The Wednesday Word 6.07.2023

 

1 Peter 2:18-25

New Living Translation 

 

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. 19 For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. 21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. 23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. 25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

 

I have known folks who just can’t let things go. If they have been wronged, you had better believe they are going to make sure and set the record straight. They are compelled to let everyone know how and why they plan to get satisfaction. It may very well be that you are going to hear them recount the incident until the dawn of time. It seems to me that the only one who really suffers is them. Peter reminds us that Jesus did not dwell on insults or attacks, but left these matters for His Father to judge. Paraphrasing what Jesus said in Matthew 10:14, if people just don’t get it then just shake the dust from your feet as you move on. It is hard for us to let it go when we feel we are the victims of injustice or unfairness. Ultimately, the message is for us to always do what is right and good in God’s eyes, even when our nature might cry out to strike back. We must learn to conduct ourselves as God would want, instead of allowing the behavior of other people to dictate our own…something to pray about. 

 

Don’t forget to look for the Lord today. Vicki H.


                                                                                            photo by Holden Baxter

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Wednesday Word 4.12.2023

Image
  John 20:1-9 New Living Translation   The Resurrection 1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. 4 They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7 while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. 8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— 9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus mu
Read more

The Wednesday Word 10.06.2021

Image
  John 3:16-21   New Living Translation 16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” Light is amazing when you think about it. Genesis 1:1-4 tells us, “1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the d
Read more

Wednesday Word 5.26.2021

Image
 Thoughts on last Sunday's text... Acts 2:1-8 - New International Version 2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? I have always been fascinated by the idea of the "tongues of fire." What can the fire signify? I guess for me, it is the character of fire.  The fire consu
Read more