I am about to close another scribbled blog journal from which I edit as I type, but first, there are several writings I want to jot down here. This is especially challenging when all I have given myself are a few notes but I'll try. I discovered yesterday, the reason why I always feel like I am running behind, and it is because I am always trying to catch up on my blog. Writing has taken a back seat this summer. But I hope to change this because writing makes me happy and knowing I am going to write helps me notice things and helps me live more fully.
2 Peter 1-the first part of the chapter tells us that God's divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
For this very reason, giving all diligence, we must add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
For if these things are ours and abound, we will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins,
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make our call and election sure, for if we do these things we will never stumble;
for so an entrance will be supplied to us abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
That's from the New King James Version.
If we want to be fruitful,
if we want to know God,
if we want to see clearly,
if we want to remember that our sins have been forgiven,
if we want to never stumble,
if we want to escape the lustful corruption of the world,
if we want to enter the kingdom of our Lord,
then,
we need to be faithful in making our calling and election sure.
And this is our calling-to be filled with the divine power of God.
That divine power has given us all things that have anything to do with life and godliness.
And He has given us great and precious promises,
that through these promises,
we may partake of His divine nature.
So for that reason, we add to our faith-
virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love.
If these are ours in abundance
we will be fruitful in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
This knowledge of Christ is more than head knowledge.
It is knowing the Three In One; God,the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ.
Experiencing who they are changes and transforms us,
and keeps us from the error of false teaching.
Virtue-arete-has come to mean moral excellency and goodness.
But 'many scholars feel that in biblical times
arete was commonly used to refer to manifestations of
God's miracle power.'
Remember when the woman touched Jesus's robe
and He felt virtue leaving His body?
Did He feel moral excellency and goodness leaving His body?
Or did He feel God's miraculous power leaving His body?
What if holy goodness and moral excellence left His body
and entered ours?
Would it manifest itself as God's miraculous power?
The other thing I noticed was that His divine nature
and the very things we are to add to our faith
so we can grow,
are really one and the same.
Do these words describe God?
Did Jesus manifest God's character as a human
in these ways?
Was He full of faith?
Was He full of virtue?
Did He know God?
Did He exhibit self-control?
Did He persevere?
Was He godly?
Was He full of brotherly kindness?
Did He love?
There is such depth to this scripture.
I keep trying to organize it in a straight line
but I think it goes in a circle.
Divine Power
The Knowledge of God
Precious Promises
Partaking of His Divine nature
Add the character of God to our faith
(faith without works is dead)
Bear fruit
Never stumble
Enter the everlasting Kingdom
It's all about God.
But it's also about us.
We receive His divine power.
We grab hold of those great promises.
We partake of the divine nature.
We add to our growing.
We be diligent and make sure of our calling.
He provides the power and the promises.
He provides His righteousness.
He provides the glory and the virtue.
He provides the divine nature.
He prepares the everlasting kingdom.
It's a win-win situation.
It always is with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment