2 Peter- Know the Truth

Monday, October 11 2 Peter—Know the Truth

Today’s Reading: 2 Peter 1:1-4

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

I’m going to offer a little background before we dive in today. First Peter was written just before the time the Roman Emperor Nero began his persecution of Christians. Second Peter was written two or three years later (A.D. 66-68), after persecution had intensified. First Peter was a letter of encouragement to the Christians who suffered, but 2 Peter focuses on the church’s internal problems, especially on the false teachers who were causing people to doubt their faith and turn away from Christianity. (Life Application Study Bible)

It was interesting to me as I was reading Warren Wiersbe’s“ commentary on 2 Peter titled, “Be Alert” to find that in Peter’s early years he was overconfident , sometimes impulsive, slept when he should have prayed, and talked when he should have listened. For some reason, I’ve never thought of the apostles, authors of books in the Bible, as immature Christians needing to grow in their faith walk (just like us!). By the time Peter began writing his second book, he knew his time on earth was limited and wrote what was in his heart warning us of what would happen when he was gone. He reminded us of the unchanging truth of the gospel. Before Peter gets into describing counterfeits or false teachers, he describes true believers. “The best way to detect falsehood is to understand the characteristics of the truth” (W.W. p.19). The key thought in these first four verses is that the Christian life begins with faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior. This faith involves God’s power and God’s promises. We very much want the grace and peace He has to offer , however humans can tend to be lazy and unwilling to put forth the effort to get to KNOW Him better through Bible study and prayer. However, when we take the steps necessary to KNOW Jesus personally, we experience God’s power, and this power produces “life and godliness”(W.W.p.21). God has given us His WORD to help us develop this life and godliness. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to impart the life and nature of God within (W.W.p. 22).

Ladies, it’s time to tank up. This world seems to have the ability to chip away at what we know to be true and before you know it, you have gone down that slippery slope and the truth seems to be buried and unrecognizable. Visualize a messy teen’s room with ALL the stuff that has completely covered the floor, the bed, the closet , etc. If you have a teen or you've been a teen, you most likely know what I’m talking about. The room can become a pig pen and can happen in no time at all. That can be a picture of our hearts and minds. Let’s feed on the Word of God so we can recognize truth when the garbage comes our way and starts to cover the floor. It’s the key to our maturing in the faith.

Heavenly and Gracious Father,

Your Word says, “ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness”. Give us the desire to feast on Your Word so we can store it in our hearts and minds and KNOW the TRUTH when it is challenged. Prepare us as we begin this study by opening our eyes and unclogging our ears so we will know You better. Thank You, dear Jesus for the righteousness, grace, and peace You freely give to the undeserving humans we are. Strengthen our faith in You today and keep us steadfast in it. Amen