July 17, 2011

Do You Have Trusting Faith?

1 Peter 1:1-12

1 Peter

 JesJeJeJJjEJJJ     JJThe LORD is king!  Let the nations tremble!  TThis letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. 

I am writing to God's chosen people who are living a foreigners in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia.  God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy.  As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.

May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.

All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again.  Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.  For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children.  It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him.  It will be revealed on the last day for all to see.  So be truly glad!  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.

These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold - and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.  So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 

You love him even though you have never seen him.  Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy.  Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

This salvation was something the prophets wanted to know more about.  They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many quesions as to what it all could mean.  They wondered what they Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterward.  They wondered when and to whom all this would happen.

They were told that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours.  And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.  It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.      

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Thoughts.....

Please forgive the delay in transmission today.  I humbly apologize and ask for your prayers due to illness.  Thank you.

Peter writes in this passage to God's chosen people.  Although he names the foreigners before him, all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and are obeying him are God's chosen people.  He clarifies this by telling us that God chose us long ago and the Spirit has made us holy.  Do you feel holy?  Have you received Holy Spirit to help you obey him?  Peter goes on to say that as a result of being chosen and receiving his Holy Spirit, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.  ARE YOU obeying Jesus Christ?  Cleansed by his blood?  Heavy words to consider.  Cleansed by his blood, means we have been washed anew internally, spiritually, and have his blood in us.  We are truly one with him.  Are you acting like you have Christ's blood in you?!

One of the nicest, warmest lines in the Bible is the next one that Peter says, "May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace."  So, we understand that to be chosen by God, having accepted his Holy Spirit, obeying Jesus Christ and being cleansed with his blood will allow us to have more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.  Who wouldn't want that?!!!! 

Continuing with Peter, he gives God and Jesus praise...all honor!  He reminds us of the mercy God has given us, the privilege of being born again.  That we SHOULD live with wonderul expectation.  Do you?  We're told God has reserved a priceless inheritance for us....his children.  Are you really one of his children?  He keeps this gift in heaven for us pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  Are you so pure that you are worthy of this precious gift?  Is anyone truly worthy?  I'm not.  But because I've been cleansed by water and blood, and I strive earnestly to obey and be a vessel worthy of the gift...I know I will receive the gift.  It is a gift.  A gift of gratitude for love.

Peter tells us that God, in his mighty power, will protect us until we receive this salvation, because we ARE trusting him.  Please note:  we ARE.  Also note:  trusting means continually trusting.  It is not an end statement or past tense.  Every moment of every breath we MUST trust HIM.  Not ourselves, not the people around us, not life in general, or what it has handed out arbitrarily, or as a result of our choices.  We MUST trust HIM. 

Your salvation will be revealed on the last day....for all to see.  I would not want to be the odd person out.  I know what that means.  Not just the emotional response as I look at it in human terms, like a child being chosen last in a game.  But in the eternal sense....it means if I don't go up, I surely go down....to hell.  I am way not going to hell.  ARE YOU?    

If you are doing all the right things....and me, too, Peter tells us, "So be truly glad!  There is wonderful joy ahead....".  Watch out now.....He also says, "even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while."  Yup, who doesn't know this turn in the road? 

Peter goes on to tell us that "These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure."  IS IT?!  He tells us our faith is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold and that our faith is more precious to God than mere gold.  Peter tells us if our faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring us much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.  Personally, I am not in this for the praise and glory and honor for myself, I'm in it to bring that to him.  But if it is part of the gift of salvation, I'll gladly receive it from God and Jesus and Holy Spirit.

Are you ready?  Peter tells us here that we love Jesus even though we have never seen him.  Let me state that accurately....he tells YOU that "YOU love him even though YOU have never seen him".  DO you?  "Though you do not see him, you trust him with a glorious, inexpressible joy."  REALLY?!!!  "Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls." 

"This salvation", Peter says, "was something the prophets wanted to know more about.  They prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you, even though they had many questions as to what it all could mean.  They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterward.  They wondered when and to whom all this would happen."  Do you wonder?  You don't have to anymore.

"They were told that these things would not happen during their lifetime, but many years later, during yours.  And now this Good News has been announced by those who preached to you in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven."  Are you listening????    

Peter tells us futher, "It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen."  Do you think it is wonderful?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?  Have you accepted Holy Spirit?  GOD?  Have you been washed in Jesus' blood?  Are you experiencing fiery trials?  IF YES, say Hallelujah!   An inheritance awaits you!                    

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Let Us Pray

Lord, I am so excited to receive that promised inheritance.  But please don't let it loom soon!  I have so much work for you to do here on earth yet, and every day I feel I get further behind on my list of things to do.  Please help me do all I can, to do all I can, sharing who you are, that you are, and how wonderful you are with the world. Thank you for counting me worthy.  I'll keep loving you....thank you for loving me.  I am very excited to share with others about the inheritance you have for them and how to walk holy.  Help me to be a shining light for you.  I'm at the table of mercy....receiving your love.  Thank you.  Bowing down, Lord, to you.  Bowing down.  Amen.      

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More love.... 

  Benediction...Blessing

Let us hear from Paul as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'.

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation. 

It is not how we worship, but that we worship....the Trinity!   

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If you feel that the Church of the Holy Spirit has inspired or helped you, we'd like you to prayerfully consider tithing regularly to us or gifting us, so that we can further the work and carry out the will of the Father as proclaimed in Matthew 28:19-20 NLT

 to

 "Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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  Our Current Cause

It is time to reach into the community and the world around you to see wherein lies the greatest need.  As you choose to focus on these areas, do so with a servant's heart.  Whether the need is for children, adults, or animals, or any cause in between that will help those in need, ask God how you can best serve his needs, what path you must take, and how long you should persevere.  Sometimes we are to be in the lives of others merely as stepping stones.  Sometimes we are to touch those lives forever.  Whatever journey you are called to take, whatever team you will be a member, know this:  God is with you always...even til the end of time.  He loves you, is grateful for you, and will help you along life's way, especially if you are helping others along theirs, persevering with a servant's heart. 

Please accept my sincerest thanks....and God's....and may God richly bless you!   

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In the meantime, we hope you will trust us to direct them to where the need is the greatest.

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

   Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided. 

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  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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