Intro: Yesterday, although it was a busy day as far as appointments and errands are concerned, it was a day full of contemplation. I was preoccupied with an awareness of the goodness of God. Everywhere there seemed to be a residue of the goodness of God surrounding me; not based on anything I had done, but based on who Christ has been made for us as God’s children. If you know and serve Jesus, God’s goodness is there for you, too.
We have been enabled to share God’s divine nature—we can share his righteous qualities. Think about it, God supplements our faith and improves our lives with himself. Let’s define supplement: something that completes or enhances something else when added to it. Christ completes our faith and lives. We are invited to experience God as he transforms us from one level of his glorious nature to another (2 Cor 3:18). When we desire to grow each day in the virtuous character of Christ, we reveal our Lord to the world. So, let the Lord supplement your faith with his generous provision. The psalmist said it well, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” (Ps 34:8). Have a blessed and God-filled weekend, my friends!
2 Peter 1:1-11 NLT Growing in Faith
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for offering salvation through faith to all people and for placing us on equal footing as your children. Because we all sin and fall short of your glory, no one is better than another. We are lovingly cared for by you and are free to serve you each day. Therefore, help your children to grow; supplement our faith and cause us to look and act more like you, today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.