By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
II Peter 1: 3 (NLT)
Second Peter 1: 3 is a rich verse that provides us much encouragement. It did this by encapsulating the everything we need to know about God in one verse. This devotion explores God’s power changed Peter – and how it can change us.
Nuggets
- God is more focused on Himself — and our spiritual life.
- We received this gift of everything we need because we know God as Sovereign God and Jesus as our Redeemer.
- Our reward for a changed life where we are obedient to God will be to spend eternity with Him.
I have a confession to make. When I am reading one of the “letter” books of the Bible, I generally skip the introduction.
I usually know who wrote the book – or who they think wrote it. I know to whom they are writing. So, I don’t read like the first four verses of the first chapter.
Man, I am going to stop that. Have you read II Peter 1: 3? That is a great verse.
Let's Put It into Context
If we read Peter’s intro, we see that he categorizes himself as a slave and apostle. That amazed me. Yes, he was an apostle, but when did he start seeing himself as a slave to Christ?
I mean, this is brash, hot-headed Peter. He was the wild card of the group.
To read
Who Were the Disciplines/Apostles?
and
Why Did Peter Want Jesus to Wash More Than Just His Feet?,
click on the appropriate button below.
Now, just a few short years later, Peter is calling himself a slave.?? Wow.
Peter really gave his life to the mission with which God and Jesus entrusted him. More than that, Peter was a missionary. He traveled great distances just to tell others about God’s plan of salvation that Jesus completed.
But Peter saw Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus was worthy of Peter’s submission.
Peter acknowledged that Jesus was worthy of our faith. We’ve said that faith is described by beliefs, a.k.a., the assent of the mind.
What caused this hard core, rough-around-the-edges fisherman to make this complete change?
Peter Saw God’s Power Changed Him
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life …” (II Pet. 1: 3 NLT)
Being a fisherman had to be hard. Peter and his partners probably had to go out about every day to catch fish. There were no guarantees that they would catch their quota for the day.
But read what it says here. “… God has given us everything we need …”
No, but isn’t that how people read it? Coupled with Romans 8: 28 and Psalm 37: 4, some people might think being a disciple of Jesus ensures us the best job, the fanciest house, the car of our dreams, no money problems, a wonderful family life [add whatever else you can think of].
Right. That is not what the verse says. It says “… God has given us everything we need for living a godly life …”
You see, job, house, car, finances, family relationships, etc. aren’t the most important thing in God’s world.
God is more focused on Himself — and our spiritual life. He is preparing us for eternal life, not a cushy life in this world.
While you are thinking of God’s provision for our godly lives, read “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8: 28 HCBS). If God is is focused really on our spiritual life, the good is going to equate to that life, not this life.
To read What Does “All Things Work Together For Good” Really Mean?, click on the button below.
Sometimes, though, don’t we feel the least confident in our spiritual life? “Why would God love me when I’ve done ….?” “Why could God use me when I’ve done ….?” “I am not good at what God wants me to do.”
Read the verse in red again. Because God is so powerful, He already has given us what we need to do what He is asking us to do.
God has the power to affect our lives. He created this world by just speaking. He raised Jesus from the dead. He can change us.
Knowledge Is Power
“… We have received all of this by coming to know him…” (II Pet. 1: 3 NLT)
Have you heard Sir Francis Bacon’s saying that knowledge is power? The worldview is that knowledge increases what you are able to do, therefore increasing your power.
Well, they are right. It is just their focus is wrong.
Peter says that we received this gift of everything we need because we know God as Sovereign God and Jesus as our Redeemer. We begin to know God when we seek Him.
As we follow the Holy Spirit’s promptings, we learn more and more about who God is. We learn about the plan of salvation. We learn about Jesus’ impending return.
Hopefully, we get to the point where we can (A) admit our sins, (B) believe on His Son Jesus as Redeemer, and (C) confess Him as Sovereign Lord. No, not everyone turns their lives over to God, unfortunately.
When we believe and repent, that is what unleashes God’s power. As we learn more about Him and more fully give Him control of our lives, He can work even miracles in our lives.
Yes, all it takes is ABC. Paul put it this way, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2: 8 ESV).
Peter also have us some good advice. He wrote, “But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ …” (II Pet. 3: 18 GNT). Gaining more knowledge of God by hearing His Word, reading it, studying it, meditating on it, and memorizing it. All through that, we need to be in prayer, asking God to provide the meaning.
To read Has God Provided Everything We Need?. click on the button below.
That is how we grow our relationship with God. This is how we change. When we do this, God will reveal Himself to us.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Simply Marvelous
“… the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (II Pet. 1: 3 NLT)
We’ve talked about God’s glory once before. We looked at what Ezekiel said. “And the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD” (Ezek. 10:4 NKJV). We also looked at some other verses that said His glory appeared in clouds and fire when He was leading the wilderness wanderers.
One of the commentaries I read said that glory was a reward for goodness. At first, I wasn’t too sure about that, but now, I can see that.
Let’s look at it this way. Our reward for a changed life where we are obedient to God will be to spend eternity with Him. “And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 22: 5 RSV).
Remember, Ezekiel said, “… the brightness of the glory of the LORD” (Ezek. 10:4 NKJV). God will be our light because His glory is bright.
Second Peter 1: 3 also says, “… the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence” (II Pet. 1: 3 NLT).
Let’s look at that through the lens of Philippians 4: 8. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4: 8 ESV).
God calls us to Himself — and we can only enter His presence — when we commit to Him to do what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. That is His excellence. Through that we give Him Praise that is worthy.
Making the Connections
What a wonderful God we serve! He asks us to change – but it is for our good.
God will reward us by providing everything we need in our spiritual life — and what we need to grow in this life. Yes, it may not be the job, house, car, finances, family relationships, etc. of our dreams, but He will provide what we need.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to believe and repent. To do that, we have to (A) admit our sins, (B) believe on His Son Jesus as Redeemer, and (C) confess Him as Sovereign Lord.
Then we have to grow our relationship with God. We do that by hearing His Word, reading it, studying it, meditating on it, and memorizing it. All through that, we need to be in prayer, asking God to provide the meaning.
Yes, that is my stock answer, because there is only one way. We can’t earn our way into heaven. We can’t be kind to people or just be a good person.
We have to submit our lives to God’s authority. Yes, that is a big change. But only through Him will we get everything we need — including eternal life.
God changed Peter’s life. He can change ours, too.
Sovereign God. We now humbly at Your feet. You are all powerful, yet You want to have a relationship with us. Lord, we believe You are the one true God. We admit we are in need of Your saving grace. We believe that You sent Your Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins. We believe He rose from the grave and, even now, is sitting at Your right hand. We confess that You are our Sovereign Lord. Help us to turn away from sin by growing in knowledge of You. Amen.
What do you think? Peter experienced a huge change in his life when he encountered Jesus. Did you? What needs to change in your life now so that you can live the life to which God has called you?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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God’s power changes us in so many ways! It’s all encompassing, His Glory is bright. Love everything you brought out of this verse, great post! Many Thanks 8)
It does, and it keeps on changing us — if we let it. Thanks for the comment.
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