Philippians 1:29

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29 ESV).

The context of this verse is life worthy of the gospel. No matter what happens, we are to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. We are to strive together for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose us. We are to honor Jesus Christ as a witness of the gospel.

This verse references two gifts: salvation and suffering. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, in our place, to purchase our salvation, a salvation that is a gift of grace received through faith. Having been saved from our sin, obtaining peace with God, we need to obey the command to bear fruit by making known the gospel of our salvation to others. As Jesus suffered to provide our salvation, we should expect, as a normal part of Christian life, to suffer while sharing the gospel with others. This verse clearly indicates that belief in Jesus is to be associated with the willingness to suffer for him. Unfortunately, in the west we tend to embrace safety, security and comfort and as a result we tend to preach and teach about the salvation part of this verse and ignore the suffering part. I believe this has resulted in a harvest of lukewarm believers, which are unwilling to suffer by learning about and living Biblical Christian lives of obedience.

Prayer

Father, we seem to embrace the habit of picking and choosing verses we want to live by that tend to strengthen our position of safety, security and comfort and ignore those verses that might result in a form of suffering. As a result, we have become a body of lukewarm believers that have little effect on our culture. The suffering we have been trying to avoid, through selective Christian living, may soon overtake us as society continues to disintegrate. Not only will we suffer now for our disobedience, but we will suffer shame as we stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Father, have mercy on us.

1 Corinthians 2:12

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”  (1 Corinthians 2:12 ESV). This verse is from a section where Paul is teaching us that wisdom is from the Spirit and through the Spirit we gain an understanding of spiritual things. As we read through the section our verse is in, we come to a well-known verse: “But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"—” (1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV). That which God has prepared for us is revealed through the Spirit. By the Spirit of God, we are able to comprehend the thoughts of God.

In this context we are now ready to look at our verse. As believers, the Spirit that is from God dwells within us to give us understanding of the things freely given to us from God. To gain a fuller understanding of this, we need to read further in our section. The Spirit interprets spiritual truths to those who are spiritual (verse 13) and as a result we are able to understand and accept things of the Spirit that make no sense to the natural person (verse 14). If we are to understand God and his ways, we must have the Spirit of God living within. It is the Spirit of God that sets us apart from the natural person who is not able to understand spiritual things or accept them.

Prayer

Father, thank you that the Spirit dwells within us and provides us with evidence that we are saved and also provides us with an understanding at the spiritual level. He is also referred to as the Spirit of truth, the Helper and the Comforter. He teaches us spiritual truths, helps us in times of need and comforts us during difficult times. Lord Jesus, thank you for asking the Father to send him to us and Father, thank you for sending him. 

Isaiah 26:3

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3 ESV). Our verse comes from a song that was sung in the land of Judah. Our verse has three elements to look at: kept in perfect peace, a mind that is stayed, and who we trust in. The end result of perfect peace comes from a mind that is connected to trust. Therefore, we need to establish what that trust is. Trust is defined by Google as “firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.” It is that which I lean upon for assistance in my weakness or need. Our verse points out that our trust is to be in God because he is capable of meeting our needs and is reliable.

The next important element of perfect peace is a steadfast mind or one that is stayed on something. That something is pointed out here to be trust in God. The mind that stays focused on trusting God and does not waver is the one that obtains results. Thus, trust makes the mind steadfast and only those who stay themselves upon God can obtain that kind of mind.

The mind that is established as steadfast is the mind that provides the possessor with perfect peace. It is the mind that is kept by God and is the mind that cleaves to God. This perfect peace, this peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

Prayer

Father, peace seems to allude so many people leaving their hearts and minds unguarded against the powers of darkness and the deceptions of the world. Only the one whose mind is stayed on you has perfect peace because he trusts in you. The choice is ours as to who or what we trust. 

Lamentations 3:22 - 23

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV). According to Jewish tradition, the book of Lamentations was written by the prophet Jeremiah. He describes the condition of the forsaken city of Jerusalem, which had been burnt to the ground and utterly demolished by the Babylonians in 586 BC, in contrast to the magnificent splendor that it once possessed. God allowed this destruction as a form of chastisement because of disobedience by the people of Judah. The reason for God's chastisement on the people of Judah and on the city of Jerusalem are spelled out in the form of an appeal made to God to remember the great suffering of his people and to take vengeance upon the conquerors of His city and the people of Judah.

In this context of disobedience resulting in suffering, we find hope in the Lord because of his love, mercies and faithfulness. His love is described as being steadfast; it is fixed in place, is reliable and can be depended upon. No matter what sin I commit I know it will not change his love for me. His mercies are described as never coming to an end or running out. The sin I commit will result in consequences, but his mercy will never be withdrawn as it is continually renewed each day. His faithfulness is great toward me; I know I can always count on his support. When going through difficult trials and he seems to not be there with me, I know that he has not left me and in his time he will provide.

Prayer

Lord, thank you that your steadfast love never ceases, that your mercies never come to an end, and that your faithfulness is great. We really deserve justice, but out of love that defies comprehension you have saved us and continue with us when we act unbecomingly. 

Isaiah 41:10

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  (Isaiah 41:10 ESV). Looking at the context of this verse we find Isaiah is writing about God’s protection for the people of Israel. The Lord claims to be the first and the last and has power over all the nations on the earth. No matter who would mount a threat against Israel, God will protect them. God has chosen them as a people through whom he would reveal himself and who were to share him with others. As they engage in their assignment and are threatened by others, God tells them to “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

How can we lift this verse out of context and apply it to us in the church? The answer is found in verse 9: "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”  (Isaiah 41:9 ESV). Israel failed in carrying out their assignment, so God raised up the church to do their work. We “who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”  (1 Peter 1:1-3 NASB). Then looking at “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB), we find we were chosen by God and created in Christ Jesus for good works. Those good works are the same as the assignment given to Israel. We are to reveal God in the person of Jesus Christ to the world and as we do we can claim the promise of our verse for ourselves in serving God.

Prayer

Father, as I study the context of popular verses that are lifted out of context and used for various applications, I am beginning to understand why Christians today do not understand the Bible. From a collection of verses like this one, used to preach and teach from and to use in writing devotionals, we have created a false context of the Scriptures based on our application. As a result, we have lost the original intent of the verses. Based upon these verses, we think we know what the Bible teaches, but we don't. Father, we desperately need to “Be diligent to present [ourselves] approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”  (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB). 

1 Corinthians 3:16

“Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”  (1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV). The paragraph just before our verse is about the works we do. Those works will be tested by fire at the end of our life to determine their quality and thus our reward. It is possible that the fire will burn up everything and we will suffer great lost and experience great shame, but we are assured that we will not lose our salvation.

With this reminder of the importance of building on the foundation of Jesus Christ with gold, silver and precious stones and not with wood, hay or straw, we come to our verse of focus. In view of working to build things, God has created within each of us believers, a temple in which God’s Spirit dwells. This temple sets us apart from those of the world and determines that we are holy and of special value. God then gives a solemn warning that if anyone were to destroy this temple of God, God will destroy him. It is questionable whether anyone can destroy this temple because some have killed believers and then later they themselves became believers. The apostle Paul is an example, but those who kill believers and remain unsaved will face God’s wrath for an eternity.

Prayer

Father, thank you that as born again believers we have been created as temples in which the Holy Spirit dwells, providing us with evidence that we are saved. What an awesome concept, to realize that God lives within each of us. How sobering this should be and how radically this should affect our behavior, especially in view of the trial by fire that each of will face in our evaluation. 

1 John 5:13

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13 NASB). This is another salvation verse that is only partially used. That part is “believe in the name of the Son of God [and] have eternal life.” The problem with that is that the demons believe but do not have eternal life. It appears that the assurance of eternal life lies in the things that have been previously written. It is important that we understand what was written and how it relates to our belief.

Looking at what was written before our verse we find in verse 12 that we are to have the Son in our life; we are to accept him into our life as an active part of our life. John wrote about Jesus coming by water and blood (verse 6). Some say this refers to the time Jesus was stabbed while on the cross and water and blood came from his side, proving his death. Others refer to Jesus starting his public ministry by being baptized in water and then shedding his blood on the cross at the end. Both provide evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, who died in our place to secure our salvation. Evidence of our belief is found in our love for other believers (verse 1), in obeying his commands (verse 2), and we overcome the temptations of the world (verse 4).

We can look back further and find more things written that should be evidenced in the life of a believer. Belief is to be based on more than a simple prayer. It is to be evidenced by a changed life. Today many believers show little evidence of salvation and little evidence of spiritual growth. Without this evidence, eternal life is questionable.

Prayer

Father, I believe the simple prayer of a child is sufficient for salvation, but in the days and years to follow there must be growing evidence of salvation. I pray that we will grow to become more like Jesus.