08-30-2007, 08:08 PM
Good evening ... sorry for the lateness ... but hopefully better late than never ... :giverose:
Today's text is taken from I Peter 1:8 ...
''Though you never saw him, you love him.''
WT comments ...
''Our loyalty to Christ is founded on appreciation for what he did as well as for his outstanding qualities. While on earth, Jesus as King-Designate displayed on a small scale what he will do as reigning King on a global scale in God's due time. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick, the blind, the disabled, the deaf, and the speechless. He even brought some dead individuals back to life. (Matt 15:30,31: Luke 7:11-16: John 6:5-13) Because Jesus was mild-tempered and lowly in heart, those who were weighed down with pressures and burdens were refreshed by his upbuilding teachings and kind personality. (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 10:13-16) Having knowledge of Jesus' life on earth enables us to get to know his qualities as earth's future Ruler---most notably his self-sacrificing love.''---Mark 1:40-45. w5/1/06 4,5b
My comments ... :blush:
Hmmmm ... todays text gives one room to pause and meditate on this COMPLETE verse I think ... including surrounding verses as well ... :read::thinking:
The full verse reads ...
8 Though YOU never saw him, YOU love him. Though YOU are not looking upon him at present, yet YOU exercise faith in him and are greatly rejoicing with an unspeakable and glorified joy,
It is indeed true that Christ did MANY MANY wondrous and beautiful things for us to reflect upon and draw strength and hope from ... indeed cause our faith to grow and deepen ... and it is this FAITH ... sowed in LOVE for our Lord that will enable us to benefit from what came for ... lived for ... and then so selflessly died for ...
The restoration and salvation of mankind!!
However, our faith is not something that comes easy or without struggle as is mentioned in the previous verse in 7 ...
7 in order that the tested quality of YOUR faith, of much greater value than gold that perishes despite its being proved by fire, may be found a cause for praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now I have to stop and think about this for a while ... :thinking:
How much value does people put in gold ...? Most here would agree that some yearn for it, value it, work for it, will steal for it, and in some cases the lure of this precious metal will cause some to die for it ... and yet what exactly IS gold ...
While it is indeed of value and very beautiful and can make beautiful things to look upon ... can it save our spiritual life and give us our everlasting future ... and can it stand up to the 'heat' or the 'fire' ... what happens to this precious metal when fire is put upon it ... does it get weaker or does it grow stronger ...? I think we all know that it just melts away in a liquid form waiting until someone comes along to make something out of it ... so it of itself ... is really valueless when we look at the big picture ...
And yet faith ... something that doesn't appear to look like much to the majority of mankind is not even sought after as something precious ... to see that the those who have this faith are DESIROUS in the eyes of those who count ... God and his Son ... that this faith makes them strong and when fire comes along this faith instead of melting in fear, hopeless, despair, anger, and the like ... instead grows and strengthens which every test that comes along ...
And it is this TEST FAITH of ours ... a faith based on LOVE and HOPE that will enable us to see the fulfillment IN OURSELVES of verse 9 ...
9 as YOU receive the end of YOUR faith, the salvation of YOUR souls.
Jesus had this kind of FAITH ... and it was possibly this faith ... this believing in the innate good and worthiness of seeing mankind aspire to what we can be under the direction and guidance of our God and his Son ... the DEEP LOVE us sinful humans who struggled to believe despite all the adversity that our forefathers suffered through ... that enabled him to come to our earthly home and then to have his own faith, hope and love tested to an even greater measure that he had before ...
Jesus didn't just 'talk the talk' ... he 'walked the walk' as well ... and he showed us THE WAY in which we too can have those 'precious metals' (faith, hope and love) ... and make us beautiful in the eyes of God and of each other as well ...:heartbeat::grouphug:
When Jesus was hanging on the cross/tree (whatever) he could say AT THE END that 'it was done' or 'accomplished' ... yes his faith, hope and love SURVIVED the fire and with it his everlasting life was assured ...
Interesting that in verse 9 in the NWT footnote it has this to say about the words ... 'receive' and 'end' ...
Receive ... Or, "carry away as a prize."
End ... Or, "completed end; accomplished end." Gr., telos.
So, our striving to develop and strengthen our faith and love and hope in our Lord needs to be an ongoing exercise program ... until the 'accomplished end' ... when all the fire has been put before us and we stand up to the heat and grow strong and firm and mighty in the strength of God and Christ!!
May it prove to be so for all of us as we come to learn and grow and love each and every day what it REALLY means to be footstep followers of Christ Jesus, REAL Christians ... and servants of the most HIgh God, Jehovah!!
Luv to ya'll .:heartbeat:.. hopefully it isn't too late for others to add a thought or two or three ...;) :post:
BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts:
Today's text is taken from I Peter 1:8 ...
''Though you never saw him, you love him.''
WT comments ...
''Our loyalty to Christ is founded on appreciation for what he did as well as for his outstanding qualities. While on earth, Jesus as King-Designate displayed on a small scale what he will do as reigning King on a global scale in God's due time. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick, the blind, the disabled, the deaf, and the speechless. He even brought some dead individuals back to life. (Matt 15:30,31: Luke 7:11-16: John 6:5-13) Because Jesus was mild-tempered and lowly in heart, those who were weighed down with pressures and burdens were refreshed by his upbuilding teachings and kind personality. (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 10:13-16) Having knowledge of Jesus' life on earth enables us to get to know his qualities as earth's future Ruler---most notably his self-sacrificing love.''---Mark 1:40-45. w5/1/06 4,5b
My comments ... :blush:
Hmmmm ... todays text gives one room to pause and meditate on this COMPLETE verse I think ... including surrounding verses as well ... :read::thinking:
The full verse reads ...
8 Though YOU never saw him, YOU love him. Though YOU are not looking upon him at present, yet YOU exercise faith in him and are greatly rejoicing with an unspeakable and glorified joy,
It is indeed true that Christ did MANY MANY wondrous and beautiful things for us to reflect upon and draw strength and hope from ... indeed cause our faith to grow and deepen ... and it is this FAITH ... sowed in LOVE for our Lord that will enable us to benefit from what came for ... lived for ... and then so selflessly died for ...
The restoration and salvation of mankind!!
However, our faith is not something that comes easy or without struggle as is mentioned in the previous verse in 7 ...
7 in order that the tested quality of YOUR faith, of much greater value than gold that perishes despite its being proved by fire, may be found a cause for praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now I have to stop and think about this for a while ... :thinking:
How much value does people put in gold ...? Most here would agree that some yearn for it, value it, work for it, will steal for it, and in some cases the lure of this precious metal will cause some to die for it ... and yet what exactly IS gold ...
While it is indeed of value and very beautiful and can make beautiful things to look upon ... can it save our spiritual life and give us our everlasting future ... and can it stand up to the 'heat' or the 'fire' ... what happens to this precious metal when fire is put upon it ... does it get weaker or does it grow stronger ...? I think we all know that it just melts away in a liquid form waiting until someone comes along to make something out of it ... so it of itself ... is really valueless when we look at the big picture ...
And yet faith ... something that doesn't appear to look like much to the majority of mankind is not even sought after as something precious ... to see that the those who have this faith are DESIROUS in the eyes of those who count ... God and his Son ... that this faith makes them strong and when fire comes along this faith instead of melting in fear, hopeless, despair, anger, and the like ... instead grows and strengthens which every test that comes along ...
And it is this TEST FAITH of ours ... a faith based on LOVE and HOPE that will enable us to see the fulfillment IN OURSELVES of verse 9 ...
9 as YOU receive the end of YOUR faith, the salvation of YOUR souls.
Jesus had this kind of FAITH ... and it was possibly this faith ... this believing in the innate good and worthiness of seeing mankind aspire to what we can be under the direction and guidance of our God and his Son ... the DEEP LOVE us sinful humans who struggled to believe despite all the adversity that our forefathers suffered through ... that enabled him to come to our earthly home and then to have his own faith, hope and love tested to an even greater measure that he had before ...
Jesus didn't just 'talk the talk' ... he 'walked the walk' as well ... and he showed us THE WAY in which we too can have those 'precious metals' (faith, hope and love) ... and make us beautiful in the eyes of God and of each other as well ...:heartbeat::grouphug:
When Jesus was hanging on the cross/tree (whatever) he could say AT THE END that 'it was done' or 'accomplished' ... yes his faith, hope and love SURVIVED the fire and with it his everlasting life was assured ...
Interesting that in verse 9 in the NWT footnote it has this to say about the words ... 'receive' and 'end' ...
Receive ... Or, "carry away as a prize."
End ... Or, "completed end; accomplished end." Gr., telos.
So, our striving to develop and strengthen our faith and love and hope in our Lord needs to be an ongoing exercise program ... until the 'accomplished end' ... when all the fire has been put before us and we stand up to the heat and grow strong and firm and mighty in the strength of God and Christ!!
May it prove to be so for all of us as we come to learn and grow and love each and every day what it REALLY means to be footstep followers of Christ Jesus, REAL Christians ... and servants of the most HIgh God, Jehovah!!
Luv to ya'll .:heartbeat:.. hopefully it isn't too late for others to add a thought or two or three ...;) :post:
BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts: