Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Saturday, 20 January 2018 "Be Patient" by Jonathan Twitchell - 2 Peter 3:8-18

Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - WordAction - The Foundry Publishing House of Kansas City, Missouri, United States - The Global Church of the Nazarene for Saturday, 20 January 2018 "Be Patient" by Jonathan Twitchell -  2 Peter 3:8-18 
2 Peter 3:8 Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day[2 Peter 3:8 Psalm 90:4] 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins. 10 However, the Day of the Lord will come “like a thief.” On that Day the heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will melt and disintegrate, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up.
11 Since everything is going to be destroyed like this, what kind of people should you be? You should lead holy and godly lives, 12 as you wait for the Day of God and work to hasten its coming. That Day will bring on the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt from the heat; 13 but we, following along with his promise, wait for new heavens and a new earth,[2 Peter 3:13 Isaiah 65:17; 66:22] in which righteousness will be at home. 14 Therefore, dear friends, as you look for these things, do everything you can to be found by him without spot or defect and at peace. 15 And think of our Lord’s patience as deliverance, just as our dear brother Sha’ul also wrote you, following the wisdom God gave him. 16 Indeed, he speaks about these things in all his letters. They contain some things that are hard to understand, things which the uninstructed and unstable distort, to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
17 But you, dear friends, since you know this in advance, guard yourselves; so that you will not be led away by the errors of the wicked and fall from your own secure position. 18 And keep growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah. To him be the glory, both now and forever! Amen.
---
It’s always easier to wait for something when you know when it will arrive. As children, we counted the days until Christmas. As adults, we might count off the days until vacation, or follow the tracking information on an important purchase that is being shipped across the country.
However, Scripture indicates that Christ will come when we least expect it. All of those charts and timelines that try to predict Christ’s return are worth little more than the paper they are printed on. Jesus says that even He doesn’t know when that day will come! (see Matthew 24:36). It’s much more difficult to wait when we don’t know how long we have to wait.
So how do we live in the meantime? Peter exhorts us to be spotless and blameless. We ought to live holy and godly lives, looking forward with hope and anticipation for a better future. For while this earth may be destroyed, we trust in God’s promise for resurrected bodies in a new heaven and a new earth.
Let us wait with patience, for God is patient. And let us be patient with others as God is patient with us.

---

Hymn for Today: "When We All Get To Heaven" by Eliza E. Hewitt
1. Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
sing His mercy and His grace;
in the mansions bright and blessed,
He'll prepare for us a place.
Refrain: When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
2. While we walk the pilgrim pathway,
clouds will overspread the sky;
but when traveling days are over,
not a shadow, not a sigh.
Refrain: When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
3. Let us then be true and faithful,
trusting, serving every day;
just one glimpse of Him in glory
will the toils of life repay.
Refrain: When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
4. Onward to the prize before us!
Soon His beauty we'll behold;
soon the pearly gates will open;

we shall tread the streets of gold.
Refrain: When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we'll sing and shout the victory.
---
Thought for Today:  Adonai passed before him and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai] is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth; showing grace to the thousandth generation, forgiving offenses, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren, and even by the third and fourth generations.”(Exodus 34:6b-7a).
---
Please pray: That many people in the Netherlands will come to know Yeshua as the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach HaKodesh.
---
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now
---