Good morning to all on this Sunday morning. We were in Orlando with the cherubs last weekend and we so enjoyed it! Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in the house. Thank you for all you do for your family. Waine and I are in Thomaston this weekend. I have been on call since Monday and it has been a long haul however my steps are ordered by God. I have learned a lot of lessons this week, the chief among them is the meaning of true trust and obedience to faith. With these two virtues you get panic and chaos through which no good thing comes about. I am also learning to be quiet in the midst of storms. Sometimes no action is required especially you are "relying" on the Promises of God. Being QUIET is the hardest challenge I have! God will prevail and through Him so will I.
We have finisher 1 Peter and are heading into the second letter of Peter verse 1- 21 "Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, 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. His Divine Power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 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. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain. We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
We have been given Divine Power through our Divine Nature! I had to think about this phrase for a minute. What is Divine Power and what is this Divine Nature Peter is talking about? Well we need both things to ESCAPE (Peter's words not mine) the corruption of this world. When you think of escaping, you think of things like entrapment, danger, subjugation, and repression of your own nature. Peter definitely is clear that we need both Divine Power and Divine Nature to escape and the key to realizing this Divine Power is to develop our Divine nature by seeking the same things Paul talked about: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. It is so easy to fall into NEARSIGHTED thinking when you are not keeping your eye on the Cross and once you become nearsighted then the fear of failure and fear of entrapment become overwhelming. You begin to only focus on the "what-ifs" as you forget that Christ sacrificed His life that in this world of Divine Power there are no "what-ifs"!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah.
That's Satan's world. Satan is the father and creator of the world of "What IF' and it all started with his sinful nature of believing "What if I were greater than God?" From then on it has been down hill for him. He, Satan is ALREADY Fallen, which is why he prowls like a lion to take as many of us with him that he can.
But we are ALREADY VICTORIOUS not in and of ourselves BUT BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICE MADE ON THAT CROSS 2000+ years ago!!! The VICTORY was claimed then ONCE AND FOR ALL! I finally got it! I finally got what it means when Christ tells us we are more than conquerors. When we slip our vision from the Cross and then look at the waves we are being near sighted. You have to look at the Cross of Jesus so that you can walk on top of the waves. News -flash. THERE ARE ALWAYS WAVES!! As Christians you are neither on the wave or below the wave you are on top of the waves of life because of the sacrifice that gave you Divine Power through your Divine Nature. Stop being near sighted. Rebuke the devil and he will flee from you because you are now in the presence of the God Almighty that loves you more than you can ask or think. Exercise your Divine Nature today and witness the Divine Power of God through you in the Name of Jesus.
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. Amen.
Stephanie
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