(3) His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
(4) by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
Wait, I thought we were doing James?????????
Well we are but we need to understand something at this point.
As Peter writes, we DO have everything we need for life and godliness -- PERIOD.
WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED.
I know, it doesn't always feel that way BUT if we are operating (living) Kingdom citizenship our true needs are often radically different than we think. If living for Him is the first priority we can not be lacking anything. Peter makes that clear.
As a well known author and speaker likes to say, we either live vertically (for and in Him), horizontally (for and of the world) or an insane combination of both. Usually it's the latter - making us nutz.
But if God's work is indeed true and Peter was writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we have to do whatever we must to live out that truth. Trials are God's way of showing us we've made a wrong choice somewhere. Trials are God's means of bringing us back to living vertically (for and in Him). Trials are refining - God's means of removing the dross that weakens us and hides His beauty in us.
A good samurai sword is not made in a moment. It take months and months. The steel is refined via a catalyst and heat. Then it is forged and forged over and over, each blow of the hammer changing it's molecular structure to make it stronger and more beautiful. It makes it able to do what it is intended to do. It take lots of time, lots of banging and lots of heat.
God is forging each of us into an instrument for His use here and now for His glory - His glorious purposes.
As I've said in other posts we live in between our calling and redemption and out ultimate perfection. In this in between time we default to a fundamentally legalistic and horizontal life-style. We seek to make ourselves godly by lists and programs and processes and we look to the world around us for validation - meaning - significance. And so we live miserable lives in Christ or at best numb ones.
Without a whole and active faith in passages like 1 Peter we will continue to strive under our own efforts and seek the world's confirmation of our - well - identity. We will always have trials but they do not have to be torture. They are placed in God's refining fire to strengthen us and allow His beauty to shine through. A piece of gold ore is great but ugly and with less value by weight than we think. The "dross" attached to the ore gives us a false value - it must be removed.
This is tough when we have "preachers" telling us we are OK just as we are, sin isn't so bad and holiness/godliness is for later. Well, we're not OK, sin is a bad as anything gets and we have been made godly and been given everything we need for it
Are we going to live in faith in Him and yet seeking the world's standards and goals of are we going to live in faith in Him accepting the gracious gifts He has given us? Are we going to live vertically of horizontally? Are we going to live out what He has made us or are we going to live out what the world and the flesh whisper and sometimes shout in our ears?
We have the power of God backing our choice to live in and for Him. To accept His gifts and standards and give them all we have. We have nothing backing our choice of the horizontal except confusion, confounding and crisis.
We are free now to choose and choose we must. We can endure and live our value and beauty in Him or we can be a lump of ore weak and of less value than we suppose.
And now we move to the conflict of indwelling sin and it's "wisdom" and the wisdom God alone gives. Doubt and vacillation. Crisis and chaos. Or peace and true vertical prosperity - godliness - ever growing, ever shining.
Are we going to live in faith in Him and yet seeking the world's standards and goals of are we going to live in faith in Him accepting the gracious gifts He has given us? Are we going to live vertically of horizontally? Are we going to live out what He has made us or are we going to live out what the world and the flesh whisper and sometimes shout in our ears?
We have the power of God backing our choice to live in and for Him. To accept His gifts and standards and give them all we have. We have nothing backing our choice of the horizontal except confusion, confounding and crisis.
We are free now to choose and choose we must. We can endure and live our value and beauty in Him or we can be a lump of ore weak and of less value than we suppose.
And now we move to the conflict of indwelling sin and it's "wisdom" and the wisdom God alone gives. Doubt and vacillation. Crisis and chaos. Or peace and true vertical prosperity - godliness - ever growing, ever shining.
No comments:
Post a Comment