April 3, 2019 BE ON GUARD
2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”
In chapter three of 2 Peter, Peter is encouraging the believers to remember the words of the prophets and the words of Jesus and to be reminded that the plans and purposes of God will be carried out to completion. The reason for being on guard is that there will be those who mock God, who will say He is not coming back, implying that it is useless to live according to the words of God. This admonition to be on guard is certainly a relevant word in the culture in which we live as it is a culture that openly mocks and rejects the words and the council of God and promotes a humanistic view of life. Not only are we to be on guard against those who promote the idea of rejecting God, or that God does not exist, we are also to be on guard for anything that would draw our hearts away from the Lord. Perhaps one of the biggest distractions that we must be on guard against lies within us, and Proverbs 4:23 reveals what it is. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” The obvious question is how do we guard our hearts? As Proverbs tells us, the things we do and the thoughts we have originate in the heart, so keeping the heart pure is critical to our spiritual health. To be on guard over our heart means that we filter out those things that are impure, and allowing only what is right, what is true, and what is pure according to God’s standards to enter our hearts. We do not have to live in fear of evil entering our hearts, we just have to monitor on what we let in. God has given us new hearts, and we must make the choice to live out of this new heart. As believers who have been given new hearts, we are to be stewards over what God has entrusted to us. The blessing is that when we live out of our new heart, we will be drawn to what is pure, and we will find that the thoughts that flow out of our new hearts are pure. The most foundational way of keeping our hearts pure and living according to the ways of God is to consistently read and study the scriptures, because it is there that we find truth. If we neglect the reading and studying of His word, it is a fact that we will drift from the truth. Practically, to guard our hearts means that we must say ‘no’ to somethings and ‘yes’ to other things. As an example, we must monitor what we watch on television, or on our IPhone; if it is contrary to the ways of God, if it R-rated, etc., refuse to look at it. Take dominion on what you allow to come through the eye-gate and the ear-gate. When a wrong thought does come in, reject it immediately. Focus and set your heart on being obedient to all of the ‘one-another’ scriptures-love one another, encourage one another, speak words that build up, prefer one another over yourself, forgive one another, and etc. You and I can, and we must, take dominion, be diligent, and be on guard over our hearts and not be compromised by a culture that rejects God. Also, we are reminded in these verses to “grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Blessings,
Buddy
2 Peter 3:17-18 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”
In chapter three of 2 Peter, Peter is encouraging the believers to remember the words of the prophets and the words of Jesus and to be reminded that the plans and purposes of God will be carried out to completion. The reason for being on guard is that there will be those who mock God, who will say He is not coming back, implying that it is useless to live according to the words of God. This admonition to be on guard is certainly a relevant word in the culture in which we live as it is a culture that openly mocks and rejects the words and the council of God and promotes a humanistic view of life. Not only are we to be on guard against those who promote the idea of rejecting God, or that God does not exist, we are also to be on guard for anything that would draw our hearts away from the Lord. Perhaps one of the biggest distractions that we must be on guard against lies within us, and Proverbs 4:23 reveals what it is. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” The obvious question is how do we guard our hearts? As Proverbs tells us, the things we do and the thoughts we have originate in the heart, so keeping the heart pure is critical to our spiritual health. To be on guard over our heart means that we filter out those things that are impure, and allowing only what is right, what is true, and what is pure according to God’s standards to enter our hearts. We do not have to live in fear of evil entering our hearts, we just have to monitor on what we let in. God has given us new hearts, and we must make the choice to live out of this new heart. As believers who have been given new hearts, we are to be stewards over what God has entrusted to us. The blessing is that when we live out of our new heart, we will be drawn to what is pure, and we will find that the thoughts that flow out of our new hearts are pure. The most foundational way of keeping our hearts pure and living according to the ways of God is to consistently read and study the scriptures, because it is there that we find truth. If we neglect the reading and studying of His word, it is a fact that we will drift from the truth. Practically, to guard our hearts means that we must say ‘no’ to somethings and ‘yes’ to other things. As an example, we must monitor what we watch on television, or on our IPhone; if it is contrary to the ways of God, if it R-rated, etc., refuse to look at it. Take dominion on what you allow to come through the eye-gate and the ear-gate. When a wrong thought does come in, reject it immediately. Focus and set your heart on being obedient to all of the ‘one-another’ scriptures-love one another, encourage one another, speak words that build up, prefer one another over yourself, forgive one another, and etc. You and I can, and we must, take dominion, be diligent, and be on guard over our hearts and not be compromised by a culture that rejects God. Also, we are reminded in these verses to “grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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