So don’t lose a minute in building on
what you’ve been given, complementing your basic
faith with good character, spiritual understanding,
alert discipline, passionate patience,
reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each
dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in
your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its
reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s
right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the
books. 2 Peter 1:5 - 9 (TMSG)
We are
talking with the Apostle Peter – fisherman, follower of Jesus, fisher of men,
Bible chapter author, martyred disciple of Christ, and a very good friend of
mine!
The big
fisherman is helping us understand the kinds of qualities that undergird the
life of a disciple. If it’s anyone who
would know how to overcome the frailties of human nature, it’s certainly Peter. He was the one who constantly spoke before
his brain was engaged in spiritual understanding; the one who was ready to grab
a sword when he should have been praying, and He was the one who ultimately
denied the Christ he pledged to follow to the death!
Peter knew
firsthand what it was like to fail at every spiritual discipline. Yet he eventually found himself at the very
head of the movement to spread the Gospel.
That should tell us that no matter how badly we’ve messed up, Christ can
use us in His Kingdom’s work.
And isn’t
THAT good news!!!
So What is spiritual understanding,
and How do I get it?
Spiritual
understanding is a personal, intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ. It’s not just general knowledge. Anyone who has a computer and can type in
“Google” can gain a world of general knowledge.
But spiritual
understanding is more than that. Spiritual
understanding is a matter of sensing how God moves and what His will is
prodding you to do/say/be. This is the
kind of understanding which is coupled with good character, the moral integrity
which makes power powerfully good.
If I have a
stick of dynamite in my hand I can use it to blow up a train track and be the
cause of lives lost and mass hysteria.
Or I can use it to blast a tunnel through solid rock so water can be via-ducted
to a whole village in a third world setting.
Spiritual understanding holds well the power of God.
How does one
come by this “add-on” to basic faith and good character? The source of all spiritual understanding for
humans is God’s Holy Spirit.
For You, Today…
Peter tells us no day will pass without reward when
we exercise spiritual understanding.
Take some time today to pray for God’s Spirit to
have all of you; that way, in whatever way God wants to use you today – He will
have no trouble imparting spiritual understanding and wisdom into your heart
and mind.
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