Responses to God's Grace
Faith Leads to Holy Living
Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)
Live Holy Lives
1 Peter 1:3-12 The Message
A New Life
3-5 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.
6-7 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.
8-9 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.
10-12 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 prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this!
For Reflection
Do you ever want to "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off?" Well, not in a suicidal sense! Aren't there times when under pressure you just want to get away from it all and start over?
Well, you can. In Christ, there is no holding a grudge for past behavior. All is forgiven, wiped clean, as though nothing sinful has happened. All one has to do is change from conformity to the material world and become realigned with the spiritual world. Only then will you hear the truth of your existence and see the evidence of your divine creation. Joy will be your companion. Peace amid turmoil will be your reward.
Pray
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Sing songs of thanksgiving. Join in the music of the universe in harmonious living.
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