Wonderful Jesus!

Category: Divine Nature

• DNA of God

  Posted at 2:20 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on April 2, 2021

  

  2 Peter 1:3-4- “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, 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.” NKJV

  

  Creator of the Universe

  My husband and I took a cruise to Hawaii for our 25th anniversary. It was fabulous! Every morning I would find him sitting on the balcony, reading his Bible or praying. He found it to be so relaxing. Not being an early riser, I would join him and enjoy the serenity of the morning. For some reason, although I believe God is truly omnipresent, He felt closer to me on the waters of the Pacific.

  Paul understood the majesty of creation because he wrote:

  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse

  Romans 1:20 NKJV

  As I conclude my discussion on these verses in 2 Peter, I want to look at the remainder of the verse: “partakers of the divine nature”. Peter clearly states that we, believers in Christ, can partake of the divine nature and power of God. Religion persuades us to believe that we are mere mortals, subject to whatever whims God may have because we can never know what He will do. Yet, Peter wrote just the opposite in these verses: we can know God, we can partake of His power, His glory, and His nature, and it is what He wants us to do!

  Let us go back to the beginning.

  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

  Genesis 1:26 NKJV

  God didn’t make Adam a god, although He made Adam in His image. Adam was a genius. He named all the animals of the garden. He was perfect and without sin. He talked openly and freely with God. He had dominion over everything in the garden. His life was a life of peace, joy, fulfillment, godliness, and holiness. He was like God! Until he allowed sin in. As we choose to become Christians, we are spiritually restored to the state that Adam was in, with the intent for us to be more like God and less like man. Not because man is so horrible, but because God is that good to us!

  How can we partake of the divine nature of God? Let’s understand what partaker means. According to the Vine’s, one of my favorite resources, it means “a partner, or sharer”. So we don’t get ownership of His nature, He invites us to share in His nature. Therefore, the first thing we most do is, we must be born again! I know! I keep repeating it, but it is ever so true! We must be born again! Once we are born again, we are able to escape the corruption that is in the world. Peter wrote that when we are born again we are called out of darkness into His marvelous light! Paul penned that we are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. This is the first step in partaking of His divine nature. If we are going to share in His nature, it starts with salvation!

  Going back to other parts of the verse, as we get to know Him and embrace His exceedingly great and precious promises, we can share in His nature. We can forgive, because He is a forgiver by nature, and empowers us to forgive. We can love, because He is love, and His divine power enables us to love the unlovely. How many times have you found yourself loving when others didn’t understand it? It His nature you were partaking! Who did you forgive, that you didn’t think it was possible for you to forgive? It was the Divine Nature of the Almighty (DNA) inside of you!

  I was in a situation where I overheard a conversation. There was a misunderstanding that caused several people to be at odds with one another. The person I overheard was expressing the hurt that they felt over the situation, but more importantly, the desire to get things out in the open so they could move on. I heard that person’s wisdom in handling the situation. I heard that person speak of making things right so they could move forward unhindered. Forgiveness was extended, and that person even took responsibility for the mix up. When the conversation was over, I told that person, I had just witnessed Jesus! It was the greatest testimony that individual could have shared with me about the genuineness of the faith she had in Him (the Divine Nature of the Almighty God in operation)!

  Sunday I went to visit at my former church. When I got there, one of the members was really excited to see me. She had prayed the night before, telling God that she wished she could see me at church so that I could pray for her. God manifests His healing nature at different times when I pray, especially in the area of pain. Sure enough, I was there. She was so excited! I prayed for her briefly and went my way. Later that night, there was no change. (I generally check up on people I pray for). When she told me that, I just said, “Check yourself in the morning”. Sure enough, the next morning was a different story. Did I heal her? No! But God allowed us to share in His nature as healing was manifested in her body, because He’s the Healer! The Great Physician! (Again, the Divine Nature of the Almighty God working as we laid hold to the exceedingly great and precious promise in regards to healing).

  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

  Mark 16:17-18 NKJV

  The part of His divine nature we struggle most with is His supernatural power. We fail to realize that anything we do with Him is supernatural. Forgiveness, love, giving, kindness, serving. Therefore, we tend to separate that part of His divine nature from the other part of His divine nature: releasing power!

  As we live this life in Christ, and He lives His life in us, I can assure you that He doesn’t want to be stifled. His greatest joy is seeing the kingdom become a reality in our lives. He left us with many precious promises that we might realize the greatness of the love and grace He has for us, the power He has made available to us, that we can partake of Him! It’s really time for us to dare to believe that every promise in His word belongs to us! As we step out in faith and begin to take Him at His word, we will begin to see things happen. When it doesn’t work, trouble shoot and try again; but don’t ever give up! He purposefully shared His divine nature with us that we may know Him more completely!

  It’s the Passover/Easter season! A time to rejoice in all that Calvary, and more precisely, the resurrection affords us! I end with Paul’s prayer for every believer:

  “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come! Amen and Amen! Wonderful Jesus!

  Ephesians 1:17-21 NKJV

  Posted in 2 Peter 1:3-4, Divine Nature, God, Jesus, Knowing God | 0 Comments | Tagged Creation, Deliverance, divine nature of God, Easter, Forgiveness, Healing, new life, Passover, Paul, power of God, Salvation

• Precious Promises

  Posted at 2:47 pm by wonderfuljesus8, on March 31, 2021

  

  2 Peter 1: 3-4- “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, 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.”

  

  A Precious Promise

  I well remember the day my husband proposed to me. We were on our way to visit my family. Suddenly he pulled off at a rest stop and we got out. Instead of going to the facilities, he went to a picnic bench and sat down. He waited until I sat down and then began talking about our future. The next thing I knew, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him! Needless to say, our trip home was slightly delayed! Years later, he purchased a new diamond band for my engagement ring, as an anniversary gift. However, my rings from the wedding are so special to me, that I found myself ignoring the newer band for my old wedding ensemble. Some things are so precious, they are truly irreplaceable.

  I’ve been sharing from this verse for several days now. I started out by mentioning that as we are approaching Resurrection Sunday, or Easter Sunday, it was a good time to talk about our salvation. We all know that we have been saved by grace through faith and it is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). I still rejoice over my salvation, many times with tears. Having said that, as I was thinking about Resurrection Sunday, I read this text and felt a real need to expound on it at this time. If you haven’t read the previous blogs or heard the previous podcasts regarding this text, I encourage you to do so to get the full picture.

  Peter wrote that God’s promises are exceedingly great and precious promises. Exceedingly in the Vine’s dictionary is rendered “very great, or greatest”. The definition for “precious” in the Vine’s is “held in honor, especially dear, as of a great price”. That means to me that God’s promises are the greatest, of a great price, held in honor, and therefore are not to be dismissed as if they are of no value. Or as if man spoke these promises and there is no weight behind them. His exceedingly great promises are mind blowing, hard to conceptualize as truth to the ordinary person. But they are also very precious, made with purpose and intent, and signed with the Blood of Jesus, making them extremely valuable. Charles Spurgeon is quoted in the Blue Letter Bible by David Guzik as having said this:

  “Many things are great which are not precious, such as great rocks, which are of little value; on the other hand, many things are precious which are not great-such as diamonds and other jewels, which cannot be very great if they be very precious. But here we have promises which are so great, that they are not less than infinite, and so precious, that they are not less than divine.”

  Blueletterbible.org

  As Christians, we tend to stay with the comfortable topics and messages of scripture. We’re fine with being saved, being blessed, and even suffering. However, when we begin to discuss the gospel message in terms of God really wanting to make us more like Him, in glory and virtue, we turn off. Don’t turn off, turn on, because His promises are both great (hard to believe) and precious (because they are verified in the Blood). And they are made to us!

  As noted already, we become new beings when we are born again. Our new life is as supernatural as the birth of Christ, for we are

  …born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…

  1 Peter 1:23 NKJV

  Within the word of God, there are “precious promises” in regards to our life in Christ. Promises that are forever promises. Much, in the same way, as an engagement ring is a promise of marriage, which leads to a promise of forever. (Don’t go cynical on me. We know it is not always so, but it is the premise upon which we exchange vows). Our forever, til death do us part, is different from God’s forever, because His promises are eternal.

  When my husband, then boyfriend, made his proposal to me, it was a turning point in our relationship. My yes to him, was also a placing of my faith in him and his word to bring that promise of forever into manifestation. God’s promises are based on his glory and virtue. Every promise that He has made to us He is able to fulfill and bring into manifestation because His Person and His power backs everyone of them!

  This salvation that God has promised us is far greater than what we have imagined. Ezekiel spoke of our salvation when he penned these words:

  Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

  Ezekiel 36:25-27 NKJV

  This salvation sounds glorious! Amazing! Life changing! And yet many, who are saved, struggle in their walk with God and their love for Him. We find it difficult to trust His word, and difficult to trust His love.

  Paul shares a precious promise with us who are new creatures in Christ Jesus:

  “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

  2 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV

  Surely God meant what He said! We are His sons and daughters. Adopted into His family in a greater way than a natural adoption. In a natural adoption you become part of a family in every way possible, except DNA. However, in this adoption into the family of God, He places His Spirit within us, allowing our DNA to merge with His DNA. We have watered down the gospel to fit our shabby lives, yet the gospel is a great gospel, delivered to us, through His glory and His virtue. He is personally involved in our salvation through Jesus, and has invested Himself in bringing us to glory.

  As a matter of truth, Paul wrote:

  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

  2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

  Did you hear the first part? All of us who have had that veil removed! What veil? The veil that covers our minds and keeps us from understanding the truth of the what God promises us! The expectation is that as we grow in Christ, we are being changed into His glorious image. If Paul had written that we would be changed into His image, that would have been shocking enough; but he wrote that we would be changed into His glorious image! Wow! Saints, when we as the church gets this, we are going to do some real damage to the kingdom of darkness!

  Think about this for a minute! Going back to a previous blog, how can you be transformed into His image, from one degree of glory to another, without knowing Him? You can’t! This is why knowing Him through His word is so important! Not only will you learn about Him, but you will begin to see His promises for what they are, exceedingly great and precious!

  We have little difficulty in realizing that we are to walk in love, peace, joy, goodness, and righteousness as Jesus did. But that’s not all He did! He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, stood against religious leaders, championed the underdog, and loved all people. Of course, we know He did so much more, but my time and space is limited!

  Living life, knowing that the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God is living on the inside of you, has a way of changing how you live. As you come to truly believe that

  He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world,

  1 John 4:4

  your entire attitude about sin and the devil begins to change. Not only are you more easily acceptable to the truth that sin loses it power over you, but you also begin to realize that you have power over it! Now we are getting somewhere!

  The greatest thing we can do to celebrate His resurrection this holiday season, is to realize that He is really alive and He lives in us! And oh how He loves us! Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 2 Peter 1:3-4, Creation, Divine Nature, love of God, Promises of God | 0 Comments | Tagged cleansed, glory and virtue, God's love, godliness, Holy Spirit, image of Jesus, incorruptible seed, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, power over sin, precious promises, sexual immorality

• Called to Glory!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on March 29, 2021

  

  2 Peter 1:3-His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of H im who called us to his own glory and excellence” RSV

  

  As believers, we want to experience, need to experience the glory of God. We talk about it, sing about, and preach about it, but for most of us it is as mystical as most things about God. In our text, Peter’s words, in the Revised Standard Version, conveys an important message that I would like to discuss with you.

  Years ago, I was studying on the glory of God. As I was studying, I was also fasting and praying about understanding the glory. I distinctly remember reading Billye Brim’s book “the Blood and the Glory”, and Creflo Dollar’s book, “the Anointing”. One night, I had a dream that I have never forgotten. I was standing in the midst of a thick cloud. I began turning around slowly within this cloud. Then a voice from the midst of the cloud spoke, “I have anointed you.” I woke from the dream and I just sensed the presence of God in our bedroom. Not wanting to disturb my husband, but wanting to commune with God, I went into our living room and bowed before the Father. I still sensed His presence as I had when I woke up. I stayed there in His presence until I could no longer stay awake.

  Glory, according to the Vine’s dictionary is rendered in this way:

  of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, i.e., what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way He reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Christ, in whom essentially His “glory” has ever shone forth and ever will do.

  Vine’s Dictionary

  And virtue is rendered as:

  intrinsic eminence, moral goodness, virtue,” of God; the manifestation of His Divine power

  Vine’s Dictionary

  When I think of being called by God, I think of a special assignment that God may have on an individual’s life. For example, God called Abraham out of Ur because He wanted to establish a people to Himself. He called Bezalel in the wilderness to be the designer of the Tabernacle, and gave him the ability to teach. Jeremiah was called to be a prophet to the nations. Peter was called to be the apostle to Jews. I think you get my point!

  Here, in this verse, Peter says that we were called to His own glory and virtue. The many different versions translate this verse using a variety of words, i.e. to, by, through; but for what I believe is the whole point of this mini-series on this verse, this rendition fits my thought the best.

  The writer of Hebrews make this point:

  For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.

  Hebrews 2:10 RSV

  Jesus, the captain of our salvation, is bringing many sons to glory. Since this principle is true, it is easy to understand how Peter could have been stating that we were called to His own glory and virtue. That’s quite a calling when you think about it. God, the Father, and Jesus, our Savior is calling us to experience or live in their glory.

  Consider what the psalmist wrote about God’s glory and man:

  What is man that You are mindful of him, and the so n of [earthborn] man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.

  Psalm 8:4-5 AMP

  In the Young’s Literal Translation, it actually reads that man was made a little lower than the Godhead. For most, that’s hard to wrap our brain around, but it is scriptural, so it is truth. God’s original state of man, when He made Adam, was that He crowned mankind with His glory. With the fall of man, that state was lost. But through Jesus, He is bringing us back to glory, which was His original plan for us.

  That’s why Peter’s statement that He called us to His own glory makes perfect sense. Through the years, in a sense of humility, and because the enemy’s hand was in it, we have discounted the truth of what God’s real plan for our lives is. Yes, He wants to save us from hell’s eternal punishment, but that’s a small part of a much bigger picture. In the whole scheme of the gospel message, is a message of reconciling us to rightful place, where we are crowned with the glory of God.

  And His virtue, the manifestation of His divine power, is part of what we are being called to as believers. Remember when the woman with the issue of blood encountered Jesus? In the KJV, Jesus spoke these words:

  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned about in the press, and said, “Who touched my clothes?”‘

  Mark 5:30

  But in the NKJV, the word virtue is translated power:

  And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him…

  Mark 5:30

  As we can see, God’s virtue, is His power. Can you see this? God is calling us to experience His glory and His power! That’s a mind-blowing thought! It doesn’t it seem possible.

  Sin is the reason we fall short of the glory of God.

  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

  Romans 3:23

  But once we have been cleansed of our sin and reconciled to God, we are called to His glory and virtue, or power. Isn’t that what Peter is saying in 2 Peter 1:3? I think so! I think we are a work in progress and we may be in need of more transformation, but it starts with the realization that God’s glory and power is available to us.

  I also believe, that scripture backs this truth up. I don’t expect you to take my word for it, that’s why I gave you several scriptures to share my thinking. I’m still studying this, and that is why I didn’t blog on last Friday. I’m gaining some insight into this verse I never really took time to understand.

  If you are struggling with the principle, join the club. But as I continue to study, I am finding irrefutable truths in God’s word of His plan and desire for us to accept the call to enter into His glory and virtue. If I was the first and only one to come to this conclusion, I would really hesitate to share it. It’s huge! But I am not! Check out Billye Brim’s book that I mentioned earlier. It’ll bless you and whet your appetite for understanding the glory of God. Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 2 Peter 1:3-4, Divine Nature, glory, Jesus, power | 0 Comments | Tagged Adam, angels, Divine Nature, divine power, fall of man, glory, glory of God, lower than Godhead, Peter, Sin, virtue

• New Life! His Life!

  Posted at 10:00 am by wonderfuljesus8, on March 23, 2021

  2 Peter 1:3-4 -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, 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. NKJV

  

  prayer-for-salvation

  There are times when reading and studying the word, I feel like, this isn’t that complicated, why do people have such a hard time with it. And then there are other times when I feel like, Lord, I need help understanding this. Partaking of God’s divinity is a really tough truth to wrap our brains around. At least it is for some!

  Peter wrote in his epistle that God’s divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. It’s scriptural, so it’s truth. But not a new truth for it was first mentioned by John, when he wrote:

  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: John 1:12 – NKJV

  The take aways from these powerful verses are these:

  1. That when we are born again we are the sons of God
  2. His divine power brings this relationship into existence
  3. It’s as supernatural as the birth of Jesus to Mary

  Interesting to note that Nicodemus asked Jesus a similar question that Mary asked of Gabriel:

  How can these things be?

  Jesus had just finished explaining to Nicodemus the supernatural experience of the new birth. He told Nicodemus that when a person is born again, he is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus wanted to know if a man was supposed to climb back into the womb and be born again. Jesus patiently explained that He was speaking of a new birth, a birth brought about by the Spirit of God.

  As we enter into the season of the Passover, the Easter season, it is important to remember the significance of our born again experience. For many, they never experience the supernatural because their approach to God is so casual; but something supernatural takes place, just as it did when God’s Spirit planted the Seed in Mary’s womb.

  2 Corinthians 5:17-Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God…NKJV

  If you are in Christ:

  • You are a new creation
  • Old things are passed away
  • All things are made new
  • All things are of God

  There was, and is, nothing natural about our becoming sons of God. This amazing new birth into the family of God is a result of the gospel. The same gospel that Paul writes this about:

  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Romans 1:16 -NKJV

  His divine power, the power of God, is activated when the gospel is shared and received. That power is sufficient to give us salvation, or new life. This was hard for Mary to understand, and it is even harder for us to wrap our brains around. The gospel message is God’s power released upon our lives to bring about the new birth! That’s beautiful! A birth that makes us a new creature in Christ called sons of God!

  Another point that Peter makes is that this power that gives us new life, also gives us all things that pertains to life and godliness. Here’s an even bigger mystery. The power of the old man is destroyed, giving way to the new man and all things that pertain to life and godliness.

  Things that pertain to life. When we are new creatures in Christ Jesus, we have eternal life, just as Jesus explained to Nicodemus. This new life is eternal. Paul explained it like this:

  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20 – NKJV

  The life that we now live, we live by faith in the Son of God. His life overtakes our life, giving us the power to live this new life. A life that is pleasing to the Father. A life that’s in Him. A life of sacrifice, peace, love, joy…His life!

  Things that pertain to godliness. A life lived in godliness. One that allows His divine nature to be seen in our being. A godliness that chooses His way, His thoughts, His word, His actions, His attitude over our own. A godliness that turns it back on a life of sin, which is no life, to live a life of righteousness.

  All of this was obtained, by the divine power of God, when we became born again believers. Many still glory in their old nature, their sin nature. But if you are in Christ, your DNA has changed! You are a new creature! The old is gone, and the new has taken front and center. Begin enjoying the truth that you have really been changed. Wonderful Jesus!

  Posted in 2 Peter 1:3-4, Divine Nature, Jesus, power | 0 Comments | Tagged crucified with Christ, Divine Nature, divine power, Galatians 2:20, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John, life and godliness, miraculous, Paul, Peter, righteousness, Salvation, supernatural

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