GOD Morning! November 29 / I Gotta Lose Weight!

GOD Morning!

November 29 / I Gotta Lose Weight!

2 Peter 1

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle (special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to those who have received (obtained an equal privilege of) like precious faith with ourselves in and through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

Okay verse one tells me that this next portion of scripture is written specifically for me. Cool!

² May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Yesssss!!! I receive this! May grace and peace be multiplied to me as I chase after a PERSONAL and PRECISE knowledge of MY God!!!

³ For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).

Okay WOW. I need these encouraging words today. His POWER has given me everything I need to live a FULL life by abiding in the FULL and PERSONAL knowledge of Him. Oh and there’s more! He CALLED ME! He called me to be His OWN.

⁴ By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.

Do you ever feel like running away from it all? Well, be encouraged. Anytime we want to run away, we can enter into His presence and ESCAPE the rottenness of this world and become a part of Him. We abide in Him, and He abides in us!

⁵ For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence),

⁶ And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety),

⁷ And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.

“I could never do all that,” you may say. Oh yes, you can! How? By simply abiding in Him. Think of it as a challenge. Compared to a weight loss or fitness challenge. Incredible freedom comes when we lose weight. The weight of sin. The opposite of all of these virtues. LACK of control (no more “What was I thinking???” regrets), impatience, evil thoughts and actions, disregard for others, and hatred. As we develop the good virtues, we lose a ton of weight! Carrying around the weight of all of those bad attitudes can be exhausting.

⁸ For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

No more slacking and no more feeling guilty about being a slacker.

⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is blind, [spiritually] shortsighted, seeing only what is near to him, and has become oblivious [to the fact] that he was cleansed from his old sins.

Wow, I have certainly been at this place… Blind! Focusing on myself. My own pain and misery. Oblivious to the fact that I was once cleansed; and my mind filled with guilt along with all of the above opposites that I just described.

¹⁰ Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast) your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall.

¹¹ Thus there will be richly and abundantly provided for you entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

BOOM. If I strengthen and make steadfast my high calling by abiding in Jesus and STRIVING to be like Him, I will never stumble or fall.

¹² So I intend always to remind you about these things, although indeed you know them and are firm in the truth that [you] now [hold].

And what a timely and beautiful reminder it is! I need this reminder always.

¹³ I think it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle (tent, body), to stir you up by way of remembrance,

¹⁴ Since I know that the laying aside of this body of mine will come speedily, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.

¹⁵ Moreover, I will diligently endeavor [to see to it] that [even] after my departure (decease) you may be able at all times to call these things to mind.

¹⁶ For we were not following cleverly devised stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (grandeur, authority of sovereign power).

¹⁷ For when He was invested with honor and glory from God the Father and a voice was borne to Him by the [splendid] Majestic Glory [in the bright cloud that overshadowed Him, saying], This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased and delight,

¹⁸ We [actually] heard this voice borne out of heaven, for we were together with Him on the holy mountain.

These aren’t cute, exciting stories folks! These amazing miracles really happened! And we have eyewitnesses!

¹⁹ And we have the prophetic word [made] firmer still. You will do well to pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal (squalid and dark) place, until the day breaks through [the gloom] and the Morning Star rises (comes into being) in your hearts.

²⁰ [Yet] first [you must] understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of any personal or private or special interpretation (loosening, solving).

²¹ For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it [to do so—it never came by human impulse], but men spoke from God who were borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit.

“Thank You, Jesus! Thank You for speaking through Your messengers who were moved on by the Holy Ghost. Praise You! I am incredibly encouraged today as I read and EAT this Word. How I love Your word. How I love You, Jesus! AMEN”