"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."
2 Peter 3:8-14
A lot of verses today, but there is so much goodness packed in here, I wasn't sure where else I could break it. :) I love the idea that one day for God is like a thousand years for us. It's a whole perspective-resetting idea. That maybe we will live the whole of our lives on earth, and discover that we've only been gone for like half an hour. Our impatience and suffering here will seem laughable when we think of how long we truly had to endure it. :)
I like the idea that God doesn't want anyone to perish, and that he keeps working towards repentance. We often think in our impatience that God is delaying his coming, and that things need to change NOW. But he waits so that we all have more time to repent, and change. He doesn't want anyone to fail.
The end will come, and everything will burn, which is a scary thought... but I like that it is followed with the idea that we are looking for new heavens and a new earth. That the fire that destroys also cleanses and renews... like a phoenix, or the "baptism of fire" that the scriptures speak of, meaning the Holy Ghost. I also like the idea of the new place "wherein dwelleth righteousness." ... Haven't we all wanted to live in a perfect place at some point, or at least try? A place where there is no corruption or hate and where we are loved and accepted and welcomed?
Maybe we aren't ready to live there yet, because we have some corruption or hate or dishonesty or intolerance still churning inside of us... and if so, Peter suggests that we work on our holy conversation and godliness, and on promoting peace, and being clean from spot or blame. :) Which is a good idea. I want to live in a place like that, and I want to be the kind of person that could live there. That's the whole challenge of seeking Zion, or Heaven. It isn't just finding our way there. It's becoming the kind of person that we would want to meet there.
Today, let's remember that our earthly suffering is small compared to eternity. It doesn't mean that our emotions are worthless, but it helps to put it all into perspective. And let's work on being the people that we want to meet in that new heaven and that new earth. If we are, then our awesome reward will be that we will get to meet each other there... in about twenty minutes. :) See you then.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless."
2 Peter 3:8-14
A lot of verses today, but there is so much goodness packed in here, I wasn't sure where else I could break it. :) I love the idea that one day for God is like a thousand years for us. It's a whole perspective-resetting idea. That maybe we will live the whole of our lives on earth, and discover that we've only been gone for like half an hour. Our impatience and suffering here will seem laughable when we think of how long we truly had to endure it. :)
I like the idea that God doesn't want anyone to perish, and that he keeps working towards repentance. We often think in our impatience that God is delaying his coming, and that things need to change NOW. But he waits so that we all have more time to repent, and change. He doesn't want anyone to fail.
The end will come, and everything will burn, which is a scary thought... but I like that it is followed with the idea that we are looking for new heavens and a new earth. That the fire that destroys also cleanses and renews... like a phoenix, or the "baptism of fire" that the scriptures speak of, meaning the Holy Ghost. I also like the idea of the new place "wherein dwelleth righteousness." ... Haven't we all wanted to live in a perfect place at some point, or at least try? A place where there is no corruption or hate and where we are loved and accepted and welcomed?
Maybe we aren't ready to live there yet, because we have some corruption or hate or dishonesty or intolerance still churning inside of us... and if so, Peter suggests that we work on our holy conversation and godliness, and on promoting peace, and being clean from spot or blame. :) Which is a good idea. I want to live in a place like that, and I want to be the kind of person that could live there. That's the whole challenge of seeking Zion, or Heaven. It isn't just finding our way there. It's becoming the kind of person that we would want to meet there.
Today, let's remember that our earthly suffering is small compared to eternity. It doesn't mean that our emotions are worthless, but it helps to put it all into perspective. And let's work on being the people that we want to meet in that new heaven and that new earth. If we are, then our awesome reward will be that we will get to meet each other there... in about twenty minutes. :) See you then.
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