SPIRITUAL
DIARY
Date: 01-13-04
My Worship Time Focus: Love Life
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Peter 3:10-12
Message
of the verse:
“10 For "He who would love
life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from
speaking deceit. 11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let
him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the
righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is
against those who do evil."
(NKJV) “10 For the Scriptures say, "If you want a
happy life and good days, keep your tongue from speaking evil, and keep your
lips from telling lies. 11 Turn away from evil and do good. Work hard at
living in peace with others. 12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do
right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil."
(NLT)
The word “for” at the
beginning of verse 10 is there to show that he views the quotation as giving
reasons for obeying the exhortation of verse 9.
Peter goes on to tell his readers that they are to love life, (these
verses are mostly a quote from Psalm 34:12-16).
The people that Peter was writing to we at the beginnings of being
persecuted for their faith and now Peter writes to them that they should have
an attitude of loving life, this may seem strange, yet if you truly look at
life as a gift from God, and as believers we can be assured that God it truly
in control of all things then we can love life.
Peter goes on to tell his readers that they need to refrain their
tongues, and this is a problem for many people to do. James had much to say about the tongue, both
good and bad, in his letter. Next Peter
tells his readers that they must do what is good and hate evil. Dr. Wiersbe says that it is not good enough
to avoid sin because it is wrong; we ought to shun it because we hate it. Next Peter tells us that we are to pursue
peace. The Life Application Bible has
this to say about this verse: “To
often we see peace as merely the absence of conflict, we think of peacemaking
as a passive role. But an effective
peacemaker actively pursues peace by building good relationships, knowing that
peace is a by-product of commitment. The
peacemaker anticipates problems and deals with them before they occur. When conflicts arise, they are brought into
the open and dealt with before they grow unmanageable. Making peace can be harder work than waging
war, but it results in life and happiness.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: I was really impressed by this quote from the
Life Application Bible, and it seemed to me that the Lord really wanted me to
read it this morning. When my tongue
gets me into trouble it is hard to have peace, so I need to continually allow
God to control my tongue.
The Word of God was refreshing to me this morning as I read it, and it
was also convicting and a challenge to me.
My Steps of Faith Today: To be a
peacemaker in its truest way. To trust
the Lord with giving me the wisdom to be a peacemaker, and to trust the Lord to
remind me of this important lesson He is teaching me.
Memory verse for the week: Psalm
119:105
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
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