Exceedingly Great & Precious Promises

Good Morning!

I woke up praying about a number of things. I had a great talk with my sweet hubby who happened to get up early and acted like he had all the time in the world to listen to me, although he probably didn't :) Then I got another great talk with my Marmaloo!

I went to do some devotions and have been working through the list of My Identity and Inheritance in Christ and reading the verses that pertain to that. I am a goal-oriented person and love to check things off my list. I have come to the point, though, that in the area of studying God's Word I cannot have an agenda that is hard and fast. I read a verse that was part of this Identity and Inheritance but then decided to read before and after and I don't know why, but I just love how verses come alive and pop out so much stronger than when I've read them before. God knows the things we need for the day and always leads me to those verses, those people and whatever He knows I need.

2 Peter 1:3-9

...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 (moral excellence--to the benefit of the community and the individual!), 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 (a strong desire for something/anything).

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence,

>add to your faith virtue, >to virtue knowledge>to knowledge self-control> to self-control perseverance> to perseverance godliness>to godliness brotherly kindness>and to brotherly kindness love...

For it these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins

I underlined and used the ">" in my journal to make those things pop out to me. I looked up a couple of those words and put them in the parentheses because sometimes virtue is misunderstood--moral excellence is not just for you but for the community; and lust is sometimes thought of in a sexual way but it really refers to anything that is a strong desire. I think sometimes we think I'm not one of "those" people, but most people do have a strong desire for something that threatens to overpower their number one desire,which should be God. It could be gossip, bitterness, pride, jealousy, hate or any other number of things that we can't let go of.

So, knowing that God has given us His divine power and we have His exceedingly great and precious promises, we have it in us to develop those virtues or characteristics. We have to put off the old and put on the new daily, but to me, when I focus on those things, I see fruitfulness and I don't feel barren.

Praise God for His grace and power. I cannot imagine anything better.

Jennie