29
Jul '25
Burned In or Up
29
Jul '25
Introduction: Dog days. Hot weather is in the forecast. The climate-change crowd calls it “Global Warming”; but we call it God Warming! Somebody said it was so hot that the birds were using “potholders” to pull worms out of the ground. That is hot! Well anyway, remember Jesus said to the Church of Laodicea that He would rather them be “hot or cold”; howbeit, He insisted that they had become “lukewarm.” Could that be said about you or me? Speaking of “burning up,” Peter shares some insights as to where this earth is going and God’s plan for the future. Check it out:
1. There is coming a day when the earth is going to get so HOT it will BURN UP! (2 Peter 3:10–11) – “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
The world is literally going up in smoke! Burned up!! So what does that tell you? It should tell us several things: Do not hold on to your possessions too tightly. Why? Because they will be BURNED UP!
Think about it. You work all your life to accumulate “THINGS”? “THINGS” that will be consumed to ashes! By comparison, what can you accumulate that will not be BURNED UP?
2. Focus on what will not be BURNED UP! (2 Peter 3:12–14) – “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
What do you conclude from these verses in 2 Peter? First of all, “godliness” will not be BURNED UP! Secondly, “righteousness” will not be BURNED UP! Therefore, it is God’s will for His people to work on those things that will last throughout eternity. Are you focused?
Conclusion: So instead of focusing all of our time and attention on things that are going to be BURNED UP, we should take spiritual inventory on our lifestyle as it lines up with God’s plan for our life. Then trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to fulfill His purpose as we lay up our “treasures in heaven” where rust will not decay.
So allow the Holy Spirit to BURN IN godliness rather than getting BURNED OUT from weariness.
Love y’all,
Dr. Randy Reese