September 29, 2020
Nobody likes to suffer, yet the witness of the Scriptures is uniform in declaring that suffering is one of God’s greatest tools of transformation in the lives of His people. In his letters to the scattered church throughout Asia Minor, Peter addresses this issue and provides encouragement for believers who were under attack through persecution, oppression, and even direct attack by the enemy through false teachers. In the midst of their suffering, Peter reminds them to keep their eyes fixed on their eternal reward: Christ Jesus Himself! As we spend time over the next eight days reading the epistles of Peter, let’s make it out goal to fix our eyes on Jesus and to maintain joy in Him even through the most difficult trials and suffering!
2 Peter 2
False Prophets and Teachers
2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.
Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please help us to not return to our wicked ways . Now that we have confessed our sins and have been forgiven, we must stay the steady course of repentence and righteous living. However we can’t do it alone, for we are human with many weaknesses and flaws. We must lean on You for our strength . Please take our hands and lead us LORD in the paths we should go. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Amen!
Father, why did you send your Son to die? Was his death on the cruel cross really necessary?
Even though I once did not know you, rejected you, cursed your name, yet you loved me with a tender love. Thank you for your love for me.
I pray now for family and friends that refuse to surrender to you will. Oh Father, you have provided such a great inheritance for each but, because of free will, they choose to reject you.
It is your will, Father, that none should be lost. Are you ready to call your church home? Are there still some that you are calling? I lift up my family and friends to you, call them to you today.
Speak through my words, my actions to them. Help me to be salt and light.
Heavenly Father, may more souls be saved today. For it is in the name of Jesus I pray,
Amen.
The false teachers in these days are numerous, as are the numbers of their followers. Just notice LDS and Jehovah’s Witnesses and their success at ensnaring people. This chapter is as current as today’s newspaper.
God will rescue me from temptation.
Protect us Lord from this wicked virus that has taken many. Forgive us for putting our eyes on science as our redeemer. You are the Great I Am, Redeemer, and Savior. Have mercy on our country. Help those among our body fight and recover from the virus. May you be glorified.
Thank You Lord for this day. May we continue to turn our eyes to You in all things. Help us to be Your hands and feet. Help us to shine Your light and bring others, friends, family, to You. I love You and desire to please You.In Jesus precious name I pray. Amen.
I pray father, your Spirit overcome me, to empower me to be your doulos, in Jesus name.
God please continue to keep me from the temptations that come when people make me angry and I know I am right and they are wrong. Help me to over look them and to hold my tongue and not say anything so that I will not continue to be stressed out.