Walking in the light

Walking in the Light
II Peter 1:1- 8
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound , they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In verses 5 through seven Peter urges us to grow in spiritual maturity. adding to your faith the areas of growth that follow after salvation. Virtue or moral excellence, Knowledge is spiritual truth ,temperance which is self control . Patience is endurance , Godliness is God likeness. Brotherly kindness which is brotherly love. Charity is volitional love This process is a lifelong cycle of spiritual growth for all believers. Verse 8 says if we have all these things and they abound in us then we can be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we are following his teachings and his word we should over a period of time have all these things abiding in us if we are truly following him. However this does not mean we won’t make mistakes this means that we must follow his teachings and if we do mess things up and lets face it we are human so we probably will we go back and continue to learn and walk in his teaching asking forgiveness for our many mistakes.
St. John 3:18-21 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved . 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest , that they are wrought in God.

This answers the question we are asked many times why do people go to hell . the answer is simply that they did not believe in the son of God who is Jesus Christ. Some people cannot get past their own self. Therefore they are not willing to trust something they have only heard or read about with their lives. They will not accept that there is a God they will answer to. It is our job as Christians to try to show them through our lives and teachings that God is real his son did die and rise again so that we could have eternal life and we believe this really is the truth .Jesus is the light of the world. We as Christians who believe in Him are to shine that light that is in us. Jesus the Son of the Living God defeated the darkness of the world. Because of this we can now have Eternal life. When we are in the darkness of sin, we deny that it is sin by refusing to acknowledge what it is. We want to continue doing it . Those who have accepted Christ cannot do that without feeling a great condemnation fall upon them. Why is that? Because we know the light which is Jesus and because we know him We know truth. To know truth is to act upon it. Sin is not a part of truth. We who know Christ know we need that forgiveness of sin in order to have a permanent life with Christ.
Proverbs 8:32-33 32 Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. 33 Hear instruction, and be wise , and refuse it not.

Hearken to my ways, listen to Gods’ ways, Hear his instructions do not refuse it. for if we do these things we will be blessed.
Psalms 23:4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me

Even when we are in the low points of our life he is with us and will not forsake us. He is our guide. He loves us. He does not leave us he stays with us through the bad things as well as the good, but in return we need to trust that he is walking with us and protecting us like we have asked him to do. We should not fear evil for God is there.
He comforts us .We need to reach out to the light of truth that is given to us. When we as Christians do this we show the world by our example that God is always with us to guide us in our lives. We then are striving to live in the light of truth and no longer want to dwell in the world of darkness and sin.
Psalms 9:1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works .

God wants us to praise him for who he is the God of the universe. We need to praise him for all the things he gives us in our lives. However he doesn’t want us to just say it. He wants to hear it and know that it comes for the great love and respect we give him from our heart. If we praise him and don’t mean it then it is empty praise. When we praise with our hearts God sees how much we truly love and trust him in our lives. He has forgiven our sins we have started on a new path that leads us to eternal life. However we must continue in His word for it is true. His promise is true. He gave us a way of redemption through the blood of His son Jesus Christ .We can only live in the light if we accept Him as our Savior .Do you know him ? Is he calling your name? Is he asking you to come home? For those of you who do know him but have gotten away from him because you have let the world of darkness back into your life is he speaking to your heart tonight. If so talk with your father He is always willing to listen and if need be to forgive.