The halfbaked Bard

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men. 1 Pet:2:13 Slaves submit yourselves to your masters with all respect not only to those who are good and considerate but also to those who are harsh. 1 Pet:2:18 Submitting to your good and considerate bosses is easy. It is a natural response. It doesn't require an advise or an admonition. However if he/she is a hard taskmaster, you are still asked to submit. Naturally you would submit, but with a grieving, complaining heart, dissatisfied. Yet here the apprisal is to do this submission for the Lord's sake. Thankfully, genuinely. With contentment.  Inorder to be contented, you should enlist the things that you are thankful for. Make a list to praise God for the very things that you are frustrated about. And you will see the Lord's hand written all over it. These sufferings are momentary. He will do all things for good. He will carry it on to completion. He is Sovereign. But our attit...

1Pet:2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk. Crave is a huge word. It is more than desiring. Even higher than seeking. It is a strong and intense desire, that you can't put away with. Always earnestly desiring and seeking. And you are restless when you do not get it. Crave intimacy with God. Crave thearing His voice. Crave the Word of God. Crave to know God. So that by it, you may grow up in salvation. Image courtesy: Gemini

Be holy, because I am holy. 1 Pet:1:16 Quoting from Lev:11:44, it is an admonition that seems quiet impossible. As God is holy. How do we do it? 1 Pet:1:13-25 tells both about my doing and the Lord's doing regarding this. - Prepare your minds for action - Be self controlled - Do not conform to the evil desires - Be holy - Love one another deeply But it also says about the Lord's part in this. Infact His effort is more in this. - Grace - Saved by the precious blood of Christ the Lamb - You have been born again not of perishable seed but imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. Your striving will never make you holy. Because all your righteous deeds are like filthy rags. Isa:64:6. By grace you have been made holy and given a holy standing before the Father by the precious act on the cross, if I believe. Without this act, there is no scope of your holiness. Yet because Isa:64:6 is true, do I deter myself from striving? Not at all. Infact I should stri...

Trials. They have come so that your faith - may be proved genuine. 1 Pet:1:6-7 Are you burdened? Are you overwhelmed? Is everything too hard for you? How are trials useful? Aren't they meant to discourage you more? Trials keep you rooted and strong in faith. That will prove your faith is genuine. It might be a sickness; you have prayed but there is delayed healing. Or a habit that you struggle to put aside. Or a ridicule. Or debts or loans. Or any unanswered prayers. It all results in proving the genuinety of your faith. When things are beyond what you can handle, even otherwise. When you are confused as to why things are happening this way, totally unexpected. Let this assure you. That your Father is in control of the situation. And He does things for your good. And this is the good that He is talking about - that your faith will be made genuine. And something more beautiful may result as you go through this. Result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus is revealed. W...

And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be believed in the last time. 1 Pet:1:4-5 Can never perish Can never spoil Can never fade  Kept in heaven for you Shielded. Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Rom:8:1 Dear one, you can be sure. Once you are in Him, no one can snatch you from His hands. Underneath is the Father's hands and no one can snatch you from the Father's hands. The statement is blatant and complete. If He has promised never to leave you nor forsake you, that is applicable not just for the life here in this world, but in the life to come as well. He will not leave you. Period. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. No repeated sin. No failures. No disappointments. Nothing will be able to separate you. His love is always there. Image credit: Gemini 

James:5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. James:5:16 Prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Prayer is effective and powerful only if it is preceded by confession. Confession of sins is quintessential in reinstating your relation with your Father in heaven. For He is a holy God. Not that your sins will be forgiven when you confess. But inorder that your prayers will be heard, you need to have a reinstated relation with the Father. Therefore the reasons for unanswered prayers is this. Sin harboured in your mind. And also - you do not pray according to His will. You pray your selfish prayer, not according to His will and expect God to answer in your ways and your plan. Like a Genie, you need God's approval stamp of your shopping list. James:4:3 When you ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what youbget on your pleasures. Are your prayers powerful and effective? Look into these things. Image credit: https...