With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8

Today’s Devotion

Until 1967, units of time were scientifically measured by astronomical patterns: the spin of the earth and its revolution around the sun. But over the centuries, a problem emerged. The earth is actually slowing down in its orbit. Scientists discovered that the unit of the second is longer than it used to be. Gradual though this is, since the days of Christ, the world has “lost” a full three hours of measured time.

Of course, God created the ways we measure time: the astronomy of orbits and revolutions. Scientists’ calculations may be squishier than we’d thought, but we can stand firmly in Peter’s words: “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8). He is arguing against doubters who complained that Jesus hadn’t returned yet: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness” (v. 9). God works in His own time for His own purposes.

There’s more! God’s “timing” is born out of His love: “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish” (v. 9). Jesus will return, and God wants everyone to have the opportunity to come to Him. This is an expression of His love. Meanwhile, we’re to “make every effort to be found spotless” (v. 14). 

Time, God, and love are linked together: In these last days God’s love is never squishy. It’s the one sure thing.

Reflect & Pray

How does thinking of God and time affect your own life? How might you live differently in light of this?

Dear God, it’s mind-boggling when we try to figure out the concept of time, but please help me embrace that my times are in Your hands.

Today’s Insights

The apostle Peter, like other New Testament writers, was a student of the Old Testament. The book of 1 Peter contains several Old Testament quotes (see 1 Peter 1:24-25 [Isaiah 40:6-8]; 1 Peter 2:6-8 [Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14]; 1 Peter 3:10-12 [Psalm 34:12-16]; 1 Peter 4:18 [Proverbs 11:31]). And even though his second letter doesn’t quote from specific Old Testament passages, 2 Peter 3:8 is a clear allusion to Psalm 90:4: “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” This psalm contains numerous references to time, contrasting God’s eternal nature with man’s transience. Because God loves us, we can rest securely, knowing that our times are in His hands and His timing is perfect.

Through Jesus, we can live without guilt, free from the weight of past mistakes 1 John 1:5-9

For some of us, guilt is a constant companion. We live under the weight of past mistakes and the fear of future wrongdoing. Even if we try to move forward, self-reproach tags along.

Guilt that results from breaking biblical or man-made laws is legitimate. When we transgress, the Holy Spirit points out what is wrong and how to correct it. Then, in response to our confession, God offers us forgiveness and cleansing from guilt every single time (Psalm 32:5).

But some guilty feelings we experience are false. Where do they originate? There are several answers. Through lies and accusations, the enemy seeks to replace inner peace with turmoil and joy with discouragement. Legalism, too, can be a source of guilt. God’s Word establishes the way we are to live, but some Christians and churches impose additional rules. Childhood experiences can also bring out the negative emotion of guilt. Whether this stems from the aftermath of traumatic events or the feeling that we didn’t meet parental expectations, the experience can prompt us to judge ourselves harshly.

Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If you struggle with false guilt, ask the Lord to help you remember who you are in Him.

“Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.” (Philippians 1:7)

Writing from prison in Rome some 10 years after he helped found the church in Philippi, Paul still felt such a bond with those believers that he insisted they “partake” with him in his “defence and confirmation” of the gospel ministry.

The key words here are “defense” (Greek apologia) and “confirmation” (Greek bebaiosis). Both words are not common in the New Testament text. Together, they describe a mission attitude that should anchor our approach to ministry.

Apologia, in its various forms, is most often translated “answer.” Peter used this term in a passage that urged Christians to be “ready always to give an answer [as in, an answer that is logically sufficient] to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Paul used apologia twice in his letter to the Philippian church; both times stressed the “defence of the gospel” (Philippians 1:17).

Bebaiosis and its associated terms convey the meaning of firmness or having been established. Paul encouraged the Colossian church to be “rooted and built up in [Christ], and stablished in the faith” (Colossians 2:7). Peter tells us to “make [our] calling and election sure [same word, bebaiosis]” (2 Peter 1:10).

Thus, our witness and declaration of “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16) must be with logic (apologia) to defend the precious truth and with an eye to establish (bebaiosis) that truth in the mind and heart of those newly converted. The gospel tells who Christ is (the Creator, the incarnate Word, and coming King) as well as what He did on Calvary. HMM III

“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” Isa. 66:13

A mother’s comfort! Ah, this is tenderness itself. How she enters into her child’s grief! How she presses him to her bosom, and tries to take all his sorrow into her own heart! He can tell her all, and she will sympathize as nobody else can. Of all comforters the child loves best his mother, and even full-grown men have found it so.

Does Jehovah condescend to act the mother’s part? This is goodness indeed. We readily perceive how He is a father; but will He be as a mother also? Does not this invite us to holy familiarity, to unreserved confidence, to sacred rest? When God Himself becomes “the Comforter” no anguish can long abide. Let us tell out our trouble, even though sobs and sighs should become our readiest utterance. He will not despise us for our tears; our mother did not. He will consider our weakness as she did, and He will put away our faults, only in a surer, safer way than our mother could do. We will not try to bear our grief alone: that would be unkind to one so gentle and so kind. Let us begin the day with our loving God, and wherefore should we not finish it in the same company, since mothers weary not of their children?

More than seventy years after Sheshbazzar had led the first exiles back to Jerusalem, according to the decree of Cyrus, the Lord stirred up Ezra, a priest, to conduct another company to the beloved city. Leaving all the ease and comfort of the land in which they dwelt, believing men and women joined together to return to the sacred place where their fathers had aforetime Worshipped the true God. The company started with the full sanction of Artaxerxes, the Persian king. Ezra, acting as his own historian, says—

Ezra 8:15-35

Ezra 8:15-17

Ezra felt that they must have the priests of the Lord with them. What can righteous men do without the ordinances of religion?

Ezra 8:18-21

He begins well who begins with prayer.

Ezra 8:22, 23

Prayer is both shield and sword. Faith in this case bore herself bravely in refusing to com- promise the honour of God by begging protection of the Persian king.

Ezra 8:31

He travels safely who has the Lord of Hosts for his convoy.

Ezra 8:32-34

Care should always be taken that all that belongs to the Lord’s house should be exactly accounted for.

Ezra 8:35

Thus with devout hearts they commenced a new and happy era for Jerusalem. Those who act with an eye to the glory of God shall receive honour at his hands.

My soul shall pray for Zion still,

While life or breath remains,

There my best friends, my kindred dwell,

There God, my Saviour reigns.

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men. (1 Thessalonians 4:12)

I must take issue with those in the churches who insist that the worshiping saints do not get anything done but worship! Such an attitude reveals that they have not done their homework. The beautiful part of worship is that it prepares you and enables you to zero in on the important things that must be done for God.

Listen to me! Practically every great deed done in the church of Christ all the way back to the apostles was done by people blazing with the radiant worship of their God!

The great hospitals and the mental institutions have grown out of the hearts of worshiping and compassionate disciples. It is true, also, that wherever the church has come out of her lethargy and into the tides of revival and spiritual renewal, always the worshipers were back of it.

A survey of church history will prove that it was those who were the yearning worshipers who also became the great workers and the selfless servants. If we give ourselves to God’s call for worship, everyone will do more for the Savior than they are doing now!

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 2 Corinthians 13:5

We are tested in school and sometimes in the workplace. God even tested Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4; 20:20; Deuteronomy 8:2). In general, we have a negative attitude toward being tested—and tend to avoid tests when we can.

The idea of testing ourselves is a unique idea found in Scripture. The apostle Paul exhorted the Corinthian Christians to test themselves, to examine whether they were genuine Christians or not. Why is that important? Because a day is coming when many who profess to be Christians will fall away from the faith when their faith is tested (Matthew 24:10-12; 1 Timothy 4:1). Jesus even said that not all who profess faith in Him will enter the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). The time to examine the genuineness of one’s faith is before the test comes.

Don’t let this day pass without knowing for sure that you are in Christ and that He is in you. If you haven’t already, embrace Him as your Lord and Savior today. 

We do believe in eternal security, but we do not believe in eternal presumption. Let a man examine himself.
Donald Grey Barnhouse

Self-Examination – 2 Corinthians 13:5-6

No one said a word to [Job], because they saw how great his suffering was. Job 2:13

Today’s Devotion

“Daddy, my head hurts.” “Daddy, I’m so cold.” “Daddy, can you rub my feet?”

A high fever, chills, and body aches recently descended cruelly upon my teenage daughter. She wanted me to make it better. But mostly she just wanted me near. Eventually we took her to urgent care. “Virus,” we were told. Nothing to do but ride it out.

I sat with my sick girl for hours that day. Rubbing her feet. Getting her medicine. Desperately wanting her to feel better. Occasionally, my selfish side complained, This is hard. Indeed, it is hard to sit with people’s suffering, to witness their hurt up close.

Job’s friends saw his suffering up close too. These three guys are often—fairly!—criticized for their later poor treatment of Job. But it’s easy to forget that, initially, they simply sat with him: “They sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was” (Job 2:13).

Jobs’ friends remind us that when someone we love is hurting, it’s our presence—our being there, whether we speak or not—that often matters most. Their example reminds us that even though we may not always know what to say, simply sitting with someone in their suffering may be the greatest gift we can give.

Reflect & Pray

Who do you know who’s struggling? How might you be present for them?

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to save our suffering world. Please help me to see those whom You might have me encourage amid their struggles and pain.  

Obadiah is the least-read book of the Bible. Check out this book from Reclaim Today to help navigate the book of Obadiah and learn to hear God’s voice through it.

Today’s Insights

Job’s friends were doing very well in their mission of comfort until they started talking. For seven days, they were a silent presence with their suffering friend (Job 2:13). Silence tends to make us uncomfortable, so we may try to fill that void with words. But in times of great suffering (like Job’s), words alone are often inadequate to express the comfort or help that the hurting person truly needs. We can credit Job’s friends for their sacrificial seven days of silent presence, but they caused hurt when they began to offer answers that didn’t ease Job’s hurt, pain, or loss. We can ask God to give us wisdom to know when to speak and when to offer the comfort of a silent presence with those who are hurting.

Like a master sculptor, God carefully chisels away anything in us that doesn’t reflect His character Hebrews 11:32-40

Most of us would love to have the heroic faith of the saints mentioned in Hebrews 11—it’s exciting to read about the great victories and accomplishments of those who relied upon the Lord. But the descriptions in verses 36-38, well, those are another matter, if we’re being honest. Enduring the process God uses to develop this kind of trust is less attractive.

Picture the Lord as a master sculptor standing before a block of marble. That slab is you. Envisioning the hidden work of art within the rock, He lovingly and carefully chips away at everything that does not fit the masterpiece He’s creating.

One of the first areas the Lord deals with is your character. His goal is to shape you into the image of His Son. And His chisel lays bare roots of sin and selfishness.

When anything or anyone becomes more important to us than the Lord, we have an idol in our life. To protect us, God sometimes uses adversity to strip away everything we have relied upon so that we will cling only to Him.

The chisel hurts—it sometimes feels as if God is taking away everything we hold dear. But if we trust Him and yield to His shaping tool of adversity, our faith will be purified and strengthened through challenging times (James 1:2-4).