1. To God Be The Glory
2. Saved By Grace
3. Mercy And Grace
4. Grow In Knowledge By Reading God’s Word
5. Grow In Knowledge By Hearing Bible Preaching
6. We Grow In Wisdom When We Ask The Lord
7. Spending Time With Wise People Can Help You Grow In Wisdom
8. We Grow Through Serving The Lord And Spending Time In His House
1. To God Be The Glory
I have been praying this week that the Lord would show me our next topic for our devotions. Sometimes He guides me with words from a sermon, or song, or a scripture that I have read. There have been times that He gave me an object lesson from something I saw or someone said. Out last theme, “Showers Of Blessing” was brought about by all the rain we were having. And so were all the weeds in my garden. I have been pulling weeds for weeks to help my plants grow. As I put on my shirt this morning I noticed the little flowers on it, that look similar to little weeds, and the words that read, “grown in grace.” Sometimes I feel like a little weed that could have been plucked away, but God, in His great love, through His amazing grace, reached down and saved me. I’m not sure where our new topic will carry us this week, but let’s look at this wonderful scripture and “Grow In Grace.” “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (II Peter 3:18)
2. Saved By Grace
There is only one way to be saved, and that’s through Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son. We are all born in sin, and God’s Word tells us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) We can’t buy our way to heaven. We can’t get to heaven by good works. We were all lost in sin, but God gave His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and pay our sin debt. I am saved by God’s amazing grace! When you confess your sin, and ask Jesus to save you, then you can also receive God’s gift of salvation by grace through faith. You can be saved by grace!
“4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4-10)
3. Mercy And Grace
The scriptures we read yesterday began with “mercy”. “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5) Mercy is when God does not give to us what we deserve, as found in Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We deserved death for the penalty of our sin. But God was merciful to us, and we can have life through Jesus Christ. “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Ephesians 2:7-8) Grace is when God gives us the love and salvation that we do not deserve. So, how do we grow in grace? I believe that we find the answer in these verses... “the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” God gave us mercy and grace through His love and kindness. We can grow in grace by showing love and kindness to others. And the way we show love and kindness to others is “through Christ Jesus.” We grow in grace by showing mercy, and love, and kindness to others through the love and mercy and grace that God has shown to us!
4. Grow In Knowledge By Reading God’s Word
We began our “Grow In Grace” theme with II Peter 3:18. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” The next phrase tells us to grow in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To grow in knowledge of Jesus we must first make Him our Lord and Saviour by confessing our sin, and believing that He is the only way of salvation. After we are saved, we do want to know more about Jesus. God has given us His Holy Word so that we can learn more about Jesus! The Old Testament has many prophecies and scriptures that looked forward to His first coming. The New Testament tells how He came, lived, and died on the cross to give His life for us. We also learn about the early church and guidelines on how we should live as Christians. The Bible closes with prophecies of the end of time on earth, the second coming of Jesus, and descriptions of heaven. As we read God’s Word we grow in knowledge of Jesus. Peter describes it as a baby growing from milk. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (I Peter 2:2-3) Let’s read the Bible and grow in knowledge!
5. Grow In Knowledge By Hearing Bible Preaching
I heard a preacher say that when you pray about something, claim a verse. When our Pastor retired last summer we prayed that the Lord would send us the right preacher that He wanted to be our pastor. And I claimed Jeremiah 3:15 as my promise from the Lord. “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Now we are praising the Lord for hearing and answering our prayer in sending Pastor Rick Byerly to Pine Grove Baptist Church. His sermons feed us and it increases our knowledge about our Lord and Savior. His messages have been uplifting to the congregation. We are not only growing in knowledge, but our church is growing in attendance, and joy, and fellowship with one another. I was brought up in church and I am thankful for the preaching that the Lord has allowed me to hear and how I have grown up in His Word.
6. We Grow In Wisdom When We Ask The Lord
When Solomon became the king of Israel, God asked him to choose what he would like to have. King Solomon asked for wisdom to rule the people. God was pleased with his answer and gave him wisdom and the other riches he had not asked for.
“11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.” (I Kings 3:11-14)
When my children were small I constantly prayed for wisdom to raise them in the right way. I still pray for wisdom. We read in James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” We can grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord by praying and asking the Lord.
7. Spending Time With Wise People Can Help You Grow In Wisdom
When Paul was going on his missionary journey he met Aquila and Priscilla, and stayed with them in Corinth.
“1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.” (Acts 18:1-4)
I believe that this couple learned a lot from working with the Apostle Paul and listening to him in the synagogue. If we look farther down in the chapter, we see that when Apollos came, Aquila and Priscilla “expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” When we walk and talk with wise people, then we become wiser. “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” (Proverbs 13:20)
“24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” (Acts 1:24-26)
8. We Grow Through Serving The Lord And Spending Time In His House
Hannah prayed for a son, and vowed to give him back to the Lord. She had a son and named him Samuel, and took him to the tabernacle with thanks to the Lord. At a very early age little Samuel served the Lord and worked to help Eli, the priest. In I Samuel 2:26 we read, “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the LORD, and also with men.” The Lord spoke to Samuel and revealed Himself to him. When we serve the Lord and spend time in the house of God, we will grow, just as little Samuel did. Samuel grew and was faithful to serve the Lord all his life.
“19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.” (I Samuel 3:19-21)
Grow In Grace
