“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." 2 Peter 1:2-3 (KJV)

Dear Friend,

I’m here to encourage you today that God is working behind the scenes in your life!

God is always leading us to His best for us. I’m also excited to share with you the ways we can cooperate with God in order to help this process, which I experienced first hand in my fight back from drug addiction.

First, let me ask you a question. Do you ever struggle with fear? Worry? Anxiety? Depression? Financial lack?

What about pain and health issues? Feelings of guilt? Emotional ups and downs? Relationship struggles?

Do you ever face feelings of confusion, or a lack of direction and purpose in your life?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, then take heart. Don’t be ashamed. This devotional will help you today!

For years I experienced all of those struggles—on more than one account. I’ve felt the darkness and terror of worry, fear, and depression. I remember the whole in my stomach as I’d lay down to sleep, troubled by my decisions that day and the direction my life was going. I avoided the crater of my relational and financial debt like the plague.

In an attempt to avoid it all, I numbed my life with substances and filled my days with innumerous distractions. I thought I was in a hole of sin that was inescapable.

But, even for me, there was hope.

God is no respecter of persons, and He promises each of us a future of hope. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)

Maybe you can’t relate to anything on my list of past horrors; maybe you can relate to one or two, or possibly more. Wherever you find yourself today, know that you don’t have to stay where you are. God desires that each of our lives continue to grow, in every facet of our life, and that we discover progressive betterment in our lives.

If you notice that any area of your life is getting worse, tune in with me right now, because God wants it to get better!

How?

By growing in our relationship with Him! God promises us throughout Scripture that when we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him and He will help us (Jer. 29:13, Matt. 6:33, Prov. 3:5-6, Ps. 37:3-5). When we pursue a personal relationship with God, every problem in life finds The Answer.

Do you have a personal, intimate relationship with God?

Is there an area in life where you want to see growth or transformation?

If so, here’s some immediate steps you can take today:

• Write it down in your journal.

• Find Scriptures about that topic.

• Plant those Biblical seeds in your believing heart.

• Nurture them to full maturity through further Bible reading, prayer, meditation, your imagination, and confession.

If you don’t intentionally seek God and your spiritual growth, then you aren’t going to see true, Biblical transformation in your life.

Intimacy with God and the promises throughout Scripture aren’t going to automatically come to pass in your life. Intimacy with God and the blessings that come with it requires your pursuit, and your diligent involvement with the Word.

In January of 2017, God spoke to me through 2 Peter 1:2-3 and told me, “I want you to grow in your knowledge of Me.” This is when I was led to pursue my relationship with God and increase in my knowledge of Him by attending Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, Colorado. By faith, I moved there in August of 2017.

Before this time, I thought that I knew God and that I understood the Word. How wrong I was! I discovered (and continue to discover) that there is more of God for me to discover every day. That His promises are uncountable; His blessings and fullness are undiscovered fully.

For example, Scripture says that by His exceeding precious promises, we can partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)! Several verses explain that by increasing in our knowledge and understanding of God, we can be strengthened with His might according to His power within us (Col. 1:9-11, Eph. 1:16-19)! The Bible also tells us that through the proper use and application of Scripture in our life, we can become fully perfect (mature) in Christ and thoroughly furnished for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17)! That the fullness of God is available to us (Eph. 3:19)!

The list of promises goes on for eternity!

Can you imagine experiencing God’s divine nature in your life? Or His fullness? Or being strengthened with His might and power?

Take a moment wherever you are and imagine what that would look like in your life—in your relationships, in your family, in your health, in your finances, in your career, in your future. Write down what you saw and meditate on this as frequently as you’re able to.

Any one of these promises could have solved the plethora of issues in my past. And I’m happy to report to you that they have. Thank you, Lord!

God’s love and truth—the gospel of Jesus Christ—is available to transform the life of every person on earth. This isn’t just for the Christian fanatics, pastors, and evangelists. This is for ordinary people like you and me. But not everyone is experiencing this extraordinary display of God’s love and goodness in their life—the salvation, the forgiveness, the healing, the complete freedom that Jesus paid for with His very own flesh and blood.

We are all human and we live in a world that’s fallen to sin. No one is perfect, but Jesus is and was! He is always our goal, the Author and Finisher of our faith. If we want to come into the fullness of God in our life—and I believe that we do—then we must continue to seek God with all of our heart. We must continue to renew our mind through the reading of the Scriptures—daily. We must continue to increase in our knowledge and understanding of God, so we can reveal His goodness, His majesty, His fullness to the world.

I hear some of you saying, "Erin, my life is pretty good. I don't really need or want to change." Trust me, I get it; I was there, too, living everyday on the sidelines of life. My life was in neutral, I wasn't growing, and I definitely wasn't involved in the spiritual warfare happening in the world. If you don't decide to get involved with your spiritual growth today, your children and grandchildren are going to pay for your indifference tomorrow. Their future is at stake.

You have a part to play. Your family needs you! The world needs your active involvement! God has good plans and a specific purpose for your life.

Besides, you're going to experience far more satisfaction in life when you're living with God instead of against Him. Your life can help someone else experience the love of God that knows no limits. The love of God that won’t frown at someone’s past who thought their life was wasted; who thought they were unlovable; who thought they were going to hell; who thought their life would never return from the pit.

Church, we have a job to do. There are so many people who need to taste this love. If we aren’t doing our part to grow in our relationship with God, to grow in spiritual knowledge and understanding, then how many people are going to go without this all-transforming power?

Each one of us can devote time to our spiritual growth and know it will be fruitful. Your diligence in this area will never be in vain.

In fact, you get to choose how much godly fruit you’re going to produce in this lifetime.

Look at what Jesus did for us. What else do we have to live for? Everything else is going to pass away, but your relationship with God and using your life to bless other people are the only things you can take with you into eternity.

If I’m not living my life for Christ, serving Him with all my heart, mind, will, and strength, then I’m not living.

Today, let’s commit (or recommit) to seek God with all our heart and increase in our knowledge of Him. As we grow in our knowledge of God, we will continue to grow and see transformation in every area of our life. As we grow in Christ, our purpose will be revealed, and we'll experience the limitless blessings that come from union with God.

I want to say a huge thank you to all of our amazing partners! Because of you, this resource is free to thousands of people!

If this message helped you today, please enable us to set more people free with God’s love and truth through your financial gifts. We need partners to help us share this good news with more people who are lost and hurting! Consider becoming a partner with New You Ministries, and you’ll partake of the blessing of sharing God's love and truth with more people around the world! You can donate or become a monthly partner here.

Here are more ways you can go deeper in this topic, grow spiritually, and share it with your friends!

• ✝️ Watch Erin’s Live Bible Study video here!

• 📚 Purchase Erin’s "Hello, New You" Book and "Walking in the New You Workbook," where she explains these things in more detail.

• 🎥 Join Erin for another Live Bible Study every Tuesday at 5:30PM MT on YouTube: @erinweisbrodt

• 💪 Listen to Erin on the go through her Strong in Christ Podcast!

We believe and know that you are increasing in the knowledge of God, and experiencing more of His fullness in every area of your life!

Stay Strong in Christ,
Erin

Watch Erin's Live Bible Study on this topic!