No Surprises!
Read: 1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. (v. 12) If you are reading this devotional somewhere in North America it may be difficult to feel the force of Peter’s warning. He sees fiery ordeals coming for all who follow the Crucified […]
Sober to Pray
Read: 1 Peter 4:1-11 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. (v. 7 NRSV) Every biblical author addressing the end of all things agrees about this: it will be frightening! So Peter reasons further that we must be serious enough and disciplined enough […]
A Ready Defense
Read: 1 Peter 3:8-22 Always be ready to make your defense . . . (v. 15 NRSV) Among the finest students I have ever taught are the brave and zealous men and women from the great African country of Uganda. The names of Stephen, Titus, Millie, Latimer, Asaph, and many more rise from my lips […]
A Family Affair
Read: 1 Peter 3:1-7 . . . so that nothing may hinder your prayers. (v. 7 NRSV) How we need the encouragement and moral direction Peter offers husbands and wives today. When the Lord saw Adam alone in the Garden of Eden, he announced that this wasn’t good (Gen. 2:18). So from Adam’s rib God […]
Beloved and Urged
Read: 1 Peter 2:11-25 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable. (v. 12) Peter was assuming several things as he wrote to Christian brothers and sisters in his day, and I am certain he would make the same assumptions about us in our day. He assumes that (1) we will live in exile, (2) the […]
Chosen for a Reason
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-9 But you are a chosen race . . . (v. 9) What enormous encouragement is lavished upon Christian believers in just one verse. We are called chosen, royal, holy, and as if that were not enough, God’s own people. Out of all the people of the earth God has chosen one […]
Like Living Stones
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-9 As you come to him, a living stone. (v. 4) My father was a brick mason, so I learned very early in life the difference between headers and stretchers, and between closers and bats. And if I learned anything at all, I certainly learned the meaning of a cornerstone. Set the […]
Ordered Affections
Read: 1 Peter 2:1-9 Rid yourselves, therefore . . . (v. 1 NRSV) A very wise friend of mine often says, “If we are talking about real Christianity, we must get comfortable with the fact that there will be a ‘no’ somewhere in the sentence.” While we have been culturally conditioned from our cradles to […]
The Enduring Word
Read: 1 Peter 1:22-25 . . . but the word of the Lord endures forever. (v. 25 NRSV) Everything around us is fading away with the striking exception of the Word of the Lord, which is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12) and endures forever. John Calvin, the most influential theologian of the Reformed tradition, writes […]