True story.
I have a history of wacky dreams.
True-er story…
I once had a dream that I was Lebron James.
It began with me being trapped in a cage like an animal in a zoo.
Suddenly, a prison guard approached my cell and proposed a strange condition for my release
“In order for you to escape, you must defeat every single person you see in a game of basketball” he stated.
Initially, I was very intimidated because the other people within my vicinity literally looked like monsters.
Have you ever seen Space Jam? Imagine the “Monstars” but less animated. A quick google search will give you a glimpse of the horror I was presented with.
For these reasons, I was intimidated…until I looked in the mirror and saw myself.
I was Lebron James.
Face, physiques and all. I wish this was an exaggeration, but this was the reality of how crazy my dreams had gotten.
Anyways, I had the appearance, strength and basketball abilities of an NBA superstar.
Rejoicingly, I now laughed at the competition.
The dream ended with me dominated the basketball court with ease, grinning from ear to ear awaiting my freedom.
The battle was easy, because I knew the source of my strength.
Unfortunately, a lot of believers (including myself) do not know the source of theirs.
Many of us make the mistake of working so hard on our faith thinking we are alone, without help or power.
Thankfully, scripture reminds us that this is completely false.
“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” – 2 Peter 1:3 ESV
God’s DIVINE power has given us EVERYTHING we need pertaining to:
- All things regarding life
- Living a life of reverence / devotion to God (Godliness)
In other words, God Himself has supplied you with the power to pursue Him.
Furthermore, according to Peter, this power is provided to us through our knowledge of God.
This is a telling promise which should encourage us to prioritize one thing above all else in life.
Get to know God.
He is literally everything you need. It is through this deep knowing and intimacy that we live an affective life full of godliness.
Without this, our journey towards growth and sanctification becomes one that is impossible.
What’s beautiful is that Peter would later go on to describe exactly how we can grow in our knowledge of God. Look at what he says in latter verses…
“5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter 1:5-8ESV
Many of us are likely familiar with the scripture above, but did you catch the rationale behind why we should supplement our faith with all these attributes?
They keep [us] from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
In other words, if we do not pursue these things, we WILL be unfruitful in our knowledge of God.
The less we know God, the more we lack in the capacity to live a life of godliness.
In essence the cycle goes something like this…
- Do you want to live a Godly life? You can not do it on your own, you need divine power [2 Peter 1:3]
- Do you want divine power ? You need to know God personally [2 Peter 1:3]
- How can we get to know God? We must first place our faith in Jesus Christ [2 Peter 1:5+ John 3:16 + John 17:3]
- How can we deepen our personal relationship with God? We must supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, stead-fastness, godliness, brotherly affection & love [2 Peter 1:5-8]
Note: See this blog post for a deeper breakdown of 2 Peter 1:5-7 [link this post here https://philipdapaah.com/2019/03/31/make-every-effort/
This never ending circle of power starts and finishes with God.
He is our inspiration and our strength
So the next time you are feeling paralyzed into doing anything godly, convinced that you are alone, understand that He who has called you has supplied you with the power to do all things for His glory.
Be encouraged.
God is literally with you.
Soli Deo Gloria 