Regardless whether you use these questions for group or personal reflection, there's a LOT here, so don't feel any need to cover everything!  Just use the questions below as a guideline for deeper thought and a way to stay present to 2 Peter through the week.

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1. What really gets you excited and motivated to get into the day?  (Or perhaps, what conversation with a friend might keep you up past your usual bedtime?)  On the flipside, do you have trouble finding any motivation for getting into the day?  What do you think might be behind this?

2. Phil mentioned a couple things he thought got Jesus going in the morning.  What were they (see John 10:10 and John 17:3)?   Do the things that energized Jesus tend to energize you?  If so, what things?  If not, how can you put yourself in a position to let Jesus' heart become your heart?

3. Christian scholar Frank Gaebelein said that "knowing God is the beginning, the continuance, and the goal of the Christian life." If this is so, how do we let this shape the way we live our day-to-day living?  

4. We talked on Sunday about how we usually tend to focus on the fruit (self-control, patience, generosity, etc.) instead of on abiding with Christ, or knowing Christ.  Read John 15:1-17.  Why do we find it easier to focus on the fruit than on the relationship, the abiding with Christ?

5. There are practices that followers of Jesus have used throughout the centuries in an effort to abide more in Jesus (sabbath, solitude, prayer, fasting, Scripture, community, generosity, service, and witness, to name just a few).  Which of these practices do you currently engage in?  What is perhaps another that may help you know God, or abide in Christ, better?  How does this relate to Phil saying that God expects participation from us, not just action?

6. Peter says that in light of the truths he has written about knowing God, that we should "make every effort" to align our lives with the abundant life Christ came to give.  (It's important to remember that this "make every effort" does not mean that our salvation, our life in Christ hinges on our own efforts–Christ did for us on the cross what none of us is able to accomplish on our own.  But God's grace inspires effort.)  How can we "make every effort" to do this and at the same time trust that we "already have all that's necessary for life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3)?  This sounds like a contradiction, but it's really about joining our effort to what God is already doing in us.  What is God already doing in you, and how can you participate with Him in that work?

7. Phil talked about having issues with having a bad temper, and that he has been tempted to say, "I guess this is just the way I am.  I don't want to be this way, but I don't seem to be able to change–I'm just going to have to learn to live with it."  What areas of your life have you perhaps resigned yourself to defeat, where you have given up expecting to see any change or growth at all?  How does this passage encourage us to approach those areas differently?