The Importance of Christians Using their God-Given Gifts to Grow in Spiritual Maturity!

18 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2 Peter 1:3a.       According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,

And our lazy-day Saturday has opened damp and cloudy, the worst way to begin a day. (smile) For a change though, we have temps above freezing, causing the snow to melt and give off that damp, get into your bones kind of weather. The computer is even promising light rain and snow later. But if you don’t have to go out that won’t trouble you in the least, you can simply stay inside and enjoy being lazy. Oh what a wonderful feeling, after all the rushing around and numerous frustrations of the work week! (smile) 

Now, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer with all sincerity and truth! As one voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And if the Lord saw the right motives in our hearts, then we’ll soon be experiencing that warm, glowing peace and calmness emanating from Him into our troubled souls, through His Holy Spirit that indwells us. Ah friends, what a wonderful God we serve! One who gives us everything to make our lives complete. We just need to work it out in our individual lives. 

The apostle Peter puts it thus in his second epistle: ‘Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to (by) glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’ (2 Pet. 1:2-4) 

Now that’s indeed a mouthful, but what does it mean? These commentaries explain: ‘By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.’ And the second says: ‘This Scripture reveals that all we need for our life, God has already given us. We are prepared for anything. All the opportunities, information, relationships have already been given to us through knowing Him.’ 

And breaking it down even further: ‘He takes care of our physical needs. God promises to provide what we need (Philippians 4:19, Matthew 6:31-32). He created the universe and gives food to every living thing — including you and me. The same God who provides food for the animals will not allow us to go without (Psalm 145:15-16, Luke 12:24-26).’ 

Now that just shows what an excellent, LOVING and compassionate God we serve! He’s given us everything to live a godly life and has also promised to provide for all our physical needs, if we put Him first in our lives. Jesus said it loud and clear: ‘But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ (Matt. 6:33) Meanwhile in his epistle to the Philippians, Bruh Paul also stated quite categorically: ‘But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 4:19) 

So it’s simple; if we faithfully obey God, then He will provide for our physical needs, though not necessarily our wants, which are oftentimes very different to our needs. As Bruh David writes in Psalm 145 – The Unsearchable Greatness of God. ‘The eyes of all wait upon thee (look expectantly to you); and thou givest them their meat (food) in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.’ (Ps. 145:15-16) And that’s the way it ought to be with an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God who LOVES all of His wonderful creations! 

Then turning back to Peter, He continues by giving us some good advice on living the godly life. He says: ‘And beside this (but also for this very reason), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (perseverance); and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (LOVE).’ (2 Pet. 1: 5-7) 

Oh my people, that’s not an easy row to hoe, but hoe it we must if we are to attain spiritual growth and meet a level of maturity where we can handle the devil and all his evil doings with a confident nature. That’s the basic purpose for giving us all those things after we are born again and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We desperately need to grow in our overall faith, in particular areas like virtue or moral excellence, knowledge or spiritual truth, self-control, patience or endurance, godliness or God-likeness, brotherly kindness or brotherly LOVE, and agape or volitional LOVE, that’s doing it of our own accord. 

And if we don’t try to grow in our spiritual walk, then the devil will still have us eating from his hand in dark bondage, for we can only withstand him with the powers of God that have been planted in us. So like with all seeds, we need to water and nurture those attributes so that godliness grows in us. 

As Peter says: ‘For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (is shortsighted), and hath forgotten that he was purged (cleansed) from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (stumble).’ (2 Pet. 1:8-10) 

Yes friends, although we will not fall from salvation if we don’t do those things, we most certainly will not live a successful Christian life.  And all I can do is plead with us to seriously ponder on all the good advice we’ve received this lazy-day Saturday, and then try to implement what we need into our lives. And the damp, cloudy weather provides a most excellent time to do so! (smile) Much LOVE!

… like children grow in to more knowledgeable adults…so must believers grow in spiritual maturity and godliness…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   5 April 2023   1 Peter 1:2.

05 Apr 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Peter 1:2.Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.

A good Wednesday morning to you, my fellow believers in Christ Jesus! The weather’s not great, and I can hear the rain falling outside, on what’s supposed to be a rainy day. And there couldn’t be a more fitting opening on this Wednesday of Holy Week, than this one by Peter at the beginning of his first epistle. He writes: ‘Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like (the same kind of) precious faith with us through the righteousness of (our) God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through (in) the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.’ (1 Pet. 1:1-2) 

Yes friends, grace and peace to all you who have sincerely received Christ Jesus! It’s a great honour and privilege to be invited to receive Him. Why? Listen to how Peter explains it. ‘According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to (by) glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.’ (1 Pet. 1:3-4) 

Oh my fellow saints, yuh see the immense benefits we enjoy when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour! We are thoroughly blessed through numerous promises and acts of God, so that we can partake of His divine nature, and be able to fight the evil and corruption that’s in the world. What a great and caring God we serve my people! No other supposed god does that for His followers. ONLY the great I AM! 

So, when we receive Christ, we receive salvation and all the other good things that believers get, like the indwelling of the Holy Ghost and the seeds of the fruit of the Spirit. But that’s not the end, in fact it’s just the beginning, because Christ expects us to follow the leading and guidance of His Holy Spirit as we live this earthly life, and also to nurture and grow those seeds of the Spirit which have been planted in us. That’s LOVE, joy, peace, patience, good ness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23) 

In other words, after receiving Christ, believers are expected to grow, to mature in the Christian faith, in the same way that newborn babies start out by drinking milk, but gradually progress to eating solid food. It’s not good enough to just keep eating baby food for the rest of your lives, although that will not stop you from getting into heaven, but it will certainly cut down drastically on your heavenly rewards, since you will not be able to witness and have strong testimony for Christ, through which others, the unbelievers and the heathen are encouraged to come to Him. 

Remember, we are the eyes, ears, hands, feet and mouths of Christ here on earth. The only chance some may have to see Christ is through you, through your witness and testimony. That’s why Peter continues in his writings to encourage believers to grow in spiritual maturity. ‘And beside this (but for this very reason), giving all diligence, (after salvation) add to your faith virtue (moral excellence); and to virtue knowledge (spiritual truth); And to knowledge temperance (self-control); and to temperance patience (endurance, perseverance); and to patience godliness (God-likeness); 

And to godliness brotherly kindness (brotherly LOVE – Gr. philadelphian); and to brotherly kindness charity (volitional LOVE- Gr. agape – a decision to LOVE, not an emotional feeling). For if these things be in you (are yours), and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren (useless) nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off (short-sighted), and hath forgotten that he was purged (cleansed) from his old sins.’ (1 Pet. 1:5-9) 

Yes my faithful brethren, those are areas in which we all need to grow in spiritual maturity. We are not all at the same level, but for all of us it’s a lifelong cycle. Yes, spiritual growth never ends for the Christian believer. Not until Christ takes them home. And in his epistle to the Philippians, Bruh Paul confirms that, when he says: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform (complete) it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ (Phil. 1:6) Once God begins a good work in us, He won’t ever stop until Jesus comes for us. 

And if we don’t aspire to spiritual maturity, we’re forgetting that we were cleansed of our sin by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, that we were bought with a price…and a very high one at that. And the least we can do is to improve our knowledge and spirituality as befits believers, so that we can be good ambassadors for Christ here on earth. And Peter continues to explain. ‘Wherefore the rather, brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (stumble): For so an entrance shall be ministered (supplied) unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ (1 Pet. 1:10-11) 

And the scholars explain those last two verses thus. ‘Ye shall never fall: The author is not referring to falling from salvation but to failure in Christian living. The everlasting kingdom refers to the eternal realm of God where Jesus is the undisputed Ruler. It is synonymous with heaven. Thus the one who acquires the virtues of verses 5-7 will have a rich inheritance in heaven.’ 

And I know that all of us desire to have a rich inheritance in heaven, but we have to begin by working for it down here on earth. As Christ said, store up your treasures in heaven where they are well protected, rather than on earth where they can rot and rust and be stolen. That’s wisdom in spades friends! And for those of us who have sincerely taken those words to heart, let’s go home now declaring (yesss!!!) our Wednesday Wail, letting the whole world know of our marvellous position in Christ Jesus. 

Altogether now: ‘Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: I’m so glad to be alive on this Wednesday! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday: Thank God the breath of life is still flowing through me on this Wednesday! I am halfway home. My hands are fixed securely on the plough, and I’m not turning back. I’m not looking back at the past, not focusing on what has gone before. But my eyes are fixed straight ahead; straight ahead to a glorious future with Jesus. Glory Hallelujah!’ 

And having said all of that, let’s remember that if we endure until the very end, then the future will be even more glorious than we can ever ask or imagine. Wow! I can’t wait to experience it! I hope you can’t too! Much LOVE!

…growing in spiritual maturity isn’t easy…but it’s surely interesting and worthwhile…  

 Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZ