1 This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.
2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
3 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.
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.
8 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.
Terrie's Comments:
I want to start out today with saying how greatful I am to have a faithful partner in Jesus Christ. Tori has been amazing to keep posts going this week when I was swamped. Thank you Tori!! Jesus sent his disciples out two by two because two are better than one. When one falls their friend can pick them up... a three strand cord is not easily broken. Two people serving God together with a common purpose and goal, keeping Jesus in the middle is a great thing!
"May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord" This is a mysterious thing to me... more grace and more peace as I grow in my knowledge of Jesus... this is a sweet sweet thing.
I am so grateful that God has given me everything I need for living a godly life. I received all of this by coming to know Jesus Christ. The one who drew me to himself, because of His glory and His excellence. He has given me great and precious promises to enable me to share in his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.
My part is to respond to these promise's and grow in my faith and knowledge of God and Jesus. As I apply this knowledge I become more productive and useful in that knowledge. If I choose to be a doer of the word and not just a hearer only I will be protecting myself from falling away. Then having running the race with endurance God will give me a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!! I am so looking forward to that day.
Tori's Comments:
These promises are what we need to hold and cling on to! Scripture can help us retain the truth, fight temptation, and remind ourselves of who Christ has made us to be!
Even our growth in faith is not for ourselves, but for the glory of Jesus. If we aren't growing closer to him the longer we walk with him, there is something wrong. Don't turn back! Why would you once you've tasted the freedom Jesus gives?
"prove" is an interesting word choice, but one I've seen a couple of times in the New Testament. If we really are in the faith, we should be bearing fruit. That's why I think we should always be checking our lives to see if we are bearing the fruit of the Spirit or if we are falling away, which is a dangerous way to live.
Take our personal comments or leave them. We would love to hear what stood out to you about today`s passage and how it encouraged you. Tell us in the comments below!
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Please keep all comments respectful. We want to remember that each of us is at a different place in our walk with God. This is a place for us to share openly about what has been revealed to us as we open up Gods word and to learn from others. Please take every opportunity possible to build each other up in love :-)