Promises For You Today Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Promises For Today

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

2 Peter 1:4-8

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

One thing I love about Peter is that he is an exhorter...in vs 10-11 he encourages us to be diligent in our calling for if we do ..we will never fall.  That we will have a place in the kingdom of God. In vs 12 he tells us that he will not be negligent to encourage and remind us even when we know them. in vs 13 that he felt it was important to stir us up by causing us to remember.

Peters desire that even after he was deceased that we will remember what we are called to do...and that is to preach the truth, to love and encourage those around us in the truth.    We must remember where God brought us from and what message did we receive when we first came in.

WE AS A CHURCH MUST TAKE PETER'S EXAMPLE AND KEEP REMINDING...KEEP PREACHING...KEEP ENCOURAGING....UNTIL JESUS COMES...WE MUST BE DILIGENT TO OUR CALLING!

We are in this world but we are not of this world if we come into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ...because our life is changed..we are no longer our own but bought with a price....Jesus paid the price by taking the sins of the world...yours and mine ...so that we could have a promise of Heaven if we chose to let go of the world.

 In this world you find the lusts of life.  A never ending lust for the things that are around us....in which it is an unsatiable desire for the lusts of the flesh, the heart of the world....and this list is long...but necessary to understand what Paul was conveying to the church when he wrote the book of Romans.

Romans 1:21-32
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

This is the heart of the world and we must be careful not to fall into the things of the world..be careful as you minister to others that you are keeping your relationship with God strong..keep your eyes on Jesus.

As long as we have a church in this world..you will have some of this in it....because you have people coming from all realms of upbringing...they come to Christ with the heart of the world and when they give their heart unto God they learn a new walk...a new way of thinking. We must be full of the Holy Spirit and sold out to God.  With all our heart, mind and soul!

 The saddest part of this is when someone comes in and begins to allow their heart to change that they don't completely give their heart, mind and soul to Him...but holds onto some things in the world.  And they will struggle and struggle until they make a choice of whom they will follow...the world or Jesus Christ.  It is our choice...and only you can make it for your own life.

You must ask yourself...In whom will I follow?