and a Very Merry Christmas to all! Can you believe that we have one week left of readings and we will have read through the whole Bible??? God will bless your endurance in getting to know Him.
My study Bible says that the book of 2 Peter was the last book admitted to the canon of the New Testament Scripture because the date and destination and the authorship have been disputed. There are major similarities to this book and Jude. This is considered to have been written 3 years after 1 Peter, possibly from Rome. Peter knew that his time on earth was limited (1:13, 14), so he wrote what was on his heart: especially the presence of false teachers. The Gospel is never going to change, so we need to measure all teachings to it. When we get to the point where the message of the Gospel is overtaken by teachers who are just in it for the money, we need to take issue. The Gospel is not for people to get monetarily rich....we get rich with the Spiritual blessings and the major gift of eternal life. Peter reminds us in 1:20 that Above all you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is patient: 3:9 tells us He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Jude was Jesus' brother, just like James was. They were step brothers of course, with Joseph as Jude and James father and God as Jesus'! Jude also reminded the church of the need of constant vigilance....sometimes it is hard to keep the faith when we feel persecution and opposition, but we are called to it! Jude gives us Old Testament examples of those who refused to listen. I love this from my study Bible: Those who refuse to learn correct doctrine are susceptible to false teaching because they are not fully grounded in God's truth....this is a further blessing for us reading through the Bible!!! We are called to persevere....things are going to get worse with apostasy (turning against God), and since we know this is going to happen, we can be warned and arm ourselves. We have the Holy Spirit...he is the deposit in us, and the promise of eternal life!! There is no greater gift as we celebrate the birth of the child today....
Look what comes up from the depths of the sea.
After you read, feel free to make a comment or ask a question in the comment box. You can sign up as a follower on the right, or you can sign up by e-mail at the bottom if you would like to follow the whole year. You may also chose to simply read along and make no comments. Whatever you choose. If you fall behind, as most people will do, don't worry...the whole year is here and you can catch up at your own speed. I highly encourage you to stick with it, If you read the Bible, you are going to mine some real jewels and insights.
Notes from my Bible:
ReplyDeleteThe Christian life demands diligence in pursuing moral excellence, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and selfless love.
I really like 1:5-8 "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self control, to self control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ>"
also verse 21.. "for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." This points out that these men were speaking the message of God, from God....not themselves as they see it. It is God's message.
verse 2:9 is good to know....'then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgement"..... I know I'm far from godly....but I hope this means that when judgement comes, the Lord will help me from temptations.....
verse 2:19 really applies to our society now: "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage." So many people try to keep up with other lifestyles, follow the crowd, do what everyone else is doing, go business transactions that are criminal or morally wrong, etc......and end up in a lifestyle that is destructive ....
Notes in my Bible on how to have spiritual growth:
1. We are responsible for renewing our mind. We mus meditate on the Bible, which expresses the thought of God. Not just reading, but thinking about what the words mean then applying them to our lives.
2. WE must be ready to admit our failures and have responsibility. If we deny our sins, then the delay our spiritual growth.
3. After confession should come repentance. We commit to make an about face and head in the opposite direction from our sin.