Our hope in Christ

1 Peter 3:15-16
¹⁵ But santify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; ¹⁶having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

While studying these verses, I noticed the phrase "with meekness and fear" contrasted with "when they defame you as evildoers". Obviously Paul did not mean to speak with fear hear in context of fear of who you are speaking to because he then encourages us to expect defamation. So, who are we to fear? If you haven't guessed here is a hint. In Ecclesiates 12:13 we read "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all."

Lord help me to answer man with fear of you and not them. Help me to proclaim your infinite wisdom and mercy in which I find all my hope. Amen.

Jesus, please forgive me and be my Lord, Amen.

How to have the fruit

Galatians 5:22-23
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

What can we do to have and practice love, peace, self-control, or any of the fruits of the spirit in our daily lives? There are a myriad of self help books talking about this of course. No doubt some good ones. What can I do to practice "love my neighbor" with that person that always gets on my nerves? What can you do to find peace joy when you are stuck in a traffic jam or late for a deadline. Well there are always the positive affirmations that help. Or, you can remind yourself that God truly does love that neighbor.

While I was studying the verse an additional method came to mind. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit - why not let Jesus do the work in me? Now, before we start passing the blame along to quickly. What I means is, what can I do to allow or invite the Holy Spirit to work in my life, so His fruit grows and not the fruit of my own flesh. I think a huge part of the answer is very practical and can be done by anyone. Spend more time reading the bible, in prayer, even fasting. All these things will help us be closer to Christ, practice denying the flesh, and do the spiritual weight-lifting to prepare us for the challenges of life.

Jesus, please forgive me and be my Lord, Amen.

Our Identity in Christ

Ephesians 2:4-6
⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

Wow, wouldn't you want to sit in heavenly places. And in Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 Jesus calls us kings in heaven. You can sit as a king in heaven under the King of kings Jesus Christ. And what about here on earth, we are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20)That is the identity of a Christian. It is awesome!

Jesus, please forgive me and be my Lord, Amen.

Trust the Bible

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Can we trust the Bible today? A search on Google revealed 40,000 hits for the phrase "Trust the Bible". So there are many articles you can read about how the Bible can be trusted. I would like to focus on the meaning of this verse in 2 Timothy.

In 2 Timothy 3:16 we learn that the Bible is "profitable" and after years of studying it, I can emphatically say it is. For me it has been a beacon of hope during times of trouble. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", "Love your neighbors as yourself", "Rejoice always", and "God will guard your heart and your mind". These are just a few of the phrases that are profitable and can encourage and carry you. And the instruction - boundless. If you need to understand management? Read how David managed his kingdom or Jesus managed His ministry. If you need to understand marriage? Paul shares with us in Ephesians 5 "Love your wife as Christ loves the Church". The Bible can correctly instruct you on any topic you wish. Yes even science. More scientists every year are becoming convinced by scientific study that the claims of the Bible that the world was created about 6,000 years ago by an Intelligent designer is true.

You can trust the Bible with your life, your eternal life.

Jesus, please forgive me and be my Lord, Amen.