The Grass Withers & The Flowers Fall, But The Word Of The Lord Endures Forever
By Faith Alone
1 PETER 1:22-25
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
”I Peter 1:22-25 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/1pe.1.22-25.NKJ
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My beloved, we must show each other “sincere love.” This involves selfless giving, caring for others needs as one does his own needs without expectation of something in return.
A self-centred person cannot truly love.
God’s unconditional selfless love and forgiveness frees you to take your focus of yourselves and reach out and meet the needs others.
To love is a commandment (MATHEW 22:34-40; MARK 12:29-31), and all the Law and the Prophets hang on that one command.
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
I John 4:17-21 NKJV
By sacrificing His own life, Christ showed His love and faithfulness to you; “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
John 15:13 NKJV
Now you can follow His example, by loving others unconditionally, and giving yourself sacrificially.
Quoting ISAIAH 40:6-8, Peter reminds us believers that in this life everything will eventually fade away; possessions, accomplishments and people will disappear. Only God’s will, Word, and work are permanent.
We believers must stop grasping at the tempory and begin to focus our time, money, and energy on the permanent, the Word of God and our eternal life in Christ Jesus.
Money, status, and all material things are temporary; like grass they will fade away; they cannot give continuous joy.
Money cannot buy happiness nor anything eternal; your status has no place in God’s kingdom, for we are all one in Christ, and Christ is the head.
That new car will soon be outdated and will give way to the elements and rust away. Furthermore, we cannot take a single thing with us from this earth; “We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.”
Ecclesiastes 5:15 NLT
Does that mean we believed shouldn’t have a nice car, home, or money in the bank? Does that mean we shouldn’t have a prestigious job or comfortable life style? Of course not, but we must hold lightly the blessings of God and not allow them to become too important to us.
The blessings God pours out come with opportunities and we must steward them well for God’s Kingdom and His glory.
Giving to the needy or indeed any good works cannot purchase one’s place in heaven, but with it comes reward that money cannot buy.
Nothing is more rewarding than to help someone in need.
Furthermore, “The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.”
Proverbs 11:25 NKJV
But giving must always be by the leading of the holy Spirit; a fool and his money are quickly parted. Furthermore, giving from the flesh can undermine God’s work and bring poverty on one’s self.
One may not be in a position to give financially, but we can all make time to lift others up in prayer.
Ones flesh remains corruptable, and like grass it shall wither away, and our personal accompaniment shall fall away like flowers, they are irrelevant to our eternal future, but being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever, your eternal future is sealed by the in-parting holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of one’s eternal future (EPHESIANS 1:13-14; 2 CORINTHIANS 1:22).
My beloved, when one receives the gift of the Holy Spirit as promised in Acts 2:38:39, the Spirit of God joins with his spirit (1 CORINTHIANS 6:17), for “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV
Therefore my beloved, your eternal future is sealed, not by your own powers, good works or achievements, but by faith.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV
Having received and walking in the leading of the Holy Spirit, He manifest Himself through one flesh to do good works in Christ and produce good fruits (GALATIANS 5:16-26).
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV
Therefore my brethren, ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV
When one slips back into sin, the Holy Spirit retreats from the flesh and resides with our spirit, which allows the demonic to enter his flesh and he becomes demonised or possessed.
It feels like He has left us, that we are alone in the wilderness. But He will never leave us (JOHN 14:15-18), but rather works from within, not to condemn, but to convict one to repent.
James tells us, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
James 4:7 NKJV
To submit to God is to come to Him in repentance, turning from sin to walk with Him.
To resist the devil, is to verbally call these demons out, then they shall flee from you and you are free.
Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
John 8:34-36 NKJV
Not free to continue in sin, but free to serve the Most High and receive all the promises of God.
But, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:1-5 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
