RSS

Monthly Archives: May 2025

Suffering for Doing Good

19 May
Suffering for Doing Good

We’re continuing to go through Peter’s first letter. The apostle is now going to talk about how to handle resistance from the world. It’s something we will all experience, even if we don’t live in an area with heavy persecution.

Remember, Peter’s goal is always to portray Christ to the world.

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

1 Peter 3:13 NIV

Peter asks us, who is it that will bring evil against you? He’s talking about any kind of evil, from injury to exasperation. This is especially true if you’re eager to do good.

The word he uses for eager is important for understanding this question. He’s literally saying if you become a Zealot for good. One thing we need to know is that this word, Zealot, referred to a group of Jews who were anti-Roman terrorists at that point in history.

This seems like an oxymoron. A terrorist for good. But I believe that’s from the world’s perspective.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

John 3:19-20 NIV

We can see from this verse, that light terrorizes those who love darkness. That’s what happens when we live a “radically good” life. When someone acts in an evil way against us and we go out of our way to bless them.

So, Peter asks who would try to hurt you for that? Then, he thinks about his experience in this area.

But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.”

1 Peter 3:14 NIV

What if you’re passionately burdened to do righteousness? Here’s what Peter has learned from his experiences.

First, you’re supremely blessed, well off, happy, fortunate. That’s the first and most important thing you need to know. That’s the basis for overcoming in spite of this resistance.

You had better prepare for this, just like Christ. Because we will all have to face these issues at some point.

The apostle starts by telling us to not be afraid or shaken. He lets us know that we don’t have to fear the things that frighten the world. And we’re not shaken by the things that toss them.

The world gets all upset and fearful about politics, the economy, and natural disasters. We must not give in to fear because we know who controls our life and our world.

This is one of the biggest areas we need to work on as Christians in our generation. When you see what’s taking place online and in social media, many times believers seem as stressed out as the world. We can’t be acting like people without the hope of Christ Jesus in us.

It’s time for us to start acting like Jesus is Lord and God is in control. Stop running around like the world and settle down to be accomplishing the will of the Father. Spend time in His presence to pick up His heartbeat. Then, do what you’re called to do.

Question: How free are you from the anxiety we see in the world?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 19, 2025 in Ministry, Power of God, Revival, Spiritual Walk, The Gospel

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Pleasing God

16 May
Pleasing God

We’re now going through Peter’s first epistle. In my last post, I concluded with 1 Peter 3:12. In this verse the apostle is telling us why we must relate correctly with others in the church.

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3:12 NIV

This is how the Lord operates. He wants to turn His eyes and ears toward us. Scripturally speaking, His eyes and ears are important. I want to look at that truth in today’s post.

I’ll start in the Old Testament.

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV

When you talk about the eyes of the Lord, we’re not speaking of physical eyes that can only see what’s right in front of them. God sees everything, all at once. This verse is talking about the Lord’s desire to reward those who are fully committed to Him.

The Lord is for us. He’s not actively seeking to punish anyone. His greatest desire is for our blessing. He’s seeking those who have, by their faith and obedience, placed themselves in a position to receive this blessing.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.

I John 5:14-15 NIV

Again, when we speak of the ears of God, we know that he hears everything. But, it’s His response to what He hears that we’re looking for.

The Lord is looking for faith. But it’s a faith that only comes from a knowledge of His will. When I spend time with the Holy Spirit, I learn God’s will. When I pray out that will, I know that I’m going to get an answer to that prayer.

However, there’s another side to this issue. Peter tells us that the Lord’s face is against those who make or do worthlessness. Literally – His face will be over you. He’s trying to get your attention.

It’s just like the Apostle Peter, when he denied the Lord during His trial. After Christ rose from the dead, He asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” He was getting Peter’s attention.

Paul made an important statement in one of his letters.

On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.

1Thessalonians 2:4 NIV

Paul’s desire was to be a follower of Christ who pleased God. We have to be careful about our view of things. God loves everyone, no matter who you are or what you’ve done. But, not everyone pleases God, or is approved of by Him.

That’s an important distinction. It begs the question; are you a God-pleaser? Are you grabbing His attention to pour out a blessing on your life? Or is the Lord trying to get your attention so you can get your life back on track with Him?

Be a God-pleaser. Grab His attention or He’ll try to get yours.

Question: How much of a God-pleaser are you?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 16, 2025 in Faith, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

Tags: , , ,

Cultivating a Together Mindset

14 May
Cultivating a Together Mindset

We’re continuing through the epistle of 1 Peter. Currently, we’re talking about our relationships in the body of Christ. In my last post, Peter explained the “together mindset.”

It’s an important teaching, but how does this work in practice?

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 3:9 NIV

Here we’re told not to give back evil or insult for insult. Instead, we’re told to speak well about these people. This is very difficult to accomplish in the middle of a conflict. That’s why we need to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

According to Peter, we can make this easier by learning one simple truth. He says that we know by experience that we’re called to inherit a blessing. In that case, what does it matter if you’re cursed by someone, if you know you’re getting a blessing anyway?

In the next direction Peter shows that he’s a realist…and so is God.

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.”

1 Peter 3:10 NIV

The fact is that we all want to love life and see good times. Unfortunately, there are many who get this idea that God is against good times. But that’s absolutely untrue. God wants the best for us.

This found throughout Scripture.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17 NIV

Peter tells you how to reach this goal without any regret. He literally tells us to put our tongue on pause from off of evil. He also tells us not to let your lips speak trickery. How many times has one wrong word ruined the whole day for you and others?

One thing is very clear from the Word. Jesus said, in Luke 6:45, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” So, if you fill your heart with the Word, you’ll have more good times.

Peter continues with this thought.

“He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.”

1 Peter 3:11 NIV

Peter advises us to turn from, shun trouble. Our problem is that usually we don’t turn from it. We keep watch over it and rehearse it in our hearts. That causes it to grow and take over our lives.

Instead of looking for the problems, we must seek and pursue peace. We can only do all this if we know God’s direction. The only way to know where God is leading us to is to spend time in His presence.

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3:12 NIV

This is a wonderful promise for those who cultivate this “together mindset.” In my next post, I’ll talk about it in more detail.

Question: How well are you cultivating this together mindset?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
1 Comment

Posted by on May 14, 2025 in Fellowship, Relationships

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Together Minded

12 May
Together Minded

We’re currently going through Peter’s first letter to the church. To review where we are at this point, in chapter 2, Peter started talking about our good lives silencing our critics.

When they see how we live, it draws them to Christ. A big part of this is our attitude toward authority, government, the workplace, and the home. But our biggest witness is how we act in the church.

Jesus said, in John 13:35, that everyone would recognize that we are His disciples. How? Because we obey the law? Because we have a nice family? NO! They’ll recognize it because we have love for one another.

This is what Peter is going to talk about in the next section we look at.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

1 Peter 3:8 NIV

These are the goals if we want to draw people to Christ. The first of these goals is to live together in harmony. He uses 5 Greek words in this section to describe this harmony.

He starts with the word harmony itself. It’s a word that means together-minded. This goes against everything we want to strive for in American independence. We want to be able to say, “I accomplished this all by myself.”

That’s not how it works in the church of Jesus Christ. We are a body of believers. We are called to do this together. It’s never about what one person can do by himself or herself.

We need to cultivate a “together mindset”. It’s the knowledge that I’m going to have to work with others if I’m going to accomplish my destiny in Christ.

The next word he uses is translated as sympathetic in English. That word literally means together-passioned. This means that we are all passionate about the same thing.

In my experience, this is one of the hardest things to work on in the church. It requires us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. This way we can take on God’s heart. We can all be passionate about what God is passionate for.

Then there’s brotherly love. We must recognize that we’re a family. But we’re more than that – we’re closer than blood relatives. That’s because we’ve been blood bought. We are all together in the family of Christ.

The next descriptive word is compassionate. This takes some explanation because the exact translation is good spleen. This is because the ancient Greeks saw the spleen as the seat of our emotions. This speaks about maintaining a good attitude while with your fellow believers.

The final word Peter uses is literally humble courtesy. We need to learn to treat people correctly. There are times I’ve seen Christians treating each other poorly, because “they have to walk in forgiveness.” We need to use common courtesy with one another.

All of these traits are how we should live together to accomplish God’s will. Paul said the same thing.

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

1 Corinthians 1:10 NIV

The word agree in this verse is where we get our English word, symphony. The church should be a symphony of different instruments for God’s glory. We are not all the same, but we are playing the same song under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Question: How well do we see this in our churches presently?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 12, 2025 in Fellowship, Ministry, Relationships, Spiritual Walk, The Church

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Godly Husband

09 May
The Godly Husband

As we continue through the book of 1 Peter, we’ve been talking about the husband and wife relationship. The apostle now gives an exhortation to husbands.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

1 Peter 3:7 NIV

In his opening statement, Peter makes it clear that his goal is for husbands to understand their wives. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many marriages. We seem to get all of our opinions from the world’s way of doing things.

Or, worse than that, so often we get teaching from those who totally misinterpret Scripture. They do this to perpetuate the false idea that the husband is the supreme dictator of the home.

In my last few posts, I dealt with this error. You can review them to see what the Scripture says about who the true Head of the home should be. Spoiler alert – it is Christ!

The first thing that Peter wants us to understand is that the wife is the weaker vessel. This does not mean that she is in any way inferior to her husband. It’s simply a statement of the medical fact that, statistically speaking, women are not as strong as men.

This is an important fact. It tells us, as husbands, that we should be taking care of things to make life easier for them. We don’t just sit back and make our wives do all the work around the house.

The next thing he says is to treat them with respect. This is a statement that literally means to bestow them with value. This flies in the face of how husbands considered their wives in ancient times.

Sometimes they were considered to property of the husband, just like a slave. Other times they were looked at like a beloved pet. Their priority was simply to bring children – especially sons – into the family.

This teaching from Scripture elevates the wife to a higher status. Peter even calls her a co-equal heir of the grace of life. Again, in those days, most women were not able to receive an inheritance. So, spiritually speaking, there are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God.

As a matter of fact, I personally believe that in Christ there is no “glass ceiling” for women. To see my blog on that teaching, click here.

Finally, the apostle tells us, as husbands, the result of ignoring these exhortations. He says to walk in this way with your wife so that your prayers will not be chopped down. Yes, that’s the actual wording that Peter uses.

Think of your prayers as seed that you’re planting, watering, and nurturing. You want to see the blessing of God on your life, home, and ministry. When you don’t treat your wife in a godly way, you’re tearing down the very thing that could be bringing these good things into your life.

Remember, we should be treating our wives with the same love that the Lord shows to the church. We can all follow this path to God’s best. Let our homes be an example of Christ and the church.

Question: How have you seen these truths at work in Christian homes?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 9, 2025 in Relationships

 

Tags: , ,

The Godly Wife

07 May
The Godly Wife

We’ve been going through Peter’s first letter to the church. We’re now in chapter 3, which deals with husband and wife relationships. The apostle continues to give some insight for wives.

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV

He starts by saying that the beauty of a godly woman should not be all about the external view. This is true even though we live in an externally conscious society. Unfortunately, many Christians have fallen into this trap.

It’s not the elaborate hairstyles or gold decorations that should be impressing people about who you are. He also makes a statement that should speak volumes to the women of our generation. You shouldn’t be following the investing of yourself into the clothing of the world.

What kind of look is he talking about? It’s the outfit that screams, “LOOK AT ME!!!” That’s the world’s way of adornment.

This self-promotion shouldn’t be the priority of the believer. Our world view should be more toward emphasizing the concealed person of the heart. The question is; would you rather them comment on your new hairdo more than your prayer life?

You have to come to the realization that your life is not all about you. It’s about your relationship to Christ and your husband.

The fact is that everything in the first statement of the above passage decays and goes out of style. But the second half gives you spiritual power.

The word, gentle, above, is actually the word meek. I know we don’t like that word, but in reality, meekness is not weakness. The Scriptural definition is your strength under the control of the Lord.

The next way Peter describes the godly wife is with a quiet spirit. This literally means that you are undisturbed. You know who you are and where you belong and nothing can move you from it.

God says that this type of life is extremely expensive. That’s why so few women pay for it. They’d much rather get the clothes, jewelry, and hairstyles.

For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

1 Peter 3:5-6 NIV

This is the conclusion of the issue. As a wife, you know your husband’s shortcomings. So, what you have to do is to put your hope – your expectations – in God and not your husbands. (They are fallible and will let you down.)

The godly women of Scripture learned how to arrange themselves correctly under God, by arranging themselves under their husbands. Then, they had nothing to be afraid of.

This does not mean that a wife is a doormat to be walked on by her husband. She can be a strong individual. Look at Sarah in Genesis 21, where she made it clear to Abraham how she felt about Ishmael. He followed her exhortation.

The path to godly womanhood reaps eternal rewards.

Question: Do you see any examples of this in your life?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 7, 2025 in Relationships

 

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Husband’s Role

02 May
The Husband’s Role

I’ve been posting about the husband and wife relationship from 1 Peter. In my last article, I concluded with the truth that husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the church. This involves laying down your life for her.

So, in order to know my role in the home, I need to take a close look at how Christ relates to the church.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV

How did Christ show His love for the church? As I said in my last post, He surrendered Himself up for her. But it doesn’t end there.

Next, He cleanses her by the washing of the Word. Now that brings up an interesting question. Husbands, are you bathing your home in the Word? One of my chief roles as a husband is to make sure that the Word of God is front and center in our home.

That brings us back to the verse we started with in 1 Peter.

Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

1 Peter 3:1-2 NIV

Remember…this verse actually says that if your husband doesn’t obey the word, he could be won over by your lifestyle. God’s Word should be playing a big role in the life of the husband.

That being said, the fact that your husband doesn’t obey the Word doesn’t stop you, as a wife, from doing your part. In the same way, husbands, the fact that your wife isn’t perfect doesn’t keep you from doing your part.

How does it work between Christ and the church? Does Christ threaten us if we don’t progress as we should? Does He resort to abuse, yelling at us if we don’t fall in line with His plan?

How does He bring about the changes that need to take place in us? We’re told that right now His place is at the right hand of the Father.

Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Romans 8:34 NIV

One of the major roles of Christ right now is to offer up intercession for us. That’s how He brings about lasting change in His church.

Based on that, how do I lead my home into God’s will? It’s only going to be by the Word of God and intercession. I need to be making sure that on my part, my home is washed by the Word and intercession daily.

Of course, many husbands would take this exhortation as an unreachable goal. Some would even refuse to think about the work this involves. It would mean giving up some time playing sports, video games, or getting to binge your favorite shows.

But this is exactly what laying down your life for your wife (and family) means. This is how I must submit to Christ in my home. As a husband I must make the Word of God and intercession a priority for me and my family.

Question: What will it take to fulfill this great calling as a godly husband?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 2, 2025 in Relationships

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,