Fearing the Lord (1 Peter 1:17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                            Date:  12-11-03

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Fearing the Lord

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Peter 1:17

            1.  Message of the verse:  “17  And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;”   (NASB)  “17  And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.”  (NLT)

            Peter is writing to believers and all believers should call God their Father, so if a person addresses God the Father as Father then that person must be one of His.  Now the judgment that he is writing about is the “Judgment Seat of Christ,” which is only a family judgment.  This judgment will take place in heaven, and probably after the rapture of the Church while the Tribulation period is happening on planet earth.  In explaining the meaning of the Greek word that is translated “judgment” Dr. Wiersbe writes, “to judge in order to find something good,” so this is not a judgment for sins because that judgment for the believer took place at Calvary.  Peter says that God judges impartially, for He is not a respecter of persons, as Peter says God is looking for us to be holy just as He is Holy.  Peter goes on to say that believers should conduct themselves in fear while they are sojourning on this earth.  This is a reverent fear that believers have of the Lord knowing that because our judgment of sin,  cost God’s only Son His life, then we should realize the seriousness that God looks at sin.  Believers now serve God because they love God, not out of some fear that if they make a mistake and sin that they will be banished to hell, for if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a born-again believer I cannot rest upon the accomplishments that God has done through me, but I must continue to seek His perfect will for my life, keep my life clean from sin, so that I can worship and serve the Lord in the way that pleases Him.  I think of the last recorded words of Peter in the Bible where he wrote “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”  I have read that there are some animals that continue to grow all of their lives, and this is my desire spiritually, to grow in the knowledge of the Lord so that I can continue to worship and serve Him all of my time that I sojourn on this earth.

The Word of God was refreshing to my heart and it has also challenged my heart to serve and worship the Lord.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord to give me wisdom regarding how to handle what is going on at our church.  To trust the Lord to give me wisdom to worship Him in the ways that will please Him.  To trust the Lord with the outcome of Sandy’s test she had yesterday, to trust the Lord regarding our investment with Andrew Lech, to trust the Lord to give wisdom to both myself in praying for the salvation of Valerie Martin, and wisdom for Pat McMurtry as she gives the devotion at Friday’s tea with the ladies, so that the Spirit of the Lord will use it to bring about salvation to the unsaved ladies that attend.

Memory verse for the week:  1John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

The Word of God (1 Peter 1:16)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  12-10-03

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  The Word of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 1:16

            1.  Message of the verse:  “16 because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’”  (NKJV)  “16 For he himself has said, ‘You must be holy because I am holy.’”  (NLT)

      This is a quotation from Lev. 11:44 that Peter uses in this verse and it ties into verse 15 and seems to continue the point that believers are to live holy lives.  Dr. Wiersbe comments on this verse by taking the opportunity to write on the Word of God, and the reason he does that is because of the statement “it is written.”  The Word of God does indeed teach that as believers we have a new and holy nature that has come from God and as we yield to the Spirit He will give us the help we need to live out that holy life.  I do want to quote something that Dr. Wiersbe has written from this section because it speaks to my heart and because it had been a problem in my life, and by God’s wonderful grace will not be again.  “Too many earnest Bible students are content with outlines and explanations, and do not really get to know God. It is good to know the Word of God, but this should help us better know the God of the Word.”

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I want very much to continue in my commitment to live a holy life, and I know that I will fail the Lord at times on this quest, however His Word says that He will forgive me and pick me up, dust me off, and point me in the correct direction.  I have been thinking lately about the wisdom of God, and the wonder of God, and also the will of God, and it seems that these aspects of God do indeed connect.  God tells us that we need to ask Him for wisdom and He will gladly give it to us.  I also believe that this wisdom that God gives us is a gift from Him and that I should view it as a gift from Him.  I have written James 1:17 in a way that I believe makes much more since to me that the way that it is written in the different versions I have read, I got some of the idea for this from Dr. Wiersbe’s book on James, “Be Mature.”  “Every gift that God gives us is perfect, and the way that He gives it to us is perfect, and He keeps on giving us gifts all of the time, even when we do not realize that HE is giving them to us, and God is not like the moving of the planets and stars, for He never changes because He cannot change for worse because He is holy, and He cannot change for better because He is perfect.”  Wisdom from God is indeed a gift from God, and when we as Him for it is eagerly wants to give it to us.

The Word of God has challenged my heart as I read it this morning.

The Holiness of God (1 Peter 1:14-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  12-09-03

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  The Holiness of God

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 1:14,15

            1.  Message of the verse:  “14  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15  but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.”  (NASB95)      “14  Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn’t know any better then.  15  But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God—who chose you to be his children—is holy.”  (NLT) 

            Peter gives a warning to his readers in verse 14 where he says that believers should not fall back into the ways they were before they were saved by the grace of God.  The Bible says that all of us were born sinners because we all possess the nature of Adam.  Believers have two natures, and one of them is holy, and that nature always wants to do what is right and holy because that nature came from God who is holy as both verses 15, and 16 tell us.  Peter used the word called in verse 15, and God is the One who calls people unto Himself, just as He called Israel as a nation, and just as Jesus called His disciples.

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This could be said that this is the spiritual lesson for everyday, for I am to be holy each and every day of my life, holy like the One who called me.  I need to remember Gal. 2:21 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

The Word of God has reminded me of this truth about holiness, and the truth that God has placed in me His holy nature, and that I am to yield to it.

Having a Spiritual Mind (1Peter 1:13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  12-08-03

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  Having a spiritual mind

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  1Peter 1:13

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  (NKJV)  “So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.”  (NLT)

            We find in this verse 1) a disciplined mine; 2) a sober mind; 3) and a optimistic mind, and this results in a spiritual mind-set which all believers should learn about an incorporate in their walk with the Lord.  Peter tells his readers that they should “gird up the loins of your mind” in the first part of this verse, and his readers would have know about this because of the culture that they lived in.  For men to run at a fast pace while wearing robes they had to tuck the excess part of their robes into their belts so that it would not inhibit them from running, so they would not trip or fall on their robes.  This is the picture the disciplined mind of a believer, for he must get rid of all the distractions that clutter his mind and focus on the things of God, and by doing this he will demonstrate a sober mind, or a calm and steady, controlled mind.  One of the things that a believer can concentrate on is the sure hope of the return of Jesus Christ for His children at the rapture.  Peter puts it this way in this verse when he writes, “and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  “Christ’s future ministry of glorifying Christians and giving them eternal life in His presence will be the final culmination of grace initiated at salvation.”  (MaCarthur Study Bible)  Ephesians 2:7, “in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is the work of grace that I, as a believer in Jesus Christ, can have the spiritual minds that are described in this verse, and it seems that the Lord is teaching me this more and more in these lasts weeks, for just as the salvation of me or anyone else is a miracle of God’s wonderful grace so is the spiritual fruit that I produce, the disciplined mind that I have, the sober mind that I have, and the atomistic mind that I have are miracles of God’s grace, and God deserves each and every bit of the honor and glory for all of these things and much, much more.

The Word of God was refreshing to my soul, as it encouraged me from reading it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  1) To trust the Lord with the salvation of Valerie’s soul; 2) To be open to realizing more about the grace of God, and how He is using it in my life, and to give Him all honor and glory for it; 2) To trust the Lord with the outcome of Sandy health; and 4) To trust the Lord with the outcome or our investment trial, knowing from His Word that He is in control of it, and that He will cause it to work out for our good and His glory.