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Thoughts Archived > Be Living Stones


31 Jul 2011

                                                                                             

 

July 31, 2011

Be Living Stones 

1 Peter 2: 4 - 12

 

 

1 Peter

Come to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God's temple.  He was rejected by the people, but he is precious to God who chose him.

And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple.  What's more, you are God's holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.  As the Scriptures express it,

"I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed."

Yes, he is very precious to you who believe.  But for those who reject him,

"The stone that was rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone."

And the Scriptures also say,

"He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that will make them fall."

They stumble because they do not listen to God's word or obey it, and so, they meet the fate that has been planned for them.

But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people.  You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession.  This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

"Once you were not a people, now you are the people of God.  Once you received none of God's mercy, now you have received his mercy."

Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here.  So I warn you to keep away from evil desires because they fight against your very souls.  Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors.  Even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world."       

 

JesJeJeJJjEJJJ     JJThe LORD is king!  Let the nations tremble!  T*** 

 

Thoughts.....

 

Good morning!  This week marks my third anniversary of presenting the Word of God to you....to the world....via the world wide web.  I have prayed, and will continue to do so, that the Word will be shaken up and poured over you, that you will absorb it as you receive it, that you will be full to overflowing and cannot help but want to spew forth all that you have learned, so that others may share in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his saving power, his forgiveness, his love. Thank you for your faithfulness to God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. 

Today we are going to look at whether you are a living stone.  LIVING stone.  Vast difference between living and dead.

In the first paragraph we are called to "come" to Christ.  Note that we are not told to stand still and wait until he catches up with us.  But he will at some point, rest assured, and it may not/won't be pretty, if we don't listen to what he is telling us today.  "Come".   Spoken in a different text, it means 'go'.  As in GO to Christ.  He is on the throne of God.  We are to humble ourselves.  We are to feel honor, gratitude, joy.  He is calling us....YOU.  So, go. 

He doesn't have to call us.  He didn't have to die for us. but he did.  He did not have to suffer and die a sinners death...for us....for YOU....but he did.  Why?  Because God loves you....all of us.  He made you....and all of us.  He wants the best for you....and me....and everyone.  He wanted to give you a living example of how to live your life.  Someone to emulate good times and bad.  Someone to save you because 'he knew you before you were formed'.  Jer 1:5.   He knew you would make mistakes and fall from grace.  It was not his ideal, but it is the humanness in us.  Paul tells us in Romans 7:21 says, "It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong."  But he gave us the gift of Jesus.  "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us."  Romans 5:1  We really can....YOU can.  You are as precious to God as Jesus is.  You can take that thought to the bank.  God has invested himself in you. 

So today's scripture reads, "And now God is building you as living stones, into his spiritual temple."  Are you going to let him?   It goes on to read, "What's more, you are God's holy priest, [REALLY?  REALLY!] who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ.  DO YOU offer spiritual sacrifices?  In Romans 6: 19c Paul tells us "Now you must choose to be slaves of righteousness so that you will become holy."  ARE YOU a Christian?  This is who Peter and Paul were speaking to.  Paul goes on to say, "Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal live.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6: 22b.  DO YOU do those things that lead to holiness and which will result in eternal life?  

What is a spiritual sacrifice in today's world?  Prayer.  Honor.  Respect.  OBEYING HIM.  Doing for HIM.  Humbling yourself before him and in the world.  The list goes on.  Is it any different today than then?  No.  1 Peter 2:17 reads, "Show respect for everyone.  Love your Christian brothers and sisters.  Fear God."   These are just a few of the things that please God.

We continue to read, "As the Scriptures express it, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem, a chosen cornerstone, and anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed."  Yes, he is very precious to you who believe.  But for those who reject him, "The stone that was rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone." 

Jesus said, "Don't misunderstand why I have come.  I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets.  No.  I came to fulfill them. I assure you, until heaven and earth disappear, even the smallest detail of God's law will remain until its purpose is achieved.  So if you break the smallest commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.  But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven."

"But I warn you - unless you obey God better than the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees do, you can't enter the Kingdom of Heaven at all!"  Matthew 5:17-20  "And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.)  Romans 8: 9

Also remember what you learned in Acts 4:11...."For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures where it says, 'The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.' (Psalm 118:22) There is salvation in no one else!  There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them." 

Continuing our reading of today, "And the Scriptures also say, "He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that will make them fall.  They stumble because they do not listen to God's word or obey it and so they meet the fate that has been planned for them.  But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people."  You know, I hear a LOT about how Satan did this and Satan did that to so and so.  Here, we CLEARLY see we can do a LOT to ourselves.  How we can bring on the wrath of God.  How we can plain old make wrong choices that result in problems in our lives, in our death....not life in heaven.  What is your fate that has been planned for you?  Planned for you.  Strong words.  God has firmly established rules for his household.  And like living with Mom and Dad as teenagers, we must abide by his rules.  To not, means sure problems for us....and for those around us.  It can mean eternal death.

Like a stone rippling the waters, we are to be a positive ripple in the water of life for Christ.  Everything we do affects another.  God is asking us, has CHOSEN us, to be a living stone for him that will cause a rippling effect of joy, life, praise, honor, and more, to bring glory to him.  To save us and help save the lives of others.  To give us assurance, offering us insurance for the plan that gets us into heaven.   

Peter assures us, "You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, his very own possession.  This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light."  HIS wonderful light.  Is his light wonderful to you?  Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?  Do you know him personally, as someone you can talk with hours away?  Do you know him....love him enough....to want to do for him?   Do you realize he was baptized, chastised, ostracized, beaten, spit on and left for dead after being nailed to a cross.....for YOU?  He gave up his LIFE for you!  Don't you think it only right that you do the same for him?  In gratitude?  Do you 'wait anxiously for that day when God will give you your full rights as his child'?  Romans 8:23b.  I hope so....more importantly....he hopes so....just for you....because he loves you so much.  Why else would he have bothered to give you life?  Why else would you be still breathing right now....able to read this?  Breathe....he wants you to breathe.  And he wants you to be grateful that you are.

Thank him today, won't you?  Tell him you are grateful you are breathing, which means he gave you life.....still.  And opportunity to accept him as your Lord and Savior, if you have not.  And show him your gratitude for doing so.  'Look eagerly to the freedom of salvation'.  Romans 8:24  'Live in harmony as a believer with God's own will'.  Romans 8:27.  "For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters.  And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.  And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory."  Romans 8:29-30

People wake up!  He's chosen you!  He died for you!  He's promised you his glory!  Receive it today...right now!  Go to him....run to him.  Scream out to him.....tell him you want to be saved....now!  Is the end of the world coming?  Yes....at some point it is.  Is the end of YOUR world coming?  Yup....most assuredly.  Does it matter if THE world comes before YOUR world ends or visa versa?  ABSOLUTELY NOT.  Therefore.....you are as lambs going to the slaughter.  "For your sake we are killed every day, we are being slaughtered like sheep.  Psalm 44:22  Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is our through Christ, who loved us."  Romans 8:36

If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior I can say, as Peter did to our brothers and sisters then:

"Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God.  Once you received none of God's mercy; now you have received his mercy."  From today's lesson.

And so, your new mission should be what Peter tells us as we conclude today's reading, "Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners and aliens here.  [Whether this is literal, or figurative because you are a Christian now, does not matter.]   So I warn you to fight against your very souls.  Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors.  [Our goal should be to live honorably as we share Jesus with the world and help all to receive him as their Lord and Savior.]  Even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior [make sure it is always honorable], and they will believe and give honor to God when he comes to judge the world." 

If you need help living your new life with Christ and need guidance and more understanding, read Romans chapters 4- 8.  And remember.....

"Those who were not my people, I will now call my people.  And I will love those whom I did not love before."  "Once they were told, 'You are not my people.'  But now he will say, 'You are the children of the living God.' 

If you have not chosen to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it makes me feel sad for you.  I will continue to include you in my prayers, as I pray for you with hope in my heart, that you will find The Truth....Jesus....and be set free.            

 

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Let Us Pray

 

Dear Lord, how exciting it is to know that I can be a living stone!  In order to do so, I must ask you to forgive me of my sins.  Please forgive me of my sins, Lord, known and unknown.  Please heal me and make me whole.  Please help me to live honorably with my full focus on you and what you would have me to do with my life daily, moment by moment.  Year by year until you call me home to be in your arms.  Help me live my life in such a way as to want others to see who you are, that you are, and how wonderful you are....and so that they will want you to be their Savior, their LORD, too.  Thank you for giving me this opportunity to do everything I can to bring you honor.  Let me know that you are in the little things as well as the big things.  Let me....I do.... thank you with everything I have within me, humbly.  May I always give thanks with a grateful heart, Lord.  Let this not be a phrase to be a mere spoken moment, but a phrase that permeates my being...my life...for you, my LORD and Savior.  I don't just want to belong for the sake of belonging, I want to belong to be one with you.  To embrace the phrase and live the life of an 'outward expression of an inward confession.'  Let me embody it....let me embody you.  Come into my heart, my life, Jesus.  I want to receive all that you, God, and Holy Spirit have to give me.  Wash me anew and fill me to overflowing, please.  May I be for you a living stone rippling the waters of life for you.  Keep me close, never let me go.  Help me onward with my load, carry me when I grow old.  Help me carry you....in my heart....in my life....in my breath....always.  Thank you.  I love you.  Amen.       

 

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More love.... 

  Benediction...Blessing

 

Let us hear from Paul as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

 

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'.

 

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation. 

It is not how we worship, but that we worship....the Trinity!   

 

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If you feel that the Church of the Holy Spirit has inspired or helped you, we'd like you to prayerfully consider tithing regularly to us or gifting us, so that we can further the work and carry out the will of the Father as proclaimed in Matthew 28:19-20 NLT

 to

 "Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

 

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  Our Current Cause

 

It is time to reach into the community and the world around you to see wherein lies the greatest need.  As you choose to focus on these areas, do so with a servant's heart.  Whether the need is for children, adults, or animals, or any cause in between that will help those in need, ask God how you can best serve his needs, what path you must take, and how long you should persevere.  Sometimes we are to be in the lives of others merely as stepping stones.  Sometimes we are to touch those lives forever.  Whatever journey you are called to take, whatever team you will be a member, know this:  God is with you always...even til the end of time.  He loves you, is grateful for you, and will help you along life's way, especially if you are helping others along theirs, persevering with a servant's heart. 

Please accept my sincerest thanks....and God's....and may God richly bless you!   

 

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    One last thing....

 

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'

 

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

 

  Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

 

And the people said,

"Amen."

 

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided. 

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  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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Bible Authors and Minister