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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:17
17 And if ye call on the Father , who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work , pass the time of your sojourning here in fear : KJV-Interlinear
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
If you are a true Christian, then you will honor God the Father as a child honors their parent, as a wife honors her husband, as one who is subordinate in any capacity, honors any authorized and proper authority.
Authority is established by God. God invented it, defined it, and established it as a part of the principles, which guide and stabilize life.
If you were to disregard the rules of the road, then there would be chaos on the streets. If you were to disregard the rights of others, then there would be no trust, no privacy, nothing of value in ones life.
If you regard God with any kind of respect at all, then you will honor Him, not only in words, but in deeds. You will obey His mandates.
God is not a respecter of persons. He has no respect whatsoever for who or what you are.
Man is dust and nothing more. Man is a living soul and nothing more. Man has accomplished nothing on his own, nor will he ever accomplish anything significant, ever.
If you have a talent, then it came from God. If you have an ability, then it came from God. If you have looks, then they came from God. If you have any intelligence at all, it came from God. Everything about you came from God.
God placed you in this world at His convenience, not at your command. God will remove you from this world at His convenience, and without regard to your permission.
God recognizes that which is holy as He is holy, that which is perfect as He is perfect. He detests anything and everything that is tainted and evil.
And, your life in this world, regardless of what you think of yourself, will be evaluated at the end of your life in this world. So you have perhaps a few decades to prepare yourself for that evaluation.
At the proper time, and again, at Gods convenience, we will all be called to stand before Him. God gave us all, time, doctrine and volition, and with those three things we have all that we need in order to prepare ourselves for our ultimate and final evaluation.
And what will our evaluation be concerned with?
Our fear, our respect, our honor of God, of His word, of His plan, of His doctrine, of all the principles and mandates which He has set before us. And, the manner with which we have applied these things (Gods truth) and formed the conduct of our life, around them. These things will determine the outcome of our evaluation.
God has left us all with tremendous promises and blessings in time and in eternity. Those blessings amount to things of phenomenal value. To whom God gives much (blessings), God expects much (obedience to His Word).
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:15-16
15 But [alla] as [kata] he which hath called [kaleo] you [humas] is holy [hagios], so [kai] be [ginomai] ye [autos] holy [hagios] in [en] all [pas] manner of conversation [anastrophe];
16 Because [dioti] it is written [grapho], Be ye [ginomai] holy [hagios]; for [hoti] I [ego] am [eimi] holy [hagios]. KJV-Interlinear
15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ NASB
Likewise, as you are not to conform to this world, which means to not conform to the whims of your sin nature, then you are to conform to the example which God gives us all. Namely being holy.
Holiness is righteousness plus justice. These two combine to make you holy, or sacred, or sanctified, or perfect as it were.
We cannot be any of these apart from Gods plan and design.
Righteousness means to be clear of blemish, free of sin, without fault. Righteousness is the state of perfection.
Justice is the process of cleansing. It is a washing, a wiping away of filth and dirt, of blemishes, of faults, of taints of every type. Justice is the process of discovery of a blemish (evil), and then the washing of it away.
God has given us both the process of justice, and the resultant state of righteousness, by means of the confession procedure. 1, 2, and 3rd John teach this principle.
Christ has already gone to the Cross and has paid the penalty for sin. Sin is a crime and when one goes to court for ones crimes, there is a penalty. Christ went to court via the Cross and took upon Himself, the penalties for our sins. They are now paid in full and have no control over our lives with respect to our eternal life.
Christ did this and God has offered us the benefit of His work, which is salvation (freedom from the second death and the Lake of Fire). All that He requires is that we believe in what He accomplished (faith in Christ).
Once you believe in Christ, then you are immediately cleansed, with respect to your spiritual life. But as we all know, we do not live very long (perhaps minutes) before we commit a sin.
Now that salvation is no longer an issue (once you have been saved), confession becomes the mechanism for forgiveness and restoration into fellowship. Confession is the process of justice, or washing, and fellowship is the state of perfection or righteousness.
Now that righteousness and justice are functional in you, you are now holy, as God is holy – free from sin, etc. And it is on this level, and only on this level, that you possess an audience with God.
In fellowship, your spiritual life functions. In fellowship, you are standing before God. In fellowship, you are resident in Gods fortress and protected by it. In fellowship, you are resident in Gods temple. In fellowship, you are surrounded by a supernatural wall of divine fire. In fellowship, your spiritual growth can function. In fellowship, your prayers are received by God the Father, and answered. Every prayer is answered, although many times the answer is, no.
Out of fellowship, none of these things are functional. God does not deal with the unholy. God does not receive the unholy.
If you want a relationship with God, and that is the very best possible relationship that anyone can have, then you have to approach Him by means of His rules, not yours.
Lev. 11:44
44 'For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate [set apart by means of confession] yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean [out of fellowship] with any of the swarming things [sin or human good] that swarm on the earth. NASB
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:14
14 As [hos] obedient [hupakoe] children [teknon], not [me] fashioning yourselves according to [suschematizo] the former [proteron] lusts [epithumia] in [en] your [humon] ignorance [agnoia]: KJV-Interlinear
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, NASB
Children are to obey their parents in all things. All things, means in truth, not in criminal activities or in things that are obviously not compatible with truth. However, the child is not the one who is making up the rules either.
The child, is a student without portfolio. That simply means that the child is here to learn and not argue, talk back, make scenes, be opinionated, disobedient and so forth. The child's first obligation is to respect and to obey, and to be quiet. A little emphasis on that last item.
Likewise the parent is to teach with authority, not with arrogance, with wisdom, not with stupid opinions, with fairness, not by taking advantage.
And so we have an outline of our obligation to God. He is the authority. Doctrine is His message. And we are to listen and learn in accordance with His schooling policies, while at the same time, being quiet with respect to our own opinions, and especially with our former beliefs.
The former you, is a reference to the sin nature. We are all born with the sin nature within our physical body. And if allowed, it will take us over, and rule us from its position of sin or human good.
We are living souls. The soul resides within the body, but is not a part of the body. When we die, we leave the body, ‘Absent from the body, and face to face with the Lord.’ At death the physical body is discarded, and left along with the sin nature, to rot in the ground. That is the value of the physical body and the sin nature. Good only for decay.
Out of fellowship, you are ruled by your sin nature. And here again, you are not to revert, once you have been saved, and in fellowship, back to the former self. Life within fellowship is far better, although you will not feel any different, nor have any sense of your different self, it is simply Gods command for residence, and accomplished by means of confession to God the Father.
Ignorance is lack of knowledge, or unawareness. It is a reference to the time either prior to your salvation, or to the time prior to your learning doctrine, or to the times when you are out of fellowship.
A baby is ignorant. An adult, presumably, has less ignorance. Although you probably know folks that you wonder about.
Ignorance is a reference to your knowledge, or lack of it, of the spiritual life, to doctrine, to God, to Christ and so forth.
You can conduct your life as a mature adult, with knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, or you can function in life without knowledge, understanding and wisdom, imitating a baby.
And your entire conduct in life is evaluated with respect to the Bible doctrine which you have in your soul, not with respect to the worldly knowledge, academic knowledge, or street smarts you may possess.
These latter items may get you around in a jungle environment, which is just another description of the world, but they do no good whatsoever in your spiritual life.
The former item, Bible doctrine, will get you around in your spiritual life, as well as help you to get by in the world, but although it will aid you in surviving in this life, its primary function is to prepare you for the next life (eternity), which is the lions share of your entire existence. This life in this world is but a blink on the eternal timeline.
So, obedience is the key to your success, and obedience means simply doing what God wants you to do, namely, study your Bible everyday, learn doctrine, apply it to your daily life, gain understanding from your learning and application, and allow this to build up wisdom within you, thus strengthening your faith.
Faith is the spiritual muscle which allows you to accomplish anything. And in this life, anything simply means waiting on the lord, and not allowing the world to break your faith.
The world has many weapons and subtleties for distracting you, causing doubt to enter into your thoughts, crusades or controversies for getting you involved in the world and away from your spiritual life, and so forth.
Keep your mind on doctrine and stick to the path of truth. Don’t wonder off.
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:13
13 Wherefore [dio] gird up [anazonnumi] the loins [osphus] of your [humon] mind [dianoia], be sober [nepho], and hope [elpizo] to the end [teleios] for [epi] the grace [charis] that is to be brought [phero] unto you [humin] at [en] the revelation [apokalupsis] of Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos]; KJV-Interlinear
13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. NASB
Gird up, is a term for preparation. Loins, is symbolism for the thoughts and actions of your life. Sober, is a term for serious restraint. Hope is a term for confidence through faith.
When we gird up our lives, we prepare in accordance with the mandates of God, through our daily study of doctrine, through our residence in fellowship, through our understanding and application of doctrine to our daily lives (honesty, integrity, fairness, charity, kindness, support, responsibility, discernment, orientation to God, to life, to people, to self, etc., etc.).
And although this preparation in life for life includes the many things we do in our temporal life, the primary emphasis here applies to your spiritual preparation.
A temporal life without a spiritual life, is worthless. A spiritual life without a temporal life (without application of faith – review the study of James) is worthless.
To have a complete life, you must combine your spiritual life within your temporal life and the two combined, provide you with a thorough and rounded life, so long as your spiritual life has priority and is a legitimate spiritual life, and your temporal life operates within the rules and framework of the spiritual life.
The sober life, is one which resides in fellowship. Anything else, out of fellowship, means that you function within your sin nature and that is in effect a drunken life, a dysfunctional life, a quicksand life, a life that promises only lies.
And why should you prepare yourself, make yourself alert, be ready in life as a soldier is on call at a moments notice? Because God has a plan for your life, and that plan is a phenomenal plan. But that plan, the greatest and best portions of that plan, applies only to those who come before Him with full preparation.
Your spiritual life is the greatest and most valuable possession that you can ever have.
While the world is going its own way, while the world is debating what to do or what not to do, while the world is full of opinions and ideas, God is the only one who possesses a viable plan, the only one who possesses the sovereignty to enforce the plan, and is the only one who possesses the power to accomplish it.
And He does it all for you.
On the evening of the very first Passover, God instructed Moses, and Moses instructed the people, to paint their doors with blood (salvation), to eat while standing (preparation in growth), to be packed with a light traveling pack (free from the burdens of the sin nature and the world), and to wait in readiness for the signal to move out of Egypt (to go immediately, at a moments notice, when God calls.
That too, is your mandate. Make your spiritual growth your number one priority, such that you will be ready for anything, when God calls on you, for whatever reason.
Your spiritual blessings are far too valuable to just let slip through your fingers, when, receiving them and keeping them, is the simplest thing in the world.
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:12
12 Unto whom [hos] it was revealed [apokalupto], that [hoti] not [ou] unto themselves [heautou], but [de] unto us [hemin] they did minister [diakoneo] the things [autos], which [hos] are [anaggello] now [nun] reported [anaggello] unto you [humin] by [dia] them that have preached the gospel [euaggelizo] unto you [humas] with [en] the Holy [hagios] Ghost [pneuma] sent down [apostello] from [apo] heaven [ouranos]; which things [hos] the angels [aggelos] desire [epithumeo] to look [parakupto] into [eis]. KJV-Interlinear
12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — things into which angels long to look. NASB
God revealed to those of the Old Testament times, that many of the things they were searching out, were not for them, but for future generations.
Just as we saw when we studied Revelation, there are many things yet to come, which we know little about. We have been given general information, and we can guess as to many things yet to come, but only those folks in future generations, and especially those folks who will actually live in the Tribulation, or the Millennium, will be able to comprehend and understand the doctrines that are specifically meant for them.
And yet, even though many doctrines of old, would not be revealed, such as the specific identity of Jesus, the specific date and circumstances of His sacrifice, and so forth, the Old Testament folks, from Adam on, were still interested, intensely interested, in Gods plan and its unfolding with respect to themselves as well as future generations.
Today we live in the Church Age. Sometimes we call it the dispensation of the Royal Family, or the dispensation of the Bride of Christ. Our dispensation is one which lacks specific prophecies. In fact, we have but one prophecy, which is the Rapture, or the final event which will conclude our dispensation.
Ours is a dispensation of historical trends, and a time of the maneuvering of human powers. In the first few centuries, people knew of the coming of the Rapture, but they did not know when or of the many centuries of folks that were still to live.
Today we have the privilege of looking back on history and seeing the historical movements of peoples, of the arranging of powers, of the world wars, of the restoration of a nation in Israel, and so forth. And while God is arranging peoples and nations in preparation for the next dispensation (the last seven years of the last dispensation – the Age of Israel), we can sort of see how the big picture is going to play out, but we still lack the specific dates of when it will all come together.
Not only are we getting to see the arrangement of world powers, but we are also getting to see how the world news media, the world celebrities, and the world masses of people will have a tendency in moving toward anti-Christian beliefs.
And as liberal views begin to prevail, then Christian views will diminish and future generations will become less and less inclined toward Bible doctrine.
We can only guess as to the timeline remaining in our dispensation, but we do know that God is methodical, orderly, consistent, and meticulous in His overall plan for humanity. And, that God will not allow anything to interfere with the gospel and doctrine from getting to anyone who is interested in the slightest, even those who have not yet been born.
So evil will not be allowed to gain control of history, and shorten Gods already established timeline.
Does this mean that we will be protected from economic downturns or future wars? No.
In fact we could still be in line for the greatest of world shake-ups yet to come. After all, this is the dispensation of the Royal Family and when it ends, those remaining will enter into the Tribulation, which will be by far, the worst of the worst periods in all of human history.
So, in order to make certain that everyone who is going to believe in Christ, during this dispensation, will have their chance, and to make certain that everyone who will refuse to believe in Christ, will have no excuse, God could very well turn this world into a huge mess. Because once that Rapture occurs, then everyone remaining behind, will have no excuse or complaint for having missed the Rapture.
Now, God gives us all the information we need in order to be saved and to grow up spiritually. None of us has any excuse for not being saved, and for not growing up in our spiritual life. And yet many billions of folks will disregard God, Christ, doctrine, and their spiritual life and opportunities for their very own destiny.
The Old Testament prophets longed to see our day. And here we see that even angels look down at our history, in order to learn for themselves.
The phrase, the angels desire to look into, means to take a lamp, to place more light on a thing such that one can look intensely at it and study it thoroughly. Today we would say that the angels were taking a magnifying glass and examining human history, as Gods plan unfolds.
Angels are not omniscient. Angels learn much the same as we do. But think about this for a second. In the grand timeline, God existed first, then He created angels, then He created the universe, and that must have been a phenomenal experience for the angels. We can only guess as to their response to that event.
The angels have had the opportunity to explore the universe, to live through the rebellion of Satan, his trial and sentencing, and now we have human history, and despite all of the universe that remains out there to be explored, the angels are right here, on little planet earth, studying Gods plan for humanity. Why? Because it is the most important sequence of events, ever.
The angels do not have any participation in eternity. Not like humanity does. And yet, they have more interest in our destiny, than most people do. And it is people who are the direct recipients of Gods plan, not angels. One would think that people would be drawn to God in droves, but that is not to be. Indifference is the status quo, unfortunately.
If ancient folks longed to see our day, if angels long to understand our history and future, then wouldn’t you think that you, who are a direct beneficiary of all of past history, and having the opportunity to understand even more of what is going on in history than anyone who has lived before us, shouldn’t you be even more interested in Bible doctrine and how it applies to current events, than they?
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:10-11
10 Of [peri] which [hos] salvation [soteria] the prophets [prophetes] have enquired [ekzeteo] and [kai] searched diligently [exereunao], who [ho] prophesied [propheteuo] of [peri] the grace [charis] that should come unto [eis] you [humas]:
11 Searching [ereunao] what [eis] [tis], or [e] what manner [poios] of time [kairos] the Spirit [pneuma] of Christ [Christos] which [ho] was in [en] them [autos] did signify [deloo], when it testified beforehand [promarturomai] the sufferings [pathema] of [eis] Christ [Christos], and [kai] the glory [doxa] that should follow [meta] [tauta]. KJV-Interlinear
10 As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. NASB
The salvation, mentioned at the beginning of verse ten, and the glories to follow, mentioned at the end of verse eleven, refer to the entire scope of Gods plan.
The prophets, refers to all of the Old Testament people who were involved in the writing, study, review, and dissemination of the scriptures whether written or spoken orally, as handed down from generation to generation, from the time of Adam to the time of Christ.
All of these folks, and all of the folks who were intensely interested in God and the stories of the gospel as they knew it, studied intensely, questioned intensely, examined intensely, the time, the place, the who, what, when, where, and how’s of Gods plan.
Search diligently, means to search as a prospector searches intensely through soil and sand, for the tiniest grains of gold.
From history we know of those who searched intensely for gold. Many were thought to be fools as they dedicated their lives in the search for gold.
But here the intenseness of that search is in view. The prophets searched and examined the scriptures for clues as to the dates and times and the who’s of history, with regard to the Savior, His coming and His sacrifice.
And more than this, they searched to know and understand the glories that would follow the Saviors’ sacrifice, namely the glories of the Savior (death, burial, resurrection, ascension, session) as well as the promises for those who would be saved and bound for heaven (our eternal blessings).
This teaches us that from the time of Adam, and throughout the many thousands of years of the Old Testament times, people knew of and understood the plan of God. They may not have known the dates, or the who’s in history, just as we do not know the date of the Rapture, nor the who’s of the anti-christ, which will not be revealed until the Tribulation begins, but we do know that there is a plan and that it will occur sometime in the near future.
Whether it is a day away, a year away, or a century away, makes no difference, because our priority is to grow up in our individual spiritual life. God will take care of the details of the overall human history timeline.
The spirit of Christ in them, means just that. Those folks in the Old Testament days, were saved by their faith in a promised Messiah, a promised Savior. They may not have known His name, although in the Hebrew, the word for Jesus is the same as the word Joshua, and the word for Messiah, is the same word as Christ.
Jesus Christ being from the Greek, and Joshua Messiah being Hebrew words. Both of these sets of words mean ‘The anointed one from God, is God.’
The subject of the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is Jesus Christ, Himself, the doctrines of God, the plan of God, the spiritual realm from God. And, the entire Bible, from beginning to end, is consistent throughout with regard to Christ, doctrine, His plan, and our individual spiritual lives.
The only differences between them and us, is that we look back historically to the Cross, which has occurred, and they looked forward to the promise of the Sacrifice. In every other case, the function of their daily spiritual lives and our daily spiritual lives are the same, in how we think.
They held offerings and sacrifices, which were teaching aids for learning doctrine as doctrine was taught during the sacrifice process, just as we hold our daily offerings and sacrifices (so to speak) by means of our daily Bible study.
The details of our respective lives may be different but the subject matter is exactly the same. Salvation by faith, fellowship by confession, spiritual growth by the application of doctrine, spiritual power by faith.
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:9
9 Receiving [komizo] the end [telos] of your [humon] faith [pistis], even the salvation [soteria] of your souls [psuche]. KJV-Interlinear
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. NASB
The result of your spiritual life? Becomes the completion of your life, which God has intended for you, since eternity past.
When you believed in Christ, you were saved. ‘By faith are we saved.’
That is the result of your initial faith or belief in Christ. But after being saved, then what?
Well, God gives you a lot of rope to let you hang yourself or to grow up spiritually. The word for end, ‘telos,’ means to complete with the result that you will receive payment.
When you take on a job, you do the job and then expect to get paid when the job is finished. When you make an investment, you expect to make a profit, when you convert your investment back to cash or some other investment. Your profit is not recognized until you do something with your investment. Your paycheck is not issued until the end of some proper timeframe, or at the end of the job.
Likewise, in this life, God has given us a timeframe, which is our lifespan in this world.
God has given us all, three capital items to invest – time, doctrine, and volition. What are you going to do with yours?
Most folks ignore them, and thus squander them. But God has given you stock certificates from heaven. Certificates that have the highest value and pay the highest dividends.
What if someone gave you stock in the stock market, or gave you a piece of real estate, or gave you a gold mine, or gave you an ownership in a going business? You would probably spend some time learning to preserve your investment and make it blossom into something greater in value.
But then God has given you something, for free, that will carry a value that is greater than all the cumulative wealth in the history of the world, and then some.
And all you have to do is read your Bible everyday (such a burden), and learn a little something from it (oh the burden), and then grow up (I don’t want to grow up), and then become a responsible person in life (but who wants to be responsible), and then here is the tough part – to believe that God will get you through this life, no matter what you (or anyone) has done to screw your life up.
Can it get any simpler than that?
The outcome? Blessings that exceed your imagination.
And how did it all get that way?
You first believed in Christ, which resulted in the salvation (saved from the lake of fire) of your soul (the real you), and then you took time in your busy, busy (or not so busy) daily schedule, and learned what God wants you to learn.
And how many folks actually do this? Not too many.
If you follow this path, the path of your spiritual life to spiritual maturity, then you will be counted among the smallest minority of folks in history. You will carry the greatest burden, greater than any other group in history (let them all complain or boast – but not you). And, you will receive the greatest reward, greater than all of those masses, at the end of history.
Why? Because it is all incorporated in Gods plan. Not mans plan, not angels, not from any philosophy, religion, cult or whatever. And it is God and God alone who possesses the sovereign authority and power to accomplish it all, with great perfection, and just for you.
Now you can count yourself as special … regardless of what everyone has been saying about you!!!
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Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library 1 Peter 1:8
8 Whom [hos] having [eido] not [ou] seen [eido] [eido], ye love [agapao]; in [eis] whom [hos], though now [arti] ye see [horao] him not [me], yet [de] believing [pisteuo], ye rejoice [agalliao] with joy [chara] unspeakable [aneklaletos] and [kai] full of glory [doxazo]: KJV-Interlinear
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, NASB
Neither you nor I have ever seen God. We have never seen Christ. All we have is the Bible and the evidence that it gives to us from centuries of consistency within its writings. That is really all we have – the written word.
But more than that, we have the supernatural phenomena which we call the spiritual life. And in that spiritual life God takes the often times ho-hum words out from the Bible, and opens up our eyes so that we can see everything in life. And that allows us to see far beyond the stories, the begets, the parting of the seas, the baby in the manger and so forth.
And because the Bible teaches truth, and because the world promotes lies, then it takes just a little bit of pondering, on our part, to see that the Bible and its path for our life is far, far better than anything we could encounter in this world.
Sure we can look around and see examples of prosperity and health and activities that we associate with contentment, but then all of those examples amount to but a fraction of a percent of the worlds population. Many billions of people do not have the luxuries that we see in the ads and lives of celebrities.
And for the most of us, probably ninety percent of the world, who are in the poverty, lower, or middle classes, life is just one day or month after another, of problems.
Why? Because this is the Devils world, not yet Gods new universe to come.
And why is this? Why not just end it all now? Because God has a plan, and that plan affects many millions or billions of people who have lived, are living, and will live in generations to come. Those future folks deserve their chance to be born, to live, and to elect for God, if that is their choice.
Besides, Satan is the one who is never satisfied and calls foul whenever God does or does not do something. So all of the many endless scenarios of history have to play themselves out, as Satan runs out of complaints. And then, history will turn in our favor.
God has a plan. God has a specific plan for your life, specific for your life. For some there will be health issues. For others there will be financial issues. For still others there will be social issues. For us all, there will be issues specific to our life.
You have issues, and whether they are good ones or bad, you should be thankful for them. Why? Because God gave to you, or allowed circumstances to enter into your life, in order to prove to the world, that no matter what the situation, whether good or bad, there will always be those who will rise above their problems, look to God, understand that this life is nothing more than a temporary training ground, and that our real life isn’t here, but through doctrine, exists in eternity, where we have the opportunity, now, to even define our destiny and have far more then, than anyone could possibly have now.
Are there billionaires now? Yes. But in eternity, and through doctrine and spiritual growth to maturity, you will be a trillionaire, a trillion times over and more. No one has or ever will achieve that in human history.
But you have to learn to stick it out in a daily study. What is that? You have to read your study, and learn it, and then with God in charge of your life, you will grow up and be successful forever.
You will never get away from the parasites and predators of this world, but then they can never stop you from reading everyday. And sooner or later, your proof of faith will manifest itself in a more relaxed mental state of mind, and confidence in God and your future. But also, you will possess these things now in this life as well.
When the soldier charges out of the landing craft onto the beach, with bullets and bombs flying everywhere, doom seems certain. But God has a plan for your life. If a bullet is meant for you, then you will never avoid it, but if God has a better plan for your life, then all of the bullets aimed at you specifically, will never touch you.
Remember the story of Elisha. He was in a city surrounded by an enemy. Someone said, what are we to do? And Elisha opened up his eyes and saw thousands of angels with flaming swords committed to the fight.
With God fighting for you, then the world can accomplish nothing, and even if it does get an advantage against you, the world has won only that which is temporary and worthless. You have lost nothing when you lose worthless things.
God has a plan for your life. To some He gives health, and to some poor health. To some He gives prosperity and to some no prosperity. To some He gives success, and to some He gives no success. You are all in the same boat, regardless of your situation. Your tests in this life may be different, but the goal for all is the same.
Now, here is wisdom. God is truth. Bible doctrine is the doorway to truth. Fear of God, means to respect, to stand in awe of Him, of truth. So, learn doctrine, which is what God has manifested in this life, to be greater than anything.
And the result? Joy, happiness, contentment, and glory forever, and ever, and far more.
Your life will end one day, and your hundred years, or whatever, or less, will amount to nothing more than a blink in your eternal lifespan.
You have this one opportunity to make yourself successful forever. When you were born, you never had any say in your current life. But now that you are born again, you can almost define and design your next life. And from all of this, we can look to no one, we can touch no one, we can hear no one. All we have is our faith that the Bible is truth, and that it is our very best hope – it is our only hope for something better.
You can take advantage of it, or you can ignore all of this Bible stuff and look for something better.
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:DailyBibleStudy.Org |
Daily Bible Study Index Page |
Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:7
7 That [hina] the trial [dokimion] of your [humon] faith [pistis], being much [polus] more precious [timios] than of gold [chrusion] that perisheth [apollumi], though [dia] [de] it be tried [dokimazo] with fire [pur], might be found [heurisko] unto [eis] praise [epainos] and [kai] honour [time] and [kai] glory [doxa] at [en] the appearing [apokalupsis] of Jesus [Iesous] Christ [Christos]: KJV-Interlinear
7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; NASB
The substance of your faith comes from the results of your spiritual life, and that results from your spiritual growth, which in turn results from the degree of your commitment to a daily study, to your objectivity, to your desire and obedience to Gods will.
For all those who are generally considered to be wealthy or prosperous, their greatest danger in life, is their indifference toward the importance of Bible doctrine. They have what they need and do not see the need for common words from the Bible.
As for those of us who suffer in life, who work for a living, who have difficulties, who face stresses almost everyday of our life, to those who have virtually nothing or are caught in the middle of having nothing or not having more, to those folks, bitterness is the danger.
Why me? Why not someone else? Why not just a little more for now? What can it possibly hurt?
But God reminds us all, that whatever we have in this life, whether much or little, whether we live in prosperity and virtually no stress, or live in daily stress and worry, both of these categories of folks are virtually the same.
The world has nothing to offer. Whatever you have or don’t have, equates to zero.
Remember that when you die, and we will all die, then we all, rich or poor, will be exactly the same as far as worldly attributes are concerned.
God gives us a clue here as Peter teaches us all, that there is a value in our spiritual life. And that value results from our cumulative spiritual life. That is the substance, the proof, the content of your faith, which is from the result of your spiritual growth, which comes from your commitment to a daily study.
Pursue your spiritual life with the same vigor as you do all other worldly aspects, and your life, will end up with phenomenal value. Ignore your spiritual life, give it little heed, be indifferent or bitter, and you assure yourself a value of zero when your life finally does end.
The gold here mentioned, means all the gold in the world. That value you should agree would be vast. But when compared to the blessings offered and held in trust by God, blessings for eternity, then the value of all the gold on the earth, even all of the gold in the entire universe, adds up to zero or worthless. Remember that all of the gold in the universe will be destroyed along with the universe, at the end of the Millennium.
And there is one assurance, that most folks disregard in their life, and that is that we will all stand before Christ, one day. Most folks actually give this little thought, life being what it is, we are all too busy doing our ‘important’ things in life.
Most figure that if we are well off, then God approves of our lifestyle. If we are falling on hard times, then God must hate us. And both sets of attitudes are totally wrong.
Your circumstances contribute to your character, and provide a proving ground for Gods shaping of your life, a shaping that you need. Some have it easy, and some do not. Your circumstances do not make you better or worse than anyone else.
What does set you apart from others, is the spiritual content in your soul. And that content can only get into your soul by means of Gods defined and designed process for spiritual growth. Your plan for learning or deciding what to accept and what to reject, is a guaranteed plan for failure.
God has given us all many examples in life to help us learn of our responsibilities in life. We are the bride or the wife, seeking to have a fabulous life with our husband, who is Christ. He offers much and we should recognize that and pursue it as though there is nothing else to pursue.
But what do people do? They become indifferent to their spiritual life just as they are indifferent toward their temporal life in this world. They make up their own behavior rules. They become bitter or disinterested. And the result, is loss, misery, dissatisfaction, discontent, insecurity, and so on and so forth.
Living your life in accordance with the rules that God made for you, yields you great things. Living your life in rebellion or indifference, gains you nothing.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, for believers, will be the Judgment Seat of Christ, where we will all stand before Him, for our spiritual evaluation. And there, the proof of your faith, the result of your spiritual life, will determine your eternal rewards. That can be a beyond imagination treasure, or an empty gift bag.
You make that choice every thinking moment of your life.
This study is from an on going online Daily Bible Study at:DailyBibleStudy.Org |
Daily Bible Study Index Page |
Daily Bible Study Online E-Book Library1 Peter 1:6
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice , though now for a season , if need be , ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations : KJV-Interlinear
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, NASB
It is this hope, or this confidence, of a salvation (freedom from death or permanent separation from God), of an eternal inheritance promised and held in trust by God, that should bring you tremendous joy and inner happiness in your life.
This life on this earth is a short life. We all will only be here but a few decades. And, even if you lived to be a thousand years old, your life here would still be considered very short when compared to all of eternity.
Eternity is an endless number of years. It is billions of trillions of quadrillions of years and much more. How can you compare any set number to infinity? There is no comparison.
Most folks consider their life as an endless repetition of days. We get up in the morning, go to work, work and then we come home. We spend our free time doing chores or hobbies. We all expect that a paycheck will always be there to pay the bills and debts, with some left over for entertainment. Most folks expect that their health will be reasonably well for most of their life. Most folks expect that their life will continue in its seemingly endless repetition, without much in the way of interruption. That becomes their subtle security in life.
But wait. Hasn’t there been quite the stir in recent days regarding the economy? Aren’t there endless possibilities of accidents, injuries, health issues that might arise, business downturns or layoffs? Is life, here in this world really that secure?
And of course the answer is no.
For many folks accidents or handicaps, age or social ostracism, or just plain bad luck, follow their life like stink on stink. Troubles follow everyone, and even billionaires have their troubles. No one is excluded from life's problems.
And certainly no one is excluded from their ultimate death and cessation of this life. The one problem that you cannot escape, or buy your way out of.
But for the most of us, life is an endless string of pressure filled days. Living hand to mouth and living under constant pressures from day to day, our lives just drag on and on and on. And if we are lucky, then maybe there will be some good times mixed in. And if we are pursuing our daily Bible study, then our lives are filled with Gods promises and our dreams of one day having far better than we could ever have in this life.
The trials in this world are many, and range from broken finger nails to broken lives, but Gods promises are many as well, and His promises are certain and guaranteed.
