How do we get the power we need?

One of the most powerful and practical passages in all of Scripture is found in 2 Peter 1. Verses 2-4, specifically. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence for by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

The first thing we see here is that grace and peace come to us “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”  How different from what the world tells us! We are bombarded with the message that if we could just change our circumstances (more money, better family, improved appearance, a different town, etc), then we would have peace. Or we try to achieve the favor of God through better behavior, increased service to others, or stricter rule keeping, thinking that is the way to grace. And how often we press forward in these pursuits, only to never quite get either grace or peace. Instead, this passage makes it clear that, far from being elusive, grace and peace come only from knowing God and Jesus. Not knowing about them but rather an intimate knowledge of them. Realize that even the demons know about Christ (and they tremble!) but they certainly do not experience His grace and peace because they are not in relationship with Him where they love and treasure and obey Him.  That is where the power comes from, the divine power that supplies everything we need for life and godliness. Notice that all inclusive word – everything. In a world where we often can feel overwhelmed, insecure, inadequate, the Apostle Peter tells us we have everything we need in knowing God. This ever-deepening relationship is the pipeline through which grace and peace are supplied to us, the power we need for life. Not things to know or doctrines to embrace but power to experience. Power that is given to those who rest in the righteousness of Christ and continuously thirst to know Him more. Power that is greater than anything else on earth.

But, how practically do we experience that power? How does it become activated in our daily lives? The knowledge of God, seeing His glory and excellence,  impacts our daily lives as we know and embrace His great promises! How does that work, not in theory but in daily application? Suppose you are wrestling anxiety. Then find 2-3 promises from Scripture that address anxiety. Isaiah 26:3 says “Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusts in Thee.” And Philippians 4:6,7 promises us “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” So, when we need to defeat anxiety, God has given us the knowledge and power to do so – we fix our minds on Him. Over and over and again and again. We fixate on His glory and His excellence. We meditate on His attributes and His gifts to us. And we pour out our hearts to Him, thanking Him for His character and His generous goodness to us. We do this for as long as we need for His divine power to flow into our hearts and put our minds at peace.

Or, say we struggle with assurance of salvation. This is definitely one we must fight for! We find one of His precious promises, such as John 6:37 – “whoever comes to me, I will never cast out.” Or  John 5:24 – “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”  And then we proclaim that truth to our hearts, over and over, and again and again. The power comes not from our faith, but rather who our faith is in.

If you cannot shake guilt, then you stand on the promise of 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  And you tell your heart that He is not a liar – His Words are true and dependable.

Sin (doubt, fear, worry, greed, lust, selfishness and the like) makes a false claim to us – it promises us that we will be happy and better if we succumb. And the author of sin is a liar. He never delivers what he says – rather than having what we need for life, we find ourselves depressed and angry and anxious and guilt-ridden and unfulfilled when we place our confidence in those claims. Therefore, I urge us all to dig into God’s Word and find His precious and faithful promises.  Speak them to your heart and mind – out loud and silently – and find His divine power being abundantly supplied to you, indeed everything you need for life and godliness.

"It's all grace" - what does that mean, anyway?

Grace.


Amazing grace. How sweet the sound.


Truly.


But what is it, really, and what have we done to it?


Perhaps grace is hard to define. We try and explain it, but we can hardly understand it. So we come up with ways to help us comprehend.

God's unmerited favor.
His Love.
God's Riches At Christ's Expense.
Unconditional love.


All these definitions are true. Thank God!


We cannot earn His favor. He is far more gracious than we can fathom. Far more merciful and kind and generous than anyone can ever deserve.


But I don't think that "mercy" and "forgiveness" are all there is to grace. I often hear Christ-followers excuse their behavior with "grace". And while I don't want to go back to the era of legalism that I went through (which brought not only judgment of others but especially of my own self), I fear that we are in danger of trampling upon the truth of what God's grace is.


We humans tend to such extremes. We either lean waaaaaaay far in the direction of self-sufficiency, as though we can somehow muster up enough good deeds or omit enough bad deeds that we impress God....or we camp out in the land of "it doesn't matter how I live, it's all grace anyway".


Both miss the mark of what grace is.


Yes, grace is unmerited. And absolutely there is nothing too awful to be redeemed by grace. Nothing. But let's take a look at grace to better understand what it is and how God grants it....


My favorite apologist, John Piper defines grace as " the supernatural power of God regenerating us and opening our blind eyes so that we can see Christ for who he really is." Amen.

And when we see Him, I John 3:2 tells us that we shall be like Him! Grace enables us to see the treasure of Christ, to desire Him above all this world has to offer,...and the same power that opens our eyes to that glorious truth also transforms us. Empowers us to obey Him.


So, it is the mercy of God that is willing to withhold from us the punishment we deserve and it is His grace that gives us far more than we could ever earn...but that grace includes our transformation. The power to obey Him. Yes, He lavishes acceptance and blessing and favor --- grace -- upon His people but He tells us that there is more to grace. It's not a public drinking fountain that we can visit from time to time and wash off our guilt or request special treatment.






Humility is a condition of receiving this grace. James 4:4-6 clearly explains not only that God gives grace to the humble but also that cozying up to the world puts us in opposition to God. He gives grace so that we might live according to His Spirit within us.
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
So, you might say, that says there is a condition to receiving grace! I thought God's love was unconditional! Do I have to earn it?
The grace that causes us to be chosen of God before the foundations of the earth - that is completely unconditional. We weren't even around when God us and foreordained that we would be His. He is not responding to our good behavior or our desirability in His choosing us.
But there is grace that is conditional, where He does respond to our behavior - Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5:5). God responds to humility with more grace - grace that transforms us by enabling us to obey His commands.


Let me explain a bit further -
Philippians 2:12,13 says - work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure
Yes, the work of transformation that please God is a result of His working within us...but that does not lessen our responsibility to cooperate with His power and obey His Word - to work out our salvation (not work for it, but work it out from the inside of our spirit to the outside of our soul and body)


Piper puts it this way:


I can flip a switch, but I don’t provide the electricity. I can turn on a faucet, but I can’t make the water flow. There will be no light and no liquid refreshment without someone else providing it.
And so it is, in a limited sense, for the Christian with the ongoing grace of God. His grace is essential for our spiritual lives, but we don’t control the supply. We can’t make the grace flow, but God has given us circuits to connect and pipes to open in case it’s there.
Our God is lavish in his grace, often liberally dispensing his favor without even the least bit of cooperation and preparation on our part. But he also has his regular channels. And we can routinely avail ourselves of these revealed paths of blessing, or neglect them to our detriment.


We can “fight to walk in the paths where he has promised his blessings” (John Piper, When I Don’t Desire God, 43–44


What, then, are these paths? What are the means of availing ourselves of His grace?


Basic, everyday, seemingly unglamorous Christianity - sometimes referred to as "spiritual disciplines" -
Persevering in prayer
Consistent time in His Word
Loving the fellowship of His People
Obeying what He says in His Word


My husband calls it "the blocking and tackling of following Christ".

We put ourselves in the paths of blessing, the place to receive God's favor, the avenue that takes us to a life changed into one of joy and peace and significance when we obey Him. When we respond to His commands with the humility that sees our inability to obey Him and we cry out for His enabling power - His grace.


I exhort us all, dear sisters, not to trample upon His precious grace by thinking we can live anyway our flesh desires and then just continually confess and repeat. Let us not think we can expect the grace of His blessings if we don't go where He says the blessings are to be found.

Cry out... and trust

When I was a child (and, to be honest, into my adulthood!), when things were hard, when I was sad or disappointed, or afraid, I turned to my Mom. I was so confident and secure in her love for me that I knew she could make it all better, even if all she did was listen.

As we grow up, sometimes we fail to transfer that kind of childlike trust to The One, the ONLY ONE, whose love is worthy of our trust. And whose power is worthy of our confidence. So many of the psalms convey this picture of crying out to God, of placing our trust in Him. I’ve been reading through the psalms and one in particular stood out to me for this very reason. Psalm 57. Verse 2 says “I will cry to God Most High, to God, who accomplishes all things for me.”

What a practical picture of Christian living! The context for this psalm is when David was hiding from King Saul, tucked away in a cave, appropriately afraid for his life. Instead of plotting his way out, instead of keeping his worries in his head, what does he do? He cries out to God Most High.

“Crying out” to the Lord carries the meaning of literally what it says - crying and out loud. This is what Scripture prescribes for us - not sporting a stiff upper lip. Not bottling up our hurts and fears inside. But pouring them out aloud to God Most High. Just like I always felt better after I told my Mom about whatever was bothering me, so this very act of lifting up our concerns to our Heavenly Father lifts our burdens.

However, this psalm tells us it’s more than that. As much as my Mom loved me, as capable and amazing as she was, she was finite in her abilities to “fix things” for me. Her capacity, though full of love and determination, was limited. Not so with God Most High.

The remainder of that verse clarifies why it is such a great idea to cry out to God. Because HE accomplishes all things for me! God Most High is infinite, limitless in not only His power but also His love. I pour out to Him my worries and fears and pain because I trust Him - I know He loves me (I Peter 5:7 - “casting all my anxiety on Him because He cares for me) and I know is the only One who is working on my behalf all the time. That is what is meant by the word “accomplishes” -not only working but working them after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). And what is His will? To bless me with “every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3)!

Psalm 57 goes on to expound on what God Most High does for him - sending help from heaven, and reproaching those who wrong him. And then it recounts the result of this crying out and trusting…Verse 7 says “ My heart is steadfast , O God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes I will sing praises!” Pouring out our fears and pains to The One who cares for us and is actively working all things for our good and His glory takes us from those negative emotions to a place of peace and praise. Steadfast heart, praising voice. What a progression!

If you are in a place of hurt or anxiety, if your heart is afraid or unsettled, I implore you to do what I’ve found to bring victory, what the psalmist demonstrates to us here. Cry out…and trust.