What Do You Crave?...

I am captivated by Scripture.  Now, don't get me wrong, this is not always the case in my life.  However, in my life right now God has used the work of the Holy Spirit inside of Derek to crave a "hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matthew 5:6).  God has giving me a craving for "the pure spiritual milk" (1 Peter 2:2).  God is using the "living and active" (Hebrews 4:12) "sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:17) to mold me and shape into His wonderful "workmanship" (Ephesians 2:10).

I would love to sit here and say that this has always been the case with me and God's Word.  I would love to say that I have always had a passionate desire for the Word of God to "dwell in me richly" (Colossians 3:16).  After all, "all scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 3:16).  After all, the word of God "is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105).

Currently at Ada First Free Will Baptist Church I am preaching through a series entitled Stand Firm:  An Indepth Look at First Peter.  We are eight sermons into preaching/teaching through this book by the Apostle Peter.  This past Sunday was sermon eight in the series.  Our text was 1 Peter 2:1-3.  Let the simplicity, yet convicting truths of this passage ring in your heart and mind this morning:

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.  Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation--if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Over the next several days, we will be taking a closer look at exactly what this passage is instructing believers to do.  Tomorrow we will begin by looking at:  "Things We Must Put Away".  Blessings!

P.S.  If you would like to listen to the sermon I preached from this passage, click here.