SOAP Devotional 2014-05-02
Scripture – Observation – Application – Prayer
Growing in Faith
Scripture:
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. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (2 Peter 1:3, 4 NLT)
Observation:
When we came to know Christ as our Lord and Savior, we received by His power everything we need for living a godly life.. We are not overcoming sin with our own power, but by the means of His power, His glory, and His excellence. Because of this he has given us great promises that include enabling us to actually share His divine nature and escape the human desires thus world has caused by it's corruption.
Application:
Ever hear the words, “I am only human”? Basically, as Christians, this is not true of us. We are par takers of His divine nature. We have been empowered to overcome sin that may have once ruled in our lives. There is no sin that has power over us, because we are His now. We do not do this in our own strength, but do it with His strength. We are no longer “just a sinner saved by grace”, we are “saints empowered by His grace”. We really need to get a grip on what the new birth has done to us and see ourselves as victorious over sin instead of define by our old sinful nature.
Prayer:
Father, I have done nothing in my own power to overcome sin. I recognize that, but as I realize that you have empowered me by your spirit to overcome sin, I now walk in that power. Help me as I grow in my realization of just how much I can overcome because you have made me a new creation in you.
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Growing in Faith text in context:
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. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. 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. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11 NLT)
