1 Peter 5:1-14English
Standard Version (ESV)
5 So I exhort the elders
among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well
as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that
is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not
under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being
examples to the flock. 4 And
when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger,
be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward
one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves,
therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt
you, 7 casting all your
anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith,
knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your
brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And
after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called
you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen,
and establish you. 11 To
him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
12 By Silvanus, a faithful
brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring
that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you
greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet
one another with the kiss of love.
Peace to
all of you who are in Christ.
Wow,
what a passage and so direct and true.
Often times we can get caught up in church politics. We try to figure out who is in charge, is it
the pastor, leadership, or the church congregation? What we forget is that it is God who is in
charge. As I read this I had to thank
the Lord for my Pastor because he does demonstrate these things to his
congregation. At the same time I needed
to pray that God protect him from the attacks of satan who does prowl around
like a roaring lion. The devil likes to
attack when things are going good because he does not want the Christian to win
the battle. We know though, that we will
be on the winning side of the war at the time of the final battle! Stand firm, all you that serve Him.
The
second portion of this passage speaks directly to me and I you too will
draw much from it. What does it mean to
humble ourselves before the Lord? In my
thinking it means to always depend on Him no matter the situation. When I begin to worry, I begin to pray. I believe this is humbling myself before the
Lord. However, I need to stop the worry
and just pray! I know that He is the
only One that knows the answer but often times I think I deserve to know. That is when I need to stop and remember that
He is watching from above and is watching out for me. He not only knows the outcome before I do He
is in control of it. I know that my
strength will come from Him and Him alone.
Most of all, I know that I am not “all that” but God IS. I cannot control everything that happens in
my life but I know that God does.
We
worry, we fret, we lose sleep, and we (at least I) cry a lot but why? Trust in the Lord as you seek Him, know that
He is the One and Only One that can help you through your trials. Honor those who serve God by taking care of
His sheep. Pray for them because just
like us they can fall into the trap of pride.
Seek Him and know that He is worthy of our humility.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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