Everything We Need

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness."

2 Peter 1:3

 

 

When I read this verse, my first thought is usually "everything I need!?!?!" If I've been given everything I need to live a godly life, then why do I still struggle to live a godly life? Why do I do the same thing I know I shouldn't over and over? Why do I have a hard time doing the things I know I should do? It doesn't seem to make sense.

 

As I read this verse a couple of day ago, I realized something I hadn't before. God has given me everything, but that doesn't mean I'm choosing to accept all that has been given to me. If I don't accept the gift and actually make it a part of my life, it doesn't do me any good.

 

The gift God has given me to live a godly life is a knowledge of Him. And that isn't a one time gift either. It's ongoing as we spend time with Him and get to know Him better over a lifetime.

 

So, it's true. God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. But it's our choice what we do with what we have been given.

 

We can choose to open the gift and learn how to live a godly life.

 

Or we can put the gift on the shelf and go on the way we've always lived. All the while getting frustrated that this verse and others like it don't seem to be true.

 

Accepting the entire gift that God has given us to live a godly life doesn't mean we'll do it perfectly right away. We'll still make mistakes. But, we'll never live a godly life if we don't take the time to grow in our knowledge of God.

A Theology Worth Smuggling

Do you have a theology worth smuggling?

I read a book a few years ago that talked about this. I stumbled across a quote from the book I had written down a couple days ago.

"A theology not worth smuggling is not worth having. . . . A theology worth smuggling serves the church well because it is based on listening to God rather than just talking and writing about God - the kind of reflection that cultivates intimacy with Christ."
(Earl Creps, Offroad Discipline)

The author makes a bold point in declaring that if our theology isn't worth smuggling it's not worth having.

But maybe the place to begin is to define theology. It's one of those words that gets thrown around in Christian circles without being defined. And because it seems like everyone else is using it and knows what it means, no one asks what it means for fear of looking "stupid." We do ourselves a dis-service when we do this.

The way I've always defined theology and the way I'm talking about it in this post is as follows: Theology is the series of beliefs about God, the Bible, and life as a follower of Christ that changes the way a person lives.

We often think of theology as something academic that only biblical scholars study. But actually all of us have a theology and are students of theology if we spend any time studying Scripture and following God. The part we often miss is that our theology should affect the way we live our lives. If it doesn't, something is missing.

So, I ask you again: Do you have a theology worth smuggling?

If you study Christian history , it quickly becomes apparent that many have had such a theology. And there are people today who do as well. People - past and present - who are so completely sold out to what they believe that they will give everything - including their lives - for it. These people are those who are so transformed by what they believe and the way they live their lives so changed that nothing stops them - not even death - from taking their theology to others.

Now, that's not a call all of us have. Some of us are supposed to stay in places where our theology doesn't put us in danger of death. We live our theology is a safe place to do so.

But that doesn't change the fact that if our theology isn't worth smuggling, it's not worth having. For our theology to be worth giving our lives to, it must be something we would still believe and live even if it wasn't safe to do so.

It's something challenging to think about.

Do you have a theology worth smuggling?

7 Quotes That Have Impacted How I Live

The written word has always spoken to me. Over the years I have read several things that jumped off the page at me and have had an impact on how I live my life.

A couple of people in a writer's group I'm a part of have written posts on seven quotes that have been inspirational for them. And they've challenged the rest of us to do the same.

For some the challenge may be finding seven quotes. For me the challenge was keeping it to only seven. I collect quotes that challenge me or make me think. For this I picked seven quotes that have impacted the way I live my life to share with you. I hope they speak to you as well.

I don't always find it easy to love people. Lots of the time people annoy or frustrate me. But that can be a lonely way to live. If you can't love people, you live an isolated existence.

People become easier for me to love when I look for the image of God in them. All of us were created in the image of God and we still carry it in us, even if it's marred right now.

When we live our lives looking for what is still there of the image of God in people, it becomes easier to love them. And those glimpses of we see are how God intended them to completely be.

We must look for the image of God in everyone and love them because of it. Then we begin to see those people as God intended us to see them in the first place, and love them.

I may have actually seen this one on a sign somewhere. I don't know who would have written it, but it spoke to me when I saw it. Because I do this far too often.

I have two choices when tomorrow comes. I can live the day in front of me. Or I can spend tomorrow dwelling on what I did today - the good and the bad.

If I choose tomorrow to replay everything from today, I will lose tomorrow. I will let today take over tomorrow.

This quote challenges me not to do that. I need to let today be today and tomorrow to be tomorrow. Instead of dwelling on today, tomorrow I need to move forward having learned from today.

Life isnt' always easy. Sometimes God feels far away or He seems silent.

It's in those moments when we call to God with questions and don't get an answer, but we know He's there with us, that truly changes us.

Comparison. It's deadly. Yet we do it all the time.

Who has the better house, car haircut, clothes, job, family. Who looks more put together.

Comparison is something we do all the time, but we forget one important truth. We're taking the mess of our lives that we try to hide from everyone else and compare it to the best of everyone we meet. If we're presenting only our best to the world, then it would probably be reasonable to assume everyone else is as well.

So why compare our mess to their best? When we think it through, it really doesn't make sense. It sets us up to be insecure and feel less than.

Do you know what you're supposed to do? Then do it, whether you think it will be successful or not. If we hold ourselves back because we're too worried about whether we'll fail at it, we miss out on too much of life.

We are to work at what we do, most of the time without notice. And not get caught up in worrying about whether we will succeed or fail. Making mistakes, even failing, will happen sometimes. That's life and we can't allow it to hold us back.

What exactly life will look like one month, one year, or five years down the road may be unknown to us. But we can rest assured that the God we know does know. And because we know God and know He loves us, we can trust Him with our future. We don't have to be afraid to leave it in His hands.

God can redeem anything and anyone to use them for His glory. No matter how big I think I screwed up, God can redeem it. A failure is never the end of my usefulness for God. That means it's safe for me to try something new. For me to take a risk.


Well, those are my seven quotes that have inspired me, challenged me, and encouraged me. Maybe they'll do the same for you.

I'd love to hear what quotes you would include in your list. Leave a comment below with them. Or a link to you your post of them on your blog.