LET IT GO

 

LET IT GO

I John 2:15-17 Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from the evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. NLT

How attached to this world are you? Are you living for the enjoyment of the things it offers? Are you caught up in this life and find yourself reluctant to let it go? If so, then stop it! Too much attachment to the world robs you of fellowship with God. You cannot have a healthy relationship with God while clinging to worldly life. What you see in this world is not going to last. No matter how promising it may be, all worldly stuff is fading away and will soon be gone. The things of the world can never fulfill their promise to satisfy the soul. When you crave and cling to the things of this life, you will be disillusioned and dissatisfied. The things of the world are addictive and the more you have of it, the more you will want.

Dear child of God, you must understand this truth. Our life is eternal. It is not tied to the world. Life that satisfies can only be found in Christ. Only the Lord can deliver on the promise to fulfill the desires of the soul. Only Jesus can sever the ties you have with the world so that you can do the will of God.

If you are hanging on too tightly to the things of the world, you need to loosen your grip and let go while you can. The longer you cling, the harder it is to let go. The longer you cling, the less likely you are to find and do God's will for you. The longer you cling, the less likely you will make it to heaven. The longer you cling, the less likely you will be to even want to make it to heaven. The things of this world are evil and from Satan himself. They will never deliver on their promise to satisfy your soul.

 

LOVING THIS WORLD

I John 2:15 Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. NLT

Have you stopped loving this world and what it offers to you? You cannot be right with God until you do. Let the Lord show you today where your attachments are. Let Him show you who, or what, you value more than Him. Let Him show you how unreliable and unfulfilling the things of the world really are. Let Him show you that all the promises of the world to satisfy the soul are empty lies from Satan.

The bottom line is that when you long for the things of this world and strive to obtain them, you really don’t love the Father. You strive to obtain that which you love. Our actions speak louder than our words. You can claim to love God, but if He is not your passion, your words do not mean much. Your soul cannot be divided on this. You cannot love the Father of truth and the father of lies at the same time. God will not share our affections with the world.

Loving the world is an act of treason for those who claim to love God. It is declaring that what God promises is not true. He promises to satisfy the soul. He promises to give us something worth living for. He promises to reward those who are faithful to Him. He promises to meet our every need. He promises to break our attachments to the things of the world. When we grow attached to the things of the world and rely upon them to make us happy, we are denying that God can meet the needs of our souls, that He is not enough for us.

You cannot live for the things of the world and love God at the same time.

LOVE AND HATE

LOVE AND HATE

I John 2:9-11 If anyone says, "I am living in the light," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves other Christians is living in the light and does not cause anyone to stumble. Anyone who hates a Christian brother or sister is living and walking in darkness. Such a person is lost, having been blinded by the darkness. NLT

It matters what we think about others and what we feel about them. Some people hurt us and sometimes very deeply. It may be physical, emotional, or mental. However it may be, we sometimes get hurt and it may alter our lives completely. For some, the damage is so severe that life becomes very difficult, and it affects one’s ability to live in victory in Christ. When negative things happen to us because of others, we are prone to develop negative feelings and thoughts about them, making any kind of fellowship with them virtually impossible.

Yet, John tells us that we must love and not hate those who hurt us. It is not impossible to love those who hurt us, otherwise God would not have instructed John to write it. Our biggest hurdle to move from hate to love is our will. We do not want to change. We like to live with an attitude of hate because it somehow makes us feel in the right. We have been wronged, and the other party is guilty. We want to take matters into our own hands and see that justice is served. We want revenge. Therefore, we savor our feelings and resist the need to change. However, if we are to be right with God, we have no choice, we must move from hatred to love. The question is, "How is that possible?"

God is love. The only way we can love those who hurt us is for us to immerse ourselves in God. We must determine in our hearts that we need God. We must know that it is impossible for us to change apart from a deeply rooted connection with God. We must seek God. We must enter into His presence as often as possible. We must consistently draw near to God until we know that our heart changes. We must first experience the love of God for ourselves before we can love those who hurt us. There is no other way to move from a hate-filled heart to a love-filled heart.

A true child of God does not linger in the darkness of hatred. In fact, he is incapable of living in hatred. God is love and when God is in us, we become vessels of love. As long as darkness envelopes the soul, God is not there. God is light and love and where He is they fill up His dwelling place.

Dear friend, if you are struggling to forgive and love someone today in your past or present, spend all the time you need in the presence of God. Do not shortchange yourself. Wait on the Lord and He will change you. He will fill you with a heart of love. Pray about this until you pray through. 

LOVE AND LIGHT

 

LOVE AND LIGHT

I John 2:10 Anyone who loves other Christians is living in the light and does not cause anyone to stumble. NLT

Living in Christ dictates how we love. If we truly love others, we will be careful not to hinder them in their walk with the Lord. We will be careful what we say and do so that we don't cause anyone to stumble. We will take seriously the effect we have on our fellow believers.

When we are in discussions about the Bible, we will think before we speak so that we don't say things that the Bible does not teach. It is easy to talk about our opinions, but unless our opinions are formed by the Holy Spirit, we can say things that will confuse others or cause them to believe things that aren't true. It is imperative that we are well-grounded in the Word before we endeavor to speak with authority on it.

When we are with others, we will be careful how we act. We will strive to control our actions and reactions. When we begin to lose control of ourselves, we will remove ourselves from the situation before we conduct ourselves in an ungodly way. It is not easy to do, but for the sake of our witness, we must strive to do it.

We will not take advantage of others. We will treat them with kindness and respect. We will to the best of our ability be a help and not a hindrance to their walk with the Lord. We will be good influencers and not bad influencers in the walk of faith of those we come in contact with.

If you love the Lord, it will show in how you live amongst His children and the world. You will not be a stumbling block to someone's faith.

LOVING OTHERS

 

LOVING OTHERS

I John 2:9 If anyone says, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. NLT

It is not possible to love the Lord and not love His children.  Let us stop for a moment and think about this.  Think about those who are a part of the church that you have strong disagreements with because they don’t believe as you do.  Think about how you feel about them.  It’s easy to sit back and judge them because they don’t see “the light” in the same way you do.  It is easy to question whether or not they are even saved.  We develop strong feelings about those who are not walking in the light as we are walking in the light.

Yet, the Word teaches us that if we are living in the light, we will embrace all who are believers in Christ.  We may not understand their thinking or approve of their living, but that doesn’t get us off the hook.  Our responsibility before God is to love all those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We don’t always know for sure who are saved, but it really doesn’t matter.  We are to be channels of God’s love to the Church and world.  Godly love should define who we are.  It should be evident in all we do and say.  We are to live out godly love and let the Lord deal with the rest.  God is love and as His children, we inherit His love.

If we let our differences alienate ourselves from other parts of the body of Christ, we are living in darkness and not the light.  It’s something to think about as you think about your attitude towards those who you don’t know or understand within the body of Christ. And, it's something to think about when you consider your attitude and feelings towards those within the Church who you have problems with, those who may have wronged you and caused you grief and pain. To love God is to love others. Godly love is not selective love; we are to be vessels of love to all because God loves us and everyone else, too.

OBEDIENCE IN LOVE

 

OBEDIENCE IN LOVE

I John 2:3-6 And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments. If someone says, "I belong to God," but doesn't obey God's commandments, that person is a liar and does not live in the truth. But those who obey God's word really do love him. That is the way to know whether or not we live in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did. NLT

Being saved is more than just saying you are. A true child of God will obey the Word of God. There will be a conscious and determined decision to strive to live according to the teachings of Scripture. There will be a desire to learn and understand the Word so that the Word can have its proper effect on how life is lived. It's not too hard to figure out those who are trying to obey the Lord from those who aren't. The difference between the ways of the Word and the world are like night and day.

One of the sure proofs of a life lived in obedience to God is the love that comes from the heart. We obey God because we love Him. We love Him because it is the natural response of a heart who has been forgiven and filled with the presence of Christ. We love Him because we are so grateful for His forgiveness and willingness to adopt us as His children. We love Him because of His willingness and efforts to change who we were into a people like Him. We love Him because of His loving provision for our needs now and for all of eternity. If we are true children of God, we cannot resist the urge to love Him back, for He first loved us. He sought us out to save us. He is the one who prepared us for the day of our salvation. There is no greater love than the love of God for us and then the growing love we have for God.

He who claims to know God and yet does not love God and obey Him is a liar. The Truth is not in Him. Are you telling the truth when you say that you love God?

OUR SOUL SECURITY

 

OUR SOUL SECURITY

I John 2:3 And how can we be sure that we belong to him? By obeying his commandments. NLT

It doesn’t take much thinking to understand this simple, but profound, truth. Satan wants us to be in doubt about our salvation. He wants us to focus on the uncertainty of our salvation instead of the certainty of it. He wants to convince us that we can’t really know for sure where we stand before God. He wants us to believe that we are not worthy of salvation or that we aren’t being good enough to be saved.

John reminds us today that the proof of our salvation is not in our feelings or thoughts, it’s in our obedience. Those who are truly saved are those who strive to obey God. Obeying God requires us to know what God commands. In order to know what God requires of us, we must be students of His Word. We must read the Word with open hearts and minds, prayerfully seeking how it applies to our living. We must humbly accept God’s instruction and be willing to admit it and change when we fail to live it.

God has given us ready access to His Word. He exposes us to its teachings in many different ways so that we have no excuse for not knowing His commandments. God does not leave us in the dark and then expect us to keep His commandments. The more we know and understand His Word, the more responsibility we have to live by it. Whatever knowledge we have, we are to live it.

As we submit to the authority of God over us, the more knowledge we are given and thus increasing our responsibility to live holy lives. No one can claim innocence in this. God makes available to us all the resources we need to submit to Him and obey Him. He who does not obey God is living in sin and cannot have fellowship with Him or know that indeed he is saved.

If you belong to God you will obey Him and become like Him in your character.

JESIUS, OUR ADVOCATE

 

JESUS, OUR ADVOCATE

I John 2:1-2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely. He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins but the sins of all the world. NLT

The Word is given to us to help us to know what is sin and how not to do it. God does not want any of us to sin, even though He knows we will. Knowing our spiritual weaknesses that causes us to sin, God provided for us a Savior who not only can forgive us, He can help us to not sin. Jesus is on our side. Whenever we do sin, He is there to stand in-between God and us so that God in His anger will not destroy us. Jesus pleads the case before God for all who are in His care and sins. He is our advocate. He does not go to the defense of those who are not His, they are on their own to answer to God, they have no protector. In Christ there is forgiving grace. He honors those before God who honor Him. There is no sin that He cannot and does not forgive if there is genuine sorrow for it. If we are genuinely sorry, we will change and not continue to live in our sin.

Jesus pleases God completely. He did what He was sent here to do. He lived a sinless life so He could die a sinner's death. He became the perfect sacrifice for sin. There was nothing left undone that had to be done for us to be forgiven by God. He forgives us, but not just us. He forgives all who come to Him for forgiveness. There is forgiveness for everyone in the world if they want it. No one is beyond the reach of God's love, forgiveness and love. No one.

God is not happy one bit when we sin. He hates it. But, when we do sin, we have someone who can appease the wrath of God, Jesus our Savior. God can only forgive us through Christ Jesus our Lord. He allowed Jesus to come and provide a way for us to be forgiven for our sins because of His love for us. He has no desire to see anyone die and go to hell. Turn to Jesus and let Him take care of your sin problem.

BE HONEST

 

BE HONEST

I John 1:8-10 If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But, if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. NLT

It all begins with honesty. The fact of the matter is no one can say they don't have a sin problem. No one. Our problem with sin begins at conception and stays with us until we die. We are not only tempted by sin, we do it. If you think you are so spiritually minded that you no longer have a sin problem, you are in denial and not accepting the truth. God says we have sinned. If once we are saved we no longer have a sin problem, then why does God speak so clearly over and over again in His Word about the sins we have to overcome? He says we are in a spiritual war. We win some battles and we lose some. We are powerless to withstand the onslaught of sinful temptations and desires Satan throws at us in our lives on our own. And who can honestly make the claim that they are always so in tune with God that they cannot fall? We are in the flesh, live in a sinful world, and are not able yet to live like we are in heaven. So we need to be humble and honest enough to admit we sin.

The good news is that our sin does not have to enslave us. When we sin, there is a way to make ourselves right with God. We acknowledge our sin, confess our sin to Christ with sincerity of heart, ask Him for forgiveness with the intent of not doing it again, and then Christ, who is always faithful to His Word, will forgive us and cleanse our heart from all unrighteousness.

The Lord will not automatically forgive us when we sin. He does not force himself on us. We must come to Him seeking forgiveness before He will do it. True sorrow wants to be forgiven.

Is there any sin in your heart today that needs forgiven? Be honest. Examine your heart in light of what you know to be true from God's Word. What have you done or thought about that you know is sinful? Don't waste another opportunity to have a clean and pure heart. Confess your sin to Christ right now and He will forgive you.

NO SIN?

 

NO SIN?

I John 1:8-10 But if we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us from every wrong. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. NLT

If you have been in Christ for any length of time at all, it is so easy to convince yourself that you are right with God and have no sin. Let’s be honest about this. When was the last time you actually saw yourself as being guilty of sin? I believe that we are good at this because we fail to give much thought to what might be sin to us. We are not prone to examine carefully the things we say, do, read, see or hear in light of God’s holiness. We don’t often examine ourselves to see how much we think like the world thinks about things. When we see our lives in light of the Word and God’s holiness, we have to admit that indeed we are guilty of sin.

God declares us guilty of sin, and we are only fooling ourselves when we think otherwise. You and I are guilty of sin. In fact, to think otherwise is in itself sin. It is a prideful attitude to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. We are to be humble in heart before God knowing that we fall short of His holy standards and that we need His help. John goes so far as to call us liars when we claim to not have sin in our hearts and He is right on.

The good news is that when we confess our sins to the Lord, He is faithful and just and will forgive us for our sins and purify our hearts. I am not suggesting that we need to stop and confess sin every time we mess up, but I am suggesting that we should consistently be aware of our sin and seek Christ’s forgiveness as the Spirit prompts us to. We are not to live in condemnation, but neither are we to ignore our need for forgiveness. The Lord will never refuse to forgive those who come to Him with humble and broken hearts over sin.

Peer into God’s holiness. See yourself as God sees you. What sinful thoughts or deeds do you need to confess before Christ today?

LIVING IN GOD'S PRESENCE

 

LIVING IN GOD’S PRESENCE

N God’s presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. NLT

If is the key word in today’s verse. Not all who claim to be in Christ live in the light of God’s presence. To live in the light of God’s presence means that we become saturated with the glory of Christ. It means that we become holy before God. It means that we take on the mindset of God regarding faithfulness to the truth as being the way to live. It means we take on the heart of God regarding sin.

We can only have true fellowship with others when we live in the light of God’s presence. We are not able to set aside our sinful attitudes and behaviors without it. We cannot change how we think about others without God’s help. We cannot stop thinking more highly of others than we ought without God’s help. We cannot stop thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought without God’s influence. We cannot stop being self-serving without God’s help.

We can only live as we ought with each other through the shed blood of Christ at Calvary. What we are unable to do for ourselves, Christ does for us. He purifies our hearts so that we are not driven or controlled by sin. He changes our attitude about ourselves and others. He unites instead of dividing people. What cannot happen without Christ is made possible in Him. We can live at peace with each other. We can be one in heart for the glory of Christ. We can work together to reach the lost when we are controlled by Christ. We can have a genuine love and concern for one another in Christ.

Where there is strife and divisions in the fellowship of the church, there is an absence of the lordship of Christ over the church.

IF we are living in the light of God’s presence, we will live out His Word in the church and the world. We will be a people after God’s own heart, a holy people.

LIVING IN THE LIGHT

 

LIVING IN THE LIGHT

I John 1:5-7 This is the message he has given us to announce to you. God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. NLT

Here is the message loud and clear: we cannot live as children of God and still live in sin. When we live in fellowship with God, we lose the desire to live in sin. It does not mean we will never sin, but it does mean that we will want to not sin more than we do sin. We will grow in our desire to please God and lose our desires to do what doesn't please Him. Anyone who claims to have Christ as their Savior and continues to live in sin without allowing Christ to change their desires, is a liar. They may claim all they want about their being a Christian, but in God's eyes, they aren't.

If you profess to be a child of God and are not living like one, be warned. You must begin to let Christ change you. You must seek Him out and walk away from sin. You must develop the discipline of considering first what God says about things before you attempt to do them. There is no wiggle room here.

As children of God, our fellowship should be with each other. We should be striving to get our inspiration and guidance from other believers, not the world. We can have friendships with non-Christians, in fact we should have, but we need to make sure we look to godly people to meet our spiritual need for fellowship rather than the world.

The blood of Christ unites all believers together in unity and love. We are one body. We are all on equal footing at the cross. It is when we stray from the cross that we become self-important and divided. We have no hope of being one apart from Him.

When we are living in the light, we are living in the righteousness of Christ. Our sins are forgiven and we strive to not let sin back into our hearts. We separate ourselves from sinful lifestyles. We not only profess to be child of God, we live like we are.

When we are living in Christ we are saturated by God’s truth. We are on a quest to learn more of what God desires for us and wants us to be. We are given understanding of these things by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

Living in the light keeps us out of the darkness of sin.

GOD IS PURE LIGHT

 

GOD IS PURE LIGHT

I John 1:5-6 This is the message he has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. NLT

We must understand this powerful truth. God is pure light. There is no hint of darkness in Him whatsoever. There is no possibility that sin will ever be a part of who God is. God always separates himself from sin and is repulsed by it. He hates sin. Sin cannot come anywhere near to God.

When God enters into our hearts, He passes on to us His attitude about sin. He changes the way we look at sin. Sin becomes an issue with us because it is everything against the nature of God. We develop a repulsion for sin. The more we are controlled by God, the more strongly we will feel about sin. It should never be acceptable to us to sin against God.

How we feel about sin is an indicator of how holy we really are. No one will ever feel the same way God does about sin, but we should not be comfortable with it and tolerate it as much as we do either. God changes us and we no longer are habitual sinners. We develop a resistance to sin when we live in Christ. We stop doing the things we once did. We develop the ability to do what is right in God’s eyes instead of that which He hates.

If we are not uncomfortable with sin in our hearts, we are not right with God. If we continue to do that which God calls sin, we are not right with God. If we leave the sin in our hearts alone, we are not right with God. If we are not bothered by the sin we are surrounded with, we are not right with God. Sin and God’s holiness are like water and oil; they simply do not mix.

We are far too tolerant of sin we are exposed to. Let’s be honest about it. We do not turn away from it when we are being entertained like we should. Some sin we will not allow ourselves to be entertained by it, yet there are many sins that we are not repulsed by when we are being entertained. We watch TV programs and movies with sinful behavior, lies, and unholy language in them because we like the shows. We listen to music that is not good for our souls because we like the beat or singer. We go places that we shouldn’t be at because we want to be with the crowd or because it’s a popular place to be. Isn’t it true? Aren’t we far more tolerant of sin than we should be?

Jesus died to take away our sin, not to tolerate it in us.

WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE

 

WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE

I John 1:3 We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ. NLT

This is the heart of all witnessing, just telling others what we have personally experienced with Christ. What we say can be argued against, but there is no denying the changes that take place when Jesus changes the heart. Telling our story is telling His story. We need to be telling others about who we are today compared to who we were before Christ. We don’t gloat over our past as if it was some badge of honor we wear, but we recall our past to acknowledge what Jesus has done and to praise Him for it.

The goal of all witnessing should be so that others may have fellowship with us in Christ. It should be our heart’s desire to be able to enlarge our circle of people we can have fellowship with in Christ. Every lost soul is a potential soul mate in Christ. Without Christ, there is always something missing in our relationships. No one can understand and appreciate the influence of Christ in us without experiencing it themselves.

It should concern us when we deny ourselves fellowship with other believers because of differences in understandings and lifestyles. We are all different and we need to get over it. Christ unites the body, never divides it. We label ourselves and often let our labels keep us away from those who are labeled differently. Shame on us! It grieves God’s heart when His children can’t, or won’t, get along. We are not in competition for lost souls!

We should have friends who are not believers, but we cannot have fellowship with them in Christ. If we care about their friendship and souls, we will not be shy about sharing with them what Jesus has done for us. There is no greater witness than the witness of what Christ has done for you and in you.

TELL YOUR STORY

 

TELL YOUR STORY

I John 1:1 The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus Christ, the Word of life. NLT

The thing I get from this verse is that John is sharing from his own encounter with Jesus his faith in Him. John was one of the disciples who was with Jesus during His stay on earth. John daily walked with Jesus, talked to Him, and witnessed the things He did and taught. Jesus had a profound impact on John's life. He changed everything about John and what he understood about himself and life. John was so impacted by Jesus that he simply shared with the world what Jesus had done for him.

John, like countless others who have followed him, knew from personal experience that Jesus is God. He was very close to Jesus while He was on earth and knew deep within in his soul that Jesus is God. Once a person knows Christ from deep within his soul, he discovers that there is nothing else worth living for.

We are no different than John. We have a story to tell. We may not be led by the Spirit to put it down on paper for the world to read about it, but we can share our story. Everyone in Christ has a story to share how Christ has affected their life. There is no magic formula for being a witness for Christ. We don't have to be a Biblical whiz. We don't have to know all the steps of the Gospel message. All we need to know is what the Lord has done for us. We need to know what difference Jesus has made in our lives and share it. If we truly have been touched by the Master's hand, we cannot contain it. Our lives, words, and expressions will show it. We cannot be with Jesus without it being seen. Our witness is a natural expression of what Jesus has and is doing in our lives.

Whenever you can, just tell your story. Tell all who will listen the difference Jesus has made in you. No one can deny your personal experience if it is backed up by your life. People can argue over words and deny their truthfulness, but they cannot deny the difference Christ makes in the lives of the redeemed.

People need to know what a difference Christ makes in life. Will you show them? Will you tell them?

WARNING!

 

WARNING!

II Peter 3:17-18 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends, so that you can watch out and not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people. I don't want you to lose your own secure footing. But grow in the special favor and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. NLT

Warning! There are wicked people all around us, even in the Church. Their agenda is not to help us, but to tear us down. They want our confidence. Many simply want our money. They are not concerned about us personally. They want us to believe what they are telling us without questioning whether or not it is true. They are good at what they do and can be very persuasive. If we are not careful, many of us will be led astray.

The only safe and secure footing we have is in Christ. Anyone who would undermine our relationship with Christ is to be avoided. Anyone who would distort in any way God's Word is to be avoided. Anyone who would suggest we follow them instead of Christ is to be avoided. There is no alternative way to God. Jesus is the way, truth and life. He alone has our best interests at heart and is worthy to be followed. He alone wants to help you. He alone can be trusted with your soul.

Growing in our faith in Christ is not an option, it's a necessity. If you are not growing in Christ, you are on a slippery slope and could lose your grip on Him. It is absolutely essential for you to keep your eyes fixed on Christ, and Him alone. He alone is able to save your soul and present you before God as faultless, fit for heaven. He will complete in you your salvation if you stay focused on Him. Strive to keep growing in grace and your knowledge of Him, and God's special favor will be upon you.

MAKE EVERY EFFORT

 

MAKE EVERY EFFORT

II Peter 3:14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God. NLT

We live in a time of expectation. We expect the Lord to come soon. We expect Satan to be taken captive to harass us no more. We expect there to be a time in which we can actually live the Word of God without failing. We expect that all believers will soon be able to live humbly and honorably with each other in love and peace. We know these things are going to happen, and we wait in anticipation of it. Until that day comes, we must do the best that we can.

We must make every effort to live pure and blameless lives. Every effort means every effort. We must do our best to stay pure and blameless before God. We know what we are to do; now it is up to us to do it. We must put forth the effort to be pure and blameless. We must do the things that will enable us to stay pure and not do the things that make us impure. We must not neglect disciplining our souls so that when we are tempted we will have the desire to say no to it.

God will not keep us pure and blameless without our doing our part. Godliness is not a given; we must purposely strive to obtain it. We must take seriously our need to be saturated by God’s Word and to be in our prayer closets. We must take seriously our need to desire to please God and not ourselves or others. If you are not putting in the effort, you will never live a pure and blameless life before God. We need to be as concerned about our souls as we are everything else that is a part of our living.

The reward of our effort is peace with God. Those who are pure in heart and blameless in living are not guilt laden. They do not have shame because they sin against God. They are able to rest in the security of God’s love and grace. They are indeed blessd.

HOLY LIVING

 

HOLY LIVING

II Peter 3:11 Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! NLT

First, it is a fact that God is going to bring this world we live in to a close with fire. He doesn’t tell us just how that fire will come. It is interesting to me that there is enough fire power in the nuclear weapons now being stored around the world to literally destroy the earth as we know it. All it would take would be for the wrong person to hit a button and the destruction would begin.

In light of the certain and unpredictable coming fire from God to destroy the earth, we ought to take life seriously and live in readiness for it. God commands us to live godly, holy lives. If we are saved by the blood of Christ, we are expected to move forward by God’s grace into holiness of heart and living. There is no way that we can justify not becoming a holy people.

Holy people react strongly against sin that wants to invade their lives. They do all they can to protect their souls from sin’s temptations. They keep their souls strong by faithfully and consistently exercising spiritual disciplines. Holy people respond to others out of godly love and strive to always live at peace with others. Holy people value the things that make them stronger in faith.

If we are not living as a holy people before God and He comes for us, we will answer to God for it. God is holy and will not tolerate unholy living by those who claim to be His own. Holiness is His measuring stick. Are you ready for the Lord’s coming? No one knows when the Lord is coming back, all we know is the certainty of it and the importance of our being ready for it. If you are holy, as He is holy, you will be ready.

THE DAY OF THE LORD

 

THE DAY OF THE LORD

II Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything in it will be exposed to judgment. NLT

The day of the Lord is set in heaven. No one knows when that day will come except God. When that day comes, it will catch everyone by surprise, like a thief in the night. Why doesn't the Lord want us to know when it will be? He knows the heart of man. He knows that if we knew, we would wait until the very last minute to get right with Him. The world would be void of the good that could be done if His people were living instead of waiting. Our sinful nature is such that we will not concern ourselves with living in and for Him until we absolutely have to. He also knows that life is so fragile, and if man were to wait, many who could be saved will be lost for eternity because death came upon them before that day and they weren't ready to die. In His great love for us, God in mercy hides the day the Lord is coming from us.

When the Lord does come, there will be no mistaking it. The Lord is going to change everything we know to be real. All creation will be affected by it. There will be a sound that will reverberate throughout all of creation followed by a purging fire. All the earth will be exposed, and judgment will come. It will be a time that will cause all men to tremble with fear, except for those who are ready for it. For those who are saved, it will be the greatest moment in all of history. It will be a day of celebration beyond words. It will be the day in which we will see the Lord!

Judgment Day is coming, whether we are ready for it or not. We may be here physically for it, or we may be in the grave waiting for it. Either way, it's coming. If we are not in Christ on the day of its arrival, it will be too late. The Lord gives us ample time and opportunity to be saved and if we pass them up, there will be no mercy shown.

Are you ready for Judgment Day? If you die before it comes, it will be your judgment day. Now is the day of salvation. He who waits for another day, may never see another day to get ready. Live each moment of each day as if it were your judgment day. It very well could be.

TIME TO REPENT

 

TIME TO REPENT

II Peter 3:8-9 But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. NLT

God is not confined by time or space. We measure our existence by time, but God is eternal and time is meaningless when we think about Him. It is impossible for us to comprehend timeless existence now, but someday we will. We must always remember that the Lord is always true to His Word and everything He says will come to pass. We simply have to not waver in our confidence in what He says. We believe it because He said it and that is the end of the story.

The Lord has not come back for His Church yet, but He will. He is busy working in the world to redeem all who will be saved. God has a deep passion for the soul of man and He is not willing to let anyone go to hell without their having an opportunity to be saved. He knows there will be many, many souls who will reject Him and not be saved, but there are also many who will still come to Him. He will come again when He knows that His redeeming work on earth is done.

Since the Lord is still waiting to come back for us, it ought to inspire us to be actively telling all who we can that there is still time to repent. We don’t know who is ready to be saved. We are obligated to reach out to as many people as we can while we can that some might be saved. It is not for us to determine who can or cannot be saved, or even who is saved. Our responsibility is to take Christ and His Word into the world. We are to be messengers for Him and leave the rest up to Him.

Each day that the Lord tarries draws us closer to His return. Let us be faithful to Him and faithful in our witness for Him that all who would be saved will be saved and not perish.

ONE DAY, THOUSAND YEARS

 

ONE DAY, THOUSAND YEARS

II Peter 3:8-9 But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. NLT

What God says He will do, He will do. It may not be according to our timetable, but He will do it. God is not bound by our timetable, with Him there is no timeline. A day with the Lord is as a thousand years to us. The point is that we can't put God in a time box. He accomplishes His plan and fulfills His promises at the right time, no matter how long it may take.

We try to pinpoint the Lord down. Many have given diligent study to the coming of the Lord, but no one will ever be able to figure it out. The Lord is coming again, that much is absolutely certain. When He comes is unknown to us and will always remain that way until He actually comes.

Peter tells us why the Lord has not already come, He is giving man every opportunity He can to be saved. He loves us and doesn't want any of us to go to hell. He has a tremendous amount of patience and love and will not come before the time He has set in heaven.

From all appearances it would seem like He has to come now. The world is bad and doing nothing but getting worse. Nature seems to be all out of whack. Wickedness is everywhere. The Church is losing her identity as light in the world; we are falling asleep. Yet, there are those who are to be saved.

I believe that if the Church were to catch the vision for the lost and reach out to them like we should be doing, we can hasten the day of His return. We have a mandate to be witnesses for Christ in anticipation of His return. Our message is like that of Jonah to the Ninevites , "Repent! For the Day of Judgment is at hand."

CONSUMED BY FIRE

 

CONSUMED BY FIRE

II Peter 3:7 And God has also commanded that the heavens and the earth will be consumed by fire on the day of judgment, when ungodly people will perish. NLT

God has commanded it; He will destroy the heavens and earth by fire. When He judges mankind, He will purify all that is by fire. The only ones who will survive God's judgment will be the godly in heart.

This should cause us to pause and think for a moment. Today man has the ability to destroy the world with fire. There are enough countries in the world who have nuclear weapons that can literally destroy life as we know it. Just to know that man could do it should cause us to realize that the coming of the Lord has to be very near. God promises us that He will do it, not man.

Knowing this should cause us to consider our readiness for Christ's coming. We have been lulled to sleep by our modern-day comforts, but it's time for us to wake up before it's too late. Far too many are not looking for the Lord's return and thus are careless about how they live their lives. Few pursue godliness. There seems to be a contentment with the minimal involvement in the life of faith. God does not hold a prominent place in the heart of most.

Don't mess around with your standing before God. Take your faith seriously or you may very well be left behind when Jesus comes. He commands holiness in our hearts. He commands our submission to Him and obedience. How about it? If Jesus comes today, would you be ready?

ENTANGLED BY SIN

 

ENTANGLED BY SIN

II Peter 2:20-21 And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them. NLT

I can't help but be taken aback when I read passages of Scripture like this. No matter how one may interpret it, Peter gives us a very stern warning about what it is like for those who turn their backs on Jesus. I believe it's a warning that we must take seriously.

When people escape from the wicked ways of the world, they can only do it through Christ. No one is able to separate himself from the world without Christ's help. We must learn all that we need to know about Jesus and embrace Him as our Savior. I believe Peter is referring to more than just a head knowledge of Christ here. Just knowing about Christ does not set us free from the world.

When people let sin entangle them again, they are worse off than they were before. This is true because in essence they are spitting in the face of Christ and rejecting what He has done for them. They are telling the Lord that what He did for them doesn't matter, that they don't regard Him as worth keeping.

When people do not embrace Jesus as Lord as well as their Savior, they are easily led into sin. It takes more than forgiveness to keep a person in Christ; it takes commitment as well. We cannot give the Lord part of us; we must give Him all of us. We are easily lured into sin because of its powerful draw. We are weak and vulnerable and without Jesus being our Lord, we are very likely to fall into sin.

Don't put yourself in a position where it is even possible for you to be led back into sin. Give Jesus all of your heart, mind and soul. Let Him be Lord over everything you are. Determine in your heart that you will not let sin defeat you. Instead, defeat Satan by letting Jesus be Lord of you.

When we are living in Christ and working out our salvation, there is no way that we will forsake Him and once again become entangled by sin. When we experience the realness of Christ and His holiness, we will only want Him. It’s when we neglect Him and take our eyes off of Him that we run into trouble.

INSPIRED BY GOD

 

INSPIRED BY GOD

II Pet. 1:20-21 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves, or because they wanted to prophecy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God. NLT

Two things must clearly be understood here. One thing is that no part of God's Word comes from human origin. All Scripture comes from the heart and mind of God. God has told us everything He wants us to know about life and need to know. There is so much more He could have told us, but it is not for us to know now. Perhaps someday He will reveal more things to us, but not now. There will always be a limit on what we will know and understand because we are not God, but we can be sure of this: the Scriptures are absolutely true from beginning to end because they come from God himself.

The other thing we must understand is that God was absolutely in control of the revelation process. The writers of the Scriptures did not write because they wanted to do it; they were compelled by God to do it. God determined who would write and when it would be done. He determined how it would be done and what would be said. By His direction alone we have the Scriptures. They are God's complete revelation and they are completely true. Period.

God used people to write His Word. They wrote through the filter of their own personalities and the times in which they lived. God guided them in what to say but allowed them to say it in their own unique ways.

God is responsible for the content of the Scriptures, and we are responsible for our obedience to it. God makes known to us what we need to know. Some parts of it are beyond our understanding, and we accept those parts as truth simply because God said it.

It is fruitless and exasperating to try to come up with answers to questions that God has not clearly made known to us. There will always be disagreements and discussions over things that are hidden in the wisdom and knowledge of God. We waste our time debating things that can be understood differently as long as it doesn’t involve the redeeming work of Christ at Calvary.

What we cannot resolve, we accept by faith, agree to disagree agreeably with others, and get on with the business of the Kingdom. We must stop pointless debates over our disagreements while the world is plunging deeper and deeper into sin and going to hell.

What we need to know for our faith walk, the Lord will make it known to us.

WORK HARD

 

WORK HARD

II Pet. 1:10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. NLT

Hard work never hurt anybody. In fact, hard work will help you and not hinder you in the development of your life and soul. Hard work produces good results. It is an essential part of our walk with Christ.

If you are in Christ, you will strive to do all you can do to please Him. You will be determined to honor Him. You will give Him your best effort for He is worthy of nothing but your best. Working hard on the development of your soul is absolutely essential for healthy growth. We stop growing and being effective when we stop working.

It is easy to spot those who take faith seriously and are working hard to grow it. Godly character cannot be hidden. Others can readily see those who are maturing in faith. The things that come out of their mouths and the things that they do testify to the workings of Christ in them.

Those who are working hard at working out their salvation do not stumble or fall away from Christ. It is those who are lazy and don’t work out their faith that slip and fall away from Him. There simply is no way to keep grounded in Christ apart from hard work. We must work hard at maintaining and growing in our spiritual disciplines of Bible study, prayer and witnessing. We must hold ourselves accountable and constantly commit ourselves to these disciplines. We must never take for granted our salvation. Instead, we value it above all things and constantly work hard at keeping it fresh and alive in our souls.

Hard workers must surround themselves with others who are working hard for maximum encouragement and inspiration. Hard workers learn from each other how to make their hard work pay off.

Hard workers are an example to others that indeed in Christ all things are possible. Great is the reward in heaven for those who always are working hard at working out their salvation.

GOD CHANGES US

 

GOD CHANGES US

II Pet. 1:6-8 Knowing God better leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. NLT

The more you grow in your knowledge of God, the better you become in your relationship with Him. Knowing God is first a heart knowledge and then a head knowledge. A head knowledge without heart knowledge produces nothing of eternal value in the soul. Knowledge that does not produce fruit in our lives is useless.

Knowing God always flows from Calvary. No one can have a relationship with God apart from Christ. We are condemned to hell because of our sins unless Jesus is invited into the soul and forgives us for our sins.

Knowing God changes us from the inside out. It changes our ability to maintain control of our heart motives and desires. God enables us to take charge of our soul’s progress. As we gain control over our sinful nature and begin to live godly lives, we learn how to patiently endure in our walk through life. We grow to understand that we are works in progress and must allow time for God to mold us into godliness. We don’t give up on God, and we don’t give up on ourselves.

As we patiently endure, we become more and more godly for the more God chips away at our sinful nature, the more like Him we become. It takes a lot of work to become godlier than the sinful creatures we are. It takes determination and unwavering commitment to the process.

Godliness translates into godly love. We develop a genuine love for all. We first learn how to love all who are a part of the family of God, and then we learn how to love those who are not saved. If we can’t love other believers, we will never love those for whom Jesus died outside of the faith. In fact, if we can’t love other believers, then we can’t truly say we love God.

As we change and become a holy people before God saturated by His love, we become useful and productive members of God’s family. We become vital parts of what God is doing to reach those who are lost for Him. We become the light and salt of the world for the glory of Christ.

God changes us. If we are not changing into a holy people, we are not children of God. It’s as simple as that.

PRODUCTIVE AND USEFUL FAITH

 

PRODUCTIVE & USEFUL FAITH

II Pet. 1:5-8 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. NLT

How much effort are you putting into applying the promises of God into your life? There are wonderful benefits to all who do. God does not give us promises for our selfish gain. His promises properly applied lead to godliness. They work together to strength and increase our faith. The natural progression of faith is that it changes us from the inside out. We develop souls that are grounded deep in the holiness and righteousness of Christ. We become like Christ in our ability to genuinely love others, which affects all of what we do.

To know God is different than knowing about God. To know God is to enter into a relationship with God that results in a heart change, a change that transforms us into godliness.

The more we develop in our godliness, the more productive we become in Christ. We become more than vessels of knowledge; we become useful servants of God. The promises of God were never intended to make us feel good; they are given to help us bring glory and honor to God in the way we live.

Reread today's verses. Look at yourself in light of them. What is God's Word producing in you? Are you becoming a person of moral excellence? Are you gaining in your heart knowledge of God? Are you growing in your ability to control yourself? Are you able to patiently endure whatever comes your way? Can you claim to be godlier today than you ever were before? Are you able to react to others in a loving way that reflects the love of Christ?

Standing strong on the promises of God will lead to a life that can answer yes to all of the questions above.

GOD'S PROMISES APPLIED

 

GOD’S PROMISES APPLIED

II Pet. 1:5 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. NLT

God’s promises don’t do us any good at all if they are not applied to life. We will benefit from them only to the extent that we apply them. God’s Word is always true and helpful, but only if we put forth the effort to let it work in us. When God’s promises fail to work for us, the problem lies within us and not His Word.

When God’s promises are allowed to work in us, then our faith grows and we become the people of holiness God created us to be. Moral excellence is not achieved by accident. It comes from diligently applying God’s Word to our lives. The more we live by the Word, the more the Word lives in us. We become what we feast on. Achieving moral excellence is not an option for the believer; it’s God’s will and command for us.

When we get our hearts right with God, then we soon discover we know God better. The more we grow in faith, the more we understand the workings of God in us and through us. It’s a never-ending discovery. It’s a process that we are so privileged to be a part of. God wants us to know more and more about himself. He wants us to enjoy Him more and more. He wants us to discover all that He desires to do in us and through us.

God wants these things for us, but He won’t make it happen without our willingness to make it happen. We must do our part and put into practice His promises. We must set our hearts on things above before the things above can become a part of us.

Be honest. How much effort are you putting into applying God’s Word into your life? How close to moral excellence are you? How well do you really know God?

GOD'S PROMISES

 

GOD’S PROMISES

II Pet. 1:4 And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence NLT around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.

The same Power that saves us and makes us holy gives us rich and wonderful promises to sustain and help us in our journey of faith. All of God’s promises are given to help us make it home to heaven. Some of His promises are applicable to our daily living now and some have to do with what is yet to come.

We must be careful that we don’t claim a promise of God given to a particular people for particular situations and assume they are ours for the claiming today. We can learn much from how God helped people make it in the past, but we can’t just pull verses out of context and make them work for us today unless they are supported by other Scriptures. It is bad theology and wrong doctrine to misapply and interpret Scripture to suit our desires.

God’s promises are always given for a purpose. They help us to escape the evil of the world and the desires that evil stirs up within us so that we don’t sin against God. God’s promises are given so that we will be able to participate in His holiness. They enable us to be victors over sin and not victims of it. They enable us to be lights in the world and not carriers of darkness.

God has not withheld anything from us that helps us to live godly lives. All of His promises are true and helpful for our souls. They are rich and wonderful to us. We ought to not only claim them and use them, we ought to thank the Lord often for them.

God’s promises enable us to stand strong in Christlike faith. They protect us from falling into sin. They inspire us to persevere in faith until we get home. They enable us to be effective witnesses for the glory and honor of Christ in the world. Stand on the promises of God and don’t sit on the premises and you will know victory in Jesus.