RESIDENT ALIENS

“The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing any should perish but for all to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9 (Amp.)

Some people think God is slack concerning His promise, but He is not, He is only long-suffering. God wants everyone to come to repentance, He does not want anyone to perish.
Hell was not made for mankind, it was made mainly for the devil and his angels: “THEN HE WILL SAY TO THOSE ON HIS LEFT, ‘LEAVE ME, YOU CURSED ONES, INTO THE ETERNAL FIRE WHICH HAS BEEN PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS (demons)" (Matthew 25:41 Amp).

• Some scoff about the second coming of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:3). However, the truth is, every prophecy, word spoken in the Bible about Christ and the ones spoken by Himself will surely come to fulfilment: “HEAVEN AND EARTH WILL PASS AWAY, BUT MY WORDS WILL BY NO MEANS PASS AWAY" (Matthew 24:35 NKJV).
READ: Luke 21:33
• Some say nothing has changed since creation, the promise of His coming is a lie, not true (2 Peter 3:4).
• Some even say, the Scripture says it that believers may comfort one another with it, that is, it is not a reality. That, it is a fallacy, it may never come to pass (1 Thessalonians 4:17,18).

The ball is in your court, you have heaven to gain and hell to shun. You have the responsibility to determine where to spend your eternity: “AND ANYONE NOT FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE" (Revelation 20:15 NKJV).
READ: 2 Peter 3:10
If you believe the Scripture that says, all the things we see will be dissolved, burned up in fire, then your hope should not be solely on the physical things (2 Peter 3:10,11).
You should prepare for where you are going through holy conduct and godliness:
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. IN 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" (2 Peter 3:11,12,13 NLT).

When you live right, in holy conduct and godliness, it means you have hope and you are expectant—you are expecting the coming of the Lord.
It also means you are hastening His coming (2 Peter 3:12).

It is good to have visions and goals of what God wants you to fulfil on earth planet, but you should not forget that you are a sojourner—believers are dwelling as resident aliens on earth (1 Peter 1:17).
Plan as if you have many years to live on earth, however, live as if today is your last day on earth. Be alert! Be ready at all time for the coming of the Lord.

Note:
• If you are actually looking forward to Jesus’ coming, then you must be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot or blamelessness (2 Peter 3:14).
In other words, keep yourself for the coming of the Lord, by being without spot, and blameless, and peaceable.
• Purity is becoming obnoxious, offensive, to people nowadays. People want to believe, it is impossible to live pure or clean in this world of darkness. But it is not true, living without spot is possible. Living right is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit on the inside of believers in Christ Jesus.
Jesus said, He will not leave believers without a Helper. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as our Helper (John 14:16-18). With the help of the Holy Spirit on the inside of you, you can live above sin—keep yourself pure without spot or blamelessness. Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30).

16 SO I SAY, LET THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDE YOUR LIVES THEN YOU WON’T BE DOING WHAT YOUR SINFUL NATURE CRAVES.
17 The SINFUL NATURE wants to do EVIL, which is just OPPOSITE of what the SPIRIT wants. And the SPIRIT gives us DESIRES that are OPPOSITE of what the SINFUL NATURE DESIRES. These two forces are constantly FIGHTING each other, so you are not free to carry out your GOOD INTENTIONS.
18 BUT WHEN YOU ARE DIRECTED BY THE SPIRIT, YOU ARE NOT UNDER OBLIGATION TO THE LAW OF MOSES.
Galatians 5:16-18 (NLT)

You know, the parable of the Ten virgins in the Book of Matthew Chapter 25, verses 1-13, speaks about believers.
Remember, the bridesmaids talked about in the parable were virgins; and virginity symbolizes purity. It means they were those who keep themselves, those who were not defiled (Revelation 14:4). However, by being carefree, unpreparedness and nonchalance, five of them missed the arrival of the bridegroom—Jesus Christ.
In essence, those who missed the bridegroom were not living in blatant sin, but they were not circumspect, not discerning or watchful enough. In other words, they were not serious about their Christian lives, to keep their lamps burning.
They were not mindful of their lamps, their spiritual lives. They actually ran out of oil because of carelessness, they probably thought the coming of the Lord can be predicted. They thought the oil in their lamps was enough, they were not mindful of taking extra oil (2 Peter 3:10; Matthew 24:42; Luke 12:39,40).

Now, you claim to be born again, yet your conduct does not show you have met with Christ: “THEY PROFESS TO KNOW GOD, BUT IN THEIR WORKS THEY DENY HIM, BEING ABOMINABLE, DISOBEDIENT, AND DISQUALIFIED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK" (Titus 1:16 NKJV). READ: 2 Timothy 3:5
The fact that God is condoning your deeds, your sinfulnesses, even as a believer, is a forbearance and long-suffering on His part (2 Peter 3:15).
Thus, do not take God's forbearance and goodness for granted (Romans 2:4).
Endeavour today to amend your ways and be steadfast in the Lord.
Be serious with your Christian life. There is no gain or pleasure in sin. Sin makes you stink. It could make you sink. And it kills (Romans 6:20,21; Proverbs 7:23).

Another important admonition from the passage is that you should not allow yourself to be led away from Christ with the error of the wicked people: “I AM WARNING YOU AHEAD OF TIME, DEAR FRIENDS. BE ON GUARD SO THAT YOU WILL NOT BE CARRIED AWAY BY THE PRESENCE OF ERRORS OF THESE WICKED PEOPLE AND LOSE YOUR OWN SECURE FOOTING" (2 Peter 3:17 NLT).
There are so-called believers who do not have heaven as their goal, they are the ones Apostle Peter was referring to as the wicked people.
There are many in the church of Christ today who are mixed multitude (Exodus 12:37,38; Numbers 11:4). They do not have heaven as their goal, but they want to derail those who are ready to make heaven. Mixed multitude are not going anywhere, they will only cause you to derail (Philippians 3:18,19).

40 "THEREFORE AS THE TARES ARE GATHERED AND BURNED IN THE FIRE, SO IT WILL BE AT THE END OF THIS AGE.
41 “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those that practice lawlessness.
42 “and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 “THEN THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN IN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER, HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR LET HIM HEAR!”
Matthew 13:40-43 (NKJV)

You will not regret at the end of your journey on earth in Jesus’ name.
Peace!