NorMel House Devotions

  Titus 1:1-3 "Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness -  a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at His appointed season He brought His word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior" Ever notice how sometimes time seems to fly by and other times it seems to drag? Our view of time is linear, and we see things in sequences of events. God, however, is timeless, and His timing in our lives is perfect. 2 Peter 3:8-9 says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the LORD, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promises, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God is outside of time, He knows all th...

  Read 1 John 4 At first glance, chapter 4 may appear to be a repetition of things John had previously said. However, there is more to learn here. While John had warned against false prophets and teachers, he now tells us to "test the spirits to see whether they are from God." (1 John 4:1). He gives the reader a way to discern and recognize false teaching; those who deny that Christ came in the flesh are anti-christs. John also tells the reader that the world will follow its own, but God is greater than the world. True prophets speak from God and co fess that Jesus Christ was a true man and, at the same time, true God. John was not the only one to warn against false prophets. Paul also warned against them in 1 Timothy 4:1-2a, where he wrote, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars..." So how do we discern the truth? John says, ...

  Read 2 Peter 1:1-8 Peter wrote the second book, 2 Peter, in order to teach his readers how to deal with false teachers and evil doers that had come into the church. As a servant and apostle of Jesus, Peter wanted to teach the reader how to live a life of Christian faith and practice.  In chapter one, Peter starts with trying to encourage Christian growth and gives a guideline for how to do so. As Christians, we are called to live our lives differently than the world. We are called to be active in our faith and not stay stagnant. Peter tells us that God has given us "everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him" (2 Peter 1:3). This means that knowing God helps us to know how we ought to live and how to "escape the corruption in the world caused by evil doers" (2 Peter 1:4). So how do we do all this? We seek God. Seek to know Him better. In seeking God, we are also seeking to add to our faith. We should seek goodness, knowledge, self-contro...

Read 2 Peter 3 Peter wrote to remind his audience to remember "the predictions of the Holy prophets". Scoffers will come and mock their belief that Christ will return but He will come in His time. Time is not the same for God as it is for us so we must be patient. The reason we wait is so that all who are to be saved will reach repentance. That day will come so we should live lives of holiness in anticipation. We await a new heaven and a new earth and must be diligent; not getting carried away by false teachings. Peter disassembles the teachings of false prophets. He urges Christians not to waiver in their faith but to live in the truth. We must not be idle while we wait for Christ's return, but make every effort to know Him and make Him known. We must stand firm in faith, growing in the knowledge of our Saviour - to Him be the glory, both now and forever.