SPIRITUAL MATURITY: GROWING UP IN KNOWLEDGE

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen (2 Peter 3:18 NIV). 

This is Peter speaking. He was a fisher when Jesus met him. Jesus took him in and changed his worldview completely. He went from catching fish to catching people for Christ. He must have applied the tools and techniques for harvesting fish to harvesting souls for Christ. 

With the knowledge he received from Jesus Christ, Peter was able to lead his team to convince many more others to give their lives to Christ. And today, the same person is telling you to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Grace becomes effectual as you increase in knowledge and understanding. Remember what God said about his people in the Old Testament? "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. 'Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children' " (Hosea 4:6 NIV).

Knowledge is the material from which the inner man is built up, either as a heavy and strong building or as a light and weak structure. 

Knowledge shapes your personality. In Christ Jesus, you eventually become what you get to know of him. God has designed you (the new man) in such a way that you will become completely like him as you get to know him more and more completely. So to increase in knowledge is a must for you to become completely like God, your Father. 

You eventually become what you get to know, understand and appreciate about God, your Father. Do you know that you have the power of God in you so that you can enjoy divine life? Do you also know that you have the wisdom of God in you so that you can enjoy divine wealth? Then why do you get terrified by the threats of sicknesses, poverty and death? The answer? Knowledge!

You build up your personality through knowledge. Your actions are informed by your thought pattern, and your thought pattern reflects your knowledge base. If you know how the tongue controls your whole human system, you use your tongue wisely. You neither speak nor give attention to people who speak vulgarly. 

Scripture is quite clear on the reality that by how you use your tongue, you will prolong your days or shortcut your days on earth (Proverbs 18:21). As you think in your heart, so are you really (Proverbs 23:7). If you think negative thoughts all the time, you have negative experiences in life all the time. But if you think positive thoughts all the time, you have positive experiences in life all the time. 

Your walk with God will be sweet or bitter based on the knowledge and understanding that you have of Christ. Scripture says that you can please God only by faith—faith in his Son Jesus Christ. To try to please God by works, is zeal not based on knowledge. Paul says of the Jews, "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge (Romans 10:2 NIV)".

God is moved only by communing with him in agreement with the knowledge that he has revealed about himself in the Bible. God had a deep secret which he kept for ages until the right time came. Now he has made known his deep secret to humankind in all its fulness. This deep secret is Christ (Colossians 1:27). 

If you want to walk with God without getting offended in him, then you  must keep your gaze on his Son Jesus Christ. Knowing his Son and loving him is the only way you can be the apple of his eye. 

Develop wings to fly in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Desire to know and understand Christ more and more completely so that you will become completely like him. "In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3 NIV). 

The knowledge of Christ draws you closer in oneness to him. This kind of knowledge is not head knowledge at all. I'm referring to the intimate and experiential knowledge of him that enables you to become completely like him. You can get to know Christ more and more in the same way you get to know yourself more and more. 

God has designed you in such a way that you will become completely like him as you get to know him more and more completely. Do you believe that this is true? It is written in Colossians 3:10, Easy English, "Instead, you have put on the new nature, which God has made. And God is continuing to make you more and more like him. So then you will know him more and more completely."

If there is anything you can desire from God, it is to know his Son Jesus Christ more and more completely. So then you will become completely like him. 


#Truth Haven

Comments

  1. Sage WordNovember 7, 2022 at 3:02 AM

    Sage Broadcast empowers you to study, reason and question (srq) scripture in order to find evidence of the truth. Remember, this is achievable only through the Holy Spirit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Samuel BonneySeptember 26, 2023 at 2:19 AM

    I love this message!

    ReplyDelete

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