1 Pet. 5:10 - Christ will perfect you

10 And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
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Christ will perfect you; after you have suffered

vs. 10 - "a little while" - The suffering is only for a short time. The beautiful part is we are God's own, and He will bring us to perfection. He will strengthen us.

"called you to his eternal glory" - Jesus, the Son of God, has been with the Father from infinite eternity to infinite eternity. The glory that is the Father's is also the Son's. "He has taken us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son." (Col. 1:14)

How glorious is God? Moses who dealt daily with God while leading the Israelites out of Egypt begged to see God. See: Ex. 33:18-23 - "Then Moses said, 'I pray You, show me Your glory!' And He (The Lord) said, 'I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.' But He (The Lord) said, 'You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!' Then the LORD said, 'Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.'"

The prophet Isaiah had a vison in which he saw the Lord. Isaiah was so overwhelmed he thought he was going to die. Isa. 6:1-5 - "In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.' And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.'"

The prophet Ezekiel also had a vision in which he saw God sitting on his throne. See Ezek. 1:26-28 - "Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking."
In all instances when people "see" the Lord they are overwhelmed by His glory. We cannot adequately describe or comprehend the majesty and wonderousness of God. We are knocked back on our heels or farther. We are blinded by the brilliance - imagine being in a blackened room, total darkness, and suddenly a whole wall of klieg lights turn on. We are blinded and freeze. It is much, much more than that.

We will be in that light. We will not be blinded. We will see clearly! We will be in the presence of God's glory and will rejoice and be glad.

Four things (among others) that Christ does for us.

- "restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish" -

1. restore - This word has the meaning, or sense of "to mend" (what has been broken or rent); "to repair"; "perfect"; "complete"; "make one what he ought to be". -- I love that last one - to make us what we ought to be - beings that have a close and loving relationship with God. That which was lost with the original sin of Adam, has been restored to us. Praise God!
2. confirm - The idea of this action is to "to make stable"; "place firmly"; "set fast"; "fix"; "make firm"; "to render constant" -- We are not to be unstable, wavering in our Christian life. We can be sure, we can be confident that we are Christ's. If we are in His hands, no one, no being (spiritual or otherwise) can snatch us away. He has promised it.
3. strengthen - Our soul is empowered - from the concordance: "to make one's soul strong", "strengthen one's soul". -- Our soul, our spirit, without Jesus is weak and broken, sinful. Our soul, with Jesus, is as as strong as He is. The only reason we do not conquer all, is we still fall prey to our old nature. Stronger is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.
4. establish - God is doing this so we are permanently part of the kingdom. The meaning of the word is "to lay the foundation"; "to found" (to set up, especially with provision for continuing existence); "to make stable". -- Again, I love the idea of provision for continuing existence. God is in this for the long haul. This is not a temporary thing, it is for real. We are encouraged so that we will not just be along for the ride, but given all we need to be full participants in the kingdom. Not serfs, not dummy robots, but fully functioning members that do His will and see the rewards He has promised.

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1 Pet. 5:8-9 - Resist the devil, be alert

Resist the devil, be alert

8 Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour.
9 Resist him, strong in your faith, because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are enduring the same kinds of suffering.

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Be Sober and Alert

vs. 8 - "the devil... is on the prowl" - Be aware that the devil is constantly alert, trying to trip us up. We hear the description 'roaring lion' and I suspect that many of us make a small quiet smile amd think, "Yeah. Right." By that, I mean we acknowledge that Satan exists, but are not always sure how much effect he has on us. After all, we are saved and are Christians - what can Satan do to us? But Satan has been involved in the downfall and failure of humans from the beginning. A partial list follows;

1. Gen. 3:1-15 - Satan deceives Eve. She succumbs to her desires rather than obeying the Lord.
2. Gen 4:2-9 - Cain murders Abel. He dos not control his anger. Cain's 'woe is me' turns to rage, and then feigns ignorance and indifference. Again, suggested and fueled by Satan.
3. Gen. 16:1-12 - Sarah tries to 'help' the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham. The result was a son by a servant woman, and this son has been a thorn in the side of the Jews ever since. She didn't believe God any better than Eve.
4. Gen. 27:6-30 - Rather than believing God's promise, Rachel convinces Jacob to cheat his brother. This lack of trust in God, resulted in enmity between Jacob's and Esau's descendants, that has lasted through the present day.
5. Exo. 32:4; Num. 13:27-14:12 - The Jews lose faith in God and Moses, multiple times - making the golden calf, and refusal to enter Canaan the first time and 38 years of wandering in the desert.
6. Judges - the whole book...) - The Jews 'fall away' from God, and suffer at the hands of oppressors. God rescues them by raising up a judge, a charismatic leader. This pattern repeats for hundreds of years.
7. 1 Sam. 8:4-9; 10;17-19 - The Jews demand to have a king, even though God says He is their king. The desire to be like everyone else is another lie from Satan.
8. 1 Sam. 13:8-14 - Saul doesn't obey God's instructions, and his kingdom is stripped away. He just couldn't wait another day - impatience encouraged by Satan.
9. 2 Sam. 11:2-11 - David commits adultery, and has the woman's husband killed. The temptation was laid before David, and his lust led him into sin.
10. 2 Kings 17:5-23, (see especially verses 7-18 and the list of their offenses). 2 Kings 24:1-25:20 - The Northern and Southern kingdoms are evil, turning their backs on God. The Northern kingdom disappears courtesy of the Assyrians (who weren't as nice as the Nazis a couple of thousand years later.)
11. Mark 8:32-33 - Peter tries to talk Jesus out of His mission - the cross.
12. Matt. 26:67-70 - Peter denies Christ during the 'trial'.

Although this is a limited list, it's enough. You can see that Satan is alive and working. Ever since Satan rebelled against God he has endeavored to destroy the works of God. He tries to delude a human from accepting Christ as Savior. If that fails, his next tasks are to keep the Christian from living a fruitful Spirit-filled life. The book "The Screwtape Letters" reads like a manual on what Christians can do to be unfruitful, struggling, unhappy believers. (Actually, I recommend the audio version of "Screwtape Letters" as read by John Cleese. He provides the 'right' amount of snark and disdain for Jesus and believers. You can almost feel his anger and hate for us and our Lord.) Satan is constantly at work, as are the fallen angels who serve him.
Don't despair. Jesus came into this world to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8) But Jesus didn't just destroy the works of the devil, He provided the start of a new world that will have no influence of Satan, who will be in the burning lake of fire, for eternity. Praise the Lord!

Resist the Devil

vs. 9 - "Resist him," - Resist the devil by faith in Christ. Sometimes believers try to take on Satan by themselves, thinking the issue is not that big. This is a big mistake! Paul says in "Ephesians", "Our battle is not against flesh and blood..." (See: Eph. 6:12) The devil is far more powerful than we are. Satan cannot make you DO ANYTHING. But he is clever, and the father of lies (See:John 8:44), and he will deceive you. Rely on Jesus to resist the devil. In fact, use Jesus and His power to stop the devil in his attempts to draw you into sin. Use the name of Jesus and all that implies. Start a prayer when Satan is attacking you with, "In the name of Jesus...", and finish with the request that will free you. Satan has no power over Jesus. He is helpless against Jesus. Satan does not want us to turn to Jesus.

"because you know ..." We are not alone in our sufferings. Fellow Christians are going through the same thing.

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1 Pet. 5:6-7 - Humble yourselves before God

6 And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand
7 by casting all your cares on him because he cares for you.

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In Due Time

vs. 6 - "humble yourselves under his mighty hand" - Submit yourselves to God. I think Americans have a problem with submitting ourselves to anybody. Our heritage, starting with the Revolution, the Civil War, extending to today's 'Resist" movement has been "No one tells me what to do!" What is the aim of many people? To be their own boss. We have a strong independence streak running through us. Ask yourself, "Who is in charge of my life, of my behavior?"
Don't glibly answer, "God is." In some ways we act as practical atheists - Campus Crusade for Christ describes this as being a 'carnal man'. Not carnal in the sense of immoral, sexual behavior, but in the sense that we have put our own ego or self on the throne of our life, and not Jesus. "I can take care of this," or, "I can do this" are symptomatic of believing the lie.
The lie is that we are in control. The poem Invictus by William E. Henley is about standing firm in the face of overwhelming odds and circumstances. It is an anthem of courage and defiance. Yet, the most famous line, and the strongest sounding cry, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul..." is also the saddest. While it exhorts us to never give up, it also is a rallying cry of defiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not saying that Christians openly stand and shake their fist at God. We do it more subtly, quietly, in the form of passive resistance. The resulting defiance is the same whether it is 'in your face', or sneaky and hidden.
Our problem (especially my problem) is that we can go through the day without thinking to much about it. We operate by rote. We do what we have always done. Jesus is saying there is a better way. "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him". (Psa. 37:7) "In his heart man plans his course, but God determines the steps." (Prov. 3:5,6)
Two prayers I have learned from a devotional book are part of the secret of living for Jesus: "Help me, Jesus," and "I trust You, Jesus." Paul says it clearly in Gal. 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me". Humbling ourselves is believing and committing to the fact that Jesus is in control. The reward for believing in Him and thereby yielding to Him, will come.
Please do not misunderstand, the rewards are not relegated to the future only. Rather than standing and shaking our fist at life, we can be comforted in His arms, because we can trust that He cares for us. Jer. 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.' If we would only pay attention to Jesus our well-being would be like a stream that never runs dry. (See: Isa. 48:18)

vs. 7 - "cast all your cares..." - Worrying is a form of practical atheism. Fretting about tomorrow's events will not make them go away, or improve them. (See: Matt. 6:34) In fact, fretting may lead anger, revenge, and other evil in your life. (See Ps. 37:8) That does not mean we should take a "What? Me worry?" attitude. The problems can be confronted and overcome if we give them to the Lord. See: Phil. 4:6-7.

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1 Pet. 5:1-5 - Elders take care of your flock

1 So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you:
2 Give a shepherd's care to God's flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God's direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly.
3 And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock.
4 Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away.
5 In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

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vs. 1 - Peter identifies himself himself as an elder (not a pope). He emphasizes that he was present with, and an eye witness to, the life of Christ. He also agrees with Paul that there is glory to come for those who believe. (See: Rom. 2:7, 10, 6:4; 8:18, 9:23; 2 Cor. 3:18, 4:17; Eph. 5:27)

Advice to Elders

vs. 2 "Give a shepherd's care" - Guide and protect those in your care. Don't do it as a burden, nor consider it so. Don't do it for personal gain - monetary gain. (See: Matt. 19:7-30; Mark 9:33-35; 10:28-31) Peter fully understood what he was saying to the leaders of the churches - Peter and the other disciples had argued over who would be the greatest in the new kingdom. (Mark 9:34; Luke 9:46)
Peter finally understood Jesus' words - after Jesus appeared to them in the upper room, after He ascended into heaven, after Pentecost when they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to earth to save us, not to rule over us. When He returns again it will be in power and glory - returning to establish His kingdom, ruling with an iron rod. Compare: Matt. 20:28, Luke 19:10 with Rev. 2:27; 12:5; 19:15! Ruling "with an iron rod" does not mean Jesus will be cruel or vindictive. It means He will be strong, effective, sure and decisive.

vs. 3 "do not lord it over" - More advice: Lead the flock. Don't drive them. Jesus called Himself the good shepherd. (John 10:11, 14) Peter understood his role was to guide and protect the church. He was to guide by teaching the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, and Him only. He was to protect by preparing the members to handle the trials which were coming upon them. He was to protect them from false teachings that would lead them astray. That is still the job of the elders and leaders of the churches. He understood that many believers will not throw themselves into study and prayer. He understood that many believes will grow and mature only through the teaching and ministry of their leaders. That is why leaders must be chosen carefully, groomed and prepared to lead and protect the church - so that none are lead astray. See: Matt. 9:36; John 10:11, 14; 21:16; Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:20.

vs. 4 - "Chief Shepherd" - Christ. The King is coming. The worker and elder who has done Jesus' bidding in caring for and protecting the flock will be rewarded. See: Matt. 25:14-29

vs. 5 - More advice: "Others first" seems to be the key to humility. See: Rom. 12:9-10; Rom. 12:3; Phil. 2:4-8