Daily Bible Verses for 4/8/2016

Bible Verse
Beloved, do not forget that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but is long suffering not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance. The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; Therefore, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for the coming of the day of God.

Reading Notes
We should always remember Peter’s words above. Sometimes we can begin to doubt the word of God because things are not happening on our schedule or they do not happen in the order we want them to occur. Opportunities don’t arise when we want them to, or we encounter trials and tribulation. And for these reasons and many others, we think God is not listening or has forgotten about us. On top of that we see the wicked prosper and wonder where is God. However, we have to remember to keep eternity in mind and remember when God looks at us, He does so with eternity in mind. Moreover, we mustn’t forget that God is sovereign and in control and God will always work things out for our good, according to His eternal purposes, not according to our desires which are based on the things of this world. And that’s the heart of the message of this passage, which is we should keep eternity in mind and look at ourselves and our lives in light of where we will spend eternity. Here in these passages Peter uses a simile to show us that God does not look at time the same way we do, and what we think is a long period of time is really not in God’s eyes.

In addition, we must not be surprised when the wicked prosper in a world, which itself is wicked and at enmity with God. More importantly, we must never forget when all is said and done, where we will spend eternity. Because of Jesus and our faith in Him we will spend eternity in His kingdom. We will spend eternity in the presence of Jesus face to face and not in the world we see today. Lastly, we can’t forget that what we want or desire from this world today will have no meaning when we see Jesus face to face. And the world we live in today, no matter how wonderful we think it can be, is not only passing away, but is nothing compared to what awaits us. What matters is what we do with what God has given us now, and how we use that for His kingdom work and for the sharing of the Gospel with those who are lost. In this passage Peter says, “not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance.” Peter is not teaching universal salvation here, what Peter is saying is that God’s desire is for all to be saved, however, there reality is the majority of people will not be saved, why? Because they reject Jesus Christ and the salvation, which only comes by faith in Him. Therefore, it’s all the more urgent that we are constantly about our Father’s business, which is spreading the Good News of salvation in the name and the person of Christ Jesus our Lord.