“So roll up your sleeves, put you mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.'” 1 Peter 1, Msg
I love Peter! His enthusiasm is contagious. His life is a great example as one who would carpe diem!, “Seize the Day”! Go after life, he would say, but with blazing holiness. Yes, I like Peter. No wonder Jesus loved him so much and trusted him to build his church.
Life is short, God’s way of encouraging a bit of focus.
~Robert Brault,
Dear Heavenly Father, You created each one of us with uniqueness along with holiness, that only comes from you. We can all do your will and purpose to love You back and love other with all the enthusiasm and energy we see in Peter who was your example of blazing holiness. Thank you for Your Holiness. Thank you for Your power living in us.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Yes! God’s prophets said it would happen. It happened. We are saved to live forever with God, the Heavenly Father! Do we realize how fortunate we are? Seriously. Think about it. Focus. Meditate. Live and love deeper, still, knowing it with gratitude and praise for the One who brought it all together.
“The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it–that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you, you who by orders from heaven have now heard for yourselves–through the Holy Spirit–the Message of those prophets fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!”
1 Peter 1, Msg
What is it?
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Sometimes we need to bring our focus back to Center, the basis of our faith. Peter is doing that for us.
One more time…Do you realize how fortunate you are?
Dear Heavenly Father, Your Word brings to realize that to go deeper we must focus on the simple basic fact that You saved us. Your love us first and last and you saved us. I am encouraged and humbled at the same time, No matter what happens here, I have an eternal home there prepared for me by Jesus, Your Son. Yes, I am mighty fortunate. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Yes, yes, and yes! We are going to be encouraged over the next few days by our Heavenly Father by what Peter preaches through His Word from God. Let The Message soak in and permeate every part of your heart, mind and soul. Be changed, transformed even. Be amazed, encouraged, grateful and powerfully blessed this very morning by the opening of 1 Peter 1, The Message
“What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven–and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all–life healed and whole.”
Yes! Think about this all day long and into the night…
“I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it PROVED pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out PROVED genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.”
God’s victory! Our faith!
“You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him–with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.”
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you! Thank you for all You are and have done, all You are doing now in us and for what You will do and provide. Thank you for total salvation, total healing and restoration, made whole by the blood of Your Lamb, Your only Son, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you! In Jesus Name, Amen
We are diving into 1 and 2 Peter with grateful hearts for the way he expresses praise with heartfelt enthusiasm for God and what He has done in Peter’s own life. It seems to me, after years of learning and watching others, those who serve with a smile on their faces, no matter what the circumstances, and encourage me in my walk have a “backstory” of pain, trials, failures, abandonment and betrayal in their past. They have used the pain to gain more wisdom and come out of it healthier in God eyes than most around me. They are the ones who encourage best with sincere hearts, not flattery phrases to get what they want, but a heart’s desire to help you along your journey. Peter is one of those persons.
Peter seems to have been a natural leader, commanding the respect of his peers by sheer force of personality. In every listing of Jesus’ disciples, Peter’s name is invariably first. Jesus called him “the Rock”, the one who would later build his church. Peter could have taken over…but he didn’t. He stayed out of the center, didn’t wield power and maintained a scrupulous subordination to Jesus. That’s impressive.
Peter is a breath of fresh air. The two letters Peter wrote exhibit the qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit shaped in him; a readiness to embrace suffering rather than prestige, a wisdom developed from experience and not imposed from a book, a humility that lacked nothing in vigor or imagination.
From what we know of Peter, he all the makings of a bully. That he didn’t become a bully (and religious bullies are the worst kind) but rather the boldly confident and humbly self-effacing servant of Jesus Christ is a compelling witness to what he himself describes as “a brand new life, with everything to live for.”
Yes, Peter is wildly encouraging to me in my journey and I think we can all learn to be encouragers by this powerful witness which gives glory to God.
“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!”
“What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus!” 1 Peter 1, Msg
See what I mean…and this is only the beginning! Be encouraged…Be an encourager today!
Dear Heavenly Father, We are impressed with Peter’s enthusiasm and pray that we will be enthusiastic encouragers today as we journey on in ways that please you and give you glory. May others get a glimpse of You in us. In Jesus Name, Amen
If we were to all get together in one room and one question was asked, “Do you have a family member or dear friend who completely turned their back on the God and wandered off?, we would all have someone that would leap to the front of our minds, wouldn’t we? In fact, we would think of more than one. We probably all have a “list” that we pray for daily.
Pastor James reminds us not to give on that someone you love who have wandered away and to go after them.
“My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.”
James 5, Msg
We have to be careful how we “go after them”, however. They left with reason from God’s church, but did they leave God? This takes careful discussion with wisdom, insight and understanding. Pastor James taught us about prayer, righteous living, controlling the tongue before ending his “sermon” with this final message to “go after them, without giving up.
We need to use our words and our own lives before them very carefully. Pray, like Paul taught us in God’s Word from Colossians 4:2-6, for that open door…
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don’t forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan–that Christ is also for you Gentiles.”
“Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.”
“Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity.”
“Let you conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.”
Yes, we have an epidemic of turning away from God across our country and around the world. Let’s begin where we live and move on from there praying for opportunity, boldness, and wisdom that is full of grace, the same grace and mercy that was given to us when we knelt at the cross and received His salvation.
Dear Heavenly Father, We pray for those we love who are without you among our family and friends. You love them even more! Give us opportunity and help us say the right words at the right time in the right Spirit. And soften their hearts before we say it. It’s all about You working in us and through us, come alongside others who are lost and pointing the way home
Sometimes I cry out. Sometimes I just praise Him. Sometimes I even laugh at myself and the circumstances surrounding my talk with him on particular days. I imagine He smiles or chuckles with me. I sometimes imagine him sitting on a chair in front of me while I talk with him each morning. I tell him about my family, friends and enemies and I pray for them all.
Pastor James has more “meat” to prayer that we need to know as we approach God with more than our own lives. He teaches us to pray for others with the same confidence as we pray for ourselves.
“Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven–healed inside and out.” James 5, Msg
“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.” James 5, Msg
Yes, it’s personal. It’s believing-prayer that forgives, heals, restores and refreshes our very souls. Prayer is a conversation with the One who never leaves us, made us and loves talking with us, even though He knows what we are going to say even before we say it. But it must be said so we grow, mature, understand, gain insight into ourselves and our motives for worship of our Father in Heaven. Ask others to agree with you in prayer…this is the really amazing part of prayer! The kind of prayer that “moves mountains.”
A side effect? We complain less when we praise more.
