Serve the Lord with Christian Love (1 Peter 4:8-11)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  02-05-04

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Serve the Lord with Christian love

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 4:8-11

            Message of the verse:  8  Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.  9  Be hospitable to one another without complaint.  10  As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.  11  Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  (NASB95)  “8  Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.  9  Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.  10  God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you.          11  Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.  (NLT)

            In this rather long section Peter teaches about Christian love, and  that Christian should be fervent, it should be forgiving, it should be practical, and it should result in service.

            In verse 8 he uses the words, “fervent love for one another.”  This word means to stretch out, to go to the limit, and it can be used of a person’s prayer life. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  (James 5:16b)  This verse goes on to speak of this fervent love covering sin, and this does not mean that believers overlook sin in someone’s life, but to be forgiving.  It does not mean that an unrepentant Church member should not have to confess his sin.  Believers are to love as God loves, and sometimes we need tough love. Believers are to be forgiving, and that is the second kind of love Peter is writing about in this section, also found in verse 8.

            Verse 9 gives the teaching on the practical love.  Christians should be hospitable, they should be willing to share their homes with others.  My wife and I have done this on more than one occasion, and it has always been very enjoyable for us. Peter says that believers should be hospitable without complaint.

            The last two verses deals with speak about the service that goes along with Christian love.  When Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness by Satan one of the things He said to him to rebuke the temptation he was tempting Him with was, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’"  Jesus said we should worship the Lord and we should serve the Lord, and so one of the ways to worship the Lord is to serve Him, and in verses 10 and 11 Peter writes about ways to worship the Lord through service.  In these two verses one can see different spiritual gifts, and there are other places in the Bible that speak of spiritual gifts.  1Corthians 12 and Romans 12, along with Eph. 4 are the main portions of Scripture where these gifts are identified.  There has much that has been written about these spiritual gifts, and I’m sure that not all of it is true.  I believe that the Bible teaches that every believer has at least one gift, and that these gifts are to be used to build up the Church.  There are speak gifts and serving gifts, and again all of these gifts are to be used for the edification of the Church.  Before the Bible was complete there were people like Peter and James, and John, and others who have written down the New Testament that is available to read today.  There is no one alive today that can speak or write down the Word of God, because the Bible is now complete.  With that said, God continues to use people to teach the Word of God, and men to preach the Word of God so that the Holy Spirit can use their teaching and preaching to work in the hearts of those who hear it. 

            Peter finishes verse eleven by giving glory to God through Jesus Christ, because it is God who is to receive the glory, and it is Jesus Christ who provided salvation so that we can give the glory to God.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What I am reminded of is that God should indeed receive all of the glory for the things He has done, things that He does through me.  He deserves all of the glory.

The Word of God was challenging to my heart today, and at the same time refreshing to me.

My Steps of Faith Today:  As this sickness seems to linger along longer that I would have thought it would I must confess that I should be praying about it more and trust the Lord to use even this to bring glory to Himself.  

Watch and Pray (1 Peter 4:7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  02-04-04

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Watch and pray

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 4:7

            Message of the verse:  “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”  (NASB95)  “The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.” (NLT)

            I don’t believe that Peter was giving an indication that the second coming of Christ was near, in as far as giving a date, but he was saying that it could happen at any time.  Because of this truth that Christ could return for His Church at any time, Peter was giving some instructions on how believers should live.  He writes in this verse that believers should be of sound judgment.  This could be translated as “keeping our cool,” in today’s language.  It also means that we should keep things in balance, as the Bible is a book of balance.  Because it is a truth that is taught in the Bible concerning the second coming of Christ, believers should not go off to some mountain and hang out until Christ’s return, but they should realize that there is still much work to be done, and be about the business of living a balanced life for the cause of Christ, being available to do what He would have them do.  The believer’s prayer life should also be affected by this truth, being earnest in his prayers because of the shortness of time.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the most important things that I have learned from my study of the Scriptures is balance, for the Bible does indeed teach balance.  I have always been one to go on tangents, but as God has shown me the need to have balance in my walk with Him, He is teaching me more and more the importance of balance.  God is in control of all things, and I am only hear on this earth to glorify Him, and to do the work that He has had planned for me since eternity past.  This world is not my home, for I am just passing through. Like a warm up lap around the track in preparation for the real thing, which will last forever.

The Word of God has challenge me to stay in balance, and also to give more thought to my prayer life.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To continue to trust the Lord in the trials He has sent our way, knowing that they are for our good and for His glory. 

Being Patient with the Lost (1 Peter 4:4-6)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  01-29-04

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Being patient with the Lost

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 4:4-6

            Message of the verse: “4 ¶  Of course, your former friends are very surprised when you no longer join them in the wicked things they do, and they say evil things about you.  5  But just remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.  6  That is why the Good News was preached even to those who have died—so that although their bodies were punished with death, they could still live in the spirit as God does.”  (NLT)

            The reason that I am only using the NLT this time is because I think that is the easiest way to understand verse 6, for in some of the other translations verse 6 seems to contradict some of the other doctrines in the Bible.  The NIV version also has made it easier to understand verse 6.

            When a believer gets saved his whole life is changed, and some of the things that he used to do he does not feel comfortable doing anymore, and because  of this some of the people he used to hang around may begin to get on him because of these changes in his life.  Peter goes on to explain that if these friends do not understand and accept the message of the Gospel then they will have to face God, and He will judge their sins, where as if they would accept the good news of the Gospel, then it would be Christ who would have been judged for their sins.  God will judge both the living and those who have already died at the last judgment.  Jesus spoke of this in Matthew’s Gospel, of separating the sheep from the goats.

            Peter goes on in verse 6 to write that is was for this reason that the Gospel has been preached, and was preached to those who have already died, and because they had accepted the truth of the Gospel, they are now in heaven, and live in their spirit there.  Believers will all get their new bodies when the rapture takes place, so when believers die and go heaven before the rapture they will receive a temporary body.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are many times that it is hard for me to understand why people cannot see the simple truth of the Gospel, and for that matter it is hard for me to see why believers miss some of the truths of Scripture that seem very clear to me.  The focus that was written here concerning these verses is that believers are to be patient with these unbelievers, and it can be carried even with believers when they don’t understand a truth in the Bible.  That is the message for me today, to be patient and to pray that others will see the truths of the Bible.

Peter’s writings have been a real challenge to me as I have been reading through his letter.

My Steps of Faith Today  To be thankful for the truths that God has opened my eyes to, and to be patient with others who have not seen these truths.

Memory verse for the week:  1Peter 3:15

But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

Opposing sin by Remembering the Burden of it (1 Peter 4:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

                                                                                                Date:  01-28-04

My Worship Time      Focus:  Opposing sin by remembering the burden of it.

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  1Peter 4:3

            Message of the verse:  “For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”  (NASB95)  “You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.”  (NLT)

            I want to start out this morning with a quote from John MacArthur, “Sin in the believer is a burden which afflicts him rather than a pleasure which delights him.”

Peter reminds his writers that many of them fell into these gross sins when they were unbelievers.  Many of the sins that he is writing about here have to do with sexual sins, but some of them describe evil appetites. 

            God reminded the nation of Israel many times that He took them out of Egypt, where they were slaves, and this is a picture of believers being slaves to sin.  Paul mentioned on a number of different times that he persecuted the Church of Christ, so it is good to think of what God has saved us out of, not to go back into it, but to be thankful that Jesus Christ has paid for all of our sin, and that we should be living a life that is set apart for that of what we lived before we were saved.

           

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that the quote from Dr. MacArthur sums up very well how I am to look at this verse, and what I am to learn from it.  Sin is never to be taken lightly, for if it were not such a big deal then God would not have sent His one and only Son to die for my sin. 

Peter’s writing has again challenged me as I read them this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  I would pray that God would continue to work in my life, and that He would fill me with the desire to live a life that is set apart to serve Him, and that I would continue to trust Him for His perfect will to be done in these two trials that He has sent me.

Memory verse for the week:  1Peter 3:15

But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who ask you to give an account for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and reverence.