Skip to main content

This is War!

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

Peter doesn't sound like a fisherman; he sounds like a general calling the troops to battle. However, here he is talking to foreigners and exiles. He uses two unusual words that don't sound like battle words. Strong says that, "in the NT, a stranger, a foreigner, one who lives in a place without the right of citizenship". He also says about the word "exiles" that   Greeks used to describe, "one who came from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives."

So, these people are not of this earth. What would they be fighting for? Look again. There are these sinful desire creatures that are waging war against this foreign crowd. These evil beings come from within the foreigners. They are generated in the heart (Jer 17:9) and are on constant vigil for the host's weaknesses. James likens this warring process to conception and birth in 

James 1:14, but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

 These evil sin creatures drag us kicking and screaming... er no-no. They drag us because we let ourselves be dragged to our sinfest. They entice us, and in their alluring work, the seed is planted and germinates to give birth to sin. It doesn't take nine months to give birth, however. It's a short gestation period. 

Therefore, dear foreigner, don't be fooled about what comes into that feeble mind of yours; keep away from those lingering thoughts that make you want to give birth to foolish desires. Even though you want to blame these sins on the Devil or someone else. Its you you see? And it's war, you see. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God Made Clothes

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Gen 3:21 I have always heard the following explanation of this verse.  Because Adam and Eve had sinned, they died spiritually. They also lost the right to be in the Garden of Eden and were cursed in other ways. For example, they had made clothes out of fig leaves, but God sacrificed a lamb; thus, God shed blood and made clothes. This sacrifice of an innocent lamb symbolized what Jesus Christ would do in the distant future.  Is this what you have heard? I don't know; it seems like this interpretation is stretching what Moses wrote in the above text. The text says that  God made clothes for Adam and his wife from skins.  We see no blood, we don't know what kind of skins, nor can I imagine God making an animal sacrifice. Did God have to skin animals to make these clothes? Or could he have just made them like he had everything else in the universe just a little while earlier?  To th...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who did What?

We see Abraham lying at times. He twice told people that his wife was his sister. He was worried that someone might kill him because his old wife was so beautiful. In the text that I read today, he comes into territory ruled by Abimelek and tells the great fib. Not too long afterward, the king takes Sarah into his harem.  Lately, I have become interested in real estate investing and have learned quite a bit in the last few years. One crucial lesson acquired was that I need to treat investing as a business and not have too many sentimental attachments. Years ago, I would rent with a "charitable" mindset. I kept the rent low on my only rental because I was "helping people (friends) out." I kept that rent low for 20 years. For those years, that rent never moved from $650 a month.  Granted, we could keep the property and barely pay the maintenance and taxes, but the rent was low. It wasn't until I turned that property over to a property manager that I realized what ...
Post a Comment
Read more