What can be added to our faith? Nothing can be added to our faith for the purpose of our salvation.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God

Ephesians 2:8

But, the Apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 1:5-8, outlined seven things we can “supplement” our faith with, to help ensure we are effective in our knowledge of Christ.

Add to your faith virtue. We are called to do things with all of our effort towards excellence. In every area of life, we are to do the very best we can and to strive to do it as well as it can be done. It is a wonderful thing to see a person serve with excellence and humility.

On top of virtue we are to add knowledge. The greatest source of knowledge comes from scripture. We will never exhaust the knowledge we can find in scripture. It should be a lifelong hunger for Believers to feed on God’s Word. In addition, we should be humble enough to never stop learning in general. Learning about our field of occupation, about people, about our spouse, or about Gods creation enables us to serve Christ more effectively.

How many lives have been ruined due to a lack of self-control? How many stories of what might have been? Scripture reminds us that to “set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). For me, it is a never-ending source of temptation to fulfill the longings of the flesh; to over indulge, to react out of pride and selfishness, to become lazy, and the list goes on and on. Fasting is a good reminder of just how strong the flesh is!

More to come…

I have a confession to make. I like data. And charts and graphs. Its how I sort things out in life. It brings clarity out of confusion.

Pray without ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:17

The command for Christians to pray is obvious. Examples are given throughout scripture and the Lord Jesus prayed frequently and fervently. He also gave instructions of how to pray.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people

1 Timothy 2:1

The word “pray” shows up 98 times in the ESV of the Bible. 30% of the time, someone is praying for another person. How many of our prayers are for others? How often do we ask someone to pray for us? Telling someone you will be praying for them is an encouragement. But be sure to do it!

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

In the old testament, we find 33% of the prayers spoken are seeking forgiveness. Too often we fail to seek Gods forgiveness from the sinful things we do, say, and think. We try to push that out of our mind, failing to realize we cannot have a restored relationship with Christ if we are not seeking His forgiveness on an ongoing basis.

…Lord teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples

Luke 11:1b

We can learn much from the model of prayer that Jesus gave us. Additionally, 24% of the time when prayer in mentioned in the NT, it is instructional – teaching us how to pray.

• Give God the honor due Him – “hallowed be your name”
• Pray for others
• Seek forgiveness
• Seek spiritual rescue from sin and temptation

Many people believe that the way to heaven is through good works. Today I heard about a man who died unexpectedly at a young age. A friend and admirer said they knew this young man must be in heaven now because “he was a great human being and had a heart of gold”.

For their is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 3:22b-23

Imagine a contest where people are challenged to hold their breath as long as possible and the goal was to hold your breath for 100 years! This is completely impossible. Nobody can do it. Can some hold their breath longer than others? Absolutely. Can a few individuals hold their breath for an exceptionally long time? Certainly. The record is 22 minutes and 22 seconds. But, nobody can come remotely close to 100 years.

Gods is holy, which means He is set apart and perfect. We are not. Are some of us “better” than others? Yes. The apostle Paul wrote that he was “chief among sinners”. If Paul knew me if he might grant me that title. We cannot earn our way to God or heaven. We cant be good enough.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57

Jesus Christ was the only person who ever lived a perfect life. Then He willingly died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. He did what we can never do. Then He allowed us to be adopted as children of God. It is a free eternal gift for us to accept. He asks for our life in exchange for true life

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and life to righteousness. 

1 Peter 3:24

The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Rome that, “…what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them“. The world we live in, the people we love, the many good things in our lives are all evidences of God’s grace.

It is easy for us to recognize the beauty in creation. How often have you watched a beautiful sunset over the horizon or admired the majesty of the mountains? Are you fortunate enough to live in a region where fall turns the leaves to brilliant bright colors? What about the purity of a freshly fallen snow?

For the animal lovers among us, who hasn’t been blessed with the friendship and loyalty of a pet? And young families never seem to tire of the zoo and wondering at the variety and personalities of all the animals, both big and small.

For parents, how much more love can one have than when they first held their newborn child? Did you not marvel at this life you had a part in creating? Your life changed from that moment on. And who doesn’t want to come to the defense of an innocent child in need? We may be skeptical when an adult is “in need”, but it is rare for us to doubt a small child that is in need.

God has given us His creation to demonstrate His amazing power and glory. However, too often instead of thanking Him and worshiping Him, we instead “exchange the truth about God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator” as Paul warned the Romans nearly two thousand years ago.

Let us direct our admiration and honor where it belongs; to the Creator who is blessed forever!