2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours.

I don’t think I’ve ever written on this verse before, which indicates that the Lord is giving me fresh revelation! Peter is one apostle who deeply understood grace. He knew that the righteousness he had was not his own doing, but was from Jesus Christ his Lord. In a way this verse is saying the same thing Paul famously said in Ephesians 2:8-9, because he is saying that our faith is not from our own effort, but from the righteousness of Christ. We so want to take credit for things in some way, but Peter is saying that our saving faith itself is because of Jesus, and not anything we have cooked up. That’s really taking it “down to the bare metal,” as is said in automotive restoration work. Peter’s famous sin was denying he knew Jesus three times during Jesus’ trial, but we know from Galatians 2 that he slipped up at other times too, and those after he had been used and recognized as a major apostle. Peter knew that his righteousness was not his own, but that of Christ our Lord. Pride can be incredibly destructive, but God has a way of dealing with it in each of us, seldom the same in any two individuals but generally very effective. Proud Christians haven’t been paying attention!

As I have written many times, God dealt massively with my pride in 1972, but it has reared up many times since. I’m a total basket case without Christ! The devil is so devious, he works to make me proud of being humble! I laugh to think about it, but it’s no joke. That’s not to say I’m worthless, because Jesus died for me, and that makes me incredibly valuable. Neither am I to deny the gifting that God has placed in me, because I’m to be a steward of those gifts to fulfill the purposes God had in mind when He gave them to me. However, I’ve got to remember, on every level, that it’s all because of God and not because of me. That should crank my gratitude up to 10! This conference has been magnificent, and indications are that we could well see explosive growth in the church from this point. That is all the more reason to be on my guard against pride, because I didn’t engineer any of this. I’ll be the speaker at another conference in less than two weeks. Particularly if God shows up in power, I’ve got to remember that it’s all Him and not me. The better I remember that, the more likely it is to happen! I am to focus on being faithful, listening intently and obeying immediately, so that I may be out of the way for God to do everything, and exactly, that He wants to do for His glory and for the Body of Christ.

Father, thank You indeed for this conference and for all You have done in it, not just in and for me but in and for every participant. I pray that this would mark a genuine inflection point in the life of the Body of Christ in this nation, resulting in strongholds being torn down and multitudes being set free to repent and believe, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!