Christian Counseling - Heart of the Matter

2 Peter 1:39

God has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The first few verses of this passage lay out the glories of our identity as Gods children that Peter says we must not forget. God has given everything we need, not only for eternal life, but also for the God-honoring life to which we have been called until he returns. Notice the tense of the verb. Peter says God has given us everything we need. It has already happened! This is a fundamental Gospel truth. God will not call us to do anything without providing a way for it to be done. If he calls us to cross the Red Sea, he will enable us to swim, send a boat, build a bridge, or part the waters!

Dont forget who you are. You are the children of God who have inherited riches beyond your ability to conceive. You have been given everything you need to do what God has called you to do. Dont give in to discouragement. Dont quit. Dont run away from your calling. Dont settle for a little bit of faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, brotherly kindness, and love. Get everything that is your inheritance as Gods children.

Paul David Tripp

1 John 1:510

Asking for forgiveness is a war between self-righteousness and unearned grace. Between the rules of my kingdom and the commandments of the King. Between a desire to be served and the call to serve. Between living for my own glory and being consumed by the glory of God. I do not fight this war alone. The King, who has welcomed me into his better kingdom, is a Warrior King who will continue to fight on my behalf until the last enemy is under his feet.

This is the battle of battles. His kingdom will come. His will will be done. He will not sit idly by and permit his kingdom children to live with a greater practical allegiance to the building of their own kingdoms. So he fights for the freedom of our souls. He battles for the control of our hearts. He works to liberate our desires and to focus our thoughts. And as he does this, he calls us to humbly confess that we really do love ourselves more than we love him and others. He invites us to admit how regularly we demand our own way. He welcomes us to own up to our anger, greed, envy, and vengeance. If his kingdom is ever to fully come, it must be a kingdom of forgiveness where rebel citizens can be made right again and again and again.

Paul David Tripp

1 Kings 19:18

Elijah had abandoned the job God gave him to do as Israels prophet. He admitted that he had wrongly given up as he prayed in the desert, Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.

When we lose confidence in God, we never do so in the abstract. Rather, our faith dissolves in concrete situations where God doesnt seem up to the job. When Jezebel threatened Elijah he ran, revealing his false faith that she could affect his life more than the Lord. Yet, Elijah felt conviction of sin. He knew hed sold God out, hence his conclusion that he was no better than anyone else. Life had become a messy, vicious cycle that made it hard even to consider approaching people again.

Remarkably, God did not ridicule or berate him. Nor did he reject him and find someone else to complete the mission. Instead, when Elijah arrived in the desert, God sent an angel to feed and strengthen him. Not only did Elijahs strength revive, so did his faith. Instead of simply running away from the enemy, he ran toward his Lord. Elijah may not have had enough faith to face the queen he had angered, but he learned he could face the God he had failed.

William P. Smith

1 Peter 1:325

The ending makes all the difference. A tragic story like Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet starts well, with people full of hope and love, but it ends badly. A comedy like Much Ado About Nothing opens with dark omens and scheming betrayers. The future looks very uncertain but it turns out wonderfully. It is the ending rather than the humor that makes it a comedy.

You must decide whether you will live life as a tragedy or a comedy. The story that Jesus offers you is a comedy. Scripture tells you the end, and, if you have put your faith in Jesus rather than in yourself, it is your end too. Jesus wins. His justice prevails. His love is seen for what it really isboundless and irresistible. Our unity with him exceeds our imaginations. We will see that life was much more purposeful than we thought. Everything we ever did by faithbecause of Jesusstands firm and results in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:7). Knowing this, of course, does not blot out sorrow. But knowing the end reveals that sorrow and death dont win. For those who know Christ, life and joy are the last word.