“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3 NLT)
So often we read this passage and jump with glee. Why? Because we read, “God has given us everything we need…” O, man let’s take the world by the tail and buy, sell, get promoted and be anything and everything we want to be? Then we buy a kids size pair of boxing gloves and we begin the fight. We don’t even break Ali Muhammad’s record. Plus, Ali has a lot of interesting quotes that others go around quoting trying to help them box and live well. For example:
“A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he’ll never crow. I have seen the light and I’m crowing.” Muhammad Ali and,
“Friendship… is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” Muhammad Ali
“Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. It’s just plain wrong.” Muhammad Ali
Let’s do one more:
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” Muhammad Ali
If we are lagging and wonder what went wrong with our boxing game: Maybe we should check our reading comprehension.
What did God give us by His divine power according to 2 Peter 1:3? Of course we can all read and read well. Therefore why do we not understand what God has given us? “Every single thing one needs to live a godly life!” Yet, we run around quoting what a school system has told us. Things like we don’t learn that way. I can be anything? Really, well, what happened to the whole entire world that failed except one man every four years. A woman has never made it! I know, I am wrong only a few children ever want to be the President of the United States and they all make it. Dud!
Let’s be like a rooster and crow when they see the light! Crow it out, triumphantly, what is godly living?
thedailylily.com 
“Every single thing one needs to live a godly life!”…..Hum, I don’t claim that reading comprehension was my best subject, but these words seem pretty clear to me.
Wow! Everything one needs His WORD – His divine power. I need and the following as well from Phillippians 4: 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. That is also covered under the WORD. God is MIGHTY!
“Because of His glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
I see thru these concomitant Scriptures that we can become partakers of this divine nature….IF we will escape the corruption of the world….which corrupts us because of our own sinful desires. It looks to me that we are held quite responsible if we let the corruption of the world get to us….the lust of the eyes, the endless acquisition and the pride of our SELVES.
So if we have everything we need to lead a godly life why do we think that the tainted things of the world will enhance our lives. Paul said if we have enough food and we are clothed that we should be content.. WOW!
Maybe, Sara, our boxing game is like unto the one Paul writes about. And I don’t BOX by beating my fists in the air against nothing. I keep my body under control and make it my slave, so I won’t lose out after telling the good news to others.”
“…what is godly living?” If I am comprehending from reading the blog, it seems that we would be wise to face reality about ourselves and learn to discern between daydreams and the facts of our natural limitations as well as our abilities. Then we can take hope and heart that God wants to develop something eternal in us…divine character…if we will cooperate. Reading on in Peter, he lists some components of this character…”Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.”
Apparently, we are all able to access the power to do this and grow.
“The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (vs 8)
Right Debi, you read the right book and got the right answer. I am not real sure if your work, apparently, is strong enough for Peter, Paul and me. What do you think? LOL
I believe you that you are right Sara. Maybe a better word for ‘apparently’ (seemingly, evidently) would be ‘unmistakably’ or ‘unquestionably’?
In just two verses, 3 and 4, God affirms all this to us:
…”God has given us”
…”We have received all of this”
…”He has given us great and precious promises.”
…”the promises that enable you”
Debi, great to see you studying with me and the other Lilies! This blog is all about our words and speech. If we don’t work on our words and speech we become boring with our platitudes. And, the most serious for Christians so often is we are off the mark of God’s way and then without even knowing it lead others off the right path.
I guess change is just to much work for some. We work at our platitudes so we don’t have to recognize we need change and it would sure help to have it now. Stay busy with our grind of doing something so we can say the same old worn out commonplace words that got us there in the first place and loves to drag everybody with them. A new thought is so refreshing and so often found deep in the Word of God.
Hey, let’s be in the NOW with the way that makes life easier and full of Joy.
I thought about the word that you used above, ” Platitude”. Word searching I found, sure enough…THIS! dull, overused saying
Synonyms: banality, boiler plate, bromide, buzzword, chestnut, cliché, commonplace, corn, familiar tune, flatness, hackneyed saying, hokum, inanity, insipidity, monotony, motto, old chestnut, old story, potboiler, prosaicism, proverb, old saw, shibboleth, stereotype, tag*, trite remark, triviality, truism, vapidity, excessive verbiage
And the opposites of PLATITUDE ….
Nuance: A new word or phrase.or the invention of new words.: a subtle distinction or variation a subtle quality : nicety, sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value)__Miriam Webster
And the eye opener about it is that too often we use the Word of God in that way….not in “awareness and sensibility of expression”, applying it (the Word) appropriately to a particular situation or special need, but just parroting the Word in repetition . And the Lord rebukes those whose prayers are a babble consistently “thinking that they will be heard for their much speaking”_____Matt.6:7
Maybe living in a habitual whirlpool of platitudes is one reason we extract and interpret the way you describe above, Sara… “God has given us everything we need…” O, man let’s take the world by the tail and buy, sell, get promoted and be anything and everything we want to be?”
In addition, it seems to me, that if we are not content with ourselves or with what God has given us (like the real embedded promise in 2 Peter 1:3…the promise of a godly life…then we will live in a world of distortion and. I read in I Timothy 6 where Paul was teaching a principle of a godly life and the entrapments of buying, selling, etc. he said “Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” (vs 6). And, if I understand correctly, he warned us about distorting and misusing words in connection to this.
“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” He then goes on to talk about the love of money and the consequences.
I found it sobering that there is a connection between…”…” O, man let’s take the world by the tail and buy, sell, get promoted and be anything and everything we want to be?” and our words.
And, how sobering is ” withdraw yourself”
Is “withdraw yourself” like or similar to…. “detach from”
( detach oneself from) avoid or put an end to any connection or association with :
withdraw: no longer participate in an activity or be a member of a team or organization
Now, both words look to me like, end, period. Maybe the problem is we think it means stay around and pick and choose what we like and what we don’t. Because that is what we want to do so we can take the benefits. For example, marriage vows are or have been pretty tough….Read them and think on making such a vow. Or, any other commitment. We are to bear with one another, help one another, love one another, etc. etc. But, when we start talking about detach, withdraw, that is what it means, move on. Don’t look back and stay gone. That is how I see it. Does anyone see it differently?
Ok! how about, “detach with love”…that we have been hearing recently.
What does that mean?
Rena quotes above Phillipians 4…..which made me think on Colossians 1:11, 12 “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
When we go through a life journey that we might have thought we never ever could out comes the divine light of power. This same power source happens for Nations. As we think and pray and send our love, prayer and support to Japan that has gone through an unimaginable tragedy this power will prevail. Parts of the US suffered lost of life and property from tornadoes this past week-end. Are we able to take out the light power source and activate the force for all to endure and rebuild?
Like Star Wars!
Adding to my above comment. I think we can want to be doing something so bad that we miss we have just done something. This begins to show the flaw of self worship. We love the power so much that we want to be the power. How easy to forget the power for us came through a cross where Jesus maded the difference.
I have experienced great power through the hands of many beautiful people recently. I have been so blessed and I say, thank you. Many will smile and say, you are welcome and open their hands in solitude and wait patiently for God to fill and use again with others. Others will start telling me all the things they are going to do or want to do as if you are not anything in my big scheme of things. They fill their own hands and eyes with the lust of the flesh. It saddens the heart to know any of us could be missing the power source by trying to steal the force from the source. May we all seek God and His force so these power scriptures will ignite the right light for the cure.
My point is the point of God, the Father. He sent His Son for me as well as big man’s schedules and importances. Thank you Heavenly Father.