1 Peter 4:4 (KJV) They Think It Strange

1 Peter 4:4 (KJV)

Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:

It is a plain fact that anyone who has come to Christ and follows the way He instructs must change from what they once did.

• We have changed the crowd we run with.
• We have changed the attitude we once had.
• We have changed the words we once spoke.
• We have changed the acts we are involved in.

And those who haven’t changed don’t understand. Even if they never knew us before we were saved, they can tell our life is new. It’s not the natural one. It’s a choice we’ve made—a decision to be different, to be separate from them.

They think it strange that we see their “excess of riot” as strange.

And they speak evil—not necessarily of the way we have chosen, but of us.

My experience has been that they do so because they believe, given enough pressure, we can be persuaded to return to that walk they know is natural and that they themselves have never left.

The passage following this reminds us that there is a judge of both those who are saved and those who are not (the quick and the dead), and that those who think it strange we do not run to that same excess of riot will give an account.

#CalledToBeDifferent #NoLongerTheSame #ChooseHoliness #StrangersToTheWorld #LivingForChrist

They Think It Strange: Standing Apart in a World of Riot

✨ Your life in Christ should look different—and the world will notice. 1 Peter 4:4 reminds us they’ll think it’s strange when you don’t run with them anymore. They may even speak evil of you.

But that separation is proof that Christ has changed you. 🕊️

👉 How has your life changed since coming to Christ? Share one way in the comments below—it might encourage someone else to take that same step of faith.

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

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1 Peter 4:4 (KJV) They Think It Strange

1 Peter 3:12 (KJV) Who’s Watching Matters

1 Peter 3:12 (KJV)

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

The contrast of the passage is striking and worthy of meditation. This world’s system—and those who walk in it—are definitely against those who seek the righteousness of Christ. It has always been so, and it seems to be ever increasing in our time.

Just to believe the Bible is thought to be ignorant, and worse. To preach the Bible is, in some places, considered a hate crime. The teachings of the Bible are twisted to mean things they never meant, and examples of professing Christians who’ve done wickedly are set forth as if they represent the fruit of the faith.

They do speak evil of us, and good people suffer for well doing.

But let’s not focus on that just now. If we would see good days (I take them to mean eternal ones):

• Refrain the tongue from evil
• Eschew evil
• Seek peace and ensue it

Why?

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.”

It matters little who else has their eyes on us or who else hears what we say, so long as we have confidence in this.

#EyesOfTheLord #PrayersHeHears #LivingRighteously #FaithOverFear

Who’s Watching Matters — And God Is

🌟 God’s eyes are on the righteous. Are you living like He’s watching? 🌟

1 Peter 3:12 (KJV) reminds us: “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers…”

✅ Refrain your tongue from evil.
✅ Turn away from sin.
✅ Seek peace and pursue it.

👉 Question for you: What helps you “seek peace” when the world speaks evil of your faith? Share your answer in the comments!

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 Peter 3:12 (KJV) Who’s Watching Matters

1 Peter 2:16 (KJV) Liberty with Purpose

1 Peter 2:16 (KJV)

As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

The children of God are called to be witnesses not only in word but also in testimony. I think we often put much less emphasis on testimony than we ought. It’s a balance we are called to walk.

Our testimony must present us as a free people. We are not bound by rules, restrictions, regulations, or religion. Just as the children of the king are free from tribute, so are the children of God a free people.

But liberty is no excuse for malicious behavior. Our liberty frees us to be servants of God, servants of righteousness, and truly, servants one of another. The king does not take tribute of his children, but Christ did pay the tribute tax to the temple. He was free not to — and free to do so.

The children of God are not required to behave in a certain manner to earn or maintain their heritage. But their heritage liberates them, enabling them to be much more than vassals, beaten into submission. We are ambassadors; we are representatives. We are privileged to serve, not forced to serve.

We are free. Use it wisely.

#1Peter216  #LibertyInChrist #ServantsOfGod #ChristianTestimony #UseFreedomWisely

Liberty with Purpose: Not a Cloak for Sin

✨ Christ has made us free — but how are we using that freedom? ✨

1 Peter 2:16 reminds us: “As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.”
Freedom in Christ isn’t a pass to live selfishly — it’s a privilege to serve Him, serve righteousness, and serve one another.

🙋‍♂️ Question for you: How have you used your Christian liberty this week to serve someone else? Share your thoughts in the comments — your testimony might inspire someone today!

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 Peter 2:16 (KJV) Liberty with Purpose

1 Peter 1:2 (KJV) Who Are the Elect?

1 Peter 1:2 (KJV)

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Elect — The majority, I think, accept what is really a preconceived notion directly associated with Calvinism. The idea is so deeply ingrained that most Christians identify as either Calvinist or anti- Calvinist—not based on who the elect are, but on who can be the elect.

The Calvinist, and nearly everyone else, claims the elect are those chosen by God to be saved.

A friend of mine, who is certainly opposed to Calvinism, recently wrote:

“Calvinism does not understand that the elect is Christ the seed, not as many but Christ. To be elect you must be in Christ, and that is by grace through faith in the atoning blood of Christ and Him alone.”

Another preacher recently said, “Election is not complicated. Election equals selection.” My question is, “Selected for what?” The presumption is salvation. I don’t buy it.

• Noah was elected to build the ark—but anyone could have gotten on board.
• Jacob’s family was elected to bring forth the Word of God—but anyone could read it.
• Aaron’s family was elected to be the priests—but all Israel could bring sacrifices to God.
• David’s family was elected to bring the world the Saviour—but that didn’t mean the other tribes were eternally lost.

I once heard a man say the elect are those chosen of God to carry the gospel. In other words, Jacob’s family was elected for that job, but Esau’s wasn’t. When one person is hired over another, it’s common to say something like, “I didn’t like this one for that job.”

Based on the book of Ephesians, I take the position that election has to do with the local church. It’s God’s will, His plan—He has elected that when a soul is saved, that soul is united by baptism into a local body of Christ made up of all nations, kindreds, and tongues—a new man in Jesus Christ.

When someone is obedient to this will of God, we might rightly refer to them as elect. They are members of a local church. Or we might refer to that church body itself as the elect.

I’m convinced we don’t have to be one or the other—Calvinist or anti-Calvinist. We can simply be what the Bible says. We can be Biblicists.

It’s likely that the term elect in Scripture refers to different things in different contexts. In this passage, I see the elect as a congregation of believers—perhaps even several congregations—scattered “throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” It could even refer to members of one church who came from those regions. They are elect according to the foreknowledge and plan of God—it is His will they be united in this church. They are elect according to the sanctification of the Spirit—the Spirit has drawn them into the local body God intended for them. And they are elect through obedience to the gospel—trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

It is a presumption, I believe in error, that election has to do with who is selected to be saved. It has instead to do with God’s will for those who are saved.

#BiblicistPerspective #1Peter1v2 #GodsElectExplained #GraceAndPeaceMultiplied #LocalChurchTruth

Who Are the Elect? A Biblicist Look Beyond Calvinism

“Who are the elect—and what does that mean for you?

Many believe election is God choosing who gets saved. Others see it as God choosing a people for a purpose. But what does the Bible actually say about the elect, the church, and the plan of God?

💬 QUESTION FOR YOU: When you hear the word ‘elect,’ what comes to mind first—salvation, service, or something else?

👇 Drop your thoughts in the comments and let’s talk about what Scripture really says!”

📲 Hungry for more solid, biblical teaching? Visit marvinmckenzie.org for Bible studies, videos, and resources rooted in the King James Bible.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6800 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 Peter 1:2 (KJV) Who Are the Elect? 

1 Peter 5:6 (KJV) The Power of Humility

1 Peter 5:6 (KJV)

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

 

I once read a small book written by Andrew Murray about humility. It is a good book, an easy read, and one that I often recommended to people when I pastored. Murray says that God promises to lift the humble, but that humility is not an action we can will for ourselves. To be humble, we must be humbled. He then goes on to suggest, therefore, that we ought to give thanks to God for those events and persons He uses to humble and humiliate us. I approach this passage today with that in mind, because it appears here that we can humble ourselves.

 

The word translated in the passage means to depress, debase, humiliate, or bring low. 

John Gill defines it as, “be ye humbled before God, and in his sight; quietly submit to his will; patiently bear every affliction without murmuring, repining, or replying against him; be still under the rod, and despise not the chastening of the Lord; mourn over sin as the cause, acknowledge your vileness and unworthiness, and stand in awe of his majesty.”  

Albert Barnes says, “Be willing to take a low place—a place such as becomes you.”

 

I am reminded of Luke 14:8-10 (KJV) 

When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 

And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.  

But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.

 

And also, Philippians 2:3 (KJV)

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

 

Again, Romans 12:10 (KJV) 

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.

 

Being humble comes from being humbled. Circumstances work together to develop it within us. Humbling ourselves is a discipline we can master; it is the willful choice to accept less than another for their benefit.

 

#BiblicalHumility  #SpiritualGrowth  #WalkInHumility  #ChristlikeCharacter  #ScriptureWisdom  

The Power of Humility: How God Lifts the Lowly

 

• Will you choose to humble yourself under God's mighty hand today?
• Step forward in obedience, and watch how He works in and through you.

👉 Join our community in studying God’s Word and strengthening your faith.

To my readers:

Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

For this and, more than 6400 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Join me at Daily Visits with God Podcast
https://marvinmckenzie.substack.com/

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi  is an opportunity to support this effort to reach a world of souls with the Word of God. I would appreciate any gift you can give. 

1 Peter 5:6 (KJV) The Power of Humility