Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Sanctification goes beyond mere external piety. In our text, Peter sums up the requirements for a life of purity with two cardinal points. The first is obeying the truth. We are not talking of relative truth as being advocated by liberal schools of thought today, but truth as presented in the Word of God. Jesus said the words He spoke to us are spirit and life, and they are the truth that sanctifies. We should use the word of God as umpire to determine what is true or false. When we obey the written word of God we demonstrate that our souls have been purified. This is not hard to explain: a soul that is yet to be purified has no interest in the word of God much less obeying it. Take note that being able to obey the word of God is also the outworking of God’s Spirit in believers.

When we obey the written word of God we demonstrate that our souls have been purified …a man is no more purified than how yielded he is to the truth and love of the brethren.

The second thing that proves a soul is sanctified is sincere love of the brethren. It is not just any kind of love; it has to be sincere. Again, the love we are expected to show to the brethren must be from a pure heart. What does this mean? It is to love without any ulterior motive. This is the type of love God showed to us, and that is what He expects us to spread among the brethren. The foregoing brings us to one conclusion: a man is no more purified than how yielded he is to the truth and love of the brethren. The Colossians thought that ascetic lifestyle and punishing the body were the way to prove godliness. Now we know that all attempts to discipline the body through a rigorous regiment will be futile unless we abide in the truth and love as brethren.

A good way to remain upbeat even when things appear negative is to learn to put a new construction on them. There is a story of a pastor I always recall whenever I teach about thanksgiving. His attitude every Sunday before launching his sermons was to thank the Lord profusely. On one occasion, there was a bad weather which almost paralyzed everything and led to low attendance. Someone who had noticed his attitude of thanksgiving thought that he would find nothing for which to thank God on such a day, but he came home disappointed when the pastor said, “Lord, I thank You because it has not always been like this.”

We also can find beauty in virtually every seeming disaster if only we will adjust our gaze and allow God to work everything out after the counsel of His will.

Having a good construction over issue was what one Louise adopted to handle situation when she was raped. Louise was raped by someone who should be protecting her. Things got worse for her when she discovered that she got pregnant from the assault. Feminists often make a strong case for abortion in such circumstance; but Louise would have none of that. She said, “When people say abortion is needed in cases of rape, I feel that is very unfair. If your body has already started to create life, undoing that process seems very detrimental. I also knew that there’s already a heart beating. There’s already a life there. And for me to go and intentionally take away someone’s intent to life, that wouldn’t sit well with me for the rest of my life.” For her, aborting the baby would amount to letting an innocent life pay for the rapist’s crime. She would later describe her child at birth as “beauty in the disaster.” We also can find beauty in virtually every seeming disaster if only we will adjust our gaze and allow God to work everything out after the counsel of His will.

A spreading error among those who profess faith in Jesus is seeking to fight spiritual battles with physical weapons. I have seen people, in the name of prayer, come to church with cutlass and gun to fight the devil. Such practice would have been laughable if not that it is pitiable. Peter was once caught in such error. As the hordes of Jews came to arrest Jesus, he brought out his sword and chopped off a man’s ear, ostensibly to defend the Master. He definitely had a different idea of how the battle of his Lord should be fought. Meanwhile, Jesus had wrapped up the battle in the garden of Gethsemane in that powerful session of intercession. It was a battle of the spirit meant to be fought in the realm of the spirit; and He had done that.

If you fight in the flesh, you will fail miserably; but reliance on the name and the blood of Jesus will spell victory.

Many believers know that we are at war; but few know the nature of the war. Paul gives us insight into both the nature and the means of prosecuting our warfare. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” II Corinthians 10:4 NKJV. Our weapons are not physical, because the warfare is not physical either. The enemies we confront are the principalities and powers, the unseen rulers of darkness. You cannot take aim at them with your physical swords. Comprehensive faith in Jesus and His accomplished work on the cross, and a life of consistent intercession is what guarantees victory. If you fight in the flesh, you will fail miserably; but reliance on the name and the blood of Jesus will spell victory.

It would appear that God deals with us based on knowledge or the light that we have over any issue. There are two ways to demonstrate this, one from each of the testaments. When Uzzah touched the ark of God, he was killed instantly. The ark was hurriedly abandoned in the house of Obed-Edom and he was not slain even though there are chances that he touched the ark while in his custody.

Who was Obed-Edom? We understand that he was a Gittite. For the record, a Gittite was an inhabitant of Gath, one of the chief Philistine cities. Obed-Edom probably was one of the Philistines who had emigrated to Judah. Why was Uzzah killed and Obed-Edom spared? Uzzah was a native Israelite who ought to know the protocol of God concerning the ark. A stranger to the ways of the God of Israel was not put under the same demand as those who knew Him well enough.

A stranger to the ways of the God of Israel was not put under the same demand as those who knew Him well enough …to whom much is given, much is expected.

A New Testament parallel to this would be the case of Mary and Zechariah. Mary questioned the angel about his word to her. She wondered how she would be able to give birth without knowing a man. The angel did not smite her, but only explained that the Holy Spirit would see to it. The same angel smote Zechariah with dumbness when he questioned how realistic it was for Elizabeth to give birth to a son when they were both old. He must have been smitten because, as a priest, he ought to have known better that there was nothing impossible with God. Moreover, it was the thing he had prayed to get for a long time. The summary of this is that to whom much is given, much is expected.

Samuel Paty was a 47-year-old French History and Geography teacher who was brutally beheaded by a jihadist on October 16, 2020. The attack was a result of a fierce online smear campaign started by a 13-year-old Muslim student. She claimed that the teacher had, during the class on free speech, asked all Muslim students to leave the classroom to enable him show controversial caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed. She invented the story to provide an alibi for her suspension the previous day due to absences. It was not until 2024 during police investigation that she confessed that all was a ruse and apologized to Samuel Paty’s family for destroying their lives.

Invariably, behind every conflict is some measure of deceit… The only way to escape the lie of the devil and the tragic consequences it brings is to be grounded in the truth which is encapsulated in the word of God. 

In our text, Jesus described Satan not just as a liar but the father of it. It should be no stress to admit that all who are his will make lies their stock in trade. The Bible speaks of a thousand years of uninterrupted peace on earth. Coincidentally, it is during that same period that Satan will be bound and unable to deceive people. Invariably, behind every conflict is some measure of deceit. If a family is in disarray, one or more members are subscribing to lies of the devil. That the devil is going about to cause havoc is an open secret. What many people have not come to terms with is how he is executing his war with so much effectiveness. Apostle Peter portrays him as a lion seeking who he might devour (1 Peter 5:8). Knowing his modus operandi is critical for our escape. The principal way by which the devil preys on people is deception. He goes about lying to people. The only way to escape the lie of the devil and the tragic consequences it brings is to be grounded in the truth which is encapsulated in the word of God.

Peter Munyasya speaks to the root of our world’s problem when he said, “We are stuck where we are now because we live in a materialistic world where all attention is only given to men with deep pockets while we ignore men with deep thoughts.” Being heard and seen are basically tied to having deep pockets, and this has led to insatiable quest for money. The spiraling evil we see today is fueled by the love of money. No time is the word of Jesus more needed than now: “And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Luke 12:15 NKJV

The spiraling evil we see today is fueled by the love of money…Physical riches are good, if obtained in the way of righteousness. Even at that, physical riches do not compare to being rich towards God.

On the surface, it would seem as if Jesus condemned abundance in all ramifications. Not at all, His warning was against covetousness. The parable following the warning also helps to put things in perspective. He told of a man whose ground produced abundantly and decided to greedily hoard everything for his use alone. Then his soul was taken from him that same day. He drew the parallel to that as the lot of those who are not rich towards God. Physical riches are good, if obtained in the way of righteousness. Even at that, physical riches do not compare to being rich towards God. It is those who are rich towards God that will inherit the earth. Not the earth as presently constituted, but the new one that shall descend from heaven. Its length, breadth and height are all equal. That speaks of perfection! That ought to be the ultimate longing of all.