Talk of JESUS .com

Tag: peter

  • Growing into Christ

    Growing into Christ

    The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.

    Let’s consider the community of believers we call ‘church’ for a moment. Paul addresses some of the ‘issues’ of worship style in his letter to the Corinthians [ch.14] and his first direction of guidance instructs: “Pursue love… agapē.” 

    1 Corinthians 14:20  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

    John writes to the churches in Asia a similar caution:

    1 John 1: 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

    Peter in his first letter addresses Christians of churches in an even larger area:

    1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

    The King James Version states: Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

    • be of one mind
    • have compassion one of another – sympathēs 
    • love as brothers – philadelphos

    Do these words of the Apostles instruct any to be a lone chrisitian? Certainly not. The instruction to Christians is for fellowship.

    The Apostles teach the nurturing of a loving community, believers who spend time with one another, who worship together, and believers who truly love each other as Christ Jesus loves us.

    The Christian community is built with fellowship…

    How is it that most of our busy 21st century churches don’t get this?

    Does it take just a little more than an hour on a Sunday to build a relationship? to build a community? to establish a church in the love and fellowship of our Lord, Christ Jesus?

    “christians” we call ourselves. Is your relationship and community with your fellow brothers in the Lord (your fellow sisters in the Lord) a loving commitment such as this?

    The Christian community is built with fellowship, the Christian heart with prayer.

    So let us repent of the busyness of our public lives and sacrifice a little more Christ-like love to embrace His love through the relationships of our church.

    Which brings us now to our private lives:

    How is your prayer life?

    I must confess that I have never been one to think of prayer sufficiently. It was not until recently (by measure of years) that I finally engaged God in conversation through prayer every morning and throughout my day.

    Do you suppose the mention of “prayer” 114 times plus “pray” 96 times in the ESV suggests its importance? Of course.

    IF Jesus is our Lord and Master, we being His servants: certainly we must be obedient to His command:

    Mathew 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

    Jesus said: “when you pray,” not ‘IF you pray.”

    Jesus said: “bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” – Luke 6:28  I have a hard time with that one.

    I remind myself: Pray without ceasing.

    Jesus encourages us in Luke 18:  And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.

    Do you “loose heart” in your daily life? I do.  Consider that in losing heart you have likely neglected prayer.

    Our failing flesh is one thing, but our heart is quite another. Jesus points out that the flesh is weak, but for the heart He directs us to prayer. Our heart (Hebrew) is: the inner man, mind, will, heart, soul, understanding and much more – kardia in the Greek.

    How will our spirit dwell with the Holy Spirit if not through prayer?

    … the Christian heart is built with prayer.

    And oh, so tender, our torn-up hearts.

    How broken our Christian lives.  How broken our Christian families.  How broken our Christian homes.

    How broken our Christian husbands and how broken our Christian wives. How broken our Christian children and how broken our Christian youth.

    What, then, must Christians do? (For in fact, our brokenness looks no different than the brokenness of so many who do not even know the love of Christ Jesus.)

    The unturned pages of our Bibles tell an answer we claim as our ‘Good News.’ (Gospel.)

    Have you been too busy to get the answers from God through prayer?

    Have you been too busy to share your love with other Christians?

     The Christian community is built with fellowship,

    the Christian heart with prayer.

  • Free?

    Free?

    How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

    We are slaves to our past. We are slaves to our culture. We are slaves to our traditions.

    “I was born (Hispanic, Asian, black, white… whatever excuse.)”

    The Pharisees were proud of being born Hebrew; proud of their Jewish past. In fact, they were slaves of their past, culture and traditions. Like many of us, they were slaves of their sin.

    They were under the rule and slavery of Rome, who granted Jews (for a time as was politically expedient) a measure of freedom to worship and live as they were accustomed.  Like us, they did not realize that they were slaves of God’s providence and timing – God’s circumstances for application and witness of faith through difficulty.

    Jews were so proud to have escaped the slavery of Egypt, that they did not recognize the slavery of their own disobedience to ‘elohiym hä·yä hä·yä – Yĕhovah Yĕhovah.

    Yet their lives under the slavery of Rome required continual compromise of their freedom. These righteous rulers of the people slipped more and more into sin until they no longer had relationship with Almighty God.

    The Temple was no longer a place of truth.  The worship of God had become as false as the faith of the Pharisees.

    Then God, Who had been silent since the days of the Prophets, returned to the Temple in the Person of Christ Jesus.

    John 8: 

    “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

    “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

    “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world…”

     

    The Truth Will Set You Free

    31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

    34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[b] to sin.35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

    Jesus is LORD. But is Jesus lord over YOUR LIFE?

    Have you slipped into the sin of your past… just as the Pharisees? Are you bound to the slavery of our sins?

    Two Christian sisters have pointed out this week their deep sorrow over the addictions of loved ones to heroin. (It would not have to be heroin, though we realize more the inevitable consequence.) It could be gambling, or beer, booze or wine. It could be cigarettes or over-eating. It could be pornography or partying with the sexual sin of the world.

    And worst of all for our witness of Christ (just like the Pharisees), we may at the same time CLAIM to be Christians.

     42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God.The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

    We seek the sin that will satisfy in the shadows of darkness and self-delusion. To continue in sin is to have sin shackle you.

    Romans 6

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Dead to Sin, Alive to God

    6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

    What are they sellingWhy do christians so easily return to our chains of addictions to the sins of our worldly past? — a life of slavery? — before Christ Jesus freed us by His Blood of the Cross?

    Galatians 5

    English Standard Version (ESV)

    Christ Has Set Us Free

    5 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

    casino drinks 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

    19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,divisions, 21 envy,[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

    Is Jesus your Lord?

    OR Is your sin your lord?

    What is the TRUTH?

    John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.  18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

    PRAY for those yet chained to the sins and addictions of their past.

    1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

  • The Grace for which the Prophets prayed

    The Grace for which the Prophets prayed

    The Lord put this verse on my heart Monday as I prayed:

    1 Peter 1:10  Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you

    The Holy Spirit seems to lead in the themes of Monday’s prior posts. (Not being one to remember passages of scripture, I did not have any idea of the content of this verse and application.  You may want to visit my two posts from Monday.)

    1 Peter 1: {13b} rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance…

    (The link above will take you to the full context OR read all of it in your BIBLE.)

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