2 PETER 3:14-18
SUNDAY & MONDAY,
SEPTEMBER 30 & OCTOBER 1, 2007
HOW DO WE GIVE GLORY TO GOD?
4 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be
found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother
Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as
also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are
some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist
to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17
You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you
also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of
the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2
Peter 3:14-18 (NKJV)
One of the finest compliments that a person can receive is for someone
to say, “I didn’t do that because I knew you wouldn’t like it.” What a
way to show love. What a way to show honor and respect.
As St. Peter concludes this Second Letter, he wants to remind the people
to deny themselves and give the Glory to God. He wants to remind them
that Jesus has promised, to those who believe in Him and follow Him, a
new heaven and a new earth. This is why in verse 14, he tells them to be
diligent and to be found without spot or blemish when He returns with
that gift of eternal peace for those who eagerly wait and look forward
to His return.. Yes, even today we wait, sometimes impatiently, for the
return of the Lord. We need to be reminded and to remind others that the
delay in His return does not mean that He is not coming; it means that
even today He is waiting and giving us one more minute by minute of
opportunity to turn to Him and our salvation.
In verse 15 - 17 Peter reminds them again to beware of the false
teachers. We must heed this warning as well. The people to whom Peter
wrote this letter had these false preachers and teachers twisting and
turning the words of Jesus to fit their own beliefs. The sad thing is
that they were convincing those who listened and people were leaving the
true faith to follow them. We not only have false preachers and teachers
within congregations of every denomination, but we have the false
teachers who promote the good life through television, advertisements,
music, movies and in all areas of daily life as they entice you to enjoy
yourself, it’s later than you think, or don’t worry about tomorrow, just
have fun today. We need to hear again these words from verse 17, “ You
therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also
fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the
wicked;” When St. Peter uses the word “steadfastness” he is referring to
standing firm in the faith that you have been taught. It is by standing
firm in our faith that we give Glory to God. When we fall away, we fall
into disgrace.
Let us hold fast to the Love and Truth that is found in God’s Word is
the teaching of verse 18. We know the truth of this statement from
experiences of daily life, but it is so hard to put into practice. How
many times have you tried to make something, fix something, or put
something together and everything goes wrong. You try and try and try.
All of this time you have heard advice, but you have ignored it. When
you take that advice, then things work right and your project is well on
the way to completion. How many times have you tried to fix those things
that are wrong with your life. You try this and that, you go here and
there and all the time you have heard advice, but you ignored it. When
you take that advice, things begin to go right. In both cases, the
advice is the same – READ THE DIRECTIONS. In the first scene, it is
rather easy to follow Step 1 and then step by step until the project is
completed. You follow those steps without question because they are
written by the one who made the product; That is faith and trust in the
maker. In the second scene, all the steps are also written but not as a
Step 1, Step 2, etc. You see, they don’t need to be, because your Maker
is right there with you, guiding, leading, helping as you read those
instructions daily.
Give God the Glory. Stand steadfast in His Word. If you don’t grow in
His Word, you are going to fall for the enticing words of the false
teachers and preachers. Give God the Glory, grow in His Love and in
deeper knowledge of Him
WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, give to me the desire, the strength and
the courage to make the words from this hymn be my guide in life:
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever. Amen
A MIGHTY FORTRESS from cyberhymnal.org
A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION
Select things to wear that are both pleasing to God and give Glory to Him. In this I am not just thinking of types or styles of clothing There is also jewelry, types of make up, hair styles, and others.