But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2Timothy 3:1-5

I shared in the last devotional the danger of loving ourselves and indulging our carnal nature. Being lovers of self is also important as it relates to raising loving and respectful children! The above scripture, tells us that in the last days children will be disobedient to parents. Paul prophesies that they will be unthankful, unholy, and unloving. This is a warning for all of us as parents and grandparents!

Many of us can be guilty of spoiling our children/grandchildren and making excuses for their bad attitude or behavior. Sometimes, we are so focused on their success, good grades, entering top colleges, and developing an impressive career that we forget what God cares about! The Lord cares more about the condition of our children’s hearts than their impressive accomplishments!

If children are disobedient and unthankful in their younger years, someday they will carry those attitudes to their jobs and their marriages when they are adults. Some parents marvel at their children talking back to them and having a sassy rebuttal. They see it as a leadership or negotiation gift. There might be some truth to it, but it’s the parents’ job to channel the children’s gifting and to teach them self-control. The truth is that if the children are comfortable challenging their parents at age 8 0r 9, by the time they get to teenage years, they have the capacity to rebel at a whole another level, and that sassy response won’t be cute anymore! Instead, their rebellion can create much pain for the children as well as their families.

There is also the danger of raising unthankful children! We live in a land of plenty, and many parents are blessed with vast amounts of resources. This allows them to give their children anything they want or desire. It is incumbent upon us to show self-control and not feed their every demand and desire.  It’s good for them to hear a “no” from time to time. For example, if the girls are getting regular manicures when they are 15 years old, what will be a special treat for them when they are 25 or 30!? Every time we give-in to their desires, we increase their standard of satisfaction thereby leading them to dissatisfaction! It makes it harder for them to be happy with simple things in life.

Dissatisfaction in life leads to having an unthankful attitude! Unthankfulness is one of the characteristics of being lovers of ourselves that Paul writes about in the above scripture. Children need to learn to be thankful and use the words, “Thank you!” Some people including children seem to have a problem to say, “Thank you!” That could be an issue of pride, and it shows that the person thinks more highly of themselves than they ought. There are many scriptures that instruct us to be thankful and to praise God in all things. Thankfulness is a state of humility and appreciating what God is giving the person. It is also a reminder that we need the Lord and others in our lives and that we are not an island to ourselves. If we want to raise thankful children, we have to put limit on how much we cater to their demands and observe their attitude when they don’ get their way!

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.”  Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,  but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Genesis 4:1-6

The story of Cain and Abel reveals our need for acceptance and the danger to achieve it in our own way.  Cain and Abel both brought an offering to the Lord. Abel brought an animal sacrifice, and the Lord accepted it. However, Cain decided to bring an offering from the produce of his own hands, and it was not accepted by the Lord.

Seeing Cain’s displeasure, the Lord explained to Cain that if he did well, he would also be accepted. The Lord also told Cain that if he chose not to do well, he was opening the door to sin. God both encouraged and warned Cain about his relationship with Him. This was Cain’s opportunity to get it right and bring the kind of offering that the Lord expected.

Instead of taking responsibility for his own actions, Cain took God’s correction as rejection and became angry! Cain took it further by directing his anger towards Abel and thinking that God’s rejection was due to the fact that Abel’s sacrifice was better. Cain could have had the opportunity to ask the Lord for forgiveness.  However, he chose to focus on Abel for his problems.

There are times that we look at those around us and consider them to be the obstacle to our acceptance.  Spouses complain about each other for being an obstacle for fulfilling God’s plan in their lives. Children rebel against their parents accusing them of holding them back from living to the fullest. Some are discontent with their jobs because they see their coworker as the obstacle for them being liked by the boss.  Some women compete for their desire to develop good friendships. People try to destroy one another by backbiting and gossip just so that they can be accepted. All the while, the person is aware of their areas of shortcomings that they can be working on. Instead of asking the Lord to help them, they blame others for their problems.

Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Genesis 4:8

Cain chose to kill his brother, even though Abel was not the problem. Abel had nothing to do with Cain’s offering not being accepted.  Cain could have been the only child, and his sacrifice still would not have been accepted by God. Cain had the option of running to God, but he didn’t. Instead of humbly accepting God’s correction, he became angry. He also ignored God’s warning about sin desiring to control him. He opened the door to the sin of murder, which eventually led him to living a life of fugitive and a vagabond.

When we try to strive for acceptance in our own carnal ways and ignore God’s instructions, we open the door to all kinds of evil including rejection, loss of relationships, hurting people, and living in a dry land as a vagabond on a quest for acceptance.

Do you feel accepted? If not, who do you see as your obstacle to acceptance? Do you trivialize God’s correction? Do you have a tendency to blame others for your problems? Are you angry at others who seem to be accepted? Do you find yourself moving from job to job, relationship to relationship, or church to church because you don’t find acceptance? Ask the Lord to show you and let Him speak to you about this important issue.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,  and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4

The disciples were curious to know who was the greatest in the kingdom. They were trying through reasoning to convert their own ideas into a spiritual reality. However, their carnal inclinations had clouded their spiritual lens in seeing God’s heart for His Kingdom. The disciples presumed that all of them were guaranteed entry to the Kingdom of heaven, so the more critical issue for them was the person greatest in the kingdom! However, that was not Jesus’ focus. He surprised the disciples by telling them that they needed to be converted and become like little children. 

Jesus stated two important principles that we need to reminded of. I will share about the first one in this devotional and the second one in the next devotional. The first principal is that whoever desires to see the Kingdom of God must be converted spiritually. Every person must accept that he/she is a sinner in need of forgiveness, and that he/she needs the salvation offered by Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. This converts a person from a natural being to a life giving spirit. They become born again with a new nature born from above (See John 3:1-18).

Sometimes when we present the gospel, it sounds like God loves people so much that there are no conditions attached to salvation.  God loves everyone, but God does not save people apart from their decision to receive forgiveness and redemption. We all have to accept the fact that there is nothing we can do to make us change our nature or to buy eternal life for ourselves. It only comes by turning to Jesus and asking Him to forgive us and to change us. If we were raised in a Christian home, it does not guarantee that we are saved. If our parents or grandparents were pastors or ministers, it does not guarantee that we are saved. If we have been going to church most of our lives and are involved in ministry, it doesn’t mean we are saved. The salvation that Jesus spoke about brings a conversion that will be evident with the tangible change in our lives.

Let me pause here and ask you the most important question of your life. Have you turned to the Lord and admitted that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness? Have you ever repented of your sins and asked Jesus to enter your life? Repentance is about a changed mind and change of direction in life.  If you have never repented and asked Jesus to forgive you,  this is your chance to make it right with God and become born again. You can click on “Salvation Prayer” and pray the sinner’s prayer. When you do this, you begin a new, fresh, and alive walk with God that opens the door to the Kingdom of heaven.

Some of you may say that you accepted Jesus years ago, but your relationship with the Lord has turned distant, dry, and stagnant. This is your opportunity to recommit your life to the Lord and ask Him to wash you, cleanse you from all sin, unbelief, and doubt, and to breathe a fresh breath of life on you. 

If you made a decision to follow Jesus, I encourage you to make the commitment to read the Bible and to pray on daily basis. In addition, find a solid Bible-believing church and become part of a community of believers.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them,  and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1-4

Jesus’ disciples continued to have carnal ideas about the Kingdom of God, so they asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of God. I wonder if they expected a certain response from Jesus.  Did Peter think that Jesus would call Him the greatest since He recognized Him as the Messiah!? Or did John assume that he was the favorite so he must be the greatest!? Maybe Judas thought he was a good money manager for Jesus, so he would be admired as the greatest! Each of them may have hoped that Jesus would call them as the greatest and He would not mention the others’ names.

Our fallen nature is rooted in insecurity, and it has an insatiable desire to be the greatest. Deep down inside, there is that secret place where people want to be the greatest, but it is not something they want to talk about or admit! The old nature cannot handle being forgotten or insignificant. Therefore, it tries, through right or wrong means, to make itself look important, great, or significant. 

The desire to be the greatest wreaks havoc in relationships. The scripture in James 3:16 tells us that selfish ambition produces confusion and all kinds of evil. This secret desire creates friction in families, confusion at workplace, and disunity in churches. It impacts our relationship with the Lord and with others. The truth is that as long as we are looking for something external to make us feel significant we are on a shaky ground and will remain insecure! There is always going to be someone who will look more capable, popular, and beautiful. This causes individuals to be on this never-ending cycle of competition in order to maintain their standing in whatever they deem important. 

In today’s culture, we are more sophisticated than the disciples. We would not dare asking that question from anyone, but we advertise our achievements in one way or another to ensure that people perceive us as great in something. Sometimes we receive that pat on the back from the number of “likes” we receive on social media. The comments people leave is another avenue that we try to satisfy the insatiable desire to be the “greatest”!

The good news is that the disciples’ desire to be the greatest did not disqualify them from being His disciples, but Jesus did not answer their question right away. Instead, He focused on who would be able to see the Kingdom of God! The disciples had an earthly and shallow perspective of the Kingdom of God. They presumed that all of them were going to make it to heaven. They assumed they were all heaven bound, so there must be something more special about the one who is the greatest in heaven.  As we know, their assumption was wrong and not all of them made it to heaven. Judas walked away from Jesus by betraying Him!

Do you have thoughts and desires of greatness? Do they cause competition or jealousy in your heart? If so, those desires are an opportunity for evil and confusion to take root in your relationships. They need to be surrendered at the feet of Jesus and walked away from.

So who is the greatest in the Kingdom!? I continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;  but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1Peter 1:13-15

Peter reminds us that we have the hope and the expectation that Jesus will continue to reveal Himself to us until such a time that we meet Him face to face. This is an important point for all of us. Our personal relationship with the Lord requires us to remain in tune with Him. While we need to read the Bible daily, we should also keep our spiritual eyes and ears open to anything that the Lord wants to speak or reveal to us. Otherwise our walk with Him becomes dry, distant, and functional.

Peter goes on to tell us that we are called to be obedient children. We can’t be holy people and be disobedient at the same time! Many people live unrestrained lives because they have no hope or vision for their future. They think that this life is all there is, so they might as well live it up and do what they want to do. Others think that their hard work has earned them the right to splurge and that they deserve what they do with their time and money.

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18

The scripture tells us that without revelation and vision people cast off restraint. On the flip side, with vision and revelation from God, we can walk the narrow path, keep to His ways, and restrain ourselves from indulging ourselves. Everything we do has spiritual implications. We cannot create a compartment of holiness in one corner of our lives but then do what we want to do in other areas of our lives.

Furthermore, Peter told the believers not to walk in the former lusts as ignorant people.  When we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, He forgave us and delivered us from our past sins and habits. Now, on the other side of the cross and deliverance, we are able to see how the enemy had held us captive by wrong mindsets and habits. Our eyes were opened to the spiritual warfare waged against God’s people. We are no longer ignorant of the enemy’s devices who tried to hold us captive by various temptations and lusts.  Once we see the spiritual realities, we can’t go back to the old lifestyle of ignorance anymore. While the enemy will still try to tempt us, God gives us the grace to overcome in every situation if we look to Him for help.

Praise God for the work of Jesus on the cross. He purchased righteousness, holiness, and freedom for us through His shed blood. We could not have earned or achieved it in our own strength. However, once we become a born again believer, we have a responsibility to walk with Him in holiness. He gives us the new nature, the vision, the grace, and the enablement to overcome ourselves, the world, and the enemy! Now we become like Him as we walk in holiness.

Walking in holiness is about putting the past behind, getting a handle on our thoughts, remaining alert to temptations, and walking the narrow path of God’s ways. Are you able to declare that you are holy in all your conduct? Are you willing to walk the narrow path of holiness without regard to friends and family members whose goal and vision are not the same as yours? Are you able to overcome your own thoughts and emotions and surrender your will daily to the Lord? God will enable us to walk in this path of holiness one step at a time as we walk according to Peter’s exhortation in the above passage.

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;  but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1Peter 1:13-15

Peter exhorted the church that in the light of Jesus’ work on the cross they are to live holy lives. As I shared in the last devotional, he began by telling them to gird up the loins of their minds. This would ensure that their minds would not give life to evil but good.

Peter also told them to live sober lives. There are physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects to being sober. The below definition helps us to understand sobriety.

Definition of sober (according to Strong’s Concordance: G 3525): to be sober, to be calm and collected in spirit, to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect, to abstain from wine (keep sober), be discreet:—be sober, watch.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and physically we are called to stay alert and abstain from becoming intoxicated with alcohol. We have a culture that drinking alcohol is its favorite pastime. Much harm is committed in the name of having fun when people lose their alertness and get into foolishness. It is a known fact that college campuses have a high rates of drinking and rape, but unfortunately, it is not deterring people from this harmful activity.  When people are intoxicated, they can’t think clearly and act responsibly, which leads to much evil.

At the emotional level, we need to remain sober because it is very easy to get offended and emotional about little things. We have to have remain alert and understand that the enemy is after derailing every child of God, and he will use family, friends, coworkers, and strangers to offend us. When we are offended, we become intoxicated with our hurt feelings! All we can think about is how we have been treated unjustly. We are not focused on glorifying God, but our focus is how to relieve ourselves from anger and injustice. Being sober allows us to take a step back and not allow to get intoxicated with our own emotions. Instead, we allow God to speak into our hearts and we let Him have His way in the situation.

We also need mental alertness. There is much false teaching and fake information around us. We cannot continually partake of these things and expect to remain focused on holiness and the purpose of God in our lives. The mental alertness points back to Peter exhorting the church to gird the loins of their minds.

Finally, at the spiritual level, we need to be sober about the fact that the world around us is not setup to encourage believers in their process of holiness and sanctification. It has to be our conviction along with the grace of God that allows us to navigate this process of holiness for years to come without feeling like we are missing out on something. Sometimes other people’s lives seem more fun and interesting because they have chosen to live in denial of the truth and just live it up for the day. However, as children of God, we are called to live sober lives, which means we are continually watching and praying. We can’t let our guards down in this world because we can’t be passive about choices in life. We live our lives with the knowledge that Jesus gave up everything for us, so we can have a life that is free from bondage and the guilt of sin. We no longer serve the master of this earth but we are His children and His priesthood looking for those who are drunk with the choices in this world and inviting them to the freedom and sobriety that the Lord provides for us all.

Take time to allow the Lord to speak to your heart about the areas where you have been under the influence of your emotions, the culture, or people around you. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;  but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1Peter 1:13-15

Definition of Loins (according to Strong’s Concordance: G 3751): the hip (loin), the place where the generative power resided.

Definition of gird up: (according to Strong’s Concordance: G 328): a metaphor derived from the practice of the Orientals [and possibly Middle Eastern people], who in order to be unimpeded in their movements were accustomed, when starting a journey or engaging in any work, to bind their long flowing garments closely around their bodies and fastened them with a leather belt.

In the book of 1Peter, the Apostle Peter began by explaining the revelation of the work of Jesus on the cross that God revealed by the Holy Spirit. He elaborated that many prophets had spoken about the work of the Messiah who was going to come, but in his era, they found that truth revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. In the light of this amazing revelation and what Jesus had done for us, Peter instructed and exhorted all believers to live a life of holiness.

The first thing that Peter addressed in becoming holy is to gird up the loins of our minds. “The loins of your mind,” is an unusual phrase considering the mind does not have loins! Peter was telling the believers that their minds has the capacity to give life to something. The mind is the incubator of good or evil depending on how we use it.

We can produce much sin by how we think of ourselves or others. Our minds become the incubator of either Godly thoughts or evil thoughts. Just because others don’t see what we are thinking, it doesn’t mean that it is not producing sin and death. Looking at all the negativity that is spewed in the news, music, and social media, it is no wonder that people’s hateful reactions is so out of proportion to what occurs in various circumstances. They are the result of people exposing themselves to negativity for a long time, which in turn feeds them destructive thoughts and produce evil actions. 

Our thoughts can produce anger, hatred, and division. We can be distrusting of a group of people because we disagree with them on certain topics. We add to this problem when we gossip about them and cause others to develop a wrong perception of the person/people. Then there are those who continually have dark and hopeless thoughts about themselves, which brings about depression in their lives. Feeding on those thoughts can only produce hopelessness and evil. Some go on antidepressant drugs for years others become suicidal. All the while their needs are met and there is nothing significant wrong with their lives. It all began with incubating negative thoughts that produced bad fruit. 

Paying attention to what we are conceiving in our minds is an important part of our spiritual battle. If we allow ungodly and dark thoughts to take over our lives, we are not on the road to holiness.  Jesus told the Pharisees that they washed the outside of the cup but inside they were full of all forms of evil and wickedness (See Luke 11:39).

We can save our spiritual face before others, but our internal world will continue to become emptier and darker if we do not gird up the loins of our minds.  We will begin going through the motion of spirituality but getting frustrated because we will not see progress in our lives. What we give life to in our minds begins to take over our perception, attitude, and drive, and we will either move forward in faith, hope, love, and unity, or we will move in fear, doubt, distrust, and division. One will lead us to holiness and victory, and the other to carnality and despair.

What are you feeding your mind today? Examine your thoughts and determine if you gird up the loins of your mind! I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.