Oct 1, 2020
By Kevin Butler
Conference President 2021
This year’s denominational Scripture Memory program is getting “Paula’s Promotional Push.”
Paula Davis, a member of the Verona, NY, church, has volunteered her time and talents in pushing the memory program to higher levels of participation. We thank Paula for her word and craft skills, and for her Spirit-led positive nudge for more of us to memorize God’s Word.
Part of Paula’s strategy is to have various people write a devotional based on the month’s memory verse. The first one is the Conference theme verse, and we thought that I should take that one on. Here is my devotional for 1 Peter 5:10.
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“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5:10)
There you are, relaxing outside on a beautiful late summer day, just about to drift off to sleep. All of a sudden a buzzing and vibrating emergency alert signal goes off on your phone! Takes you by surprise, doesn’t it?
Peter’s letter to Christians scattered in Asia alerts them (and us) that for believers, suffering is no surprise. The good news is that it’s only going to last for a little while.
God calls us to a future hope and glory. There’s a day on His master calendar when He is going to make everything right. We need to trust Him in that plan.
How have we been called to that eternal glory? “In Christ Jesus.” Without Jesus working on our behalf, there is no plan! Everything about God’s plan, everything about our eternal glory, is possible because it is in Christ.
Maintaining our faith and focus is possible when we realize that God is working out His plan for our life. And God encourages us that we’re going to make it all the way to the end. Check out these words of promise and assurance:
–He will RESTORE us.
–He will make us STRONG, FIRM and STEADFAST.
Through all of our suffering and struggle, the Lord
God is at work— to restore and to strengthen, making us (His children) firm and steadfast. Every tear and trial — even death itself — is swallowed up in His victory!
The suffering of today reminds us what is truly valuable and worthy.
So don’t despair. God uses our suffering for our good, and for His glory. He will restore us. That’s a promise!
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Since becoming Conference president, I have been posting installments of “Our Daily Bread” devotionals on our Facebook page, previewing the post with a teaser summary or main point. (You can ask to join the group “SDB Conference 2021.”)
A Sabbath School teacher once reminded us that “doing devotions” is more than reading a short personal reflection. If someone just reads my caption for the daily devotional, that’s not enough. If someone just reads the actual devotional, that’s not enough. Are we taking the time to read the Scripture that the devotional is based on? Do we read any other Bible references cited in the daily reading? Are we looking in the Bible for the context of the passage?
I know that we’re busy. And yes, we’re distracted. Yes, we have a to-do list screaming at us. Are we too busy to be restored? Can we give the Lord enough time and attention where He can “do His thing” on us and for us?
Be more than a devotional skimmer. Dig deeper into the Word. Seek the Author of the Word, and be restored.
