A Living Stone and a Holy Priesthood
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A Living Stone and a Holy Priesthood
A Living Stone and a Holy Priesthood
How should we respond to these contrasting confessions?
- “I have a healthy appetite and to be totally honest, sometimes it’s insatiable!” - “I don’t have much of an appetite. In fact, I can go days if not weeks without eating or wanting to eat.”
How should we respond if the appetite confession confession involves the word of God?
The food that we eat, eating more than we need or not eating enough, and achieving a healthy life sustaining balance, does require more attention than it receives today. For now, all that we need to note is that all food is not created or grown equally. For the most part, we do not eat and cannot eat what our great grandparents ate. Our life style also far different and involves many more years. No longer do most of us eat to stay alive. More and more, food is about comfort and security. It is usually most enjoyed with those who affirm us and whom we affirm and love.
In everyday health, what we eat and how much, is a health indicator as to our health. Having said that, some of our bodies do not process somethings well and adjustments need to be made. Even as adjustments are being made, we probably do well to take note and make adjustments if in addition to our bodies not processing some foods so well.
In the spiritual sense, how we regard and are dependant on the word of God also speaks volumes.
How a confessed “believer” regards the word of God says a great deal! A person’s regard for the word demonstrates not only their spiritual health but in all probability whether they are a believer or not. Their dependence on the word testifies of their love for the Lord and willingness to live in accordance with what He expects of those who profess to be His, to love and serve Him.
Peter explained that those who have “tasted that the Lord is good” will come to Him as:
A Living Stone - 1 Peter 2:1-4
What seems to be a mixed metaphor - living stone- He whom others assumed to be dead is alive. We come come to Him whom others reject. We come to Him through the word. He who is the Word, comes to life and is fleshed out in the word.
Prompted by the Spirit of God, every time that John the Apostle picked up his pen, he touched on that.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
And rightly so, because our relationship with the word testifies of our relationship with Jesus. Jesus stressed that.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
This is not only a NT idea. OT saints loved and longed the word.
I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
Desiring the word - 2:1-3
Peter wanted those to whom he wrote to have that same passion and commitment
So/therefore refers back to the living and abiding word of God - 1:23-25
Isaiah understood this.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
The word is integral to our relationship with Christ.
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Put away what hinders the word
For the word to nurture and produce the spiritual that it is intended to produce, there must be a purging of whatever controlled our thinking prior to conversion
Although Peter is using the fitting image that believers are new born spiritual babes after they come to faith in Christ, as new born babes their hearts are not blank spiritul slates.
Having been born with a sinful nature, as new born babes we are somewhat spiritually limited - not handicapped - by that sinful nature. It is probably incorrect to suggest that some of us have spiritual equivalent fetal alcohol syndrome. We might call it fetal sin syndrome. But evening saying that some have deep scar from before they were in Christ.
At the very least some might be spiritually dislecsic or have spiritual attention deficite disorders.
As reminder of that which is out of order, Peter commanded them to put away:
Put away - apothemenoi - applied any kind of rejection and referred especially to stripping off soiled garments. In early believers baptism those being baptized discarded what they wore to the baptism, and after being baptized put on new robes that they received from the church
All malice - kakai - in English, the idea of desiring to harm someone - in the Scriptures can refer to general sin and baseness
Not always translated malace - trouble Matt 6:34 - wickedness - Acts 8:22; James 1:21
All deceit - dolos - literally bait or fishhook - denotes guile, dishonesty, falsehood and treachery .
Luke used the term re Elymas the magician whom he described as full of all deceit and fraud
and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
All hypocrisy - hupokrinos - originally used of an actor who wore a mask. It referred to spiritual insincerety and pretense.
You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:
“ ‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
Describes any behaviout that is not genuine or consistant with what one really believes or says he believes. Christ addressed this. So did Paul and James.
So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
All envy - phthonos - resents the prosperity of others - often leads grudges and bitterness
For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.
for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
All slander - katalalias - onomatopoeic word meant to sound like whispers and gossip - talking behind someones back - defamation of character
For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
Having list these 5 ALL sins, Peter is in fact commanding that we put away, all of these sins and all of what fit into these categories, the reason being, all of them hinder or block the word by which we grow.
Pure spiritual milk
As newborn babies
While referring to babies would have made a point, “newborn” - artigenneta - born just now - having just now be born, crying for air and food.
Long for - epipothesate - imperative - commanding believers to stronglg desire or crave
Used also by Paul and always to communicate intense, recurring insatiable desire or passion.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
James used the same word to remind believers that the longing of a person’s spirit in a clear indicator of that person’s spiritual state.
Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
Pure spiritual milk or pure milk of the word
Pure - adolos - uncontaminated, unadulterated - believers are to crave what is unmixed and pure. If someone craves what is not pure, one must question whether that person is a believer.
Spiritual ESV & NASB - logikos - reasonable KJV - and while logical and reasonable, because Peter’s context is the word, translating this as either spiritual or milk of the word is preferable
Rabbis often referred to the law as milk .
Writer of Hebrews equated the milk of the word with what was children and those who are immature live on.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
1 Peter: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Admitting Their Need
It is notable what Peter did not command. He did not charge believers to read the Word, study the Word, meditate on the Word, teach the Word, preach the Word, search the Word, or memorize the Word. All of those things are essential, and other passages do command believers to perform them (cf. Josh. 1:8; Ps. 119:11; Acts 17:11; 1 Tim. 4:11, 13; 2 Tim. 2:15; 4:2). However, Peter focused on the more foundational element—which believers need before they will pursue any of the other things—a deep, continuous longing for the Word of truth (cf. 2 Thess. 2:10b).
That you may grow
The word, pure word is essential for spiritual growth and discernment. Jesus responses to Satan underscored that. It is not just quoting God’s word but understand the context.
But he answered, “It is written,
“ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
Today, we are bombarded by spiritual junk food. The sad, very sad reality is that so few people read the labels and because of that are unable to determine what is pure.
If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good - if you have truly been created and tasted that the Lord and His is good, that which is not pure and junk spiritual food should be repulsive.
Grow into salvation - grow - passive - it may grow you
The Lord, a living stone - 2:4
Peter’s assumption is that those to whom he wrote had come the Lord. They had come to Him as a living stone.
Stone - lithos - usually means a building stone
In the OT God was the only rock which Israel could trust.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!
“The Rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.
In the NT, Christ is the rock on which the church is built. As that rock, He is compared to the rock that nurtured the Israelites
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Chosen and precious to God - 2:4; Is 28:16
Rejected by men - apodedokimasmenon - rejected having been examined and tested - Jesus had been rejected by the Jewish religious leaders. They rejected Jesus because He did not measure up the their distorted criteria. They were looked for a delivering Messiah whereas Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Son of God.
But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Because of their hard hearts, they concluded that He did not measure up.
But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”
BUT in the sight of God - chosen and precious. Affirmed by the Father. Preache by Peter.
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
2. Living stones, a holy priesthood - 2:5-8, 9-12
Those who come to Christ, the living stone, become living stones. When they believe Him in whom is life, they too have life.
Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Spiritual house/chosen race, holy priesthood - 2:5
Spiritual house - of which Christ is the cornerstone
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
While Jesus is the cornerstone - the Apostle’s doctrine is referred to as the foundation - God’s revealed truth - revealed by Christ
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
Holy priesthood - when the NT speaks of priesthood, it is not referring to the Old Covenant priesthood nor the priesthood that we associate with some denominational systems./
Under the old covenant only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only once a yeat.
And under the old covenant being a priest was limited to the tribe of Levi.
Under the new covenant no such limitation exist.
Through Him to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God/honoured - 2:5-6
Through Him - Christ the only means of access to the Father.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Offer spiritual sacrifices - rather than material, animal sacrfices - 5 spiritual sacrifices - praise, bodies/lives, do good, share, reconciles sinners, prayers
1 Peter: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Privilege of Access to God through Spiritual Sacrifices
R. C. H. Lenski, in his commentary, effectively summarizes the difference between the old and new sacrifices:
The main task of the Old Testament priests was the offering of material, animal sacrifices, all of which pointed to Christ’s great sacrifice to come. These are no longer needed since Christ offered his all-sufficient sacrifice once for all. Now there remain for God’s holy priesthood only the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, seeing that all the treasures of God’s grace are now poured out upon us through Christ. Thus Peter writes regarding all his readers: “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” [anenegkai], aorist, derived from [anapherein], to carry or bring up on the altar of their hearts. The aorist infinitive is effective: actually to bring. “Spiritual sacrifices” matches “spiritual house,” the adjectives are placed chiastically, the repetition emphasizes the fact that everything in the relation of the readers to God through Christ is now altogether spiritual. (The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude [reprint; Minneapolis: Augsburg
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
Acceptable God because through Jesus Christ
Cornerstone for those who believe/obey the word - 2:6-8
1 Peter 2:6-8 quotes multiple Scriptures
1 Peter 2:6 - Is 28:16
therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
1 Peter 2:7 - Ps 118:22
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
1 Peter 2:8 - Is 8:14
And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Those who disobey the word, stumble as they were destined to do. They were not destined to stumble. They were appointed to disobey. But because of their disobedience they were appoined to doom and judgment.
“Judgment on unbelief is as divinely appointed as salvation by faith.
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Knowingly disobeyed the word.
A holy nation/His own people to proclaim His excellencies - 2:9-10 - reference to Hosea 1:6-10
1 Peter 2:9-10a is a review summary of what has been explained.
She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”
When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”
Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.”
According to Hosea and Peter as he quoted Hosea, there was coming a time when the Jews would no longer receive God’s compassion. This was fulfilled through the judgment that came through what the Assyrians did to the Northern Kingdom. But there was coming a time when He would have compassion on the sons of Israel - Milllenium.
Here Peter applied the principle truth in Hosea’s words. In God’s mercy, those who are not His people can become His people and those who have not received His mercy can received His mercy. God is compassionate on all, Jews and Gentile. Here Peter is referring to the church as a whole, both Jews and Gentiles.
Eventually, those who have sperned God’s mercy will be judged and suffer the full consequences of their sin.
Some might wonder why God does not extend His mercy so that none would suffer the consequences of their sin. If that was the case, those same questioners would probably question God’s justice.
The wonder is that in the face of our sin, God is so merciful. The depth of God’ mercy prompted Paul to refer to God as the “Father of mercies”
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
Once YOU were not God’s people, now YOU are God’s people
Once YOU had not received mercy, now YOU have received mercy
That you might proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Proclaim - exangeilete - publish, advertise - has the added idea of proclaiming things unknown
Excellencies - praises - in the Septuagint usually translated praises - can imply ability to perform powerful, heroic acts rather than the normal English connection to intrinsic royal attributes. Christ has the power not only to call but to bring those who He calls from darkness to light
But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
3. Sojourners - 1 Peter 2:11-12
Peter addressed those to whom He wrote as sojourners and exiles. He is not discounted their common bond in Christ. Instead he seems to be expanding his reference to the need to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them.
Peter is reminding them that they are doing this to this see them as outsiders.
Sojouners - synonym for alien - aroikos - literally beside the house - those whose citizens is elsewhere - one who lives in a country that is not his own - heaven
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Exiles - strangers - parepidemous - a visitor who makes a brief stay -pilgrim - Here we have no lasting city.
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Abstaining from passions of the flesh
Abstain as compared to restrain
Passions of the flesh - not limite to that which is sexual but rather all that is part of sinful nature - cc 1 Peter 2:1
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
War against your soul - war against your soul
1 Peter: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Godly Inner Discipline
Wage war is a strong term that generally means to carry out a long-term military campaign. It implies not just antagonism but a relentless, malicious aggression. Since it takes place in the soul, it is a kind of civil war. Joined with the concept of fleshly lusts, the image is of an army of lustful terrorists waging an internal search and destroy mission to conquer the soul of the believer.
This warring should not surprise us. Before conversion, we were citizens and captives of this world and of the devil.
Keeping your conduct honourable
Conduct - behaviour
Honourable - beautiful of outward form
Among Gentiles/unbelievers
When speak evil against you - as evildoers
1 Peter: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Godly Outward Deportment
In the first century, the label evildoers (kakopoiōn) brought to mind many of the specific accusations pagans made against Christians—that they rebelled against the Roman government, practiced cannibalism, engaged in incest, engaged in subversive activities that threatened the Empire’s economic and social progress, opposed slavery, and practiced atheism by not worshiping Caesar or the Roman gods (cf. Acts 16:18–21; 19:19, 24–27).
On the day of visitation - OT judgment or blessing - NT redemption/salvation having witnessed God’s grace in believers.
Spiritual growth and glorifying God by the way that we live and serve is still framed by the word. We do well then to ask ourselves:
Do I long for and live by the word of God?
I pray and trust that most of us spend some time in the word most days. Most of us would admit that there are days when we miss our time with the Lord is His word. The question is then, “Do we miss that time?”
What are the broader indicators that long for and live by the word.
Is it our default position when we want to recalibrate?
Do we are bombarded so many extraneous ideas/concepts is it the word that we utilize to determine what is true?
See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Does the word trump everything - culture, even those whom we love and respect?
When I am going to sleep, is the word a significant part of what relaxes and comforts me?
2. Does my life proclaim His grace & mercy?
Do I model grace and truth?
Do show mercy/compassion?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
Do I demonstrate grace to others as our Lord has extended to me?
Does the way that I live, proclaim His excellencies with the result that He is glorified?
3. Do unbelievers and other believers see that I walk to the beat of a different drum?
Does the road that I walk and the way that I walk demonstrate?
“The Walking Drug” - Louis L’Amour - set in the 12th century a young man, Kerbouchard seeks a number of things but primarily, what happened to his father. While this is not novel about faith, it is about a young man who rather than stop or be led astray by interesting sideroads, he continues to move on until he finally unravels the truth of his father.
“The Last of the Breed” - Native American pilot with Sioux ancestry , Major Joe Mack, whose experimental aircraft was shot down over Russia. Arrested and imprisoned in a Soviet prison camp, Joe escaped and living off the land, made his way east - tracked Yakut native Alekhin. Joe survived by utilzing the skills andd way learned from his ancestors.