In relation to my last posting; I may have mentioned that I had an opportunity to challenge my dad to ask God to deliver him from his many years of anger and said Christ delivered me from that. Not much reaction from him; I can only trust God has him where someone can witness to him as I have done all I can living with him. I did want to say that I plan to visit weekly while I'm in the area and once a month even if I do move away so likely will keep the house if I can; if not will stay locally in air b and b; etc.
Tonight among other things discussing 1 Peter we got into the subject of holiness in the lives of believers. Something in my mind which reminds me of Proverbs 27:2 where another is to praise you not yourself; I mentioned this to my dad in a letter from 2013.
Some of my thoughts are this; all saints are holy in some capacity. The fact that the Spirit resides in us of course has to be a reality as many are hypocritical and there are many tares among the wheat. I would say that holiness is both what 1 Peter describes in being "sober minded" as well as the overall growth of the "inner man".
Thinking of a friend of mine from a few years back; I could discern that indeed the Spirit was present in him; but he struggled with some obvious sins; which he was much more open and vocal about than most people I know. The advice therefore for someone who is as the Corinthians immature but still in the faith is as iron sharpening iron; exhortation and rebuke should be part of any deep friendship if we are truly concerned for our fellow believers welfare. Sometimes saying nothing and praying for the Spirit to convict is the best action in that case as well. Ultimately until we are certain someone is producing fruits worthy of repentance we can't spend all our time or go beyond what the Lord wills to try to "convince" someone.
Often lack of spiritual balance and a need to learn from others in the Body of Christ is in order. more in next posting
Tonight among other things discussing 1 Peter we got into the subject of holiness in the lives of believers. Something in my mind which reminds me of Proverbs 27:2 where another is to praise you not yourself; I mentioned this to my dad in a letter from 2013.
Some of my thoughts are this; all saints are holy in some capacity. The fact that the Spirit resides in us of course has to be a reality as many are hypocritical and there are many tares among the wheat. I would say that holiness is both what 1 Peter describes in being "sober minded" as well as the overall growth of the "inner man".
Thinking of a friend of mine from a few years back; I could discern that indeed the Spirit was present in him; but he struggled with some obvious sins; which he was much more open and vocal about than most people I know. The advice therefore for someone who is as the Corinthians immature but still in the faith is as iron sharpening iron; exhortation and rebuke should be part of any deep friendship if we are truly concerned for our fellow believers welfare. Sometimes saying nothing and praying for the Spirit to convict is the best action in that case as well. Ultimately until we are certain someone is producing fruits worthy of repentance we can't spend all our time or go beyond what the Lord wills to try to "convince" someone.
Often lack of spiritual balance and a need to learn from others in the Body of Christ is in order. more in next posting
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