“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,”  2 Peter 3:11

The people of God are expected to be different from the world; they profess to have another Spirit in them, and to be the sons of God. They believe the present frame of things is to be dissolved. They look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. They are strangers and pilgrims here. What manner of persons then ought we to be? Surely we ought to set light by the things of time, and aim at the things which are eternal. We ought to be watchful, prayerful, diligent, holy, patient, thankful, and expectant. We ought to be contented with such things as we have; to give all diligence to prove our title, make sure of our election, and rejoice in our destination. We ought to walk as Jesus walked. To live as Paul lived, dying daily. Let us ask, this morning, Do we habitually believe that present things will soon be dissolved? If so, are we acting according to the same? Are we laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven? Are we doing good, that we may be rich in good works..? Is the coming of Jesus the object of our desire and hope? ( James Smith, 1840)

 Then let us wait the sound
 That shall our souls release;
 And labour to be found
 Of Him in spotless peace,
 In perfect holiness renew’d,
 Adorn’d with Christ, and meet for God.

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.” Psalm 81:13, 14
If God’s people would have taken His word seriously and obeyed Him, walking in His ways, the Lord would have given great victories. Israel was not always, in every occasion, disobedient and rebellious. But more often than not, they were not diligent about their spiritual responsibilities. They would trust and obey sporadically, but then revert back to their own ways. It is always too soon to quit trusting and obeying. The Psalmist records how God’s people forfeited a great opportunity to see Him work. The Bible says that He “should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries” had they only “hearkened unto . . . and . . . walked in my ways!” Deliverance could have come to Israel. God would have come through for them. Victory is sometimes closer than we can imagine. But they quit listening to God and stopped obeying Him. Had they continued to hearken to the Lord and walk in His ways, it would have been a different story. 
There will always be temptations to quit doing what is right. It may very well be that the temptations to quit become even more intense when we are about to see a spiritual breakthrough. We need to persevere in faith. We need to keep listening to what God says. Israel turned a deaf ear to God. That is exactly what the devil wants us to do. He wants us to quit listening to God. He wants us to think that God cannot be trusted, or that God’s way does not work out for our good and His glory. He wants us to doubt the Word of God. He wants us to tune God out. I think there are a lot of professing Christians who sit in church, but are not listening to God. Israel ceased to obey God and take the high road of godly living. Satan wants us to make the same kind of unwise decisions as they did. 
Many people are giving up on God’s ways and embracing their own ways. We are warned in the Bible that the way that seems right to man in the end will bring death. It is the enemy’s tactic to convince us that God’s ways are too old-fashioned. When we quit hearkening to God’s Word and stop obeying Him, we are forfeiting untold potential blessings. When we are tempted to quit living for God, remember that victory may be just ahead.– Thomas Smith

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” – 2 Cor. 12:9

Grace is God drawing sinners closer and closer to him. How does God in grace prosecute this purpose? Not by shielding us from assault by the work, the flesh, and the devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstance, not yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology, but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to him more closely.

This is the ultimate reason, from our standpoint, why God fills our lives with troubles and perplexities of one sort and another — it is to ensure that we shall learn to hold him fast. The reason why the Bible spends so much of its time reiterating that God is a strong rock, a firm defense, and a sure refuge and help for the weak is that God spends so much of his time showing us that we are weak, both mentally and morally, and dare not trust ourselves to find or follow the right road. When we walk along a clear road feeling fine, and someone takes our arm to help us, likely we would impatiently shake him off; but when we are caught in rough country in the dark, with a storm brewing and our strength spent, and someone takes our arm to help us, we would thankfully lean on him. And God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing, so that we may learn to lean on him thankfully. Therefore he takes steps to drive us out of self-confidence to trust in himself, to — in the classic scriptural phrase for the secret of the godly man’s life — “wait on the Lord.” – James Packer

This old poem explains – “My life is but a weaving between my Lord and me. I cannot choose the colors He worketh steadily. Oft times he weaveth sorrow and I in foolish pride forget He sees the upper and I the underside. Not till the loom is silent and the shuttle ceases to fly shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.” (“….I am with you alway, even unto the end of  the world. Amen. “– Matthew 28:20

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346