Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” – 2 Peter 3:14

As Peter concludes his second letter, he gives a principle for living life in uncertain times as we anticipate the return of Christ and renewal of all things. As followers of Jesus, we must be diligent to live in a holy and peaceful way. This isn’t a casual calling or something that would be nice if we happen to do it. We must be diligent. We must be intentional and work hard to live according to all the commands of Jesus so that we’ll be found without spot or blemish.

This doesn’t just mean avoiding the “big sins” like killing people, stealing, or committing adultery. To diligently live without spot or blemish, requires that we be diligent about every word that comes out of our mouth – at home, at work, on the road, with friends, with colleagues, and with those we don’t much like. We must be diligent about everything we look at in private. Everything we write or post online. Every place where we’re tempted to cut corners or break rules that we imagine nobody will ever notice. No spot and no blemish is a very high standard. The good news is that when we discover we have a spot or blemish, God’s grace will clean that up when we repents and ask forgiveness. But we must be diligent to notice our sins, repent of them, and ask for that forgiveness.

We must also be diligent to be found at peace. Christians are told by Jesus to be peacemakers. That also won’t happen by accident, it requires intentionality. When conflict flares in our life, we must not fuel it or ignore it and we must repent when we do. We must do everything possible to make peace and resolve the conflict. When we’re angry or frustrated with someone, we must not let that fester and turn into bitterness. We must seek peace and reconciliation. We must not harbor resentments or hold onto feuds but rather be found at peace by Jesus. #FollowJesus

“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 Peter 2:1

We are warned, over and over, that false teachers are inevitable. They’re going to be a part of Christian life until Jesus returns so Christians must be prepared at all times! Know the truth. Study the Word for yourself. Check what you hear or read online against God’s unchanging word.

Someone who makes a simple mistake isn’t a false teacher, especially if they receive correction with a humble spirit. Be cautious in labeling a person a heretic when they simply lack understanding or disagree with you. Nonetheless, those who teach falsely about God the Father, Jesus the Son, or the Holy Spirit teach destructive heresy because they keep those who would worship God from worshiping Him as He truly is. Those who teach falsely about the gracious salvation that’s only available through faith in Jesus Christ and to which no person or church can add teach destructive heresy that keeps people from living joyfully in the grace God would bestow upon them.

Peter particularly condemns those who teach a false and lesser version of Jesus, reducing the Master Who died for them to something less which would be incapable of actually atoning for their sin. Jesus is eternally the Son, not a created being. Jesus is one with God the Father, not merely a teacher, prophet, example, or revolutionary. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin. He lived without sin, died a sinner’s death on a cross, was buried, and physically rose from the dead. Jesus is fully a person as well as fully God. He had to be both to accomplish what He accomplished by His death and resurrection.

Today, false teachers are more widespread than ever and can easily build huge online platforms. God will punish them eternally, but they may still cause a great deal of harm in the near term. Know the truth. Study the Word for yourself. Check everything you hear against God’s unchanging word. #FollowJesus

“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.” – 2 Peter 1:4

The verse before this begins describing the blessings of salvation given through faith in Jesus Christ. Peter continues here, praising the precious and very great promises of Jesus. There’s one highlighted in this verse that’s simply stunning to contemplate… When you trust in Jesus, you become a partaker of the divine nature! Not an observer, a partaker…

When you trust in Christ as your Lord, you actually participate in His divine nature…. You come into deep spiritual union with Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God and second person of the Godhead. You are joined to God! This union goes deeper than even the wonderful news that you’re adopted into God’s family. You are filled with and partake of God. You are sealed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God enters into you. Your body is a temple of God because He lives in you. You enter a glorious, indescribable union with Christ Himself at a deep spiritual level.

Jesus says that you are in Him and He is in you. You become closer to Jesus than to any other person. He is ever-present in and with you. You’re never alone or separated from Him. Jesus is working inside you and transforming you. Your immortal soul is always in His presence. Even these words fail to adequately describe what it means to partake of the divine nature. Perhaps the best description is Paul’s, that in Christ you are “new creation”. You aren’t just a minor upgrade of yourself, you’re new and of a different nature than you were before. Old creation was fallen in sin and separated from God. New creation is restored, reconciled, and united with God. That’s you if Christ is your Savior!

Sin no longer rules over you because you’ve been made fundamentally new and different, partaking in the divine. Death no longer rules over you for the same reason. Words fail to describe this, so let them fail! Take time today trying to picture this, praising Jesus for this, and trying to live up to this new reality for you. #FollowJesus

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!”
– Psalm 133:1

We radically underestimate how important unity is to God! The Father and the Son both speak often of the importance of unity in the family, particularly God’s family. Unity is praised in this psalm. This is how God thinks about unity! It’s compared to the precious anointing oil that was poured over the high priest to mark him as holy and devoted to the Lord. Unity sanctifies us, makes us holy and ready for Kingdom service. Unity is also compared to the overflowing blessing of life in the desert represented by water streaming down Israel’s highest mountain.

Unity amongst God’s people is life-giving. It creates holiness and fuels spiritual growth. Unity is a blessing that keeps on blessing in abundance. It nourishes God’s family and bring Him much glory. Disunity, arguing, fighting, gossiping, slandering, grasping for status, battling for power, seizing control, and demanding absolute, rigid agreement on every minor point does the opposite of these things. It damages or destroys us spiritually. It tears God’s family apart. It stunts everyone’s spiritual growth. It makes God look like a fraud to unbelievers. It destroys our witness to the watching world.

Unity amongst Christians was so important that Jesus emphasized it in His prayer on the night He was betrayed. He knew how stubborn, arrogant, and selfish we are. He knew we’d try to tear each other apart in His name. He prayed that we would resist the temptation, but oh how the church has struggled for 20 centuries! In the eyes of Jesus, unity in the church is far more important than we consider it to be. We must stop looking at the importance of unity from our perspective and start looking at it from His perspective. Fight FOR unity, not against it. Battle to honor other believers. Praise and encourage those who unify. Labor to encourage and love others. Build bridges to other believers. Understand what is central and non-negotiable in the faith and where good Christians can live, work, and worship together in love despite differences. #FollowJesus

“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” – 1 Peter 3:17

Suffering may well be part of your life, now or in the future. Though we wish it weren’t, Scripture is clear that nobody is immune from going through hard times in this fallen world. Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, suffered horribly. Why imagine God will give you an exemption from suffering???

The question becomes, are you suffering for the right reason??? Are you being persecuted unjustly or are you just reaping what you’ve sown? If people don’t like you and mistreat you because you’re rude, cruel, selfish, abrasive, greedy, mean, easily offended, or persistently irritable and unkind, that’s on you. There are Christians today who are very confused on this point! They’re obnoxious, people don’t like them, and they feel more self-righteous because they’re suffering as Christians. Not so! They aren’t suffering for Jesus, they’re suffering because they’re jerks who aren’t like Jesus!

Don’t let that ever become true of you. If your life is plagued by the logical consequences and punishments that follow from illegal, immoral, unethical, and un-Christlike behavior, that isn’t holy suffering. That isn’t martyrdom or religious persecution. That’s just you experiencing unnecessary, self-inflicted suffering.

It’s far better to live a life that strives to imitate Jesus. Every day, every week, every month. Then when you experience opposition, persecution, or suffering, you know that you suffer in the righteous company of Christ. Your suffering in that circumstance bears witness to Christ Who suffered on the cross for you and suffers with you. Your Christlike suffering brings glory to God and will bring you praise in Heaven. Acting too much like Jesus is the right reason to suffer, if you must suffer. #FollowJesus