2 Peter 3: Be Holy and Godly

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives - 2 Peter 3:8-11 NIV

How different our lives would be if we truly understood the temporal, earthly aspect.  All this, everything we hold dear will one day be nothing but ash and rubble.  I am especially mindful of this at this time of year, when we surround ourselves with all of the trappings of the holidays.  Trappings, that's exactly what they are, glitter and gloss that would lure us into believing they tell the story when in truth the story is one that is totally opposite.  It is the story of a baby, born to parents with nothing, in the stable of an inn, with a future that both looked and turned out to be bleak.  What kind of people would his followers be?  When we call ourselves Christians, are we being true to what the name implies?  As we're caught up in all the parties and gift giving, is there something we are missing?  Are we really living holy and godly lives?

1 Peter 5: Be Humble

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be self–controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. -1Peter 5:6-10 NIV

Like most, I find humility a difficult character trait to master.  I spend entirely too much time trying to justify my actions and proving my self-worth.  It's all in vain...there's that dreaded vanity encircling itself around my thoughts once more.  As much as I try to lift myself up it is a futile exercise.  Only God can lift us up.  Just as Peter says, the enemy is always trying to trip us up, and the easiest course is through our vanity.

It is most difficult to humble ourselves under adversity, especially adversity which is being inflicted on us through no fault of our own, but just because of who we are in Christ.  Our righteous indignation wants to fight back, but that is not the Christian response.  Our response should be to resist the enemies attempt to 'get our goat' and instead stand firm.  As Peter says, the God of all grace, will restore you.  It behooves us to show that grace and humility in all circumstances.  It's a powerful weapon against the attack of the enemy.

James 5: Be Patient

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 
You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. - James 5:7-8 NIV

Like most people in this modern day of microwaves, the internet, and text messaging, I am not very patient.  I operate simultaneously on several planes at warp speed.  So, I confess that I often get impatient waiting for the Lord's coming.  Doesn't he know we need him now?  Doesn't he know that things are almost at critical mass as far as evil is concerned on this earth?  Doesn't he know that we can't hold back the flood gates of debauchery and depravity for much longer before the earth is flooded with society's filth?  Doesn't he know our situation is desperate, that everything could be righted by his appearing?

Of course he knows.  It's all part of his plan, just as we are all part of his plan.  Many of us have been placed here, at this specific time, in this specific place for his plan.  We may be that finger in the hole in the dike that keeps all of the forces of evil from overwhelming the earth.  We can't lose faith, we can't lose patience.  All we have to do is stand firm.  Jesus himself, knew what we would face and addressed it in Luke 21:  “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.  For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.  Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” - Luke 21:34-36 NIV

Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.

Hebrews 11: Not Ashamed

He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. - Hebrews 11:26 NIV

This scripture brings to mind the brouhaha now ensuing over comments that Phil Robertson of the television show Duck Dynasty made to GQ magazine concerning homosexuality.  My guess is that Phil is not bothered by what the media thinks.  I don't think he is concerned about the financial aspect of his being suspended from being on the show, in fact, I doubt that any of the family is that concerned with the ramifications of not being in sync with the current standard for political correctness.  A lot of Christians today are afraid of being disgraced by contemporary society when we should be more concerned about being disgraced by God.  It is only because of God's grace that we have anything, that we have our freedom, that we have our financial security, that we have our very life itself.  The Robertson's have been blessed financially, but it is not because of A&E.  It is because of God and in all likelihood, God blessed them because he knew they would give him the glory even in spite of ridicule.  There is nothing to be ashamed of, as the Apostle Paul said, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. - Romans 1:16 KJV

Hebrews 10: Encouraging One Another

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. - Hebr. 10:23-25 NIV

Hebrews is one of the most difficult books in the Bible to digest.  Years ago, our weekly home group in New Jersey decided to do a study of Hebrews.  A year later, we were still slogging our way through the book.  We found that on any given night, we could tackle six to eight verses at the most.  The conversations and questions that arose from just a few verses were limitless.  All of the study did much to build our confidence in the gospel and each other.  If there ever was a time that we should be studying scriptures together it is now.  As worldly events and troubles swirl around us we need the encouragement that comes from the Word and from each other.  Weekly sermons are not enough.  To get God's Word deep inside requires seeking, studying, and questioning.  That is very difficult to do on one's own.  We must encourage each other to meet and work together.

Hebrews 8: A New Covenant

But God found fault with the people and said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. - Heb. 8:8-10 NIV

We all prove, time and time again, that it is impossible for any of us to keep the terms of the covenant with God without the cross, without Christ's blood sacrifice.  Just like Israel, we are unable to conform to God's laws on our own.  He has set the bar too high.  Not because he doesn't love us, but because he has always loved us and wants us to be complete in him.  The only way to be all that God created us to be is by surrender, surrender to the saving power of the gospel.  Through Christ, the covenant has been sealed.  It is an unbreakable covenant, made possible only by the blood.  Just as the sacrifice of the priests made atonement for the sins of the people and renewed the covenant with Israel, Christ's sacrifice secures the permanency of the covenant for us.

Hebrews 3: Encouragement

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. -Heb. 3;12-14 NIV

Sometimes, we have a tendency to be short on encouragement and long on judgment.  Is that because critiquing makes us feel better about ourselves?  It shouldn't, because I have found that most often the faults I see in others are manifest even more so in my own life.  If I accuse others of gossip, I need to re-examine my own words and even more importantly my thoughts.  Just as Jesus said that if one looks at another woman, they are guilty of adultery, if I harbor suspicious thoughts about others, even to myself, I am guilty of gossip.  Jesus sets the bar high so that we are forced to examine our own secret thoughts, our wishes, our desires.

The antidote for a criticizing nature is encouragement, lavish encouragement of those we would accuse of sins of which we are just as guilty.  Paul doesn't mean that we are to encourage others in their sins, but that we are to encourage others that they are on the same journey towards righteousness as we are.  Sometimes the best encouragement for someone else is our confession that we struggle with the same temptations.  Sharing in Christ means sharing the truth about ourselves so that others are encouraged and we experience our own growth at the same time.