But I do remember someone telling me when I was young about checking the spark plugs. Now, supposing you have some fish at home. The Gospels make it clear that Jesus didn’t stay dead, but rose to life for ever, and that means we can add a third part to our answer: 3. But loving is all about giving. (1 Peter 2: 21 – 25), on I Want To Be Free!

His country was being threatened by the huge might of the Assyrian army.

Rather than storing up imperishable treasure for the age to come we fumble about like the nations, groping desperately to build castles of sand that can house fleeting trinkets and gadgets destined for decay.

That’s why it’s Good Friday. “He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth,” writes Peter in verse 22, quoting Isaiah chapter 53 verse 9, and yet Jesus chose voluntarily to take on himself our sin and deceit.

Despite the fact that most of us cringe when wished, “Have a nice day!”, we do want to have good days. Without that crossing, there would have been no Roman Empire. It is like a thick cloud which blocks out the sun. But there is all the difference between that, and what Peter is describing here.
I have been doing this for years but now I have seen the first-hand blessing of it! Jesus has warned him about the opposition around the supper table, and had told him to “watch and pray”. I almost skipped this month but since I do have some pictures... perhaps they will tell the story. Up to this point, Peter has been concentrating on theological issues: how we have been called by God, how we live with a great hope, how we are born again into God’s family, how we are being built together like stones in a building, and so on.

You want to “have a good day”? He will not abandon you, or let you go. But when Jesus died on that cross, he was unblocking the blockage. The first outworking of the principle is that as the disciples of Jesus, we should submit to the authority vested in human government. The great Victorian preacher, D.L. Humility applies both ways: leaders mustn’t lord it over the congregation, and members mustn’t ignore the leaders. As nouns the difference between stranger and pilgrim is that stranger is a person whom one does not know; a person who is neither a friend nor an acquaintance while pilgrim is (soccer) someone connected with , as a fan, player, coach etc. A stranger and a pilgrim, Record of our journey as "strangers and pilgrims on earth"... (1 Peter 2:11).
It is to be a CHRIST-ian. Suffering is not something that is alien to the Christian life – that is Peter’s first key point. I personally like to prepare the salve with a combination of the two as you get the beneficial properties from both oils. We are called to embrace this foreign, transcendent identity and set our hope entirely on the glorious Day when Jesus comes to the earth (1 Pet 1:13). But to benefit from it, we have to make a response ourselves. Surely Jesus’ sufferings were unique. Have you made your response yet? For the name Peter means “rock” or “stone”. Blog background courtesy of The Background Fairy. Last week I referred to the book “The Facts of the Matter” by Ian Barclay. The Apostle Paul traveled to various cities to encourage the early Church. It was a phrase that must have been burned into his mind. We are the stones, the priests, the citizens. Perhaps he had in mind the great cornerstone of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem that Jesus and he once had a conversation about (Mark 13). However, the last thing that anyone can query about the death of Jesus is its authenticity. The betrothed bride hopes in the day of her wedding, but begins to drink of the joy of that day even in the waiting through her certain expectation of what is to come. For if God is love, as the Bible tells us, and if we are made in his image (as it also tells us), then we are bound to reflect that love in ourselves. What you and I believe about it will radically affect the way we live the rest of the week. I also have been preparing batches of spice mixes for our pantry by the pint. Place inside a double boiler. Just like a business needs to keep a certain amount of inventory to make it run efficiently, so must we in our home if we want things to run smoothly.

As 21st century disciples of Jesus, we find ourselves in a similar position to our first century forbears – as “aliens and strangers in the world”. Like them in life and death. Yet I think we can still grasp the picture. It should characterise all our relationships with one another. c) He’s making us FIRM – remember the way to defeat the devil was to “stand firm”? Every single human being, each one of us, will have to give an account of our lives, and the one we will have to give an account to is Jesus. But he learned that night that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34). “Therefore” means what I am about to say follows on directly from what I’ve just said. ii) We are temporary residents on earth. Since some people appear to be pleased by finding mistakes, we always include some!”. I can safely say my month was full of family dinners with family prayers, made with homegrown foods and other daily blessings of a simple life. They are used to describe them too after Moses has led them out of Egypt, now a pilgrim people in the wilderness, being led by God.