Day 1: Focused Faith
THINK
Have you ever been to the ocean? If you've ever been to the beach and had the opportunity to play in the ocean then you know how easy it is to get caught in a current. You go into the water in one place and while you are playing in the waves you don't even notice that the current is pulling you away from where you started. You look up after a while and realize you've drifted. You've gotten pulled along, maybe without even knowing it. The same thing can happen if you're trying to cross a swift current like a river or a creek. It's very important to have something to focus on. Something to keep moving toward. If you just focus on what's going on around you it's easy to get caught up in the current and pulled away. The same thing can happen in life. If we don't have a goal or if we're not focused on something on the shore it's easy to get caught up in the current of what's trending. But just because something has serious "drip" doesn't mean it won't drag you down.
The problem with current is that it's always pulling… it’s always dragging us along. And if we're not focused on something outside of the current, something unmoving, we just get swept away. It’s easy to get disoriented in a world with constantly shifting standards and everchanging goals. It’s impossible to get our bearings chasing after fads and fashions and fans in the hopes of finally achieving coolness. We just end up exhausting ourselves and going in circles. But God is offering us something better.
Peter says God is offering us things that are eternal in Jesus. Not shifting and moving… Eternal! And not only does He hold out hope like a buoy in the waves. He says He’s preparing something for us and that He’s going to protect us along the way. All we need to do is grab on to the hope He is throwing out to us and focus on Him as He pulls us in. He reminds us that the “Current” is only temporary, but what He is offering will last forever.
Peter is showing us that instead of looking at everything around us we should look at Jesus on the shore and keep moving toward Him. Instead of letting the current drag us down, we need to be letting Jesus drag us out. Instead of worrying about the waves, we should be focused on the our God Who makes ways through the water.
As you read 1Peter ask the Holy Spirit to help you get your eyes fixed on Him. Is your faith based on His eternal promises? Is the current dragging you away or is it reminding you to keep your eyes focused on Jesus?
READ
1Peter 1
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.
3 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.
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God Who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
24 As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
PRAY
God help me to focus on Jesus when the current tries to pull me into dangerous waters. Give me eyes to see Your promises and Your truth even when it seems like everything around me is unstable. Remind me that the current is only temporary but You are eternal. Amen.
SAY
My faith is not dragged by the current
because my faith is not focused on the water...
My faith is focused on the One Who made the water.
My faith is focused on the One Who walked on water.
My faith is focused on Jesus
Have you ever been to the ocean? If you've ever been to the beach and had the opportunity to play in the ocean then you know how easy it is to get caught in a current. You go into the water in one place and while you are playing in the waves you don't even notice that the current is pulling you away from where you started. You look up after a while and realize you've drifted. You've gotten pulled along, maybe without even knowing it. The same thing can happen if you're trying to cross a swift current like a river or a creek. It's very important to have something to focus on. Something to keep moving toward. If you just focus on what's going on around you it's easy to get caught up in the current and pulled away. The same thing can happen in life. If we don't have a goal or if we're not focused on something on the shore it's easy to get caught up in the current of what's trending. But just because something has serious "drip" doesn't mean it won't drag you down.
The problem with current is that it's always pulling… it’s always dragging us along. And if we're not focused on something outside of the current, something unmoving, we just get swept away. It’s easy to get disoriented in a world with constantly shifting standards and everchanging goals. It’s impossible to get our bearings chasing after fads and fashions and fans in the hopes of finally achieving coolness. We just end up exhausting ourselves and going in circles. But God is offering us something better.
Peter says God is offering us things that are eternal in Jesus. Not shifting and moving… Eternal! And not only does He hold out hope like a buoy in the waves. He says He’s preparing something for us and that He’s going to protect us along the way. All we need to do is grab on to the hope He is throwing out to us and focus on Him as He pulls us in. He reminds us that the “Current” is only temporary, but what He is offering will last forever.
Peter is showing us that instead of looking at everything around us we should look at Jesus on the shore and keep moving toward Him. Instead of letting the current drag us down, we need to be letting Jesus drag us out. Instead of worrying about the waves, we should be focused on the our God Who makes ways through the water.
As you read 1Peter ask the Holy Spirit to help you get your eyes fixed on Him. Is your faith based on His eternal promises? Is the current dragging you away or is it reminding you to keep your eyes focused on Jesus?
READ
1Peter 1
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.
3 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.
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God Who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
24 As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
PRAY
God help me to focus on Jesus when the current tries to pull me into dangerous waters. Give me eyes to see Your promises and Your truth even when it seems like everything around me is unstable. Remind me that the current is only temporary but You are eternal. Amen.
SAY
My faith is not dragged by the current
because my faith is not focused on the water...
My faith is focused on the One Who made the water.
My faith is focused on the One Who walked on water.
My faith is focused on Jesus