His divine power has
given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him
Who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His
very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in
the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil
desires. – (2 Peter 1.3-4)
There’s
was some kind of a winter weather watch in effect for my area (northeast of
Baltimore, Maryland) this past week – rain, sleet, freezing rain, ice — and
mostly lots of snow. I was really hoping for the snow! Well, the weather
situation here wasn’t like the major snowstorms that swept through the Midwest.
We had a light dusting of snow followed pretty much by lots of rain and wind.
Hearing
the news about the wintry weather approaching caused me to take inventory again
the other day regarding what would happen if there was a loss of power to my
residence because of inclement conditions. We have a fireplace with plenty of firewood
stockpiled. Candles… lots of candles and lots of matches. There’s some food in the
pantry and bottled water and juices. We’ve got all kinds of camping gear which
includes a Coleman stove and lights – all of which would come in handy in an
emergency. We even have one of those radios that can be powered by electricity,
battery – and it has a hand-crank generator with an emergency light. You just
turn the little crank and it manages to generate enough juice to power the
radio and light for about 15 to 20 minutes at a time.
Now,
that mini-generator is fine for the limited demands of the radio and the small
light bulb. But should a major winter storm event occur and there’s a serious power-outage,
you and I both know that I could not run my whole residence on that little
hand-crank generator! Not the refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, garbage
disposal, washer and dryer, hot water heater, microwave, coffee maker,
computer, lighting, and heat. No way! That puny supply could not handle all the
demands – actually, not any of the demands. Seems silly that I would even
entertain trying to support all those energy needs with a little hand crank
generator designed for a small radio and light bulb, doesn’t it?!
Isn’t
it amazing how we try to meet the demands of our life with what amounts to a
little hand crank generator? Why, we’re browning out, blacking out, wearing
out, burning out, because we’re not plugged into a much bigger power source –
an unlimited, infinite power supply! That power is promised to all Jesus’
followers in our key Scripture text found in 2 Peter 1.3-4, “His divine power has given us everything we
need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His
own glory and goodness….”
Our
tendency is to trust in hand-crank power – the power of human effort, human
planning, committees, money, good ideas, connections, experts, experience,
education, promotion, politics, the list goes on. But human generators cannot
meet all the demands of our complex lives in this complex world. The apostle
Paul calls such human efforts “foolish”! “Are you so foolish [How can you be so stupid]? You began ·your life in Christ by [ by; or through] the Spirit. Now are you trying to
·make it complete [finish; or be perfected] by ·your own power [human effort; the
flesh]?” – (Galatians 3.3, EXB) We need the kind
of voltage that only God can generate in and through us by faith in His Son –
Jesus Christ. And we plug into that high voltage through prayer, God’s word,
fellowship with other followers of Jesus and reliance on the indwelling Spirit.
Now
we are people of action and are inclined to feel we’re not doing enough (or
anything, really) when we study and meditate on God’s word and pray. And we are
an independent people – relying on our own human resources and abilities to
meet the demands of daily living. We seem to tap into our Lord as a last resort
– sort of like a back-up generator in case of an emergency when all else fails.
It is evident by the way we say, “Well, I
guess all I can do is trust God’s promises and pray.” What?!
“All I can do is go
to the Throne Room from which over 125 billion (and counting) galaxies are
governed and believe the promises of the One Who made it all and talk to the
One runs it all”?
That’s all?! Are you kidding me?! Wow!
You
see, that’s what Peter is telling us in these two key Scripture verses - as a child
of the living God, you have everything you need, “divine power” – to live a godly, holy and abundant life (2 Peter
1.3-11). Peter states emphatically that, “His
divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” His divine power… we need to appreciate
what that means and the difference that makes:
“When
God exercises His power it is effortlessly. It is no more difficult for Him to
create a universe than for Him to make it rain. Since He has at His command all
the power in the universe, the Lord God Omnipotent can do anything as easily as
anything else. All His acts are done without effort. He expends no energy that
must be replenished. His self-sufficiency makes it unnecessary for Him to look
outside of Himself for a renewal of strength. All the power required to do all
that He wills to do lies in undiminished fullness in His own infinite being.”[1]
He is, after all, The Great I Am! [2]
You
see, your intelligence, your education, or your family background (your
hand-cranking) does not determine the holiness and fruitfulness of your life. Jesus
said, “Remain in Me, and I will remain in
you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither
can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the
branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from Me you can do nothing” – (John 15.4-5) Our constant hand-cranking will
never sufficiently empower us to live fruitful, godly lives nor will our human
wills provide us with the inner strength to say “No!” in the face of every temptation and nor can our own willpower
enable us to “escape the corruption in
the world caused by evil desires”, no matter how determined we are! – (Titus 2.11-14; 2 Peter 1.4)
But,
everything you need to live a victorious, joyful, and abundant life is found in
Almighty God the Spirit Who resides within you: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the
Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your
body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
And if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He
Who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit, Who lives in you… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” –
(Romans 8.9-11; Galatians 5.22-23).
And
according to Peter, each Jesus-follower, by faith, has access to these
qualities: goodness, knowledge of God, self-control, perseverance, godliness,
brotherly kindness, and love – “He has
given us His very great and precious promises” – (2 Peter 1.4) But it is of
no use to have promised all the high voltage power that you will ever need available
to you 24 by 7 if you do not know it is yours and then plug into it! Likewise,
it is of no benefit to have everything necessary to become like Christ if you
do not claim it, but instead go on hand-cranking your little generator
day-by-day.
If
we continue to lack self-control when God has made it available, we rob
ourselves and those around us. If God is willing to instill brotherly kindness
into our behavior, but we never display it, people will suffer needlessly as a
result.
The
key to all that God has made available to us is our faith in Him and His all-sufficiency.
This is what Peter is getting at when he says, “through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory and
goodness.” We must believe that God, by His grace, wants to build these
qualities into our lives. In the Gospels, Jesus related to people according to
their faith (see Matthew 8.13; 9.29; 15.28). He rewarded genuine faith by
granting salvation and healing. If He met unbelief, He did not reward it (Mark
6.5-6).
Take
some time to review the qualities that Peter said God wants to instill in you
(2 Peter 3.1-11). Ask the Lord to show you where you are lacking, praying to
Him to work those qualities into your character, so that you will be more like
Christ. And, by the way, we're not just talking about some casual, occasional
prayer, “in a pinch” kind-of-a-deal.
This is prayer that is fervent and relentless, never ceases until we reach full
maturity, complete perfection in Christ.
So
are you leading the people around you to make God’s promises and prayer their
first resort; their primary power sources of getting things done? Are you
modeling a lifestyle that says “God’s
word – His promises, and prayer is power” to your family and friends? Do
you rely on God’s precious and very great promises as your source of hope and
strength – or do you go on hand-cranking your way through the storms of life?
Do you pray with people about issues or do you just talk about them?
Seriously following
Jesus in this world requires more than the usual “natural” resources…
physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, etc. … it can be like Clark Griswold’s
bazillion Christmas lights, in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, draining
down the power grid. Why resort to a puny little hand-crank generator when
you’ve got access to “His divine power... [giving us] everything we need for
life and godliness through our knowledge of Him Who called us by His own glory
and goodness”? Remember, “He has given us His very great and precious promises!”
So, with that, whatever is in God’s forecast for your life – you’ll have more
than enough of His power to deal with whatever comes your way, if you stay
plugged in to Him – “striving
with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works
within… using Christ’s [His] great strength that works so powerfully… because
His amazing power and energy surge within” you and me (Colossians 1.29, AMP,
EXB, VOICE)
Now to Him Who is
able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power
that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. – (Ephesians 3.20-21)
In
a nutshell – in Him,
Web Shepherd
[1] A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, p. 73. New York
[2] Exodus 3.14-15. “I AM that I AM” (Hebrew: אהיה אשר אהיה, pronounced Ehyeh
asher ehyeh) is one English translation of the response God used in the Bible when Moses asked for His name
(Exodus 3.14). It is one of the most famous verses in the Torah. Hayah means "existed" or "was" in Hebrew; "ehyeh" is the first person
singular present/future form. Ehyeh asher ehyeh is generally interpreted
to mean I am that I am (King James
Bible and others), yet, as indicated, is most literally translated
as "I-shall-be that
I-shall-be."
The word Ehyeh is used a total of 43 places in the
Old Testament, where it is usually translated as "I will be" -- as is the case for its first occurrence,
in Exodus 3.12 -- or "I shall
be," as is the case for its final occurrence in Zechariah 8.8. It
stems from the Hebrew
conception of monotheism that God exists by Himself, the uncreated Creator Who
does not depend on anything or anyone; therefore I AM WHO I AM.
