Equipped

Tags

church, equipped, glory, grace, Jesus, power

2 Peter 1:3

“According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

What was happening in the church during the time of Peter’s writing  is much like what is happening in the church today.  People were turning away from the truth of the Gospel.  The enemy had planted false teachers in the church to sway believers away from what the apostles were teaching.  Today, we have more motivational speakers than we have revelation teaching and preaching.  This is seen not only in Peter’s letters but in Paul’s and John’s letters as well.  It seemed to be an underline theme of the New Testament after the gospels.  There were those that refused to let go of the law for grace.  They were trying to convince believers that they still had to keep the law even while being under grace.  We still have this today.  They were teaching that there was no redemption and that Jesus was not coming back.  Sound familiar?  It’s still happening today.  Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:1-5

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Peter in seeing this warns the church and teaches them what they needed to do to guard themselves against the murderous lies, and tricks of the devil.  He starts by saying,

“Simon Peter a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”  2 Peter 1:1-2

We are equipped with the Faith of God

Precious faith is faith that comes from God’s Holy Word.  Not men, but God’s Holy Word.  Paul said in 1 Cor. 2:4-5

“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power:  That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

Faith that comes from the Word of God can conqueror anything.  1 John 5: 4

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith.”

Faith that is born of God is faith that comes from the Word of God.  Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”  We have been given the faith of God.

We are equipped with the glory of God

Let’s look at what Peter says again in verse 1.

“According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

We have been called to His glory.  His glory that shines brighter than the sun. Hebrews 1:3,

“Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” 

And Jesus said in St. John 17:22

“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.”

We have been given the glory of God. Hallelujah!

We are equipped with the power of God

We have been called to His power.  That’s Dunamis power.  Power that is explosive.  It’s the power to breakdown, breakthrough and breakout. Eph. 2:19-21

“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is His body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.”

Christ is the head we are the body, if all things have been put under his feet, then all things have been put under our feet because we are the body.  The feet is a part of the body.  His power is our power!  We have been given the power of God.

We are equipped with the promises of God

Peter goes on to say in verse 4,

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4

Now, it’s by His glory and virtue (His divine life and power) that we have received these great and precious promises.  Why?  Because Christ is the fulfillment of all the promises of God. 

I Corinthians 1:30 (Amplified version)

“But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus Whom God made our Wisdom from God, (revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as) our Righteousness (thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God), and our Consecration (making us pure and holy), and our Redemption (providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin).

Right here is where you must use that precious faith to believe that Christ is in you.  You are not just flesh and blood.  You are a divine spiritual being because Christ is in you.  Jesus prays in St. John 17:20-21,

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou; Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that they world many believe that thou hast sent me.”

Christ in us is salvation, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Christ in us is the fulfillment of all the promises of God.  “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” 2 Corinthians 1:20.

We are equipped with the Word of God

Peter goes on to tell the church how to avoid being deceived by satan’s murderous lies through being diligent in exercising their faith.

“And beside this giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”

We exercise our faith to develop what has already been given and is living in us.  What you believe you will act upon.  You will live out what you believe.  If you believe that Christ is that virtue in you, and you’re not trying to become virtuous in your own strength but believe that He is virtue in you, then you will live virtuously.

It all starts and ends with faith.  We should be moving from faith to faith; from glory to glory.  Paul teaches us how to move from faith to faith in Romans 1:16-17

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

From glory to glory in 2 Corinthians 3:18,

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

We move from faith to faith and glory to glory by giving all diligence to the Word of God. We have been given the written Word to reveal to us the living Word all we need to do is open it up and see His grace and glory.

Christ My Rock

Tags

Christ My Rock, cleft, cover, glory, Rock of ages

“He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” Psalms 62:6

Every day of our lives we are faced with pressure. Pressure to perform on our jobs, in our homes, in our relationships even the pressure that we put on ourselves to meet certain expectations. But regardless of how much pressure life presents, we don’t have to let the pressure cause us to be pressed.

When we are pressed we’re full of anxiety and when we’re full of anxiety we explode. We explode by making the wrong decisions. And decisions made out of anxiety are decisions made out of our heads instead of our hearts. When we make decisions based solely on head knowledge our decisions will be based on external factors and not faith. Faith is in our hearts not our heads because faith is Christ in us. God doesn’t want us to be pressed under the pressures of life instead He wants us to lean and press into Him the Rock of our salvation. When we do we see His glory.

Moses was human just like you and I and he to faced pressure. He had the responsibility of leading a rebellious and faithless people into that which God had promised them. However, Moses knew he couldn’t do it without God being with him. Exodus 33:15, “And he say unto Him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.” Moses was leaning on God to carry him through. When Moses asked God to show him His glory God told Moses to stand upon a rock and that He would hide him in the cleft of the rock. “And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by” Exodus 33: 21-22. Moses would not only be standing on the rock but he would be completely surrounded by the rock and that’s when Moses would see the glory of God. And it was seeing the glory of God that enabled Moses to carry out what God had called him to do.

Are you feeling the pressures of life today? You don’t have to get pressed because God has placed you in the Rock Christ Jesus. You only need to stand upon the Rock. Take the word of God and lean hard and press upon the Rock of your salvation and like Moses you will see the glory of God.

It’s when you’re standing in and on the Rock Christ Jesus that you see the Glory of God.

Having The Right Perspective

Tags

afflictions, glory, light, Suffer, Sufferings, Trials, trouble, victory

II Corinthians 4:17
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

A telescope is something that is used to bring an object closer to view. However, in other to see that object you must look through the small end of the telescope. At first glance it might appear that looking through the larger end would give you better results but not true. Looking through the larger end of the telescope makes the object so large that you don’t get the full picture. Likewise, when we focus our attention on the sufferings and afflictions that we must endure for the sake of the gospel, we’re looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Therefore, we’re not getting the full picture we’re not seeing the glory that awaits us.

I Peter 4:12 says “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

Listen, he’s not just talking about His glory when Christ returns but His glory right now that awaits us on the other side of every affliction and persecution we face. As a matter of fact that’s why we face them because of the word of God (Matt. 13:21).

When we focus our eyes upon Jesus we see that His glory out weights any affliction that we might endure. Focusing our attention upon Jesus puts things in the right perspective. Therefore, rejoice because if you are a partaker of Christ’s sufferings you are a partaker of His glory.

Seek His Face

Tags

devotion, glory, Jesus, seek

Psalm 27:8

“When thou saidst, seek my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord will I seek.”

No matter how old we get our parents will always want to know that we love them and need them. 

Sometimes we can get so busy with living our lives that we forget to pick up the phone or stop by to say Mom and Dad I love you.   It’s not that we mean to forget or neglect, it’s just that we have so much to do and we have these deadlines and after all we do have our own families.  Well, parents have a way of pulling us by the coattail and reminding us that they are still our parents and a phone call, an email or text would be nice. You see, no matter how old we get we’re still their children and they want to know that we still love and need them.

Our heavenly Father wants the same thing.  He wants to know that we love Him and need Him.  When we get to busy with the affairs of life He’ll pull us by the coattail and ask us the same question He asked David, He’ll ask us to seek His face.   He’ll ask us to seek Him with our whole heart. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And ye shall seek me and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”  God wants to spend undivided, undistracted time with you.   David answered, “My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord will I seek.”  What will your answer be today?

Remember, the shekinah glory of God is on the face of Jesus Christ.  As we pull aside and seek Him with our whole heart, and spend time gazing into His lovely, glorious face, He fulfills our needs, gives us the desires of our hearts, and transforms us into His imagine from glory to glory.

It’s Working For You

Tags

afflictions, glory, grace, help

2 Corinthians 4:17
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

The afflictions we face in life  cannot change our destinies, our destinies are determined by God  and since we know that God never changes, we can rest assure that no matter what we go through in life, at the end of the day it’s what God has predestined for our lives that will stand.   All we have to do is follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and we will end up in the place that God has ordained for our lives.

Paul describes afflictions as light and but for a moment; most of us would not agree with Paul.  When we are face with adversities we view them as the worst thing that has ever happened in the history of man and one moment like an eternity.   Paul could describe our afflictions as light and but for a moment because he was comparing them to the eternal glory of God.   God’s glory will always outweigh anything that we face in life.

The scripture says our afflictions worketh for us a far more exceeding weigh of glory.  How is that possible? God doesn’t bring afflictions upon us to show us his glory; but in the midst of  our afflictions, what the enemy does for evil, God’s glory is revealed.

When the children of Israel were being afflicted by Pharoah, God  said “…I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters for I know their sorrows and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7-8).  In the midst of their afflictions, God’s glory was revealed.

The greater the afflictions the greater the glory; the greater the glory, the lighter the afflictions. In other words, on God’s side “when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard against him” (Isa. 59:19).  On our side, when we look not at the things that are seen but at the things that are not seen, what  is seen becomes light and but for a moment (2 Cor. 4:18).  Psalms 34:19, “many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.”

The Gospel Of Jesus Christ

Tags

Christ, glory, gospel, grace, Jesus

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.

Jesus came into this world in response to God’s love for man. Man had sinned and the judgment for sin was death. Man needed a savior, a redeemer, someone to save him from death. The same word that God used to create the heavens and the earth took on the formed of flesh, empty himself of his divine privileges, humble himself, took our sins upon himself and became obedient to the death of the cross (Philippians 2:5-8). God the Father poured all of his wrath and judgment for our sins upon the body of Jesus. Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed.” He came, he died and three days later he rose again with all power and is seated at the right hand of Majesty on High.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is so plain and simple to understand that even a child can receive. We don’t need to dress it up with fancy words. Paul said in I Corinthians 2:4-5, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” And in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel of Jesus Christ all by itself is the power of God unto salvation.

When Jesus came to this earth he came as a baby and he was born in a manger. When he went into Jerusalem he was riding upon a donkey. His disciples took their garments and laid them upon the donkey. To the Jews he was a stumbling block they weren’t expecting their Messiah, their King to come in such a fashion. Even his disciples seemed to disapprove of his choice of transportation. I mean if you are going to present yourself as King you will need a better ride. Therefore they attempted to dress up the donkey with their garments. To the Greeks it was foolishness for a king to speak of dying for his subjects (I Corinthians 1:22-24).

But there was a reason then as it is now that the King of kings; and Lord of lords; came without any earthly fanfare. And the reason is simple, he needed none. He alone all by himself is the power of God unto salvation. We don’t need to dress him up for men to receive him we simply need to give men Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God. Where there is a revelation of Jesus Christ there is power. When men see Jesus Christ, in all of his loveliness, splendor and power their lives are transformed from glory to glory by the power of God. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.