Read 1 Peter 3
13-18If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God. (The Message)
If you have been reading along sense the first of July through James and 1 Peter to this point you might be wondering if we aren't falling into "works righteousness" (that is doing all the right things so that God will love us and accept us). Have we been focusing upon what one does over and above what one believes? It is a legitimate question. In fact it could be why these smaller letters not written by Paul in the back of the New Testament are not regularly read or studied these days. So let's remember the context which these two books are writing within. James and Peter are both writing to people who are believers. They are not writing to convince or to convert rather they are writing to encourage. The encouragement they are bringing is along the lines of "now what?" Once you believe and start down the road of life with Jesus your life should be different. This isn't just James and Peter it is a thread found all the way through New Testament. So as we go along the road of life and faith we too should be willing to ask the now what question. Are we different today than we were yesterday? Is my walk with Jesus leading me to become more Jesus like in my thoughts and behavior?
If you have been reading along sense the first of July through James and 1 Peter to this point you might be wondering if we aren't falling into "works righteousness" (that is doing all the right things so that God will love us and accept us). Have we been focusing upon what one does over and above what one believes? It is a legitimate question. In fact it could be why these smaller letters not written by Paul in the back of the New Testament are not regularly read or studied these days. So let's remember the context which these two books are writing within. James and Peter are both writing to people who are believers. They are not writing to convince or to convert rather they are writing to encourage. The encouragement they are bringing is along the lines of "now what?" Once you believe and start down the road of life with Jesus your life should be different. This isn't just James and Peter it is a thread found all the way through New Testament. So as we go along the road of life and faith we too should be willing to ask the now what question. Are we different today than we were yesterday? Is my walk with Jesus leading me to become more Jesus like in my thoughts and behavior?
Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:
- Which is easier for you to think the right thoughts or do the right things?
- When someone criticizes you unjustly do you find yourself obsessing about it or letting it role off of you? Why do you think that is the case?
- Who do you see becoming more like Jesus around you? What is it about them that makes you see this?
- What might you do today that would draw you closer to Jesus in both thoughts and action?
Prayer Focus:
- Pray that New Ground might make a life changing impact upon people in our community
- Pray that God might make clear where New Ground should be located.
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