God gives us the grace to resist temptations and that grace is bestowed as we draw near to him. If you want to experience the power and grace of God in your life related to the temptation that you are facing DRAW near to God. Get with the King. Turn from your own desire and pride to a holy pursuit of a life in him.
Humility isn’t just an attack on our thinking that we are better than others, it is an attack on our thinking that we are the Center of Universe. Roadblocks to humility keep us self-absorbed. We can become so consumed with our own passions and pursuits that we can’t see God’s passions or those of others.
Let's not mock the terrible persecution of our brothers and sisters in the two-thirds world by declaring our inconveniences and social ostracizations to be persecution for the sake of Christ. At the same time, we can also realize that very difficult trials happen to each one of us and 1 Peter 4:12-19 outlines some very definite responses we can make to live-out godly lives in spite of circumstances.
Holiness, in essence, is alignment with God. It has various specific out workings and factors. Becoming more like Christ is the practical outworking of becoming Holy.
What is Grace, you ask? Grace is a name. It is a prayer you pray before dinner. But more importantly, Grace is defined as something you receive that you didn’t deserve It is more than a gift. It is a gift that you shouldn’t get.
Some of us have been married, some of us are married, and many of us will be married. Marriage is an important institution in our culture and, as people who follow Jesus, we need to always be learning how best to honor God in the marriage relationship. Peter gives us some pretty specific and challenging ideas on how we can worship God well as husbands and wives.
The term "Christian" means "little Christ" and that is exactly what followers of Jesus are called to be. We are to be the living picture of Jesus. How we live tells the world who Jesus is...whether we like this or not. So, how do we live to make Jesus look good?
To crave the Word is to be at the place where the more you get, the more you want. Cultivate a taste for it in your life by coming to it regularly to be fueled for the challenges and opportunities of the day.
Obedience isn’t just primarily about every act of life. It is about our Spiritual Journey of Transformation with Him. I see this explained clearly in Philippians 3:12-14. I haven’t obtained perfection but I am on a journey pressing on obediently.
