PETER’S PRIORITIES

Today’s Reading: 1 Peter 1-2

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

The Church of St. Anne (the mother of Mary) is located at the start of the Via Dolorosa, near the Lions’ Gate in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. The current church is erected near the remains of an earlier Byzantine basilica. There is a tradition which claims that this was the site of the home of the parents of the Virgin Mary, and that she was born here and grew up here. The sculptor has offered us this depiction of a mother and a young girl.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

Key Verses: 1 Peter 1:5, 2:2

…who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.…As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.

“Kept by the power of God!” What a confidence-building statement! Can it be any better than that? Add to that the amazing privilege of growth through the Word of God! We’ve been reading daily the Prophets. We are encouraged to learn a most important lesson from them. They “inquired and searched diligently!” (1:10). We are given clear instructions as to how to do this: “Gird up the loins of your mind” (1:13). That picturesque language helps us understand the process. We could put it differently, like, “Take yourself by the scruff of the neck and partake daily of all the spiritual nutrients we need to grow and thrive.” A baby’s whole world is all about survival and growth.  As a hungry baby desires mother’s milk, so we should hunger and thirst, eating and drinking God’s Word!!!

In Peter’s writing he sounds a lot like he did when he delivered the very first sermon on the birthday of the Church (Read Acts 2:22-24). Peter quotes from his Hebrew Bible from Isaiah 53. Compare 1 Peter 2:24 & 25 with Isaiah 53:5 & 6. All the Apostles were “Word of God” preachers and teachers.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord God, I pray for the grace of consistency in my reading and my meditating on and in Your Holy Word. I ask that Your Spirit will impart to me a greater comprehension and practical application of Your Word. May I, like the Apostles, have a strong ministry to others by skillfully, and with wisdom, sharing Your Word with others. In the Name of the “Living Word,” Jesus Christ I pray. Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

A while back, I spoke at the Crossroads Chapel service about the DNA of the Crossroads Ministry. I took “Uncle Jasper” and “Caspar the Cop” with me to illustrate the commitment Crossroads has had to children’s ministry since the beginning of the TV ministry back in 1962 (photo below). I used these same puppets to help me grab the attention of the children in a Sunday School I started in Chalk River, Ontario, when I was 18 back in 1954. Most of the time there has been a children’s component to the Crossroads ministry.

Yours for getting the attention of the children so that they will drink the “pure milk of the Word” and “grow thereby!”

David

P.S. Jasper and Caspar are pictured below. Notice the copy of a Bible under the wooden shoes. The symbolism is that we stand on the solid foundation of the Scriptures. The Word of God is over and above all the other books in my library! The wooden shoes were a gift from the Netherlands when I travelled to that country speaking about the dangers of euthanasia in the great reformed churches of that land. To the dismay of historical Christians, the government passed a bill allowing the killing of the elderly. I weep now because Belgium, where two of my grandchildren were born, has passed legislation by which children can be euthanized. May God have mercy on His human family!!!