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Avoiding Spiritual Hyperopia

Avoiding Spiritual Hyperopia

Words of Faith 3-4-2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2020

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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2 Peter 1

    [10] Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, [11] and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

      Peter had carefully cautioned believers regarding the danger of spiritual nearsightedness-- focusing so much on the problem in front of us that we miss the purpose of God in building our walk with Him.  There is also a problem of spiritual farsightedness-- hyperopia-- where we have our eye on the Kingdom so much that we miss the daily walk that Jesus wants to make firm in us!

      Peter urged believers to make an earnest, up close, effort to grow in connectedness to Jesus so that we might "make sure" our relationship with Him and never fall. The word used here does not refer to "falling away.”  It simply means to trip.  If we are looking too far down a path, we can miss the small things that might cause us to trip. 

      Peter was trying to help believers safeguard their walk with Jesus.  The goal is to make sure or steadfast the connection with Him, and in doing so, avoid the pitfalls that so often trip us up.   That is close up stuff.

       But don't misunderstand.  The point here is not perfectionism or legalism.  It is often said that "nobody is perfect" and "we all make mistakes.”  This is true.  But there are also avoidable pitfalls.  There are matters over which we need never stumble again.  There are sins in which we ought never to find ourselves tangled.  There is an assured steadfastness and stability that God wants to grow in us so that we are not always picking ourselves up.

       The goal of our connected walk with Jesus is to receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  This is not to say that a stable walk with God earns salvation.  Salvation is by grace through faith.  But the "rich welcome" describes a smooth transition for those who are walking in close connection with Him.

        The time between Christmas and the New Year is often a time of spiritual introspection.  So how is your walk?  Are you growing more and more in connection with Jesus? Are you "participating in the divine nature" united with Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?  Are you sharing in something of God's own holy nature, separated from the corruption around us?  

       Are you building upon the foundation of saving faith in Jesus a life of goodness; building upon goodness a deep knowledge of Him; building upon knowledge a personal self-control; building upon self-control the perseverance to get through the tough stuff; building upon perseverance, deep reverence for God; and to that reverence adding brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness growing in love?

 

       Father God, give me focus in my walk with You.  Keep me from the nearsightedness of always seeing the problems.  Keep me from the farsightedness that keeps me from avoiding the pitfalls.  Strengthen and make steadfast my walk with You.  In Jesus' Name.

 

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, and our website, and our church app, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.  

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