Relationships

False Teachers and Fast Ferries

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  2 Peter 2:1-3 (NLT)

1But 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. 2Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3In 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.

Observations:

Peter warns the church to pay attention:  false teachers will show up.

They are cleaver teachers with “destructive heresies.”

They deny Jesus.

They will get a following.

The “way of truth” will be slandered because of the false teachers.

They will be greedy.

Application:

A few years ago BC introduced the “fast ferry” to our fleet of ships.  They didn’t last long on the water!  The wake created by these sleek and fast boats damaged the shore lines.  The boats were expensive to maintain.  Soon they were docked and ultimately sold at a great loss.

Every leader creates a wake.  All leaders and messages are not equal in the size of their wake.  Smooth talkers will abound.  Crowds may come.  But the character and heart of a false teachers is false even as they distort the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  In the wake of such false teachers many other people are hurt and washed up on the shore.  Then the way of Jesus is slandered by those who see the devastation.

In this text, Peter would have us pay attention to two aspects of a leader’s life:  1.  The way they handle the Gospel.  2.  The way they handle people and their money.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, may your church become so familiar with your Word and the character of Christ that they recognize what is false and distance themselves from it.  Please bring healing to those who have been hurt by false teachers.  May both your tender mercy and your fierce love prevail so that Jesus is lifted up.  May your Kingdom come.  AMEN.

Eavesdropping on Love

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  2 Peter 1:16-18

16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Observations:

Peter affirms that they were not making up their message about Jesus.  They were eyewitnesses to his majesty.

The saw and they heard the honour and glory from God the Father on the mountain when He announced his love, relationship, and delight.

Application:

The human experience is by design one in which we discover the most about us from those who speak into our lives.  This is why rejection is so powerful.  This is why announcements of love are so powerful.  Some forms of spirituality reject this reality by determining to find meaning only within oneself.  But we were designed to hear the deepest truth about ourselves from outside of ourselves.  Our identity in Christ Jesus is restored through the Gospel so that we know, “I am loved.”

We pay lots of attention at weddings and movies to declarations of love.  For the Disciples these were words of divine affirmation and love overheard between the Heavenly Father and Jesus:  “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Peter wants His readers to have confidence in the Gospel message:  Jesus is who he says He is, and He is uniquely qualified to announce the Father’s love to us.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, In this moment I am trusting you and your Son.  But in other moments I lose my mind and am not so aware of my true identity.  Fill me with your Spirit.  May the greatness of Jesus be seen through my weakness.  May you cause my confidence in the Gospel to grow.  AMEN.

Y(our) Remedy for Spiritual Stagnation

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  2 Peter 1:5-9 NLT

5In 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, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

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

Observations:

Peter observes that the failure to grow in our faith creates

shortsighted, blind (or myopic) people

who have forgotten that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

Application:

Remember, treasuring, reflecting on the Gospel and Jesus’ extraordinary love for us shown at the cross is the catalyst for all that is good in our spiritual growth.  If you want your relationship with Jesus to regularly be refreshed consider again the delight of coming to know Him and the joy having sin forgiven.  Pause again and consider His unmerited kindness expressed towards us.  Dive into the depths of your simple confession: “Jesus is Lord.”

Shortsighted, stagnated Christians have trouble seeing an increasingly large vision of God.  They have trouble looking back and seeing God’s grace in their past.  They have difficulty looking forward and seeing how God’s grace pulls them forward into a new way of living in His Kingdom.

Since we are interested in “our” spiritual growth I must never underestimate the power of listening long, patiently, and hopefully in the power of the Spirit with another follower of Jesus who is struggling to see grace.  The challenge when I speak is to give voice to a vision of grace without falling into the wide and destructive ditches of moralism or relativism.  Without this grace-infused wisdom we are doomed to be the blind leading the blind.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for wiping out my past sins.  It cost you so much!  Its a problem when my sin seems larger than your grace.  Such lies are unworthy of Jesus.  I want Him to stand in the darkened rooms of my life and say to me, “Truly, Truly, I say to you…”  May He cast out the darkness and let me hear again, “You are my beloved.”  Then I will see.  AMEN.

Y(our) Spiritual Grow-Op!

/ Craig / 2 Comments

Scripture:  2 Peter 1:5-8

5For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Observations:

Make great effort to supplement your faith

— to keep building up your life on the foundation of your faith.

Peter's Step-Ladder

Not growing this way makes us ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Jesus.

Wow, Love is at the top of the “ladder!”

Application:

Do I possess these qualities in a growing way in response to Jesus and the Gospel?

What are we doing to grow in these qualities together?  Do I have a friendship and fellowship that encourages, exhorts, rebukes, teaches, and builds me up to pursue this kind of vision of growth?  Do I have relationships where I am creating a space filled with  grace and truth in which we mutually and honestly pursue spiritual growth?

If the Christian life is not just about “my” spiritual growth but also about “our” spiritual growth, then I have to make adjustments to include others in the journey with Jesus.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, sometimes, often, we are so resistant to growth.  But that’s not the normal life you envision.  Please stimulate our fellowship to grow together.  Your Spirit has put within us the desire to be effective and productive in our knowledge of Jesus.  May we become more Jesus.  Somehow our fellowship must become a spiritual grow-op!  AMEN.

 

 

 

Y(our) Spiritual Growth

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  2 Peter 1:5-9  NLT

5In 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, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

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

Observations:

“For this reason (ESV)  “In view of all this (NLT)” — Going back to verses 3-4 — because of God’s power and promises made available to us through Jesus Christ.

“make every effort”  — exert yourself

“to supplement your faith with…”

Application:

Who are you doing this with?  Who are you “responding to the Gospel with? Who are meeting with, praying with, serving with, wrestling with, and sharing life with?  So often we read these verse in the West through the self-improvement lens and we think its all up to “me.”

Yes you can seek to grow by yourself — and often you must respond to Jesus — just you!  But the fellowship of Jesus is one where we together “make every effort to supplement our faith with…”

I need a spiritual buddy, a circle of hope (or a Life Group), and a church who together are seeking to grow with Jesus.  At different times in my life I’ve been blessed with many variations of this theme!  The Gospel-shaped life is one in which we receive salvation and communion with God as a treasured grace gift.  And the Gospel-shaped life is one in which we respond to Jesus with enthusiasm and the hopeful expectation that we can and must participate in the transformation of us all into people who love well.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I’m predisposed to go it alone.  But the hope of Jesus is drawing me into a life that is shared.  Help.  AMEN.

PS:  If you are hanging around Origin, we encourage you to be a “spiritual buddy” by getting into a 2+ group to Read the Scripture, Pray for the Lost, and Share your life (10-10-10 minutes each/ once or twice weekly.)  Contact me for the Origin 2+ app.