If you’re a born again believer, you already have everything you need to grow. In 2 Peter 1 we see some truths we need to hold on to.

1. We have all that we need. Check out verses 3-4: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

• Unleash God’s power. Friend, do you know that you don’t need another book or blessing or seminar or experience if you know Jesus?  Notice the past tense: “has given us everything…” You have all that you need right now to be all that God wants you to be – the word “everything” means everything!
• Utilize God’s promises. God’s promises are great and they are precious.  The word “great” is the superlative root word “megas,” which means exceedingly outstanding.  The word “precious” means prized or valuable.  Putting these together we could say that God’s promises are mega magnificent!

John Bunyan, who spent much of his life in prison for his faith, wrote these words: “The pathway of life is strewn so thickly with the promises of God that it is impossible to take one step without treading upon one of them.”

Aren’t you glad that God keeps all His promises?  Psalm 145:13: “The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.” In the margin of many pages of D.L. Moody’s Bible, he wrote the letters “T” and “P,” meaning “Tried and Proved.”  The sad thing is that many of God’s promises go unfulfilled in our lives because we either don’t know about them, or we know about them but don’t apply them to our lives. 

2. We must use all that we have. One author talks about the process involved with cultivating the inner life.  He uses the letters VIM.

• Vision – We must first think about where we want to be.
• Intention – Then we must make a decision that we want to get there.
• Method – Finally we must develop some practices that will get us there.

I like to use outlines that all begin with the same letter so here’s how I would say it.

• Dream – Where do you want to be?
• Decision – Will you make a decision to get there?
• Disciplines – Will you do what you need to do to get there?

It’s easy to dream because it doesn’t demand anything.  The problem isn’t so much with our desire to grow spiritually because almost everyone wants to grow.  Our problem is, like the disciples, our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak (see Matthew 26:41).  We all could dream about going to the Olympics but it’s only those who decide to do so and then live by some strict disciplines that actually end up on the team.

We have all we need and when we use all that we have we will grow…and it will show.