Be Ready

I am compelled to look like Him and live for Him until he returns.

2 Peter 3:10-13  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

11  Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live,  12  looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, He will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.  13  But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth He has promised, a world filled with God's righteousness.

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The book of 2 Peter has been a great guide to help us see that the Christian life should look different in comparison to the rest of the world. We believe that Jesus gave us the power to live for Him and be productive and useful for a cause that has eternal significance. I have a solid foundation of truth to build my life on and I have God's promises that I will share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption.

Despite the overwhelming evidence for the truth, the world is going to make fun of us when they see that we are compelled to live for him and they will scoff at the idea that we are looking forward to Jesus return. How can you think that he is still on the way? Peter tells us that the length of the wait doesn't change the certainty that it will happen. (2 Peter 3:3-8)

2 Peter 2:9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.

Jesus return is still coming, he hasn't changed His mind, judgment will follow and then we will see what is really important. The world and all of the things that it thinks is important is going to burn. Sometimes we get sidetracked by these things but we need to ask ourselves if we want to live for everything that will certainly be destroyed, or do you want to live so that you will have an inheritance in the new heavens and earth?

Romans 2:4-5  Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

There isn't an escape route. The world likes to think that they get another chance, they want to see some more information before they decide that they need to accept the truth, there isn't a second chance or reincarnation or purgatory, we don't get to change our situation or improve ourself after we die. Your relatives cannot light enough candles or pray enough prayers to change what has already been decided.

Devoted To God

Titus 2:11-14  For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

Are you ready for that day? Are you digging in the Word to find out how you can be more like him while you are waiting? God doesn't want to wait and change us after he comes and gets us, he wants us to start the change now, the surest way to know that I am ready and anticipating that day is for me to begin to look like who I will be after his return.

The new earth will be a place where righteousness dwells. It will then be impossible for sin to mess things up! And, we will be in God’s glorious presence forever! Are you ready?

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Be Real

Be cautious because there are plenty of beliefs about Jesus that are not real.

2 Peter 2:1-3  But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.

2  Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.  3  In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

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One of the most amazing things about traveling to Europe is to see their old castles and cathedrals that are made out of real natural materials. As an example take a look at the city of Oxford, none of the building materials are fake, most of our architecture is just a facade.

We live in a world where we are used to fake, plastic is used to replace all kinds of things, from building materials to body parts, we even have milk that comes from sources other than cows. With all of this fake stuff around it is easy to accept it all without questioning any of it.

There was plenty of fake in the Bible, from Abram lying about his wife being his sister (Genesis 12:10-13), Isaac tells a similar lie about his wife and then his son Jacob deceives him into thinking that he is actually Esau (Genesis 27:1-46) and then Jacobs sons hide the truth about what has happened to their brother Joseph. (Genesis 37:1-36) All of that deception is in one family in the first book of the Bible.

Ever since the original false teacher talked to Eve in the garden with his clever stories and destructive intentions there have been many more teachers of deception that have caused the fall of many. They slander the truth, seek to get into your pocketbook and they put the spotlight on themselves to feed their own ego. Some of them are like a snake but they can be like savage wolves or they may not look mean at all. (Matthew 7:15-23, Acts 20:28-32)

The apostles were God’s instruments to record His full and final revelation for us. The prophecies that they give us in the New Testament are the last revelation on God's timetable. There have been plenty of false prophecies since then and people that claim to have a vision from God. Muslims, Mormons and Seventh Day Adventist all claim to have a new revelation and the Jehovah's Witness claim to have another publication that must be used in order to understand the Bible.

Real Truth
John 14:6  Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me." John 17:3  And this is the way to have eternal life--to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the One You sent to earth.

By promising a new life of freedom, the false teachers deceive people just like water-less springs and rain-less clouds, they build up people’s hopes only to disappoint. The only real hope that we have and the only real truth that we can build our life on is to know the only true God and His Son Jesus. If you are trusting anybody else with your eternal destination then you are playing a dangerous game. 

Even if you are a child of God you have to be careful that you have a real perception of who He is and what that implies about our lifestyle. We can be guilty of conforming Jesus to our idea of Jesus instead of continuously digging into God's word to see the real Jesus.

Help me Lord to know you more and to have a better picture of who you are and how I can better look like the real Jesus.

Truth For Life

We can build our life now and our eternal future on something solid.

 

2 Peter 1:16-19  For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We saw His majestic splendor with our own eyes  17  when He received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to Him, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy."  18  We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19  Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place--until the Day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts.

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Peter wants us to know about God's power and glory that has the power to change lives, Peter feels that it is crucial for us to know about the power of God that he has experienced first hand, at the beginning of this chapter Peter told us that this power and glory provides us with everything we need to live above the moral decay that we see all around us.

Peter wants to be sure that we understand that this is real, he wants us to have faith that is solid, when you are putting your confidence in something that is a matter of life and death you don't want any doubts.

Our God is personal and loves relationships, He gives us a great amount of information about who He is, unlike the Muslim view of Allah which teaches that he is unknowable and your standing with him can not be determined until after you are dead. There is some amazing evidence that we can believe in the only true God.

We Can Believe God Because Of:

✔  The Transfiguration

Jesus deity and glory were covered by his humanity, He looked just like any other man except for one occasion when three of his disciples were allowed to see his other other side, a small glimpse of his deity was allowed to be seen.

We cannot imagine what this looked like or how much it would affect our life but I am sure that it was an experience that would change your life forever. Every time that a man has witnessed the God side of Jesus their life is never the same. (Acts 7:55-56, 9:3-8  2 Corinthians 12:4, Revelation 1:12-20).

✔  The Prophets

Unlike the transfiguration which is a single event, the prophecies about Jesus are numerous and they provide clear evidence that Jesus is God in a body, the promised Messiah that had been talked about for hundreds of years.

The prophets told us that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10), of the lineage of David (2 Samuel 7:16), in the city of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). His ministry would be introduced by a forerunner, who would speak in the spirit and power of Elijah (Malachi 3:1; 4:5; Isaiah 40:3-5). Other prophecies speak of His ministry, His miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6, 42:1-4; 61:1-2), and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. (Zechariah 9:9)

✔  The Scripture

Peter tells us that the disciples didn't get together and make this stuff up but there are people that will try to deceive them. Peter will discuss false teachers in chapter 2, they have been around ever since the snake in the garden and just like that snake, they are all tricking you for their own gain. (2 Peter 2:1-10)

Since the Old Testament prophets accurately predicted Jesus first coming we should pay close attention to the rest of the story found in the New Testament. We should be motivated to live in harmony with the truth that God has given to us.

These truths give us a solid rock to build our lives on! We don't have to wonder about the validity of one revelation about God, he has given us overwhelming evidence about who he is and what he wants us to do.

Know The Lord
Hosea 6:3  Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know Him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring."

God is knowable and he desires relationships and He will bless those that reach out to Him. We can build our life now and our eternal future on the truth that God has given us, He has made it plain and obvious, and He has given us plenty of reasons to trust and develop a relationship with Him.

As I build a deeper relationship with Him I should praise Him for the great gift of being able to be His child, I should ask for His blessing in my life and ask for wisdom. I will need his wisdom to help me live for Him and know Him beyond human understanding.

Are you growing to know God personally through Jesus Christ, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him to you through His Word? Is spending time with God in His Word a priority to you?

Be Productive And Useful

My greatest goal should be to become a productive and useful follower of Jesus.

2 Peter 1:8-12  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

10  So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.  11  Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

12  Therefore, I will always remind you about these things--even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.

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Who doesn't want to feel like they are needed? We all want to feel like we are useful and that our life matters to someone but what if you could be sure that your life mattered to God and that you are needed as a part of the work that he is doing.

So far in the second letter that Peter wrote he has given us some lessons that are important for disciples of Jesus to remember. He has told us that we are all equal, he has reminded us of our strength and the great promises that have been made to us.

Because of all of these benefits I have the power and the responsibility to live up to a higher moral code, We can be more like him as we grow into a deeper awareness of who Christ is, that knowledge will cause us to feel compelled to look and act as much like him as we possibly can.

Peter spends a lot of time making sure that we understand that our lives should be different as a disciple. The first chapter of 2 Peter reminds me a lot of the first chapter of 1 Peter:

1 Peter 1:13-15  So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.

A holy life makes our election sure and gives us confidence in the fact that we are saved. My good works and my desire to live above the morality that I see around me do not get me in the gates of heaven but what I believe about my sin and my Savior compel me to live a different lifestyle. If I agree with God about the ugliness of my sin then I will want to live a life that pleases him and then my life will be useful and productive for his work.

Without these traits in my life I will not be very useful for kingdom work and I will put myself in a dangerous situation. Failure to develop in Christian character is the reason many people fall and it is a sign that they never understood the gospel that they say they believe.

Change is essential
John 15:3-4  You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.

The word of God is a cleansing agent which purifies us, it condemns our sin, it inspires holiness, and it encourages growth. Since a true believer has been "pruned and purified" he will be productive for the advancement of the kingdom here on earth and his life will be useful in bringing glory to God.

To be productive and useful I must pursue God as my top priority in life or else it will get pushed aside and I will become distracted by the cares of this world. (Matthew 13:22, Colossians 3:2)

Thank you Lord for choosing to use me. I want my life to be useful and productive for your purposes.

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Standing On The Promises

God's promises compel me to pursue living up to a higher standard.

2 Peter 1:4-7  And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

5  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge,  6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,  7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

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God has given me everything I need to live in this world that is corrupt and full of uncontrolled passions. As a child of God I have his nature within me to help me live drastically different than the rest of the world. So much has been given to me that I didn't do anything to deserve and I am responsible for my response to God's promises.

I love how the New Living translation says that I must "escape the world's corruption." As Jesus disciple, I am saved through faith without any effort on my part but now that I am saved I am compelled to discipline myself and make every attempt to live for him. This doesn't come naturally and I will need to resolve to work at the change that God wants to see in me.

True Christians will want to increase in their understanding of God and take on his character. Some of the qualities that I must grow in include:

✔  Virtue (moral excellence)
✔  Knowledge
✔  Self control
✔  Patience
✔  Godliness
✔  Brotherly kindness
✔  Love

My life should honor God in every way, all that I am and in everything that I do, in my worship and in my relationships. It is so easy to do things that dishonor him, we think more about pleasing our friends than we do about pleasing the greatest friend that we could possibly have.

Spiritual Training
1 Timothy 4:7-9  Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."  This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.

The world wants us to focus on physical training which doesn't do anything for us when we step into eternity. Paul told Timothy that training for godliness comes with a promise of benefits for this life and in the life to come.

Putting my faith in the work of Jesus on the cross is the starting point on a long journey. I need to respond to God's promises by training myself spiritually to become more like him.

Thank you Lord for your promises, thank you for showing us a better way to live, I want to honor you by becoming more like you.

Everything I Need

There is only one source of strength that I need to live for God.

2 Peter 1:3-4  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

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Checkout the unlimited power that we have in our lives to live the way that God wants. I did not do anything to deserve it, he is offering this power to all of his children, he has done this because of his glory and excellence.

God promises that we can live above the evil worldly sin nature because we have his nature in us. God's children are enabled to share in his nature and moral excellence which is far greater than the code of ethics that our world lives by.

My eternal life starts now, I shouldn't sit back and wait to be changed when I get to heaven, I should already be making progress toward being like my Savior. So many of God's children don't look much different than the rest of the world, they have not made any steps forward in becoming who God wants them to be, Jesus doesn't want us to wait. (Luke 6:40)

Ephesian 1:19-20  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

My strength to start my eternal life comes from the enormous power from God. My old sin nature is nothing in comparison but it is still a stronghold that I will have to work to overcome. I can break the power of the hurts, habits and hang-ups that Satan wants to use to keep me from reaching my potential in Jesus but it cannot be defeated by my own efforts.

Jesus love for me and all of these great promises and power motivate me to live for him. When you see yourself through the eyes of God without Jesus sacrifice and then you look at yourself with Jesus you will begin to realize how much he has done for you that you didn't deserve. How could I not live for him? (2 Corinthians 5:14, Colossians 1:13-14)

You are an awesome God, full of glory and power! Thank you for choosing me and making your power available to me.