[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”on” specialty=”off”][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title admin_label=”Fullwidth Post Title” title=”on” meta=”on” author=”off” date=”on” categories=”on” comments=”off” featured_image=”on” featured_placement=”background” parallax_effect=”on” parallax_method=”off” text_orientation=”center” text_color=”light” text_background=”off” text_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.9)” module_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” title_all_caps=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” custom_css_main_element=”text-shadow: 0px 0px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);” title_font_size=”42px” \/][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” custom_width_px=”772px” use_custom_gutter=”off” padding_mobile=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cMay grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>2 Peter 1:2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Amplified Bible<\/p>\n Grace and Peace to you in Jesus\u2019 name!\u00a0 I have often used that line as a general salutation to begin letters.\u00a0 Paul uses this greeting repeatedly to open many of his New Testament letters.\u00a0 Because he uses them so often there must be significance and power that we may not realize. Peter gives us a good understanding of the anointing found in those words in the verse above.<\/p>\n God\u2019s grace is His freely giving us, with His love, those things that we do not deserve.\u00a0 It is His favor just poured out on us because He loves us and is pleased to pour out on us.\u00a0 Who doesn\u2019t want that to be a part of their life?\u00a0 Then look at what the peace means in this salutation.\u00a0 It is the peace that comes when we are experiencing that state of \u201cperfect well-being\u201d.\u00a0 Did you know that this is what the Lord desires for every day of your life?\u00a0 When was the last time you felt like this described your mental and emotional state?\u00a0 It can be yours and really should be yours.\u00a0 It is the peace that comes because all that you need is already prepared for you, waiting to be received by you.\u00a0 It means that you are spiritually prospering and growing in the truths of the Lord that leads to freedom and liberty in all areas, be they physical, emotional, financial, relational, or any other thing you may encounter.\u00a0 Finally, peace means that fear is not a factor in your daily life.\u00a0 Think about some things that cause you anxiety and stress on a daily basis.\u00a0 Specifically, what are you worried about today, what is troubling you?\u00a0 If you can operate in His grace and peace those anxieties will pass right through you and onto the Lord who will handle them through your faith.<\/p>\n Doesn\u2019t that sound like a place that you want to be?\u00a0 Peter also tells us how we can walk in this state of grace and peace both spiritually as well as physically.\u00a0 The key is in the ending of his verse where he tells us how these twin blessings of grace and peace are multiplied onto us.\u00a0 We can fully enjoy these daily gifts from God by our decision to have a greater relationship with Him.\u00a0 It is when we have the full personal knowledge of Him that grace and peacefully operate in us.<\/p>\n Knowing Him indicates a very close personal relationship with Jesus.\u00a0 In fact, it implies an intimate relationship with Him.\u00a0 Intimate in the same manner that husband and wife are intimate.\u00a0 They are exclusive of one another and have an accord, unity and harmony together that are more intimate than all other relationships.\u00a0 That is what we should strive for with Jesus.\u00a0 The more time we spend with Him in the Word and in quiet time listening to His and personal words and directives of love for us personally, the more we will experience that full measure of His grace and peace.<\/p>\n J Todd Hostetler<\/p>\n