EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/17/2026
8:00 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “The
Character of God”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2
Peter 3:9
Message of the verse: “9 ¶
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance.”
In this evening’s SD we continue looking at 2 Peter
3:9 with the help of John MacArthur’s commentary. “Patient translates a form of the verb
makrothumeo. It is a compound word combining ‘large’ with ‘great anger.’ Peter used it here to show that God has a
vast capacity for storing up anger and wrath before it spills over in judgment
(cf. Ex. 34:6; Joel 2:13; Matt. 18:23-27; Rom. 2:4; 9:22).”
(cf. Ex. 34:6; Joel 2:13; Matt. 18:23-27;
Rom. 2:4; 9:22)
“6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed,
"The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”
“13 and rend your hearts and not your
garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”
“23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be
compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to
him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25
And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his
wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring
him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that
servant released him and forgave him the debt.”
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his
kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant
to lead you to repentance?”
“22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and
to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath
prepared for destruction,”
I have an illustration that goes
along with this subject of God holding his anger until it is time for him to
act. The story comes from the early part
of the book of Genesis and has to do with Abraham. This story is in Genesis chapter 15 where God
instructs Abraham to cut some animals in to two pieces and put them in a
row. Now this covenant was something
that men use to do with each other, but God here is making a covenant with
Himself and I want to look at verses 12-16 “12 ¶ As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell
on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the LORD said to Abram, "Know for
certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and
will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that
they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in
peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for 12 for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." We see a couple
of things in this section and the first is that God is giving a promise to
Abraham and his descendants that they will come back to this land, but there
are a couple of reasons that it will take them 400 years to come back to possess
this land. First the family started by
Abraham and his wife will turn from a family to a nation, and next, and here is
the point that we are talking about here about God saving up His wrath, and we
see in verse sixteen that the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." I
think that you can see the point here about God saving His wrath up, which
certainly is not the normal thing for mankind to do as when men get mad they
want to take care of the problem right away, but not God.
“While
that judgment is inescapable and deadly, God’s merciful patience beforehand
gives the chosen the opportunity for reconciliation and salvation (see 3:15).”
(see 3:15)
15 And count the patience of our Lord as
salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the
wisdom given him,”
“His wrath
toward the individual sinner is immediately appeased whenever that person
repents and believes the gospel (cf. Luke 15:7, 10; Acts 13:47-48).”
(cf. Luke 15:7, 10; Acts 13:47-48)
“7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy
in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who need no repentance.”
“10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the
angels of God over one sinner who repents.’”
“47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I
have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the
ends of the earth.’” 48 And when the
Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord,
and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”
It is my prayer each and everyday
that the Holy Spirit of God will use these Spiritual Diaries in the lives of
those who read them to bring honor and glory to the Lord as He uses them to
cause the readers to come to a saving knowledge in Jesus Christ if they are not
believers, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, to bring
revival to those who read these, and also that the Holy Spirit will continue to
send them around the world each and every day.
One more, and that is if it is the Lord’s will that His Spirit will use
one of these Spiritual Diaries to give the very last effectual call in the
Church age, so that when that person accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as His
Savior and Lord that the Rapture of the Church will happen as the dead will
rise first and then those who are alive to meet the Lord in the air and we will
all be with the Lord forever and ever!!
1/17/2026
8:40 PM
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