Monday Devo
Scripture:
1 Peter 1
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
Commentary:
1:13 set your hope fully. The fullness of grace and its complete work will come only when Jesus returns, and believers are to long for that day. They do so by thinking rightly about reality and by living sober-minded and sensible lives in this present evil age.
1:14–15 While living on this earth, Christians have to fight the desires of sin, so they are called to be obedient children, separated from evil in all that they do. They are to be holy (cf. Lev. 18:2–4), for that accords with the character of God who is holy and has called believers to himself.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2406.
1:14–15 While living on this earth, Christians have to fight the desires of sin, so they are called to be obedient children, separated from evil in all that they do. They are to be holy (cf. Lev. 18:2–4), for that accords with the character of God who is holy and has called believers to himself.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2406.
Questions:
- For the rest of chapter 1, Peter calls us to live a holy life. Many people think of perfection when they think of holiness. But the word HOLY can be defined as; unique, different, set apart, otherness, completeness and fullness. First off, Peter calls us to holy THINKING. He says to prepare our minds and exercise self-control. Everything we DO first goes through our brains. So a change in thinking will lead to changes in action. What are you thinking about on a regular basis? Where would you rate your level of self-control?
- And this isn't just a spiritual exercise, but the way God designed our brains. Read this quote from a neuroscientist, Dr. Leaf: "As we think, our brains respond; the deeper we think about something (i.e. paying it more attention), the deeper its pathway is built into the brain, creating new neural networks that impact what we think, say and do in the future. Essentially, we can become addicted to anything if we give it enough attention because the more we think about something the more it grows in our brain." Have you found this to be true in your own life? How can you start to carve new pathways of thinking that line up with the truth of God's Word?
Pray:
- That God would help you change your thinking.
- That you would exercise self-control.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
2. Are there sources outside the Bible that confirm the Biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead? Many Roman and Jewish historians have confirmed that the apostles died as martyrs for preaching that they saw Jesus risen from the grave. No one dies for something they know to be a lie.
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
No Comments