I Peter 4:1-19
4:1 The soul and spirit of Jesus manifested itself on the earth in pure, focused and impassioned compassion. He manifested humility, brought to life a energy of commitment to justice, serenity and truth. Peter requests that we arm ourselves with the same mind. After all, we are embroiled in the same fight as He was: justice v. injustice, good v. evil, light v. Darkness, trust v. untruth.
Jesus was able to retain his faith, his patience, his generosity, (his sanity) and his life by employing the method of this philosophy to his life. He accomplished His mission, fulfilled His purpose and utilized His potential... if you hope to do the same things with your life, He exemplified the way.
4:2 Ultimately, Jesus inherited spiritual life. He graduated from the world and all of its conditions: fallibility, vulnerability, mortality, limitation. The same inheritance is offered to you and the souls within this book dedicated their lives to encouraging you to accept it.
4:3 Peter reminds us of our history, the history of our ancestors and maybe also of ourselves: we tried the other method of living. We tried and we failed; so many people tried to obtain and retain happiness and life through gains of material wealth and it never worked.
We have lived enough of our lives in a slumber, unaware of our grander purpose and potential. We spent enough time unfocused and unmotivated. We've wasted enough time, even if we have only wasted a single minute. Now is the time to be sober, committed, productive.
4:4 In the development of our personal and spiritual growth, it might become necessary for us to branch of from the people and institutions we used to affiliate ourselves with. Likely, our choice to separate will not be received well. That should not deter or even concern us. We have a purpose here and our focus must be entirely on it.
4:5 No matter what anybody says of you or accuses you of, God knows your truth. You have a personal connection with Him. He is more familiar with you than you are with you... He created you and is able to understand and view your life from all perspectives. You do not need to worry about how others define you because God has given you the freedom to define yourself.
4:6 The literal and figurative dead both receive this philosophy and are given the choice to accept or reject it. God knows that humans judge each other; separate from our own flawed dis-ability to judge, He judges. He knows the intention of our hearts; He can discern where we stand amid the fine lines of right and wrong, just and unjust. Each soul has its personal moments with God, during which even a lost soul can regain life.
4:7 This classroom as it is expires. Generations have existed before us and have been entirely cleared off of the earthly map. We are souls, here for a sojourn only. Peter reveals to us that our sojourn here is reaching its culmination. Remember that the end of this life is not the end of life and therefore there is nothing to fear. As we are reaching the culmination, it is time now, more than ever, to be focused on our faith... not out of fear for punishment. No, we must be focused on our faith because our faith instructs us, teaches and grows us. There are many lessons to be learned here and while we have the opportunity, we should be blessed to learn as many as we can.
4:8 Here is how we serve this faith, learning from its instruction:
- Have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins, Proverbs 10:12.
- Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. Do good with sincerity, authenticity and gratitude for the ability to be impactful here.
4:10
- Re-gift your gifts. Share your blessings. Be like a light, reach into darkness and illuminate it. Your life have the potential to inspire and heal others... allow your life to do all that it is capable of.
4:11
- Become a platform, allowing good to speak its truth to humanity. Never thwart or hinder a compassionate voice. Allow all goodness to flow into the earth. We are blessed to have much diversity on our planet; allow it to thrive. The way we express or understand our conception of divinity might be different but every spirituality with a core of justice and love deserves its right to speak.
4:12-14 Understand your duty to justice as a blessed opportunity: Acts 5:41 So they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
A beautiful life, a rewarding life is a life lived in the service of justice and compassion. The apostles in the aforementioned verse became our example. There is no more meaningful thing to devote your life to than this philosophy (which works to ensure the health and joy of all life).
Wake up each morning in fascination and gratitude: for you were entrusted with life. You were given the ability to impact life here. It is a monumental and blessed opportunity and God has declared that we are worthy. The very presence of our souls here points out that we are worthy of this massive mission... for we were given the life through which to join it.
Not only does humanity benefit from our enlistment in this spiritual army, but so do we:
Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
4:15 You will be kept busy in life no matter which path you choose. Therefore, choose the path which through your busyness you will accomplish. Don't just go through the motions. Be the motion. Propel your values, manifest them.
4:16 Never be ashamed of your work in compassion. Have courage and appreciation for yourself when you battle injustice because you win the war. Through your work with God, you win the war. Never be ashamed of your humility, of your alignment with good and insistence on being fair, sober, kind, generous, hopeful, faithful. For such inherits life.
4:17-18 The first people God will confront are His fellow-workers, for they signed themselves up as participants of this mission. Therefore, as workers with God we must produce. We have the blessed duty of producing patience, love, compassion, justice, light, truth, opportunity.
We have discussed it before, Luke 12:48... From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. People often interpret this verse as a message to the monetarily wealthy only. Not so!
If you have been given any gift which applied to others will contribute to their well-being, you are expected to use it. If you have wisdom, you are meant to share your wisdom. If you have the time and capacity to be a friend, a guide, a helper in any circumstance or field, you have the responsibility of sharing it.
This philosophy has grand goals and therefore has high standards. When we commit ourselves to this faith, we are expected to strive toward those standards. Always, in every moment. God is going to look first at the people who had the ability and platform to do the most here. For those who realize that their soul is impactful here... is quite responsible for how it impacted humanity.
4:19 Confront injustice. It will fight back. You have the source of strength and courage to defeat it when you commit yourself to this faith. For this faith will always faithfully love you, guide you and protect you.
