We can read this a hundred times and blow right past some really critical points:
2 Peter 1:3His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
This one statement "you may participate in the divine nature"is like a giant eggroll with almost the entire bible stuffed inside. How so? It means so you can be like the Lord, so you can think like Him and act like Him, etc. That's what we are trying to do right? We are one with Christ/in Christ.
| ... so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. |
We are in Christ and we are called to walk as He did.
1 John 2:6
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Ok, we get all that ^^ right? Nothing new there. What is so easy to blow right over without picking it up is this:
he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature
How do we participate in the divine nature? How do we become like our Lord? Through His promises.......Yes, He had to bring that to my attention. Who among us really believes what the Lord has told us? About what? Well, He has promised us many things but what got me thinking along this track when the Lord dropped this on me is how some people become more like the Lord, they have more of His nature and some people do not. Some people see more miracles and some see none. Why, why why???!!! Who believes the promises, who roots them down inside them deep and never lets them go no matter what? Who hangs onto the promises till death do they part? Those people become like Christ our Lord and naturally see more power in their life.
he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature
So what? So we, all of us, need answers to prayer every day. This brother cannot make it out the front door some days without divine assistance. I need Him all the time every day and so do most of you. We need answers which means we need power working on our behalf. Who has more power working in their life, the person that has more of the divine nature (more like Christ) or the person with less of the divine nature (less like Christ)? No brainer right? How do we become more like Him? Through those promises....
Prov 2 1My son, if you will receive my words, and lay up my commandments with you;
2So that you incline your ear unto wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
3Yea, if you cry after knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding;
4If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures;
5Then shall you understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6For the LORD gives wisdom: out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a shield to them that walk uprightly.
8He keeps the paths of justice, and preserves the way of his saints.
9Then shall you understand righteousness, and justice, and equity; yea, every good path.
10When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto your soul;
11Discretion shall preserve you, understanding shall keep you:
12To deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaks perverse things;
13Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of the wicked;
15Whose ways are crooked, and who are perverse in their paths:
He is telling us to store up His commands within us ^^, then what?
5Then shall you understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
Its all about His promises. We enter into Christ and we remain there (which is what "saved" means, we are "in Christ" and remain there (John 15).
What prompted me to write this? Other than the fact that the Lord gave it to me and kept reminding me to put it up so He could give me something else, the fact that I/we need prayers answered. We need miracles, we need POWER. Not just words, not just hot air, we need answers. There is only one way to get that power and brings those answers and it is those promises, laying hold of them by faith and never letting them go, till death do us part.
I have one source for answers and power in my life, that is our Father in heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ and the precious Holy Spirit who are all one. This makes things easy because I have no where else to turn. If we give up on the Lord, where else do we have to turn? This merciless and cruel world? No thanks...I, and I pray we will lay hold of those promises with every fiber of our being, with every ounce of strength and keep on holding onto them till Jesus comes back or we do outa this place.
Hold on, fight (spiritually), make war (spiritually) and do........not.........quit!
Time is testing all of us, and many will not survive the test. Those who hold on till the end will make it. As we lay hold of His promises we become more like Him, and more power enters our life. As more power enters our life we lay more claim to the promises and we become more like Him, and more power enters our life, etc, etc.
Bottom line here is we must have answers to prayer and that requires laying hold of His promises by faith. Doing this, makes us more like Him and completes (progressively) our mission here on earth. We are sons and daughters of the Almighty, becoming more like Him every day. Glory to God.
grace and peace
