This week, as we finish up First Peter and begin Second Peter, we find some helpful instructions when we're in the enemy's grips ourselves.

Don't Be Surprised

On Monday (1 Peter 3), Peter continues his encouragement about submission from the previous chapter, now directed to wives (1 Peter 3:1-6). He calls on the church to be loving, unified, tender, and to bless rather than curse (1 Peter 3:8-9). And when we're slandered for Christ, our response should be gentle, respectful, and with good behavior (1 Peter 3:15-16).

Then on Tuesday (1 Peter 4), we're to arm ourselves with Christ's mission of suffering by putting off sin and putting on righteousness (1 Peter 4:1-11). And though the world will be surprised by your change in lifestyle, we shouldn't be surprised by their rejection and ridicule (1 Peter 4:4, 12). Instead, we should rejoice for the opportunity to share in Christ's difficulties (1 Peter 4:13-14).

• Why are Peter's instructions about the family so hard for our modern society to accept?
• How have you handled rejection by those who knew you before you came to the Lord?

Don't Be Anxious

On Wednesday (1 Peter 5), Peter encourages the elders — as a fellow elder himself — to willingly oversee the congregation with eagerness for their wellbeing (1 Peter 5:1-3). He calls the whole church to be humble and not to be anxious about life's troubles but cast every care on God who loves us (1 Peter 5:6-7).

• With the devil prowling around, what safeguards can we take to keep him at bay?
• How long is suffering going to last, and what will happen after it's over?

Don't Be Misled

Then, on Thursday, we move on to Peter's second letter (2 Peter 1), where he addresses troubles with false teachers. He lists the qualities that make us productive for Christ: faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (2 Peter 1:5-7). Without these, we're no longer able to see the life to which Christ has called us (2 Peter 1:9). Then he explains that it's not a bunch of clever myths that they're following, but the eye-witness accounts of Peter and the apostles (2 Peter 1:16-21).

And finally, on Friday (2 Peter 2), Peter warns about the devil's secret agents who will bring destructive teachings into the church (2 Peter 2:1-2). Though many will listen to them and be destroyed, God will rescue those who stay firmly rooted in the word (2 Peter 2:4-10). He calls them "irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed" (2 Peter 2:12). These people would have been better off never knowing Christ than to come to him and abandon their faith (2 Peter 2:21-22).

• How can we confirm our calling and election today?
• Knowing that these false teachers come from "among the people" (2 Peter 2:1), how does that impact our watchfulness?