-Elizabeth Capps
1 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.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
what an awesome verse cant wait to see what God teaches us!!! -laurel
ReplyDeleteThis is such an awesome passage! Here are two things that stood out to me today:
ReplyDeleteVerse 2: When Peter uses the phrase "by the sanctifying work of the Spirit," it really hit home for me. I always try to do things in my own strength and in my own power, trying to be better and better and better. And I always fall flat on my face. Peter is saying here that it only by the work of the Spirit that we can even hope to become more Christ-like. It's not anything that we can do ourselves. It is really and truly all God working through us.
Verse 3: This verse talks about "a living hope," and then goes on to say what we have "a living hope" about. We have a hope in the resurrection of Jesus, in obtaining an inheritance reserved for us in heaven, and being protected in God's power. And these are not things that have once happened and are now dead and gone. These are promises that still exist today - living promises! So we must have a living hope in believing and knowing that these things are true, and that we are really and truly God's precious children and that He loves us and takes care of us and has amazing plans for our lives.
Those are my thoughts!! :-)
And this is Hope, btw!! :-)
DeleteSomething that stuck out to me in verse one is that Peter is writing this letter "To God's elect, strangers in the world..." We live in this world, in it's fallen state. It is full of darkness, pain and sorrow, but God has called us to something so much better! When we accepted salvation and let Him fill us with His light and His truth we no longer look ANYTHING like the world! We have a life brand new. We may still be physically here on this earth, but we are not of it, we are of Him! We are His precious children whom He loves immeasurably!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful it is to be a chosen people set apart from this world!
DeleteIn verse 3 it says that in His great mercy we have been given new life. I have never thought of the salvation God has given me as a mercy, but it is so true. I don't deserve to be Christ's. I don't deserve Jesus's sacrifce or new life. I deserve to go to hell and yet God has granted me His Love and Compassion. He has given me mercy :) Also verse 4 made me realize that everything on this earth, spoils, perishes, or fades away. The one thing that will never ever perish is our inheritance in heaven.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE 1 Peter, so I'm extra excited about this! (:
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite parts of this passage is verses 6-7. Often, it's really hard for us to see trials as a good thing. They hurt, and we don't like hurting. But Peter writes that we should rejoice in the fact that we are sufferings trials BECAUSE these trials have PURPOSE! We can trust that God is allowing whatever trials and pains we are going though so that we may be sanctified and made holy in Him. Our faith is of more worth than gold and is strengthened through the trials we go through. How we live through trials is how we show our faith and the genuineness of it, and we can know that the trials we are going through are refining our faith and will result in praise, glory, and honor to God.
This verse has always been a favorite, but even more so now after this past year and now, even as I'm making big decisions. All these trials and pains have brought me to a deeper dependency on God and trust in Him- a place I probably would not have gotten to without the trials. So while I can't say I'm eagerly awaiting the trials in my life, God is showing me how to rejoice and praise Him even more through them.
Love you guys! (: