I'm Calling You Out!!!!

1 Peter 1:13-17

Be Holy

13 So prepare your minds for action. Control yourselves. Put your hope completely in the grace that will be given to you when Jesus Christ returns.

14 You should obey. You shouldn’t give in to evil longings. They controlled your life when you didn’t know any better. 15 The one who chose you is holy. So you should be holy in all that you do. 16 It is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”

17 You call on a Father who judges each person’s work without favoring one over another. So live your lives as strangers here. Have the highest respect for God.

I am not claiming to be a Bible Scholar, however these are my thoughts and convictions from what I read in 1 Peter 1:13-17.

We are all blessed to have been introduced to Jesus. For some of us we've known about Jesus all our lives, we've grown up in Sunday School learning about Him. For others, maybe this journey started a little later in life. But somewhere along the way, we were all introduced to Jesus.

Peter tell us, you've heard and learned about Jesus so now it's time to put what you've learned into action. We have to control ourselves to live a life that is pleasing to God. We can't just "talk the talk, we have to walk the walk."

Each time you learn a new lesson from God, how often do you commit it to memory, and live your life differently? Personally, I can say not very often. I'm guilty of being on fire for God on Sunday, but somehow over the course of the week, I live more and more as the world tells me to. I give in to the bad thoughts and don't forgive easily, I lose patience when things don't go my way, my prayers become shorter and shorter as the week goes on.

Like Peter, I'm calling you out! (Or should I say us out, because I'm doing it too.)  I'm calling you to make the changes You've been called to make.

Application:

So what next? Well, I have given you each the challenge of coming up w way you want to grow in your faith this month. (Examples are: I want to remember to pray each day. I want to read my bible more each week. I want to help others grow in their faith by being the friend that they need.) 

Then do it! It's that simple, make one goal, and actually carry through with it.

I'm here to help hold you accountable, and help you in any way that I can. :)

More of 1 Peter

Hey y'all!
Yesterday in Sunday School you were given the challenge to tell me (through written letter, email, text, phone call, or some other way) how you want to grow in your faith this month. Of the few I've received so far, many of you want to pray more and spend more time each week in God's word

.... So...  I'll be helping you by posting more to the Blog this week...

Ok, I know we are studying 1 Peter in Sunday School, but let's be honest, 1) there's not much time in Sunday School to really dive in, and 2) not everyone makes it to Sunday School

So ... this week I'll be posting bits from 1 Peter for you to read.

1 Peter 1:3-12:

Peter Praises God for a Hope That Is Alive

3 Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth and a hope that is alive. It is alive because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. 4 He has given us new birth so that we might share in what belongs to him. It is a gift that can never be destroyed. It can never spoil or even fade away. It is kept in heaven for you. 5 Through faith you are kept safe by God’s power. Your salvation is going to be completed. It is ready to be shown to you in the last days.6 Because you know this, you have great joy. You have joy even though you may have had to suffer for a little while. You may have had to suffer sadness in all kinds of trouble.7 Your troubles have come in order to prove that your faith is real. It is worth more than gold. Gold can pass away even though fire has made it pure. Your faith is meant to bring praise, honor and glory to God. That will happen when Jesus Christ returns.8 Even though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you believe in him. You are filled with a glorious joy that can’t be put into words. 9 You are receiving the salvation of your souls. It is the result of your faith.10 The prophets searched very hard and with great care to find out about that salvation. They spoke about the grace that was going to come to you. 11 They wanted to find out when that salvation would come. The Spirit of Christ in them was telling them about the sufferings of Christ that were going to come. He was also telling them about the glory that would follow.12 It was made known to the prophets that they were not serving themselves. Instead, they were serving you when they spoke about the things that you have now heard. Those who have preached the good news to you have told you those things. They have done it with the help of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into those things.

Reflect:
1) What is God speaking to you in this passage? What does it say in your own words?
2) So often we wonder why we have struggles in our life. Peter tells us that we must go through trials to test and grow our faith. Just like gold is put to the test of fire, our faith, which is way more precious than gold, is also put to the test. Pray about a current struggle you are facing, and ask God to open your eyes to how He is growing your faith through this circumstance.

Everything

Take a moment and just reflect on this video, and the emotions it stirs up in you.

#FaceBookOfficial

Jimmy and I met in March of 2008 (My Junior/His Senior year of college). Go Gamecocks!! J Now at the time, I prayed that if this Jimmy guy was the one that God created for me, that God would make that known to me. I prayed that He would protect my heart from getting hurt. After all Jimmy and I had just met so neither of us really knew 100%  that we would get married. Luckily though, we really hit it off right away and started seeing each other pretty regularly. About a month later (March 31, 2008 to be exact) he came over to hang out with my roommates and me. While we were talking, he asked me to be his girlfriend, which I was ecstatic about. He left around midnight, which meant it was now April 1, April Fools Day. So, he got home, told his friends “I asked Christine to be my girlfriend and she said yes!” His friends immediately began teasing him saying they didn’t believe him, it just had to be an April Fools Joke, because he wasn’t brave enough to actually ask me out. You can obviously see his asking me out was not a joke.   

Since Facebook was the most popular form of Social Media at the time, my friends immediately began asking me, when are you going to make it “Facebook official?” Not having had a serious boyfriend in a while, I wasn’t sure if I should put it on my relationship status, or wait for him to do it. I have a great friend Erica, who always gave me the courage to step outside my comfort zone; that was and admittedly still is, very small. (Doesn’t it seem we all have or should have a great friend like that?!). Anyways, she convinced me to just put it on my status and she was sure he would accept. So I changed my status to “in a relationship with Jimmy Lekovich.” Now at that time, the other person had to accept the relationship status before it became visible for the world to see on your profile. An eternity went by before Jimmy accepted our relationship on Facebook. More like a day or two, but at that time it certainly felt like an eternity. 

I knew through our private conversations, that Jimmy genuinely had strong feelings for me, and I for him. I knew his thoughts about me and we both knew the relationship we wanted to have with each other.

But I wanted our relationship to be publicly acknowledged. I didn’t want Jimmy running around campus screaming “I love Christine!” sporting an equally loud “I love Christine” t-shirt. I didn’t want him to introduce himself in class as “Jimmy, Christine’s boyfriend.” However, I wanted a small public acknowledgement that he cared enough about me that he told the world, “I’m taken. I have someone who genuinely cares for me just as much as I care for her.”

Isn’t that what Jesus wants? Matthew 10:32-33 says: “Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus wants a relationship with us that is so strong, you would proudly post it to your profile. You would tweet/instagram/Facebook and all other sorts of social media about your relationship status with Jesus. He promises that if you acknowledge Him, then He also will acknowledge you before God in heaven.

Imagine this scene for a moment, and reflect on it in a journal or somewhere.

God turns and asks Jesus,

“Do you know ___(Enter your name here)_____?,

Do you love ___(Enter your name here)______?”

Jesus then turns to the Father and answers: 

“Yes, Father, I know ___(Enter your name here)___.

I love ___(Enter your name here)___.

Not only do I love them, but I know their every thought, their every desire, fear, and worry. I could tell you the great thing that happened to them last month, and the struggles they face today. I could name the number of hairs on their head. I am with them every moment of every day. I am so madly in love with __(Enter your name)___ Father, that I died for them, so that they too may come to know you.”

God would reply,

“Wow, that is wonderful! But do they also know you?”

Rooted in Compassion

Psalm 112:1-4:

Praise the Lord.

Blessed is the one who has respect for the Lord. He finds great delight when he obeys God’s commands.

His children will be powerful in the land. Because he is honest, his children will be blessed.

His family will have wealth and riches. He will always be blessed for doing what is right.

Even in the darkness light shines on honest people. It shines on those who are kind and tender and godly.

So I’m sure by now you’ve all picked up on the fact that I am dying to see each of you grow closer to Jesus this year. I want you to completely fall in love with Him and grow those roots deep in Him as you reach others at the same time. (Rooted and Reaching … see what I did there?)  ;)

But the only ways to grow closer to Jesus aren't just reading the bible, praying, or doing devotions. Serving others is another, excellent way to grow closer to Him.

The last verse “Even in the darkness light shines on honest people. It shines on those who are kind and tender and godly.” This is the New International Reader’s Version. Other words used in that last sentence in other versions are: gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

What does it mean to be compassionate? I honestly think those of you who spoke about the Mission Trip hit the nail on the head! Any time we do service work, how easy is it to just view that as work, and not really think about the impact you're having on someone's life.

During SOS this past summer we created bags for homeless kids at Thomasboro Academy. To you, you were just putting snacks and a cut out of a frog in a bag, but did you stop to think about the kid who got that food? Did you think about the kid who got to eat the pudding cup, and that was all they had to eat that day? Or on the mission trip ... The day we did work at the Children’s Center was a great example. Going into that work, knowing there would be no kids there, and that you’d just be cleaning, had us all down. A lot of you commented that it felt like you were just cleaning your room or doing chores around the house, nothing to get excited about.

However, later your views changed. Niall explained that he, “saw what I was doing mattered. Those kids deserved a clean place to hang out and do homework. I wasn’t just doing chores, I was truly helping people.”

Sometimes we feel like we have to do extravegent work that others notice to really have done something. That’s not the case. Some of my favorite times to show compassion are when no one is watching. Someone steals from a vending machine (yes it’s possible) and so you leave a dollar to pay for it. Someone drops a paper on their way to the bus, and you pick it up. Letting someone take the last seat at the cafeteria table. Etc.

There is so much that we can do to show compassion on a daily basis. The coolest part is  you have no idea the impact that you’ll have had on that person’s day. They could have just had the worst day of their life and your smile, or sweet gesture completely turned their day around.

Not only are you shining Jesus’ light for others to see, but you, yourself are getting to truly feel His spirit welling up inside of you.

This is another way Jesus calls us to grow closer to Him, being Him in this crazy world!

Reflect:

Do something today (or tomorrow) to show compassion to someone.

After you’ve done your small act, reflect on it.

How have you grown closer to Jesus through your acts?

Love and Blessings!

Christine