The Daily Discipleship Podcast

Christ is the prototype for the Christian life, while is much more than an example (He is the perfect God-Man, the Savior, the Lord), He is the example set before us which we are to emulate. 

This passage instructs us in how we are to live in relationship with one another.  It has implications for church, home, or any relationship, but most especially among the Church.  All rooted in Christlikeness.

The apostle Paul could have pointed to many things which made life full, yet, he pointed to Christ as his pleasure, desire, and delight in life.  Are you and I growing into that type of proximity to Christ?

Even though Paul was imprisoned, the Gospel was not bound.  It continued to be spread.  In our day, the Gospel is not bound, and even though it is sometimes delivered by those with less than stellar motives (money), it is still be delivered.  May you be emboldened to share the Gospel today, and may we rejoice that it is being preached regardless of motives. 

In his writings, Paul always shared his gratitude and his prayers for his Gospel partners.  What is my prayer for you?  What has God promised to do in your life in this passage that can give you strength?

God gives grace.  God gives peace.  God works through people.  For those of us who are called into full-time vocational Gospel work, it is our partners who put wind in our sails and add joy to our souls.  I am thankful for all my listeners who partner with me in the Global Gospel of Jesus. 

Can you have contentment in the midst of some of life's most challenging circumstances?  The Apostle Paul did, and in Philippians he teaches us how.  Listen

Often we are presented with just one view of the end-times as if it is the only reasonable view, yet, some of the passages to which we point may be to the exclusion of other passages or we may not consider other approaches to the passages at hand.  What are the 3 or 4 predominant view of eschatology of which we should be aware?

Very solid, genuine scholars, pastors, and Christians - all followers of Christ - have very differing views of the end-times while holding firmly to the Word of God.  Today we consider 4 views of the millennial kingdom of Christ and the impact of those views on the timing of things like the rapture, tribulation, and Armageddon. 

What would you tell someone if you thought they might be the last words you might get to speak to them?  While there could have been other letters written and dialogues had by the Apostle Peter, we have these as his final words in Scripture.  What does he tell us? What can we learn?  How should we live?

People begin to get lax about the coming Day of the Lord, but the Scriptures promise - it will come.  Be ready, get others ready.  In this episode we also take a quick look at some different views of what millennialism looks like. 

We need to beware of those who improperly teach others "God's truth" for financial gain.  We need to beware of those who knowing or unknowingly mispresent the truth of God's Word.  There are both weak and false teachers in our day, and we need to be on our guard against them so that we are not led into error.

False teachers may not even know they are false teachers, but teachers who refuse to come under the authority of Scripture and whose goal is personal gain are to be avoided.  Peter warns against such teachers in this chapter.

The Gospel is not some cleverly devised invention of man.  Peter provides a convincing argument that Christ and the Christian life isn't some fairytale. 

God has given us all we need to become like Christ.  The resources are all there.  The tools are all in the toolbox.  We just now need to make application, to use the resources He has given us.  We have our part to play in becoming increasingly like Christ.

The power God has given His people is complete, all we need, but it comes to us in proportion to our experiential knowledge of Him.  In other words, the better we get to know Him and the closer we live to Him, the more of His power we will be able to live within as we seek to be like Him. 

In light of troubled times, how should we live?  Unsurprisingly, the answer is just the same as 2000 years ago.

What does Peter say is the responsibility of church leaders?  What does Paul say?  What would the church be like in an environment where leaders are biblically leading?  Too often this doesn't happen, let's change that!

Peter further discusses trials and suffering and how the Christian is to face them.

Because we are now Christians, how should we live in this world?

Just because we do the right things doesn't mean the world will readily accept us, in fact, in today's world the opposite might just be true.  How should we handle it when we suffer for Jesus' sake?

How are Christian spouses supposed to treat their spouses, especially when their spouse is not a believer?  What can stand in the way of answered prayer?  Peter addresses these issues - all relative to how we live our lives in Christ, especially in regards to our spouses.

How is the Christian supposed to respond to authority, especially when that authority is abusive and even stands against Christian values?  Peter answers this question in today's passage. 

In Christ, God has a design for what we are to become in this world.  This isn't speaking to specific calling for each of our lives, but it is speaking of the general calling for all Christians.

Because of all that Christ has done for us, we are called to live in the fullness, in the holiness that God has for us in Christ.  Christ paid the extreme price, and we are called to action as a result.