Victory in Jesus

I don’t know that I’ve ever cried uncontrollably while singing a song before, but I did this morning....

The last few weeks before I moved home from Hawaii, I distinctly remember three different times where I had some sort of experience with friends and was enjoying good conversation with them and just thought I wish I could stay in this moment forever. Laying on the beach at Hanauma Bay with Maile & Abigail after a snorkeling, talking while drying off from the warmth of the sun. Sitting atop Chinaman's Hat (after kayaking to it and climbing up it) with Kileigh reminiscing over the previous two years and discussing our faith and our futures. Eating PB&J while Adele & Jonathan ran around searching for the perfect photo op of the monk seal at Ka'ena Point, looking down the beautiful coastline. But of course no matter how beautiful the location, or how fun the friend, eventually we had to return to reality and continue on with our regularly scheduled lives.

Haunama Bay

Chinaman's Hat

Ka'ena Point

Silence Others

Last week we discussed silencing the enemy. We talked about how the enemy “prowls like a lion seeking whom he may devour.”

In the war that is waged against us, he uses whatever tools he can. The three biggest things he uses are others, media and ourselves. Over the next three weeks we will look at each of these areas. Just to clarify, none of these things are bad in and of themselves. It is the negativity and lies of these things we need to silence.

There is an enormous amount of pressure put on teenagers today. You are told that to have a good career, you need to get into a good college. In order to afford a good college, you need to be involved in sports and clubs to get scholarships and have good grades. Teachers give homework which you have to get done after school and you have practice and chores. By the time you do everything that’s expected of you, you have no time for yourself.

In addition to all of the pressure put on you by adults, there is also great pressure on you from your peers. Besides dealing with the gossiping, rumors and bullying that previous generations have dealt with, you guys also deal with cyberbullying. At times it feels like you can’t get away from it because our phones are with us 24/7. Kids and teenagers can be extremely mean to each other. Even when with friends, there is so much sarcasm and teasing that goes on!

Because of these pressures, there has been a dramatic rise in teen suicide over the last number of years. 

So how do you deal with all of this? You obviously can't silence everyone around you. Even if you could, that wouldn't be healthy. We need people.

Please Pass the Popcorn

You know how we sometimes do those popcorn praise prayers at youth group? That's basically what Peter does after his introduction. Reading it, I can't help but get excited. Take your time as you read today's passage.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)

"Blessed be" is also translated at "praise be." So Peter is saying praise God and is about to tell us why.
Also, I like that Peter specifies that God is the father of Jesus Christ. Remember, these letters are being written to the early church. Comments like this reinforce the authority of Jesus' life and teaching.

"According to his great mercy" This makes me excited because I know I need mercy and not only does God have some, it's great! It's powerful and abundant. And I find myself wanting to keep reading to see what his mercy will compel Him to do.

As we continue reading verse 3, we see what it is He has done. "Born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" this should blow your mind. But this is such common knowledge to us, you probably didn't give it much thought. Read it again: "Born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" wow!

In both John and Romans, we're told it's because of love that God sent Jesus to be born, live a sinless life, to be that perfect sacrifice who would die on the cross for our sins. But it would be in vain if that's where the story ended. Jesus Christ rise from the grave! Not Walking Dead style - He became fully alive, defeating death and Satan! That's awesome!

Because of this, we can be born again. And not just to some boring life. We have "living hope," which is explained more in verse 4.

In heaven, we, who are born again, will receive an inheritance that is...
1) imperishable- unlike the Promised land which was the Israelites inheritance, this will last FOREVER! It has no end.
2) undefiled- it is not obtained dishonestly or corruptly. Nor will it have any intrusions, or sin, or any impurities.
3) unfading- unlike the flowers and grass mentioned in verse 24, this will keep its beauty and never stop blooming.

Verse 5 is exciting and a little confusing.
"God's power" is unmatchable, all-sufficient, unending, uncontainable, unstoppable - if our God is for us, who can stand against us? That's a rhetorical question because obviously the answer is no one or nothing. That should get you excited for being in God's side!!

So by God's power, we, who are born again, are being guarded through faith.
This part seems a little confusing--what are we being guarded from? I don't think it means pain or safety or death. I've been hurt, been in car accidents, had friends and family die. All over the world we see all sorts of persecution and injustices happening to believers.

What I think Peter is referring to here is that once we have been born again and have this living hope and inheritance, satan can't take that from us--that's what we are being guarded from... Woohoo! God's got me covered and He does you too, if you're born again! Satan can come at us anyway he wants, like he did to Job, and although it may be difficult and painful to endure, we still get heaven!! That's awesome!!

Peter's last comment about salvation to be revealed is a little confusing. But it makes me think of when Paul talks about seeing things now dimly but it will be revealed to us eventually. There's so much more that God is doing than we realize. Eventually we will understand more and more.

Questions:
1) I mentioned more than once that this passage get me excited. What about God gets you excited?

2) Are you born again? Do you have that living hope Peter referred to?

3) According to his great ______________, he has caused us to be  ______________to a living hope through the ______________ of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4) Take some time to pray and journal about this passage.

It's a process...

Become who you are…

When I think of people in the Bible who did a great job as a Christian, I must say Peter is not one that comes to mind at first. Think about the stories we hear about him most often—sinking as he walked on water, denying Christ (and three times), cutting off the guard’s ear, being called Satan by Jesus—not very positive stories. Honestly though these stories are probably the reason we can relate to him the most. Think about it, Peter was a pretty ordinary guy. He had a job as a fisherman. As we can see from the Bible stories, he made lots of mistakes. But that’s not the end of Peter’s story. He also did get things right many times. He went on to preach sermons that saved thousands in the early church. He even wrote two books of the Bible. For starting out as such an ordinary guy, he ended up doing great things, or more accurately God was able to do great things through him. Peter is an example of becoming who you are in Christ.

So what can we learn from Peter? There are so many lessons we can learn from Peter, but the one I’d like to focus on is how Peter learned from his experiences.

I know how sleepy you can feel reading these devos, so stand up and read Matthew 17:24-26. (If no one is close enough to you to be distracted, read the verses out loud.)

Who are the three characters in this story?

Did Jesus have to pay the tax?

Every year tax was collected to support the Temple. So the tax collectors come to Peter asking if Jesus is going to pay the tax. Peter doesn’t think Jesus should have to pay the Temple tax—why? Well no king collects taxes from his son, so Jesus, being the Son of God, shouldn’t have to pay the Temple tax. So Jesus doesn’t pay the tax, right? He’s a son and sons are exempt.

Ok read verse 27. What’s Jesus tell Peter to do?

Jesus pays the tax. He demonstrated to Peter the importance of respecting earthly authorities. If you were Peter what part of that story would you remember? If it were me, I’d be telling all my friends about how I caught a fish that had a coin in its mouth that, get this, had the exact amount of money Jesus and I needed to pay the tax. My focus would definitely be on the fish. But what did Peter learn from this experience?

Stand up and read 1 Peter 2:13-18. What does Peter write—all about submitting to the king or anyone in authority over you, whether that person is good or evil.

Peter learned from his experiences. He didn’t just walk away with a good story about a fish. He learned that Christians should obey the law and respect their authorities.

Now don’t think that he learned this once and that was it. In John 18:10, Peter doesn’t respect his authorities and cuts off a guy’s ear. So don’t be disheartened if you revert back to old behaviors. Becoming who you are is a process. James 1:2-3 talks about how we will encounter trials that will test our faith, the question is will you allow Him to use them to become who you are?

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This is the second of the two devotionals I wrote for our Maine Missions Trip. Our focus for the week was "Become Who You Are."