Bible Verse of the Day Monday February 27th, 2023

1 Peter 4:11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.

It is a strong likelihood that as Peter laid pen to paper at the start of this letter, his mind returned to that dark night when he warmed his hands by the fire of the ones seeking to have Jesus killed. Then as the people around him recognized him as one of Jesus' disciples, he denied Jesus, not one time but three times. Finally, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus suffered and died on the Cross of Calvary to take on Himself the punishment that should have been Peter's and ours. However, Jesus did not reject Peter or turn his back on him. The sins of Peter were not only forgiven, but he was chosen by Christ Jesus to be given the "keys to the kingdom of heaven" and to "feed His Sheep." One of the most beautiful Scripture passages is the restoration of Peter by Christ Jesus (John 21:1-17).

Peter desired to dedicate the remainder of his life to Christ Jesus and the spreading of his Gospel to the ends of the Earth. Peter made this decision regardless of any cost to himself or the pain and suffering he would endure. Peter knew that any pathway leading to the Kingdom of God must pass by the Cross of Calvary. This principle holds today as it was when Peter taught the Gospel here on this Earth. All people in this life have a choice, we can allow carnal values and ideas to contaminate and pollute our lives and corrode our witness of Christ Jesus, or we can choose the narrow path that leads God.

God has a massive storehouse filled with the truth of the Gospel of Christ Jesus; we should not attempt to sneak some of our messages into God's depot. The message we carry to the world should always come from the goods in His warehouse. We are simply the messengers that are to take God's truth to the ends of the Earth. When someone carries a message of good hope and cheer to someone else, they do not praise the messenger; only the message's sender gets the glory.