Bound For Home

(Other meditations are accessible from the Welcome page.) 

(Audio narration is accessible from the Post, by clicking the Forward button at left.)

How do you stay focused on living according to God’s truth?  

Soon after writing his last letter, Peter went home to heaven — by means of execution at the hands of the Roman government, for the crime of serving Jesus.

About the same time, Paul was re-incarcerated in Rome, where he eventually experienced a similar entrance to his heavenly home.  While awaiting execution, Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy (327).

Paul began by giving thanks to God for Timothy’s faithful service to the believers in Ephesus, Turkey.  The main aim of the letter was to encourage Timothy.  Paul wrote that the young leader would continue to find in Jesus all the power, love & self-control he would need for his ministry.

• As a soldier of Christ, Timothy was reminded to fight for the glory of his commander.
• As an athlete for Christ, Timothy was reminded to run his race according to God’s plan.
• As a farmer for Christ, Timothy was reminded that he would be blessed by God for the harvest of souls in Ephesus.

Accurately teaching the truths of the inspired scriptures would continue to be of fundamental importance in Timothy’s ministry.  So-called teachers, who distorted the truths of scriptures, would continue to be a great danger to the body of Christ.

As a clean serving dish is used to serve nourishing food, Timothy was reminded to keep himself unstained by the sins of the world, in order to be most effectively used by God to nourish the Ephesian believers with God’s truth.

However, such service would never be easy, because there is so much evil in the world; as always, the world would continue to persecute faithful followers of Jesus.

But Paul again urged Timothy to stay focused on teaching God’s truth from the inspired scriptures – which are ever useful for correcting wrong living & for guiding believers in right living.

Paul closed his last letter with a strong sense of having run his race in accord with God’s will for his earthly life, and a strong sense of assurance that he would soon enter into heavenly life.

LORD, please help us to love living the life You give.

How do you stay focused on living according to God’s truth?  

(327) 2 Timothy 1-4

Peter Encourages Holiness

(Other meditations are accessible from the Welcome page.) 

(Audio narration is accessible from the Post, by clicking the Forward button at left.)

How will you let God make you more holy, today?

Peter’s second & last letter to Christian friends was written at the end of his life, from Rome (326).  In this short letter, Peter offers us: practical advice for our daily walk with Jesus, another warning against false teachers, and a reminder of the promises we have in Jesus.

Peter wrote this letter because his love for God inspired him to love us.  His prayer is that our love for God will inspire us to love other people.

God wants us to share in his divine nature, says Peter.  Jesus has made this possible, by his sacrificial death & by his resurrection.  The Holy Spirit is the divine nature of God, the living heart of the body of Christ.  But in order to grow in the divine nature of God, individual members of the body of Christ must be diligent in several things.  In other words, we have to cooperate with the leading of the Holy Spirit in order to grow up.

• Faith is first. We receive God’s grace by faith, not because of anything we are or do.  Faith is how our life in God begins.  But then, God expects us to grow up in a variety of ways.
• We are expected to pursue goodness (or virtue or purity).  Daily fellowship with other members of the body of Christ helps us do this.
• We are expected to pursue knowledge of God’s nature & of his ways.  Daily meditation on God’s word helps us do this.
• We are expected to pursue self-control (letting our spirit rule our flesh). Daily private time with God in prayer helps us do this.
• We are expected to pursue perseverance (or patience or longsuffering or endurance or steadfastness).  Daily depending on God to work all things for our good at just the right time helps us do this.
• We are expected to pursue godliness.  Daily letting God have his way in our lives helps us do this. He’s the master; we’re his servants.
• We are also expected to pursue kindness toward other believers every day —  especially toward newer believers.
• The culmination of all this pursuing is love – for other believers and for those who remain separated from God.

As we put on these Christ-like characteristics, we bear fruit for God’s kingdom; otherwise, we remain barren.

False teachers were not only barren but also dangerous.  They tended, in various ways, to keep the people’s focus on themselves, instead of on Jesus.  They were more interested in their own material welfare, than in the spiritual welfare of the believers in their care.  Peter warns the members of the body of Christ to be aware of the ever-present danger posed by false teachers.

By contrast, Jesus died for our spiritual welfare, in this life & in the next.  He has promised that our earthly lives will ultimately give way to life in heaven, which is our ultimate welfare.  Until that day, our part is to live holy lives, dedicated to God, here on the earth.

LORD, please help us to love holiness in this life.

How will you let God make you more holy, today?

(326) 2 Peter 1-3