BLESSED BY BEING A CITIZEN OF HEAVEN

My Dear Precious Child, Peter declared in his first letter to the Jewish and Gentile converts to Christ Jesus that you and other believers are members of My kingdom of God, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people claimed by Me for My own to proclaim the glorious works of Mine who called you from darkness into My marvelous light. To the Gentiles I said that you were once a person with no people but now you are My people and once you had no mercy and now you have found mercy. (I Peter 2:9-10) In fact, he wrote, you are strangers in another country, in exile from My country of God while you live in the earth. Therefore, I urge you not to engage in carnal desires that plague your true nationality and by nature whose very nature wages war on your own soul. He wrote that although the unbelievers would label you as a troublemaker, you must keep yourself blameless among those unbelievers. Then, by observing your good works they, themselves, might give glory to Me when I make Myself real to them. (verse 12) Because of the ministry of Christ Jesus through you, you must obey every human institution, whether it is the emperor as being an earthly sovereign or governors who have been commissioned for the punishment of criminals and recognizers of the upright. Your obedience to them is My will so that you will not be arrested and defame My name. Your good behavior will silence the accusations of foolish men. You must live as free men but you must not let your freedom be an occasion for sins. In other words, live as children of Mine. You must respect every person, fostering love for your spiritual family, reverence for Me and respect for the position of the emperor. Peter in his first letter to the churches wrote that My children who are household employees must obey their employers over other ones, not only the good ones but also the harsh ones. It is a work of grace when a person can suffer injustice and endure hardship through his or her awareness of My presence in your life. If you were to do evil and get disciplined for it, what credit would you get fo that? But when you put up with suffering for doing right, that is acceptable in My eyes. It was for that reason that Christ, Himself, suffered for you as an example so that you might follow in His footsteps. He did no wrong; no deceit was found in Him. When Christ was insulted, He insulted no person. When He was made to suffer, he did not return threats. Instead, He gave himself up for Me, the One who judges justly. It was in His own body that He bore your sins on the cross so that all of you, being dead to sin, could live in guidance of My will. By His stripes you were healed. At one time you strayed like lost sheep but now you have returned to the Shepherd who is the guardian of your soul. Peter in his first letter to the churches mirrored Paul in his teachings on family life, writing that women must submit to their husbands so that their husbands will be won over to Me not by preaching but by the behavior of their wives. The husbands only need to observe the purity of their wife's way of life. He wrote that ostentatious outer garnishments are not for wives of My children. Instead, it is the adornment of their hidden character expressed in the beauty of a calm and gentle disposition. That is precious in My eyes. Peter wrote that the women of old used to adorn themselves like that, being reliant only on Me, equal to but submissive to their husbands. Peter went to the extreme, writing that women should be like Sarah who called Abraham her master. He also wrote that husbands must respect their wives, showing consideration for them because they share lives. He wrote that men must treat their wives as the weaker sex; HOWEVER, they are equal heirs to My gracious Gift of Life. Then Peter gave the reason for his teaching on family life. He wrore that men must treat their wives with love and respect to keep the answer to their prayers from being hindered. (I Peter 3:1-7 Isaiah 59:1-4) In summarizing what seems like restrictive behavior, Peter clarified his guidance by saying that husbands and wives should be like-minded toward each other, sympathetic, loving towards one another, humble towards each other, and also kind and gracious toward each other. He wrote that they should never return evil for evil or insult for insult; instead to always return a blessing. He wrote that both husbands and wives are called to act like that towards each other since they are equals in My eyes so that they receive blessings as their inheritance. Peter quoted Matthew when he wrote, "A person who really cares for his or her life and wants to see prosperous days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from uttering deceit. He or she must turn from evil and do good, seeking peace and following after it because I have eyes for the just and I hear their cries. But against evildoers I have had to set My face." (I Peter 3:10-12) Isaiah knew that truth, that My arms are not so short that I cannot save you and neither are My ears so dull that I cannot hear you, but your sins and iniquities form a barrier between us so that I cannot hear your cries for help. When you walk in My straight path, you don't have to fight off demons at every turn or cry for My help because I am always with you. Your Father of Meaningful Instructions