REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, written by Pastor Mark Chun of Radiance Christian Church in S.F., was originally posted on March 31, 2014. Mark is a graduate of University of California, San Diego (BS) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.).
Devotional Thought for This Morning
“The Profundity of What Lucy Said”
1 John 5:16-21 (ESV)
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. 18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Those who grew up reading Peanuts comic strips probably remember the one in which Lucy plays a trick on Charlie Brown while practicing football. Just as he is about to deliver the big kick, Lucy, who is holding the ball, pulls it away, causing Charlie Brown to fall flat on his back. But in this particular strip, Charlie Brown refuses to fall for the old trick even though Lucy begs him to kick it. He says to Lucy, “Every time I try to kick the ball, you remove it, causing me to fall on my back.” They argue back and forth until finally Lucy breaks down in tears and admits, “Charlie Brown, I have been so terrible to you over the years playing such cruel tricks on you. I’ve now seen the error of my ways; I’ve seen the hurt look in your eyes; I’ve been wrong, so wrong. Won’t you give a poor, penitent girl another chance?”
Charlie Brown, moved by what appears to be a genuine contrition, responds kindly, “Of course, I’ll give you another chance.” So, he steps back as she holds the ball and the reader finally thinks this will be his day. At the last moment however, Lucy pulls the same ploy: Charlie Brown once again falls flat on his back. Lucy’s last words were, “Recognizing your faults and actually changing your ways are two different things, Charlie Brown!”
Often times, we think of repentance as simply recognizing our sins; we may even cry and weep over them. This is certainly one aspect of repentance, but the more important part is actually changing our ways. While repentance indeed begins with being sorrowful over our sins, it isn’t complete until we tangibly alter our erring ways. Therefore, John reminds us that those who are born of God do not and should not make a habit of sin. Therefore, repentance must be an on-going process that begins with contrition, which, then, leads to a concrete plan to revert from falling into same sins.
Now, nowhere in Scripture does God assumes or demands that we become sinless while living in the flesh; in fact, it presupposes that we will sin (1 Jn. 2:1). However, since the power of sin that resides in us (Rom. 7:17) has been greatly curbed (but not eradicated) by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the believers no longer need to be controlled by the sinful nature (Rom. 8:9). Furthermore, while the entire world is under the power of the enemy, we can rest assure that God protects us from the adversary who cannot touch us (for instance, undoing what was done for us on the Calvary). That’s call double protection, which means you can indeed have a great day today. So, go have a great day for yourself!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you for teaching us to pray daily for the forgiveness of our sins and to forgive those who sin against us. We know that you are faithful in your mercy and able to protect us from the evil one. Help us to make repentance a spiritual habit so that we don’t allow sin to be a natural habit. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Romans 8
Lunch Break Study
Read James 1:19-25: My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Questions to Consider
- How does James instruct us to deal with our sin?
- What is the danger of just reading and listening to the word without putting it into action?
- How do the Scriptures act like a mirror to the believer?
Notes
- James instructs us to put off our sin like we would a filthy piece of clothing and to humbly receive the Word. Since people sin because they enjoy it (at least, for that moment), one wonders why they would put it off. Among several reasons why we should do so, one is this: God hates sin because He is holier than what we can ever imagine and because it grieves Him to no end seeing how sin, in the end, makes us miserable.
- The danger is deceiving ourselves and becoming hypocritical in our faith
- In the Ancient Middle East, the mirror was used as a metaphor for moral development. To look into the Scriptures and fail to do what it says (i.e., making corrections) is analogous to looking in a mirror, and despite seeing something wrong with our appearance, we do nothing about it.
Evening Reflection
How is your time in the Word? Is there a particular verse that God is asking you to respond to? Pray that the Holy Spirit would open up the Scriptures so that you may see the wonderful truth of God.
The premise of the 2009 comedy, The Invention of Lying, is that only one man has developed the ability to lie, in a world in which people can only tell the truth and generally do not suppress their thoughts. The apostle Paul didn’t have much problem telling it like it is, for he wrote Galatians 4:15 after showing how wrong the Galatian believers were for adding circumcision as a requirement for salvation, along with faith in Christ. Pulling no punches, the apostle later told them, “I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves” (Gal. 5:12).
Whether it’s a child enforcing the rules of a made-up game or an adult complaining about their rights, we all fancy ourselves to be judges—authorities on good and evil in the world.
This isn’t the kind of Psalm we want to wake up to, but it reminds us that God is to be feared as much as He is to be loved. After all, it wasn’t without reason that the Hebrews writer penned, “
It was so fascinating to read this passage recently. This scene happened right after Paul had survived a shipwreck during his difficult journey to Rome in captivity to Caesar.
David was anointed to become the future king of Israel when he was a shepherd boy.
In our passage this morning, Paul continues to encourage the Galatian Church to walk by the Spirit, detailing the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
Once a friend came to me and asked, “What is the gospel?” A little confused by the question coming from someone who’d been a follower of Christ longer than I had, I replied, “Uh… the good news… about Jesus…” (fearing I might have been asked a trick question). But it wasn’t a trick question at all. He explained that he always thought the Gospel was: “Jesus died for our sins,” but he was perplexed by the talk of the “gospel” in chapters in Matthew occurring long before Jesus had even died. We pondered for a bit wondering: What exactly was Jesus preaching? What is the “good news”? My friend’s question was one that forced us to return to the foundation of our faith (the Gospel) and grapple with it anew, longing to know it more fully.
My wife and I moved a couple of weeks ago to a new home. While unpacking on Monday she very clearly told me, “Jon, this is where I am putting the stamps.” I nodded in acknowledgement and went on with my day. Come Wednesday, I needed the stamps to send an urgent piece of mail but threw a fit due to my wife’s hiding the stamps somewhere. I mutter to myself, “If only she would’ve told me where she put them beforehand!” I heard my wife’s instruction on Monday, but I didn’t truly listen and understand because it was not important to me until Wednesday.
At this juncture of Paul’s letter to Timothy, the apostle moves seamlessly from the widows to the elders again; and this time, it is clear that his burden is for how the congregation is to treat their spiritual leaders. Perhaps it was budget time, and some in the congregation were murmuring over the pastor’s compensation.