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 1 July 2020 Psalm 145:3.

01 Jul 2020 Leave a comment

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

Psalm 145:3.     ​Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).
 

Happy Canada Day my Scrip-Bit friends and family! Yes, today we’re celebrating the great day of 1 July 1867 when the separate colonies of Canada (Ontario, Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were brought into a Confederation within the British Empire known as the Dominion of Canada. And since then baby, have we ever been going strong! And I don’t care what anybody says, Canada is still the best big country in the world! And do I hear an Amen? 

For sure, as a loud and grateful shout of ‘Amen’ does emanate from God’s people! (smile) But please remember my people, the pandemic is still upon us, and though the lockdown has been eased a fair amount, we’re nowhere near out of the woods yet, so we still have to be very careful and protect ourselves and those around us. So please, no rash and foolish gatherings and celebrations today. 

And I know that some people are pleased as punch with a holiday in the middle of the week, while others are displeased, preferring to have their public holidays on the weekend, but let’s just be thankful that we do have an extra day off – with pay to boot– and less likelihood of catching the virus, as most of us spend a quiet day at home, doing some of what Bruh David so proudly declared in Psalm 145, his psalm of praise. 

‘I will extol (praise) thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (beyond our understanding).’ (Ps. 145:1-3) And is that last verse ever so true my people! Our God is the greatest! His people have been saying that from the beginning of time, and we, in our time, have also discovered that it’s the awesome truth! There’s none other like him! 

That’s why Bruh David continues: ‘One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour (splendour) of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of thy terrible (awesome) acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly (eagerly) utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.’ (Ps. 145: 4-7) 

Oh my people are we following in Bruh David’s footsteps, praising our great God, telling of His glorious majesty, His marvellous works, His wonderful goodness to the children of men, and singing of His amazing righteousness? If we are not, then we are doing Him a great injustice! How can we not sing the praises of a God, who as Bruh David says: ‘The Lord is generous, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.’ (Ps. 145:8-9) 

Mama Yo! What a magnanimous and magnificent God we serve my brethren! He’s so wonderful that ‘All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.’ (Ps. 145:10-12) Yes friends, that’s our number one purpose here on this earth, to make known to all and sundry the great power and might, mercy and grace of our wonderful God; He of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! 

And if we’re not doing that in some form and fashion, we’re therefore not fulfilling our earthly purpose. And we can’t give the excuse that we don’t have the means to do so, because there’s never been a time in man’s history when the gospel of Christ can be more easily spread, for technology has given us numerous ways to do so. That means we must have a serious conversation with ourselves and see how we can improve, and with God’s help do so, because the good news of the gospel is desperately needed in these dangerous and uncertain times. 

And in these deadly days, we need to remember more than ever that ‘The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait (look expectantly) upon thee; and thou givest them their meat (food) in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.’ (Ps. 145: 14-16) That means friends that the Lord will look after us in these dreadful times, if we fix our minds and actions on Him. We will not suffer harm or lack any good and necessary thing! And all God’s children gave a loud and grateful shout of ‘ Praise the Lord! Praise his holy Name! Praise Him for His goodness to those who call upon Him!’ 

Thus we can say with the utmost certainty: ‘The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy (gracious) in all his works. The Lord is nigh (near) unto all them that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear (reverence) him: he will also hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that LOVE him: but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.’ (Ps. 145: 17-21) Wow mih bredrin! Is there any other supposed Deity like our great God? Absolutely not! There couldn’t be, because He is the ONE and ONLY TRUE and LIVING GOD! 

And if you sincerely believe that, then let’s go home with our mouths singing His awesome praise through our Wednesday Wail. All together now in strong voice: ‘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 if we are wise, we will keep looking steadfastly to that future and will also keep telling the rest of the world about it! Much LOVE!

…praise Him, praise him…Glory Hallelujah…He is LOVE…He is LOVE…