Keep Practicing
When someone is training for a job—any job—they must eventually make the shift from studying to practicing.
The apostle Paul knew how important such a transition was, which is why—even while confined to a Roman prison—he recorded the following words for the believers in Philippi, Greece:
“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:9 NIV
Paul had taught them. Paul had trained them. Paul had loved them. And that’s why, from the isolation of a jail cell, Paul empowered them to live out what they’d learned.
Jesus, too, was passionate about His followers not just trying to look good or to sound good, but to do good—with a heart that genuinely wanted to glorify God. James, the half brother of Jesus, also wrote about not just listening to the Word, but doing what it says.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
James 1:22-24 ESV
It’s one thing to know about something, but it’s an entirely different thing to put that knowledge into practice.
The peace of God is a gift that He gives us. It’s something we experience as we draw near to Him by living in a way that honors Him. If we know His will but don’t do anything about it—that shows that we don’t really want to honor God. But if we do His will, then our actions illustrate that our identity is rooted in Christ. And our closeness to Christ allows us to experience His peace.
Doing the will of God—not just learning about the will of God—unleashes the peace of God.
So today, study what Paul taught and modeled (which is ultimately what Jesus taught and modeled). And then, ask yourself: “What is God teaching me about Himself, myself, and other people? How can I apply His teachings to my life?”
His Pain, Our Gain
Isaiah 53 is a stunning chapter in the Bible—in what is now commonly referred to as the “Old Testament.”
Approximately 700 years before Jesus walked the earth, Isaiah prophesied about a suffering servant who would also, somehow and in some way, be exalted. A coming Savior, a future Redeemer, the long-awaited Messiah—whose death would ultimately bring life.
A portion of Isaiah 53 says this:
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NIV
So, who was this man who would be pierced, crushed, and wounded because of someone else’s sins? Whose undeserved punishment would be the catalyst for healing? Whose life would be given as an offering—so that others might live?
Jesus Christ not only fits the description of the suffering servant who paid the ultimate price to buy His people back, redeem them, and set them free—He ...
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge...