The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day seven)

be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness. vs 17

Will it float? The question we will not forget from this series. Thank you Pastor Jimmy for bringing an illustration that challenges even us adults to test everything we hear against the word of God. Just like the world that Peter was living in when he wrote this letter, we are in a battle against false teachers and false doctrines. Our world is at a severe risk due to the platform that has been created for these doctrines to perpetuate (i.e. the internet/social media). That is why it is of the utmost importance to test everything we hear against the Word of God.  Also, test it against church history. Has it been taught faithfully in the church over time? There is no such thing as new doctrine. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He may reveal new insights to us. His mercies are new every morning, but His nature will never change.

How have you been encouraged by this series?

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day six)

When Peter tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18), he’s inviting us to practice good theology, not as academics, but as disciples who want to know God truly. The reality is, we’re all doing theology all the time. Every prayer we pray, every worship song we sing, every moment we try to make sense of life through Scripture, we’re already thinking and speaking about God. That’s theology.

Some say, “Don’t give me theology, just give me Jesus.” But the moment we open the Bible and describe who Jesus is, we’re doing theology. The real question isn’t whether we do theology, but whether we do it well. Doing good theology is more than the accumulation of knowledge; it shapes how we live in the world.

As Basil the Great said, “True theology isn’t curiosity; it’s devotion in the service of God.” (4th century)

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day five)

Pastor Peter’s final instruction and encouragement to these believers is one word- grow. “Make progress.” “Get forward.” “Become more and more like Jesus.” In a microwave and air fryer culture where we demand results in seconds or minutes, this is not the picture. It’s more like a smoker- taking hours upon hours to produce a finished product. “Low and slow” is the mantra for most who cook this way. So, how do you know when growth is happening?  With a smoker you use an internal temperature probe (see the temp increasing). How do you measure christian growth? Let me suggest like a smoker, mostly it happens slowly and internally. There are two primary probes- scripture (Hebrews 4:12) and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). But like a smoker there is  visible tangible evidence. Miguel Nunez offers the following questions to help discern and reveal growth:  Am I growing in my ability to love others? How much joy do I experience in my daily life? Is inner peace something I experience? How much have I grown in patience toward others and, especially, toward those who have sinned against me? How gentle or kind have I been today in dealing with others? Have I grown in humility or meekness? How often do I look at others and think they are proud? How am I doing with self control? Am I in control of my sinful impulses? How well am I controlling my anger? How do I speak to others?

“Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day four)

When some consider the end of the world, or the end of this present life as we know it, it causes them to want to live wildly, with reckless abandon. The thought is, “if this is all going away, let’s live it up while we can.” They figure if it’s all going to end anyway, there isn’t a long-term consequence to their choices now. We who belong to Christ, though, view things differently. When we consider the end of things as we know them now, we celebrate because a better thing is coming in its place. The perfected, redeemed, all-things-made-right heaven and earth is what we look forward to. So we don’t live as though there is no consequence; rather, we prepare for the greater things to come. We prepare like a bride for her groom. We prepare for the wedding feast of the Lamb. Our preparation comes through growing in holiness, gentleness, love, and mercy. Prepare well.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day three)

…the untaught and unstable distort [St. Paul’s letters], as they do also the rest of the scriptures, to their own destruction.

Knowing a lot of Bible, memorizing large sections of Scripture, studying immense swaths of holy writ – this is all well and good, even desirable, but it does not follow that those with the most well-worn Bibles or oft-visited Bible passage websites will live the most saint-like lives. A Sunday school teacher can be a bully; a child in Vacation Bible School who knows only  “Jesus went about doing good” can be a lighthouse to the lost. There is a difference between a life padded by scripture and a life formed by scripture.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:10-18 (day two) 

Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless…v. 14

In last week’s reading we were reminded that if we perceive God as slow, it is because he desires all to come to repentance. Peter goes on in our reading this week to warn that there will be an end to his long-suffering patience. There will be a time when the waiting is over, and a reckoning will be required. Peter isn’t saying this to scare people into salvation, but rather to sharpen and refine how we live in the now. Too often we put off spiritual conversations. We think we have time to share with a friend or family member about Jesus’ love. If we have an anticipation for his return, we should take the opportunities given to us to love, serve, and share Jesus’ love. Don’t miss an opportunity.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:8-9 (day seven)

[…] that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. vs 8b

We are linear. It is impossible for us to comprehend and understand how a day for God is the same as a thousand years. The comparison in and of itself can become problematic for the modern reader because of how linearly we think. Those reading Peter’s letter in the first century would have heard this much the way we today hear it in the words of C.S. Lewis:

“If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all.” – Mere Christianity 

God is outside of time. If it ever feels that He is not working or moving too slow, we must remember that He is with us now and He is already with us tomorrow. He comforts us in the present, and He holds the future in His hands. We are patient, even in the midst of the Storm, because we know that the Sovereign Lord is in complete control.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:8-9 (day six)

We are impatient people, especially when life is hard. When God delays, when prayers go unanswered, when justice seems postponed, when the world feels stuck, we assume He is slow, distant, or indifferent. But Peter reminds us of a deeper truth: The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise… He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8–9)

What we count as slowness, God counts as mercy.

Every moment God waits is another moment for someone to turn, another opportunity for grace to work its way into a hardened heart, another chance for redemption to break in. God’s “delay” is not neglect; it is compassion. It is the long, steady heartbeat of a Father who refuses to abandon His creation.

Instead of resenting His timing, Peter invites us to receive it as mercy – God’s patient work of gathering His people home.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 3:8-9 (day five)

“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 most challenging class I took in college was Greek. It was a three semester class. It was fascinating and exhilarating to study a biblical language. Every test (weekly) was “comprehensive”- meaning that for a year and a half, we were required to remember everything learned and taught from the beginning. Something read or presented (grammar rule, vocabulary word) in August of one year could (and often did) appear on a test in December the following year.
The Christian faith is “comprehensive,” meaning that the truths, insights, and promises of God are meant to be remembered and retained. What we learn and experience from the Lord is meant to stay with us in our hearts and minds forever. These early believers were quick to forget. So Pastor Peter continues to challenge them to remember (today’s text refers to Psalm 90). This kind of remembering is a spiritual discipline and also a facet of spiritual warfare. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “The devil doesn’t fill us with hatred for God, but with forgetfulness of God.”