Sustained life and Godliness

2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

³ 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,

We are told that God supplies everything we need for life and for Godliness. Having read this, I asked what does that mean?? What does it take to sustain life?? How do you sustain Godliness?? So I set about studying this and this is what I came up with.

What do you need to sustain life?

air, water, food, a temperature that can be tolerated.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_you_need_to_sustain_life

This is wiki answer for sustaining life. I wish to add we need other people as well for a couple of reasons. First, if we are alone then eventually the human race will die out so life will no longer exist. Secondly, because God made us into a community just as He lives in community with the Son and the Spirit. With these five things we can have life and some happiness as well.

John 15:1–11 (ESV)

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

John 15 clearly defines a relationship between the believers and God and it’s through this relationship that we sustain Godliness. Understanding that a relationship requires time spent with a person, in this case God, and constant work on maintaining it. I am certain there are no people out there who have been married long term that would tell you they never have to work on their marriage as well as there are no friends who been friends for years who never have to work on it. This involves hanging out and talking to the other person and listening to the other person as well as helping to meet the needs of that person. Likewise we must spend time with God and see what He needs from us. Yes, God does NEED things from you because of how He set things up within the guidelines for life.

Listed below is a list of 2 different types of people and the things that come about in their lives. The first one does NOT have a relationship with God. Regardless how many times a week they go to church or read their bible they do not know God.

The second one is a list of things that will come to pass in a person’s life while they are maintaining a true relationship with God. You can know you are sustaining Godliness by these two lists. Whichever one is present in your life shows the state of your relationship!

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Which one of these best describes you?

Craving is Lust

In Genesis the serpent created a craving in eve for the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This craving in ancient terms was lust.

In Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

It tells us how God responds to this lust and this is exactly what He did to Adam and Eve. He gave them over to the lust of their hearts and removed them from the Garden.  They chose to believe a lie instead of what God had told them. This is the same thing that is going on to this day. We, God's creation, chose to believe a lie instead of the creator. God's word tells us in no uncertain terms the result of this, yet we continue to do it anyway. How foolish we would think someone was whom we told if they let someone hit them with a 2x4 its going to hurt and possibly kill you and some one else came along and told them it was not true that the board would not hurt them and they let the person hit them with it. This is exactly what we do when we do not believe God and His word for our lives.

Wise as Serpents

Matthew 10:16 (ESV)Persecution Will Come16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

Wise as serpents in this instant means be aware of the dangers that surround you. The spiritual attacks as well as the fleshly attacks that come from those around us and those we do not know as well. Do we see the dangers or do we see through rose colored glasses that do not permit us to see reality?

We are instructed to be aware of, or acknowledge the presence of the dangers around us. This being true, would it not be wrong or a sin to refuse to see those dangers and instead chose to only see the good without the negative in a person or a situation?

I think it is as wrong to see nothing but good as it is to see nothing but bad. Both are ways of only seeing part of the picture. Without the whole picture how can we know the right way to respond to someone or a particular situation?

Learn to see the entire picture without allowing the negative to prevent you from loving as Christ loved all of us. Be innocent as doves in this. Do this without judgement and without sin.