Stewards of God’s Grace

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. ... Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. [1Peter 4:10-11 ESV]

I think that we sometimes forget that God's grace ordinarily comes through human beings who have been transformed by the Holy Spirit. In that sense, we are stewards or agents of divine grace. Each day we are presented opportunities to sacrificially serve each other with our spiritual gifts.

To that end, as stewards of grace, we are called to love and serve with everything that is within us. Called to use any and every gift that we have been given. Helping gifts. Healing gifts. Gifts of time. Gifts of money. Gifts of friendship. All we have is His to use as we serve as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

Thank you Lord for the gifts you have given to us. Help us to be good stewards of them and your grace.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the epistles of Peter.
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Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other,
for love covers a multitude of sins. [1Peter 4:8 NLT]

I have found this verse to be one of the most practical ones when it comes to my daily living. Something rises up in me when people hurt me. My initial reaction is to reject them. To lash out. To hurt them back. Then something deeper rises up. It says let love cover their offense. Let good conquer evil.

As Jesus was being nailed to the cross he cried out forgiving those who were inflicting him pain. In truth that is our model of what love really looks like. Like Jesus we are called to a life of forgiving those who cause us pain and suffering. Like him we are called to show deep love and forgiveness for each other.

I am weak Lord. Teach me. Help me. To forgive. To cover the sins of those who hurt me with love.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the epistles of Peter.
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The end of all things is near.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. [1Peter 4:7 NIV]

What comes to your mind when you read the first sentence of this quote? The end of the world or the end of your world? While it could mean either or both, lets interpret it to mean the end of your world. Death is a difficult thing to ponder. Most of us spend little time thinking about it much less doing anything about it.

Then there is the linkage of the second sentence to the first. Perhaps prayer is the correct reaction to the end of your world. Perhaps the only way to prepare for death is living life as a prayer. That said, I think most of us prefer to relegate prayer to a place and time thinking living life as a prayer might consume us.

Lord, help me to be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the epistles of Peter.
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Wild and Destructive Things

Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. [1Peter 4:4]

I remember that night in the Spring of 1976 when I showed up to bowl with my friends. We were teammates. We all loved to bowl and drink beer together. Yet something happened to me a few days earlier. I was born again. I stopped drinking. My abstinence was noticed that night at the bowling alley.

For months my friends had been seeing a change in me. My language had been changing. The influence of my wife's transformed life was affecting me. Then in an instance of surrender my heart was transformed. And I found myself acting differently. No one was surprised more than me.

When I consider the way that I once lived, I am reminded of the nights when I plunged myself into drunken stupors. Such wild and destructive living is symptomatic of a man in pain. A bitter soul living without hope. Yet hope came into my life that day when I was born again. And I have never been the same.

Help us Lord to be those who outwardly witness to the transformation that has happened within.

... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the epistles of Peter.
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Authority

Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority. [1Peter 3:22 NLT]
I once heard someone teach on the issue of salvation and lordship. They said that one cannot accept Jesus as Savior and not as Lord. Such a good statement. Being a believer means that one accepts the authority of the risen Christ in our lives. Divine lordship is not optional for us or the angels.

I am intrigued by this verse though. Surely the angels accepted the authority of God the Son before the resurrection or ascension. In writing this, perhaps Peter is reminding us that the eternal authority of the Son is equal to that of the Father. After all, the Son is seated next to, not below, the Father.

With all the angels and authorities and powers, we acknowledge your authority Lord Jesus Christ.
... this devotion is part of my series on the epistles of Peter and biblical words.
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If God Wills It

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil. [1Peter 3:17 NET]
As I read this verse, I am wondering how people might interpret it. Is Peter saying that God wills doing good or that he wills someone to suffer for doing good? The answer probably reveals how you view God's role in the world. My own view is that God always wills us to good regardless of the outcome. I think that our understanding of God's will always taps into our deep seated views about God.

In the verses following this one, Peter speaks to us about how Jesus suffered for doing good. Some think that this suffering was God's plan all along. Yet some think that God preferred that humans would have bowed to Jesus rather than kill him. Again, it goes back to perspective. How we see God. Is he really the One described as Love? Is he Good all of the time? One's answer reveals how they see God's will.

You are good and loving Lord. Help us to remember that when we are suffering.
... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the epistles of Peter.
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Conscience

Keep a clear conscience so that those who speak evil of your good life in Christ will be made ashamed. [1Peter 3:16 NCV]
When I think about the word conscience I am reminded of how James told us that sinning is knowing the right thing to do and not doing it. Obeying our conscience is all about doing what we "know" we should do. And not doing things we "know" we should not do. It is that simple. Yet it is that hard.

In the seventh chapter of Romans, Paul puts it this way: "I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate." There is a part of us that really wants to follow our conscience but we seem to lack the inner strength to make that happen. So simple yet so really hard.

In the end, I think that it is a process of painfully slow transformation. We so resonate with Paul's struggle with his conscience and his inability to change. Yet while we struggle, we embrace Paul's followup message when he says "there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."

I am weak Lord. I struggle to obey my conscience. Help me to remember that you do not condemn me.
... this devotion is part of my series on the epistles of Peter and biblical words.
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