GROW… IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

“And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

2 Peter 3:15-18 NLT

Error is rife in the church today as it was in the early church. Peter warned against falling for lies propagated by false teachers and those who call themselves “apostles”, complicating the simplicity of our fellowship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. “Change your focus,” Peter cautioned.

“Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.”

2 Peter 3:18 NLT

This is one of those gems of truth which I love but don’t always understand or know how to put it into practice in my daily life.

“How do I grow in the knowledge of Jesus?” I asked the Lord one day as I was meditating on this verse.

He began to show me and is still answering my question.

Thus began another part of my journey with the Holy Spirit. He answers questions in stages lest I miss the impact of His explanations.

Stage 1 – DISCOVER  – Grow in grace…

He showed me how to learn by observation – how He reveals Himself by the ways He responds when I call on His name. The smallest details become opportunities to recognise His love and goodness through His interventions.

Difficulties, which I used to struggle through on my own, now become opportunities to grow in the knowledge of Jesus. His grace is always enough for every situation.

An illustration. My frustration with my old router, my worn-out tyres,  my forgotten password, my lost dome…

Stage 2 – DRINK

Recognising God’s interventions was so exciting that I began to praise Him more and more. I remembered David’s words in Psalm 116:12-13

“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

Psalms 116:12-13 NIV

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

Psalm 145:18 NIV

The best way to say thank you is to drink from the cup of salvation. Everything we need is in that cup. I do so by calling on the name of the Lord in every situation because God is a Father. He loves to meet our needs.

Stage 3 – DO

My journey led to a third step in this process of knowing Jesus and His grace…perhaps the most powerful and precious of all lessons.

It came about this way. For close to 5 years, my daughter has struggled to put my grandson through university. The Covid interlude made life extremely difficult for them as a family. She was retrenched, the tardiness of government officials ribbed her of all but one payment of uif. She fell behind with university fees until, in his final year, she was unable to catch up, disqualifying my grandson from studying online.

She was not eligible for a bank loan because she had not worked in her place of present employment for two years. She had nowhere to turn for help. In the nick of time, I was able to lend her the money to pay of her debt to the university.

The story didn’t end there. She began to repay the loan with two payments and then… I felt a strong impression to write off her debt as my contribution to my grandson’s future. Then I sensed the Holy Spirit’s quiet, inward response, “Now you are getting it!” He reminded me of God’s words to Josiah’s son, Jehoiakim, in Jeremiah 22:15-16…

“And the Lord says, “What sorrow awaits Jehoiakim, who builds his palace with forced labour. He builds injustice into its walls, for he makes his neighbours work for nothing. He does not pay them for their labor…. But a beautiful cedar palace does not make a great king! Your father, Josiah, also had plenty to eat and drink. But he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him. He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn’t that what it means to know me?” says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 22:13, 15-16 NLT

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…”

I learned that to “see God” is to share His heart for those in need, to do whatever I can to lift the burden wherever I can in my limited capacity as the Holy Spirit leads me, whatever it costs because His grace is always enough.

This is a tough assignment because I am always in conflict with the greed and selfishness of my flesh but… Peter said, “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ”. So, if I have breath, I have opportunity to grow and so do we, as we travel this road together.