January 13, 2023 GRACE AND PEACE BE MULTIPLIED
2 Peter 1:2-4 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 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.”
It seems that many are desiring a simpler life style-and that is understandable as we live in a complex culture that constantly demands much of us. Families sharing meals together, enjoying conversation without getting a text message, playing a game in the back yard, or just taking a leisurely walk and enjoying God’s creation is so often illusive. The awesome good news is that God knows the deepest longings of our hearts, and He has made provision that we might live life as He designed and that we could be truly fulfilled. Peter begins this chapter with the prayer that “Grace and peace be multiplied to you;” and it is just that-the grace and peace of God has been extended to us. By His grace, through His divine power, He has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness. It is not by our effort, but by His divine power that we have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness-what a blessing. Peter tells us that these things come to us through the true knowledge of Him. It is critical that we learn of God according to His word and not according to our own definition of God; there are many false concepts, false religions, and false teachings of who God is and what He is like. We must be constantly forming our beliefs around the truth of God’s word. We may not completely understand what it means that we ‘have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness.’ We have to work, we have to pay bills, we have to maintain what we own, we sometimes endure sickness and loss, and we may at times feel discouraged. BUT, God enables us to overcome what we face; we have all we need in Him; in Him we have peace, patience, hope, joy, courage, steadfastness, wisdom-and the list goes on. God makes us new, and in our newness, we discover that we are indeed complete in Him, lacking nothing. Sure, we face difficulties, but He has made us sufficient to meet and to overcome the challenges we face in life. And hear this-God has given us precious and magnificent promises in order that WE might BECOME PARTAKERS OF HIS DIVINE NATURE!! Yes! We can live life in this fallen world with His divine nature empowering us and guiding us every step of the way. We are not God, but we can think like God and we can act like God and we can respond like God-and that is what God is desiring for us.
1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:24 “and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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