Category: Devotions

The Christians swinging from the chandeliers of constant victory after victory don’t understand it.
The people who do it all, they tick the boxes, they meticulously have accomplished everything and more, they don’t get this.
The unteachable because they know all there is to know, they don’t get this either.
The caretakers of Christianity, the ghostbusters of God, sniffing out sin and beating the living daylights out of the sinner are a million miles from understanding,
2 Peter 3
What is this? God’s amazing grace which we need to grow into.
How can our lives ever stand up next to a holy, perfect, sinless God?
How could we ever feel God has called us to do anything?
The answer is GRACE.
You need more of it.

The cameramen never fell …
2 Peter 2
BUT v1
False prophets, false teachers, heresies, disrepute, greed, exploitative, arrogance, blasphemy, brutal, harmful, predatory, directionless, crazy, loudmouths, boastful, enticing, false promises, it’s vomit and a pile of pig-muck.
Basically that’s what Peter at the end of his life was saying.

Last night I saw a clip on facebook of a church service in Nigeria.
It was entitled abracadabra v the power of the Holy Ghost. 3.4 million people have viewed the clip, 9,700 liked it and there 8,100 comments. The clip showed the Pastor walk around the stage making throwing gestures at the congregation (numbering thousands), as he threw his arm whole sections of people would fall down. He even went for long throws and way back in the upper gallery the cameraman had managed to film all of them falling backwards. If the point of this part of the service was to get people on the floor then this preacher was good. No one was able to stand in front of one of the throws…. Except the cameramen. One Nigerian commenter said “The cameramen never fell … I’ve been wondering why”. That set off a tirade of comments.

As an aside, last night I also saw a tv advert of a new programme where the hypnotist will get people to do crazy things. Maybe the UK have bought the franchise of the Nigerian programme?

Is it the power of the Holy Ghost? If it is then this multitude of people on the floor are going to get up and travel from the Christian south to the north of Nigeria to be missionaries for sure. The power of the Holy Ghost was only given for such missionary activity.
Is it abracadabra? I really hope so. Having never been hypnotised I’m not sure on its effect upon a person. However if it wasn’t abracadabra then that means this vast crowd all came to Church and faked it like some pantomime. All except the cameramen, who never fell, thankfully …

You can purchase the dvd in the foyer on your way out!

Godliness
2 Peter 1
What is godliness?

1. Godliness is addition, v5
Adam was perfect but then became the Adam man.
The Adam man is a hypocrite: different in reality from what he appears to be.
The Adam man deceives even himself: they appear to be like Christ and think they are, but they are not.
The Adam man cannot cure his own heart: some create a conversion of the mind and of lifestyle and have certain changes to show for it.
BUT WE ARE NOT IN ADAM … WE ARE IN CHRIST!!!

2. Godliness is always seen in its involvement with people, v5-8
Peter uses the word ‘Philadelphia’, we use the words ‘brotherly kindness’. It is only the New Testament where this word has been used outside the context of a home. Then he uses ‘agape’ for love. It means sacrificial live. What was Peter saying?
If you are godly then you will treat the church as your family. In our world you can spot the godly by the way they speak and act towards people.

3. Godliness has a list, v12-21
This list is the conversion of the heart into a godly heart.
a. Step down: it’s never about you. Jesus stepped down in the incarnation and in the footwashing. We need to learn this.
b. Suffer faithfully: it is part of God’s process to make us more like Christ.
c. Speak up: we need to be messengers who are not dumb because of fear or desire to be popular.
d, Be Spirit-filled: it is not our own strength but the enabling that comes from God.

A word to leaders
1 Peter 5

1. Lead even when it is tough.
Everyone wants to be a leader when the world is a great place.
But when the Church is going through suffering then maybe the uptake for leadership is not as strong. When life is difficult and becomes unbearable that can be the time when leaders don’t want to be leaders, v2 “not because you must, but because you are willing”.

2. Lead even when you feel you deserve more.
Often leadership will make you feel it’s one-way traffic, you are the giver and everyone else receives. “What about me? The ministry owes me. No one knows what I have given to this place.” v2 “not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve”

3. Lead don’t dictate.
Every leader needs to battle with power. The power to rule, to be heard, to be respected, to be someone, but “not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock”, v3

Just a short word to leaders.

Living for God can be made easier
1 Peter 4
1. It could be made easier if we knew it was nearly over.
The end of all things is near v7 but I love the Message “Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up.”
That’s how the Apostle Peter lived and how he instructed those suffering. They lived in the light of their eternity.
How different our lives may be if we lived similarly.

2. It could be made easier if we thought differently.
In verse 1 Peter says what you are going through Jesus went through. But what got him through this suffering and more was his thinking. And what will get you through is to think like Jesus thought.
How different our lives may be if we thought similarly.

3. It could be made easier if we chose happiness.
In verse 12 Peter asks why be shocked when you go through difficulty? Why wonder if God is not present? Why be struggling with the complexity? Instead, v13, rejoice … And you will be overjoyed later.
Choose happiness now. Yes, it is a choice.
How different our lives may be if we chose similarly.

Jesus didn’t preach in hell
1 Peter 3
After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, v19-20.

I just don’t believe he went to hell to preach salvation. There can’t be salvation in death.
I just don’t believe he went to hell to gloat and punch his fist and say “stick that!” Why do that?
More importantly what good is this piece of information to those who are suffering right now as Peter’s generation were.
I believe this:
Noah suffered as he told people about God’s Kingdom and calling them to repent. Christ was speaking through him in his generation. He suffered but was delivered from the flood along with only 8 in total (not a great revival!)
Jesus suffered though he was sinless. Yet he was delivered and raised by God.
The point is we will suffer as we witness and as Christ speaks through us. But no matter how good the results are we will be delivered by God. Glory awaits.

One word
1 Peter 2 verse 6
“See” or Behold or Look!
Then Peter continues to speak of Christ our cornerstone quoting Isaiah.
But for those who Peter is writing to, traumatised by the suffering they are experiencing because of the persecution the one word is so important.
To those under the terror of ISIS, Boko Haram or any other evil regime and ideology our prayer has to be that they may see Christ.
To you today, whatever your day holds may it contain the same prayer, that your gaze may be upon Him.

When it’s all over what will they say of me?
1 Peter 1
Whatever ‘over’ looks like for me.
I just want people to say:
He loved Jesus.
He believed in Him.
v8
This is all that matters.

He prayed in prayer.
James 5
That’s the meaning of “he prayed earnestly”, it’s a Jewish way of saying Elijah prayed hard. He prayed and prayed. He prayed intensely, he prayed powerfully, he prayed directly.
To know the story that James uses it is in 1 Kings 18:41-46.
For 3 years no rain and then Elijah HEARS the sound of rain. He sent king Ahab to be refreshed, he sent his servant boy to look (7 times) whilst Elijah prayed earnestly. Why did Elijah pray? Because he heard the sound of rain coming.
The king didn’t hear, neither did the servant boy, just Elijah. It wasn’t because the king and the boy had faulty hearing. Elijah heard within.
He heard in his spirit. He knew God was moving again. It was then he began to pray and pray.
Have you heard the sound? Do you believe God is moving in your situation and life? Then this is now the time more than at any other time, to pray.

D.V.
James 4
D.V. I learnt these strange 2 letters in my first church.
I had a lovely man who was my usher.
But after every Sunday morning I would ask him, “Are you okay to welcome people into the church tonight Harry?” His reply was “Aye, D.V.”
It is the Initials of the Latin words Deo Volente, meaning God willing. I don’t think Harry knew any other Latin! Yet these 2 letters would put me in a spin during the afternoon wondering who would be on the door if D.V. was in the negative!
When James writes, “If it is the Lord’s will …” v15 he is not commanding us to spend our lives wondering if we are in the Lord’s will or not.
But he says this in the context of those who were giving loud presumptuous boasts of what they were going to achieve.
I remember a colleague giving his vision talk to his church and stating they would be a 500 strong church within 2 years. The church of 12 people were very excited to hear this even though they never saw it.
We are living in times of the most amazing declarations. Themes for conferences are often presumptuous boasts to actually outdo the other conference across the road.
Recently I was criticised for having no vision. I have a clear vision of the Spirit, the Missionaries and the Church and underneath those 3 components are clear directions. However, I don’t have numbers and dates and graphs etc. That disappointed my friend. My vision wasn’t good enough for him. I was tempted to make some numbers up just to comfort him!
I love how Eugene Peterson puts it in the Message,
“Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” v15.
I do love this!
I like putting the onus on the Master.
I am content to say I am doing His will and if I survive I will do some more Deo Volente!