1 Peter 1:6-9 Inexpressible Joy - Deovotional Scripture

 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,  that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,  whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:6-9

Trails test your faith to show if it is genuine.  True faith is indestructible.  Severe tests and trials do not destroy true faith but instead it strengthens our faith and deepens our love for God. Job who endured many trials said,

 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Job 13:15

Job did not understand any of his situations and felt that God was against him but he could still proclaim: yet I will trust Him. Job refused to forfeit what he knew to be true in the midst of his testing. It is one thing to believe God and it’s another thing to believe in Him.  To believe in Him signifies complete reliance, complete surrender and complete trust in His promises even when we don’t understand your circumstances.

When you have walked through a fiery trial and have come out with true, strong faith, you have a deeper love and trust for God and you have inexpressible joy.  There are no words that can describe this type of joy.  Your joy is no longer dependent on your circumstances but on Jesus Christ, Him crucified and the promise of His return. It is no more possible to rob a true believer of her joy than it is to unseat Christ from His place of glory. The two stand together. Abiding in Jesus and accepting His Lordship in your life brings you a joy that is indescribable and cannot be taken away.

1 Peter 1:10-12 Angels Gaze Down in Wonder - Devotional Scripture

 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. 1 Peter 1:10-11 (NLT)

The prophets didn't really understand all of the things that they wrote regarding the Messiah. When Daniel was trying to understand some of the things he was writing about; the Lord just said, “Daniel, just seal it up. It's not for now. It's for the future. And in the last days, knowledge will be increased. They'll understand it then” (Daniel 12:8-9). The old prophets were inspired by the Spirit of God to foretell the sufferings of Jesus even though they themselves did not understand them.   Imagine Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah writing down these prophesies.  They must have been thinking, “What in the world am I writing here? This doesn't make sense.” The Old Testament prophets knew so much; yet much was hidden to them. They searched diligently trying to understand them but they were not written for them at that time.

They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.  1 Peter 1:12 (NLT)

They were written for us.  These great prophets were raised up for you and me so we would have a book that revealed the grace of God, the mercy of God and His the plan for our salvation. The prophets of the Old Testament longed to see the grace of the New Covenant. I can only imagine how excited Isaiah would have been to read the Gospel of John.

 
We are so privileged to live on this side of the cross.  We have what the prophets did not and we enjoy what angels desire to see. The angels stand gazing down at us trying to understand the wondrous mystery of redemption.  They look at you and me in say, “What does this mean that God has chosen these people to be His family?”

Matthew 5:5 An Attitude of Meekness - Devotional Scripture

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Matt. 5:5

The Beatitudes is a list of attitudes that should be found in every believer.  One of these characteristics is meekness.

Meekness is power under control.  It is power that doesn’t strike back and doesn’t react and doesn’t fight against God or man. In meekness we stop and realizes that God is the Creator and He is the ruler over everything.  And because I know that I can rest in Him and trust in Him  I can allow God to govern me rather than the circumstances or the situations or the people that are around me.” Meekness is submission of our thoughts, our ways, and our evaluations of a situation to God.

When I try to be strong in my own might, when I try to take care of the situations, or manipulate them,  When I try to make things work out the way that I think they ought to work out, then I am not walking in meekness and it wears me out. Meekness is putting yourself in a yoke with God and knowing that God is stronger than you and He’s able to pull the load so the load comes off of your shoulders because you’re resting in the Lord.

The meek do not fret but the meek wait upon the Lord. The meek cry out to God. They mourn over sin. Blessed are the meek, those that submit to God, and those that become pliable in His hands, those that allow God to mold them and shape them in every circumstance of life because they will inherit the earth.

Luke 4:6-8 There Are No Shortcuts - Devotional Scripture

After Jesus was baptized he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. His second temptation was that Satan offered to give him the kingdoms of this world in an exchange for a moment of worship.

And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if  You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”              Luke 4:6-7

Because of man's sin, Satan has become the ruler of this world. Satan was offering Jesus the kingdoms of this world without having to go to the cross.  God’s plan for Jesus was for Him to suffer first and then enter His glory. Satan offered him a way out of the suffering.

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’"         Luke 4:8

When I hear this verse it reminds me of the times that I have wanted to take the easy way out. I’ve want to take a shortcut to righteousness and skip the suffering. I didn’t want to go through the fiery trials of this life, but that is not God’s plan.  Jesus said, in this world you will have troubles but don’t let them discourage you, don’t let them derail you and don’t let them take away your peace (John 16:33).  Instead rejoice because these trials are producing something wonderful.  When we go through a trial and choose to worship and serve God alone then our trials produces Christlikeness in us which helps us to become a  more mature, well-rounded Christians who lacks nothing (James 1:2-5).

There is no shortcut around suffering.  Satan might tempt you to believe there is an easy way out but don’t buy into his lies.  Instead, keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, and worship and serve Him only and He will bring you through the trial and you will be stronger in your faith for it.

1 Peter 1:3-5 Kept By The Power Of God - Devotional Scripture

Peter was so moved by God’s mercy that he can’t help but praise Him.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,  who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

It is God that caused us to be born again.  It is because of God's great mercy that we have this living, breathing, active hope. The hope that we have is a hope of the inheritance that is ours as children of God and joint heirs with Christ. This hope can’t be taken away by tough times. We will still have stress and tragedies in our lives but the believer whose hope is in the Lord and who has a grasp of God’s plan will not be overcome. It is like the swimmer who is ready to sink.  If he sees a boat coming near to him, he will swim with all his might, because now he expects that his swimming will be beneficial to him. Our hope keeps our head above water and it sustains us. 

This priceless inheritance is reserved for you in heaven. It is incorruptible, undefiled and will not fade away.  It is being safely guarded for you and no one, not even Satan himself, can steal it from you.  You have the power of God Himself keeping you for salvation.  Up until this point it's all been God's work. You don't have a thing to do with God showing mercy on you and giving you an inheritance. But now Peter gets to your part and that is faith. All that is left for you to do is to believe and trust the work of God. Faith is what activates the preserving power of God in the life of the Christian. Your future is eternally secure because it rests on God himself. No one can take from you what God has given to you. If you know what God has done for you, everything else is just details. No matter what pain or trial we face in this life, we know that it is not our final experience.  Eventually we will live with Christ forever.

Numbers 11:4-20 No Good Thing Will God Withhold - Devotional Scripture

In the wilderness, the Israelites struggled with the sin of discontentment. This led to a lot of grumbling and complaining which displeased God. In Numbers 11 the Israelites were complaining about the food provision that God had given them. They began lusting, craving after the things of Egypt.

Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!” Numbers 11:4-6

The Egyptians that came to the wilderness with the Israelites started complaining and it became contagious. The people of Israel got so wrapped up in what God wasn’t doing for them that they forgot the horrors of slavery. Their complaining hearts were romanticizing the past and over exaggerating the problems of the present. So God promised to answer the lust of their flesh; but not in a way that would be a blessing to them.

Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.  You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but for a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have despised the Lord who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever come up out of Egypt?”                              Numbers 11:18b-20

God would give them so much meat they would be sickened by it. He sent this plaque because they denied and doubted the goodness of God's provisions.  The Israelites ate and ate the meat until it came out of their nostrils. That is what happens with lust.  You never get enough of whatever you are lusting for. Lust is like a fire, the more you feed it the hotter it gets and the more it demands.  It is never satisfied and always leads to discontentment.

We think we know what we want but the Lord says:

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  Psalm 84:11

God sees what is truly best for us.  If I don’t have something or someone or whatever it is that I think I deserve or I’m lusting for the truth is it is not good me.  If it was good for me God would have given it to me.

By all means, we should pray and pour out our hearts to the Lord.  Tell him what you’re thinking and what you are dealing with and what your desires may be but make sure you pray like Jesus did:

 Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.  Luke 22:42

1 Peter 5:12 Devotional Scripture - Uncomfortable Grace

 

In Peter’s first epistle he is writing to people who are suffering.  His purpose for writing this letter is stated in the 2^nd part of 1 Peter 5:12.

I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. (NLT)

There are moments in our lives when we are crying out for grace, not recognizing that we are getting it. We are not getting the grace of relief or the grace of release, because that is not the grace that we really need.  The grace that we really need is the uncomfortable grace of personal growth and change – Paul Tripp.

In grace the Father is prying open your hands so that you will let go of things that have come to rule your heart but will never satisfy you.  His is driving you to question your own wisdom so that you will find your understanding and rest in Him.  He is showing you the delusions of your control so that you will take comfort in His rule.

When we are suffering, the temptation is to turn inward and get self-focused and self-aware.  Our suffering becomes our focus. Suffering tends to make us forget are true identity. In this epistle, Peter gives these people a vision that is bigger and greater than the things they are going through. He calls them to consider the grace of Jesus Christ and he reminds them who they are; children of one true King.

You have a Father who knows you and knows everything about you.   He has written every aspect of your story.  He has set the direction of your life long before you took your first breath.  In everything I ever face I can say to myself, My Father knows this situation, He knows this circumstance.  He knows what’s going on with me and He is working out His purpose in my life.  He loves me so much that His transforming grace will not relent until He has completed what He is seeking to accomplished in me. 

 This truth is what brings peace to my life.  This truth is what stops me from being anxious or fearful.  God loves me and He is in control of every situation of my life even in the uncomfortable grace of growth.