We invite you to take a peek inside our weekly Light for the Way devotional series provided for staff.
By Campus Pastor Keith Lomen, Orchard Path and Valley Ridge
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.” —2 Peter 1:3-4, NIV
We often hear of "under-resourced" communities, programs, and ideas. The needs always seem to be so much greater than the resources with which to meet those needs.
But considering the verses above, we can NEVER say that the church — the body of Christ — is such a community! No sirree — our pockets are full, whether that resource is time, energy, allies or even money! Peter says that in Christ, we have been given "all things that pertain to life and godliness." Wow! Not some things, not even many things; rather, Peter says we have everything we need for living the life God intends for us. If indeed this verse is true, and I believe it is (it’s in the Bible, don’t ya know!), we are FULLY RESOURCED people. It echoes the familiar shepherd Psalm, which starts out, "Because the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need." That, my friends, fits nicely under the category of ‘Good News!’
Yet, if you’re like me, you feel as if LOTS of times in your daily life, you come up a day late and a dollar short. We feel under-resourced and inadequate for the task at hand. When we do, we’re ignoring the promise that in Christ we have everything we need. We have the power and wisdom and fullness of the Holy Spirit. We have each other! In our fatigue and discouragement, we think "something’s missing." Maybe we simply forgot to check our pockets, which in Christ ARE FULL!
But Peter doesn’t end there. It gets much better than that! Peter reminds us of all the "precious and great promises" in the Scriptures, through which we can not only overcome the evil in this world, but we can indeed take on the very nature of God! What?! In Christ, Peter says, we are partakers of the divine nature. What’s that, you ask? Good question. It means that what "comes naturally" to God would also come naturally to us. Things like the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. His ways become ours! God’s promises working in us, when appropriated, make us like God. That’s not just good news, that is mind blowing!
I recommend to you all a deeper study of these verses — indeed the whole chapter. When read and fully understood by us as the people of God, these powerful words should trigger a RUN on cargo pants by the entire Christian community. Decked out in our new cargo pants, we’ve got LOTS of pockets! And Peter reminds us, THOSE POCKETS ARE FULL! Never forget it.
Concluding staff prayer:
Lord, thank you for the gifts you have blessed us with. We commit to using them responsibly in your honor. Give us a fresh supply of strength to do our work. Anoint our tasks, ideas, and energy so that even the smallest accomplishments may bring you glory.
We now lift up our joys and concerns for prayer. Amen.
Pastor Keith Lomen serves PHS as Campus Pastor at Orchard Path in Apple Valley and Valley Ridge in Burnsville, MN. He is happily married for 37 years to his beautiful wife Nan. They have two sons and two grandsons, and are actively enjoying (and fixing up!) their new home in White Bear Lake. Pastor Keith loves sports and follows them all, and he still plays as many of them as he can.
The Light for the Way series provides staff with an examination of a biblical reading to deepen our focus on scripture. Thank you for engaging with this series as we seek wisdom through prayer and reflection as a Christian Ministry.
Find more in the Light for the Way series:
Think on that
Faith in the storm
Introducing Light for the Way, a new devotional series