The Grands Letter (2 Pet/GLJ)

Dear Grands,

2 Peter 1:2-8, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,

6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,

7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There is just nothing that compares with the grace and peace that comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter emphasizes this by saying that grace and peace are “multiplied” to us by the Lord Himself.

Certainly, there are times when we are saddened by the negative circumstances of life. We then cry, “Oh, Lord, why?” It is not always best that He respond so quickly to us; certainly not in the manner in which we often reach out to Him. We sense the urgency of His presence and need for His comfort; but in the end, we learn that what we thought was tardiness on His part was clearly to our advantage.

Our hurriedness is often to our own disadvantage. The Lord is never late in His distribution of love and comfort. Our eagerness is more often to our own hurt. Sixteen times, from the book of Matthew to the books of Peter, the Scripture urges us to be patient. Impatience is a sign of human doubt. It is, in fact, a question of whether the Lord will at all respond. Doubt is always a negative display. We are to believe in Him! Belief is always the display of trust!

Heartily in Christ,

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

United States of America

We will never know that Christ is all we need,

Until He becomes all that we have.”

–Corrie ten Boom