1 Peter 1:13-22

13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope
fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14As obedient
children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
15But just as he who called you is holy, so; 16for it is written: “Be holy, because
I am holy.”
 17Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your
lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 18For you know that it was not with
perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty
way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious
blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before
the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified
him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
 22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have
sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

Meditation:
1. Peter’s call to holiness can be confusing and intimidating.  We are often
bombarded by the media depicting “holy” people as stiff, sexuality repressed,
boring, lifeless, self-righteous, judgemental, and deeply hypocritical.  Yet the
picture we see in the Bible is that to be holy is to be transformed into Christ’s
image.
2. While Jesus was on earth, sinful people flocked to him, while self-righteous
folk tended to avoid an encounter.  Peter experienced firsthand Christ’s
penetrating, loving holiness, and even after his greatest mistakes he couldn’t
keep away from Jesus.  How are holiness and love related?  Peter further
instructed: “have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply,
from the heart”.
3. Pray.  Ask God to teach me to live an authentic holy life that is different and
separated from the world.

Personal Note:
Holiness means being set apart to be more like Christ.  God is love.  Jesus Christ is God.  A person who is holy is also a loving person.  I can love sincerely when I have experience the holiness of God's love.

At times, I feel tired from caring and loving for others.  Coming back to God in prayer and resting in Him is the only way to keep on serving and loving others.

Colossians 4:2-6

 2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us,
too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the
mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as
I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every
opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Meditation
1. Expressing Christ in my life is vital to an effective witness. But it is not enough.
The gospel is a message delivered in words, and authenticated by life. Both
word and life must be shared.
2. How well am I doing in sharing the gospel? Which do I need to improve
(word or life) to become more effective in advancing the gospel?
3. From vv5-6, what principles do I want to build into my life as I relate to nonbelievers?
4. Pray and ask the Spirit to give me one or two faces of people in your life
whom He wants me to pray for and share the gospel with.

Personal Note:
I need to improve in the area of sharing the Gospel, both in Word and life in order to become more effective in advancing the Gospel.  I need to have wisdom interacting with non-believers and have my conversations be seasoned with grace.  Right now, I would like to share the Gospel with two high school friends.

Philippians 1:3-6

 3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I
always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day
until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Meditation
1. Sometimes Christians think of prayer as a last resort when we’re desperate, or
when we are fearful for others. But Paul prayed out of joy, and with supreme
confidence. The Philippian believers had worked in partnership with Paul in
spreading the gospel from the first. And Paul had total confidence that the
work God began in their lives would be carried on to completion, “until the
day of Christ Jesus.”
2. We can have the same confidence when we pray for one another. God won’t
abandon any of His own. We pray for other Christians with joy, and with total
confidence that God is at work in their lives. Why then do we pray? We pray
as an expression of love. And we pray because we believe that God in some
mysterious way uses our prayers to enrich that good work He is committed
to do in His children’s lives.
3. Take a few minutes to put Paul’s prayer into my own words, then apply the
prayer for my cell group and my church.

Personal Note:
I thank God for every person that comes into the community of Crossroad.  Every person is a source of joy and I appreciate that I have the honour to partner with young people in sharing the good news of Christ.  I am confident that by the grace of God, we can do the good work through the love of Christ into the community.

Ephesians 1:15-23

 15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your
love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering
you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may
know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of
his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for
us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which
he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his
right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and
dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also
in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed
him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness
of him who fills everything in every way.

Meditation
1. Paul is saying that we already have everything we need for living the Christian
life. We don’t have to wait for something additional to happen before we
can live joyfully and confidently.
2. Read the passage silently. Make Paul’s prayer in this passage my own. For
example, I ask you – the God of my Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory
– to make me intelligent and discerning in knowing you personally. And so
on. Try to imagine Paul’s emotion when he wrote this passage. Then pray to
the same awesome, glorious, mighty, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent
God according to this passage.
3. What new insight or awareness about God and myself do I get from such
prayer?

Personal Note:
I see the growth in the love for Christ for our awesome brothers and sisters in Christ.  I give thanks to God for your transformation.  I pray that your heart and mind be renewed each day to live in wisdom according to God's Word and His Spirit.  I pray that you can experience the riches and the abundance of His love.  God's awesome love in Jesus Christ is above all things and I pray that our lives can be a blessing to the world through being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

The new insight I received is that leading people to love God deeper, care/minister to one another, and sharing the good news to friends and family is impossible by my own strength.  It is only possible through prayer and relying on the spiritual gifts that God blesses.  I was discouraged when I am given the task to plan and implement.  With this prayer, God renewed my mind and I see that as long as I pray and abide in Him, there is fruit and peace.  I will see until the end of the year to see if the plan and the goals are met, but I trust that God is faithful.