In verse three of his second letter, Peter reminds us of the simple fact that we have a divine calling and everything we need for a life of godliness has either already been given to us or will be made available when we need it. In other words, God has given us everything we need to live a holy and complete life. And how are we to do this?
Maintaining a high-energy evangelistic lifestyle isn’t easy, is it? Sometimes our passion for personal outreach begins to flicker. Call it unspiritual. Call it sin. But let’s be honest enough to call it what it undeniably is: very, very real. So what can we do about it? Here are some steps I take when these doldrums hit.
“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went...
We can either love God and love others, or we can pursue things of which we have no control over. If we trust God with His given provisions for our lives, we can then...
Love is our goal, right? Peter gives us a very clear map to being able to show such unselfish love as described in this passage. For me, showing love isn’t always that easy or convenient. But when we go down Peter’s list and do what he suggests, it is possible.
Being members of the family of God as well as the family of man has critical implications for those around us. God is working out his plan in and through us. He is in this thing with us. He’s working with our free choices to bring forth his plans.
Many times in our churches we hear the call to prayer for this or that person or problem. We learn about the importance of prayer in our lives and in our development in Christ. We learn more about conversing with God on retreats, through one another, in books on the subject, but mainly through the practice of prayer. We have likely heard the good counsel that we should be praying not only for, but with our spouses, family members, friends and co-workers.
I remember the day my youngest daughter suggested “family therapy.” My immediate reaction was that my daughter was simply trying to deflect her issues on me instead of going through the hard work that she needed to do. How wrong I was! As we went through therapy together, I learned what Jesus so wisely taught: that you must first get healthy yourself in order to be any help to another.
