The Greek word for "knowledge" in Second Peter 1:2,3 is "epignosis." Greek is a very expressive language. The same word as translated in English can have different meanings. Let's look at the word love, for instance.

In the English language when we say, "I love you," the word love covers everything. We could be saying, "I love cats, I love dogs, I love chicken, and I love you." The one word love is used regarding all the different kinds of love. But in the Greek language there are different words meaning "love." For instance, we could say, "I agape you," meaning to love with the God-kind of love, or "I phileo you," meaning to love as a friend.

The same is true with the word knowledge. In Second Peter 1:5 it says: "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge." Now I like how The Amplified Bible renders Verse 5. It says: "For this very reason, adding your diligence to the divine promises; employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy); and in exercising virtue develop knowledge (intelligence)."

The Greek word for knowledge, gnosis, means primarily "a seeking to know, an inquiry, an investigation, particularly of spiritual truth." You are to add to your faith inquiry and investigation, a seeking to know.

Seeking who? Seeking God and His Word - questioning Him to find out His will and direction. Not only must you be an individual who can walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), but you must always be inquiring to learn more about the things of God.

You should never take the position of saying, "I'm God's man or woman of faith and power, and I know it all!" When you are hearing someone preach on a particular subject, you may think you already know enough about it. So instead of listening to what is being said, your mind goes off in some other direction. But you need to shut off your mind and open your spirit to receive from the Lord. Listen to the Holy Ghost and let Him teach you.

You should be seeking to know the will of God and then believing Him for what He wants you to do. In fact, it is much easier to exercise your faith when you have inquired of the Lord and have come to know His will. Then there will be no doubt whatsoever and you will have no problem believing God in that area. You will get results every time. You are doing the intelligent thing by choosing to get into God's Word.

You are to add to your faith, but don't just be believing God for things. You may ask God, "What should I be believing You for?" But before getting an answer, you decide what you will use your faith for. God has given you faith, but He wants you to ask Him how to use it and then wait for His direction.

You may be using your faith to believe Him for things you need, things you want. But just because you want something does not mean you need it. Find out first if it is something you should be believing God for. If you always got everything you wanted, your faith could be shipwrecked. Some people cannot handle certain things, and there are some things people just don't need.

Instead of always using your faith to believe God for a new car, a new house, or more money, you need to use your faith and believe God to be operating in the knowledge of God. God wants you to use your faith to believe for things He wants done for other people. When your faith is used to give to others and help meet their needs, the principle of God's Word applies. Then you can know it will be given back to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.

It's time for us to walk in the vision God has given us to spread the Gospel to the world. It's time for us to care that millions of people are going to hell without the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

It's time that we look beyond the circumference of our own houses and cars and fine clothes. There is nothing wrong with these things; God wants His people to be blessed - and we are His children - but He wants us to look past our own borders. We have to forget about our own program and start looking to His program.

Seeking more knowledge of God and His desires will help to accomplish His will in our lives.

Source: Success Strategies From Heaven by Keith Butler.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers