DEFINITELY HIS OR NOT It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” —II Peter 2:21-22 Who are those that truly love and live for the Lord Jesus Christ? How is it possible to know who is truly a disciple? The answer is time and a changed life shown by the outward fruit produced by the inward transformation…

SELF CHECK! For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. —II Peter 1:5-9 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the…

GIFTED BY GRACE Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. —I Peter 4:10-11 What spiritual gift have you been given by God’s grace? If you are a faithful steward of that gift then you are using it— whether it is a speaking…

CHOSEN! But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. —I Peter 2:9 You, fellow follower of Jesus, have been chosen. You are part of His royal priesthood. You are in His holy nation. You are God’s special possession. Wow! As such He desires us to declare His praises. This is part of why He called us out of the “darkness and into His wonderful light.” Have we declared His praises to anyone recently? Have we praised Him lately? Ever play a pick-up game where two…

REDEEMED TO AN ETERNAL INHERITANCE! Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. —I Peter 1:3-6…

YOUR LIFE IS SHORT! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. —James 4:14 Life is so short when compared to eternity. Compared to eternity the temporal life on this planet is almost nothing. God is so immense. He is eternal and we truly have a very hard time comprehending that which is eternal. It is truly astounding. We are like a vapor that quickly vanishes, a shadow that soon fades, a breath that is briefly exhaled or the brevity of the blink of the eye. How many years have you lived? Look back. Haven’t those years flown by? Can you…

A POWERFUL BODY MEMBER! With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. —James 3:9-10 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. —Proverbs 18:21 As powerful as turning a massive horse or a rudder steering a huge ship, so is that tiny tongue in your mouth. It can be used to praise our Lord and Father or it can curse the very people that God created in His…

FAITH WORKS! What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is…

MY HELP “The Lord is my helper.” —Hebrews 13:6 Who is there to better help us than the Lord Jesus Christ? Nobody, and so let us run to Him for the help we need. He is always there for us. He said He would never leave us nor forsake us and that He would be with us until the end of the age (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20). Yes, Jesus will help! Go to Him! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfiYWaeAcRw Dear Father, may I run to You first. Thank You for the help You give me. I am so grateful. May I go forward with that help and be a faithful follower of Jesus in…

CREATION WILL BE SHAKEN! The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” —Hebrews 12:27-29 All created things will be shaken and only those things that cannot be shaken will remain. What is it that will remain? Only His Kingdom will not be shaken! Every single follower of Jesus is part of that kingdom and will not be shaken when all other created things are (Colossians…