Through Suffering, Day 25 Eyewitnesses. Read 2 Peter 1:12-21. Peter is reminding the people that he actually saw and witnessed Jesus Christ in his glory and power. He saw God exalt and glorified Jesus and he saw Jesus exalt and glorifiy the father. He is reminding the people of the truths of the glory of God in every circumstance and through every situation. Sometimes, when we’re going through hard times and difficulties, it can be difficult to remember just exactly how great our God is. So as someone who literally saw it with his own eyes, Peter is writing to the people. Peter says, “Look, I saw these things with…

Through Suffering, Day 24 Do we stumble? Read 2 Peter 1:5-11. Recently, I stumbled and fell. I have been running more lately but I am still not accustomed to it and I lost my footing and fell. I scraped my knee pretty good and have been living with the consequences of my fall for the past week. In these verses today, we see Peter give a long list of all of the attributes that we as Christians are to be demonstrating and living out in our lives. Then he makes this statement, if we do these things we won’t stumble. As we look back on our lives, we stumble sometimes.…

Through Suffering, Day 23 His power. His glory. His goodness. Read 2 Peter 1:3-4. How much of the Christian life do we do on our own? None of it. While God has called us and we have answered that call, that is where our abilities end. Everything that happens after that is a result of God’s glory and God’s goodness in our life. We cannot possibly live the Christian life the way God wants us to if we are trying to do it on our own. It is only through God’s glory, his goodness, and his power that we are able to do anything. Are we getting out of the…

Through Suffering, Day 22 Written to us. Read 2 Peter 1:1-2. As we continue on to the second letter that Peter wrote, we find his introduction and these two short verses. Interestingly, we can understand that this book was written to us. Certainly there were other believers at that time who would have received it first, but as we look at the people that he addressed the letter to, we have to recognize that we are included there. We are those who have also found the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We can take what is written in this letter as a message to each and every one of us.…

Through Suffering, Day 21 We all need help sometimes. Read 1 Peter 5:12-14. We have been reading this letter, written by Peter, that is meant for the suffering believers. However, now we learned that it was not just Peter who wrote this letter, Silas also helped. Peter was at a point where he also needed help, and he allowed Silas to be that help for him so that God’s will could still be accomplished. Do we recognize that we need help often? Are we seeking help from others or do we try to do things on our own too often? As we finish this letter, we have seen the way…

Through Suffering, Day 20 Suffering is only for a time. Read 1 Peter 5:10-11. As Peter is coming to the end of this letter, he wants the people to understand and remember the truth about the suffering they are experiencing. Suffering is only for a time. God is still Lord of all and overall. There will come a point when the suffering will end, and God will reward those who have been obedient and faithful to him. Peter wants the people to not lose sight of their hope in who God is and what God has for them. As we go through challenges and difficulties in our life, we must…

Through Suffering, Day 19 Be alert and resist. Read 1 Peter 5:8-9. Be alert and resist. These are active commands that we are expected to follow through on. As Peter has been discussing the suffering that the people are enduring and that they should be giving their anxiety and fears to God, he reminds them that their enemy is still out there looking for them. Their enemy is desiring their destruction. Likewise, our enemy desires our destruction. Satan is constantly prowling around looking for opportunities to cause us to stumble and fall. Are we alert? Do we constantly stay on guard, expecting an attack? Are we resisting the devil in…

Through Suffering, Day 18 Humility and anxiety. Read 1 Peter 5:5-7. I’ve read these verses hundreds of times before, and even memorized them, but I never noticed that verse 7 comes right after verse 6. The Lord is commanding us through Peter to be humble. We are to humble ourselves so that God can raise us up at the proper time. Still, how often the idea of humbling ourselves can make us worried or anxious about how it will turn out. Well, verse 7 says that we are to cast all our anxiety on him. We are to humble ourselves and we can do it without fear because we have…

Through Suffering, Day 16 Praise and continue. Read 1 Peter 4:12-19. Today in the United States we celebrate our Independence Day as a nation. Interestingly, in our reading today in first Peter, we see a group of individuals who did not have religious freedom. They were being persecuted for believing in Christ and following his commands. While we can celebrate our freedom today, we must also understand that those freedoms are constantly attacked. No matter where we are, we can still experience suffering and there are still difficulties and challenges that we face. We must be focused on following God, period. These verses today both speak about the importance of…