Feeding the Sheep - Blessed Life 8
1 Peter 1:14
[This is the 38th message of this series]
This lesson is intended for mature believers (or adulting believers). For a more orderly study, please go through all the previous messages first, if you haven't yet.
1 Peter
[This will be the 8th of a series within a series]
Living the Blessed Life
Peter instructed the first church (among other things) to behave and not be controlled by their desires.
Obedience
As believers in Christ, we are called children of God. Our Father in heaven is a Good Father and although when He looks at us He sees Christ, He will not be mocked by willfully disobedient children. As Christians, we ought to be like Christ.
Samuel the prophet of old said,
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
So many believers do lip service or worse, do things by merely following traditional or ritualistic sacrifices. God does not require our good works. He looks at the heart and seeks those who are really wanting to be obedient, not for show, or for self gratification, or self profit, or because of habit, or are forced into doing so, but God is purely looking for those just desiring to know Him and to become what He has designed us to be.
Image Credit: bible.knowing-jesus.com
Desires
We all have our desires, our wants and our got-to-have-those attitude. Unfortunately most of these are habits of our past old life.
That is not who we are anymore. If it still is, then we are still of this fallen world, a world corrupted by deception, and earthly, worldy desires.
Holy Spirit
When we were reborn, we became new creations, who lean towards the Spirit of God and not with the spirits and influences of this world.
When we walk in step with God's Spirit, our desires mesh with the desires of the Spirit. We slowly and surely move away from our old worldly desires.
Most times these old desires just comes off instantly. A few stick with us longer, like a ghost from the past. When we ask God to take these old habits of this world, He will take them away. Because those were not His will for us.
Tempted
And let us not test God or ourselves.
Even though Apostle told the first church in the City of Corinth that:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
When we walk in step with God's Spirit, our desires mesh with the desires of the Spirit. We slowly and surely move away from our old worldly desires.
Most times these old desires just comes off instantly. A few stick with us longer, like a ghost from the past. When we ask God to take these old habits of this world, He will take them away. Because those were not His will for us.
Tempted
And let us not test God or ourselves.
Even though Apostle told the first church in the City of Corinth that:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
This is not a license to be reckless. Living this new life, this blessed life means we ought not to go around looking for temptation but to live a life making new habits.
New Habits
Let us not do what we have normally done so as to be in a position to be tempted by the ghosts of our old desires. We ought to stay away from tempting places we used to go to, stay away from people and things that lead us to give in to the worldly desires of our old life.
God's Spirit is there to work with us and help us get over the old habits. He is Our Helper and ever present help.
But we will be tempted like everyone else. So we need to be aware and not place ourselves in a position to slide back to our old life.
Best Approach
The new life, should come with new habits. And we do this by occupying those times used to be reserved for our old habits, with the things of God and not of this world.
Back Slide
Walking closely with the Spirit of God assures we do not slide back and instead continue on the path our Lord has destined us to walk on, before He created us. We all run our own race, and we reach the end of the line in this world when God calls us back home or when Christ returns for us, which ever comes first.
The blessed life awaits those who live as if both of these are to happen at any given moment and when we least expect it to.
New Habits
Let us not do what we have normally done so as to be in a position to be tempted by the ghosts of our old desires. We ought to stay away from tempting places we used to go to, stay away from people and things that lead us to give in to the worldly desires of our old life.
God's Spirit is there to work with us and help us get over the old habits. He is Our Helper and ever present help.
But we will be tempted like everyone else. So we need to be aware and not place ourselves in a position to slide back to our old life.
Best Approach
The new life, should come with new habits. And we do this by occupying those times used to be reserved for our old habits, with the things of God and not of this world.
Back Slide
Walking closely with the Spirit of God assures we do not slide back and instead continue on the path our Lord has destined us to walk on, before He created us. We all run our own race, and we reach the end of the line in this world when God calls us back home or when Christ returns for us, which ever comes first.
The blessed life awaits those who live as if both of these are to happen at any given moment and when we least expect it to.
1 Peter 1:14-16 The Message Paraphrase
Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”
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