Like Precious Faith

It is a beautiful Wednesday morning and I am reading my Bible enjoying the birds singing as the sun comes up. I am reading the second Epistle of Peter and I had to jot this down while it is fresh on my mind. Peter’s second epistle begins this way, “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” II Peter 1:1 (NKJV) I have always liked that statement, “To those who have obtained like precious faith…” It to me is one of the “Awesome” quotes that God has placed throughout His precious Word. It is statements such as this that that help us to go on even when troubles and trials have us at wits end. He is writing this epistle to me, one like him who has obtained like precious faith, and there are no greater words we can use to describe than “Precious Faith.”

This “Precious Faith,” is ours and is something that we obtain by (or through) “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” He gives us a privilege that we do not deserve but in our state of unworthiness He grants us this faith through His Grace. One of the most precious aspects of this faith is that it is that which links our fellowship with Christ. It is this faith that helps us to hold on. It is this faith that helps us to grow closer to Christ and the closer we grow to Him the more Precious He is to us.

When taking time to write a letter to help encourage and exhort a fellow believer (Titus) the Apostle Paul wrote, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (12) teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, (13) looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” Titus 2:11-13 (NKJV) This Precious Faith walks hand in hand with the Blessed Hope that Paul speaks of here to Titus. This Blessed Hope is sustaining to me and it just sounds better and better because His Glorious appearing is what I am longing to see. It is the knowledge of the Glorious appearing of Jesus that is my hope it is the promise and sealant of the precious faith that I have in Him.

This precious faith holds and binds us, sealing the truth of the blessed hope within us and as we see in the following verse. “And everyone who has this hope purifies himself, just as he is pure.” I John 3:3. If we have this hope it purifies us just as He is pure. What a thought, what a hope and what faith it takes to hold and to maintain this hope. If we do so, we purify our hearts, our minds and our lives. In this truth we grow in the Lord and we become more like the Lord Jesus.

Would not our lives be exceedingly better if we would strive to be more like Christ? This is especially true in this day and age that we currently live in. The world and even this precious country of ours is turning away from Christ. We who are His must make it our goal, our mission to do more for the cause of Christ especially as we see the day approaching. How sad it would be for a country such as ours which has experienced the blessings of Christ to disappear from the annuls of history.

Hebrews 10:38, “Now the just shall live by faith: but if anyone draws back, my soul shall has no pleasure in him.” (NKJV) We are to live by faith, if we do not we will be as those who draw back, as those who shrink away for Christ, In doing so we cause Him to turn His face from us, to take his hands of protection off of us.