But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
God has just been rocking my world... How amazing that God called us! That He chose us as His people... I feel so unworthy to be called by name by the God of the universe. But HE counts us worthy! And He has called us out of the darkness that our lives would be without Him... we have HOPE (stef :) ) in Him! And we are living in the light of Christ... we are FREE and ALIVE in Him! We are no longer held by the chains and bondage of sin... Jesus has released us and we have gained life through the Spirit. Ahhh! I just can't get over the fact that we are given the chance to truly live and love by our Savior. And I love the last part of this verse... that we are strangers in this world... NO WONDER we are feeling so out of place... we weren't meant to call this world our home... people weren't meant to understand the lives we are living... afterall, do we really think people understood Jesus?!? when He was eating with the sinners, talking to the prostitutes, breaking Jewish laws by healing on the Sabbath... we are meant to look like our Savior... and that is not gonna be accepted by this world. But we are called to look, breathe, hear, talk, and smell like our Christ... that though people may think we are crazy... they will see the way we live our lives and the way we are transformed by Jesus... and eventually they will see God. ahhh! I love our God so much! He has transformed my life... and now I am on this incredible journey to seek His face more and more... and to live and love and show Jesus like my life depended on it...
Everything 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!
1 Peter 4:7-11 (the message)
*On a side note... I have the greatest friends in the whole world :)
FREE THE FOOL!!!!
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