From: "Phil Rembleski" <PHIl@rescuechurchofchrist.org>

To: "1111RESCUEMEMBERS"

Cc:

Sent: Wed, Dec 13, 2023 at 5:59 AM

Subject: 12-13-23 THOUGHTS

12-13-23   THOUGHTS

A friend wore a sweatshirt the other day that said “NORMAL isn’t coming back...  JESUS IS!”  Our reading this morning reminds us that we wait for a risen Lord!  It reminds us that all that seems so real today will perish and God’s new creation will come. Solomon says “man goeth to his long home.”  Eccl 12:5 KJV  Whether by death or Jesus’ Coming, these thoughts should determine our present behavior in this world!  “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,” verse 11.  We are to  “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,  15  and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation;”   We are to “ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  If our LONG HOME, is coming, do we live in our SHORT HOME now?   “Be DILIGENT” is the call!

2Pet 3:7-18    But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  8   But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.  11   Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,  12  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 14  Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,  15  and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,  16  as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,  18  but 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.

My Prayer:
O God, teach us long term thinking over short term.  May we see and live spiritual lives for You, and not fleshly lives for ourselves. Remove all selfishness from us.  Help us to meet the needs of souls around us in love, and open our mouths to sing the joyful song of salvation in Christ Jesus. Remove our passive comfort . Give us boldness and power of presence as we engage our world.  

In the name of our Savior,     Amen.