Trials

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 1 Peter 3-7. Our world has gone crazy. But does this catch anyone by surprise? I mean really. When we allow all kinds of evil to prevail then we reap what we sow. And through out the whole Bible God tells that evil is going to keep on doing what evil does-chaos and confusion. Brothers against brothers. Sisters against sisters. How did Jesus handle all the insults and the evil that was brought on him by human hands? 1 Peter 2:21-25. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps, He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. INSTEAD, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of you souls." That doesn't mean that we do not stand up for what is right. That is just the opposite. But we need to seek God on how to stand up and do what is right. He wants us to stand up and do what is right but to do it without sin and hatred and anger. That all leads away from what Jesus came and did for us. We have the right to be angry at injustice but we do not have the right to be angry and sinful. In 1 Peter 3:8-12, it tells us how to be and how to treat this injustice. "Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with a blessing, because to this YOU were called so you may inherit a blessing. For, whoever would love life and see good days MUST keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They MUST turn from evil and do good; they MUST seek peace and pursue it. For they eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." Guys, we all want to stand before God on judgement day and hear "Welcome home, good and faithful servant." We all want to stand for the injustice of this world. But let's do it with the heart of Jesus. And it starts in our own homes. Clean out YOUR heart and then you can start taking on the world. If YOUR heart is not with God, then how can the world see Jesus in you. Have a blessed day! RISE UP!