God of all Grace

 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.

It is God, and God alone, by His grace, that we are made children of God. In our humanity we are weak and incapable of living a life that is perfect, a life that is able to overcome the attacks of Satan as he seeks to destroy our faith and standing with God. Suffering comes with the territory of trying to live a godly life. But, through it, we are made stronger and become rooted and grounded in Christ. Peter says that the God of all grace is able to make us perfect. The word "perfect" is translated from Greek to mean “equip or adjust us.” In our humanity we are not equipped to handle the trails that we must face. God is refining our faith as we go through suffering and hard times. His purpose is to make us strong in the face of adversity. His desire is that we become established in Christ at a place where we don’t have to fear Satan and his attacks. We can trust and have faith in Christ to resist the temptations that we face in our lives each day. Temptation to put our trust in the flesh, temptation to cast our faith away, and think that God does not care about our situation, our suffering. He is the God of all grace, and we can believe He is able to do all that He has promised to do for His glory and our good.

Rooted and Grounded

 Eph 3:17
 that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love. 

Like a tree planted close to the river banks, our spiritual roots go deep into the ground of God’s love. Because Christ lives in our hearts, His abiding presence is what allows us to live a life that is surrounded by His love and grace. The dwelling presence of Christ is not made possible by adhering to church sacraments, or intellectually agreeing with the teaching and doctrine of the church. The church plays a vital role in the building up of our faith, but it is our faith and belief in Christ that we have been saved from sin and made right before God. This firm belief is the ground on which we grow and become established in God’s love. Love is the ground that we begin to truly grow healthy in being what God wants us to be. Our roots take up what is good, giving us the strength and power to live each day in Christ. Living a Christian life goes beyond the formality of conforming to a religion. Our religion holds us to Bible doctrine, but it is not the ground on which we are rooted to be like Jesus. To be like Jesus requires that we be saturated in His love and allow the roots of our life to take up His love and be manifest in the way we live our lives.

The Horrible Pit

 Psalm 40:2
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

The horrible pits of life are often of our own doing. We make decisions without seeking God first and often find ourselves in a pit of despair. But everyone before coming to Christ finds themselves in the horrible pit of sin, trapped in the miry clay and unable to get out. But Jesus reaches down, takes hold of our hand and pulls us up and out of the pit. He alone has the power to bring us out. He not only brings us out, but He also will help us from falling back into the pit. He wants to establish us on the solid Rock and give us the power to walk and follow Him. He does not want us to live in the pit of sin, He desires that we live blameless and holy. The devil will set traps along the way, and sometimes he is successful, but even if we are snared by one of his traps, the hand of Jesus still reaches down to lift us up and out. Life is full of different kinds of pits, but no matter the kind of pit we are in, He will not leave us there, He will bring us out, and set us on the solid Rock and establish us in the way He wants us to go.

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.

Establish In The Lord

2 Thess 2:17 “ comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.”-

Becoming establish in the Lord is a life time journey for a Christian. When we give our life to God, our heart changes, but we still have a lot to learn about walking with God. Becoming establish is coming to a point in your Christian life where we have grown up spiritually. We no longer are new babes in Christ feeding on the milk of the word, and having to have our hands held by others. Our dependence on God is strengthen. We realizing how important God is in everything we do in life, we learn to trust Him. Our relationship with God is to a place where the things of this world are less likely to draw us away from Him. We still have temptations and we still can become weary in well doing. But the establish Christian knows that the Holy Spirit is a faithful witness, and He senses our weaknesses in time of need. It is the desire of God that every born again Christian become establish in their relationship with God. The longer we walk with Him the more He teaches us how to live to glorify Him. He reveals to us our selfish nature and want us to yield our heart in full surrender to His will in sanctification. It is through sanctification, that God is able to establish us unto every good work and make us what we ought to be for Him.  

Comforted and Established

May 25^th, 2008

1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

There are many who start out the race who do not finish. They are hindered from finishing for many reasons. Paul is concern that these new born in Christ become established in Christ. He knows that there will be obstacles that they will face that may cause them to turn back to their former ways. It is important that a new Christian be disciple and instructed in the Truth of God’s way. For those who are establish in God, must continue to increase in love toward the love of Christ and others.

News from Abroad

• Sends Timothy
• The comfort in knowing
• Staying informed

New Converts

• Babes in Christ need nourishment
• Guided in doctrine
• Instructed in proper conduct
• Grow increase in God- draw nigh to God

Never Turn Back

• Admonition to press on
• Don’t quit when the roads gets tough
• Suffering and afflictions will come
• Satan will attempt to discourage

Need for Fellowship

• Desire to be with God’s people
• Forsake not the Assembly
• Sharing each others burdens

Night and Day Praying

• The importance of daily devotion
• Prayer time- mediation- study
• Thanksgiving and praise

Nature of the Heart

• To increase in Love toward God and other
• Establish our heart to live blameless and Holy
• Only the pure in heart will be ready for His coming

Key to Spiritual Victory

1 Peter 5:1-11

Review: The last two lessons, living as a Christian, and being a good steward. What applicable and practical lessons were learned?

The Key- The combination of “actions” making it possible to enter. In this case, we want to enter into a life of spiritual victory, where we can maintain a right relationship with Christ at all times. What “tumbler-cut” combination is needed to see us through to eternity?

What does it mean to be established in the Lord?
Steadfast in the ways of God
Faithful and loyal to the Lord
God can depend on you.
Circumstances in life will not separate you from the love of God.
Your life is centered around Christ and what He values.
Lastly, you are totally submitted to God and to others.

Peter’s addresses the Gentiles in Asia Minor:
The Responsibility of the church leaders (elders)
Feed those who God put under your care- Nurturing them
Oversee- protect from pitfall allow the way- Warn them
Motivated by compassion, not control or favor- Love them
Leader, not a task master- Lead them.
The Response of the newborn (young in the faith)
Submit to the teaching of the elders (this assumes the above)
Submit one to another. Preferring one another.
Spirit of humility- clothing- you are identify by what you wear.
Stay humble before God
Total surrender to God- Give it all to God- Cast it all to Him
The Readiness of the believer- Stay alert- Watch out!
Be sober- a sharp mind and not impaired or distracted. Serious.
Be vigilant- Alert and awake and keenly aware of danger
Resist the devil and remain steadfast to the truth
The Resources of the believer
The God of all grace
He knows what you are going through
He is able to make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you