Feb 4th -- Where Does Our Faith/Grace/Peace Come From?? 2Peter 1:1-2
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ gives us the answer to this question. And it is very simple...
Through righteousness and knowledge! (Of our God and Savior(Lord) Jesus Christ!
Let's read - "To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."
Who provides (provided) the righteousness?
Where does our knowledge come from?
You see, it is all His! Through God, our Savior, and the Holy Spirit comes righteousness and knowldege. He called us, showed us Himself, allows us to know Him more and more, and gives us a precious faith. Is there a better faith?
We need to have faith in many things as we live out our lives:
Faith that the food we eat for breakfast is pure, safe, and has been harvested/processed/packaged with our health in mind; Faith that the water we drink is pure enough to keep us from illness; Faith that our electricity will stay on all through the night so our alarm will function at the start of our day; Faith that the starter will turn our engine when we turn the key; Faith that our employer will actually pay us for our hard work at the end of the pay period; Faith that the "other" car will stop at the intersection red light; Faith that our children will be taught properly at school in preparation for their future: Faith that the pill we took for our headache was designed and manufactured with the proper chemicals and packaged in the proper container; Faith that the bank will keep our money on deposit...one thing we don't need faith for is that God will remain "faithfull", why?? Because He cannot lie.
God doesn't "just get us by", He desires for us to have abundance...Grace and Peace in abundance. How? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. The more we know Him, the more grace and peace we have.
On this earth, Jesus knew His Father and therefore walked in confidence. If we are to WAJD then we must use our precious faith and listen to the Holy Spirit as we read God's Word to know Him better. As we learn of Him, our grace and peace grow abundantly.
Well, let's all grow in our knowledge together...
posted by BPC @ 11:11 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I know that I don't always walk in the fullness of faith/grace/peace. It's because I allow prior disappointments and the feelings that well up because of those disappointment to steer me. But.....I am still learning and each day brings opportunity for growth in this area. Thank you for the reminder in your examples , Bri, that in every day life we have blind faith to believe in things.
When we say, "know Him" we probably fail to understand the full implication of this statement. As an example, we can be fully emersed in our daily activities (employment, chores, leisure, etc.). What would "knowing Him" in these scenarios really mean?
I struggle with this regularly. I can go through periods that are very dry; times when I know that I am letting circumstances dictate my attitude; times when I am choosing to ignore the great truths that I have gleaned over 25 years as a believer. And in those times when I do not sense that faith/grace/peace are present, I often look up and ask Him, "So where is this vital and vibrant relationship now?"
Thankfully, we live by faith.
We live by faith, and not by sight.
In other words, it is not necessary to "feel" like these 3 gifts are surrounding me---they are there for the knowing, for the grabbing, for the appropriation right in the middle of mediocrity!
And when I focus on what I know to be true; when I concentrate on those things that I know God has done for me; when I allow myself to become overwhelmed by the fact that I can be called a son of God...well, this is one small glimpse of glory...one of many we will have until the day we shall see Him as He is!
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