STIR UP OUR MINDS
"This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance" (2 Peter 3:1). Peter’s message about the end of the present world and the beginning of the new earth is meant to stir up a hope in us and keep us from being anchored to this world.
This is the truth meant to "stir up our minds": "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved" (2 Peter 3: 11). All that people hold precious, all that they labor a lifetime to keep and enjoy, is going to dissolve in a sudden burning!
Try to imagine it: All Wall Street firms, all corporate offices, all banks, all computer headquarters—gone! The United Nations will vanish. State and federal capitol buildings will burn to oblivion. Fort Knox and all its gold will disappear. There will not be any more manufacturing plants, skyscrapers, bridges, tunnels, airplanes, trains. There will not even be any ashes left! God's Word clearly says that all these things "shall be burned up . . . dissolved" (verses 10-11).
The Greek word for dissolved here means "to loosen, break up and melt down." In other words, God is going to break up the party! He will pry people loose from everything they lust after and then melt it all in intense heat!
I want to share with you a truth that will help you understand why the secular workplace will never fully accept you if you are devoted to Jesus. It doesn't matter where you work—at a bank, in a school, cleaning the streets, wherever—you probably experience much rejection, condescension and misunderstanding. You receive little or no credit for what you do. You are persecuted, ridiculed, talked about behind your back. And you realize you will never be "one of the guys" or "one of the girls." So you never feel comfortable or truly secure. Why is this so?
It is all the Lord's doing! He permits it so you will not become hooked on this transient, passing world. Many Christians get too comfortable in this world and end up turning away from the Lord. Prosperity, acceptance and recognition capture their hearts and minds.
This is the truth meant to "stir up our minds": "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved" (2 Peter 3: 11). All that people hold precious, all that they labor a lifetime to keep and enjoy, is going to dissolve in a sudden burning!
Try to imagine it: All Wall Street firms, all corporate offices, all banks, all computer headquarters—gone! The United Nations will vanish. State and federal capitol buildings will burn to oblivion. Fort Knox and all its gold will disappear. There will not be any more manufacturing plants, skyscrapers, bridges, tunnels, airplanes, trains. There will not even be any ashes left! God's Word clearly says that all these things "shall be burned up . . . dissolved" (verses 10-11).
The Greek word for dissolved here means "to loosen, break up and melt down." In other words, God is going to break up the party! He will pry people loose from everything they lust after and then melt it all in intense heat!
I want to share with you a truth that will help you understand why the secular workplace will never fully accept you if you are devoted to Jesus. It doesn't matter where you work—at a bank, in a school, cleaning the streets, wherever—you probably experience much rejection, condescension and misunderstanding. You receive little or no credit for what you do. You are persecuted, ridiculed, talked about behind your back. And you realize you will never be "one of the guys" or "one of the girls." So you never feel comfortable or truly secure. Why is this so?
It is all the Lord's doing! He permits it so you will not become hooked on this transient, passing world. Many Christians get too comfortable in this world and end up turning away from the Lord. Prosperity, acceptance and recognition capture their hearts and minds.