A Useful Faith

1 Peter 1:5 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, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness,7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I want to have a useful faith. A faith that has an impact. That desire in my heart has been put there by God, so it is difficult to distance myself from that calling. And I don't want to distance myself from that calling. I want to draw closer to God and that is what God wants also. This whole thing is apparently a process and that process has to have it's ups and downs and I have experienced some of the good and the bad in it. In the above scripture Peter said "in view of all this." In view of what? Peter says in verse 2 of the same chapter 2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. So God's grace is a big part of this process, because this failing in our faith happens again and again. But don't despair, just stay in the process and let God continue to grow you in your faith. That growth will give us A Useful Faith. Verse 8 of the above scripture says 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The process is called sanctificaion. We will become more and more holy in our life as we draw closer to God. The process will have incredible highs and lows, but all is part of us growing closer to God and becoming more godly. Another explanation of the part of the verse "in view of all this" is found in verses 3 and 4 of the same chapter where it says 3 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.4 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.

This should encourage all of us and spur us on to living a life of seeking God and following His ways in our life and walk. The end result of this whole process is A Useful Faith. A Useful Faith is a faith that is birthed out of a constant, growing walk with God through interaction with His Word and the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind, Jesus is the Word, so the Word is Jesus and the Holy Spirit is God doing this great work in our lives. The end result is A Useful Faith!!

The Pilgrimage continues.....

David Warren