Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Saturday, 23 June 2018 "Beware of Sinful Desires" by Caleb Reynolds - 1 Peter 2:4-12.

Reflecting God - Embrace Holy Living - The Global of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States for Saturday, 23 June 2018 "Beware of Sinful Desires" by Caleb Reynolds - 1 Peter 2:4-12.
1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, the living stone, rejected by people but chosen by God and precious to him, 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be cohanim set apart for God to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to him through Yeshua the Messiah. 6 This is why the Tanakh says,
“Look! I am laying in Tziyon a stone,
a chosen and precious cornerstone;
and whoever rests his trust on it
will certainly not be humiliated.”[1 Peter 2:6 Isaiah 28:16]
7 Now to you who keep trusting, he is precious. But to those who are not trusting,
“The very stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone”;[1 Peter 2:7 Psalm 118:22]
8 also he is
a stone that will make people stumble,
a rock over which they will trip.[1 Peter 2:8 Isaiah 8:14] the King’s cohanim,[] a holy nation,]
They are stumbling at the Word, disobeying it — as had been planned. 9 But you are a chosen people,[1 Peter 2:9 Isaiah 43:20; Deuteronomy 7:6; 10:15][1 Peter 2:9 Exodus 19:6; Isaiah 61:6] a people for God to possess![1 Peter 2:9 Isaiah 43:21; Exodus 19:5] Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; before, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.[1 Peter 2:10 Hosea 2:25(23)]
11 Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and temporary residents[1 Peter 2:11 Genesis 23:4; 47:4; Psalm 39:13(12); 1 Chronicles 29:15] not to give in to the desires of your old nature, which keep warring against you; 12 but to live such good lives among the pagans that even though they now speak against you as evil-doers, they will, as a result of seeing your good actions, give glory to God on the Day of his coming. (Complete Jewish Bible).
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I stopped off at the grocery store after work. We were going to be grilling hamburgers and having dinner with friends. I had a list of food to buy. Root beer was not on the list.
The first thing I saw in the store was the cooler full of root beer. Going from aisle to aisle, I kept thinking about it. When I came to the register, my mind had changed. It was not a question of if I would buy root beer, but which kind of root beer I was going to buy.
Desires lead to decisions, decisions lead to actions, and actions lead to consequences. Some desires are good and God-honoring: companionship, nourishment, shelter. Some desires don’t have much of a moral element at all: preferences for certain food or favorite sports team. Some desires lead us into sinful behaviors. The desires themselves are not sin, but if we follow them, they lead us away from God.
Not all desires honor God. As we seek to follow God, we need to nourish some desires (for prayer, Scripture, Christian fellowship), and starve some (for selfishness, immorality, and retribution). After all, the most important thing is not our will, but God’s will.***
Hymn for Today: "Blessed Be the Name" by Charles Wesley.

1. O for a thousand tongues to sing, Blessed be the name of the Lord! The glories of my God and King, Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Refrain: Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! 

2. Jesus, the name that calms my fears, Blessed be the name of the Lord! 'Tis music in the sinner's ears, Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Refrain: Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! 

3. He breaks the pow'r of canceled sin, Blessed be the name of the Lord! His blood can make the foulest clean, Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Refrain: Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! 

4. I never shall forget that day, Blessed be the name of the Lord! When Jesus washed my sins away, Blessed be the name of the Lord! Refrain: Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name, Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Thought for Today: By David, when he pretended to be insane before Avimelekh, who then drove him away; so he left:
I will bless Adonai at all times;
his praise will always be in my mouth. (Psalm 34:1) (Complete Jewish Bible)).

Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in Ethiopia.
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