Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 1:13-16 (D)

1Pe 1:13-16  Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  (14)  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,  (15)  but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,  (16)  since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Eph 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith;

and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; NASB

Whenever we are convicted of our sin, we need, of course, to repent.  Repentance has been described as doing a 180 degree turn.  That’s not a bad description.  But there’s more to it within that description.  But, we’ll look at repentance later.

If this passage has made you concerned about your walk with Him, it’s supposed to.  It was written to believers just like you and me.  They were no less gobsmacked by this than we are.

I know that when I read passages like this, passages that call me to a holy life – holy living, I’m confronted with all the ways I fail to do so.  How about you?

That’s why planting Eph. 2:8 firmly in your mind and heart is so very important.  It is all about what He has done, is doing and will do for us.

I struggle with what feels like and is a battle between what He says I am and what I do (or don’t do) – my sin.

Dear brother and sister – feel the conviction but keep in mind it is for our good not our harm.  God is gracious and merciful and loving enough to keep us sensitive to our sin.  When we are convicted, we need to rejoice that we are able to be convicted.  Yes, we need to understand that having a conscience that is oh so sensitive is a sure sign that we are indeed His.  It is only in Him that is matters.

In Hebrews we read:

Heb 12:5-6  and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;  (6)  FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

Heb 12:11-13  All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.  (12)  Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,  (13)  and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

The passage ends with, “but rather be healed.”  This is the goal of our Lord’s discipline, our healing. 

Sin is toxic.  Sin builds barriers between us and our Lord.  Sin hurts!  We need to be healed not only from the sickness of the soul that sin brings but sin itself.  And so God, in His mercy and grace provides, for us a medicine – a disciplining - that we might be healed. 

One thing I would have you note is Vs. 12 of the Hebrews passage.  As I read that I am reminded not only of my desire for my weakness and feebleness to be healed, but that I also have a responsibility in your lives, as I can, to be a part of that strengthening.  WE are to minister to one another as we walk in the Way. 

But, alas, we are so prone to hide our need for strengthening.  We are so prone to hide our weakness.  This is so very heartbreaking.  Yes, we go before the Lord with our needs and seek His kind care.  But we, His people, are called to minister His grace and mercy to one another.  As a young person once said to me, “I need Jesus with skin on.”  That is the ministry we have to one another.  To be His hands, feet, ears, eyes, arms and hands to our brothers and sisters.  But for that to happen we need two things.

First, we need the heart to walk into the messiness of sin in the lives of our brothers (as well as the heart to have them walk in ours).  We need to pray that we will be willing to do what we can – even if it is just being there -  regardless of the circumstances to strengthen our brothers and sisters (and of course to be strengthened by them).

Second, we need to pray that we will cease to hide our weakness, our needs, whatever they are.  We need to trust Him that we might cry out to our brothers and sisters expecting only that He is in control and He will be with them and us. 

I think that if we plant the banner of Eph. 2:8 firmly before us, we will be able to do both. 

Paul writes:

Rom 12:15-16  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.  (16)  Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly (those who are cast down, depressed, distressed). Do not be wise in your own estimation.

If what Paul says is true:

Rom 8:38-39  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  (39)  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Then let us pray that we will not allow sin to separate us from the ministry and care of His people.  By His grace, wisdom and power we are able to do His work not only in “the world” but in the church as well.

Walk with P & Me 082612

Today is the lord’s Day and it appears He was working in hyper-drive.  Patti and I woke up kind of numb and sluggish and our concerns seemed so very distracting.

But, knowing there was no better place to be we got it together and went to join our brothers and sisters for worship.  Things got funky from there on.

A dear brother stopped by us and asked how we were bearing up.  I responded with my typical, “We’re hanging in there.”  For some reason he persisted in patting us and asking about us and to tell the truth, for a moment, I was a little irritated. 

But, I realized that while I was trying real hard to distract myself from our needs and worries, God was trying to comfort and encourage us through this brother.  That was a smack in the back of the head!  Here I am feeling sorry for myself and here’s God providing comfort and care through another and I’m being a fussy camper.

Thankfully I wasn’t so full of me that God couldn’t get through.  Or rather God was a lot bigger than the “me” I was full of and there was no way I was gonna get away with my little “pity party.”  Whichever it was He lifted my heart and my spirit all the while convicting me of my whining (and Oh was I whining).

Then a brother I really love came by and showed me his new I-pod.  He was so excited as it is a great tool for him in his work and ministry.  He was absolutely joyous.  Well, my first thought was about Patti’s computer which is ancient and holds a charge for about an hour and is still XP.  Then  I thought about how ai had planned to get her a new one and to look into a new tablet for me.  Needless to say my “joy” in my brother’s I-pod was at least a little less that sincere.

Bam – again I found my heart all stuck with “me.”  Conviction?  Oh yeah! 

Then we gather around the Lord’s Table – ouch – just what I needed, a reminder of my unworthiness.  But as we took the elements my mind and heart were turned to Him and His worthiness and my being His and what it cost Him.  I’m not saying that I experienced what we think of as a miracle but I did experience something comforting and correcting.

OK, then comes the message.  Let me give you a little background. 

The other day I was listening to Alistair Begg and happened to click on a message concerning evangelism.  Now I’ve never thought of myself as being an “evangelist.”  My gift is teaching so I left evangelism to the evangelist.  But this program – an evangelistic study of the Gospel of Mark caught my interest.  I began to form my prayers around its potential in Us In Him.

The message today – basically evangelism – the Gospel.  Ouch!!!  Not wholly convicted but close.  Now I’m (actually we are) praying about  this course as part of Us In Him.  We don’t know – we kind of think maybe – but we are being taught to wait upon Him.  And since He’ll have to provide the means for us to use the courses – we have some idea what we’re waiting for.

I write this because we rarely share this kind of experiences with one another.  Is it a big deal?  Well, it was for me. 

In one morning I went from numb and nasty to grateful and hopeful and He used both my sinfulness and His grace in others to change my mind and heart. 

I had this thought about the Marianas Trench out in the Pacific Ocean.  It is so deep that light never penetrates.  I am considering its relation to my heart.  I am discovering that there are depths to my heart I have never plumbed.  Nor have I asked God to do so – not really.  Oh, I’ve asked Him to heal my booboos and remove the most obvious and common corruptions but I’ve asked for what I find comfortable and not what needs to be done.

I found this and am thankfully hopeful:

Psa 36:1  Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes. ff

Why?  As a former unredeemed “wicked,” person this was me.  I have been content to let God do a “detail” job on me (like you do a car) but I can’t remember asking Him to plumb those depths of my heart that rival the Marianas Trench.  It’s an awesome thing when you find those deep dark places.  You find them by what comes to your mind or jumps out of your mouth.

Today a couple of those weird darkness/bottom feeders rose close enough to the surface to be seen, recognized and taken to the only one who can deal with it.  I’m thankful for that and am looking to build a rememberance of it – maybe a pile of mental stones.  God has done good work for me,  but today I learned He has just begun.