Encore - 1000- What Do You Live For? - 1 Peter 4:2

Hey, it's Mike Henry with Follower of One. This is the second of a multi-part discussion on first Peter four.  Today I'd like to read verses one and two, "Therefore, since Jesus Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. So as to live the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God."   Again, that's from the new American standard.  Yesterday, or in the previous episode, I spoke about how the first verse talks about we prepare ourselves by arming ourselves with the purpose that Jesus had, which was coming to die.   He came to die, and we are all destined to die.  That's our destiny. But when we are prepared to suffer in the flesh, we cease from sin. And he goes on to talk about this here. How do we stop sinning? We don't stop sinning in this life. It's when we enter the next life that we cease from sin, we live the rest of our time in this life, in the flesh, no longer for the lusts of men.   My expectations were always wrong, and I would always get surprised by my circumstances. I always dreamed about the most positive outcomes to everything.  I expected everything to work well and to go well, to be easy, to be beneficial, I always had high positive expectations. I'm a good example of why people like to be pessimists because as an optimist, I feel like I'm regularly disappointed.   I joked last time about how the secret to happiness in golf is to maintain low expectations. Many people who are pessimistic will tell you that if they can maintain low expectations, they're always positively surprised. That's not what this verse is talking about though. It's not coaching us on being pessimistic as a lifestyle.   This passage, I believe is challenging us to put aside the idea that our life works for us. We will not leave this life with anything. The treasure that we lay up in heaven, which is something that I love to think about. I believe that's in the form of the relationships that we have and the investment that we made in people and the investment that we made in helping others learn about Jesus.   To me, that's laying up treasure in heaven is basically making a difference. Taking part in Jesus's work. Jesus came to restore man to a right relationship with God. The degree to which we participate in that action. I believe we're laying up treasure in heaven. In other words, we're being challenged in this passage to focus, not on ourselves, but on what Jesus would have us do no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God, Jesus said over and over again that he came to do the will of his father.   He's showing us. That our job is to do the will of God the father. Our job is to make Jesus known and visible in the world.  And the way that we do that, isn't by just going to church all the time.  It's by living as a follower of Jesus Christ. That's why we talk about our five daily activities. Pray, appreciate others, know you believe, serve others, and speak for yourself.  I hope to challenge you today, as you prepare, remind yourself today, my life extends beyond my flesh. My life extends beyond that to the point where it's just me and God, there's no more sin and I'm there with him.  What do I need to do today to work towards that end to lay up treasure in heaven?   Not to be focusing on my stuff and my comfort today, but rather to focus on where I will one day be in eternity.  I believe that's the great part about this challenge.  And my favorite part of this passage is coming up in the next episode, which we'll talk about tomorrow or whenever you hear this, it's the next episode verses three and four are exciting to me.   Thank you for being a marketplace minister. Thank you for making a difference in your workplace. Today, ask God to show you how to look past your flesh and past your present circumstances to look 150 years into the future and the type of difference that you hope your life makes both in this world and in the next it all matters.