Playing Well With Others

Authority, everybody likes to have it and nobody likes to yield to it.

1 Peter 2:13-14 For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.

1 Peter 2:18 You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel.

1 Peter 3:1-2 In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over 2 by observing your pure and reverent lives.

1 Peter 3:7-9 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

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Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan has tempted us by questioning authority, he lied about God and Adam and Eve began to wonder about God's intentions and whether the rules that he gave them were fair. God's commandments have been questioned every moment of everyday ever since and we see the consequences all around us but we still want to live life our way.

Accepting authority and being submissive is required of every child of God, it is necessary in our relationships, starting with God and going down the line to every other relationship that we have. From government, the work place and our family, there is an order that God designed to help us live together in harmony.

We see the idea of submission demonstrated in the Trinity, all of them working together in unison, each of them fulfilling a role and each of them bringing glory to the other and doing what is beneficial to the Trinity.

✔ Jesus sought to bring glory to God the Father. (John 15:10)
✔ Jesus willingly died for us. (John 10:17-18)
✔ The Holy Spirit gives Jesus glory. (John 16:13-15)
✔ God the Father gave glory back to Jesus. (John 8:54, 17:24)
✔ The Holy Spirit didn't refuse when he was sent to us. (John 14:26, Acts 1:4-5)

Too bad we do not get to enjoy this oneness and cooperative spirit from the people that we relate to.

Philippians 2:3-8 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Jesus is our ultimate example of submission and looking out for the needs of others. Deserving glory and honor yet he came to us selfless and humble to take care of us. We all need to follow Christ example and look for ways to bless others.

I need to yield to authority, give up my own authority and be submissive to others in my country, my workplace and with my family and friends. 

Related articles

• Pleasing God Even In Suffering (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)
• Privileges Of God's Children: Union With Christ (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)
• Father Of Lies (wisdomhunters.com)

Get Out Of The Milk

Selfish living dominates our life when God isn't allowed to be in control.

1 Peter 1:13-16 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

1 Peter 2:1-3 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

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If you received the good news and became a Christ follower like Peter has talking about in the previous verses of this chapter then there are some things that will naturally change in your life as a result. As followers of Christ we should be having an exciting time looking forward to the day when our salvation will be revealed to the world. Our salvation should be a great source of joy in the midst of this world full of tragedy and injustice.

Here is a word of warning for those that are trying to live to please God, you should beware because the old ways will try and take you back, Peter said that "living to satisfy your own desires" will creep back in the door if you are not careful. It's all about making choices, all day long we are constantly making choices, it is difficult to control ourselves and make the choices that please God, it requires us to take on the mind of Christ. The desire to please ourselves is a battle that we will fight until Jesus takes us out of this world. (Romans 7:15, 1 Corinthians 2:16)

Have you outgrown the milk diet?

Hebrews 5:12-14  You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.  13  For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn't know how to do what is right.  14  Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

You start out as a baby in God's family, just like you did in your human family, but you shouldn't stay at that stage of your spiritual life forever. You should have a good appetite, one that is anxious for more milk and then progressing to eating cereal and then moving on to solid food.

God wants us to be like him, his number one character trait is his holiness the moral excellence of God, sounds like a tall order that we can't possibly attain. It is an attribute that we are to strive for, God tells us to be holy just like he is, we need to look like a part of God's family. We will not fully achieve our goal but if you are a follower of Christ then you will start to look like him, it can't be any other way, following Christ will always have an outward expression, actions that can't be covered up. 

God has revealed himself, his character and his desires for his children through his word. We need to be students of his book and let him "teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives" so that we will know how to become more like him. (2 Timothy 3:16)

You Are The Treasure That I Seek

The world has a lot of cool treasure to distract you from what is priceless.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.

Psalm 29:2 Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

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Have you ever dreamed of finding a treasure chest full of gold and jewelry? The world is full of stuff that we would like to get our hands on. It is so natural us to value new cars, fancy homes and a fat wallet, we can also see great value in the relationships that we have with our family and friends, but there is another treasure that is far above any of these.

It is good for us to examine our lives, take a look at ourselves and see how we are doing, take a quiz and ask yourself some important questions. While I listened to the Gaither Vocal Band sing the song "You Are My All In All" I thought of theses questions:

"What do I really value the most, is Jesus really the treasure that I am looking for?"

We have been told to love God, we know that he deserves to be loved to the highest level that a person can possibly love, but we let so much get in the way and rob us of our time with him or we take the time but we don't really love him fully.

Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."

We can get lost in the empty pursuit of happiness, trying to get some more stuff, trying to have the perfect relationship, chasing down the stuff that the world says will make us happy. Finally when our day isn't going so well we decide to cry out to God to make it better. Is that true love?

I have to wonder how good of a job that we can do at loving God, since love comes from God and it is pure and without self seeking motives, how can we possibly love God adequately on this side of heaven? (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 1 John 4:7) While researching this blog post, I found this old hymn that I have never seen before, it speaks of the love that we should have for God that goes beyond any selfish motivation.

My God, I love Thee--not because I hope for heaven thereby; Nor yet because,if I love not I must for ever die. Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me Upon the Cross embrace; For me didst bear the nails and spear, And manifold disgrace, And griefs and torments numberless, And sweat of agony, Yea, death itself; and all for me Who was Thine enemy.

Then why, O blessed Jesus Christ, Should I not love Thee well? Not for the hope of winning heaven, Of of escaping hell; Not with the hope of gaining aught, Not seeking a reward; But as Thyself hast loved me, O ever-loving Lord! So would I love Thee, dearest Lord, And in Thy praise will sing; Solely because Thou art my God, And my eternal King.

I have to continue to work towards loving God as he deserves, making him my most treasured possession, as I live in God's love he will teach me how to do a better job of loving him. (1 John 4:16-17)

Jesus Is First

I am second, hmm... no, actually maybe third.

Colossians 1:15-19  Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  16 for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.  17 He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.

18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. 19 For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross.

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It is important to have the proper point of view of Jesus, he isn't somebody that God invented to help us out, we need to know that Jesus is God himself. Some modern day religions try to say that Jesus was an angel or that God birthed a Son through the virgin Mary but the Bible is clear that Jesus is God as part of the trinity and Jesus was always with God and even participated in creation.

Jesus is Lord of creation

Jesus told us that he is God, other people told us that Jesus is God, even the demons acknowledged that Jesus was God, but in case you didn't get it Paul tells us again about who Jesus is. The invisible God is made known to us through Jesus, the Bible is clear that Jesus is not an angelic being, he is part of the trinity.

Jesus was a part of creation, everything that we can see and even the things in the spirit world that are invisible to us, it was all made through him and for his glory. He is the source of everything and he is in control of everything seen and unseen.

Jesus is Lord of the new creation

Jesus is not only the source of the physical creation, because of his resurrection from the dead, he is also the beginning of a new creation, the church. The church is his body of believers that have peace with God through Christ payment for our sin debt. Jesus blood made our relationship with God right again and now I can live in perfect harmony with him forever.

Jesus is Lord of my life

Philippians 2:3-7  Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, He gave up His divine privileges.

It is amazing how we think that life is all about ourselves. Our culture tells us to look out for number one and get every good thing that you can get your hands on, after-all, you deserve it. That kind of attitude will keep us focused on ourselves which is something that the Bible doesn't allow us to do.

Since Jesus, who was God, was humble and took on the attitude of a servant, he never looked out for his rights, then how can I have a selfish attitude? How dare I say that I am too good to help somebody or how dare I say that I deserve to have this or that.

I have already been treated way better than I deserve, I need to follow God's example and put others ahead of myself, I need to love God first then others so that the spotlight isn't on me.

Help me to live by your example Lord.

Go Against The Flow

Living the unpopular life in obedience to God.

Genesis 6:5-12 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth.

It broke his heart. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God. 10 Noah was the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. 12 God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.

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There are not too many stories in the Bible that are more popular than Noah and the ark, yet in Noah's day he was the least popular guy in town, he was consistently living a different lifestyle. Noah was probably made fun of for turning down party invites, he was probably approached by women that wanted a better man than what they had at home and he was the only guy in town that wasn't shopping at the idol store.

The story in Genesis tells us that God's heart was broken by mans behavior, Noah was the only man that pleased God, everybody in town wondered why this guy didn't join in and have a good time. (1 Peter 4:4) It didn't take long for us to leave the close fellowship with God in the Garden of Eden.

WWJD?

1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 

I have to wonder how embarrassed we would be if our life story was included in the Bible. Would my life be a good story in the Bible or would people read my story and say "don't do what he did."

The Bible is filled with stories of people that took a stand and resisted the popular lifestyle but the ultimate example is our Savior. Jesus obedience to the Father shows us what it looks like to fully obey God and live each day for him.

Jesus warned us that the road to the Father is a narrow one and that there are few people on that road. (Matthew 7:13-14) We need to be obedient and follow Christ example, giving up a lifestyle that seeks to please ourselves and choosing to get on board the ark so that we can go against the tidal wave that is sweeping up most of the people around us.

I will not reach perfection until I reach my home in glory but I need to strive to live my life like Jesus did.

Help me Lord to go against the flow, I want to live to please you and have your favor like Noah did.

Deny Yourself

Even if you get the whole world it isn't worth the cost

Luke 9:22-25  "The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things," He said. "He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day He will be raised from the dead."

23 Then He said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.  24  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. 25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?

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The most prevalent false doctrines that the world embraces is selfishness and greed. The world's motivation is to get everything that it can get at any cost, but that is the problem, they have been deceived and they haven't seen what the price tag is on what they are buying into.

We have before us the most extreme example of a person that lived for others, Jesus was not selfish, he suffered for the sake of others, he was wrongfully rejected when he could have been the most popular guy in town, he was killed instead of being judgmental and punishing the people all around him that he had the right to condemn.

Here is the reality of the situation, even if you get every piece of wealth that the world has to offer, every treasure that there is but if you didn't follow Jesus then you have lost it all.

I need to remember what the price tag was for my eternal destiny, I have been bought at a very high price, the debt of my sin has been paid and I need to show my gratitude for Jesus sacrifice by living each day for him.

Lord, help me to fight against the world's economic policy, the stakes are too high, I need to give up my life for Christ sake so that I will be saved. Lord help us to never forget how great a sacrifice that you made for us.

You might like to read: Commands of Jesus blog series.

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