1 Peter 5:6-8
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of
God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on
him, because he cares for you. Be
sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to
devour.”
Now that is a great deal to ponder before my second cup of
coffee. In looking back to verse
five, I am told to humble myself before my elders, but verse six is telling me
to take that into my relationship with God. Spending my life in the world of sales, we often asked this
question: “What is in it for me?”
You may not be in sales but God knows that question is inherent to man,
so God gave us the answer before we even ask, “that
at the proper time he may exalt you.”
When exalted by God, it may be in the realm of the physical,
as an athlete, or He may stimulate you mentally or spiritually, or He may raise
you up in rank or position. Many
who have been on the sidelines or so to say in the stands watching from afar,
may give you praise, but the person who has humbled their self before God will
have an attitude of thanksgiving and in their heart they will say, “he cares for me.”
Could it be that many believe the lie that God helps those
who help themselves? They may know
that is not in the Bible, but it sounds so good; but God does not share your
opinion, in fact he calls that independent living, trying to get your needs met
outside of the will of God. People
that are living life independently from God will never humble themselves, never
will they cast their anxieties on Him, and they will be open to being devoured
by the enemy of their soul. This
type of flesh lives life in this manner, when life gets tough, the tough get
going, and they do, and it causes pain for many.
As I set in the July 4, 2011 service being observed on July
3, the words of JK Minton, a retired officer in the Navy, preached on this
topic; “Can God bless America,” and he explained that God can, but will
he? He went on to share that our
Nation is broke and broken and the trouble does not lie in Washington D.C., the
problem is that the Christian people have taken the role of being practicing atheists. Now that got my full attention, JK did
not call us atheistic, but said we live our lives in the same way as an atheist,
we go where and when we want to, we do what we want to, we ignore what Jesus
has commanded, yes, we often act no different than the atheist who says there
is no God and lives his life free from any restraint, he lives an independent
life, doing what he wants when he wants with no thought of God.
Dr. Minton’s message was taken from 2 Chronicles 7:14, and
it begins, “If my people, who are called by my name”
and Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep
my commandments.” It seems as if God’s Holy
Spirit has wiggled JK Minton’s lips to speak a hard truth to those of us who
claim to be followers of Christ, many are closer to being practicing atheists
than followers of Christ. Note: do
you believe “Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour?” If you agree then what are you doing to guard your
heart and mind, so you will not be devoured? Jesus said, “If you love me,
you will keep my commandments.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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