Peter – Focused Faith
You are God and i am not. I say this out loud and quietly to my inner self often because I have to. I need to always be aware that I cannot be God, do what God does or have the wisdom He has. I need Him. He does not need me. Realizing this keeps me humble before the God of all. Knowing this internally helps me to relax when changes are to be made in me and to let it happen. Knowing this helps me see others a bit more clearly with understanding because I am just as needy in God’s eyes. Be still and know God. Be still and know. Be still. Be.
Peter is a breath of fresh air as we begin reading what God put on his heart to write to all of us, then and now. Eugene Peterson writes, “Peter’s concise confession–‘You are the Messiah, the Christ’–focused the faith of the disciples on Jesus as God among us, in person, carrying out the eternal work of salvation.”
In the early church, Peter’s influence was enormous and acknowledged by all. By virtue of his position, he was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community. And his energetic preaching, ardent prayer, bold healing and wise direction confirmed the trust placed in him.
The way Peter handled himself in that position of power is even more impressive than the power itself. He stayed out of the center, didn’t “wield” power, maintained a scrupulous subordination to Jesus. Given his charismatic personality and well-deserved position at the head, he could easily have taken over, using the prominence of his association with Jesus to promote himself. He did not. That he didn’t do it, given the frequency with which spiritual leader do exactly that is impressive. Peter is a breath of fresh air.
These two letters of Peter, which we will pour over and learn from exhibit the qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit shaped in him:
–a readiness to embrace suffering rather than prestige
–wisdom developed from experience and not imposed from a book
–a humility that lacked nothing in vigor or imagination.
From what we know of the early stories of Peter, he had in him all the makings of a bully. That he didn’t become a bully (and religious bullies are the worst kind, believe me) but rather the boldly confident and humbly self-effacing servant of Jesus Christ that we discern in these letters, is a compelling witness to what he himself describes as “a brand-new life, with everything to live for.” Wow. Just wow.
Excited? I am.
Dear Heavenly Father,
As we begin to study the letters of Peter, we are really learning about You. You are God and we are not. You are Messiah, the Christ who changed everything. We have a brand new life because of your work on that cross of sin bearing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Continue to transform us into all you intended for us to be…and then do.
In Jesus Name, Amen
1 Peter 1, The Message
1-2 I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!
Do you know what Satan hates and fears most? Christian believers, on their knees, praying and crying out in the Name of Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior! Because evil is all around us working hard to bring us down, prayer is our choice of weapons along with our shield of faith believing God hears and will respond. Paul adamantly declares, “Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” (Ephesians 6)
16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
Dear Heavenly Father, 
As a virtuous act, patience is waiting WITHOUT complaining. What’s so virtuous about not complaining? In itself, not complaining carries no particular virtue. Suppose a person awaits the arrival of a friend from out of town, and he/she spends the time happily reading or watching television. We wouldn’t say that, simply because he/she’s not complaining, he/she exhibits patience in this case. Something else must be required to make one’s lack of complaint virtuous. That something is discomfort. It’s because a circumstance is uncomfortable for someone that we find him/her refusal to complain remarkable and thus regard him/her as patient.
7-8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.
There are lots of action steps to take to be patient and strong:
So, while the patience of Christ is exceptional in many respects, the basic features of this virtue are surely the same wherever it appears. Patience involves such things as self-control, humility, and generosity, all of which are themselves virtues. So one might say that patience is a virtue because it’s an exercise of several other virtues.
Destroying Your Life from Within
1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.
SO, HOW DO WE PRAY FOR THOSE OPPRESSED AND AT WAR?
James 3, The Message
Dear Heavenly Father,
Well placed, thoughtful words can also heal, comfort and give value and worth. Words of love expressed at the right time, in the right way, build and deepen relationships. Words can lead people to the Truth of Jesus Christ. Actions that follow those words solidify Truth. James says that none of us get this right every time. That is true, too. We may be thought of as great people…until we open our mouths uncontrollably and let words tumble out that are not appropriate. We need help to control the thoughts that form the words that come tumbling out of our mouths. We need to think first, then speak. 
3-5 A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
So, how do we want to live? Like a corpse or fully alive in Christ? It will take some work in us to listen more closely to the faint whisper of God in us telling us when and where to act upon what we say we believe. But I believe it is worth every effort we make. Learn to listen well. BE still before God each day. Then DO what He says. It’s not complicated. So, don’t complicate it with what we think we ought to do. I want to be God’s friend, don’t you? Die only to self and a relationship with the world. LIVE for Christ, with Christ living in us. THIS is the most important relationship to have and to hold dearly.
Are we influenced by what others say? We independently shout, “no!” But what does our bank account show. Take a look at your checkbook. Where does your money go? Have you ever thought about how you spend your time? Take a few days and keep a running record. Where does the time go?, we ask ourselves. It may shock us. Reflecting on just a few of the ways we manage what God has given to us may reflect the extent of public opinion has on us.
8-11 You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.
As I admire His handwork, I then see a weed. Ugh. I pull it up from the root as my mom taught me, “or it will just grow back”. As I water the plants, I see another weed or two hidden underneath the most beautiful plant I have in the garden. Ugh. I pull it up, trying to get to the root, but it is a tough one. So I go get a shovel so I can dig it up and throw it out. Some weeds take more effort and time. I love gardening but hate the weeds. Weeds, if allowed to grow, ruin the beauty of a magnificent landscape.
19-21 Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.
