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I’ve Got What I Need, Pt. 2

Sam Stringer

Dec 28, 2024

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His
divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and
precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1:2-4

Ok, so I’m going to use the same passage as I did for the last devo I wrote. This isn’t a typo! I want to
draw out something else for us to glean in looking at this passage, very much on the heels of the other
devo’s thoughts. Here’s the big idea: what are God’s greatest priorities for you?

I’m not going to go into the many things I think that could answer that question in this devotional, but I do
want to answer that question from 2 Peter 1:3. “(As) His divine power has given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”
Let’s just cut to the chase here: God’s will for you is your godliness. More than you being rich or healthy
or famous or accomplished, He wants you to be godly. In fact, knowing that might help to decipher a bit of
your story for you, because it often doesn’t all add up to certain aspirations, does it? Example: I want to
be (rich), and there’s been a lot of hiccups and setbacks along the way and it doesn’t seem like that’s a
very stable part of my life. You see, God’s agenda for me is my godliness, and my desires may actually
compete strongly with what He’s trying to do. It’s not Him who needs to reconcile His desires for me to
what I want, but me who must align those desires to Him. He has purposes and plans for everything He
allows into our lives. Yes, it may mean that He actually gives us human versions of success, but don’t
think that they are ever ends unto themselves. God is only opening opportunities through doors that He
opens and shuts.

If God has given us everything we need for life and godliness and that’s not enough to us, it very likely is
because living a godly life as a Christian is not our primary objective. We say, “I want these resources. I
want these events to take place in this timeframe. I want these problems removed from my life.” All the
while, those things may or may not be happening not because you aren’t asking, but because they may
not be accomplishing that grander purpose of Christlikeness. We don’t turn to the Bible oftentimes
because what we want in the moment very likely isn’t found there, so we go elsewhere hoping to find
fulfilment from things that satisfy for a second but quickly diminish and leave us wanting more. If that
should change, it will change when we recognize not only that God has given us what we need for life
and godliness, but that He gave us those means because that’s what He wants for us. He wants us to
succeed as godly people, no matter our lots in life.

There are plenty of folks out there wearing “shoes” you might wish you were able to wear, too. Hear me
out today: what good is it to have desirable situations but to give God the backseat? What good is it when
people flourish but have no relationship with Him? Life goes fast and these momentary pleasures will be
gone soon, too. I will close with these words written by the apostle Paul from 1 Timothy 4:7-10:

“But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily
exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that
now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to
this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior
of all men, especially of those who believe.”

Be brave in your walk with God, and remember why you’re here.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.

Braver Than Lions

©2024 by Braver Than Lions

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