2 Peter 1:1-21 Often when our family is gathered at the dinner table, someone will say, “Things are really getting tough out there.” The world is definitely waxing worse and worse, but the good news is those who walk uprightly will get better and better.
After watching the evening news, I usually want to say, “Lord, please come quickly.” The world is so corrupt, and it will be even more corrupt before the Lord comes again. We do not have to fret about this, however, because there is a way right now we can escape the corruption of this world. Listen to what Peter shares: “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” (vv. 2-4).
The world is corrupt because of the lusts in it. Even as Christians we too have lusts that have the potential of corrupting our private worlds. This is why Peter exhorts us many times in his letters to be watchful, sober and prayerful. We have an enemy who would love to bite into our fleshly lusts and cause us to be drawn away into sin. Seducing spirits have an assignment to draw every Christian away from their calling while they are on earth. Listen to the high calling we have. We are called to glory and virtue. We will only be able to fulfill this calling if we watch out for the temptations and enticements of the enemy in our lives. We have to pray constantly and stay totally dependent upon God during these last days. In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he made it clear that seducing spirits will be on the prowl more than ever in the last days.
The way to submit ourselves to God and effectively resist the devil is to be sure that we live in the Spirit every day instead of the flesh. Sometimes I am quite aware that my flesh is showing, and when it does, the enemy begins to salivate. He would love to bite and devour me, but he only will have success if I continue to expose my flesh to him. When I am walking in the Spirit, I will not fulfill the lusts of my own flesh.
Lord, help me to walk in the Spirit daily so I do not let the enemy see my flesh. I want Satan to see Jesus when he looks at me.
READ: Daniel 4:1-37; 2 Peter 1:1-21; Psalm 119:96-112; Proverbs 28:17-18
