Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous …
Summary: ”Righteousness” is one of those words with multiple meanings. We are not righteous under the law, but we are righteous in God’s eyes when we accept his Son and set our eyes on his will.
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:12 (a) — Slaves to Righteousness”
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing…
Summary: What is evil? Anything you don’t like might qualify. Peter tells us to respond to things we don’t like with a blessing.
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:9 (a) — Essence of Evil”
… love one another …
Summary: Peter tells us to love one another using a rare word that means ‘brotherly love.’ This kind of love is not caught up in arguments but is the oil on the water that calms arguments. It allows brothers and sisters in the same family to get along.
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:8 (c) — Oil on the Water”
…be sympathetic …
Summary: To be sympathetic is to resonate with another person’s heart. Being sympathetic is an important component of love. Being sympathetic is essential in the Body of Christ.
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:8 (b) — The Eyes of the Heart”
…and treat them with respect …
Today’s topic is Part Two of Peter’s instruction to husbands. He started with what the NIV translates as “be considerate.” As Rich pointed out yesterday, the word “considerate” was translated from the Greek, “gnōsis.” This word is most often translated as “knowledge” or “knowing.” Peter intends that men should be mindful of how women are different.
Today we look at the second part of this passage, “… and treat them [your wives] with respect.” The first question that comes to mind is, “Why wouldn’t a husband treat his wife with respect?” Peter continues the passage referring to wives as “the weaker partner.” So let’s look at the question in the context of physical size.
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:7 (b) — Giving to Get”
You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
As a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to play in the dirt. If there was water nearby, that was even better. When I was about six years old, there was a small creek that ran through the woods at the end of the road by our house. As an adult, I wouldn’t look twice at this “creek.” It was just a trickle of ditch water that meandered away from the road under the trees. As a kid, though, it was a world unto itself.
In the mind of a six-year-old boy, the woods and the creek took on mythic dimensions. Lit only by the soft green light of the sun filtering through the trees, shadows added another dimension of mystery. Sticks, rocks, and mud all transformed from the mundane into magical building materials. Within the space of an eye blink (time did not exist in this place), the trickle of water had transformed into a lake behind a large dam. There were roads, causeways, canals, and rivers. It was a peaceful and idyllic miniature world — until disaster struck!
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:6 (b) — Displaced Fear”
… so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
Why would anyone want to submit to God? Mmmm…. because God is the creator of the universe and everything in it? Because when our body dies our spirit remains? Because God is the one who determines whether our spirit is with Him for eternity or tossed into the burning lake of fire? I guess that would be a good reason to submit to God.
And what does God want from us? He wants our love above all else and that we should love others as ourselves. (Matthew 22: 35-40) Oh, and he wants us to “go and make disciples.” (Matthew 28: 16-20)
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:1(b)-2 — Without Words”
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands …
One of the things that is difficult to get our heads around in this life is that we are not alone. There is a saying that goes, “What you see is what you get,” but that is not true for the world we live in. There is so much more to life than what we can see.
In our recent post, “The Back Side of the Page,” we took a look at what is behind the facade of what we call reality. Behind the stage props we call “life,” there is a larger and more real existence. It is where we find God, the angels, Satan, and his demons. It is also where we find our spiritual existence. What is hard to see are the connections between the physical and the spiritual, but they are very real.
Continue reading “1 Peter 3:1 — The Same Old Deception”
…“by his wounds you have been healed.”
As we work our way through Peter’s letter, I find myself marveling at how much information Peter was able to pack into a few words. I also admire how well it correlates with the rest of the Bible. In a way, it is as if Peter has handed us a key to understanding the rest of Scripture.
In “Innocence Found” (1 Peter 2:24 (a)), we explored a thought experiment that ended with a close-up view of Jesus on the cross. To say that we have been healed by Jesus’ wounds is, at the very least, thought-provoking. How does that work? We know what kind of wounds Jesus suffered for our sake, but what kind of wound were we healed from?
Continue reading “1 Peter 2:24 (c) — The Back Side of the Page”
… so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness …
Today’s passage speaks to a theme that has been on my heart quite strongly for the past year or so. What does it mean to “die to sins and live for righteousness?” If we want to follow Peter’s guidance, what do we do? Moreover, if we want our church body to follow Peter’s teaching here, what do we do?
If we are to die to our sin, we have to be aware that we are sinning. If we are to live for righteousness, we need to have some concept of what that means. Is it possible for us to do either without being in God’s Word every day?
Continue reading “1 Peter 2:24 (b) — Signpost”