Today I’m listening to the admonishment of that great man of God, Simon bar-Jonah, Called “The Rock” by Jesus, our savior. Simon-Peter, a Jewish Galilean, formerly unknown to the roman government, an insignificant hard-working fisherman like his father, called to be a disciple of The Messiah, who heard The Voice of God on the mountain, was sent as an apostle & carrier of The Gospel to the Jew, an arbiter of disagreements, a foundational elder of The ecclesia, feared and imprisoned by the roman government, eventually crucified, just as the resurrected Jesus told him would happen to him, that morning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
He calls himself, “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, and writes to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
“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 (promises) you may be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
But also
for this very reason,
giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue,
to virtue knowledge,
to knowledge self-control,
to self-control perseverance,
to perseverance godliness,
to godliness brotherly kindness, and
to brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are yours and abound,
you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For he who lacks these things is shortsighted,
even to blindness, and
has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure,
for if you do these things you will never stumble;
for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:1-11 (Thank you brother Peter.)
I return to this (and other passages) to be reminded of our collective connection to the awesome creator of ALL THINGS. His gentle admonishments re-ground me, and help my feet feel the solid rock underneath.
What passages of God’s word do you find yourself returning to for grounding and connection to the heart of God? I’d love to hear your own testimonies of interaction with The Word.