2Peter
1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be yours in abundance in
the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything
needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by
his own glory and goodness. 4 Thus he has given us, through these things,
his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from
the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become
participants of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason, you must make every
effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, 6 and
knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance
with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual
affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are
increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For anyone who lacks these things is
short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. 10 Therefore,
brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election,
for if you do this, you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal
kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.
Despite
this being a slightly problematic letter,[1]
the crux of its introduction is important: those who follow Jesus are to live a
Godly life: support
your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with
self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and
godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. This
becomes a word to every generation: let us translate our faith into our daily practice.
Simply
trusting every day;
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
·
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him, whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him, whate’er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
The First Sunday in Lent
Preparation for
Ministry
The Scripture passage for the day is drawn from Reuben Job and Norman
Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville,
The Upper Room 1983), 106.
This reflection is from
my own devotional exercises for the day.
[1] Origen (AD 185-254) and Eusebius (260-340) both
regarded this letter with suspicion: “But the so-called second epistle we have not
received as canonical, but nevertheless it has appeared useful to many, and has
been studied with the other writings.” Eusebius
(Hist. Eccl., 3.3.1).
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