Lent - Day 3

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:3–4, ESV)

Many believers struggle with their identity in Jesus and thus live less than abundant lives. As followers of Jesus, what is the true nature of my identity? Is it as a sinner saved by grace or as sons and daughters of the Most High; a royal priesthood?

We never want to lose sight of the amazing grace of God, but sometimes I notice that we use and hang on to the “sinner” moniker as a way of excusing our less than wholehearted pursuit of Jesus.

But His word tells us that we have been granted all things for life and godliness through HIS divine power. We cannot make excuses for why His divine power is not effective in us! His word promises that it has been granted to us. So where’s the disconnect? We come back to adage: knowledge is power. If you did not know that you were set free, then you might just as easily assumed you were still imprisoned due to your awful sins.

So having knowledge of the full work of God in our lives is vital and to stand on His word is imperative!

We are called to partake with Jesus in our new/restored divine nature and to escape corruption brought on by our sinful desires. Rather than living a life of sin avoidance, we need to live a life pursuing the partaking of our divine nature. We need to push forward to claim all the promises and victories that God has for us. We wish it would just automatically be applied to us, but that is not how it works.

We must claim it and fight for it in the strength God gives us. This is part of our training and maturing and shows the true resolve of our hearts and whether we really love Him or not.

So brothers and sisters, go and take!