“God’s divine power has granted us everything we need for life and godliness through knowing him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”

I wonder why so many of us Christians struggle in many areas of our lives, never seeming to find true victory. We are constantly making positive statements about our position with God, but to the unbelieving observer we are anything but convincing, as we rarely seem to know true victory.

We seem to feel that if we continually make positive statements about what God has said, then it will come to pass in our lives, but this places the outcome of our faith in our own ability to believe rather than simply trusting in what our God has said. To me at least, that sounds more like the world’s kind of positive thinking rather than the kind of faith which our God is looking for in us. Faith built on trust in the truth of his word!

That reminds me of a car sticker which was around years ago and which always grieved my heart every time I saw it. It read, “God said it, I believe it and that settles it.” Just how wrong can we be!! It should read, “God said it and that settles it”. Whether I believe it or not has nothing to do with the truth of the matter being settled, it is settled simply because God said so. My believing it has only to do with whether or not God will cause his truth to be settled in my life.

So the questions we each need to answer truthfully for ourselves are these: Our God has assured us in the above scripture that “His divine power has granted us everything we need for life and godliness through knowing him”, SO WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT THIS TRUTH? Are we, in both our words and actions, striving in the power of the Spirit of Christ to “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2Peter 3:18), by living that simple truth, always being careful to give God all the glory? Can the people around us, believers and unbelievers alike, see his love, power and majesty reflected in us?

More on this next time, Lord willing!!