THE BEAUTY OF ENTRUSTMENT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.

1 Peter 2:23

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we saw the Word of God send a clear message that suffering is commendable, when experienced in the context of our faith in Jesus. You’ll recall that this is because when we suffer for His name and sake, we are returning the favor He first gave us, willing to suffer and give up His life so we might be saved.

This call to remember the deep affliction that Jesus selflessly endured while saving us and paving the way for eternal life beckons our attention toward the cross of Calvary. For it’s there that we learn something else about the Christian experience from our Savior. Look at our scripture verse for today from the second chapter of 1 Peter:

When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. v.23

Perhaps you remember some of the things said to Jesus as He hung and died, sacrificed publicly although He was perfectly sinless and innocent.

“He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” Luke 23:35

“If you are the king of the Jews, save Yourself.” Luke 23:37

Even the criminal who was rightfully crucified and hanging next to Jesus got in on the derogatory comments, saying:

“Aren’t you the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!” Luke 23:39

Insult after insult was hurled at Jesus by people who had no idea who they were really degrading for if they had known, they would have never crucified Him in the first place. They were ignorant to the fact that all of God’s power was within His Son for they were One (John 10:30). Jesus could have commanded legions of angels to rain down from Heaven to completely eliminate His enemies. They would have never known what hit them but we know He didn’t do that. Rather, He showed us the incredible amazement found in grace and the beauty of entrustment through these words He spoke to His Father God:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

Note here that Jesus didn’t take matters into His own hands. Instead, He entrusted the situation to His Father, not asking for judgment to fall on His adversaries but rather forgiveness, forgiveness born out of an understanding that the people assaulting Him verbally were ignorant of the gravity of their behavior. They truly didn’t know who He was but after Jesus’ final act of entrustment, they would. Go back to Luke’s Gospel and add an excerpt from Matthew and you will see a revelation happen after Jesus drew His final breath.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed his last. Luke 23:44-46

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely He was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:52, 54

There had been many, many crucifixions on the hill of Calvary. In every occasion, the crucified offender simply died and was taken off the cross. And so no one was ready for what happened when Jesus entrusted His Spirit to His Father in Heaven. At that moment, He took His last breath and triggered a series of rather cataclysmic events.

The temple curtain tore “in two from top to bottom”.

The “earth shook”.

“Rocks split” and “tombs broke open”.

This aftermath of Jesus’ death brought terror to everyone who experienced it, leading them to exclaim:

“Surely, He was the Son of God.”

Jesus’ beautiful entrustment first spared them and then brought them to seeing Him for who He truly was.

Friends, the way we deal with others also speaks volumes as to how close we are to being like Jesus as His believers. Our Christ-likeness is grounded and anchored in how well we entrust ourselves to our Father God and maintain our faith in Him in every way, just as His Son did.

In the end translation, Jesus surrendered His will, exchanging it for the will of His Father. As His followers, we need to do likewise.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A COMMENDABLE SUFFERING

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.”

1 Peter 2:19-22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If I did a poll of 1,000 people, asking them to give me the top ten things they would like most at that moment, and I can almost guarantee you that there wouldn’t be one percent (or maybe even just one) who would say that they would like to suffer.

Am I right? What do you think?

To underscore my point, think about any of the number of stores a person might go to and purchase items. There really isn’t one that advertises suffering as their number one offering. Even personal fitness clubs, who can offer up some level of pain for those who decide to get their bodies in shape, don’t go out of their way to promote it in order for people to buy memberships.

Indeed, suffering isn’t something that the people of the world would look forward to or necessarily endorse as something positive but as we see in so many instances, the Word of God often takes a stance that the world would see as counterintuitive. This matter is no different as we turn to today’s scripture passage, verses 19 through 22, from Peter’s first letter to “God’s elect”, the “exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1):

For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.” 1 Peter 2:19-22

It’s important to remember that being a Christian in the first century A.D. wasn’t easy. For after the risen Jesus ascended to Heaven to sit at His Father God’s right hand and the Holy Spirit descended on his chosen disciples in Jerusalem, empowering them to go forth for the cause of the Gospel, persecution was a constant companion. This persecution brought great suffering to Christians who, like Jesus, had done no wrong. Some even paid the ultimate sacrifice, being martyred for their professed belief and allegiance to Christ.

It was this suffering that the Lord calls “commendable” in His word, a suffering that was produced by unjust treatment only because of the good a believer did out of their consciousness of God. Additionally, the suffering was to be seen as admirable and praiseworthy because the Christ follower was reciprocating what He had done for them.

In other words, Christ suffered unjustly for doing good to save every Christian and when they in turn suffer for His name and sake, then they are experiencing commendable suffering.

Today, believers around the world still face danger and the threat of dying in many places, not because of any wrong they have committed but solely because of their belief in Jesus. It’s a peril that shouldn’t surprise any Christian because the Bible lets us know to expect it, particularly in this seventeenth verse of Romans, chapter 8, where we are reminded:

Now if we are children (children of God through our belief in Jesus), then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. Romans 8:17

After His commendable suffering to bring us salvation, Jesus was brought into glory, into the presence of His Father and ours. This same progression comes to every single Jesus believer as well. For although this life will take us through the valley of suffering ourselves, we have the sure promise of victory over death and the grave because of the redeeming work that Jesus has done, a victory that one day will allow to share in His glory.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

 

PROPER SUBORDINATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.

1 Peter 2:18 NIV

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Bible addresses the literal nature of slavery and the slave master relationship because it was prevalent in culture. Both parties within this relationship are tasked by the scriptures to conduct themselves in ways that God accepts.

For example, look at these words from the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus. There, we find the Word of God offering these commands:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.

And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in Heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him. Ephesians 6:5-9

Did you note what is central here to these demands?

You should have caught that the Lord is at the heart of things.

At the heart of what they were to do, slaves were expected to serve with respect and “sincerity of heart” as they carried out “the will of God” from their hearts. This wholehearted dedication was to be done as if it was for “the Lord, not people”, for it was (and is) the Lord, and Him alone, who rewards each person “for whatever they do, whether they are slave or free”.

As for the slave masters, the Word of the Lord makes it clear that they have the same Master (capital “M”) as the slave and is just accountable to God for the things they do, namely the way they treated those who served them. Ultimately, the Lord plays no favorite and even though there was a master/subordinate structure within the slavery relationship, no such model was present when it came to the relationship with God. All are subordinate to Him.

In fact, the scriptures let us know that we are all a slave to the Master of all creation and we are to serve our Heavenly Superior with complete submission, subjection, and subservience. Look at these words from the Lord found in James, chapter 4:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Vv. 7-8

Note here the call to utter acquiescence and servitude. We are to surrender all of who we are to the God who is everything. There is no wiggle room here. God expects us to sacrifice our own will in whole so He dictates everything that we do.

This is what proper subordination looks like, the subordination God wants from all people.

When this happens, something beautiful is born out of it. For we also begin to respect one another.

Go back to the letter to the Ephesians and you will find this in chapter 5, a verse I have always believed to be the primer for entering into personal relationships in life.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. v.21

This is another command that comes without options but we won’t ever get to where we can carry it out properly until we first submit ourselves fully to God. In other words, submission begets submission.

Friends, enslavement is a critical element in the scriptures because we are all a slave to something from a spiritual perspective. The question is:

Will we submit ourselves to sin or to the God who will lead us from it?

The only way to ensure the latter is to completely lay ourselves down for the God who made us out of reverence to His Son who showed us what perfect subordination looks like.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

RESPECT OTHERS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

1 Peter 2:16 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We all have pet peeves, don’t we?

If we’re honest, I think we would confess this is true because it seems there is no shortage of things that are annoyances, things that seem to get under our proverbial skin and rub us the wrong way. These could include:

- People who drive slow in the fast lane on an interstate.

- Someone who keeps looking at their phone while you are trying to have a conversation with them.

- A person who never seems to remember to put the toilet seat down when they are done.

- Anyone who cuts into a line in front of others who have been waiting.

- Someone who sits and persistently taps their finger loudly on something.

- People who decide to take phone calls in public, usually in a store, talking loud enough that everyone can hear them.

- A person who is always interrupting someone else when they are talking.

- Anyone who talks during a movie.

- Someone who always comes off as if they know it all and/or seems to want to try and “one-up” someone in a conversation.

- Any pet owner who allows their pet to use your lawn for a bathroom and then doesn’t clean up after their animal.

The list could go on and on and on and on, and I’m sure you could add things that are specific to you like I can. And although I would like to consider myself in the top five percent of the most tolerant people in the world, I am human and have some frustrations in the way others do things. Probably right at the top of my list of aggravations would be the matter of disrespect.

I don’t know about you but I struggle with people who choose to treat me with disregard or contempt, especially when I make an intentional, concerted effort to treat every person like I myself would like to be treated. You know, the old golden rule that Jesus calls us to in the Gospel of Luke:

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 NIV

Further, we find the Word of God doubling down on the call to respect others as we continue to look at the second chapter of Peter’s first letter when he writes these words to “God’s elect”, the “exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” (1 Peter 1:1):

Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king. 1 Peter 2:16 NLT

Did you catch the command there?

Through His Word, the Lord is demanding that we “respect everyone” and everyone means everyone. There no option for us to pick and choose who we respect and who we don’t, and this goes for our families, our churches, our workplaces, in politics, in sports, and in regard to anyone we encounter, no matter where we might encounter them.

Stop and think for a moment about how this would be a game changer if people would just be obedient to what the Lord calls them to do.

A driver in the fast lane who is going slower than other traffic would move to the right out of courtesy.

Everyone would set their phones down to make sure they fully honor the conversation someone wants to have.

No toilet seats would ever be left up again.

Everyone would take their place in line out of regard for those who were there first and have waited longer.

People would be mindful of their annoying habits and conscientiously correct them so to not be an annoyance to another.

Those receiving calls in public places would either tell the caller that they would return their call when they got to a more private spot or would go to a place where they could talk without impacting anyone around them.

Within a discussion, everyone would either wait for the other person to finish talking before they said anything, choosing to listen instead of interrupt. Or they would not try to come off like they were somehow superior to the person they were talking to, whether acting as if they know everything or have somehow done something more significant that what someone has told them about.

The movie theater would be completely silent as everyone just enjoyed the film without comment.

And pet owners would have their animals go in their own yards before leading them into someone else’s and if that wasn’t possible, make sure that their pet’s mess was cleaned up properly before moving on.  

As a whole, our world needs change, the kind of change the Lord would bring if people would just allow Him to dictate what they do, whether it’s respect or anything else. Thankfully, Christians already know this. We just need to obey and comply as we should in reverence to our Maker and Master.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

FREE IN CHRIST BUT WITH LIMITS

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.

1 Peter 2:16 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about life before you came to believe in Christ Jesus.

You were once held captive, a hostage to sin that would eventually deliver you to an eternity in Hell, an eternity filled with torment and damnation. Shackled in your transgressions, you desperately needed rescue but couldn’t gain that on your own.

Thankfully, God, out of His deep love and compassion and grace, didn’t wish for us to perish and suffer forever. And so He sent His only Son Jesus as a divine, atoning sacrifice, a perfect and unblemished Lamb that would serve to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). All one needed to do to gain release from the sure judgment of Hell and gain eternal life instead is believe in Christ as Savior (John 3:16).

Jesus spoke of this liberation Himself when He said these words in John’s Gospel:

“Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” 8:34-36

A Christian gains freedom from God’s judgment when they place their belief in Jesus, gaining the pardon He purchased on Calvary’s cross, a sure salvation that removes the sting of death and guarantees an entry into the glory of the very Kingdom of Heaven when Christ returns.

It’s a blessed and perfect promise that brings a Jesus believer peace and hope however, there is one thing this wonderful freedom and assured saving doesn’t allow and that’s a person taking advantage of their liberation to gratify their sinful nature. God’s Word makes this clear as we first look at the passage from our continued study of 1 Peter and then a verse from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.   

For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 1 Peter 2:16 NLT

You have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13 NLT

Prior to gaining salvation through belief in Jesus, a person is a slave to sin but note how the Lord makes it clear through His Words in 1 Peter that when that happens, when a person is saved from Hell and assured Heaven, they may be set free from the slavery of sin but they are then captivated by the God who delivered them through His Son. In other words, a Christian becomes a child of God and is then accountable to Him for everything done in life, just as a kid is under the watchful eye of their earthly father.

Indeed, the freedom gained through Christ Jesus ushers a new believer into a new and holy captivity, one that leads to a magnificent, heavenly destination. Free from sin, the scriptures make it clear we are to “serve one another in love” and refuse to “satisfy” our “sinful nature”.

In other words, our freedom in Christ has limits and those limits involve sinfulness. As one becomes a new creation, the new is a dedication to the way Jesus lived, a commitment to Christ-likeness, and that will never involve an intentional choice of sin and evil over righteousness and good.

So how can we be sure we will respect our freedom found in Jesus and not chase after our sinful desires?

The key is to always follow the leading of the Holy Spirit that was given to you the moment you believed in Jesus. He dwells within you and is always ready to provide you direction. All you need to do is surrender your will and way so His will and way reigns supreme.

My prayer today is that you will join me in doing just that, now and for as long as the Lord has us here in our life this side of Heaven.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE BEST DAD EVER

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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Today is Father’s Day in America, a day to celebrate Dads, past and present.

I remember my father this day who entered into his eternal rest in Christ Jesus thirteen years ago. He raised me up to be a man with a strong work ethic and a heart to help others in need, character traits that still define me today. Maybe you are the same, remembering your Dad and things you saw in him that you have tried to emulate in your own life.

Now, as we consider our fathers today, it would be a huge oversight to not keep in mind that our very existence, and that includes the parents who helped make that possible, have our respective life opportunities because of a God who made us and formed us (Deuteronomy 32:6). In fact, our Heavenly Father is the best Dad ever and in this special message, I want to highlight this truth through the scriptures which affirm the distinguished greatness of God the Father. Consider these ten qualities He has:

1. God is love.

...anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8

Fathers will only love their children as they should when they know God first because God is the epitome of perfect love.

2. God is faithful.

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Corinthians 10:13

Children want their Dads to be there for them when needed and there is no greater model for faithfulness than what we find in God. People may fail us, even including earthly fathers, but God will never let us down.

3. God is light.

This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. 1 John 1:5

This world can be a dark place for us at times and it should be an immense comfort to know that when we turn to our Heavenly Father, He will always shine His light into our dark places and show that He is with us.

4. God is the giver of perfect gifts.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father. James 1:17

Who doesn’t like to receive gifts?

I don’t know of many people who don’t and as we see in the scriptures, our God is a Father who always delivers good and perfect gifts from above.

5. God’s ways are perfect.

God’s way is perfect. Psalm 18:30

My biological father was a great man but he wasn’t any more perfect than you and I are. There has never been a perfect human father but my Heavenly Father God’s ways are perfect. He never errs and this I (and we) can always count on.

6. God is just.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Psalm 89:14

All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. We are a flawed people who need corrected just as when we were children and needed the discipline of our fathers and mothers. There could have been times when that discipline was unfair, because we already have established that parents aren’t perfect, but there is no imperfection in what our Heavenly Father decides to do. When He brings judgment upon us, we can be assured it is always warranted and imposed in such a way to bring us to a place where He wants us to be.

7. God is gracious, righteous, and full of compassion.

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. Psalm 116:5

In regard to how our Father God treats us, we not only know He is perfectly right in all He chooses to do but that He exercises grace and compassion in how He deals with His children. We should never take this for granted.

8. God bears our burdens.

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19

When we go through difficulties in life, and they will come, it’s great to have a Heavenly Father who is ready and able to bear our burdens, not just some of the time but daily. This will bring us a peace that the world knows nothing about when we trust Him with what we’re going through. The Bible tells us as much:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

9. God holds our life in His hands.

For the life of every living thing is in His hand, and the breath of every human being. Job 12:10

My earthly father brought me into the world and raised me but after I struck out on my own as an adult, my life was no longer in his hands. Thankfully, I have been in the hands of my Father God since I gained life up to this very moment and I couldn’t be in a better place than that.

10. God didn’t wish for anyone to perish but to have the chance to live with Him forever.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

...the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death. Psalm 68:20

God loves His children. We have already established that as well some of the other qualities that make Him the best Dad ever but it’s important to note that not everyone is a child of His. For to truly be a part of His family, one first has to believe in His Son as Savior and in doing so, receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

You see, as sinners, every single person is separated from God because of their transgressions. Unaddressed, this separation leads to only one destination after death and that is the eternal torment and damnation of Hell.

God, the loving Lord that He is, didn’t wish for this to happen to anyone and so He sent His Son Jesus as a living, atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. All one would have to do afterwards was simply believe in His Son as Savior and they wouldn’t perish but rather gain eternal life. It was a saving gift granted by the Father who grants perfect gifts from above, a gift that rescues and redeems a sinner from the everlasting Hell they were heading to.

Friends, today and every day, let us celebrate and honor the best Father and Dad anyone could ever have, the Lord God Almighty, for all we have read from the Word of God in this message and all that He is beyond that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

SILENCING FOOLISHNESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.

1 Peter 2:15 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Ever since Christianity emerged on the world scene in the form of God sending His Son Jesus from Heaven to earth so to save anyone who would believe in Him, there has been opposition to the Gospel, opposition that has never won the victory ever.

Indeed, from the times of the Pharisees and Sadducees to those Jews and Gentiles who opposed Paul during his missionary journeys and through the past two thousand years plus since then, persecutors have gone on vendettas against the Christian faith and its followers. Today, we find most of these attacks politically motivated as a large majority of Christian believers identify with conservative, biblical values that run counter to the progressive, liberalism that is ever more trying to gain a foothold in America. In this environment, we find Christians vilified on matters like abortion, gender identity, creation, and the way education is delivered to young, easily influenced children and teens.

With this, it’s very easy to see that God’s words delivered through Peter to “God’s chosen people” who were “living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” are just as applicable to us now as they were in first century A.D. Look again at verse 15 of 1 Peter, chapter 2, the text for today’s message:

It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. NLT

Here we see the Lord reminding us that for every plot against what He has ordained and commanded, He has a counter initiative. In regard to the matter of attacks from “ignorant people who make foolish accusations”, the “ignorant” simply being that the attackers don’t truly know who God is and what His will is for mankind for if they knew Him, they wouldn’t publicly go after believers and impose judgment but rather go to the God who is the only appropriate Judge (capital “J”) of human conduct.

Here, we find the Word of the Lord telling all Christian followers that the kryptonite to the allegations levied by the ignorant is to “live honorable lives” which means living lives grounded in holiness, godliness, and righteousness. Or in other words, to live as Jesus did which means to put the Christ in Christian.

When we do this, then our lives will be pleasing in the sight of the only One who matters, the One who will then bring correction to the “ignorant people” who choose to verbally (and even physically) attack His beloved children. The call here is to live blamelessly and not give an assailant of Christianity any ammunition to load into their persecution weapon.

Friends, this is how we silence foolishness from those the enemy would use to come after Christians just as they did their Savior Jesus. All the way to the cross, Jesus was perfectly innocent before the Father and although no person will ever match that standard, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aspire to it. For our God, the Maker and Master of all human beings – whether past, present, or future - certainly expects as much.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.