GROWING IN GRACE, 2010

Grow in grace and knowledge

of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3.18

Grace and peace be yours in abundance

through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

2 Peter 1.2

His divine power has given us every thing we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him

Who called us by His own glory and goodness.

2 Peter 1.3

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith,

so that you will have a full understanding

of every good thing we have in Christ.

Philemon, v.6

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the glorious Father, may give you

the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,

so that you may know Him better.

Ephesians 1.17

The words "knowledge," "know," and phrase "full understanding" come from a Greek word spelled "epignosis" in our alphabet.

"Epignosis" comes from the Greek word "gnosis,"

which means "knowledge."

The "epi" intensifies the knowledge of "gnosis."

"Epignosis" is a work of the Holy Spirit, given us by the Father.

Ephesians 1.17.

The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom and revelation

to "epi-know" ("epignosis") Christ better in answer to prayer.

The prayer of Paul in Ephesians and the purpose of Peter's statements

are to awaken in us a deeper desire to know Christ better.

Our prayers intensify our desire to know the Christ

these apostles tell us about.

We may hereby come to have a desire

as passionate of that of Paul himself.

Philippians 3.7-14.

Once we see the promise and find the desire and hope

awakened in us to know Christ better,

we will begin to seek more and more

of what the Holy Spirit will show us.

If we will read what Paul and Peter wrote,

the Holy Spirit will give us the same understanding

of the glory of Christ's presence within us that they had.

Ephesians 3.4

Our responsibility is to prayerfully, thoughtfully read what Paul wrote.

With the desire awakened within us to understand what we read, the Holy Spirit will open the "eyes of our understanding." We will receive a deep realization amd understanding

of the gloriousness of Christ from the verses we are reading.

But there another very significant way to come to "epi-know"

more about our Lord Jesus:

sharing our faith!

Paul commended Philemon for sharing his faith, teling him that in doing so he would gain the "epignosis' (translated "full understanding") of

"every good thing we have in Christ" (v. 6).

When we share our desire to know the Lord Jesus with one another, we help each other think more clearly about Who He Is and What He Does. It is the process of thinking more and more clearly about what we are coming to know and understand that helps us understand at an "epi-level," deeper and deeper into our hearts, the gloriousness, graciousness, goodness, and greatness of our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Sharing" our faith with one another helps us think--

more and more clearly.

Our faith comes from and is based on

what we "epi-know" about the Lord Jesus.

"Gnosis" knowledge is what we gain from reading and sharing.

As we read and share, the Holy Spirit works

our "knowledge" into "epi-knowldge."

When we respond in faith to new understanding of Jesus,

the Holy Spirit releases grace to accomplish "great and mighty things"

which we have been totally blind to up to this new point.

Our hearts and lives are changed forever,

eternally in such a way that our lives

now reflect and reveal the glory which we have discovered.

Prayerfully read to understand the Scriptures.

Talk to one another about what you are seek and find.

God's divine power will give us

everything we need for life and godliness

as we grow in grace and "epi-knowledge"

of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.