Shielded by God's Power

". . . This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:4b-5)

Shielded by God's power

Those words struck me when I read them recently. I think they would have been significant to the original recipients of Peter's letter, just as they are today.

Peter's original recipients were Christians who had been scattered by persecution. They not only needed the reminder of their inheritance to come, the also needed this reminder that God's power shielded, or protected, them. In the midst of circumstances that left then vulnerable and attacked, this would have been a needed encouragement.

While we may not be facing the physical threat these Christians were, we often dealing with a different attack. It can leave us feeling vulnerable. We, too, are shielded by God's power.

Sometimes we don't feel very shielded. I think Peter's original recipients would have felt much the same way. They were still facing persecution and hard times. We still face hard times in our lives.

But, I don't think Peter was speaking of a physical shielding here - not an emotional one either. Peter's words were about being shielded by God's power come in the middle of a section talking about a spiritual inheritance. He's looking beyond the physical.

In the midst of attacks on our spiritual lives, we are shielded by God's power. This is a spiritual protection. We will still know of the attacks our enemy is launching at us, but as long as we choose to come under God's shielding power in those times, we will experience God's protection from those attacks.

This is our choice. We choose, in faith, to place ourselves under God's shield. We choose to hide ourselves under it.

Why We Need to Practice Confession

Why do we pray for healing or freedom and we don't seem to receive an answer?

James 5:16 has something to say that might help us answer this question:

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

I think this verse holds a key to why so many Christians today feel stuck with this question. Why we wrestle with this question. Why our prayers often seem to change nothing for us no matter how fervently and passionately we pray.

We like most of James 5:16 - where we're told to pray for each other and that our prayers can be powerful and effective. But, we miss the first part of the verse, or we see it as unimportant or unconnected to the rest.

Confession.

The part we'd rather skip in this verse. But, what if it's the important part?

The thing that makes the rest of this verse make sense.

There is something that happens when we confess our sins to each other and pray for each other about our sin.

Something is broken and something is released when we confess our sins to one another, that doesn't happen otherwise. That thing that was secret and in darkness is brought into the light and it loses power over us. This thing that we've now confessed, that was hindering our prayers, is now gone.

When we confess our sin, we're then able to step into a healing and a freedom we wouldn't have otherwise known. This impacts our prayers in a huge way. This is the prerequisite to our prayers being powerful and effective. When we start with confession of sin with others, it changes things in our prayer life.

Do you regularly practice confession in your life?

Wisdom from Heaven

What does wisdom from heaven look like?

Is it different from the wisdom of the world?

How is it different?


James 3:13-17 says:

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you habour bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 'wisdom' does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For when you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

James is contrasting the wisdom of the world with wisdom from heaven. They look different from each other. They're complete opposites.

In verses 14-16, James describes the wisdom of the world. The words he uses to describe it are not at all flattering - earthly, unspiritual, demonic, full of envy and selfish ambition. Really the wisdom of the world is all about what's best for you,about getting ahead.

Contrast that with the wisdom from heaven. James writes that it is pure, peace-loving, submissive, considerate, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. That's what I want. It sound much better than the other.

I think the key difference is that wisdom that comes from heaven is for the good of all. Even if it's hard, it is about relationship and building each other up. Whereas the wisdom of the world is all about me - what works for me, what makes me feel good, no matter the cost to anyone else.

This leaves us with a few questions:

Am I pursuing the wisdom of the world, or the wisdom that comes from heaven?

Is there anything in my life interfering with my desire to pursue wisdom from heaven?

What would my life look like if I was pursuing wisdom from heaven?