Megan Evans, Women’s Ministry Director, LHBC
2 Peter 1:2 (ESV)
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
We all want God’s grace and peace, especially in turbulent times. How do we get it? The answer to knowing how begins with knowing Who. Peter shared this wellspring of truth with struggling believers in a letter to the early church. In his greeting, he expressed a heartfelt desire and prayer for believers, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
The body of believers that made up the early church had already experienced external storms of persecution and now Peter warned them of internal dangers brewing. In order to survive the torrent and waves of false teaching and complacency that were swelling, Peter urgently counseled Christians to get to know their God.
Peter impressed upon the church that God had given them (and us) everything they needed to live life as a follower of Christ and, as a result, receive the “precious and very great promises” of God (2 Peter 1:3-4).
Have you taken the time to get to know God? Is your faith “precious” to you as it was to Peter? Peter understood the importance of being anchored to God through Christ in all moments of life, and especially when faith is tested. He also understood that grace and peace multiply as we grow in our faith with God. He wrote with urgency as he began to recognize all kinds of beliefs and false teachers emerge around them.
What is right? What is truth? Unless we know God’s Truth and cling to His promises, we too will get swept away. The world feels a little upside down right now in the midst of pandemic, civil unrest, and politics. And that can leave us feeling helpless and frustrated…but not hopeless.
How do we live out Christian faith in these days ahead? Knowing how begins with knowing Who. Grab hold of your Bible and get to know your God! As Peter reminds us, God has given us everything we need to be a Christian, regardless of the century we live in or the daily headlines that emerge.
God’s promises are indeed very great and very precious. To grasp His love and power within them, we need only to get to know the One who makes the promise. The beloved theologian Charles Spurgeon said it like this, “‘Therefore, seeing that it is the word of a God so true, so immutable, so powerful, so wise, I will and must believe the promise,’ If we thus meditate upon the promises, and consider the Promiser, we shall experience their sweetness, and obtain their fulfillment” (Morning & Evening, by Charles Spurgeon, NIV edition).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, I want to get to know You and Your character. Teach me to “consider the Promiser” as I read and study the Bible. Remind me that I can anchor my faith in Christ because of the infallible One who made the promises. Multiply your grace and peace in my life today. In Jesus Name, Amen.
MEMORY VERSE FOR THE WEEK
Psalm 30:4
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name