OUR DAILY BREAD : MAKE IT COUNT

[cimi]

March 22
Thursday


MAKE IT COUNT

READ:
1 Peter 4:1-8
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Since Christ suffered
for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves also
with the same mind.
__ 1 Peter 4:1
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In his battle with cancer, Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., said: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything__all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure__these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important." His suffering influenced the choices he made.

In contrast, the apostle Peter wanted to motivate his readers to use their suffering to make their lives count for eternity. And he wanted Jesus' suffering and death to inspire them to accept the spiritual conflict and persecution that would result from bearing the name of Jesus. Because they loved Jesus, suffering was going to be normative. Jesus' suffering was to serve as motivation to give up sinful passions and to be obedient to the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-2). If their lives were going to count for eternity, they needed to stop indulging in fleeting pleasures and instead exhaust their lives on what pleased God.

Remembering that Jesus suffered and died to forgive our sins is the most important thought we have to inspire us to make godly choices today and to make our lives count for eternity. __Marvin Williams

````````Jesus, You have suffered and died to forgive our sin;`````````
````````may Your death and resurrection inspire us to never``````````
````````return to where we've been. Help us in our resolve``````````
````````````````````to live for Your will alone.``````````````````
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Jesus' death forgave my past sins
and inspires my present obedience.

******************Today's Bible Reading __ 1 Peter 4:1-8*********************

1 Therefore ,since Christ
suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves also with
the same mind, for he who
has suffered in the flesh has
ceased from sin, 2 that he
no longer should live the
rest of his time in the flesh
for the lusts of men, but for
the will of God. 3 For we
have spent enough of our
past lifetime in doing the
will of the Gentiles__when
we walked in lewdness,
lusts, drunkenness,
revelries, drinking parties,
and abominable idolatries.

4 In regard to these, they
think it strange that you do
not run with them in the
same flood of dissipation,
speaking evil of you. 5 They
will give an account to Him
who is ready to judge the
living and the dead. 6 For
this reason the gospel was
preached also to those who
are dead, that they might be
judged according to men in
the flesh, but live according
to God in the spirit.

7 But the end of all things
is at hand; therefore be
serious and watchful in
your prayers. 8 And above
all things have fervent love
for one another, for "love
will cover a multitude of
sins."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

In this passage, the apostle Peter provides spiritual counsel on
suffering and temptation. Christ is held up as our example of the
One who suffered righteously (vv. 1-2). The believer is to submit to
the will of God, not to the will of nonbelievers (vv.3-4), because,
Peter explains, how we live our lives ultimately meets divine
judgment (vv. 5-6). The application of this reality is that we are to be
alert and vigilant in our spiritual walk. The key characteristic we are
to manifest is fervent Christlike love (vv.7-8).