THE CONSEQUENCE OF EVIL

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“... but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter 3:12b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Righteousness or wickedness is just a scriptural way to say good or evil and as we saw in yesterday’s message, the first half of this two part series, we all make choices every day that will fall into one of these two categories. This is why we find the Word of God addressing the matter throughout the Bible and one of those places is in the third chapter of 1 Peter.

In the first message, The Benefits of Rightousness, we examined the first part of verse 12 which framed two major benefits one receives from being obedient to the Lord’s will and way, a will and way that will always lead someone to doing right and righteous things.

The first of those blessings came in the assurance that God watches over those who allow Him to guide their every thought, spoken word, and action. Like a parent keeps a keen eye on their children with a concern for their safety and well being, so too does the Lord love and care for us, ever ready to bring His direction and protection to bear.

The second benefit that comes from a commitment to righteousness is found in the matter of prayer, our ability to communicate with the all powerful God of all creation. For Christian believers who seek the leading of the Lord can come to Him with the blessed assurance that He will hear them, be attentive to their petitions, and supply their needs when those needs are aligned with His will. You may recall that we went to 1 John, chapter 5, verses 14 and 15, where this truth is reinforced.

So there are benefits and blessings connected to a Christian believer allowing the Lord to guide what they do and there are also consequences for anyone who chooses to reject the Lord in their life. This applies equally to Jesus followers and those who have refused to believe in Him.

What are the consequences?

We find them summed up in the second half of 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 12 where we read this:

“... but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Now, it might be difficult for us to interpret what it means to have the “face of the Lord against” someone who does evil but that confusion can be cleared up by looking at how this half verse is interpreted in another Bible translation. Look at what we find in the Contemporary English Version and Good News Translation:

“...but He opposes everyone who does evil.” CEV GNT

This gives us a clearer understanding of the consequence of behaving in ways that satisfy every other desire except the desire of the One who matters most. Note here that the Word of the Lord makes it clear that everyone who chooses sin (aka evil) over righteousness is living in opposition to God. Period.

Think about that for a moment and it should be the scariest thought you could ever conjure up. For God has no rival. No one. He reigns in absolute supremacy over all created things and, of course, this includes all mankind.

God’s power is unfathomable and immeasurable. It is infinite in its ability to overcome any and all adversaries as we see over and over and over again in the Bible. No empire has ever stood apart from God. All who have opposed Him have fallen mightily and all nations of the world today had better take notice, lest they feel they are somehow superior to Him and have the license to conduct themselves however they please in His sight.

Indeed, being in a place of opposition against the Lord God Almighty is a no-win scenario. He holds an undefeated record in all conflicts since the dawn of creation and He will ultimately have the victory when the heaven and earth we know passes away (Revelation 21).

And yet, millions upon millions of people every day willingly and willfully choose wickedness over righteousness, evil over good, and place themselves squarely in the crosshairs of God’s judgment.

If you’re reading this today and into that category, make today the day of change. Repent, turn from your sinfulness, and dedicate yourself fully to doing only what the Lord endorses in your life. If you’re a non-believer, this includes placing your belief in Jesus right away and receiving the free gift of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate and Counselor who will always provide you the right guidance as long as you submit to Him.

When it comes to our life, God always has everything we do in view. Nothing is hidden from His sight and there is never a time when we aren’t accountable to Him.

Given this, we all will either experience benefits or consequences based on every thought, word, and deed. Let’s strive today and every day to make sure we always come out on the side of His favor and dismissed from His punishment.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE BENEFITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer.

1 Peter 3:12a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Every single waking moment of every single day, a person chooses to do something in one of two ways: right or wrong. Whether it’s a thought, a spoken word (even whispered), or some action, what is carried out can be assessed as good or evil, holy or sinful.

In verse 12 of 1 Peter, chapter 3, we find the benefits and consequences associated with these decisions in regard to our relationship with the God of all Creation and the next two messages will look at each, starting with the benefits of opting to do what is right and righteous. Look again here at these words:

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer. 1 Peter 3:12a

Here’s we find two primary blessings that a Christian believer gains when they elect to be obedient to what the Lord desires from them and therefore live in ways that are pleasing in His sight.

The first blessing is that His (the Lord’s) eyes are “on the righteous” and to get a fuller understanding of what this means, let’s look at several other translations of this portion of the half verse.

The Lord watches over everyone who obeys Him. (CEV)

...the Lord watches over the righteous. (GNT)

The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right. NLT

In these three renderings of the first part of verse 12a, we get a better grip on this benefit blessing, knowing that the Lord watches over those who do right and righteous things in His sight.

To get a better image of this, I want you to think of a parent who is at a playground with their young child. While the child is having fun, the parent is ever keeping a watchful eye on them to make sure they stay safe and either don’t harm themselves in any way or are harmed by someone else.

As we go through each day, it’s a comfort to know that the Lord’s eyes are watching over us, whether at work or driving to and from our homes, or at the store shopping. The Almighty God of all Creation, the Maker and Master of everything, is mindful of us and always has us in His care. This should drive us to always do what is holy so to not ever fall out of His favor.

The second blessing we get from behaving righteously before the watchful eyes of the Lord is that He will “hear us” and be “attentive to our prayers”.

In regard to this matter of prayer, I have always held the following passage from the Word of God close to my heart. Here’s what we find in John’s first letter:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15

Note here that we need to be centered in the very will of God in life. It needs to be the driver of everything we do to include praying. For when we “ask anything according to His will”, the scriptures assure us that “He hears us”. Or as Peter puts it, His “ears are attentive” to our prayers.

And when we pray for the things needed for the Lord’s will to be done in our lives then we can have the confidence in knowing that He will give us what we ask for so that His will can be done.

In other words, when we seek righteousness, and the Lord will always call us to it, then He, the One through which nothing is impossible, will hear our prayers which are centered on His will, an respond to ensure His purposes are fulfilled in and through us.

Wow!

Friends, I pray you are as encouraged and inspired by this message as I am right now. For we all need reminded of the benefits that come from a commitment to righteousness driven by the Word of the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the flip side of this and the cost of ignoring the Lord and living in wickedness.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A CALL TO ACTION (PART 8)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

1 Peter 3:11b NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we have reached the end of this series from 1 Peter, chapter 3, titled “A Call To Action”. Within the first seven of these messages, we have found the Lord commanding Christian believers to be:

1. United and of one mind.

2. Sympathetic toward one another.

3. Loving each other as one would a brother or sister.

4. Tenderhearted.

5. Humble.

6. Granting blessing instead of revenge.

7. Controlling our words so to enjoy life.

As we wrap things up for today, we find an exhortation to seek and sustain peace. Look at these words found in the second half of verse 11:

Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

You know, there’s a large population of people in our world who get up every day with a mission to look for trouble and then gladly participate when they find it. Conflict and strife are their favorite participation sports and there’s plenty of willing players in the game, others who are always looking to mix things up at every chance they get.

As we see in our scripture verse for today, the Lord calls His people to act in a completely opposite way, one that demands Christians to search for peace and then strive to maintain it once it is found.

Through this, we get a real sense of how the Lord expects the matter of peace to not be temporary or intermittent. Rather, He requires that believers will preserve and continue to encourage and practice peace at all times.

How can Christians make sure this happens?

By ensuring that they emulate Jesus and be Christ-like, modeling the behavior of the One who was the Prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6).

All those who have placed their belief in Jesus have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and it’s this indwelling that produces fruit, behavior that mimics Jesus and is pleasing in the sight of God. Of course, one of those produced fruits is none other than peace (Galatians 5:22-23).

Christians are to live as Jesus did and Jesus perfectly showed the world what true peace looks like. Our final call to action is to seek out and then continually exercise the peace that only comes from Him, a peace that will counter and ultimately overcome the efforts of those who seek to disrupt.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

FINDING REAL FREEDOM

Can I pray for you in any way? 

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s Independence Day here in the United States, a day when we celebrate our nation gaining its liberty and freedom as an independent nation 248 years ago.

But guess what?

Amidst all the picnics, cookouts, parades, and fireworks today lies a sobering truth.

We are not really free just because we live in America. The same can be said about any other nation who feels it has gained freedom of its own doing. This is because there is only one way to true freedom, a spiritual freedom that sets you free now and forever more, in this world and in the one yet to come, and that freedom comes through Jesus, who said the following:

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

So how does this equate to the truth that we really aren’t free outside of Jesus?

Let me break it down for you.

First, Jesus is the only way to God the Father. Period.

We’re not going to Heaven unless we have believed in Him as our Savior, the One who died to pay the price for our sins.

Second, if we say we believe in Jesus as Savior, then we accept that our identity is now changed to “Christian” and that means we need to live like Christ in all that we do, committing to follow Him and His ways. Jesus said that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life and with that, He is the only one we are to model our lives after.

Third, in order for us to follow Jesus and His will and ways, we need to surrender ourselves, giving up our will and desires in order to follow His. Jesus said that any disciple of His must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. This means that He comes first even if it means we need to sacrifice something we want to do.

In other words, in order to find true freedom, a freedom that opens the gates of Heaven for us to enter and live forever one day, we first have to surrender our own freedom and do so willingly. Jesus made a life out of sacrificing for others to the point of willingly suffering and dying so we might live. And so in the end translation of His life, we see where He was defined by utter selfless sacrifice and as His disciples, we are required to be the same.  

So the question this Independence Day is simple:

Are you truly free today or are you out celebrating some counterfeit freedom that will not endure for all eternity?

If you’re not in Jesus, I pray that today will be the day that you find your real liberty, now and the eternal life yet to come through belief in Him as Savior.

For Jesus said:

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A CALL TO ACTION (PART 7)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.

1 Peter 3:10 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Who doesn’t want to have a life they can enjoy, a life that brings consistent joy day in and day out?

It’s something I believe we all crave.

So how does a person get there? What would they need to do in order to gain a steady satisfaction and happiness?

Person to person, I believe the answers would probably be slightly different if we did a broad survey but as a whole. We might see money rise right to the top of the list. I say this because most of the things an average person would see as bringing them contentment carry with them a price tag.

A nicer car?

You have to be able to afford that sticker price.

A bigger home?

The larger the home, the more cash is needed to buy it.

That lavish vacation to some exotic location?

Lavishness requires many, many dollars in order to pay for it.

And then there are any numbers of things people might covet on a personal level, things they have always wanted to have. These things are usually outside of the normal budget used to pay for the basic needs and therefore need extra funds to acquire them.

So okay, we can all relate to this discussion about desires that will bring us pleasure but only if we have the means to buy them but what does the Bible have to say on the matter?

Brace yourself because I think you will be surprised as we look at the tenth verse of 1 Peter, chapter 3, the seventh call to action in this series. Here’s what we find there:

For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.”

Wow.

As usual, the Word of God turns our worldly assumptions completely upside down. For here we find that the way to an enjoyable life and many happy days within it comes from controlling the things we say.

That’s it...and here’s the best thing about it. Every single person can obtain it.

You see, there is no socioeconomic or class discrimination when it comes to how we choose to speak. Everyone is on a level playing field.

We all can choose what our tongue speaks, whether good or evil. Ditto for what comes off our lips, whether truth or falsehood.

Get a grip on both, speaking righteousness and telling things to others with absolute honesty, and you will be assured of enjoying life and experiencing bliss-filled days.

So how can we get to that place? How can we ensure that everything we say is good, right, and truthful?

The only way there is to fully surrender and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the only way one can gain the power of the Holy Spirit is by believing in Jesus Christ as Savior. For when we yield our choice of words to the words He wants us to speak, we will always say things that honor and glorify Him, things that please Him and bring us into a place of favor before Him.

This is the place of joy we all should aspire to, a life that basks in the approval of the Lord who cherishes and blesses anyone who opts to become His good and perfect servant.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A CALL TO ACTION (PART 6)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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 grant you His blessing.

Turn away from evil and do good.

1 Peter 3:9, 11a NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Pay close attention how people in the news handle someone doing them wrong and you’ll find a short supply of mercy and forgiveness out there. Instead, you see more of an “eye for an eye” approach, attempts of retribution that sometimes can be equal in value to the offense committed against them and, at other times, disproportional. We see this play out in government, particularly in politics, but we also see it in society in general.

Indeed, inclinations for carrying out revenge are alive and well.

This is why today’s call to action, the sixth of this series is of critical importance as the Lord speaks right into the center of any urge for retaliation or vengeance. Here’s what we find in verse 9 of 1 Peter, chapter 3:

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 grant you His blessing.

Think about the last time someone treated you wrong. I’m pretty sure your first impulse wasn’t to “pay them back with a blessing” but that’s just what the Lord commands us to do. It is His call to action, no matter how off kilter it might be when compared to the world’s ways.

God is ordering all Christians to not “repay evil for evil”. In the twelfth chapter of Romans, we find Him building on this when we read:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. v.21

That last part, the overcoming evil with good part, that’s where you insert the blessing.

What might that blessing look like?

We can go back to the Old Testament and God’s installation of His law to find one of them. Here’s what He said in the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus, verse 18:

“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18 NLT

You may recognize this demand to “love your neighbor as yourself” as the second greatest commandment Jesus offered when asked, a commandment only trumped by the order to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength (Matthew 22:37-39).  

Trust me when I say that the last thing a person who mistreats you will expect is for you to love them in return. It’s radical and unconventional, set apart from what someone in the world would do...and that’s the point. As Christians, we are called to be holy, or set apart, from the world and one of the ways we can to do this is to love and forgive people, even when other would say it’s unwarranted.

Is it easy?

No one would say it is but just like Jesus, anyone who follows Him didn’t sign up for easy. What we did sign up for was to follow His lead in everything we do, to be Christ-like in the way we live to include interacting with others. When Jesus was on the cross, falsely accused and convicted, dying a criminal’s death as the innocent Son of God, He didn’t wish wrong on those who put Him there. Rather, He asked for God to rain down His forgiveness on them for they didn’t know what they were doing. Living outside of the Lord, sin had them enslaved and they were submitting to the will of Satan.

And so rather than condemn, Jesus loved them. He didn’t seek revenge or bear a grudge. In fact, if any of those who aggrieved Him decided to believe in Him as Savior, He would save them without reservation or question. Despite the way they had treated Him, He would pay them back with a blessing and ultimately overcome evil with His goodness.

Friends, the call to action for today is to refrain from counterattacking people when they attack you, instead giving them a blessing in return and overcoming evil with the goodness of the Lord who leads us to not be assimilated with the world we live in.

Dare to be different and love those who don’t show love to you. You’ll never be closer to living as Jesus did when you do.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

A CALL TO ACTION (PART 5)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

...and keep a humble attitude.

1 Peter 3:8 NLT

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

If you were tracking current trends in the polar opposite behaviors of pride and humility, what do you think you would see?

In my view, I believe you would see the pride line on the graph skyrocketing up while humbleness would be dwindling and in very short supply.

This should trouble us for many reasons, chief of which being this verse that we find from Proverbs, the Bible’s book of wisdom:

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. 16:18

Given that every statement in the scriptures is perfectly true, there is a majority of the world’s population heading toward ruin. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be an inevitable outcome for every person has the ability to choose a new way, to act in ways that are more acceptable, especially in regard to the Lord and His expectations.

And so if pride is bad, leading a person towards devastation, then a reversal of fortune would require a move toward modesty and meekness. To that end, I submit to you today’s call to action from the third chapter of 1 Peter, verse 8. There we find our lord commanding us to “keep a humble attitude”, an attitude grounded in an unassuming insistence that our importance pales in comparison to the greatness of the Lord we serve. It’s a mindset that always seeks to glorify, magnify, and honor Him first, knowing that without Him, we are nothing. This is how Jesus put it:

“I am the true Grapevine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of Mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.

“Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1-5

Fruitful living defined by the fruits of the Holy Spirit will never be discovered when we seek to produce said fruit separate from a relationship with Jesus, the Vine. Outside of Him, a person is nothing, no matter how hard they try to convince themselves and those outside them otherwise.

The Word of God is clear here and this fifth call to action is not negotiable. Christians are to follow the lead of their Savior Jesus and be Christ-like by keeping a humble attitude. For when we do, it always creates the space for our Lord to be greater because we denied ourselves in reverence for Him and chose to be less.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.