Do You Believe?
November 18
A dear friend loaned us the movie, "Do You Believe?" to watch over the weekend. The 1 Peter passage in The Message translation below could easily have precipitated the creation of this film. This movie is the story of 12 lives and how God moves in those lives to bring them closes to Christ.
If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.
1 Peter 3:18 MSGWe had a good weekend. My husband said sleeping with me wired to this heart monitor is like a flashback from "Jaws" where the beacon is flashing on the barrel noting the closing in of the shark. The battery pack I wear has a green blinking light! I leaned over to the young woman next to me in church to explain why there was a green flashing light under my white shirt. I didn't want her thinking I was wearing a bomb.
I believe God works all things together for the good of those who love him. I believe there is more to the story than we see in our day to day lives.
