1 Peter 1:3

My senior year of high school, I took a class on HTML.  I liked the class and found it to be fairly easy. There were two freshman who sat to my right who did not find it to be so easy. The girl next to me would ask me TONS of questions which I answered. The boy next to her would generally ask her the same questions and she either wouldn't answer him or begrudgingly answer him and get mad at him for asking. One day after she didn't help him with the same question she had just asked me, I told them both the story of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35). No idea why they listened to me – maybe because I was a senior they thought they had to. But at least for that class period, she helped him.

In the story of the unmerciful servant, there is a king who realizes he has a servant that owes him 10,000 talents. When the servant is brought before the king, he cannot pay his debt and so the king shows mercy and cancels the debt. The servant then sees a man who owes him 100 denarii. (It's generally said to be millions of dollars versus a few hundred dollars. This guy says it's even more drastic of an amount though: http://chimes.biola.edu/story/2010/oct/27/parable-two-debtors/) The servant demands that the man pay him the 100 denarii. When he cannot do so, the servant has him thrown in jail. People go tell the king what happened, and the king reprimands him and throws him in jail. Even after being shown great mercy, this servant does not reciprocate.

Baker's Bible Dictionary says mercy is "compassion and love expressed in tangible ways." The compassion and love of the king is expressed quite tangibly when he cancels the 10,000 talent that the servant owes him. That's what I tend to think of when I think of mercy. Canceling significant debt.

We owe a debt much greater than 10,000 talents. Our sin is a debt we cannot repay. In Romans we are told the wages of sin is death. God loves us and has compassion on us and shows it in a tangible way. He sends Jesus to live a perfect life and die on the cross as a way to cancel the debt of our sins.

1 Peter 1:3 says. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." When we recognize that because of God's mercy we can be born again, we should most certainly bless Him!

Prayer: God, I am thankful for your great mercy. Thank you for salvation through the death and resurrection of your son Jesus Christ. Thank you for the hope that gives believers.

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These are some of my thoughts after reading the Verse of the Day on my YouVersion Bible app.

One day left to live...

1 Peter 4:7-9 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

If you knew that the world was going to end in 30 days or that you were going to die tomorrow, how would you spend your last month or day? Are there things you would start or stop doing? Are there people you’d be sure to talk to or others you’d no longer care about? I think each one of us would do things differently if we knew the end was near.

This part of the chapter Peter has a reached a point that he’s giving some instructions and these verses are just some bullet points of instruction. Why is he giving these instructions? The beginning of verse 7 he says the end is coming. Jesus could return at any moment. We don’t have any guarantee that we get to live to see tomorrow or next month or next year. Then again it could be another 50 or 100 years before Christ returns. We don’t know exactly when it happens, but Christ could return at any moment. How are we to live in light of that? Here are some of Peter’s suggestions:

First, “be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” Don’t ramble on praying about things that don’t matter. Pray for your unsaved friends and family. Pray for boldness in reaching out to them. Pray that people from every nation would know Jesus is Lord. Be intentional in praying for things that matter in light of eternity. (I’m not saying that we aren’t to go to God in prayer with small things. We read all through the Psalms of David crying out to the Lord with all sorts of emotions he was dealing with. Just don’t be so focused on yourself that you forget to also pray for the big things.)

Next Peter tells us to love one another. He makes a big deal of this. He emphasizes this “above all” of the other things. Why? “Love covers a multitude of sins.” I think we can use that verse a bit flippantly at times. But don’t read it too quickly without paying attention to what Peter is saying. Love people- even when they sin (purposely or accidentally, knowingly or unknowingly). You are not God to judge them for the things they are doing. You are to love them! Loving them can look different for different people. It can be praying for them, lending a listening ear, disciplining them, teaching them, serving them, or as Peter mentions in verse 9, being hospitable.

Being hospitable is all about being generous and inviting to people—we often use it in reference to how we treat guests to our home. So you can see how that’s another way to love people.

So as suggested by Peter, keep in mind that Christ could return at any moment. Pay attention to the things that you are doing and think about whether they make an impact in light of that. Don’t be so focused on yourself that you miss out on opportunities to love others.

1) If you knew Jesus was coming back tomorrow, what would you do? What if He returns next month? Next year? In ten years?

2) What do your prayers look like?

3) How do you show people you love them?

4) Take some time to pray and journal about this passage.

How Not to Win Survivor

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary,bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1 Peter 3:8-12 ESV)

I love watching Survivor. I find the group dynamics so entertaining – seeing the way people act and interact with the group and how that helps or hurts them when it comes time for challenges and tribal councils. Each season can be drastically different. Sometimes the people who make it to the end win because they were everyone's friend or they had the best strategy or they just kept winning everything.

There are quite a variety of people who have won the game. There are also certain people who will never win the game one of the most notorious villains to play Survivor was Russell Hantz. He ruthlessly made it to the end but had no chance of winning because he manipulated and mistreated people so badly.

It was also extremely entertaining to watch CBC and GBC play Survivor. I had a lot of fun watching the challenges and seeing what went down tribal Council. Early on in Survivor Hawaii, it became obvious that Stephen had become this season's Russell Hantz. He was doing everything right as far as playing the game was concerned, but he took the blame for the decisions and liked to talk way too much. Bushy made a smart decision taking Stephen to the final two.

What does that have to do with this passage in 1 Peter though? In these verses, we read about characteristics that explain why Bushy won, not Stephen.

As the game was being played, Bushy, Spencer and Stephen had unity of mind – they had the same goal in mind, stick with their alliance and make it to the merge. At the merge, they stayed unified and they eliminated bigger, stronger players.

However, Bushy and Spencer made decisions with sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind. They were playing to win, but weren't cocky and boastful as they did so. They kept their tongues from evil and their lips away from speaking deceit.

Survivor relies on the people voted out to determine the winner. Natural human tendency is to repay evil with evil. When Stephen was cocky about those he voted out, he burned those bridges and in doing so, lost their votes at the end because they repaid evil for evil.

Moral of the story: when developing your Survivor strategy for next season, keep in mind that although you must vote people off, the way in which you do so makes a difference. More importantly, this is true in life outside of Survivor too. As you interact with others you need to do so with unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a humble mind. Peter tells us this is necessary if we desire to love life and see good days.

Answer This:

1) In what ways does your life show that you are sympathetic? Loving? Tender-hearted? Humble?

2) What can you do to overcome the tendency to want to repay evil with evil?

3) Do you seek peace and honor God with your life? If so, how? If not, what needs to change?

4) Take some time to pray and journal about this passage.

Anybody have a dollar?

"Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." (1 Peter 2:13-17 ESV)

The Bible is one long story. We get in the habit of breaking it down into more manageable chunks to read. There is great benefit in doing that, but it can also cause us to miss certain connections.
So we're reading 1 Peter which was written by: _______________. We know this guy – he was one of Jesus's 12 disciples. He walked on water. He cut off the soldier's ear. He denied Christ three times. He preached on the day of Pentecost.
Don't forget who the guy is that's writing the book as you're reading it. Now why do I bring that up?
I enjoy studying Peter's life and seeing how he was very passionate about serving Christ, even if he didn't always get it right. We see character development throughout the Gospels and Acts and as we read his epistles– We see how he made mistakes but also how he learned from the experiences he had.

As I read this passage and Peter, it reminded me of a story about Jesus. Let's read it:
"Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away." (Matthew 22:15-22 ESV)

Jesus respects Caesar as an earthly authority and pays his taxes. Although Peter isn't specifically mentioned, he knew Jesus' stance (see Matt. 17:24-27) and very well may have seen this all go down to. This is a lesson Peter learned and is now teaching to others.

It is God's will for you to submit yourself to the authority of your parents, teachers, youth leaders, police officers, government officials, congress and the president.

Peter's comment in verse 15 is interesting considering the story we just read about Jesus – became asking about the tax looking for a way to accuse Jesus. Because He had paid it, there was no fault against Him and they left. His obedience "silenced the ignorance of foolish people."

So as Peter says, "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood [other believers]. Fear God. Honor the emperor." (1 Peter 2:17 ESV)

Answer This:
1) Do you have a difficult time submitting to and respecting authority? Why or why not?

2) Why is it important for us to respect our authority figures?

3) Can you think of a time where your obedience had a positive influence on others watching?

4) Take some time to journal about this passage.

It's my Party, I'll Cry if I Want to.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12 ESV)

Entitled. Spoiled. Ungrateful. Lazy. These are words often used to describe young adults and teenagers. Our parents have often worked hard to provide great things for us and we expect good things. Right?

I love watching Survivor. One of the last episodes I watched, it was Rodney's birthday. Rodney hasn't won a reward challenge all season. 30 days in and everyone else who is left has won a food reward or some cool experience. But not Rodney. So a few people had told him that if they won, they'd pick him to go on the reward with them.

When they get to the reward challenge, it's a team challenge, not an individual one. Rodney's team loses, so he then begs the three winners to give up their reward so he can go. He feels like they owe it to him to celebrate his birthday. No one is willing to do so. (and I don't blame them – they've all been eating a scoop of rice a day for 30 days! Plus, they were going to an orphanage to give the kids toys and school supplies… No one wants to turn that down!)
Anyway, Rodney and the others on the losing team go back to the beach, where Rodney has a major temper tantrum. He's so ticked off that no one would give up the reward to make his birthday special. He complained that it was the worst birthday ever. One of the women said to the camera, "he's on Survivor - millions of people would think that's a pretty great birthday."

It seems funny to see a grown man acting that way, but we do the same sort of thing.

Christ has come – we know who the Messiah is. We have the complete Bible and it's easily accessible to us – you probably have more than one Bible as well as access to all different versions on your phone or computer. Beyond your Bible, you can attend church and Bible studies, free of persecution. You can buy a plethora of books – commentaries, Bible studies, any resource you can imagine – to help you learn the Bible and apply it to your life.

These verses talk about the prophets who proclaimed grace and salvation – for us! They earnestly, carefully, diligently searched and inquired of the details of the coming Messiah for us. Yet, like Rodney, we feel entitled and complain over things we don't have rather than recognizing the blessings we do have.

Recognize the incredible blessings you've received. Make the good news that has been given to you real in your life.

Answer This:

1) We have so many tools for learning God's word at our fingertips. Which of those tools are you most thankful for?

2) The prophets "were not serving themselves, but you." And others "have preached the good news to you." How are you doing these things for others?

3) Do you feel like the words used at the beginning of this devotional describe you – entitled, spoiled, ungrateful, lazy? If so, what can you do to change that?

4) Take sometime and journal about this passage.

Please Pass the Popcorn

You know how we sometimes do those popcorn praise prayers at youth group? That's basically what Peter does after his introduction. Reading it, I can't help but get excited. Take your time as you read today's passage.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV)

"Blessed be" is also translated at "praise be." So Peter is saying praise God and is about to tell us why.
Also, I like that Peter specifies that God is the father of Jesus Christ. Remember, these letters are being written to the early church. Comments like this reinforce the authority of Jesus' life and teaching.

"According to his great mercy" This makes me excited because I know I need mercy and not only does God have some, it's great! It's powerful and abundant. And I find myself wanting to keep reading to see what his mercy will compel Him to do.

As we continue reading verse 3, we see what it is He has done. "Born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" this should blow your mind. But this is such common knowledge to us, you probably didn't give it much thought. Read it again: "Born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" wow!

In both John and Romans, we're told it's because of love that God sent Jesus to be born, live a sinless life, to be that perfect sacrifice who would die on the cross for our sins. But it would be in vain if that's where the story ended. Jesus Christ rise from the grave! Not Walking Dead style - He became fully alive, defeating death and Satan! That's awesome!

Because of this, we can be born again. And not just to some boring life. We have "living hope," which is explained more in verse 4.

In heaven, we, who are born again, will receive an inheritance that is...
1) imperishable- unlike the Promised land which was the Israelites inheritance, this will last FOREVER! It has no end.
2) undefiled- it is not obtained dishonestly or corruptly. Nor will it have any intrusions, or sin, or any impurities.
3) unfading- unlike the flowers and grass mentioned in verse 24, this will keep its beauty and never stop blooming.

Verse 5 is exciting and a little confusing.
"God's power" is unmatchable, all-sufficient, unending, uncontainable, unstoppable - if our God is for us, who can stand against us? That's a rhetorical question because obviously the answer is no one or nothing. That should get you excited for being in God's side!!

So by God's power, we, who are born again, are being guarded through faith.
This part seems a little confusing--what are we being guarded from? I don't think it means pain or safety or death. I've been hurt, been in car accidents, had friends and family die. All over the world we see all sorts of persecution and injustices happening to believers.

What I think Peter is referring to here is that once we have been born again and have this living hope and inheritance, satan can't take that from us--that's what we are being guarded from... Woohoo! God's got me covered and He does you too, if you're born again! Satan can come at us anyway he wants, like he did to Job, and although it may be difficult and painful to endure, we still get heaven!! That's awesome!!

Peter's last comment about salvation to be revealed is a little confusing. But it makes me think of when Paul talks about seeing things now dimly but it will be revealed to us eventually. There's so much more that God is doing than we realize. Eventually we will understand more and more.

Questions:
1) I mentioned more than once that this passage get me excited. What about God gets you excited?

2) Are you born again? Do you have that living hope Peter referred to?

3) According to his great ______________, he has caused us to be  ______________to a living hope through the ______________ of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4) Take some time to pray and journal about this passage.