1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Command with a Promise

Our God is faithful and just. We can count on the truth that He will never falter in the fulfillment of His promises. We, on the other hand, can easily stray from our relationship with Him and sin. We make choices all the time that do not measure up to what God wants from us. Here is where the command followed by a promise comes onto play. We can run back to our God and confess our sins to Him and He promises to forgive us of those sins and to cleanse us of our unrighteousness. He will never falter on that promise. Glory be to God!

1 John 1:5-7

This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Personal challenge

God is light, uncreated and pure light. When we received Christ and the Holy Spirit into our lives we came into fellowship with God in that light. We are still given our free will to choose to walk in that light or walk in the darkness of the world. If we choose to continually walk in that darkness then we must question whether or not our choice to follow Him was the truth or a lie. To be a truth it must continually drive us to be in God’s light and separate from the darkness of the world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

1 John 1:1-3

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Encouraging Words

Jesus did not provide for us our salvation in a vacuum. He did it in fellowship with His disciples. He did not show up one day and give His life for us without spending time in a relationship with the very people He came to save. He came as an infant so that He could spend His entire life as a human being like the rest of us. He grew up in fellowship with His family, His neighbors, the leaders of His community, and later His disciples. It is through fellowship with one another that we all learn what it is to be human. More importantly, it is through fellowship that we learn how to love our neighbor and to die to self for our neighbor. Besides, God through eternity is in fellowship as Father, son, and Holy Spirit. Glory be to God!

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Encouraging Words

The Church has been waiting for over 2,000 years for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ so that He can establish His new heaven on earth. Many times we get impatient and even lose hope that He really is coming back. God is not playing some kind of cosmic joke on us. He is being long-suffering and giving us all, both Christians and non-Christians, time to come to Him and to grow in Him. He desires that all who do not know Him or have never heard of Him to be given the chance to come to Him. He desires that all of us who claim Him as our Lord repent of our sinful ways and carry His Good News to those who have not heard. He is long-suffering for us all. Lord, have mercy!

2 Peter 1:5-7

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.

Personal Challenge

Our growth to living in the image of Christ, our theosis, is a spiritual progression. The journey begins with our faith in Christ and all that He has done to save us from death, but it does not stop there. In our journey, we must strive to add spiritual virtues to that faith by seeking the virtue of knowledge in our Lord. To that spiritual knowledge is added self-control as we practice and work out our salvation. We then progress to perseverance, then godliness, then brotherly kindness by loving our neighbor, and finally progressing to the point where God’s love emanates through us. This is a life-long journey that we must choose to remain true to. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

2 Peter 1:2-4

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Encouraging Words

The nature of God is something that we will never be able to acquire or achieve. If we could, then there would be no difference between Him and us. However, through His grace and mercy, we may become partakers or participants, in His divine nature and power. As His adopted children we receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. We can live in the presence of His light, His power, His glory, and grow in the image of His Son. We are truly blessed.

1 Peter 5:8-10

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Personal Challenge

We are informed throughout the scriptures, both old and new, that the devil is constantly trying to trip us up in our walk with our God. It is so easy for us to choose to sin and to proclaim the saying that Flip Wilson made famous, “the devil made me do it?” But this is never the truth. the devil cannot make us do anything. He and his minions may orchestrate all forms of temptations for us, but it is our own free will that chooses to act on those temptations or reject them. In order to reject them, we must be sober and vigilant in our walk with the Lord. We must be able to resist the enemy by being steadfast in our faith and relying on our God to give us the strength to resist. We do this because we know that we have been called to His eternal glory. Glory be to God!

1 Peter 5:6-7

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Personal Challenge

contrary to what the world teaches us, humbling ourselves before God does not make us weak or unimportant. If we humble ourselves before God we make room in our lives for the blessings that He wants to bestow upon us. By doing this we can offload all of our cares and concerns to Him so that He can care for us. Glory be to God!

1 Peter 5:5

Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“God resists the proud,But gives grace to the humble.”

Personal challenge

It is one thing to encounter resistance from those around us, but I don’t think I want to encounter resistance from God. However, every time I step out to do something with an attitude of pride, resistance from God is what I will encounter. That resistance, if received properly, can be a part of my theosis because it will continue to conform me into the image of Jesus. However, if I choose to do things with a humble spirit, God will give me the grace that I need to do His work. We learn humility through our submission to others, to God first, to those who are over us, and even to one another, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!