Burunche’s Blog

1 Peter 2:9 – 10 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

One of our friends was describing how she came to Christ. She told us that she felt as if she was under a huge pile of garbage and that there was only a small opening that shed light into her darkness. When one Christian man she knew came into the room, it was as if a small bright light began to shine into her darkness. When that man’s wife joined him, the light suddenly became far brighter. And the night our friend accepted Jesus as her Savior, her prayer was simple: “God, let me be like those people!”

In Peter’s day, everybody knew about priests. There were the Jewish priests who had hereditary offices but who were expected to behave according to carefully laid – down rituals. The priesthood conferred social status and preferential treatment on the priests as well as their family members. No matter how wealthy someone might be, he or she could never simply decide to become a priest; it was a matter of lineage. Priests were considered to be a little closer to God than everybody else.

Now Peter is really shaking things up! To the early Christians, many of whom were slaves or women with no social status whatsoever, or poor working men, Peter is saying, “You! You are a prince! You are a princess! And not only that, but God has specially chosen you for Himself. You have been thinking you were nothing, but God sees you as pure and holy and worthy! God has called you out of the darkness of your sin and your shame to tell everybody about Him! Until now, you were not receiving any mercy, but now God has favored you with His everlasting mercy and grace!”

Ever since Peter wrote these verses, they have comforted and inspired believers. In lands where caste systems kept people isolated and oppressed, these verses have brought hope. To those trapped in dead – end jobs, to those at the bottom of the financial heap, to those trapped in sins of pornography, of gambling, of alcohol, of drugs, of any form of addition – to all of us, in fact, these verses are a call of hope! God is calling us out of the darkness that has wrapped its bonds around our hearts into His marvelous Light!

The one thing we all possess is free will. We can choose to live in darkness or to head for the light. One of the most useful prayers I have ever learned is one that Brother Andrew, the famous smuggler of Bibles into Eastern Europe, quoted. “Lord, I am giving you permission to change my heart and my mind. I am willing to be made willing to accept you.”

Now, that seems like such a poor kind of prayer, but it is actually spiritual dynamite! Why? Because when you tell God that you are willing to be made willing to follow Him, He changes your heart and your mind. Proverbs 21:1 says that “The King’s heart is as a water course in the hand of the Lord, and He turns it where He wills.” If God can turn the hearts of kings, don’t you think that he can also turn your heart?

We were just watching a TV program about a morbidly obese lady who had to lose weight or die. The first decision she had to make was to comply with the diet prescribed by her doctor. Once this lady was willing to follow that diet, the weight began to come off. That lady was saving her life, one decision at a time.

God has promised us an incredible future! We have been called out of darkness into God’s full and complete light, a light so brilliant that it is blinding. What will you do with this call? Will you say “yes” and go forward, or will you shrink back into darkness? Today you are deciding for eternity.

PRAYER: Father God, we want to believe you. We want to follow you. But we feel trapped in our circumstances. Lord, we are willing to be made willing. Change our hearts. Change our minds. Help us come out of the darkness and into the Light of your great Mercy. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 2: 6 – 8 “For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.”

In Peter’s day, everybody knew about cornerstones. When stones of varying sizes are used to build a wall for a building, the cornerstone is the most important stone. A good cornerstone must be big and strong and durable. If the cornestone crumbles, the whole wall will collapse. If one wall collapses, the building might also collapse. So, the choice of a cornerstone is critically important for the success of a building project.

Here Peter is referring to Jesus as The Cornerstone. The prophecy to which Peter is referring is found in Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation, a Stone, a tested Stone, a precious Cornerstone of sure foundation; he who believes (trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone) will not be ashamed or give way or hasten away [in sudden panic].” (NKJV Amplified) This prophecy is one of the important Messianic prophecies given by Isaiah. Psalm 118:22-23 tells us “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is from the Lord and is His doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Jesus was the “stone that the builders rejected because many of the Jews failed to recognize that He was the Messiah. On the other hand, there were many who received Him and who did believe, including teh Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).

If we are to have faith in something, our faith needs to have a solid foundation. In the last few months, people throughout the world have seen things they thought would last forever fall apart. Jesus Christ is the only real cornerstone for faith, and those who do not choose to believe in Jesus turn away because they become offended.

There are all kinds of excuses for rejecting Jesus: people don’t like the idea of a blood sacrifice being necessary; people refuse to believe that they are sinful; people are sure that they are really good people who can earn their way into heaven. But at the end of time, none of these excuses will be sufficient. Those who refuse to believe in Jesus will find themselves ashamed because they were given many opportunities to believe and refused.

PRAYER; Father God, thank you for sending Jesus Christ to be the Cornerstone of our faith. Lord, help all who read this to come to a saving knowledge of your Love and your Mercy and your Grace. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 2:4 – 5 “As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…”

STONES!!! Anywhere you go in Israel and in much of the Middle East, stone is the main building material. Perhaps there were forests, back before nations began conquering other nations. But read the Old Testament and you will see that one of the chief means of damaging a country was to cut down its forests. Lacking any other material, people turned to stone for their houses, and even sometimes for the furniture inside those houses. While Jesus and his earthly father Joseph have been described as being carpenters, it is far more likely that they were “teknikon,” that is, artisans who could work in any material, including stone.

The people to whom Peter was writing knew all about stone, including which type of stone you might use for a foundation, which kind you might use for an olive press, which kind would be strong enough to floor a courtyard, etc. Now Peter is referring to two kinds of living stones here: Jesus, the Rock, the One True Living Stone, “chosen and precious in God’s sight,” and anybody who would follow Jesus. Peter is comparing those who follow Jesus to living stones and implying that their faith and their obedience form the walls of a spiritual house.

While nobody had to be instructed about stones, Peter’s next statement must have been confusing… “Offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” At that point, people must have been scratching their heads. Nobody had to tell these people about offering animal sacrifices. There were even animals for sale in the outer court of the temple so that the faithful wouldn’t have to struggle to obtain an appropriate animal. But now Peter is telling them that he is not talking about an animal sacrifice but about a spiritual one. Huh?

Way back in 1 Samuel 15:22 – 23 God used the prophet Samuel to tell people what he wanted: “But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination (witchcraft), and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.” God is looking for people who will listen for His voice and obey Him implicitly.

Imagine for a moment that you are building a retaining wall at the back of your garden. You have carefully selected stones that will fit together perfectly and the wall looks great! And then suddenly one stone close to the bottom suddenly wiggles out of position, hops out of the wall, and rolls around on the ground. And if that weren’t weird enough, this stone can even talk. “Whew!” the stone exclaims, “am I ever glad to get out of that wall! Being in that position was really cramping my style!”

“But,” you ask, “what do you think you are going to do now that you are no longer part of a wall? How much good are you if you are sitting on the ground all alone?” “Well,” replies the stone, “at least I am F*R*E*E* FREE!!!”

“But, free for what?” you ask, scratching your head. “Before, you were part of the foundation for a wall that would have stood for many years and would have made the garden look great. Now you are simply an isolated rock. What good are you by yourself?”

“Hmm,” muses the stone, “I don’t know. I guess I can trip people.”

“Only if someone is foolish enough to walk in the wrong direction. And I can pick you up and move you out of the way so you are quite unlikely to cause a problem.”

“Well, I can roll around,” replies the stone.

“The garden is flat,” you answer. “I don’t think you are going to get very far.”

“Hmm,” muses the stone again. “This isn’t going to be as much fun as I thought. Do you think you can put me back into your wall? I’m already missing the other stones.” So you put your wayward stone back into the retaining wall, where it settles happily and remains.

If we are willing to be part of a community of faith, we really serve as living stones. But if we insist that we don’t want to worship God, that we want to go our own way and rebel, we are as foolish as that rock that wiggled out of the retaining wall. God created us to worship and adore Him. God created us to be part of a community of believers. When we rebel, we hurt those around us and deprive them of the joy and help and encouragement we might have brought them, but we ourselves are the biggest losers. Rebellion against God means that we are no longer living stones, but dead cold rocks that will never fit into any spiritual house.

We all have choices. Today, do you choose to be a living stone, or a dead cold rock?

PRAYER: Father God, we want to be your living stones. Help us to follow hard after you all the days of our lives. Give us hearts of obedience so that we will choose your ways and not our own. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 2:1- 3 “Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

“HMMM! Peter, what are you up to? Why warn people to get rid of all this negative stuff? Aren’t you writing to Christians?” Well, yes, Peter was writing to Christians. By this point, Peter was probably in his sixties and had been a church leader for a long time. And it was out of this experience that Peter was writing these admonitions because Peter knew that his church members had lots of problems.

 When I was growing up on an Illinois farm, we had a big Newfoundland dog named Ruffy, who LOVED to find the stinkiest stuff she could and then bring it to us as a present! Once a lady visitor had just bought a brand new spring coat and was coming to show it off when Ruffy pranced out to meet her, dragging something truly horrible along with her. We had to work quickly to protect our visitor from getting unspeakable stuff on her new coat! And Ruffy couldn’t understand why we weren’t happy to receive this new “treasure.”

God is a holy and pure God. When we first dedicate our lives to Christ, we are like Ruffy, prancing around and failing to understand the depths of our sin and how this must look to God. God in His infinite mercy and patience allows us to become aware of our sins. But as we grow as believers, we also need to examine ourselves and get rid of the garbage we have dragged from our old lives into our new ones.

Imagine, if you will, an international diplomat at a reception for a visiting president from another country. Everybody is dressed in their very best…and yet, this man has a huge bag of garbage sitting at his feet. The bag stinks and unspeakable stuff is leaking out on the parquetry floor of the reception hall. And when a security guard comes over to remove the bag of garbage, the diplomat argues that there is nothing wrong! Crazy, right? Nobody is going to behave like that! And yet, we all have our pet sins that we tolerate and excuse. Here Peter is telling us that it’s time to get rid of all our spiritual garbage, our malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander!

Each of us has a God – sized hole in our hearts that can only be satisfied by God Himself. But many of us try to fill that hole with “stuff, with causes, with slogans, with movements, with all kinds of things.” We are either becoming better or worse. And we develop a taste for those things on which we focus. Either we will concentrate on God and His Word and we will crave purity, holiness, and the Word of God, or we will crave something less. Today, look at your heart. Are you dragging around a stinky bag of sin and trying to make excuses? God can help you get rid of that sin and turn your heart toward Him. Each day you are making decisions for eternity.

PRAYER: Father God, by ourselves, we can do nothing. But you have made a way of escape for us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to turn away from our sins and turn toward you. We give you permission to clean us up. Help us to desire you and your Word above everything else. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 1:22 – 25 “Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.”

At the beginning of the year, when we heard about COVID – 19, nobody thought very much about it. We have had SARS and other infections and they generally did not involve a large percentage of any population. Now we are in August and COVID – 19 has become one of the biggest problems people struggle with all over the world. One specialist from London was being interviewed on international television; this man marveled at the fact that some of his sickest patients were young “gym rats,” that is, young people who worked out regularly. COVID – 19 has truly caused some of its victims to wilt like flowers denied water for too long!

Christians in another age were fond of saying, “Sic transit gloria mundi.” This is Latin for “So passes the glory of the world.” Popularity, fame, money, possessions, even family and friends – all can vanish in an instant. A few days ago, we received a prayer request about one of our friends who was climbing into a large farm truck when he missed a step, slipped, and fell backwards, hitting his head and fracturing several ribs. Blessedly, our friend is doing well and might go home soon; however, several years ago, we lost another friend who suffered a head injury from a similar kind of accident. All it took was a misstep.

Here in Ghana, the Ashantis say “Nkwa hia,” ”Life is precious.” Whether or not we want to, we are all making decisions for eternity. If we are obedient to the truth as portrayed in the Word of God, our souls will be purified and we will be capable of loving those around us. If we are not obedient to God’s Word, our focus will remain on ourselves and we will not be capable of loving freely and completely.

In Matthew 7:24- 25 Jesus told the story of two men who built houses. The wise man built his house on a rock, high above the water. His neighbor saw a nice level place with lots of sand and decided to build his house there where it was easy. But the neighbor built his house on a flood plain. And when the rains came, the house built on the sand collapsed and washed away, while the house built on the rock remained standing.

We all make choices every day as to the direction of our lives. Either we choose to live with eternity in view, or we choose short term solutions. But only the Word of the Lord will provide the foundation that we need.

PRAYER: Father God, it’s so tough to keep eternity in mind when we are struggling! Help us to read your Word, study your Word, memorize your Word, and live out your Word. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 1:17 – 21 “Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.”

What does it mean to live as foreigners? July 28, 2020 marked the 32^nd anniversary of our first arrival in Ghana. Since that time, we have lived in several different parts of Ghana, but we were always conscious of the fact that we were expatriates and strangers. We have to renew residence permits and non – citizen ID cards regularly. We must be very careful to conduct ourselves in such a manner that we will not bring offense to our host country or dishonor to our country of origin.

Here Peter is reminding us that we all serve a Heaveny Father who is an impartial judge. This is an election year in many countries and politicians are making all kinds of campaign promises. But unfortunately, it is difficult to believe many of these promises because we can see half – completed projects that were to be completed more than four years ago. If we can see these things, what about God, who sees all and who knows all and who understands our hearts even better than we do ourselves?

We are to behave with “reverent fear.” This does not mean that we must continually quake, but it does mean that we must be careful about the way we conduct our lives. We must continually be mindful of the fact that God is watching us and that God will judge us. Peter also reminds us that it is only because of the blood sacrifice Jesus offered for us on Calvary that we can truly hope in God. By ourselves, none of us is good enough to earn our way into heaven. But Jesus Christ shed His blood for us so that if we would believe on Him and follow Him, we would have eternal life.

“This world is not my home. I’m just a passing through. If heaven’s not my home, then Lord, what will I do? The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door, and I can’t stay at home in this world any more.”

It was a Sunday morning at the Central Prison in Tamale and we were helping with the worship service. One of the prisoners was playing guitar and those who were gathered were singing heartily. For that hour, no matter what had happened before, all of us were citizens of heaven who were just here temporarily. The truth is that this world is NOT our final home, and that each one of us IS passing through. The question before each of us is this: what is your destination? Are you trusting God and living as a citizen of heaven who is temporarily on this earth? Or are you trying to trust in your own merits, feeble as those actually are?

One day we will stand before God, whether we have believed in Him or not. We will have to give an account of the way we have lived our lives. Only faith in the blood sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on Calvary will be sufficient to save us on that day because all of our own efforts fall short of God’s holiness and God’s glory. Long ago, Joshua challenged the Children of Israel “Choose you this day, whom you will serve.” That challenge remains. How will you answer?

PRAYER: Father God, we thank you that if we confess our sins and accept what Jesus has already done for us, then we are actually citizens of heaven who are only on earth temporarily. Lord, open the eyes of those who read this that they will see how much you love them and they will follow you. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 1:13 – 16 “Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

What does it mean to be holy? These days, many people seem to mock holiness. If you are accused of having a “holier than thou” attitude, it generally means that you are a hypocrite who does the very same things that you deplore in someone else. But is that really all there is to holiness?

What if we want to really get to know God? One of the first things we must recognize about God is that God is holy. God is pure, sinless, guiltless, honest, and true. If you have ever fallen in love with someone, you remember that when you were around that person, you wanted to look as good as possible for him/her. You wanted that person to really be impressed with you, and you tried to behave as well as possible.

There is nobody and nothing in the entire universe worthy of worship apart from the one true living God. And God is a holy God. The Bible encourages us to “worship God in the splendor of His holiness.” Here is part of what King David said (1 Chronicles 16:23 – 30)

”Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but it is the LORD who made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy fill His dwelling. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.”

Peter had very few illusions about the behavior of the Christians to whom he was writing before they began to follow Jesus. There is nothing new under the sun, and the same perversions that appear to be taking over in America were prevalent in Peter’s day. That is why Peter was so insistent that his readers prepare their minds for action and be sober – minded. Peter was encouraging people to be obedient to God and to worship Him and honor Him by seeking after holiness.

How many parents have watched their children, only to realize that their children have picked up ALL their habits, including their worst ones? If you react to statements people make by rolling your eyes, your kids will roll their eyes every time you say something. If you are impatient, if you swear, if you make cutting remarks, be sure that your kids will copy you! Peter wants us to copy our Heavenly Father. Why? How can a holy and righteous God tolerate anyone who wants to come to Him covered with sin?

When I was growing up on the farm, we had a wonderful dog who only had one small problem: she LOVED to find the stinkiest, nastiest stuff she could to roll in! And once she had rolled in something truly horrific, she would run up and rub against us, as if she wanted to SHARE this wonderful experience! It is true that God runs “come as you are parties,” that He accepts us and then cleans us up. But it is equally true that once we have been cleaned up, we should seek to remain clean and we should not immediately rush back to see how much sin we can indulge in!

The speed of darkness is the speed of light. When light comes, darkness must flee. And when holiness comes, unholiness must also flee. If we insist that we don’t need to practice holiness and to seek holiness, we won’t be happy or comfortable around our Holy Heavenly Father. So, which will it be? Hang onto stinky sin like our dog on the farm, or leave that sin behind and pursue holiness? If we pursue holiness, we will have fellowship with the One who loves us most and best.

PRAYER: Father God, help us! We like the idea of holiness, but we want to hang onto our sin as well. Help us to leave our sins behind and follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1 Peter 1:10 – 12 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who foretold the grace to come to you, searched and investigated carefully, trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.”

When I was in medical school, I had to decide which specialty I would study. I chose surgery because I like seeing results promptly. I specialized in pediatric surgery because most pediatric problems are congenital and when you have repaired a congenital anomaly, you have given that child a life. It’s very satisfying when a grateful patient comes back completely healed. But I don’t think I would make a very good prophet. Why? Because prophets frequently are speaking things that will not come to pass for generations. A true prophet must seek God’s face and must truly hear from the Lord before saying anything.

These days, there are lots of self – styled prophets who will make all kinds of pronouncements. The Bible says that the test of a prophet is whether or not the prophecy comes true. Based on that test, many individuals calling themselves prophets need to be silent. But there is such a thing as true prophecy.

The Old Testament contains many books of prophecy and the exciting thing is that many of those prophecies have already been fulfilled. There were over 300 prophecies regarding the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus’ life, and it is these prophecies to which Peter is referring. Most of these prophecies were given several hundred years before Jesus was born. And God allowed these prophets to understand that He was giving them these prophecies for future generations, not just for the prophets themselves.

One Christian friend from my mother’s generation told me that she only believed the Bible when Israel became a nation and Jews from all over the world began flocking there. When my friend saw the Biblical prophecies being fulfilled before her very eyes, she felt this was evidence that could not be denied or ignored.

There are prophecies in the Bible that are hard to understand. Some of the prophecies in Ezekiel and Daniel and the Book of Revelations have led to arguments for years. But we also must trust that the same God who gave these prophecies also will give us wisdom to understand the prophecies that apply to us.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for the faithfulness of your prophets! Thank you that they were willing to pay the price of obedience and to listen to your voice and record your prophecies for the rest of us. Lord, help us to listen to you and to obey your word. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.

1Peter 1:6 – 9 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

It has been said that “Character is what you are when nobody is looking.” Most of us can look good for a little while and we may make a great impression as long as we are not under pressure. But bring a little stress and we don’t look nearly so outstanding. In Peter’s day, it was common to go to the market and see a goldsmith working gold. Raw gold contains lots of impurities, and these impurities can only be eliminated by heating the gold to the melting point and skimming off the impurities. The same thing is true with silver. And even after gold or silver have been refined, they can still be destroyed if the fire is hot enough.

Several years ago, my husband’s grandmother gave us some pure silver forks that had been passed down in her family. We left those forks with our daughter while we went overseas. Unfortunately, our daughter’s house was completely destroyed by fire, and the silver was never found. That raging fire had totally consumed the silver.

Faith that remains untested is not faith but merely wishful thinking. Unless our faith has been tried, nobody really knows if we are merely mouthing platitudes or if we are willing to act on what we say.

There are all kinds of trials of faith. We have one friend who has been in ICU for three weeks. Not only has our friend’s faith been tried, but his entire family has been forced to endure tremendous stress. But our friend continues to pray and to praise God, as do his other family members.

What good is faith? Why should we believe? If there were no reward for faith, it would be worthless; however, faith in Christ Jesus has a definite goal: eternal salvation. None of us can earn our way into heaven. Each of us has sinned and has fallen short of the glory of God. But if we will pray to God, confessing that we are sinners and ask God to save us, He will. We then must trust that the blood sacrifice Jesus completed on Calvary has the power to save us from our sins. Faith in the redeeming power of that sacrifice gives us the energy and the hope to continue to trust God and to praise Him and worship Him, even in the darkest of times. When we trust in God, He will give us the grace and the courage and the strength to withstand the pressures that assail us.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and that nothing I do will help me earn my way into heaven. Please forgive my sin. I thank you that you died for me and that because you have defeated death, you have the power to grant eternal life when I believe in you. Help me to trust you completely and to follow hard after you all the days of my life. Amen.

1 Peter 1: 3 – 5

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Nobody could understand it! These people should have left town immediately. Certainly, their neighbors did everything they could to drive them away. The couple lived in a small village in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo, and they were the only Christians in the place. John and his wife had moved in at the bidding of the Holy Spirit, but they had had nothing but problems ever since they had arrived. As soon as the neighbors learned that John and Victoria were Christians, they began harassing them. The neighbors stole their goats and chickens and allowed their cows and pigs to enter their garden, despite a carefully woven fence. When nothing else would drive this couple away, the neighbors set fire to their house while they were at the farm, killing their small son who was asleep inside the house. Despite all of these persecutions, John and Victoria continued to be kind and to worship Jesus, singing and praying frequently throughout the day and night.

Then came the flood. While most people in town were afraid of deep water and could not swim, John was an expert swimmer who had grown up beside a large river. James and his family had led the persecution against John and Victoria when many others would have stopped. Now James stood helpless on one side of a swollen stream while his wife and children were stranded on a small island calling for help. “Tie a rope around my waist and anchor it to that big tree,” John ordered James. Wearing the safety rope, John managed to ford the stream and bring everyone to safety.

“Why have you helped us?” James begged with tears streaming down his face. “We have done nothing but hurt you ever since you came. We have managed to destroy everything you owned, including your only son.”

“It’s simple,” John replied. “Our hope is not in this world; our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is Him whom we worship and follow. We have a living Hope. You continue to serve idols that can do nothing.”

“I want what you have,” responded James. “How can I have that kind of hope?” And that day, James and his family began to follow Jesus.

Today, many people around the world are without hope. One year ago, they had flourishing businesses; today the COVID – 19 pandemic has destroyed those businesses. Others have been caught up in the maelstrom of social change, unwilling participants in demonstrations by outsiders who have demolished their neighborhoods. Still others have conquered COVID, only to realize that rehabilitation may take months or years. What hope do these people have?

The Apostle Peter was no stranger to suffering. By the time Peter was writing this epistle, he had been in prison and had likely been beaten and had been forced to move from place to place. Eventually, Peter would be crucified for his faith. What is Peter telling us?

“By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives, we are born again spiritually and now have real hope. Many hope in possessions or fame or businesses or political connections, but all of those can fall apart in an instant.

”…and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” At one time, inheriting houses or lands could be a great blessing. Now inheritance taxes can eat up so much money that the inheritance becomes a burden. But God gives us an eternal inheritance that will never pass away.

We always have a choice: will we serve the one true living God, or will we serve something or someone else and less? Only God the Father can give us true hope and a living inheritance as we trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us. Today we must choose carefully, for we are choosing for eternity.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for your precious promises. Lord, help us to truly believe in you and in your Son Jesus Christ. Thank you that when we do believe, you guarantee us that we will have a heavenly inheritance that can never be taken away from us. Thank you for giving us hope. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.