Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Apostle Peter addressed his second epistle to those who have obtained precious faith like theirs. “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” II Peter 1:1 NKJV. In effect, he meant that he had no special advantage over any other person professing faith in Jesus. It is important to note that it was that precious faith we find at the root of his exploits ranging from healing the lame man to raising the dead. If we have what Peter had, why does it seem that we are powerless and helpless? Why doesn’t the name produce as effectively as it once did? A principal reason is that many people routinely take the name of the Lord in vain.

Two things can be seen here as taking the name of the Lord in vain; that is, lying and stealing…Lie misleads; it corrupts the judgment of the victim…Withholding what is due to people and to God is also stealing! …It’s time to clean up so as to recover our heritage in the name of Jesus.

Two things can be seen here as taking the name of the Lord in vain; that is, lying and stealing. These issues are viewed seriously by God. Whenever someone lies, he is indirectly controlling his victim; and God does not want anyone to have a controlling spirit. Lie misleads; it corrupts the judgment of the victim. We will all readily condemn armed robbers. However, it is not only when people rob at gun point that they violate God’s word. Withholding what is due to people and to God is also stealing! The problem today is that so much lying and stealing are going on in the Church. And as if that is not enough, people don’t count them as gross sins. It’s time to clean up so as to recover our heritage in the name of Jesus.

The history of the world has been largely that of conflict punctuated occasionally by relative calm. Our text says that the work of righteousness will be peace. It goes without saying that the perpetual conflicts and full blown war that the world has known is a pointer to the absence of righteousness. Melchizedek is known to be a type of Christ. Hebrews 7:2 describes him first as the king of righteousness and then the King of peace. Peace cannot take place in the absence of righteousness. In eschatological terms, the 1,000 years of peace on earth will coincide with the time when Jesus sits on the throne.

Peace cannot take place in the absence of righteousness…Righteousness imparts peace upon the heart. A righteous man needs not fear of being caught…Righteousness leads to increase in another sense. When you live right, you are able to attract the grace of God into your life’s pursuits.

To a reasonable extent, those who have Jesus on the throne of their lives can enjoy peace even now. Righteousness imparts peace upon the heart. A righteous man needs not fear of being caught. With peace of heart comes clear thought. When your mission is clean, your heart will be free; and when you have a free mind, you will think great thoughts that will lead to great increase. Remember that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Righteousness leads to increase in another sense. When you live right, you are able to attract the grace of God into your life’s pursuits.

The intimidation that Saul’s army suffered in the hands of the Philistines was largely due to negligence of the word of God. There was an assurance that God gave them long ago before they settled into the Promised Land. ““When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Deuteronomy‬ 20‬:1‬ NKJV‬‬. They allowed the multitude of the Philistine’s army and the gaunt nature of their champion, Goliath to paralyze them for 40 days.‬‬‬‬‬

Without a daring heart, neither the promises of God nor the weapons of war would produce any positive results.

It took David, the young teenager, to make a difference. The first stone he hauled at the giant brought him down. Here we have a test case of a simple weapon accomplishing great feat. This is a quick reminder of what Paul would later state that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God. A small thing channeled through God becomes lethal in its effect. There was nothing that David employed in defeating Goliath that the rest soldiers who were humiliated for 40 days did not have access to. Any of them could have picked the stones that David picked. Also, any of them could have engaged the name of the Lord. What they lack was the courage to act. Without a daring heart, neither the promises of God nor the weapons of war would produce any positive results.

Our annual mission trip took us to a section of Tanzania inhabited by the Maasai tribe. Our host who has been doing phenomenal work shared with us the challenges he is facing on the mission field. One was scarcity of water. The other was lack of transportation for the field staff who sometimes walked about 10 kilometers or more for evangelism. In March this year, our ministry was able to provide 40 bicycles to ease the transportation challenge. Two things are crystal clear from text. Firstly, we have a scriptural summary of the reason for abundance. Apart from meeting our personal needs, abundance gives us the capacity to engage in “every good work.” A good work will range from anything done to alleviate the sufferings of others to providing assistance in fulfilling their mission. No gift of God is designed for showmanship. God gifts to men is to enable them serve. Those who crave wealth for the fun of it or to live indulgently will run at cross-purpose to God.

No gift of God is designed for showmanship. God gifts to men is to enable them serve…All of God’s gifts come through the release of grace appropriated by faith…God’s grace will lead us to a productive venture; and at the same time ensure that our labour is not in vain.

Secondly, we are instructed on the means to abundance. All of God’s gifts come through the release of grace appropriated by faith; and this does not exclude abundance. Grace at work does not exclude us from productive enterprise. When Paul described the secret of his successful life, he mentioned the interlocking forces of grace and labour. God’s grace will lead us to a productive venture; and at the same time ensure that our labour is not in vain.

There is nothing of nature’s treasures that is carelessly strewn across the highway; they are typically tucked deep down in the belly of the earth. Gold is usually located at depths ranging from 50 meters to over 4,000 meters below the Earth’s surface. Gold found around 500 meters and below are called shallow deposits. Imagine that to find gold even at shallow depths, you have to go down the earth to a distance longer than a lap of the football field. Our text captures the effort of those who hunt for the precious things of the earth. They search the roots of the mountains, digging away in suffocating darkness, far from civilization and from traffic.

…nothing of importance comes at a bargain…if you want to impact your generation for God, you need to cast your dream of ease away.

The essence of all these is that nothing of importance comes at a bargain. Whether we are hunting for physical and financial trophy or spiritual enrichment, there is a price to pay. This is even more true in the spiritual context. Every time I speak with one of God’s choice servants, Reverend Segun Olugbemi, he leaves me with things to ponder on. When we spoke in March this year, he said that one cannot receive from the living room what others went to the Cross to obtain. It boils down to this: if you want to impact your generation for God, you need to cast your dream of ease away. Get ready to occasionally shut the door against civilization and human traffic to connect with spiritual deposits that will change your generation.

Mia McGrath is a 24-year old model who went viral recently after revealing that she had saved $97,000. She achieved that feat by adopting an austere lifestyle. She lived on basic meals like bread and eggs, mainly cooked by herself. She avoided other unnecessary expenses as well. She toed this path of sacrifice because of one goal she set – financial independence at a young age. She had to forgo many things and delay gratification for that singular goal.

It is easy to confuse a daydream with a dream. A goal that is not backed up by commensurate sacrifice is nothing more than a daydream.

Economists talk of opportunity cost, known as the alternative forgone. It is what you let go in order to attain some other things. This is not just an economic principle, it is also a spiritual rule for kingdom living. When James and John came to Jesus to ask for the highest seats in the kingdom, Jesus first asked them if they could drink His cup and be baptized with His baptism. In effect, Jesus told them that they had to give out something – their lives – to ever qualify to see the goal they set. In our text, the merchant man gave up everything to purchase that one pearl of great worth. Often we come across people with grandiose goals but with little appetite for sacrifice. It is easy to confuse a daydream with a dream. A goal that is not backed up by commensurate sacrifice is nothing more than a daydream.