Humble yourself

Humble yourself before God, and he will lift you up.  That's often where we stop reading that verse.  Be humble, and we'll be raised up!  Except we're missing a vital part of that verse.  In due time.  When you've grown from the experience, God will lift you up.  Perhaps even after you've matured a little bit, and really understand what it means to be humble, you'll be lifted up, as Peter was speaking to the young men at this point.  The main point, however, is that we be humble.

It is hard for the righteous to be saved

It is hard enough for Christians to follow the way of Christ, let alone those who do not believe in Jesus.  After some study, that is what I get from 1 Peter 4:18, which states the following:
And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

If you're curious in reading a little more on that yourself, click here.

More suffering

Jeremiah
Well, Jeremiah ends on a somewhat happy note.  Jehoichin is released and lives on a pension.  It looks like the Jews may receive God's blessings once again, so long as they obey him!

1 Peter
Again Peter talks about suffering.  I was wondering about this emphasis, but then remembered that he was writing to people who were being persecuted.  This is actually an encouragement to them.  It pays to investigate the historical context of the bible, so that we can know why it says what it does.

Commendable to suffer

1 Peter
It is commendable to suffer for doing good.  In fact, Peter goes so far as to say that this is what we were called to (2:21)!  That's a tough one.  You really have to focus on God's love in order to endure suffering.  By thinking less of yourself and what you're going through, and thinking more about how God loves all of us, and suffered even for those people who are making your life miserable, you can hopefully endure it a little easier.

predestination?

Jeremiah
Johanan is quite the guy!  As I was reading, I thought he would be a good guy, since he rescued the people from Ishmael, and then he goes and totally ignores Jeremiah's message from God!  He and his followers were in such a position to be blessed by God, but threw that away by running to Egypt.

1 Peter
Peter seems to have a bent toward pre-destination.  For example, 2:8 says that 'They stumble because they disobey the message - which is also what they were destined for.'  And from a few days ago, 1:2 says '...who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father...'

Thoughts on pre-destination, anyone?  Do you agree or disagree?

What precious blood

1 Peter 1 is packed with such inspirational verses!  I'm sure the rest of the chapters will follow suit.  After all, Peter wrote to the scattered Christians in what is now modern Turkey, encouraging them to continue on in their faith in spite of persecution.
Two verses that I would like to emphasize here is 1 Pet 1:18-19: For 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, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
These verses drive home the fact that our faith is so important, so precious, just like the blood of Christ.  He died to save us.  He didn't just fork over some extra cash to cover our sins.  He gave his life!  This is a good reminder to take our faith more seriously; to live a life that exemplifies the price that was paid for it.