The Context
The context of this is the last days before the return of Christ. There will be people who will scoff at the promise of the return of Christ because He has not yet returned for His bride. But we read in 2 Peter 3 that with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. And the reason our Lord still has not returned for His bride, and to judge the earth, is because He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. And I give an Amen to that one. I feel the same way.
2 Peter 3:14-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)
“14Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.
“15Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him. 16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
“17Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. 18But 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. Amen.”
Be Ready
Don’t take for granted Jesus’ slowness in not yet returning to the earth to judge the earth, and the people of the earth, and to take His faithful bride to be with Him for eternity, and then assume that you can keep on in deliberate and habitual sin and it won’t be counted against you. Instead, make every effort to be found at peace with God – spotless and blameless in His sight. And how do we do that? By God-persuaded faith in Jesus we deny self, die to sin, and now follow our Lord in obedience to His commands in holy living.
Patience Brings Salvation
The longer Jesus takes to come back, the more opportunity there is for the people of this earth to be delivered out of their bondage to sin and to now serve the Lord Jesus Christ with their lives in obedience to His commands. And I am almost certain that most of us have someone in our lives who we love dearly who has not yet surrendered their lives to Christ to obey Him and to turn from their sins. So our prayer is for their salvation, for we grieve over the idea that one day they might end up in hell for lack of faith in Christ.
Paul’s Letters
The apostle Paul was not one of those preachers who said what people’s itching ears wanted to hear so that they would like him. He did not have the “gift” of charm, from what I understand, but he spoke directly and frankly to the people in letting them know what God requires of us all who profess the name of Jesus. He was loving. He was kind. But he definitely was not a people pleaser, and he did not soften the truth of the gospel to make people feel good. He did not withhold the truth so as to not hurt people’s feelings.
Paul wrote with the wisdom God gave Him even if the people rejected him, persecuted him, mistreated him, stoned him, and falsely imprisoned him, etc. Why? Because He loved God, He obeyed God. And because He believed God’s Word, and He knew if the people did not repent and obey God they would end up in hell, and not heaven, he spoke truth. For he cared more about their salvation from sin than whether or not they would approve of him. And I share what I share with you each day for the same reasons.
Do You Know?
Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven (see Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1-3).
If You Do
Knowing the truth of what God’s word teaches and doing what His word teaches we must do are not one and the same. There are a lot of people professing faith in Jesus Christ who have head knowledge about Jesus and about His requirements of us who profess His name, and some of them are pastors of church congregations, too. But faith in Jesus is not just in the knowing, but it is in the doing. So if we do not repent (turn from) our sins and obey God, in practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
Be On Your Guard
An Original Work / November 3, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Blessed Be Your Name
by Matt Redman
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I’ll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s ‘all as it should be’
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name …
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name
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