There is power in numbers. I remember a group of men literally picking up a car to save a woman trapped under it from an accident. I’ve seen devastating damage from a tornado cleaned up by hundreds of strangers wanting to help. But when we gather together in the name of the Lord, the power is amplified beyond our comprehension…for in the mist, we find God…and with God, all things are possible.
Month: November 2014
Job 1:21 ” The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Two women, both in Intensive Care with life-threatening medical problems. One, a young pregnant mother, in a coma from a routine medical procedure…the other, a woman who had gone to the hospital with the flu, but was spiraling downwards rapidly. That week I dedicated my Devotionals to their families…writing about hope and miracles, and God’s grace. After being in a coma for almost 2 months, the young pregnant Mother began to wake up, and went on to deliver a healthy baby boy. The other woman passed on to glory surrounded by her loved ones. Two families…one rejoicing, the other grieving, but both changed forever by the circumstances. What can we then take from this? Life is very fragile…love intensely…appreciate immensely…praise Him regardless.
I Peter 2:24 “…by His wounds you have been healed.”
The walking wounded are all around us. They may not have open, bleeding cuts you can see, but they are hurting terribly all the same. Emotional pain can be concealed, stuffed inside, and ignored…but like a nagging headache, it’s always there. Jesus died on that Cross to heal us not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually…He wants to restore us back to perfect health in all areas of our life.
I Peter 3:15 ” Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”
If you died tonight, would you go to Heaven? How do you know? Two simple questions – one potentially complex answer…but it doesn’t need to be. It’s sometimes hard to verbalize that cause for our inner confidence, but if you know that Jesus died on the cross for you, your hope is rooted in Him and nothing else. Simply put… Jesus is the reason, the only reason, for the hope you have.
I Peter 2:17 ” Show proper respect to everyone: love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”
Only Simon Peter uses this term “brotherhood of Believers” in a unique way. He likens our natural birth into our family to the family we become part of when we’re born again. Suddenly we have brothers and sisters all over the World…our new birth in Christ making us all family.
Mark 10:45 ” For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
You can pick them out if you watch carefully…they quietly work in the background…unassuming, never self-promoting or proud. They are those very special people with a true servants heart. You’ll usually find them busy in the kitchen, or in the back room working away, oblivious to the pomp and ceremony up front. These precious saints are the Lord’s hands and feet here on Earth…they serve with affection, devotion, and model His love for us all.
I Peter 2:12 ” Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.”
Simon Peter spells it out very clearly…you will be insulted, slandered, maligned, and just plain bad mouthed by the world…there’s no way around it…and being a Christian doesn’t exempt you from it. But what we do need to bear in mind, is that the unbeliever is watching very closely to see our reactions…will we repay evil with evil, or will they see Jesus in us? The final words of this verse are also very important, for we may never see the influence of our doing good in this lifetime…but it never should detract us from continuing to do what is right.
Isaiah 37:14 “Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord.”
How many of us, after receiving bad news, will immediately – first thing – take it to the Lord? Not after we’ve tried to fix it on our own…not after spending time moaning, groaning and complaining about how mistreated we are…but right away. God wants us to take all our cares in supplication before Him, seeking His mercy…sooner, not later.
I Peter 2:9 ” But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
You are a beloved possession of the Lord, having been called out of Spiritual darkness with all its misery and damnation. God has summoned you from that darkness and the power of Satan into the brilliant illumination of His truth and gift of eternal life.
I Peter 1:23 ” For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
To be born again…the Greek word utilized here was only penned by Simon Peter, speaking of Spiritual rebirth or new birth. We have traded our deteriorating bodies for ones that will never wear out. We have exchanged our mortal beings for immortal ones. We have move from this temporal world to eternal life when we are born again.
Safetypinlove 