Author: Rick Henderson

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:10-16 (day seven)

[…] to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,  and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. vs 9-10

False teachers are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are crafty and cunning. They say things that make you feel good. They tickle your ears and scratch your itch. They will have a large following and will seem prosperous, but God tells us that their judgment is coming!

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. James 3:1

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:6

God takes His teaching seriously. Teaching to tickle ears may please the masses, but they are not pleasing the Master. All of us as Christians should not take this warning lightly. We are all called to lead and teach. Whether it is a small group, large group, or just our family, we are all responsible for passing on the Promises of God. Who are you aiming to please through your teachings?

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:4-9 (day seven)

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment. vs 4

One of the illustrations I have been using with our youth recently is “Play Doh Jesus.” Why do kids (and let’s be honest, adults) like play doh so much? It is because we have control to make the object look the way we want it. There are many people in modern society that like Jesus because what they are following is not the Jesus of the Bible. It is a Jesus that they have molded to be someone they are comfortable with.

“My Jesus cares about the things I care about.”

“My Jesus would be in my political party.”

“My Jesus doesn’t judge me for my actions.”

They like this Jesus so much more because it feels like they are in control instead of Jesus being in control. They have created an idol out of play doh instead of allowing the Creator to mold them into what He wants them to be.

Jesus wants you to care about what He cares about.

Jesus wants you to be Kingdom minded.

Jesus is The Judge.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 2:1-3 (day seven)

Many will follow their sensuality… vs 2

Just because something is popular and widely followed does not mean that it is of God. Just because people you know are following a teacher, doesn’t mean the teacher is following God. Often when things are popular or trending theologically, it ends up being a false teaching. Why might this be so?

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

People follow popular trends because it makes them feel good about themselves, especially if it validates a part of them that the Lord is trying to redeem. If the things that we are following are a new revelation, not supported by scripture, or not taught faithfully throughout history, we should pause to ask why we are drawn to this ideology in the first place.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:16-21 (day seven)

I write this post from the ocean view patio of Port Royal Resort near Port Aransas where our High Schoolers from FBCSA have spent the weekend retreating in God’s creation and resting in His Word. Our theme for weekend has been relationships. We have talked about our relationships with friends, authority, parents, and even dating. Most importantly, we have tried to highlight that if our relationship with God is not our primary focus, then our other relationships will struggle to fulfill our needs.

We are created for relationships. God designed us with a desire to have deep relationships, but he designed us so that we need relationship with Him. When we fix our eyes on Jesus and run after Him with everything we have, God will provide us the needs we have for relationships through the Presence of His Holy Spirit and through the other people that we have found to be running along side us.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:12-15 (day seven)

And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. vs 15

In modern baseball there is an advanced metric that is being used to grade individual player’s success: WAR- Wins Above Replacement. This metric is gauged by a player’s success compared to a replacement level player in the same position. Essentially, you want other players to not succeed so that you have a higher WAR score. You want your team to realize that you are irreplaceable. You don’t want the person backing you up to take your place.

This is how I have lived most of my life. I have wanted those around me to be so dependent on me that they would see me as irreplaceable. It started with sports, but that mentality carried over to other areas, including my profession… which is ministry. Why would I want my ministry to fail if I departed?

The answer is in the question. It isn’t my ministry, it is God’s. I am not playing a game for individual success. I am a part of a much bigger team that God is using to reach this generation. My job is to work myself out of a job. I should be investing and discipling in such a way that my departure does not bring about a cessation of progress. Rather, when I depart, ministry should continue to flourish because I discipled well.

What about you? Are you living in such a way that your legacy will continue to be carried on when you are gone, or are you living to not be replaced?

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:8-11  (day seven)

be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you. 

Jesus calls us all. In the middle of the storm, in the depths of darkness, the voice of the Lord is continually calling out to guide us to Him. The enemy will use the storms and darkness to muffle the voice of the Lord so that we do not hear Him or to think that we do not need Him; but once that voice penetrates through the void and you hear the sweetest sound, you cannot help but to draw nearer to it. The storm begins to calm and the darkness is flooded with light all because you answered the call.

for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble.

Were you chosen or were you called? The answer is both. It is by the practice of these things, the gifts and fruit mentioned in last week’s study, that we find ourselves drawing nearer to the Lord and in turn being made into His Image. It is then that we look back and realize that this calling was bigger than us. We were chosen to become Image Bearers and His Ambassadors back into the storm and the darkness, bringing peace and light, so that others might hear His voice and realize they too have been chosen.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:5-8  (day seven)

… and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. vs 7

Is your heart heavy this week? We grieve the loss of a young mother in our congregation to cancer. We grieve the loss of a young father who was assassinated for speaking his conservative (and often Christian) beliefs. There were murders in trains and shootings in schools. To make all this worse, social media has been wrought with division as people seek to make death political.

In the midst of the heaviness of death, there is a spark of life. There is a call being made to unification. There is a call being made to boldness. There is a call to kindness. There is a call to love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. vs 8

Do you want to be useful in this call? For us to be effective in loving the world around us in such a time as this, we need to invite the Holy Spirit to instill in us a desire to increase all these qualities of a complete faith. If we increase in these things, we are promised Jesus will increase in us. If Jesus increases in Us, we are promised that Jesus will increase in the world.

Re:Verse passage – 2 Peter 1:1-4  (day seven)

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises. vs 4

Precious; a word that derives an image in our minds. Maybe it takes you to a Precious Moment figurine, a precious jewel, or maybe if you are a Tolkien nerd like me, you hear the voice of Sméagol saying, “My precious!” The language is meant to draw an image. Even if Peter had no clue that we would connect the image to a fantasy fiction series, he clearly wanted us to see that God’s promises are immensely powerful and intensely personal. These are characteristics of God that He reveals to us in our faith and through His promises.

These promises are magnificent. When we see them come to fruition, we realize that it was greater than we ever could have dreamed. He is Immensely Powerful. Yet, like a jewel, much of the value is found in its rarity. He does not hand out promises like a politician trying to win favor with the people. He gives you a promise at the moment you need it so that He can show you How great He really is. He is Intensely Personal. You are precious to Him, and so His promises are precious to you.