{"id":8138,"date":"2020-03-13T20:00:59","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T03:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=8138"},"modified":"2020-03-13T23:36:53","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T06:36:53","slug":"1peter2_11-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1peter2_11-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Let Your Actions Speak Well of Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Peter 2:11-17 \u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

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Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is 1 Peter 2:11-17.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2:11a (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 11a: \u00a0Here is the \u201calien and stranger\u201d theme again from Peter, the idea that as Christians our home is not on earth but in heaven.\u00a0 So don\u2019t live as if your life on earth is all there is, but every day live with heaven in mind.
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\n1 Peter 2:11b (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n\u2026to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
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\nOn verse 11b: \u00a0How does sin \u201cwar against your soul\u201d?\u00a0 By trying to get you to buy into the lie that you\u2019ll be happier and better off if you sin.\u00a0 That is the deceitfulness of sin.\u00a0 Are you tempted to sin in a certain way today?\u00a0 The truth is that sin will never lead to happiness but to unhappiness.\u00a0 Sin will not get you to where you ultimately want to be.\u00a0 Sin is not a shortcut but a detour.\u00a0 So for the sake of your own long term happiness, you\u2019re always better off not giving into sinful desires but abstaining from them.<\/p>\n

1 Peter\u00a02:12\u00a0(NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 12:\u00a0 The best way to prove your critics wrong is to outlive them in terms of quality and outlast them in terms of quantity.\u00a0 Let your actions speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2:13-14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority,
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-14:\u00a0 Back in Peter\u2019s time there was the temptation for Christians to think, \u201cI am subject to no man, only God.\u00a0 Therefore, I don\u2019t need to listen to any human authority.\u00a0 Rather I\u2019ll only do what God tells me directly to do.\u201d\u00a0 This kind of attitude sounds spiritual but is actually unspiritual and rooted in pride.\u00a0 God calls us to be accountable and submissive to the human leaders He has placed over us for our good.\u00a0 How well you submit to your human leaders will certainly affect how much God promotes you down the road.<\/p>\n

Also, notice for whose sake Peter tells us to submit to authority (whether that authority be our parents, our pastors, or government authorities if we live under their watch and care)?\u00a0 For the Lord\u2019s sake.\u00a0 As part of our worship of God, as part of keeping the peace and being a good witness to the world, we are to respect and observe the laws and regulations laid down by our governing authorities as long as they are not in conflict with the clear teaching of Scripture.<\/p>\n

Finally, notice in verse 14 what the purpose of government is: it\u2019s not just to punish those who do wrong but to commend those who do right.\u00a0 If you are in a position of leadership, remember that your role is not just to punish wrong doers but to celebrate and encourage those who are doing well.<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2:15-16 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
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\nOn verse 15:\u00a0 In Peter\u2019s time key influencers in society were trying to convince people that Christians were the scourge of the earth, rebels, bigots and religious freaks who needed to be extinguished.\u00a0 Peter tells his readers: \u201cShow them what we Christians are really like.\u00a0 Live such good lives that people see that truly we are not the scourge of the earth but the light of the world.\u201d\u00a0 Likewise in your life today there is probably someone who has a negative opinion of Christians, who thinks Christians are nothing more than hypocrites, bigots and freaks.\u00a0 Show them differently.\u00a0 Show them the positive difference Jesus Christ makes in a person\u2019s life for the better.<\/p>\n

1 Peter\u00a02:17\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
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\nOn verse 17:\u00a0 Respect is the foundation of any healthy relationship.\u00a0 The Bible calls us to treat everyone with a basic level of respect.\u00a0\u00a0To respect someone doesn\u2019t mean that you agree with everything they say, approve of everything they do, or like them all the time, if at all, but to respect someone means that you recognize, no matter what, that person has intrinsic worth in God\u2019s eyes and so you treat that person accordingly.<\/p>\n

It takes effort to show respect to someone and no effort to disrespect them. We need to go out of our way to be respectful. How respectful are you to those closest to you, to those in authority over you, to those you lead, and to strangers?\u00a0 In a message called \u201cThe Respect Revolution\u201d, I uncover 7 areas where it is especially important to show respect in our relationships (for example, being respectful in the way we listen, respectful in the way we speak, respectful of others\u2019 time).\u00a0 For more on the role of respect in relationships, check out that message at Thrive Church\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for all the lessons I can learn from Your Word today.\u00a0 I pray that the way I live this life and how I treat others would speak well of who You are.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 1 Peter 2:11-17.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2:11a (NIV)\u00a0
\n11\u00a0\u00a0Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world\u2026
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 11a: \u00a0Here is the \u201calien and stranger\u201d theme again from Peter, the idea that as Christians our home is not on earth but in heaven.\u00a0 So don\u2019t live as if your life on earth is all there is, but every day live with heaven in mind.
\n\u00a0
\n1 Peter 2:11b (NIV)\u00a0
\n\u2026to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse 11b: \u00a0How does sin \u201cwar against your soul\u201d?\u00a0 By trying to get you to buy into the lie that you\u2019ll be happier and better off if you sin.\u00a0 That is the deceitfulness of sin.\u00a0 Are you tempted to sin in a certain way today?\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8138"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8257,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8138\/revisions\/8257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}