a fellowship of joy

...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

1 John 1:3-4

John’s reasons for writing this encouraging little letter were wrapped in the wondrous expressions of fellowship and joy. The mutual fellowship of believers, in this case, as teacher with student, disciple maker and disciple, apostle to the church, and Christian to Christian was a source of great encouragement. And this fellowship came first from a relationship with Jesus. Fellowship with God and man gave the Apostle John great joy.

A second motivation for John flowed into this letter: it gave him joy to help others live in Jesus. It “completed” his joy. Of course some of this was part of his apostolic calling, but also I think John is expressing what many Christians can attest to: it is a lot of fun to follow Jesus together! When we get it right, it’s joyous! Nothing compares to a great relationship among believers as they follow Jesus.

I’m over three decades into ordained ministry, having build Christian gospel community in three different church locations over that time. I hope to never stop. I know relationship in Christ that extends from my childhood experiences. The fellowship is deep and wide now and inexpressibly joyful... even with some rough patches along the way! Walking with Jesus in Christian community is a SWEET kind of completing joy.

longing for heaven... living for now

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.

2 Peter 3:14

The “these” that Christians are waiting for here are the “new heavens and a new earth in which righteous dwells” described in 2 Peter 3:13. The hope of God’s great reboot of the universe keeps Christians diligent. It is a motivation for holiness. It is a reason we seek to be a people of peace. God will make all things new. And it begins with us. The future will be great. Our hope for that starts now with serious gospel living on our part right now. We long for heaven. We live and experience that hope right now.

So many people conceive of this kind of future hope as a vague optimism. But it is a firm prophetic reality repeated over and over in scripture. The old order of things will be burned away in judgment. And a new universal beauty will be brought into being by our Creator to take its place. What God melts away will be completely redeemed and remade. And it for this future that we find hope in Christ.

Lord,

All things shall be made new, just as You are right now renewing me in Jesus. Help me to long for this new heavens and earth where only Your righteousness dwells. Keep me seriously at work on being the man You are making of me, living my life in this day, well aware of that day which will come.

Amen

Judgment is no joke.

But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

2 Peter 3:7

People are naturally resistant to accountability to God in judgment. Peter warns that sinfully motivated scoffers will mock the very concept of judgment. They will claim that a look at the world order will show that nothing much has changed in the universe for ages. They basically use a smoothly spoken uniformitarian argument to try to dissuade people from believing in the truth that God will judge this world. But in reality they ignore that 1) God formed all that there is from nothing in the first place just by His spoken word, and 2) He has already enacted one global catastrophe in the Flood recorded in Genesis chapter six.

Peter’s point is that the God whose Word created the universe, and by His own prediction later flooded the globe, would also keep His Word as prophets have foretold to bring judgment on the world by fire. The mockers can scoff all they want, but God’s Word has always been true and will be again. Judgment is no joke.

Theologically speaking, the past is a predictor of the future. The Word of God will stand true. God’s justice will prevail because He has said it. And Christians should always trust and obey the Word of the Lord knowing we answer to the Judge of all souls.

a perfect Savior

And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.

John 8:29

Only Jesus can say this. There are three things Jesus makes clear in this short verse.

1) God the Father sent Jesus, His Son, into the world.

2) God the Father is with Jesus in the world.

3) God the Father is always pleased with what Jesus does.

These things mean that Jesus is God, with the Father from eternity past. They mean that Jesus’ work and words are the things that God says and does. They mean that Jesus does not sin, for the Father is always pleased with Him.

This is the Jesus I trust as my Savior and Lord. He is sent to be the Savior of all who will believe, for all time, in all the world. He is perfect, holy, and powerful. His holiness covers my sin and I am covered in His righteousness by faith in His death and resurrection. That’s how God sees me. The Father is always with the Son. When I believe, I am adopted into this family so that God never leaves me nor forsakes me. Jesus is with me always.

Lord Jesus,

I praise You for coming into this world, for showing us the Father, and for being perfect and holy. I trust in You alone for my life and salvation. I am an unworthy sinner, now covered by Your righteousness, who can rejoice in the love of God!

Amen

vigilantly guarding the truth

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.

Ezekiel 13:9

God will guard the truth. The harsh words that the Lord has in this tirade against false prophets has carried forward in all of scripture. This is not exceptional, it is the standard. God will not allow human lies to continue in the guise of His Word. False prophets will all be judged harshly.

In my morning reading, I’ve also been looking at 2 Peter. And there the apostle Peter is equally harsh on heresy, echoing in his words the way that God will treat false prophets (see 2 Peter 2:1-22). Peter lumps the fate of those who lie in the name of Jesus with those who perished in Noah’s flood (evidently there was false prophecy even then), the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (cultural false prophecy) that were reduced to ash, and angels who sinned and were locked in chains in hell (they rebelled under the lies of Lucifer in the first original disbelief of God’s Word). God takes the truth very seriously. So should we.

Lord,

Your high concern for the truth of scripture calls me to love and guard the truth. As a church elder I am called to guard the truth, to treasure and defend it. I’m not a “heresy-hunting” zealot.... but I am serious about correcting doctrine when it undermines the precious truth of the gospel. Keep me vigilant in worship of You, Lord!

Amen

Certainty

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.

Ezekiel 12:28

Certainly

what God has decreed

will come to be

it’s guaranteed

No doubt

all will come about

that God has said without

interruptions en route

Truly

God’s own word

will always be heard

and cannot be ignored

With no delay

what God will say

will happen just the way

He wants today

deceived by desires

Yet I will leave some of you alive. When you have among the nations some who escape the sword, and when you are scattered through the countries, then those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive, how I have been broken over their whoring heart that has departed from me and over their eyes that go whoring after their idols. And they will be loathsome in their own sight for the evils that they have committed, for all their abominations.

Ezekiel 6:8-9

The “PG-13” kind of language that God used to describe the idolatry of His people is not just meant to get attention. It truthfully describes the way in which idolatry turns our hearts from God. Idolatry begins with a strong appeal to our deepest urges. It will play to our desires and lusts. It will seem pretty sexy. Israel and Judah fell away because they wanted personal and even illicit sexual fulfillment from sinful pursuits rather than from God’s revealed will.

God promises them that in the aftermath of the judgmental consequences of their sinful idolatry, they would painfully become aware of how this sensual idolatry of their own whoring hearts had hurt God. Their choices led to their judgment. They had been unfaithful. Idolatry leads to only temporary pleasure and a life of regretful, frustrating pain. Their hearts and eyes had been deceived and they would be suffering in the awareness of the depths of that deception.

O Lord,

Give me eyes that see the gospel at work in me and around me. My heart can be drawn away by idolatrous desires. I want to be faithful to You, Lord Jesus, for You are always faithful and true to me.

Amen

looking more like Jesus

For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

2 Peter 1:9

Christians should never forget that growth in Christlikeness is why they are left on earth. We are meant to keep becoming more like Jesus. “These qualities” here in this verse point to those things mentioned in 2 Peter 1:5-7. These qualities grow out of faith in Jesus: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly concern, and love. And each of these seven qualities are perfectly demonstrated in Jesus. We have a roadmap for Christlikeness right here. We are called to look, act, and think like Jesus as Christians.

The list starts with faith and ends in love, showing that maturing in the grace of our Lord leads us to be loving reflections of Jesus. Real faith (something internal and unobservable) is shown by Christlike love (which comes by sacrifice and commitment). Jesus told His disciples the world would know they followed Him by seeing this real love. This has always been the case.

Lacking these things is a serious sign of immaturity and perhaps of unbelief. Peter calls anyone who does not seek to show Jesus in this way a blind and forgetful sinner. The word “nearsighted” shows that they are self-focused. It leads to a need to repent and a call to seriously look to Jesus again. We must keep our eyes on Jesus so that we might be diligent to “add to our faith”.

beyond suffering

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

1 Peter 5:10

I don’t want to suffer. Nobody does. It’s not any kind of natural inclination. Indeed, if I wanted a hard life, something would be wrong in a really twisted way. But pain and suffering are real. Pain is a necessary and occasionally a good thing. Without pain we wouldn’t grow. Without pain we wouldn’t have a God-designed mechanism to avoid what is harmful to us. Pain keeps us from burning ourselves on a hot stove. 

But pain can also be really intense. Disease or illness can bring suffering. The broken world around us will unleash kinds of suffering. The evils of hatred, war, injustice, and pride can lead to all kinds of human suffering on a large and tragic scale. And even if Christians do right, trust the gospel, and seek to live like Jesus, we may know rejection, pain, and suffering from people who will have none of that from us.

Suffering is big. God’s comfort is bigger. We may suffer a little while, but grace is SO MUCH BIGGER! No suffering is forever for the Christian. But eternal glory in Christ is always our destiny. And God promises to involve Himself in our pains. God will restore... God will hold us safe... God will give us strength... God will build us up... in that faith we never suffer without hope and will see a better grace at work in our lives!

grace flowing in humility

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5b

If I want to have a life filled with the consistent experience of God’s grace, then it is important for me to also let God cultivate within me true humility. With humility God pours out real daily grace. In the humble submission of my heart to the work of Jesus, my Savior Who humbled Himself and became obedient to death for me, I can find the beginning of a life lived in the grace of God. I must cease being the center of my own personal universe. I must humbly trust Christ. I must demote my selfish clambering for attention. I must strip off my pride and let the humility of Jesus clothe my naked ambitions.

I am reminded of a proverb that has captured my attention from my youth: “The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4.) And grace is the outpouring of God’s riches in Christ. The reward I aim for is a future “well done” from Jesus... the ultimate compliment. And the life I thoroughly enjoy now is in the Christian lifestyle that wells up to eternal life like an ever flowing cool spring of clear water sourced in Jesus.

O Lord,

I long to know Your grace! Keep me graciously, and happily, humble.

Amen

Nothing changes these four things.

Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

1 Peter 4:19

These words were written to Christians who were being heavily persecuted. People were being punished, imprisoned, and publicly executed for the “crime” of confessing faith in Christ. Yet Peter reminds them of four unchangeable truths that no persecution could diminish.

First, their suffering was in keeping with the will of God. He was in control and no experience of theirs was outside of His will. The persecution was then something He would use for His purposes. They were in His will even the hardships.

Secondly, they could still trust God. Precisely because His will overruled the will of persecutors, they could trust God with the outcome. Their souls were safely in God’s care. No human could change that.

Thirdly, God was their faithful Creator. He made them for His glory. He has never failed nor has He lost anyone who has been His. They could find hope and strength in the faithfulness of God.

Finally, they could still do good even as bad things happened around them and to them. Christians can still obey God even if misunderstanding and fearful attacks are the response we receive from the world. Doing good is the outcome of the love of God in us, and the fruit of the incredible gospel of Jesus Christ living and going forward from us.

Love Covered

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

Love covered my sinful soul

at the cross

where love rolled

down in blood

covered in love

covered by Jesus

Love will cover my confessed sin

through the cross

no matter where I’ve been

the precious blood

shed in love

covered by Jesus

Love will cover another’s wrongs

from the cross

forgiveness the song

the covering blood

known in love

covered by Jesus

Love will help us cover one another

clinging to the cross

we will love our brothers

with the covering blood

found in love

covered by Jesus

the blessing of suffering in doing good

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect...

1 Peter 3:14-15

The context for this wonderful reminder to respectfully defend our faith is one of persecution and suffering. Peter wrote to a church that was scattered throughout Asia due to growing persecution against Christianity (see 1 Peter 1:1). They were indeed suffering for the sake of righteousness. The gospel was an increasingly untolerated message by their surrounding culture,

The Apostle writes to remind them that Christ will bless them in their faithful suffering. They needed to strengthen their hearts with that comforting reality. By submitting to the Lordship of Christ even if it meant some suffering, they would find ways that Jesus used them to advance the gospel as they defended their hope, not in anger or fear, but with a respectful gentleness.

When respectful gentleness accompanies the gospel as we love and obey Jesus, no power on earth can destroy what we have in Jesus. Even the threat of death is a glorious call to be like Jesus. This is how Christianity overcame a hostile culture in the early church. And the gospel can still do the same today.

eternal life in Jesus

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:40

This is the certain hope of every person who puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. They will forever live in the will of God by looking to and believing in Jesus. They will know eternal life. And they will be raised by Jesus on the last day in the same manner as His own resurrection. The Christian is given the reality of victory over death... no more to live in fear, but to be the possessor of real eternal life.

All people will struggle with the reality of human mortality. It is inevitable. Loved ones grow older, get sick, and die. Eventually we all will die. And the hope we have after death is only known with certainty because of the gospel story. Jesus died so that death no longer must separate us from God. Jesus was raised from the dead so that we can know that He grants eternal life to those who believe in Him. And He has promised with certainty, that God will raise up all those who believe in Him. It’s a glorious, comforting, empowering, strengthening story with the ultimate happy ending!

led astray

My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’

Jeremiah 50:6-7

When Israel and Judah rejected God by disobedience to their covenant with Him, they did so under the leadership of sinfully neglectful shepherd leaders. And like ignorant wandering sheep, abandoned alone in the wilderness hills, their predatory enemies easily captured them. And even their enemies knew why this happened: “They have sinned against the Lord.”

It is a sad day when the enemies of God’s people know more about how they should act than God’s people themselves do. But that is exactly what Jeremiah describes here. The captors of the Jews knew that God would have kept His people safe had they not wandered off and instead been faithful to His covenant. God was their righteous habitation. He was their hope.

Lord,

My heart can go astray, which is the danger inherent in my selfish nature. And my heart can be led astray which is the danger of following anyone else by You. Keep me close to You, eyes on You, in Your Word, so I know only Your voice in all my key choices. You are my only Shepherd and Leader. 

Amen

the “life verse” nobody ever wants

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21

The “this” Peter is talking about is suffering. The people Peter is addressing are the lowest members of Roman society: household slaves. They were subject to cruelty and had little control over their own decisions. They did what they were told or else they were punished or sold. And slaves, when they came to faith in Christ, became members of Christ’s church where there were no distinctions and they were treated like brothers and sisters and not property (see Paul’s letter to Philemon). The church regularly ministered to and served alongside people that the social structure minimized: widows, orphans, immigrants, and slaves.

Peter reminds those who suffer unjustly that they have a unique and precious opportunity given to them. They can endure suffering with the example of Jesus. They can model the gospel in their obedience even if they suffered for it. Jesus had suffered much worse for them as the One Who came to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. His suffering gave perspective and purpose to their sufferings.

And it is this uncomfortable truth that liberates sufferers even now. When we seem to suffer unjustly from time to time, we can take our hope in that truth that Jesus suffered for us. We don’t have to despair because He has overcome suffering, emerging as the Defeater of all suffering by His resurrection. And we, as His followers, are blessed when we follow in Jesus’ steps. This view on our difficulties is a joyous, liberating gift of grace.

Jesus in the pages

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

John 5:39-40

Beware of Bible-olatry. We worship Jesus, not the Bible. Of course the scriptures are amazing. They are vital and crucial to a person’s walk with God and spiritual growth and maturity. But they are important because they all clearly point to Jesus. They are amazing because the scriptures unfold the drama of the ages: our redemption by Jesus alone. Jesus Himself said it with conviction: the scriptures “bear witness about me.” We worship the One of Whom the scriptures always speak.

If we are not careful, we can get more enamored with personal knowledge, with theological minutia, or with ancient trivia than with the Person Who is the theme of the book. Jesus warned us, through His call for the Jewish religious leaders to believe in Him, that the temptation to miss Him is very real. The pages of my Bible all turn to Jesus.

No matter where I am in the book, I want to pause and consider this question: How does this show me my great Savior? And then, once that is known, I want to think about what God is saying in that light. In that practice, my time in the Word can always be time with my Lord.

Jesus.... Lord and Judge

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

John 5:26-27

Jesus states two facts about Himself here that should cause us to pause in reflection, worship, respect, and wonder. First, Jesus unequivocally claims to be the self-existent, independent, eternal Son of God. He uses the language of the “I AM” God Who revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush. He has “life in himself” as the Father “has life in himself”. This is Jesus’ way of saying “I AM that I AM”. It is really a powerful revelation of Who He is.

Secondly, Jesus claims to be given the authority to be the final Judge of all people. The Father has given Him the authority to judge. The Father has sent Jesus as the “Son of Man”! That title describes a person whom the prophets foretold would come at the end of days. Jesus is the final authority. Jesus is the One to whom all souls shall give an account. The Son of God is the Son of Man and is our Judge.

There is no way to dodge these facts. By faith, I come to Jesus Who is my God and find my soul’s salvation and new life. By faith I accept His grace and mercy acknowledging He is my only Judge. By faith I turn from sin, trust my Savior, repeatedly repent, respect His perfect justice, and find life in the One Who is life itself!

Sincere Love

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God...

1 Peter 1:22-23

Real love

comes by a change

from above

I can love my brother

due to the work of another

a greater love

Jesus

came to free us

to sincere love

Purity of soul

is what I know

through the Living Word

that I have heard

spoken by my Lord

Savior

forever

changing me by His love

Born again

delivered by His hand

Love is made new

in all I now do

a Jesus-changed heart

can now impart

Christ’s love

from above...

a sincere love

why I believe

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9

Christians love Jesus, whom they have never seen, trusting Him with all the important and most vital parts of all their lives. Christians talk to Jesus, whose voice they have never heard with their ears, trusting He has spoken abundantly, with authority, in His Word. They follow the directives of One they have never seen with their eyes, although their lives are filled with the abundant visible change He has brought.

The result of loving, hearing, seeing, and believing by faith in Jesus is an outlandish, inexplicable, and multi-faceted joy. The pleasure of knowing Jesus is worth all the unusual ways we are called to trust Jesus as our faith is stretched. The contentment known in Him, the peace of God ruling lives, the rejoicing in hope... all are huge rewards and the very best outcome in Christian faith.

Jesus,

I love You although I can only envision You. I believe in You because Your words ring across the millennia jumping across the pages of scripture to command my heart, change my life, and redeem my sinful soul. And I am obtaining the outcome of this faith with confidence that I will always be Yours for eternity, soon to see, hear, know, and be loved by You forever!

Amen

the shouts of a ruler among fools

The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

Ecclesiastes 9:17

If there is ever a nugget of God-given wisdom to understand the crazy days in which we find ourselves, this is it. I don’t think I have ever witnessed more shouting among fools than this current social-media driven age. There is so much loud screaming in our culture. A dizzying array of voices speak about anything and everything with a self-imposed sense of authority and outrage. Endless channels of television... a relentless flow of countless podcasts... Youtube videos by the millions... billions of social media users shouting out their opinions emphasized in ALL CAPS!!!!!! It’s loud out there.

And now, worldwide, even rulers are resorting to trying to communicate in this cacophony. America even elected its Twitter-addicted president with some folks absolutely adoring his shouting among fools, hoping this somehow leads the pack. Snippets of sentences become major news stories. Well... until someone shouts louder. It is so easy to get drawn into the immature and raw emotional drama. But God’s Word teach us that it’s foolish even as it shows no signs of ending any time soon.

But Solomon knew the foolish nature of rulers who shout among fools and rejected it millennia ago. And God recorded those insights in His Word to remind us that quiet wisdom will outlast such din and chaos. Wise application of this truth will see the Twitter trolls for what they are, fools shouting foolish words among fools. Wisdom seeks the calm of God’s thoughts in the truth of scripture, rests in the peace of sins forgiven in Jesus, and trusts the redeeming reality of the gospel. And a Christ-centered calm can overcome the loudest screams and rants of fools.