1 Peter 1:8-9

8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls. (NLT)

 

True happiness comes only through your trust in Christ. Your faith in Him brings you happiness. Without Christ in your life you can never be happy with yourself or with others. Jesus fills you with His joy, love, peace and happiness. Christ is the one who makes you complete. He is the key and the answer to everything in your life. You cannot control your life or other people without letting go of your control and letting Jesus take charge. When you are in control life is never happy, but letting go and letting Jesus be in charge of your life you can then be happy in all things.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:7

These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold — and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (NLT)

 

Do you have faith? Has your faith been tested? Your first test of faith is when you make that first step toward faith in Jesus. God wants your faith in Him to be strong; therefore, He is going to test your faith and dedication to Him. Gold has to be heated to 1,948 degrees to melt and as the gold remains hot the impurities will begin to float to the top where the goldsmith skims them away. To get gold very pure this process is repeated to get the best and purest and most valuable gold. God tests your faith to get the impurities out of your life so that the purest of Jesus Christ can shine through your life. When your faith is tested you may need to let go of things in your life so that Christ can reign supreme over every aspect of your life. Through this process God makes you stronger, better and closer to what He created you to be because you are more precious and valuable to Him then gold. If you fail the test God will take you through it again and again until the impurities are removed. So then, let go, let God reign and it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:5-6

5 And God, in his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation, because you are trusting him. It will be revealed on the last day for all to see. 6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. (NLT)

 

By God’s mighty power He protects you because you trust Him. So be glad and joyful! Even though you have trials for a while God stands with you. In-between the trials that God allows you to go through there is wonderful joy. Trials are necessary for you to endure for it strengthens you for this life you live. Each trial builds your character, love, grace and mercy so that you can become a reflection and a light for Jesus. So be truly glad that He does care for you!

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

Words of Encouragement

                                                                   

1 Peter 1:4

4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. (NLT)

 

This is a wonderful verse. God has reserved for you a “priceless inheritance” and it is there so that it will not be defiled or decay. God’s love goes so far beyond our understanding we cannot fully comprehend all that God has done for us. God spared no expense to bring you to Heaven. For us to come to salvation cost God the most precious person to Him. But because of His great love for us He was willing to send His only Son to die for you. And because Jesus loved you as much as God did Jesus himself was willing to go all out for you too. God has so much more planned for you than just this short time here on this earth that you can live for Him every day just by seeing a glimpse of what is to come.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:3

3 All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. (NLT)

 God has given you the privilege to be born again and because of this you need to honor God in all that you do. God showed you mercy when you did not deserve mercy, He gave you grace when you turned your back on Him and were deep in your sin. Now you can live with a wonderful expectation by the power of His love you are accepted by Him and you will spend all eternity with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ forever. This is something you can celebrate and share with those around you. Therefore embrace a weary, dying, broken world with forgiveness and actionable love.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 Peter 1:1-2

This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

I am writing to God's chosen people who are living as foreigners in the lands of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood.

May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace. (NLT)

 God chose you. Long before the world was ever created, God chose you. The Holy Spirit has drawn you to the Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus has cleansed you by His blood. God’s special favor and wonderful peace is upon you. God’s favor and peace is not something that you are to keep to yourself, but it is to be shared with everyone. Some will receive it and some will not, do not be discouraged but keep on giving as God in Christ has given to you. Take some time and think about this – God loved me enough to choose me, God loved me enough to give me purpose, God cared enough to take the time to be with me, God cared enough to send Jesus for me.

Lord fill me with your love that I can give it away as you have given me your love. Help me daily Lord to be loving and obedient to you and always willing to do your will

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

1 John 3.23-24

23 And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us. (NLT)

 

You and I are commanded to love, to love God’s way and God’s way is unconditional love. To begin to love God’s way you must believe in the name of Jesus Christ and to depend on Him for everything. You must tune your ears to hear the teaching and promptings of the Holy Spirit who lives within you. When you align yourself in obedience to God’s commandments you will then live in fellowship with Him. God’s plan is to fill you full of His love so that you can show forth Christ living in you. Then give this love away to those who need it most and God will continue to fill you to overflowing. Jesus came because of love, He died because of love, He rose from the grave because of love – Jesus is love.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ

Romans 3:19-22

19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to bring the entire world into judgment before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it.

21 But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight — not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. 22 We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. (NLT)

 

The Law was written so that no one on earth could have an excuse not to be living for God and to show us that we are sinners. Because the Law is Holy, it brings the entire world into judgment. If we were without sin we could keep the Law but we have sinned against God, we have gone our own way even to the point that we do not fear God or His wrath. The more you know God's law, the clearer it becomes that you are not obeying it.

But now God through Jesus Christ has provided you with a way of being made right in His sight by the promises He made long ago. You are made right in God's sight when you trust in Jesus Christ to take away your sins through His death, burial and resurrection and you can be saved in this same way, no matter who you are or what you have done.

 

Engage the Present – Create the Future – With Jesus Christ