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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, June 29, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject:Emulating Christ with Our Gentleness Bible Verse:1 Peter 3:18-20 (ESV) "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water." Message:
Peter outdoes himself with his long sentences today! This passage occurs in the middle of a discussion of Christians who suffer generally for their faith, and specifically those who meet harsh critics with gentleness and respect.
H
earing harsh criticism of one’s faith, which often includes personal attack and ridicule, hurts. Our instinct is to counterattack. In Wednesday’s lesson, Peter strongly urged Christians to avoid such an instinctive verbal reprisal. Anger has a peculiar effect of increasing a person’s confidence. But Peter teaches us to take our confidence from the Holy Spirit. The more fully we know that Christ is truth, the less anger we need to keep from feeling vulnerable.
The primary purpose of this passage is to reinforce that lesson. Peter shows how Christ embodied the principle of confident, calm defense of truth. In essence, when we hear Christians called fools or evil hypocrites, we are suffering for the sins of others. Christ did it to “that he might bring us to God”, and if we are to effectively defend Christianity and help others become closer to God, we must emulate Him.
Christ was put to death in the flesh but was raised again by the power of the spirit. When we are able to take vicious attacks against Christian belief calmly and reply gently, we imitate Christ’s life. Our earthly pride may suffer, but our spirit becomes stronger. By His gentleness, both in word and in action, Christ freed those in the prison of sin. Our minor suffering will have the same effect. We must imitate Him; Jesus is our role model.
Finally, Peter makes a very creative and interesting comparison of Christ’s life to the story of Noah. We must be utterly patient with nonbelievers. As God patiently waited for Noah to build the ark, to save only eight people, we must be patient in our defense of our faith. For only a few may ultimately hear the Word and even that may take time.
Meditation : Prayer : Lord, support me all the day long of this troublous life, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over and my work is done. Then of Thy mercy, grant me a safe lodging, and a holy rest and a peace at last through Jesus Christ, our Lord..Amen. |
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