Where Do You Buy Your Gold?

Thursday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Hosea 9-10
NT: 1 Peter 4
W&W: Psalm 137

Friday’s Scripture Readings:
OT: Hosea 11-12
NT: 1 Peter 5
W&W: Psalm 138

Today’s Reflection:

Have you seen those commercials: “Where do you buy your gold? I buy mine at Rosalind Capital…” Well, I’ve got a better place to get a more stable investment.

All week I’ve been anxious to get to this entry because it is so important to me. You see, life is not always easy, and faith (true faith) is never automatic. Our faith is tested and in the testing we discover that it is of greater worth than gold! Good news in today’s economic climate!

Each morning as I pray, I “put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes” (Ephesians 6.11). One piece of the armor is “the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (v. 16). As I put on this “faith as a breastplate” (1 Thessalonians 5.8), I often recite a passage that has come to be one of my favorites:

1 Peter 5.6-11: “6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Yes, the devil is busy throwing flaming arrows at God’s children, but as long as I put on the shield of faith, as long as I stand firm in the faith, those arrows will never mortally wound me, will never pierce my heart.

Take heart, my friend. You are God’s child.

This Week’s Scripture to Memorize:
1 Peter 5.10-11: And the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.