If our FAITH is based on anything less than God’s Word AND The Fulfillment of God’s Word through Jesus Christ, then our FAITH will be based on false teachings that “introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord...Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of TRUTH into disrepute...with stories they have made up” -> 2Peter2:1-3. Any time we begin down a path that veers from the ABSOLUTE TRUTH of God’s Word, we are bringing TRUTH into disrepute (losing respect for TRUTH in our lives!). If we were to bring the TRUTH of gravity into disrepute/lose respect for gravity, we would place our life in great danger any time we walked close to the edge of a cliff! When we bring God’s TRUTHS into disrepute in our lives, the perils we face are much greater because there are Eternal consequences that we face when God’s TRUTHS are not revered in our mind/heart/life. This is why Peter tells us about his eyewitness account of God Himself identifying Jesus as The Messiah, and that “we have the Word of the prophets made more certain” because of Jesus fulfilling every prophecy given in the Bible about Jesus (over 300!). Then Peter tells us that because we have the word of the prophets/God’s Word we “will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place....”(2Peter1:19-21). A light shining in a dark place means that God’s Word can be The Light that guides us everyday, keeping us from the eternal dangers of the darkness of the world we live in, as the Light brings The Gospel of Christ to bear on every aspect of our life. I had a teacher once say “how do you expect to learn anything if you don’t show up for class AND then pay attention”? Peter is telling us the same thing! We must open up God’s Word and then seek to hear and understand/pay attention to what God says through the prophets (1Peter1:21,”For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but they spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”). This is the first step in knowing the loving hand of God’s Spirit in our lives-HIS great love and concern for our every day life - by opening up The Bible and seeking to learn and understand/pay attention to what God says in His Word. Dear Lord...I pray that I PAY ATTENTION to these lessons of 2Peter...and that I have the HELP of Your Word and Your Spirit being The Light that reveals the dangers of the darkness and gives me guidance today, and every day…may my heart/mind/life be soft to receive the lessons YOU have for me in YOUR WORD and by YOUR SPIRIT…as I live in the days that YOU give me…