Weekly Devotion no 47
7 May 2021
Bible reading – 1 Peter 1:3-9[1]
3 Give praise to
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us
a new birth and a living hope. This hope is living because Jesus Christ rose
from the dead. 4 He has given us new birth so that
we might share in what belongs to him. This is a gift that can never be
destroyed. It can never spoil or even fade away. It is kept in heaven for
you. 5 Through faith you are kept safe by God’s
power. Your salvation is going to be completed. It is ready to be shown to you
in the last days. 6 Because you know all this, you
have great joy. You have joy even though you may have had to suffer for a
little while. You may have had to suffer sadness in all kinds of trouble. 7 Your
troubles have come in order to prove that your faith is real. Your faith is
worth more than gold. That’s because gold can pass away even when fire has made
it pure. Your faith is meant to bring praise, honour and glory to God. This
will happen when Jesus Christ returns. 8 Even
though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, you
believe in him. You are filled with a glorious joy that can’t be put into
words. 9 You are receiving the salvation of your
souls. This salvation is the final result of your faith.
Reflection
We’re starting a new series today looking at the Apostle Peter’s letter to the Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor. Peter wrote this letter whilst he was in Rome. It’s a helpful letter for our time as it encourages us to truly live in the hope that we have in Christ.
We can have hope in lots of things. We can hope that the vaccine will help the world to deal with Covid-19. We can hope that we see our family this week. We can hope that our bad knee or arthritic hand won’t cause us too much trouble today. We can hope that we get served our favourite for dinner tonight. These hopes are all good, but these things may or may not happen. And if they do, they might only give us temporary relief or joy. And sometimes our hopes can be overwhelmed by our struggles and troubles.
Our hope in Jesus is different. Because Jesus rose from the dead and therefore conquered death, our hope is alive. It can never be destroyed because our hope is in our Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is not temporary, but eternal. It is not uncertain, but it is steadfast and sure. And it is because of this hope that we can live our lives fully today. And it is because of this hope that we can be joyful, even if we are encountering trials in our life. Hard things will happen and we will experience loss, grief, illness and pain, loneliness and heartache. But when we are secure in our faith in Christ, and assured of our salvation, these things, whilst real and impactful, are put into perspective and our joy wins through. And so we can praise God!
Hymn
Verse 1
All my hope on God is founded;
he doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance he guideth,
only good and only true.
God unknown,
he alone
calls my heart to be his own.
Verse 2
Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray his trust;
what with care and toil he buildeth,
tower and temple, fall to dust.
But God's power,
hour by hour,
is my temple and my tower.
Verse 3
God's great goodness aye endureth,
deep his wisdom, passing thought:
splendour, light, and life attend him,
beauty springeth out of naught.
Evermore
from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.
Verse 4
Daily doth th' Almighty giver
bounteous gifts on us bestow;
his desire our soul delighteth,
pleasure leads us where we go.
Love doth stand
at his hand;
joy doth wait on his command.
Verse 5
Still from earth to God eternal
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Christ doth call
one and all:
ye who follow shall not fall.
Prayer
O God,
you have prepared for those who love you
joys beyond our understanding:
pour into our hearts such love for you,
that, loving you above all else,
we may obtain your promises
that exceed all we can desire;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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