Monthly Archives: September 2024

WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE?

Christian life, Christian Life, ,

Micah 6:6-8 NLT
[6] “What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? [7] Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? [8] No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is RIGHT , to love MERCY , and to WALK HUMBLY with your God.”

Unlike every other man-made religion, God’s Word leaves us in no doubt about His requirements for those who choose to worship Him…three simple instructions for a life that pleases Him.

Religion, as Micah describes, has many demands, do…do..do… Trouble is that carrying out rituals does not impact the soul. What use is it if we wash our bodies, eat the right food, light candles, wave our arms, bow down in front of a block of wood or stone or do whatever our so-called god demands? How do those activities impact the root cause of our soul’s distress?

The real God, the God of the Bible, gives us a different set of doings that measure up to who He is. First, He wants us to treat other people in the right way, just as He treats us. “Loving” is His way in His realm.

Romans 14:17 NLT
[17] “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 13:9-10 NLT
[9] “For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [10] Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.”

By doing what is right, God means that what we do to other people must be for their benefit, not ours. So, His first requirement is to put others before ourselves.

Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
[3]” Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. [4] Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

How difficult is that?

The second requirement is to love mercy? Again, it’s our attitude towards others that counts. Why should we treat others with mercy? Mercy means that we don’t do or give to others what they deserve, or what we think they deserve, because God has been merciful to us.

What if God had treated us only with justice! No one would survive. We will view others differently if we look at ourselves first. Did we deserve mercy from God? No! Did we receive mercy? Yes! Why?

Psalms 103:8-14 NLT
[8] “The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. [9] He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. [10] He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. [11] For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. [12] He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. [13] The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. [14] For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.”

It’s who God is that determines what He does. If we treat others lovingly, not harshly or judgmentally, we must do so because that’s how He treats us. Revenge is not His way of putting things right. Mercy is, because…

James 2:13 NLT
[13]”There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.”

What God requires, then, is for us to respond to His goodness to us by being good to other people. This makes the way we live in community with other people, in our families, in our church families, and in the wider community, of great significance. Living this way is like dropping a pebble into a pond. The ripples spread outwards, affecting the people around us.

Again, the trouble us that we are not like God! We must change inside.

God’s third requirement reveals the core attitude of our hearts, rebellion or obedience. You see, it is impossible for us to care about others if we do not submit to God’s authority over us. Once again, it’s the issue of our hearts. We either live by God’s will or self-will.

We are all selfish from birth. Without supernatural intervention, we will always clash with others. However, unlike false gods who are aloof and inactive, the real God is fully involved in people’s lives. He has already intervened to deal with the root cause of our failure to love others…sin…enslavement to self above others that defies God’s requirements and gratifies our sinful appetites at the expense of others.

God’s intervention takes care of everything sin has done. He paid man’s debt for sin; He cancelled the demand for payment; He forgave our sin and reversed His verdict of “guilty” to “not guilty”; He reinstated us as sons; and…most important of all, He gave us His own nature and confirmed our new status by giving us His Holy Spirit.

Wow! What other god has done that?

When we believe what God has done, He confirms all of these changes by giving us His peace.

Romans 5:1 NLT
[1] “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
[17] “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

Now we can view God’s seemingly impossible requirements from a different perspective. We are now in His realm, not opposing His rule. We have His nature, not the nature of His enemy, the devil. We have His Spirit who gives us power to obey, not the selfish demands that drive us.

Now we are free to walk humbly with our God, to follow Jesus, to be led by His Spirit and to love others because the Spirit Himself equips us with God’s love to love.

1 John 4:13, 16, 19 NLT
[13] “And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us…
[16] We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them…
[19] We love each other because he loved us first.”

Romans 5:5 NLT
[5] “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

So we see that, where do…do..do…never works, faith in the one who has done it all for us makes fulfilling all God’s requirements for pleasing Him infinitely possible.

Micah give’s the blueprint for what God wants, Jesus provides the model by being the perfect man, and the Holy Spirit, through God’s Word, is restoring in us the image of His Son. All we must do is believe, submit, and obey, and God is even doing that for us by His power.

Philippians 1:6 NLT
[6] “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

MERCY TRIUMPHS OVER JUDGMENT

Christian Life, ,

We have been talking about our tendency to judge others when we don’t like them or what they say or do. We attach names to them like, “liar”, “coward”, “hypocrite”, “adulterer”, or whatever sin they have committed that describes, to us, who they are.

We stand apart from them, wagging a finger, thinking, if not saying, that we are not like them.

Jesus personalised our attitude in a story.

Luke 18:9-14 NLT
[9] “Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: [10] “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. [11] The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! [12] I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ [13] “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ [14] I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Does this story not mirror our hearts every time we pass judgment on another? Let’s not relegate the attitude of the Pharisee to…well, someone else, not us!

Our judgment can be spoken or unspoken but the attitude is the same. Contempt is what we feel for someone who has said or done something WE WOULD NEVER DO!

What is Jesus’ perspective on this practice?

Jesus took a dim view of those who gloated over the misfortune of others. He sounded a severe warning to those who reported on the violent death of some Galilean worshippers at Pilate’s hands.

Luke 13:1-5 NIV
[1] “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. [2] Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? [3] I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. [4] Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? [5] I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

His words are blunt and to the point.

Matthew 7:1-2 NLT
[1] “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. [2] For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.”

First, a warning. Don’t judge because you will be judged by your own standards.

Second, a prescription. Before you label someone else, look at yourself first. That should bring us down to earth if nothing else does. We may not be guilty of the sin we judge in others but we are guilty of so much else…hypocrisy, to start with.

Matthew 7:3-5 NIV
[3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus hated hypocrisy because hyposricy is lying….living behind a mask of holiness when the person behind the mask is as guilty as the one he judges.

Third, come clean with God. When you tell the world around you what you think of another person, you inadvertently compound your own guilt. When you tell God what you think, you hand the person and his doings over to God.

It’s like putting the person in a box, sealing the box and labelling it with the name and your opinion of the person inside. You give the box to God, take your hands off and let Him take responsibility for him or her.

Let me tell you a story.

I had a friend who regularly failed to keep arrangements with me. How frustrated I became when I waited in vain for her to arrive. At that point in my life, I felt insecure and needed her friendship to affirm me. He failure to keep appointments kept telling me I was unimportant to her.

One Saturday afternoon, once again she neither came nor apologised for her non-arrival. I was so angry that I fell on my knees at my bedside and poured out my resentment, bitterness, disappointment, call it what you like, to God. I told Him what I thought of her, using all the worst words I could think of. I called her a coward and a hypocrite and ended my prayer with, “God, I hate her!”

There! Now I had done it! I thought I had blown it with God.

Turns out, it was the best thing I could have ever done. I took that box with her inside, and labelled it on the outside with the worst possible judgment I could think up, and gave it to God.

As far as I know, it didn’t change her but my action changed me! From that moment on, my animosity towards her was gone. I could look her in the face and feel nothing. Not only did God change my attitude towards her but He also broke my feelings of insecurity and the need for acceptance and affirmation. From that moment in, I was free from the co-dependence on another for security. From then on, the Holy Spirit began to teach me to love Jesus and be loved by Him.

“Spilling your guts,” I call it. While judging others is sure to call down God’s judgment on us, telling others our verdict makes our guilt even more sure. When we parcel up our offender and give it, together with our ever-so-false verdict, to God, we free ourselves of a responsibility that belongs to God alone.

You see, Jesus, Son of God, could forgive because He knew the whole story. He had every right to judge His killers but, instead, He forgave because He knew that they had no idea of the consequences of what they were doing.

For us, the bottom line is, there’s a story behind every person’s behaviour and way of life, of which we are totally ignorant. For us to judge is to think we know it all.

Yet, despite everything God knows about every person, He still shows mercy.

James 2:12-13 NLT
[12] “So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. [13] There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.”

As the NIV translates

[12]”Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Mercy triumphs over judgment! That’s God’s way and He wants us to make it ours.

GOD HAS PERSONALISED ME

Christian Life, ,

A while back, I was pondering on an issue that troubled me. I understand that God is spirit, therefore, for example, He does not have hands, yet the Bible says that He has engraved Israel’s name on the palms of His hands.

Isaiah 49:14-16 NLT
[14] “Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” [15] “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! [16] See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.”

If God has written Israel’s name on His hands, surely then He has also written the name of every believer on His palms. What does that mean?

This is a vivid, figurative way of saying that God never forgets a single individual who belongs to Him. The Hebrew word, translated “written”, “engraved“,” inscribed”, or even “tattooed”, comes from the root meaning “to hack”, implying permanence or indelibility.

So secure are God’s people in God that it is impossible for Him to forget their names or their circumstances.

However, here is the point for me. I wondered how God can remember the name of every person who has or will ever live. The Holy Spirit explained that there is only one name indelibly inscribed on God’s palm, mine! And so it is for everyone. God remembers and knows every person as though he or she is the only one. This is how intimately He relates to us.

Secondly, my mind turned to a heavenly scene. The Bible describes millions and millions of people and angels, before the throne, worshipping God in heaven.

Again, I pondered on the practical side of this scene. If there are so many people and angels worshipping God at the same time, how can those in the crowd who are not near God’s throne, see Him or fall down at His feet to worship Him?

Now that may seem like a stupid question but, once again, the Holy Spirit answered me. Just as there is only one name on God’s palm, so also, there is only one person at His feet, worshipping Him, me! On earth, we trust Him, relate to Him, and worship Him, one on one. So it will be in heaven.

In some way we earthlings find difficult to understand, heaven is the realm of the spirit where things happen in the spiritual dimension. God is spirit, yet we will “see” Him. Angels are spirit beings, yet we will recognise them. Our spirits go to be with the Lord, yet we will be real people.

So, we can rely on God because He cannot forget anyone, and we can relate to Him personally because we are assured that we will never lose our personal and intimate connection with Him even among the hoards in heaven.

Revelation 7:9-11 NLT
[9] “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. [10] And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” [11] And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God.”

Even God’s thoughts are personal, about…me! This is not about being selfish. This is about being assured that every individual is precious to God.

Psalms 139:17-18 NLT
[17]”How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! [18] I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”

However, there is one prerequisite for enjoying this personal intimacy with the Lord. He gives us the choice and the initiative.

James 4:7-10 NLT
[7] “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] COME CLOSE TO GOD, AND GOD WILL COME CLOSE TO YOU. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. [9] Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

Our closeness to Him now depends on our attitude. If we insist on harbouring sin, we will remain at a distance from Him. If, however, we come clean and turn away from a sinful lifestyle, God’s ear and heart are turned towards us. We are not waiting for Him. He is waiting for us.

CALL ON HIS NAME

Christian Life, ,

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Charles Converse / Joseph Scriven

Never has there been a greater invitation…no, solution… to the issues of life than to call on the name of the Lord.

When Adam’s family fell apart, his descendants began to call on the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:26 NIV
[26] “Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord.”

David responded to God’s goodness by calling on His name.

Psalms 116:12-13 NIV
[12] “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? [13] I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

If you need to be saved, call on His name.

Romans 10:13 NLT
[13] For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

If you need help, call on the name if the Lord.

Psalms 121:2 NIV
[2] My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

“To call upon the name of the Lord is a sign of knowing Him and a way of connecting to Him. There is a difference between knowing about God and knowing Him personally. Calling on the name of the Lord indicates personal interaction and relationship. When we call upon the name of the Lord, as a form of worship, we recognize our dependence upon Him.”
(What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?
http://www.got questions.org)

Psalms 116:1-2 NIV
[1]”I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. [2] Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.”

For those who are connected to the Lord by faith, calling on His name is not only a way of life but also imperative. Why?

“In summary, those who call on the name of the Lord are those who recognize Him as Savior. Whether it is a first-time calling upon Jesus’ name for forgiveness of sins or a continuous calling as the relationship progresses and grows, giving Him lordship over our lives in surrender to His will, calling on the name of the Lord is vital to spiritual life. Ultimately, calling on the name of the Lord is a sign of humility and dependence on God our Creator and Redeemer.”

Jesus insisted, “Without me, you can do nothing!”

Trouble is, we think we can. Born with an attitude of independence, even as believers in Jesus, we find it difficult to hand over the controls to Him. We call Him “Lord” but we ignore what He tells us to do.

Luke 6:46-48 NIV
[46] “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? [47] As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. [48] They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.”

We say we believe in Him but we still try to play “God” in our own and other people’s lives. We still have the crazy notion that we must handle the difficulties we face by ourselves. We think that God is only concerned with the really big issues in life. The rest is up to us.

To be led by God’s Spirit is the hallmark of every child of God.

Romans 8:14 NLT
[14] “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

Not to be led by the Spirit is rebellion and foolishness.

To be led by God’s Spirit is to call on His name in every situation that needs help. That means every detail of everyday life, like the branch in the vine.

Not to be led by His Spirit means that I must be God in everything I face. I must be God in my relationships with others. I must be God to my husband and my children. I must be God at home and at work. I must be God in my life in society and in my country. I must make the rules and obey them.

It’s either God or me. We can’t both sit in the driver’s seat.

Problem is, wheb we insist on doing the driving, the consequences are dire.

Luke 6:49 NLT
[49] “But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

So then, since we have entered by faith into a partnership with Jesus where He is Lord and we are not, we are obliged to live out what we profess. We have given back to Him His right to lead us but, to do so, we must call on His name.

Solomon gives us, in a nutshell, Jesus’ prescription for our lives…

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
[5] “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.“

When we insist on playing God in our own and others’ lives, we rob ourselves, and them, of the opportunity to experience His grace in its many facets. We miss out in the wonder of His interventions, and the development of our faith into a robust, secure connection with Him that weathers every storm. Even worse, we mess with God’s purpose for ourselves, and our loved ones, to transform us into the image of Jesus through the ALL THINGS in which He works for our good.

My friends, this is imperative if we are to live “care free in the care of God.” We must learn to call on His name as a lifelong expression of our utter dependence on Him.

HE MAKES EVERYTHING NEW

Bible Study, ,

Revelation 21:5 NLT
[5] “And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

Well, that’s a fantastic promise!

As fallen human beings, we have broken, spoiled, and messed up so much in our Iives and the Iives of others that God’s promise is a lifeline for us. What if we went into eternity dragging everything we have broken or destroyed in this life with us!

God is not the one who has done the damage. We have, even if we hate to admit our part in the trail of brokenness we leave behind us.

We have all had a part in destroying relationships. We have harmed our children by what we have said, or not said, done or not done. We have damaged those closest to ourselves by our thoughtless words and actions. We have hated and judged instead of forgiving and praying for our enemies. We have ignored those in need, lavishing on ourselves what we could have done for others. We are GUILTY, all of us, in some way or another….

But….

God said that He will make everything new, not new everything. What He created in the beginning was perfect and functional, “Good!” He called it. He will not replace the broken with everything new. He will restore everything damaged by our hands to its former perfection. God doesn’t throw anything away except those who refuse His invitation to be made new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
[17] “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

So, as well as making people new, God will also renew both heaven and earth. In some way we don’t understand, the corruption sin brought to people affected all creation and the connection between heaven and earth.

Romans 8:20-22 NLT
[20]”Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, [21] the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. [22] For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

However,

Revelation 21:1-4 NLT
[1]”Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Our fallen bodies, too, will be restored to sinless perfection and immortality, like the body of Jesus, when He walked out of the tomb.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49 NLT
[42]”It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. [43] Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. [44] They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies…
[49] Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.”

How will God accomplish this restoration?

God restores, not by patching up something old and worn out but by making it brand-new, all over again as it was in the beginning.

In Jeremiah 23, God describes His word as powerfully destructive.

Jeremiah 23:29 NLT
[29] “Does not my word burn like fire?” says the Lord. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?”

Just as God created the universe by the power of His Word, so He will destroy everything that has corrupted His creation by His Word.

2 Peter 3:7, 10 NLT
[7]” And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.
[10] 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.”

Lest we think that Peter is referring to literal fire, let us first consider the meaning of the word, “elements”.

Strong’s g4747

  • Lexical: στοιχεῖον
  • Transliteration: stoicheion
  • Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
  • Phonetic Spelling: stoy-khi’-on
  • Definition: (a) plur: the heavenly bodies, (b) a rudiment, an element, a rudimentary principle, an elementary rule.
  • Origin: Neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of stoicheo; something orderly in arrangement, i.e. (by implication) a serial (basal, fundamental, initial) constituent (literally), proposition (figuratively).
  • Usage: element, principle, rudiment.
  • Translated as (count): principles (4), elements (2), basic principles (1).”

Paul uses the same Greek word, “stoicheion”, translated “elements” to refer to the basic principles by which this present evil world operates.

Galatians 4:3 NLT
[3] “And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world.”

Even the worthless material His people have used in their work in the kingdom will perish in the fire.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 NLT
[10]”Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. [11] For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. [12] Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. [13] But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. [14] If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. [15] But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.”

Just as God created the universe by His powerful Word, the Bible tells us, so also He will cleanse the universe of pollution and restore everything to its former perfection through the fire of His Word.

Even the worthless work we have done in His name will be consumed by the flames and only that which is truth and built on the truth will remain. Fire will test all our words and works and everything that is precious and of value will survive.

In view of God’s promise, then,

2 Peter 3:11-14 NLT
[11] “Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, [12] 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. [13] But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. [14] 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.”