A Firm Faith for Tough Times

A FAITH THAT MAKES LIFE COUNT1 Peter 1:13-2:3

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Action Steps:

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These have come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed, (1 Peter 1:7).

The authenticity of the untested will always be questioned. The challenges I face, even those brought on by my own character flaws and bad decisions, can have an eternal purpose: to grow me and demonstrate my faith to be real.

* Face it; grieve it; grow from it; be glad God doesn’t leave you like he found you.

Last Week…

A faith that sees us through God’s perspective• Chosen for Extraordinary Purposes• Reborn into Hope• Protected by God’s Power• Proven Genuine through Life’s Trials• Filled with Inexpressible Joy

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look

forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)

16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver..

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)

19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. 21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. 23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)

24 As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. 25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 (NLT)

1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.

MAKE LIFE COUNT BY GETTING READY TO LEARN

Think clearly (NLT)Prepare your minds for action (NIV)

Put your mind in gear (Message)Clear your head and get ready to learn (DW)

Loving God Wholly

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind,’ ( Matthew 22:36-37 NLT)

The Three-Stranded Cord of Love

• Heart – life passions; the seat of our motives and values

• Soul – emotional and volitional (freewill) capacities

• Mind – intellectual, rational processes

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken, (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV).

Romans 12:2 (NLT)

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The Challenge of Tough Times

Tough times will challenge everything you thought you knew about your life and your God. Keeping your mind renewed and refreshed by God’s truth is essential for making your life count.

MAKE LIFE COUNT BY EXERCISING SELF-CONTROL

Tough Times Challenge Self-Control

• Emotions (Jonah)• Reactions (Peter)• Escapes (Elijah)• Ethics (Saul)

A Capacity Given to All…

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline, (2 Timothy 1:7 NLT).

A Virtue Pursued by Some

For this reason make every effort to add to your faith…self-control, (2 Peter 1:5-6).

Self-Control = Self-Discipline

Choice to delay gratification; taking responsibility for my life and my actions; embracing the reality that to reach my destination, I have to start at the beginning and go through the middle (M. Scott Peck).

We make our lives count in tough times by exercising self-discipline, choosing to embrace discomfort now for a far better

reward to come.

MAKE LIFE COUNT BY LIVING IN LIGHT OF CHRIST’S COMING

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

…Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world, (1 Peter 1:13).

His Coming Keeps Me Accountable

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” (1 Peter 1:17 NLT).

His Coming Gives Me Hope

13 we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed, (Titus 2:13 NLT).

We make our lives count in tough times by living with the understanding that we will stand before God and give an account

for our lives.

MAKE LIFE COUNT BY LIVING LIFE FOR GOD’S PURPOSES

1 Peter 1:14-15 (NLT)

14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

Holiness Isn’t Just for Monks

Holy – “Set apart for God’s purposes.”

Holiness is not a call to live up to some arbitrary religious standard. It is a call to return to our created purpose as human beings, to reflect the character and nature of God in our attitudes, actions, and relationships as revealed in Scripture.

Holiness – The Call to True Living

• 1 Peter 1:15 NLT15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

• Genesis 1:26 (NLT)26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.

The Cost of Holiness

19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, (1 Peter 1:19 NLT)

The High Cost of Sin

• Proverbs 13:15 (NKJV)15 Good understanding gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard.

The Easy Yoke of Holiness

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)

The Secret of Holiness

The secret of living in the easy yoke of holiness requires more than just doing what Jesus would do in the moment. It means choosing to live the entirety of our lives as he did – in a relationship of intimate dependence upon the Father through the power of the Spirit.

The “From” and “To” of Holiness

“Come away from…”• all evil behavior• deceit, • hypocrisy, • jealousy,• all unkind speech

(1 Peter 2:1)

“Give yourself to…”• Craving spiritual

nourishment• Pursuing your new character• goodness; • Knowledge• self-control• Perseverance• Godliness• brotherly • love (2 Peter 1:5-7).

We make our lives count in tough times by living life as we were created to live: dedicated to the purposes of God