Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Looking at the sentence I focused on in our last visit there is another emphasis I would like to reflect on today. The sentence is 2nd Peter 1:8, “If you possess these qualities in increasing measure…” God’s part in sanctification, His divine power and His great and precious promises, provide all we need to be the person God wants us to be. Our part, which is to add certain qualities to our faith, is a process. It involves a lifelong journey, with many ups and downs, successes and failures, encouragements and disappointments. Most of us are slow learners and even slower practitioners of the truth we learn. But we are encouraged for this reason to make every effort to keep adding new dimensions to the qualities listed. As we mature and grow in grace we see things through different lenses. Things that previously stumped us begin to clear up. New perspectives give us three dimensional vision. All of this stimulates us and provokes us to clearer convictions and deeper commitments. In our interaction with others we listen more carefully and share more strategically. In the interaction spiritual synergism takes place and exponential growth results and spills over to those around us. If this is not taking place in your life Peter says in verse 9, you are nearsighted and blind and have forgotten that you’ve been cleansed from your past sins. You are spiritually stuck and stagnating. You are ineffective and unproductive in your experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. How tragic, when there is so much potential for growth available.