Today’s Reading:
1Peter 4:1-7
“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. You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. 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. 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. But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 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. The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:1-7 NLT)
In our text of today, Peter enlightened fellow Christians on how to live at this period and what to do in the face of challenges that may arise because of our faith in Christ Jesus (vv. 1-2). We cannot avoid pain. We cannot reach the stage of Christ-like maturity without dying to self. That is, we abandon our lust of the flesh and say Yes, to the will of God- a stage when our will is no more in opposition to the will of God for our lives. He is urging us to decisively turn our backs on our former ways of life from which Christ in his suffering has delivered us.
We should be willing and prepared to do the will of God and if need be suffer for it. In our suffering, when we focus on Jesus Christ and do what he wants us to do, sin loses its power of defeat over us. When we suffer with Christ, it shows that we identify with Him (Rom. 8:17). And when we identify with him, we have victory over the power of sin which Christ had on the cross (Rom 6:1-10). When our bodies are in pain, or our lives are in jeopardy, our real values show up clearly, and sinful pleasures are of less importance to us. If we suffer for doing the right thing, and faithfully continue to obey God in spite of this, it shows that we have separated from wilful sin.
There is no repentance for those who heard the Good News message when they were alive but are now dead. If they responded to the message in faith while alive, and are now dead, which will one day happen to everyone; they are sure to live forever with God in the Spirit body. At Christ’s second coming predicted by the OT prophets, which signs we have started experiencing (1:10-12), we should live expectantly. Getting ready to meet with Christ involves our continuous growth in love for God and our other fellows (Mtt.22:37-40). We should be able to reach out to the needy. Our possessions, status, and power are not important in the kingdom of God. But we will spend eternity with other people. We are to invest our time and talents in matters that will make a difference in eternity.
Peter urges us all to be prepared because this would happen suddenly (Phil. 4:5; Jas 5:8; Rev. 1:3; 22:10). We are not being asked to quit our jobs, sell our possessions, or move to a secure location. We have not been asked to pay extra close attention to dates or the movements of celestial bodies. But rather to be calm, and focused, and remain disciplined in our prayer life. The greatest thing we can do in preparation for our prayer life is to: -
Heavily intensify our prayer life with the help of the Holy Spirit;
Pray for wisdom to be able to return to our original state;
Pray for boldness in sharing with others, relating to others what is going on in our lives, and in the world of Christ.
Pray for lost souls, the sick and those in bondage or captivity around us;
Pray for our children and grandchildren;
Pray for a spirit of balance, to be more accommodating to live with others, in our confused and lost world full of wickedness, that has lost its bearing.
Earnestly work out your salvation with fear and trembling before God.
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul.
While I live will I praise the Lord; I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being, in Jesus' name.
I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever, in Jesus' name.
Father cloth my life with the beauty that comes from within, the unending beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious to You, in Jesus' name.
Father, visit every Christian home with Your love and mercy; let there be deep, great and mighty deliverance, and transform lives, in Jesus' name.
Father, we surrender our children, youths, and young adults to Your fatherly care; fill them with Your love, a thirst for Your word and a hunger for Your righteousness, in Jesus’ name.
Father as we preach the Gospel, help the body of Christ to lay aside all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, all evil talk; help us to desire the pure milk of Your word, so that we would grow and see that in truth the Lord is gracious, in Jesus’ name.
Father grant to our leaders the wisdom to fear You and to take their role to serve the nation as a ministry to the glory of Your name, in Jesus' name.
Our Sovereign Lord intervenes in situations in all nations of the world. We use Israel and the Arab world as a point of contact to all nations, in Jesus' name.
Let the whole world know that You have the last say in the affairs of men here on earth. Use this situation to populate Your kingdom, in Jesus' name.
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