Covered in Ashes on Wednesday

Name: Andrew Burriss
Scripture: 1 Peter 1: 13-15
13So think clearly and exercise sefl-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. 15But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
OAP:People need the lord! The passage tells me that I need to be practicing being holy like God. Things like looking foward to discoving our gracious salvation with God to exercising self-control. "Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires" God is saying to us that when we come in contact with God, we need to stay close with him and not stray back to Satan. We have to try to not be black sheep any more but try to become pure white sheep that stay close with God.

To me I feel that this directly applies to my life. I begin to only look for God when I need him most. After I humble myself to God I begin to stray when I feel like I don't need God anymore.
This passage reminds me that I can't just sit around and expect to have a close relationship with God if I don't work out my Salvation or in other words look forward to a gracious salvation with God. I can't slip into my old ways. This passage teaches my two really good things at the same time. One being to look forward to the gracious salvation of God and the other to keep ourselves in a holy bound with God once we attain the strong relationship. For me Moods drive my Christain life. If I'm in a bad mood then I will try to search for God but when I'm happy I forget about my relationship with God and ignore what God throws at me instead of just stopping and listening to what God was trying to say to me. The last part of this passage says "15But you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy." God is telling me that because he chose us to be with him we need to be holy like him. This isn't saying that we will be perfect people but Christ wants me to maintain a steady passionate relationship with him.
There is too much to say about this passage. This passage is the most important set of verses to me because it really ties any question I have about my realionship with God. my mind is so confused because of how much glory and meaning that this passage means to me. I can't explain all of it, thats how much it means to my life. I have to say I love these verses so so much.

Prayer: God feel like my relationship with you isn't as close as I want to to be. The problem with our relationship is me. I'm not serving you in the right way. I always feel like my relationship with you is friven by my mood. my mood drive me sometimes to you but other times away from from you. I really want a strong and steady relationship. God in philipians 4:13 you say " I can do everything through Christ,who give me strength. God please give me your strength. The strength to keep exercising self-control, looking forward to gracious salvation and live in God's shadow as a member of a very steady relationship with God bound by holiness.
Amen