Author Archive for: meiling

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 Peter 2:1-10.  Let’s go!  As usual, I recommend that you read the whole passage by yourself first and see what you can glean on your own.  Then take a look at this GAME sharing below.

1 Peter 2:1 (NIV) 
1  Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
 
On verse 1:  Here’s a Bible reading tip: whenever you see the word “therefore”, look at the verses just before “therefore”.  Then you can better know what the “therefore” is there for.  In this case, just before verse 1, Peter has been telling his readers to “love each other deeply from the heart, since you have been born again by the imperishable word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-25).  So it is with the goal of loving each other deeply that Peter tells his readers to rid themselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 
 
What can we learn from this?  We need to be intentional about getting rid of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander, for love cannot co-exist with these things.  Think of a relationship in your life today that you wish was in a better place.  Have you allowed malice (mean, judgmental thoughts), deceit (lying or trickery), hypocrisy (saying one thing but doing another), envy (being resentful because someone else has what you don’t have) or slander (speaking ill about that person in front of others) to poison that relationship? 

Hi GAMErs!

Today we begin our look at 1 Peter, a letter written by the apostle Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, probably around 64 A.D. to Christians scattered everywhere throughout five Roman provinces.  When you read this leter, keep in mind the context within which Peter is writing this letter.  In approximately 64 A.D., Christians in the Roman Empire are going through severe persecution.  Emperor Nero has launched, or is just about to launch, a widespread movement to capture and destroy Christians.  He would become famous for setting Christians on fire as human torches for his dinner parties and feeding them to lions in the coliseum.  With this background of great persecution in mind, read 1 Peter and you will find that it comes alive with so much more meaning and relevance.  Likewise, if you have ever been bullied, ostracized, or excluded by others, may you find encouragement from this letter by Peter.  

1 Peter 1:1-2 (NIV) 
1  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 
2  who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood…

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 13:1-16.  Let’s go!
 
Hosea 13:1-16 (NIV)
1  When Ephraim spoke, men trembled; he was exalted in Israel. But he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
2  Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calf-idols.”

On verses 1-9:  At one time Israel (also called Ephraim) had a close relationship with God and stood strong with Him — so much so that “when Ephraim spoke men trembled” (v1).  But this close relationship with God did not last.  Eventually Israel fell headlong into idol worship, including offering human sacrifices (v1b-2).  Israel’s love for God was like the morning mist (see also Hosea 6:4), here one day and gone the next, and Hosea prophesies that his people will be like the morning mist too, here now but gone soon (v3).  Having brought His people out of Egypt, God wanted the people to acknowledge Him and worship Him for who He is, their own true God and Saviour (v4), the one who cared for them in the desert (v5), the one who fed them so that they were satisfied (v6a).  But in their satisfaction, the people became proud and forgot about God (v6b).