Today's Chapter: 2 Peter 1
Dig Deeper:
YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES: It's easy to delude yourself into thinking that you are some sort of 2nd class Christian, as if there are some who 'get it' in a way that you don't. But the opening passage of Peter's second letter makes it clear that's not the case. There's no secret initiation ceremony or notice in the bulletin that marks the fact that you've arrived, rather, if you know God, you have "everything you need for a godly life (v3)." Grasp the promises that God has made to you, because Peter writes, it's through them that you "participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in this world (v4)."
GOD GAVE YOU WHAT YOU NEED, SO MAKE EVERY EFFORT: Although you are fully vested in the divine nature through God's gifts, it's not an excuse to kick back and lazily wait for Jesus to come again. Peter implores you three times to 'make every effort (v5, 10, 15)' to bring your everyday words and actions into line with the Godly gifts you've been given. Think of all of the different efforts you make at doing your job or hobby well: you read about and discuss different issues, study manuals and guidelines, surround yourself with people who know your industry well, you rest and prepare yourself to work hard, etc. To do your job well means you must make every effort. Now, what are you doing to "make every effort to confirm your calling and election (v10)?"
PLAY IT AGAIN, PETER! It may seem like we're spinning our wheels at church because you keep hearing the same message over and over again. Peter hits the nail on the head in v12 as to why it seems this way. "Even though you are firmly established in the truth, I need to keep reminding you of these things," writes Peter. He's not insulting you by saying that you're carelessly forgetting the gifts God's given you, rather he's acknowledging that we live in a world that's constantly making every effort to separate you from those gifts, therefore it's necessary to be reminded of them often.
THE GOSPEL ISN'T FAKE NEWS: Peter reminds his readers that the gospel is not a "cleverly devised story (v16)" the apostles were making up as they went, but rather it was actual eyewitnessed fact (v16-18), which is corroborated by Old Testament prophets who "spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (v19-21)." This means that God's Word is the one source of news in this world that you can fully trust.
Follow the AAA Prayer Pattern:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our God and Savior Jesus Christ (v1) and the Holy Spirit (v21) - One God, who makes Himself known in three persons.
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for giving you everything you need for a Godly life (v3), and ask Him to strengthen you to make every effort (v5, 10, 15)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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