SPIRITUAL
DIARY
Date: 12-23-03
My Worship Time Focus: Submit for the sake of the lost
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 1Peter 2:11, 12
Message
of the verse: “11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and
strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the
Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may
on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of
visitation.” (NASB) “11 Dear brothers and sisters, you are
foreigners and aliens here. So I warn you to keep away from evil desires
because they fight against your very souls.
12 Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors. Even if
they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they
will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world.” (NLT)
Peter calls his readers “beloved,”
and this is something he does eight times in his two letters. We love Christ because He first loved us; we
are not capable of loving in the truest sence of the word without first being
loved by God. He then goes on to remind
his readers that they are not to get to attached to this world, for we are
citizens of heaven who are on a mission to do The Lord’s work while here on
earth, therefore we are aliens and strangers.
He next points out that we are to abstain from fleshly lusts which bring
war against our souls. The list that
Paul writes about in Galatians five is a good example of “fleshly lusts.” The warring against our soul speaks of a
military exercise that is against us, and if comes from our enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
In the next verse Peter tells us
what we are to do, and that is to live a life that unbelievers will see so that
they will want the same thing. Many
times believers are the only “Bible” that unbelievers get to read, and if they
don’t like what they see then they will not want to read any longer. If they do like what they are reading then God
will then give you an opportunity to tell them about the saving grace that the
Lord Jesus Christ has given to them. One
thought concerning the phrase “in the day of visitation,” which Peter writes in
the last part of verse 11. This could
mean the second coming of Christ, however it seems to be talking about when the
Holy Spirit of God visits the unbelievers to show them the truth concerning
Christ. This can be a good visit for
them and they will be saved, or it could be that they reject Christ and are
lost forever. As believers we should not
give them any excuses to not want Christ because of the way we live.
The
Word of God was very challenging to me as I read it this morning. It has also convicted me to live a life that
is pleasing to the Lord.
My Steps of
Faith Today: To trust the
Lord with the outcome of the two trials that He has sent me into, knowing that
“Father Knows Best.”
Memory
verse of the week: 1Cor. 10:13
13.
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is
faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but
with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able
to endure it.
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