The Diligent Christian

II Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

The successful Christian life is one in which victories are gained and growth is achieved incrementally. We decide the size of those increments.

II Cor 5:17 states that: ...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Being placed into Christ is instantaneous, but growth is not. Growth is incremental. We become new creatures when we are born again into the family of God. But the things that "are become new" take time.

There are so many factors involved in our growth: perception, denial of self, increase of faith, learning the ways of God, dependence upon God, the filling of the Holy Spirit, a bold witness, the grace of giving, service to God and others, etc.

We do know that good, healthy growth cannot occur if we are not committed to the process. "Flash in the pan" Christianity will never cut it. We must be in it for the long haul or we will surely fall as we are warned in II Pet. 1:10, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:"

The due diligence which will ensure our godly growth and carry us through to strength and completion involves an evolving process which Peter lists in this passage. We master a character trait and then add to it the next one.

The List:

*Faith (by which we are saved!) plus…

*Virtue (true living) plus…

*Knowledge (of God's ways) plus…

*Temperance (control those fleshly passions) plus…

*Patience (with the process) plus…

*Godliness (becoming more like Him) plus…

*Brotherly kindness (following the golden rule) plus…

*Charity (love in action)

Mastery of these virtues will cause us to abound in our growth and be fruitful in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Without the maturation of these traits in our Christian lives, we become short-sighted and forgetful. (verse 9) The short-sightedness blinds us of the finish line, where Jesus awaits us with our welcome,"Well done, thou good and faithful servant." The forgetfulness is of our initiation, salvation from the filth of sin and the world to a new life in Christ.

If we can keep a good perspective of where we came from and where we are headed, we can be patient with, and even enjoy our growth process.

The key word, mentioned twice in this short passage, is diligence. The journey calls for commitment, purpose, determination, faithfulness and application. Are you up for it?

Enjoy your journey!

The 8-Fold Exhortation of Peter to Preachers

1Pe 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
1Pe 5:3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

Peter is speaking as one elder to other elders. The word "elder" means "presbyter" which refers not only to those who are advanced in age, but advanced in the work of the Lord. These exhortations are to senior pastors of the churches.

Problems precipitate policy. It could be that there were those elders who were negligent, possibly even abusive, in their ministry with their congregations. Peter calls on those elders to feed and lead their flocks effectively and with the proper motivation.

He invites them to:
1. Feed the Flock
2. Take the Lead
3. Not because you HAVE to...you GET to!
4. Feed and Lead willingly. Be thankful for the ministry God has entrusted to you.
5. Don't do it for money! The benefits for ministry are "out of this world!" God's paychecks for preachers are far superior to what any congregation could afford and His paydays are really something toward which to work.
6. Keep your mind sharp, willing and ready. As Paul said, be instant in season, out of season.
7. Do not lord it over the flock. They are not to be subjugated to condescending clergy. They need to be led, not driven.
8. Be an example. In Timothy, the preacher is told to be an example in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (I Tim 4:12)

We all have our ideas of what a preacher should be. We tend to concern ourselves with their personalities, their preaching styles, their work habits, financial dealings, people skills, even their recreational choices. But a good pastor, who meets the qualifications of I Timothy 3 and Titus 1, must concern himself with feeding and leading the flock of God with the proper motivation and example.

Once a Christian is an active member of the church in which they know God wants them to serve, they must pray for, support and work along side that God-called, servant-leader, their elder/presbyter/bishop/pastor.

Oh, and about that payday for the pastor, when your Pastor, the Chief Shepherd comes to take us to our new Church in heaven, you will receive a crown of glory that will never tarnish.

Gracious and Precious

1Pe 2:3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, 5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

It strikes me that this former, rugged, cussing fisherman now shows this softer side, using words such as gracious and precious.

But that's what happens when those rough edges begin to get rounded off by God's grace. Not that Peter wasn't still a man's man. I mean, he chose inverted crucifixion as his preferred mode of crown receiving. He endured hardness as a good soldier. But the guy who used to smell like fish and sweat learned how to smell the roses of God's goodness.

How precious!

Sunday is Pentecost

What was Pentecost? A Jewish feast. “The fiftieth day” Root word “pente” (5/50) days after Passover. It celebrates the giving of the law on Sinai. Do you remember what happened way back on Sinai? Moses went up into the mountain and God came down and met him there. Moses saw God! As a result he glowed, so much so that they couldn’t even look at Moses’ face! There were lightnings and thunders and an earthquake! God wrote on the tables of stone with His finger. Moses returned with the Law of God!

But on this Acts 2 Pentecost, it was just 10 days after the ascension of Jesus into heaven. He had just given them the promise of Acts 1:8 and the charge of Mt 28:18-20.

All the believers went into the upper room, once again, God came down as they went up. Instead of lightning and thunder, there was the sound of a mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues of fire came upon them. God shook the place. They came out of that place so full of the Holy Ghost that they glowed and rather than having the Law of God, they had the Grace of God!

I wonder how many professing believers won't show up this Sunday when God comes down!

Free to Serve

1 Peter 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 1Pe 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

In our service for the Lord, we must also serve others. We can do this because, we who are reborn, can take our eyes off ourselves and bless others:

1. Honor all men. That is, ascribe the value of each individual. He/she is one for whom Jesus gave His life. And He would have done so if that person were the only one needing saved.

2. Love the brotherhood. That is, the fellowship of saints, those of the household of God. Put their needs above your own. Practice "agapao," a godly love toward them. Though they are undeserving, let your love toward them be unwavering.

3. Fear God. Respect, reverence and be in awe of Him Who created and sustains you.

4. Honor the king. Submit yourself to your superiors while magnifying their dignity.

Our liberty in Christ frees us from the shackles which restrain exemplary citizenship. Prior to our redemption we were unable to treat God and our fellowman properly because we were too caught up by bitterness, resentment and distrust. The beam in our own eye kept us from clearly seeing the needs of others.

But now, we have been delivered from self and are able to reach up and out and down and minister to others. Thank God for our deliverance from our inflated egos so that we can honor and love others.

You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant. Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table.

"Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend.

"What's troubling you?" asked the other. "Look what you've done," he answered. "You've given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself." "How would you have done it?" the man asked. His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece." "Well," replied the man, "I've got it, haven't I?" At this, they both laughed.

Free to Serve

1Pe 2:16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness,

but as the servants of God. 1Pe 2:17 Honour all men. Love the rotherhood.

Fear God. Honour the king.

In our service for the Lord, we must also serve others. We can do this

because, we who are reborn, can take our eyes off ourselves and bless

others:

1. Honor all men. That is, ascribe the value of each individual. He/she is one for whom Jesus gave His life. And He would have done so if that person were the only one needing saved.

2. Love the brotherhood. That is, the fellowship of saints, those of the household of God. Put their needs above your own. Practice "agapao," a godly love toward them. Though they are undeserving, let your love toward them be unwavering.

3. Fear God. Respect, reverence and be in awe of Him Who created and sustains you.

4. Honor the king. Submit yourself to your superiors while magnifying their dignity.

Our liberty in Christ frees us from the shackles which restrain exemplary

citizenship. Prior to our redemption we were unable to treat God and our

fellowman properly because we were too caught up by bitterness, resentment

and distrust. The beam in our own eye kept us from clearly seeing the needs

of others.

But now, we have been delivered from self and are able to reach up and out and

down and minister to others. Thank God for our deliverance from our inflated

egos so that we can honor and love others.

You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant.

Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. "Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend.

"What's troubling you?" asked the other. "Look what you've done," he answered. "You've given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself." "How would you have done it?" the man asked. His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece." "Well," replied the man, "I've got it, haven't I?" At this, they both laughed.