Calamities have been heaped upon us. An explosive growing human population, already over 7 billion, is using up natural resources, stripping the land of forest, and polluting the air and water. Most of all, humans are adding tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, changing the relatively stable climate humans have depended on for tens of thousands of years. That could mean devastating floods, scorching droughts, and superstorms that could wreck economies and cost lives. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, so as the climate gets hotter, more water will end up circulating above us. Storm systems become supersized, and when the rain comes it inundations the environment. The result can be damaging floods like 2013 floods in Alberta, Canada, which cost $5 billion, killing four and displaying over 100,000 people. Expect those numbers to increase in the future as the population increases, in coastal cities, which are prone to floods, leaving more people to lie in wait for disaster to strike.  Also, drought is another serious condition, which can last for years or even decades, and cost billions in lost productivity. The United States is in a major drought, and has been since 2011. As a result, we have seen massive wildfires in California, Colorado, Montana and Texas, killing animals, leaving communities without drinking water, and ruining crops, as well as drying up Folsom Lake, American River and Sacramento River. In Texas, Lake Travis dropped 26 feet below normal level. And Sacramento, California has lost 80 percent of its water capacity in 2.5 years, and causing at least $667.4 million in damages. Years of reduced rain, have caused these problems and are stressing the remaining water supplies. As the climate warms, droughts will get worse. It will devour the Earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains. Yet, the recent rainfall has been a blessing. 

The Sacramento River has risen 3 feet, and Folsom Lake has climbed 5 feet, but is still 66 percent empty. As of 19 December 2014, Sacramento has gotten 11.5 inches of rain this month, so we need another 60 inches of rain to end this drought. However, we ought always to thank God for being alive, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing. Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay you back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shout out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his honorable people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be alarmed or easily unsettled by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us. Do not let anyone deceive you in anyway, for that of the Lord will not come, until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. Basically, these people running around doing all of this slick and illegal stuff are being monitored and punished. They will not be allowed to keep harming you. This lawless man will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up to be God. Do you not remember that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time.

For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who holds it back will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way. And the lawless one will be revealed, who the Lord Jesus will overthrow with his truth and power and the lawless will be destroyed by the arrival of Jesus. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of the ungodly, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of wrong perish because they refused to love the truth and be saved. For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned, who have not believed the truth, but have delighted in wickedness. However, we ought always to thank God for you all because everyone is loved by the Lord. From the beginning, God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, which you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, people, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ, himself, and God, our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us all eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not lose your faith, do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid anything that is bad. Pray that for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from the things that are not good for us, for not everyone has faith. However, the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from those who wish you harm you. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ perseverance.  Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what has been done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his divine name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.  Tremble before him, all the Earth! The World is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the Earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”