Growing in Faith Articles & Helps
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Our Knowledge of Him
Peter was a great guy even though he was often considered to have a terrible case of foot-in-mouth disease. This was especially true in his early years of following Jesus. The primary problem was that he spoke his mind. One never wondered where they stood with Peter; he told it like it was. He turned out to be a great leader and apostle. Consistent with his character, so in his writings he told it like it was. He was transparent…and bluntly honest. Knowing these facts about Peter helps us to better appreciate 2 Peter 1:3: “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.” Isn’t that an amazing verse? There are several truths to which we must pay careful attention. First, the opening phrase: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” Peter boldly proclaims in Christ, there is abundance for every need we could possibly have in both the physical and spiritual realms. There is no shortage in Jesus; no holes in His provision. Every need is met in Christ Jesus because of His divine power. In Matthew 28, Jesus said that all power had been given unto Him. Sometimes we forget that and allow circumstances to leave us declaring, “I’m at the end of my rope!” It’s a cry of both desperation and frustration. In times like these it’s good to remember that God lives at the end of our rope. In fact, oftentimes we must get to the end of what we can do before we are willing to step aside to see what God can do. He can meet every need in our lives; and thankfully, being our provider is what He wants to be!1 Second, all of Him is made available to us “through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” This knowledge began when we first heard the gospel. When we first understood that we were sinners and that Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for our redemption, that little bit of knowledge was so great and wonderful and exciting and overwhelming that it radically changed our lives. And then our knowledge of Him began to grow and it became apparent to us that, though the little knowledge we had was so great and powerful that it transformed our lives, it was but the tip of an iceberg of the knowledge of Him that would take an eternity to learn. If there’s that much power in just the tip of the knowledge we’ve experienced, how much more must there be in that which we’ve yet to discover. So, it began with our salvation, but in no time, this knowledge of Him grew into a relationship with God. This relationship forms a conduit through which God Himself becomes our sufficiency. When we’re close to God, the conduit is clear and unrestricted and God’s provision flows unhindered into our lives. When we stray from God, the conduit can become clogged by our doubts, fears, and lack of faith; and the provisions that once flowed unimpeded are hindered by the sins in our lives. Since the Bible says that God has given us everything we need for both life (daily living) and godliness (living victoriously in Him), consider whether or not you’re experiencing what Peter would classify as the normal Christian life. If you’re not experiencing the abundance of God’s provision for your every need (not every want), then take a moment to ask the Lord to pinpoint the problem(s) in your heart. Perhaps there are unconfessed sins or bad attitudes…or both. Renewing a right relationship with Him not only makes things right with our Father, but also results in unclogging the conduit of His provision, freeing Him to flood our lives with the good things of God. Don’t neglect Him today; He’s patiently waiting, and longing, to spend time with the child He loves; to spend time with you! ___________ Copyright © 2008. Faith Matters by Dr. Ken Lovelace. All rights reserved. LPSFM 081007_071408 | www.KenLovelaceMinistries.com
Spiritual Progression
The well-known author, James Michener, carried a memory that inspired him to continue being a productive writer even in his old age. When he was five years old, a neighboring farmer drove eight nails into the trunk of an aging, unproductive apple tree. The following autumn, that tired old tree produced a bumper crop of delicious apples. Little Michener asked the farmer how this “miracle” occurred. The farmer explained, “Hammering in the rusty nails gave it a shock to remind it that its job is to produce apples.” Like that old apple tree, there are times in our lives when we need a good jolt to get us back on course and to make us productive believers once again.1 Last week we looked at a couple of verses together that Peter had written about the fact that God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. After that amazing verse, he begins a paragraph of great importance for any of us who may ever wonder whether or not we are ineffective or unproductive. To feel productive and to be effective is a matter of great importance. It’s akin to Jesus’ discourse on bearing fruit in John 15, except Peter’s approach is from a different perspective. Consider what he wrote in 2 Peter 1:5-9: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” Peter began by delineating the believer’s spiritual progression of adding one quality to another in the process of maturing in Christ. Notice that he says not only that these should characterize our lives, but also that they should do so in increasing measure. So, in order to be effective and productive, our lives must be marked by these qualities and these qualities must be ever increasing. But in what should we not be ineffective and unproductive? Observe what Peter wrote: “in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” As I wrote last time, this is a phrase that refers to our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus. Again, God is relational and He’s bent on our relationship with Him being ever deepening. Jesus talked of the relationship as being effective and productive only if we abide in Him. Again, it’s all about relationship. If we abide in Him, these qualities will be ever increasing and our priority will be God-directed -- to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. As you spend time with the Father today, pray that we will not be ineffective or unproductive, but rather will work on the most important relationship of life (to abide in Him) and the most important priority in life (to seek first the kingdom of God). Ask God to help us to see the spiritual progress we need to be making and to choose to cooperate with His Spirit in the great work of being conformed to the image of His Son. Before we can change the world, we have to be changed first. ___________ Copyright © 2008. Faith Matters by Dr. Ken Lovelace. All rights reserved. LPSFM081307_072108 | www.KenLovelaceMinistries.com
Having a Quiet Time
One of the most amazing facts is that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, longs to have an intimate relationship with us. He loves us unconditionally and has a wonderful plan for our lives. But how do we get to know such a big God? The Quiet Time, also known as our daily appointment with God, is a special time an individual sets aside just to get to know the Father. Many picture God waiting for them every morning and themselves joining Him for a special time of fellowship. The idea probably originated from Jesus' own prayer habits. In Mark 1:35, we read, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." In Matthew 6:6, Jesus said, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." The context for this verse is helpful. Jesus was speaking to a group of religious hypocrites who prayed long, loud prayers out in the streets so that everyone could see them. Jesus said their being seen was all the reward they'd get. On the other hand, those who do it in secret and only in the presence of God, will be rewarded by God Himself. But what does a Quiet Time look like? Well, first, it's usually in the early morning hours. Someone has said, "Before I read the words of man, I first read the Word of God; and before I see the face of men, I first seek the face of God." The idea is to present our day to the Lord, to lay it all out before Him, and to ask for His guidance and direction as we commit our plans and our day to Him. Then we can move through our day with the confidence that no matter what life brings, it's already been prayed over and committed to the Lord. Jesus will walk with us, guide us, and comfort us if we seek Him first (Matthew 6:33). If something pops up as a surprise to us, we can rest assured that it is no surprise to God and it's already been laid at His feet; already prayed over. Though we didn't know it was coming, God did. Second, it consists of time spent in prayer. An acrostic I like to use to guide my Quiet Times and to help me stay on track is A.C.T.S. A=Adoration. I begin by adoring or praising God. I spend several minutes blessing His name and extolling Him. Think about the parent-child relationship for a moment. If we had a son who came in and sat down with us and just began asking for stuff, we would begin to feel that the only role we played in his life was some kind of dispenser of goods and services. We wouldn't want that. We would want our son to spend time talking with us, laughing with us, even thanking or "praising" us for something we've done; not just to ask for things. It's the same with God. He wants us to get to know Him. He wants to be praised, adored, loved, cherished, and magnified, simply because of who He is; not just for what we can get out of Him. C=Confession. Any relationship is strained when an offense has occurred. But it's much worse when we have offended God. How do we do that? By bad attitudes, inappropriate humor or words, thoughts that we shouldn't have, and so forth. The Bible calls them sins and the Bible tells us that we all sin and that our sins harm our relationship with God. So what do we do? We confess them. "Confess" comes from a word that means "to agree with." We agree with God that we have hurt Him, we have done wrong; we have sinned. So, we say to God, "Father, today I was rude to my coworker and even said some words that were really bad. I confess to You that that was sin and I claim Your forgiveness right now." The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). So, in your Quiet Time, move from adoration to confession...it really is good for the soul. T=Thanksgiving. Take time to think about your many blessings and thank God for them. There's an old hymn I've sung for years entitled Count Your Blessings. Sometimes we get to feeling down and out. Thinking about all the many blessings we've experienced gives us reason to thank our great God, helps us to realign our priorities, and causes us to truly know how good God has been to us. Just like we love it when people thank us for something we did, so God loves it when we acknowledge all He's done for us. S=Supplication. Now this may sound like a funny word, even a big word, but it's an important one. This is where we request things from God. I know some people who can't wait to get to this point, but it's not supposed to be the main reason we pray. Does that mean we can still just ask for anything and God will grant it, like some kind of divine genie? No, there are guidelines in Scripture that help us to know what He will bless and what He won't. There are many truths related to prayer and what we should ask for, but for now, let's focus on just one. The clearest verse to guide our prayer time is Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Did you catch it? "...all these things" will not be given just because we ask, they'll be given if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. God already knows what we need even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8). So, His way of doing things is to grant our needs as we seek HIM first, not His provision. Third, listen! Sit still in the presence of God at the conclusion of your verbal time of prayer and just listen. Ask Him to speak to you and you will learn to "hear" His promptings in your heart to do this or not do that. Another important way to listen to God is by reading the Bible. He speaks to us often through His Word. Hear it. Read it. Study it. Memorize it. And apply it to your life. How long should all this take? If you're just getting started, it may only take 5 or 10 minutes each day. Before long, though, you'll find God so enjoyable that you'll both look forward to that time with Him and you'll find that you need to set aside more and more time to be with Him. There's no set amount of time other than that which works best for you...and Him. Try it today. You'll be glad you did!
Copyright © 2008. Faith Matters by Dr. Ken Lovelace. All rights reserved | www.KenLovelaceMinistries.com
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