From Instability to Stability - The Life of Peter

This past Sunday we began a series of Character Studies. The first character studied was Peter. With Peter there is so much information that as a preacher I had to throw much out. (In fact, looking back over the message, I was probably one point too many.) Because of the wealth of material some great things were not shared. I would like to point you to one section of Scripture that I could not include, but is a blessing to me.

2 Peter 1:3-11 is a wonderful section that moves my heart when I read it. This morning I used a prayer tool to study this passage. I'll share more about this tool in a later post this week. So if you struggle in your prayer and devotional life, check back later this week to learn of a great resource that will help.

Let's take 2 Peter 1:3-11 and ask some basic questions: 1) Who is God in this passage? He is the giver of life and godliness, the giver of exceedingly great and precious promises, the giver of His divine nature. He is the one who has rescued us from the corruption of this world. 2) How shall I respond? With diligence. We are to strive to add one thing upon another. Those items are listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7. 3) So what should I pray about? For me it is "God increase my faith ... add to my faith virtue..and so forth through the list. Why pray for it if I am to strive for it? Because on my own I am unable to do such a work, but with the Holy Spirit I am able. 4) Finally, where do I go from here? Well the above acts of diligence will ultimately lead to a fruitful life; to a life where one has a clear vision of from whence he came and where he is going, and for complete understanding of one's calling and election.

Our character Peter came to such an understanding after Christ's ascension. The words he offers in his two epistles are not the words of the unstable man so demonstrated throughout the Gospels. Rather these are the words of one who has moved on from instability to that of stability because of the work God was doing in his life. If you long to move from a life of instability to stability take Peter's example. Use 2 Peter 1:3-11 as a starting place. If you have already trusted in Christ then understand all that God has already given you. Then build one thing upon the next with, of course, the Holy Spirit's help.

However, if you have not trusted in Christ then you must begin there. Your life will always be unstable because sin rules you. Christ died for this sin. You need to turn from it and turn to Christ, acknowledging that He is God and that He died for that very sin. Put your trust in Him and what He did to save you, not on your own strength.

Next week we will have a guest speaker at Wakefield. The following week we will return with our next character study, this time a female, Hadassah.

-Mark

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