Friday slowdown

This song has been in my heart this week -- the all-changing, redemptive work of Christ on the cross.....

No matter the bumps
No matter the bruises
No matter the scars
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless
No matter the hurt
Or how deep the wound is
No matter the pain
Still the truth is
The cross has made
The cross has made you flawless

Could it possibly be
That we simply can't believe
That this unconditional
Kind of love would be enough
To take a filthy wretch like this
And wrap him up in righteousness
But that's exactly what He did

Mercy Me

What should we do to be prepared? Part IV

Christ's return could happen at any moment. We've been discussing what we should do, to be ready for His return....

Yesterday, we talked about God being in control; it is He Who controls time, and it's He Who knows when Christ Jesus will return. We just barely touched on this: we should keep sharing the good news of salvation.

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. (II Peter 3:9, NIV)

The first thing that jumps out at us here, is that our Lord will perform every single promise that He has made to us.  No "ifs, ands, or buts," as my grandma used to say!
The Lord is not "slack" some translations say. The word used here can be translated either way -- it carries with it the picture of someone who is loitering, hanging around, not taking care of business, perhaps always dragging in late. (Grin) That's not our Father! The Lord is not slack about anything! He is always taking care of business....He is always on the job.

The eyes of the Lord are everywhere,    keeping watch on the wicked and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15)

And He will always keep His Word.

The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” (Jeremiah 1:12)

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

The second thing that shouts at us from this verse is that our Father God has perfect patience. The word used is "longsuffering."
Ahhh, patience.
How many of us realize that we need more?
How many of us are scared to pray for it, since we know the way to develop patience is to roll up experience points in dealing with things that make us impatient? (Grin)
In the name of transparency, I'm going to admit that patience is not my best feature. It's not what I do best. But the good news is that God can give us more patience!
God described Himself in this way, when He met with Moses on the mount:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness," (Exodus 34:6)

And may God, the source of encouragement and patience, give you the same attitude among yourselves as the Messiah Yeshua had, (Romans 15:5,CJB)

We simply need to ask God for what we need:

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)

James gave us a simple, three-part formula:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, (James 1:19, NIV)

God is patient toward us. He doesn't give up on us. He doesn't get discouraged. He is patient.
His patience does have an end, though. The prophets of old and the book of Revelation tell us there is a time when there won't be any more opportunities to repent.
The time to turn away from our sins is now. The time to accept His gift of salvation, His mercy and His love, is right now.
Peter tells us unequivocally, God does not want anyone to perish. He wants all of us to come to repentance. He wants to have a relationship with all -- He wants all to go to heaven -- by turning to Jesus for forgiveness and cleansing.
How much does God want us to go to heaven? So much that He sent His only Son into the world to die for OUR sins. So much that Jesus humbled Himself to become a man, and took our sins to the cross. So much that the Holy Spirit is in the world today; if we are witnessing to other people, He will call them to His side.
We may think it's impossible, but there are people in our towns and in our communities that have never, ever heard of our Savior and His love. What an indictment of our lack of passion and our casual view of witnessing! Oh, how eager we should be to share the gospel!

As we finish our studies for this week, let's remember that the same Jesus Who died on the cross for us rose again and returned to heaven. And that same Jesus promised to come back! So until then, it's our joyful responsibility to be prepared: by stirring up our minds with scripture, by avoiding being sidetracked by scoffers, by counting on God's control and His timing, and by sharing the good news of His salvation.

It's a big job, but we can do it!
Holy Spirit, we know that with your help, we can stay on track and be prepared! Thank you for indwelling us daily and empowering us!

What should we do? Part III

As we await the return of Jesus, in His second coming to earth, we have seen that we should stir up our minds with the Scriptures, and be prepared to avoid scoffers' influence (and respond to them correctly).
We also see that our attitude should be one of remembering God is in control.
God's day of judgment is definite.
Remember verse 7 of our passage:

By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (II Peter 3:7)

In some translations, the verse reads a little differently:

But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men. (Douay-Rheims)

That word "perdition" carries a little more "oomph" than "destruction." Perdition means spiritual eternal ruin. Utter and complete destruction. God already judged the earth of that time with the Flood during Noah's day, and He is going to judge the earth again, but with fire. James Merritt, pastor and teacher in urban Georgia, said, "This world that was created by God in the beginning, will be cremated by God in the end. This world didn't come in with a big bang, but it is going out with one!"

Not only are God's plans definite, but they are on His schedule.

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. (II Peter 3:8)

This is pretty important. (Grin)
God created time.
God is bigger than time.
And God is in control of time.
It's not a new concept, but perhaps it is one that we forget, in our hurry-up-and-happen-at-a-frantic-pace-and-get-it-when-I-want-it world.... Moses told everyone the same thing long ago:

A thousand years in your sight    are like a day that has just gone by,    or like a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4, NIV)

Now, we could really get caught up in heated discussions about what is meant by one day....thousand years.... we could vehemently argue whether or not these are literal comparisons. We would go down rabbit trails of the Biblical week of creation, and whether or not six days (six thousand years) will pass until the Lord returns. Then, our thoughts would turn to the thousand-year reign (one day) of Jesus Christ here on earth, before the final victory over all sin, that is prophesied in the book of Revelation.
Many people spend copious amounts of their life studying and supporting one argument or the other. You can find articles on the apparent age of the earth, and whether or not the creation was completed with God making things appear much older than they were. They call that the "appearance of age" theory.
You know what I think?
I think that if we get embroiled in these discussions to the point that they sidetrack us from our most important task -- spreading the word of Christ's salvation -- then that's a waste of time.

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. (II Timothy 2:23-24)

Call me simple-minded, if you will, but I accept the world as it is, as He created it. It makes no difference to me what the real answers to these scholarly questions are. I believe that it's my job to live a life of testimony to the Christ Who saves me and fills me with His Spirit each day.

As for me, I will always have hope;    I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,    of your saving acts all day long—    though I know not how to relate them all. I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Since my youth, God, you have taught me,    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray,    do not forsake me, my God,till I declare your power to the next generation,    your mighty acts to all who are to come. (Psalm 71:14-15,18)

To me, the important thing to remember is that no matter which theory is correct, God is bigger than time. And He has promised us that He will return.
We can count on His control in all of life's ups and downs, whether He returns tomorrow, or a thousand years from now!

Prayer requests

When I think about prayer, many times I am thinking about the folks who study here; there are dear women across this earth who kneel at different times to pray for requests made known here. Are you nagged at times by the devil, who would dearly love to upset your faith by suggesting that you are not worthy to ask your request of God?
Are you bothered by Satan's whispers that it's just a small matter, and God has much more important things to do?
Or do you wonder if asking Him again and again to effect change is something that is either ineffective, or somehow annoying to Him?
Take encouragement from the Bible, dear friend:

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,But the prayer of the upright is His delight. (Proverbs 15:8)

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,To all who call upon Him in truth.  He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;He will also hear their cry and will save them.  The Lord keeps all who love Him,But all the wicked He will destroy.  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever. (Psalm 145:18-21) 

We may not be in the same room. We cannot give encouraging hugs, nor take the hand of a sister needing strength. But on our knees, we are close to each other, and close to Him.

And if He does not immediately answer?  Recently, I was reminded by a reader of these precious verses in Habakkuk:

Though the fig tree should not blossomAnd there be no fruit on the vines,Though the yield of the olive should failAnd the fields produce no food,Though the flock should be cut off from the foldAnd there be no cattle in the stalls,  Yet I will exult in the Lord,I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
 The Lord God is my strength,And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet,And makes me walk on my high places. Habakkuk 3:17-19a)

Join me in prayer, won't you? And let us know in the comments of any request we can pray for.

What should we do? Part II

The second thing we should do, to be ready for Jesus' return, is to know how to handle scoffers. Sorry, but putting our hands over our ears and humming is just not the best solution. (Grin)

We need to know how to not be sidetracked and how to respond.
Remember what Peter said in verses 3-7?

Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (II Peter 3:3-7)

The scoffers of Peter's day at least acknowledged that God created the universe! Their great error was in denying the judgment of God seen in the great flood.
Today, unbelievers go much farther - even denying that the world was created by Him. Atheism has gained a lot of ground in the world over the past few years. Just walk into a bookstore and browse some of the titles you see there: "The God Delusion," "God is not Great: How Religion poisons everything," and even "Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason." Or how about this one? "Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher became one of America's leading atheists"......oy vey.

Not that he was the first, but Darwin certainly gave propulsion to the anti-creation folks, when he laid out his "evolution" theory. And it IS JUST a theory! It is accepted by faith, just as creationism, since neither one can be verified by the accepted scientific processes of testing and duplicating results!

Things have certainly picked up speed since then, no? There are many people today (and there will be many more, I'm sure) who laugh and mock those of us who take the Word of God seriously. What do they call us? Bible thumpers, old-fashioned, ignorant, obsolete, right-wingers, and more. They say that our Bible is not only antiquated and out-of-date, but a downright fairy tale. And one of the biggest reasons that they say all of this is because they do deny the fact of creation.
Here's why: they have had to create all kinds of elaborate theories and concepts from "Big Bang" to alien intervention, in order to explain how this world came to be. Of course, we know that:

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3)

You see, if they don't push aside (Peter says they willfully forget) the "fable" of creation, then they must logically agree that the creation was made by a Creator. And if there was a Creator, then there must be an absolute standard of what's right, and what's wrong. And logically, if there's an absolute standard, then your life must fall into one of those categories -- either what you are doing is right, or it is wrong. So their problem is not a problem of their heads; it's a problem of their hearts. They don't want to admit creation and the Creator, because then they would not be able to do whatever they wanted. They can't walk according to their lusts, because if there are absolutes, then they would need to walk according to righteousness. They much prefer "the world according to Dostoevsky," who stated, "without God, anything is permitted."

Yes, scoffers can be extremely popular. When Stephen Hawking was alive, people would line up for a quarter of a mile to have the chance to get into an auditorium and hear him speak (Caltech, some years back). Sadly, he had been crippled by Lou Gehrig's disease, but sadder still is the fact that he rejected the reality of a universe created by God.
Bill Nye is another scoffer who has said that the creation and Noah's ark stories are harmful to children, and that the Bible is fiction. His popularity as "the Science Guy" is alarming, since his background is that of a mechanical engineer at Boeing, a Steve Martin look-alike winner, and a writer of comedy sketches. But in interviews, his words and statements are accepted as factual and scientific by those who hang on his every word.

Despite their popularity, these people are just plain wrong. They reject the Creator for the reasons we have outlined above. We must be careful that they do not influence us or our families to "buy in" to their disbelief. Students in grade school, high school and college are mocked and then saturated with the false science of evolution, humanism, and godlessness. We must pray for them and provide them with the support and the foundations they need in order to resist the mind-numbing groupspeak that will change their minds and their lives for the worst. Help them avoid the cookie-cutter mentality and bolster their efforts to remain individuals who are rooted in Biblical principles.

We must also avoid being discouraged by the scoffers' disbelief.  They are tragic, and the influence they have over our young people is alarming. But God is in control, and we can assist our young people in choosing good friends and in standing strong.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? (II Corinthians 6:14)

so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:18)

The final thing we should do regarding scoffers as we wait for the Lord's return, is to respond correctly.

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (Colossians 4:5-6, NASB)

Put simply, we should listen compassionately, consider prayerfully, and respond patiently. That's quite an assignment, I know, but God is gracious and will fill us with His Spirit so that we can respond to scoffers, instead of being influenced by them.
Next time we meet to study, we will look at more applications of Peter's instructions, as we wait for our Lord's return.

Friday slowdown

Every promise of His Word He will keep . . .

Praise the Lord!

So what should we do?

As we have been studying this passage (verses 1-10) in the third chapter of Peter's second letter to the Christians scattered by persecution, we definitely have seen things that would make us praise God and thank Him.

What are some solid things that we can take away from this chapter? Are there applications to make about how we should live our daily lives?
I'm glad that question came up!
The answer is a resounding "YES!"
Have we thought about the Lord coming back lately? Have we given it, as they say, a "second thought"? Or are we so wrapped up in our day-to-day lives that we just don't think about it? I believe that we should be thinking about our Lord's return.
Why?
Well, for one thing, it's an awesome thing to consider His promise to us:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  (John 14:3)

And for another, we don't know exactly when it will happen:

for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (I Thessalonians 5:2)

But it seems like a good idea to be prepared!
And I think that Peter gives us a good plan. Did you notice it in the verses that we've studied?
First, he tells us to "stir up our minds" with Scripture:

 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. (II Peter 3:1-2, NIV)

This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. (NASB)

Peter actually said about the same thing in chapter one, so I think he believed this to be an important reason for his letter. Several of the translations I checked used the words "stir up" our minds, and that made me want to dig deeper.
The word Peter used, in its original form, means to fully wake someone from a sound sleep. It is the same word translated "awoke" in the passage in Mark:

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:37-39)

Let's look at this.
Jesus was asleep in the boat, and they said, "Don't you care that we are perishing?"
Wonder how they said this?
Did they whisper to Him?
Well, no. I expect since they were afraid, they cried out to Him! Maybe several times. Maybe at an increasing level of decibels!
I believe that Peter was just as passionate when he said he wanted to wake us up, to stir up our minds with God's Word. I think Paul shared his passion when he wrote to Timothy:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (II Timothy 3:16)

That's a familiar verse, no? Again, let's dig in deeper. How is it profitable to us? I believe that from some of the prayer requests and correspondence that I've read, this may be something that some of us need to hear . . .
James tells us that the Bible is profitable as a mirror to see our spiritual lives:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25)

Paul said to the Ephesians that the Bible is a sword we can use to fight spiritual battles.

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, (Ephesians 6:17)

David told us in the Psalms that the Bible is a lamp to guide and direct us.

Your word is a lamp to my feet    and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Jesus said that the Word is spiritual bread to strengthen us.

But he answered, “It is written,“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)

And Peter told us too, that it's for our growth and development.

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— (I Peter 2:2)

How exactly does the Word of God do this?
Checking with our old buddy Peter again, he said we are born again by reading and believing the Word:

since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; (I Peter 1:23)

Jesus our Lord said we are cleansed by it:

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (John 15:3)

David said that we are both revived and made wise by it:

The law of the Lord is perfect,    reviving the soul;the testimony of the Lord is sure,    making wise the simple; (Psalm 19:7)

And he also noted that we are warned by it, and rewarded, too:

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;    in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:11)

Additionally, he said that we are satisfied by it:

How sweet are your words to my taste,    sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)

What a full quiver of promises for all of the people in our world who are not satisfied with their lives, their purpose, and their relationships! They have an emptiness that only God, our Father, can fill.

I'm certain that we can find more verses that will add to our knowledge of what the Word of God can do in our lives, and how it can strengthen, guide, and satisfy us. Perhaps that is a good study for us as individuals. Over the weekend, let's get out our journals and add to this list, and prayerfully, reverently praise God for the blessing of His Word!

Stirring up our minds with the Word is the first thing we should do, to prepare for our Lord Jesus' return. We'll study more of this next week!