Bible League: Living His Word These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.— 1 Peter 1:7 NLT There's an important day coming. Indeed, it is one of the most important days that has ever been or that ever will be. It's the day when Jesus Christ returns and is revealed to the whole world. It's the day when all those who look forward to His coming receive the priceless inheritance that is being kept in heaven for us. What is this inheritance? It is salvation (1 Peter 1:5)—more than the first-fruits of salvation that we already have (Romans 8:23), it is the ultimate manifestation of everything associated with the great salvation we have in Christ Jesus. Obviously, that's something that we can look forward to. It's something that helps us to go through the things that we have to go through before Jesus returns. What do we have to go through? We have to go through all the trials, troubles, tribulations, and persecutions that come against us in this dispensation. Although Jesus suffered and died for our sins, although the kingdom of God has come, the kingdom is still not here in its fullness. That's why Jesus taught us to pray, "May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Satan and his minions are still causing all sorts of trouble on earth. They are still vainly trying to roll back the inevitable march of the kingdom to its complete manifestation. As our verse for today teaches us, these trials that we experience are like tests. Just like fire shows that gold is the real deal, the tests show that we are the real deal. They show that we're not just pretenders. We are true Christians. Trials, troubles, tribulations, and persecutions may set us back, but they don't defeat us. With the help of God's protection (1 Peter 1:5), we go through them in victory. Despite them, the overwhelming victory is ours (Romans 8:37). And there is an added bonus. As Peter tells us in our verse, "When your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor." Like brave battlefield heroes who receive their medals, we will receive the rewards for having been the tried and true warriors of the kingdom. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingIsaiah 24, 25, 26 Isaiah 24 -- Devastation on the Earth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 25 -- Song of Praise for God's Favor NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 26 -- Song of Praise for God's Protection NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Ephesians 4 Ephesians 4 -- Unity in the Spirit; Life as Children of Light NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us.Insight Paul mentions two gifts God gives when we become believers: (1) a seal of ownership to show who our Master is, and (2) the Holy Spirit, who guarantees that we belong to him and will receive all his benefits. The Holy Spirit guarantees that salvation is ours now, and that we will receive so much more when Christ returns. The great comfort and power the Holy Spirit gives in this life is a foretaste or down payment (“first installment”) of the benefits of our eternal life in God's presence. Challenge With the privilege of belonging to God comes the responsibility of identifying ourselves as his faithful servants. Don't be ashamed to let others know that you are his. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Colossians 1:5 The hope which is laid up for you in heaven.Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of rest where the sweat of labor shall no more bedew the worker's brow, and fatigue shall be forever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy, for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment forever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the future and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify the present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigor, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labor without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come. Daily Light on the Daily Path Leviticus 16:22 "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Jeremiah 50:20 'In those days and at that time,' declares the LORD, 'search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.' Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. Isaiah 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. Isaiah 53:11,12 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. • Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors. John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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