in the middle of winter, snow and ice covering the ground, my daughter and i walked back from the barn having fed and settled the horses for the night. arm in arm we very carefully made our way across the slippery driveway. gripping me ever tighter, izzi said..."whoa! i almost fell! i slipped yesterday and i DO NOT want to fall again!". at which point i began singing, rather loudly, 'i don't wanna fall again...". i just sort of made it up on the spot. after dinner, i sat down to refine my idea.
i came across 2 Peter 1:3-11.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Izzi didn't want to fall on the ice again because she did that before and IT HURT!! now, i'm not necessarily saying that she could have prevented the fall, i don't think she was being foolish or careless when she fell. although, she was probably distracted by the dogs or maybe she was texting while walking...it happens. but more likely, it was dark and icy, she slipped and fell, simple as that. but you can bet that from that point on, she was going to be extremely intentional about NOT falling.
in our relationship with Jesus, i think we can easily get distracted or careless when it comes to 'falling'. the 'evil desires' that rule our world come in all shapes and sizes, from the subtle to the shameless. if we aren't being intentional about NOT falling...chances are we will trip, and ultimately fall.
there is so much rich treasure to be found in the passage from 1 Peter above, but i want to touch on just one simple point that is currently at the forefront of my mind and heart. it says that through God's great and precious promises we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. in the Amplified Bible 'evil desires' is translated as 'covetousness, lust and greed'. i translate that to mean selfishness or self. for some reason, the visual that comes to mind as i think about fighting against this tendency toward selfish desires is the water displacement method. yeah, thats right, jr. high science class. i remember my teacher showing us how to measure the volume of an object by calculating how much water it displaces, or pushes aside when it's placed into a sample of water. you determine the volume by subtracting the volume of the water without the object from the new measurement with the object - it will be the difference between the two. you've undoubtedly done this or seen this done before, right? i mean, believe me when i say, i do not regularly measure the volume of anything. but i do think its fun to see the water displacement method in action in, say, a bathtub, or a sink. ie; you've got a bathtub full of water...you put a kid in...see how high the bubbles rise before overflowing onto the floor! ok, i digress. anyway, what i'm trying to say is i want my 'self' to be displaced by the Spirit. therefore i need more of the Holy Spirit! more of the qualities mentioned in the passage...goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, love. how many of those are listed as the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22??!!! it is only a fresh filling...daily...of the Holy Spirit that will keep us from falling again.
So stand on those promises! Ask him, and he'll fill you up to overflowing! Matthew 7:7-11
i came across 2 Peter 1:3-11.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Izzi didn't want to fall on the ice again because she did that before and IT HURT!! now, i'm not necessarily saying that she could have prevented the fall, i don't think she was being foolish or careless when she fell. although, she was probably distracted by the dogs or maybe she was texting while walking...it happens. but more likely, it was dark and icy, she slipped and fell, simple as that. but you can bet that from that point on, she was going to be extremely intentional about NOT falling.
in our relationship with Jesus, i think we can easily get distracted or careless when it comes to 'falling'. the 'evil desires' that rule our world come in all shapes and sizes, from the subtle to the shameless. if we aren't being intentional about NOT falling...chances are we will trip, and ultimately fall.
there is so much rich treasure to be found in the passage from 1 Peter above, but i want to touch on just one simple point that is currently at the forefront of my mind and heart. it says that through God's great and precious promises we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. in the Amplified Bible 'evil desires' is translated as 'covetousness, lust and greed'. i translate that to mean selfishness or self. for some reason, the visual that comes to mind as i think about fighting against this tendency toward selfish desires is the water displacement method. yeah, thats right, jr. high science class. i remember my teacher showing us how to measure the volume of an object by calculating how much water it displaces, or pushes aside when it's placed into a sample of water. you determine the volume by subtracting the volume of the water without the object from the new measurement with the object - it will be the difference between the two. you've undoubtedly done this or seen this done before, right? i mean, believe me when i say, i do not regularly measure the volume of anything. but i do think its fun to see the water displacement method in action in, say, a bathtub, or a sink. ie; you've got a bathtub full of water...you put a kid in...see how high the bubbles rise before overflowing onto the floor! ok, i digress. anyway, what i'm trying to say is i want my 'self' to be displaced by the Spirit. therefore i need more of the Holy Spirit! more of the qualities mentioned in the passage...goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, love. how many of those are listed as the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22??!!! it is only a fresh filling...daily...of the Holy Spirit that will keep us from falling again.
So stand on those promises! Ask him, and he'll fill you up to overflowing! Matthew 7:7-11
No comments:
Post a Comment