A Few Reminders

I can't find any excuse for not studying the Word of God; not only does it guide my path, but it makes clear how I should live my life. It gives me purpose when I look around me in this world today. The Bible never changes; while time has changed and is changing, the Word of God remains the same.

I have just read some scriptures in the book of 2 Peter 1:5-9 which serves as a reminder to let God's Word fill my memory, rule my heart and guide my steps. A reminder of a pattern that should mark every believer's spiritual development. Like the fruit of the Spirit, these marks of spiritual maturity are independent and interconnected at the same time.

These are the reminders: In 2 Peter 1:9 it says, "but for the 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, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. We must add these qualities to our faith.

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 if anyone does not have them, the commentary says he is nearsighted and blind and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Our faith must go beyond what we believe. It must become a part of all we do. We must put our faith into action. It must produce good fruit and spiritual maturity. Salvation does not depend on good deeds, but results in good deeds. You cannot earn your salvation; it is a gift from God. I am going to say this again. Salvation does not depend on good deeds, but results in good deeds.

Some people actually think that if they do enough good deeds, this will guarantee them a place in heaven. Once you accept Jesus Christ in your heart, you have earned your salvation. Once you are saved, you want to do good deeds.

The Apostle Peter tells us that God's divine power equips us for everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him. How do we get this knowledge and godliness? We have to study and meditate on the Word of God. We have to be in a bible teaching church where the Word of God is being taught and where we can fellowship with other Christians who are experiencing the same things we are.

God has given us His very great and precious promises so that we may participate in His divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires. (1 Peter 1:3-4) God has given us His Word and in His Word He is telling us that it is His divine nature that will help us mature spiritually.

Therefore, we should make every effort to add these qualities to our faith. We must work hard to add them to our faith, as they are not automatic. We have to work each of them all together.

No matter what kind of memory we have, we need to incorporate biblical principles into our daily living. I had a Sunday School teacher who use to write out scriptures for us and put them in prescription bottles. She would encourage us to take a scripture a day and try to memorize it and by doing this, we would incorporate biblical scriptures into our memory. Scriptures are like our daily medicine and will help us with any problem we might have, she would say.

Thought for Today: We want to be approved workmen, equipped with the Word of God, and who are not ashamed to preach and teach the Word of God.