Growing In The Knowledge Of God

"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord" (2 Peter 1:2; Emphasis added).

I have found it to be so true that the more I truly know the Lord (not just in my head, but in my heart) and experience the reality of who He is, the more I have grace and peace flowing in and through my life!

The two verses after this one are equally powerful:  “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue...”

Did you hear that?  How can we receive the manifold blessings of God?  Through the knowledge of Him!  By knowing Him intimately and personally.  Continue reading:

“...by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

How amazing!  Through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, we recognize and really come to know the exceedingly great and precious promises of the Lord.  I have found this to be true in my own life.  The more I come to know the great love of the Lord, the more I realize and come to claim His promises s my own.  The promises were there all the time, but as I studied His character, I became more aware of these exceedingly great promises and the more precious they became in my sight.

And it is through all this that we become partakers of the divine nature.  It is through this that we can escape the corruption of lust that exists all around us.  Wow!

Yet what is the root of these manifold blessings?  Where do we attain grace and peace, precious promises, and freedom from lust?  It is through the knowledge of the Holy One.

How do we come close to the heart of the LORD?

--Read the Scriptures—for in them He is revealed.  This is a peak into the very heart of God!  Get to know this book and you will get to know the heart of the One who wrote it.

--Talk to Him throughout the day.  This turns your eyes once again upon the One who made you and paid the price of blood to redeem your life.

--Praise Him!  Declaring your adoration for the Lord is one way to meditate on Who He is.  As the truths of His nature and character become more real to us, He will become more real to us.  Oftentimes we know that He is faithful and loving, but we don’t really understand what that means.  There are many songs that have explored the depths of His character qualities; sing these to the Lord!  Praise Him from your heart and you will get to know His.

--Memorize and meditate on Scripture.  What better way to really learn of the character of our King than to meditate on His words that have been hidden in our hearts?

One final warning:  I know it is tempting to think that we know all there is to know about God, especially if we have been raised in a Christian home and have grown up hearing stories about Him all our life.  I can say this, because that’s exactly the way I felt, a mere couple of years ago.  I thought I knew everything there was to know about the Lord and pretty much had it covered.  But then, as I really began to actually study God’s Word and learn about Him, I began to learn how much I had yet to learn.  Job 11:7 puts it well: “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”  The answer? No one.  But we can certainly begin.  Although we will never know all there is to know about God, we can know some and continue to understand more of His nature as we spend more time with Him, for Proverbs 8:17 says, “...those who seek Me diligently find Me.”  Let us seek the face of our Lord.

In closing, 2 Peter 3:18 exhorts, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”