How Are We Doing?

DEVOTION 1 PETER HOW ARE WE DOING? 1 Peter 5:12-14 12 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. 13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. NIV A fitting conclusion, a fitting ending salutation of encouragement to stand fast in the true grace of God is what all of us should do. I think it is interesting this grace is once again the divine influence upon our hearts and how that is reflected in our lives. We should stand fast, not be moved, not be distracted by other things, not be influenced by anything other than God. In a world which spends so much money and energy in an attempt to sway our thinking to be in agreement with them, we are to stand fast to the true influence of God in our lives. Why should we buy gold when we have God? Why should we put any of our trust in the system of this world when we have the truth of God, His grace, His influence in our lives? Why should we believe the unbeliever when we have the grace of God? God has a plan for us, and He who started a good work in us will complete it. We are going to step into eternity right into His presence someday, which is the absolute completion of His good work in us. So why would we want to be influenced by anything which only leads to death, including the second death? No we need to stand fast as well as encourage each other to do the same. We need to testify to this true, telling others of it, bringing encouragement and even as in the original language implies exhort one another in this truth. Maybe there is just not enough brotherly love within the body because too many have forgotten this truth and have been influenced by the social graces of society. Surely if we were truly influenced by God we would greet each other slightly different then we do. What happened to this holy kiss of greeting? Just a thought, yet without question we need to express the peace of God to each other in our greetings and our farewells. How are we doing?