Peace Presbyterian Church

In the month of May, we will continue to enjoy the Easter season by pondering together how God invites us to enjoy new lives in Christ. The good news is that God has so much more in store for us than we have experienced thus far. Easter is a season when we remember that God is powerfully at work and alive in our world and in our lives. As a result, we can have hope and joy as we learn to trust Him more fully.

“...God is still sovereign...is still in control and...can do anything.”

In the letter of 1 Peter, Peter shares with us how to live new lives in Christ. Peter tells us that we can now have a living hope, saying in 1:3, “In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This means that we can have a hope in Christ that is life-giving, that energizes and enervates us. Hope is a key characteristic of being a Christian. No matter what we see, hear or observe all around us, we know that God is still sovereign, that God is still in control and that God can do anything. We can have a lasting and living hope as we choose to trust and to believe in Him.

“...this is a joy that will be lasting and will even endure whatever trials we find ourselves facing.”

Peter also tells us that we are to be filled with an inexpressible joy, saying in 1:8, you “are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” God wants us to have joy. God wants us to have a joy that will pervade and permeate every part of who we are. Peter tells us that this is a joy that will be lasting and will even endure whatever trials we find ourselves facing. God’s grace and goodness is powerful enough to overcome whatever challenges or difficulties we face. Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Thus, having joy is to be a hallmark of Christian life, as we are filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

How hopeful are you?. What or who do you hope in? I have found that we all have hopes. Many of us wrestle with disillusionment as we find these hopes dashed or faded. If we choose to hope in Christ, though, we will soar like eagles and we will be renewed and strengthened in God. God wants to give us new life as we enjoy new hope in Him. We must surrender and relinquish any and all hopes that are not rooted in Him in order to enjoy lasting and real hope in Him alone.

“...to enjoy eternal and enduring joy, we must find joy in all of the gifts and signs of the presence of Christ...”

How joyful are you? How often do you wrestle with a lack of joy? We all find joy in different things. Joy can be fleeting, as can hope, if not rooted in Jesus. So many things in life can bring us legitimate and healthy joy such as children, nature, books and friends. In order, however, to enjoy eternal and enduring joy, we must find joy in all of the gifts and signs of the presence of Christ all around us. If we are willing to slow down our lives, and listen to His words of love and of grace, we will rediscover joy in Him.

God wants us to enjoy renewed lives in Him. Are we willing to make some mid-course corrections in our journeys of life and of faith? Are we open to discovering how much more He has in store for us? Are we willing to make our relationship with Jesus Christ our number one priority?

May we enjoy a living hope and an inexpressible joy as we enjoy new lives in Christ in this Easter season. God is good! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!

Love in Christ,
Pastor Brian