Acceptance

 The people to whom Peter wrote had developed interpersonal judgements which flows from competition. This competition was all to please the Jewish priests who guided them. Life in Jesus displays hospitality and encouragement; this flows from acceptance of the other person, as Jesus did. In their own view, they may not be what they want to be now or will become in the future, but they are likely not what others expect them to be. When believers accepted Jesus, they also received the indwelling Holy Spirit as a gift. This is a common connection all Christians share and should guide us to accept the other person wherever they are on their unique individual personal spiritual journey. "Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Pet. 4:9-11 (NASB)

Refined by Fire

Our body's natural reaction to physical pain is to recoil or move away from the source as quickly as possible. However, spiritual pain needs to be handled differently. God wants to teach us endurance--much like a long-distance runner builds up strength in training - so that we can fully benefit from what He is doing in our hearts. As a Christian moves along their unique individual spiritual journey, the Holy Spirit uses trials as a refining fire to purify us like gold and bring us to greater spiritual maturity. As we realize that we are actually being made more complete through our adversities, we'll begin to face challenging times with confidence that He always has our best interest in mind. While a worldly viewpoint sees hope and joy in the midst of dark times as naïve, a spiritual perspective discerns that we're really progressing on a journey toward life at its fullest. We can be filled with supernatural joy, knowing that the Lord is making us into world-changing spiritual warriors. God is always at work in our lives. Even during seasons of adversity, He wants to accomplish something powerful and good. How should this knowledge affect our response? We must learn to choose rejoicing during difficult times. This doesn't mean we have to be happy about the hardship itself. Instead, joy comes from drawing close to the Lord and believing steadfastly that through His redemptive power, He is growing and preparing us. If your usual response to trials is anxiety, anger, or depression, the idea of having joy in the midst of a negative situation might not seem logical. However, if you look beneath the surface, you will discover that this biblical directive makes sense for several reasons. In these times, our defender, the Holy Spirit, provides comfort (protection and encouragement). "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." - 1 Pet. 1:6-7 (ISV)

 

Motivation

 Most people work hard if they have a purpose and reason. Visible throughout the human race, some people are motivated about almost anything and others are motivated by almost nothing. Proverbs has much to say about the one who works hard and the alternative. {Proverbs 10:4, "Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich;" Proverbs 10:26, "Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him;" Proverbs 22:13 "The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!"} To some of the first believers Paul would say, "let him who works eat. .  ." - 2 Thess. 3:10; the Hebrew writer states it another way, "so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises" - Hebrews 6:12. So what are we to understand? First, we need to be careful not to criticize a person for not working as we think they should; only the Holy Spirit really knows all the details surrounding each person's motivations. Jesus healed many who were unable to work. Second, we should seek to understand their difficulties and encourage them. Third, we should seek ways to help them as the Holy Spirit wants, not as we desire. Christians have an important purpose: praise God in all our actions! The reason is that we are God's children destined for eternity with him, that should be strong motivation. Paul's admonition seeks to avoid bad feelings for those who followed Christ when he says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Col. 3:23 (NIV)

Interdependence

 Many times people offer great praise to the energy and drive observed in a sports team that demonstrates close coordination and seamless performance of the members. This coordination and interdependence is also observed in the famous U.S. Navy Blue Angel team. Some people say these examples show a spirit of team "oneness." When believers in Jesus are baptized, they become members of the body of Christ which includes other humans who are also on their own unique spiritual journey, allowing the Holy Spirit to prepare them for eternity. They were adopted into God's massive family of which Jesus is the head and all Christians are siblings with other brothers and sisters. "We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body... and we were all given the one Spirit to drink," 1 Cor. 12:13 (NIV). As members of this family, we have benefits and responsibilities. One major responsibility is encouraging others, whether it is other family members or those curious about the family ideals. To accomplish this, the Holy Spirit gives each Christian gifts (Gal. 5:25ff), perhaps unique, through which He works to accomplish His desires. These gifts may change from time to time depending of what the Holy Spirit needs accomplished. These gifts are supernatural and only come from the Spirit at His discretion. "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines." - 1 Cor. 12:11 (NIV). The believer cannot demand these gifts, but they may request and explore, yet they should accept them by following the guidance given by the Holy Spirit to the specific individual to accomplish His goal of unity or oneness for praising God.

Catastrophy

There is an old adage something like, “continuing to do the same thing and expecting a different result is foolish.” Well, continuing to engage in sinful practices once one knows the truth, is catastrophic for the believer guided by the Holy Spirit. Resisting or rejecting the Holy Spirit is devastating to a person; it equates to unbelief and unbelief was the reason Jesus could do few miracles in His hometown. "And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them" - Mk. 6:5. (NASV) This is powerful! He "could do" few miracles could also be understood, He 'no power to do' many miracles because of their unbelief. Disregarding His guidance (e.g. once one knows the truth) is almost as severe as premeditated lying to him. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, they paid for their actions with their physical lives. Based such observations, Paul stated, "How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" - Heb. 10:29 (NIV). A word picture of blatantly disregarding God’s instruction could be tossing it aside and trampling on it. The work of Jesus provides the only way to remove sins. If one rejects this work, he rejects everything that God is and everything He has given. Such actions continuously insults the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. This deflates grace and robs Him of the power to act in beneficial ways. The message of Jesus is precious and must never be spurned, rejected, discounted, treated lightly, or ignored. The message of Jesus is precious, and to reject this message is to insult all that is holy. We must remember, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” - Heb. 11:6 (ESV). As we seek Him, the Holy Spirit can lead us along a unique individual spiritual journey of praise to God.

Death

When we drive, we take on a massive responsibility: transport ourselves and perhaps other passengers from one place to another, while not harming other people or property along the way. Most times keeping the automobile on the roadway and "between the lines," is not critically challenging. When we consider this is a journey, we must make many choices, but the primary one is the desired endpoint. If yours is the only auto on the roadway for a time, the choice to accelerate or decelerate slightly usually causes few issues. All these choices change when there are other autos on the roadway around us. When we share the roadway with others who have different driving abilities, practices, goals, and personalities, we may find ourselves in a place which can almost turn into a battleground. This experience becomes particularly acute when there are intersections along the roadway. Radical changes in direction can be precarious if adequate provisions have not been made. Many years ago, one culture developed a travel element called a "roundabout," to ease these intersection difficulties. When using this method, roadway traffic did not stop when an intersection was encountered, all traffic went into a circular pathway merging in and out until they could safely change directions. Designed primarily for horse drawn traffic to avoid stopping, this method has remained in some areas today. This solution was all but replaced by building overpasses, in which one vehicle pass above the others. All Christians are on a spiritual pathway towards heaven. This is a pathway that allows each one time to be sanctified, or become more dedicated to God; people move at different speeds along this pathway. There are many other pathways Christian encounter on this spiritual journey; a major challenge is to choose the proper direction along this journey. When intersections of life and faith occur along this journey, the resulting pathway and subsequent results are not always the ones we might desire. Along this life journey, each of us must make many choices; some will not have the result we anticipate. While an example about driving and death may sound scary, the only way we can stay on this pathway and reach the goal is to die, or be separated from, distractions of the world. We must die and die and die. Every day we die to the things that supposedly make us strong in this world. Every day we kill the need to have more, to be more. Every day we die for Him. Our lives need to guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Mistakes

At some time, you have probably done something or said something and you just could not forget about. The event seems to haunt you. This might be your conscience reminding you about doing a thing that you knew was opposed to God's desires. All humans experience these times, but Christians should not despair.  There is a way to correct this feeling: realize and accept that Jesus paid an extremely high price to void those sinful activities, if we will trust Him. Since Jesus left, he left the Holy Spirit and He will help us learn from these events and put them behind us. "Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins." Heb. 9:14 (NLT) We need to remember this as we travel our unique individual spiritual journey, the Holy Spirit will help as we ask Him. 

Obedience

I read once of a person who remarked: "I've yet to meet a Christian whose knowledge didn't exceed his obedience." His point was simple: Most Christians know far more about God's truth than they live. Since the Holy Spirit lives within the Christian and is leading us toward greater sanctification (holiness to God), this should not surprising. In order to enable this process, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to direct more of our actions. "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." - Rom. 8:14 (NASV). Please note the active, "being led." We do this by actively following God’s direction left in scripture. We need to be diligent in searching and seeking God's truth and then acting on our understanding. This should describe our unique individual spiritual journey.

Living water

 We may marvel at this statement about water. Why such a big deal about water. Besides being an almost universal cleansing agent, in the middle East, clean water was very scarce in some areas. Webster defines addiction as, "compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (such as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful." Humans are addicted to water, they need it to survive. On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says." (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.) - Jn. 7:37-39 (MESSAGE). Jesus said this looking forward to the time when the Holy Spirit was poured out on all people (Joel 2:28). This is the time after which the Holy Spirit lives inside those who accept Jesus’ gift. This outpouring is a continual and unlimited supply which overflows outside the Christian. Some water sources can experience levels that fall or even dry up, but the source of spiritual water is never depleted. We should allow the Holy Spirit to use us and distribute His blessings to others as He directs us. If we will ask, He will help us provide overflow of His rejuvenation to others. Please look further: (Luke 11:13; Romans 15:13; cf. John 4:13-14.

Confidence

 As we live our daily lives, we generally accomplish better results when we pursue an activity with confidence. If the activities are of the physical world, we may have confidence due to our previous training or experience. This is  a dangerous place where pride can engulf us. With activity, we need to be confronted with the realization that we do not have all knowledge and we can (and must) learn something from every endeavor. We must also learn that many opinion and conclusions may be true for only ourselves; other may have different and valid conclusions for their lives. This is especially true for our spiritual lives. Each one who has accepted Jesus in now on an individual spiritual journey. Others may advise or support, but this journey is one's unique journey, as specific as their background, to date. The most confident advice we can accept or give needs to some from the Holy Spirit who lives with us. It is this residence which is empowering and transforming us continuously along our spiritual journey. "Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." - 2 Cor. 3:4-6 (NIV)

Awe

 While we don’t usually like to have conversations about burials, there have been some really interesting practices used over the years. The time and terrain has had much to do with burials over the years. Some have been buried in caves, in open ravines, in water (sometimes on a burning boat), or under the earth. While now, most have heard of the burial quip “6 feet under.” The origin of this seems to be a plague outbreak in England in 1665. As the disease swept the country, the mayor of London made a law about how to deal with the bodies to avoid further infections. Among his specifications, noted in “Orders Conceived and Published by the Lord Major and Aldermen of the City of London, Concerning the Infection of the Plague,” was that “all the graves shall be at least six feet deep.” This avoided dead bodies piled outside a township. They would be consumed by animals or parasites and gave rise to mass illnesses, usually called plagues, also many people did not like to be near the smell of decaying bodies. For those people who died in arid areas, dead bodies were sometimes covered with a shallow layer of soil and rocks. In the time of Jesus, the dead body was deposited in a cave-like structure. As the need arose, the structure would be used over and over to prevent animals from consuming the dead person or robbers from stealing whatever may have been left as memorials. They would allow the flesh to decay and then move the bones to allow later use of the tomb. To interrupt the mourning process and open a tomb before the proper time would not only produce a putrid smell, but a breach of the burial process. Such scandalous things were not done in the time of Jesus. Empathizing with those mourners, have you ever been at an event in which someone proposed to do an action that seemed either impossible or completely insanely unbelievable? You may have stood in wide-eyed awe. Well, that is what Jesus did. But, He did it for a time of teaching and relief for the family. So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, "Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me." – Jn. 11:41-42 (Berean Study Bible). As a Christian who travels their unique individual spiritual journey, let's offer empathy or sympathy where we can and observe how the Holy Spirit uses all events to provide glory to God in some way.

Give up

Step back from life for a moment and consider all that you have accumulated thus far in life. Perhaps you have made it through High School and college and found a vocation you really enjoy. Perhaps you have found people you enjoy being around as much as possible. Perhaps you have gone further and gained higher education and are in a vocation which benefits people as best you know how. Perhaps you are comfortable with your present life. What if you discovered the place you are in life and those things you have accumulated were not what you needed to gain eternal life. Could you, would you make the changes necessary to pursue eternal life? Jesus asked the rich young ruler to lay aside all the things that prevented this man from following Him (Lk. 18:18-23), he did not. However, Paul did. Once he discovered a love for Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, Paul did just that and writes to his co-workers in Philippi about this decision. "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." - Phil. 3:8 (NIV) Are there things in your life that are preventing you from following Jesus? The short, medium, and long term results are worth whatever you must give up. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us along our unique individual spiritual journey, and shift our focus to His desires. This doesn't mean we need to give up everything, just everything that does not glorify God in some way.

Pure

 Have you ever longed for information that was pure, straightforward, and without contamination or defilement? This is especially important for our spiritual lives. Following "false data", or the wrong information can lead to eternal disaster. Jehovah God is the true God and He has promised to provide all those who follow Jesus the pure truth. "All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, 'He will take what is mine and declare it to you.'" - Jn. 16:15 (ISV). God has given us His Holy Spirit for an indwelling partner. He will guide us into all truth from Jesus. One person has well stated, “God does not just want to convey information, but he is sharing himself in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit so that truth is much more than something we believe; it is something we live out of the very fabric of our relationship to God through the Holy Spirit.” As we follow our unique individual spiritual journey, we must depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us into God's truth.

The gift

As believers, we treasure that Jesus came so we might better understand this concept: a loving God who changed from God for us, to Immanuel (God with us), and finally God within us. As Christians, God’s Holy Spirit indwelling us, is our greatest gift from God; this is our guarantee we have been cleansed of our sins. When we receive the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we receive the gift and the giver. The Holy Spirit indicates unity with God, our source of communication with God, and the seal that we belong to Him - we become His children. In this verse, "being" indicates a continual process. "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." Rom. 8:14-17 (NASV)

Body a temple

At the time the Bible was written, worship of any gods was usually done at a site where that particular god dwelled or lived within. This site was called a "temple." Such sites were considered sacred since once entering them, a follower thought they would be closer to that particular god. This also applied to the Jewish temple for Jehovah God, except entrance to the presence of God was limited to only one priest, once per year. Paul used this common understanding to communicate that because of Jesus, the partition (Curtain) separating God from the people was eliminated. Then individual people became the temple of God and Jehovah God, as the Holy Spirit dwells within people. Thus, individual people become temples of God. "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." - 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

Proper worship

 When challenged by the woman at the Samaritan well, Jesus shared with her that a time was coming when worship of God would move beyond special places, special people, and special actions to a time when each person would worship God wherever they were whenever they desired. He said, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” - Jn. 4:23-24 9 (NIV)