After I Peter 1:3-9
You haven’t seen him, yet
you love him.
You haven’t seen him, yet
you believe in him.
You haven’t seen him, yet
you rejoice in him.
You haven’t seen him, yet
you fill with glory.
And the result, the endpoint,
the outcome of all this,
the outcome of your faith,
the outcome is salvation.
Our faith is not
our achievements;
our faith is the confidence
in God’s achievements.
Photograph by Jamie Street via Unsplash. Used with permission.
It is only for a time,
only for a little while,
that we are grieved,
afflicted, and beset
by various trials, tests,
for a purpose: to show
our faith is genuine,
tested and refined
by trial, refined
to a purity finer
than pure gold,
for a purpose:
our faith results in praise,
our faith results in glory,
our faith results in honor,
at the precisely right time
of the revelation.
Photograph by Elyas Pasban via Unsplash. Used with permission.
Some Friday Readings
A Pastoral Prayer – Tim Challies.
The Desire – poem by Hester Pulter at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).
2024: Ten Reasons I'm Thankful This Thanksgiving Day – Brian Miller at Notes from an East Tennessee Farmer.
