You can pick them out if you watch carefully…they quietly work in the background…unassuming, never self-promoting or proud. They are those very special people with a true servants heart. You’ll usually find them busy in the kitchen, or in the back room working away, oblivious to the pomp and ceremony up front. These precious saints are the Lord’s hands and feet here on Earth…they serve with affection, devotion, and model His love for us all.
I Peter 2:12 ” Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”
Simon Peter spells it out very clearly…you will be insulted, slandered, maligned, and just plain bad mouthed by the world…there’s no way around it…and being a Christian doesn’t exempt you from it. But what we do need to bear in mind, is that the unbeliever is watching very closely to see our reactions…will we repay evil with evil, or will they see Jesus in us? The final words of this verse are also very important, for we may never see the influence of our doing good in this lifetime…but it never should detract us from continuing to do what is right.
Isaiah 37:14 “Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.”
How many of us, after receiving bad news, will immediately – first thing – take it to the Lord? Not after we’ve tried to fix it on our own…not after spending time moaning, groaning and complaining about how mistreated we are…but right away. God wants us to take all our cares in supplication before Him, seeking His mercy…sooner, not later.
I Peter 2:9 ” But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
You are a beloved possession of the Lord, having been called out of Spiritual darkness with all its misery and damnation. God has summoned you from that darkness and the power of Satan into the brilliant illumination of His truth and gift of eternal life.
I Peter 1:23 ” For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
To be born again…the Greek word utilized here was only penned by Simon Peter, speaking of Spiritual rebirth or new birth. We have traded our deteriorating bodies for ones that will never wear out. We have exchanged our mortal beings for immortal ones. We have move from this temporal world to eternal life when we are born again.
Acts 13:32 ” We tell you the good news…”
Today I proclaim to you the Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s not far away, it’s not impossible to understand…it’s right here, right now. Your search can end to fill that unfillable void in your life…it’s here…His name is Jesus. That’s how Christians all over the world are bound together… by the good news of our Savior.
Proverbs 27: 9 ” Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.”
As you go through life, you’ll probably only have a few…they are rare finds and more precious as time goes by…they’re those special friends that you can always depend on. A close friend you can bounce ideas off, confess your failings, and ask stupid questions…all knowing that you will receive thoughtful, sincere, and wise advise. Such friends are few, and worth much.
Ephesians 1: 13-14 ” And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked with Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory.”
One day you heard the gospel, and that saving truth resonated deeply within your soul…while the Christ-shaped hole inside you was being filled with His love. By accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your freedom was purchased by His blood shed on the Cross…and as a stamp of your redemption, He gave you the Holy Spirit as a down payment on your eternal life with Him.
I Peter 1:15 ” Just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘ Be holy because I am holy’ “
For many of us, when we read this verse, we see the almost impossible task of holiness. Well aware of God’s call to live a holy life, our path deviates far from His desire for us. But if the Holy Spirit is residing within, all is not lost to feelings of guilt and shame, for with the call also comes the ability to live that holy life. It happens by allowing the Holy Spirit to rule and reign within and not our flesh. Holiness is a way of life…an attitude and focus, not an unreachable goal.
Isaiah 42: 8 ” I am the Lord; that is My name! I will not give My glory to another or My praise to idols.”
There is absolutely no one like the Lord. His majesty and splendor cannot be duplicated by anyone or thing in the universe…but we try to place things in front of Him all the time. Things like pride and selfishness, or material wealth and fame we make our idols rather than bowing down to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But make no mistake, the Lord will not be mocked, nor will He ever yield His glory to another. (Isaiah 48:11)
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