April 27, 2021 BECOMING PARTAKERS
2 Peter 1:3-9 “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control; and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness; and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
It’s both: God is the one who transforms us and gives us a new nature, but we also have a part in the process; we can work with Him as He works in us, or we can choose not to do so. The whole process of being transformed and maturing in the faith starts with a desire to know Him-and even that desire comes from Him. If the desire to know Him and learn of Him is there, then we must increase in our knowledge of Him through reading and studying His word that He has given us. Once we start the journey of getting to know Him, amazing things happen; we discover that His ways are awesome to say the least, and we can spend a life-time of learning and experiencing more and more of Him. It’s like discovering a new world. We discover that he has “granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” There is much that ‘pertains to life;’ we constantly face challenges, difficulties of all types, and we also experience good days and success, but no matter our circumstances, God sustains us and equips us for whatever we face. God has given us many “precious and magnificent promises,” and as we embrace these promises and receive them personally, as we partake of them, we discover that God has placed within us a divine nature-a nature like His. This new nature is the ‘game-changer.’ We now view the world and those around us with a new perspective; our response to circumstances is different; our thought life is different; and simply put-everything is different in a much better way. This is not to say we will not face trials-but we now go through the trials with the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. The call for us today is for us to realize we have a part to play and for us to be diligent in applying the qualities listed in the above verses-and we can do that because God has made it possible for us to do. The point is this: let us not be lackadaisical in the things God has called us to be about, let us not be unfruitful or blind or shortsighted concerning the things of the Lord. We can live a supernatural life even here in a dark world and in the daily routines of life-what we do and why we do it is crucial. May we cast aside anything that hinders our walk with the Lord.
2 Peter 1:10-11 “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; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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