2 Peter 3:5-18
The Heavens existed long ago,
and the earth was formed out of water
And through water by the Word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
But by the same Word
the Heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not overlook this one fact,
Beloved,
that with the Lord
one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill His Promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish,
but that
all
should reach repentance.
10 But the Day of the Lord will come
like a thief,
and then the Heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved,
and the earth
and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved,
what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved,
and the Heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
But according to His Promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, Beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the Wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all His Letters when He speaks in them of these matters.
There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, Beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
Thy Will Be Done.
There is an amazing amount of grace and peace to trust the Lord. And in those days we live Mercy and Peace. Sometimes we are unable to grasp God's Wisdom and grapple with ignorance and are unstable, doubting like an ocean wave tossed in a storm. Unstable when in a place in our lives to ask with faith without doubting, like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
During the Great Depression, we learned as a culture when people looked a little like this, due to loss of housing, farms and their own statehood, we learned this:
The movies looked like this, and people found the coin to go to the movies, when washing clothes was a luxury due to homelessness.
I've always been interested in the movies. The sets, the clothing, the lighting, the implications in words, gestures and the subtle references to history and Roman Empire names. Why? I took a class on the History of Film and Filmmaking.
And what we see in film is educational or corrupting. It depends entirely how we soak our minds. I do not buy into the current trend to take our time on the computer to be taught one theory or that fiction is history and there are personalities in code. There are lessons, in drama, we learn the opposite, from the intended teaching.
Picking up the thread from the Great Depression,
The astonishing fact was one secure business was Dry Cleaning, being a Cleaner. People had to bring in their beaten down clothing and they had it cleaned for interviews. No suffering at all in being a Dry Cleaner. Not anymore with new fabrics. And some of the success of the Dry Cleaner Industry was paying Policemen in NYC to allow those thrown from their homes, to have all their belongings placed on the sidewalk securely by the Police, and then wait 15 minutes under their eye, to move back in to a home or apartment no one would be able to sell or rent out. And by having housing, no one owned or rented, then the economy began to heal.
This is the point I am coming to:
The mercy of hearts heals a Nation. The earnest and sincere desire for the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ to establish hearts, marriages, jobs, education, hopes and dreams for mercy in one another.
During the prosperous and, and, and bankrupt 1980s, Greed was labeled as good. And in this status quo, we started to be very much, stiff suits and stiff lips, stiff necks and looking out for what appeared to be all that. I loved the 1980s. Happy life. But the seeds on the ground could look pretty grim.
When God tells us
The Day of the Lord will come
like a thief,
and then the Heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved,
and the earth
and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
The hopes of life are dissolved. And in reality, the sky turning red, the moon falling away, mountains that fall, death stalled, people fleeing to the flattened mountains to hide, sounds like the Sun has been removed, damaged. It's fearsome.
And this includes our own time of becoming part of eternity, personally.
We find our faith tells us the best is yet to come. Personally, I know the dreams I had of seeing the ones I love in Heaven, have aspects of the prophetic, that are now reality. My faith has increased as this began to occur.
THE SCRIPTURES TELL US THE TRUTH
and GIVE US HOPE IN JESUS CHRIST
Some of this life, presently, is fearsome. Yet with bold overtures.
Finding the real goodness in difficult times.
When History records this very unreasonable and silly era, "follow the science, unless told otherwise is ok," time of meandering around oaths, duty, physical and bodily reality. Being told our imaginations are the god of it all. When saving the climate means an incredible rise in burning and shipping and pricing coal for use in homes and industry. And an incredibly silly economy, when people have even 4 jobs for 2 parents. This is all "improvements."
What is our silver lining?
What will History Record
about this Unreasonable, Silly Season?
How
will our culture
have a remarkable History During Our Lifetimes?
It has been a long time when school meetings were packed.
And authority was taken down specifically in notches for safety, decency and oversight.
It has been a long time when strangers took the time to help one another with specific problems in their lives. Personally, with personality.
It has been a long time when the evil comments were recognized as NOT the Voice of Reason, The Voice of Truth. And We Want Lives of True Mercy and Compassion. With the Authentic Rock Steady Love and Mercy of Jesus regarding Real Life.
It has probably been since World War II when people were concerned about evil.
This resilience is our Rock of God. His Gift. People function because they have Hope. We have Hope this is a phase, like pet rocks. Sheer might cannot hold an entire nation captive. Never for long. The Spirit of God resides in all of us. Be Bold. Have Hope. See the Compassion. Do not accept the unacceptable. Do this with strength. Gandhi did this by saying No. Being Brave and Confident is the Key in Christ Jesus.
It's been a long time
since the horizon of our culture has been so observed
and so prayed over.
The heart we have for our world and the children being born and raised. The hopes in Goodness prevailing, with our lives enfolding and upholding Goodness.
Stadiums like Billy Graham saw. We see. Incredibly larger than any Palestinian rally of 400 people. More than 52 male athletes participating with 35,000 professional athletic women.
The prayers of the Righteous have great weight with the Lord. It's a great thing that His Lord's Prayer asks our prayers to have sin forgiven. Forgive one another and Pray.
Abba, Father,
Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
guide the nations of the world
into the way of justice and truth,
and establish among
them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness,
that they
may become the Kingdom of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The Safety of one
who has faithfully
served this Nation.
And is Loved.
Eternal God,
in whose perfect Kingdom no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness,
no strength known but the
strength of Love:
So mightily spread abroad your Spirit,
that
all peoples
may be gathered under the banner
of the Prince of Peace,
as children of one Father;
to whom be dominion
and
glory, now and forever.
Amen.
Dwell in us, Father,
we ask in the Highest Name of Jesus.
Dwell, fully, in those we love
Help us to seek You
first
and we will finish well
in Jesus Christ.
We pray
Peace
for Israel
and Your Good Creation.
Continued Healing
and all Good Health!
Very Grateful for the help
we have received from each other
and God's Salvation.
VERY GRATEFUL
for all the help we have had.
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