Consider this

 Why does God ask Christians to live good lives? Our good deeds do not earn us anything with God. In fact, he loved us and offered us salvation when we were still his enemies. Peter tells us why our good deeds matter and the answer may surprise you.  

 "Submit" should not be a bad word! It is not a weapon to use against each other. When understood correctly, it is one of the most beautiful Christian attitudes. Something has gone wrong and we need to correct it.  

                  In scripture, when we start in the wrong place, we end up with the wrong result.   Take this familiar passage, for example: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).                When teaching this passage, we often focus on the parts that tell us to rejoice, be thankful and not be anxious.   This is unfortunate because making those words the centre of the message does not help.   If I am sad, telling me to rejoice is useless.   If I could find a spirit of rejoicing, I would be doing that already.   Similarly, telling me that I should not be anxious only makes me more anxious about continuing to be anxious.   These words are impor

 Churches are great at teaching about salvation. Unfortunately, because we are not so good about teaching what comes after that, most people become passive spectators. 1 Peter 2 gives us a better option.  

 Why the resurrection needs to be front and centre every day.  

                 1 Peter 1:24-25 says, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever”.                In the past, I have always focused on the “nothing lasts forever” part of this scripture.   People come and people go.   We get a job, make some money, then something changes, and we are looking for work again.   Children are born and, in a blink of an eye, they are out of the house, married and have children of their own.   The stock market goes up and down.   When teaching this passage, I would always encourage people to be adaptable, because the only constant is change.                There is one major problem with this approach, though, and that is that I overlooked the last line.   I treated the part that says, “the word of the Lord endures forever” as if it was just a nice way to end the sentence.   However, that line is not a throwaway, it is the entire poi

 When trouble comes, it can seem like nothing lasts or stays the same. Here is a solid place to stand.