His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Escape
If 2 Peter were a car, it would be one where the driver has stomped on the gas and when the engine has redlined, popped the clutch. The result is a very high-speed start.
Peter has barely said, “Hello!” before he dives into the essentials of Christian living. His first words are brassy, powerful, and encouraging. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life…”
Wow.
It is easy to take our eye off of the ball (and of Scripture) and lose sight of this truth. We have everything we need for a godly life.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
Today’s meditation begins another new feature at Three Minute Bible, Psalm Sunday. Each Sunday we will look into the Psalms for inspiration. I don’t know if we will jump around the book of Psalms or go straight through. Either way, there is a lot of material here so I’m not worried about running out of things to talk about.
Two Paths
In today’s verse, King David points to two different paths. One path is described as the place where the wicked are. Sinners are there as are mockers. Is this information helpful? How do we discern what is sin or what the wicked do? Mocking is easy to recognize, but is the mocker bad?
…because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
The word, “test” is one of those words with many connotations and meanings. In today’s verse James explains what he means by suggesting we should consider “trials of many kinds” as “pure joy.” Testing, he says, produces perseverance.
He is not talking about the kind of testing that an engineer might use to determine how strong something is. That kind of test requires pushing a material or design to the breaking point. When testing a material that way, we measure where the failure is. That information is used to design something that will not fail when it undergoes a different kind of test.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…
Imagine that you want to get people together to form a camera club, or a hunting party, or a hotrod association. You find a place to meet, and you kick in a few bucks to cover the cost of name tags and the like. Then you go out and start the work of getting people to join. I may be going out on a limb here, but I’d bet that the main reason people should join the new group is not, “Hey, if you join our club you get to face trials!”
Being a Christian isn’t always “fun.” Sure, we have a reason to fellowship with other believers. We enjoy going to church. There are always those wonderful potlucks where the food is amazing and unending. But there are also Christians who are alone, hungry and persecuted.
James counsels us to think of trials as joy. Is he nuts? Who in their right mind equates trials as joy?
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings.
James is a Jew.
I just wanted to say that because as a Gentile, I sometimes forget that the Jews are still God’s chosen people. Both Matthew and Mark record the story* of the Gentile woman who wanted Jesus to heal her daughter. Jesus responds by saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24b) Her response demonstrates that she, too, has faith in God and because of her faith her daughter is healed. Jesus’ response demonstrates that he loves all people.
The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for gaining wisdom and instruction…
Have you ever wished that there was an instruction manual for life? I have! I remember back in the days when I looked at the Bible as “just a book.” I used to think, “Why couldn’t God give us an instruction manual?” Boy, was I dumb! No wonder I needed help. I had the instruction manual all the time. All I had to do was read it.
In the whole history of the world, there has only been one person with the wisdom of Solomon. His wisdom is a gift from God Himself. In his lifetime people came from all parts of the known world to consult with him and hear the wisdom God had given him. Fortunately for us, Solomon was thoughtful enough to have his words written down. Unfortunately for Solomon, he wasn’t smart enough to follow his own advice.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…
I’ll begin this meditation by sharing how I see Scripture.
The first time I looked at the book as a child it seemed to me to be an insurmountable mountain. Such a big volume! So many words!! Later, while in high school, I took up with our local Young Life group and was challenged to read the whole Bible. (Just three chapters a day and you can read the whole thing in a year!)
In college, I majored in Religious Studies for a year at a secular university. At the time, I had no idea what I was getting into. The secular mind looks at every such book as an artifact of the past, a historical relic. The challenge for the secular mind is not to understand the Bible but to dissect and bisect the text into little pieces. Then, as though one had the omnipotence of God Himself, decide which bits should be believed and which should not.
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
This week we begin a new phase of ThreeMinuteBible.com. We have completed the Gospel of John and instead of beginning a new book study, I am going to mix it up a little. Henceforth (or until such time as I change my mind… 🙂 ) Mondays at Three Minute Bible will be known as Affirmation Monday. Let’s face it, Mondays are hard enough to face as it is. Who couldn’t use a little encouragement and affirmation on Monday?
Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Do you journal? I do. Every evening I write down a few short notes about the day. I have trained myself to be very brief because there is so much that goes on in a day it would be impossible to write it all down. And that is one day!
John spent about three years with Jesus. He was with him almost every day, all day. Discipleship was not something that was an eight to five job with weekends off. Discipleship was a lifetime commitment, 24/7, 365 days a year (or about 355 days if you are using the Hebrew calendar!).
During that time John heard Jesus preach over and over again. It seems likely that Jesus would have repeated his teachings many times as they went from village to village. When they had time away from the crowds, the disciples would be able to sit and listen to Jesus in private and have their questions answered.
Jesus healed many people. The stories of Jesus’ miracles in John’s gospel are only a small sample of what he related to us. Luke relates how, “…all tried to touch him [Jesus], because power was coming from him and healing them all.” (Luke 6:19b) There was a lot John could have written about.
Application: John’s gospel was written under the direction of the Holy Spirit. We know this because John was a disciple of Jesus and the disciples received the Holy Spirit from Jesus. (See “Breath of God”) What John and the other New Testament writers have given us is exactly what we need and what our Creator wants us to have.
Food for Thought: If there is one thing in the gospel accounts that you would like to know more about, what would it be?
This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
How do you talk about yourself? When you go to the store do you say, “We are going to the store,” when it is really only you that is going? Or do you say, “I am going to the store”?
When you come back from the store do you say, “The one who has returned from the store has arrived,” or do you say, “I’m here!”?
The first example is called the “Royal We.” When royalty speaks, a king or queen speaks not just for themselves, but also for the nation they represent. And so they talk funny. “We are not amused,” means the king or queen is not happy with you. It can also mean that the whole country is not amused and may choose to come down on you like a ton of bricks for displeasing the head of state. The Royal We speaks from a position of authority and entitlement.
The second example is similar but different. In the second example, the person speaks in a similar form (third person) but refers to themselves obliquely. It is a way of being humble, of not drawing attention to oneself. It is rare these days and so it draws attention because it is so seldom used.
The writer of the Gospel of John is very humble. He has taken great pains to remove himself from the story while being faithful to speak truthfully. Not only does he not speak in the Royal We, he doesn’t even speak in the first person. His way of speaking is to refer to himself, not by name, but as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” We see this at the Last Supper (John 13:23), the crucifixion (John 19: 26), and twice in this last chapter (verses 7 and 20).
In today’s verse, John combines both the Royal We and the humble third person to affirm that he is telling the truth: “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.”
Application: John shows us an example of extreme humility while being faithful to his testimony.
Food for Thought: How do we apply this kind of humility in our lives today?
