My morning wake up verse was 2 Peter 3:14 that is an element of how we should be living in “these last days”:
But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
2 Peter 3:10-14 NLT
The Life Application Study Bible comments on this verse:
We should not become lazy and complacent because Christ has not yet returned. Instead, we should live in eager expectation of his coming. What would you like to be doing when Christ returns? That is how you should be living each day.
And our family devotion from Sticky Situations this morning was about not caving to peer pressure that might tempt us into compromising a life that is
pure and blameless in his sight.
And doing this by making:
every effort to be found living peaceful lives
Here is the devotional:
And here is the answer key:
It references two passages in Deuteronomy for reference:
And when you look up into the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the forces of heaven—don’t be seduced into worshiping them. The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.
Deuteronomy 4:19 NLT“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord . It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you. But you must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you are about to displace consult sorcerers and fortune-tellers, but the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.”
Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NLT
And we can find many pages in the New Testament as well that teach us about Holy Living, about Christian Living:
If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 5:47-48 NLT
And a sermon that I found from Spurgeon this morning on thos very verses proves powerful on this subject: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1029.cfm
Spurgeon speaks plainly and clearly on this topic:
We are justified by faith, and not by the works of the law. The merit by which a soul enters heaven is not its own; it is the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am quite sure that you will all hold me guiltless of ever having spoken about this great doctrine in any other than unmistakable language; if I have erred, it is not in that direction. At the same time, it is a dangerous state of things if doctrine is made to drive out precept, and faith is held up as making holiness a superfluity. Sanctification must not be forgotten or overlaid by justification. We must teach plainly that the faith which saves the soul is not a dead faith, but a faith which operates with purifying effect upon our entire nature, and produces in us fruits of righteousness to the praise and glory of God. It is not by personal holiness that a man shall enter heaven, but yet without holiness shall no man see the Lord. It is not by good works that we are justified, but if a man shall continue to live an ungodly life, his faith will not justify him; for it is not the faith of God’s elect; since that faith is wrought by the Holy Spirit, and conforms men to the image of Christ...
Precepts are not given to us as a way to obtain life, but as the way in which to exhibit life. The commands of Christ are not upon the legal tenor of “this do and live,” but upon the gospel system of “live and do this.” We are not to be attentive to the precepts in order to be saved, but because we are saved. Our master motive is to be gratitude to him who has saved us with a great salvation. I am sure that every renewed heart here will feel no opposition to the most holy precepts of our Lord...
The regenerate never rebel against any precept, saying, “This, is too pure;” on the contrary, our new-born nature is enamoured of its holiness, and we cry, “Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth it. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes.”
Even though we find that when we would do good evil is present with us, yet our inmost soul longs after holiness, and pines to be delivered from every evil way. At any rate, Dear friends, if it be not so with you, you may well question whether you are indeed the children of God. My desire, this morning, is to insist upon the precepts which tend to holiness, and I pray the Holy Spirit to excite desires after a high degree of purity in all believing, hearts.
Too many persons judge themselves by others; and if upon the whole they discover that they are no worse than the mass of mankind, they give themselves a mark of special commendation…
they go to their place of worship as if they were saints, and bear the name of Christian as if it belonged to them; they share in Christian privileges, and sit with God’s people, as if they were truly of the family, their marks and evidences being just these, that they do about as much upon the whole as other people, and if they are not first they are not altogether last. The nests of such people ought to be grievously disturbed when they read the chapter before us, for there the Master insists upon a higher standard than the world’s highest, and tells us that except our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven...what is the indwelling Spirit within us? Is he not Omnipotence itself? The Holy Ghost who has come upon us is no influence which might be limited in its efficacy; but he is a divine person, who dwelleth with us and shall be in us. Who shall set any limit to the power of that man in whom the Holy Ghost himself dwells? All believers, are must never dare to say, “That habit we cannot give up.” We can and must overturn all the idols in our hearts. We may never say, “That height of devotion I can never reach.”…
We are never to sit down and say, “I must be a sinner up to such-and-such a point; I cannot get beyond that attainment.” What saith the Scripture? “Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;” after this perfection we are to strain, and towards this mark of our high calling we are to press. God who dwells in us is working in us daily to will and to do according to his own good pleasure, so that we can do what the dead sinner cannot do; we can do what sinners, without the Spirit, cannot do; and, if we can, we must. Surely, it is required of a man according to what he hath, and where much is given much will be required. Let us take care that we quench not the Spirit, that by our unbelief we restrain not his divine energies; but let us strive, God striving in us, after the highest conceivable standard of holiness and of separation from the world. O Spirit of God, do thou help us that we may be sanctified by thy grace, spirit, soul, and body.
Oh, Holy Spirit of God, help us so that we will be sanctified by your grace, made holy as you are holy, in our Spirit, Soul, Body, Mind, Words, Actions and innermost Being. Amen.
Harold J. Ballinger 