Month: February 2021

1 Peter 1:3 (NRSV)

God’s elect – both Jewish and Gentile believers – were scattered throughout the world because of persecution on every hand. As a result of their persecution and dispersion, the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world. The reality is we will suffer since Christ suffered and died for us. Yet, even in the midst of our suffering, we have the blessed assurance of his comfort – “the God of mercies and the God of all consolation” (2 Corinthians 1:3b). We’re reminded in 1 John 3:13 that we are not to marvel if the world hates us. Recall that Cain showed no love for his little brother Abel. He killed him out of jealousy because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected his. As peculiar treasure, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44) and count our trials and tribulations all joy (James 1:2). They are to strengthen us so we can encourage someone else who may be going through the same thing.

He goes on to say that all praise goes to “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” for His abundant mercy by which He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (v.3). Thank God for His mercy; He is worthy to be blessed. We have been spiritually transformed to live because he lives. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Thank God for having mercy on us. Not only are we born again, but we also have living hope. Through faith in the resurrected Jesus, “all things are possible for those who believe and trust” (Mark 9:23), and with him “there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off” (Proverbs 24:14b).

Psalm 46:1-3, NRSV

Can I get a witness that God is a well proved help in trouble? The longer we live, the more seasons we experience. Therefore, we have a testimony; it should be that God is a well proved help in trouble. We have experienced seasons of good and evil. There may have been seasons of fear, uncertainty, joblessness, financial lack, anger, disappointment, sickness, and other cares that cause us uneasiness and doubt. Whatever our seasons of need are – mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual – God is our supplier, and He never runs short. Because He knows all about our troubles, there is nothing too hard for Him; we just have to trust Him. We must “be still, and know that He is God” (v.10)!

Here the psalmist begins by telling us “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble or a very well proved help in trouble” (v.1). He is our   fortress that the enemy cannot breach. The hymn writer asks “Where Could I Go? Oh, where could I go seeking a refuge for my soul? Needing a friend to save me in the end, where could I go but to the Lord?” There’s no other who can save us. He is our strength that the Goliaths of the world cannot out muscle. When we face the troubles of life, He gives us strength to carry on. Oh, what joy it is for children of God to know that no matter what season we’re in, God is here through thick and thin! “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth (Psalm 145:18, AMP). “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).

The psalmist concludes these three verses, writing, “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, the mountains shake in the heart of the sea (v.2); its waters roar and foam, and the mountains tremble with its tumult, Selah” (v.3). Troubles may come on every hand in every way, but we are not to be afraid   because we have the assurance that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble or a very well proved help in trouble.”

Hebrews 11:5-6 (NRSV)

Our relationship with God is rooted and grounded in faith. “We walk by faith, not by sight.” We are not saved by the things that we see for they are temporary. We are saved by those things that are not seen – those things that are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen (2 Corinthians 4:18). Isaiah says that the grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8).

Enoch is an example of one who walked confidently and steadfastly with God. His relationship with God spanned a 300-year period. As he walked with God every day, I can imagine that he shared much with the Father – many happy times and sad times, many successes and failures, many times of peace and times of trouble, and etc. No matter what the circumstances were, Enoch didn’t break his faith-stride; he continued to walk with God. His living by faith was a testimony that even before he was taken to heaven, that he had walked with God and pleased Him. It was by faith that Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and “he was not found, because God had taken him” (v. 5).

 Just as Enoch walked by faith and pleased God, so must believers today. “Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him” (v. 6). The promise is that if we seek for Him with all our heart, we will find Him. So not only is faith a necessity, but it is the only means of pleasing Him. He is a jealous God, and it’s all about Him, the object of our faith.   

Matthew 16:16-17

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words defines confess in one sense as to “declare openly by way of speaking out freely, such confession being the effect of deep conviction of facts.” When we become convicted of our sinful ways, we should repent, seek forgiveness, and openly and freely acknowledge the truth of who Jesus is.  

Jesus says “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him I will confess also before My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). After Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God” (v.16), Jesus  responded, calling Peter, Simon son of Jonah, and told him that he was blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal who He was to him, but His Father who is in heaven (v. 17). It wasn’t flesh and blood, who is literally man that gave Peter this revelation. The Father stirred his heart to accept and acknowledge who Jesus was, and the Holy Spirit witnessed. Apostle Paul declared that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We will be changed from mortal to immortal” (1 Corinthians 1:50-52).  

We are warned not to fear man, denying Christ before him. The consequence of our denial of him in the earth will result in his denial of us before our Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:33). The choice is ours. We can live a life that reflects being “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), or we can choose instead to live an unhappy, unblessed, and unfavored life. No blessing can one bestow on us that is greater than that of Jesus! Confess to know him as your Savior today, and be spiritually blessed.