2 PETER 1 PLAN TO GROW2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Peter 1 Plan To Grow

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020.

Well, I don't know about you, but I am a planner. I plan things. And not so much because I like to plan things, but because I like when things are planned out. So as long as somebody's planned it, I'm cool and I like that. But if there is no plan, well, I'm the kind of guy who will put a plan together.

early in our marriage, whenever Kim and I would go off for a getaway, a little bit of a vacation or something, I was the kind of guy who would put together binders and I would have a binder for our whole trip. And, you know, there would be tabs in the binder and there would be day by day, you know, different maps that I would print out of where we might be able to go and different options. And, you know, if there was tickets involved, they were printed, they were in the binder and, you know, everything was in the binder organized so that we had some type of

plan. Now, since then, I've grown and turned everything digital, so less binders, less physical things, but still a lot of planning and still a lot of organization. It's part of who I am. And I would encourage you this morning to become more like me. No, I'm just kidding. No, not in regards to...

planning trips and planning, you know, things like that. But this morning I've titled the message here in 2 Peter chapter 1, Plan to Grow. And regardless of whether it's your personality or you kind of like to put a plan together and that kind of thing, I think it's important for us as believers to have a plan for our spiritual growth, for the life that God has called us to.

Here in 2 Peter 1, verse 5, Peter says, Here, Peter encourages us and challenges us to add to our faith.

but to do so in a way that we are giving all diligence. Peter is saying, look, here in your Christian life, growth for you to add to your faith, it's going to require some deliberate and eager intention.

That it's not going to happen by accident that you add to your faith, but that you are going to be deliberately making decisions, making choices, or you might call it planning to grow, planning to add to your faith. You guys know, for those who have been here this time of year, I make it a habit, I make it a practice to ask you what your Bible reading plan is for the coming year.

to give us an opportunity week by week to seek the Lord, to hear from him. What is your Bible reading plan? What is your approach in this coming year to spending time with God and walking with him and getting to know him? It is important for us

to have a plan, to have a purpose and something that we are working towards. Peter says, add to your faith. And he's going to list on all of these different characteristics that we are to add to our faith.

And so we need to have a plan. We need to put together some idea. We need to be working towards growth in these various areas. Now, as Peter is calling us here to grow, as he's challenging us to make a plan and to work towards maturity, it's important to note that he is not telling us to do this from our own resources.

The first part of 2 Peter chapter 1 has some really key points that we're not going to get into, but I do want to touch on for just a moment. In verse 3, Peter tells us that his divine power, that is God's 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. As he says, add to your faith, and there's going to be these things

characteristics that we are to grow in and develop in, he's also telling us that God has given us everything we need for that to take place through our knowledge of God. Through our knowledge of God, we have everything that we need for life and for godliness, Peter says. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says it this way, spiritual growth is not automatic.

It requires cooperation with God and the application of spiritual diligence and discipline. There's a cooperation that goes on that God has supplied everything that we need for maturity, for life, for godliness through our knowledge of him. And so we cooperate with God in our knowledge of him, in our relationship with him, and also in our diligence and discipline with

to put into practice the things that God has instructed us. And so there's a joining together, a cooperation by which we allow God to work in our lives and through our lives as we grow. And so Peter says, add to your faith with the resources that God has given to us through the knowledge of him.

In verse 4, Peter goes on to say, There's great and precious promises, Peter says. Knowing God and the opportunity to know God, it includes some great and precious promises for us.

And so we have everything that we need. We have these incredible promises from God. And so Peter says in verse 5, for this very reason, since this is true for you, you have all the resources you need to be a mature and solid believer in Jesus Christ, to be a godly man, to be a godly woman. You have everything that you need. And coupled with that, you have these great and precious promises. For that reason, Peter,

Peter says, give all diligence. That is, be eager, be purposeful, be deliberate, and add to your faith. Grow in your spiritual life. And so we're going to look at three aspects of our spiritual life that we can grow in. And Peter's going to list out some of these characteristics and we'll group them together by verse. The first thing to consider, the first aspect of life that we can grow in

Found in verse 5, grow your place in God's plan. Grow your place in God's plan. Again, verse 5 says, As Peter begins to talk about growth and the things that we are to add to our faith, the first thing he says to add to your faith is virtue.

Virtue is to be in addition to your faith. Now, we begin as believers in faith. We believe by faith in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of life and forgiveness that he offers to us. It's by faith that we begin a relationship with God. And Peter is now saying it's not to just stay that way. That's not just the end of your Christian experience or your Christian life.

But you're to build on top of that. That's how you begin. And we always walk by faith. That's part of our calling. But there's more to the Christian life than just faith. There also needs to be developed in your life virtue. Now this word virtue could be literally translated excellence.

And oftentimes it's referred to as moral excellence. And so you could think of it in the terms of, you know, morality and purity. But the way that the Greeks use this word for excellence is interesting to consider because it was used to describe anything that was fulfilling its purpose.

When a knife cut the way that it was designed to cut and it was, you know, a nice and smooth cut just the way it was planned out and designed, it was fulfilling its purpose. That's an excellent knife.

When a plow, you know, works properly and accomplish whatever plows accomplish on a field, right? That's an excellent plow. And so this idea of excellence was applied to anything that was fulfilling its purpose, fulfilling the reason for which it had been fashioned and created. And I think that's important for us and a good thing for us to consider as well. As Paul says, add to your faith virtue or excellence, right?

of course there is the need for us to think about purity. And of course there is the moral excellence for us to consider. But to think about it in terms of me fulfilling the purpose for which God has fashioned me. That there's purpose for you. That there is reason for which God has created you. There's talents and abilities. There's gifts. There's plans and purposes that God has for you.

And the best thing that you can do is to walk in that purpose that God has established for you. And of course, part of that purpose is the moral side of it, that purity side of it as well. Because you cannot fulfill what it is that God has established for you while you're pursuing and chasing down things of the flesh, right?

Paul told the apostle, I'm sorry, the apostle Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2, he said, in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work.

And so there is in every house vessels for honor and vessels for dishonor. Paul says, if you throw out the vessels for dishonor and just hold on to the things that have purpose, the things that are clean, the things that are good and useful, he says, you'll be sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. You'll be able to fulfill God's purpose in your life.

And so that is a good place to start, to clean house and to remove the things that are unholy, the things that are dishonorable in regards to what the Lord says or as far as the Lord is concerned. But then it's more than that. It's not just the cleaning out of the junk, but then it's the moving forward and living out the plan of God in your life, fulfilling His purpose for you. Add to your faith.

Combine with your faith excellence. Take steps in the direction that God has set before you. Grow your place in God's plan. Now he says, add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge. And there is this repetition here to emphasize all of these different aspects of our character and nature that we are to develop and grow in. And so to our virtue, we are to add knowledge.

And this idea of knowledge is it's a knowledge by experience. It's a practical knowledge. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says it refers to the ability to handle life successfully. But he goes on to say it does not come automatically. It comes from obedience to the will of God. The way to grow in knowledge is not so much by thinking or learning, but by obeying.

The way to grow in knowledge is by doing the will of God. And again, it's combined together with that previous word of virtue, that fulfilling of God's purpose in your life, the doing of God's will. By experience, you learn of God. By experience, you get to know God because you're walking with him through the things that he has set before you. We have the opportunity to grow in knowledge because

by experience, by obeying God and doing his will. Jesus says in John chapter 7, he said, my doctrine is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on my own authority. Jesus says, look, there is some knowledge that you will know because of your position in regards to the will of God.

There's some things that you will only know if you want to do God's will. As Jesus is bringing forth his teaching, he said, look, this doctrine that I'm bringing forth you is the doctrine of the Father. And if you want to do his will, if you will to do his will, if it's your desire, your will to do God's will, Jesus says, then you shall know. Having your heart inclined to the will of God,

enables you to know things that you could not know any other way. By experience, you get to know because of your relationship to God, a better picture of, a better understanding of who he is, what he's like, what he desires. And so Peter says, add to your faith virtue and to your virtue, add knowledge. Plan to grow. Plan to grow your place in God's plan. I would ask you to consider this.

Are there any opportunities in your life right now to grow in these areas? Is there any opportunities in your life set before you right now that there's opportunity for you to grow in virtue, to grow in God's purpose for your life? Is there any steps forward that you can take? Is there anything that you can do to move forward in what God has designed and planned for you? Is there any opportunity for you to know God better?

for you to align your will to his will so that you might know what it is that he desires and wants? Is there an opportunity for you in your life right now to grow your place in God's plan? And Peter is saying here, give all diligence to

Do your best. Be eager and zealous to go forward and further those things. Explore the purpose of God. Explore the will of God. Grow and develop in your place in God's plan. Now, again, we don't do this with our own resources. We don't have to, you know, generate the discipline for these things or to work out, you know, the ideas. And everything is rooted back to verse 3.

where Peter says that God's 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. And so there is a responsibility that we have to be diligent in knowing God, that we might grow in our place, fulfilling his plans and purposes, fulfilling the life and living the life that God has called us to.

Well, moving on to verse 6, we get the second aspect to grow in, the second area of our spiritual life where Peter is challenging us to grow, to move forward and to develop. The second thing to consider this morning is grow your ability to handle life. Grow your ability to handle life. Look at verse 6. It says, "...to knowledge, self-control, to self-control, perseverance, to perseverance, godliness."

as he continues on with the list of these things that we are to add on to our faith. Again, he's calling us to be diligent, to make a plan, and to work hard to grow now in these three areas. Self-control, perseverance, and godliness. Self-control speaks very clearly of us being able to control ourselves.

It speaks with our relationship with the pleasures of life. And it's something that needs to be developed and there needs to be growth in our lives in this area of self-control, being able to handle things in a way that honors God, the pleasures of life in a way that does not distract from the work of God and the plan of God for us. You know, God wants you to enjoy life.

There's a lot of life that God has established for your enjoyment, a lot of things that he has given for you to take joy in and be refreshed by. But at the same time, there is a responsibility that we have to not let pleasure and the pursuit of pleasure overrun our lives so that we sabotage our spiritual life.

That pleasure is to have its appropriate place in our lives and not to be, you know, exaggerated beyond the place that is appropriate or that God has established. As you look at the history of the nation of Israel, you go through the Old Testament with them, you see this pattern throughout their history that during difficult times and challenging times, they were very consistent in crying out to God. But then what would happen very often is, well, God would deliver them

And there would be this season of prosperity on the heels of deliverance. There would be, you know, this, hey, things settled down because God did his work and because God delivered. And so things would work out and they would begin to produce crops and, you know, enjoy abundance and be blessed again. And it was really in those times of blessing that Israel found its greatest struggles.

In the times of difficulty, they knew where to run. They would turn to God. They would cry out to God. And they understood that quite clearly. But in the times of blessing and abundance, the pattern was there was no self-control. And they allowed the blessings. They allowed the abundance. They allowed the pleasures to overrun their lives so that they stopped seeking after God. They stopped pursuing the things of God. They did not have self-control.

There needs to be in our lives self-control. That we need to be able to handle ourselves because our nature is going to be craving and desiring things that may be good in appropriate measures, but our nature doesn't crave things in appropriate measures. And we have to learn to say no to the things that are not good for us, period.

but also to put some limits on, to set some boundaries, to have self-control when it comes to even good things that become distractions and bad things when they are overflowing in our lives. There's a need for us to develop self-control. And so Peter says, grow, add to your faith, make a plan and develop self-control in your life.

But then he also goes on to say we need to add to our self-control perseverance. And perseverance could be a little bit similar, but it's also a little bit different. Self-control has to do with handling the pleasures of life. Perseverance has to do with handling the pressures of life. The pressures of life sometimes can be very difficult and challenging. As we went through 1 Peter 1,

Reading through the Bible in three years, we got to spend a little bit of time in 1 Peter over the past week or so. And we saw that Peter was writing to those who were suffering. There was a lot of pressure. There was a lot of things that they needed to persevere through. And you and I are familiar with those seasons in our lives. And very likely this season, this current season, is a season of perseverance for you. Handling pressure, dealing with the pressures of this life.

It's something that we need to develop, to grow in, to build up, grow your ability to handle pressure, to handle difficulties, to handle problems in your life. And so handling pleasures and handling problems or pressures, these are things that Peter is saying we need to move forward in and to build up in our lives. It reminded me of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, as he's

talking about his life as a race. He says, I run thus, not with uncertainty, and thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Paul says, I have to work hard. I have to pay attention to. I discipline myself. That's the self-control that

so that I don't become disqualified after I've walked so far or done so much for the Lord. And so Paul says, I'm running my race this way, disciplining my body, growing in self-control, but also we need to grow in perseverance. Now, as I mentioned, the history of Israel, whenever pressures would mount, they would run to the Lord. They had that part right. And sometimes, you know, different...

times in our lives. We may have it flip-flopped. We may know how to handle pressures, but not know how to handle pleasures. Or we may know how to handle pleasures, but not know how to handle pressures, right? That we might be able to deal with one better than the other. And Peter is saying both of these are needed for us. We need to grow in both of these areas to allow and understand that the pressures of life are part of God's work in us as well.

And they're for our good just as much as the pleasures are for our good. And sometimes we allow pressures to be an excuse for sinfulness. We allow pressure to be an excuse for us to disregard what it is that God has said or what we know God desires from us. And Peter is saying you need to develop. You need to grow and add to your faith so that pressure is not an automatic failure for you.

an automatic weakness for you, but that you're able to handle different aspects of life, whether it be pleasures or pressures. Well, the third aspect he talks about here in verse 6 is godliness. And godliness is godlikeness. It's being like God, behaving like God, speaking like God, responding like God.

Pastor Warren Wiersbe says, Being godly, adding godliness to your life is about the decisions that you make. Not running from pain automatically just because there's pain or difficulty involved, but

Your focus is, your desire is to do what's right. Your focus is, your desire is to honor God above all. And in our handling of pleasures, in our handling of pressures, in our handling of life, we need to grow in godliness. And so plan to grow. And I would encourage you to take these things and begin to make a plan. Now, the thing is with our plans is we plan and it's good for us to plan, but we don't know everything.

We don't know what's around the corner. We don't know what's in store. The Proverbs tell us, the man plans his way, but God directs the steps. And so we make a plan. We need to have this intention to be diligent and work hard to grow. But we also need to allow God to work through the situations of life in us the way that he wants to. I didn't plan for this to be a year of learning perseverance or growing in perseverance.

But that was God's plan. I was thinking about our Thanksgiving service last year. We kind of went around and talked about, you know, what God had in store, what God had put upon our hearts. And, you know, I was sharing different things about, you know, my devotion plan. And, you know, there was things that I was planning. Just as I'm encouraging you to plan to grow as I'm looking forward to the next year, I'm planning and I'm looking ahead. But at the same time, you know, with the understanding that God can change the plan,

And really, the plan is really more about the attitude of my heart that I'm willing to grow and that I'm desiring to grow while God executes his plan. At the beginning of the year, Kim and I were in, you know, the full immersion of a kitchen remodel. And we didn't plan for it to be a full immersion kitchen remodel. It was just meant to be a little facelift, you know, just sand some things down, repaint some things, not that big of a deal. But

Because of the circumstances, because of the condition of, you know, certain things, it required then actually we have to gut the kitchen to the studs and then rebuild from scratch. That was not the plan. And you guys know me. I'm not, you know, real good with the practical things, you know, the tools and things like that. And so literally everything that we did in that kitchen, we did, you know, ourselves, cutting back on costs.

But we had to do everything like three times because the first two times I would do it wrong and it wouldn't fit quite right. It wasn't exactly right. And take it back, sand it down, refinish it. Okay, try it again. It was just this agonizing process. And I remember sharing with Kim several times, I didn't think that I needed a lesson in perseverance. But looking at the circumstances that I'm walking through, I can see God thinks I need a lesson in perseverance.

that I need to persevere and not give up. And it was, you know, right in the middle of that, the pandemic hit. And services here went crazy, right? Because, well, we had to go online only and that was crazy stressful. We had to change up, you know, all the services

the technology and and you know approach things differently and oh man it was crazy there was perseverance that was needed then we had the opportunity to move outdoors now from the very beginning I said no way are we going to do outdoor services that is way too much work there's no way that we can do the setup and break down every week you know twice a week there's there's just no way

We were talking about drive-in services. Remember early in the year, it was like, I just could not see it. There's like no way. How could we survive that level of, you know, service to be able to have service outside? But as I'm looking back on it, I'm seeing the Lord developing perseverance. And I wonder if that kitchen remodel wasn't as extensive as it was, if I would have been in a place having grown enough to be able to handle that.

our current services under the strains and stresses that we face. You see, we live out this life and we make our plans, but God has a way of using the things of this life to work out his purposes in us. But there's this cooperation that's needed. And we can fight against the circumstances and we can fight against the plan of God and be reluctant to change and be dragging our feet on changing and growing, but

Or we can plan to grow and say, you know what? This challenge, this difficulty requires perseverance. This is a good opportunity for me to develop perseverance. And so again, I would ask you, are there any opportunities in your life right now to grow in self-control? Are there any areas in your life right now where you have an opportunity to grow in perseverance?

Is there an area in your life right now where you have an opportunity to grow in godliness? And I don't mean it in the cheesy sales pitch way. I hate that sales pitch, right? Where it's like, no, no, that's not a problem. That's an opportunity, right? I don't like that. That's no good. But there is a reality to it. As you face a hard decision, perhaps, you can look at it and understand, well, God has allowed this situation and

Man, if I make the right decision, it's going to be costly and it's going to hurt. It's going to be painful, but it's the right decision. And you can understand that God is inviting you to grow in godliness. And you have everything that you need. His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him. You have what you need. And yes, it might be a hard decision. Yes, there might be much fallout. Yes, there might be, you know, a lot of difficulty that results from it.

But do the right thing. And God is inviting you to develop in that area. Perseverance. It's one we talked about again as we went through 1 Peter because Peter was talking about suffering and how God uses suffering in our lives. We also saw that in James. Count it all joy when you face various trials.

That there is this need for perseverance in us. And there's this invitation as we face difficulty. There's this invitation to draw near to the Lord and grow in our perseverance. And grow in our resilience and our ability to handle life's pressures. Is there an area in your life right now where there's an opportunity to grow in self-control? I don't know if you heard, but Apple's come out with some shiny new computers.

And I'm trying to use this as an opportunity to grow in self-control because, oh, man, I have it in my shopping cart since the day of announcement. I watch the announcement. People in my workplace were laughing at me because I'm, like, shouting and cheering in my office while the announcement's going on and the different features and things that are offered in this new computer. And it's like, oh, my goodness, it's so exciting. I was all prepared. I was planning for months. All right.

My laptops, it's starting to wobble. It's starting to be a little unreliable. It's time to upgrade. I'm holding on to the new announcement. I knew it was coming. Have it in my shopping cart. It's like, it's there. I'm ready to purchase. And then Kim and I having a discussion. We're ready. We're ready. We can make the purchase. We can afford it. It's there. It's in the bank. But, oh man, we're so close to our savings goal.

Okay, so do I make the purchase and drop our savings down so that, you know, we have to continue to work hard to reach that goal? Or maybe this is an opportunity for self-control. Maybe I need to develop in this area. And so I'm trying to exercise self-control. Now, I'm not doing really great at it so far. I mean, I haven't bought it yet, but I have it in my shopping cart. I look at it every day. I open the tab. I look at it. I wonder if today's the day that, you know, I should buy this.

But I'm working on it. I'm trying. I'm seeking the Lord. This is an area where perhaps it's an opportunity for him to develop self-control in me. Is there any areas in your life that God wants to develop self-control for you? He wants to give you an opportunity to learn how to say no to pleasure, say no to what you want. Is there an area in your life where God wants to develop perseverance, where things are challenging and difficult, but God wants to build you up and grow you so you can handle that?

There's an area in your life where God wants to develop godliness. Well, finally, looking at verse 7, we look at the third aspect of our growth, and that is grow your love for others. Grow your love for others. Verse 7 says, to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. As he goes on with this list of things that we're to grow in, he says,

finishes up with these two things, brotherly kindness and love. These are the things that we're to be diligent to add to our faith. And the wording here is such that it's the idea of keep on adding and keep on growing, keep on developing in these ways. Brotherly love or brotherly kindness is that love between believers, love between the brethren.

It's that phileo, that friendship that comes from having a like-mindedness. We're both believers in Jesus Christ. We have a lot of things in common. And so we can have a friendship, a relationship, a love based on the similarities that we have. But then you also have the other kind of love. So brotherly kindness and then love, which is the agape love. It's a different kind of love.

It's not a love that's based on our similarities. It's a love of choice, a choosing to love in the same way that God loves us. Agape love is often referred to as God's love because it's the way that God loves. God loves you not because of some similarities or not because of something on our part, something that we do, something on our end.

God loves us because he's chosen to love us. And agape love is love that seeks out the best for the person loved. And so there is this fellowship, this brotherly kindness that we are to have and to develop and grow in. But then there's also beyond that, a love that is a deliberate choice to love and

And maybe not because of similarities or camaraderie or your, you know, fellow believers in that way. Now, Jesus did say in John chapter 13, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you. You also love one another. And by this, all will know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another. And so this brotherly kindness is to be a mark of

of our discipleship of Jesus. It is to be such a part of our lives that's so substantial that everybody knows that we are followers of Jesus by our love for one another. And so I would encourage you to consider, are there any opportunities in your life right now to grow in brotherly kindness? You know, in times where it's harder to get together, in times where it's harder for us to meet in person,

In times where it's harder, just, you know, life is just harder. There's a lot of challenging things that for us to continue and to maintain brotherly kindness might come with some extra challenges. And perhaps it's an opportunity for God to develop in you this area of your life, for you to be able to grow in brotherly kindness, for you to be able to grow in

fellowship with other believers, in care and concern for other believers, in your prayers for other believers perhaps. Perhaps the way that God develops this is not through getting together in person, but through your prayer life. That in your love for the brethren, you spend some extra time in prayer for the people that God has connected you to. Are there opportunities in your life right now to grow in

In brotherly kindness, in love for one another. And is there opportunity in your life right now to grow in love, in agape love? Now, agape love, again, it's different than brotherly kindness. It's not just, I love you, you love me, we have a good fellowship relationship together. The love that God extends to us is not a love that's based on us. While we were at enmity with God, he loved us. While we were fighting against God, he loved us.

it's a love that he gives regardless of the response. And so perhaps that's something for us to consider today. Is there an opportunity in my life right now to love where there is not that kind of response back? Maybe let's put it a different way. Do you have anybody in your life right now that's hard to deal with? Anybody in your life right now that's hard to talk to? Anybody in your life right now that

perhaps likes to hurt you, likes to hurt your feelings, thinks it's funny that, you know, they can make you cry or, you know, something along those lines. Do you have anybody in your life right now that is difficult? That's an opportunity for you to grow in agape love, for you to learn to love like God does. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's the ultimate demonstration of the love of God.

In our sin, in our enmity against God, in our antagonism of God, he still loved us and demonstrated his love in the midst of that. And so we have the brotherly kindness, the love for one another that can be challenging, but is perhaps much easier than the agape love. The love that loves regardless of response or even in spite of a negative response or attacks. It's desiring love.

the good of, and what's best for the people around us. And so Peter says we're to give all diligence to grow in these things. And again, I would encourage you to think about it in that way, to make a plan. How can you be diligent to grow in these things without purposing in your heart and making a plan? I'm gonna grow the way that God wants me to, to find my place in God's plan. I'm gonna grow and learn how to handle life

In all versions or all, there's a word that I'm thinking of that I can't quite think of. In all capacities, whether it's pleasures or pressures, I'm going to grow to handle life in a way that honors God. Grow in your love for others. Now again, we make a plan, but it's the Lord who directs the steps. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't plan, but we need to have this purpose. We need to have this intent, this desire to develop.

in response to what God has done for us. Now, looking at the next couple of verses, just for a moment, in verse 8 and 9, he says,

As he lists all of these characteristics and says, these are the things that you're to grow in and to add to your faith. Now he says, if these things are yours and abound, it's going to protect you from unfruitfulness. You're not going to be idle and, you know, without fruit in your life. Instead, you're going to be established and beneficial for the kingdom of God. But I like the way that he says this here in verse 8. For if these things are yours...

If these things are yours, and it makes me think of it like learning a new skill. You know, there are some things that it's not yours until you've developed that skill and you've practiced that skill. And now it's a skill that you have. It's yours. This morning, I can say, I am a developer. I'm a programmer. That was not true five years ago.

And I'm not suggesting that I'm the greatest developer, right? I'm not abounding in it yet. That still remains. But it's mine now. There's a skill that I've learned, a skill that I've developed over the past few years that it's mine. Peter says, if these things are yours, these are skills, these are areas of your life that you need to own. All right, I've learned how to love.

I've developed, I've grown, I've learned how to persevere. I've learned how to be godly and make good decisions even when it's difficult or hard. I've learned how to fulfill my purpose, to have virtue and do what it is that God has set before me. He says, if these things are yours and abound, you won't be unfruitful. But on the other side, instead of being unfruitful, he says in verse 10, therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure.

For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If these things are yours and abound, then the result will be an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. There is the opportunity to barely make it into the kingdom of God, as Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3.

And there is the opportunity to have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. What kind of entrance into eternity do you want to have? Peter says, there's the danger, there's the risk of you being unfruitful, you being idle and not really developing in your spiritual life. But there's also the opportunity. If you take these things and make them yours and abound, fill your life with growth in these areas, then

Be even more diligent, he says, as you look at these things, then you will have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God and there will be great reward. This is one of the important aspects of our spiritual life. It costs us. There's discipline. There's, you know, investment now, but it's for reward. There will be a reward in eternity for all that you do as you develop your spiritual life.

God will reward you in eternity. As you invest in the things of God and develop and shape your spiritual life, shape your character, shape your nature according to his, God promises reward for that in eternity. Again, going back to the great and precious promises of verse four. And then going back before that to verse three, you have all that you need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him. So let's get to know God. Let's

plan to grow and develop and allow the circumstances of life and allow the decisions that God is calling us to make to be those opportunities for us to grow, to push forward, to make these characteristics ours, to abound in them, that we might have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your love for us and that you love us

Way more than to just let us continue as we are in our same old patterns, in our same old routines, in our same old destructive behaviors. Lord, you're calling us to grow. You're calling us to develop and to become more like you. And so God, I pray that you would help us to hear the call, to see the urgency, Lord, that we would give all diligence, that we would make every effort to

that we would take our spiritual life seriously and make it a priority. Lord, we need to grow. I pray, God, that you would protect us from unfruitfulness by filling us with the desire to do your will. And I pray for each one of us, Lord, as you have different things upon our hearts, as you have different plans and purposes and different things laid out before us. Help us, God, to respond to you, to handle all things of life differently,

as part of our relationship with you, to be seeking you through it all and trusting you to lead us and to develop in us what is good and beneficial, Lord, that we might honor you and that there might be an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.