Daily Devotional – June 26, 2020

It's always nice to come to the last day of your work week and look forward to the weekend.

Hope you have some good things planned for the next couple of days, maybe a good day off tomorrow, get some things done, projects done, and then look forward to getting together, gathering with God's people on Sunday.

If you can, we'll be meeting at 1030 in the church, at the church building. If you can't make it to the building, we will be live streaming at 1030.

We are prepared for in -house gathering of worship on the

Lord's Day, 1030 in the morning. Yesterday we took a look at 1 Peter to get some insight into the time that we find ourselves in these days.

What we focused on in that broadcast is the fact that this very difficult period in our nation is a time of testing or examination.

It's going to reveal, this time is going to reveal, what we're made of, even on an individual level as a follower of Jesus, and it's probably showing a bunch of things in your life.

I encourage you and challenge you to look at what is being revealed through this time right now.

Well, today I want to go back to 1 Peter 1, and while we are enduring this examination, and perhaps to help us to do it well, the apostle gives us four key truths to keep in mind.

I want you to notice what these are. In verses 1 and 2, he encourages you to keep in mind who you are.

Listen to what he says, how he describes the recipients of his letter.

He says, Who are you as a

Christian? Well, what this text tells you is that if you're one who has put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you can look back on that moment of faith, and you can realize that this passage tells you that you are one who has graciously been chosen by God, by God the

Father, who knew you before the world ever began.

You've been chosen by God, the Father, through his foreknowledge. And the passage goes on to say that you are one who has, on the basis of that foreknowledge, that choosing of God, the

Father, you have been set apart by God the Spirit to be the recipient of his saving grace.

And then, furthermore, you are one who has been sprinkled by the blood of God the

Son, Jesus. In other words, you've been cleansed from your sin and its penalty.

You are one who is guaranteed to receive God's grace and peace.

Who are you? You are the recipient of the work of the Triune God.

Now, whatever else is going on in this world and whoever else is doing it, you may not know a whole lot about what they are and who they are, but you can know, if you're a follower of Jesus, you can know who you are.

You are the recipient of the work of the Triune God. Keep in mind who you are.

Secondly, verse 3 in 1 Peter 1 encourages you, keep in mind what's happened to you.

What's happened to you? Verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Wow, this is a mouthful of information in that one little verse.

What he tells you, what's happened to you, is that you have received abundant mercy according to his great mercy.

You've received abundant mercy. In other words, far more than you could ever deserve.

I remember a guy in a church I served one time. I'd ask him, you know, just a casual thing.

You always ask people, how you doing? How you doing? And he'd always say, better than I deserve. Better than I deserve.

A guy in our church today oftentimes says the same thing. How you doing?

Better than I deserve. Now, that may seem a little trite, but the reality is, if you are a follower of Christ, who you are, one who's received the work of the

Triune God, what's happened to you is that you have received abundant mercy, far more than you could ever deserve.

But furthermore, this passage tells you that what's happened to you is that you have received eternal life.

He, God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, has caused us to be born again.

Now remember, when Jesus had that little interview with Nicodemus in John chapter 3, and Nicodemus wanted to know, what do

I need to do to inherit the kingdom of heaven? In other words, what do I need to do to have eternal life?

Jesus essentially said to him, you must be born again. You must be born again to enter

God's kingdom, to have eternal life. And here, what's happened to you?

This passage tells us that if you have been the recipient of the work of the Triune God, you have received eternal life.

You have been born again. Furthermore, what's happened to you is you've received a living hope.

You've been born again unto a living hope. A living hope.

Now let me ask you, what real hope do the anarchists have in this time of testing?

What real hope do they have? If they could get everything that they're demanding, and you've surely heard some of their demands, and they're absolutely outlandish, but if they could get everything that they demanded, what would be the long -term hope from all of that?

Let's take one of them. The total eradication of the police state, of police.

The total eradication of the justice system as we know it. What kind of hope does such a society hold out for its people?

Forget all of that. You've received a living hope. And don't forget the basis of all that's happened to you.

It is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In other words, the same power that brought

Jesus back from the dead is the power that has done to you what's happened to you.

And the certainty of life that is found in the resurrected

Jesus is a certainty of what's happened to you. So keep in mind who you are.

Keep in mind what's happened to you. And then thirdly, keep in mind what's ahead for you. Verse 4 tells us what's ahead.

Verse 4 says, God has caused you to be born again to a living hope. Then he goes on to say, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

Well, you know, it remains to be seen what all we might end up losing through all of the mayhem of this extended time of testing.

We just don't know. It may be merely financial. It may be peace of mind.

Some freedoms. We don't know what all may be lost through this time of mayhem.

But here's the thing. You who are Christ, you have an inheritance waiting that nothing, that no one can destroy, diminish, deface, or desecrate.

It is reserved, preserved in heaven for you.

Keep in mind what's ahead for you. And then fourthly, keep in mind the certainty of your security.

Listen to verse 5. It says, your inheritance is kept in heaven for you, quote, who by God's power, you who by God's power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

You are kept by God's power. You are being guarded by the power of God.

Just how secure do you think the illegal occupants of Chaz really are?

Some of them have to march around with their guns because they feel so secure, right? What's their long -term security there?

Not very good, is it? And what about the people who are stuck there, the people whose houses are there in that Chaz district?

Just how secure are they? I've heard stories that scores of 911 calls from within that area have been unanswered just because there's no resources or people to go in and try to do anything.

How secure do you think those folks feel? How secure are you, even in a rural town or village?

I guess the point is this. Our security cannot be centered on man.

Our security, the certainty of our security, is found in the power of the

God who guards us. It is his power guarding you. So, today, keep these four truths in mind during this time of testing.

As one who's trusting Jesus as your Savior, you are God's chosen child.

You, by his grace, have received eternal life and a promised, sure inheritance.

And your security, it is impenetrable. You're kept by God himself.

I trust that encourages you today. It certainly does me in this time of upheaval and time of testing.

And I trust that we'll keep these things in mind as we go through this time.

Let's pray and ask God to help us do just that. So, our Father and our God, there's so many things that can crowd out important, basic truths from our mind.

May we go back to these truths often and frequently because these are things that give us stability in these times of testing.

Help us in this, we pray. In Jesus' name, for his sake we ask it. Amen. All right.

Well, have a good rest of your Friday and a great weekend. Look forward to gathering together in the

Lord's house Sunday morning at 1030 if you can worship with us. Otherwise, join us online at 1030 as well.