by Pastor Cecil | Apr 23, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:2-4
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
It has been a long-long-long time, but I can remember some of the games the kids in our neighborhood played. Hide and Seek, Kick the Can, Stick Ball, and many others, until we heard the call from our moms to come in the house. I can never remember our choosing up sides and playing a rousing game of—Perseverance.
I especially like the way Thayer’s Lexicon interprets the word Perseverance: “The characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and suffering.”
That is powerful! It is far too easy to seek an escape from trial and testing instead of inquiring of the Lord as to His purpose in what we are going through. Some seem to feel that Christians should not go through the trials of life. Oh, really?!
Read what the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27: “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
That is true perseverance that leads to godliness. So what is godliness? Reverence, respect and piety toward God. It is saying: Not my will, but Your will be done!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 22, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:2-4
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
We have considered faith and virtue as qualities that true believers should pursue. This brings us to knowledge and self-control. Whoa, Nelly! I am not sure about you, but I immediately think of Solomon. Here was a man who was complimented by God because he had chosen knowledge over riches. He was known as the wisest man in his time.
In spite of his extensive knowledge, Solomon lacked self-control. Knowledge without self-control becomes a dangerous commodity. Rather than relying upon the infallible Word of God as absolute wisdom, Solomon relied upon his vast knowledge. In so doing he came to the conclusion in Ecclesiastes 1:2: “‘‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'”
It is possible for Christians to amass large amounts of information and knowledge without pursuing the self-control to apply this knowledge as God desires. Over and over we observe overly educated scholars who “know much,” but “minister little.”
I am sure that this lacks grammatical correctness, but I hope you understand what I am trying to say. The measure of a truly wise man or woman is the ability to take God’s Word and apply it skillfully to their life. Jesus loves me, this is I know—He will guide me as I go!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 21, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:5-7
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”
Back in my college days, I worked as a police officer and later a juvenile probation officer. My first experience as a police officer was in the small Idaho town of Caldwell, Idaho. I was hired by a police chief named Keith Judd.
It was while I was working as County Juvenile Probation Officer that a tragic event occurred. On the outskirts of Caldwell a family reported that someone was shooting at the house. Police from the area rushed to the scene in an attempt to locate where the shots were coming from. They surrounded the house and waited for more shots to be fired.
Unfortunately the shots were not coming from outside, but from inside. The family’s teenage son was the shooter. From his upstairs bedroom window he fired at the back of Keith Judd. Keith was paralyzed and died a few years later.
In yesterday’s Scripture we read that God has allowed us to be partakers of the divine nature and thus, escaping the corruption that is prevalent in the world. Today we read that we are to add to our diligent pursuit of faith—virtue.
The Greek word for virtue is aretê. It is interpreted: moral excellence, modesty or purity. Those qualities do not occur naturally. Remember that we are endued with a sinful nature inherited from Adam. We are not born good and lose ground— we are born as sinners and it is only by God’s grace we can be transformed.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is our first objective, and this is to be followed by virtue. Are you pursuing moral excellence, modesty or purity? If not, I urge you to do so immediately!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Apr 20, 2009 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 1:2-4
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Have you ever made a promise and later regretted that you had made it? I know that I have found myself in a difficult situation and wished I could take back my promise. My Dad was a model of integrity and demonstrated the worth of his word.
There was the time when he made a mistake in making a pledge to purchase stained glass windows for the church. He made an honest mistake since he did not hear correctly. Instead of pledging $500.00 he pledged $5,000.00
He prayed about it and told the Lord about his mistake (the Lord already knew) and asked Him to assist him to make the necessary money to meet his pledge. He was retired and had not worked for several years. God graciously answered Dad’s prayers and he was asked to do extra work sufficient for his pledge. It became a special blessing that went far beyond the money he earned. It was an intimate provision from the Lord he loved so much.
God has given us many promises in His Word. The problem is that we fail to search the Scriptures to discover what God has given us. We will spend most of this week searching the first chapter of Second Peter to discover a few of those precious promises.
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil
by Pastor Cecil | Jul 29, 2008 | 2 Peter
2 Peter 3:8-9
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
It was the first Sunday on my new duty assignment at the 921st AC&W located at the northern tip of Newfoundland. On the way to the radar site where I would spend the next year, I noticed an attractive white church. With determination I walked the two miles to the church expecting to be there early for the service. There was just one problem—no people!
There was a house behind the church and I thought it may be the parsonage. I knocked on the door and was met by Carol Bailey, the pastor’s wife. She informed me that there would be no services that day, but if I hurried to the dock I could find her husband, Ross, who was going by boat to a small fishing village to hold services.
That day turned into a lifelong friendship with the Bailey’s and ignited my love for the Newfoundlanders. After the service that day we heard wonderful stories some of the fisherman had encountered at sea.
Following that assignment, I was stationed near Kansas City, Missouri. On the Christian radio station we had heard about Blue Ridge Bible Church. One Sunday we were able to attend the church. We arrived early for the Sunday evening service, only to find a crowd of people waiting for the doors to open.
Eagerly our family rushed to find seats—wondering what special event we had stumbled upon. I asked a college age person next to me if there was a special speaker or musical group that generated all the excitement. He looked at me as if I were from another planet. “No—it’s like this at every service. If we are too late we will have to stand.” Our family was treated to strong Bible teaching that evening and with a sense of relief that we had—“not been late for that very important date!”
I think it was my mom who instilled the habit of being early with me. She was always the first one to any event (and the first one who wanted to leave).
There is a problem with this habit of being early—we tend to expect others to be as prompt as we are! It is a source of frustration to have people rush in at the last possible moment or to make a practice of being late. GRRRRR!
Over the years I have seen the look of relief on the face of wedding coordinators, brides, church staff, funeral directors or others who may be left in a lurch if the minister failed to show up for the service.
Being prompt or early has many benefits, but it also has problems. The greatest problem is our attitude toward the Lord. We want Him to operate on our schedule, rather than doing things on His schedule.
God knows what He is doing! He caused Abraham and Sarah to wait long after the normal child bearing years before the birth of Isaac. He allowed Moses to spend 40 years in the hot desert before sending him to lead God’s people out of bondage. He stood by when Job encountered unbelievable pain before He restored him.
Why does God do this? There are no doubt many answers, but I think one of the most apparent is that God wants us to realize that it is not our own efforts that save us—But His mighty hand of deliverance. HE IS NEVER LATE!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and be a blessing.
— Pastor Cecil
