Useful and Meaningful-2 Peter 1:5-8

5Do your best to improve your faith by adding goodness, understanding, 6self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7concern for others, and love. 8If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (CEV)

Peter earlier in verse 3 states that God gave us everything we need to live a life that pleases Him.

3We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God’s own power, when we learned he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. 4God made great and marvelous promises, so his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.
2 Peter 1:3-4 (CEV)

So, how do we please the Lord? By living like Jesus, by accepting and growing in various virtues. We improve our faith by embracing the virtues of goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, and love. God has equipped us, and through personal effort, our lives can be useful and meaningful.

How do we grow in goodness? By embracing virtues of moral excellence like those displayed by Jesus. While growing in patience, the ability to wait and not become annoyed or angry. It’s important to maintain self-control and control impulses when we are upset, while refraining from reacting. In addition, growth in faith occurs when we exhibit the virtues of understanding and concern for others.

These virtues help us become motivated to do good for others and make our lives useful and meaningful. When we improve our faith and add goodness and generous, selfless, sacrificial love, like Jesus, we will please the Lord.

5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.
2 Peter 1:5-9 (MSG)

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To be useful and meaningful, which virtue doing you need to work on understanding, patience, self-control, devotion to God, or concern and love for others?

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for your grace and mercy. Help us to grow in faith while becoming more useful and meaningful. Teach us to embrace goodness and become more understanding and compassionate. As the daisies grow upward toward the sun, let us grow in love and follow Your Son. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen

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Thanks, and Praise: Psalm 34:1-7

1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
Psalm 34:1

2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
Psalm 34: 2-3 (NIV)

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Psalm 34: 4-7 (NIV)

Americans are celebrating Thanksgiving this week. I am thankful for God’s love, mercy, and grace. “Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.” (Psalm34:3)

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Set Free – Romans 8:2

Click for a free Download print of “Set Free” flower with scripture photo.

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

What does condemnation mean? It means that by our sins, we are sentenced to death; we are condemned. However, our belief in Jesus delivers us from the power of sin.

Jesus was judged and crucified for our salvation. His death on the cross paid the full price for our sins. We are set free from the power of sin; there is no condemnation for anyone who believes in Jesus. We are declared righteous by God and set free by the law of the Holy Spirit.

2 I am now controlled by the law of the Holy Spirit. That law gives me life because of what Christ Jesus has done. It has set me free from the law of sin that brings death.
Romans 8:2 (NIRV)

Life with the law of the Holy Spirit in control sets us free from sin and death.

Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
Romans 8:1b-2 (MSG)

For whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NIV)

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Are you held captive by sin, or have you accepted Jesus and been set free from the law of sin and death?

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us Your Son, Jesus. By Your love, Jesus was crucified for our sins. We thank You that Jesus set us free from the law of sin. Like a butterfly is free to travel flower to flower, teach us to follow Jesus and be set free from sin and death. In Jesus’ name. Amen

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Yes in Christ: 2 Corinthians 1:20

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:20(NIV)

Yes, in Christ, through Jesus is God saying yes to all the promises he has made. God’s promises for deliverance and salvation are found in Jesus. Our loving God, through Jesus, offers us redemption, forgiveness, and a glimpse of God’s glory. By accepting Christ, we are claimed as children of God.

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26 (NLT)

The definition of Amen is to express solemn ratification, as an expression of faith, or heartfelt agreement and approval. (Merriam-Webster) God says yes, in Christ, and we say Amen.

20Certainly, Christ made God’s many promises come true. For that reason, because of our message, people also honor God by saying, “Amen!” 21God establishes us, together with you, in a relationship with Christ. He has also anointed us. 22In addition, he has put his seal [of ownership] on us and has given us the Spirit as his guarantee.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (GWT)

Our Heavenly Father adds His seal, His pledge to us by giving us the indwelling Holy Spirit; our guide and guarantee of what is to come.

God, through Jesus says yes to us, and we reply with heartfelt Amen!

Amen, to the glory of God!

20-22 Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit, he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.
2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (MSG)

Prayer: Lord, we thank You; You are our rock, strength, and caring Father. Thank You for Your son, Jesus, who was crucified for our sins and upholds your promises. Teach us to stand firm in faith and be guided by the Holy Spirit. Like a geranium plant that blooms spring through autumn, let us spring forth with gratitude and respond with a heartfelt grateful Amen. In Jesus’ holy name. Amen

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God’s promises are stamped yes, with Christ. Have you accepted the yes of Christ?

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