2 Peter 1:5 “Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence…” Faith, it is not something we earn, it is not something we supply, verse one says faith was given to us, it is a gift from God. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” God gave us this gift of faith, now we must build upon that foundation so our feet remain firmly planted in all things good, in all things acceptable in His sight. Hebrews gives us many examples of faith: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Rahab and countless other men and women of faith are mentioned in the Bible. But the one example of faith that stands high above the others is that of Jesus Christ. When He submitted to the will of the Father by taking on human form and dying on the cross for our sins, He was exercising faith. Our faith in Jesus Christ is not just the basis for our belief but also the basis for how we live our lives, which brings us to moral excellence. Verse five doesn’t just say moral excellence but a GENEROUS provision of moral excellence. Did you notice this was the only one of the eight traits that used the word generous? What do you think of when you think of the word generous? Maybe bountiful, liberal, abundance or even overflowing – but what exactly was Peter referring to when he says moral excellence? Most scholars agree that Peter was talking about the excellence of God’s nature. And is God not overflowing with love, kindness, mercy, compassion and forgiveness? In Philippians 4:8 Paul tell us to keep our minds on that which is excellent and worthy of praise, in other words keep our mind on God. God’s nature, His glory, His excellence is what is worthy of praise. By living a life in obedience to Him we are giving Him praise and we are worshiping Him. When we choose to do what is right in the eyes of God and refuse to do what is wrong than this is said to be moral excellence. Let’s look at it in a more simplified way: if you see someone who is hurt and you render aide, if someone is hungry and you feed them, if someone is in a dangerous situation and you help them out of that situation or protect them, then you are choosing to do what is right and you bring praise to the Father. Moral excellence can be related to the areas of courage, generosity, morality, selflessness and moderation just to name a few. All the examples of Jesus recorded in the New Testament bring to light His nature, His excellence, and by imitating Him our behavior can “supplement our faith with a generous provision of moral excellence”. I hope you will join me on Friday as we continue to look at the eight characteristics mentioned in 2 Peter. Until then may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 Peter 1:5-8 (NLT) “Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” At the beginning of this chapter Peter calls himself “a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ” (verse 1) and everything Peter teaches us and tells us is an eyewitness account. Peter was the first to identify Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 16:16) and in Matthew 16:18 Jesus calls Peter the rock upon which He will build His church. Peter’s faith was deep, he was the only one to walk on water towards Jesus (Matthew 27-29), their bond was strong. At the beginning of Peter’s second letter, he reminds us of what faithfulness and integrity looks like. He tells us to supplement our faith or enhance it with several different things: moral endurance, knowledge, self-control, patient endurance, godliness, affection and love. All of these are traits of a Christian who is spiritually mature, and it is important to feed our faith in order to grow. Peter knew there would be obstacles that would challenge our faith, he had personally struggled through some of them. He also knew that “God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3). Our spiritual growth is a life long process and heeding Peters advice will help us develop a stronger relationship with Christ. We should strive to become more like Him and working on these Christian characteristics will help us move closer to that goal. Our final goal is to be part of God’s Kingdom, and while we wait for Christ return, we should keep in mind what verse 8 says: when we grow in these traits we are more productive and useful. We should be looking forward to His return and using our time wisely. I hope you will join me on Wednesday when we take a closer look at these 8 characteristics. Until then, may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 John 8 (NLT) “Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.” Sometimes in life, we work so hard for something only to have it slip away. If you have ever owned a business or worked hard for a promotion at work, you know that once you obtain what you were reaching for you must continue working hard to keep it. During COVID many businesses went under, not for lack of hard work but because of the circumstances at that time. When you get a promotion at work there is always someone waiting in line behind you, waiting for you to retire, to move on or even waiting for you to fail. In order to maintain your position or even grow you must put forth the effort to acheive and maintain your goal. Knowledge obtained from God’s word should be our goal, not just obtaining that knowledge but applying it in our lives each and every day. Throughout the Epistles there are warnings to be on guard for false teachers, it was prevalent then and I suspect it is more so today. Often times they will wrap a falsehood up in a small particle of truth which may be why people are led away. The person being fed the information may hear something they recognize as being part of God’s inspired word, but they don’t recognize the falsehood, so they accept it as truth. That is why it is so important to continuously grow in His word, to increase your understanding and know the truth that Jesus led you to. Whether the false teachings are accidental or purposeful on the part of the speaker, it is up to us to be diligent in our pursuit of His truth. I have been known to ask someone “Where can I find that in the scriptures?” I do not do this to put them on the spot but because I admit that I am continuously learning and sometimes I read something without really thinking about what I’m reading, so I may miss the message. So, if what they are saying is true, I gain knowledge, and if what they are saying is false, I am able to protect what I “have worked so hard to achieve”. Knowledge does not come to us instantly when we accept Christ, we must search for it, chase after it, grab hold of it like the precious life-giving word that it is. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

Acts 23: 10-11 (NLT) “As the conflict grew more violent, the commander was afraid they would tear Paul apart. So he ordered his soldiers to go and rescue him by force and take him back to the fortress. That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, ‘Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.’” When I think about first century Christians who were responsible for spreading the Good News, Paul is the first person who comes to my mind. He was so zealous for God’s word that I picture him to be someone who people were automatically drawn to, but if you read Acts, you know that was not always the case. Paul suffered so many hardships and yet he always continued forward in the Lord’s work. Paul was putting God first in his life, the work the Lord gave him came before his own safety, before his comfort, before his own wants and desires; he placed God above everything else in his life. In the 23rd chapter of Acts, Paul’s life and his mission were in jeopardy. The chapter before he was giving his testimony of his encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus. And the crowd was listening up until he told them the Lord said “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!” This deeply offended the Jews, and they were ready to take his life. He was taken before the “high council” where once again conflict broke out, and in order to keep him from being killed the soldiers were ordered to take him into custody. Have you ever noticed that Paul often ends up in dangerous situations? There are those throughout the centuries and throughout the world who have knowingly place themselves in dangerous situations in order to share the message of salvation. Just like Paul they placed God before everything else in their lives. That doesn’t mean they never became discouraged or that they never had moments of fear or anxiety. But I’m sure they, like Paul, knew God was always with them. He brings us courage and strength when facing threatening situations and will enable us to finish the work He has called us to do. That night while Paul laid there possibly considering what was to come, the Lord appeared to him and told him to be encouraged. That he would have the opportunity to preach in Rome just as the Holy Spirit had compelled him to do (Acts 19:21). God is with us always, just as He was with Paul, no matter where we are or what is happening in our lives – He is there. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 Peter 2:20 NLT “And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.” God keeps leading me back to this part of 2nd Peter, so there must be a reason. It’s interesting how this is worded, for instance the word escape brings to mind (at least for me) someone who is in a dangerous position or situation but has found a way out or fled the danger. If you think about current world events and the evil or wickedness that prevails, then yes, there is definitely a need to escape. While there is no way to physically escape the world except through death, we can escape the fear and anxiety that being surrounded by evil produces. Knowing Christ, having a deeper relationship with the Father produces a peace in us because we know He has already won the war. And no matter what happens we can take to heart Romans 8:38 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” When God is with us, when we have truly taken His word into our heart, nothing can separate us from Him. Second Peter the second chapter focuses on the dangers of false teachers and how they will lead us back to sin if we are not careful. Peter may have been cautioning new converts or simply reminding all Christians that it is possible for us to “get tangled up and enslaved by sin”. The lifestyle we see being pushed upon us by the world, is one of going after everything and anything we want. The TV ads telling us we deserve to have it all, the shows and movies that promote sex and violence, world leaders who create fear among not only their people but among the nations, greed, anger, hate, selfish attitudes are all encouraged. All of this instead of love, kindness, compassion, they have lost the fear of God, and they encourage us to place what we want above what God wants. There are millions of bad examples in this world that we could follow, but the only example we should be following, that is worth following, is that of Christ. Peter tells us if we get mixed up in a lifestyle where we are placing our desires above Christ, then we are worse off than before, we are essentially rejecting God. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We place ourselves into situations where we know there will be temptation. We think we are strong; we can handle it and when we do that, we are relying on ourselves instead of God, He inspired those who wrote the Bible to warn us for a reason. He even gave us examples of those who did not heed His warnings, let us not make that same mistake. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

Romans 8:17-18 “And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His sufferings. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.” When Jesus walked the earth, He made it very clear that there would be hard times ahead (2 Timothy 3:1) and as it says in Romans we would share His sufferings. Often times we have no idea what others are going through, the cross they bare, the weight of the burdens they carry, the problems not spoken of for one reason or another. And yes, even that person sitting in front of you, behind you or beside you at church, may be weighted down and suffering and you have no idea. Not everyone is able to share their problems with others. This is not always a matter of pride but of privacy, or a product of how they were raised, there may be many reasons they are unable to give voice to what they are going through, but God does know their sufferings. And handing your burden over to Him (Psalms 55:22) does not mean they suddenly disappear, but they do become easier to carry. He provides us with the strength to move forward and the fact that “we are His heirs” reassures us that there is a brighter future. We have a relationship with the Father, we are His adopted children, in Ephesians 1:6 we are called His beloved, and there is no greater gift than to be called a child of God. But as it says in Romans, if we want to share His glory than we must also share His sufferings. While this verse points to a specific type of suffering and inheritance (suffering with Him, being rejected by man, being unjustly put to death to share His glory) we do know that as believers our inheritance is based on His grace and our faith. Edmund Clowney tells a story about the French Protestants who suffered because of their faith. In “1685 Protestant public worship became a crime. Men caught at secret worship services in the fields were sent to the galleys. Chained to a rowing bench, they slaved at the oars until they died. A replica of one of the great galley oars hangs in the museum (of the Desert) today. Underneath is a model of a galley. Beside it are inscribed the words of a Reformed Christian galley slave: ‘My chains are the chains of Christ’s love.’” How great a love they had for Christ, a love so deep that they were willing to suffer as He had suffered. We may never experience being put to death because of our faith in Christ, but we do experience trials that cause us pain physically and/or emotionally. As those who follow Christ, we will experience sufferings, mine may be different than yours, and yours may be different than the next persons, but none of it is meaningless. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 Peter 2:19 “They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.” As we’ve discussed before, there were many false teachers infiltrating the first century churches. This verse makes me think of the times we are living in where some preachers are referred to as “feel good preachers”. Their message is basically that Jesus is more of a friend who accepts all they do without any consequences for their actions. Their message is focused on what the individual wants rather than focusing on God. So, if you think about it, those first century false teachers were the original “feel good preachers/teachers” who promised a type of freedom to pursue your own pleasures without the need for accountability. But their promise of freedom was something they were unable to deliver on, only God has the ability to deliver true freedom. We all make choices and the choices we make either enslave us or free us. Paul chose to obey Christ and carry the Gospel throughout the nations, and this led to his imprisonment. Even though Paul was surrounded by walls that were meant to hold him captive, he was actually free and found joy in serving the Lord. Those who focus on doing what makes them feel good at the moment becomes slaves to their own sin and their sin controls them. Whether it is money, sex, drugs or whatever else you can think of, they are trading a relationship with God to satisfy their own pleasures. Christ provided a way for us to be free from sin and death. Not in the sense that we will never again sin or never die but in the sense that we have been redeemed and we are forgiven. And even though our physical bodies will experience death, we will experience eternal live because of His grace and mercy. It is through our faith in Christ that the chains of slavery have been broken. If we refuse to follow God then we are following Satan, those are the two options we have. We cannot follow our own desires and say we are following God. We cannot be controlled or enslaved by our selfish ways and still have any degree of true freedom. Freedom is found in the spirit of God and while some may tell you following God is restrictive, it is because they have never tasted the freedom He offers. They have never been empowered by the Holy Spirit. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

John 14:13 “You can ask for anything in my name and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.” This is a verse we hear often with the last part being omitted, which can take the meaning out of context. Jesus makes us a promise to give us what we ask for in His name. But to understand what He was saying we have to look at other comments Jesus made about prayer and most importantly about the will of God. If you read John 13:33 through 14:12 you see that Jesus was telling His disciples He would be leaving them and that His followers would be doing greater works than what He did. It’s important to keep this in mind when reading verse 13 because Jesus doesn’t say He will give them anything and everything they ask for. He says “ask for anything in my name” which implies that what is being asked for is consistent or in agreement with His will. Other verses that mention God’s will are Matthew 7:21 where it tells us that only those who do “the will of my Father” will enter into heaven. 1 John 2:17 tells us whoever does the will of the Father will live forever. 1 Peter 2:19 “For God is pleased when, conscious of His will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.” And of course, probably the most recognized verse that mentions God’s will is Matthew 6:10 “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Which, by the way, is where we find another verse that tells us “For everyone who asks, receives” (Matthew 7:8). And once again you have to read what comes before this verse to understand that your request must be in agreement with God’s will. Jesus also points out in John 14:13 that the request has a purpose and that is to bring glory to the Father. If our prayer request are made with pure motives and not selfish desires, then God will answer in a way that honors Him. Everything in our lives should be done in such a way that it glorifies God. When we keep in mind that God’s will should come before our own will and that honoring Him should be our goal, then we will find peace and satisfaction. Our self-centered nature will begin to subside as our love for Christ grows and His ways become our ways. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

James 4:4-5 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit He has place within us should be faithful to Him.” Wow! Those are some really strong words James uses in these two verses, perhaps to underscore the seriousness of the issue. Jewish prophets would often use the terms prostitute (Isaiah 1:21, Hosea 9:1) and adulterers (Jeremiah 3:1-10) to describe those who were spiritually unfaithful. Our relationship with God can be described as a marriage with God as the husband and believers as His bride. What could be more damaging and painful to a relationship? It causes not just pain but a feeling of betrayal and the loss of trust. So when we pursue a friendship with the world it breaks our trust with God. We cannot physically remove ourselves from the world, it surrounds us each and every day, it is unavoidable. Not to mention the fact that if we do as Jesus instructed us to do, go forth and make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we cannot totally separate ourselves physically from the world. But James is talking about our behavior, does it reflect a worldly attitude or lifestyle? Are we selfish, prideful, envious, materialistic? Do we think and speak like worldly people? If someone met you for the first time, what kind of impression would you leave? Would they say you are different from most people, kind, considerate, humble or would they say you are like everyone else? What would they say once they got to know you? Would they continue to think positive about you, or would your worldly behavior and attitude come out? Do we worry about what the world will think of us rather than what God thinks of us? If we are attempting to please the world then we are making ourselves an enemy of God. We are bombarded everyday through TV, social media, podcast and so on, telling us what is good, normal and right in man’s eyes. But God, our creator, is the only one who has true wisdom, the only one who will not lead us down the wrong path, the only one who has the right to tell us how we should live our lives. And do not fool yourself into thinking you can pursue worldly things and remain faithful to God, “no man can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). We must make a choice, and God takes our choice personally. He is a jealous God; He is passionate for us. Friendship with the world puts us in the position of being unfaithful to God. In Mark 8:36 it tells us “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” I think it’s good for us to step back and look at our life sometimes in order to make sure we have our priorities right. And if we are not putting God first then we need to re-evaluate our actions, words and thoughts. And take to heart “that the spirit He has place within us should be faithful to Him.” Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.

2 Corinthians 8:20-21 “We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable.” At the beginning of the 8th chapter Paul is letting the Corinthians know that the churches in Macedonia were overflowing with generosity. Even though these believers were experiencing their own problems and were poor, they gave far beyond what they could afford, and they were eager to help the church in Jerusalem. Paul was encouraging the church in Corinth to give willingly and cheerfully. Now that we know some of the background, let’s get into verses 20 and 21. The “generous gift” that Paul was referring to would of course have to be delivered and he wanted to prevent any talk of funds being mismanaged. Then just as now, there were those who would like to cast suspicion especially on church leaders. And when it comes to money, those who donate want to feel confident that the money is being given to those they were seeking to help. Paul knew that having more than one person handling the money would help avoid talk of wrongdoing and give confidence to those who had generously donated. When money is collected and applied to God’s work, this is a serious responsibility because this is money that belongs to God not to men. Therefore, Paul was being careful to avoid the appearance of wrongdoing in God’s eyes, but also in the eyes of men. Paul was setting a standard for all Christians, a standard of integrity. Our integrity should not only be maintained or seen in the area of money, but in every aspect of our lives. People watch what we do, how we dress, what we say and like it or not we are often judged by the behavior of just one Christian. People often say they don’t care what others think, I myself have often said that. But the truth is we should care, because as Christians, all we do and say reflects on God. How many times have you heard someone say they don’t attend church because Christians are hypocrites? Why do you think they say that, maybe because at times we say and do things that aren’t very Christ like. Even though they may have met many who were kind, loving and compassionate, they will judge by the one that fell short. We know that there is only one that is perfect, and that is God, we represent Him here on earth. It is just as important for us, as it was for Paul, to avoid accusations of wrongdoing. In fact, I would venture to say it is more important for us to maintain integrity as we grow closer to end times. Why? Because our behavior and words could cause someone who is on the fence about their faith to fall in the wrong direction. We want to draw them closer to God not give them a reason to turn away from Him. God does not want even one to be lost, and neither do we. Until next time may God bless you and bring peace to your heart.