Good Tuesday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Do you know that today is “Mardi Gras” in many parts of the world? And I wonder what that means where you live. Historically the significance of this Tuesday is tied to what tomorrow is… Ash Wednesday. Depending on where you live tomorrow, you may see some people with what appears to be a dark splotch, maybe in the form of a cross, on their forehead. That splotch is ashes, specifically ashes from burned palm fronds. What palm fronds? Those kept from last year’s Palm Sunday celebrations which by now are dried and last year’s Palm Sunday celebration long forgotten.
Ash Wednesday for many people begins a 40 day season some call Lent, which anticipates the arrival of Easter, something like Advent anticipates the arrival of Christmas. During these 40 Lenten seasons many people will abstain from certain things in a type of fast, to help them remember the sacrifice Jesus paid on the cross to earn forgiveness of sins. Because of Ash Wednesday, some people use this Tuesday as their last big day of freedom to participate in the activities from which they will abstain for the next 40 days. Now think about that for just a moment as we join Peter again while he writes his second letter to Christians trying to challenge them to pursue truth and resist deceitfulness so rampant in their world and ours. As we gather around Peter again, he is writing a powerful and profound statement: “God’s divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these God has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3,4)
Oh my, that is a remarkable statement and so very significant for what this day, “Mardi Gras” will be for many people! I think Peter laid down his stylus, got up from his stool and paced around the small room to which he was restricted in his Roman incarceration. Peter was calling his fellow Christians who live in a very pagan world, both then and now, to realize God can give us the power to live a “godly life“! What is that? It means a life which HONORS God in every way!
What do you think about that? Is a God honoring life really possible for us sin natured human beings? Is that what monks or nuns, living in remote monasteries, are attempting to achieve? Is that just a little of what Lent abstentions are supposed to achieve? But Peter isn’t talking about isolated, monastic living, nor about radical abstention from anything pleasurable.
For three years Peter walked the dusty roads of Palestine with Jesus. Peter watched Jesus very closely. Jesus lived a sinless life, despite the growing antagonism and opposition He faced from many people and even from the demonic dark kingdom. Peter concluded it was the power of God, the holiness of God, the majesty of God alive and at work in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit of God, which enabled Jesus to live a God honoring life at all times. I think Peter found some secrets to how Jesus lived a godly life.
First, Peter had personally observed Jesus prioritizing TIME alone with His heavenly Father, Almighty God, particularly early in the morning. (Mark 1:35) Peter had seen Jesus seeking guidance from God for each day, each major decision. (Luke 6:12,13)
Second, Peter had watched Jesus’s battle both the demonic forces of the dark kingdom and human opposition with God’s unchanging Truth and God’s supremacy overall. (Mark 5)
And third, Peter had watched Jesus submit Himself to God’s plans and purposes even when they required extreme suffering and even death. (Matt. 26,27)
None of these were easy for Peter. Peter was a self-made man. A hard working, successful in the fishing business, self-confident man in almost any situation. Peter was a natural leader, people were attracted to him and followed him. In many ways, Peter was like Moses of old, yet Peter knew if he was going to live like Jesus he had to change and become like Jesus in those key areas he had observed in Jesus. Peter had experienced a radical transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in him as Peter had renounced his self-reliance and fully trusted Jesus to be his Savior, his Master and his king.
We saw the evidence of this in Peter as we looked at the record in Acts 1-12 of Peter’s life in the weeks and months after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. It’s clear the Holy Spirit of God was in fact transforming Peter’s character, Peter’s thinking, Peter’s heart and his priorities. Peter was determined to never again shame or deny Jesus with his life words, choices, attitudes or actions. Peter was not perfect by any means, but Peter was determined to allow the Holy Spirit to do all the work needed so he could become more and more like Jesus.
That is what Peter experienced and what he meant when he wrote:“…God has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” What promises was Peter thinking about which had made his transformation and escape from the corruption of this world possible? As I draw our time to a close today, may I give you three promises Jesus made and ask if you are living in their power as Peter was?1. Jesus had said: “I will ask the Father and He will send you another Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to help you and be with you forever. He is the Spirit of Truth…he will live in you…He will guide you into all Truth.” (John 14:15-17; 16:13)
Yes, Peter knew he had received the Holy Spirit of God and he was experiencing the Spirit guiding him and teaching Him in God’s Truth. Can you and I say the same for ourselves?
2. Jesus had said: “I am the vine, you are the branches, My Father is the Gardner. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. My Father will prune every branch that bears fruit so it will be even more fruitful…apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-8)
Peter made it his daily priority to stay vibrantly connected to Jesus even though Jesus had returned to heaven. Peter welcomed the pruning work of God, even if it sometimes meant character change. Do we invite that work of God in us?
3. Jesus had prayed for Peter and His other followers: “Father, protect them by the power of Your Name…My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. Sanctify them by the truth, Your Word is truth…” (John 17)
Peter faced all opposition with strong confidence he was being protected by His heavenly Father’s power and God’s truth. Peter immersed himself in knowing God and knowing God’s truth. Even in prison persecution and eventual execution, Peter stood firm, unwavering, confident of God’s presence and holding tightly to God’s truth. Are you and I doing the same?
This is what Peter meant by writing: “you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” I hope you and I can both say we are pursuing the very same relationship with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, which Peter described. Here’s a wonderful song to help us celebrate these realities, my friends:
Today’s Scripture is 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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