Welcome!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Today: A living hope!
Passage: 1 Peter 1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
(1 peter 1: 3-5, NKJV-emphasis added)
Jesus paid with His life, for the Church
That is why He said:
18And I tell you, you are [e]Peter [Greek, Petros--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra--a [f]huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the [g]infernal region) shall [h]not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it]. (mat 16: 18, Amp Bible)
If anyone can claim ownership of the Church, that is none other than Jesus Christ; the Church is a divine establishment of God
He has given us a living hope!
People live with so many different hopes in life. Hope is good; but God’s plans will finally work out
1 To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue.
2 All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.
7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.
8 Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.
9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. (Prov 16, NIV 84)
I was recently talking to a brother who told me, he has been reading Proverbs for years. There are 31 chapters, one for each day of the month
It is good for children- very good for adults!
One of the reasons for many problems in the churches today is the lack of the word of God
The only time the church has more than 50% attendance could be on Sunday morning. That is the time to give them the word, in whichever way possible
It can be through Bible study, exhortations and preaching
The most important thing is to preach the word, rightly dividing it
Malnutrition causes sicknesses; children will act up/create all kinds of problems when they go hungry
Sometimes, when kids go crazy, some wise mothers feed them stomach-full For the dad, it may not look like they are hungry, but these moms know the solution: problem solved without any major incidents!
That is what Paul did, when problems crept into the churches in Corinth, Galatia and in many other places. He fed them with the word
In the book of Revelation, Jesus himself speaks to the Churches
Church is precious to Jesus; He paid a heavy price for it
He decides the course; all we need to do is to pray, teach the word and live the word
7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD,
he makes even his enemies live at peace with him. (Prov 16: 7, NIV )
That is the key
When we please God with our life, He will take care of everything
On the other hand, we do anything and everything to please people, both God and the people will become against us, in the end
There may be “hope” in people, but living hope is found only in the Lord
So, let us put all our trust-100% of it, in the Lord
He is faithful and will keep His promises. All of His promises are true
Have a blessed day!
BG
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to live a life pleasing to you. Help me to put all my trust in you and to look at others through your eyes so that I can love everybody as you love them. Amen.