Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Encouragement 202

From Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ.
To those who received a faith equal to ours through the justice of our God and savior Jesus Christ.
May you have more and more grace and peace through the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.
By his divine power the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own honor and glory. Through his honor and glory he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, that you may share the divine nature and escape from the world’s immorality that sinful craving produces.
This is why you must make every effort to add moral excellence to your faith; and to moral excellence, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, endurance; and to endurance, godliness; and to godliness, affection for others; and to affection for others, love. If all these are yours and they are growing in you, they’ll keep you from becoming inactive and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever lacks these things is shortsighted and blind, forgetting that they were cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, be eager to confirm your call and election. Do this and you will never ever be lost. In this way you will receive a rich welcome into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
So I’ll keep reminding you about these things, although you already know them and stand secure in the truth you have. I think it’s right that I keep stirring up your memory, as long as I’m alive. After all, our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I am about to depart from this life. I’m eager for you always to remember these things after my death. (II Peter 1: 1-15, Common English Bible)

Peter is doing here what I remember I longed for and looked for as a hungry young believer (and still do): Don’t coddle and baby me; I wanted the truth of God that would make me alive, propel me in the direction of the pursuit of God. I wanted to be challenged. I was tired of sleepwalking in church services, going through the motions without missing a beat.

The Word of God is full of challenge. The more familiar we become with God’s words, the more He can teach us the things we need to know and do. It hasn’t stopped after 40+ years for me! By God’s grace we will never stop pursuing the Lord, learning and growing, like Peter talks about.

Part of encouraging one another is this idea of spurring one another on to greater commitment to God and His words, challenging one another, like Peter did when he was still alive, to determinedly continue doing those things which cause us to grow up in Jesus. Because Peter saw to it that his words were written down, you and I can be challenged and encouraged to do what he says. And we can in turn challenge others to join with us in hot pursuit of God and the only life worth living.

May we live up to who we are, “… a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession,” not for the purpose of elevating our individual self-esteem to feel good about ourselves, but to fulfill our calling as a group of people with the same faith in Jesus Christ, “that (we) may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (I Peter 2: 9)


’Til the whole world knows.