This letter is written to encourage believers in times of trial.  The author is letting us know that there is rest for our soul in God through Christ (Heb. 4:1), but sin and deceit will try to creep in and harden our heart, pulling us away from God and His rest.  I love the depth and practicality of this section (3:7 – 4:13).  He tells us to find and remain in that rest.  We know that the only way to have rest in God is through Christ and the grace and mercy He shows us in salvation.  But, sin in our lives can harden our hearts and pull us away from that rest.  The author will give us a few ways we can remain in that rest.  I have chosen the three ways that I see most clearly.

1. “Take care brothers…”  Take care of yourself!  Check yourself out.  Like Paul says “examine yourself to see whether you are in the faith”.  Pray, ask God to reveal to you if there is any area of your life where you are walking in sin.  Then take an honest look at you life (thoughts, actions, speech, etc.), repent and walk in the truth.
2. “But exhort one another every day…”  Neither of these are suggestions.  They are commands.  You are your brother’s keeper.  It is our responsibility, if we see one of our fellow believers wondering about in sin, to lead them back to the place of rest for their soul.  There are two large ditches on the sides of this road though.  You have the non-confrontational coward (which I have to battle in my life), who doesn’t say anything and hides behind the mask of “well, I don’t want them to think I’m judging them or I’m better than them”.  And you have the proud referee who goes around blowing the whistle telling everyone else to get right because they “have this thing figured out” and they’re just being God’s little helper.  If we truly love our brothers and sisters, like the Word tells us to, it would be unloving to just sit back and watch them drown in their sin.  Exhort means to encourage.  We should prayerfully, lovingly, gently (at first) show them, in the Bible, where they are wrong and ask them to repent and return to rest in God.  If they do not, then lovingly proceed with Mt. 18:15-20 in hopes that brokenness will lead to repentance.  We need each other, that’s just the way He set things up!
3. “For the Word of God is living and active…”  Read the Word!  Simple, I know, but most of the times we find ourselves in the “wilderness” it’s because we have followed our own directions.  When you read the Bible, read it in such a way that you allow it to read you.  Allow it to cut and carve away wrong thoughts, motives, doctrines, actions, etc.  Don’t pray and ask God to “fix” you and then not do what He says.  Lay your life on top of the Word of God and see where it doesn’t line up.

“…and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” Hebrews 2:2b-3a ESV

If we neglect what Christ accomplished on the cross, what other means of salvation do we have to turn to?  Jehovah, the God of the Bible, has shown Himself throughout history and the Bible to be the one true God.  That cuts out all other religions, gods, philosophies, or belief systems one may look toward to satisfy the longing of the soul to receive forgiveness and rest.  Since this book was written most likely by a Hebrew to Hebrews, the focus of this passage is dealing with the supremacy & sufficiency of Christ over the Law or some outward display of morality for salvation.

Deut. 17:2-7 and Num. 15:30-31 among countless others display the overwhelming detail and consequence of the Law.  The Law or moralism brings with it a feeling of hopelessness and despair.  We begin to feel as if we can never be or do good enough… But that was the point of the Law!  That was God’s way of revealing His standards to us, knowing we would fail the moment we were born, revealing to us, as well, how utterly hopeless and helpless we truly are.  We are sinners by birth and by choice.  We can’t work our way to God.  We need mercy!  We need forgiveness!  We need Christ!

If no other religious or philosophical system can deliver us, and we can’t be good/moral/ethical/strict enough… ever… “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?”  Where have you placed your faith?  Turn to Christ.  Receive grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  Find rest for your soul!

This is one of those doctrines that tends to get overlooked with all the talk about how depraved we are from birth and how we can not choose God in that state, etc.  It was a refreshing read.  To finally hear someone talk about the miracle of rebirth and what God does in and through us by the power of His Holy Spirit was a great compliment to the other books and articles on our sinful state before salvation.  He never says we are perfect, but why and how we fight sin.  It gave me a sense of comfort and joy in the great gift I have been give in Christ my God!

2 Pet 1:8-15 – The big idea is fruitfulness.  God wants our lives to be fruitful and for us to enjoy our salvation.

1:8    For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 enemies of fruitfulness: Laziness & Busyness.

• Lazy people don’t do enough, Busy people do too much.  Both destroy fruitfulness.
• When someone is lazy, it’s easy to detect their sin… They’re lazy.  They’re not doing what they are supposed to be doing!
• Busy people are equally guilty of being unfruitful, but are rarely rebuked b/c they look like they are holy and doing much for the Kingdom.  They do too much! Phone calls, emails, driving, games, practice, church, ministry, work, hobbies, etc…  They have exchanged fruitfulness for busyness.
• We need to work on our lives, not just in them.  Pull back and see the big picture.

Four things that will help us avoid the traps of laziness and busyness.

1.Vision
1:9    For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

• Blind to the future and the past.

Two ways to be blind

• Blind to past: Forgetting what Jesus has done for them.  They are busy trying to do something that Jesus already did. Righteousness, forgiveness, reconciliation.
• Blind to the future: Don’t see where they are going.  They are consumed by this world, living for the moment.  Unwilling to see the future.  God has given them the ability to see where they are going and live with the end in mind.
• Søren Kierkegaard (Danish philosopher) “Define your life forward and live it backward” or “Reverse engineer our lives”.  Have a vision for what we want our lives to look like and put our lives together in such a way to get there.
• A vision is a map.  I’m going to Jesus, I will give an account to Him, I will be judged and rewarded by Him.  I need to live in light of that.

2.Enjoy the assurance you have in Jesus.

1:10    Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

• If you’re not a Christian, you shouldn’t have any assurance of salvation, if you are a Christian you should enjoy the assurance of your salvation.  We didn’t choose God, He chose us, therefore our security depends on Him holding on to us, not us holding on to Him.
• Peter is talking about assurance, not security.  Assurance has to do with us, in our minds.  Security is up to Him.  If we are sure in our salvation, we will enjoy it more!
• We enjoy our salvation by supplementing and exercising our faith.  We keep walking with Jesus!
• Have you ever had a season where you doubted your salvation?  I have.  Looking back I can see that it was a time where these qualities were not increasing in my life.  I’ve never met a person who doubts their salvation and is reading, studying, memorizing their Bible, praying, going to church, going to Sunday school (or home groups), repenting, ministering, etc.
• Phil 2:12  “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.
• Never fall – Big statement.
• Sometimes we over-emphasize the extraordinary testimonies. “I walked away from God for 20 years and destroyed my life.  Now I’m back and all is great!”
• I would want you, I would want my kids to have a boring testimony.  Having a life that’s not without stumbles, but always walking with and loving Jesus!
• He’s not saying here that you will never sin or slip up at all, because as we know, Peter still stumbled.  Remember, he fell into favortism and Paul had to rebuke him.
• He is saying here that if you strive for these qualities, you won’t have these huge pitfalls into sin, like he had when he denied Christ.

3.Live for your reward.

1:11    For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

• We will not get our rewards here on this Earth.  “Don’t store your treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy.  Store your treasure in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.”
• As believers, we will not be judged for salvation, we will be judged for rewards.
• Live for that day.  C. S. Lewis – I live with two days in mind, today and that day.

*Side Note: Practical applications for fruitfulness.  Work on your life, not just in it.  Either live your life on purpose or life will live you.  You’re always reacting to things rather than being proactive in your planning.

3 quick rules for fruitfulness (Driscoll): Plate, Priorities, Pruning

Plate.

• You have to recognize and understand the size of your plate.  How much capacity do you really have.  Need to honestly assess that.  Some people can handle more than others.
• Multitaskers can get a bigger quantity of tasks done, while those who don’t multitask well can do a few things, but do them with great quality.
• Lazy people never fill their plate.  Lots of spare time.  Too much TV, laying around, don’t get much accomplished.  Unfortunately, unless they are confronted or the Holy Spirit convicts them, they never change.
• Busy people stack their plate way too high.  Things fall off.  Other people have to pick things up for them. They start a lot of projects and have trouble finishing them.  When they finally do realize that they are doing too much and they’re stressed out, they say “something’s got to go.”  What do you think is the first thing to go?  Not hobbies or TV.  More times than not, it’s church and ministry.
• Know the size of your plate and fill it.  Do no more.  Do no less.

Prioritize.

• Before you fill your plate, you must prioritize.
• How it works with me:

1.Christian – Read the Scriptures, pray walk with God and His people.  I read other books to help me know and understand more about God and His church.

2.Husband – Love Pam, live with her, work on our marriage together, love and serve God with her.

3.Daddy – read with them, pray with them, read the Bible to them, worship with them, correct them, instruct them, spend time with them, play with them, take them on daddy dates, be there for them, etc.

4.Job – work hard, do a good job, provide for my family, be a good witness.

5.Ministry – Volunteer my time, run sound, run website, teach.

6.Be alive – None of this stuff happens if you’re dead.  Find a way to get some exercise.

No matter how big your plate is, that is a full plate!  I don’t have time for anything else much.

7.Hobbies – If there is anything left over.  Sometimes my hobbies give me a little exercise and sometimes my hobbies are also ministry opportunities.  I can kill 2 birds with one stone.

• There is a lot of stuff I can’t do.  I have no more time.  I’m not a good golfer anymore, don’t play softball, fish, hunt, etc.  Are those things sinful?  NO.  But they’re not priorities.  Especially when I have little kids at home.  Maybe later in life when I am not needed at home so much ,but not now.
• What happens with some people is they put their hobbies on the plate first and everything else works around it.

Prune.

• The key to life is pruning.  If you have a tree that is fruitful and you don’t prune it, it will eventually become unfruitful.  Dead or dying limbs take up too much energy and resources.
• The key is knowing what to cut &  when to cut them.
• What relationships do you need to let go of?  Can you watch less TV, What obligations do you need to let go of?  What disorganizations do you need to let go of?
• Are you organized?  Do you have a schedule?  Do you have a budget?
• Pruning is a constant thing.  It will change with your season of life.  Life is all about seasons.
• Jesus said I only do what I see the Father doing.
• Life is a checkbook.  You either pay for things with money or you pay for things with time,  Everything costs!  God holds us accountable for all the checks we write.
• Count the cost for everything before you agree to anything. (ministry, friends, work, help)
• Again, the key is fruitfulness.  Work on your life.
• Ecc 10:10  If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen {its} edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success.
• Are you swinging a dull axe?
• Pull back, see the big picture, make a plan and go to work.

4.Do what you know to do.

1:12-15    Therefore I intend t always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14  since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

• You already know what to do… Do it.
• Peter is writing his dying letter, his last words on paper.  We should be hanging on his every word asking ‘what is the secret to life?’  His response.”There isn’t one”.  You already know what to do, just remember to do it.
• If someone knows the good he should do and does not do it sins.  James

Date:  Peter probably wrote this letter from Rome not long before his martyrdom, sometime during a.d. 64–67.

Purpose & Background:  Peter writes this brief, final reminder to the churches so that his readers will by God’s grace live a life that is pleasing to God. In doing so, Peter must also combat the false teachers who were apparently exerting pressure on the churches to depart from the true knowledge of Christ (see esp. ch. 2). The false teaching is not only a theological challenge but also a moral one, holding forth some form of sexual permissiveness as a legitimate Christian lifestyle. While the false teaching can be described based on what Peter writes, it is historically impossible to identify who the false teachers were. For example, there is no clear historical evidence that these teachers were Gnostic or proto-Gnostic.

Read 2 Peter 1:1-15 in it’s entirety, then we will go back and hit it verse by verse.

1:1

• “Peter” – One of Christ’s inner 3.  Walked with and talked with and learned from Jesus.  He was with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration.  Appointed head of the Jerusalem church.
• “Servant” – Bondservant/slave “Devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interest.
• “Apostle” – “A delegated messenger, one sent forth with orders”.  There is a difference in the office of apostle and the spiritual gift of apostle.  The office of apostle was limited to those sent out personally by Christ and closed with the death of the last apostle (John).  The gift of apostleship is given to people today as the Holy Spirit sees fit and is marked by boldness and bravery to establish or plant churches where there are none.
• “To those who have obtained a faith” – He’s writing to believers.
• “of equal standing with ours” – In God’s eyes, we have equal standing to the apostles in Christ.  The ground at the cross is level!
• “by the righteousness of our God” – All of this is based on His righteousness not our own!
• “God and Savior Jesus Christ” – Other religions say you worship a god and then work on your life to get rid of your sins or faults in order to save yourself.  That’s why I love Jesus so much!!

1:2

• There is no greater aspiration in life than to know God.  Not just knowing about Him, but truly knowing Him intimately.  In his book “Knowing God” J.I. Packer states that knowing someone is really more dependent on them allowing you to get to know them than it is your attempt to know them.
• Therefore knowing the God that created the universe would be nothing but grace.  He has opened Himself up to us in His Word.  He has given us that grace and granted that we should know Him.

1:3

• He has placed His Holy Spirit within us and the Spirit has given us the grace, power, strength, and desire to live the godly life that he will go on to mention in a minute.  If you were just to read the next section you might get the idea that Peter is telling us we need to work for our salvation.  That’s why it’s so important to read the sections above and below the section in question as well as keeping in mind to whom and why the letter was written.  There was a teaching floating around at that time that stated that you could live however you wanted, the most important thing is that you love one another and that pleases God.  Sounds a lot like where we find ourselves in “American Christianity” doesn’t it?
• We can not work for our salvation… In verse 1 he says that our right standing before God is based on Christ’s righteousness.
• Nor are we working to keep our salvation.  Christ started it, not me.  He will finish it, not me.

1:4

• It is through the Holy Spirit that He has granted us these great promises and it is through these promises that we are partakers of the divine nature.
• Partakers – “Partners/associates/companions”
• “having escaped…” – The Holy Spirit gives us freedom from our sinful desires.  Without Him, we are slaves to the flesh, always doing what it desires.

1:5

• What reason? (v3) – Because He has given us the power and promises to do so…
• There are 2 commands in this verse.  One we will spend the bulk of our time on, the other I think gets overlooked because we just read over it like a newspaper.
• Supplement or “add to” your faith – That’s the command we will look at the most.
• “make EVERY effort” “employ every effort in exercising your faith” (AMP)- He is not saying that we should just give it a try and if we fail… ahh oh well, at least you tried. No!  Make this your life’s goal, make every effort.
• What are supplements? – Physically, they are things you take to help you have a better quality of life and get the most out of it.  They did not give you life nor do they keep you alive.  They help you feel better ie. give you more energy, help you sleep, aid digestion, lower blood pressure, etc.
• Some translations read “add to your faith”  You cannot add to your salvation, Christ paid it ALL.  Anyone who teaches Jesus plus anything for salvation, preaches a false gospel.  So what is Peter talking about?
• Taking the power and promises God has given us and applying them to live moral, godly lives, so that we may experience the abundant life Jesus promised us in John 10:10.  When we apply His power and cultivate these qualities, we are becoming more like Christ and increasing in our knowledge of Him.

Side Note:  Biblical living is often mis-labeled as “legalistic” so that others can continue to live guilt free in their immorality.

1:5-7 – Supplements

Virtue

• “Moral excellence or goodness”.  Greek word for virtue is sometimes used to express the idea of strength or power.
• Bravery or boldness to do what’s right in all situations.

Knowledge

• Greek – “A deeper knowledge of the faith”
• Are you still learning?  are you still trying to know more about God?  We all have so much more to learn, no matter how old we are or how long we’ve been saved.
• Are you reading & studying your Bible?  Are you reading or listening to other books, teachers, preachers?
• If you WANT to know… you can!  There are so many great resources out there today!  Keep learning!

Self-Control

• “Being one who masters his own passions and desires”
• There is an emphasis in this verse on sensuality since that was one of the main heresies Peter was trying to combat.
• Paul says in 1 Cor 6:12 “’All things are lawful for me’ but I will not be enslaved or mastered by anything”.
• Again, Christ has set us free from the enslavement of the flesh.  That’s not to say that those desires won’t be there, but we are to use His strength to master those desires.

Steadfastness

• “Perseverence, constancy, endurance”. “Someone who is not swerved from their intended purpose no matter the circumstance or trial”.
• Don’t be wishy washy.  Stay the course you know God has marked out for you.
• “A holy stuborness” – Mark Driscoll
• Don’t give up, don’t quit.
• We live in a world that says “If you see that you’re going to lose, bail out and save face.”
• Don’t give up on God because He doesn’t “show up” and get you out of every jam that you get yourself into.  He never promised us He would do that.  He did promise us He would get us through them.
• He will never give up on us.  He will never leave us nor forsake us!

Godliness

• “Reverence, respect, piety”.
• In an age where so much emphasis is place on God’s desiring a “personal relationship” with us, it would be easy for us to begin to view God as a person.  He is not!
• He is different from us, high above us, Holy, Awesome, All-knowing, All-powerful, mighty, just, His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts!
• He is personal with us for sure.  He opens Himself up to us in that way.  But He is in no way like us except for the fact that He added to His divinity, humanity and clothed himself in the body of Jesus of Nazareth in order to save us and sympathize with us.

Brotherly affection

• “Love between siblings”
• We are to treat fellow believers as brothers and sisters.  Not just in name only.
• Rom 12:10

Love

• Greek – “Agape” “Affection, good will, benevolence, brotherly love”
• Love is not just a feeling, it is an action we must choose!
• We have been influenced way too much by the Greko-Roman idea of love and romance.  If we do not feel it, then we don’t do it.
• Agape love says “Christ loved me, I can love others whether I feel like it or not.
• 1 Cor 13

1:8

• You will be fruitful in Knowing Jesus.  Doing these things helps us know God.  It’s not about getting or staying saved.  He is writing to believers.
• We will also be effective in ministry.

Let’s be doers of the Word and not just Hearers only!

Let’s not get trapped into this Americanized, ho-hum Christianity that is lazy and self-centered.

Let’s head the words of Peter and do something.

This will be Peter’s final letter to the church.  He knows it and gives us his final advice and encouragement as he prepares to depart and be with Christ.  He has lived a great life and has become a great leader of the church in Jerusalem, but Peter has had some obvious issues throughout his sanctification process.  He is writing, in this passage, to tell us how we might avoid some of the pitfalls hel fell into.

If you were to read this passage without keeping in mind verses 1-4, you may think that Peter is preaching a gospel of salvation by works, but as we will see in the next few weeks, he is keenly aware that salvation is by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone.  As I read and studied this passage I became more and more excited because Peter tells us that if we practice the qualities mentioned here, they help us grow in knowledge of Christ and fruitfulness in ministry!  Man has no greater aspiration than knowing the God that created the universe!

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Cor. 2:14

Despite the hardships, agony, disappointments, or frustrating circumstances we may find ourselves in, we have the divine promise that in Christ we are being led in a triumphal procession. This covenant promise is ours in Christ for one main reason. Christ is the Victor. Through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, Christ conquered death once for all. At the cross, He purchased the redemption of His people and sealed our victory over sin and death. As Christian men, by virtue of our adoption into God’s family, we are participating in the most amazing triumphal victory parade the universe has ever known. Our Victor is faithful to complete the work He has begun in us as stated in Philippians 1:6. Someone once said that “the eyes of faith can see the unrelenting progress of the kingdom of God.”* Day by day we participate in this victory parade. May God give us grace to be men counted faithful to Him and living in light of His victory.

*note from Reformation Study Bible, 2 Cor. 2:14.

I believe the problem lies in a couple of areas for men who call themselves followers of Christ yet show no interest in leading their families as the Bible says we are supposed to.

1. They are never confronted with the full truth of what God has called them to as a believer, husband, father, church leader.  No one has ever sat them down and said “Grow up!”  This culture as well as the church has allowed “men” to remain overgrown boys.  That leads to this Peter Pan syndrome, that America is plagued with, where men, married or single, think only of themselves, their toys, and what pleases them most.  I know.  I was one of them.  By God’s grace I am continuing to rise above that selfish, self-centered, tiring lifestyle that I thought was so much fun (lets face it even when you get what you want all the time, it’s still empty).  So part of the problem is a lack of knowledge.  We have lost the art of mentoring in the church today.
2. They are told and shown from the Scriptures what God’s expectations are and never really consider the weight that brings or they consider it too high a price.  They are told we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her (Eph 5:25).  That statement alone is enough to blow your mind!  They are told and shown that it is our responsibility (not our wife’s, not the church’s, not the school’s) to teach the Word to our children (Deut 4:10, 6:7, 11:19).  Side note: They are not “our” children to do with as we please.  They belong to God and He has seen fit to allow us to be a steward over their lives and to raise them the way He says we are to raise them. So you end up with men, when it comes to their families, who are either lazy or apathetic.

Yes it’s a huge task.  Yes it’s hard sometimes.  But, we’re men!  We have no trouble finding the strength to do the other things we really want to do.  If we want to learn a new sport, hobby, job, etc., we pour a ton of time, energy and money into it so we can be the best at it that as possible.  Why do we not treat our families (of infinitely greater value) the same way.  Why do we not spend time, energy, and resources on learning how we can love our wives better or how do we go about teaching our kids the Word and that Jesus loves them more than they will ever know?  A lot of times we are like Jonah.  We see the task, don’t like the terms and bolt the other way.  Jonah bore the weight of his disobedience, but sadly if we don’t do something about our families, they will be the ones to suffer because we didn’t think they were worth the price.

Either live your life on purpose, or life will live you.  Don’t just react to things that happen.  See the things you want to happen in your family, pray that God grant you wisdom, strength, and grace… and then MAKE IT HAPPEN!

You don’t have to be a theologian to read the Bible to your kids.  You don’t have to be Billy Grahm to pray with your wife.  You do need to read your Bible and pray (feed yourself) so you will have something to feed them with.  Everyone runs into a dry season where you’re not focusing on your walk with God and living for Him.  We all have times when we lose the battle to selfishness.  The question is do we struggle with that or do we just roll over?  Repent and get back to what you know is right!  Worship God, live for Him and enjoy the family He has blessed you with.

There is a underlying thought that as men we should be able to make it on our own. The only excuse would be if we have to move, tear down an engine, or do some serious remodeling on our homes. Even then, the call for help is if we just cannot get it done by when the deadline gets close. Most times when guys get together it is for anything but help, maybe a superficial “yea, my wife and kids”, “the job and the boss”, more of a complaining statement than a true reaching out for some help.

Unfortunately, this attitude often gets carried over into our spiritual lives and that breeds sin, apathy, laziness, and indifference to all around us and in our own lives. I have found in my own life that when I refuse to open up in honest, real accountability, it is so easy to hide in my sin. It is like a sickness that if you don’t truly see it, then it must not be really hurting you. It is so easy to make excuses for  lack of admitting the need for help.  It  might be experiences in our past that  bring feelings of anger, self-pity, shame, bitterness, or a situation we might be in that we feel like we could be judged, ostracized, or condemned. Nevertheless to stay silent or believe that we can pull/”will” ourselves out of an addiction, struggle, or self-destructive cycle is exactly what our enemy desires for us. During various seasons of my life the times when it seemed to live Christ-like was actually possible was when I gave up on my own strength, good intentions, the lie that I could handle it. It takes swallowing my pride, confessing my sin, getting out of the darkness of isolation, finding other guys that are truly seeking to live Christ-like that are aware of their need for strength greater than their own. The times that I have gotten lazy in staying accountable or reaching out only brings me back to hiding in the shadows pretending that on one knows, enslaving myself to chains of whatever self-destructive addiction is owning me at that moment.

This last month I have been able to hang out with a few buddies that as husbands and fathers are seeking to be leaders, role-models, & examples  instilling  in their families Christ-like values. It has encouraged me to take my own relationship with Christ to a level where I would be open to godly counsel and accountability. It is not always easy to find other men that are striving for the same goals but they are out there. I think about Elijah, how he felt alone, abandoned, like he was the only one trying to stand for God in the face of persecution. Yet God revealed to him that there were many others who had compromised or sold out. We live in a modern age where there are so many avenues to stay in touch, community, and relationships with others. We as men know how to excuse ourselves out of what is inconvenient by often blaming lack of time on our job, family, or obligations. In the end though, all we do is take ourselves out of what we truly need. My prayer is that we would find those around us whether the same age, older or even younger to join them in honest, Christ-centered, grace-filled friendship in our journey.

II Timothy 2:3, Hebrews 10:24