1 Peter 3:8-22
Seeking God in Many Places and Sharing Our Belief With Others
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” 15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. 19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
One might believe in different things especially if He is a believer in God...We might believe everything has and/or had a First Cause...We might also believe that there is Design in nature and Creation...Men and women of all nations know it is wrong to rape, to abuse children, to unnecessarily kill animals, and that genocide is wrong...So Creation shows us love and morality and both show very important these things are for a world of harmony...That Jesus rose on the First Easter and lived on earth for forty more days after His death...After He died on the cross, He presented Himself to His Disciples and gave many convincing proofs that He was still alive...He appeared to them over this forty day period and spoke about the Kingdom of God...On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about...For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”...Jesus said in His First Sermon that “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted...Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth...Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled...Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy...Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God...Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God...Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...
So one can read and believe in the above things or one can just rationally speak about them as half truths and falsehoods...But believers in God, believe these things...There have been many people over the years who do not believe in God and have written books about their own disbelief trying to persuade others of their own disbelief...Their own disbelief does not help those who seek God or are seeking God or are young in their faith and want to believe Him...
C.S. Lewis, on the other hand, while he lived he promoted the belief in God artfully made the point in many of his books...Lewis believed there can be several people confronted with the same evidence for God yet they can interpret that evidence about God quite differently...Lewis describes one such incident about Uncle Andrew’s direct encounter with Aslan where he vehemently denied what he was seeing and hearing as making himself look stupid...Yet, Lewis who at one time was an atheist himself, write on, “Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed...Uncle Andrew did.” When it comes to proof and believing in God, the evidence is in the historical context that has been adding up for thousands of years...Since man and woman came into existence with Adam and Eve, man has believed in God...Moses writes about the two first walkers on the earth and how he was inspired by God to write Genesis and the beginning of creation...
Everything a person encounters in Creation, both positive and negative experiences, can teach us something about ourselves and our place in the world...This could include: our successes and failures...Learning from both helps us grow and understand our strengths and weaknesses...Learning life means learning relationships with others...It means learning about communities with fellowship and friendship...Our interactions with others teach us about communication, empathy, and navigating social situations...Creation shows us the natural world...The natural world's beauty and complexity of nature can inspire awe and contemplation of our existence...
Because God wants us to seek Him, we must be ready to see Him, His Presence and how He is in things and involved in our different experiences...God reveals Himself to those who seek Him...And for those who do not seek Him, they find it hard to find Him and He may most of the time look hidden to them...So we must understand that when we confronted with evidence of God and the Sacred and the Holy, we must be ready and on guard to add to our evidences of God...
Theses evidences, or proofs, for the existence of God invites those atheists to consider it also, if he keeps an open mind...For those who claim that there is no evidence while another one is seeing evidence of God should help the believer have a stronger faith, while the disbeliever waivers...But when the believer is with or yoked with an unbeliever, the unbeliever may try to pull his faith down...Even though the nonbeliever has the same evidence as the believe and the exact same experience...The evidence or proofs for God's existence exist...This evidence should be considered by both the believer and the atheist, particularly those who definitively claim there is no God...He may still argue that after He has considered all his possible knowledge and the evidence at hand that there is no God...While the believer may say or believe and think that this an absolute denial of God's existence and is an irrational position...
So let us always be on guard to defend our position and belief in God, just as Peter tells us to...So in your hearts honor Christ the LORD as Holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect...So be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble...Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult...On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing...