Last devotional of 2 Peter - 2 Peter 3:17, 18 says,...

Today's verses are 2 Peter 3:17, 18 which read,

v.17 - You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,...

Peter is concluding this letter to people who he dearly loves.  He loves them so much that he would warn them of something that is coming and also about being "asleep" about the issue of desiring the Word of God.  He didn't just stand back and watch what will be, he spoke up for his dearly loved friends.

"...be on your guard..." - to keep watch not to violate something"...carried away..." - to lead away with or by
"...error..." - the wandering, the straying about
"...unprincipled men..." - one who gratifies his lusts
"...fall..." - fall out, fall down, fall out of
"...steadfastness..." - firm condition of mind

Keep watch not to violate something that you know and have been warned about so that you are not lead with or by the wandering ones who are gratifying their lusts and fall out of your firm condition of your mind about what you know about "the" Teacher, Jesus Christ.

I wish I would not have seen this verse in action but I have many times, with me and with others.  When I am not on guard about my spiritual life, it is so easy to get carried away but others who motives are contrary to those of our Savior.  You and I have "fallen off the wagon" or "taken a detour" on your walk with the Lord. 

v.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.

How do I not get carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from my steadfastness?  I grow in the grace (the means of salvation) and the knowledge (to actively learn) of what or who?  Peter strings Jesus name out now to four names.

"Lord" - he to whom a person or thing belongs"Savior" - he who keeps safe and sound, deliverer, preserver"Jesus" - God is salvation"Christ" - the Anointed One

I grow in the grace and knowledge of Who I belong to; the One who has delivered me but also keeps me; Jesus is God humanly showing that salvation; and He is the One anointed by God and spoken of in the Scriptures as the fulfillment of all.  If it is not enough to grow in the grace of what God did and the knowledge of Jesus who came then we are also to give "...glory...", agree and side with God's opinion, judgment, and view right now and everyday until His coming again.  That will keep us on track.  

It is really the crux of the matter.  We get our eyes off of God and unto other things and other people who have different opinions and judgments and views than our God who provided Himself as our salvation to keep us.  We fall "asleep" to how deep His love is for us, what He went through, and we get caught up in the immediate and forget about the imminent return of the Lord.

Peter ends with "Amen."  So be it, verily, truly, and firmly are all these things written before this ending.  Peter concludes this letter and essentially his life with an "amen" about Jesus.  May we do the same as we are on guard so we can continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Jesus to continue to give Him glory.

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Galatians #15 - Galatians 6:11-18 - "On The Road Again..."

Image
  Another week closer and it involves some more travel for the Wolfgangs.  I feel like the Willy Nelson song, " On the road again... "  I don't know if I agree with the next line though. " ...I can't wait to get on the road again. " One of the members of the church in Wisconsin calculated that I will travel well over 10,000 miles to make this transition.  Traveling mercies prayers please. Last Sunday we will look at Paul's final words to the churches in Galatia.  He brought them the gospel (good news) message of Jesus and what resulted were churches forming throughout the region.  The letter is to defend that message that our salvation comes from and is in Christ alone.  Christ's sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for the forgiveness of our sins.  The summary statement of the letter is found in  Galatians 6:15 (LSB) .  " For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. "  Translated another way earlie...
Read more

God gave us a good weather window to travel...yeah God!!!

Image
  Berthoud Pass Here we are at the top of Berthoud Pass.  It was a whirlwind week to conduct a " hand off " service in Wisconsin on 3/17 and then preach a Palm Sunday sermon in Colorado on 3/24.  We give God all the glory for this happening.  So there are two video links at the bottom of this blog.  One is for the Wisconsin service and the other is for the Colorado service.  I racked up over 12,000 in the last 7 weeks.   I love to take these pictures sitting from the front row of chairs and listening to the one God has provided for the church I had been serving for 20 months.  I now have 3 and I am so thankful for the opportunity God gave us to serve Him in this type of ministry over the last 5 years.  It has been great to add to our daily prayer list Zach in Maine, Chris in Ohio and now Stephen in Wisconsin. This was our set up for the 2000+ mile trip.  No " hiccups " except for the strong eastern winds in Kansas.  Of course e...
Read more

Resurrection Sunday in a new space...Matthew 27.62-28.20

Image
  Resurrection Sunday has come and gone but it was a sweet day to be with the gathered saints of the Stillwater Community Chapel .  We are venturing through the Gospel of Matthew and this Sunday will take us back to Matthew 1.1 but last Sunday we were in Matthew 27.62-28.20.  It was a lot to cover so the white board was truly a help to keep me on track.  This year in my Resurrection Sunday message, I focused on the contrast of the cover-up story of the disciples stealing the body of Jesus fueled by a bride and the commission of speaking of a risen Lord fueled by boldness . After the service upstairs, we ventured downstairs to the lower level and had a great meal together.  The conversations around the tables allowed us to continue to talk about the passage of Scripture we covered upstairs.  Maybe this is a very informal picture of what happens at the  Waushara Community Church called the " Going Deeper " classes of the Come For More hour following t...
Read more