Add to your faith…GODLINESS & BROTHERLY KINDNESS!
Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “STRANGERS in the World”
Week 7 of 7: “Strangers…Is it worth it?”
Full Sunday message, CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: 7 Things to Add to Your Faith to Be an Effective Christian!
“I’m spiritual, but I’m not religious.”
This phrase is clear and confusing at the same time. It is clear when I understand there are things about the visible church that challenge and frustrate some so they feel it better to practice their faith on their own. It is confusing, because the practice of one’s belief (religion) is a natural manifestation of one’s faith (spirituality).
What we are adding to our faith today is godliness. This is the outward exercise of our faith. It is the making visible in our lives the goodness of God that characterizes us. Godliness is the thoughts, actions and words that reflect and align to the thoughts, actions and words of God.
Do you see where Peter is taking us in our journey of “adding to our faith”? Faith is the inner trust in Jesus as my Savior. This takes over our inner being and character (goodness). It shapes my experiences (knowledge). It challenges me to control my sinful nature (self-control) and not give up (perseverance). One might say these are the “inner transformation” of the Christian faith.
Godliness, then, is outer expression of the inner transformation God has worked.
Add to godliness, brotherly kindness.
The word translated “brotherly kindness” is “Philadelphia.” Sound familiar? The “City of Brotherly Love.” William Penn named this city in Pennsylvania to establish good faith between his colony and the Lenape tribe.
In 1681, Charles II of England bestowed a charter upon Penn as part of a debt repayment, and that charter included the land that would become the Pennsylvania Colony. However, Penn wanted to remain on good terms with the Lenape tribe that had originally settled on the land, and so he put the charter aside and purchased it directly from the Lenape people. After making a friendship treaty with a Lenape chief named Tammany, in what is now Philadelphia’s Fishtown (and was called Shackamaxon at the time), Penn named the city “Philadelphia,” which means “brotherly love” in Greek. (Quoted from https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/pennsylvania/articles/philadelphia-got-name/)
William Penn was a Quaker who desired to create a city that reflected this quality of the Christian faith. If that vision was realized, is perhaps open for debate. What is not debatable is that a primary reflection of our faith is how we choose to treat one another. It’s easy to defriend someone. It is harder to do what it takes to make a “friendship treaty” with them. With God’s Spirit adding “brotherly love” to your faith…you can do it!
Apply: With whom do I need help developing a “friendship treaty”?
Prayer: Lord, show me ways to exhibit what you are doing on my inside to the people on my outside. Amen.
Add to Your Faith…PERSEVERANCE!
Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “STRANGERS in the World”
Week 7 of 7: “Strangers…Is it worth it?”
Full Sunday message, CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: 7 Things to Add to Your Faith to Be an Effective Christian!
2 Peter 1:5 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance;…”
Do you know the difference between patience and perseverance?
I can be patient waiting for a box to come from Amazon resting in my easy chair with my favorite beverage. There is no physical effort exerted to be patient. Perhaps patience does demand a level of self-control to not get irritated or upset!
Perseverance, is not a passive waiting, but an active effort to reach a goal.
Yesterday I was running on 1.6 mile trail at a local park. My goal was finish under 29 minutes for two laps or 3.2 miles. The second lap I was ready to give up and just walk the rest of the way. But I had just dropped off our younger daughter for volleyball tryouts and had reminded her of MTIXE (Mental Toughness, Intensity, eXtra Effort). I couldn’t give up – even though I am not in great shape. One foot in front of the next. My legs were tired. My breathing heavy. But I touched the end marker…27:45! (Don’t read too much into this…a morning run doesn’t make a marathoner!) But it felt good to persevere and reach the goal.
Trust in Jesus as Savior is the foundation of saving faith. However, living the Christian faith is a daily challenge, a regular struggle, a race that is tiring…and we feel like giving up. We face criticism. We face opposition. We get tired fighting our sinful nature. We weary from a culture that runs counter to our Christian convictions. It’s tough to live as a stranger in this world.
We feel like giving up.
That’s why we need to add to faith…perseverance. The will and effort to NEVER give up! Losing the goal isn’t just missing a personal best on 3.2 miles, it is missing out on heaven.
When you feel like giving up, remember the goal.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
How can we add perseverance to our faith? Hebrews 12:1-3 helps:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Fix your eyes on Jesus and don’t give up. Add to your faith, perseverance!
Apply: How will setting your eyes on Jesus today help you persevere in the challenges you face today?
PRAYER: Lord, when I feel like giving up, strengthen me to persevere…to keep going! AMEN
Add to your faith…KNOWLEDGE & SELF-CONTROL
Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “STRANGERS in the World”
Week 7 of 7: “Strangers…Is it worth it?”
Full Sunday message, CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: 7 Things to Add to Your Faith to Be an Effective Christian!
2 Peter 1:5 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control;…”
“Wait until you get out in the ‘real’ world!” I remember this phrase in high school and college when the idealism of a student is challenged by an adult that has lived years in the ‘real world.’ While the theories and philosophies one learns in school fill our heart and create passion for the years ahead…then one hits the ‘real world.’ The theories don’t always work in every situation. The philosophies that sound so certain, don’t seem to always apply.
What is the difference between theory and ‘real world’?
Experience.
Yesterday we added to our faith, goodness, the reality that our faith permeates all of who I am and what I do. Today we add knowledge. The knowledge Peter talks about is knowing something by experiencing something. Take Peter’s own example. When Jesus was walking on the water and startled the disciples, Peter asks, “Lord, if it is you, call me to come out on the water.” Peter knew Jesus could work miracles. When his feet hit the water and he didn’t sink…he knew by experience the power of Jesus…until he doubted and then experienced the consequence of doubt.
Being filled with the goodness and character of God is great…experiencing it day to day is knowing how real and practical the goodness of God is for the ‘real world.’
Peter continues. Add to knowledge, self-control.
Self-control is power over one’s self. For the Christian it is drawing on the Spirit’s power to not give into the sinful nature and allow it to control my thoughts, words and actions. The spiritual battle is very real and powerful within us. You see how Peter is moving us…the more we trust in Jesus as Savior leads to us desiring to be characterized by the goodness of God and to know how real that is in every experience of life. To maximize these reality we must daily fight the sinful nature and not give into it…practice self-control.
Sunday we read from 1 Peter 2:11: Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
The Apostle Paul engaged in the daily struggle.
Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. …24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
A Christian can truly practice control over their sinful desires because they have the power of the Spirit and the victory of Jesus over sin on their side.
Self-control comes from Spirit control.
Self-control keeps us focused and effective for the Lord.
Apply: Evaluate your experiences today. What do you learn about your Savior and your faith through that experience? What is the sin that challenges you? Ask for the Spirit’s help to practice self-control and overcome it.
Prayer: Lord, lead me to both experience the reality of my faith each and every day as well as learn more about my faith from every experience. Spirit, help me abstain from sinful desires today which wage war against my soul. Amen.
Add to Your Faith…GOODNESS!
Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “STRANGERS in the World”
Week 7 of 7: “Strangers…Is it worth it?”
Full Sunday message, CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
THIS WEEK: 7 Things to Add to Your Faith to Be an Effective Christian!
You wouldn’t ask a kindergartner to pilot a commercial aircraft. Every passenger would get off the plane if they saw a five year-old sitting in the captain’s seat. That five year old would be ineffective as a pilot. Why? That five year-old could grow up to be a very proficient pilot and also skilled enough to train other pilots…but there were a lot of steps of learning and growth along the way to be a skilled and effective pilot.
In a similar way, the life of a Christian is one of growth and development. To say that once God has worked faith in Jesus as my Savior, I have reached full maturity and am ready to be the most effective ambassador for Jesus would be as foolish as to say a five year-old could fly a commercial airliner.
Don’t get me wrong. Simple faith in Jesus as my Savior is the essence of saving faith. However, to be increasingly effective as a Christian, takes the ongoing work of the Spirit to mold and mature us. This week we will look at seven things God wants to add to this saving faith to keep us effective and productive as one of his children.
These seven are found in 2 Peter 1:5-8. Today, the first found in verse 5. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness;…”
Put another way, “Add to your trust in Jesus as Savior, a reality that he permeates your whole being.” The word translated “goodness” has its origin in the word “virtue” or the “character” of a person. Faith is deepened when it takes over the very being of who I am. It is what defines me when love for God takes over my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. It is not just an external good deed or kind act, it is the reality of the heart and goodness of God affecting your whole being.
How does this happen? The Apostle Paul helps us out in Ephesians 3:14-19:
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Goodness is added to your faith as you spend time allowing the goodness of God to fill your heart. It is the work of God’s Spirit that is transforming you into the image of God that was lost at the fall into sin.
Ephesians 4: 20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. … You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Apply: Think of a challenging situation you may face this week. Ask the Spirit to add to your faith, goodness. How will you face the situation differently with goodness added to your faith? Do you think you will be more or less effective for the Lord?
Prayer: Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in endless praise. AMEN
You are the PEOPLE OF GOD!
Daily Devotions based on the Sermon Series: “STRANGERS in the World”
Week 6 of 7: “Strangers…Am I the only one?”
Full Sunday message, CONTEMPORARY or TRADITIONAL
5 IDENTITIES God wants you to embrace!
1 Peter 2:10 “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
In the midst of a presidential campaign, key messages of the candidates put forward a message of what defines America and what unifies America. As a voter, you evaluate those messages and try to determine, “What type of nation, what type of people do we want to be?” Are we a people defined by “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” or something else?
We search as a nation to define who we are as a people. What are our values? What is our shared vision? Perhaps the struggles we are seeing in our culture are the challenge we are facing to define ourselves as “a people.”
While we strive to understand our values as citizens of this country and find unity as a people, we probably will never experience that perfectly in a secular society.
Many nations have come and gone. Many people groups have been defined by different values or customs. But none of them is stable and lasting.
But there is one that is stable and lasting…and you are part of it. Peter gives us the fifth identity to embrace. “you are the people of God.” This designation has always been a special reality that God has given. For Old Testament believers God chose the descendants of Israel to be a special group to be part of his salvation plan.
King David said it this way: (1 Chronicles 17:20-22) “There is no one like you, O Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God.
Israel was singled out of all the nations for a special purpose. God’s people today are not defined by a genetic make up or a physical border. The key definition of what makes us the people of God is the fact we are the recipients of God’s mercy. We are not defined by how long we’ve been a church member, how many hours of service I’ve performed, or what causes I have been part of. We are defined by our need for a Savior. Our sin made us “not a people.” Before Jesus in our life we “had not received mercy.” But now in Christ we “have received mercy” and therefore also given the identity as “the people of God.” Simply put, we are defined by the forgiveness God has graciously given to us.
Enjoy living in the reality that you are the people of God who has received the mercy of God!
Apply: What difference does it make in your life to know you are a person of God who has received the mercy of God?
Prayer: Lord thank you for defining me in your love as an individual who is a chosen, holy, royal, belongs and is one of your people. Help me each day to embrace this identity and live it and share it with others.