2 Peter 1: 1-11

2 Peter 1

¹ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

² Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Making One’s Calling and Election Sure

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ 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.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Wow. This absolutely is the living Word of God. I needed to hear that. Thank You Lord. God, by his glory and goodness, has given me His promises so that I can partake of the divine nature (look into what "the divine nature" really means) and "escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" (verse 4). Evil desires, in my situation, include a desire for the self to be the center of worship; a desire to usurp the position that belongs to God. Also, it includes the desire to make God fit into our lifestyle and what we think is a better version of who He is. How dare I. This evil desire leads to corruption in the world, evident through many world views and religions. In Hinduism, we can choose the gods that we want to worship, in Buddhism, there is no God. How dare we!

I love this passage, because through it, God has told me to do something that I have not been doing; I have not been seeking to know Him. I have been ineffective and unproductive in my knowledge of Jesus the Christ and I am nearsighted and blind and have forgotten that God has cleaned me of my sins (I have forgotten what He is has done for me, how He has healed me). No wonder why my doubt is so great! How can you trust somebody you don't know? And I'd like to say that I know Jesus because of the experiences I have with Him, but I don't really. I don't read His Word!!

Lightbulb. I have been praying for deeper faith and trust in God this year. And as I just wrote the sentence about trusting somebody you don't know, the Lord showed me that in order to trust Him, I have to know Him. And the way that I will know Him, is by reading His word. And if I pursue the qualities in verses 5-7, qualities of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, they will keep me from being ineffective in my knowledge of Jesus. I love how the New American Standard Version puts it: "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 8). Hallelu Yah. Thank You Jesus for meeting me. PLEASE, Holy Spirit help me to abound in these qualities that I may honor and glorify You! I want to make my calling and election sure and not take Your grace and mercy for granted. Please help me Lord. For Your glory may my life be lived. Help me to engage with You meaningfully DAILY in Your Word and through prayer. Make me far-sighted and give me great insight and may I not forget what You have done for me. Hallelu Yah Jesus! Please help me grow and get through.

In the Name of Christ Jesus I pray,

Amen.

Sitting in Intro to Asian Philosophy...

Lord, have Your way in my heart and have Your way in this class. Thy will be done, Amen.

Help me to be Humble

Lord, teach me to be humble. Help me to recognize Your Lordship so that I may abide by Your will without question. Lord, help me to understand that You want good things for me; You do not intend to harm me in any way. So let me just trust You.

Deliver me Lord,

From the desire of being esteemed.
From the desire of being loved.
From the desire of being extolled.
From the desire of being honored.
From the desire of being praised.
From the desire of being preferred to others.
From the desire of being consulted.
From the desire of being approved.
From the fear of being humiliated.
From the fear of being despised.
From the fear of suffering rebukes.
From the fear of being forgotten.
From the fear of being ridiculed.

Lord Jesus, I want to be so small. So small God. Help me to desire this God. Help me to bring honor and glory to Your name; not my own. Lord I love You. I love You because You love me and care for me and died for me. And I realize that love is an action word, not a feeling. And the way I show my love is by abiding by YOUR law and serving YOUR will and greater purpose.

But man is weak God; I need Your help serving You. God live in me. Live so richly and so deeply in me so that when You look at me, You see Yourself. Hallelujah. Let it be so Lord, let it be so.

Lord, it is difficult. Really and truly difficult. But may I desire,

That others may be loved more than I.
That others may be esteemed more than I.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease.
That others may be chosen and I set aside.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed.
That others may be preferred to me in everything.

Lord, help me to desire to be so small so that I do not want or delight in the praise of the world, only Your approval. Help me to be so small God so that You are the only thing I truly desire. Lord, You satisfy. This hole in my heart, fill it God. Fill this God-sized hole completely so that I do not try to stuff other things in it. Lord, dwell in me so richly so that I do not worry about the things of this world; fill me with the peace that only You can give.

Blessed peace God.

The anxieties, the worries, the confusions, the fear...take it all away Lord. Help me to trust You fully; You know what You are doing.

Ah, Lord. Thank You. Thank You, thank You. You are always there when I need You. You never go away. Never. And I thank You for that.

Amen, Amen.