Humble and Victorious

I love reading the letters of Peter for so many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he touched Jesus, ate with him, and slept beside him (Peter was married, but the disciples went with Jesus on trips around Galilee and to Jerusalem.) Peter heard Jesus' teaching with his own ears, saw him crucified, and saw him after the resurrection. When he wrote his letters, he was an elder, meaning he was mature in years, yes, but specifically a leader in the church. Today's study is from 1 Peter 5: 1 - 11 (NIV):
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter writes to the church leaders and urges them to lead by example. Our actions speak so much louder than our words. We can say all of the right things, but it's the way we behave that shows what we truly believe. Church leaders should not be power-hungry or greedy, but instead, should have a servant's heart, wanting to help others. Peter could still remember Jesus telling him to "feed his sheep", and he's urging all church leaders to do the same. Our example? None other than the Chief Shepherd himself. (And Jesus died for his sheep!)
But even if we are not an official leader in our church, Peter has great words of advice and encouragement for us. He pleads with us to be humble. This is the one trait we must possess to be used of God. He cannot use people who are full of pride. (In this case, a proud person is one who looks down his nose at other people and says, "I'm doing it my way and I don't care what God wants.")
A humble person is submissive to authority. He respects and listens to people who are more mature. A humble person doesn't think he has all the answers. He puts others first, loves people, and realizes that we're all in this together.
Now for one of my favorite verses. A great memory verse. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Notice this verse follows his reminding us to be humble. A proud person says he doesn't need God, but a humble person gives God all of his cares, worries and anxiety. A humble person knows he needs God and cries out to him. Go ahead, cry out to God, he loves you more than you can imagine. He is crazy about you!
And while you are at it, ask God for help defeating your enemy the devil. The devil is real - he is our enemy and he is seeking someone to devour. He will steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10). He is like a lion on the prowl. Please don't try to outsmart him - you aren't smart enough to outwit an angelic being. Don't ignore him or pretend he doesn't exist. He will destroy you, but he is a defeated enemy and he knows it. How do we beat him? Peter says to resist him, standing firm in the faith. Paul says to put on "your armor" (Ephesians 6). We defeat him with God's power, not ours. We beat him by resisting his lies and standing firm in our faith.
Peter ends this passage on a wonderfully encouraging note. We may have to suffer for a time, but one day, God is going to lift us up and make us strong. He is going to restore us and give us a crown of glory that will never fade away. Stand firm, be humble, and hang in there!

The Heart of the Gospel

Rome was known for it's great road system. So Christians call five verses in the book Romans that lead us to salvation the "Roman Road". Today's Bible Study, Romans 5: 1 - 9 (NIV), takes a look at the passage surrounding the middle verse of the Roman Road:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
The verses on the Roman Road are 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:9-10, 10: 13. Since this is the middle verse, you could call this passage the heart of the Gospel. Let's take a look at the verses in this passage.
First, Paul reminds us that it is faith that makes us right with God. Hebrews 11:6 says we must have faith to please God. Jesus said faith is the one work that God requires from us (John 6: 28, 29). James 2:17 says true faith is not just a thought, but will move us to action.
Then, in verses 3 - 5, Paul says that our sufferings produce perseverance which leads to character, which results in hope. In other words, the events of life can strengthen our faith, and that gives us more and more hope in God. Suffering is never pleasant at the time, but it can cause us to become more mature and maturity helps us realize the hope that God's love gives us.

Now the passage gets to the heart of the Gospel: that God loves us so much that he came and died for us - even while we were his enemies. He died for us while we were sinners who did not believe in him or even know him. That's an amazing truth - that's amazing grace! What this tells us is that God's love is unconditional. We did not and cannot earn his love.
It is important for us to know this because it reminds us that God loves everyone and we cannot earn more love than anyone else. Even while we were under God's wrath, he still loved us enough to die for us. So we should never look down our noses at another person. God loves that person as much as he loves you! It also shows us how to love each other like God does: unconditionally.
This brings up an interesting question: If we can't make God love us more than he already does, why try? The answer is, we want to obey God and we want him to be proud of us. Jesus said we will obey him if we love him (John 14:15). We know God loves us, but do we love him back?
Any good parent loves his children whether they are good or bad, but I want to be a child that makes God proud. How about you - are you God's child? Then make him proud!

Hope in Times of Trouble

One of my favorite scriptures for encouragement is Lamentations 3. Jeremiah wrote this about 600 years before Christ. Jerusalem had been overtaken by Babylon and the people had either been killed or taken as slaves. Jeremiah had been trying to warn the people, but they wouldn't listen. So, he wrote a funeral dirge to express his feelings. Here is part of what he wrote beginning in verse 16 (NIV):
He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled me in the dust. I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I had hoped from the Lord." I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Have you ever felt like God had broken your teeth with gravel? That he had trampled you into the dust? It's the way we feel when life has taken a really bad turn. We feel sad and discouraged. We feel that God is mad at us or has forgotten us. We would probably feel this way if another country conquered us and turned us into their slaves. This is what Jeremiah was going through. We would probably blame God, just like Jeremiah did. And the more he thought about his situation, the more depressed he became. Again, we can certainly identify with that.
But then, this passage takes a wonderful turn. Jeremiah remembers that God is good and that God loves him. He writes some of the most hopeful and encouraging words ever written: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." These words gave him hope. Hope is one of the most wonderful gifts that our faith gives us. Things may be bad now, but there is always hope if we trust in God. We may be down, but we're not out. God's mercies are new every morning - in other words, they never fail. He loves us unconditionally all the days of our lives and he will never leave us or forsake us. He isn't mad at us and hasn't forgotten us. It just feels that way sometimes. God is faithful to those who believe even when we are unfaithful.
Jeremiah said in verse seventeen that he had forgotten what prosperity was. But now he realizes that God is his portion. This may be a reference to Aaron not receiving a portion when the land was divided among the tribes. God had instead told Aaron that HE would be his portion. Friendship with God is more than we will ever need and more valuable than any possession we will ever own.
Finally, Jeremiah remembers that God keeps his word. It is good to wait for God's salvation. It is good to put our hope and trust in him. We only hurt ourselves when we try to take matters into our own hands and try to earn our own right standing with God. The Messiah took care of that once for all; now we simply must put our trust in him. Jeremiah was waiting for the coming Messiah, we are waiting for his return. And because of God's great love, we have hope. We can know that it's going to be more than okay.