Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Reflect and Respond

Meditate on these verses.
May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 2 Peter 1:2-7 (Underlined for emphasis.)

May God give you more and more grace and peace…. For what more could we ask? Grace, peace, knowledge.  Then Peter continues with his sage advice reminding the Christians to whom he was writing …and us that we need to put our knowledge to use.
The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. 2 Peter 1:8-15

For unto you a child is born....Jesus Christ.
Do you need a reminder to respond and to put your knowledge into action…and to stand firm in the truth you have been taught? Once again Advent is a time to reflect on all that Jesus has done for us…and the knowledge we have been given. Then respond. What are we doing with that knowledge? In earlier times the Jews were the “keepers” of knowledge, but now after the Reformation the knowledge of Jesus, King of the Jews, belongs to everyone who seeks Him. With the availability of the Internet we are literally inundated with knowledge…including Biblical knowledge.

Jesus was concerned about the transfer of knowledge to His followers…and about their understanding. Once when Jesus was talking with His disciples they asked about parables,
His disciples came and asked him, "Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?" He replied, "You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand.  Matthew 13:10-13

Pray for understanding. There is hope when there is “understanding”—when one sees the big picture that Jesus was painting for His followers. We need to listen—to gain that understanding and share it. We are privileged to be permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven and to go tell the world about Jesus…beginning in our neighborhoods.

Prayer ~ Heavenly Father, may I please You in all that I think, say and do. Thank you for the lesson that I should not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but allow You to transform me into a new person by changing the way I think. Then I will learn to know Your will for me, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2.

Daily Bible Reading: Romans 14-16

Only 14 Days Until Christmas
© 2019 Text and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - https://www.blb.org 
Follow And Like "Banquet With The King" on Facebook. 👍

No comments: