Daily Devotions : January 3-8

January 3 (1 Peter 2:9; Deuteronomy 7:6-11)
- What did God choose Israel to be (v. 6)?
- What wasn’t the reason for His choice (v. 7)?
- What was the reason (v. 8)?

Each local church is a gathering of God’s chosen race. Like Israel, we are not selected because of our performance, but because of God’s promise.

PRAY
Almighty God, thank You that You love Your people because You have chosen to, not because of our successes or failures. Give us a sense of humble confidence.

January 4 (1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:1-6)
Within the kingdom of Israel, priests were to speak to God about the people and talk to the people about God.
The job of King was give by God to His Son, Jesus. The job of priests has been graciously given by God to you and me. Priests represent God; they will either promote or profane Him. Read Ezekiel 36:16-22.
- How might you, or your church, profane God in the way Israel did?
- What will it mean for you to be a priest, under the rule of King Jesus, today?

PRAY
Jesus, thank You for bringing me into Your kingdom. Please show me how I can promote You and reveal to me where I am in danger of profaning You.

January 5 (1 Peter 2:9; 1 Peter 1:14-17)
- How does knowing holiness is God-likeness motivate us to pursue it?

Israel (and the church today) is told to live gazing upwards and looking outwards. The church is to be invitational, not intimidating; embracing, not excluding.

• Is your church better at looking up or out? How can you do better at both?

PRAY
Pray that your church will never forget to be holy or to be active in the world.

January 6 (1 Peter 2:9; Deuteronomy 26:16-19)
- How does God see Israel (v. 18)?
- What will this mean for them (v. 19)?

From Genesis 12 forward, the Old Testament focuses on a single family, a nation - Israel - that God calls ‘His treasured possession.’ He owns and loves the world; but He treasures Israel.
Peter looks at the church as he says: ‘You are a people for his own possession.’ God brought us to Himself through Christ so He could treasure us.

• How can this change our thinking when we feel failures? Exhausted? Successful?
• How does your attitude toward your church compare with God’s?

PRAY
Thank God for treasuring your church.

January 7 (1 Peter 2:10; Hosea 1:2-11)
God’s commitments to the people of Israel were conditional on their faithfulness and obedience to Him. Yet throughout history, Israel would not/could not keep those conditions.

• How does God describe His people (v. 1, 8-9)?
• But what does God promise (v.10)?

In verse 10, God reminds Israel that they are His people. God offers all people, everywhere, a place in His church. And the wonder is that the entry is no longer conditional, but relational.

• When was the last time you stopped to appreciate the space between what you deserve and what you’ve been given?

PRAY
Almighty God, impress upon my heart what it cost to make us Your people.

January 8 (1 Peter 2:9-10)
These verses are almost all about what God has done for us in Christ and about what His church is.

• God did all this for us ‘that you may… what (v. 9)’?

Why does your church exist, where it is and with the members it contains? Because God has placed it there, not to hold Him tight, but to hold Him out. In all we do, we are to show and share how excellent He is.

• How has the descriptions of the church excited you about your faith adn your church?
• How have they challenged you about your place in your church and it’s life together?

PRAY
Turn each phrase of these two verses into a prayer of thanks to God.