Morning Musings-Future Home

Morning Musings with the boys at breakfast...






Peter says that since we look forward to being in the future "home of righteousness", that new Heaven and new Earth God is going to create, we need to be "making every effort" to prepare ourselves to live there.  

Just how does Peter purport for us to do this?  He enjoins us in 2 Peter 3:11-18, "to be found spotless and blameless and at peace" with God.  This is Christian living.

As we read God's Word and find out what He wants or doesn't want His children to do, say or think, then, by God's grace, we submit our desires to His will and obey.  Granted this is easier said than done as our human desires are often so strong.  BUT, and this is a BIG but, when we refer back to 2 Peter 2:3-4, we refresh our memories that we have God's "divine power and all we need to live this Christian life and participate in God's divine nature!"  Isn't that just so awesome!?

Further down in 2 Peter 3 we see that verse 17 asks us "to be on our guard".  Yes.  We need to be alert to the Holy Spirit's leading and His detecting areas in our thoughts and hearts of:  slander, greed, sinful anger and more that can creep into us and take us out for the count.  If we are "on guard" then we will be able to counterstrike with God's grace and make the effort to conduct ourselves in God's way.

Notice the word "effort".  This is a struggle.  Our human nature is opposed to God's nature.  However, and here we see God is so good to us, He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us be victorious overcomers in our efforts to live for Him.

Our alertness has to flow over to being aware of the false teachers that would come among God's people causing much UNrighteousness.  How would we know whether or not the teachings are false?  By our own measure of knowledge of God and His Word.  Saturate yourself in it. The importance of faithfully reading, meditating upon, memorizing and obeying God's Word aids and abets our donning God's righteous character and conduct to live a more sanctified life.  As we "aim for that perfection" (2 Corinthians 13:11), we garner more appropriate behavior for living in that home of righteousness some day.

Don't get me wrong, though, we can only have the ability to do this only after we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives.   There is absolutely nothing we can do to earn our "booking" in God's eternal home of righteousness.   So why the fuss then afterwards?  

A saying "God loves us as we are but loves us too much to leave us that way"; so He accepts us sinners as we are to receive His gift of salvation but then after that we are to live in such a way as to please Him and not ourselves.  Otherwise, we are still 'god' and not God our God.  We must live so that we do not give God, nor any of His family, a bad reputation.  He wants us to become more like Christ.  You see, God has given us His righteousness at time of salvation and expects us to live in a righteous manner thereafter.  How else will we know how to behave in our new home to come?

 

I feel peace when I think of that home of righteousness too (Revelation 21:1-4 and 22:1-6).  Just think, we do not have to worry that we will 'blow it'; so we can be relieved of failure or thoughts of failure once we get there.  God is ever gracious to us.

May you all grow in, and utilize, the abundant grace God gives each of His children and be "found blameless" as we look forward to life in the "home of righteousness" with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.  Can you imagine it, even a little?

                                    ~ERC  2016~