Every Day Devotion

1 John 1:1 [1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— (ESV) For as long as God's truth has been revealed, the enemy of our souls has been trying to distort it.  In the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent, possessed by Satan himself, questioned the truth of God.  He said, "Did God really say?" The words and circumstances have changed throughout the centuries, but one thing remains. The enemy of our souls desires to undermine, distort, and twist the truth. The Apostle John is writing this letter to counter the false doctrines that had already begun to infiltrate the church toward the end of the first century.  At stake is the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.  John wanted to remind the recipients of this letter that Jesus was truly man and truly God.  What w...

2 Peter 3:18 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (KJV) As the Apostle Peter concludes his second letter to the church he includes a phrase that can be helpful to understand a little more deeply. The reader is encouraged to grow in two areas; the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and also, the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is not an accident that they are both mentioned, as both are important. If we were just growing in the grace of Jesus Christ, but not growing in the knowledge of our Savior we might be loving and gracious to everyone, but we would not know the truth of Christ. We would be likely to excuse all kinds of immoral behavior, thinking that we were being gracious. It is important that we add to our gracious lifestyle, a proper understanding of the knowledge of Jesus. Suppose we diligently grew in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but did not see fit to grow in g...

2 Peter 3:17 [17] You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. (ESV) The first question you might be asking as you read this verse is, "what does the reader know beforehand?" Peter has spent much of this epistle talking about the false teachers who had already infiltrated the church and caused much damage. They are greedy for money. They deny the deity of Christ. They mock the promise of his return. They are immoral. They are lawless. One would think that Christians would recognize these terrible character traits and appropriately stay away from them. Sadly, Peter's warnings are quite necessary. People are often carried away by the error of false teachers because they are not careful to study the Word of God and live by it. False teachers don't say everything false. They incorporate some Biblical truths to help the poison pill go down easier. Every book in the New...

2 Peter 3:16 [16] As he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (ESV) The Apostle Peter is speaking of his fellow Apostle, and brother in Christ, Paul. He describes Paul as saying some things that are hard to understand. It would be helpful to note the background of both Peter and Paul. Peter was a fisherman. This does not mean that he was uneducated, but he was more familiar with working with his hands. Paul had a different background. In Acts 22, we have Paul describing his background. In verse 3, he says, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day." To be educated by Gamaliel would be akin to saying, "I studied at Harvard....

2 Peter 3:15 [15] And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, (ESV) In much of this epistle, the Apostle Peter has spoken of the coming judgment of God. From a contextual standpoint, Peter was dealing with the infiltration of false teachers in the church. These unfaithful frauds had caused much damage. Not only is Peter right to point out their deceptions, but he is also right to remind them of the coming penalty for the poison they had been peddling. I am sure that Peter, and the faithful believers whom he was writing to, were more than anxious for the Lord's judgment to come upon all of those who had caused such trouble in the church. Perhaps you can identify. Maybe you have reached a point in which you long for the Lord's return because you are tired of all the destructive people that you encounter. It is understandable to be frustrated while you wait for justice to come for those who ...

2 Peter 3:14 [14] Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. (ESV) The teaching of the church was that Christ was coming again. The false teachers mocked and scoffed about Christ's return because they wanted to continue living in their lives of sexual immorality and greed. They were not waiting for Christ's return because it would mean judgment for their sinful lives. If anything, they dreaded his return, if they believed he was coming at all. The ones whom the Apostle Peter refers to as, "beloved," are the believers in Christ Jesus. They are the original recipients of this letter. They are beloved in two distinct ways. Peter himself loves all the believers in Christ Jesus. Also, and more importantly, the original recipients of this letter are loved by God himself. God demonstrated his love for mankind at the cross.  The beloved Christians are waiting for the return of Jesus Christ. They k...