June 13
________________________________________
OUTCOME OF GOD’S PRECIOUS AND MAGNIFICENT PROMISES
Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 for His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 Through these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world on account of lust. – 2 Peter 1:1-4
________________________________________
In this letter, Peter addresses the people who have the same faith as his. He emphasized that we receive it by the righteousness of our God and Savior Christ Jesus. Peter always starts his salutation with a greeting of peace and grace. In this letter, he greets them with a double blessing of knowledge of God and the Lord Jesus.
Peter mentions the divine power that only comes from God and discusses the importance of true knowledge of Him who called us all so we can give him all the glory and excellence.
He talks to the believers about the aftermath of focusing on God’s magnificent promises. It is the only way that they may share God’s divine nature and stay pure and able to resist lusts in this world.
Biblegateway.com lists about 5467 promises in the bible. Some other websites mention 7000 to 8000. It doesn’t matter what the exact number is but what is important is the knowledge that we can count on. If you do the math, that is about 14 promises per day in a year. So, how come we don’t look forward to all of them? Many believers probably don’t stand on these promises or even know them. How can one look up to something that is not clear? That is why we are bombarded with them in the bible so that we can have something to be expectant about even 14 times per day in a year. Can you imagine how this world would look like if each person knows the promises they can look forward to on a daily basis? There will be an end to negative thinking, depression, hopelessness or frustration. Each one would be full of hope and expectancy to see the promises happen in their lives on a regular basis. Each one would get deeper knowledge of who God is and how he provides and gives us all that we need. There will be no room for complaining and whining. It will be a world of contentment and gratitude to a God who gives it all.
________________________________________
REFLECTION
• Why is it important to focus on God’s promises regularly?