1 Corinthians 1:9–10 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
As we profess Jesus as our Lord and Savior we follow His example of how we are to live our lives. We feed the hungry, care for the disabled, treat the foreigner in our land with dignity and provide provision for those who have no means of supporting themselves. We can vote for our dollars, as a democratic country, to fund His ways. We follow His commands to love others and to treat them as we would want to be treated knowing that He cares for all of His creation. As long as it is in our power we seek peace not war. Only evil seeks to kill, steal and destroy people especially those of the faith. Carla
1 Peter 5:6-11
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (NKJV)
We need to present all our worries, anxieties, and problems to God in order to let Him handle them. Be sober means to be self-disciplined, to think rationally and not foolishly. Be vigilant means to be alert to the spiritual pitfalls of life and take appropriate steps to make certain that we do not stumble.
Satan is our avowed enemy. He never ceases from being hostile toward us; he is constantly accusing us before God (Job 1:9–2:7; Zechariah 3:1; Luke 22:31; Revelation 12:10). Satan is both cunning and cruel. He attacks when least expected and desires to destroy completely those whom he attacks. We are not commanded to run, but to resist—to fight rather than flee. Victory comes when we remain committed to God, because He is greater than our enemy (1 John 4:4).
Like a doctor setting a broken bone, God will mend our broken lives and make us whole. God will make our way stable, despite the instability we feel living in a world that inflicts suffering upon us. God will give us the ability to succeed in all that we do for Him. As a consequence of our facing the attacks of our enemy, God will build in us a firm foundation that will make us steadfast and immovable.
God is in control of all things both in this world and throughout eternity. The NKJV Study Bible
Peter urges his audience to be humble while they wait for God to honor their faithfulness in His timing.This call to humility reinforces the repeated call in the letter to endure various kinds of suffering for their faith by placing their trust in God’s plan (4:19).
Castings all your cares on him provides comfort to believers in the face of persecution and suffering. God not only will deliver believers from their troubles in the future, but He demonstrates His loving care in the present by hearing their prayers.
Your adversary the devil, the New Testament uses both “Satan” and “devil” as terms for the chief figure of evil in the Bible. The Hebrew term satan used in the Old Testament means “adversary” (Job 1:6, 12; 2:1; Zechariah 3:1–2).
A roaring lion, is looking for someone to devour. Peter alerts his audience to the devil’s constant threat to the people of God.
Within the wider context of the passage, Peter’s use of animal imagery depicts God’s people as vulnerable sheep in desperate need of their shepherd’s protection from all sorts of threats, including persecution and preying animals like the devil.
Believers throughout the Roman empire were suffering both localized persecution as well as opposition from the devil. Peter offers his audience a final word of comfort. He reminds them that God will empower and ultimately glorify those who remain steadfast in their faith under the weight of their present suffering. Faithlife Study Bible
James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD,
And He shall sustain you;
He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
Acts 14:22
strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
This I can tell you with all my heart. In the world in which we live, I am so very grateful for the voices of Mercy and Grace. Voices from men and woman alive and well, spilling light among us. And voices from those who have gone on, as we continue to benefit from the light they spill.
Last Saturday, we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Calcutta. And it did my heart good to read the words Pope Francis spoke during his homily, at the canonization Mass for Mother Teresa, on September 4, 2016.
“Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded. She was committed to defending life, ceaselessly proclaiming that ‘the unborn are the weakest, the smallest, the most vulnerable’. She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity; she made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognize their guilt for the crime – the crimes! – of poverty they created. For Mother Teresa, mercy was the ‘salt’ which gave flavor to her work, it was the ‘light’ which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering… Mother Teresa loved to say, ‘Perhaps I don’t speak their language, but I can smile’. Let us carry her smile in our hearts and give it to those whom we meet along our journey, especially those who suffer. In this way, we will open up opportunities of joy and hope for our many brothers and sisters who are discouraged and who stand in need of understanding and tenderness.” (Thank you Pope Francis) SabbathMoments
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