God’s Growth Plan

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5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8 ESV)

Something I often struggle with is the feeling that I may not be a very effective witness for Christ. It bothers me when I fail to see the fruit I hope for. Sometimes I get glimpses that maybe, just maybe, I am making a difference somewhere, but I want to see more fruit. How about you?

Let us re-read verse 8 in this passage:
“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

When I discovered these power-packed verses in 2 Peter, it became obvious to me that it represented a progression where each one builds upon the qualities before it. To me these verses are a model of God’s Growth Plan — a tool for increasing my effectiveness and becoming more fruitful in my witness for Christ. We might also call these verses God’s building blocks or steppingstones for Christian growth. It is an avenue to help us become more productive in our Christian walk.

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Born again

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What does it mean to be born again? When Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again, Nicodemus didn’t understand. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3 (NLT)

What is involved in being born again? Is it repeating words to a prayer? Is it just trying harder to be good? Does it happen by getting involved in a lot of church activities?

Jesus says we need two births. The first is our physical birth. The second birth is a spiritual birth. The first is new life that frees the infant from the mother’s womb so he/she can grow and develop into an adult. The second birth changes the individual’s spirit from serving self and failing to recognize the one true God, to recognizing one’s sins for what they are – rebellion against the God who created everything. Once this change takes place – the heart is free to grow and produce a mature Christian.

Some people have a harder time than others in recognizing their sin for what it is. I was one of those. I was an obedient child, and remember as a teenager thinking of myself as a “good” girl – not as a sinner. I knew the list of dos and don’ts very well, and I was “good.” I could not fully understand that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 KJV) Continue reading →

Mt. Sinai in Saudi Arabia

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I didn’t need a college degree in Bible to discover that Mt. Sinai was not in the Sinai Peninsula. I’ve read through the Bible several times, and one of those times I resolved to work a little harder at connecting the dots. I kept up with names and places and used the maps for deeper understanding.

In comparing Exodus 3:1-6 to the Bible maps, I noticed a serious error in the maps in the back of my Bible as well as those in my Bible atlas. Moses met God while tending his father-in-law’s sheep. Jethro, his father-in law, was the priest of Midian. So Moses was surely in Midian when he saw the burning bush on the Mountain of God. This mountain was also known as Mt. Horeb and Mt. Sinai. Midian is clearly identified on all Bible maps as located in current Saudi Arabia. Moses would have had to travel over 400 miles and cross a swampy body of water on the north end of the Red Sea to graze those sheep on the traditional site for Mt. Sinai located on the Sinai Peninsula. We can also read that God told Moses from the burning bush that he and the Israelites would return to worship God “on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12)

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How are you passing the Bible baton?

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Yesterday I wrote a post on the Christian Children’s Authors blog that is dear to my heart. I want to share it here as well. There are too many missed passes over the last few generations. It’s time to step up and close the gap. Too many non-Christians are more than willing to direct our children’s minds and hearts away from God.

I’ll take the shortcut and simply share the link to my post on CCA:

https://christianchildrensauthors.com/2023/02/06/who-is-passing-the-bible-baton/