20/07/2012 - Follow these counsels!

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Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.

I Peter 2: 1

We turn our backs to the world and to the devil when we get converted. Although we are born again there are still some bad habits we need to abandon. Otherwise, our earthly essence, if allowed, will turn us into people as fallacious as we were before our conversion. Therefore, let us have a close look at the following counsels given to us by Peter which were taught to him by the lips of our Master whom he followed physically over three years and then, by faith. According to the apostle we need to leave behind the following errors:

All malice – Such tendency of doing evil drives people further away from our Creator and closer to the enemy instead. That is the reason why we need to be humble and we need to trust in the divine promises. After all, The Lord promised never to leave us or to forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We need not bluffing to conquer anything; nor be suspicious of anybody. My hope is that your source of information may be only that from our God.

All deceit – It feels really awful seeing the children of God deceiving their brothers in Christ and even the lost ones! How foolish those people are considering that, in doing so, they are actually selling themselves to the devil. Now, we must do nothing which would place us under the devilish will. The enemy is evil and all those who are under his operation will pay a high price for that. Is not that the reason why many are still going through suffering?

Hypocrisy – Pretension is not harmonious with the title we boast about as children of God. We will be doing well if we leave behind hypocrisy with all our heart. Jesus has instructed us to say “yes” to our “yes” and “no” to our “no” (Matthew 5: 37). That is the reason why you must never say anything but the truth. You must never pretend, if you do you will be displeasing The Lord.

Envy – That feeling will always persecute us if we do not strip ourselves of it. Someone may be used by God; yet, at the same time, they happen to live their life being dominated by envy. We will not be able to be complete in all things if we have such horrible personality defect. With that error, we cannot hear the voice of God considering that whenever The Lord speaks you will be too busy taking such evil attitude.

All evil speaking – Moaning upsets anyone particularly our God. That sin is the one the Israelites committed on their journey through the desert. Although they saw great miraculous operations from The Most High, every time hardship came up, instead of praying, they would open their mouths to complain. In doing so, they ended up upsetting The Lord who had other plans for them.

Get to know The Word of God very well and then you will always please Him. So, your strength will increase considering that the joy of The Lord is what gives you strength (Nehemiah 8: 10). Instead of cherishing those defects you must fill yourself up with The Holy Spirit. Thus, you will not give room for those defects to share your life with you, those errors which will absolutely not be of any assistance to you. Being filled up with The Holy Spirit your journey will take place within that divine atmosphere, and you will ultimately enjoy peace.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares