Peter – A Breath of Fresh Air
“Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.” 1 Peter 4:1-2, The MessageWhat does it mean to think like Jesus? How will that change our view of living life daily? These are questions that need answers if we really are serious about learning to think like Him.
We all have a worldview. What we think and believe is reflected in our behavior, right down to the simplest acts of response, reaction and proaction each day. To think like Jesus is a continuing development of a Biblical worldview. George Barna explains it well,
“A biblical worldview is thinking like Jesus. It is a way of making our faith practical to every situation we face each day. A biblical worldview is a way of dealing with the world such that we ACT like Jesus, twenty-four hours a day, because we THINK like Jesus.” (George Barna, Think Like Jesus)
It’s like having a pair of special eyeglasses we wear that enables us to see things differently, to see things from God’s point of view, and to respond to those perceptions in the way that He would prescribe if He were to provide us with direct and personal revelation.
Jesus taught his disciples HOW to think as much as what to think. His teaching is for all who follow him as we learn to think more like Him. In more simple terms for us it is asking the question, “what would Jesus do if He were in my shoes right now?” and applying the answer without compromising because of how we anticipate the world reacting. It might sound simple but in this world of “have it your way” and “get it while you can” we see that this thinking like Jesus will be a profoundly opposite way of thinking and behaving and must be a daily developmental process.
Peter goes on to say,
3-5 You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.
6 Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.
7-11 Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
Did you get that??...In everything may God get the credit, the glory, honor and praise! That’s the beginning of thinking like Jesus.
Dear Heavenly Father,Your Son came down and modeled perfectly how to think, how to see things from your perspective and how to live to please You, not for the response or applause of others. Thank you! Now help us to think and behave more like You taught us. Most of the time we see that Your thinking is the exact opposite of what the world says we must believe and act upon. That’s a good place to start. Thank you for saving us. Teach us still. Transform us to be more and more, in every way, like You. Help us to react and respond more like you.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Suffering for Doing Good
Dear Heavenly Father, 
I remember a principal who said of me to a group of parents when I began a new program of teaching, “I assure you, Mrs. Callaway does not give up, she will make this happen or die trying.” I’m still wondering about this statement…”die trying.” I’m still here. (Smiling)
21-25 This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.
Peter reminds us “this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it.” We really do not know what tomorrow holds. So, don’t sell your souls for cozy and secure. Nothing in this world is tied down and secure. Even our bodies are mere tents that should be ready to be taken down and folded away, ready for travel to another location here to serve and glorify God or to our forever home in heaven. The good life is a life God directs, guides and provides for with all we need to love and serve Him. An “exemplary life” among those who don’t know Christ is one lived to tell Him with our words and actions. Be ready.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
Jesus, the One and Only, who was the perfect cornerstone and sacrifice for our sin…all sin…for all people. Jesus gave life to all dead in sin who believe and follow in His ways becoming living stones that build the living house of God. Our lives built upon His life. The rejected become accepted.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
Back to the Future is a movie that entertains but also make us think about our own future which is also speeding by like a modified DeLorean. What we do now affects everything about our future selves. We can’t go back to our old life, says Peter, we must move forward, with energy and gusto with our new life in Christ. Don’t go back, go forward with Christ. 
Dear Heavenly Father, 
8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
Benefits of knowing God through Jesus 
Peter is a breath of fresh air as we begin reading what God put on his heart to write to all of us, then and now. Eugene Peterson writes, 
Do you know what Satan hates and fears most? Christian believers, on their knees, praying and crying out in the Name of Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior! Because evil is all around us working hard to bring us down, prayer is our choice of weapons along with our shield of faith believing God hears and will respond. Paul adamantly declares, “Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” (Ephesians 6)
16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
As a virtuous act, patience is waiting WITHOUT complaining. What’s so virtuous about not complaining? In itself, not complaining carries no particular virtue. Suppose a person awaits the arrival of a friend from out of town, and he/she spends the time happily reading or watching television. We wouldn’t say that, simply because he/she’s not complaining, he/she exhibits patience in this case. Something else must be required to make one’s lack of complaint virtuous. That something is discomfort. It’s because a circumstance is uncomfortable for someone that we find him/her refusal to complain remarkable and thus regard him/her as patient.
7-8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.
There are lots of action steps to take to be patient and strong:
So, while the patience of Christ is exceptional in many respects, the basic features of this virtue are surely the same wherever it appears. Patience involves such things as self-control, humility, and generosity, all of which are themselves virtues. So one might say that patience is a virtue because it’s an exercise of several other virtues.
