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All Believers Are Included in This Work
From 1 Peter 2:2-10: Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
There is or should be, a process of growth for all believers. The interesting thing is that there is no end point for believers here on the earth. But, like infants, we start with pure, spiritual milk, and grow in our walk with the Lord. Yes, we should have tasted that the Lord is good and as we walked with Him we discover that He is a living stone that has become for God the cornerstone, precious and chosen by God and those who believe in Him are not disappointed. Part of this journey has been to mold us and make us into being witnesses of all we have shared as part of this "priesthood of believers" in which we find ourselves. We become models of holiness and purity as shared by God with all of us. We become a light to the nations, examples of all God can do with those who surrender to Him with their needs and problems. We have seen and felt all that God has done and we cannot keep quiet about that; we are witnesses. We have been pulled out of darkness into God's marvelous light.
A dear pastor friend shared how this Mother's Day, while working on a Kairos Weekend, a man came to faith. And it was not an easy, raising of the hand and walking to the altar; it was going to cost him dearly, for he was in a prison gang and he would be beat out of the gang because of his faith. No one walks away from a gang. The man was raised by Godly parents and his sins made him believe he was not worthy of being in that family any longer. His shame was so great that he had not talked to anyone in his family for almost ten years. The Holy Spirit touched his life and he prayed for forgiveness and God filled his heart with love. His question to the Christian counselor was, "What do I do now?" The counselor replied he should tell his mother for the counselor knew that she would want to hear of this change that came to his life. As they returned back to the main hall where everyone was singing quite loudly, a chaplain's assistant came and told him he had a visitor. It was his mother. The counselor wished that he had had a camera to take a picture of his face. Even though the prison was in lock down and no visitors allowed, this mother was allowed in at the right time.
You and I have received God's mercy and it is mercy that we should talk about to others. After all, we're priests, bridges between God and humanity.
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for the mercy You have shown to me when I needed it most. For taking my regrets and making them reasons for rejoicing because of Your love. Speak to my heart and make me brave so that I can truly bear witness to others about Your love. Make me the bridge between You and others as I share freely and lovingly what You continue to do for me. I pray in Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
