March 2-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:1, Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
Observe what it is saying.
“Therefore” connects us back to chapter 1 where we were declared to be born again by the eternal word of God. Now that we are brand new people, we cannot stay the way we were. Peter urges us to be done with evil things. To “rid yourselves” literally means to strip off, like you would dirty clothing. He next gives examples of what we must take off as the redeemed people of God. Malice is a general word for evil and includes all the wicked ways of the Christless world. All of these sins speak of how we wrongly relate to one another. Deceit is trickery to dupe others in order to attain a person’s own ends. Hypocrites are those who act a part and conceal their real motives. They use their Christian profession for their own prestige and not for the glory of Christ. Envy is said to be the last sin to die. Even among the disciples at the Last Supper, they argued who should occupy the highest seats in the kingdom. Slander means evil-speaking. It is the fruit of envy and is spoken about others when they are not present. Everyone agrees it is wrong to offer such evil talk about others, but we often cannot help but enjoy participating in such unholy gossip. This does nothing less than create great destruction in relationships and should not be a part of any Christian fellowship. So, all of these things must be immediately removed from our character so that the unity of the Body of Christ will not be injured.
Relate it to your life.
In Christ Jesus, I am a brand-new person with a new character that impacts all my relationships.
Do something.
Lord Jesus, I cannot strip off these old behaviors by myself. I need the help of the Holy Spirit to make the transformation happen. Please do radical surgery and remove these cancerous sins from my life. Amen.
March 3-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:2-3, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Observe what it is saying.
Since we have tasted the Lord is good, a reference to Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”, we are to crave more of the same. Just as a baby intensely craves to be fed, we are to have that same kind of hunger for the Lord. Every part of our being should cry out that we want to be fed by the word of life. This offers a picture of such intense desire that we must honestly ask ourselves if we possess this kind of passionate pursuit of the Lord. Where does this rank with other passions in our lives: including our work, sports, fitness, food, material pursuits, and advancing our careers? We can be passionate in all we do, but our pursuit of the Lord must rise above and beyond everything else. We are also given the reason: “so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” We cannot be content with where we are. There is always a greater spiritual depth to know and grow into. It is only through our salvation that we can begin this journey of deeply abiding in an abundant relationship with the Lord. May we love the Lord with all that we are and have so we can enjoy all the heavenly benefits now and forevermore.
Relate it to your life.
In comparison to all my other pursuits, how high do I rank my craving for the Lord?
Do something.
Father, may my love for You grow more and more. Give me a passionate pursuit for everything that is of You. By Your Spirit, mature my faith so that I can be pleasing to You and a blessing to others. Amen.
March 4-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:4-5a, As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…
Observe what it is saying.
Peter refers to Jesus as the living Stone. Later in this passage he gives us several Old Testament passages that speak of Israel being the stone that Jesus ultimately became, once and for all. However, as Jesus spoke during His ministry, He was largely rejected, especially by the religious elite. Even though mankind rejected Him, God considered Him precious and chose Him as the Messiah who would offer salvation to the world. If we have entered into that salvation by faith, then we, too, are described as living stones. We are to just like Jesus who is our cornerstone. God places each of us together to build His spiritual house, called the church. That means we are a community of believers. Solitary faith does not exist in the Christian faith. Those who think of themselves as free-lance Christians too superior to belong the Church in one of its many forms is a contradiction in terms. As long as a stone lies by itself, it becomes only of use when incorporated into a building. So, it is with us, we are not of any benefit when we remain alone but must be built into the very fabric of the Church for God’s glorious purposes.
Relate it to your life.
Like Jesus, I am a living stone carefully placed with others in just the right place to build the spiritual house of God.
Do something.
Lord God, help me to capture the vision of how valuable I am as a member of Your holy church. Amen.
March 5-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:5, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Observe what it is saying.
As a living stone being built into the spiritual house, we discover what would have been absolutely astounding to their ears. They are included in the holy priesthood. There was no distinction made between lay people and priests. Every believer who would ever read these words is now included. Every time you look in the mirror, you are looking at a priest set apart for the Lord’s purposes. Unlike the Old Testament priesthood, you do not need anyone else to go between you and God to have a close and personal relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ, you have the wonderful privilege of enjoying direct access. However, like priests of old, we can help others find their way to Jesus. The Latin word for priest is pontifex which means bridge-builder. As priests who are witnesses for Christ, we are used by the Holy Spirit to build bridges for others to know Jesus. We also bring acceptable sacrifices to God as we offer ourselves, our whole self, as an offering pleasing to the Lord. This includes our worship, our giving, our serving, our work, our relationships, our leisure time, and all that we are and do. What God wants most is our loving adoration which extends itself into joyful service in His kingdom for His glory.
Relate it to your life.
By the blood of Christ, I have been given the privilege of entering into the holy presence of the Lord.
Do something.
Lord God, thank You for including me in Your priesthood. You have set me apart for Your holy purposes so that I can offer my whole life to You. Help me to grasp the glorious nature of this relationship into which You have welcomed me. Help me to build bridges so others will know this same joy that I have found in You. Amen.
March 6-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:6-8, For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
Observe what it is saying.
Peter uses three passages from the Old Testament to support his message that Jesus was the Living Stone that was rejected. The first Old Testament reference is from Isaiah 28:16 which speaks of God’s unfailing relationship with His people, a relationship that was culminated in the coming of the Messiah. Jesus is the cornerstone on which the whole spiritual house is built. Without Him, it all comes crumbling down. The second reference is found in Psalm 118:22. Jesus was rejected by the builders, the religious establishment of His day. Yet, God chose Him as the ultimate stone on which to build His kingdom. What mankind views as precious and what God treasures is not often the same. The final reference is from Isaiah 8:13-14 where the Lord Jesus is found to be a stumbling stone for those who reject Him. Their rejection becomes the source of their judgment and condemnation. This is the reality for all who refuse to believe and obey the gospel message found in Jesus alone.
Relate it to your life.
Jesus is the only Stone by which my spiritual house can be securely built for all eternity.
Do something.
Lord Jesus, by your grace and Spirit, I put my full trust in You and choose to be totally obedient to Your life-giving message. Amen.
March 7-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:24-25, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Observe what it is saying.
These are some of the richest words found in all of Scripture to describe us as followers of Jesus. We are a chosen people. We are not just any people but chosen by God himself. We are a royal priesthood. We are not run-of-the-mill priests, but we have a dignity about us that comes from King Jesus whom we serve. We are a holy nation. As followers of Jesus, we do not primarily hold allegiance to the country in which we live, but we have been set apart to dwell in God’s nation first and foremost. This is why we pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is the heavenly nation/kingdom that we belong to that has already come and is still on target to rule the earth one day. We are God’s special possession. We are his most-prized treasure. There is nothing more valuable to Him than those who have been called out of the darkness of sin and death and brought fully into the light of life. We must remember there was a day when we were not the people of God, but now because we have received the mercy extended by Jesus through His atoning grace, we are His most beloved people. Because this is who we are, we must clearly and loudly proclaim His praises into all the world.
Relate it to your life.
There is no greater description of who I am than what is found in these rich and remarkable words!
Do something.
Lord Jesus, help me to believe this about myself so that I can loudly proclaim Your praise. Amen.
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:1, Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
Observe what it is saying.
“Therefore” connects us back to chapter 1 where we were declared to be born again by the eternal word of God. Now that we are brand new people, we cannot stay the way we were. Peter urges us to be done with evil things. To “rid yourselves” literally means to strip off, like you would dirty clothing. He next gives examples of what we must take off as the redeemed people of God. Malice is a general word for evil and includes all the wicked ways of the Christless world. All of these sins speak of how we wrongly relate to one another. Deceit is trickery to dupe others in order to attain a person’s own ends. Hypocrites are those who act a part and conceal their real motives. They use their Christian profession for their own prestige and not for the glory of Christ. Envy is said to be the last sin to die. Even among the disciples at the Last Supper, they argued who should occupy the highest seats in the kingdom. Slander means evil-speaking. It is the fruit of envy and is spoken about others when they are not present. Everyone agrees it is wrong to offer such evil talk about others, but we often cannot help but enjoy participating in such unholy gossip. This does nothing less than create great destruction in relationships and should not be a part of any Christian fellowship. So, all of these things must be immediately removed from our character so that the unity of the Body of Christ will not be injured.
Relate it to your life.
In Christ Jesus, I am a brand-new person with a new character that impacts all my relationships.
Do something.
Lord Jesus, I cannot strip off these old behaviors by myself. I need the help of the Holy Spirit to make the transformation happen. Please do radical surgery and remove these cancerous sins from my life. Amen.
March 3-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:2-3, Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Observe what it is saying.
Since we have tasted the Lord is good, a reference to Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”, we are to crave more of the same. Just as a baby intensely craves to be fed, we are to have that same kind of hunger for the Lord. Every part of our being should cry out that we want to be fed by the word of life. This offers a picture of such intense desire that we must honestly ask ourselves if we possess this kind of passionate pursuit of the Lord. Where does this rank with other passions in our lives: including our work, sports, fitness, food, material pursuits, and advancing our careers? We can be passionate in all we do, but our pursuit of the Lord must rise above and beyond everything else. We are also given the reason: “so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” We cannot be content with where we are. There is always a greater spiritual depth to know and grow into. It is only through our salvation that we can begin this journey of deeply abiding in an abundant relationship with the Lord. May we love the Lord with all that we are and have so we can enjoy all the heavenly benefits now and forevermore.
Relate it to your life.
In comparison to all my other pursuits, how high do I rank my craving for the Lord?
Do something.
Father, may my love for You grow more and more. Give me a passionate pursuit for everything that is of You. By Your Spirit, mature my faith so that I can be pleasing to You and a blessing to others. Amen.
March 4-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:4-5a, As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…
Observe what it is saying.
Peter refers to Jesus as the living Stone. Later in this passage he gives us several Old Testament passages that speak of Israel being the stone that Jesus ultimately became, once and for all. However, as Jesus spoke during His ministry, He was largely rejected, especially by the religious elite. Even though mankind rejected Him, God considered Him precious and chose Him as the Messiah who would offer salvation to the world. If we have entered into that salvation by faith, then we, too, are described as living stones. We are to just like Jesus who is our cornerstone. God places each of us together to build His spiritual house, called the church. That means we are a community of believers. Solitary faith does not exist in the Christian faith. Those who think of themselves as free-lance Christians too superior to belong the Church in one of its many forms is a contradiction in terms. As long as a stone lies by itself, it becomes only of use when incorporated into a building. So, it is with us, we are not of any benefit when we remain alone but must be built into the very fabric of the Church for God’s glorious purposes.
Relate it to your life.
Like Jesus, I am a living stone carefully placed with others in just the right place to build the spiritual house of God.
Do something.
Lord God, help me to capture the vision of how valuable I am as a member of Your holy church. Amen.
March 5-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:5, you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Observe what it is saying.
As a living stone being built into the spiritual house, we discover what would have been absolutely astounding to their ears. They are included in the holy priesthood. There was no distinction made between lay people and priests. Every believer who would ever read these words is now included. Every time you look in the mirror, you are looking at a priest set apart for the Lord’s purposes. Unlike the Old Testament priesthood, you do not need anyone else to go between you and God to have a close and personal relationship with Him. Through Jesus Christ, you have the wonderful privilege of enjoying direct access. However, like priests of old, we can help others find their way to Jesus. The Latin word for priest is pontifex which means bridge-builder. As priests who are witnesses for Christ, we are used by the Holy Spirit to build bridges for others to know Jesus. We also bring acceptable sacrifices to God as we offer ourselves, our whole self, as an offering pleasing to the Lord. This includes our worship, our giving, our serving, our work, our relationships, our leisure time, and all that we are and do. What God wants most is our loving adoration which extends itself into joyful service in His kingdom for His glory.
Relate it to your life.
By the blood of Christ, I have been given the privilege of entering into the holy presence of the Lord.
Do something.
Lord God, thank You for including me in Your priesthood. You have set me apart for Your holy purposes so that I can offer my whole life to You. Help me to grasp the glorious nature of this relationship into which You have welcomed me. Help me to build bridges so others will know this same joy that I have found in You. Amen.
March 6-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:6-8, For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
Observe what it is saying.
Peter uses three passages from the Old Testament to support his message that Jesus was the Living Stone that was rejected. The first Old Testament reference is from Isaiah 28:16 which speaks of God’s unfailing relationship with His people, a relationship that was culminated in the coming of the Messiah. Jesus is the cornerstone on which the whole spiritual house is built. Without Him, it all comes crumbling down. The second reference is found in Psalm 118:22. Jesus was rejected by the builders, the religious establishment of His day. Yet, God chose Him as the ultimate stone on which to build His kingdom. What mankind views as precious and what God treasures is not often the same. The final reference is from Isaiah 8:13-14 where the Lord Jesus is found to be a stumbling stone for those who reject Him. Their rejection becomes the source of their judgment and condemnation. This is the reality for all who refuse to believe and obey the gospel message found in Jesus alone.
Relate it to your life.
Jesus is the only Stone by which my spiritual house can be securely built for all eternity.
Do something.
Lord Jesus, by your grace and Spirit, I put my full trust in You and choose to be totally obedient to Your life-giving message. Amen.
March 7-Stand Fast
Write out the Scripture.
1 Peter 2:24-25, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Observe what it is saying.
These are some of the richest words found in all of Scripture to describe us as followers of Jesus. We are a chosen people. We are not just any people but chosen by God himself. We are a royal priesthood. We are not run-of-the-mill priests, but we have a dignity about us that comes from King Jesus whom we serve. We are a holy nation. As followers of Jesus, we do not primarily hold allegiance to the country in which we live, but we have been set apart to dwell in God’s nation first and foremost. This is why we pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is the heavenly nation/kingdom that we belong to that has already come and is still on target to rule the earth one day. We are God’s special possession. We are his most-prized treasure. There is nothing more valuable to Him than those who have been called out of the darkness of sin and death and brought fully into the light of life. We must remember there was a day when we were not the people of God, but now because we have received the mercy extended by Jesus through His atoning grace, we are His most beloved people. Because this is who we are, we must clearly and loudly proclaim His praises into all the world.
Relate it to your life.
There is no greater description of who I am than what is found in these rich and remarkable words!
Do something.
Lord Jesus, help me to believe this about myself so that I can loudly proclaim Your praise. Amen.
Posted in Daily Devotionals