Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
Summary: What will God be looking for in the ashes of his creation? When everything is “laid bare” what will be left that is of interest to our Lord? The answer lies in what God thinks is important.
Continue reading “2 Peter 3:11a Part II — God’s Vineyard”
…and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Summary: Sometimes we make simple things complicated by focusing on the wrong thing. Paul explains the foundation for Peter’s seven step plan. The goal is to honor our Lord in this life and the next.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:11 — Touchdown”
… they will keep you from being ineffective …
Summary: The Greek word for “ineffective” can also be translated as “lazy.” Peter is helping us to avoid being a lazy Christian.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:8b — The Lazy Christian”
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure …
Summary: Talking blind is like walking blind, only with your mouth. When we talk about spiritual things, we are talking about the unseen. If we are not quoting the Bible, which is our only source of accurate information about spiritual things, then we are making things up.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:8a — Talking Blind”
… and to mutual affection, love.
Summary: Peter has taken us up the mountain with him, and in today’s passage, he shows us the peak.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:7b — Top of the Mountain”
… and to godliness, mutual affection …
Summary: The humanist approach to life is very different that the direction we get from God.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:7a — A Tale of Two Pyramids”
… have received a faith as precious as ours.
Summary: There are simple economic principles that determine what we consider precious in a worldly sense. In the spiritual realm the same principles apply … to a point.
Continue reading “2 Peter 1:1e — Spiritual Gemstones”
These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Summary: Paul points us to the godly quality of his list and explains why it is to our benefit to apply the list to our own lives.
Continue reading “Titus 3:8 (d) — A Few Choice Words”
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Imagine, if you will, that the year is 1912. BC. Before Christ. It is many years after the flood, and Noah’s family has repopulated the earth. Everyone you know is a relative, but like today, not all the relatives get along.
Tribes have separated and arguments break out. Already some people have turned their backs to God. There is a shortage of manpower and it is not unheard of that one tribe will raid another. Children and women are taken and used as slaves. If the men cannot be subdued, they are killed. Life is hot, difficult, and harsh.
Continue reading “1 Peter 1:18-19 — Many Moons”
…through Jesus Christ our Lord …
Jude is nearing the end of his letter and his doxology. Today he tells us something very important and also very mysterious. Everything God does is through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Several questions come to mind. How does Jude know this? What does it mean? How does this work?
The reason I say that this is “mysterious” is that some things are beyond our ability to know. We can guess, and we can surmise, but we can’t know. Even though this is beyond our ability to know the answer directly, God has given us some clues in his Word.
Continue reading “Jude 1: 25d — Something Fishy”