Words to live by today from what I am reading

1 Peter 3:10-12

Whoever wants to embrace life

and see the day fill up with good,

Here's what you do:

Say nothing evil or hurtful;

 Snub evil and cultivate good;

run after peace for all you're worth.

 God looks on all this with approval,

listening and responding well to what he's asked;

But he turns his back

on those who do evil things.

Wow! Today we need to fill the day with good embracing the life God has given us!! Snub evil and cultivate good.  What a challenge some days!

1 Peter 3:13-15

If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.

Telling people why we live the way we live with the utmost courtesy!!  I remember the "old" days of witnessing. We were not courteous at all.  Too in your face. I must have sounded like a self righteous idiot,  Praise God he has brought me out from that!

1 Peter 3:16-18

Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively:suffered because of others 'sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all––was put to death and then made alive––to bring us to God.

Bring on the mud!!!  I will just take a bath in Christ Jesus to clean me up!

1 Peter 4:1-2

Learn to Think Like Him

 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.

That we can all be free to pursue God without sin bogging us down. 

1 Peter 4:3-5

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.

We are held accountable to God and no one else.  Remember, people are not held accountable to you for their sins.  It is a matter between them and God. Do not judge. We have to remove the plank from our own eye first.  Removing that plank is a lifelong chore until Jesus returns.

1 Peter 4:7-11

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!

1 Peter 4:19

So if you find life difficult because you're doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he's doing, and he'll keep on doing it.