2 Peter 3:8-18 New International Version
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
God graciously gives us faith to believe in Jesus.
And we want to keep going forward in faith and not become stagnant or slide backward.
But we have this assurance in God’s Word:
just as believing faith in Jesus comes to us as a gracious gift from God through the Holy Spirit, growing in faith also comes to us through God’s grace and the Spirit’s work.
Now, we can’t make ourselves grow spiritually, but that doesn’t mean we are totally passive either.
Somehow we participate with the Holy Spirit in growing spiritually.
In today’s verses, Peter urges his readers and us to make every effort to grow.
The Spirit works in us to rototill the sin hardened ground around our souls, to cultivate our faith when we listen to God’s Word, through our study, prayer and meditation and hearing it proclaimed in times of worship.
The Spirit works in our hearts when we turn to our Lord and Savior in prayer for our needs and for the needs of our world. The Spirit also constantly works in us to respond to opportunities to show God’s love and share our faith with others.
Encouragement and inspiration to grow in faith can’t be said any better than the Spirit has put it through Peter: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever Amen!”
Soon and Very Soon?
2 Peter 3:8-9 Amplified Bible
8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
“Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King.”
We will soon sing that song at an upcoming worship service.
I pray the way the people sing it will leave no doubt they really believed it.
But how soon?
But how soon? are we going to see the King.”
Not any human King!!!
But “Our Heavenly King?”
Nearly two thousand years have passed since Jesus promised his disciples that he was going to come back.
For those two thousand years God’s people have been asking, shouting, crying “Lord, when will you return?”
But he has still not returned.
Already in the first century some believers doubted Jesus’ return.
They had believed the promise of his coming, but times were hard and persecution was severe.
Scoffers were asking, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?”
They had no answer.
Right now …. in this exact moment …. we also do not have an answer.
Mark 13:28-37 Amplified Bible
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: as soon as its branch becomes tender and it puts out its leaves, you recognize that summer is near. 29 Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, know [for certain] that He is near, right at the door. 30 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this generation [the people living when these signs and events begin] will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth [as now known] will [a]pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32 But of that [exact] day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son [in His humanity], but the Father alone.
33 “Be on guard and stay constantly alert [b][and pray]; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. 34 It is like a man away on a journey, who when he left home put his servants in charge, each with his particular task, and also ordered the doorkeeper to be continually alert. 35 Therefore, be continually on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 [stay alert,] in case he should come suddenly and unexpectedly, find you asleep, unprepared. 37 What I say to you I say to everyone, ‘Be on the alert [stay awake and be continually cautious]!’”
Sometimes we might wonder too.
We hear about persecution and ask, “Why doesn’t Jesus come to end it?”
We will constantly continuously read about war, conflict, poverty and hunger and deprivation, we will inevitably think and we will rage, “When will it end?”
We hear about natural disasters and tragedies, and we wonder why Jesus does not end it all by coming back.
2 Peter 3:8-9 Amplified Bible
8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
The answer Peter gives is that Jesus has not forgotten about his promise to return. He is “not slow as some count slowness, in keeping his promises.”
Instead, he is [extraordinarily] patient!
not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Jesus’ description of the Good Life (The Be-attitudes) and considered as his remarkable description of WHO disciples of Jesus become as they follow him closely (salt and light)
Matthew 5:14-20 Amplified Bible
14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the [a]Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen] will pass from the Law until all things [which it foreshadows] are accomplished. 19 So whoever breaks one of the least [important] of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them, he will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness (uprightness, moral essence) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Now we turn our thoughts to Jesus’ interpretation of a “greater righteousness”.
In Jesus’ day, hundreds of laws were built around interpreting the Torah.
The Jewish people under Roman occupation could not follow all of these requirements perfectly, and there was much confusion about what being faithful to the Law looked like, each Rabbi offering his own interpretations.
Jesus deals with this confusion by placing these requirements in their historical context, validating the importance of the Law and the Prophets, and offering clarity around how to understand and apply them to our day to day living.
In essence, he helps us see that his invitation to live in the Kingdom of GOD is the only reasonable strategy for understanding and living the BLESSED LIFE.
And today God wants his church to call people back to him.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit …..
Praying …..
Psalm 15 Amplified Bible
Description of a Citizen of Zion.
A Psalm of David.
15 O Lord, who may lodge [as a guest] in Your tent?
Who may dwell [continually] on Your holy hill?
2
He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness,
And speaks and holds truth in his heart.
3
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4
In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];
5
He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],
And does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 