A Time to Rejoice

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.   1 Peter 1:1-9

The weekend is upon us again, and your weekend can be very special when you read and absorb Peter's notice three things:

1.  Notice your new birth, given as a gift of God's mercy.   (Verses 3-5)

2.  Notice the presence of suffering and trials as part of your Christian experience.   (Verses 6-7)

3.  Notice the relationship with Jesus in the receiving the end result of your faith.   (Verses 8-9)

It would do us well to focus on all three of these points which deal with our lives in Jesus, and more than that, we should continue to read the entire chapter.  It's amazing when we read and study about all that is ours in Christ, God keeps blessing us more and more.   Look at the closing verses to this chapter.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.   ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.    1 Peter 1:22-25

<ronbwriting@gmail.com>