1 PETER 3 :Suffering for Righteousness

 1 Peter 3:14-15

[14] But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” [15] But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, This sets our expectation that despite doing good and pursuing righteousness, people and circumstances will still hate us, persecute and accuse us of evil but in all of these we are commanded to not fear and frighten . This is a call to take courage and see the situation through the lens faith. Let's take a look at suffering in righteous sake in the lens of faith: 1. Suffering provides powerful testimony -in suffering the more we become more dependent on God, the more we become closer to Him and the more they see Jesus in us and they will see the radiance of Jesus and His character this will lead others to inquire about the hope that sustains us , opening doors for evangelism. 2. Suffering is a testament - when we remain unshaken, faithful and true to our faith in our suffering this becomes a testament(proof) of our obedience, faith, perseverance, joy, surrender, trust, transformation, and strength in God and God's presence/sovereignty in us. 3. Suffering as a Blessing Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Things to remember when we suffer persecution for the cause of Christ: 1 Peter 3:12 [12] For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” a. The eyes of the Lord rest upon you b. His ears are attentive to your prayer-He respond c. You will have the joyful experience of the blessing of God with nothing to fear.(V14) Response in suffering; Reverence toward Christ as Lord. - When shows we trust His sovereignty and Goodness. -We acknowledge that He is in control and all things work together for good. - We hold onto the power of His death and resurrection that He already overcame the world Ready to give answer for the hope that you have ----------+++++----------- Have we noticed that when we take a closer look at Scripture reveals a pattern: suffering is often followed by a divine command to rejoice, count it all joy, or take pleasure in for Christ sake. JOY and PEACE comes from the overflow of our hope in Jesus and it has poured out to us through the Holy Spirit . Romans 5:1-5 [1] Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah; [2] through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [3] Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; [4] and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; [5] and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Prayer: Lord, Help us to honor You as we should, setting You apart as Lord in our hearts, and to always be ready to share and defend the hope we have in You Jesus. i In every circumstance, may we exalt Your Name on High. Amen ------------------------- PASTORA CZAR

1 PETER 2 : OUR TESTIMONY ; OUR IDENTITY

 

1 Peter 2:9

[9] But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. -------- This is our testimony - from darkness to light - from outcasts to God's own - once without mercy, now shown mercy This is our identity - a chosen people - a royal priesthood - a holy nation - God's special possession This is the Work - that you may declare the praises of Him* ------ God called us, chose us, redeemed us, and let us taste and see His grace so we can proclaim His praises. Are we ready? As news of wars spreads, hardships and trials increase, and more people complain, will we shut our mouths? No! We'll live to praise and worship God. In these times, let's magnify the Lord's glory and fuel the passion of our testimony – Jesus. Every war, hardship, trial, and complaint in the world is an opportunity for us, God's called ones, to declare His wonderful works. People are becoming desperate for a way out in this chaotic world. This is our chance to bring light to darkness, hope to the hopeless, to heal the broken, to save the lost, and give them Jesus. Instead of focusing on ourselves and avoiding this messy world, let's be bold enough to step in, preach the Gospel, and spread God's kingdom on earth, even if it costs us. There's no greater way to give value to our lives than to die like Christ in obedience and suffering. Is our life a witness for Jesus regardless of the circumstances? Do we respond to suffering like Jesus, following His example? ---------------- PASTORA CZARINA - JCRC SORSOGON

1 PETER 1 : RESULT OF OUR NEW BIRTH

 

1 PETER 1

The opening of Peter's letter to God's chosen ones is beautiful to those experiencing trials, suffering, and persecution, they are assured that God Himself chose us, that we are chosen and not forgotten, we are His children, and He is our Father. We, the REMNANTS, were chosen by His Grace, by our Father, and we are sanctified and made holy by the Holy Spirit, and because of Jesus Christ's blood, we are cleansed, and we become part of God's Family. God Himself is the one who gives us new birth as new believers, filled with the life of Christ. RESULT OF OUR NEW BIRTH A. WE ARE BROUGHT INTO A LIVING HOPE (V3)- Because of the Lord's mercy, He gave us new life, bringing us living hope. From death that we could never pay in any way was paid in Calvary, He gave us hope of eternal life because of Christ's death and resurrection. Now death has no sting on us, debts are paid, chains are broken, and we are His own - we become His children, and He becomes our Father. Because of Christ's resurrection, we are assured that all of God's promises will happen and we will experience them in this life and the next. B. ETERNAL INHERITANCE (V4) Because of what Jesus did on the cross and His resurrection, we have an inheritance in imperishable and never ending riches. We should not crave worldly wealth, temporary, can be destroyed, can be lost rather we should crave heavenly riches, eternal and good. Do not focus on material richness, heavenly richness is far more beyond important. Even here on earth, we experience these riches - spiritual richness, peace of mind in this chaotic world, joyful hearts in the midst of life pains, trial, and suffering and assurance of our soul. Our Father doesn't lack in providing for our needs. So whatever trials we experience in this world, we know they are temporary and will pass. We shouldn't be bothered by hardship and suffering; instead, we should rejoice in times of trial because we know what's ahead in heaven is clear to us. We live in hope of a more glorious life waiting for us after this life, making every trial, even death, insignificant. Whether we live or die, we belong to Christ, and this is our joy. So in any situation, we can praise God - in hardship or comfort, struggle or success, in life or death, Praise God! C. FULL SALVATION/DELIVERANCE (V5) - Because of Jesus, God revealed His mysterious will according to His purpose. Now we enjoy life with salvation, we're justified and sanctified, and eagerly await glorification when Jesus returns. Let's strengthen our faith in God's power, keeping us blameless and spotless at His coming. Let's fix our eyes on heaven and finish our race with courage, faithfulness, and perseverance. WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE A HOLY LIFE (1:7-25) We're called to live holy lives as obedient children. Knowing this hope, let's live with holiness. God chose us according to His mercy, making us His children through Jesus Christ. Christ redeemed us with His blood, forgiving our sins. Now we live as God's children, awaiting His return. - Prepare your hearts and minds for action! - Stay alert and fix your hope on the marvelous grace coming to you. - Shape your lives to become like the Holy One who called you. - Love your fellow believers. 1 Peter 1:23-25 [23] For through the eternal and living Word of God, you have been born again. And this "seed" He planted within you can never be destroyed but will live and grow inside you forever. For: [24] Human beings are frail and temporary, like grass, and man's glory is fleeting like blossoms of the field. The grass dries and withers, and the flowers fall off, [25] but the Word of the Lord endures forever! And this is the Word announced to you! -------------------- PASTORA CZAR

JAMES 5: PATIENT ENDURANCE and PRAYER

 

JAMES 5

PATIENT ENDURANCE and PRAYER

The last chapter in James covers many topics related to Christian living for the believers scattered all over the world. First it starts with a warning to the rich and unreasonable, secondly it teaches about suffering and faithful endurance, leading into the power and importance of prayer and lasty restoration of those who are astray and lost.

Warning to the rich

V1-6 is almost and echo of the first part of James 4 where he talks about unanswered prayers due to man’s wicked and selfish desires. Here he points to the rich who are exploiting workers, not giving a fair wage for the work they have done. He warns the rich that to live only for satisfying their own needs, living in luxury, give them fat hearts and make them ready for slaughter. This will not go unnoticed by God and He sees those who are being treated unfairly.

Patient endurance

V7-12 exhorts us to patiently endure in our walk on earth while we wait for Jesus to return. James compares it to a farmer who sows his seed while eagerly waiting for the early rains, working the fields while patiently waiting for the latter rain and the harvest to ripen. In the same way we should also be patient, but not idle.

The Bible has many examples of prophets and people who had to patiently endure, while they waited on God. For example, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Job, David, Hannah. When we don’t see the end yet, in our suffering and endurance we must keep our eyes focused on El Roi, the God who sees. God is faithful, he will bring the harvest, the reward for those who endures in their faith in Him.

Power of prayer

I love how James’s letter flow from one topic into the next. In the waiting, how to we endure? Here, a topic also preached by Paul and Peter, James points to the most important aspect of a Christian’s life: PRAYER. James gives us four out of many reasons (maybe you can search the others for yourself) mentioned throughout the New Testament to pray:

·       When you are suffering – keep on PRAYing about it,

·       When you have reason to be thankful (which is in everything, every day really) – continually sing praises, PRAY to God,

·       Are you sick – GO to the elders of the church and ask them to PRAY over you. Let them anoint you with oil in the name of the LORD.

·       In v15 God promises that the prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, the LORD will make them well, and… anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. This shows us the BEAUTIFUL heart of our LORD and Saviour.

·       In v16 James encourages believers to confess their sins and to PRAY for each other. WHY? So that we might be healed and again just as in v15, James repeats that the earnest PRAYER of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. He continues to illustrate this importance in v17–18 by giving the example of Elijah who prayed and God stopped sending rain for 3 ¹/₂ years and when Elijah prayed again, God sent the rain.

Restoration of those who are wondering and lost

As the body of Christ, it is our duty to bring back, in love and with compassion, those who are being lead astray from the truth. It does not say judge, or blame, or point fingers… BUT (v19-20) bring them back from the wrong way so that their sins might be forgiven and that their souls be saved from eternal death.

Let us reflect:

·       Do we treat those who are placed under our supervision and care fairly?

·       Are we enduring patiently, in the waiting season?

·       Do we make an effort to PRAY, with faith in the LORD, about everything?

·       What is our attitude toward the lost or the wandering sheep, do we blame and point fingers or do we PRAY for their souls and ask the guidance of the Lord to bring them back into the sheepfold?

PRAYER

Lord we pray and ask that you help us to treat those given under our care fairly, that we persist in prayer in every season, in every situation, giving thanks to you in all things. Keep our hearts humble and steadfast and pure. In Jesus Name. Amen.

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PASTORA HESMA

JAMES 4 : DRAW CLOSE TO GOD

 

JAMES

Chapter 4

DRAW CLOSE TO GOD

Has every effort you made to draw close to God sometimes made you feel even further away from Him? Have you ever been confronted with this question or asked yourself, how do I draw close to God? Why is it necessary for us to draw close to God and how do we even do it when we were born into this world as sinners and are living in a sinful world?

In this chapter of James, he writes to the Jewish Christians who were scattered over the whole world (James 1:1) and reveal the reason for this waywardness, but he also exhorts and gives us practical ways on how we can draw close to God. Let’s explore this a bit further.

1.       Why do we sometimes (or often times) feel that we cannot draw close to God?

The core problem we have as humans as explained in James 4: 1-4 is the condition of our heart and our desires. It is this condition of man’s heart that leads to quarrels and dispute and war and separation from God (distance if you will).

In our core, the sinful nature we were born into, desires these things. When the prophet Jeremiah interceded for the tribe of Judah, he laments in Jer 17:9 "Who can understand the human heart? There is nothing else so deceitful; it is too sick to be healed. Jer 17:10 I, the LORD, search the minds and test the hearts of people. I treat each of them according to the way they live, according to what they do." (GNT)

James addressed this issue about worldly desires to Jesus’s followers, which means that even followers of Christ struggle with this war of good versus evil within us, the longing for worldly things vs the things of the Kingdom of Christ.

2.       God’s answer to cure the state of our deceitful hearts?

If the preceding paragraph is a discomfort to you, it is a good thing, because it means that you do not want to be far from God. So do not despair, as children living under the new Covenant, we can be assured that our LORD God Almighty made a way for us to overcome. How did He do this?

In James 4:5-6 he points to the fact that when we are born again, (v5) God has placed the Holy Spirit within us, who longs for us to be faithful and (v6) helps us by giving us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. The Holy Spirit is a wonderful, precious gift the Lord has given us, to be cherished and to give the space in our heart He deserves.

 

BUT we have to die to our fleshly nature and desires and humble ourselves as “He has no use for conceited people, but shows favour to those who are humble. (GNT)” (James 4:6b and Prov 3:34)

 

3.       Doing my part - How I can draw close to God?

James 4:7-10 gives us four tools we can use to draw near to God:

·       V7a – Humble (submit) yourself before God. In other words do not be boastful and lean on your own ability and understanding and think that you can accomplish things in your own strength.

·       V7b – Resist the devil and he will flee from you. If you have a struggle with something do not go to that place of temptation, avoid it as far as possible. Find scripture that you can use as a weapon to help you resist.

·       V8 – Draw close to God, wash your hands and purify your hearts. Choose to live a life of purity, with your thoughts, your body and your actions. If you stray (all of us do), be quick to repent and return to Jesus who paid the price so that you can draw close to God.

·       V9 – Let there be deep sorrow and grief for you sin (not merely the consequences thereof). Do not feel shameful because you stumbled, all of us do in our walk with the Lord and is in need of Jesus our Saviour.

In v10 James reminds us of the promise that when we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will lift us up. The humbling process might be painful, but it is so worth it to experience that closeness and intimacy with God when we do.

Let us reflect

·       When we pray to God is our prayers to satisfy our own fleshly desires, to provide for our comfort, our status, our worldly reputation or… is it truly aligned with His vision and His will for us? If we ask only to satisfy our needs, we are befriending the world.

It is a hard question to answer if you are 100% honest with yourself, but God gave us a helper, the Holy Spirit. God is quick to forgive and redeem us, when we humble ourselves in His presence and surrender/yield control of our lives to Him fully.

Let us Pray

LORD God Almighty, King of kings and Lord of lords, our Saviour and Redeemer we enter your courts with thanksgiving in our hearts, we enter your courts with praise for You only want what is best for us. Search our hearts and our minds Lord, create a clean (humble) heart within us and renew our minds to align with Your will for us. Help us Lord to resist worldly temptations and deliver us from the evil one. For to you alone belongs the Glory and the Honour and the Majesty forever and ever. Amen.

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PASTORA HESMA

 

JAMES 1 : GENUINE FAITH

 

James 1 teaches that real faith is seen in how we respond to trials, temptation, God’s Word, and everyday life. It moves believers from hearing the truth to living the truth.

True faith endures trials, resists temptation, trusts God’s wisdom, and lives in obedience to His Word.

Joy in Trials (v.1–4)

“Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

Trials:

• Test your faith

• Produce perseverance

• Lead to spiritual maturity

Verse 4:

“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete.”

Difficult seasons are not meant to destroy you—they are meant to grow you.

Ask God for Wisdom (v.5–8)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God…”

God promises to give wisdom generously.
But we must ask:

• In faith

• Without doubt

A double-minded person is unstable.

Trust God fully when you seek His guidance.

The Truth About Temptation (v.12–18)

Verse 12:

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial… they will receive the crown of life.”

Important truths:

• God does not tempt anyone

• Temptation comes from our own desires

• Desire leads to sin

• Sin leads to death

But God gives:

• Good gifts

• New life

• Truth

Temptation begins in the heart—guard your desires.

Let us reflect:

So how does a believer respond to hard times?

How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believers?

What do believers do when they lack wisdom to make a decision ?

What choice does real trust in God lead us to make?

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PASTORA VAJIRA - JCRC SINHALESE 

HEBREWS 12: RUNNING THE RACE WITH ENDURANCE

 

Running the race of faith with Endurance

Hebrews 12

  1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

  Keys to staying in the race

1)Lay aside every weight:

Let us lay aside all the weights that we have and have been holding on that slow down our spiritual growth, such as our unnecessary worries, our unhealthy habits, hidden sins and all the worldly distractions that surround us.

2)Put away sin which clings so closely 

Ephesians 4: 22- 24 -  to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

3) Run with endurance

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

4)Looking to Jesus. (not to self or others) because each and every one has different battles or weakness

Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

Let’s reflect

Hebrews 12:1 and 2 reminds us that the race of faith is something “God has set before us and urging us believers how we can endure when faced  with trials and persecutions.The Apostle Paul wrote with his letter to Timothy I have finished the Race and kept the faith, and that’s the place where we all want to get, for the Lord to tell us Well done good and faithful servant, it’s one thing to say I’m in the Race if you’re in Christ today but the important thing is STAYING IN the Race.  

“Therefore, all the POWER we need to Run and Finish the race well is in us now through him, which is his Holy spirit that helps us put off the old life, laying aside sins that clings so closely(addiction) he also helps us exercising self-control which is the Fruit of the Holy spirit in discipline and endurance. 

We are to die to ourself because his power is made perfect in our weakness and just let his holy spirit to run this race of endurance because he has done it and overcome it, in Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

*He is the author and finisher of our faith

*He endured the cross, his endurance lives in us

*He is seated on the right hand of God (Honour and strength)

Let us be reminded of his promises, get our eyes off ourselves and look to Jesus every single day, believing in God’s word and not our experiences.

Hebrews10:21-25

21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,

25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing nearby.

 Heart Check:

1. What are the things that are not necessarily bad but, is slowing me down or adding weight?
2. What are some of my sins which clings so closely, also known as addictions that I need to put off?
3. Where do my eyes linger more is it on my problems or on Jesus?
4. If I continue to run at my current pace with my current focus ,will I finish the race set before me well?

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PASTORA KATHY