The Spirit of the LORD will come on you in power … and you will be changed into a different person.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. … I will show my love to the one I called “Not my loved one.” I will say to those called “Not my people,” “You are my people;” and they will say, “You are my God.”

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. … Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own … Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Ho 1:9; 1Sa 10:6; 1Pe 2:9-10, Ho 2:23; 1Pe 1:17, 1Pe 2:11-12; He 11:13-14, He 11:16

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.