Skip to main content

It Starts with Believing - It Doesn't End There

In Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were wrongfully imprisoned they began praying and singing hymns while in prison.  Then an earthquake shook the prison so that all the doors came open and the shackles came off the prisoners.  This was the perfect opportunity for them to escape.  But they remained along with all the other prisoners.  This had such an impact on the prison guard that he asked the men, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  Their answer is the simplest, yet most important foundation to coming to salvation.  They told the guard, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household."  That was it.  There was no understanding of creation, comprehension of the Trinity, divinity training, or theology required for salvation.  The ONLY requirement was and is to place your faith and hope in Jesus Christ.

If you are saved, you likely remember the feeling of peace in your life that came in those moments.  And you understand the grace that God has shown you in forgiving you of your sins.  That moment and those feelings are amazing.  But can it get better?

2 Peter 1:2 reads, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."  I believe that answers the question.  Getting to know God is a lifelong pursuit.  The relationship starts at the moment of salvation and grows from there.  It's sort of like when Britt and I started dating how she thought I was cute, drove a nice car, etc. etc., she could go on and on LOL.  And even once we got engaged and then married our life and love just got better and stronger.  And then over the last 3+ years it has literally multiplied.  Well, maybe not the peace part with two kids but you get the point.  There is more grace and love in this house than there has ever been

As we gain more knowledge of God and Jesus through reading the Bible, listening to preachers, Sunday school, and other methods, the grace and peace in our lives are multiplied.  How does that work?  Since Mom was a math teacher, let's show that I still have some skills:
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 10
2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 32
Yes, the moment you place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ you are saved.  But He yearns to continue to bless you more and more and the way to do that is by gaining knowledge about Him and the Father.

In this new year, I hope that you find salvation if you haven't already.  And if you have, or when you do, I hope that you continue to learn more and more about God through His word for our lives to fully unleash the potential that He has in store for you.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2020 is Hindsight...Finally!

Wow, what a year! 2020 could literally be an entire decade, maybe more, of history, change, and lessons rolled up into these twelve months. While many aspects of 2020 were kind of sucky and we would like to forget them, it will certainly be a year to remember. And it will be enlightening when this year is looked back on in 10, 25, or 50 years to be discussed. I wonder if we'll seem like geniuses or idiots? Probably both to some extent! While there is so much that I could consider and analyze about this year, I'll try to break some of it down into four dimensions - Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Social/Emotional. These are events and happenings from my world and perspective and I'm trying to be open in sharing and would love to hear from others on events you found most transforming. Physical When COVID cause gyms to close, that messed me up. Our town and state were late to be hit with severe cases and therefore later than many across the country to close up shop. I'm n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Worship > Fellowship

I believe that worship, true worship of God, is more important than fellowship with other believers.  Now I'm not saying that fellowship and relationships aren't important.  But I am saying that if I'm not worshiping God, if I'm not right with him, then my other relationships can't be right.  My fellowship and worship with him is more important than my relationship with my wife, my son, family, friends, my church, and my community.  Think about it.  How can I love my wife like Christ loved the church if I don't love Christ?  I wouldn't know how to love without knowing him.  Why should she submit to me if I'm not worth submitting to?  And yes I do believes wives should submit, but I also believe that won't be an issue as long as she's submitting to a godly husband.  (Ephesians 5:22-25) Our love for others must flow from our love and worship of God.  1 John 4:19-21 reads, "We love because he first loved us.  If anyone says,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Who Wants to be Dilos?

You're probably wondering if that's a typo or not. While doing a search for these letters did actually reveal that there is a brand and some fictional character out there with this name - my real intent was to show that order matters. You see, if we reverse the letters, you then spell the word, S-O-L-I-D. Yet far too many of us are operating with a Dilos mindset instead of getting our priorities in order and becoming Solid. We chase money like it's the most important thing in the world. And while it's certainly necessary, if money is the number one goal of any individual, or even any business, failure is surely on the horizon. To better understand the significance of the order, let's go through them backwards. Dollars. Yes, money matters. But what good is all the money in the world if you're "dumb as a box of rocks" and lack the next component, Intelligence, and don't know how to manage (or keep) your wealth? Intelligence. Let's say yo...
Post a Comment
Read more