Welcome back to the follower of one podcast. I'm Mike Henry Sr. Thank you so much for being a part of this podcast. I'm grateful that God has called us to do these episodes, and I believe he will continue. We've been talking through 2 Peter 1. Beginning pretty much at verse two and going through verse eight.   So far, and today I'd like to add a little bit more to this series. I keep thinking it's about to end and I believe it will soon. Let's see how we could do today. For today, let's talk about verses nine and 10. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or shortsighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.   Therefore, brethren be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. Let me go ahead and read verse 11 two for in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.   We've been talking about this whole list of traits, these list of attributes as being a process. It begins with God giving us faith, and then we supply moral excellence and knowledge, self-control and perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. We add those things to the faith. We add each thing in its order almost.   It's almost like the series that we go through and I spoke in the last episode. About how we make a lap around the track today. I think he's challenging us that if we lack these qualities, we're blind or shortsighted. We've forgotten the race that we run. We've forgotten the which lap we're on. We've forgotten the purification that we were given from our former sins.   We just stopped focusing on our relationship with Jesus when I first became a Christian. I remember thinking, you know, it's Wednesday and I haven't thought about Jesus at all since Sunday. I would go days without thinking about my relationship with Jesus. I would forget my position in Christ and I would have to be reminded Jesus or the Holy Spirit would remind me, or something else would remind me.   I think sometimes we can also get stuck on one of these, one of these issues I. I admitted at the beginning of this that I come to this because I struggle with self-control. I constantly give myself a pass, and it's almost like every time I get to the self-control chapter, I take a break, I give myself a bye, I take a day off.   I want to keep making laps around this track because every lap is an opportunity to grow, to not be blind or shortsighted. But to remember and be diligent about making my calling certain, as long as I practice these things, I won't stumble. If I keep making trips around this track, I have the opportunity to continue my growth, to continue growing in the Lord, to walk with him more.   And I see that because now after being a Christian for a really long time, I do spend more time. Consciously thinking about my relationship with Jesus. It didn't happen overnight. It takes time. And that time is something that I was always in a hurry for. I always wanted God to make something happen today.   But what we're being told here is we make laps around this track and we grow in our relationship to Jesus, and the more times you've been around the track, the less you will stumble. The more you know who you're chasing, the more we know what we're doing, and the more we know the one who calls us, the greater the likelihood that we will not stumble Jesus will be present in our mind on a daily basis or on a moment by moment basis.   Our faith will be real to us on a moment by moment basis, and as a result, the entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior. Everything about knowing him and knowing God will be abundantly supplied to us. We get that because we made these laps around this track today. I would like to encourage you to make sure that you grow.   Keep moving around the track. Don't let something like self-control stop you, as I'm telling you is my challenge. I'm admitting that here so that you can help me by praying for me and make sure that I keep going past self-control to perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love that I keep making my laps around the track.   And I prayed that for you. I prayed it before I recorded this, and I will continue to pray it. Thank you so much for being a marketplace minister. Thank you for growing in your faith. Thank you for letting your life make a difference in the lives of the people around you.