Did you grow in grace this year?
As a leader, I personally strive to live a balanced life mentally, spiritually, and physically. When I put all my past experiences, spiritual gifts, and core values together, it is a beautiful representation of God’s vision for my life. Here in my counseling office, my goal is to provide a safe, nonjudgmental place where my clients can be vulnerable and honest about the issues they are facing. My desire is to help others live out God’s vision for their lives and inspire them to become a person after God’s own heart.
And that is what the goal of this year’s broadcast has been about – Biblically based devotions designed to inspire you to embrace God’s vision for your life.
Today’s Scripture Reference
2 Peter 3:11-18 – The Message
Goals I had put into place for 2022:
To Live in Peace
Make a diligent effort to live for peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Are you angry with God? Are you holding Him at a distance? 1 Corinthians 14:33 – “For God is not the author of [a]confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
Live for peace in your own life by allowing the Spirit of grace to witness within your spirit that you are a child of God. Some of us are masters at rehearsing all the negative thoughts about ourselves. What does God say about you? What has He said about you that you refuse to believe because the lie seems more like the truth to you?
Live for peace with men determined to have a calm and peaceable disposition within yourself that resembles Jesus Christ. Romans 14:19 – “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”
To Live on Guard
Word of caution to be on the lookout and be aware of being pulled away from the truth of God’s Word. I believe the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of the Living God. The Bible is the final authority on all matters of life, faith, and practice. Why is it, that is the last place we look when faced with serious matters?
1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Ephesians 6:10-18 – The Whole Armor of God
To Live like Jesus
Grow in grace.
Grow in knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Spurgeon - One of the best tests of growth in grace
"Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18
"Grow in grace"—not in one grace only, but in all the Christian graces.
Faith - Grow in the starting place of grace, faith. Believe the promises more firmly than you have before. Let faith increase in fullness, constancy and simplicity.
Love - Grow also in love. Ask that your love may become extended, more intense, more practical, influencing every thought, word and deed.
Humility - Grow likewise in humility. Seek to lie very low, and know more of your own nothingness.
Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing. (E. M. Bounds)
Life Application Questions
1. Did you live in peace this year?
2. Did you live on guard this year?
3. Did you live like Jesus this year?
4. If you answered yes, don’t stop just because the year is coming to an end…keep going! If you answered no, don’t ever stop pursuing growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Any effort towards growth in grace is growth.