“[A]nd, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”  They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for” (1 Peter 2:8).

Many in this world do not like Jesus.  There are even those who attend a fellowship that seems to act as if they are the ones who are chiefly to be attended.  But then, we all sometimes have that problem.  The goal is to decrease that He may increase.  The Lord made us and we did not make Him.  The Lord is Lord of all.  Come then and follow the One who has saved you and keeps you.

Lord, it is so simple and I make it so complex.  You are the Savior.  You have come and You are the way of salvation.  You are the life.  It is You alone and not something to be figured out.  Guide me, dear Lord, in the way You know I need to go.  Lead me according to what You know needs to happen and help me to stop trying to take the lead.  In You Lord there is all hope.  Help me rest in the hope You give.

Lord, You send those who, in Your name, bring words of encouragement.  Guide me to hear what You would have me hear and shut my ears from listening to the noise of this world.  In the truth You have revealed once for all, lead me today as You know I need to be led.  Continue to build my life upon You and help me to not leave the place where You have placed me.  Amen.

“Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (1 Peter 2:7)

We live in a time where everyone is supposed to be included.  Anyone who dares to say there are differences in people are cursed.  The Lord says there are two kinds of people.  There are those who will come into His love and those who will not.  Our faith is built upon Jesus.  If it is built upon anything else, it will fail.  Do not be deceived and do not depend upon yourself.

Lord, You have created everything, and You know how it works.  Too many, and that sometimes (often?) includes me, we look the other way and think ourselves able to do what needs to be done.  But that idea is blown apart with the simple title which is yours: Savior.  We need to be saved and You are the Savior.  Lead me, Lord, in the salvation You have prepared from the foundation of the earth.

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth and gave Your life as a ransom that we who build our lives upon You might be with You forever.  Guide me, dear Lord, so that I may live into this life You give by grace.  In Your mercy, help me to learn how to rely upon You more and more so that I may become more like You each day.  Lead me according to the Father’s will in order that I may rejoice in Your salvation.  Amen.

“For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  (1 Peter 2:6)

Do you trust the Lord?  This is the real question for us all.  The true answer in this age is that some have begun to trust Him, but we all hold back a little.  Do not hold back, but come fully into the life He gives you in faith.  Do not drive this life of faith but live it in His goodness and mercy.  The Living corner stone invites you to build your life upon Him.  He must be the finisher of your faith.

Lord, You know how I tug against You and want You to do what I want You to do.  I cannot build my life with You in it.  You must take charge and build my life with You as the foundation.  Guide me dear Lord Jesus to see through the anxiety of this age and my own self-interest.  Guide me to abandon the ways of the world in order that I may live into the life You give through faith.  Lead me now and always, Lord Jesus.

Lord Jesus, my Savior, You know how much I need what only You can give.  Take me out of the driver’s seat so that I may humbly walk with You leading the way.  In Your grace, guide me this day to do what is right and fitting.  Lead me to look to You and obey Your commandments.  You know what the Father asks.  Help me to listen to You and do what is pleasing in the Father’s eyes.  Amen.

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him –  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).

We come into faith as neurotic self-centered beings and the Lord must unwrap who we are from the behaviors born of sin.  He is the living stone and upon Him and Him only is our faith built.  We are placed together, one at a time, for the sake of His goodness to become what He will make of us.  Look to Him.  Look out and not in.  He will design and build His church of which you are a part.

Lord, I do come to You with selfish motives.  Guide me away from myself and into You.  Lead me according to Your purpose, for You are and must be the author and finisher of my faith.  According to the Father’s will, lead my steps so that in following You I become what You intend and not what I want.  I do not know what I want, but You know what I need.  Lead me according to Your grace.

Lord Jesus, Your statement to each of us at the beginning is the same, “Come, follow Me.”  Help me to do this simple thing and follow You.  You are the One who has created all things.  I am a part of Your plan, and I did not come up with a plan of which You are a part.  Help to always keep this straight and follow You in order that I may live by Your grace and not by the lies of this age.  Amen.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,  now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

How important is good teaching and preaching?  You have heard it said that you are what you eat.  Too many will settle for the junk food of this age and not do the work to grow in Christ.  You were not called in timidity, but in the truth of Christ.  Come now and live into the life which is yours in Him and no longer tarry with the elemental things of this world.  Begin with milk and you will grow to eat the meat of the word.

Lord, You know where my self-assessment gets in the way.  You know where I need work.  Guide me, dear Lord, in the way You know I need to go.  Help me to see that in You alone is there all hope.  I came into this world a new-born baby but help me leave this world with maturity in You.  Guide me as only You can and enable me to follow You in all Your ways.

Thank You Lord Jesus for preparing the way of salvation.  Lead me according to Your goodness to do what is right and helpful this day in the cause of growing in You.  According to Your will, lift me up and mature me so that I may grow into this salvation You have given me.  May I now and always be found walking in Your ways.  Thank You, Lord, for preparing the way before me that I need to go.  Amen.

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Peter 2:1).

This simple sentence is enough work for two lifetimes.  The wicked one will stir you in the opposite direction wherever your weakness is.  When you are free of these things – completely free – then you will be close to perfect.  We all struggle with the self and the Lord wants to move us beyond the self that we might truly be free in Him.  Come then and walk in His promise and have true hope.

Lord, You know where I struggle.  You know where I hide and do not confess my sins in those places where I am in bondage.  Lead me to the place where I can see these things and then go to work on them.  You have given me all the grace I need; now help me do all that is needed knowing that You do all the hard work.  Guide me, Lord, in the way of everlasting life so that I may work at this with all my heart.

Lord Jesus, You went to the grave and rose again for the sake of us all.  We are called forth in You not to be as we were, but to become as we shall be.  Lead me, O Lord, in order that I may now and forever be guided in Your goodness and mercy to pursue these things with all my heart.  Take away the wickedness that remains and fill me with humility and willingness to serve You always.  Amen.

“For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.  The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.”  And this is the word which was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:24).

This passage from Isaiah forty is used several times throughout Scripture.  It speaks of what the Lord is doing.  In this world, there are important people and there are peons.  In eternity, there are only children of God.  We are to leave behind the one and go to the other.  The Lord has spoken, yet we struggle in the world’s messages rather than seeking to live in the word of the Lord.  Walk in the narrow way and live as a child of God.

Lord, the world is filled with encouragement to serve the self.  Help me to move beyond this to the place where I may live for You in service to others.  Continue to lead me in Your mercy Lord in order that I would not fall prey to this world’s sinful deceit.  Guide me in the upward way to live according to Your goodness and mercy.

Lord Jesus, when You came to earth, You came lowly and humbly.  When You left, You left with nothing, not even the clothes that were on Your back.  Yet, You have accomplished salvation for us all.  Guide me, Lord, in the way You have established of being a child of the Heavenly Father.  Guide me today to accomplish what You would have me say and do.  Amen.

“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-23).

Obedience to the truth should be the reaction of all who believe.  The offer is given by God.  The call is issued through Christ and you either obey or continue in disobedience.  What will it be?  Come then in obedience and learn to love God and others as the He loves you.  You have been given the power to become children of God and in Him you have life.

Lord, I live in a perishing world filled with perishable things.  Help me to keep my focus upon the things that are forever.  You have called me from the perishable to the imperishable.  Guide me in Your goodness to see that in You is all hope and a future.  This world may be fleeting, but Your word is forever.  You have purified my soul, continue to purify my heart.

Lord Jesus, in You is all hope.  No matter what the world says, help my ears to hear the truth You speak.  Then move me from unbelief to belief through Your word.  Teach me how to love.  Guide me in doing what is right in the Father’s sight.  Through all things, may I be found walking faithfully in and through Your grace and by Your mercy.  Lead me this day, my Lord, Savior, and God.  Amen.

“For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:20).

The Lord did this for you.  In these last days, it was done so that you might have the opportunity to be in His love forever.  If Christ has been raised from the dead, then you too will be raised from the dead.  This is our faith and hope. No longer live as the world does, as those who scoff at these things.  Live as one who lives in the reality that because Christ lives, you too live in the newness of life that He gives in grace and mercy.

Lord, You have given me the gift of faith.  You have shown me that these things are true.  Guide me, dear Lord, in the way of life so that I may now and forever walk in Your goodness and mercy.  Lead me according to all that You have said in order that I may walk in the life You set before me.  Let me neither waver, nor stumble, but humbly and firmly follow You in and through all things.

Lord Jesus, You have come so that we may have life and have it abundantly.  Guide me in Your goodness to see that in You alone is all hope and a future.  You are the author and finisher of my faith.  Guide me in Your goodness to look to You for all things and for Your leadership.  Help me this day to see these things more clearly and live according to the Father’s will.  Amen.

[K]nowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Think for a moment.  What does this world offer?  Silver and gold?  Don’t worry, be happy?  Collect stuff (or memories) and then die?  It is all so fleeting.  Whether it is ten or one hundred years, without redemption it means nothing.  What does the Lord offer?  Eternal life is the hope of salvation.  Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Know that in Him this is what will happen.

Lord, I do covet the things of this world.  I do want what I do not have.  Guide me, dear Lord, to live into the life You offer.  Help me through the things that are right and good.  Do not let me be distracted from the grace and mercy which guide me so that I may come into Your everlasting presence and purpose.  Lead me according to Your perfect will that I may live out the salvation You have given me.

Dear Jesus, You did not go to the cross so that I could continue living in the wickedness of this age and not worry about the state of my soul.  Help me, dear Lord, to see through the fog of this age knowing that in You alone is all hope and an eternal future.  In Your goodness, help me to be lifted up with You by walking the path You have laid before me to become what You are making of me in conformity to Your image.  Amen.