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Day 355, or December the 21st. The truth, the

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whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Our thoughts

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today come from 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 20.

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Above all, you must understand that no prophecy

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of Scripture came about by the prophet's own

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interpretation of things. And now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Peter writes a second,

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shorter letter, but this time he concentrates

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on problems inside the church rather than the

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persecution from outside that dominates his first

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letter. It is probable that Peter doesn't have

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a long time to go before his crucifixion. Tradition

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has it that he has to be crucified upside down

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as he was not worthy to die like Jesus. Doesn't

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that just sound like Peter? This letter is dominated

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by the harsh facts that negativism, from outside,

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is hard to take, but when it originates on the

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inside it's quite insidious, and so much harder

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to bear. Of course it's part of spiritual warfare,

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but it's still hard to understand, especially

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when it comes from folk who previously were seen

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as your brothers and sisters in Christ. Peter

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encourages his fellow believers with three suggestions.

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First, do all you can to cultivate a Christian

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character. Second, make sure you condemn false

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teachers. And third, have total confidence in

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Christ's triumphal return. And now, our action

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step for today. The Bible is so much more than

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a special book or series of writings. It is the

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revealed, inspired Word of God, and not the musings

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of men and women. Peter believed this, and so

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do I. Why else do you think it has been attacked

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over the centuries? Some criticism has come from

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those outside the church who don't know any better,

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but think they do. Sadly, however, some has come

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from within the church, from people who should

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know better, but insist on God's word being second

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to their own convictions. So they turn somersaults

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and all sorts of contortions, rather than admit

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that the Bible really does say what it says.

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It can sound narrow -minded, but I prefer to

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describe it as focused. It's a tried and tested

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foundation, and there's room for more to stand

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on it.