Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves
unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject
one to another, and be clothed with
humility: for God resisteth the proud,
and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the
mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time: casting all your care
upon Him: for He careth for you. Be
sober, be vigiliant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are
in the world.
1Peter 5:5-9
Peter after living, walking, talking, even at times resisting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, having to be rebuked by Jesus found grace from Jesus and now is taking the fact that Jesus is the promised Messiah and that by Him a person can have forgiveness of their sins. What a change in a man to have come from being a humble fisherman to a pillar in the New religion, this Way that brings hope and life to a person even though they have never seen Jesus, only heard about Him, and this possibly only be means of Peter. You and I are the same: we have not seen Jesus only heard about Him and read and heard those letters written by the Apostles and others led by the Holy Spirit to address these new Christians, us and those to come until Jesus returns.
Peter writes to those "younger" men and we are not to mistake this word to mean children for it does not. This Greek word is formed from a Greek word meaning "new" and youthful, not as a child, or young person, rather a person who is regenerate and speaks of the quality and character of one who is "new" to the faith and in need of training as how they are to live. These "new" ones must be remembered as they came out of the world and culture that they have grown up in and have those trappings of that old culture and much of it is contrary to God. This is true of us for we, if not have come from a Christian family, have come out of this world's culture and are in need of training to understand what we have come to believe ensuring that what is taught is truth. To ensure that we understand the truth of Scripture and not that of a man or woman teaching false gospel we must take the time to study, to turn off the TV, or not spend as much time on social media. This is one reason that I spend time to give the true meaning of the Greek for the New Testament was written in Greek. Do not take my word for this, take time to inspect what you expect. This means to be sober, that is not to be dulled in your mind, whether it be just laziness, or be alcohol, drugs, are anything that will make you drunk in thought. We are to be humble, this is against the world's culture, but to be humble does not mean to be weak, it means to be subject to those leaders of the Church who are teaching Authentic Christianity and not some man-made doctrine or theology. To be subject to someone is not wrong for we do this as employees do we not so humility is a sign of a mature person not wanting things his/her way. God gives grace to the humble, therefore you have the hand of God to guide and lead you in your humbleness. To not be drunk, to be sober is to also be vigilant and this is what I wrote about in yesterday's blog about those men and women who are using Christianity for personal gain. Remember, to be humble, to be under the hand of God does not only bring you grace, you are not a proud person for a proud person is one who resists God. To resist God is to open the door for the devil to come in and devour you, your faith so to not allow this to happen, you must resist steadfastly in you faith and to aid those who are going through similar afflictions. Yes, those early Christians faced immediate and definite persecutions, and faced death for being a Christian. To face a threat that you can see and understand is different from facing a threat that you cannot see and possibly may not fully understand. We say to often, that was then, this is now, but the threat to devour your faith has not changed from then to now. Be vigilant, be ready to defend your faith, follow the words of those led by inspiration from the Holy Spirit to show us how to live.
God elected His children to have eternal life and not because you somehow are so good that God does not have any other choice but to save you, no, it is simply by the grace of God that He chose you and elected you to participate in His glory prepared for you that is immutable, and is forever: "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. to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (1Peter 5:10-11),
Peter closes this letter by these words: "By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. the Church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth Marcus my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen" (1Peter 5:12-14).
Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another
the next, rumors of violence in the
land and or ruler against ruler. For the
time will surely come when I will
punish the idols of Babylon; her whole
land will be disgraced and her slain
will all lie fallen within her. Then heaven
and earth and all that is in them will
shout for joy over Babylon, for out of
the north destroyers will attack her.
Declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 51:46-48
Be humble and receive the grace of God
Richard L. Crumb
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