For years, Dr. David Jeremiah has devoted a portion of his teaching to biblical prophecy. But never before has end-times prophecy aligned so closely with current events. Today, David Jeremiah and Sheila Walsh discuss ten prophetic events unfolding around us.

When we pray, we have access to the Ruler of the universe. Prayer is crucial for the overcomer's life in Christ.

If we desire to make wise decisions instead of foolish ones, we must seek the wisdom that only comes from God.

Strong faith is a vital element of the armor of God; it is the shield by which we extinguish the fiery arrows the devil sends flying at us throughout our lives.

Evil is all around us, but because we serve a good God, we are able to put on His righteousness and overcome evil with good.

If you don’t feel up to the task ahead of you, you’re just who God wants for it. Discover how He will make you strong to stand.

Discover how to fight against the discouragement that comes from others, refocus your attention on God, and run toward your problems, to defeat them, rather than trying to avoid them.

We've been studying an incredible paragraph of Scripture, but the best is just ahead--the seven blessings God gives to those who diligently add to their faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. The Lord lists seven great benefits that come into our lives as we increasingly develop this kind of Christlike and Christ-honoring life. Some of these blessings are available now, in this life; others are in the future, when we receive a rich welcome into God's eternal inheritance for us.

In 1 Peter 1:3-8, the Lord gives us a series of eight critical character qualities necessary for triumphant living. Brotherly kindness is high on the list; in fact, it's right before agape love itself. The term "brotherly kindness" is from the Greek work, philadelphia, which means "brotherly love." The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was named for this Greek word, for the founder, William Penn, aspired to create a city where people truly loved each other. How do we develop brotherly love? We have it described for us in a parallel passage--Ephesians 4:25-32.

We live in a dirty world, which makes it challenging to keep our lives clean. Yet Peter tells us to add godliness to our perseverance and to the other qualities we're developing. Godliness is akin to Christlikeness. Jesus Christ, being God, showed us how to live like God on this planet. The book of First Peter tells us how to walk in His steps, so we can zoom in on 1 Peter 2:9-12 to glean some insights into godly living as we imitate our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Peter's list of qualities we are to cultivate, he tells us to add self-control into the mixture of our life (2 Peter 1:6). A person without self-control is like a city without walls; the enemy can burst in and plunder at will. But someone who is under the Spirit's control is also learning self-control, for the Holy Spirit wants to impart personal discipline to all our other traits. This deserves priority; it displays maturity; it deepens our disciplines; and it's available to those who develop a meaningful strategy for putting this virtue into place.

According to 2 Peter 1:3-8, God has given us everything we need for godliness; He has given us a set of powerful promises. As we put those into operation, we must be diligent to work on certain traits that He desires to see in our life. One of these is virtue—the quality of seeking to please God. Jesus Christ pleased God on every occasion, and we should endeavor to do the same. First Thessalonians 4 tells us how.

Peter opens his second epistle by telling us God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, and He empowers us for that kind of life by His great and precious promises. We’re not a passive part of the process. We must diligently work to build up the traits that will honor Christ and make us more like Him. Peter tells us to diligently add to our faith the qualities of virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. This lesson focuses on the aspect of diligence, growing into the likeness of Christ by working at it with all our heart.

Sheila Walsh interviews Dr. David Jeremiah as they discuss eight steps to living a life of confidence in the promises of God.