2 Peter 1, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: A LITTLE HOPE

Water. All Noah can see is water. You can relate. You’ve known your share of floods. Flooded by sorrow at the cemetery, anger at the disability in your body, fear of the uncertainty of a pandemic. And you’ve needed what Noah needed; you’ve needed hope. Sometimes all we need is a little hope. That’s all Noah needed, and that’s what Noah received. This is how the Bible describes the moment: “When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!” (Genesis 8:11).

Hope is an olive leaf—evidence of dry land after a flood. Could you some hope? Could you use a fresh start? At some point in life we all could. And the oh-so-welcome news of Scripture is this: our God is a God of fresh starts.

2 Peter 1

 I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.

Don’t Put It Off
3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

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. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The One Light in a Dark Time
12-15 Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. I know that I’m to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me. And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you’ll have it for ready reference.

16-18 We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight.” We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.

19-21 We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, January 01, 2021
Today's Scripture & Insight:

Isaiah 43:1–7

Israel’s Only Savior

But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.
6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
    and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
    and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
    whom I created for my glory,
    whom I formed and made.”

Insight
The Bible Knowledge Commentary points out that the phrase “but now” (or “and now”), which launches Isaiah 43:1, is a repeating feature of this section of Isaiah’s prophecy. It’s also found in 44:1; 49:5; and 52:5. In a section that boldly promises God’s rescue of the people of Israel, the phrase “but now” sets God’s promised rescue in contrast to the discipline He’s brought upon His people because of their chronic waywardness (see Isaiah 42). The vital thing to remember, however, is that God’s acts of correction and rescue are both expressions of His love for His people. Though they’d rejected His love, He loved them to the point of disciplining them for their wrongful actions. Then He loved them enough to bring them home.

Uncharted Waters
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.  Isaiah 43:2

The ball drops in New York’s Times Square. The crowd counts down to Big Ben chiming. Sydney Harbor erupts in fireworks. However your city marks it, there’s something exciting about welcoming in a new year and the fresh start it brings. On New Year’s Day we push out into new waters. What friendships and opportunities might we find?

For all its excitement, though, a new year can be unsettling. None of us knows the future or what storms it may hold. Many New Year’s traditions reflect this: Fireworks were invented in China to supposedly ward off evil spirits and make a new season prosperous. And New Year’s resolutions date back to the Babylonians who made vows to appease their gods. Such acts were an attempt to make an unknown future secure.

When they weren’t making vows, the Babylonians were busy conquering people—including Israel. In time, God sent the enslaved Jews this message: “Do not fear . . . . When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:1–2). Later, Jesus said something similar when He and the disciples were caught sailing in a violent storm. “Why are you so afraid?” He told them before commanding the waters to be still (Matthew 8:23–27).

Today we push out from the shore into new, uncharted waters. Whatever we face, He’s with us—and He has the power to calm the waves. By:  Sheridan Voysey

Reflect & Pray
What possibilities excite you as you look forward to a new year? What worries can you place in God’s hands?

God, thank You that whatever this new year brings, You will be with me in it.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, January 01, 2021
Let Us Keep to the Point

"…my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death." —Philippians 1:20

My Utmost for His Highest. “…my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed….” We will all feel very much ashamed if we do not yield to Jesus the areas of our lives He has asked us to yield to Him. It’s as if Paul were saying, “My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest— my best for His glory.” To reach that level of determination is a matter of the will, not of debate or of reasoning. It is absolute and irrevocable surrender of the will at that point. An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point— He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only— my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.

My Unstoppable Determination for His Holiness. “Whether it means life or death-it makes no difference!” (see Philippians 1:21). Paul was determined that nothing would stop him from doing exactly what God wanted. But before we choose to follow God’s will, a crisis must develop in our lives. This happens because we tend to be unresponsive to God’s gentler nudges. He brings us to the place where He asks us to be our utmost for Him and we begin to debate. He then providentially produces a crisis where we have to decide— for or against. That moment becomes a great crossroads in our lives. If a crisis has come to you on any front, surrender your will to Jesus absolutely and irrevocably.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come.  Shade of His Hand, 1226 L

Bible in a Year: Genesis 1–3; Matthew 1

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, January 01, 2021
Shields Up! - #8865

There are few TV series that have become more a part of the culture than the one that portrays the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Right! You got it, Star Trek. The original show has spawned like two or three other series and some major movies. So a lot of people know about the transporter which beams your molecules up and then down to another location or the weapon that the Trekkies call a phaser. And maybe you remember the command that one of the captains gives whenever the Enterprise is coming under fire. It's the directive that activates this invisible protection around their ship, "Shields up!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Shields Up!"

If you are trying to make any kind of difference for Jesus Christ, you know what it is to come under enemy fire. After all, "your enemy the devil," the Bible says, "prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). And that warning is in a passage that is actually addressed to spiritual activists. It's followed by this command, "Resist him." Or "Shields up!"

There's a time when we're particularly vulnerable to our enemy's attack; the time when we're most likely to have our shields down. Strangely enough, we are often most vulnerable immediately after God has done something powerful for us, through us, or think about Elijah. When was he suddenly so depressed he didn't even want to live anymore? Immediately after he challenged and defeated 450 false prophets in that fire-from-heaven showdown.

How about Moses? He's just met Jehovah on the mountain. He's received the laws of God from God's own mouth. And he comes down from the mountain to his people and they're worshiping the golden calf. Or think about Jesus. When does Satan come in and blast Him with relentless temptations? Right after Jesus' greatest spiritual moment - His baptism when heaven came down on Him. The disciples came down from seeing heaven on a mountain with Jesus, only to be confronted with the devil at the bottom of the mountain in the form of a demon-possessed boy.

One reason we are so vulnerable to Satan's attacks after a spiritual victory is this: we go into the battle with our shields up, spiritually alert, deeply dependent on God. We know we need it. But when the battle's over and we've won, we tend to lower our guard. We felt our need for the Lord going in; we forget how much we need Him coming out. So the devil is all over us after the victory. He knows we're too close to God during the battle itself, so he waits until the battle is over and we're spiritually relaxed.

That's when he hits you with that temptation, that discouragement or depression, that problem at home, problem at work, that conflict, those doubts. Sound familiar? You might be in the middle of that kind of attack right now. If it was during the big battle, you would instinctively know it was Satan and you'd fight back with everything you've got. But because it comes after the battle, you don't use your spiritual weapons. You tend to fight it as "flesh and blood" instead of "the spiritual forces of evil" (Ephesians 6:12). And you lose a battle you should be winning.

So, I love our word for today from the Word of God. It's in Isaiah 52:12 - "The Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard." See, God promises not only to look out for you as you're going into the battle, but He also says He'll be your "rear guard" after the battle.

So when God has worked mightily, when God has used you significantly, don't get spiritually careless. That's the time to give yourself that all-important order, "Shields up!"