DAY Ten – CWC FIRST FRUITS DEVOTIONAL

Day Ten
It’s Your Move…

2 Peter 1:4-8 KJVS
[4] Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. [5] And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; [6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; [7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. [8] For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As a kid growing up in church there was a space reserved in the worship service where the people in the congregation could give their testimonies. I would sit and listen as they would talk with such conviction and bulldog tenacity about all the things God did for them. I heard it all from God paid my light bill to God fixed my gold tooth to God took the calories out of my food. It sounds comical but it really confused me. It made me believe that God was this gigantic being that handled our lives like a genie in a lamp.

It made me think that even without my involvement God just made things happen out of thin air.
Of course I’ve grown to know differently and the word of God teaches a different principle all together. Peter tells his readers in verse four that we are partakers of the divine nature of God. The word partakers means associates, sharers and partners. In other words God partners with us; not because He needs us but because He loves us. How does he do this? Well the first thing God did was give us faith. Look at the third verse in the book of Jude.

Jude 1:3 KJVS
[3] Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

It says that God gave us faith once, and now we must maintain it, defend it and fight for it.

Let’s look back at 2 Peter. There are four words in verse five that sum up our responsibility in this partnership; “Add To Your Faith”. If we follow the flow of the text, we see a work order. God gave us faith, then He tells us to add to it. In other words, God did his part. Faith can move mountains, faith can be explosive even in small doses, without faith it’s impossible to please God but faith without works is

dead. God made his move by giving us the faith but the next move is on us. Notice in 2 Peter, He never says that He will add to our faith, rather He says you add to your faith.
He then goes on to say:

“add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; [6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; [7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity”

Here is the revelation in all of this, God doesn’t do anything for us, to us or through us, without us. It’s your move.

Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving so much to us. We don’t deserve it but Your mercy covers us even when we have entitlement issues, and we treat You like you owe us something. But God we know full well that if You never do anything else for us, You’ve already done enough. We don’t take the faith You gave us lightly or for granted. We will operate in the authority that you have given us through our faith.

We Love You JESUS! Amen