Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Grace and Peace

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in snctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
1 Peter 1:1-2

I am beginning yet another personal study of 1 Peter because a) I'm a slow learner and b) it just seems so relevant to my life. So I picked up another Elizabeth George fill-in-the-blank book as a basis. In the evenings, I prefer to do my own study, but I find that the mornings for me are not conducive to clear thinking, so it's better to have a guide.

So this morning I picked up the book to begin, and this is the question that stumped me: How does the "grace and peace" greeting encourage you?

So I skipped it (avoidance being another problem I have in the morning) and moved on to my Proverbs and Psalms reading.

And here was my Psalm for today:
Psalm 27:1-5
THE LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.
For in the time of trouble
He shall hide me in His pavilion;
In the secret place of His tabernacle
He shall hide me;
He shall set me high upon a rock.


And it got me thinking...David wrote from experience of persecution and turmoil. Likewise, Peter wrote from that same perspective. He hadn't had an easy time in the years leading up to the writing of this letter, so he knew of what he spoke. And still, he was able to express the hope that God would bring grace to those who put their trust in Christ, and an inner peace that in spite of the outward persecution, God is in control.

Now that's encouraging!

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