3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 

It was a little blurb in Reader’s Digest. A man was sentenced to death, and he obtained a reprieve by assuring the king he would teach his majesty's horse to fly within the year - on the condition that if he didn't succeed, he would be put to death.    

"Within a year" the man explained later, "the king may die, or I may die, or the horse may die. Furthermore, in a year, who knows? Maybe the horse will learn to fly." 

The man was taking the long-range view. What is your view?    

Some people live so much in the past they never face their present.  Others live only in the present that they have no preparation for the future. Others may live only for the future and fail to appreciate the present.  How then ought we to live?   

Peter declared the recognition of the past, the strength of the present and the hope of the future is what sustains us in our faith.      

Last week we looked at the Triune God who planned and executed our salvation. God the Father, who is timeless, saw from the beginning of time the working out of redemption. 2000 years ago, Jesus died on the cross to take our punishment and rose for the grave to win for us the victory. The Holy Spirit takes the truth of Christ and applies to our hearts now and calls us to live in faithfulness and in holiness and we grow in the character of Jesus. Our goal and direction come as we place our hope in the return of Christ and the glory that is ours as promised by God.  That future goal sustains us.    

I began a new series from the letter of Peter to persecuted people. He wrote reminding them they are chosen of God, the Father who planned their salvation and that they have been redeemed by Jesus Christ who purchased their salvation. He also reminded them that they have within them the Holy Spirit who purifies them and protects them until Christ returns. It is important to ponder the wonder of God's love and the reminder that He brought you this far and He is not going to drop you and leave you. You are loved of God. He is to be praised.     

This week we will read how Peter takes that foundation of hope and shares it with a different perspective to help suffering and afflicted people. He gives them meaning and purpose in persecution as he shares how to go through hard times.   

Application:  Rejoice in that which has already been sealed for you. We live in the already, but not yet time of life. We already have received the promise of God, but have not yet come to the fulfillment of it until glory.

Prayer:  Lord, as I read this I do rejoice that You have laid the foundation fo hope and that You have sealed me in the Holy Spirt.  My hope is in You Lord, in You, it's in You.