THE CHARACTERISTIC OF A CHOSEN ONE: A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

1 Peter 2:9-12, Colossians 3:12-14

1 Peter 2:9-12 >>

9 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.

10 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.

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

12 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.

Colossians 3:12-14 >>

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

—

1. I need to have a good lifestyle in the midst of my family and friends who might not believe in Jesus so that even though they might accuse me of doing wrong, because they’ve seen my good deeds and kind character, they’ll later come to glorify God when He visits us.

2. Reflecting on Colossians 3:12-14, I think I can be more gentle and kind and most of all…LOVING so I can reflect God’s character more!

REMEMBER GOD’S KINDNESS DAILY

Psalm 103:1-12

Psalm 103:1-12 >> A psalm of David. 1 Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.

5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagles! 6 The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. 8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. 11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

1. Why do I have to keep on remembering God’s goodness, faithfulness and teaching every day? I need to keep remembering God’s goodness, faithfulness and teaching every day because sometimes the things of this world can be so distracting. Remembering God’s awesomeness in the past will remind us to trust in Him for the future, and will also cause us to love Him more.

2. I will spend the time today to meditate and keep record on God’s goodness that happen in my life all this time and to give thanks! I give thanks to God for a loving and supportive family, group of friends and boyfriend. Although there have been conflicts, God has always been with me and He used those times to process me and all of us to practice and behave more like Christ in thought, deed and character. He also heals me and is always with me. God is faithful.

Learn from God’s Faithfulness

1 Thes 5:24,
24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

1 Cor 1:9,
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 145:13,
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.[a]

Phil 1:6,
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Jeremiah 31:3
3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:

“ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
–

1. I have experienced God’s faithfulness in my life. He has kept all His promises. I feel and see His love, mercy and favor in my life. I have good friends and people who care about me that God’s provided, and He speaks to me and His Holy Spirit guides me to keep me on the right path.
2. Jesus asked us not be be dismayed because He loves us with an everlasting love, and He keeps His promises and will continue His work in us until it is done.

God’s Character: Patience

Nahum 1:3
Psalm 145:8
2 Peter 3:15
2 Peter 3:9
Joel 2:13

1. God’s character is longsuffering. And He also has great power.
2. YES I can see God’s patience in my life, like how He is patient in giving me time to repent when I need/ed to about certain things. He helps me through the tough times so that I want to change for the better.
3. To show I appreciate God’s patience to me, the kind of attitude I should have is also to have patience and longsuffering, love, a servan’ts heart (not a self-serving one) and a positive attitude.

God, the Great Engineer

John 6:48 and Acts 10:14-15

I learned about how Peter got a vision from the Lord about how the gospel is not only for the Israelites, but also for the Gentiles. And the vision is before he was about to receive a divine appointment from the Lord. Oswald Chambers described God as the Great Engineer, “creating circumstances to bring about moments in our lives of divine importance, leading us to such divine appointments (Jon Walker).” I am thinking now about all the divine appointments that God has set up in my life. I believe that He is the Great Engineer. He is God and He is on my side! That is something to rejoice about! Thank You God. =)

God Has the Integrity

Psalm 145:13, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 2 Timothy 2:13

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
and loving toward all he has made.

13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

1. One of the ways God shows His faithfulness towards His believers/beloved people is by not allowing any temptation to come our way that we are not able to handle. 1 Cor 10:13 says that “no temptation has seized you except what is common to man…He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.” In addition to that, He will also always provide a way out so that we can stand up under it. This means that although the temptation is like a burden, we can give our burdens over to Him and be led by Him because it also says that He will make a way out for us (1 Cor 10:13b). =)

2. Yes! I can totally find God’s faithfulness in my life. Like whenever I’ve gotten frustrated over little things like maybe I don’t understand why the people whom the Lord has given authority over me do some particular thing (parents, spiritual leaders, school/work leaders), He always provides some outlet for me to vent or some person to come and share with me some wisdom so I can bear it and come to understanding. He’s always changed my heart so that I can follow His will  and guidance for my life, and I know He’s still working and will continue until His work is completed (me).

3. I think there have been times when my faithfulness towards the Lord has decreased, like due to discouragements due to negative circumstances or a company of people who don’t encourage me through their own actions and decision. This extended to many different areas such as diligence at home, work and school. But thank God 2 Tim 2:13 says that though we may be unfaithful, He is always faithful. And I want to make a commitment to always strive to restore my faith in Him, new everyday.