Thought of the Day !!

As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness!
2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)

Have you ever felt like you just couldn't stop a sinful habit, or be nice to that certain hateful person, or be completely honest in a situation where others were not? Well Peter is telling us here that as we mature in our relationship with Jesus, his divine power will give us what we need to live a life that is more godly than before. Maturing as Christians comes through prayer and worship and the study of God's Word. As we do these things and mature as Christians, we will one day find out that those things we struggled with in the past are not things we struggle with anymore.

I graduated college in 1991 with a degree in transportation (actually it was called Marketing Logistics). This led to me becoming a truck broker for 8 years. It was not until the latter part of these years that I became a Christian. And becoming a Christian became a stumbling block for me at my job. This is because the people who trained me did not teach me very ethical practices. To be very blunt, they taught me how to lie. And the problem was that I had become very good at it.

The only way I can share this with you today is that my Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, has forgiven me for all the times that I was not completely honest with trucking companies or their drivers. It is not something that I am proud of. But it is a part of my past sinful life that had to change for me to mature as a Christian.

Upon my conversion I did not completely change into this sinless person who went around praising God's name with every phone call I made from my office. I did not pray for drivers as I dispatched them. But I did start feeling something odd. It was a feeling of guilt. It was God's grace working through my conscience telling me what I was doing was wrong. But God didn't just tell me how bad I was and leave it at that. He slowly showed me how to form relationships with trucking companies and drivers so that I wouldn't have to lie anymore.

My point is the same as Peter's. As we come to know Jesus better, we will mature as Christians, and he will lead us to live more godly lives. This can only happen through his powerful love that doesn't abandon us because we are wretched people, but instead works through us to make us better than we could ever imagine.

May our God, who loves you more than anybody else does, bless you today and lead you to be a more mature Christian.

In the love of Christ,
greg