Rachel Workman: So
then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the
same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered
physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest
of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will
of God. 3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless
people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild
parties, and their terrible worship of idols. The verse that stands out the
most here to me is "You won't spend the rest of your life chasing your own
desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God". I am anxious to
do the will of God but I do find myself chasing my own desires. I have been
done with evil, immorality, lust ect for some time. But my own desires
are another matter.
4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit. Am I ever grateful that the good news was was preached to those who are now dead because that includes me. I was once dead but now I have life, eternal life through Christ.
7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. 8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. I certainly need more discipline in my prayers. I also need to work on the showing of deep love for one another.
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. I love this verse. Use them well to serve one another. Who did I serve today? Myself or those around me? Probably a little of both. But I know it's an area I can improve upon. We need to remember to serve one another. When we are busy doing that there is less room for Satan and his negative smack.
4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit. Am I ever grateful that the good news was was preached to those who are now dead because that includes me. I was once dead but now I have life, eternal life through Christ.
7 The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. 8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay. I certainly need more discipline in my prayers. I also need to work on the showing of deep love for one another.
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. I love this verse. Use them well to serve one another. Who did I serve today? Myself or those around me? Probably a little of both. But I know it's an area I can improve upon. We need to remember to serve one another. When we are busy doing that there is less room for Satan and his negative smack.
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John Burnett: 4 Therefore,
since Christ has [a]suffered in the flesh, arm
yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has [b]suffered in the flesh has
ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the
flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For
the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the
desire of the Gentiles, [c]having pursued a course of
sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and [d]abominable idolatries. 4 In
all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into
the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; 5 but
they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the
dead. This describes my past and would describe my present and future
if it were not for the Holy Spirit helping me in my sanctification. God
will judge all, but whose record will he see. As for me, He will see
Jesus by name in the book of life. 6 For the gospel has for
this purpose been [e]preached even to those who
are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the
spirit according to the will of God.
7 The
end of all things [f]is near; therefore, be of
sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of [g]prayer. With each
passing day, verse 7 becomes more and more relevant to me. Knowing and
seeking the truth so that our prayers have purpose and are not gibberish is so
crucial in this day and age of false teachers teaching false doctrines. 8 Above
all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude
of sins. It is Jesus’s love for us that explains why he would die for
a bunch of wretches. 9 Be hospitable to one another without
complaint. 10 As each one has received a special gift,
employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 Whoever speaks, is to do so [h]as one who is speaking the
utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving [i]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. Being good
stewards of the manifold grace of God. Does this mean we are to save or
to invest? Being generous to those things that will grow God’s kingdom is
what he means. We are given what we are given by God’s grace and because
he blesses us according to the riches of his glory, we should be generous the
way he is generous.
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4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead[b]—so although they were destined to die like all people,[c] they now live forever with God in the Spirit.[d
- making that change to live right is not always easy, especially
when your "friends" don't understand. Sometimes we even have to
distance ourselves from our old life in order to live the new life.
But the reward in the end will far outweigh the difficulties now.
7 The end of the world is coming
soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. 8 Most
important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a
multitude of sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who
need a meal or a place to stay.10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
- we can show our love for others in a multitude of ways - use
the gifts you've been blessed with to bless others
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Mike Grimm: 4 So then, since
Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude
he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for
Christ, you have finished with sin. 2 You won’t spend the rest
of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will
of God. Christ is the model. He lived to do what God wanted.
As Christians we must do the same, even if we suffer for it as Jesus did
(chapter 2:21-23). We will change the way we think and feel too. When people
suffer as Christians, it shows how much they love God. They want to obey God
and do what is right. They do not want to sin any more. Romans 6:6-7 says that,
when people become Christians, Jesus frees them from the power of sin. They
must make use of this power not to sin and do what is right.
3 You have had enough in the past of the evil
things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and
drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. An ‘idol’ is a piece of stone or wood that people
believe is their god. But an idol can also be anything that a person loves more
than they love God. However, as
Christians we may have idols without even realizing it. It may be a love for
money, our homes, our jobs and even our families. We are commanded to honor our
parents, but we should love God even more.
4 Of
course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the
flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. When people become Christians, their
lives change. This happens because the Spirit of Jesus is now in them. They
give up their evil behaviour. Now they worship God, who is the Father of Jesus
Christ. People who are not Christians cannot understand why their former
companions have completely changed. In John 3:19-21, Jesus says that people who
do what is evil hate the light. Christians now have the light of Jesus in their
lives. Other people may hate and insult them because of this. 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge
everyone, both the living and the dead. Peter’s readers knew that Jesus
would return. They expected this to happen before they died. But many people
had already died. It does not matter whether people are dead or alive when
Jesus returns. That is when God will judge what every person has said and done.
6 That is why the Good News was preached to
those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people,
they now live forever with God in the Spirit. In the beginning, God created Adam.
Adam sinned. God judged Adam’s sin and punished Adam with death (Genesis
chapters 2-3). All people die because of Adam’s sin (Romans 5:12). But Jesus
came to this world. God punished Jesus for people’s sins. Every person’s
physical body still dies. But God gives eternal life to people who believe and
trust Jesus (John 3:16). This good news is for everyone. God saves people from
the result of sin because of what Jesus has done.
7 The
end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your
prayers. We do not
know when the end will come. But one day it will. It may happen while we
ourselves are still alive. So we must always be ready. All Christians should
think clearly about their daily behaviour. They should live in the way that God
wants. This will help their prayers. Then they will be ready to meet Jesus when
he comes back. 8 Most important of all, continue to show deep
love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Christians should continue to love
one another deeply, even when it is difficult. ‘Love hides many sins’ (Proverbs
10:12). Christians should not tell everyone when people do something wrong.
However, Christians should not excuse people when they sin. Nor should they
think that any sin does not matter. Instead, Christians should be ready to
forgive other people and to help them to do what is right. 9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place
to stay. One way that
Christians can show their love is to invite people into their homes. It may
involve hard work. But they should be happy to help other people and should not
complain. They should do this even if the Christian is a stranger. He may have
travelled from a different place. Remember that God is the Father of all
Christians. All Christians belong to the same family.
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