Be Still and Know

1 Peter 2:18 You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. Everything about slavery is horrifying. The idea that someone could own a...

1 Peter 2:16 You are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. On the face of it this verse doesn’t seem to make much sense. Surely freedom means that you can do whatever you like? All constraints have bee...

1 Peter 2:12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbours. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honourable behaviour, and they will give honour to God when he judges the world. Socrates, the famous Greek...

1 Peter 2:10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” The television series, Who do you think you are? always makes fascinating viewing. Researchers delve int...

1 Peter 2:9 You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. In the Old Testament we lea...

1 Peter 2:4-5 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. In the Old Test...

1 Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. Babies are not subtle in their de...

1 Peter 2:1 So get rid of all evil behaviour. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy and all unkind speech. In the previous chapter Peter commanded his readers to love one another. He now spells out what that will involve, because if we are...

1 Peter 1:23 You have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. Terry Pratchett, the famous humourist and novelist, wrote: “It is said that your...

1 Peter 1:22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. When you become a Christian, you are immediately a part...

1 Peter 1:15-16 You must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” I suspect that we all respond in much the same way to the command that we should live holy li...

1 Peter 1:14 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. DL Moody, the famous Victorian preacher, once said: “There will be no peace in any...

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. In this opening chapter of his first letter, Peter writes a gr...

1 Peter 1:6-7 Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far mo...

1 Peter 1:5 Through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. I wonder how you or I would cope with persecution from the civic authorities. Just...