Monday, January 13, 2025
Story
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15b
Please read and/or listen to 1 Peter 4 today. I try and imagine what it may have been like for those who received this letter from Peter originally. Their life must have been hard. Peter keeps bringing them back to Jesus. He reminds them of the great story and how that story has impacted their story Suffering for the name of Christ is a blessing (4:14). It is because of the Spirit of God resting on that person. A person who has set apart Christ as Lord of their hearts is a person who has hope at the center of their story. It is not a story that depends on situations and circumstances, rather it is a story that filters situations and circumstances. That amazing story that impacts our story is that Jesus came and lived among us and suffered for us. He look the sin penalty that we earned and paid the ransom price for all who will receive the offer of salvation. He defeated sin and he defeated death by rising from the dead. Jesus makes it possible for our story to be a reflection of his story. It is a story of hope.
Hope of eternal life with God in a reconciled and restored relationship stirs up in the life of one who is truly a follower of Jesus. Do you have a story that is filled with this hope? Surely there are things in this world that seek to distract us and take our focus off this hope. As Christians, we should be filled with hope as we consider all that is ours in Jesus. There is a future inheritance that waits for us, but as well we have the presence of the Lord in our lives now and our stories have been rewritten as it were. We are no longer guilty before God; we are declared righteous! Ponder today the different ways that the story of your life is a story of hope because of Jesus. How does your demeanor change as you ponder and praise God for the hope that he has given you?
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
Lord
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. 1 Peter 3:15a
Please read and/or listen to 1 Peter 2 today. Peter is making it clear that those who have experienced new birth are to live differently. Each person who has been reborn is a person belonging to God, part of a royal priesthood. He is not talking just to a few super Christians. He is talking to every follower of Jesus. Each of us is to declare the praises of the one who called us out of darkness and into his wonderful light (29)! We are to live our lives in such a way that people are drawn to the Lord (2:12). In 3:15 Peter gives a clear statement of how that happens In our hearts, we set apart Christ as Lord. Jesus is the rightful Lord of your life. This is true of every person who has ever or will ever live and at some point every person will acknowledge it (Philippians 210). Each person is born with a defiant sin nature that absolutely refuses to allow Jesus to be the Lord of their heart Instead, they set them alien his ase tend become the selk isonted lord. Unfortunately, this is a position that is quite hard to relinquish once itis taken But it is critical for one to relinquish the throne. A follower of Jesus must determine that they will set Christ apart as the Lord of their heart I have been pondering this sentence over the past fe weeks. In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Take some time to ponder what that means in your life today. How have you set Christ as Lord of your heart—-your life?
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Lord (day 2)
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. 1 Peter 3:15a
Please read and/or listen to 1 Peter 3 today. Peter is speaking to people who are experiencing suffering. It is true that the suffering will get much worse, but even at the time of writing, those who had been scattered were suffering because of Jesus. For Peter, this was all the more reason to set Christ as Lord in their hearts. He will make the clear presentation that Christ, by his position, deserves that position (3:22). Peter encourages wives and husbands to related to each other in a way that can only happen as Christ is Lord of their hearts (3:1-7). He then encourages all the believers to live in a way that can only happen if Christ is Lord of their hearts (3:8-14). In truth, who is Lord of our heart determines our actions. That is why the psalmist asks that the meditation of his heart may be pleasing to God (Psalm 19:14). If we truly set Christ as the Lord of our hearts, our actions will be those that are pleasing to him. He will be the authority that determines our actions. His truth will guide our lives. His presence will direct our paths. We will embrace John 15— him abiding in us and us in him. We will discover an abundance of life that is beyond anything we could ever imagine or secure for ourselves.
We will find ourselves repulsed by sins that previously enticed us. We will be different people. We will be filled with hope (Romans 5:1-5). That hope will be apparent. The hope that fills us will pour out of us. Our actions and our words will reflect and reveal the One who sits on the throne of our lives. This allows us to live in a way that makes Christ known regardless of the circumstances of our lives. So, let’s ask ourselves today if Christ is truly the Lord of our heart and what that can mean. Celebrate the ways that he has led and guided you and, with the psalmist, ask that he may even more shape the meditation of your heart!
Thursday, January 16, 2025
Story
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15b
Please read and/or listen to 1 Peter 4 today. I try and imagine what it may have been like for those who received this letter from Peter originally. Their life must have been hard. Peter keeps bringing them back to Jesus. He reminds them of the great story and how that story has impacted their story. Suffering for the name of Christ is a blessing (4:14). It is because of the Spirit of God resting on that person. A person who has set apart Christ as Lord of their hearts is a person who has hope at the center of their story. It is not a story that depends on situations and circumstances, rather it is a story that filters situations and circumstances. That amazing story that impacts our story is that Jesus came and lived among us and suffered for us. He took the sin penalty that we earned and paid the ransom price for all who will receive the offer of salvation. He defeated sin and he defeated death by rising from the dead. Jesus makes it possible for our story to be a reflection of his story. It is a story of hope. Hope of eternal life with God in a reconciled and restored relationship stirs up in the life of one who is truly a follower of Jesus. Do you have a story that is filled with this hope? Surely there are things in this world that seek to distract us and take our focus of this hope. As Christians, we should be filled with hope as we conside al that is ours in Jesus. There is a future inheritance that waits for us, but as well we have the presence of the Lord in our lives now and our stories have been rewritten as it were. We are no longer guilty before God: we are declared righteous! Ponder today the different ways that the story of your ise is a story of hope because of Jesus. How does your demeanor change as you ponder and praise God for the hope that he has given you?
Friday, January 17, 2025
Story (day 2)
Aways be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15b
Please read and/or listen to 1 Peter 5 today. Peter calls the leaders of the church to be examples of those who have set apart Christ as Lord in their hearts and who are living in hope as they lead He then makes it clear that this world and the devil are determined to steal that hope and negatively impact the story God has written in the lives of believers. Amid that oppression, we are to make sure we are not opposed to God by pridefully thinking about the situations around us and how to handle them. We are rather to live humbly with each other. We must place all our anxieties on him, trusting his timing and his providence. The more we learn the truth of God, the more we realize how it impacts our lives. The more we know the truth of who God is and what his plans and purposes are, the more we can be prepared to explain where our hope comes from. At first, we may only know that once we were blind, but now we see. But as we grow in the knowledge and love of the Lord, we become more and more prepared to help others find the hope we have found! In fact, that is our desire. I have watched this over and over again in the lives of people. The more they come to know the depth of the hope in their lives, the more ready they are to tell others. They are not passively prepared; they are intentionally prepared. They listen to the stories others tell of their lives so they can show where the hope of Jesus can fill the gaps in their lives (see John 4 to see how Jesus did this). How prepared are you to give an answer? How can you be even more prepared?
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Meek and Bold
But do this with gentleness and respect. 1 Peter 3:15b
Please read 1 Peter 3:15 today as we close out our week considering what it means to set apart Christ as Lord of your heart. This is an exchanged life, and it must make a difference if it is genuine. A person who has Christ as Lord will live differently than a person who is the self-appointed lord of their life. If your life has not changed, it may be a good time to consider whether you truly have trusted in Jesus. If you have, you will reflect him. You will not do this perfectty, but hope will flow from you. And he will change you to be more like him (2 Corinthians 3:18). He will even change the way you tell others! You will do this with meekness and respect. You will be bold as well. The word for gentleness used here has the same root word and the word Jesus uses to describe himself in Matthew 11:29. Peter, who of course was quite bold at times, had apparently leamed what it meant to be meek- gentle as was Jesus. Meekness can be defined as strength under control. Clearly this describes Jesus. It should define us as well. We must be passionately ready to tell the truth of why we have hope, but we must do this with meekness and respect We must not be proud or defiant. We must have compassion for those who have not yet experienced the new life of hope that Jesus makes possible. We must listen.
We must care. We must respect. We must speak in love. Are you prepared Are you listening to those around you so that you can share the good news you have found in a loving, winsome way?
Tomorrow we will be looking and Genesis 1.26-27 and considering the image of God and how that impacts how we live with others