He Sits With Us
Have you ever just sat and thought about the fact the Jesus, Who is full of Majesty and Glory, Who was there when the Heavens and Earth were created and Whose name can move mountains and make demons shake, is with us? I mean “right here next to me and you” with us. He sits with us. He laughs with us. He cries with us. He defends us. He speaks truth to us. He is always there for me. He is always right there for you. He wants to be intimately involved in our lives.
Which is why 2 Peter 1 has been rattling around in my heart since reading it.
The health and condition of our relationship with Jesus determines the health and condition of our life.
Peter starts off with a bang in Verse 2:
“Grace and peace be yours in
abundance through the knowledge
of God and Jesus our Lord.”
Some definitions for you: Grace = gratitude, kindness, a gift (from Jesus)
Peace = wholeness, quietness, rest
Knowledge = knowledge gained through first-hand relationship
We can have gratitude, kindness, wholeness and quietness when we get to know - really know - God and Jesus.
Our grace and peace is in direct correlation to how much we know God and Jesus.
But wait! There’s more…
(said in my best T.V. announcer voice)
V.3&4: Everything we need to live well and be godly comes through our KNOWLEDGE of God. It’s by God’s glory and goodness we can have His divine nature not ours, which is sin. We have His promise on that.
The same word for Knowledge in verse 2 is also found in verses 3 & 8.
Verses 5-9 starts off with “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your …
faith = belief, trust, gift from God
Goodness = moral goodness, excellence
Knowledge = doctrine, wisdom, applied knowledge gained by a direct relationship
Self-control = self-restraint accomplished by the power of the Spirit and is a fruit of the Spirit
Perseverance = endurance, steadfastness, to remain under (the challenges of life)
Godliness = devotion, naturally expresses itself in reverence for God
Brotherly Kindness = loving a friend (Philadelphia)
Love = benevolence, esteem, good will to prefer (Agape)
Well, Ok then. That will make you stop in your tracks. But Pete is not done with us because in verse 8 he says:
“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.”
(italics mine)
We not only need to have these things actively working in our lives, but keep increasing how much we live them out.
SO THAT we are not:
Ineffective = idle, lazy, thoughtless, unprofitable
Unproductive = unfruitful, barren
I don’t want to live a defeated, lazy, unfruitful life! I bet you don’t want to either. I want to grow closer to Jesus.
I love how far I’ve come in my relationship with Jesus. I am awestruck that Jesus is my friend. I also appreciate the changes I see in my life. For instance, I don’t react with the same anger and frustration. I have come to love who He has made me to be, which is a direct result of me listening to what He says about me above anyone else.
Let’s finish.
“But if anyone does not have them,
he is nearsighted and blind,
and has forgotten that he
has been cleansed from his past sins.”
verse 9
Nearsighted = short sighted, see dimly
Blind = blind physically or mentally
The end of verse 10 says: “For if you do these things, you will never fall.”
Fall = stumble, sin
Let’s not forget all that God has rescued us from, all that He has done in our lives, and all He wants to continue to do. Let’s not allow the busyness and cares of our world keep us short-sighted, by keeping our focus on them instead of all that God has for us.
Let’s walk as ones who know that their goodness and righteousness comes only from God and His grace towards us.
Peter shares a lot of good stuff with us. Having been one of Jesus’ closest friends I guess he would know. Thank you, Peter.
We are reminded how important our personal one-on-one friendship with Jesus is.
We are told how to live in a way that brings fruitfulness to our lives.
We are challenged against being lazy and short-sighted.
Abba, Thank you for the words and wisdom of Peter. Our desire is to know you fully and walk in way that brings fruitfulness to our lives and bring glory to Your Name. Holy Spirit, we invite You to show us areas we are lazy and short-sighted as well how to increasingly add those things to our lives. Jesus, I’m overwhelmed by Your friendship and want to know You better. Give me a heart to spend time with You and ears to hear what You are saying. We pray all of this in Your mighty name! Amen!
I hope you have a wonderfully, fantastic day Loved Of God!
All My Love ~
Jodi xoxo
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