Wednesday Reading: 1 Peter 1 3-9

Key Verse: 1 Peter 1 7
7  so that the trial of your faith (being much more precious than that of gold that perishes, but being proven through fire) might be found to praise and honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

Devotion:
Yes it is the same verses again today so you don’t have to spend ‘all that time reading’! But in doing my reading yesterday I kept on wanting to change the subject to remind you of the fact that we do need strength to keep us going. Just as we receive our daily food to nourish our bodies, we also need our daily spiritual bread from Christ so that we can strengthen ourselves spiritually. Just as we face uphill struggles in our physical lives, we will also face uphill struggles in our spiritual lives. Physically we can make sure that we have the exercise to cope with things or that we buy the right goods to see us through. Spiritually we have to rely on Christ to see us through our difficulties.

As you go through life you may well begin to realise that even though things happen that are not what you want or like, those things do allow you to grow stronger and wiser. The same is true for our spiritual lives; the more that we are able to learn, the stronger we get. The only problem is that we will be facing things that we do not expect and also things that may well tempt us. That is where we need to remain strong in Christ because as long as we are relying on Him, He will be able to keep us; and that is another reason why we should be continually praising Him!

There will be a time when Christ will return and at that time every person who has done things against Christ will realise what they have done. (Revelations 1 7) We need to keep in mind that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He alone is the one who has gone to the cross for our sins. We need to remember that because of what He has done for us, we are forever in His debt and that we will always have our place reserved in Heaven because of Him!

Points to Ponder:
Are you ready for Heaven?

Are you trusting in Christ?

Tuesday Reading: 1 Peter 1 3-9

Key Verse: 1 Peter 1 5
5  by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;

Devotion:
As you grow in strength with Christ you too will be able to enjoy the amount of ‘food’ that we get through reading His Word. I have never been one to read a lot and that has compromised my education to some extent. I have always been good at engineering, drawing and figuring things out so I did not think that reading should be a big part of my life. But it is now that I realise just how important reading is because of the amount of things that are learned just through reading. It is always best if we do have someone to explain the text that we are reading – Shakespeare’s writings are so full of meaning that is missed until it is explained to you.

God’s Word is so very full of everything that He wants us to know, and yet people of the world cannot understand it because they are not willing to listen to God as He tries to explain it to them. If we are willing to believe in Christ, then He has promised us that we will have a teacher that lives with us (the Holy Spirit) who is willing to teach us things as we go along. Just because we do not see Him does not mean that we should ignore Him. We need to keep our faith and hope that what He is teaching us will continue to strengthen us until that day when we will stand firm knowing that all we have believed has been the truth all along!

A baby does not know that the milk they are receiving will strengthen them enough to grow up into an adult, but they do know that what they receive gives them the strength to continue on. We need to have that sort of faith that what we are receiving is giving us what we need to grow up in Christ. God is our Father and He does actually know what is best for us. He has set out a diet before us that we need to become the best that He wants us to be – so long as we are willing to stick to His diet in our lives then we shall have the hope that we do grow to what He wants us to be too!

Points to Ponder:
Are you sticking to your diet?

Are you keeping the Holy Spirit with you?

Monday Reading: 1 Peter 2 1-3

Key Verse: 1 Peter 2 2
2  desire the sincere milk of the Word, as newborn babes, so that you may grow by it;

Devotion:
I don’t know if you have had the pleasure of being able to be at the birth of a child but it is one of the most extraordinary, beautiful and fulfilling (yet quite scary) things in life. To be able to be there when you see that child takes its very first breath and then to be able to hold it and welcome it into the world is truly amazing! It is then that you see the amazing gift that God has given to us – life itself! It is there that you begin to realise just how much a small child needs parents that are willing to be there and willing to protect them.

Now there is no way that you will be able to give the new baby a nice big juicy steak to welcome them into the world! Instead they are totally reliant on the milk that you are going to give to them, be it straight from Mum or mixed up in a preparation, it is the milk that will allow them to grow. They need something that their tiny bodies can cope with and steak is certainly not something that they can handle yet! As we start out in our lives with Christ we also need the “easy to handle food” so that we can grow to be stronger. As we grow up and become stronger we can then move on to bigger and better things until we are able to eat a hearty meal.

That growing stage is so very important because without a proper early growth the body will not be able to handle what life will throw its way. The best possible meals for us are little and often, just like a baby needs little and often. God has given us the carer, all the food we need and more besides. If we are going to fight against all of that then we may well go hungry; but if we are going to settle down and take what is given to us and when it is given, we will be able to grow stronger quicker. That strength comes from God, from His Word, and from living a life that is acceptable to Him. Be strong and know the grace of God!

Points to Ponder:
Are you enjoying your daily food?

Are you keeping Christ with you?

Sunday Reading: 2 Peter 3 14-18

Key Verse: 2 Peter 3 18
18  But grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Devotion:
How hard is it to work in a dirty place without getting dirty? Well it is almost impossible to work somewhere like in a garage without getting grease and other dirt all over your hands at the very least; we wear overalls so that we do not get our clothes dirty... but somehow the dirt just seems to get through to everything! So how do we expect to be able to live in a dirty, perverse, deceitful and corrupt world without having some of that rub off on us? If we are going to surround ourselves with that sort of mess, then do we really expect to come out the other end without some of that dirt on us?

Our goal has got to be to keep ourselves clean by being diligent and keeping a careful watch out for all things that are going on around us. But in doing so we are exposing ourselves to the very dirt that we want to be able to avoid in the first place! That is where God’s Word comes in and reminds us of the fact that we do need to separate ourselves from this world so that we can at least have a better chance at coming out without all of the dirt spread all over us! Just because we find it a bit harder to live a life that is separate from this world does not mean that God is not with us. He does not promise that we will live a life without a care in the world; quite the opposite.

God warns us that we will come up against many things as we live our lives. He also says that we will come up against many more things as we live our lives for Him because this world is so much against Him. But what we need to remember more is the length and depth of what Christ has had to go through as He watches over all mankind living a life against Him. Our hardships then fade into obscurity as we realise how much more He has had to endure – and continues to endure! People give us words such as being diligent and steadfast which all sound so good... but what it comes down to is the simple fact that we are the ones who have to stand up and be counted as Christians and not give in to this world and all its trimmings!

Points to Ponder:
Have you made your move?

Are you keeping Christ with you?