Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from December 19-25 are written by Pastor Andrew Kim at Tapestry Church. Andrew, a graduate of Eternity Bible College, is currently attending Fuller Theological Seminary. He and Jessie were married in 2014.
Devotional Thought for Today
1 Peter 1:12-2:3
Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. [13] I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, [14] since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. [15] And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. “[16] For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” [18] we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. [19] And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, [20] knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. [21] For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. [3:1] But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. [2] And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. [3] And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
In his first letter, Peter writes to guide and encourage those under his care as they deal with persecution from outside the church. In this second letter, Peter instructs them on how to faithfully cling to the word of God as false teachers have come into the church, leading many of them astray to places of destruction. For Peter, this is an especially dire situation. He knows that the “putting off” of his body is coming soon; he cannot be there to protect and guide his sheep for much longer. So before he dies, he needs to make sure that the church does not deviate from the testimony of Scripture brought to them by his ministry.
In light of this, Peter provides two reasons as to why they should not be lured by the false teachers but trust in his testimony about Christ. First, he is an eyewitness. His teachings are not built on secondary sources, but he witnessed first-hand the majesty and glory of Christ. His testimony is not a result of “cleverly devised myths” or his creative imagination. He is only conveying what he saw with his own eyes. Second, the prophecies of Scripture are trustworthy, because they didn’t originate from the will of man but the prophets were “carried along by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, the prophetic Scriptures of the OT, which Peter employs to validate his own testimony, were not brought about by man but by divine inspiration—meaning, on a fundamental level, it is God who wrote them and God, above all, can be trusted. For these reasons, the church can rest assure that Peter’s testimony about Christ is true.
Just as it was a timely reminder for the recipients of Peter’s letter, this is also timely for us. As we spend each morning meditating on the words of Scripture, we can be confident that they are worthy of our trust. We don’t have to second guess its validity or accuracy. We can be sure that these words give us true life, wisdom, and most importantly, they lead us to a deeper and truer picture of God. Let us take some time this morning to thank God for His word!
Prayer: God, I thank You for revealing Yourself through the Scriptures. I pray that as I meditate on Your word each morning, that You will continue to reveal more of Yourself and shape me in a manner that reflects the truth of Your words. Help me to trust in Your word! Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: 1 Kings 12
Lunch Break Study
Read 2 Timothy 3:16-17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, [17] that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Questions to consider
- What purpose does Scripture serve?
- What role has the word of God played in your life?
Notes
- God has given us the Scriptures for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness so that we can be equipped to do His work. Oftentimes, we stop at filling our minds with more biblical knowledge. However, a true understanding and reading of Scripture leads to a life of greater righteousness and an increase of good works for God’s glory.
- Personal.
Evening Reflection
“There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on His Word spiritual strength for labour in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. . . . Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God’s Word.”
– Charles Spurgeon
Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from December 19-25 are written by Pastor Andrew Kim at Tapestry Church. Andrew, a graduate of Eternity Bible College, is currently attending Fuller Theological Seminary. He and Jessie were married in 2014.
David Brooks, a New York Times op-ed columnist makes an interesting observation in his book, The Road to Character. He writes that Americans have become obsessed with creating an impressive resume. We want to graduate from the best colleges, earn as many rewards as possible in our respective fields, and gain enough experience to merit the respect of those we’re seeking approval from. And this isn’t all that surprising because we live in a meritocratic society. Our resumes prove our worth to those who hire us and give us the jobs we desperately want— without it, it would be impossible to fulfill many of our dreams. For this reason, we spend all of our energy and time into creating the perfect resume—even if it means that we sacrifice relationships and other important areas of our lives. In other words, resumes have become our number one priority.
Sadly, many of us have minimized the gospel to a set of doctrines and theological truths that need to be accepted. In one sense, this is correct. Part of the demands that derive from the gospel require our belief in its propositional truths, such as the identity of Christ and His atoning work on the cross. However, this is only part of the picture. As the apostle Paul states in Romans 1:16, the gospel is also the power of God; it is more than a list of facts—it is also the very power that grants salvation and transformation in our lives. It is neither our self-discipline nor our willpower that changes us, but it is the power of the gospel that ultimately shapes us.
Last week, I had the opportunity to share with the children of our church in their AWANA program that it is better to give than to receive, and that God loves a cheerful and generous giver. I shared of an infamous story of a child at the Church of Southland, who had a very difficult time giving. Every time the offering bag was passed around, he would take the money that his parents had given him, clench it in his fist, lower his fist into the offering bag, and pull his hand back out—with the money still in his hands. When a teacher asked him why he didn’t put it in, he exclaimed, “It’s so hard to give!” From a young age, we have found that it is harder to give than to receive. We see giving as a burden rather than a blessing.
I’m sure many of us remember seeing videos of mobs of people fighting for Black Friday items the day after Thanksgiving. These days, Black Friday even infringes upon Thanksgiving Day, which shows the trajectory of our society. We look at these videos and we shake our heads: How could they act like this, especially after a day of celebrating gratitude and contentment in all that they have? But to be honest, are we any different? I may not be in those crowds, but my discontentment, frustration, and anger manifests in different ways. When we look at our own lives, don’t we all have moments where we are frustrated with where we are, not content with the circumstances in our lives? The truth is, when our contentment is based off of our circumstances, our level of our contentment fluctuates dramatically. We find that contentment becomes a temporary phenomenon that quickly dissolves. So how then can we find true contentment that remains steady in our lives?
What do you fill your mind with? When I was in high school, there was a season where my friends and I would play Tetris all the time. Any free time I had would be occupied with this game. Even when I closed my eyes, I could see Tetris blocks descending into place—I just could not get my mind off of it. When I had surgery a few years ago and was bedridden, I binge-watched a television show called Friday Night Lights. Even when I wasn’t watching it, my mind would drift into reimagining scenes and wondering what else would happen in the show—this show was all I could think about. The power of the mind is both exciting and frightening. On the one hand, when we set our minds on things that are honoring to the Lord, it can lead to much good; but on the other hand, when we set our minds on things that are not honoring to the Lord, it can be led to catastrophic sin.
Paul was writing this letter while he was under house arrest in Rome. His friends were far away, some had betrayed him; his enemies were rejoicing that he was in prison. There were probably rumors being spread about him. He was probably frustrated at the fact that he couldn’t spread the gospel as he had planned. On top of that, we have been reading about how some people were infiltrating the church, trying to deceive the new believers (not just in Philippi, but in all of his church plants). As a spiritual father, it must have been disheartening to know that he couldn’t visit his church plants to encourage and equip them further.
A motivational speaker by the name of Jim Rohn once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Whether you agree with that statement or not, I think it’s safe to say that we are highly influenced by those whom we are around the most. A silly example of this is the way my laughter has evolved throughout the years. I’ve had friends with very unique laughs, and for some reason, my laugh would begin to look or sound slightly like theirs, the more I hung out with them. I’m sure there are many more ways that we pick up on things and imitate those we are around a lot, especially those we trust and respect.
Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from December 11-17 are written by Phillip Chen, college pastor intern at Church of Southland. Philip, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, is currently studying at Talbot School of Theology. He is married to Esther. 
When I was in high school and college, I enjoyed playing poker with my friends. Although I would not recommend it, as it can become an unhealthy addiction, I did learn some valuable life lessons during those years. In poker, when you have good cards and are statistically favored to win, but someone ends up beating you because of luck, it’s called a “bad beat.” When someone gets a bad beat and end up focusing so much on it, not being able to concentrate on what is coming up, they end up making bad decisions, because they are either overly aggressive or overly passive in the future hands that they play. I remember learning early on that it is so important to forget the bad beats and not be so distraught over it, so that the way you play your future hands are not affected by it. That’s one of the aspects that separate skilled players from unskilled players—the ability to forget about the bad beats and keep pressing forward.
If you were to think of modern day heroes of the faith, who would you think of? We typically think of the popular Christian artists, the itinerant speakers, authors, theologians, and the up-and-coming pastors. Rarely do we think of the faceless martyrs, the ones who are toiling and laboring in the hardest parts of the world to bring the gospel to places where people have not yet heard. We don’t like to make them our heroes (although we do look in awe upon them); and I think the reason is because it forces us to face the uncomfortable question: Is this someone I want to become – someone who has completely surrendered everything for the name of Jesus? I am not trying to take anything away from the popular Christian artists, speakers, and pastors, but my point is that we are a culture that is too impressed with degrees and titles that it sometimes becomes the crux of our focus in this life, even in Christian circles. We are more inclined to respect and listen to those who have more degrees and are more influential based upon their accomplishments.