04/16/2009

1 Peter 4:7-11 (The Message)

7-11Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God's words; if help, let it be God's hearty help. That way, God's bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he'll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
Because we are in the end times, we need to be more watchful and pray with more diligence. I like how the Message Bible says to "stay wide-awake in prayer." That is so good! We need to pray and watch with clarity. We also need to use discernment. But above all things love each other. If we truly love each other, then we can easily forgive one another for any offense we might have toward each other. Hospitality is something else that should come easily to us as children of God. It should be done voluntarily and begrudgingly. Be thankful that our brothers and sisters are being blessed beyond measure. Minister to each other and encourage each other. Do we really try to do this? Sometimes I wonder.

In this Scripture, it also talks about watching what we say in public. Be careful about the doctrine of men. Choose your words carefully. Make sure that what you are speaking is actually the Word of God and not of men. It also talks about ministering, being good stewards, etc. There's just so much in this Scripture that we could talk about.

I think the most important thing here is to pray. Take every opportunity you can get to pray. This is something that many people are lacking (me included). I always say I'm going to put aside time to pray and then get distracted and end up not doing it or just doing one of those "quick" prayers. As we take the time to pray, God will reveal things to us. He will enlarge our hearts to help us with our time, our prayers and will even reveal the manner and what we should be praying. This Scripture says so much. Just meditate on it and let God reveal things to you. Be a good servant. As always, we should give all the glory to God.