“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.  Psalm 46:10-11

Randy and I grew up in the same church, sat in the same Sunday School class, attended and participated together in youth group, but we didn’t really KNOW each other. We only knew OF each other.  Later in high school, we both suddenly had a strong desire to know each other more.  We began dating and love blossomed and grew.

Throughout the dating days, this love led us to wanting to please each other in as many ways as we could think of because of that love factor.  It was fun to leave notes, give small gifts, or do something we knew the other one would like.  We watched and listened for clues of what was pleasing to each other as we got to know each other better.  It was a joy to do things that put smiles on our faces.  We began to know more about each other that even our families didn’t know because we shared our thoughts in long conversations—like best friends like to do. 

After we were married, we learned even more because of the intimate, personal relationship with each other that continued to build and grow stronger each day.  This “knowing” is personal and forms a strong bond.  Pleasing each other comes from knowing what each other desires most in life.  Helping each other achieve their goals comes from this truly supportive relationship.  As believers, we knew that how we treated each other would also be pleasing to God who created us to be still and know Him. 

To be still before God is to let go of world thinking and listen to what God thinks.  To know God is in this listening and is highly personal, intimately loving and absolutely essential to pleasing God and vital to our healthy, growing relationship with God!  

Peter reminds us that he was personally invited on the mountain by Jesus to see God’s glory at work!  “We saw it with our own eyes!”  Peter knows and believes Jesus!  Peter now passes on the “miraculous gift of pleasing God” by knowing and believing in His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Peter 1, The Message

^1-2 I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God’s straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.

Don’t Put It Off

^3-4 Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

^5-9 So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

^10-11 So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The One Light in a Dark Time

^12-15 Because the stakes are so high, even though you’re up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I’m not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it. This is the post to which I’ve been assigned—keeping you alert with frequent reminders—and I’m sticking to it as long as I live. I know that I’m to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me. And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you’ll have it for ready reference.

^16-18 We weren’t, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes: Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: “This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight.” We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.

^19-21 We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion. And why? Because it’s not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God’s Word.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6, NIV

Peter, who walked and talked with Jesus for three years, learned what pleases God directly from His Son.  God’s promises are our tickets to participation in the Life of God!  “So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love,” Peter writes.

After Jesus’ resurrection, He made various appearances to his disciples.  I love the time Jesus surprised them with building a fire on the beach to make breakfast for them as they returned from catching nothing after fishing.  If this sounds familiar, it is!  This is how Peter met Jesus the first time!

Fishing, is what Peter did all his life. Fishing is what he felt comfortable doing when he didn’t know what else to do.  After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the disciples were told to wait for the Holy Spirit. Peter couldn’t just wait.  He was the first to suggest fishing…so other fishermen followed him. 

But soon, Jesus came and began a fire so he could prepare breakfast for his friends.  He shouted from the beach; “Catch anything?  Cast your nets on the other side…” (Sound familiar?)  Peter recognized who it was and was the first into dive into the sea and swim to His Master.  After eating a breakfast of fresh fish, Jesus leaned in and personally asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Jesus asked this question, not once, but three times.  Peter began to squirm and seem irritated the second time.  On the third time, Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you”!  Peter who denied Jesus three times in a panic, was forgiven.  Jesus reminded Peter of their loving, personal relationship that had not changed. Jesus reinstated Peter with clarity for his mission. 

Jesus counter responses to Peter’s answers: “Feed my lambs,” “Take care of my sheep, and Feed my sheep.”  (See John 21) The conversation seems redundant to us but each commanding response solidified Jesus original plan for Simon Peter. “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18)

Our response is to believe, really believe that what God says is really real.  Believe by returning the love He has for us back to Him.  Tell Him you love him often—as you would a best friend or family member.  He is our Father, we are his children!  He delights in us, sings over us, protect us, provides all we need, and loves to hear from us.  His Word to us is full of promises that cannot fail!  Trust what He says and obey because of our reciprocal love. Talk to God and wait to listen.  Seek a relationship with the One who loves us most.  He does not disappoint! 

“So, friends, confirm God’s invitation to you, his choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Lord,

Thank you for your unfailing love. Thank you for being with us always.  Thank you for saving us and setting us free to develop your character traits by the help of Your Holy Spirit who guides us in all we think, say, and do.  I love you, Lord, with all my heart, mind, and soul.  To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen