The Rev. Chip Blackshear '09, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Corpus Christi, Texas

Scripture

2 Peter 3:11-18

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 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! 13 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. 15 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. 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.

Devotional

The one thing that most of us have to deal with in our lives is the fear of the unknown. We want to know what the future holds. Since the beginning of time people have tried to predict the future. As we approach a new year, people try to make predictions about what is to come.

One of the benefits of trusting the Lord Jesus and reading the Bible is that we already know what the future holds. Not that we know every detail, but we know how things turn out in the end. We know that the Christ will return and make things right, bringing the “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” That’s the focus of Advent. God came here in person and He’s coming back.

But we also learn from Peter that we are not to just wait around for Jesus to return. We are to “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” We are to live “lives of holiness and goodness.” And we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we anxiously await the Advent of the Savior, help us to commit our daily lives to holiness and goodness, seeking out those places where our thoughts and actions do not align with your Word, and bringing every thought captive to you. Amen.

The Rev. Chip Blackshear '09, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Corpus Christi, Texas

Scripture

2 Peter 3:11-18

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 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! 13 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. 15 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. 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.

Devotional

The one thing that most of us have to deal with in our lives is the fear of the unknown. We want to know what the future holds. Since the beginning of time people have tried to predict the future. As we approach a new year, people try to make predictions about what is to come.

One of the benefits of trusting the Lord Jesus and reading the Bible is that we already know what the future holds. Not that we know every detail, but we know how things turn out in the end. We know that the Christ will return and make things right, bringing the “new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” That’s the focus of Advent. God came here in person and He’s coming back.

But we also learn from Peter that we are not to just wait around for Jesus to return. We are to “be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” We are to live “lives of holiness and goodness.” And we are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we anxiously await the Advent of the Savior, help us to commit our daily lives to holiness and goodness, seeking out those places where our thoughts and actions do not align with your Word, and bringing every thought captive to you. Amen.