Orderly Diligence – Part 8

Good day, holy ambassador.  There’s much work to do.  Have you received Father’s orders?

2 Peter 1:2-4 – Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

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Today we continue our journey of process toward being a partaker of the divine nature by adding to our “temperance patience.”  The Greek word for “patience” in our Second Miler is hupomone (pronounced hoopomonay).  According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, it means “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy: – enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).”  That can be simplified by saying “patience” is “joyful persistent consistency.”  There is nothing sad or depressing about Godly patience.  It is wonderfully strong from the presence of the joy of the Lord, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

In James, 1:2-3 we read the words, “count it all joy . . . knowing.”  Joy arises from knowing, and that knowledge follows on the heels of faith that comes by hearing the Word and the steel of spine to stand tall in that faith.  Just as one does not come to that level of faith suddenly, but over time and growth, and likewise gains virtue as conviction of that faith grows, so one must add to that knowledge that fuels temperance and undergirds patience.  As one grows deeper, richer, and stronger in the great truth that God and His Word are unchanging (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; Psalm 119:89), the patience of which we speak today is continually being strengthened.  This grows the believer into being a steadfast, persistently consistent son of God who is like a tree planted by living waters that shall never be moved.

I believe that any true Christian would want to walk before the Lord in a manner that strongly and vividly models his/her heavenly Father.  We are, after all, His ambassadors in this earth.  That is both and important and extremely powerful position to occupy, for in that position we speak and act for the Lord, and as His ambassador, act with His full authority so long as we know we are in His directed will.  Just as an American ambassador to France did not take on that position because he studied social studies in high school, to rise to the level of a fully active and serving ambassador of the Lord to this world requires calling, preparation, training, spiritual growth, and a commitment to leave behind what so many prefer to hold in their clutches.  But always remember, just as an ambassador may have to leave the comforts of his country, as long as he serves that office, he lives full supplied, furnished, and blessed through the government of the kingdom he serves.  I’m God’s ambassador.  I serve God’s kingdom. My God supplies ALL MY NEED ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY BY CHRIST JESUS.  Rejoice, Ambassador.

Manna for Today – 2 Peter 1:1-15; Proverbs 4:20-23; Joshua 1:6-9; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; 3 John 2; Jeremiah 29:11