Trails and Afflictions

1 Peter 5:10 The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.

Becoming a saint or a godly Christian come only through trails and afflictions. It is God’s desire that all that serve Him be made perfect in the image of His Son. Not perfect in our humanity, but made perfect in our love to Him and others. His goal is to establish us to a place that we know where we stand and our faith is   able to detect deception from Satan. We are made strong to withstand the fiery darts of the enemy. When all hell breaks loose in our lives, we settled the question long ago. No matter what happens, I believe in a God who cares and is able to take us through.

Be Sober, Be Vigilant

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

There’s a part we play in keeping our hearts right before God. As Christians and followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to make every effort to be vigilant and aware of the enemies attack. We don’t want to carelessly walk into one of Satan’s traps due to our failure of letting our guard down. The defeat of the enemy can only be accomplished by God’s might and power.  He is our sword and shield and very help in time of trouble. But failure and defeat often comes when we allow our will to deviate from what God wants us to do. Being sober is to be aware of the temptations around us and to flee the very appearance of evil. It is the grace of God that is able to strengthen us in time of need, when our will power to do what is right is being attacked, we need to lean on Him for help. It is only the grace of God that we our able to be established and settled, but He must have our willingness to be sober and vigilant. 

His Grace Makes us Perfect

1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

His grace will make you perfect. Christian Perfection is too often confused with being flawless and without error. This body has lived under the curse of sin since the fall of Adam. The body grows fatigue, the mind is subject to misunderstanding and proper judgement. On this earth, we can never obtain this type of perfection. The grace that God provides will be the strength to do what is right, when right is known. We can be perfectly submitted to the will of God and His plan for our life. The notion that Christians cannot live a perfect life in Christ is base on a false premise. Must Christians sin in thought, word, and deed? Is this a state of being that God’s grace is not able to help? As Paul would say, “God forbid”. The limitation of human perfection are real, but God’s grace can establish and settle the heart within each believer to always do what is right with a motive to please God. That is the grace of God at work.