God’s Word Daily

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.

Interrupt the sin cycle.

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  2 Peter 1:3-4

3His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Observations:

A relationship with Jesus Christ makes the following available to us even though we live in a world that would corrupt us through sinful desires.

God’s power:  So now we have what we need for life and godliness.

God’s promises: So now we are “partakers” in His divine nature.

Application:

Those who enjoy sport remember reading and watching Lance Armstrong ride to glory over and over.  This week we waited for Lance Armstrong’s confession at the Chapel of Oprah so we could hear him come clean about doping in order to win.  Now in the wake of his ill-gotten glory and years of aggressive lying, the stories of ruined lives are coming into focus.

Sin wreaks lives.  The corruption of the world is always seeking to wreak us through the pathways of our sinful desires.

These verses (2 Peter 1:3-4) reveal a new reality available for us through our knowledge of Jesus.  These verses remind me that sin in my life and even the sinful desires are not a fault of the Gospel.  The Gospel has not failed me.  Rather when I become aware of gross and ugly sin in my life, I know that I must lean into my walk with Jesus.  I need His power for this new life and I need His promises that shout “I am loved by God.”  These promises interrupt the sin cycle and usher me into His grace for life.

Prayer:

Oh, Heavenly Father, have mercy on us.  May Jesus’ power and promises be evident in our lives.  Thank you for rescuing us from utter destruction through Him.  Now may your Word lead us into your path for life and may your Spirit empower us to love well.  AMEN.

Self-Righteousness always exceeds our grasp of grace.

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  2 Peter 1:1-2

1Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Observations:

Peter builds up those receiving his letter by addressing them as equals in the faith:  they have “obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

He blesses them in his greeting, praying that grace and peace would be theirs through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

Application:

Peter did not treat those who came to faith after him as “seconds” in the faith.  Rather, those who came to faith in Christ after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus have obtained it the same way:  through the grace and peace of God abundantly poured out on them.  This faith comes not by any righteousness of their own but only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  So becoming an insider in the Kingdom of God comes not by being good, or by race, or by gender, or by status, or by education, or by proximity to the time and sites of Jesus’ ministry.  Rather this faith and “position” comes by God’s grace.  This righteousness in Christ demands equality.

There is level ground at the foot of the cross.  All come to Jesus by grace.  All are elevated into His kingdom through the righteousness of Jesus, not by their own “goodness. “ You can be sure, that self-righteousness always exceeds our grasp of grace.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I pray again with Peter.  Would you please multiply grace and peace in my life and in the life of your church through the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.  AMEN.

The kiss of love

/ Craig / Leave a comment

Scripture:  1 Peter 5:12-14

12By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Observations:

Peter encourages them to greet one another “with the kiss of love.”

Application:

I have a friend who regularly greets me with a slap on the back or a chest bump!  Its all about the affection and the happiness of seeing each other.  In general Canadian culture is not predisposed to greetings with kisses… or even hugs!  However, the spirit of this command remains for us.

I think Peter must have remembered how Jesus was betrayed by a kiss from Judas.  (Luke 22:47-48)  The contrast is striking.  The followers of Jesus as beneficiaries of His death and resurrection now greet each other with a kiss that recalls the great expense paid for their fellowship.  And thus our kin-ship in the church is based not just on affinity and blood-line, but on the grace of our Lord.

Because of Jesus, may our greetings of other brothers and sisters in Christ be infused with real affection for each other.  So… let’s warm it up and let the love and brotherhood we feel with Jesus into our relationships with others in His church.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for moving toward us and expressing your love for us in real ways.  Help us build the kind of friendships and relationships together in your churches that honour Jesus.  AMEN.