Recently, my dear friend Erin texted me passages in 1 Peter that comforted me in the midst of my struggling, which of course, were exactly what I needed to hear both times. So, along with Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, 1 Peter is where I've been lately. I came across this passage and got to thinking...
"He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for all the flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." - 1 Peter 1:20-25
Peter tells us that we are believers of God through Jesus Christ, because God raised Christ from the dead and he gave God the glory. Therefore, our faith and our hope is in God. And then it just hit me. Many, many times throughout the Bible we are instructed to strive to live like Jesus since we are formed in his image and should act like him to show his love and who he is. Well this passage is the root of that. Because God raised US from the dead, from our dirty lives full of sin, and washed us clean (which is enhanced by obedience), WE are to give all of the glory to God, so, as it was with Jesus, other people will see us and through our lives will become believers and put their faith and hope in God. Then, as it is written to us who are obedient and are washed clean, we are able to love with a pure, sincere heart, through the Word of God, which is living and active, because unlike the flesh and things of this world, the Word of God stands forever.
Hallelujah!
How comforting is it that all his promises last forever. FOREVER. Especially that nothing we can ever do or say can take us out of his healing hands, from his loving embrace, or turn us away from his outstretched arms. (And on top of that, I know there are so many things of this world that I am SO thankful do not last forever..) But HIS love remains the same. He is constant, for he tells us, "My presence will go with you and I will give you rest."
Consistency, sleep, and peace; yes, please.
