I'm mining 1 Peter Chapter 1 today as I lay low and allow the Lord to heal my body and my soul. It's funny how my soul aches are often less aggressive than my body aches. Anyway, I decided to read it in the New Living Translation today and this is what struck me:
1:3...for it is by His boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege to be born again. Now we live with a WONDERFUL EXPECTATION because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. (my emphasis)
I love the way they expressed the word Hope as wonderful expectation. It just struck me that even though my day may stink or I may feel crushed by the worries of this world, I am free to live with WONDERFUL EXPECTATION of new life in Heaven where there is no pain, sorrow, worries or hurts. That this life isn't all there is because Jesus defeated death.
then
1:6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
Again, I can be glad because there is joy ahead. The trials here are of the world because we live in a fallen world. God gave man the title deed to Earth but when man sinned, he gave it to Satan. So we live in a world that is not our own and belongs to the enemy of God...and of our souls. But because Jesus defeated death on the cross, forgiving our sins, we have joy in store for us in Heaven through faith.
That just struck me today...that because of God's mercy and Christ's death and resurrection, I am free to live in Wonderful expectation and gladness despite the daily trials I live in presently. It's my choice to be weighed down by the world, or to look forward in expectation of better days.
It's just not about this world. That's when I look at people (and myself) striving, trying to fill their (my) lives with things, accomplishments, knowledge and success and I am sad. Because the answer to the aches inside us are not of this world. And we can live in wonderful expectation if only we would not only believe, but walk in that belief. There is treasure and glorious riches stored up for us in Heaven as seen right between those two verses in 1 Peter 1:4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
I can't keep thinking about the hope I have in Heaven. The blessings I receive here on earth, and there have been many, pale in comparison to what lies in store. That thought makes me excited with wonderful expectation!
Rejoice! Be Glad! The Lord has wonderful things in storage for those who love Him and receive Him by faith. Have you done that?
1:3...for it is by His boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege to be born again. Now we live with a WONDERFUL EXPECTATION because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. (my emphasis)
I love the way they expressed the word Hope as wonderful expectation. It just struck me that even though my day may stink or I may feel crushed by the worries of this world, I am free to live with WONDERFUL EXPECTATION of new life in Heaven where there is no pain, sorrow, worries or hurts. That this life isn't all there is because Jesus defeated death.
then
1:6 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while.
Again, I can be glad because there is joy ahead. The trials here are of the world because we live in a fallen world. God gave man the title deed to Earth but when man sinned, he gave it to Satan. So we live in a world that is not our own and belongs to the enemy of God...and of our souls. But because Jesus defeated death on the cross, forgiving our sins, we have joy in store for us in Heaven through faith.
That just struck me today...that because of God's mercy and Christ's death and resurrection, I am free to live in Wonderful expectation and gladness despite the daily trials I live in presently. It's my choice to be weighed down by the world, or to look forward in expectation of better days.
It's just not about this world. That's when I look at people (and myself) striving, trying to fill their (my) lives with things, accomplishments, knowledge and success and I am sad. Because the answer to the aches inside us are not of this world. And we can live in wonderful expectation if only we would not only believe, but walk in that belief. There is treasure and glorious riches stored up for us in Heaven as seen right between those two verses in 1 Peter 1:4 For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
I can't keep thinking about the hope I have in Heaven. The blessings I receive here on earth, and there have been many, pale in comparison to what lies in store. That thought makes me excited with wonderful expectation!
Rejoice! Be Glad! The Lord has wonderful things in storage for those who love Him and receive Him by faith. Have you done that?
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