Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Blessing Part 5


The blessing part 5


Today we’re talking about the way that we begin operating in the blessing.  We will be studying 2 Peter 1:3-4.  His divine power has given us everything we need.  We have to remember that by God’s grace we don’t have to earn God’s favor by doing or not doing certain things.  What has He given us these things for?  For life (John 10:10) and Godliness (this is righteousness).  Remember, we receive these through faith, because they are from God and not from us.  Both of these things are also a gift from God.  How did we get these?  Through our knowledge of God.  We were called by God because of His glory and goodness.  It’s not about us but about Him.  We can either “feel” blessed or we can know we’re blessed (which means it doesn’t matter whether we feel blessed or not). 

What is the reason we get the promises?  So we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world.  What is corruption?  What if we “corrupted” apple pie by adding curry or chili powder?   We miss out on what God really wants for us by doing what “sounds” right instead of God’s best.  Corruption is subtly different from what God has for us.  There are four basic needs we have:  food, sleep, physical intimacy, and the presence of God.   All of these are good desires, but they can be corrupted.  The desire for food can be corrupted by becoming the center or by being a desire for the wrong kind of food.  We want to be as effective as we can be for Him.  God’s perfect plan is what we want to stay in.  His blessing gives us what we need to choose that over the way the world does it, which is corrupted.

To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.