, knowing that You are in control of our tough times, using them not just to glorify Yourself, but also to purify us and to ready us for what You have been preparing for us in Heaven.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Peter 4:1-6 Sin In Our Lives, And Keeping It Out

Peter talks to us about what we’re going to do from this moment forward, and of prime importance is having a militant attitude toward sin.  It’s what Jesus had, and we’re called to be like Him.

 

We have to have that militant attitude toward sin because it’s too easy to get accustomed to sin again, my commentary says.  “Instead of having a militant attitude that hates and opposes it, we gradually get used to sin, sometimes without even realizing it … The one thing that will destroy the rest of our time is sin.  A believer living in sin is a terrible weapon in the hands of Satan.”

 

Peter gave us several reasons to oppose sin.  “Think of what sin did to Jesus.  He had to suffer because of sin.  How can we ENJOY that which made Jesus suffer and die on the cross?”

 

We can be ignorant of sin.  “He taught us the truth about it and lived it.  He dealt with the consequences of sin by healing and forgiving, and, on the cross, He dealt the final deathblow to sin itself.  He was armed with a militant attitude toward sin, even though He had great compassion for lost sinners.”

 

So how do we have victory over sin for the rest of our time?  “Suffering plus Christ in our lives can help … As we yield ourselves to God, and have the same attitude toward sin that Jesus had, we can overcome the old life and manifest the new life.”

 

My commentary also said we need to “enjoy the will of God.  The contrast is between the desires of man and the will of God … The will of God is so much better … it’s not a burden … The will of God comes from the heart of God and therefore is an expression of the love of God.  We may not always understand what He is doing, but we know that He is doing what is BEST for us.”

 

Finally, Peter tells us to remember what we were before we met Christ.  “We sometimes forget the bondage of sin and remember only the passing pleasures of sin … Our sins helped to crucify Christ.  How foolish to go back to that kind of life.”

 

Father, that’s what pains me the most about my sin – being deceived by Satan into forgetting the bondage sin places us in and remembering the passing pleasures of sin as though they were much better than they actually were.  Satan blinds and deceives us so!  And it hurts me so when I realize how I walk right into it every time, and in doing so, nail another nail into Jesus’ body on that cross!  How horrible that makes me feel.  Remind me often of my ignorance.  Keep the truth about sin and its consequences ever before me.  Help me keep a militant attitude toward sin stoked up and ready to defend against it.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Peter 3:18-22 Through The Difficulties To The Meat

My commentary calls this “one of the most difficult portions of the New Testament,” and says, “We may not be able to solve all the problems found in this section, but we do want to get the practical help that Peter gave to encourage Christians in difficult days.”

 

It pointed to Christ and what He did as the most important point to consider – “the perfect example of one who suffered unjustly, and yet OBEYED God.”

 

To make a long story short, the writer of my commentary, Warren Wiersbe, honed in on the practice of the early church regarding baptism.  “When converts were prepared for baptism, they would be asked if they intended to obey God and serve Him, and to break with their sinful past.  If they had reservations in their hearts, or deliberately lied, they would not have a good conscience if, under pressure of persecution, they denied the Lord.  So Peter reminded them of their baptismal testimony to encourage them to be true to Christ.”

 

He listed several lessons Peter was sharing even for us today:

 

1)       Christians must expect opposition.

2)      Christians must serve God by faith and not trust in results.  Noah served God and kept only 7 people from the flood, yet God honored him.

3)      We can be encouraged because we are identified with Christ’s victory.

4)      Our baptism is important.  It identifies us with Christ and gives witness that we have broken with the old life and will, by His help, live a new life.  The act of baptism is a pledge to God that we shall obey Him.

 

Finally, Wiersbe said, “I want to make it clear that Christians must not make baptism a test of fellowship or of spirituality…. The important thing is that each Christian avow devotion to Christ, and make it a definite act of commitment … It does us no good to quibble about differing interpretations of a difficult passage of Scripture, if what we do believe does not motivate us to share the gospel with others.”

 

Father, I know a lot of people are just waiting to hear Your explanation of what Peter wrote someday.  For me, it will be enough to see You and Your Son on that day.  Nothing else will matter.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Peter 3:8-17 Blessings In The Worst Of Times

My commentary found three instructions in this section to follow if we are to experience blessings in the worst times – when we are persecuted.

 

Cultivate Christian Love

“An eye for an eye” was the basis for justice.  “We must operate on the basis of mercy, for that is the way God deals with us.  We must deliberately decide to love life … We can decide to endure life and make it a burden, escape life as though we are funning from a battle, or enjoy life because we know God is in control … A good day for the believer who loves life is not one in which he is pampered and sheltered, but one in which he experiences God’s help and blessing because of life’s problems and trials.”

 

Practice The Lordship Of Christ

“The fear of the Lord conquers every other fear … Only we can harm ourselves if we fail to trust God … to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts means to turn everything over to Him, and to live only to please Him and glorify Him.  It means to fear displeasing Him rather than fear what men might do… It means being satisfied with nothing less than the will of God.”

 

Maintain A Good Conscience

“A good conscience gives us peace in our hearts … and removes from us the fear of what other people may know about us, say against us, or do to us.  When Christ is Lord and we fear only God, we need not fear the threats, opinions, or actions of our enemies … To maintain a good conscience, we must deal with sin in our lives and confess it immediately … We must also spend time in the Word of God and let in the light … The secret is to practice the lordship of Jesus Christ.  If we fear God, we need not fear men.  Shame arises from the fear of men.  Conscience, from the fear of God.”

 

Father, keep my conscience active and alive.  Don’t let sin sear it to the point that it fails to alert me when I’m doing wrong.  Help me to always fear You more than men.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Peter 3:1-7 What's In Here For A Single Person? READYING Information

God gave Peter great insight into marriage and how a husband and wife work together to get the most out of it.  I read some awesome stuff that my commentary drew out of it:

 

“Imitating the world and getting their standards from Hollywood instead of Heaven will guarantee trouble.  Instead they would best imitate Christ in His submission and obedience and His desire to serve others.”

 

“There is nothing degrading about submission to authority … if anything, it is the first step toward fulfillment.”

 

“God not only commands submission, but He uses it as a powerful spiritual influence in a home.”

 

“Christian workers and church officers who get too busy running around solving other people’s problems may end up creating problems of their own at home.  A couple must make time to be home with each other.”

 

“Husbands and wives need to really know each other – moods, feelings, needs, fears, and hopes.  Ignorance in these areas is dangerous.”

 

“Big resentments often grow out of small hurts.  Couples need to be honest with each other, admit hurts, and seek for forgiveness and healing.”

 

“Peter assumed that husbands and wives would pray together.  Family prayer time and family devotions are important!”

 

My commentary included a marriage inventory based on what Peter wrote here, which it said should occasionally be checked:

 

1)       Are we partners or competitors?

2)      Are we helping each other become more spiritual?

3)      Are we depending on the externals or the eternals?

4)      Do we understand each other better?

5)      Are we sensitive to each other, or taking each other for granted?

6)      Are we seeing God answer our prayers?

7)      Are we enriched because of our marriage, or robbing each other of God’s blessing?

 

“Marriage is something that we have to work at; success is not automatic.”

 

Father, I still pray that You are at work right now preparing a wife for me.  At the same time, I must always remember that You would therefore be preparing me for her as well.  Keep chiseling, Father!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford