Submit to God, Resist the Devil Part 2
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand ✋ of God, that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. KJV Note: NKJV=New King 👑 James Version
The Apostle having just commanded us to submit ourselves to one another now commands each one of us something that we should already know and be aware of but need be reminded of as Peter is doing well with these words, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty Hand ✋ of God." God who is now our Father yet He is still our God, that is, although He loves us just as He loves our Lord Jesus still He must be yielded to by us as our God. He is the One that determines if our lungs 🫁 are able to breathe in our next breath 🫁 and He alone should reign and rule over our earthly lives. The little English phrase 'Humble yourselves' that begins 1 Peter 5:6 is translated by the Greek word tapeinoo which means to bring oneself low in the inner man 👞 and inner woman 👠 before God and under God. In other words, we are still mere creatures (even though we are born into His Heavenly family as sons and daughters) and He/God is our Creator, that is, He/God is the One who formed us in our Mother's womb from absolute nothing into a living breathing soul with a human body that functions even beyond our comprehension (Genesis 1:27) & (Genesis 2:7). We should make a conscious effort to see ourselves as far beneath God who is all powerful and we are powerless, for this will give us the proper perspective always and destroy all pride within us when we keep this reality close to our bosom. This Greek word tapeinoo is an old verb in the imperative mode meaning Peter is communicating action on our parts to influence our behavior that we would see the great attention and urgency required by us. The reason behind the Apostle's urgent command is that, "He may exalt you in due time." The little English phrase 'He may exalt' is translated by the Greek word hupsoo which simply means to elevate you to some service for Him and not any man ♂️ or woman ♀️ elevating themselves, for is it not written, "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the Body just as He pleased." (1 Corinthians 12:18) (NKJV). Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of 1 Peter 5:6, "Those who submit patiently to the dispensations of God's providence He lifts up; those who lift themselves up, God thrust down. If we humble not ourselves under God's grace, He will humble us under His judgements. Those who patiently submit to Him, He exalts in due time; if His Hand ✋ be mighty to depress, it is also mighty to exalt." Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 5:6, "'Since God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble, therefore humble yourselves, not only one to another, but to the Great God, whose judgments are coming upon the world 🌍, and must begin at the House 🏡of God (1 Peter 4:17); His Hand ✋is Almighty, and can easily pull you down if you be proud, or exalt you if you be humble; and it will certainly do it, either in this life, if He sees it best for you, or at the day of general retribution.' Learn, (1) The consideration of the Omnipotent Hand ✋of God should make us humble and submissive to Him in all that He brings upon us. (2) Humbling ourselves to God under His Hand ✋is the next way to deliverence and exaltation; patience under His chastisements, and submission to His pleasure, repentance, prayer 🙏, and hope in His mercy, will engage His help and release in due time."
Peter wanted to remind those early suffering saints of the thing that should have been to well known to them and also should be well known to us saints today and those saints of every era and generation and that is, "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." He/God is not only our Creator now, but He has bought us spirit, soul, and body with or at a very high price that being the precious shed Blood of His Son Christ Jesus our Lord, for it is written, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) (NKJV). Remember the Apostle Paul's words to the Church @Thessaloniki when he wrote this, "Now may the God of Peace 🕊️ Himself sanctify/set you apart completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved BLAMELESS at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) (NKJV). Remember it is He/God/Abba who has begun this good work in us by resurrecting us from our spiritual death and making us alive to Himself (Romans 6:11 & Philippians 1:6). Therefore, when we remember this and let this resonate in our spirit we will know and be assured that we are cared for deeply despite any of our trials, tribulations, or testings we endure in our sojourn on our way home 🏠 to Heaven. So we in all of our wants and needs down here and all of our pressures and troubles we must once and for all throw our whole life unto Him for we know and can be sure and certain that He cares deeply for us. This is why we must make sure to humble ourselves under His Hand ✋ because pride within us not only produces a false superiority complex, but it is the reason for our anxiety and worry making us forget that we are in the care of the Greatest Father and the One and only Great God. Here is what Adam Clarke had to say of 1 Peter 5:7, "Your anxiety, your distracting care, on Him, for He careth for you, He meddles or concerns Himself, with the things that interest you. Whatever things concern a follower of God, whether they be spiritual or temporal, or whether in themselves great or small, God concerns Himself with them; what affects them affects Him; in all their afflictions He is afflicted. He who knows that God cares for him, need have no anxious cares about himself. This is a plain reference to Psalm 55:22: 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee. He will bear both thee and thy burden.'"
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
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