GIVE YOUR CARES TO GOD

 

GIVE YOUR CARES TO GOD

I Peter 5:7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you. NLT

The key word in this verse is all. There is a tendency to hang onto some of those things we worry about. We worry because we do not trust the Lord as we should. If something concerns you and you don’t know the outcome, do you take it to the Lord or stew over it? When you take it to the Lord, do you pick it up later and carry it around with you, or do you leave it with the Lord to take care of it? Do you give Him only the big stuff and hang onto the smaller things? Do you try to deal with things on your own rather than let the Lord deal with things?

What it really boils down to is our faith. When we worry over things, we are essentially saying either we don’t believe God will take care of them for us or we question His ability to do it. When we give the Lord control over our lives, it involves control over all those things which concern us. We either trust Him or we don’t. There is no peace for the soul who cannot, or will not, trust the Lord in all things.

If we truly believe in the power of God to take care of us and His love for us, we will trust Him to take care of all the things in life, both the known and unknown things. We either believe that He is sovereign over us and will work all things out for our good or we don’t. To hang onto things and worry about them is living by sight and not faith.

What it really boils down to is this: when we fret and stew over things, we are essentially doubting that God really cares enough for us to take care of those things. We are doubting that He will do what He has said He will do for us. If you tend to be a worrier, ask the Lord to help you trust Him more. Ask Him to help you believe that He has you covered and will work things out for the good and for His glory. Ask Him to take charge of all your worries and cares.

HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD

 

HUMBLE YOURSELF BEFORE GOD

I Peter 5:6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. NLT

We don’t do a very good job of humbling ourselves. We look in the mirror and relish who we are and what we have accomplished. We admire ourselves and convince ourselves that we are the ones who made us into the people we have become. Let’s be honest with ourselves about this. We tend to give ourselves credit for our accomplishments in life. We wrestle with pride. We can’t avoid it.

We often struggle to admit it when we mess up, either with God or others. Pride wants us to think that we haven’t done anything wrong. It wants us to not admit our sins and mistakes. It wants us to be defensive instead of humble in heart. Pride keeps us from being blessed by God.

God commands us to humble ourselves before Him. He wants us to accept the fact that it is only through Him that we can do anything in life that is noteworthy. No matter how resourceful or talented we may be, it is God who enables us to be who we are and do what we do. He holds the key to life and death. He is the distributor of gifts. He is the one who allows us to live to become who we are.

Every one of us is born with great potential. God gives us the framework to do great things in life. Rather than boast about our role in becoming who we are, we should humbly give thanks to the Lord. It is God’s creative design that determines our gifts and talents. We are responsible for developing and using our gifts, but without the Lord, we have nothing of which to boast about.

Self-pride is sin and is damaging to the soul. It robs God of the glory and honor due Him. It takes the focus off of God and puts it on us. We must get our pride under control and humble ourselves before our Creator. We must give Him alone the glory and honor for what we do in life. The Lord will honor all who honor Him. Humble yourself before God or He will do it for you.

SERVE THE LORD WELL

SERVE THE LORD WELL

I Peter 5:1-4 And now a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share his glory and his honor when he returns. As a fellow elder, this is my appeal to you: Care for the flock of God entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly--not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your good example. And when the head Shepherd comes, your reward will be a never-ending share in his glory and honor. NLT

Peter is writing specifically to church leaders here, but I believe it applies to everyone who claims to be a child of God. Church leaders have greater responsibilities and will be judged accordingly, but everyone who wants to make it to heaven needs to pay heed to Peter's instructions.

A child of God is a servant of God. He takes seriously the role he plays in the Kingdom of God. He watches carefully over his soul and does all he can to help others do what is right before God. What he does he does in love. He eagerly serves the Lord, not grudgingly. He does not exploit people, but seeks to help them the best he can. He lives honorably before God as an example to others to follow. He does not sit idly by resting on his laurels as a child of God, but works hard at what God wants him to do.

When we live life the way God wants us to, we will be greatly rewarded when Jesus comes to take the Church home to heaven. Our reward in heaven will be eternal, and we will forever share in our Lord's glory and honor. Diligently stay the course of faith and invest in the life of others. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.

Serve the Lord well. Do all you do for Him out of a heart of love for Him and others and He will say to you when you get home, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter now into the Kingdom of thy Lord.”

USE YOUR GIFTS WELL

 

USE YOUR GIFTS WELL

I Peter 4:10 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. NLT

God has given you at least one gift to serve Him with. Some of us have many gifts. Gifts are given with responsibility. We are responsible for using our gifts and how we use them. We are responsible for developing our gifts. God’s gifts are spiritual in nature.

Spiritual gifts have a purpose, and that is to honor and glorify Christ with them. Whatever our particular giftedness may be, we are to use them for God’s purposes and not our own. It is good for us to try to be the very best we can be if it’s for Jesus’ sake and not our own. He who uses his gifts to make himself known or to stroke his ego is abusing his gifts and dishonoring Christ.

Gifts are given as an expression of love. Because God loves us, He gives us means whereby we may serve Him. He never gives us a task to do without the means to do it. Your gifts are instruments in your hands to help you serve the Lord according to His plans for your life.

There is a wide variety of gifts given. The Lord combines our various gifts together so that together we can fulfill the will of God to reach the lost for Him. The various gifts given complement each other if used for God’s glory and not our own. Gifts do not define who we are and we should never let them. They should be seen as vessels in God’s hands to serve and honor Him.

Manage your gifts well. Don’t use them wrongly. Don’t use them sparingly. Don’t hide them. Don’t deny others the pleasure of observing you use them. Don’t hinder others from seeing God at work in you because of your not using your gifts. And, don’t abuse your gifts by using them to point to you instead of our Savior.

DEEPLY LOVE OTHERS

 

DEEPLY LOVE OTHERS

I Peter 4:8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. NLT

Most important of all, this is a very critical part of living a holy life and being ready for Christ’s return. We must show deep love for each other. There are different ways to love. We love deeper those whom we are attached to more. What does it mean to love someone deeply?

It means first of all that we are drinking deeply from the well of God’s love for no one can love deeply without drawing it from Him. God is the substance of all love. It means as well that our capacity to love is growing. The more we are invested in God, who is love, the greater we grow in our ability to love. To love someone deeply involves intent and purpose. It means that we don’t just wait for it to happen, we make it happen. We take an interest in others and involve ourselves in their lives. We get to know others from the heart well enough so that we are quick to forgive and slow to anger. We seek to always maintain peace by setting aside our personal wants and issues when necessary.

We are to love each other deeply because when we do we are able to live in peace with each other. A heart full of love is a forgiving heart that is not easily offended. When the heart is full of God’s love, grace abounds. Forgiving each other becomes the natural thing for us to do. We let that which has been forgiven remain in the past. We extend graciousness to those who sin instead of condemning them. We look out for each other and strive to help each other move forward without the baggage of sin weighing us down. In other words, we commit ourselves to grace-filled relationships that never run dry.

Everyone needs to know that their sin doesn’t define who they are. We all need to know that we are genuinely loved and accepted unconditionally. Knowing we are loved encourages us to want to do better, to be better. Love covers over a multitude of sins.

THE END IS NEAR

 

THE END IS NEAR

I Peter 4:7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. NLT

We know it’s going to happen. We know that the Lord is coming soon; we just don’t know when. Believers have anticipated His coming since the Church was first established. Many have tried to predict when it will happen. Many ministries have come and gone over trying to pinpoint when the Lord is coming. No matter how much we may believe that it’s going to be in our lifetime or soon thereafter, no one except God knows. He keeps that information to himself. No matter how convincing the research may seem, the Lord will come back when God determines it is time and not a moment before.

God does not tell us when it’s going to happen because He knows the heart and thinking of man. He knows that many would wait until the very last moment to get right with Him instead of living in Him and for Him. He knows that the work of the Kingdom would not get done. He knows that many would not make it into heaven if His children were to know because they would be more into waiting than serving.

Since we don’t know when the Lord is coming, we should be alert and ready. We should never be unprepared. We should earnestly seek Him and serve Him. We should take our duty to go into the world and make disciples seriously. We should take seriously our need to be a holy people. We should earnestly develop the disciplines of our faith that we might continue to grow in grace and our understanding of Him and His ways.

We should earnestly be disciplined in our prayer lives. There is no way we will ever be right with God and effective in service without prayer. There is no way we will be motivated to be witnesses for Christ in and outside of the church without a committed prayer life. There will be no way we will be ready at all times for the Lord’s coming without a strong prayer life. If you do not have a strong prayer life that translates into a strong faith life, ask the Lord today to help you develop one. Your soul and the souls of many others are in the balance.

The end of the world is coming soon; we just don’t know when. Many will live and die before that day comes. It is imperative for the eternal security of our souls that we live each day as if it were to be today. Don’t let the Lord’s coming for you catch you unprepared.

WORSHIP CHRIST AS LORD

 

WORSHIP CHRIST AS LORD

I Peter 3:15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. NLT

The context surrounding this verse is about suffering for doing what is right before God and how to respond to it. Most of us are pretty good at complaining about our suffering. It is nothing new; the Israelites were masters of it. They were very discontent and often complained to Moses when they had to endure suffering instead of being grateful for what God had provided.

Instead of complaining about what we don't have, we should turn our eyes upon the Lord and thank Him for what we do have. A complaining or dissatisfied heart cannot worship the Lord. Worship is always Christ-centered with gratitude and praise for what He has done and is doing in our lives. Worship is resting in the goodness of God. It is expressing to God our adoration for Him.

We should be quick to share the hope and help we have in Christ and very slow to share about our sufferings or what we don't have that we wish we had. When we have grateful hearts it's easy to talk about it to others. When we appreciate all that the Lord has and is doing, we express it often. People need to hear how good and loving God is towards us. They need a message of hope, not despair.

Feast on the riches of His grace and you will always be ready to explain to others how precious and wonderful the Lord is to you. We talk most and best about those things we value and love the most. Always be ready to explain to others your love for the Lord.