Weekly Devotion no 52
16 July 2021
Bible reading – 1 Peter 5:6-11[1]
6 So make yourselves humble. Put yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Then
he will honour you at the right time. 7 Turn all
your worries over to him. He cares about you.
8 Be watchful and control yourselves. Your enemy the devil is like a
roaring lion. He prowls around looking for someone to swallow up. 9 Stand
up to him. Remain strong in what you believe. You know that you are not alone
in your suffering. The family of believers throughout the world is going
through the same thing.
10 God always gives you all the grace you need. So you will only have to
suffer for a little while. Then God himself will build you up again. He will
make you strong and steady. And he has chosen you to share in his eternal glory
because you belong to Christ. 11 Give him the power
for ever and ever. Amen.
Reflection
A couple of weeks ago we looked at what it looks like to care for one another from 1 Peter 4: to pray, love, show hospitality, and serve. We were encouraged to put others before ourselves, considering the needs of others, and serving, following Christ’s example. This requires humility.
God reminds us in 1 Peter 4:11 that he will give us the strength we need to serve. And, hopefully as we care for others, they will also care for us, pray for us, love us, show hospitality to us, and serve us. God also cares for us so much that in 1 Peter 5:7 he invites us to cast our anxieties on him. God himself cares for our needs. And so, as we cast our anxieties on him and experience his care, this helps us to be humble, freeing us from being self-focussed and enabling us to truly be concerned for the needs of others.
And life can be hard, with many struggles. None of us have been exempt from suffering. But God will give us the grace we need, and assures us that suffering will not last forever. We have the most incredible joy ahead of us: being in God’s glorious presence for all eternity, because of Jesus’ love for us. God will give us strength to endure the present, and not just to endure, but to build us up.
So, in humility, let
us cast our concerns and anxieties on the God who cares for us, that we may in
turn care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. And may we be assured of God’s
grace and the eternal glory we have in Christ.
Hymn
Verse 1
God, who made the
earth,
the air, the sky, the
sea,
who gave the light
its birth:
careth for me.
Verse 2
God, who made the
grass,
the flower, the
fruit, the tree,
the day and night to
pass:
careth for me.
Verse 3
God, who made the
sun,
the moon, the stars,
is He
who, when life's
clouds come on,
careth for me.
Verse 4
God, who made all
things,
on earth, in air, in
sea,
who changing seasons
brings:
careth for me.
Verse 5
God, who sent His Son
to die on Calvary,
He, if I lean on Him,
will care for me.
Prayer
Eternal
God,
author
of our life and end of our pilgrimage:
guide
us by your work and Spirit
Amid
all perils and temptations,
that
we may not wander from your way,
but
may run our course in safety
until
we come to our eternal rest in you;
through
the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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