Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday in July. We had Kai and Hailie last weekend and this weekend we have Brooks our oldest grandson. Melanie and her 2 children are also here so we have a full house here in Thomaston and it is GREAT! We miss having kids around us. I love a full house! My nephew Jason is still in Japan, so keep him in your prayers. We serve a mighty good God and His Grace and Mercy are ever abiding!
I am continuing my journey in 2 Peter 3 verses 1 - 18, "Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 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. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 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.” 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. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 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. 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. 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. 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. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. 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. 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. 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. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen.". Amen! May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
The first time I read this chapter this morning, I was not struck by the POWER of what Peter was saying. By the third time I started to get what Peter was talking about. There are those among us who would have you believe that that scriptures are not the inspired Word of God. These scoffers would have you believe that there is no God; that He is a figment of our need to imagine a Power greater than ourselves. Be careful of these folk. They are "good" people; they live for the most part moral lives and they are being deceived by Satan just like Eve and Adam were. God is true to His Word. Ask Eve and Adam. God commanded that they NOT eat of the Tree of Knowledge for they would surely die and folk are dying every day. When these folk die they wake up to a new reality--it will either be in the presence of God through Christ or it will be an eternity without God. That is what the scripture says and there is no myth about it. I believe that God would have put an end to all of this but with each generation, more people come to know and love Him which is why we were created in the first place. To know Him and to love Him though repentance and through acceptance of Christ as the payment for the sin of disobedience. You have to ask yourself, what have you done today to forward the Kingdom of God to a confused world. A world of Attention Deficit folk! Were you a beacon of light or were you just another bump in the road helping others to stumble. Sometimes its good to look into yourself.
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Stephanie
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