Corona Devo 2002

How do we share the story of God's salvation with others?  

A friend of mine gave me a beaded bracelet that she made with varying colors on it, and she told me that the beads represent a summation of the Gospel.  The red bead is for Christ's blood.  The black bead represents our sin.  The white bead represents Christ's purity, and the cleansing salvation that He provides to us.  The green bead represents our growth as we come to know and love and serve God more and more.  Each bead (these colors and more) provide a wonderful summation of our purpose and blessing in being followers of Christ.

We have a children's Bible, from which we read the accounts of the Bible to our children at their very earliest of ages.  It made the facts and people simple to introduce and easy to understand.  The words were not challenging and the pictures were entertaining and (somehow) comforting.  

That children's Bible shares the story of God's salvation with others in its own elementary, yet purposeful way.  It is a thorough (simplified) summation of God's love and truth for His children.


The apostle Peter gives his own summation of the life-cycle of God's sacrifice, forgiveness, salvation and eternity-with-God in the first chapter of I Peter.  He is concise and intelligent in his writing, and Peter is also spot-on in his summation of what-God-did for us and also what-we-can-expect in terms of trials and persevering as we seek to spend our earthly days serving God.  

But Peter does not wrap-up his rendition of what-faith-looks-like without including the end of the (Believer's) story...and it's a happy one: The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls (I Peter 1:9).

Peter's summation shares a passionate, yet succinct portrayal of what life-in-Christ is like:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. 

Now we live with great expectation, (4) and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 

(5) And 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.

(6) So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. (7) These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.

So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.  

(8) You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 

(9) The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.  ~I Peter 1:3-9

Peter's portrayal of our lives-in-Christ is his version, in his own words.  

The Gospel can be explained simply and succinctly with colored beads on a bracelet. 

God's Word can be summarized well throughout the pages of an elementary children's Bible.

The apostle Peter gives an excellent run-down of our run-of-the-mill life as we seek to serve the Lord...and his rendition is accurate.  God saved us.  Now we live with great expectation (I Peter 1:3), but we also will have to endure many trials (I Peter 1:6).  But when our faith remains strong through many trials (Vs. 7), we will reap a reward eventually.  

Did anyone (else) need to hear that promise again?: But when our faith remains strong through many trials (Vs. 7), we will reap a reward eventually.  

And what is that reward?

The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.  ~I Peter 1:9

Now, that's worth playing for, and I liked Peter's summation of the Gospel.  That was him, telling us in his own words...the cycle of faith.

~~~

A beaded bracelet...  
The classic children's Bible.... 
Straight from Scripture (I Peter 1)...
    How do we share the story of God's salvation with others?  

When was the last time that we provided a wonderful summation to someone else about our purpose and blessing in being followers of Christ?

Can we make the facts and people of the Scripture simple to introduce and easy to understand?  Comforting, even?
Then why don't we? 

We can choose (or create) any number of delivery-methods, but God is waiting for us to share His Truth in any way that we see fit to share His truth.  

Pick-your-style, and then (today) let's share-God's Word!


Blessings,  

sarah  

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Corona Devo 1065

Image
It’s never too late to turn to the Lord.   And--it’s never too late to turn back to the Lord.   Do we GET IT?   King Hezekiah GOT IT.   The people in his area (Israel) had not been following the Lord, and they had fallen away from the (God-ordained) traditions that the Lord had designed to connect His people with Himself,  like going to church (Temple), and like celebrating the festival of Passover.  So they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel...inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the  Lord , the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in great numbers as required in the Law ( 2 Chronicles 30:5). Hezekiah  invited the people back to church!  But how to get the word out? He  wrote letters of invitation to the people (2 Chronicles 30:1), but letters without delivery are dead messages.  Hezekiah needed to get the letters ... to God's people! At the king’s command, runners were...
Read more

Corona Devo 1063

Image
Ever been around boys (of any age)?  They don't concern themselves with talking about   other  boys...they are not (usually) comparative that way, and would prefer to be competitive instead.  They are often contented with jokes and sounds, rather than defaming other guys or discussing their shortfalls. But...ever been around women ( of any age )?  For some sinful reason, our conversations often seem to p ick-a-little, talk-a-little, pick some more and talk, talk, talk about other women.  We  simmer into a boil as we digress and regress into unbecoming chatter about   other  women.   It's a terrible habit and yet girls in elementary school don't need to be taught how and even elderly church biddies can't quite fully withdraw.  We all still fall to condemning others  from time to time.  We have this sinful draw to make ourselves feel good by chirping back and forth and making someone   else   feel bad. It's na...
Read more

Corona Devo 1064

Image
The earth is the   Lord ’s, and everything in it.   The world and all its people belong to him.   (2)  For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas  and built it on the ocean depths.   ~Psalm 24:1-2 We belong to Him, but also…our world belongs to Him: and  everything in it .   Everything.   Every tree and flower, every person, every pelican, everything. How are we responding to that glorious Truth today?   Can we praise Him today?  Can we acknowledge and absorb (and respond!) to the awesome Truth that we belong to Him :  the Creator of all things, and our Creator?   He laid the earth’s foundation ...and (even)  the earth  knows that it belongs to him ... Do we? Are we choosing to respond to Him today?   The trees do.    Looking out my window as I read these words of God, I saw these words  proven by God as n aked tree-branch arms were raised in praise of their Creat...
Read more