2 Peter 1:2-3... 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.”

Seeking God’s Grace and Knowledge

May God’s “grace and peace be multiplied to you!” How is it multiplied to you? “through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”

It’s all about Knowledge! It’s amazing how many people have opinions on the Bible, especially those who deny it’s validity, yet they have never even read the Bible. Now, to me, that’s ignorance. But, for those who seek the knowledge that is within it’s pages, the apostle Peter tells us here, that through knowledge, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”

In John 6:22-40 we read of an account where we learn of the importance of knowledge. This particular account follows the account of Jesus blessing the loaves of bread to feed five thousand people. During the night Jesus and His disciples had left the area without the people knowing. In the morning when the people who ate the bread realized Jesus had left, they sort after Him.

In John 6:25 after seeking out Jesus in Capernaum, the people then asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” Jesus, knowing why they were seeking Him out answered, “26) Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” Jesus tells them that He knows why they are following Him, not because of their knowledge and understanding that He is the Son of God and the sign of the blessing of the bread, but because of selfish reasons, that they were supplied bread by Him and as long as they were with Him they would not hunger physically.

Jesus continues in verse 27, “27) Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Jesus is telling the people here that they should not be placing all their desires on the physical things of life including food. Although important, all those physical things perish in time, but the spiritual food (knowledge and understanding), “endures to everlasting life.” Jesus realizes of course the importance of food to the physical body, but what’s more important and that which we should be seeking first is spiritual food that lasts for all eternity.

The people then asked Him, 28) What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered, “ 29) This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Now keep in mind that just the night before, Jesus blessed the five loaves of bread and two small fish, and fed five thousand people. After performing this miracle, check out the response from those speaking for the five thousand people who have followed Jesus in verse 30, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31) Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

Is this just unbelievable! Not only did they miss the miracle He performed just the night before, they even refer back to an account in Exodus 16 where God promises Moses that He would rain down bread from heaven each day for the Israelites to eat, because they grumbled at not having enough food. People cannot get their minds off of their physical needs!! Yes I know how important food is to the physical body, but in order to reap all the benefits of the Holy Spirit in ones life, that person has got to change this mentality of taking care of the physical first with the spiritual aspect of life a distant second. I’m telling you, if you continue on in this mentality, your walk with God will not work in this current life! Period!

Don't you think Jesus knows that we all need physical food because our bodies are physical? Jesus Himself ate to supply nourishment to His body. He also knows the we need money to pay our bills and provide a roof over the head of our families. But, what Jesus is saying here in no uncertain terms, is that, if you are living according to the Spirit and leaving your total trust in His hands, that you will be super-naturally provided for.  

For about 10 years after being baptized, I struggled mightily with my walk with Christ. It never seemed to click into high gear. I led by my physical feelings and emotions rather than with the Holy Spirit who now resided in me. Each days spiritual journey rested heavily on what I was feeling in my physical or soulish part of my being that day. If I was a little down for whatever reason, so too was my relationship with Jesus effected in the same way. If I was nervous about something, unbelief would be filling my thoughts and weakening my faith. If I was around negative people, that negativity would effect the way I communed with God. A spiritual roller coaster, if you will.

We are made up of Spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23 ). Before being born again, the spirit part of our being is what gives us life, it is also the aspect of our being that gives us the image and likeness of God. Many interpret Genesis 1:26 as being our physical body that is in the image and likeness of God, but God is not physical so how can we be made in a physical image of God? It is the spirit part of us that this is referring to, but this spirit that a man has prior to being born again has been corrupted and has not been sanctified before God. But, upon being born again, we receive the Holy Spirit, which replaces our imperfect spirit in man, and are sanctified by the Holy Spirit— the Holy Spirit, which now makes up one third of our being, is in the "perfect" image and likeness of God.

In order to put an end to the spiritual roller coaster ride of our walk with Christ, we must break many old habits and renew our minds to the spiritual truths of God, ridding our minds of all the religious traditions of men that have corrupted and hardened our hearts toward God. Just as the Pharisees could not see the truth of the Messiah because of their hardness of heart, so too, do people today find it hard to believe and accept the truths that I am pointing out in this study— because of their hardness of heart.

We must begin to train our soul, which consists of our mind— and our physical bodies, which is our earthly vessel and is only temporary, to accept and agree with the Holy Spirit which now resides in us. Upon agreeing with the Holy Spirit, which is a development process that does not happen over night, our soul and body will begin to shed themselves of those religious traditions of men and begin to exude the spiritual truths of God. It is then when old habits will be broken and the renewing of our minds will transform us, and we will begin to realize the power and authority that is available to us through Jesus.

Until I began to learn and experience first hand the power and authority that is available to us in the spiritual realm, my walk with Christ would be a crawl at best, many times throughout that ten year period, which I’ve dubbed “my walk in the wilderness”, I felt as though I was going backwards at times. I likened it to climbing a mountain and feeling as though I was making progress, only to find a cliff at the top with no where else to go—a dead end, if you will.

When, by the freedom of choice, you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you were instantly granted inheritance into the Father’s kingdom for all eternity, you have been rescued from the penalty of your sinful nature, which is eternal death. But, in order to receive the signs in this life that Jesus spoke of in Mark 16:17-18, that being, “17) And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18) they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover,” you must focus totally on the Spirit and away from the physical. Just as Jesus is telling those who represented the five thousand people in John chapter six, who received the blessing of the bread and fish.

God wants you to trust Him. He wants you to be like a little child. I can remember when my son was just a baby, he trusted me totally. I could pick him up and toss him up and catch him and he would just laugh— never once did he not trust me and become afraid that I would drop him. The same thing when he first started walking— he trusted me when he would let go of the couch to take those few shaky steps toward me, that if he began to fall I would catch him. There was no question in his mind. Why? Because he wasn't aware enough of the physical around him, yet that didn't make it any less dangerous, and because I was there to protect him.

That's how God wants you to look toward him, he wants you to have the same mentality that a little child has. Matthew 18:2-4 reads, “2) Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3) and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4) Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Oh sure, there will be dangerous situations we will come across in this physical life, but not only did God give us the mental capacity to deal with those situations, He also wants us to trust that His super-natural power is also with us, as long as you entrusted your body and soul to the Holy Spirit that resides within you. 

If you wholeheartedly seek godly knowledge and wisdom and focus your daily gaze on Jesus, rather than on earthly things, you will have all the power and authority Jesus and His apostles had. In John 14:12-14 we read, “12) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13) And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” Most of Christianity does not get the significance of these verses. There is no way to misinterpret this. If we would only put Jesus first in our lives our hearts would be softened to these spiritual truths. 

Recently, I saw a message by a man named James Merrit, it was the first time I saw his program, but his message was powerful. He was speaking on putting God first in your life and did a visual analogy, that I really found to be great symbolism in describing the average life. Keep in mind this was a visual analogy, so I will try to paint a picture in words that will help you to see the point.

He started by having two large (approximately two gallons each) empty plaster jars in front of him that represented our everyday lives, he then took one jar and began to pour some sand into it. This sand, he said, represented our hobbies and things that are important to us for fun and relaxation. That took up approximately one third of the jars space. Next, he took some pebbles and began to pour them into the jar. These pebbles represented the time needed to take care of important things such as, shopping, eating, laundry, mowing the lawn, etc… These pebbles took up another one third of the space.

Next, he took some medium size rocks and began adding them two the jar. These rocks represented time involved for our financial well-being such as, our work, traveling to and from work, handling our bank accounts, investments, 401Ks, paying bills, etc…

By the time he was done with that, the jar appeared to be near full. He then picked a large rock that was next to go into the jar—this rock represented God. When he attempted to put the rock into the jar, most of the rock protruded outside the top of the jar—it didn’t fit.

He than began to explain how this is how most people, including many Christians, fill the time allotted to them each twenty-four hour day. There was not enough time left for God after doing all those other things. Then he asked the question, “what would happen if we put God first?” And what happened then was the amazing part of the analogy.

He then took the second jar, the same size and shape as the first. He put in the large rock first that represented God and then followed by pouring in the contents from the first jar that represented everything else associated with our lives. Amazingly, everything fit in that jar, right to the top. There was no overflow, nor any anything leftover from the contents of the first jar. Contrary to when he put the large rock in last, representing God, —that time the large rock just didn’t fit.

And, it is so true, with our actual lives. Somehow when you put God first and foremost in your life everything else that you need and that you want in your life will be blessed and fits nicely into each and every day. But, when you put all those other things first and God last, God never seems to fit— you just keep putting him off until tomorrow.

It’s amazing how Satan is so good at throwing all those thoughts into your mind and deceiving you into believing that there’s not enough time in the day to accomplish everything, so you wind up neglecting the most important part of your being in the spirit—that is your time with God.

I know it's hard, but put God first in your life, and do not be lead by those desperate thoughts that will pop up in your mind saying, "what are you doing, we don't have time for this Bible study stuff. You've got to get the kids to school— you've got to get to work on time— you've got a deadline to reach, etc..." Yes, I know, those things do have to be done. I am not saying you won't have to do some rearranging in your schedule. Most likely you will, but I am telling you, it is all worth it! 

God is faithful, He won't let you down. We're creatures of habit, not creatures of change, so the saying goes. Generally, people don't like change, we like our comfort zones. But, that's how Satan wants you to feel. Read the book of Exodus, the Israelites didn't want the change of leaving Egypt, even though they were slaves, they became comfortable with what they knew, they didn't want to leave their familiar surroundings. But, if they didn't leave, they would have missed God's best for them and their generations to follow.

They struggled for forty years in the wilderness, not because God wanted them to struggle, but because they kept on losing trust in God. It was always one step up and two steps back with the Israelites, just as it is with many of us today. It would not have taken forty years  for the Israelites to reach the promised land if they would have just believed!

Don't miss God's best for you. Trust Him with all you might, because Satan is going to fight you on this by bombarding your thoughts with thoughts of insecurity toward this change, just as he did with the Israelites. But, if you trust him over God, you will certainly miss God's best for you. Jesus didn't die on the cross for you to be insecure. He died on the cross to overcome the world (John 16:33 ) so you wouldn't have to— He died for you to have power and authority over the world, not for the world to have power and authority over you.  

Trust God today, right now! Don't put it off until tomorrow or next week, because tomorrow or next week will never come. Satan will want you to put it off, so it will be easier for him get your mind off of what you may be feeling right now. He will find a way to distract you, he always does, that's his job that he has taken on. But, make it a point right now, that you won't be defeated this time. If you do that and begin to put God first, you can be assured that God will say to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." (Matthew 25:21).

-- Continued on Page 2 (click here) --

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