Wonderful scripture passage for discerners

[SeekingHisPlan]

1 Peter 1:6-9 (This was scripture for evening prayer the other night...Aug 3rd if I recall correctly)

"There is cause for rejoicing here. You may, for a time, have to suffer the distress of many trials, but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold may, by its genuniness lead to praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ appears. Although you have never seen him you love him, and without seeing, you now believe in him and rejoice with inexpressible joy, touched with glory, because you are achieving faith's goal, your salvation."











'nuff said. Who am I to add to the words of a saint?

[AlterDominicus]

HOLY carp! :bugeyes:

[b]VERY[/b] Powerful piece of Sacred Scripture........ :

[VeniteAdoremus]

I am so not skipping Vespers again. Look what I missed!

Thanks for posting this!

[douknostcecilia]

That really spoke to my soul. I needed that. *sigh*

Thanks so much for posting that. =]

[cappie]

Peter gives us reasons for enduring trials down here in this life—the trials will not be long, compared to eternity. In our day there is too much emphasis on the present life. Psychology and materialism have slipped into the church. We are told that we must develop ourselves into a full-orbed individual. If we are having trouble, something is wrong with our Christianity.

Instead of so much introspection, we ought to be looking outward to the great God we have and to the marvelous inheritance which He has ready for us to receive some day. We should stop this attempt to improve our old nature through the power of the flesh. God is the one who is in the business of improving us. He is the one who is trying to bring us to a maturity in our Christian life. God’s way of improving us is through manifold trials.

We have been told this in previous books—in fact, it is almost like a stuck recording. Jesus told us not to be dismayed. He said that in the world we would have troubles. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we learned that God tests us by trials and troubles. James wrote about the testings that come from God. And Paul had a great deal to say about suffering. Now Peter comes along and says the same thing.

I know it is not at all popular to teach that God will prove us and lead us on to maturity through suffering. People would rather be encouraged to think that they are somebody important and that they can do great things on their own. My friend, we are nothing until the Spirit of God begins to move in our hearts and lives. We have nothing to offer to God. He has everything to offer to us.
We need always to remember that our trial are only temporary. Paul says the same thing: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17–18).

The things at our fingertips which we consider so valuable are not really of value. They are simply passing things when measured in the perspective of eternity. All these things are destructible. They are corruptible, and they can be defiled. The things of this world do fade away. The things we cannot see are the eternal, things. They are of real value.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it he tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ [1 Pet. 1:7].

Peter uses here a very apt illustration, and he uses a wonderful word: precious. —Simon Peter, that great, big, rugged fisherman. He speaks of the trial of our faith being precious. And he uses the word precious seven times (in my translation).

“The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold.” After gold is mined, it is put into a smelter, a red-hot furnace. The purpose is not to destroy the gold; it is to purify the gold. When the gold is melted, the dross is drawn off to get the pure gold. Later on, Peter will also make an application of this regarding the suffering of our Lord. He says that we have been redeemed, not with gold or silver, but with something infinitely more precious than that—the blood of Christ.
When God tests us today, He puts us into the furnace. He doesn’t do that to destroy us or to hurt or harm us. But He wants pure gold, and that is the way He will get it. Friend, that is what develops Christian character. At the time of testing, the dross is drawn off and the precious gold appears. That is God’s method. That is God’s school.

We don’t hear that teaching very much in our day. Rather, we are being taught to become sufficient within ourselves. Oh, my friend, you and I are not adequate; we are not sufficient, and we never will be. We simply come to God as sinners, and He saves us by His grace through the blood of Christ. Then He wants to live His life through us. He tries to teach us this through our trials. He is drawing us closer to Him.

There are no shortcuts to maturity. All the gimmickry and new methods will lead to a dead-end street. The only thing that will bring us into a true maturation is the trial of our faith which God sends to us.

“At the appearing of Jesus Christ.” I believe that at the appearing of Jesus Christ, we will thank God for our trials—in fact, we may wish we had experienced more of them because, when we are in His presence, we will see the value of them. Just think of the trials the apostles went through! Simon Peter, when he wrote this epistle, knew that crucifixion was ahead of him. He says that the trials are going to bring out the gold when we appear in Christ’s presence. That’s the thing toward which we are to look forward.

[memory-singer]

[quote name='cappie' post='1038529' date='Aug 5 2006, 11:41 PM']
Peter gives us reasons for enduring trials down here in this life—the trials will not be long, compared to eternity. In our day there is too much emphasis on the present life. Psychology and materialism have slipped into the church. We are told that we must develop ourselves into a full-orbed individual. If we are having trouble, something is wrong with our Christianity.

Instead of so much introspection, we ought to be looking outward to the great God we have and to the marvelous inheritance which He has ready for us to receive some day. We should stop this attempt to improve our old nature through the power of the flesh. God is the one who is in the business of improving us. He is the one who is trying to bring us to a maturity in our Christian life. God’s way of improving us is through manifold trials.

We have been told this in previous books—in fact, it is almost like a stuck recording. Jesus told us not to be dismayed. He said that in the world we would have troubles. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we learned that God tests us by trials and troubles. James wrote about the testings that come from God. And Paul had a great deal to say about suffering. Now Peter comes along and says the same thing.

I know it is not at all popular to teach that God will prove us and lead us on to maturity through suffering. People would rather be encouraged to think that they are somebody important and that they can do great things on their own. My friend, we are nothing until the Spirit of God begins to move in our hearts and lives. We have nothing to offer to God. He has everything to offer to us.
We need always to remember that our trial are only temporary. Paul says the same thing: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17–18).

The things at our fingertips which we consider so valuable are not really of value. They are simply passing things when measured in the perspective of eternity. All these things are destructible. They are corruptible, and they can be defiled. The things of this world do fade away. The things we cannot see are the eternal, things. They are of real value.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it he tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ [1 Pet. 1:7].

Peter uses here a very apt illustration, and he uses a wonderful word: precious. —Simon Peter, that great, big, rugged fisherman. He speaks of the trial of our faith being precious. And he uses the word precious seven times (in my translation).

“The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold.” After gold is mined, it is put into a smelter, a red-hot furnace. The purpose is not to destroy the gold; it is to purify the gold. When the gold is melted, the dross is drawn off to get the pure gold. Later on, Peter will also make an application of this regarding the suffering of our Lord. He says that we have been redeemed, not with gold or silver, but with something infinitely more precious than that—the blood of Christ.
When God tests us today, He puts us into the furnace. He doesn’t do that to destroy us or to hurt or harm us. But He wants pure gold, and that is the way He will get it. Friend, that is what develops Christian character. At the time of testing, the dross is drawn off and the precious gold appears. That is God’s method. That is God’s school.

We don’t hear that teaching very much in our day. Rather, we are being taught to become sufficient within ourselves. Oh, my friend, you and I are not adequate; we are not sufficient, and we never will be. We simply come to God as sinners, and He saves us by His grace through the blood of Christ. Then He wants to live His life through us. He tries to teach us this through our trials. He is drawing us closer to Him.

There are no shortcuts to maturity. All the gimmickry and new methods will lead to a dead-end street. The only thing that will bring us into a true maturation is the trial of our faith which God sends to us.

“At the appearing of Jesus Christ.” I believe that at the appearing of Jesus Christ, we will thank God for our trials—in fact, we may wish we had experienced more of them because, when we are in His presence, we will see the value of them. Just think of the trials the apostles went through! Simon Peter, when he wrote this epistle, knew that crucifixion was ahead of him. He says that the trials are going to bring out the gold when we appear in Christ’s presence. That’s the thing toward which we are to look forward.
[/quote]

I needed to hear this. NOW.

thanks,

Dare

[brandelynmarie]

[quote name='SeekingHisPlan' post='1038376' date='Aug 5 2006, 10:16 PM']
1 Peter 1:6-9 (This was scripture for evening prayer the other night...Aug 3rd if I recall correctly)

"There is cause for rejoicing here. You may, for a time, have to suffer the distress of many trials, but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold may, by its genuniness lead to praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ appears. Although you have never seen him you love him, and without seeing, you now believe in him and rejoice with inexpressible joy, touched with glory, because you are achieving faith's goal, your salvation."
'nuff said. Who am I to add to the words of a saint?
[/quote]


"Although you have never seen him you love him..." Pure poetry....

And Father, thank you for the commentary...I needed to hear this too!

[SeekingHisPlan]

Father, thank you so much for these words. I'll be marking this to come back to when I need a reminder. It's times like this that we are reminded how nice it is to have members of the clergy on the board.





[quote name='brandelynmarie' post='1039207' date='Aug 7 2006, 04:04 PM']
"Although you have never seen him you love him..." Pure poetry....
[/quote]


I know. I read that over and over and over again, just repeating it to myself. It's beautiful

Edited August 7, 2006 by SeekingHisPlan

[franciscanheart]

I was moved reading that the other evening too. Thanks for posting.

[HeavenlyCalling]

wow, thats a really great passage, perfect for people thinking about religious life.

[brandelynmarie]

God is so good...