February 21, 2022 · 2:26 pm

Chasing Your First Experience with Christ

Many young Christians get entangled in the trappings of the first flush of Christian love that they experience. Christ’s amazing, selfless love many times overpowers them. They experience tremendous joy and love. And then, a bit later, the rush of that first, fine feeling of the love from above subsides and seemingly leaves them.

Instead of seeking more of His plan and purpose and seeking the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” the babe in Christ stays there in that congregation or circle, glued to a belief that if they stay right there, the Spirit will return and give them that same feeling again, just like what happened before. It is as if they are a prisoner of their own experience with God; it is just the first step.

I am not putting anyone down here. I speak from personal experience. A babe in Christ is like the thrill seeker going after that first high. But that first experience with God is when He calls us. The second will not be like the first. They don’t realize that spiritually young children of God are mostly alive to what they can receive of the Father. It is not about us feeling good. It is about His Spirit growing in us and manifesting His love through us. The rest of the journey is about how God works out His growth within us

In the above scenario, we see a picture of a child of God, a “babe in Christ.” They are held in the “play pen” of the music and activities of the church house or the study group. The pastors and teachers do not feed them with “the sincere milk of the word that they may grow thereby.” They learn about Christ having existed and some of the things that He did. They are not taught about how His Spirit grows and lives in us. They are not taught the “cross experience” (Romans 6) whereby we are crucified with Christ, which allows our old sinful nature to perish through belief in Christ’s death and resurrection. This is the seed beginning of His growth in us. And without this knowledge, “babes in Christ” will wither on the vine. Their pastors and teachers will be held accountable.

God wants us all to grow, and we cannot grow like He wants us to grow spiritually if we persist in trying to recapture those first few experiences that God called us with. Paul said that we must leave them in order to grow to full potential. “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 13-14). The “high calling” is not being a child of God; it is becoming a manifested son and daughter of the living God.  God wants us all to grow up spiritually and become like the early apostles and prophets.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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February 10, 2022 · 9:04 am

The Theme of Yahweh’s Prophets—The Kingdom

Yahweh’s prophets wrote about His Kingdom coming to earth. They spoke of a time when the righteous King would replace all of man’s governments. Christ and the early apostles heralded the same message.

They warned us about the corruption in man’s attempt to rule himself—how the rich exploited the poor, how justice had left town, how judgment languished, how evil clothed in shiny black robes ravaged the land, how all governments, “legal” and illegal, would be reduced to a crust of bread.

The prophets showed us how the rich wax richer, how the wealthy pass laws that insured their plans of piracy, how the rich suck men into a vat of promises that will not come true because they are false.

The prophets wrote about the King returning to earth to cleanse it from all evil and to make things right, thus bringing in everlasting righteousness.

They wrote of a time when the Messiah would bring back His love. But this time He comes with a fiery hand, a hand to deliver us from the evil that permeates the earth. And all we need to do is stop what we are doing for a moment. We need to stop all selfish, worldly thoughts. And let the mind of Christ enter our minds and hearts. Let us think on His things, His Kingdom, His government, His peace that passes all understanding. We must make a conscious effort to bathe our minds with his thoughts about our future on planet earth. This is all spelled out in the writings of Yahweh’s prophets.

Bathing Our Minds

To bathe our minds with His thoughts, we first must know what He is thinking about. He is thinking about His Spirit in us sowing His word like seed into a field. When it comes to harvest, He will have fulfilled His master plan and purpose: To reproduce Himself and us. And thus, you will become the word made flesh, dwelling among the inhabitants of the earth like Christ and His apostles. For “each seed bears its own kind.” Love is the answer. God is love, and He will with great irony decimate the evil on this earth, which will create a fertile plain for Him to sow His seed. His Kingdom is the gospel, the good news. And He will eventually “plant the heavens with a righteous seed.” And so the cycle continues on and on throughout all eternity.

The onus is on us, those whom He has called. His chosen are scattered throughout the earth, in every province. They will answer the call. They may be poor in this world’s goods; they may travel by foot or burro through jungles and mountains, but they will get to their brethren and share this very vision of Christ our King, our exiled King. They will take these writings and read it to others who are hungry for truth.

[If you enjoy these writings, help me get them to more people by hitting that “Like” button and making comments and sharing posts. Sow the seed. Thank you.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock]

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February 3, 2022 · 4:05 pm

Perspective on the Degradation of Our Society

Seventy-five years on the planet gives me perspective on the nation’s decline into darkness. I have seen the degrading of almost everything in our society.

Take music. Secular love songs from 60-70 years ago were about the pains and joys of the heart. Now they are of the “lusts of the flesh.”

Economics? Our dollar is worthless. The dollar used to be a 90% silver coin containing about an ounce of silver. It was real money. That same silver dollar is worth $30 in today’s paper currency. That silver dollar would buy 20 candy bars or 20 bottles of Coca-Cola. For my dad a silver dollar would buy three gallons of gasoline with a silver dime in change. My dad paid me one silver dollar for sweeping up hair at his barber shop on Saturdays back in 1955 when I was eight years old. Imagine a little kid running around with precious metal in his pocket and an American dream in his heart.

Now things look grim as the Federal Reserve Bank has absolutely ruined our economy. I share this to give you some perspective on how low we have been brought and how serious our current financial disaster is.

Back in the 1950’s, we Americans were still living by the standards of Protestant, Puritan values. But the darker influences had by then been let out of Pandora’s box. The lustful rhythms of the nations stirred a specter of passion. Most young women were chaste, held in check by the fear of society’s shunning of them for having babies out of wedlock. When a girl got pregnant out of wedlock, she simply disappeared, hurried off in shame to a willing aunt hundreds of miles away. There the girl would have her baby in seclusion and often give it up for adoption. Today she will parade her new fatherless baby up and down the high school halls. Dating was going to the movies back then. And if a boy got too fresh, he would have to face her World War II veteran father. [We were truly scared of those fathers]. But now, dating is a euphemism for having sex.

Today, the world has lost all restraints to bad behavior. Decorum is dead. Dignity is an orphan under a bridge. We see a society where thieves boldly ransack and steal armloads of merchandise while “security guards” passively look on. In the 50’s the thief would have been wrestled to the ground, arrested and prosecuted for grand larceny.

But age gives us perspective. I remember as a lad, I heard old-timers talking about how society was going downhill because of the federal government’s policies. They were right.

“Something wicked this way comes,” said the poet. No, it is already here. Conservatives on the right say that we can rise up and change this scary downward slide, that we can restore our society to what the Founding Fathers envisioned. That is a nice dream. But that ship has sailed. The cat is out of the bag, and no one will be able to put him back in again.

Why do I say that? I know that it sounds pessimistic. It is because of this: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves [not God], covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers… (I Tim. 3:1-7; II Pet. 2; Jude 1). The apostles warn us of our day, a day of spiritual darkness, “perilous times.” Spoiler alert: It is going to get much worse, a la the Great Tribulation. And we Christians are going to be in the big middle of it. But that’s another story that I have written at length about [rapture | Search Results | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)].

The leaders of the countries of this world have caused this denigration of which we speak. “For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed” (Isa. 9:16).

But that is not true of God’s offspring. We have been restored, for we have “been with Him from the beginning.” Consequently, we know that “all things are of God.” We know that He is in charge. His law of harvest is in effect and cannot be broken. Whatever a nation sows, that shall it also reap. Pride goes before a fall. Through much hubris nations are brought to their knees. And so it is with the USA and all the other nations of the world.

Our Father’s Plan

The time of the end is upon us. And it is all part of the plan–that we would become so frustrated with the ways of the world, that we would finally seek our Creator. “For the creation [us] was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21 NIV).

It is God who has subjected us to frustration. It is His doing. He allowed us to be bound in the chains of sin. We were held captive by our dark and selfish actions that brought the demise of our earthly bodies. And we were frustrated by having to live in clay vessels that grow old, die, and decay. But now we realize that we have returned to Him and have embraced His hope for us. His hope is that we will receive everlasting life. And now we see that all of creation is waiting for Christ’s return to this earth, when He will bestow upon us a new, glorious, spiritual body, which will enable us to serve the King throughout all ages (8:19).

It is our great and glorious privilege, therefore, to serve Him in His government, the Kingdom of God, which is coming very soon to fill the earth with his righteous judgment. For He is the Answer to all questions, the Solver of all problems, and the Teacher of all parables. He is Yahshua, the King of kings, our Creator (Col. 1:16). And “of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end…” (Isa. 9:2-7).

We are blessed to serve Him together. Spread the word.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock 

 

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February 1, 2022 · 11:08 am

Intercession and Spiritual Growth

Someone in your life is hurting. You feel that you cannot help them. You know that they are going the wrong way but find it difficult to alter their direction. You have tried telling them that Christ is the answer. But they will not listen. You have prayed for them, of course. You have held on helplessly, as you see time running out–for them and for you as the one who wants to help them.

You feel depleted, empty of sustenance that will, like chicken soup for the flu, comfort and lift them out of their spiritual disease. Then one day you realize that you have just not gotten down and asked God to intercede in your loved one’s condition. It’s not like you haven’t mentioned them in your communications with God. You have mentioned them, but have you asked the Father, like this: “Father, would you please help them to know that You love them? Father, would you reach down and show them Your wondrous love? Would You reach out Your hand to them and draw them into Your joyful bosom?” Or was your prayer a statement: “Father, I ask that you help them in their time of need.”

As you ask your Father for help, your heart begins to soften. You realize that He is not going to block His ears to your cry for help. In fact, He has been waiting for you to ask Him—not tell Him—what you desire of Him. Christ said, “Ask and it shall be given.” He continued, And if your son or daughter asked you for something to eat, would you give them a stone? If you know how to mercifully give good things to your children when they ask you, “how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him” ( Matthew 7:7-11).

And so, you ask Him, “Father would you please help them? Would you let your love embrace their fears? Would you show them that you are real and that you care?”

And then, something wonderful begins to happen in your heart. It is a realization that, yes, the Father is going to answer your prayers, but He wants to do it through you. He wants His Spirit of love to be magnified and multiplied in you. He wants to love the one you are praying for–the one that you’re concerned about—through you. You begin to realize that He will answer your prayer, in showing His love for them, through you.

This is intercessory prayer–real prayer that changes us.  God gives grace to the humble. Humility knocks on His door seeking help for someone else. God can work with that. And so he begins a change in our hearts, preparing us to be used as a vessel for his Spirit of love to work through. This is how we grow; this is actually how He grows in us.  Intercessory prayer is the process by which the Father fulfils his eternal purpose, which is to reproduce Himself in a body of many human beings. This is how He multiplies His love for his people.    

And it all starts with, “Ask and it shall be given.” But it is not selfishly asking for both physical and spiritual things. Rather it is asking the Father to touch someone else.

You love someone that is hurting…

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 27, 2022 · 12:59 pm

Walking through the valley of the shadow of death

I write these words to those on the lonely journey– my brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow pilgrims walking on through “the valley of the shadow of death” (Psm. 23).

We are called and chosen by Yahweh to tread through death’s shadow. Who are the dead that casts such ominous shade? Christ said it, “Let the dead bury the dead.” They did not have the Spirit, so they were the dead walking around the earth.

And we, the children of light, intersect with their shadows daily when we come in contact with them. We are kind to them, even merciful, for we were once them. We once cast shadows of death and doubt, but now we, according to his great mercy, are rays of His brilliance called to burn brighter and brighter as we wait on the day to dawn.

But we usually wait alone, it seems. Most around us do not comprehend who it is that we serve. We are not alone, for Yah has a few scattered throughout the earth. It feels like we are alone, but we are not.

Elijah found that out. He walked alone as he stood against the evil of King Ahab and Jezebel of the northern Kingdom of Israel (ten tribes). He walked without an entourage as he waited on Yahweh to communicate with him (I Kings 17: 1- 4). They of the court of Ahab, no doubt described Elijah as a “one lone nut.” First, Elijah prophesied a dire drought on Ahab’s kingdom. He slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal, and defied Ahab at every turn. So Elijah was running. Exhausted, he was being chased by Ahab into the desert. You talking about a trial. You and I have not gone through trials like this!

Then “the word of Yahweh came to Elijah. Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan river. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there.”  Elijah was walking with God, waiting on Him, renewing his strength each day. Our takeaway is this: Though the going gets tough and lonely, if we stay in our Captain’s ship, He will guide us through the rough waters into a calm and serene bay. We may not realize it, but we will have learned that the trials and experiences on the rough seas are necessary for our spiritual growth. And now, as we rest on the beach’s comforting sands, we look around and see other sailors resting along side us. And then we realize that we are not alone in Yahweh’s work.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 16, 2022 · 11:56 am

By Promises We Partake of His Divinity

I write to my courageous brothers and sisters today. I share with the souls who have braved the turbulent oceans of man’s fickle and false claims of knowing Divinity. When quizzed about the “divine nature,” they will salute the greatness of God perhaps. But when asked how do we “partake of the divine nature,” very few will know the answer. Go ahead. Choose out a pastor/preacher. Ask them. Chances are that you will be disappointed, for they will not know the apostle Peter’s mind, which is the mind of Christ.

The Spirit dwelling in the apostle repeatedly taught the early church that they had “obtained like precious faith with us,” the early apostles (II Peter 1:1). First rattle out of the box, the Spirit says now to us, You all have received the very same faith that was delivered to the apostles. There is only one faith, the faith of the Son of God. The one faith is His faith, His belief system, what He believes.

The early church had access to the same power. They were not powerless. In fact, “His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” And through all of this, God has given us “great and precious promises.”

Great and Precious Promises

What are these promises? Christ promised us that He would send the Spirit to us and that through His spiritual presence in you, “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Christ promised that if we asked anything in his name that he would do it (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23). [“In His name” is the key phrase that opens the door to answered prayer. What is His name? And what does it mean? You need to order my book Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality.   It is free with free shipping. Details here:  Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com) ]

Christ also made this astounding promise: “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father” (14:12). What works did He do? He healed the sick and raised the dead for starters. He has promised us that we will do greater miracles than He did!

The preachers don’t believe that, for they will say that this Christlike power comes later for us, after we “go to heaven.” One thing is wrong with that theory. In heaven there are no sick people to heal, nor earthly dead to raise. So, His promises are for us who are alive on the earth. Just look at our examples Peter, John and Paul. The Spirit in them healed the sick and raised the dead.

He also promised that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He promised to return to set up the Kingdom of God, with Christ our King on the throne. He also promised to give us eternal life and a place in His Government.

These are just some of the “exceeding great and precious promises.” We are still talking about a spiritual growth—growing into apostleship. These promises encourage us and spur us on to the finish line. And it is through these promises that we “might be partakers of the divine nature…” (II Peter 1:4).

To secure these precious promises, the apostle continues, we need to diligently “add to your faith” seven attributes of God’s nature. “If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ [Yahshua]” (verses  5-8).

These additions make our calling and election sure, where we will never fall (v. 10). Adding them opens the door into His Kingdom (v. 11). They are virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity/agape love (I Peter 1:5-8).

Knowledge about what these additions are, their importance in helping us spiritually grow, and how we are to add them to our faith is the thesis of my new book, The Additions to the Faith, due out in the spring of 2023.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 12, 2022 · 10:51 am

Who Are the Future Manifested Sons and Daughters?

The Holy Scriptures speak of a group of Christians who will grow to become like the early apostles. Paul, John, and Peter wrote eloquently about them.

But who are these future immortal ones? The time in history is right for them to appear on the scene; it is the time of the end. Most Christians have read that “He is bringing many sons unto glory” (Hebrews 2:10). And they have read that He has given us power “to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). But most say that we cannot be like Paul, Peter and John. Who are the few who do believe, who are grown from the same seed as the apostles?

One major trait that they all have is an unsatiable appetite for the truth. They want the absolute, unadulterated truth as to why we are here on earth. Who is this Creator? What is His plan for us? What’s the timetable for coming events? What about the evil in the earth? Who inhabits Satan’s kingdom? Who is calling the shots, running the show, pulling the strings of the puppet politicians? How will the world end?

They want to know the truth about the things that touch all our lives. And when they hear it,    they are quick to lay the idols of their own prior understanding on the burn pile.

You can tell who they are by their ability to discern what is truth and what is a lie. God has given them this ability, and that is what sets them apart. That is what makes them different from other human beings. God has chosen them and ordain them for His mission. And he will not allow them to be deceived any longer.

It is this humility, this dependence on God’s Spirit, that allows them to seek and find the truth. Yes, God intervenes and creates a hunger in their hearts for truth. That is the beginning of God calling them to Himself. It’s the start of the Quest, when the hero awakens out of his selfish slumber. And he is made aware that there is something greater than his anemic little desires for vainglory. Something much greater than himself is afoot here. He begins to realize that something earth-shattering and then, earth-reshaping, lies in the prophetic pages soon to come to life for those who seek.

But it all starts when God instills the thirst for truth. It is all Him. He is behind everything. He is the “Author and Finisher of our faith.” He arranges our lives from desperation to the first steps on this pilgrimage to find the Source of love and peace. He injects our lives with desire to know Him who is the Truth. And then we learn that it is His ballpark—His bat, ball and gloves. He invites all to play. Those who show up for the meaningful and sometimes strenuous practices, will be learning to play by His rules. Those who learn them will be the starters at game time.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock  

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January 9, 2022 · 3:44 pm

Patience, Godliness, and Wisdom—Their Relationship

Our spiritual growth in God does not happen accidentally. We have a part to play. A seedling plant must strive to break free from the clutches of the clods of hardened earth to get to the light.

So it is with God’s offspring, you and I. To grow and to fulfill God’s purpose for each of us, we must first gain knowledge of his plan, and then execute it. He is “bringing many sons [and daughters] unto glory.”

How is he doing this? He has several spiritual programs to accomplish His will. They are laid out in black and white in the Holy Bible. The programs for our growth are hiding in plain sight. But you won’t hear about them in the church houses, even though the early apostles wrote glowingly about their secrets. Their pastors, priests and preachers have closed their eyes and ears to anything new. Yet God’s programs are full of “new creatures, new testament, new hearts, new lives, where all things are become new.”

Some of the Programs

We should not think that once we profess Christ, it is all done. The Apostles’ Doctrine, the title of my 2019 book, expounds on one of God’s programs that shows us how to become like the early church. The apostles walked in the seven teachings that Christ taught them. Their doctrine was Christ’s doctrine/teachings. To be like the early apostles, we need to do what they did; they “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine,” and then power was given to do mighty works in the land.

Another of Christ’s programs to help us grow spiritually is what I am writing now–The Additions to the Faith. We must add, through much study and prayer, certain facets of God’s divine nature to His faith that now resides in us. But we cannot add them if we have no knowledge about these attributes of God.

We have seen that in order to fulfill God’s purpose of fully walking in his divine nature, we need to add to our faith certain attributes of that very divine nature. We see that we are to add patience to temperance. The problem has always been understanding these English words. We are dealing with three words: patience, godliness, and wisdom.

They are all scriptural, taken from the King James Version. All three are difficult to comprehend because of man’s traditional definitions and connotations placed on them. To get a clearer picture of their meaning, we go to the Greek texts.  “Patience” means endurance. “Godliness” means to love and revere God. Wisdom is to fear Him, or to be in reverential awe of Him.

We can all agree that we need more wisdom. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom…” (Proverbs 4:7). God has made it seemingly simple for us to get wisdom. Just ask Him for it, the apostle James tells us (1:5). But we cannot waver in unbelief (verse 6).

Why would we waver? Those that waver will not get wisdom (verse 7). I always thought that the wavering happened because of our weak faith in not believing at the outset that God would give us wisdom. But now I see that we waver when we don’t understand how overcoming trials produce wisdom. God tests our faith; going through these trials shows us just how awesome our great Creator is. We will see his great love for us in correcting us, getting us ready to sit with him on his throne. We have a lot of changing to do. Trials bring those changes about.

We still are talking about adding patience, and to patience godliness. Many early Christians had, no doubt, complained to James about the trials that they were going through. He gets straight to the point. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (1: 2 NIV). Joy? The heathen are hunting us Christians down like dogs. How do we see this as bringing happiness? At first glance, it is difficult to see, but a profound revelation hides in the shadows of our disbelief.

How Trials Bring Joy

How do trials bring joy? These trials test our faith. This testing of our faith “develops perseverance” (verse 2, NIV). It “works patience.” Trials of the faith develops endurance/patience/perseverance (verse 3). Overcoming trials develops spiritual muscle needed for us to endure all things thrown our way.

When our Father tests, chastens, and corrects us, we tend to not understand just how blessed we are. That is why we are admonished to “let patience have her perfect work.” In other words, we must allow endurance and perseverance do the job of bringing us to spiritual maturity. This is what the additions to the faith is all about: The spiritual maturity of becoming like Christ and his apostles. “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete” (verse 4 NIV).

It is here at verse five that we receive an astounding revelation. The previous four verses show us  how  God gives us wisdom. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God who gives liberally…”

But we must ask, “What does wisdom have to do with patience/endurance? What’s the tie-in?” First, we are admonished to ask for wisdom, not knowing how or from where it comes to us. God then gives us wisdom through orchestrating trials for us to overcome in our lives. These trials, as we have seen, produce endurance/patience. Then, on the other side of the testings and trials, we see that it produces in us a love and reverence for God in all His marvelous ways of creating us in His image. Love and reverence for Him is the very definition of wisdom. “The fear of the LORD, that is wisdom.” “Fear” in the Hebrew means “reverential awe.” Reverential awe of Yahweh, that is wisdom. Wisdom and patience/endurance combine to bring godliness to be added to patience. And the kicker is this: Godliness in the Greek means “a love and reverence for God.”

[See https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/donate/ to order one of my books}

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 3, 2022 · 3:42 pm

Adding Godliness to Patience

To bear the spiritual fruit that we are to bear in these last days, to be found worthy to sit with Christ on His throne, we must add to our faith certain spiritual attributes (II Pet. 1).

We are to add patience to temperance. And patience is endurance, as seen in the Greek text. We must “endure unto the end,” enduring persecution and tribulations, enduring “hardness as a good soldier” of Christ (Matthew 24:13; II Thes. 1:4; II Tim. 2:3). We must “endure all things for the elect’s sake,” especially “sound doctrine,” which are those Christ-borne teachings that attack man’s traditions that we have all been taught since childhood (II Tim. 2:10; 4:3).

And perhaps the most difficult thing to endure is the chastening of God. We must endure His correction when He begins to purge out the false teachings about Him and the immature ways we carry ourselves.

God will scourge us and prove us. He forewarns us: “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him.” For He chastens those He loves. “If we endure [this is the adding of patience/endurance] chastening [correction, disciplining], then God deals with us as sons and not bastards. When we have passed the tests, He receives us as his heirs, “that we might be partakers of His Holiness” (Heb. 12:5-10).

God endures our immaturity and our weakness and we, in turn, endure the maturing process. Understanding, accepting, and finally, welcoming these things that we must overcome—this brings spiritual maturity.

The Beginning of Godliness

Adding patience/endurance to our faith is the maturing process. Going through this maturing process brings about a reverence for God. We begin to revere Him for what He is doing and how He is including us in his plan of reproducing himself. Revering Him is adding godliness to patience/endurance.

Many say that “godliness” means “God-like-ness. It sounds good, but the word “godliness” is translated from the Greek word eusebeia (G2150), meaning reverence or respect. This Greek word is derived from eusebes (G2152), which comes from sebo (G4576), a verb meaning “to revere, to worship” (Strong’s).

We now are living by the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). There’s only one faith—Christ’s (Eph. 4:5). We are now building on His faith as we endeavor to add to it. Belief first, yes. But faith/belief alone is not enough. For “even the devils believe in one God and tremble.” Virtue and then knowledge must be added, then tempered, and then endurance is added as we overcome hardships.

As we begin to comprehend the magnitude of this heaven-directed spiritual life cycle that God has called us to, then love, devotion, awe, and reverence begin to grow in our hearts toward our Father. This is the beginning of us adding godliness/reverence to our faith. We do love Him because He first loved us. And the love of God is “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

This reverence for God comes when we first know about his plan. And then, as we walk in it, we endure the tribulations and chastening on the road to sonship and daughtership. Then we begin to see that we [are] receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.” He is favoring us with this knowledge that “we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” [reverential awe] (Heb. 12:28).

Who Will Add Godliness/Reverence to the Faith?

So, all of this creates questions: Who is going to step up? Who are these people who will do the seven additions that the apostle Peter wrote to us about? They are out there. These articles are a tiny light flashing faintly in the ocean of mankind. I believe that “this little light of mine” is shining. Its rays will reach whomsoever He directs them to. Who are they? How will we know them? We will know them by their fruits. More next time.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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December 29, 2021 · 10:58 am

Adding Patience–Enduring Spiritual Growing Pains

We are told to “make our calling and election sure” (2 Peter 1: 10). We do that by adding seven attributes of the divine nature of God to the faith of the Son of God now in us. Then the door will open into the “everlasting Kingdom of our Savior” (verse 11). God’s elect will take heed and make these seven additions.

The fourth one is patience. But what is it exactly? It is not the “patience” that we grew up with. Most of us thought that it was waiting, willing to stand by stoically until things improved. That is man’s concept of patience.

The biblical “patience” is God’s patience, translated from the Greek word hypomone meaning “endurance” or “perseverance” in some translations. Patience/endurance is a facet of God’s Spirit; it is a piece of His very Being that He transfers into us. God’s patience is His enduring all things.

Endurance only happens when we overcome a resisting force. We “partake of His divine nature” when we channel and show forth patience. For God has great patience as He endures until the harvest of the evil vine of the earth is complete. And He with great endurance waits for us to bring forth the spiritual fruit that we are destined to bear.

We need to add patience/endurance because we are called to add godlike qualities directly from His divine nature. His purpose is to multiply Himself—in us. Since endurance is a part of His nature, we need to add it to our faith, which is His faith (There is only one faith: Eph. 4:4-5).

Where do we get patience/endurance?

Since we are to be like our Father in full spiritual maturity, we are to endure like our Father endures. And He endures to bring His purpose and plan to pass. So we must endure to be like Christ who was all about doing the Father’s will. So, where do we get patience/endurance? How do we obtain it?

In order to endure, there must be something to endure. It is not any old “something.” It is not enduring a brain freeze caused by that bowl of vanilla ice cream. The endurance that God desires for us is the kind that Christ overcame—betrayals, temptations, sins against you, insecurities, fears, loneliness, deceit—real trials of the heart. Just think of the way everyone treated Christ; Peter denied Him three times. Paul killed His followers before his conversion. Trials can come before or after receiving Christ into our heart.

Trials can come through our own thoughts. I remember when I first became a Christian at 24. That first night a dark thought thrust through my mind. “You don’t really believe that He was raised from the dead, do you?” A frozen chill pierced my heart and shook me to the core. That was my first temptation. I brought the experience to my mentor, and he helped me get me back into His word.

Where does patience come from? “Tribulation works patience” (Rom. 5:3). Or “Suffering produces perseverance”/endurance (NIV). Or affliction and oppression bring forth endurance. It is tribulation that brings forth patience. In other words, one must go through the sufferings of Christ for tribulation to bring forth patience in our life. Patience is developed within us by enduring hardships in our Christian walk.

“The trying of your faith works patience” (James 1: 3). “The testing of your faith develops endurance” (NIV). These trials and tribulations bring about endurance, which we must have. For patience/endurance is a key spiritual component of the divine nature. We must endure like God endures in order to be like him. This patience/endurance is important, for only those who “endure to the end” will be saved (Matt. 10:22). Hard times are coming, brothers and sisters.

Adding patience/endurance is the catalyst that brings us to full maturity. Enduring the testings and trials is the rough road to agape love. “But let patience have her perfect work” [completed works of maturity]. We are to “go on to perfection.” And it is patience that brings about this spiritual growth to maturity in God’s life cycle in his people.

Agape love endures all things. Agape is the seventh addition. And it is patience/endurance that paves the way for God, who is Agape, to be fully formed in us.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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