There was a preacher who opened a church in a community that had none. The town’s people were living in fear and under the control an abusive and exploitive man. The preacher had been a ruffian himself before the Lord converted and transformed his life. The Lord filled him with resolve to fight for the well-being of the families in this town. Thanks to the Lord’s goodness and grace, the preacher won the support of the town’s people. Together, by trusting in the Lord, the dirty deeds of darkness were exposed and greatly diminished by the light of the Gospel in that community.
Moses was 80 and Aaron was 83, when they confronted the King of Egypt about his treatment of the working class. They confronted him with God’s power and resolve. Eventually, even the king’s evil-spirited magicians realized he could not win against God…
“Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’” [1]
The Psalmist warns of the futility of building a home and maintaining a city without the Lord’s help…
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” [2]
Wealthy and wise King Solomon, advocated for law-keeping and justice…
“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.” “Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord.” [3]
People need the Lord to reveal to them the WHO and WHY of law and order. He is the WHO that brings justice. He is the WHY who reveals to people that law and order yields happiness.
“At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him [Jesus] all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons…” [4]
The evil spirits in the abovementioned city were cast out by Jesus. He healed the symptoms of sin’s curse upon the city, namely sickness, and He rooted out the source of evil, namely the evil spirits. The whole city gathered at a doorway. Jesus practiced open door ministry. He still does today through those whom He has called and equipped to serve Him and others.
[1] Exodus 8:19
[2] Psalm 127:1
[3] Proverbs 29:18, 26
[4] Mark 1:33-34
Friday, January 29, 2021
Thursday, January 28, 2021
Overcome Evil With Good
The Lord advises us in His holy Word, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." In a sense this is what the Lord led Moses and Aaron to do. They confronted a demonic despot with the goodness of God.
Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go."
The Pharaoh replied, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. Why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”
Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.” [2]
At first, confrontation with the king of slaves yielded setbacks for God’s people, but eventually, as they continued to believe God and continued to confess Him before Pharaoh, the Lord did signs and wonders until he let them go. Moses and Aaron did not overcome the Pharaoh in their own strength. They were elderly. Their work was to trust the Lord. The Lord gave the victory.
The Holy Spirit inspired King Solomon to write, “Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully. Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor. Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” [3]
The Holy Spirit inspired King David to write, “If the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us, they would have swallowed us alive when their anger flared against us. Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” [4]
Jesus Christ, the crucified one, experienced evil from the hands of evildoers, but overcame their evil deeds by resurrecting from the dead, and by making His victory ours.
Two Mary(s) at the tomb.
A violent earthquake,
An angel rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance like lightning,
His clothes were white as snow.
Guards shake with fear and become as dead men.
The angel said to the women,
“Do not be afraid,
For I know that you are looking for Jesus,
Who was crucified.
He is not here;
He has risen, just as He said.
Come and see the place where He lay.
Then go quickly and tell His disciples:
‘He has risen from the dead.
He is going ahead of you into Galilee.
There you will see Him.’
Now I have told you.”
The women hurried away from the tomb,
Afraid yet filled with joy,
They ran to tell His disciples.
Jesus said to His disciples,
“All heavenly and earthly authority…
Has been given to Me.
Therefore, GO…
Make disciples of all nations,
Baptizing them in the name of…
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Teaching to obey everything…
I have commanded you.
Surely, I am with you always,
To the very end of the age.” [5]
"Thank You Jesus for staying with us until end!"
Victories come as we go forth in confidence of our Lord's blessing on our labors. “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” [6]
[1] Romans 12:1
[2] Exodus 5:1-4, 22-23
[3] Proverbs 28:5, 8, 14
[4] Psalm 124:2-3, 6-8
[5] Based on Matthew 28:1-8, 19-20
[6] Psalm 126:5-6
Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh, ‘Let my people go."
The Pharaoh replied, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go. Why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”
Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all.” [2]
At first, confrontation with the king of slaves yielded setbacks for God’s people, but eventually, as they continued to believe God and continued to confess Him before Pharaoh, the Lord did signs and wonders until he let them go. Moses and Aaron did not overcome the Pharaoh in their own strength. They were elderly. Their work was to trust the Lord. The Lord gave the victory.
The Holy Spirit inspired King Solomon to write, “Evildoers do not understand what is right, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully. Whoever increases wealth by taking interest or profit from the poor amasses it for another, who will be kind to the poor. Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” [3]
The Holy Spirit inspired King David to write, “If the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us, they would have swallowed us alive when their anger flared against us. Praise be to the Lord, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” [4]
Jesus Christ, the crucified one, experienced evil from the hands of evildoers, but overcame their evil deeds by resurrecting from the dead, and by making His victory ours.
Two Mary(s) at the tomb.
A violent earthquake,
An angel rolled back the stone and sat on it.
His appearance like lightning,
His clothes were white as snow.
Guards shake with fear and become as dead men.
The angel said to the women,
“Do not be afraid,
For I know that you are looking for Jesus,
Who was crucified.
He is not here;
He has risen, just as He said.
Come and see the place where He lay.
Then go quickly and tell His disciples:
‘He has risen from the dead.
He is going ahead of you into Galilee.
There you will see Him.’
Now I have told you.”
The women hurried away from the tomb,
Afraid yet filled with joy,
They ran to tell His disciples.
Jesus said to His disciples,
“All heavenly and earthly authority…
Has been given to Me.
Therefore, GO…
Make disciples of all nations,
Baptizing them in the name of…
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Teaching to obey everything…
I have commanded you.
Surely, I am with you always,
To the very end of the age.” [5]
"Thank You Jesus for staying with us until end!"
Victories come as we go forth in confidence of our Lord's blessing on our labors. “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy. Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.” [6]
[1] Romans 12:1
[2] Exodus 5:1-4, 22-23
[3] Proverbs 28:5, 8, 14
[4] Psalm 124:2-3, 6-8
[5] Based on Matthew 28:1-8, 19-20
[6] Psalm 126:5-6
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Oh, Blessed Communion, Fellowship Divine
“’Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’” [1]
The word marriage conveys a blessed communion. A blessed fellowship! It’s what God has always wanted with us, namely togetherness.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.’” [2]
I like to sing the following hymn to celebrate this truth:
“For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever bless’d.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Thou wast their rock, their refuge, and their might,
Thou, Christ, the hope that put their fears to flight;
’Mid gloom and doubt, their true and shining light.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Oh, bless’d communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine,
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west.
Soon, soon to faithful servants cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of paradise the bless’d.
Alleluia, alleluia!
But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array,
As God to glory calls them all away.
Alleluia, alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
All praising Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, alleluia!” [4]
[1] Revelation 19:7-9
[2] Revelation 21:3
[3] “For all the Saints, who from their labor rest” Author: William Walsham How (1864)
The word marriage conveys a blessed communion. A blessed fellowship! It’s what God has always wanted with us, namely togetherness.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.’” [2]
I like to sing the following hymn to celebrate this truth:
“For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever bless’d.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Thou wast their rock, their refuge, and their might,
Thou, Christ, the hope that put their fears to flight;
’Mid gloom and doubt, their true and shining light.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Oh, bless’d communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine,
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west.
Soon, soon to faithful servants cometh rest.
Sweet is the calm of paradise the bless’d.
Alleluia, alleluia!
But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array,
As God to glory calls them all away.
Alleluia, alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
All praising Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, alleluia!” [4]
[1] Revelation 19:7-9
[2] Revelation 21:3
[3] “For all the Saints, who from their labor rest” Author: William Walsham How (1864)
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Last Time Ministries
“Beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [1]
Remember… what? Recall what the apostles of Christ taught.
“How they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” [2]
Mockers are sign of the last time. What is their cause? Sensual pleasure, ungodly lusts and causing divisions! The Holy Spirit is the One who creates in someone a clean heart, and joy of salvation. They need the Holy Spirit. [3]
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” [4]
Do what? Build your faith in Christ. Let the Spirit inspire and lead your prayers. Love God! Look for the mercy of Christ that leads to eternal, not temporary, life. Have compassion on some! Compassion is to suffer with, to empathize with. Discern carefully which “some” to have compassion on. Save others with appropriate fear. If they are in the fire of sin, you must be careful not to be burned. Pull them out without being defiled by sin.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever.”
Ultimately, each person is saved from stumbling in sin, and presented faultless to God with joy by Christ. He is the Wise One. He alone saves souls. To God be glory, not mocking, both today and forever!
[1] Jude 1:17
[2] Jude 1:18-19
[3] Psalm 51:10-13, Ezekiel 36:26-27
[4] Jude 1:20-23
[5] Jude 1:24-25
Remember… what? Recall what the apostles of Christ taught.
“How they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” [2]
Mockers are sign of the last time. What is their cause? Sensual pleasure, ungodly lusts and causing divisions! The Holy Spirit is the One who creates in someone a clean heart, and joy of salvation. They need the Holy Spirit. [3]
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.” [4]
Do what? Build your faith in Christ. Let the Spirit inspire and lead your prayers. Love God! Look for the mercy of Christ that leads to eternal, not temporary, life. Have compassion on some! Compassion is to suffer with, to empathize with. Discern carefully which “some” to have compassion on. Save others with appropriate fear. If they are in the fire of sin, you must be careful not to be burned. Pull them out without being defiled by sin.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and forever.”
Ultimately, each person is saved from stumbling in sin, and presented faultless to God with joy by Christ. He is the Wise One. He alone saves souls. To God be glory, not mocking, both today and forever!
[1] Jude 1:17
[2] Jude 1:18-19
[3] Psalm 51:10-13, Ezekiel 36:26-27
[4] Jude 1:20-23
[5] Jude 1:24-25
Sunday, January 24, 2021
When Will The End Be?
Jesus had been in the temple that day. His disciples showed Him the buildings of it. Jesus told them that not one stone of this building would be left here upon another. [1]
After that, He was sitting on the Mount of Olives. [2] They could see the temple from there.
King Herod employed 10,000 workers to expand and beautify the temple. Its gold roof reflected sunlight. Its white marble walls appeared as snow. Its beautification ended in 63 AD. Its destruction occurred in 70 AD. It was set on fire by the Romans during a Jewish insurrection. The Romans pulled its wall stones apart to extract the gold that had melted among them. Not one stone was left upon another.
The disciples probably assumed that the end of the temple would be the end of the world. They wanted to know when this end would come. Jesus did not give them a day or time. He gave them signs. Road signs! When you come to these signs, the end is near.
The first sign was deception. [3] Many people would come in His name. Many people would be deceived. [4] Deception precedes robbery. A person does not willingly surrender treasure. He or she must be deceived out of it. So, the first sign is deceivers. People will exchange the true Messiah for a fake one.
Reports of wars and rumors of wars is the next sign. Jesus tells them do not be troubled. “These things must come to pass.” [5]
Nations will fight. Famines, diseases, and earthquakes will follow. “The beginning of sorrows.” are literally the beginning of labor pains. [6] The things mentioned above will become more frequent and more intense before Jesus returns.
Then, disciples of Jesus will experience tribulation, murder, and hatred by all nations for His name’s sake. Many will offend, betray, and hate one another. [7]
Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Persecution would reveal the traitors within the Church as well as the enemies without.”
Many false prophets will deceive many. The love of will grow cold because of the lawless conditions. [8]
Lawlessness that results in lovelessness is the worst of pestilences. Outward persecution cannot steal the Church’s influence, but without love, it becomes no different than any other business.
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” [9] Herein is success! Endure! Hold on! Do not be robbed of your faith in Christ! Abide in Christ and you will have what you need.
Jesus declares, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” [10] The task at hand for disciples of Jesus is to keep preaching (heralding) the Gospel of the Kingdom. Destruction is not the final sign. Saving lost souls by pointing them to Jesus… bringing the Gospel to the world… this is the final sign. Then, Jesus will return and bring with Him a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteous, peace and joy!
“Dear Heavenly Father, please help Your people to endure. Helps us to reach the heavenly shores by Your grace. Help us to keep love alive on earth! Help us to keep telling people about Jesus Your Son. For this we pray in His Name. Amen.”
[1] Matthew 24:1-2
[2] Matthew 24:3
[3] Matthew 24:4
[4] Matthew 24:5
[5] Matthew 24:6
[6] Matthew 24:7-8
[7] Matthew 24:9-10
[8] Matthew 24:11-12
[9] Matthew 24:13
[10] Matthew 24:14
After that, He was sitting on the Mount of Olives. [2] They could see the temple from there.
King Herod employed 10,000 workers to expand and beautify the temple. Its gold roof reflected sunlight. Its white marble walls appeared as snow. Its beautification ended in 63 AD. Its destruction occurred in 70 AD. It was set on fire by the Romans during a Jewish insurrection. The Romans pulled its wall stones apart to extract the gold that had melted among them. Not one stone was left upon another.
The disciples probably assumed that the end of the temple would be the end of the world. They wanted to know when this end would come. Jesus did not give them a day or time. He gave them signs. Road signs! When you come to these signs, the end is near.
The first sign was deception. [3] Many people would come in His name. Many people would be deceived. [4] Deception precedes robbery. A person does not willingly surrender treasure. He or she must be deceived out of it. So, the first sign is deceivers. People will exchange the true Messiah for a fake one.
Reports of wars and rumors of wars is the next sign. Jesus tells them do not be troubled. “These things must come to pass.” [5]
Nations will fight. Famines, diseases, and earthquakes will follow. “The beginning of sorrows.” are literally the beginning of labor pains. [6] The things mentioned above will become more frequent and more intense before Jesus returns.
Then, disciples of Jesus will experience tribulation, murder, and hatred by all nations for His name’s sake. Many will offend, betray, and hate one another. [7]
Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Persecution would reveal the traitors within the Church as well as the enemies without.”
Many false prophets will deceive many. The love of will grow cold because of the lawless conditions. [8]
Lawlessness that results in lovelessness is the worst of pestilences. Outward persecution cannot steal the Church’s influence, but without love, it becomes no different than any other business.
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” [9] Herein is success! Endure! Hold on! Do not be robbed of your faith in Christ! Abide in Christ and you will have what you need.
Jesus declares, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” [10] The task at hand for disciples of Jesus is to keep preaching (heralding) the Gospel of the Kingdom. Destruction is not the final sign. Saving lost souls by pointing them to Jesus… bringing the Gospel to the world… this is the final sign. Then, Jesus will return and bring with Him a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteous, peace and joy!
“Dear Heavenly Father, please help Your people to endure. Helps us to reach the heavenly shores by Your grace. Help us to keep love alive on earth! Help us to keep telling people about Jesus Your Son. For this we pray in His Name. Amen.”
[1] Matthew 24:1-2
[2] Matthew 24:3
[3] Matthew 24:4
[4] Matthew 24:5
[5] Matthew 24:6
[6] Matthew 24:7-8
[7] Matthew 24:9-10
[8] Matthew 24:11-12
[9] Matthew 24:13
[10] Matthew 24:14
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
On the Way to Pray
On the way to pray…
A slave girl possessed with a spirit…
Met them.
She made money for her masters by fortune-telling.
She followed Paul and Silas.
She cried out, saying…
“These men are the servants of the Most-High God!
They proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
She did this for many days.
Paul, greatly annoyed, said to the spirit…
“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ…
Come out of her.”
He came out that very hour.
Her masters saw their hope of profit was gone.
So, they seized Paul and Silas.
They dragged them to the authorities.
They said to the magistrates…
“These Jewish men greatly trouble our city.
They teach illegal customs for Romans to observe.”
A mob was incited against Paul and Silas.
The magistrates had them beaten with rods.
They imprisoned them.
They commanded the jailer, “Keep them securely.”
He put them into the inner prison.
He locked their feet in the stocks.
At midnight Paul and Silas…
Prayed and sang hymns to God.
Prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly! A great earthquake!
The prison shook.
All doors opened.
All chains were loose.
The jailer awakes.
“My have prisoners escaped.”
He draws his sword.
About to kill himself…
Paul shouts…
“Don’t harm yourself!
We are all here.”
The jailer falls before Paul and Silas.
He asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You and your household will be saved.”
They spoke God’s word to all who were in his house.
He treated their wounds.
They baptized him and his family.
He fed them at his house with great joy.
He and his entire family believed in God.
The magistrates said, “Let those men go.”
The jailer said to Paul, “Go in peace.”
Paul replied, “They beat us openly…
Romans citizens!
They threw us into prison.
Do they now release us secretly?
No indeed!
Let them release us.”
The magistrates were afraid…
Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
They pleaded with them to leave the city.
Paul and Silas departed to Lydia’s house.
They encouraged the Christians there…
They departed. [1]
The above story comprises 24 out of 31,102 verses in the Bible. Yet, this one small section testifies of many lives being impacted by God. Apostles, a slave girl, businessmen, government leaders, a jailer and his family, prisoners, and Christians meeting in the home of Lydia all had a story to tell after this day. Any day that begins with prayer in the Name of Jesus can develop into a story that lasts for generations to come.
[1] Acts 16:16-40 in poetic form.
A slave girl possessed with a spirit…
Met them.
She made money for her masters by fortune-telling.
She followed Paul and Silas.
She cried out, saying…
“These men are the servants of the Most-High God!
They proclaim to us the way of salvation.”
She did this for many days.
Paul, greatly annoyed, said to the spirit…
“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ…
Come out of her.”
He came out that very hour.
Her masters saw their hope of profit was gone.
So, they seized Paul and Silas.
They dragged them to the authorities.
They said to the magistrates…
“These Jewish men greatly trouble our city.
They teach illegal customs for Romans to observe.”
A mob was incited against Paul and Silas.
The magistrates had them beaten with rods.
They imprisoned them.
They commanded the jailer, “Keep them securely.”
He put them into the inner prison.
He locked their feet in the stocks.
At midnight Paul and Silas…
Prayed and sang hymns to God.
Prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly! A great earthquake!
The prison shook.
All doors opened.
All chains were loose.
The jailer awakes.
“My have prisoners escaped.”
He draws his sword.
About to kill himself…
Paul shouts…
“Don’t harm yourself!
We are all here.”
The jailer falls before Paul and Silas.
He asks, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They reply, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You and your household will be saved.”
They spoke God’s word to all who were in his house.
He treated their wounds.
They baptized him and his family.
He fed them at his house with great joy.
He and his entire family believed in God.
The magistrates said, “Let those men go.”
The jailer said to Paul, “Go in peace.”
Paul replied, “They beat us openly…
Romans citizens!
They threw us into prison.
Do they now release us secretly?
No indeed!
Let them release us.”
The magistrates were afraid…
Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
They pleaded with them to leave the city.
Paul and Silas departed to Lydia’s house.
They encouraged the Christians there…
They departed. [1]
The above story comprises 24 out of 31,102 verses in the Bible. Yet, this one small section testifies of many lives being impacted by God. Apostles, a slave girl, businessmen, government leaders, a jailer and his family, prisoners, and Christians meeting in the home of Lydia all had a story to tell after this day. Any day that begins with prayer in the Name of Jesus can develop into a story that lasts for generations to come.
[1] Acts 16:16-40 in poetic form.
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Preparing For Paradise
Food, drink, beautiful scenery, and companionship. Adam and Eve were living in paradise, that is, until the devil deceived them out of their inheritance from God. [1]
After Adam and Eve sinned, God asks Adam, “Where are you?” [2]
Where Adam is and where God wants him to be is still the most important question today!
Paradise has been lost due to sin. We are living in exile from paradise. God’s heart is to restore us to paradise. On the cross Jesus said to the believing thief next to Him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” [3] That is what the death of Jesus on the cross for our sin is about – paradise restored to every believer.
Walter Brueggemann in his book “Hopeful Imagination – Prophetic Voices in Exile” speaks of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel in terms of shepherding God’s exiled people. The events of 587 BC are decisive to their prophetic writings. This is when the temple and the holy city of Jerusalem were destroyed. Descendants of King David were dethroned from ruling and Jerusalem’s top minds and leaders were deported to Babylon.
These despairing people saw nothing new, hoped nothing new, and spoke of nothing new.
The goal of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel was to help the people of faith to make two crucial and difficult moves, to relinquish and receive.
The world as they knew it was gone forever, but the Lord was offering them a new world. They must let go of the world of King and Temple and receive a new world from God that it is hard for them to believe possible. It is also not of their design.
“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” [4]
God has a plan to replace the wilderness with paradise. Part of the problem is that we are so used to the wilderness, it is the only world we know, we have no concept or imaginative power to comprehend what God wants to do.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel write some of the most beautiful poetry of what God is going to do for people in exile. Remember, we are all in exile. We are not living in the paradise God originally designed for us. We are not enjoying the intimate relationships that God originally created us to enjoy. But Jesus wants to say to us, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.” We must let go of our tight grip on the world Babylon sells us and trust God to receive the new world He is creating.
The new world order will be where God and the Lamb rule and people live in paradise. This is the world we are called as Christians to make our fellow man aware of. This is one of our key functions while we walk this earth – to make people aware of the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel sought the Lord for artistic and poetic expressions to make God’s reality real to the people living in Babylon so must we. We are called to prepare people for the kingdom of God.
A new world is about to emerge where Jesus Christ rules as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Like John the Baptist, we are called to prepare people for His coming. God is ending our known world and inviting to us a new world where righteousness, peace, and joy reign.
The loss authority of David’s kingly descendants and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem are analogous with the loss of the godly governors and Biblical law in America. We are living in a nation adrift from God. Like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we need to draw on all the strength, wisdom and inspiration God gives us to be poet prophets to our generation.
We need to die to the old order of Babylon and come alive to what God is doing. He is doing a new thing for us too. Jesus is about to return. Roses do bloom in the wilderness as Isaiah says in chapter 35. Rivers do flow in the desert.
We need to defy the lies of Babylon that says that all you see is all you get. That material pleasure is the only real pleasure. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. We have a much brighter future with God than that.
We need to stop being double minded as though Jesus will not return. We need to believe that HE IS restoring paradise.
As we draw upon God through Scripture reading, prayer, group Bible Study, congregational worship, group prayer and fellowship in the body of Christ, God activates all our inspiration and resolve to live for the coming kingdom and not for this world.
“Adam, where are you?”
“We are right here Lord studying Your Word and preparing for paradise.”
[1] Genesis 2:8-10, 15, 21-25, 15; 3:1-6
[2] Genesis 3:9
[3] Luke 23:43
[4] Isaiah 43:18-19
After Adam and Eve sinned, God asks Adam, “Where are you?” [2]
Where Adam is and where God wants him to be is still the most important question today!
Paradise has been lost due to sin. We are living in exile from paradise. God’s heart is to restore us to paradise. On the cross Jesus said to the believing thief next to Him, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” [3] That is what the death of Jesus on the cross for our sin is about – paradise restored to every believer.
Walter Brueggemann in his book “Hopeful Imagination – Prophetic Voices in Exile” speaks of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel in terms of shepherding God’s exiled people. The events of 587 BC are decisive to their prophetic writings. This is when the temple and the holy city of Jerusalem were destroyed. Descendants of King David were dethroned from ruling and Jerusalem’s top minds and leaders were deported to Babylon.
These despairing people saw nothing new, hoped nothing new, and spoke of nothing new.
The goal of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel was to help the people of faith to make two crucial and difficult moves, to relinquish and receive.
The world as they knew it was gone forever, but the Lord was offering them a new world. They must let go of the world of King and Temple and receive a new world from God that it is hard for them to believe possible. It is also not of their design.
“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” [4]
God has a plan to replace the wilderness with paradise. Part of the problem is that we are so used to the wilderness, it is the only world we know, we have no concept or imaginative power to comprehend what God wants to do.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel write some of the most beautiful poetry of what God is going to do for people in exile. Remember, we are all in exile. We are not living in the paradise God originally designed for us. We are not enjoying the intimate relationships that God originally created us to enjoy. But Jesus wants to say to us, “Today, you will be with Me in paradise.” We must let go of our tight grip on the world Babylon sells us and trust God to receive the new world He is creating.
The new world order will be where God and the Lamb rule and people live in paradise. This is the world we are called as Christians to make our fellow man aware of. This is one of our key functions while we walk this earth – to make people aware of the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel sought the Lord for artistic and poetic expressions to make God’s reality real to the people living in Babylon so must we. We are called to prepare people for the kingdom of God.
A new world is about to emerge where Jesus Christ rules as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Like John the Baptist, we are called to prepare people for His coming. God is ending our known world and inviting to us a new world where righteousness, peace, and joy reign.
The loss authority of David’s kingly descendants and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem are analogous with the loss of the godly governors and Biblical law in America. We are living in a nation adrift from God. Like Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we need to draw on all the strength, wisdom and inspiration God gives us to be poet prophets to our generation.
We need to die to the old order of Babylon and come alive to what God is doing. He is doing a new thing for us too. Jesus is about to return. Roses do bloom in the wilderness as Isaiah says in chapter 35. Rivers do flow in the desert.
We need to defy the lies of Babylon that says that all you see is all you get. That material pleasure is the only real pleasure. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die. We have a much brighter future with God than that.
We need to stop being double minded as though Jesus will not return. We need to believe that HE IS restoring paradise.
As we draw upon God through Scripture reading, prayer, group Bible Study, congregational worship, group prayer and fellowship in the body of Christ, God activates all our inspiration and resolve to live for the coming kingdom and not for this world.
“Adam, where are you?”
“We are right here Lord studying Your Word and preparing for paradise.”
[1] Genesis 2:8-10, 15, 21-25, 15; 3:1-6
[2] Genesis 3:9
[3] Luke 23:43
[4] Isaiah 43:18-19
Monday, January 18, 2021
At His Side
“Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God...” [1]
I am so thankful that “God said.”
God spoke to Jacob and He still speaks to us today through His Word the Bible.
I am so thankful that God said, “Arise, go up…”
We need the Lord to urge us to get up and go. For some of us our get up and go, got up and went a long time ago. We need fresh urgency from the Lord each day to rise up, go, and do.
“Make an altar.”
I am so thankful that the Lord calls us to the altar. The altar represents the place of sacrifice and the place of prayer. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, atoned for our sins on the cross, so now in His Name, we can approach the greatest throne that has or ever will exist. Namely, the throne of God. God’s throne is a throne of grace for all who come to Him in the Name of Christ.
God’s throne is above all thrones. In Psalm 2, God reveals that His Son has a day of reckoning for the earthly rulers who despised Him. They will not be able to halt His justice or vilify Him anymore. He will shatter their plots as when a clay pot is struck with an iron scepter. To avoid this shattering, they need to stop defying and denying and start worshipping Him:
“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed [Jesus the Anointed One – the Christ].
They say, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision [contempt – they think they can judge God in contempt of their courts, but it will be quite the reverse].
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure.
“Yet I have set My King [Jesus] on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me [Jesus], ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall [Jesus] break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling. Kiss [worship] the Son [Jesus], lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” [2]
After the Lord spoke to Jacob, he spoke to his family and said, “Let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” [3]
I am thankful that the Lord is with us during times of distress. I am thankful that He keeps us by His side.
Someone once asked President Abraham Lincoln if he thought God was on his side in the civil war. He responded, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
[1] Genesis 35:1
[2] Psalm 2
[3] Genesis 35:3
I am so thankful that “God said.”
God spoke to Jacob and He still speaks to us today through His Word the Bible.
I am so thankful that God said, “Arise, go up…”
We need the Lord to urge us to get up and go. For some of us our get up and go, got up and went a long time ago. We need fresh urgency from the Lord each day to rise up, go, and do.
“Make an altar.”
I am so thankful that the Lord calls us to the altar. The altar represents the place of sacrifice and the place of prayer. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, atoned for our sins on the cross, so now in His Name, we can approach the greatest throne that has or ever will exist. Namely, the throne of God. God’s throne is a throne of grace for all who come to Him in the Name of Christ.
God’s throne is above all thrones. In Psalm 2, God reveals that His Son has a day of reckoning for the earthly rulers who despised Him. They will not be able to halt His justice or vilify Him anymore. He will shatter their plots as when a clay pot is struck with an iron scepter. To avoid this shattering, they need to stop defying and denying and start worshipping Him:
“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed [Jesus the Anointed One – the Christ].
They say, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision [contempt – they think they can judge God in contempt of their courts, but it will be quite the reverse].
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath and distress them in His deep displeasure.
“Yet I have set My King [Jesus] on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me [Jesus], ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall [Jesus] break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling. Kiss [worship] the Son [Jesus], lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” [2]
After the Lord spoke to Jacob, he spoke to his family and said, “Let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” [3]
I am thankful that the Lord is with us during times of distress. I am thankful that He keeps us by His side.
Someone once asked President Abraham Lincoln if he thought God was on his side in the civil war. He responded, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
[1] Genesis 35:1
[2] Psalm 2
[3] Genesis 35:3
Sunday, January 17, 2021
Avoiding Overthrow
“And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ [1]
The Lord graciously warned the people of the great city of Nineveh of a pending overthrow. 40 days early warning! They had a choice: take God seriously and act or disregard Him and be overthrown. No loophole to the declaration, legalese language or third option possible!
Thankfully, the Holy Spirit graciously worked alongside God’s Word, and convicted the nation’s heart. He also moved upon the nation’s king to believe and act after they did. Faith and repentance began with the PEOPLE and then, struck the king and his nobles…
“So, the PEOPLE of Nineveh BELIEVED GOD, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.”
“Then word came to the KING of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the KING and HIS NOBLES, saying…
‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and CRY MIGHTILY to GOD; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’” [2]
Both PEOPLE and KING believed God’s Word and acted upon it. They repented, fasted, and prayed. They cried mightily to GOD. Not in glazed over, ho-hum manner. Like a giant Titanic ship, their city was going to sink unless God reversed the damage from their sin. They needed God’s forgiveness. They needed God’s intervention. They wanted to live.
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” [3]
God cannot lie. He is bound to keep His Word. Sin must be judged. But He does have an escape clause for those who do not want to perish in their sin. It is to believe in Him, repent of the sin, and seek God’s forgiveness. Then, God can choose to relent of acting upon His promise to judge sin, show mercy, forgive, and heal.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” [4]
“Dear Heavenly Father, nothing is impossible with You. Please convict our nation by Your Word and Holy Spirit! Unconfessed and unrepented sin leads to overthrow! Please turn our hearts to Your Son, Jesus Christ, on whom You laid the sin of us all. Move us to cry out mightily, so that You may be able to rightly forgive our sins and heal our land. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.”
[1] Jonah 3:4
[2] Jonah 3:5-9
[3] Jonah 3:10
[4] 2 Chronicles 7:14
The Lord graciously warned the people of the great city of Nineveh of a pending overthrow. 40 days early warning! They had a choice: take God seriously and act or disregard Him and be overthrown. No loophole to the declaration, legalese language or third option possible!
Thankfully, the Holy Spirit graciously worked alongside God’s Word, and convicted the nation’s heart. He also moved upon the nation’s king to believe and act after they did. Faith and repentance began with the PEOPLE and then, struck the king and his nobles…
“So, the PEOPLE of Nineveh BELIEVED GOD, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.”
“Then word came to the KING of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the KING and HIS NOBLES, saying…
‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and CRY MIGHTILY to GOD; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’” [2]
Both PEOPLE and KING believed God’s Word and acted upon it. They repented, fasted, and prayed. They cried mightily to GOD. Not in glazed over, ho-hum manner. Like a giant Titanic ship, their city was going to sink unless God reversed the damage from their sin. They needed God’s forgiveness. They needed God’s intervention. They wanted to live.
“Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.” [3]
God cannot lie. He is bound to keep His Word. Sin must be judged. But He does have an escape clause for those who do not want to perish in their sin. It is to believe in Him, repent of the sin, and seek God’s forgiveness. Then, God can choose to relent of acting upon His promise to judge sin, show mercy, forgive, and heal.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” [4]
“Dear Heavenly Father, nothing is impossible with You. Please convict our nation by Your Word and Holy Spirit! Unconfessed and unrepented sin leads to overthrow! Please turn our hearts to Your Son, Jesus Christ, on whom You laid the sin of us all. Move us to cry out mightily, so that You may be able to rightly forgive our sins and heal our land. In Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.”
[1] Jonah 3:4
[2] Jonah 3:5-9
[3] Jonah 3:10
[4] 2 Chronicles 7:14
Saturday, January 16, 2021
Praising God Amid Assembled People
“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known…
Your faithfulness to all generations.
And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness, they are exalted.” [1]
“Since sin is the absence of praise, then salvation is the restoration of praise. Since sin is everything that violates communion, salvation is the restoration of communion.
Not only relationship with God is set aright through adoration but also potentially our relationships with each other, past, present, and future. When the assembly raises its voice to give honor, glory, and thanksgiving to God, we discover the strongest of objective bonds with others: the link through the reality of God.
Praising God unites us with other worshipers throughout the world.
Worship happens in assemblies of people. People who might not otherwise agree with each other or even like each other can be genuinely united with each other in praise of God. In union with one another, our eyes are not turned toward each other but toward the God in whom we together confess our faith.” [2]
[1] Psalm 89:1, 5-7, 15-16
[2] LaCugna, Catherine Mowry, God For Us ~ The Trinity & Christian Life, Harper Collins Publishers, © 1973, pp. 298, 343
With my mouth will I make known…
Your faithfulness to all generations.
And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.
In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness, they are exalted.” [1]
“Since sin is the absence of praise, then salvation is the restoration of praise. Since sin is everything that violates communion, salvation is the restoration of communion.
Not only relationship with God is set aright through adoration but also potentially our relationships with each other, past, present, and future. When the assembly raises its voice to give honor, glory, and thanksgiving to God, we discover the strongest of objective bonds with others: the link through the reality of God.
Praising God unites us with other worshipers throughout the world.
Worship happens in assemblies of people. People who might not otherwise agree with each other or even like each other can be genuinely united with each other in praise of God. In union with one another, our eyes are not turned toward each other but toward the God in whom we together confess our faith.” [2]
[1] Psalm 89:1, 5-7, 15-16
[2] LaCugna, Catherine Mowry, God For Us ~ The Trinity & Christian Life, Harper Collins Publishers, © 1973, pp. 298, 343
Thursday, January 14, 2021
The Trinitarian Life
“Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” [1]
Jesus redrafted the boundaries of family, neighbor, and household, saying…
“Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, sister, and mother.” [2]
“To answer the question of who Jesus Christ is, we look to how He acts to the shape of His relationships with others and with God.
Jesus was neither a doormat nor an autocrat, but free in Himself and from Himself to be open to other persons, despite those features that made them unacceptable in society.
The Gospels do not present a portrait of a feeble and irresolute man, someone who was so self-effaced as to command neither respect nor authority. Nor did Jesus importune Himself and demand the center of attention, forcing people to think and do things His way. Instead, He was a fiercely tender presence, passionate and outspoken, a charismatic preacher and healer. His words and life invited many of His listeners and friends into a different way of living.
Jesus was the gesture of God’s hand outstretched in love, mercy, and forgiveness. His ministry was devoted to healing and reconciling, intent on human flourishing, determined to bring the Good News of salvation to everyone, especially to the downtrodden. He promised that everyone who so desired would be given a place in the coming reign of God. Jesus was wholly devoted to the proclamation of God’s reign through service to others.
Jesus is the paradigm of what it means to live in the Name of God: Jesus’ whole reality was identified with God’s through serving and caring for others, even to the point of giving up His own life.”
“The achievement of communion (koinonia) is the proper work of the Spirit of God / Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit gathers together in Christ persons who would not otherwise gather, making possible a true union of hearts and minds, the ground of which resides not in individual differences – age, gender, opinions, abilities – but in the very being of God.
The Spirit accomplishes unity-amidst-diversity, a communion that abolishes solitariness but not individuality. The uniqueness of the Spirit’s personhood lies in what the Spirit does: uniting everyone and everything with God through Jesus Christ.
It is impossible to think or speak of the Spirit except as the Spirit-of. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ; the Spirit of the Christian community.” [3]
“Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for modeling for us what it means to live for God and others. Please help us by Your Spirit to rebuild the Christian community to reflect Your life.”
[1] John 17:11
[2] Matthew 12:49-50
[3] LaCugna, Catherine Mowry, God For Us ~ The Trinity & Christian Life, Harper Collins Publishers, © 1973, pp. 293-295, 298
Jesus redrafted the boundaries of family, neighbor, and household, saying…
“Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, sister, and mother.” [2]
“To answer the question of who Jesus Christ is, we look to how He acts to the shape of His relationships with others and with God.
Jesus was neither a doormat nor an autocrat, but free in Himself and from Himself to be open to other persons, despite those features that made them unacceptable in society.
The Gospels do not present a portrait of a feeble and irresolute man, someone who was so self-effaced as to command neither respect nor authority. Nor did Jesus importune Himself and demand the center of attention, forcing people to think and do things His way. Instead, He was a fiercely tender presence, passionate and outspoken, a charismatic preacher and healer. His words and life invited many of His listeners and friends into a different way of living.
Jesus was the gesture of God’s hand outstretched in love, mercy, and forgiveness. His ministry was devoted to healing and reconciling, intent on human flourishing, determined to bring the Good News of salvation to everyone, especially to the downtrodden. He promised that everyone who so desired would be given a place in the coming reign of God. Jesus was wholly devoted to the proclamation of God’s reign through service to others.
Jesus is the paradigm of what it means to live in the Name of God: Jesus’ whole reality was identified with God’s through serving and caring for others, even to the point of giving up His own life.”
“The achievement of communion (koinonia) is the proper work of the Spirit of God / Spirit of Jesus Christ. The Spirit gathers together in Christ persons who would not otherwise gather, making possible a true union of hearts and minds, the ground of which resides not in individual differences – age, gender, opinions, abilities – but in the very being of God.
The Spirit accomplishes unity-amidst-diversity, a communion that abolishes solitariness but not individuality. The uniqueness of the Spirit’s personhood lies in what the Spirit does: uniting everyone and everything with God through Jesus Christ.
It is impossible to think or speak of the Spirit except as the Spirit-of. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, Spirit of Christ; the Spirit of the Christian community.” [3]
“Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for modeling for us what it means to live for God and others. Please help us by Your Spirit to rebuild the Christian community to reflect Your life.”
[1] John 17:11
[2] Matthew 12:49-50
[3] LaCugna, Catherine Mowry, God For Us ~ The Trinity & Christian Life, Harper Collins Publishers, © 1973, pp. 293-295, 298
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
The Un-Castaways
Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a man sowing good seed in his field. [1]
After the crowd left, His disciples asked for further clarification about this parable.
He said: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”
The title Son of Man refers to Daniel 7:9 where the prophet was given a vision of the coming Messiah. Jesus is the Son of Man. He is the Sower of good seed. The good seeds are His kingdom people. The tares are counterfeit wheat. They look like wheat but are not. They are sons of the wicked one… sons of the devil. The harvest is the end of the age… Judgment Day. Angels are the harvesters. Jesus give His angels authority and ability to separate the useful from the useless. The wheat will enjoy radiance. The tares will experience fire. [2]
“The Son of Man [Jesus] will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” [3]
Jesus went on to compare the kingdom of heaven to three more scenarios:
Treasure hidden in a field – worth all we have.
A pearl of great price - worth of all we have.
Good fish retained in contrast to bad fish discarded.
He reiterated that His angels shall remove the wicked from among the just at the end of the age. [4]
Then, Jesus said to His disciples, “Have you understood all these things?” They replied, “Yes, Lord.” [5]
Jesus taught with the goal of helping people make the right choice. The above parables are no exception. He is telling us point blank what the future holds for both those who receive Him and those who reject Him. To those who consider Him worth all they have… To those who know only He can make something good out of them… eternal happiness with God. To those who try to look like divine produce but are not of Him… the outcome is extremely undesirable.
In any case, a Day is appointed… I pray that we all will be ready.
Jesus said, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." [6]
[1] Matthew 13:24
[2] Matthew 13:37-40
[3] Matthew 14:41-43
[4] Matthew 13:44-49
[5] Matthew 13:51
[6] John 6:37
After the crowd left, His disciples asked for further clarification about this parable.
He said: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.”
The title Son of Man refers to Daniel 7:9 where the prophet was given a vision of the coming Messiah. Jesus is the Son of Man. He is the Sower of good seed. The good seeds are His kingdom people. The tares are counterfeit wheat. They look like wheat but are not. They are sons of the wicked one… sons of the devil. The harvest is the end of the age… Judgment Day. Angels are the harvesters. Jesus give His angels authority and ability to separate the useful from the useless. The wheat will enjoy radiance. The tares will experience fire. [2]
“The Son of Man [Jesus] will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” [3]
Jesus went on to compare the kingdom of heaven to three more scenarios:
Treasure hidden in a field – worth all we have.
A pearl of great price - worth of all we have.
Good fish retained in contrast to bad fish discarded.
He reiterated that His angels shall remove the wicked from among the just at the end of the age. [4]
Then, Jesus said to His disciples, “Have you understood all these things?” They replied, “Yes, Lord.” [5]
Jesus taught with the goal of helping people make the right choice. The above parables are no exception. He is telling us point blank what the future holds for both those who receive Him and those who reject Him. To those who consider Him worth all they have… To those who know only He can make something good out of them… eternal happiness with God. To those who try to look like divine produce but are not of Him… the outcome is extremely undesirable.
In any case, a Day is appointed… I pray that we all will be ready.
Jesus said, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." [6]
[1] Matthew 13:24
[2] Matthew 13:37-40
[3] Matthew 14:41-43
[4] Matthew 13:44-49
[5] Matthew 13:51
[6] John 6:37
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Messaging Amid MIscharacterizations
There was once a high school girl who had a “Job” experience. Hateful classmates hacked her social media page. Posing as her, they posted accusatory lies on her Facebook page towards her friends. The result was that most of her friends defriended her. A few even physically assaulted her. Her Mom moved to new school district to protect her, but the harassment continued. She probably would have ended her life if the Lord had not intervened. He was her lifeline.
Thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I understand that good people, even the Son of God, have suffered in this world. I also know that the Lord is very compassionate.
“Take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” [1]
The Lord confronted the men who misunderstood and mischaracterized Job. He told them to ask Job to pray for them. Then, the Lord restored all that Job lost, twice over. [2]
During a dialogue with an audience, Jesus framed the story of good versus evil in the following way: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” The devil is the thief. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. [3]
Thankfully, though Jesus suffered cruel treatment from evil men, He came back from the dead to speak of love and forgiveness. He instructed us His followers to love and forgive as well.
The Lord urges us His sufferers to commit our souls to God. “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. [5] In due season, He will turn the tide of battle that is against us. “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” [6]
[1] James 5:10-11
[2] Job 42:8-10
[3] John 10:10, 14:6
[4] Deuteronomy 5:10
[5] 1 Peter 4:19
[6] 1 Peter 5:10
Thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I understand that good people, even the Son of God, have suffered in this world. I also know that the Lord is very compassionate.
“Take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” [1]
The Lord confronted the men who misunderstood and mischaracterized Job. He told them to ask Job to pray for them. Then, the Lord restored all that Job lost, twice over. [2]
During a dialogue with an audience, Jesus framed the story of good versus evil in the following way: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” The devil is the thief. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. [3]
Thankfully, though Jesus suffered cruel treatment from evil men, He came back from the dead to speak of love and forgiveness. He instructed us His followers to love and forgive as well.
The Lord urges us His sufferers to commit our souls to God. “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. [5] In due season, He will turn the tide of battle that is against us. “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” [6]
[1] James 5:10-11
[2] Job 42:8-10
[3] John 10:10, 14:6
[4] Deuteronomy 5:10
[5] 1 Peter 4:19
[6] 1 Peter 5:10
Monday, January 11, 2021
The Messiah
“When John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’
Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” [1]
John was imprisoned because he had spoken to King Herod, saying, “It is not lawful for you to have her [Herodias, your brother Phillip’s wife].” Herod wanted to put him to death, but feared his citizens, because they counted him as a prophet. [2]
Perhaps, John was wondering why Jesus did not do something about this situation. Herod committed adultery. Everyone knew it. He was a corrupt leader. Perhaps, John wanted his followers to be assured that Jesus was their Messiah. John had previously told his disciples that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He believed that Jesus was the Messiah. [3]
Jesus told John’s messengers to tell him of the poor people hearing Gospel and of the hurting people being healed. He closed with this remark, “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Ministry to the poor and needy is what the Messiah does.
Jesus went on to speak highly of John. He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist…” [4]
John was right to confront Herod about his adulterous affair. Such a self-indulgent leader was bound to neglect the care of the people entrusted to him.
Then, Jesus addressed the general attitude of His time by saying, “What shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:
‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” [5]
The common complaint was that neither John the Baptist nor Jesus did all that people expected them to do. Jesus said the people were acting like children when they expected their leaders to follow their lead.
“Wisdom is justified by her children.” Wise choices will be realized in due season. Wait for it!
Afterwards, Jesus thanked His Heavenly Father for the revelations that He gives to babes and hides from the so called wise and prudent. Then, He issued an invitation…
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [6]
The main mission of Christ was to reveal God to people and to ease their heavy burdens. He is gentle and lowly in heart. His work yields rest for the soul.
The difference between Herod and Jesus? Herod lived in a palace and made demands that people serve his self-indulgent interests. Jesus lived amidst hurting people, taught them about God and healed their hurts.
[1] Matthew 11:2-6
[2] Matthew 14:3-5
[3] John 1:29, 31-33
[4] Matthew 11:11
[5] Matthew 11:16-19
[6] Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” [1]
John was imprisoned because he had spoken to King Herod, saying, “It is not lawful for you to have her [Herodias, your brother Phillip’s wife].” Herod wanted to put him to death, but feared his citizens, because they counted him as a prophet. [2]
Perhaps, John was wondering why Jesus did not do something about this situation. Herod committed adultery. Everyone knew it. He was a corrupt leader. Perhaps, John wanted his followers to be assured that Jesus was their Messiah. John had previously told his disciples that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He believed that Jesus was the Messiah. [3]
Jesus told John’s messengers to tell him of the poor people hearing Gospel and of the hurting people being healed. He closed with this remark, “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Ministry to the poor and needy is what the Messiah does.
Jesus went on to speak highly of John. He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist…” [4]
John was right to confront Herod about his adulterous affair. Such a self-indulgent leader was bound to neglect the care of the people entrusted to him.
Then, Jesus addressed the general attitude of His time by saying, “What shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:
‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.’
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.” [5]
The common complaint was that neither John the Baptist nor Jesus did all that people expected them to do. Jesus said the people were acting like children when they expected their leaders to follow their lead.
“Wisdom is justified by her children.” Wise choices will be realized in due season. Wait for it!
Afterwards, Jesus thanked His Heavenly Father for the revelations that He gives to babes and hides from the so called wise and prudent. Then, He issued an invitation…
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [6]
The main mission of Christ was to reveal God to people and to ease their heavy burdens. He is gentle and lowly in heart. His work yields rest for the soul.
The difference between Herod and Jesus? Herod lived in a palace and made demands that people serve his self-indulgent interests. Jesus lived amidst hurting people, taught them about God and healed their hurts.
[1] Matthew 11:2-6
[2] Matthew 14:3-5
[3] John 1:29, 31-33
[4] Matthew 11:11
[5] Matthew 11:16-19
[6] Matthew 11:25-30
Sunday, January 10, 2021
The Transcendency of God
“Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You?” [1]
God is Creator and Sustainer of all things. He keeps planets, stars, sun, and moon in place. He oversees animals while they give birth to their young. He knows the birds of the air and the fish of sea. He made them and sustains them. There is no one comparable to God.
And yet, the Lord is very patient with those who disregard Him and His ways. He bore with great long-suffering the evil deeds of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And when He did decide to judge them, He remembered the prayers of Abraham for his nephew Lot who lived there.
Lot was unaware of what was about to happen when two angels arrived. He was sitting at the gate of his city. He bowed to them and invited them to lodge at his house. They were reluctant to do so, but after he strongly insisted, they did so. He baked for them and they ate. However, before dawn, the angels urged Lot to get his family out of the city. He was reluctant to leave, so the angels grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand and his two daughters’ hands and led them outside the city. The Bible says, “The Lord being merciful to him.”
One angel said to him, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” Lot still did not realize the severity of the moment. He asked the angels for permission to flee to a city instead of to the mountain. The angel gave him permission. He fled. Then, brimstone and fire fell from the Lord. [2]
“And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.” [3]
Abraham had prayed for Lot. The Lord heard his prayers.
“The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.” [4]
It is a blessing from God to have a revelation of who He is and what He can do. He gives us the air we breathe. He keeps our heart beating. He gave His Son to die for our sins on the cross. He does so much for us daily. We do well to regard what He says to us in the Bible.
Jesus spoke of Sodom to His disciples. He said that circumstances would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for a city that rejected their message. [5]
In the same discussion, He said, “There is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.” He urged them, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” He was quite plain about the outcomes for those who confess Him and those who deny Him. He said, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” [6]
“Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive us for the many times that we have disregarded You and Your Word. We do believe and confess You to be Creator and Sustainer of the universe. We confess that all creation is Yours to do with as You see right to do. We confess and believe that Your Son Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved from the consequences of sin. Please have mercy on us, and on our nation, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. For in Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.”
[1] Psalm 71:19
[2] Genesis 19:1-25
[3] Genesis 19:29
[4] Proverbs 10:27
[5] Matthew 10:13-15
[6] Matthew 10:26, 28, 32-33
God is Creator and Sustainer of all things. He keeps planets, stars, sun, and moon in place. He oversees animals while they give birth to their young. He knows the birds of the air and the fish of sea. He made them and sustains them. There is no one comparable to God.
And yet, the Lord is very patient with those who disregard Him and His ways. He bore with great long-suffering the evil deeds of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And when He did decide to judge them, He remembered the prayers of Abraham for his nephew Lot who lived there.
Lot was unaware of what was about to happen when two angels arrived. He was sitting at the gate of his city. He bowed to them and invited them to lodge at his house. They were reluctant to do so, but after he strongly insisted, they did so. He baked for them and they ate. However, before dawn, the angels urged Lot to get his family out of the city. He was reluctant to leave, so the angels grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand and his two daughters’ hands and led them outside the city. The Bible says, “The Lord being merciful to him.”
One angel said to him, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” Lot still did not realize the severity of the moment. He asked the angels for permission to flee to a city instead of to the mountain. The angel gave him permission. He fled. Then, brimstone and fire fell from the Lord. [2]
“And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.” [3]
Abraham had prayed for Lot. The Lord heard his prayers.
“The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.” [4]
It is a blessing from God to have a revelation of who He is and what He can do. He gives us the air we breathe. He keeps our heart beating. He gave His Son to die for our sins on the cross. He does so much for us daily. We do well to regard what He says to us in the Bible.
Jesus spoke of Sodom to His disciples. He said that circumstances would be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for a city that rejected their message. [5]
In the same discussion, He said, “There is nothing covered that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.” He urged them, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” He was quite plain about the outcomes for those who confess Him and those who deny Him. He said, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” [6]
“Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive us for the many times that we have disregarded You and Your Word. We do believe and confess You to be Creator and Sustainer of the universe. We confess that all creation is Yours to do with as You see right to do. We confess and believe that Your Son Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved from the consequences of sin. Please have mercy on us, and on our nation, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. For in Jesus’ Name, we pray. Amen.”
[1] Psalm 71:19
[2] Genesis 19:1-25
[3] Genesis 19:29
[4] Proverbs 10:27
[5] Matthew 10:13-15
[6] Matthew 10:26, 28, 32-33
Thursday, January 7, 2021
The Elijah Principle
“Then the word of the Lord came to him [Elijah], saying, ‘Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.’” [1]
The key to Elijah’s ministry success was his conversational relationship with God. He spoke with God in prayer. God spoke His words to Elijah. Elijah followed God’s guidance. The Lord spared many of His servants from the political regime that opposed them…
“For so it was, while [Queen] Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.” [2]
Elijah spoke a message of divine judgment directly to Jezebel’s husband King Ahab. After that, the Lord led him to Brook Cherith for hydration. God commanded ravens to feed him at Cherith. God’s version of mail delivery drones brought him bread and meat (sandwiches). [3] As this source of provision ended, the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath. This time, God commanded a widow to provide for him.
God leads his people one step at a time—as we walk in obedience. God does not normally lay out the long-term scenario. When Elijah spoke to Ahab, he had no idea what the next step would be. God made the next step clear as Elijah was faithful in what God had already given him to do.
As you take a step of obedience, then God will show you what to do next. That is the importance of the link between Cherith and Zarephath.
“Arise and go to Zarephath… I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
I wonder what kind of picture Elijah envisioned as he traveled to Zarephath. At the Brook Cherith, God provided meat and bread. What kind of food would the widow provide?
When Elijah arrives in Zarephath, he meets the widow. She is gathering sticks. He asks her for a cup of water and some bread. She replies that she has no bread. She only has a handful of flour and a little oil in a jar. She is gathering sticks for a fire to prepare a meal for her and her son. Afterwards, she assumes they will die of starvation. [4]
Then, Elijah sees the Lord’s plan. He sent him to Zarephath to help this widow and her son survive the famine. In meeting her need, his need will also be met. When other leaders are acting cruel and inhumane, the Lord guides Elijah to care for the widow and fatherless. What does Elijah have for them? He has faith in God. He speaks God’s Word to them, and God intervenes. They do not run out of food or water. [5]
“Dear Heavenly Father, we love to commune with You… study Your Word and dialogue in it with other believers. We trust You, that come what may, You have a way to meet our needs and keep the ministry of Your Word thriving and producing testimonies for Your glory. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.”
[1] 1 Kings 17:8-9
[2] 1 Kings 18:4
[3] 1 Kings 17:1-7
[4] 1 Kings 17:10-12
[5] 1 Kings 17:13-15
The key to Elijah’s ministry success was his conversational relationship with God. He spoke with God in prayer. God spoke His words to Elijah. Elijah followed God’s guidance. The Lord spared many of His servants from the political regime that opposed them…
“For so it was, while [Queen] Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.” [2]
Elijah spoke a message of divine judgment directly to Jezebel’s husband King Ahab. After that, the Lord led him to Brook Cherith for hydration. God commanded ravens to feed him at Cherith. God’s version of mail delivery drones brought him bread and meat (sandwiches). [3] As this source of provision ended, the Lord directed Elijah to go to Zarephath. This time, God commanded a widow to provide for him.
God leads his people one step at a time—as we walk in obedience. God does not normally lay out the long-term scenario. When Elijah spoke to Ahab, he had no idea what the next step would be. God made the next step clear as Elijah was faithful in what God had already given him to do.
As you take a step of obedience, then God will show you what to do next. That is the importance of the link between Cherith and Zarephath.
“Arise and go to Zarephath… I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
I wonder what kind of picture Elijah envisioned as he traveled to Zarephath. At the Brook Cherith, God provided meat and bread. What kind of food would the widow provide?
When Elijah arrives in Zarephath, he meets the widow. She is gathering sticks. He asks her for a cup of water and some bread. She replies that she has no bread. She only has a handful of flour and a little oil in a jar. She is gathering sticks for a fire to prepare a meal for her and her son. Afterwards, she assumes they will die of starvation. [4]
Then, Elijah sees the Lord’s plan. He sent him to Zarephath to help this widow and her son survive the famine. In meeting her need, his need will also be met. When other leaders are acting cruel and inhumane, the Lord guides Elijah to care for the widow and fatherless. What does Elijah have for them? He has faith in God. He speaks God’s Word to them, and God intervenes. They do not run out of food or water. [5]
“Dear Heavenly Father, we love to commune with You… study Your Word and dialogue in it with other believers. We trust You, that come what may, You have a way to meet our needs and keep the ministry of Your Word thriving and producing testimonies for Your glory. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.”
[1] 1 Kings 17:8-9
[2] 1 Kings 18:4
[3] 1 Kings 17:1-7
[4] 1 Kings 17:10-12
[5] 1 Kings 17:13-15
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
A Nation Standing on Christian Precepts
“The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” John Adams
As Jeremiah warned his leaders and people not to depart from adhering to God’s guidance via Biblical law, so should we who are concerned for the well-being and longevity of our nation.
Biblical principles are God’s provision of guidance for us to avoid great harm and to enjoy great blessings. I submit that we should follow Jeremiah’s example. The life of our nation hangs in the balance.
I bring three Bible verses to God to ask Him to intervene and to rule in our nation.
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” [1]
“For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” [2]
“It is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” [3]
I use seven Bible verses to boost my faith in God’s sovereignty:
“He changes the times and the years. He takes kings away and puts kings in power. He gives wisdom to wise men and much learning to men of understanding.” [4]
“Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.” [5]
“He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. [6]
“How blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own inheritance.” [7]
“…My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” [8]
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” [9]
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” [10]
Let us never stop praying and believing that God can bring our people into line with His Word. We do not want a nation built on shifting sand. We want a nation built on the rock foundation of practicing God’s Word. [11]
[1] Proverbs 21:1
[2] Psalm 22:28
[3] Psalm 75:7
[4] Daniel 2:21
[5] Proverbs 19:21
[6] Job 12:23
[7] Psalm 33:12
[8] Isaiah 46:10
[9] Job 42:2
[10] 1 Timothy 2:1-2
[11] Luke 6:47-49
As Jeremiah warned his leaders and people not to depart from adhering to God’s guidance via Biblical law, so should we who are concerned for the well-being and longevity of our nation.
Biblical principles are God’s provision of guidance for us to avoid great harm and to enjoy great blessings. I submit that we should follow Jeremiah’s example. The life of our nation hangs in the balance.
I bring three Bible verses to God to ask Him to intervene and to rule in our nation.
“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” [1]
“For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.” [2]
“It is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” [3]
I use seven Bible verses to boost my faith in God’s sovereignty:
“He changes the times and the years. He takes kings away and puts kings in power. He gives wisdom to wise men and much learning to men of understanding.” [4]
“Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the Lord’s decree will prevail.” [5]
“He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. [6]
“How blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own inheritance.” [7]
“…My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” [8]
“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” [9]
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” [10]
Let us never stop praying and believing that God can bring our people into line with His Word. We do not want a nation built on shifting sand. We want a nation built on the rock foundation of practicing God’s Word. [11]
[1] Proverbs 21:1
[2] Psalm 22:28
[3] Psalm 75:7
[4] Daniel 2:21
[5] Proverbs 19:21
[6] Job 12:23
[7] Psalm 33:12
[8] Isaiah 46:10
[9] Job 42:2
[10] 1 Timothy 2:1-2
[11] Luke 6:47-49
Monday, January 4, 2021
Repent, the Heavenly Kingdom is Near
“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” [1]
FROM THAT TIME… JESUS BEGAN…
What time preceded the preaching ministry of Christ?
The answer...
A time in the wilderness where He did not eat for 40 days.
A time in the wilderness where the devil tempted Him.
A time in the wilderness where He overcame temptation. [2]
The devil’s strategy is to tempt his prey to sin. Sin is his trap.
Captive people and governments corrupted by the devil replace God’s law with corrupt laws that reward sin and punish goodness, but no one except God can change the consequences of sin. As gravity yields a consistent result, so does God’s principle of sowing and reaping...
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” [3]
The devil’s words are seeds that yield curses.
God’s words are seeds that yield blessings.
Jesus refuted the devil’s words with God’s Word (the Bible). He told the devil that people LIVE by God’s Word. He told the devil, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” He told the devil, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” [4]
“The devil left Jesus, and angels came and ministered to Him.” [5]
By way of example, Jesus teaches us to:
Know the Word of God – read it, study it, quote it, hold to it
Be Holy Spirit led – the Spirit was with Him in wilderness
Be prayed up – Jesus is often praying in the Gospels
Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The kingdom of heaven wins. The devil loses.
Now, is the time to repent of sin and to profess faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Jesus overcame the devil in the wilderness. He helps us who believe in Him to do the same. But even when we fall to temptation and repent, He graciously forgives us.
“Thank You Lord Jesus!”
[1] Matthew 4:17
[2] Matthew 4:1-2
[3] Galatians 6:7-8
[4] Matthew 4:3-10
[5] Matthew 4:11
FROM THAT TIME… JESUS BEGAN…
What time preceded the preaching ministry of Christ?
The answer...
A time in the wilderness where He did not eat for 40 days.
A time in the wilderness where the devil tempted Him.
A time in the wilderness where He overcame temptation. [2]
The devil’s strategy is to tempt his prey to sin. Sin is his trap.
Captive people and governments corrupted by the devil replace God’s law with corrupt laws that reward sin and punish goodness, but no one except God can change the consequences of sin. As gravity yields a consistent result, so does God’s principle of sowing and reaping...
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” [3]
The devil’s words are seeds that yield curses.
God’s words are seeds that yield blessings.
Jesus refuted the devil’s words with God’s Word (the Bible). He told the devil that people LIVE by God’s Word. He told the devil, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” He told the devil, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” [4]
“The devil left Jesus, and angels came and ministered to Him.” [5]
By way of example, Jesus teaches us to:
Know the Word of God – read it, study it, quote it, hold to it
Be Holy Spirit led – the Spirit was with Him in wilderness
Be prayed up – Jesus is often praying in the Gospels
Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The kingdom of heaven wins. The devil loses.
Now, is the time to repent of sin and to profess faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Jesus overcame the devil in the wilderness. He helps us who believe in Him to do the same. But even when we fall to temptation and repent, He graciously forgives us.
“Thank You Lord Jesus!”
[1] Matthew 4:17
[2] Matthew 4:1-2
[3] Galatians 6:7-8
[4] Matthew 4:3-10
[5] Matthew 4:11
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Praying for the Praying
“Dear Lord Jesus, You who intercede on high for us, move upon our hearts as well to intercede with faith, hope and love for peoples and nations! May captives in the kingdom of darkness escape and enter Your kingdom of light.”
Jesus told two parables about prayer in Luke 18:1-14.
“That men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” [1]
In the first parable, Jesus magnifies the example of a widow who is pleading for a response from an unresponsive judge. She needs deliverance from an adversary. He is her only hope of rescue. The judge finally grants her petitions out of weariness from hearing her relentless pleading…
“Because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” [2]
“Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’” [3]
Jesus, our Heavenly Intercessor, is telling us to keep crying out day and night. Fervent intercessors receive rapid responses.
In the second parable...
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’” [4]
He asks God for nothing. How foolish! He is praying to the most powerful being in all the world and brings no petition. He prays “thus with himself.” Does he think himself God? If so, his religion is humanistic. He has a superiority complex. He sees himself above others. He does not pray for himself or others. To Him, all is settled. He is calm, cool, and collected! He has a false sense that he is right before God and that he needs nothing. He does not realize that his prayer is a foul stench to God Almighty, Maker and Sustainer of the Universe.
“The tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” [5]
This man rightly realizes his condition before God. He is a sinner. Sin is a foul stench in the nostrils of God. Every person is a sinner and falls short of glory of God. [6] “There is none righteous no not one.” [7] Only the blood sacrifice of the perfect Son of God applied to one’s life can remove the stains of sin. [8] There is no hope for a sinner to make himself right before God except by pleading for the mercy of a Holy God to be applied to his or her life. Without repentance there is no reaping. We need to realize how desperately we need God’s intervention, if we want God to answer our prayers.
“I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” [9]
“Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for urging us to pray. Thank You for assuring us that the Father hears humble prayers. Thank You for reminding us to maintain a low perspective of ourselves and a high perspective of You. Now, help us to pray as though our lives and the lives of those around us depend on divine intervention… because they do! In Your Name, we pray. Amen!”
[1] Luke 18:1
[2] Luke 18:5
[3] Luke 18:6-8
[4] Luke 18:10-12
[5] Luke 18:13
[6] Romans 3:22-23
[7] Romans 3:10
[8] Romans 5:6-8
[9] Luke 18:14
Jesus told two parables about prayer in Luke 18:1-14.
“That men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” [1]
In the first parable, Jesus magnifies the example of a widow who is pleading for a response from an unresponsive judge. She needs deliverance from an adversary. He is her only hope of rescue. The judge finally grants her petitions out of weariness from hearing her relentless pleading…
“Because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” [2]
“Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’” [3]
Jesus, our Heavenly Intercessor, is telling us to keep crying out day and night. Fervent intercessors receive rapid responses.
In the second parable...
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’” [4]
He asks God for nothing. How foolish! He is praying to the most powerful being in all the world and brings no petition. He prays “thus with himself.” Does he think himself God? If so, his religion is humanistic. He has a superiority complex. He sees himself above others. He does not pray for himself or others. To Him, all is settled. He is calm, cool, and collected! He has a false sense that he is right before God and that he needs nothing. He does not realize that his prayer is a foul stench to God Almighty, Maker and Sustainer of the Universe.
“The tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” [5]
This man rightly realizes his condition before God. He is a sinner. Sin is a foul stench in the nostrils of God. Every person is a sinner and falls short of glory of God. [6] “There is none righteous no not one.” [7] Only the blood sacrifice of the perfect Son of God applied to one’s life can remove the stains of sin. [8] There is no hope for a sinner to make himself right before God except by pleading for the mercy of a Holy God to be applied to his or her life. Without repentance there is no reaping. We need to realize how desperately we need God’s intervention, if we want God to answer our prayers.
“I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” [9]
“Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for urging us to pray. Thank You for assuring us that the Father hears humble prayers. Thank You for reminding us to maintain a low perspective of ourselves and a high perspective of You. Now, help us to pray as though our lives and the lives of those around us depend on divine intervention… because they do! In Your Name, we pray. Amen!”
[1] Luke 18:1
[2] Luke 18:5
[3] Luke 18:6-8
[4] Luke 18:10-12
[5] Luke 18:13
[6] Romans 3:22-23
[7] Romans 3:10
[8] Romans 5:6-8
[9] Luke 18:14
Friday, January 1, 2021
The Wonder of Adam’s Wounded Side
“In the beginning” John opens his Gospel with a quote from the first verse in the Bible. [1] Like the third verse of the Bible, John speaks of God bringing light into the darkness. [2]
After God created the first Adam, He concluded: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Even for One as perfect as Jesus, once He took upon Himself a truly human nature, He must have a bride. John the Baptist recognized this and rejoiced that he had heard the voice of the Bridegroom. [3] The new Adam (Jesus) had come, and He was seeking His bride.
God said of the first Adam, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Later in the Bible, He says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her.” He adds, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church” [4]
The second Adam (Jesus) finds His bride after the similitude of the first Adam. He receives her from the hand of God the Father. The first Adam received his bride after receiving a wound to his side…
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” [5]
Although Adam was still innocent, having committed no sin, nonetheless God wounded him deeply, piercing his side. Out of Adam’s bloody side God took that substance from which He created the woman for the man. God then healed Adam of his wound, and awakened him from sleep, whereupon He presented to Adam the woman in all her purity and beauty.
God the Father brought upon His Son the sleep of death. Although Jesus was still innocent, having committed no sin, nonetheless God permitted His side to be pierced by a Roman spear. Out of Jesus’ side poured forth water and blood, the blood for the bride’s purchase, the water for her purification…
“One of the soldiers pierced His [Jesus’] side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” [6]
God then healed Jesus of His wound, and awakened Him from the sleep of death, whereupon God will one day present to Jesus His bride in all her purity and beauty...
“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The Heavenly New Jerusalem is a reference to the Church. [7]
In the wounding of the first Adam, we find a type of the second Adam: Christ. Just as Eve would always know the love of Adam by the scar he carried on his side, so we, as the bride of Christ, will one day recognize the scar on the side of the One who loves us. Like Thomas, we too have our doubts dissolve when we are invited to touch the One whose side was wounded so deeply…
Then He [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving but believing.” [8]
“Thank You Heavenly Father for providing a bride for humankind in Eve and for providing a bride for Your Divine Son Jesus Christ in us the Church. We, the Church, were brought forth because of Your love. Thank You Lord Jesus for loving us as One who loves she who was taken from His own flesh.”
[1] Genesis 1:1, John 1:1
[2] Genesis 1:3, John 1:5
[3] Genesis 2:18, John 3:29
[4] Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:24, 31-32
[5] Genesis 2:21-23
[6] John 19:34
[7] Revelation 21:2, Hebrews 12:22
[8] John 20:27
After God created the first Adam, He concluded: “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Even for One as perfect as Jesus, once He took upon Himself a truly human nature, He must have a bride. John the Baptist recognized this and rejoiced that he had heard the voice of the Bridegroom. [3] The new Adam (Jesus) had come, and He was seeking His bride.
God said of the first Adam, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Later in the Bible, He says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her.” He adds, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church” [4]
The second Adam (Jesus) finds His bride after the similitude of the first Adam. He receives her from the hand of God the Father. The first Adam received his bride after receiving a wound to his side…
“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” [5]
Although Adam was still innocent, having committed no sin, nonetheless God wounded him deeply, piercing his side. Out of Adam’s bloody side God took that substance from which He created the woman for the man. God then healed Adam of his wound, and awakened him from sleep, whereupon He presented to Adam the woman in all her purity and beauty.
God the Father brought upon His Son the sleep of death. Although Jesus was still innocent, having committed no sin, nonetheless God permitted His side to be pierced by a Roman spear. Out of Jesus’ side poured forth water and blood, the blood for the bride’s purchase, the water for her purification…
“One of the soldiers pierced His [Jesus’] side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.” [6]
God then healed Jesus of His wound, and awakened Him from the sleep of death, whereupon God will one day present to Jesus His bride in all her purity and beauty...
“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The Heavenly New Jerusalem is a reference to the Church. [7]
In the wounding of the first Adam, we find a type of the second Adam: Christ. Just as Eve would always know the love of Adam by the scar he carried on his side, so we, as the bride of Christ, will one day recognize the scar on the side of the One who loves us. Like Thomas, we too have our doubts dissolve when we are invited to touch the One whose side was wounded so deeply…
Then He [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving but believing.” [8]
“Thank You Heavenly Father for providing a bride for humankind in Eve and for providing a bride for Your Divine Son Jesus Christ in us the Church. We, the Church, were brought forth because of Your love. Thank You Lord Jesus for loving us as One who loves she who was taken from His own flesh.”
[1] Genesis 1:1, John 1:1
[2] Genesis 1:3, John 1:5
[3] Genesis 2:18, John 3:29
[4] Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:24, 31-32
[5] Genesis 2:21-23
[6] John 19:34
[7] Revelation 21:2, Hebrews 12:22
[8] John 20:27
Thursday, December 31, 2020
By Grace A Happy Ending
“And behold, I am coming quickly.” [1a]
Jesus tells us to always be ready! His appearance will happen as fast as lightning.
“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” “Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [2]
“And My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” [1b]
If Jesus will give to everyone according to his work, does that mean we are saved by our works?
The key to this statement is found in John 15:4-5. Jesus said that if we abide in Him, our lives produce much fruit. Our deeds, our fruits, stem from what we believe.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” [1c]
If we know and believe who Jesus is, we will make ready for His return. The term Alpha and Omega is “Applied to God in Revelation 1:8; 21:6; and here alone to Christ, crowning proof in this book of Christ’s deity.” (Robertson) Likewise, the title “the First and the Last” refers to God in Isaiah 41:4. Here, the phrase is applied to Jesus.
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.” [3]
Doing His commandments does not earn us eternal life, but it is evidence that we are abiding in Christ. Besides His commandments are good and right for us.
“Outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” [4]
Dogs are a metaphor for those of the other kingdom. Those who lived to gratify the flesh. Sorcerers refers to those who relied on a different spirit other than the Holy Spirit. They did not want to be a part of the kingdom of Christ. Their wish has been granted. They are outside Christ’s kingdom. They are separated from God. The greatest sin of all… the unforgiveable sin… is to reject God’s remedy for sin, namely His Son Jesus Christ.
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” [5]
Jesus authenticates the entire book of Revelation. It is true.
“The Root and offspring of David” indicates that Jesus is the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1).
“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” [6]
The invitation is to “whoever.” Jesus will not exclude anyone who comes to Him. If we decline an invitation, we have only ourselves to blame. Anyone who desires to be saved can come to Him and take the water of life freely. God invites us to take the water of life freely. We cannot bring our own salvation to God; we must receive the salvation He offers us.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” [7]
The last verse of the Bible speaks of the grace of Jesus Christ. His grace is the happy ending for the Bible. His grace is the way for a happy ending for us.
2020 ends today. 2021 begins tomorrow.
Our lives on earth may expire at any moment.
I am presiding over a funeral service this coming Sunday afternoon.
We are not guaranteed another day down here. However, if we believe in God's grace to us in Christ Jesus, we are guaranteed an eternity with God in the world that is to come.
Please receive and believe in Christ today if you have not done so already. Believe and receive! Enjoy a happy ending!
[1 a-b-c] Revelation 22:12-13
[2] Matthew 24:27, 44
[3] Revelation 22:14
[4] Revelation 22:15
[5] Revelation 22:16
[6] Revelation 22:17
[7] Revelation 22:21
Jesus tells us to always be ready! His appearance will happen as fast as lightning.
“For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” “Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [2]
“And My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” [1b]
If Jesus will give to everyone according to his work, does that mean we are saved by our works?
The key to this statement is found in John 15:4-5. Jesus said that if we abide in Him, our lives produce much fruit. Our deeds, our fruits, stem from what we believe.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” [1c]
If we know and believe who Jesus is, we will make ready for His return. The term Alpha and Omega is “Applied to God in Revelation 1:8; 21:6; and here alone to Christ, crowning proof in this book of Christ’s deity.” (Robertson) Likewise, the title “the First and the Last” refers to God in Isaiah 41:4. Here, the phrase is applied to Jesus.
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city.” [3]
Doing His commandments does not earn us eternal life, but it is evidence that we are abiding in Christ. Besides His commandments are good and right for us.
“Outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.” [4]
Dogs are a metaphor for those of the other kingdom. Those who lived to gratify the flesh. Sorcerers refers to those who relied on a different spirit other than the Holy Spirit. They did not want to be a part of the kingdom of Christ. Their wish has been granted. They are outside Christ’s kingdom. They are separated from God. The greatest sin of all… the unforgiveable sin… is to reject God’s remedy for sin, namely His Son Jesus Christ.
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” [5]
Jesus authenticates the entire book of Revelation. It is true.
“The Root and offspring of David” indicates that Jesus is the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1).
“And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” [6]
The invitation is to “whoever.” Jesus will not exclude anyone who comes to Him. If we decline an invitation, we have only ourselves to blame. Anyone who desires to be saved can come to Him and take the water of life freely. God invites us to take the water of life freely. We cannot bring our own salvation to God; we must receive the salvation He offers us.
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” [7]
The last verse of the Bible speaks of the grace of Jesus Christ. His grace is the happy ending for the Bible. His grace is the way for a happy ending for us.
2020 ends today. 2021 begins tomorrow.
Our lives on earth may expire at any moment.
I am presiding over a funeral service this coming Sunday afternoon.
We are not guaranteed another day down here. However, if we believe in God's grace to us in Christ Jesus, we are guaranteed an eternity with God in the world that is to come.
Please receive and believe in Christ today if you have not done so already. Believe and receive! Enjoy a happy ending!
[1 a-b-c] Revelation 22:12-13
[2] Matthew 24:27, 44
[3] Revelation 22:14
[4] Revelation 22:15
[5] Revelation 22:16
[6] Revelation 22:17
[7] Revelation 22:21
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Psalm 37 – Faith not Fret
“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.”
“Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” [1]
It is easy to become distracted from the simple work of trusting God and doing good. Looking at the seeming prosperity of the wicked is one way to become distracted.
“Faith cures fretting.” (Spurgeon)
Replace worry and envy with delight in the Lord. “Expect all thy happiness from Him.” (Clarke)
“Deliberately redirect your emotions as Paul and Silas did in prison, singing as well as praying.” (Kidner)
“The reason many people do not delight in God is that they do not know him very well, and the reason they do not know him very well is that they do not spend time with him.” (Boice)
He who delights in the Lord finds his heart and desires changed, steadily aligning with God’s own good desires for his life. Thus, delight in God is a key to a happy, satisfied life.
If God is our delight, He gives us more of Himself. (Maclaren)
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” [2]
To delight one’s self in the Lord means to commit one’s way to Him means to find peace, protection, and satisfaction in a surrendered focus upon God.
“Our strength is to sit still. The Lord will clear the slandered. If we look to His honor, He will see to ours.” (Spurgeon)
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” [3]
“It shall be as visible to men as the light of the sun, and that at noon-day.” (Poole)
“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.” [4]
Rest in the Lord speaks of ceasing from words of self-defense. We trust in God to protect us.
“The meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” [5]
“The ‘meek’ are those who choose the way of patient faith instead of self-assertion.” (Kidner)
“The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.” [6]
“If God can laugh at the wicked, shouldn’t we be able at least to refrain from being agitated by them?” (Boice)
“Like Haman they shall be hanged upon the gallows built by themselves for Mordecai. Hundreds of times has this been the case. Saul, who sought to slay David, fell on his own sword.” (Spurgeon)
“A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.” [7]
A God-trusting, righteous life is the best long-term investment strategy. The reward of the wicked is to have their arms broken. The reward of the righteous is to be upheld by God’s arms.
“I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful and lends; and his descendants are blessed.” [8]
Among David’s ancestors were some who left Israel, fearful in a time of famine (Ruth 1). When they returned after several disastrous years in Moab, they found the people of Bethlehem had been provided for.
“The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” [9]
The righteous man (or woman) is also noted by his possession of and love for the word of God.
“Mark the blameless man and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace.” [10]
The righteous men and women of this world get little attention. The culture is more interested in the godless and the wicked. Yet David counseled us to notice the blameless and the upright of this world, because the future of that man is peace.
“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble.” [11]
[1] Psalm 37:1-4
[2] Psalm 37:5
[3] Psalm 37:6
[4] Psalm 37:7
[5] Psalm 37:11
[6] Psalm 37:12
[7] Psalm 37:16-17
[8] Psalm 37:25-26
[9] Psalm 37:31
[10] Psalm 37:37
[11] Psalm 37:39
* All other comments from The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.
“Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” [1]
It is easy to become distracted from the simple work of trusting God and doing good. Looking at the seeming prosperity of the wicked is one way to become distracted.
“Faith cures fretting.” (Spurgeon)
Replace worry and envy with delight in the Lord. “Expect all thy happiness from Him.” (Clarke)
“Deliberately redirect your emotions as Paul and Silas did in prison, singing as well as praying.” (Kidner)
“The reason many people do not delight in God is that they do not know him very well, and the reason they do not know him very well is that they do not spend time with him.” (Boice)
He who delights in the Lord finds his heart and desires changed, steadily aligning with God’s own good desires for his life. Thus, delight in God is a key to a happy, satisfied life.
If God is our delight, He gives us more of Himself. (Maclaren)
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” [2]
To delight one’s self in the Lord means to commit one’s way to Him means to find peace, protection, and satisfaction in a surrendered focus upon God.
“Our strength is to sit still. The Lord will clear the slandered. If we look to His honor, He will see to ours.” (Spurgeon)
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” [3]
“It shall be as visible to men as the light of the sun, and that at noon-day.” (Poole)
“Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.” [4]
Rest in the Lord speaks of ceasing from words of self-defense. We trust in God to protect us.
“The meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” [5]
“The ‘meek’ are those who choose the way of patient faith instead of self-assertion.” (Kidner)
“The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming.” [6]
“If God can laugh at the wicked, shouldn’t we be able at least to refrain from being agitated by them?” (Boice)
“Like Haman they shall be hanged upon the gallows built by themselves for Mordecai. Hundreds of times has this been the case. Saul, who sought to slay David, fell on his own sword.” (Spurgeon)
“A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.” [7]
A God-trusting, righteous life is the best long-term investment strategy. The reward of the wicked is to have their arms broken. The reward of the righteous is to be upheld by God’s arms.
“I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful and lends; and his descendants are blessed.” [8]
Among David’s ancestors were some who left Israel, fearful in a time of famine (Ruth 1). When they returned after several disastrous years in Moab, they found the people of Bethlehem had been provided for.
“The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” [9]
The righteous man (or woman) is also noted by his possession of and love for the word of God.
“Mark the blameless man and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace.” [10]
The righteous men and women of this world get little attention. The culture is more interested in the godless and the wicked. Yet David counseled us to notice the blameless and the upright of this world, because the future of that man is peace.
“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble.” [11]
[1] Psalm 37:1-4
[2] Psalm 37:5
[3] Psalm 37:6
[4] Psalm 37:7
[5] Psalm 37:11
[6] Psalm 37:12
[7] Psalm 37:16-17
[8] Psalm 37:25-26
[9] Psalm 37:31
[10] Psalm 37:37
[11] Psalm 37:39
* All other comments from The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
The Kingdoms of the World and of Christ
The name Babylon is used as metaphor for the kingdoms of this world that are in competition with the kingdom of God. The tower of Babel is mentioned in Genesis 11:1-9. The people thought if they could build a city that reached to the heavens, they could create heaven on earth, but God confused that deception, and that effort failed. Since then, Babylon has become a metaphor for counterfeit “heavenly” kingdoms. By the way, the word “anti” as in antichrist has the meaning “instead of.” A kingdom instead of God’s kingdom that people are content to have.
The unseen king of Babylon is Satan. He promotes the exaltation of sin over holiness. He promotes a culture of death over life. He has a chip on his shoulder against God because when he tried to takeover heaven in a coup, God’s loyal angels cast him out. (See Revelation 12:7-9, 12)
The names Jerusalem and new Jerusalem are used as metaphors for the kingdom of Christ. This kingdom is made up of people from every language, tribe and nation who believe in Christ and follow Him. They, as a collective group, are also called the Church and the Bride of Christ. (See Acts 2:47, Ephesians 5:23-32, Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 7:9, 14)
Revelation 18:2 speaks of Babylon’s demise. The rationale is explained in Revelation 18:3…
“All the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
She seduced people away from God by sexual and material pleasures.
God’s people are urged to come out from this kingdom. Perhaps, they were playing with fire in the sense of straddling the fence between God and the devil. Perhaps, they were faithful people to God who were trying to save some FROM the fire. I tend to believe the latter case is true.
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’” [1]
God’s holy apostles and prophets are urged to rejoice over Babylon’s fall, because He overthrew this evil empire in answer to their prayers…
“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.” [2]
After Babylon’s demise, John the Apostle hears a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory, honor, and power belong to the Lord our God!” “Because the Lord has judged the kingdom that corrupted the earth; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” [3]
There is another reason for rejoicing in heaven. “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” The New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the Church is granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. “The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” [4]
Who is ultimately blessed?
“Then he [the angel] said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’” [5]
The devil’s beast [the antichrist], and his false prophet, who deceived people to receive the mark of the beast are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. As is the devil, death, and hades (the place of the dead), and anyone whose name is not found in the Lamb’s book of life. [6]
Which kingdom are you living for? Babylon or New Jerusalem?
If it is Babylon, it is not too late to come out of her!
Just ask God to forgive your sins and believe in and confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. God will receive you as you come to Him based on the merits of Jesus Christ His Son. He died on the cross to remove your sins. He rose from the dead to guarantee your resurrection. No other religion proclaims God’s grace as the way of salvation. Be saved by God’s grace in Christ Jesus.
[1] Revelation 18:4-5
[2] Revelation 18:20, 24 – See also Revelation 6:9-11
[3] Revelation 19:1-2
[4] Revelation 19:7-8
[5] Revelation 19:9
[6] Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 14-15
The unseen king of Babylon is Satan. He promotes the exaltation of sin over holiness. He promotes a culture of death over life. He has a chip on his shoulder against God because when he tried to takeover heaven in a coup, God’s loyal angels cast him out. (See Revelation 12:7-9, 12)
The names Jerusalem and new Jerusalem are used as metaphors for the kingdom of Christ. This kingdom is made up of people from every language, tribe and nation who believe in Christ and follow Him. They, as a collective group, are also called the Church and the Bride of Christ. (See Acts 2:47, Ephesians 5:23-32, Hebrews 12:22, Revelation 7:9, 14)
Revelation 18:2 speaks of Babylon’s demise. The rationale is explained in Revelation 18:3…
“All the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
She seduced people away from God by sexual and material pleasures.
God’s people are urged to come out from this kingdom. Perhaps, they were playing with fire in the sense of straddling the fence between God and the devil. Perhaps, they were faithful people to God who were trying to save some FROM the fire. I tend to believe the latter case is true.
“And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’” [1]
God’s holy apostles and prophets are urged to rejoice over Babylon’s fall, because He overthrew this evil empire in answer to their prayers…
“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.” [2]
After Babylon’s demise, John the Apostle hears a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory, honor, and power belong to the Lord our God!” “Because the Lord has judged the kingdom that corrupted the earth; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” [3]
There is another reason for rejoicing in heaven. “The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” The New Jerusalem, the bride of Christ, the Church is granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. “The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” [4]
Who is ultimately blessed?
“Then he [the angel] said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’” [5]
The devil’s beast [the antichrist], and his false prophet, who deceived people to receive the mark of the beast are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. As is the devil, death, and hades (the place of the dead), and anyone whose name is not found in the Lamb’s book of life. [6]
Which kingdom are you living for? Babylon or New Jerusalem?
If it is Babylon, it is not too late to come out of her!
Just ask God to forgive your sins and believe in and confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. God will receive you as you come to Him based on the merits of Jesus Christ His Son. He died on the cross to remove your sins. He rose from the dead to guarantee your resurrection. No other religion proclaims God’s grace as the way of salvation. Be saved by God’s grace in Christ Jesus.
[1] Revelation 18:4-5
[2] Revelation 18:20, 24 – See also Revelation 6:9-11
[3] Revelation 19:1-2
[4] Revelation 19:7-8
[5] Revelation 19:9
[6] Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 14-15
Monday, December 28, 2020
Psalm 31: A Song and a Prayer
David’s song and his prayer are to the Lord. He sings and prays…
“In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness.” [1]
David’s king and his father-in-law, Saul, persecuted him. At one point, he lived among the idolatrous Philistines rather than in Israel to escape from Saul.
David had conquered foreign armies, but toward King Saul, he would not lift his sword. Though Saul fell from grace, he was still the Lord’s anointed leader. So, what did he do? He prayed! He asked the Lord to…
“Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.” “…For Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.” [2]
Rescue me quickly, defend me strongly and guide me successfully!
He recognizes that he needs the Lord’s help, and he asks the Lord for it. He recognizes that he is a hunted man and needs God to protect him from being captured. He knows that the Lord is his Redeemer and that God’s verdict on his life’s value is truth.
“Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” [3]
Though he lived among idolaters for a time to escape from King Saul, he did not become one.
“I have hated those who regard useless idols; but I trust in the Lord.” [4]
He said to the Lord…
“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.” [5]
The Lord had an open ear toward David. He was willing to listen to David speak of his troubles and hardships. David’s Messiah… David’s Redeemer… would one day experience even more hardships than he did…
[Jesus] was “despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.
He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.” [6]
So, David prayed with confidence because he knew the Lord understood and cared for him. His enemies slandered him. Intimidated him! Made well-devised plans to kill him! But the Lord delivered him and shined His face upon Him.
“I hear the slander of many; fear is on every side; they take counsel together against me, they scheme to take away my life.” “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me for Your mercies’ sake.” [7]
David praised the Lord, saying, “Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” [8]
The Lord hid David in the secret place of His presence from the plots of man. He protected David from the strife of tongues. [9]
David blessed the Lord because the Lord showed marvelous kindness in a strong city! [10]
What does David do with his joy in the Lord? He turns it on his listeners. He urges us…
“Oh, love the Lord, all you, His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” [11]
AMEN!!!
[1] Psalm 31:1
[2[ Psalm 31:2-3
[3] Psalm 31:4-5
[4] Psalm 31:6
[5] Psalm 31:7-8
[6] Isaiah 53:3-7
[7] Psalm 31:13-16
[8] Psalm 31:19
[9] Psalm 31:20
[10] Psalm 31:21
[11] Psalm 31:23-24
“In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness.” [1]
David’s king and his father-in-law, Saul, persecuted him. At one point, he lived among the idolatrous Philistines rather than in Israel to escape from Saul.
David had conquered foreign armies, but toward King Saul, he would not lift his sword. Though Saul fell from grace, he was still the Lord’s anointed leader. So, what did he do? He prayed! He asked the Lord to…
“Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.” “…For Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.” [2]
Rescue me quickly, defend me strongly and guide me successfully!
He recognizes that he needs the Lord’s help, and he asks the Lord for it. He recognizes that he is a hunted man and needs God to protect him from being captured. He knows that the Lord is his Redeemer and that God’s verdict on his life’s value is truth.
“Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” [3]
Though he lived among idolaters for a time to escape from King Saul, he did not become one.
“I have hated those who regard useless idols; but I trust in the Lord.” [4]
He said to the Lord…
“I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a wide place.” [5]
The Lord had an open ear toward David. He was willing to listen to David speak of his troubles and hardships. David’s Messiah… David’s Redeemer… would one day experience even more hardships than he did…
[Jesus] was “despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.
He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.” [6]
So, David prayed with confidence because he knew the Lord understood and cared for him. His enemies slandered him. Intimidated him! Made well-devised plans to kill him! But the Lord delivered him and shined His face upon Him.
“I hear the slander of many; fear is on every side; they take counsel together against me, they scheme to take away my life.” “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me for Your mercies’ sake.” [7]
David praised the Lord, saying, “Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!” [8]
The Lord hid David in the secret place of His presence from the plots of man. He protected David from the strife of tongues. [9]
David blessed the Lord because the Lord showed marvelous kindness in a strong city! [10]
What does David do with his joy in the Lord? He turns it on his listeners. He urges us…
“Oh, love the Lord, all you, His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.” [11]
AMEN!!!
[1] Psalm 31:1
[2[ Psalm 31:2-3
[3] Psalm 31:4-5
[4] Psalm 31:6
[5] Psalm 31:7-8
[6] Isaiah 53:3-7
[7] Psalm 31:13-16
[8] Psalm 31:19
[9] Psalm 31:20
[10] Psalm 31:21
[11] Psalm 31:23-24
Sunday, December 27, 2020
The Matchless Worth of Christian Fellowship
I praise God for Christian fellowship!
Throughout Scripture I see the heart of God for us His people.
For example, in the Book of Jeremiah I see the Lord’s passion for the wayward people of Jerusalem. God’s passionate love for His people was never doused by a lack of response on their part to love Him in return. God helped to restore their love for Him by way of temporary exile in Babylon. Amidst trials, their love for God was restored. His ultimate goal is to save us eternally.
God knows we need Him to enter everlasting life. He loves us. He wants us to be with Him forever. He does not want a heaven without us.
Last night, the Lord blessed Sherry and I with hearts of worship towards Him. We sang together the words penned by Samuel J. Stone back in 1866…
“The Church’s one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From Heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.”
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came from heaven to save us. He took on human flesh. He suffered for our sins, not His own. He committed no sin. He gave His blood to cleanse us from our sin and guilt. Now, by faith in Him, WE ARE SAVED!
Christ punctuates His love for the Church and for lost souls in The Book of Revelation.
For example, in Revelation 14:6-7, John sees an angel flying amidst heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. He says with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
Messengers of Christ are proclaiming the Gospel all over the world with great effort and with much personal sacrifice so that people will be saved.
Another heavenly messenger warns people against disowning Christ and embracing the beast (the antichrist). Such a decision leads to endless torment in fire and brimstone day and night. [1]
Jesus urges us His saints to be patient, to keep God’s commandments and faith in Him. He tells John to write, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” Why, because… “They may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” [2] Our works will still be producing results long after we are gone.
Jesus shows John saints singing victoriously in heaven. They sing:
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.” [3]
“Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your great love for Your bride the Church and for the lost! Thank You that Your Gospel continues to be preached throughout the earth via Your bride the Church. Help us to always realize the matchless worth of faith in You and the matchless worth of fellowship with Your people, the Church. For it is in Your Name Jesus that we pray. Amen.”
[1] Revelation 14:9-11
[2] Revelation 14:12-13
[3] Revelation 15:2-4
Throughout Scripture I see the heart of God for us His people.
For example, in the Book of Jeremiah I see the Lord’s passion for the wayward people of Jerusalem. God’s passionate love for His people was never doused by a lack of response on their part to love Him in return. God helped to restore their love for Him by way of temporary exile in Babylon. Amidst trials, their love for God was restored. His ultimate goal is to save us eternally.
God knows we need Him to enter everlasting life. He loves us. He wants us to be with Him forever. He does not want a heaven without us.
Last night, the Lord blessed Sherry and I with hearts of worship towards Him. We sang together the words penned by Samuel J. Stone back in 1866…
“The Church’s one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From Heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.”
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came from heaven to save us. He took on human flesh. He suffered for our sins, not His own. He committed no sin. He gave His blood to cleanse us from our sin and guilt. Now, by faith in Him, WE ARE SAVED!
Christ punctuates His love for the Church and for lost souls in The Book of Revelation.
For example, in Revelation 14:6-7, John sees an angel flying amidst heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. He says with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
Messengers of Christ are proclaiming the Gospel all over the world with great effort and with much personal sacrifice so that people will be saved.
Another heavenly messenger warns people against disowning Christ and embracing the beast (the antichrist). Such a decision leads to endless torment in fire and brimstone day and night. [1]
Jesus urges us His saints to be patient, to keep God’s commandments and faith in Him. He tells John to write, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” Why, because… “They may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” [2] Our works will still be producing results long after we are gone.
Jesus shows John saints singing victoriously in heaven. They sing:
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the saints!
Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy.
For all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.” [3]
“Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for Your great love for Your bride the Church and for the lost! Thank You that Your Gospel continues to be preached throughout the earth via Your bride the Church. Help us to always realize the matchless worth of faith in You and the matchless worth of fellowship with Your people, the Church. For it is in Your Name Jesus that we pray. Amen.”
[1] Revelation 14:9-11
[2] Revelation 14:12-13
[3] Revelation 15:2-4
Saturday, December 26, 2020
The Two Anointed Ones
The story of humankind in the Bible begins in Genesis 1-2 with harmony with God and ends similarly in Revelation 21-22. However, in between beginning and end war ensues as people are the subject of the devil’s effort to defame and dethrone God. The devil was expelled from heaven. [1] He cannot rule God or God’s loyal angels, so his goal is to rule over people.
In Revelation 12:9, Jesus reveals to us a dragon named Satan and the devil. He is against those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. [2]
In Revelation 13:1, Jesus reveals to us a beast that ascends from the sea (a metaphor for people) with multiple heads and crowns (metaphors for evil empires) with blasphemous names on their heads.
The beast blasphemes (speak against) God, His name, His dwelling place, and blasphemes those who dwell in heaven. He makes war with the saints to overcome them. Many people on earth worship him. Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (believers in Christ) do not. [3]
The Lord says to His people… “If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." [4]
Those who enslave and murder, shall reap the same reward. Saints, on other hand, will live by patience and faith in God.
The goal of the beast is to place his mark on the right hand or foreheads of people. He uses economic sanctions to conquer people. [5]
In the days of the Old Testament Prophet Zechariah, God’s people had experienced similar rule under pagan rulers. The Lord revealed to Zechariah in a vision two olive trees. Zechariah wanted to know what they represented. An angel said to him,
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
says the Lord of hosts.
‘Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” [6]
This prophecy had an immediate application for the people of his time, but also an application for what was to come, namely, the ministry of Holy Spirit through Messiah Jesus Christ. God’s people are to rest in the power of the Holy Spirit and in Jesus Christ who comes with grace upon grace. These two are God’s mountain levelers.
The angel explained the two olive trees to Zechariah… “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” [7] Together with the Lord between them, they represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Later, the angel speaks to Zechariah of a “Man whose name is the BRANCH! He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on His throne; so, He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” [8] Branch is a metaphor for Messiah. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both King and Priest. He is the one who brings peace and victory for God’s people.
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Son and Holy Spirit. Please help us to always live by faith in You. Please grant us resolve to boldly proclaim the message of Your reign and victory despite all the blasphemy of the enemy. We know in the end, the devil is destroyed, but You and Yours, that is, WE, shall live forever in paradise. In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.”
[1] Revelation 12:9
[2] Revelation 12:17
[3] Revelation 13:6-8
[4] Revelation 13:9-10
[5] Revelation 13:16-17
[6] Zechariah 4:3-7
[7] Zechariah 4:13-14
[8] Zechariah 5:12-13
In Revelation 12:9, Jesus reveals to us a dragon named Satan and the devil. He is against those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. [2]
In Revelation 13:1, Jesus reveals to us a beast that ascends from the sea (a metaphor for people) with multiple heads and crowns (metaphors for evil empires) with blasphemous names on their heads.
The beast blasphemes (speak against) God, His name, His dwelling place, and blasphemes those who dwell in heaven. He makes war with the saints to overcome them. Many people on earth worship him. Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (believers in Christ) do not. [3]
The Lord says to His people… “If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." [4]
Those who enslave and murder, shall reap the same reward. Saints, on other hand, will live by patience and faith in God.
The goal of the beast is to place his mark on the right hand or foreheads of people. He uses economic sanctions to conquer people. [5]
In the days of the Old Testament Prophet Zechariah, God’s people had experienced similar rule under pagan rulers. The Lord revealed to Zechariah in a vision two olive trees. Zechariah wanted to know what they represented. An angel said to him,
“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
says the Lord of hosts.
‘Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” [6]
This prophecy had an immediate application for the people of his time, but also an application for what was to come, namely, the ministry of Holy Spirit through Messiah Jesus Christ. God’s people are to rest in the power of the Holy Spirit and in Jesus Christ who comes with grace upon grace. These two are God’s mountain levelers.
The angel explained the two olive trees to Zechariah… “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” [7] Together with the Lord between them, they represent the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Later, the angel speaks to Zechariah of a “Man whose name is the BRANCH! He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on His throne; so, He shall be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” [8] Branch is a metaphor for Messiah. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both King and Priest. He is the one who brings peace and victory for God’s people.
“Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Son and Holy Spirit. Please help us to always live by faith in You. Please grant us resolve to boldly proclaim the message of Your reign and victory despite all the blasphemy of the enemy. We know in the end, the devil is destroyed, but You and Yours, that is, WE, shall live forever in paradise. In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.”
[1] Revelation 12:9
[2] Revelation 12:17
[3] Revelation 13:6-8
[4] Revelation 13:9-10
[5] Revelation 13:16-17
[6] Zechariah 4:3-7
[7] Zechariah 4:13-14
[8] Zechariah 5:12-13
Friday, December 25, 2020
Christmas Cheer
Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem
They sought to worship a newborn King.
King Herod and Jerusalem were troubled.
Herod asked his advisors about this.
Little Bethlehem is the place the prophet foretold.
Herod told the wise he would worship Him too.
The Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream,
“Arise, take the young Child and His mother,
Flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word;
For Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Herod attempted a coup against God’s anointed.
He thought he could overturn God’s plan.
His soldiers massacred the baby boys of Bethlehem.
But King Jesus was in Egypt.
When King Jesus returned to Israel…
Herod was dead - Jesus was alive. [1]
Later, Herod’s son and Pontius Pilate conspired with the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified.
But a crucified and risen Savior was prophesied of centuries beforehand in Psalm 22…
“Dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots. [2]
Yes, Jesus was pierced and mocked, but Psalm 22:24 says that God “has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.”
Psalm 22:27-28 says, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.”
Herod’s gone.
Jesus lives.
As of Christmas 2020, families from all nations worship Jesus.
“Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah” [3]
Pretenders to the throne shan't survive.
Our Lord Jesus is the King of Glory.
The Lord prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies; He anoints our heads with oil; our cup runs over. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” [4]
All cheers to Christ our Lord! Glory to His Name!
[1] Matthew 2:2-19
[2] Psalm 22:16-18
[3] Psalm 24:8-10
[4] Psalm 23:5-6
They sought to worship a newborn King.
King Herod and Jerusalem were troubled.
Herod asked his advisors about this.
Little Bethlehem is the place the prophet foretold.
Herod told the wise he would worship Him too.
The Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream,
“Arise, take the young Child and His mother,
Flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word;
For Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Herod attempted a coup against God’s anointed.
He thought he could overturn God’s plan.
His soldiers massacred the baby boys of Bethlehem.
But King Jesus was in Egypt.
When King Jesus returned to Israel…
Herod was dead - Jesus was alive. [1]
Later, Herod’s son and Pontius Pilate conspired with the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified.
But a crucified and risen Savior was prophesied of centuries beforehand in Psalm 22…
“Dogs have surrounded Me;
The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me.
They pierced My hands and My feet;
I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me.
They divide My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots. [2]
Yes, Jesus was pierced and mocked, but Psalm 22:24 says that God “has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from Him; but when He cried to Him, He heard.”
Psalm 22:27-28 says, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.”
Herod’s gone.
Jesus lives.
As of Christmas 2020, families from all nations worship Jesus.
“Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah” [3]
Pretenders to the throne shan't survive.
Our Lord Jesus is the King of Glory.
The Lord prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies; He anoints our heads with oil; our cup runs over. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” [4]
All cheers to Christ our Lord! Glory to His Name!
[1] Matthew 2:2-19
[2] Psalm 22:16-18
[3] Psalm 24:8-10
[4] Psalm 23:5-6
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
The Lord’s Great Reset
The Lord saw idolaters in high places amidst His godly people. [1]
These idolaters previously walked with God… “Those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” [2]
They were the king’s children. They were clothed with foreign apparel. But sadly, their houses were filled with violence and deceit. [3]
The Lord’s Word for them was… “And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’”
The Lord promises to plunder the thieves and make their houses empty. [4]
The Lord says, “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath.” [5]
The Lord turns to the humble and says, “Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” [6]
To the people who insulted and made arrogant threats against His people, the Lord says, “The residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.” [7]
It is the Lord’s great reset.
He says, “Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She has not obeyed His voice, she has not received correction; she has not trusted in the Lord, she has not drawn near to her God.” [8]
Her princes are roaring lions.
Her judges are evening wolves.
Her prophets are insolent.
Her priests do violence to the law. [9]
The Lord says to His faithful ones, “Wait for Me until the day I rise up… to pour on them My fierce anger.” “For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in pride... I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” They will not speak lies. “And no one shall make them afraid.” [10]
The Lord urges His people to sing and shout. “Be glad and rejoice with all your heart!” For the Lord has taken away your judgments and cast out your enemy. He is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more. He says, “Fear not. Let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” [11]
The Lord promises that in that day… “I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out… I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes.” [12]
“Thank You Lord God Almighty for singing over us! For rejoicing over us with gladness! Thank You that You have seen all that has been done to Your faithful people. You have set a time and a date for the great reset. It will be a day of victory for Your people.”
[1] Zephaniah 1:4-5
[2] Zephaniah 1:6
[3] Zephaniah 1:7-9
[4] Zephaniah 1:12-13
[5] Zephaniah 1:18
[6] Zephaniah 2:3
[7] Zephaniah 2:8-9
[8] Zephaniah 3:1-2
[9] Zephaniah 3:3-4
[10] Zephaniah 3:8, 11-13
[11] Zephaniah 3:14-17
[12] Zephaniah 3:19-20
These idolaters previously walked with God… “Those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” [2]
They were the king’s children. They were clothed with foreign apparel. But sadly, their houses were filled with violence and deceit. [3]
The Lord’s Word for them was… “And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’”
The Lord promises to plunder the thieves and make their houses empty. [4]
The Lord says, “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath.” [5]
The Lord turns to the humble and says, “Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.” [6]
To the people who insulted and made arrogant threats against His people, the Lord says, “The residue of My people shall plunder them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them.” [7]
It is the Lord’s great reset.
He says, “Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She has not obeyed His voice, she has not received correction; she has not trusted in the Lord, she has not drawn near to her God.” [8]
Her princes are roaring lions.
Her judges are evening wolves.
Her prophets are insolent.
Her priests do violence to the law. [9]
The Lord says to His faithful ones, “Wait for Me until the day I rise up… to pour on them My fierce anger.” “For then I will take away from your midst those who rejoice in pride... I will leave in your midst a meek and humble people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” They will not speak lies. “And no one shall make them afraid.” [10]
The Lord urges His people to sing and shout. “Be glad and rejoice with all your heart!” For the Lord has taken away your judgments and cast out your enemy. He is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more. He says, “Fear not. Let not your hands be weak. The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” [11]
The Lord promises that in that day… “I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, and gather those who were driven out… I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I return your captives before your eyes.” [12]
“Thank You Lord God Almighty for singing over us! For rejoicing over us with gladness! Thank You that You have seen all that has been done to Your faithful people. You have set a time and a date for the great reset. It will be a day of victory for Your people.”
[1] Zephaniah 1:4-5
[2] Zephaniah 1:6
[3] Zephaniah 1:7-9
[4] Zephaniah 1:12-13
[5] Zephaniah 1:18
[6] Zephaniah 2:3
[7] Zephaniah 2:8-9
[8] Zephaniah 3:1-2
[9] Zephaniah 3:3-4
[10] Zephaniah 3:8, 11-13
[11] Zephaniah 3:14-17
[12] Zephaniah 3:19-20
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
The Burden and Rejoicing of Habakkuk
“The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.” [1]
What ails you?’
For Habakkuk, at first, it what he was seeing when he looked around him. But later, when he fixed his eyes on the Lord, faith entered his heart, and he rejoices.
At first, he asked the Lord…
“O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
Therefore, the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds.” [2]
The Lord’s reply to him was that a fierce invading force was about to overrun his nation.
“They are terrible and dreadful.” “They deride every stronghold.” [3]
This nation offends God… “He commits offense, ascribing this power to his god.” [4]
Habakkuk asks the Lord… “Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?” [5]
Habakkuk compares the wicked to fishermen who catch people instead of fish in their nets. The wicked delight in their catch of people because… “By them, their share is sumptuous and their food plentiful.” [6]
He asks the Lord… “Shall they therefore empty their net, and continue to slay nations without pity?” [7]
The Lord answered and said… “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” [8]
The Lord assures Habakkuk that He does not view the proud as upright. He views those who live by faith in Him as the upright.
The Lord sees the drunkenness of the proud man. He sees that he does not stay at home with his family. He sees the stealing. He promises a reversal. The oppressor will be plundered. The blood he sheds feeds the fire of God’s wrath. Woes shall be to him who makes others drunk to expose their nakedness. He will be filled with shame instead of glory. His idols of wood, gold and silver will not rescue him on the day of reversal. [9]
The Lord tells Habakkuk… “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” [10]
Habakkuk prays… “O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work amidst the years! Amidst the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” [11]
Then, he ends with a hymn of faith…
“Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.” [12]
[1] Habakkuk 1:1
[2] Habakkuk 1:2-4
[3] Habakkuk 1:7, 10
[4] Habakkuk 1:11
[5] Habakkuk 1:13
[6] Habakkuk 1:16
[7] Habakkuk 1:17
[8] Habakkuk 2:1-2, 4
[9] Habakkuk 2:5-19
[10] Habakkuk 2:14, 20
[11] Habakkuk 3:1-2
[12] Habakkuk 3:17-19
What ails you?’
For Habakkuk, at first, it what he was seeing when he looked around him. But later, when he fixed his eyes on the Lord, faith entered his heart, and he rejoices.
At first, he asked the Lord…
“O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
Therefore, the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore, perverse judgment proceeds.” [2]
The Lord’s reply to him was that a fierce invading force was about to overrun his nation.
“They are terrible and dreadful.” “They deride every stronghold.” [3]
This nation offends God… “He commits offense, ascribing this power to his god.” [4]
Habakkuk asks the Lord… “Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?” [5]
Habakkuk compares the wicked to fishermen who catch people instead of fish in their nets. The wicked delight in their catch of people because… “By them, their share is sumptuous and their food plentiful.” [6]
He asks the Lord… “Shall they therefore empty their net, and continue to slay nations without pity?” [7]
The Lord answered and said… “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.” “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” [8]
The Lord assures Habakkuk that He does not view the proud as upright. He views those who live by faith in Him as the upright.
The Lord sees the drunkenness of the proud man. He sees that he does not stay at home with his family. He sees the stealing. He promises a reversal. The oppressor will be plundered. The blood he sheds feeds the fire of God’s wrath. Woes shall be to him who makes others drunk to expose their nakedness. He will be filled with shame instead of glory. His idols of wood, gold and silver will not rescue him on the day of reversal. [9]
The Lord tells Habakkuk… “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” [10]
Habakkuk prays… “O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work amidst the years! Amidst the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” [11]
Then, he ends with a hymn of faith…
“Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.” [12]
[1] Habakkuk 1:1
[2] Habakkuk 1:2-4
[3] Habakkuk 1:7, 10
[4] Habakkuk 1:11
[5] Habakkuk 1:13
[6] Habakkuk 1:16
[7] Habakkuk 1:17
[8] Habakkuk 2:1-2, 4
[9] Habakkuk 2:5-19
[10] Habakkuk 2:14, 20
[11] Habakkuk 3:1-2
[12] Habakkuk 3:17-19
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Lips of Knowledge are a Precious Jewel
“There is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.” [1]
There are various ways to invest time, talent, and treasure. The Lord says that lips that speak knowledge are a precious jewel.
Our Lord Jesus came to earth. Full of knowledge and wisdom! He is God. Creator, now in flesh appearing! Receiving His Words is better than obtaining gold or jewelry. He advises us to invest in Him because He pays eternal dividends. The treasures He gives us cannot be stolen.
“I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.” [2]
Unlike material items that have no ears, no mouth, and no ability to change our circumstances, the Lord is worthy of our focus, our ponderings, and our patience. He does much more for us than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” [3]
Our Lord Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. He helps us overcome trials, temptations, evil, and death. He brings us to paradise. Think of that! Life in a world with no pain, no death, no sorrow! Everlasting treasure! A city with walls of jewels, doors of pearls and streets of gold. A city whose culture is to love God and one another.
I hope and pray that you will invest in listening to the Lord today via Bible study, prayer, worship attendance online or in person. The Bible via Hebrews 10:25 encourages us to gather with fellow believers to encourage one another as we wait for the Lord’s appearance.
[1] Proverbs 20:15
[2] Micah 7:7
[3] Revelation 2:7
There are various ways to invest time, talent, and treasure. The Lord says that lips that speak knowledge are a precious jewel.
Our Lord Jesus came to earth. Full of knowledge and wisdom! He is God. Creator, now in flesh appearing! Receiving His Words is better than obtaining gold or jewelry. He advises us to invest in Him because He pays eternal dividends. The treasures He gives us cannot be stolen.
“I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.” [2]
Unlike material items that have no ears, no mouth, and no ability to change our circumstances, the Lord is worthy of our focus, our ponderings, and our patience. He does much more for us than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” [3]
Our Lord Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. He helps us overcome trials, temptations, evil, and death. He brings us to paradise. Think of that! Life in a world with no pain, no death, no sorrow! Everlasting treasure! A city with walls of jewels, doors of pearls and streets of gold. A city whose culture is to love God and one another.
I hope and pray that you will invest in listening to the Lord today via Bible study, prayer, worship attendance online or in person. The Bible via Hebrews 10:25 encourages us to gather with fellow believers to encourage one another as we wait for the Lord’s appearance.
[1] Proverbs 20:15
[2] Micah 7:7
[3] Revelation 2:7
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