Breakfast at Kandris' house

We shared a breakfast meal this week at Kandris’ house. We dined on grits, scrambled eggs, sausage/gravy over biscuits and bacon quiche. Everything was well prepared and wonderful.

The great thing about house church is that it is not a “one man show”. So when we meet the emphasis is on how the members of the body of Christ relate to one another. Concerning Christian gatherings in the book of 1 Corinthians 14:26, Paul wrote “What then, brethren, is [the right course]? When you meet together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a disclosure of special knowledge or information, an utterance in a [strange] tongue, or an interpretation of it. [But] let everything be constructive and edifying and for the good of all. “

This week Kandris had a teaching that she shared with the rest of us. It was from 2 Peter and specifically from the Amplified translation of the bible.

2 Peter 1:3-10
(3) For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [[d]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). (4) By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature. (5) For this very reason, [e]adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in [f]exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence), (6) And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety), (7) And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love. (8) For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [[g]full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). (9) For whoever lacks these qualities is blind, [[h]spiritually] shortsighted, [i]seeing only what is near to him, and has become oblivious [to the fact] that he was cleansed from his old sins. (10) Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast) your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall.

Just a few things to point out in this passage pertinent to our living a Christian life:

• Verse 3 tells us where we receive the power to live a Christian life (God)
• Verse 4 tells us that we should treasure the promises of God as “precious and exceedingly great”
• Verses 5 through 7 tell us that there is personal responsibility involved in this endeavor to be Christian. Notice the words “exercising” and “develop” are repeated over and over.
• Verse 8 tells us that this Christian development makes us fruitful and keeps us from being idle.
• Verse 9 emphasizes the need to recognize when we are missing the mark.
• Finally, verse 10 encourages us with the promise “if you do this, you will never stumble or fall.”