๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Think about one of your favorite possessions (watch, bag, pen, etc.). Would you buy any brand of this item, or do you have a trusted brand? Why do you trust this brand?
โข When was the last time you excitedly talked about a favorite food, restaurant, or coffee shop with your friends? What happened as a result of what you told them?
โข Have you experienced working on something continuously, even if it is difficult, because of the reward at the end? What happened?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ช๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ช๐๐จ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ง๐๐๐จ. ๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐จ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ. ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ฌ-๐ญ๐ฎ
Godโs grace is evident in Peterโs journey of denial and restoration. Despite Peter denying Jesus three times, God used him to advance His kingdom by the fearless proclamation of the gospel with power and conviction (Acts 2:14โ36). Peter deeply understood the Holy Spiritโs work in enabling believers to be set apart for Godโs purposes. Through the Holy Spiritโs guidance and grace, we are equipped to honor God and reflect His character, just as Peter himself experienced in his journey of denial, restoration, and ministry. Because we are set apart for God and come from a place of grace, here are three things the Holy Spirit enables us to do.
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐.
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฃ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ . . .ย ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ฌ-๐ญ๐ฎ
Peter was explaining to the early church how the Holy Spirit guided the Old Testament prophets as they sought God about the Messiah that He promised to His people. Through the Holy Spirit, Christโs redemptive work was foretold (2 Peter 1:21), assuring us that Godโs promises are trustworthy and reliable. We can trust in Christ completely, knowing that His suffering and glory are part of Godโs eternal plan to restore us to a right relationship with Him. How has this truth helped you in following Christ, knowing that His suffering, death, and glorification were predicted long ago and were all fulfilled?
๐ฎ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ. ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ฎ
Just as the Old Testament prophets were guided by the Holy Spirit as they prophesied about Christ, the Holy Spirit enables us today to proclaim the good news that Christ has come. The Holy Spirit does not only give us assurance about Godโs plan, but empowers us to preach the gospel boldly. Through the Holy Spiritโs guidance and grace, we are equipped to fulfill our calling, participating in Godโs redemptive work and inviting others into the abundant life found in Christ. How has the Holy Spirit enabled you to share your faith with others?
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฐ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ตโ๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.ย ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฏ-๐ญ๐ฐ
Peter encouraged the early believers to rejoice as they suffered as Christ suffered. They could endure suffering knowing that when Christ returns in His glory, they, who have the Holy Spirit of glory, are blessed because they would also be gloriously resurrected. This is also true for us today. Our suffering is a temporary trial that will ultimately lead to the manifestation of Godโs glory in our lives. The Holy Spiritโs empowering grace gives us strength and comfort to persevere and rejoice during difficult times, knowing that suffering is not the end of our story. Rather, it is a pathway to eternal joy and glory in Christ. What does 2 Corinthians 4:16โ17 tell us about how we are to view earthly troubles and what they are preparing us for?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Reflect on 1 Peter 4:14. Knowing that the Holy Spirit rests upon you, how should this affect your perspective on suffering for the name of Christ? Write your thoughts this week.ย
โข The Holy Spirit guides and empowers us when sharing the good news of Christ with others. How does this affect the way you proclaim the gospel, even in the face of challenges and opposition?
โข Reach out to a friend or a family member who needs to find strength and comfort in the Holy Spirit at this time. Set a time to encourage and pray with the person this week.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for deepening your understanding of the Holy Spiritโs role in a believerโs life. As you face trials, ask God to strengthen your character and give you patience and perseverance.
โข Ask for the Holy Spiritโs guidance as you navigate difficult situations and for the grace to rejoice, knowing that suffering is temporary and serves a greater purpose in Godโs plan.
โข Pray for God to use you to encourage those who are facing persecution and trials for the name of Christ. Ask for the Holy Spiritโs presence and power to be evident in their lives.