Missions Paul

Beautiful without make-up and a face-lift.

Beautiful without super-white teeth and hair replacements.

Beautiful without Nike, Louis Vuitton and Hermes.

Live beautifully, act beautifully.

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1 Peter 2 v 12)

Peter uses the word ‘good’ but it seems rather weak though the translation from ‘kalos’ is its meaning.

However it means this, ‘beautiful, good, excellent in its nature, genuine, honourable’ and it also means, ‘handsome, admirable, beautiful to look at’.

Ever met an ugly Christian?

It has nothing to do with how they look. But how they speak, how they respond and their decisive actions in the world they live.

In Peter’s generation the followers of Jesus would be accused of many things. For example the word, ‘atheists’ was first used for the Christians because they would not worship idols. In our world we still struggle with wanting to fit into the neighbourhood and work place and yet not compromise on our behaviour. Peter says in this difficult world of ours, be beautiful.

Can people see the beauty of Jesus in you? Can they hear the words of Jesus from your lips? Can they see the servanthood of Jesus in your actions?

This is the meaning of kalos. It is kalos that will lead them to become Christians themselves and not face judgment but His glory.

Be beautiful today. On social media be real but be beautiful. Let your world see you and give glory to God.

Having reminded these suffering believers of who they were Peter now tells them what they must do.

The temptation in the midst of suffering is to withdraw, to hide away and become a hermit. Peter gives instructions so that his friends (and that’s what they are to him) do not do this.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2 v 11)

There is a war that is hidden yet is more destructive than any disease or attack on your body. It is the war against the soul, the inner man.

I recently sat with a man who for decades of his life had battled this inner war. This onslaught will not stop until it has taken everything. The man has lost his testimony, his trophies of success, his family, he is a shell of what he was and yet the war will continue until every ounce of life is taken.

‘Sinful desires’ are the grasping, reaching, longing, chasing after false dreams, deceptive satisfaction, poisonous fruit, which doesn’t give us to us what we hoped for but rather in turn attacks us with a vengeance in order to steal, kill and destroy our lives. And before we begin to itemise these sinful desires in order to thank God we do not commit them, it is not that simple. The Message helps us to understand by saying, ‘Don’t indulge your ego.’ How and why do people behind pulpits and on pedestals fall? The answer is found within the ego. “I deserve this, I need this, I am justified to do this, I have to have this, this will benefit not just me but the whole, I need to step into a moment of fantasy, I need to hide in another world, I must find happiness, excitement, I need more ‘drugs’, I need a higher high.’ Ego.

This is why Peter tells us that we do not belong here. We pass through. We are foreigners, strangers, exiles, sojourners. There is nothing you need that will be found in this world. The answer is of course Jesus.

How is your soul today? What do you think you deserve?

Are you in this war that Peter describes? The man I spoke with had countless opportunities to tell a close friend, to get help, but his ego prevented him. His ego trapped him. His ego stole all that he was.

Watch your ego. Kill it before it kills you.

Some days we need to be reminded of who we are as Christians. In fact much pain in the world is exactly that: who am I? In our lifetime we have begun to use words to describe people in ways our previous generation never envisaged: ‘them’; ‘non-binary’; asking the question who am I has never been more important.

Coming aside from gender identity and the changing of our bodies to fit who we think we really are: what does God think of you today? Who does God say you are beyond your identity because whatever we change about our bodies our soul is the same. Only God can do surgery on our soul.

Drawing from what God said to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, from the prophet Isaiah and also the story of Gomer found in the prophet Hosea.

Basically Peter says this, ‘No matter what is going on for you, no matter how difficult your life is right now, all of what God said to His people back then is true for you who believe and follow Jesus.’ Isn’t that amazing?!

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2 v 9-10)

So let’s unpack that a bit with encouragement for you:

1. He hasn’t made a mistake with your life. You are a chosen people.
2. He has called you to reign with Him as the King. You are a royal priesthood.
3. He has set you aside to think, speak and act differently to the world you live in. A holy nation.
4. You belong … to Him! God’s special possession.
5. You are called … to Him! Called out of darkness into his wonderful light.
6. You have an identity … in Him! People of God.
7. You have mercy for your undeserved restoration and transformation. Have received mercy.

The work of Christ was that the building upon Him as the cornerstone would be a house of worship for both Jew and Gentile.

However as we are fully aware the Jews didn’t want to share the house with the Gentiles. They either wanted Judaism to have a face-lift or definitely 2 houses built. There was no appetite for union. There still isn’t.

But these Old Testament prophecies which Peter quotes from are for both Gentile and Jew.

So the cornerstone which is the foundation for life becomes the falling stone which crushes the future because of offence.

“Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.” (1 Peter 2 v 7-8)

If this letter was written between AD62-64 then within 8 years the Romans had entered the city of Jerusalem, flattened it and then led the religious leaders bound in chains into foreign nations. They came under God’s judgment. The stone had fallen on them just as Jesus had also said (Matthew 21)

It is far better to make Jesus the cornerstone of your life. There is a key place in all our lives.

Is Jesus occupying the place of huge importance? Is he in the decision making part? If he is not Lord then you may stumble over him and worst still you may be crushed by Him.

Be careful what you become offended by.

It is widely believed that Peter wrote this letter during Nero’s reign and around AD 62-64. It is written to the scattered Christians in modern-day Turkey who live under the Roman Emperor’s control. It is full of encouragement to persevere under the intense pressure of persecution. They are to remain faithful to Christ and walk in His example. Peter will quote from the Old Testament to support what he writes, as he does in these verses, from Isaiah 28, Psalm 118 and Isaiah 8 respectively.

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.” (1 Peter 2 v 4-8)

Perhaps today you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Are you anxious of what might happen to you? Don’t be!

God will vindicate you:-

1. As God laid a stone in Zion, He has also sent and established you in this place. You are where you are because of God.
2. God chose His Son. He doesn’t make mistakes and that includes you.
3. God placed Jesus as the cornerstone. Though the mounting pressure on you may feel all-consuming it is not the most important thing in your life. The cornerstone sets the course of action. He has you.
4. God gave you someone precious. Jesus is a treasure of love, grace, truth, peace and power. You trust Him, you love Him, you belong to Him; He is precious to you.
5. God was glorified during the rejection, slander and persecution of His Son because Jesus was obedient and held onto His Father. In the same way there is no shame or humiliation to those who put their hope in Jesus. Remember you are standing on the Rock.

I was privileged when I was a Pastor to have had 3 buildings; a converted cow-shed; then a smaller church building which was originally a Unitarian Church and then a very large Methodist Chapel built in 1839 which we renovated. I loved the cow-shed as much as the Chapel. But I knew that they were just stones. It was the people within the buildings that made them come alive.

To a people who know suffering and the difficulty of remaining as a follower of Jesus because of hardship and persecution, Peter writes this:-

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2 v 4-5)

Jesus is the foundation, the living Stone, the capstone, chief cornerstone, however you want to word it. He was rejected and he suffered even though he was chosen and precious to God.

What is Peter trying to say?

It may be tough but it was also tough for the very foundation of your life, Jesus.

It does not mean you have not been chosen by God.

It does not mean you are not precious to Him.

In fact following Jesus means that it is possible that everything around you will value you far less than God does.

Because ‘you also’ … this is what it means to follow Christ.

As I look back on those 3 buildings I reflect on the people who formed the spiritual house of those places. I can hear the joy; I can see the worship; it is so easy to be right there in the centre again of all that was being experienced as lives were being transformed, salvations, baptisms, healings as the manifest presence of God came upon His people. As the Pastor for these people I can also easily remember the pain, the tears, the suffering that these people also had in their lives, the difficulty to keep on following Jesus in the context of their world.

Yet though they are scattered all over the UK and the world, in Europe, Africa, Asia and USA, I know in those buildings these people were becoming more like Jesus in their suffering and through it all they were being built into a spiritual house, more than just a community, they were a temple. They had become living stones built upon the Living Stone.

So I am a proud ‘pappa’. My granddaughter has now just been weighed again and has reached the grand total of 16ibs 8.5oz!! A marvellous achievement!

Over these last several months she has put on weight! Just like her pappa!

How did she achieve this grand accomplishment?

Milk!

Having spent a wonderful week with her and the family recently I was reminded of the demands her bundle of loveliness brings and it is all around her cravings for milk.

Apostle Peter in writes to the Christians who are suffering. This is an encouraging letter to hold on, keep going and not to let go of their faith.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2 v 2-3)

Paul uses the idea of newborn babies craving for the immaturity of believers.

However Peter uses it to show the passion and desire to grow through the suffering.

He particular chooses Psalm 34 not because it has the ‘taste that the Lord is good’ verse but because of the entire message of the Psalm itself.

The context is suffering and the message of the Psalm is God is close and they will thrive in their adversity. Peter is saying the people of this Psalm were going through what is taking place in your life also.

² I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice… ⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears… ⁶ This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them… ⁸ Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him…¹⁰ The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. ¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,     and his ears are attentive to their cry; …¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles… ¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted … and saves those who are crushed in spirit… ²² The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

The readers of Peter’s letter knew this Psalm and he used it again later.

He is telling them how to thrive in adversity.

How?

Crave!

Get rid of going behind the scenes either of your heart or behind backs with private messaging to think and speak ill of others.

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” (1 Peter 2 v 1)

These are heart issues.

It is hard to assess and hold accountable the issues of the heart.

The exterior of the Christian can look so polished and yet masked by gifting and personality can hide the most dangerous of evils which eat away like a cancer the very soul of the one professing to have been saved. But saved from what? Are we just saved from hell? Is that it?

Salvation that Peter has spoken of in the first chapter is surely to be saved from the diseases found lurking in our very soul. A simmering anger which has lodged itself perhaps years ago, malice. Words that pretend to be helping but are fuelled by a manipulation to either expose the weakness of the other or benefit the one speaking, deceit. Linked closely is that of being a friend to everyone, complimenting much but meaning little because of a hidden agenda, hypocrisy. Looking at colleagues who have been promoted beyond you, treated and favoured better than you, who have prospered and have more than you and all this is validated by what is in the heart, envy. Speaking in corners, hushed conversations, ‘message me’, things that cannot be said in the open because of the need to protect the outward image, slander.

I wonder what the spiritual audit on those 5 things would reveal.

But that is what God sees. As a disciple of Jesus Christ who has saved you by his precious blood (1 v 18-19) you can live your whole life and not be assessed on these 5 killers of the heart.

Here are 5 questions that will help:

Who has hurt you?

What ambitions do you have?

Who are your close friends?

Are you happy?

What kind of conversations are in your text messages?

Currently I am at my denominations annual conference and there is a lot of preaching going on! It is attended by all kinds of Christians who give their life to the Bible whether as a preacher, study group leader, youth/children’s worker etc. Throughout the day God’s Word is being heard as it is throughout the nations in our churches. The Bible is a big deal for us Christians. I guess if you are reading this devotional then it would prove the point that the Bible is important to you.

It was important to Peter. He uses one passage from Isaiah 40 as a reminder to what the prophet said to the people of God who were suffering at that time and akin to what Peter’s generation were experiencing. It still applies to us today, for the Word of God spans through all generations.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.” (1 v 22-25)

• Obeying the preached Word of God will lead to the continued positive change within you (purified/cleansed).
• Obeying the preached Word of God leads to you showing real love to others, how you speak to them and behind their backs, deeply, wanting the very best for them.
• Obeying the preached Word of God will lead to you receiving comfort, knowing He cares for you, that despite your sufferings He hasn’t forgotten about you. His power stretches throughout the generations.

So today, be reminded that the preached (in whatever form that takes) Word of God:

• Changes you.
• Conceives powerful love within you.
• Comforts you in whatever situation you are in.

The story of God is one that shows us that in our lives anything is possible.

We know that to be true because of what God has done for us and for our friends.

We know because of the salvation story.

“He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1 v 20-21)

• This salvation brought about by the blood of Jesus Christ (read the verses before) was not a crisis response to remedy the situation that sin had created. This was decided upon before the creation of the world.

This being the case it means that IT IS MORE THAN POSSIBLE that where you feel God has placed you right now was determined by Him even before you were born.

• God’s purposed decision and the timing of that revelation means IT IS MORE THAN POSSIBLE that God has still more things to be revealed and to share with you. It’s not over yet! Timing is everything.

• God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Jesus to His right hand in the ascension (glorified him) and now we believe in Him. Because God did this it means IT IS MORE THAN POSSIBLE that instead of us trusting in what the world can offer we put our faith and hope in God who turns death into life, lifts what has been brought low and performs miracle after miracle because nothing can stop God glorifying His name.