2 Peter 1:3, “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”
As a writer I begin any article or manuscript excited about the final product. It's fun to see the big picture. Many writers also start a project with the end result in mind, how they will promote and sell the books, where to sell them, who to sell them too, what price, so many things. I'll even admit when I first started publishing, I got excited about the idea of book tours, signings, possible talk shows and jetting off here and there (okay, I know I was shooting for the stars but why not 😊) At one point in a writer’s life I believe we find ourselves concerned about the final product.
I've been writing for many years now and I've learned a thing or two. For starters, it's not all about the jet set life. The Lord has led me in my writing and what matters most is getting what He inspired me to write to others, and the Lord has opened many doors.
When it comes to writing I've had to learn what all writers have to learn, that which many fail to get at the beginning. Writing is a process. If we simply rush to the end, we end up with a jumbled mess. To get a manuscript to its final result takes planning, organizing, note taking, and lots of thought. So, many times I begin a devotional and come to a brain freeze because I have to organize my thoughts, research ideas, and put them on paper. When I wrote my frontier series the book spanned ten years. I tell people they'd probably laugh if they saw all my notes.
William Zinsser’s who wrote the book on Writing Well Stories said, “A jumbled manuscript is produced when a writer has their eye on the finish line, never given enough thought to how to run the race.”
We can apply this to our spiritual life. Many times, our tendency is to be concerned only with the fruit. Are we living the fruits of the Spirit being kind, patient, joyful, peaceful, and more. This is all good but how many times do we ignore the root from which the fruit sprang out of.
What does the root do for a plant? They ground the plant and hold it steady. Spiritually, we need to hold to Jesus, our root, allowing Him to keep us steady as we grow in Him. In this anxious, uncertain world it is nice to know we have Christ to depend on. But we must stay rooted in Him and allow Him to transform us into producing fruit.
The problem is that our world lives in restlessness. In a mobile culture people live constantly on the move letting their restless anxiety fuel the idea to get to the finish line quickly, ignoring the process. Like a jumbled manuscript, people can get burned out and live on the edge in so many ways.
The apostle Peter reminds believers that Christ-like living and effective service requires a process. 2 Peter 1:5-7 urges Christians of eight spiritual developments we go through as we grow in Jesus. Faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. Look what he adds in verse eight, when you process these in increasing measure, “you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
When we stay rooted in Jesus, He gives us everything we need to live a holy life. We only need to respond diligently to these great promises and abundant provisions- 1 Peter 1:3-5. Like I must allow the process of writing unfold to get to the end where I hopefully bless and inspire others. Let God's process work through you to where your fruits will grow and shine God's light to others.
It is important to be rooted in Christ and the word of God. Spiritual strength and wisdom come from being rooted in Christ the Lord. We can stay rooted in Him by abiding in Him. To abide in Christ means to keep up a habit of constant close communion with Him–to be always leaning on Him, resting on Him, pouring out our hearts to Him, and using Him as our Fountain of life and strength, as our chief Companion and best Friend. Because we don't know when or how our own challenges will come, or how long our personal seasons of winter or summer will last, we should set down our roots as deeply as we can into the only true source of nourishment for our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants our lives to be abundant. That is why we take the time to study the Bible and learn from it. We started a new study called Anchored in Christ. Today we will look at study 2- Anchored by God's Love. Hopefully you have found time to study as it is a week long study and I pray we all can learn something new from each study.
Study 2- Anchored by God's Love- https://www.docdroid.net/UcI2Ezv/lesson-2-docx
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