Glory of Christ Fellowship

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of devotionals this summer on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of praise in the Christian life. Paul writes in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” The three clauses in this verse are often quoted in isolation from one another, but they are in fact designed to be kept together. As Jesus enriches ou...

The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). The word “grow” is an exhortation and a command, and it implies that if we’re to progress in Christ we must play an active role, by the grace of Christ, in building habits that nurture our progress. Therefore, I am offering a series of devotionals this summer on eight essential habits that help us to grow in grace. For today, let’s consider the place of the Word in the Christian life. Isaiah wrote, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught” (Isaiah 50:4). The longing of our God and Father is to draw near to his children morning by morning, opening our eyes to his glory and our hea...

Do you want to grow in love for Jesus? Do you long to experience more of his grace day by day? Do you desire for your life to bring glory to Christ? Most Christians will, of course, answer “yes” to these questions, but I want to encourage you to join me in searching our hearts to see if our “yes” really means “yes.” Are we willing to take up our cross daily and die to anything that stands in the way of our progress in Christ? Are we willing to sell everything we have in order to gain him? The Apostle Peter drew his second letter to a close with these wise and pastoral words: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18). Beloved, this is an exhortation from an elder brother in Christ, and it’s also a command. The word “grow” is in the imperative mood which means that it’s a directive. Peter is saying to people he loves very much, “Forsake the fading pleasures of this world a...

     It is said that America is a free country, and when freedom is defined in a certain way this is true. However, many Americans are anything but free. They are enslaved by pornography, by legal and illegal substances, by greed, by debt, by envy, by jealousy, by anger, by deceit, by unhealthy relationships, by hidden sin, and so on. Many of us appear to be free, but in truth we are slaves in disguise.      The Bible tells us why people can seem to be free but are not—it’s because they are living under the letter of the law of God, and the letter kills (2 Corinthians 3:6). Their knowledge of the law comes either from the Bible itself, or from their conscience which is the law of God written on the heart. People who’ve never even seen a Bible know that they should not kill, lie, commit adultery, and many other things. This is because God created us to know right from wrong, and we all do.      When we knowingly or unknowingly use our fr...