Tag: Brotherly love

How To Improve Your Faith

On By Ed AlgreenIn Answered Prayer, Appreciation, Evidence of Faith, Faith, Needs, Praise, Recognize God, WorshipLeave a comment

DATE WRITTEN: Monday, 2020-11-09
WRITTEN AT: Ormond Beach, FL

BIBLE REFERENCE: 2 Peter 1:5-9
TRANSLATION: Contemporary English Version (CEV)

BIBLE TEXT: 5 Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If 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. 9 But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.

OBSERVATION: When I was in the working world, I would have to undergo training for certain new products or programs so that I could help my employer do a good job of introducing our products to our customers. There are also good training seminars and conferences available to church leaders to help them sharpen their skills for the Lord’s work. But seldom do we think about pursuing our life of godliness and looking for ways to enhance our faith. Let’s stop and ponder this thought today based on the Scripture.

APPLICATION: As I read these verses today, I was reminded that, just as a car could move if it had an engine, it is up to the driver to direct it’s path. It is also important for us to look for ways to contribute to our individual walk with, and our faith in, the Lord, so as God fills us with His awesome power, and guides us with His diligent guidance, we might aggressively contribute to a growing faith. and a closer walk with God. Here are seven important qualities that Peter directed us to add to our faith, with God’s help:
1) Goodness – Some translations also refer to this as Moral Excellence. So this revolves more around purity and uprightness of character through our obedience to God. We must aim at fulfilling our God-given purpose in a manner that would be pleasing to God and directed by Him. If we do, others will see us as a ‘good’ person, otherwise we might be called insincere;
2) Understanding – Also referred to as ‘Knowledge’, because the idea here is that the Christian must do all they can to acquire knowledge of God’s Word, and to seek after His guidance for their everyday walk;
3) Self-control – A mastery of self! Be disciplined and strive to control your desires and your passion. Remember that we were born into a wicked world, and because we live in this world we tend to like, imitate and desire the things of this world. The Christian must seek God’s help to help stay focused on, and practice the things of God;
4) Patience – Some translations also refer to this quality as ‘Perseverance’ because God knew how challenging it would be for us to keep on keeping on in spite of adversity. Let’s consider this to be patient endurance in holiness, despite our circumstance or our various tempters. You could see how badly we need God on this one;
5) Devotion to God – This might also be referred to as ‘Godliness’. Now, imagine how important it is to focus on our behavior to ensure that it reflects the character of God, while still living among the wicked;
6) Concern for others – This is also referred to as ‘Brotherly Kindness’. Thoughtful consideration for others, in spite of how they may gossip about you or treat you. Love them like God loves you – unconditionally;
7) Love – The Bible refers to love in various ways, using different Greek words. This particular word refers to the highest form of love – God’s kind of love that seeks the welfare of others ahead of self. Love reaches out to all people, those like you and those who look different. Those who believe like you and those who don’t. Remember, God loved the whole world enough that He sent His Son to die for us. That kind of love. Don’t you know that only God could inspire and help us to love like that?
The Scripture says that if we enhance our faith through adding these qualities – doing our part, then we will become useful and meaningful for the kingdom. I would hate to know that I am just here taking up space and of no worth to those that I meet, won’t you? With God’s help, we can do this friends!

PRAYER: It’s amazing how much You love us Lord, and also how much You care for us and show us how we could be more like You. Thank You for speaking through Your servant Peter to cause us to have a closer look at our faith, something we often take for granted. Lord, we need You each and every day to guide our steps and draw our attention to aligning our life with Yours. Please continue to work on us and give the strength, boldness and desire to draw close to You and Be more like You every day, so that others will be drawn to You. May the seven qualities mentioned in our Scripture become prevalent in our lives. AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: There are two more pages on my blog at https://NuggetsFromGodsWord.org that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading or listening to this devotional, please go to the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and see all of my posts, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. I would encourage you to find a church home near by your home, and attend as frequently as you could. Get to know God, and allow His people to encourage and strengthen you in your Christian walk, while making every effort to be a blessing to them. God is at work among His people! Please consider growing in your faith, as you worship with fellow believers!

How To Improve Your Faith

On By Ed AlgreenIn Faith, Like JesusLeave a comment

THE HOLY BIBLE (The Contemporary English Version – 2 Peter 1:5-9): 5 Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, 6 self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7 concern for others, and love. 8 If 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. 9 But if you don’t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven.

 THOUGHTS: Whenever trials and/or temptations come, I believe we quickly reflect on how our faith is tested! However, we find directly from God’s Word how we might maximize our faith, so that we can be better equipped to handle the trials and/or temptations of life. Here’s what God instructs through His servant Peter that we add to our lives so that our faith might be improved:

  • Goodness – This refers to moral excellence. Where a Christian lives up to his/her calling as a child of God;
  • Understanding – Make every effort to know what God has revealed in His Word. I don’t know about you, but I am challenged in being able to quote book and verse references, but I believe God has blessed me with a keen ear to know when something is said that either lines up with His Word, or not. We must make every effort to learn and understand what God placed in His instruction Book for us!
  • Self-control – the God-given ability to master oneself and to control one’s desires and/or passions. Without this, we will be much too selfish to help anyone else, or to please God unselfishly;
  • Patience – We must seek this quality to be able to continue on in the faith in spite of adversity. Satan can easily hinder our walk and/or our witness when he finds us weak in times of trouble. Endurance is super important to our ongoing faith in Jesus Christ;
  • Devotion to God – A desire to please God, and a behavior that reflects the character of God;
  • Concern for others – Brotherly kindness. Being thoughtful about fellow believers. I have often found that as I’ve tried to encourage and/or help others, I am the one lifted up and encouraged! Intentional acts of kindness, or ways that we search out so that we can be kind to others;
  • Love – Not just a word that we may flippantly throw out in conversation, but to actually strive to love like God loves us.

So why do you suppose these are so important? I believe that in His infinite wisdom, God knew that if we didn’t strive for these qualities, we would be deteriorating in our faith – worsening, weakening, going backwards, and becoming less like Him instead of more like Him. Friend, are you like me, where I must really seek God’s help and guidance for a deeper growth in these qualities of my Christian life? I believe that the mission of God’s Word has been accomplished, for It has truly opened my eyes towards a stronger need for God’s strong hand on my life, my character and my faith. Let us therefore draw closer to God, so that He may freely draw closer to us and mature us in our faith.

 PRAYER: Dear God, I believe that You have created us in Your image so that our lives might reflect Your love for mankind and draw others closer to You, even unto salvation. It is obvious in the study of Your Word today that there is much that still needs accomplishment in our lives if we are to truly represent You. Please work on us. Draw us closer to You so that our faith might be enhanced and our lives made more pliable and usable by You. We want to be perfect representatives of the Savior that we love and adore, but we know this can only be accomplished when You have sovereign reign over our lives. Please help us to daily surrender ourselves to Your perfect will. I ask all this in faith, and in the name of Jesus, God’s perfect Son, AMEN!

 

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching pastor, or read through Biblical truths on How To Know Jesus, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com so that we can pray with you and give you help and or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Any words underlined above will indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to blogger.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, Sebring, FL! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!