In just a few weeks the calendar will turn to 2020 – can you believe that? Can you believe we are about to see 2020? Our nation will elect or reelect a president next year. 2019 has been a big year for the stock market and for technology. Already the news channels are telling us about famous people who have died this past year. Gloria Vanderbilt, actor Luke Perry, actress Doris Day, baseball player Bill Buckner of Boston Red Sox, and Boston Celtic great John Havlick all died last year. As we close out the year, we are in the process of possibly impeaching a President for just the third time. So 2020 was a big year for many reasons.
What will take place in your life this next year? What will take place in our church’s life next year?
Let me challenge you for the next few moments: 2020 could be a powerful year for your spiritual growth. You know 2020 is a leap year. Will 2020 be a leap year for your spiritual growth as well?
Here’s a specific question, “How will you actively seek to grow this upcoming year?” I want to serve as a catalyst for your personal spiritual growth for the next few moments. I want to encourage you to form some personal habits that shape and focus your life. Most of us want to see dramatic breakthroughs of personal and spiritual growth.
In my mother-in-law’s house, there is a really important wall. It’s a wall that has marked our children’s growth over the years. When you walk in and look down, you see little pencil marks on the wall next to dates from years ago. Then as you look eye-level, you more current dates of how these three have grown physically. As I survey that wall, I have a sense of pride in how tall they’ve grown through the years.
Time-lapse photography will allow you to see physical growth over a span of years. But there are no photographs that can show you your spiritual growth.
Most of us want to wake up one day to see that we have left our superficiality behind. Yet, spiritual growth doesn’t happen this way. Spiritual growth happens through “little advances.” God has designed your growth to happen through spiritual disciples such as Bible study, prayer & fasting, and attending worship regularly. When we devote ourselves to these disciples, we will see growth over time just my mother-in-law’s wall shows the growth of my three children.
A New Year Can Mean a New You.
Today’s Scripture Passage
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 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, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:2–11).
Believer, you have a purpose in life and your purpose is to become “a little Christ.” Your primary way to power your growth is to engage the Bible. 2020 could be a powerful year for your spiritual growth.
1. You Have the Resources You Need
Like a business needs capital to grow, a Christian needs certain items to grow as well.
Peter informs us that we have everything we need: “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, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
Again, you have everything you need. Jesus has provided everything I need to grow spiritually. Can we say this together? Jesus has provided everything I need to grow spiritually.
1.1 What God Has Provided
The Bible says we have peace through our relationship with Jesus Christ: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2).
But we also have power through our relationship with Jesus as well: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him” (2 Peter 1:3a).
1.1.1 God’s Power and Grace
You need God’s grace and God’s power as your foundation. When (and only when) you have these as your foundation, you are able to pursue spiritual growth. Like Monopoly, you cannot collect your $200 without passing “Go.” And you cannot grow spiritually unless you have first been born spiritually. You cannot grow spiritually unless you have first experienced God’s grace and God’s power as your foundation. You are born spiritually dead but you have to be spiritually alive to grow spiritually. So let me ask you: have you been born again? If you know Jesus Christ, then you have everything you need supplied to you for growing spiritually (verse 3).
1.1.2 God’s Promises
Take note of how the promises of God facilitate your growth in verse 4: “by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…” (2 Peter 1:4a).
Now, God has made a lot of promises in your Bibles, but I think the promise Peter is speaking of refers to the Second Coming because he devotes most of chapter 3 to Jesus’ return. All of our life has to be oriented around this one fact: Jesus Christ will return one day and that really matters. God will keep His promise of His Son returning to the earth and judging everyone.
There’s a big difference between taking a course for credit and auditing a course. When you audit a course, you don’t worry when the teacher tells you there’s a pop quiz or a test. You simply shrug your shoulders because you are auditing the course. But life is not auditing a course because there’s a test at the end. The Lord will evaluate you no matter your religion for we will all stand before the Lord Jesus Christ.
1.2 You’re Called to…
Every Christian is, “…called us to his own glory and excellence…” (2 Peter 1:3b).
When you become a Christian, you need to be aware that you will be morally transformed.
Imagine a bachelor’s pad for a moment. Here is a home where a man’s man lives for a number of years. He has some hunting trophies on the wall but very little matches inside. All he’s ever really done in terms of shopping and decorating is to pick out a huge TV, a nice recliner, and a big-box fan that blows on our single friend night and day. Go to his kitchen and you’ll find wrenches and sockets next to the bread on the kitchen counter. Then he meets a young lady. They date for several months before tying the knot. Soon the bachelor’s pad is transformed with matching curtains, a nice sofa, with a matching dinner china hutch, and a dinner table in the nearby room. As you enter the very same room where the clunky box fan used to sit, you cannot believe you’re in the same room. Now, what has happened? She has not mandated he change the room in order to marry our bachelor but her transformation of the home comes as a result of their marriage.
This is how it works with Jesus. He does not ask you to morally change before you marry Christ but your moral transformation happens as a result of your relationship with Christ. You cannot grow spiritually unless you have first been born spiritually. Peter tells us that one day we will graduate spiritually and morally. One day, our moral transformation will be complete: “…so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…” (2 Peter 1:4b).
The Bible doesn’t mean you will not become a god. Jesus will always be in a special category in so many ways even when we arrive safely in Heaven. But the Bible tells us that God is sharing so many of the physical, moral, and spiritual traits of Jesus’ resurrected body with His children. Instead, you will be morally transformed one day upon your graduation. When you die, my Christian friend, you will completely escape the corruption of this world (verse 4b). One day you will experience your future resurrected body in Heaven and you will be no longer think sinful thoughts that prayer and Bible study are drudgeries.
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5).
Second, you will one day escape all the sinful traps of your inward moral corruption. You will one day be free of this wicked world that pulls you back into its traps. So the Bible pictures you, my believing friend, as someone is supplied with everything you need to grow.
1. You Have the Resources You Need
2. You Should Pursue the Life You Want
Most of us want spiritual growth but we want it to happen in a dramatic breakthrough. We’re like the 11-year-old boy who complains he isn’t as tall as his older brother. His mother says to him, “East your vegetable and you’ll grow.” But a month later, he says, “I’m eating my vegetable but I’m not growing.” Everyone laughs at this because we know growth takes time. And just like this, the Bible calls on you to do the work needed to grow spiritually: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (2 Peter 2:5-7).
In 1998, 8,000 college students were surveyed in a nationwide research project known as QuEST. One question presented students with the following scenario: “Your best friend comes to you and says, ‘I want to become a Christian, but I don’t know how.’ What would you tell your friend?” Assume your friend wants you to answer the question and not to be sent to a pastor or minister. The most common response suggested going to church or encouraging some religious practice. Only fourteen percent of the students interviewed mentioned Jesus in their answer.
Do you know enough of the gospel to lead someone to faith in Christ?
2.1 The Logical Relationship
Look at your Bibles for a moment. In verse 5, the Bible points back to the foundation in verse 3-4. In essence, the Bible is saying for you to grow spiritually you must first be born spiritually. Note the logical relationship between verses 3 – 4 and verses 5 – 7. It’s only when you underwent the transformation Jesus brings that you can pursue the qualities for spiritual growth. God gives us the ability to become godly… … it is our responsibility to use the power He’s given us. God gives us the ability to become godly but we are to actually work at becoming people who please God in every phase of life.
2.2 Make Every Effort
If you want to have the kind of life that brings blessing to those around you and here’s “Well Done,” from your Master Jesus, then you have to “get after it.” That’s a phrase that goes around coaching circles: “get after it.” It’s a take no prisoners and make no excuses kind of lifestyle to growing in godliness.
Many of you love to measure your progress. You can measure your progress in so many areas of your life. Tools are available to measure your Body Mass Index where you assess your body fat. You can measure your carbon footprint so to know your impact upon the climate. Athletes will measure the size of their biceps. You can even monitor your social media influence over the Internet. Yet, few Christians have a significant handle on how to measure their spiritual maturity. How do I measure myself in terms of my growth as a believer? Time-lapse photography will allow you to see physical growth over a span of years. But there are no photographs that can show you your spiritual growth.
Some people think God’s grace should cause you to relax your morals. Instead, the Bible says we should increase our effort … we should turn up our intensity because of God’s grace.
If you would approach your spiritual growth like a running back stretches out to the goal line for a touchdown – he will make every effort. My believing friend, make every effort, won’t you. It’s so much more serious than some football game.
2.3 Eight Virtues
Peter offers eight virtues for you to grow into beginning with faith and ending with love. Peter chooses to describe it as a series of ascending steps. So think of these eight as a staircase if you will.
2.4 Spiritual Disciples
Spiritual disciples are how you grow. When you commit to reading and studying God’s Word regularly, you grow spiritually. When you seek the Lord in prayer to begin your day, conclude your day, and throughout your day, you grow more like Jesus Christ. God works His power through the spiritual disciples. A recent survey shows just how few people are actually reading the Bible. Americans like the Bible and they say good things about the Bible but more than half of Americans have read very little of the Bible.
You need 3 things to make regular Bible reading a habit in your life: a reading plan, a place, and the same time each day. You need a systematic plan to read through the Bible. Google the words “Bible reading plan” and you’ll find a lot of options. Read a chapter a day is another option.
Church Attendance
One of the biggest trends that is happening to Christians over the past decade or more is we are attending church less. Many in my generation will allow anything to get in the way of actually going to church. Trends show that committed “churchgoers” of twenty years ago would attend church around three times a month. But many are now content to attend church one Sunday a month in our day. W. Bradford Wilcox, the sociologist with the University of Virginia, tells us that when a married couple attends church more regularly TOGETHER, they have a 35% greater chance of their marriage enduring.
1. You Have the Resources You Need
2. You Should Pursue the Life You Want
3. You Really Study the Bible
Let’s leave 2 Peter alone for a moment and talk about the Bible, the whole Bible for a minute. In 2008, Lifeway followed 2,500 believers like you for a year to see what helped their faith grow. Reading the Bible is the number one predictor for spiritual growth. Then in a separate 2012 survey of 280,000 people from over 1,200 churches, ranging from 100 in attendance to 5,000 in attendance… … and this is what they discovered: “Hands down. No contest. When it comes to spiritual growth, nothing beats the Bible.”
3.1 It’s a Personal Habit
Bible reading has to become a personal habit. And recent surveys were surprising for another factor: some spiritual disciplines do not impact the others. For example, when people practiced one spiritual discipline whether it be prayer, corporate worship, serving, giving, or even evangelism … the practice of this one habit did not create momentum in a believer to engage in another spiritual discipline. But when people practiced reading their Bibles, there was momentum other spiritual habits as well. This truth is simple and straightforward: you will simply not grow if you fail to know God and to spend time reading God’s Word. Reading the Bible is the number one predictor for spiritual growth.
3.2 Bible Reading Frequency
The challenge is few of us are reading the Bible. Recent surveys have asked how often they personally (not as part of a church worship service) read the Bible and here’s what people just like you have said. Thirty-two percent say, “Every Day” and twelve percent say “Rarely/Never.” About of one-fourth of church-going people indicate they read the Bible a few times a week. Another twelve percent say they read the Bible "Once a Week" and another sixteen percent say “Once a Month” or “A Few Times a Month.” When surveyors probed a little to identify what the most significant barriers were to people reading the Bible, by far the number one response was: they never seem to have enough time. If you will turn up the volume on your Bible reading then you are much more likely to be a “little Christ.”
3.3 You Need a Plan
Now, everyone here has selected one of three Bible reading plans at some point in their life:
1.3.1 “When I Have A Need” Reading Plan
Many of us start here because the Bible is a big book and it’s confusing. So, we open it when we have a need. You may find an index in the back of some Bibles that tells you where to turn when you have a need. We’re feeling lonely so we read a verse on loneliness.
1.3.2 “Flip Open” Bible Reading Plan
Again, most of us have done this at one time or another. We flip open the Bible and simply read to whatever is there. This is not a good practice because we don’t know what we’re reading. This is so haphazard.
Systematic Reading Plans
You need to adopt an organized plan for reading the Bible. If you want to get from “rarely/never” reading the Bible, to really growing, then adopt an organized plan to read your Bible. Some plans will allow you to read for breadth where you read the Bible from cover to cover in a year. Some plans will allow you to read for depth where you read Philippians again and again over a thirty-day period. Vary it up – read for breadth and depth.
I would encourage you to Google “Bible reading plans” and you’ll find a number of good options. Of, ask a spiritual mentor for some assistance here.
Conclusion
2020 is here and that sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, doesn’t it. Cars driving themselves by 2020. Your Dallas Cowboys team should be getting a new coach. For some of you, this is the year you’ll have a baby, you’ll tie the knot, or buy a bigger house. For some of you, 2020 will be the year you retire. For others, 2020 will be the year you receive your diploma.
2020 will be a leap year. Will it be a leap year for your spiritual growth? Will 2020 be the year you are finally baptized? Is this the year you will start a Bible study at your school, in your dorm, on your street? Is this the year that you finally step up and take a role in ministry and in your Bible study group? 2020 will be a leap year. Will it be a leap year for your spiritual growth?
