Devotional

2nd Book of Peter, chapter 3, verses 14-18.

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

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Peter is reminding us to be different than the lawless, unstable world. It requires boundaries to  be found without spot or blemish and to be at peace. We must hold fast to what is immovable in a chaotic world. And the chaos will eventually be settled, not by human programs and alliances and structures, but by the judgment of God that will sweep it all away.

Whether it’s history, biology, or humanity, mankind is attempting to remove all the boundaries to a stable, functional society. Then it attempts to replace the things that are solid with things that are fluid whether it is gender and borders and historical facts, or the meaning of language and money. Instead of our money being backed by gold, it is backed by the full faith and credit of a government that has no faith and is routinely discredited. This cannot stand.

We must not only keep the faith, but keep it active. We don’t keep it preserved in a jar, but we use our faith to preserve our nation by spreading it far and wide. To paraphrase an old saying, in a land that is plunged into darkness, the man with a flashlight is king. We have the light of God’s word. If we who believe will all turn it on, even the unbelieving will see.

2nd Book of Peter, chapter 3, verses 1-13.

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

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Peter reminds us that this world is going to burn someday, and it won’t be “global warming.” There will not be a gradual melting of the polar ice caps that brings a deadly flood. It will be sudden and a clear sign that judgment is coming for the ungodly. Just as it was in the days of Noah, people will be eating and drinking, buying and selling, getting married and planning their future, and the end will come. (Luke 17:26-35).

Today we are sold a false apocalypse, one that mankind can control. They say we are bringing on the end by sinning against the planet. We must arrest human freedom and human flourishing  and human reproduction to save the remnant that will inherit a socialist workers paradise. There is no God in their gospel. And to those who claim that there is, he is a weak spectator, scolding us for having prosperity.

The false gospel of the climate alarmist and the social justice warrior exists because the church was satisfied with compromise. We opted out of the public square, keeping the word of God inside the church, and sending our children out to be reprogrammed by the culture of the unbelievers. Now we have a generation that does not know the Lord, and we are being overrun by the wicked. We must challenge the culture, not hide from it. We must speak to it, not just complain about it. The fire of God will come eventually, whether we are ready or not.

2nd Book of Peter, chapter 2, verses 1-22.

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

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Peter’s long tirade against false prophets is similar to what John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul had to say about minsters who betrayed their calling. Some of the letters to the churches in Asia, in Revelation, are grim reminders that not all deceivers are outside the church. Many reach the highest levels of authority, and they are most dangerous when we trust them.

It is hard to call out the leaders in your own organization when they go astray. It’s easier to point out the faults in another church or denomination. When God sends a prophetic voice to hold up the plumb line and say, “This is not straight,” that is when the fur flies. We all believe in the separation of powers when we’re talking about the secular government. But we will circle the wagons and protect our own false teacher from accountability. 

If we will speak up and deal with mistakes when they are small, we won’t have to burn the house down later because everything is beyond repair. We all have the plumb line with us, the word of God, to keep us straight. When we abdicate our responsibility to keep ourselves straight, and rely on personalities and powers that intimidate us, we prop up the false prophet. We all need to get back to the book.

2nd Book of Peter, chapter 1, verses 16-21.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

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The power of God and the Word of God are so real that it is transmitted to us by the printed page. Reading it brings light, which grows and grows inside of us until we are fully illuminated. The light is not produced inside of us by our imaginations.  It is reproduced as it is spread from the original source, from person to person, as we testify of the light we have received. 

God has revealed Himself with words, and as the word, to share His life with us. It was not enough to make us living creatures, like plants and animals. He made us in His image, to be like Him, able to reproduce Him through His Word. Plants and animals reproduce, and they also reveal God through the glory of creation. “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20).

Today, mankind seems to believe he has outgrown God, using the material world to obfuscate the creator who made it. Our educational system pretends God does not exist, and suppresses any discussion about Him. That is why we must speak and bring out the light that is in us. We must come out of our church sanctuaries, and out from behind our touch screens and keyboards and declare the truth that has already been revealed through the Bible.

2nd Book of Peter, chapter 1, verses 5-15.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

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After we have believed, we must fortify ourselves with the character qualities befitting a child of God. Otherwise, we remain conformed to the world and its selfish, shameful ways, and we forget who we are in Christ. The world around us is constantly pulling us away from the world above us. 

It is not enough to merely fill our schedule with church busy work and regular meetings. You can do those things in a perfunctory way that satisfies the minimal demands of lazy leaders without you becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. All the while you can still be full of wrath, resentment and greed. You can continue to fortify your life with that which passes away.

Peter offered to continue to hold his readers accountable to the task of building themselves up. He taught them to seek the personal qualities found in Christ, in the knowledge of Him. We must also do that for one another. 

2nd Book of Peter, chapter 1, verses 1-4.

1 Simeon 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:

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

3 His 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, 4 by 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.

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What we know about Jesus and what He has done for us gives us access to divine power. Our sin once separated us from God, but now we can come boldly before His throne because our guilt has been removed. (Hebrews 4:16). Many people hide from God’s presence because they know they have sinned, but they do not know they have been pardoned. 

For millennia, the law of gravity kept man from being able to fly. But the discovery of other laws, WHICH ALWAYS EXISTED, made it so three hundred people can climb into a metal tube, sit in a reclining seat, and travel at 600 mph, reaching an altitude of 30,000 feet, while drinking a Diet Coke and reading a magazine. Mankind became aware of one of those laws in 1738. It’s called “Bernoulli’s Principle,” and it took almost 200 years to learn how to apply it and make commercial air travel possible.

Peter tells us that God has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, and His promises, or spiritual laws, that enable us to partake of His divine nature. We obtain them through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and it doesn’t have to take 200 years. You can start your journey today by believing in Christ and what He did for you when He shed His blood for your sin and the sin of the whole world. After that, it is learning the application of that knowledge. It means becoming His disciple, not just a spectator.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli’s_principle

1st Book of Peter, chapter 5, verses 6-14.

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

12 By 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. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

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Peter reminds us that we have an enemy, that the devil is a real force that seeks to take us out. Just as the Holy Spirit motivates us, and we have angels at our disposal, there are fallen angels who are at work in the human population. Satan and his evil spirits are our real enemies, the ones we make war against.

The devil and his angels, for whom hell is reserved (Matthew 25:41), are quite effective at exploiting our weaknesses. That is why we are warned not to give a place to him (Ephesians 4:27), and to resist him (James 4:7), and not to be ignorant of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). We are explicitly warned by Paul: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” (1 Timothy 4:1).

Because we live in a world where God is seldom acknowledged, nor do they submit to Him, the door has been left wide open for every unclean spirit to come in and spread their master’s social contagions of confusion and fear. While our thought leaders and their institutions have expunged the knowledge of God from vast swathes of the population, the devil has come in to fill that void. But he does not have to fill YOUR heart and mind. As God himself warned Cain, “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7 NIV). The choice is yours.

1st Book of Peter, chapter 5, verses 1-5.

1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

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Peter urges elders to shepherd the flock among them, not below them. They are to remember that they are not exercising power over other believers. They are exercising influence by showing how to live righteously by example. This is working out what Jesus taught him, “It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28).

One of the failures of modern church leadership is the failure of leaders to replace themselves with those they have trained. They guard their positions of authority and suppress the growth of the individuals in their care. As believers, we suffer from a failure to launch into being disciples, mature saints, fulfilling our calling and using our gifts. We remain spectators, filling a pew and supporting the status quo.

Several years ago I was speaking with a pastor who complained about having a “staff infection.” One of the associate pastors on his staff had left and started another church in the area. I saw this as a success that should have been celebrated. My wife and I were running a parachurch ministry, and our goal was to replicate ourselves so that if we had to leave, the work would go on without us. I am happy to say that when we left it was into capable hands that we had prepared to take it over. As Paul told Timothy, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2).

1st Book of Peter, chapter 4, verses 12-19.

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

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Peter is encouraging us to be outspoken. Why else would people insult and attack us except for our declarations of God and His kingdom? For the mere mention of heaven is a reminder to our material world that its days are numbered, like ours. What the unbeliever calls a “fairy tale” will last forever, while his fantasy world will one day draw its last breath. So let’s not be surprised that when we take a public stand for Christ, we are no longer undercover agents keeping our identity on the lowdown. We have taken on the uniform of the coming occupation force.

Unlike the children of Israel, who were sent by God to take the promised land by sword and spear, we are sent to conquer with the sword of the spirit, the word of God. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:5). And that is if we’re doing it right. We are doing it wrong if we leave every lie we encounter unanswered because it’s, “none of our business.”

The early church spoke up and declared its allegiance to another king when there was no first amendment to protect them. How much more should we use the freedoms we have today to help preserve them in the future. If we remain silent today, we will not have that right in the future, and we’ll pay for our testimony of Christ with our blood.

1st Book of Peter, chapter 4, verses 1-11.

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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Right in the middle of this passage Peter again refers to the gospel being preached to those who are dead. This reminded me that Paul actually referred to people being baptized for the dead. “Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?” (1 Corinthians 15:29). It is an interesting discussion to have, but the Bible is much more explicit about preaching to the living. And most of this passage is about putting away the sin that was condemned in the flesh when Christ died, and how we should live thereafter.

How we should live in this world is one of the major take-aways from the scriptures. Put away sin, love one another, practice hospitality, and serve with the gift or gifts that God gave you. Our lives are not made up of cold compliance with a rigid list of rules. They are works of art, made from our personalities as the are informed by God’s commands, and the opportunities life presents us.

Jesus told us that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. If we live on a starvation diet of what we hear once a week from the pulpit, or a get from the occasional memory verse in a carefully curated devotional, our lives are not fully informed by God’s word. We will not be like the tree planted by the river, bearing fruit in its season. (Psalm 1).