2)
Grace and peace
be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
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:
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.
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an is a fleshly creature. Because of this, he is limited in his ability to understand spiritual things. Therefore, he must become a partaker of the divine nature of God. It is not as if this came as a surprise to the Lord, for from the beginning, He intended His creation to be in His likeness.
Satan approached Eve in the Garden and enticed her to eat of the forbidden fruit. He was able to ensnare her by saying that she would "...be as God." You see, this is a perfect illustration of the craftiness of the devil. He told Eve something that was true, but made it seem as if there was something that the Lord was trying to keep from His people. Being "like Him" has always been His intention—but this must be done His way—and that way is only through the indwelling of His Spirit.
Common
to this day and time is the "commonness" of salvation. Everybody
claims it, but few have it. Scripture makes a point of those trying to be
righteous outside of the Spirit of Christ. This is
"self-righteousness" and counted by scripture as "filthy
rags."
To
become "spiritual" means to take on a nature different from that with
which one is born. The problem with people accepting "spirituality"
is that most people think that they are pretty much "OK" the way they
are. The truth to be dealt with is that everyone entering the world is born a
sinner and is "handicapped" by having a human nature on top of
everything else.
It
is a matter of life and death that one access the divine nature, but the only
possibility of doing this is through the Spirit of God. You see, as long as we
remain "human" only, we have nothing residing within but the inbred
nature of sin. Since sin is in the flesh, anyone operating in the flesh will
sin.
We
are dealing with a very serious problem in the saint of God, today. It seems as
if never before have a people been more resistant to being controlled by the
Spirit of God. The tragedy of this is that God can do nothing with us unless we
can be controlled by the Spirit. If we cannot be controlled, what will we
possibly be able to do? "Doing" something is the purpose for which we
have been saved. A life lived to oneself in salvation, is a wasted, empty life.
A
lack of spiritual control in one's life shows itself in unexpected ways. One of
these is a constant attempt to get oneself "out of" something. When
one attempts to handle his own situations, he does so because he is unwilling
to accept the information, help or solution that God has already given. The
only reason we would ever think that we could do "better" than God is
a mistaken evaluation of our ability. God is God and he is the Giver and Maker
of all. Therefore, we are able to get nothing outside of Him. This means that
all comes because of Him. We are able to merit nothing through ability. There
is no way to make God grant us anything or "trick" Him into doing
anything, for what He has done and is going to do is already done. It is up to
us and our responsibility to accept it.
One
will be unable to finish this race without learning to praise God. A believer
shows himself to be a believer through his willingness to praise God no matter
what situation presents itself. And one who is secure
in Christ knows that there is nothing great enough to steal his praise. Yes,
you may sometimes need to remind yourself of Who God
is, but the moment He begins to speak His words of comfort, that soul will
begin to rejoice.
For
this people to fulfill the will of God, we are going to have to begin to
accept, exhibit and operate in power! As long as we are truly
"united" with Him, His power in us will show itself by our exhibiting
the same purpose, goal, praise and testimony as Him!
We
must never forget that the devil wants us to change "position" in the
Lord for one purpose only—and that is to make sure that when He moves upon His
people, we will be "out-of-place" and therefore, "unblessable." Remaining "blessable"
then, requires that we "stand" in the midst of any and all problems
or persecutions. The one who stays with Jesus at all
costs, is the one who "wins."
If
you are one who has never seemed to be able to withstand anything, take heart.
If you have been redeemed, you are simply not the same old person you used to
be! God has given you the best of everything so you can have the best of
everything! The "best" that He has for us goes far beyond mere
possessions to encompass peace, love, joy and hope. If one ever loses hope, he
is lost, for seeing nothing better, he will be just as
content to accept the "nothing" that the devil has to offer. He is
the master of enticement and also, the master deception. For, though he
"sells" what he has to offer, he allows us to see only one side. He
never warns us of the dangers involved in walking with him. He has never once
warned his "customers" of the dangers of alcohol, STD's, cigarettes,
or other drugs! It is God who warns us of, and saves us from, life in the
flesh.
As "partakers of the divine nature", we can expect "trouble". However, we must rejoice in the truth that "from where trouble comes, also comes blessing." Why? Because only by opening a route to trouble, can a route to blessing also be opened. For the saint of God, they go "hand-in-hand." It is through adversity that we multiply and it is in that multiplication that His greatest blessings are seen. So, does it really make any sense to remove oneself from where the "blessings" are flowing?