Monday May 9, 2010

Read 2 Peter 1:1-2. Romans 5:1-11

As Christians we tend to throw around the jargon of Christianity. Sometimes the words become so secondary to our nature that we don’t stop to think about what those words mean and what they are communicating to us.  Grace and peace are two such words. Imagine a non Christian reading 2 Peter 1:1-2 and then asking you what grace and peace are all about. How would you answer?

When we talk about peace with God we are talking about the complete removal of God’s anger and wrath and hostility towards us. It took the death of God’s one and only Son to bring about peace between you and God. Peace is the outcome of your justification. When you put your faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God wiped your record clean and wrote over it, ‘Fully Pardoned’. God didn’t just ignore your sinful record but chose to pour out His wrath and indignation upon His very own Son, Christ Jesus. Instead of punishing you, God punished a substitute.  He now chooses to love you freely. He chooses to love you freely as a son. He chooses to freely write your name on Jesus’ last will and testament so that you are a son and an heir. In loving you freely God pours out heavens treasures upon you and lavishes you with His blessings.

This is what it means to be at peace with God.  God doesn’t hate you! God isn’t waiting for you to slip up again so He can wallop you. God isn’t skulking around trying to catch you out. God isn’t storing up a mental note of all your sins and short comings. God loves you. Read that again. God loves you. You and God are at peace with one another.

Every time you choose to sin you are throwing mud in God’s face. Each time you entertain sin in your heart or mind you are pushing away this God who loves you immensely. Is that what you really want to be doing? Is that how you really want to treat the God who has entered into a peace arrangement with you? Is that how I want to respond to the greatest act of love you’ve ever received? Of course you don’t. When you are tempted, think and meditate upon what you are saying to God, the God who has saved you, by indulging in your passions and lusts. How do you want to treat the great God Almighty, who gave His Son Jesus to be punished in my place?’  Personally, I’ve found it’s very hard to sin wilfully when you’re meditating on what God has given you and done for you.

Prayer:-

V Pray that the children we are sponsoring through Compassion will grow and mature into a strong faith that changes the world they live in. Pray that God would bring great blessing to the local community through the partner church we are working with.

Pray daily that God would help you understand what it means to have his grace and peace in your life.

V Pray that God would be binding the India Mission Team and the Burma Mission team. Ask God to prepare the way for both teams to have valuable input into the lives of the orphanage and college where they’ll be working.