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“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ‘For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the lord endures forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:22-25 NASB

Because of all we have previously read and studied together, and because of your hope in Him, “you have in obedience purified your souls….” Notice as the emphasis changes in this section and in this part of the sentence to what they have done. Much of what is written here is about the marvelous things the LORD has done and completed for us and given to us as pure gift. Now the sense and emphasis changes to what they have done and what we are to do. 

They have “in obedience to the truth purified their souls for a sincere love of the brethren…” They have done the purifying. There is always His part and then our part. This same thing is found in 1 John 3:3 “And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Once again this is speaking in context to a life-style change. 

Faith is action anchored in trust based in confidence. Faith is not just mentally agreeing with something and then “wishing” it were so. “If I just keep thinking about it and speaking it, then it will happen.” That is often what people mean when they say they are trusting God by faith. Faith is not that at all. It is confident action anchored in His word. So when we are truly born-from-above, everything about us begins to come into alignment with Him.  We begin the purification business in our love center. We begin to love very differently – in every relationship, but especially in relationship to those in our God-Family. 

In this passage in 1 Peter, this alignment is in reference to our loving those who are also born-from-above in the family of God. It is to be a sincere, fervent love for one another from the heart, or from the core of our being. A casual, non-caring and not attached “feeling” is not what He is talking about. 

The reason we are to love this way is because of the “seed” of our birth. We were all born from God though the breath of His Word, His seed. Just like we were born in the natural by our parent’s seed, so in the spiritual we were born by spiritual seed – The Father’s through His Word. 

Now we are called to begin to align every feeling, every thought and every action with the family’s heritage – the Word. Then the passage/thought is anchored in a quote from Isaiah 40:6-8. The one thing that will never change in our world – the word of the Lord endures forever. That means even when we cross the threshold into His arms, the word is still there.

How do we do this? Through that same word and through His power in the grace empowerment given. It is and always will be a walk in Him. It can get exciting – let’s let Him lead and then align ourselves as He leads. Such is faith. 

“For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1 Peter 1:20-21 NASB

After explaining that our conduct (the way we think, feel and live) is to conform to the price paid for us, the blood of the Lord Jesus, Peter now adds some information for us about our Christ. 

He was foreknown (to know beforehand; foreknew; foreknown etc…) before the foundation of the world. Since he is a part of the three-in-one, then of course, He was foreknown. Forever before known – before the foundation (a laying down; conceive) of the world. Before the world (cosmos) was even conceived – He was foreknown. This “foundation” word is the same one used in Ephesians 1:4, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” (So as He was known we were known in Him in a life of holiness and blamelessness. This is when and how deeply we have been chosen). 

“He has appeared in these last times for the sake of you (us) who are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory,….” For our benefit, dear ones, for us He appeared (became visible, was revealed, manifested). It has been for you and for me that this cosmic event of His coming, living, dying and ascending has occurred. 

This produces in us, (when mediated on and allowed to permeate our thoughts) a deep sense of peace, comfort and “knowing” that we belong and are deeply loved. He has not done all this so we would sink in the middle of some crisis of circumstance, but has provided fully for all we need. 

“…so that your faith and hope (expectation) are in God.” We so often expect others to do for us what the Lord alone can either do by Himself, or what He will do through others for our benefit. He leads others to benefit us. Just like He leads us to benefit others. So as we listen and enjoy the journey of doing and being Him in our world, so we can rest in His doing for us in His ways what is needed – emotionally, physically, spiritually — in every way.

“Pour out your before Him.” (Psalm 62:8) and then rest in its accomplished fact. That is faith. Faith sees what is not yet seen in the natural. We rejoice in faith, rest in His choosing and live as He demonstrates in His power.  What a marvelous Lord!

Yes, I have changed the theme again. I am working with a few things with the blog’s form and design, but will need to work with it over time. So for now, this theme will do. I think I have all the necessary elements in the correct places. So now we can write. 

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I Am Holy.'” 1 Peter 1:14-16 NASB

I want to continue the “holy” theme for just a bit today. In the last post I worked with how the meaning for the word “holy” in the New Testament is different from the Hebrew meaning in the Old Testament. The NT meaning being “set-apart” while the OT meaning carries more of the meaning we normally attribute to the word, reverence, character, purity, awesomeness etc…. So since the passage in 1st Peter quotes from the OT (Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7) the inclusion of these thoughts here are appropriate. 

However, we are new covenant, born-from-above people and therefore we need to always interpret the Old through eyes of the New. In the New, we have been given that new heart and new Spirit prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31ff. We are the empowered sons of Almighty God sent into the world to bring freedom’s story of redemption to every person. We have been gifted with Him and the grace that is the normal climate for family of God. 

So as we look into the Old, we can, of course receive its truths about “holy,” but need to also see ourselves included there and not excluded. The Lord is high and lifted up in His temple, and we are that temple. So He makes us a part of His own. We are not looking up or out or to something that has not included us. 

We have become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21) through the complete work of our Lord Jesus. No longer helpless in our flesh, He abides within to make all of Heaven real to us. Therefore, we are in this age to identify with Him and His attributes. He has done the work. Now in obedience we flow in Him. 

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “ You shall be holy, for I am holy.” NASB 1 Peter 14-15

This follows what we have studied together in months gone by. However, we can reap much from it just as it is. When you get a moment, go back and re-read the chapter in 1 Peter.

We are to be, in His power and grace, the same as He is. He requires it, and He empowers it. If we misunderstand holiness or grace, this passage leaves the Believer feeling awash in their own shortcomings. That was not Peter’s intention.

To be “holy” in the New Testament is to be “set-apart.” It does not carry the meaning of the nature of character. I am to be set-apart to Him, much like what occurs when a marriage covenant is made. The members of the marriage are to be unto one another. This is the meaning here. We are not to be living in a one-sided covenant with Him. He dedicates Himself to us through a blood covenant (Jesus) and we are to receive/embrace Him and live dedicated to Him.

In that covenant we have received grace. That Son-ship placement means we have God’s privilege and power resulting in faithfulness in that dedication. It is not self-will. It is my faith-willingness wrapped in His power. That way it is included in the gift of Son-ship and not a self-will, self-centered action, but the very act of worship/love to our God and Savior. (Romans 12:1-2) Even our obedience is empowered!

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I realize I have not blogged in some time, and even though I am aware of the reasons that are present in my own life, it is still my intent to be very active as a blogger I enjoy writing this blog. It gives me the opportunity & ability to inter-act with people who love our Lord from all over the world.

Teaching our Lord's word is awesome. I have the privilege of doing that all the time and through many different venues. Yet blogging, is a very unique venue to touch the world.

Blogging is a creative outlet for me as well. So even though my teaching schedule is about to get really busy (always happens in Fall), yet that actually helps me write and blogging is a part of that call. So we are beginning again. Let's have a good time in the Word. More to come this afternoon.

I am using a blogging program on my iPad so I can learn to do this even on the move. I have been enjoying reading an e-book this morning about hidden secrets to increase joy & efficiency with this device so time to use some of these apps that have been waiting on me for months.

Now let's see how this works.

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“But the end of all things is at hand:be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”1 Peter 3:16 KJV

This passage is a bit different in the Greek. We are being told to understand that the end is near and that our time is extremely important. We are to be “of a sound mind,” which many translate “alert,” and that is O.K. but the phrase here actually goes a bit deeper. It means to keep one’s mind in areas of usefulness; to think soundly instead of having our thoughts ruled by our emotional situation. In emotional times, we cannot think clearly in order to “see” clearly. The Lord always draws near as we tune into Him, but to have a mind that is alert and thinking appropriately, releasing faith is a huge asset when it comes to praying what is needed. The second thing is to “be sober,” which we equate with a lack of drunkenness from any source. The word can mean that, but it also includes other items. “…properly, to be sober (not drunk), not intoxicated; (figuratively) free from illusion, i.e. from the intoxicating influences of sin (like the impact of selfish passion, greed, etc.).” Strong’s definition. So we see, that our behavior is also included. 

The prayer Peter is encouraging is what we would call a “Spirit-filled prayer.” It is a prayer that is spoken through a heart and mind that is thinking clearly and able to “see” with eyes of the Spirit into what is true. Now we are always to pray, regardless of our situation. However, this verse is encouraging prayer during your best moments of the day – not the sleepiest ones. Those sleepy prayers are always good and received, but He wants to use us in prayer in other ways than just for me and mine. We need to be able to allow the Spirit to unfold Himself in us in such ways as to make clear how we are to pray. This is a dialogue, not a monologue. It is an interaction in Spirit with brain full on. No specific “need” is needed here, for the flow of the Spirit through the renewed mind is releasing prayer that reaches beyond need into the recourses of the Lord, already given. It releases and receives faith and instruction for life. It is a river that never ceases and that always fills and renews, for how can one touch Almighty God and not be truly renewed! 

“Jesus is the point of the Bible. To live by faith means looking to Jesus for all our hope, joy and peace. …The Scriptures are where we meet the risen Christ. We read the Bible, not as a spiritual offering but as a desperate receiving. We open the Bible not to impress God, but that He might impress us again with His gospel. …In the history of the church there has been no better description of the Bible than as ‘the Spirit’s testimony to the Son.” It is not a road map or an instruction manual for life. It is a biography of Jesus: commissioned by the Father, authored by the Spirit and addressed to the church.” Glen Scrivener, The King’s English Year Long Devotional

These words from Mr. Scrivener’s preface of his devotional echoed in my heart and fed the fire that has been burning there for a few days, so I thought this morning that I would just share from that fire.

We are such a self-centered species. We want everything where we can understand and we want all to make us “feel” good. When these two items are in tact within us, then our day works out pretty well for us. But when we do not “see” nor understand and when we do not “feel” good about matters, then we “nose-dive into our navels” and struggle to exist. This is just the way it is in our society. 

For the believer, the one sold out to Jesus Christ, the journey can be, and really must be, very different. We have been given faith, (“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 KJV) When we became a believer, we were given faith – the same measure that all receive. We have the innate spiritual ability to “see” what cannot be seen and to believe what is impossible to believe. Therefore, we have an ability other people do not have that will enable us to live with a mind receiving much beyond a non-believer. 

Yet, we have not quite understood that the key to doing this, beginning to think with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), and to set our minds (affections – KJV) on things above is directly related to our attitude concerning the Scriptures. If we know our hope is in Him and our lives are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), then we begin to regard the Scriptures as much more than a daily devotional. 

We begin to see that our Jesus is every breath of God and as we willing receive these words (even when we do not understand them) as that breath so essential to our being, then we begin to consume the word. It is no longer a chore that “I need to do,” nor is it something to put off to a more convenient time. It is my life my breath. It gives me more of Him and I begin to “see” His thoughts and know His mind. This all takes a bit of time – there is no magic here. It is the training of the spirit-man in Spirit ways. We gradually, day by day, renew our minds – which in turn transforms our lives. (Romans 12:2)

It is awesome – this joy that simply waits until we willing begin to discover Him on every page and in every verse and every word. Jesus revealed and the revealer of the Scriptures – the Huge Difference!

“Wherefore [in view of the meaning of salvation that extends to glorification], having girded up the loins of your mind, being radically-moderate, completely hope on the grace being carried along to you, in revelation, concerning Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13

This is a very accurate translation of the Greek text in this verse. I found it (with some amplification) in my study, so have posted it for us. Many translations add to this verse,  making it only future tense and in doing so diminish its dimensions. It is true that we are to have this attitude of mind until Jesus comes and we see Him face to face. However, that is not really what this says. 

 “…having girded up the loins of your mind, being radically-moderate, completely hope on the grace being carried along to you, in revelation, concerning Jesus Christ.” We are to “gird up the loins of our mind.” In Peter’s time, men wore robes. When it came time to move quickly, they brought the back of the robe up through their legs and tucked it into their belt, making a trouser-type garment that allowed running and quick movement. Our instructions are to train our minds in ways of thinking that will allow us to be alert and able to concentrate. 

Our minds are our most undisciplined children. We are a bit lazy with them most of the time. Most of us will not spend much time in the word, nor with things that train us to think well. As a result, we are a Kingdom of God full of Biblically illiterate people, who are tossed easily this way and that into every thing that feels good. Therefore, revelation out of the Word is rare and we become unable to receive the Word. Instead, we want everything applied to us. 

Our Lord is an amazing Lord and Savior! I know that is an understatement, but we do not realize that not everything He writes is to apply to us. Instead it is to instruct us about Him and His Kingdom. We are to be transformed into Word. The Word is not to conform to us. 

Peter expected Jesus to come off of and out of the page. It was not a dead-word to Him. It was alive and it had the revelation of Jesus tucked away in the grace brought to a mind and heart that was trained in the receiving. 

May we become just such people. May our minds wake up into Him and into the Word. He has much to show us. Oh Lord, we watch and listen as we read and expect from the favor you have given. We expect to “see” and to know things that have not yet been seen or known.