What is Needed to Respond to God’s Great Promises?

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to another episode of Worldwide Wonderful Women. I am your host Paula Harris and this podcast is for women who are all about learning how to live in God's divine power. It is produced on behalf of Transformed Worldwide Ministries. Thank you so much for being here. [00:00:40] Welcome to Episode #377. It is entitled, "What Is Needed to Respond to God's Great Promises." To get into this topic of what is needed to respond to God's great promises, I will need to share with you 2 Peter 1:3-11, which is the Scriptural basis for our discussion. [00:01:06] So please listen intently, even pause this, pull out your Bible, and read along to gain wisdom on this issue. [00:01:16] All right, this is what the Scriptures state: "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 giving us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine power and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. [00:02:00] Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. [00:02:29] The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are short sighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from from their old sins. [00:02:49] So dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." [00:03:12] Now there is a lot of spiritual meat in these scriptures, but I will condense a few thoughts to build up your faith regarding God's promises. [00:03:23] In no way is this scripture saying that you have to work for your salvation. Throughout this Scripture it states that these individuals have already been given this and that. So these are Christians who need to realize the promises of God to them and know how to respond correctly. [00:03:46] In the Scripture we have learned that by His divine power God called us to Himself and has already given us everything we need to live a godly life. Everything covers everything. Do you hear what I'm saying to you? I hope your soul is shouting along with mine. I hope so. There is nothing missing regarding what we need to live a godly life. We just need to know him more and learn how to implement what he has already given us. [00:04:24] In these scriptures, Peter challenges us who are believers, to take full advantage of his divine power and great and precious promises which make it possible for us to participate in his divine nature and thus overcome the corruption caused by evil desires. For example, when passionate cravings do come, we can claim the promises of God and resist these temptations. We are given the ability by God to escape the corruption that that is in the world. Its sexual sin, its drunkenness, its filth, its misery, its treachery, its fear, its hopelessness and its strife and division that we see now. [00:05:19] Great and Precious promises refers to the numerous offers of divine provision and protection that is found in Scripture. It is estimated that there are at least 30,000 promises in the Bible. You can look them up or even Google them to see some of what God has said. These great and precious promises are given and not earned. In each promise God pledges that something will or will not happen or be done. They are faithful commitments made by God Himself. [00:05:59] They are fixed for each one of us because they are promises, so we have the assurance of their fulfillment. Any lack is on our part and not God's. Just as the promise of Jesus' first coming was fulfilled, all his promises are sure. He is not man that he should lie and not uphold his promises. We can have full assurance that what God has promised will indeed be realized. [00:06:33] Now all of us who are in Christ know that it takes faith to respond correctly to the promises of God. That is how anyone becomes a Christian in the first place. For Jesus is the author of our faith (the One who began our faith walk )and he is the perfecter of our faith (the One who will see it through to the end). Just look at Hebrews 12:2. [00:07:03] It is because of his work for, in, and through us that we are able to respond to the promises of God and faith. Faith in Jesus and His finished work is foundational to our faith walk. Our faith should be ever growing too. [00:07:24] Now the scriptures I read inform us that there are 7 virtues listed that we should develop to support our faith. God's indwelling Holy Spirit will develop these virtues in us if we will obediently and cooperatively submit to his working in us. For we cannot develop these on our own. Our faith becomes stronger as we grow in these virtues and our lives will reflect more fully God's divine nature. [00:08:01] Now as I share them, notice how these virtues are supported by each other. If they exist in you and if they abound in you, the Scriptures let us know that we will be effective and fruitful in our lives. [00:08:18] So once again, it takes faith to respond to God's great promises. Here are the 7 virtues Peter encourages us to actively nurture so that our faith is matured: [00:08:34] First of all, we start with faith. Faith is the foundation upon which all these other virtues are built. Faith in Jesus Christ is what brings us into the family of God and separates Christians from all other people. [00:08:52] Then we should add to our faith through the power of the Holy Spirit, virtue or moral excellence or goodness, depending on your translation. So what is virtue, moral excellence or goodness? This is a strong inner commitment to live with excellence, integrity and strength. It is the spiritual courage and strength to stand for what is right before a hostile world. [00:09:23] So you have faith and you have a commitment to live with moral excellence. But now to live in this way, you will need to add knowledge. This is what is said next. What is knowledge? Knowledge is growing in the knowledge of spiritual truth. It's having understanding and knowledge of God and His Word. It is obtained by dedicating ourselves to learning God's truth in the Scriptures and putting that truth into action. [00:09:59] Okay, so here we are. You have faith. Now you have had added to that a commitment to live with moral excellence. But to do this, you needed to add knowledge of spiritual truth. [00:10:14] Now you need to add self control, or your translation may say temperance. This is the ability to exercise power over one's flesh and passions, the ability to master one's emotions rather than be controlled by them. There must be discipline in prayer, in Bible study, in the use of our time, in curbing our appetites, and in sacrificial living. [00:10:46] Okay, here we are. We're on this journey. So you have faith and you have made a commitment to live with moral excellence, but needed to add knowledge of spiritual truth. Then to live out the spiritual truth, you learned that you had to add self control to exercise power over your flesh and your passions. [00:11:11] Now you need to add perseverance, or your translation may say patience. This is the ability to constantly or steadfastly endure under adversity without giving in or giving up. To see all circumstances as coming from the hand of our loving Father who is in control of all things. Perseverance is the art of bearing up and pressing on in the face of all that seems to be against you. So here we are again. This is the journey. [00:11:46] You have faith and have made a commitment to live with moral excellence, but needed to add the knowledge of spiritual truth, to live out the spiritual truths, you learned you had to add self control to exercise power over your flesh and passions. And when fighting your flesh and passions, you needed to add perseverance to endure the adversity that comes upon you. But now you need to add godliness. Godliness means our lives should be set apart for God. There should be such a supernatural quality in our conduct, conversation, and character that others will know we are children of the Heavenly Father because what we have, this family likeness, this godliness; and this godliness should make others see that there is no mistake in knowing who we belong to. [00:12:46] Now, the first 5 virtues that I talked about pertain to our inner life and our relationship to God. The last 2 relate to others. [00:12:57] Okay, so now let's see the pattern of what was told to us in the Scriptures. We start off with faith, and then we add a commitment to live with moral excellence, but needed to add knowledge of spiritual truth. And then to live out the spiritual truth, you learned you had to add self control to exercise power over your flesh and passions. And then when fighting your flesh and passions, you needed to add perseverance to endure the adversity that would come upon you. And then when you persevere over adversity, then godliness is manifested or shown in your life. [00:13:43] But now you need to add brotherly kindness, or your translation may say mutual affection. [00:13:51] This is showing brotherly affection, kindness and care for fellow believers. This identifies us to the world as Christ's disciples. In John 13:35 it says, "By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." [00:14:14] Okay, don't get tired of this. This is what God is telling us we need. Now these steps are important. [00:14:20] So you start with faith, and then to faith you've added a commitment to live with moral excellence, but needed to add the knowledge of spiritual truth to your moral excellence. To live out the spiritual truth you learned, you had to add self control to exercise power over your flesh and passions. When fighting your flesh and passions, you needed to add perseverance to endure the adversity that would come upon you. And when you persevere over adversity, godliness will be manifested in your life. And when godliness is manifested in your life, you will supernaturally love your brothers and sisters in Christ because they're a part of your family. [00:15:11] But now, finally, you need to add love, or your translation may say charity. [00:15:18] This is a supernatural, unselfish love and compassion for others. Love here refers to God's love that flows through us. God is love, and we are to love because we are of God. Such love reaches beyond the Christian community to anyone, anywhere, seeking that person's highest good, even to the cost of ourselves. This love is not a matter of our emotions, but of our will. [00:15:52] So here we go again. I'm going to share with you this roadmap regarding our faith and how we partake of the great and precious promises of God. [00:16:03] We start off with faith and we've added to our faith a commitment to live with moral excellence. But to be able to live with moral excellence, we needed to add the knowledge of spiritual truth. To live out spiritual truths, you learned that you had to add self control to exercise power over your flesh and passions. And when fighting your flesh and passions, you will need perseverance to endure the adversity in the face of all that seems to be against you. When you persevere over adversity, then godliness is manifested in your life. And when godliness is manifested in your life, you will supernaturally love your brothers and sisters in Christ because they're part of your family. This supernatural love of other Christians will overflow then to a supernatural love for all mankind. [00:17:07] Wow. This is what God says in His Word and this is what is true and this is what is promised to us. [00:17:18] So again, it takes faith to respond to God's great and precious promises. And these 7 virtues mature our faith. They will help us to have confidence and trust in whatever God says. All of these virtues are magnified in our Lord Jesus Christ. The more they become a part of our life, the more we will reflect his divine nature within us. [00:17:47] So in conclusion, what happens when we respond in faith to God's great and precious promises? [00:17:55] Well, 2 Peter 1:3-11 tell us: 1. We will have everything we need for life and serving God so that we lack nothing. 2. We will reflect the divine nature of God. 3. We will escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. 4. We will never be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord. 5. We will not be blinded to the cleansing from our old sins. 6. We will have our call and election sure; it will show that our salvation is genuine. 7. We will partake of his great and precious promises and the rewards of being fruitful and never stumbling. 8. We will not just barely make it into the eternal kingdom, but our entrance will be a richly abundant one. The Scripture indicates that fruitful and faithful living here will be rewarded in glory when we see our Lord. First Timothy 4:1 says, "Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith. They will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons." [00:19:27] Please don't let that be you. Review 2 Peter 1:3-11 in your Bibles along with this podcast. Take time to listen again to this podcast as much as is needed so that you will know exactly what virtues are needed to be a part of your faith, so you will respond in faith to God's great and precious promises. Hold on to these promises and live fully in God. Well, hopefully we will be together next month. And smile, Jesus loves you! [00:20:12] Thank you for listening. To make sure you do not miss any future episodes, please subscribe to our podcast. We want all to be able to live in God's divine power. Also sign up for our monthly newsletter on our website: twmforjesus.org. Please do share our podcast with others and Lord willing, we'll be together next month.