God the Father knew you long ago and chose you to live holy lives with the Spirit’s help so that you are obedient to Jesus Christ and are sprinkled with his blood. May good will  and peace fill your lives!

Faith in Christ Brings You Joy

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! God has given us a new birth because of his great mercy. We have been born into a new life that has a confidence which is alive because Jesus Christ has come back to life.

We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can’t be destroyed or corrupted and can’t fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

since you are guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

The purpose of these troubles is to test your faith as fire tests how genuine gold is. Your faith is more precious than gold, and by passing the test, it gives praise, glory, and honor to God. This will happen when Jesus Christ appears again.

as you obtain the salvation that is the goal of your faith.

So they tried to find out what time or situation the Spirit of Christ kept referring to whenever he predicted Christ’s sufferings and the glory that would follow.

God revealed to the prophets that the things they had spoken were not for their own benefit but for yours. What the prophets had spoken, the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven, has now made known to you by those who spread the Good News among you. These are things that even the angels want to look into.

Live Holy Lives

Therefore, your minds must be clear and ready for action. Place your confidence completely in what God’s kindness will bring you when Jesus Christ appears again.

But because the God who called you is holy, you must be holy in every aspect of your life.

So if you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth in fear. He is the God who judges all people by what they have done, and he doesn’t play favorites.

He is the lamb who was known long ago before the world existed, but for your good he became publicly known in the last period of time.

“All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower of the field. The grass dries up and the flower drops off,

but the word of the Lord lasts forever.” This word is the Good News that was told to you.

Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good!

You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Jesus Christ.

That is why Scripture says, “I am laying a chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion, and the person who believes in him will never be ashamed.”

a stone that people trip over, a large rock that people find offensive.” The people tripped over the word because they refused to believe it. Therefore, this is how they ended up.

Live decent lives among unbelievers. Then, although they ridicule you as if you were doing wrong while they are watching you do good things, they will praise God on the day he comes to help you.

God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right.

Slaves, place yourselves under the authority of your owners and show them complete respect. Obey not only those owners who are good and kind, but also those who are unfair.

God is pleased if a person is aware of him while enduring the pains of unjust suffering.

What credit do you deserve if you endure a beating for doing something wrong? But if you endure suffering for doing something good, God is pleased with you.

Rather, beauty is something internal that can’t be destroyed. Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious.

After all, this is how holy women who had confidence in God expressed their beauty in the past. They placed themselves under their husbands’ authority