Laying aside all -- evil.

1Pe 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby

*******

Malice- desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness: the malice and spite of a lifelong enemy.
Pasted from

Guile- insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.
Pasted from

Hypocrisies- The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.
Pasted from

Envies- a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions
Pasted from

Evil speaking- speaking ill of others; calumny;
censoriousness.
Pasted from

*******

Lay aside ALL desire to hurt someone, to cause someone suffering. Lay aside ALL insidious cunning, ALL deception, ALL duplicity. Lay aside ALL lying. Lay aside ALL discontent. Lay aside ALL covetousness. Lay aside ALL evil speaking.

What does it mean to lay aside all these bad parts of ourselves?

It means to get rid of them, doesn't it? These things can't be a part of our lives- not willingly- not without the very real desire to live without them. When we enjoy evil what's that say about us? Something isn't right with us, in fact something is very, very wrong. By the grace of God we will NOT embrace evil but shun it!

When a person does commit evil we are quick to notice and note that it's wrong. We've prisons filled with people who have chosen evil, people who have been overcome by committing evil. We've mental hospitals filled with people who have brain malfunctions that cause them to commit evil. Evil is a huge part of our every day lives because it's all around us. Is it any wonder we are told to lay aside all that evil? That we HAVE to be told to lay it aside.

Bits and pieces of that evil creep into our lives in so many ways. We don't have to be the biggest hypocrite to be a hypocrite. We don't have to be huge liars to be a liar. We don't have to be the greatest deceivers to be a deceiver. Do you see, we ALL have to lay aside the evil in our lives. This isn't a message for the *big* sinners, this is a message for all of us, for all sinners. This is a message for all of us who would be God's.

1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby

We have to lay aside all that evil and then, and ONLY then as NEWBORN BABES we have to desire the sincere milk of the word.

I speak from firsthand very, very recent experience when I say that newborn babes desire that milk often! They desire that milk more than most anything else. They do desire to be changed, and they do desire to be cuddled and loved, but their most basic need is to feed on the milk that they NEED to live, to grow.

We need to lay aside all that would keep us from desiring God and the Word of Life more than anything else. As a babe wanting milk we have to want God! Do we? Seriously, do we? Do we want God in that big of a part of our lives, taking up that much time? Newborn babes constantly eat, sleep, mess their diapers- this is their life. We have to want to eat that much- we have to want God that much in our lives. He needs to be our ALL in ALL, our source of LIFE. But for Him to be that big a part of our lives we have to lay aside all the things that would keep us from that life with God.

We have to CHOOSE to lay aside the things that would keep us from our Savior.

By the GRACE of God may we do this, may we choose to live for God fully, desiring Him in our lives more than anything else.

All through HIM and HIS LOVE!

By HIS SPIRIT!

Amen.

The word of the Lord endures forever!

1Pe 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Born again.

What do these words bring to mind? Born again. We are born once and that birth stems from a mother and father. Nicodemus asked this--

Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

A very logical question, yes?

And here is Jesus' answer--

Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

When we are born again- it's to a spiritual life, a spiritual birth that is truly incorruptible because our spiritual life will remain with us forever. After the grave if we are called to sleep the sleep of the first death- we will be raised with incorruptible bodies to match our incorruptible spirit that will rise together to meet our Lord in the air. The spiritual part of us is not subject to corruption-decaying- it is what makes us who we are. Our spiritual connection to God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior will endure through all eternity. When we are born again we are accepting Jesus as our Savior, we are open to His Spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to touch our lives.

Just as we are to die daily- we are to be born again daily.

1Co 15:31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

1Pe 1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1Pe 1:25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

ALL GLORY TO GOD!

The word of the LORD endureth for ever!
Our Savior endures forever!

All flesh is like the grass.
All that a man is, is like a flower.
Grass withers.
Flowers fall.
Man dies just the same.

We cannot pretend death does not exist- it's a foolish thing to imagine. Death is all around us on a daily basis on various levels. From the insect that is buzzing about one moment and squashed to nothingness the next, to the blade of grass plucked from the ground, from the food you choose to consume there are remnants and reminders of death everywhere in our lives and if we ignore them we ignore our own inevitability. We need to understand that death is a very real part of our lives and know that once death puts us in the grave we no longer have breath to praise God, we no longer have a chance to be born again. We need to be spiritually born now- today and everyday- born to live in the Spirit and not solely in the flesh- all by the GRACE and MERCY of our God!

Fervent love

1Pe 1:17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear

The Father
WITHOUT respect of persons
Judges according to every man's WORK
Pass the time of our sojourning here in FEAR

What do we imagine this means? Seriously, what? God doesn't hold one man to a higher level than another in the grand scheme of things. Each man has a certain accountability to God to choose Him over Satan, to choose good over evil. We make our choices and we must live by those choices. The Father in heaven does NOT prejudge us because we are born into a sinful nature. Our Father in heaven judges us according to the actions of our lives- our choices- all that we are and that is our work- our way of living the life He's given to us. We have to realize we are JUDGED. We can't be stupid and keep our heads buried deep in the sand thinking we are our own masters and have no one to answer to. We have to answer to our heavenly Father. Every single human being has to answer to the Father. You might not believe it, but you'll have to answer for your unbelief. Is it any wonder we are to pass our time here on earth in fear? The fear of failing to be judged worthy, the fear of failing to be judged upon the righteousness of Christ. If we are judged according to our own righteousness we will be judged wholly unworthy. We need to fear, we need to understand that the fear can work to instill in us desire, the need to seek the righteousness of Christ, to seek the faith we need. When we don't fear we have no reason at all to comprehend our need of God.

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers

We cannot save ourselves with bribery. We cannot save ourselves using our material, earthly wealth. We have to realize that there is NOT a single thing we do that saves us- other than choosing to believe- a choice to be saved, we can only make that single choice and allow God to save us. We must allow the sacrifice of our Savior to live in us, to live for us.

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1Pe 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently

The PRECIOUS BLOOD of CHRIST.
As a LAMB without BLEMISH without SPOT.
FORORDAINED BEFORE the FOUNDATION of the WORLD.
MANIFEST in these LAST TIMES for US.
BY JESUS WE BELIEVE in GOD.
God RAISED Jesus from the dead.
God gave Jesus GLORY so WE may have FAITH and HOPE in GOD!
We PURIFY ourselves when we OBEY the TRUTH through the HOLY SPIRIT- to UNFEIGNED LOVE REAL REAL LOVE of each other! When we LOVE each other with a PURE HEART FERVENTLY!

Read that again… UNFEIGNED LOVE for each other! Loving each other with a PURE HEART FERVENTLY!

How many of us do this?????

Seriously, how many? Do you, do I? Do we?

Do we love others FERVENTLY?

Oh, for the love of our Savior may we LOVE others fervently! Please God help us to do this at a time when the love of many is waxing so very, very cold.

Please Lord, please.

Hope to the end

1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Hope to the end for the grace brought to us from a revealed Christ. We are cautioned to do more than hope aren't we? Gird up the loins of our minds- be sober. Some might scoff and say that's easy, I don't drink but that's not what is being said here. You don't have to be drunk on alcohol to have your mind corrupt and far from being sober. You can be drunk on selfishness so that it consumes you. You can be drunk on anger. You can be drunk on any emotion. The abnormal excesses of our fleshy desires make us drunk so that we are no where near being sober in our actions and all we do- understanding the seriousness of our lives and the eternity at stake. In ALL we do we have to put God first in our thoughts, don't we? Shouldn't we? Girding up the loins of our mind. When you gird your loins you are protecting them.

'Synonyms
3.  brace, steel, fortify, strengthen.

Pasted from '


We have to protect our minds, fortify, strengthen our minds and in doing so we are protecting our THOUGHTS- the same thoughts that produce our actions. Yes, we have to HOPE for the grace of our Savior but we also need to protect our minds but not letting ourselves fall prey to excess. I say it that way because a lot of our desires are not wrong unless they are done in excess. I'm NOT saying ALL our desires by no means because desires can become perverse under the guidance of Satan, but our basic un-perverted desires are normal and yes-God given when they are NOT allowed excess in our lives- consuming us and becoming idols to us. We need to protect our minds by being sober in ALL things.


1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1Pe 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Lev 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

Called to be holy.
Called to be Godly.

This isn't the call for a person to become a pastor, a priest, a minister- but this call is to all who would have the hope of Salvation in Jesus Christ.

How many people believe that only those called to a profession in the field of religion are expected to live godly, to live holy lives? They see a collar on a priest, a minister, or even just learn the title of a man as a pastor and automatically they are held to a higher standard than the common man. The truth is we ALL need to be held to the higher standard- God's standard. What else separates us from those who are not God's? If we blend in with the world is it because they are seemingly God's, or is it more likely the fact we are compromising and seem more like the ungodly? These are questions we NEED to ask ourselves. No, I'm not saying we need to make spectacles of ourselves in an outright effort to appear to be God's, but our lives in general should be sober lives- not given to the worldly excesses all around us. We should live lives of self-denial, shouldn't we?

Mar 10:21 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Mat 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mar 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Luk 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Jesus in not walking the earth today asking people to follow Him. There is NO man alive on earth today that we are to follow like that, not ONE. There is NO religious organization we are to give up all we possess and follow. Yet we ARE to --

'... gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ'

We ARE to--

'...be ye holy in all manner of conversation

We ARE to--

'...Be ye holy; for I am holy.'

We ARE to--

'... be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.'

We ARE to--

'... through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.'


Knowing this--

Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Rom 8:36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rom 8:37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


By the grace of God may we gird up the loins of our minds and HOPE, 'hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ', all through Him, all through the Holy Spirit, all through our Heavenly Father.

Help us, Lord, help us, save us from ourselves, from our self-destructive ways. Please Lord, help us to gird up the loins of our minds and be sober, to be holy as You would have us be holy.

All through YOUR righteousness- Savior! All through YOUR love!

Amen.

Unto whom it was revealed

1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.


Just as the prophet of old inquired and searched diligently for the coming of their Messsiah, we are searching diligently for the second coming of our Messiah, aren't we? We are searching the Scriptures hoping, praying, seeking, longing for understanding so that we are NOT taken unaware as so many in the day of Christ's ministry upon earth. How many who claimed to be looking and longing for the coming Messiah, how many who dedicated their entire lives to the service of God- rejected the Messiah when He appeared? More than we probably realize.

Jesus did NOT find His twelve Apostles among the Jewish religious hierarchy, among the Levites, the appointed priests serving God. Jesus found His twelve Apostles among the 'common' Jewish men. Jesus did NOT find His Apostles among the learned men, the rich men of His day. Jesus found His Apostles among the average, working man, the poor men. What should this tell us? Seriously, what should this message to us be?

We have to realize that Jesus' messages are wholly true and not fables- parables, yes, fables, no.

Jesus spoke of the poor, the unlearned, the broken hearted, the broken in spirit, the meek, the lowly, the poor, the down trodden and He spoke of them as being those who could truly comprehend Him and His message of grace and mercy.

The Holy Ghost sent down from heaven will reveal to us all we need to know. We have to have faith, we have to believe, we have to trust in our Savior righteousness, His loving righteousness, His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace.

We today are longing for Christ's return, for our Savior's second appearing. We are given lots of prophecies for the end time and we truly are living in the end times.

When did the 'end times' begin? Some say they haven't begun at all but are only going to be a few short years before Christ returns, that we can't look at any of the prophecies for fulfillment before then.

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

This is a major book of prophecy predicting Jesus' death, and time from Babylon right up till Christ's second coming. This book tells us that the time of the end would START when the book was unsealed and knowledge was increased.

NO ONE who knows the history of the world thus far can deny that mankind's knowledge took astounding and very astonishing leaps in the mid 1800's. I'm talking we were going from candles to gas light, from no electrically applications in daily life to its quick understanding so that mankind no longer lived in a world void of electricity run products.

'While it had been the early 19th century that had seen rapid progress in electrical science, the late 19th century would see the greatest progress in electrical engineering. Through such people as Nikola Tesla, Galileo Ferraris, Oliver Heaviside, Thomas Edison, Ottó Bláthy, Ányos Jedlik, Sir Charles Parsons, Joseph Swan, George Westinghouse, Ernst Werner von Siemens, Alexander Graham Bell and Lord Kelvin, electricity was turned from a scientific curiosity into an essential tool for modern life, becoming a driving force for the Second Industrial Revolution.[15]'

Pasted from

The advances made after this were incredible and to think for THOUSANDS of years man lived in a such a primitive way. Why did men gain such sudden ability to comprehend the very things they'd been living with for so long. Why did their understanding suddenly ignite where before it had been shrouded in darkness? This was by God's design.

At a time when mankind's knowledge would be increased the time of the end would begin. Many would run to and fro. Running to and fro certainly increased with knowledge increasing- cars, planes- we can't run to and fro faster can we? A plane can get up to speeds we'd find unimaginable on the ground. Truly the prophetic words have come to pass- we can't honestly look at our history and deny this, we just can't. So, by God's own word the time of the end began over 200 years ago and some would have us believe that it is impossible for the 'end times' to be going on for so long. How is it impossible? 200 years in the grand scheme of thousands of years isn't that long at all. And remember this…

2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

And this…

Mat 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

Just as God revealed all that was needed unto those truly seeking Him and His love, God will do the same now as we live in the end times.

1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into

The gospel- which things the ANGELS desire to look into.

Amazing words.

Salvation through Christ a subject the angels desire to comprehend, so amazing. The plan of Salvation found in Christ is such a mystery, so incredibly fascinating, so beyond anything else ever known to them- the angels want to understand it all. They long to understand this mystery that we have been given, this wonderful mystery, this gift of God.

By the grace and mercy of our Savior may we accept His gift of life eternal in Him.

Please Lord help us to be as those seeking, truly seeking understanding. Help us to be watchers, praying always, looking unto that perfect day coming.

All in YOUR LOVE!

Amen.

In heaviness through manifold temptations

1Pe 1:5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations

We are KEPT by the power of God.
We are kept by the power of God though FAITH.
That faith will be unto our SALVATION.
Salvation that will be revealed in the LAST TIME.
Wherein in we greatly REJOICE.
Though we rejoice in this miracle promised to us we also for a SEASON, if NEEDED, we are in HEAVINESS.
The heaviness is caused by MANIFOLD TEMPTATIONS.

This heaviness is awful. Have you experienced? Do you know what is being talked about here? Our lives on earth will be filled with temptations. Temptations must be faced and fought.

Heb 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

STRIVING against sin.
RESISTED unto blood.

We cannot escape the horrors of this world we live in. We cannot escape the flesh desires that exist in us. We cannot escape Satan's attacks. There is NO insulated bubble we can enter and live in that will keep us from the life of heaviness we are called to live.

1Pe 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

The TRIAL of our faith!
It is a trial because holding fast to our faith unto salvation is necessary. Satan will strive to rip our faith from us, he will stop at NOTHING to take any and all faith we possess away from any who dare to have it.

This trial that we endure, this life of one trial after another is MORE precious than gold.
We are only ever found to praise and honor and glory when our trial is over and our Savior appears to call us to be with Him. This is a trial that is ongoing until either we die or Jesus returns. There are NO time outs, there are NO exceptions, we live in faith and if we live in faith we live in the heaviness of trials- trying of our faith.

Our Savior will return and our faith will be rewarded.

1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Praise GOD!

In our FAITH we rejoice with JOY unspeakable knowing that our belief in a Savior we've never seen will be realized! Our Savior full of glory! The SALVATION of our souls!

PRAISE GOD! GLORY BE TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!

May we hold fast through all the horrors of heaviness as Satan works endlessly attempting to rip our faith away from us. Through the power of God we are KEPT through faith! All in Him, all through HIM.

Amen.

The Stone- Jesus

Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.


The Lord is the stone that the builders rejected. The pharisees, the rulers of His day rejected Him. His OWN people rejected Him. The people God chose to be His- the Israelites- abandoned God over and over again throughout their history. They went after idols many times and God's wrath fell upon them time and time again for their transgressions. Finally, God's OWN Son came and they rejected Him as well. He was of God, a God born of flesh and they called Him of the Devil!


Jesus told them they would reject Him and they did!

The Stone- Jesus.

Whoever falls on the Stone will be broken.
Whoever has the Stone fall on them will be ground to powder.


It's true. We come to Jesus and our selfishness, our self love, our flesh and its sin perverted desires will be broken. This breaking process is hard, it's painful in many ways- physically, mentally, emotionally. We will be chastised over and over again until we are close to despair. We will feel the refiners fire upon us as we are striped of our flesh and born in spirit, growing in spirit and it is very much like being broken. So much better it is for us to be broken than to be ground to powder- to nothingness.

There is NO other option for us. There is NO third option. No fourth, fifth, sixth options either. There are ONLY two options for us. To fall on the Stone or have the Stone fall upon us.

By the grace and mercy of God may we FALL upon the Stone and be broken, completely broken!

All through HIS amazing and wonderful LOVE!

Amen.