In the Summer of 1978, I was privileged to work on a Kibbutz in Israel for 9 weeks, in a cultural exchange program. While there I had the opportunity to talk with many Israeli’s about a number of subjects. One day, I was talking to a soldier, and said, I noticed that the Israeli soldier does not retreat in the face of the enemy. What is the reason for that? He answered, “Where are we to go, our enemy wants to push us into the sea to the West, and will not be satisfied to defeat us, they want us all destroyed. As I think of this earthly reality, I am reminded that our enemy, the Devil, wants us to be destroyed (I Peter 5:8). In Romans 6:10-14, Paul is picturing sin as a King who rules over the life of those who do not follow the Lord. For those who are followers of Jesus Christ, sin is a dethroned monarch because Christ’s death forever broke its power. We need to understand that sin has no right to rule in our lives as members of the Body of Christ. Although it desires to lure us back into its grasp, we … READ MORE

What are you looking forward to? as we continue to consider 1 Peter 1:13, we are reminded to “hope to the end.” We have been encouraged to Know the Truth, and to Live in the Truth, and here we are reminded to Trust the Truth. Are we living in an expectation for what God is going to do in our lives? God has a wonderful plan for His children, we are reminded that He is preparing a place for us where He is! With that we need to ask ourselves if we are living each day with an anticipation for what is to come. This understanding should cause us to strive for personal holiness. We need to understand that, as a believer, Satan will attempt to cause us to rationalize our sin, and justify our actions. We are to protect ourselves by choosing to live holy lives, and choose to live in the power of the Word of God as the Holy Spirit applies that Word to our lives. The expectation that we have as believers is a great motivation to anticipate what is to come. … READ MORE

I remember the first time I told my wife (we obviously were not married at the time) that I loved her. It began to lead our relationship in an entirely different direction. No longer where we “just friends” we were courting, and that lead to a deeper relationship. But it did me no good to tell her that I loved her, if I did not demonstrate my love by my actions. In 1 Peter 1:13 we are reminded that as we “gird up the loins of our minds,” we are to “be sober,” in other words we are to act in accordance too our words. It is not enough to know the truth, we also have to live out that truth with a determination, that marks us as different from those who do not have a relationship with Christ. As we put into practice the truth that we know, it demonstrates that we have been transformed by the renewing of our minds. In Philippians 4:9 we are told, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, DO: ang the God of peace shall be with you.” (Emphasis mine). We must learn to implement … READ MORE