June 25 – Our Flight From Danger

“(For by these) He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2 Peter 1:4  (ESV)

There are good reasons for why God  has given us the many promises in the Bible. The Apostle Peter taught some of these reasons in the second letter he wrote. God expects His promises to produce changes in our lives. The “precious and very great promises” include abundant and eternal life as partakers of His divine nature. The changes that God desires in us are produced when we believe His promises. God wants us to be more and more like Him. We are His children and so we should resemble our Father in heaven. In the world there is much evil and sinful desires which cause the corruption of this world. “Corruption” has the idea of something decomposing or decaying. God promises us that He will help us escape the danger of corruption, through faith, a life that is pleasing to Him. Let's believe the promises and we can watch Him carry them out. Looking back to verse 3, we see that it is by God’s power we have all we need for a godly life, for true knowledge of Him. Because He called us to salvation by His own glory and excellence through the cross.

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February 23 – Taking the Escape Route

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  - 1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)

Being tempted by our enemy the devil has been promised by Jesus (Luke 17:1 NLT) to all who have received Jesus by accepting His gift of salvation and eternal life.  We learned from the first letter by the Apostle Peter (1 Peter 5:8 ESV) to be on the alert because the devil is perpetually seeking to take us down.  But these are God promises in today’s verse. They help us stand firm against our enemy.  1) All temptations we encounter are common and others have experienced them.  2) God is faithful.  3) God does not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to endure the temptations.  4) God always provides an escape route for us.  5) Because we have that escape, we can endure the temptations and we do not have to give in to them.  Next time today, and tomorrow, because it happens to all of us every day, when we are tempted, consider these promises. While the temptations come at us from the devil, the promises are from God and He empowers us to resist them one and all.  Resisting is how we fight the enemy. 

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January 2 – Precious Promises

“For by 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 by lust.”  -2 Peter 1:4  (NASB)

We have entered our fifth year of taking a brief moment to consider God’s promises to us.  God’s promises all come to us from His promise of abundant and eternal life. It is God’s grace and peace multiplied to us and the precious promises given us by God that results in our being adopted as sons and becoming true children of God.  We do not become ‘little gods’ but we do become ‘new creatures,’ through our re-birth in the Spirit.   We have received from God eternal life as a gift and so we possess a share of His nature which He has given to us.  This promise is also our way of escape from the corruption of our old nature.  If we have made some serious New Year’s Eve resolutions regarding our way of living which are honoring to God, and if  we really want to stick to them, God’s promises are here for us for that very purpose.  Let's resolve together to learn and hold on to all that God has promised every day. 

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November 7 – Ability to Endure

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  -  1 Corinthians 10:13 (NASB)

Do we truly understand as Christians, our faith in God will be tested? The tribulations, temptations and testing of our confession is always bearable with God's help.  Our promises in this passage reminds us that God is watching over us for our best.  But our best does not mean the easiest path to avoid testing of our faith in God.  Our First promise is that we will never be tested by anything uncommon to the testing people face.  Others have endured the same testing that we encounter in our lives.  Our Second promise is God's faithfulness to protect us from any testing we are unable to endure.  Whatever our test is, God provides what we need to stick it out with His help. Our Third promise is that God will give us an escape plan – not always to escape the testing but to escape the consequences of failing to trust Him and falling instead for the temptation to bail out.  Our escape is the ability to endure and trust Him through it all. 

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June 25 – A Great Escape

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:4  (NIV)

There are goods reason for why God  has given us the many promises which we have in the Bible. The Apostle Peter taught some of these reasons in the second letter he wrote. God expects His promises to produce changes in our lives. The changes that God wants to see are produced when we believe His promises. We can learn from our verse that God desires that we participate in the divine nature. God wants us to be more and more like Him. We are His children and so we should resemble our Father in heaven. In the world there is much evil and evil desires are what cause corruption of this world. God promises us that He can help us achieve, through faith, a life that is pleasing to Him. Let's believe the promises and we can watch Him carry them out.