40 Days of GRACE - 25
Dr Jim Brown's TruNorth Devotional
40 Days of GRACE
Day 25 | GRACE, REST, AND HOPE
40 Days of GRACE
Day 25 | GRACE, REST, AND HOPE
GRACE, REST, AND HOPE
1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Sometimes, the ones who have sinned the most and fallen the farthest are the most appreciative of God’s love, forgiveness, and His “Amazing Grace.” Peter certainly qualifies! Consider: he was a KEY disciple (one of the inner band of three – Peter, James, and John) who – after following Christ for over three years, listening to His preaching, seeing the miracles, getting to know all about Him – swore and denied Him when the chips were down.
But the Lord knew the “rest of the story” and how Peter would become a KEY leader of the new CHURCH. Remember, there were no churches until after Jesus rose, went back to heaven, and the Holy Spirit came to be with us. Peter preached a powerful sermon on the day of Pentecost and over 3000 souls came to Christ.
So, in this letter from Peter to Christians at large, he admonishes them to “gird up the loins of your mind” – a little bit like “roll up your sleeves” – and strengthen their thinking about the power of Almighty God. Then, we must “be sober” – or perhaps level-headed – about what Jesus said about Himself, and then REST – rely or depend – on the GRACE we’ll receive at our final destination with Jesus in heaven, when He comes again—God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense (GRACE).
Grace is what we need when life gets tough… as it certainly was for Peter, with the authorities continuing to harass and wanting to halt the spread of Christianity (aka “The Way”) in these early days of the church.
Do you see any parallels to today? I do… though we’re not in as bad a place as the early New Testament church was. Even so, we should use this verse to live boldly for the LORD in these tumultuous days.
Prayer: LORD God, help me gird up and live daily in your GRACE. Amen.
1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Sometimes, the ones who have sinned the most and fallen the farthest are the most appreciative of God’s love, forgiveness, and His “Amazing Grace.” Peter certainly qualifies! Consider: he was a KEY disciple (one of the inner band of three – Peter, James, and John) who – after following Christ for over three years, listening to His preaching, seeing the miracles, getting to know all about Him – swore and denied Him when the chips were down.
But the Lord knew the “rest of the story” and how Peter would become a KEY leader of the new CHURCH. Remember, there were no churches until after Jesus rose, went back to heaven, and the Holy Spirit came to be with us. Peter preached a powerful sermon on the day of Pentecost and over 3000 souls came to Christ.
So, in this letter from Peter to Christians at large, he admonishes them to “gird up the loins of your mind” – a little bit like “roll up your sleeves” – and strengthen their thinking about the power of Almighty God. Then, we must “be sober” – or perhaps level-headed – about what Jesus said about Himself, and then REST – rely or depend – on the GRACE we’ll receive at our final destination with Jesus in heaven, when He comes again—God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense (GRACE).
Grace is what we need when life gets tough… as it certainly was for Peter, with the authorities continuing to harass and wanting to halt the spread of Christianity (aka “The Way”) in these early days of the church.
Do you see any parallels to today? I do… though we’re not in as bad a place as the early New Testament church was. Even so, we should use this verse to live boldly for the LORD in these tumultuous days.
Prayer: LORD God, help me gird up and live daily in your GRACE. Amen.
Posted in GRACE