2 Peter 1:13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

In our society today we use numerous methods and means to get people stirred up. In sporting events music, cheerleaders and bands move the emotions of people to get involved in and cheer for their team to win or perform better. In times of war people are stirred up by reports of either victory or great need, which brings people to action. In times of battle leaders have stirred their men to alter their course of action to win the encounter – i.e. Grant turns a rout into victory telling his men the enemy is trying to get away.
Today those in the news media desire to change history and engender false and liberal ideas by their false reporting and false facts that bring great emotions to the populace. Scare tactics cause people to be moved to action all in order to gain political advantage and power.
Stir up memories:
Peter desires those he is writing to that they stir up their memories about the things that have brought them to this point in their

Ephesians 5:26-27   That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Bride of Christ:

            The church is pictured as the Bride of Christ and Christ as the Husband (2 Cor 11:2). Paul speaks of husbands and wives and compares their relationship to that of the believers to Christ. Christ died for the church, intercedes for the church and here Paul tells us that Christ will present His church to Himself as a spotless bride. The church is all the redeemed and blood bought; any and all who are forgiven of their sin and walking in the light of God’s word. The bride that will be with Christ in heaven is going to be without spot, wrinkle or blemish – a holy church/bride.

How Christ accomplishes this cleansing:

      Paul is clear that it is through the agency of God’s word that the church is cleansed from all defilements (Eph 5:26); Jesus says the same ( Jn 15:3

Spiritual life and influence

Romans 8:14-17  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
¹⁵  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁶  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: ¹⁷  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Indwelling:

     At conversion the believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God (2 Pet 1:4; Jan 14:16, 17). We are made alive spiritually by the Spirit (Eph 2:1). The Spirit gives us understanding (1 Jn 2:20). The Spirit within speaks to us through our spirit (Jn 8:9; 1 Tim 1:5; Ro 9:1). The Spirit will guide using various methods – our conscience being one of the methods to guide us.

David and the Spirit:

      Four evidences that he was influenced by the Spirit:

1. His conscience was smitten (1 Sam 24:6,7)

John 16:12-15  I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 

¹³  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. ¹⁴  He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. ¹⁵  All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

God’s Spirit:

      To have spiritual discernment first requires a close relationship to God’s Spirit – being saved. Paul tells us that there is a specific gift of discernment (1 Cor 12:10; 14:29), which is given to some for the purpose to helping the church to know spiritual error from truth. John tells us to “try” the spirits (1 Jn 4:1) in order to understand the source of their teaching. We can only have true spiritual discernment from the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26), Who will not only teach us but guide us in perceiving

Hebrews 8:10   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

God’s revelation of Himself:

God made the earth, the heavens, the stars, the animals and man and made Himself known to mankind. Today man tries to eliminate God and all aspects of God in order to appease his conscience, but yet the conscience is one aspect of God’s revelation of His law to man. God has not left man in the dark as to His reality, yet man insists upon trying to ignore God’s truth and the fact that God exists and we are accountable to Him. Through the course of history, God has given us seven fold editions of the law to reveal that law to man.

The seven fold edition of the law:

1. Written in nature – God made His sovereignty and power known in all of nature around us (Psa 19:1, 2; 8:3; 33:6=8; Ro 1:19, 20). When a severe storm

Secret and presumptuous sins

Psalm 19:12-13   Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
¹³  Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Secret sins:

            When we think of secret sins we think of something we try to hide or keep from open and public scrutiny. But here David pleads to be kept back from secret sins; he is meaning sins that he is not aware of that he is committing.  God spoke of this in Lev 4:13-14. David knew that he was human and affected by the original sin and fallenness of humanity and as such \, he was unable to know all the applications of God’s law and there may be times that he would sin against God in disobeying His command; his desire is to be and stay in right relationship with God. We are not able to hide anything from God (Prov 9:17-18; Jer 23:24; Ro 2:16; 2 Sam 12:12). God sees and knows all and there is nothing we can hide from

Savior and Lord

Luke 1:47   And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Our savior:

      One of the most wonderful titles of Jesus Christ is that of Savior. The title is first mentioned by Mary in the text verse when she realizes that the Baby she is to give birth to is none other than God her Savior, thus equating God and Jesus as One in the same.

      He came to be Savior of the world (Jn 4:42; 1 Jn 4:14) and of all men (1 Ti 4:10). The blood Jesus shed on the cross is able to save all, but only those who recognize they are sinners and seek forgiveness from their sin and trust in Christ’s finished work will be saved (1 Jn 1:9). His sacrificial death satisfied the justice of God (Ro 3:25; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10).

      Jesus came to save us from our sin and thus everyone that trusts Him for salvation will depart from sin (2 Ti 2:19)

Our Lord:

      Jesus is called the Lord Jesus Christ with Jesus being His earthly name, Christ being His

Salvation details

Psalm 35:9   And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.

Salvation in details:

      The Bible is a unified book with one Author Who uses words to interconnect in specific ways to communicate His message to mankind. The flood is just one example of how truth can be gleaned from studying literary clues in the text. Genesis 6-9 is somewhat unusual in their level of detail compared to the preceding five chapters. God accounts for about 1,600 years in Genesis 1-5, yet takes four chapters to set the stage for and describe the single year of the flood. I have picked out three main reasons.

Salvation is personal and exclusive:

      Only Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives were saved from the flood out of the entire people in the world at that time. The rest perished in their rebellion and fell under the judgment of God. In like manner today salvation is exclusive – only the repentant are saved. Only those who recognize they are sinners, acknowledge God’s righteousness and seek forgiveness and obey God are saved. Salvation is for “whosoever” but only those

Righteous lies

Exodus 20:16   Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

What is a righteous lie?

      The term itself is a contrast of truths – such as “jumbo shrimp”, “silent scream”, and numerous others. Righteous deals with being right and doing right in life; a lie is the opposite of living and doing right. A “Santa Claus” lie does not classify as a righteous lie because it is an attempt to deceive for purpose of control – most of the time.

      A righteous lie would be one that is told in order to protect or help another - - perhaps to save a life. For an example one might say that telling a lie to the Nazi Gestapo when they were looking for Jews that there was none hiding in your house when you knew they were there and you were privy to it. Some would say that telling that lie would not classify as sin before God since it was told to protect from evil men.

Righteous lies in the Bible:

      Some have thought about the mid wives during the time of Israel’s slavery in Egypt (Ex 1:15-20).

Righteous friends

James 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

We are known:

The phrase “a man is known by the company he keeps” has been used in English-speaking countries since the 1500s. Another phrase says “a man is known by who is enemies are”.  These sayings are not only Biblically based but are observable in everyday life.

Fiends shape friends:

      Prov 27:17 tells us that those who we associate with will affect us and our future. Sharpen means just what is says to make sharp or keen and alert. Countenance is defined as face, forward and can mean our facial features or even our direction. Those we associate with in such a manner as to be considered a friend (companion, close or far as in a fellow citizen); will affect us for good or evil.

      James warns of being friends with the world (Jam 4:4) will eventually place us in an enemy relationship with God. John expands on this as to why it will do this (

A righteous desire

Matthew 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

God’s kingdom first:

      The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were very religious outwardly, but Jesus often took them to task on their lives because they did those things to be seen of men (Matt 23:5). Jesus admonished His hearers as well as us to focus beyond the ordinary desires and needs of the physical existence. We are to look at the unseen (2 Cor 4:18) and seek first God’s kingdom.

      When we yield ourselves to righteousness, we become servants to these things we obey (Ro 6:16). It is clear we cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24); we either yield our members (bodies) as instruments (weapons) of ungodliness or righteousness; either we walk after the flesh or after the Spirit – we choice. We must doggedly pursue righteousness and Godliness (1 Tim 6:11). Our new man longs for righteousness, but we must consciously yield ourselves to seek and serve God’s kingdom. And we must never become slack in that pursuit (1 Cor

Righteous boldness

Proverbs 28:1  The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Holy Boldness:

     In Acts 4:31 Luke tells us that the believers spoke with “boldness” the word of God. The word for bold is perrisia and carries the idea of not only “courage” in speaking, but also “freedom, confidence, plainness and without fear”. Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit these same men trembled before the leaders, but now they were able to speak boldly for God. There are at least four reasons why they were able to do this.

Their association with Jesus:

      In Acts 4:13 after the healing of the impotent man, the leaders brought Peter and John before them, to question them concerning the healing. After they examined them and Peter and John spoke to them, testifying about Christ, their attention was drawn to the fact that they had been with Jesus. When we spend time with God whether it be in times of prayer or fellowship we will have a certain boldness that we did not have before.

The presence of the Holy Spirit:

      In Acts 4:8 it tells us that

Remember His benefits 

Psalm 103:2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

God has many benefits for us

      The song writer said, "Count Your Many Blessings" and we would be surprised what the Lord has done. In this Psalm, David lists numerous benefits from God. This is a partial list of His many benefits to and for us.

      1. Forgiveness -- Verse three says that He forgives all our iniquities. The one song writer said, "My sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul." God does a complete work on us and forgives all and not only forgives, but cleanses (1 Jn 1:7).

      2. Healing -- In verse three also he says God heals all our diseases. While we may not experience the healing of all disease in this life, He has given man so much knowledge and understanding that many diseases have been either eliminated or nearly eliminated from existence. All disease will be wiped away in the kingdom age and in heaven there will be no disease. The last enemy of

Rejoicing and trials

1 Peter 1:6-7  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Condition of the Christian life

      Some have the idea that once they are saved and begin the Christian walk that there will never be any troubles to bother them. Some preachers even preach this to gullible people and it brings distress and problems for many. Jesus never promised us a life without problem (Jn 16:33). Cults often lure people into them by promising utopia after their experience and many follow their teaching because  they cannot overcome in the world.

      The Christian paradox is that we can at one in the same time experience rejoicing and heaviness, yet Peter says this be the case. Heaviness means to be grieved, troubled. It is not just suffering but the suffering brings us grief and pain. Paul tells of his and those with him and their experience (2 Cor 4:8,

Ready Armed 

1 Chronicles 12:38  All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.

      After the death of Saul, David reigned over one tribe, Judah, for seven and one-half years. Ishbosheth was made king over Israel by Abner and there was war between David’s men and Abner. Finally, the other eleven tribes were of one heart to unite with David making him king over all twelve tribes. This united kingdom would last through the remainder of David’s reign and Solomon’s reign.

      The text speaks of men of war who came to David to make him king. These individuals had certain physical characteristics that can be spiritually applied to us today.

Ready armed

      1 Chron 12:23 tells us they came ready armed for war – to do battle if necessary. Paul tells us to be prepared for battle (Eph 6:10, 11, 13) so we are not taken by surprise. Our strength is in our Commander and not our own because we are not warring with flesh and blood, but

Confusion and Puzzle Pieces 2

Matthew 5:38-42   Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40  And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41  And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42  Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

Putting others first

     Putting others first is not popular in our world today. The other way is the way of the world -- me, myself and I -- know yourself, be yourself, express yourself, respect yourself, be honest with yourself, and stand up for yourself. We value independence, not sharing -- we have our own phones, cars, TVs, etc. We have the fastest internet service, online shopping, chatting and news. Our default setting seems to be "self first".

Unselfish Ruth

      Ruth loved and provided for her mother-in-law and at the same

Confusion and puzzle pieces

Proverbs 26:4-5  Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
5  Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

Contradictory advice

      Sometimes we are confronted with good advice from “folk proverbs” as well as Scripture, but they seem to be giving us opposite and contradictory counsel. An example of folk proverbs is: “look before you leap”. It is good advice that we should all heed. But, then you have a seemingly opposite one: “strike while the iron is hot”. Equally good advice and true, but can they both be true? When we place them in proper context they are both true and beneficial.

      In the same way there are seemingly contradictory Scriptures that are equally true and equally beneficial, but they must be placed in proper context. Our text tells us opposites in two verse following one the other.

      “A mean second grader” told her classmate, “I can’t hang out with you because you stink”. If she replies, “You stink too” she would be answering according to her folly; however, if she replies, “Now that I see how you

The provisions of the cross

Galatians 1:1-5  Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) 2  And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: 3  Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: 5  To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Our replacement

     When we want to buy something and the product is out of order or defective, we are given a replacement – something of equal worth in hopes it will satisfy us (often it will be replaced with something of greater value). But in the world of spiritual things, such as our salvation, the replacement for us was of much greater value and it was not a customer/businessman relationship, but one of a gracious God to unworthy people.                 

We often say “Jesus took my place” and the song writer says, “I have should have been crucified . . . “Paul tells