{"id":6960,"date":"2015-10-12T22:43:50","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T22:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6960"},"modified":"2015-10-19T21:00:51","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T21:00:51","slug":"1-peter-16-7-the-proof-of-your-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=6960","title":{"rendered":"1 Peter 1:6-7\u2014The proof of your faith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,<\/em><em> so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ<\/em>\u20261 Peter1:6-7<\/p>\n<p><em>In this you greatly rejoice\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Why the rejoicing? Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You\u00a0are protected by the power of God.<\/li>\n<li>You\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to depend on your own mental or physical prowess, but you receive this protection through faith.<\/li>\n<li>The complete package of all that belongs to\u00a0you\u00a0in salvation will be revealed in the last times (verse 5).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2026<em> even though now for a little while if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>However, despite that incomparable salvation and wonderful hope you have attained through faith, there is this awkward thing called the troubled here and now\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Think about it. There you are, with the full counsel of the Word of God sitting in your lap, and yet you have experienced the intensity of hard times and trials that never seem to end! And if that\u2019s the way you feel right now, there\u2019s some good news packed up in what Peter said. He boldly wrote \u201c<em>now<\/em> <em>for a little while<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Before you snort, \u201cYea, <em>right<\/em>! \u2018A little while\u2019\u201d, here\u2019s a devil-busting nugget of truth you can cling to when all hell is breaking loose: It<em> IS <\/em>just for a little while! The Bible says so!<\/p>\n<p>You still don\u2019t believe it? Well, here\u2019s a second witness\u2014Paul the apostle. In the middle of all of the craziness and compounded persecution that Paul faced in his life, he stated, \u201c<em>For our light affliction, <strong>which is but for a moment<\/strong>, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory<\/em>,\u201d (2 Corinthians 4: 17, NIV).<\/p>\n<p>Yes, trials are distressing. But the key to enduring to the end is in the perspective\u2014it\u2019s just for a <em>little while<\/em>. It\u2019s only temporary \u2014<em>momentary<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2026so that the proof of your faith\u2026even though tested by fire\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n<p>When you are experiencing the bitter difficulties of life, it\u2019s extremely valuable to not only view them as momentary\u2014lasting for only a little time\u2014but to recognize that every single bummer you face can be counted as a test. Why? Because tests\u2014like the ones you took in school\u2014come to an end!<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what the word \u201cproof\u201d means here\u2014a test. And what is being tested is your faith\u2014your assurance, confidence, and solid trust in Jesus Christ and His loving provision for you.<\/p>\n<p>The tester\u2014the one whose goal is to rip your faith out of your inner man and to desecrate it by impelling you to cast away your confidence in Christ with every fiery circumstance, thought, mood, and attack he can orchestrate\u2014is the devil. The one who throws fiery ordeals your way with an ugly vengeance is <em>not<\/em> the Lover of your soul.<\/p>\n<p>But in the middle of <em>every <\/em>difficulty and <em>every <\/em>ordeal, you have the right to walk through it with the Teacher\u2014the One who is the Lover of your soul\u2014Who will hold your hand, helping and guiding you every step of the way. And the only\u00a0thing <em>He&#8217;ll<\/em>\u00a0test you\u00a0with is this: Will you cling to His Word in the midst of the enemy\u2019s evil test? The <em>evil<\/em> is from the enemy; the <em>Word<\/em> you receive in your heart is from God. (See John 10:10.)<\/p>\n<p>The wonderful thing is that Satan always overplays his hand. His attacks, meant to <em>destroy<\/em> your faith, actually <em>prove<\/em> your faith as you hold fast to the Lord. All those fiery darts he launches your way\u2014with all their hateful intent\u2014will only serve to purify and beautify your trust in Jesus as you keep your gaze fixed on Him.<\/p>\n<p>Paul said it this way: \u201c<em>\u2026look<\/em> <em>not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal<\/em>\u201d (2 Corinthians 4:18). Keep your sights fixed on your Teacher and His Word; don\u2019t fixate on the circumstances threatening your demise. This is the time-tested method\u00a0by which God brings His kids through every test safe and sound.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<em> being more precious than gold which is perishable\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Peter said \u201c<em>the proof of your faith\u201d <\/em>is<em> \u201cmore precious than gold which is perishable<\/em>\u201d. Is it the faith <em>itself <\/em>or the <em>testing<\/em> <em>of<\/em> your faith that is more precious than gold? I\u2019ve heard both interpretations. But this is what I truly believe Peter was saying here: Your <em>tested<\/em> faith\u2014the very faith you carried with you into the furnace of testing and then by it emerged\u2014victorious, despite the hateful storms that blew your way\u2014<em>that<\/em> is the faith which is more precious than gold. <em>That <\/em>kind of faith is imperishable. And that kind of faith\u2014in embryonic form\u2014is the very substance God planted in <em>your <\/em>heart when you first believed\u2014whether you feel it or not.<\/p>\n<p>\u2026<em> may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It isn\u2019t the <em>test<\/em> that brings glory to God; it\u2019s the <em>faith<\/em> that comes <em>out <\/em>of the test, <em>despite <\/em>the test,\u00a0even though\u00a0<em>battered<\/em> by the test, but triumphant nonetheless; <em>that\u2014<\/em>your <em>proven<\/em> faith<em>\u2014<\/em>is what will result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>May the proof of <em>your<\/em> faith result in praise and glory and honor to God.<\/p>\n<p>Dorothy<\/p>\n<p><em>But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold<\/em>. Job 23:10<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2015, Dorothy Frick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[241,244,242,245,243,246],"class_list":["post-6960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1-peter-1","tag-distressed-by-trials","tag-faith-more-precious-than-gold","tag-proof-of-your-faith","tag-tested-by-fire","tag-the-testing-of-your-faith","tag-tried-by-fire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6960"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7080,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6960\/revisions\/7080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}