Verse of the Day 12/25

Through the Bible - Zephaniah 1-3, Revelation 17

 

Merry Christmas!

Today as we celebrate Christmas it is easy for us to saturate our minds and hearts with the glory of God in Christ Jesus.  We also look forward to a day when their will be an a spiritual awakening of worship, love, compassion and a harvest of souls.

 

Until that day may our prayer for each other be that of Peter in his second letter to the churches.  It introduces his letter but it is no simple introduction, he really wants to see this happen.  This is evident by the fact that he closes this short letter with basically the same thoughts.  They form bookends to the content of the rest of the letter.

 

I read this passage in the Amplified Bible the other day, may the words be amplified in our hearts and minds today.

2 Peter 2 May grace (God's favor) and peace (which is ^[a]perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and ^[b]freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, ^[c]precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 

 ³For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [^[d]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).  Amplified Bible

Or from the NKJV:

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,   NKJV

 

In a sermon on this passage, John Piper states, "probably the most important thing to notice in verse 2 is that God's grace and peace are multiplied in or through the knowledge of God. Peter cannot get past his second sentence without exposing one of his deepest convictions: namely, that knowing God is the means by which his grace and peace become large and powerful in our lives. If you want to enjoy God's peace and be the aroma of his grace in the world, your knowledge of him has to grow. Grace is not a mere deposit. It is a power that leads to godliness and eternal life. And where knowledge of the glory and excellence of God languishes, grace does not flow. The channel from God's infinite reservoir of grace into and through our lives is knowledge of God. We do not study the Scripture for its own sake, but because through it comes the knowledge of God, and through that grace and peace are multiplied in your heart in the church and in the world. "

 

While we celebrate the time that Jesus Christ came to earth for us let us consider the coming year, may it be a time where we grow "in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord" and that we would have a powerful witness to the world around us.

 

Piper continues, " Peter is aiming at two things: eternal life and godliness; moral and spiritual transformation now, and hope for life in the age to come. "

 

Good things to aim for this season and the coming year.  Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, great is His faithfulness.

 

In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

2 Peter 1:1-5

 

1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

 

To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.   NKJV

2 Peter 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.