Love And Obedience

John 14:15,23

"If you love Me, you will obey what I command." 

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will obey my teaching."

Romans 6:19

Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Jesus is not commanding us to love Him, He is saying that if we do love Him, then we will want to do what He commands, we will delight in following His teachings. Loving Him will tune our hearts to what He wants for us, and our desire will be to please Him. Just like the loving child will want to please his parent, or the new bride joyfully submits to her bridegroom. This is the kind of relationship God wants to have with us. And when we do view Him in love, then we will do what is right and shun what is evil. 

Paul writes the Romans that he rejoices over their obedience, and adds another detail that is to our benefit: To be wise about what is good, but to not have such an intimate knowledge of evil, to be innocent about the evil, so we won't get caught up in its seductions. 

O Father, teach us how to love You by obeying what You have taught us; teach us to obey the authorities You have place over us in Christ, and to love them as You have loved us. You have honored us by placing Your Name upon us: teach us to honor others in love and obedience. And I know that by doing so, You will bless us with the benefits of Your goodness, and You will receive all the credit, all the glory, for You have planned it so.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Words

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, "My vow was a mistake." Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands?

This regards our words, what we say. We always need to pay attention to what we say we will do, and always do what we say we will do. Being true to our words is very important to God. It used to be that a man was true to his word and a handshake was binding. Today, we have to have a written and signed contract to be considered binding. So now we need to be especially careful of our words: God still weighs our words and expects us to be faithful. If we are not, if we carelessly say we will do something, and then forget about it, God remembers. If you find that God has been destroying the work of your hands, maybe you could examine what you have promised in the past to see if you have done what you said you would. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Our Part In God's Plan

Psalm 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. 

John 16:13-15

But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you.

Oh, wow! Everything that the Father owns, also belongs to Jesus, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to live inside us, in our spirits. This is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus, that will never leave us. He teaches us everything we need to know, and guides us in the path God has set before each of us to walk. God has provided everything for us that we need to know, to do, to think, and to accomplish, all to fulfill His plan for each of us, that fits into His great Plan of the Ages. It's all a huge, grand puzzle. Each of us fits into place the pieces of our individual puzzles, which fit together into larger puzzles, that all will come together into that huge, grand, super-puzzle of His Plan of the Ages. Our God is really amazing: His knowledge, His wisdom, His goodness, His grace and mercy to us, His kindnesses to us, to have us work out each of our parts of His grand Plan. 

God has this whole Universe inside Himself, held securely in His hand; He is the absolute Sovereign, Who has planned out everything ahead of time, and is, through time and circumstances, working out all the different parts of this picture, using us as His hands and feet in this world. When each of us does the things He wants us to do, when we submit to His authority over us, then He teaches us what we are to do to accomplish His will: because of His love for us, this is always for our benefit, and He will receive all the credit, all the glory.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

 

Truth Or Myth?

Isaiah 29:13-14

The Lord says, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship Me in vain; their teaching are but rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

So many churches in America today could be described by this passage. They teach that our God of Truth has put myths in His Word, because Science and Scientists have "proven" that these Old Testament stories can't possibly be true because there is no "evidence" that they really happened. They're only stories told to try to illustrate a "truth" in the spiritual realm.

If these stories of Adam and Eve, of Noah and the Ark, of The Exodus, of Jonah and the Great Fish are not historical events recorded accurately, then all of Jewish and Christian religion is a farce, and Jesus was either deceived into believing them as true or lied in accommodating His teachings to the erroneous beliefs of His listeners. 

And if the Old Testament stories aren't literal truth, then are the New Testament stories also myths? Did Jesus really live as a historical person, did He really die and rise from the dead? Do we have a living hope, or are we just wishing that everything will turn out okay in the end? 

Then there are also those today who think of themselves as "the Intelligentsia;" they are full of this world's knowledge and wisdom, and they worship themselves as man-gods. They think that they can have agape love without God at all, Who is Love. Without God there would be no love at all, only ego and hatred. They are fooling themselves. 

But if everything written in the Bible really is True, if it is Science that is looking for evidence in the wrong place, or the wrong time frame; if we really can trust God to be Almighty, Creator, and Author of Truth; then our hope can be sure, we can trust that what He said happened in the past really did happen, and what He said will happen in the future really will happen, and that He will keep all the promises He gave to His people, just as He said it will happen. 

So Jesus will return to the Earth to reign as King Jesus over the whole world, and His promises to Israel to be the head, not the tail will be fulfilled, and the World will experience its Golden Age. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Very End, And The Beginning

Psalm 46:6

. . . He lifts His voice, the earth melts.

II Peter 3:10

The Day of the Lord . . . the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will (melt)(be laid bare)(will be burned up).

Revelation 20:11

The Great White Throne . . . Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.

After Jesus reigns on this Earth for 1,000 years, and Satan, who has been bound for this 1,000 years is released, Satan will go over the whole world quickly, deceiving the Nations again, and lead all the armed forces of the world against King Jesus; that's when the unthinkable happens and the whole Earth literally explodes! The whole Universe will be re-made, this time with no curse, no Second Law of Thermodynamics, and it will last forever. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Light Of The World

John 9:5

. . . I am the Light of the World.

Jesus is the one constant in our chaotic world. His Word never changes, He will never change His mind about the good future He has planned for us.

No matter how far the evil-doers of the world go in doing their evil, no matter how heinous and horrifying their evil deeds, God is still God and Jesus will still be instant and present in us by His Spirit. We never need to give up, it will never be "too late" for Him to make things right. No matter what harassment, persecution, or even martyrdom comes to us through evil men, Your wrath will be upon them, but will not come near or touch us. We can count on Your light, Lord.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Christmas Gifts

Matthew 2:11

On coming to the house, [The Magi] saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

These wise scholar-kings who had been looking for a sign that this momentous occasion had arrived, spent their time and efforts to travel probably for months to find this Child. The gifts they presented Him are very significant: Gold is given to kings, as He is the King over all kings; Incense (or Frankincense) signifies that He is our High Priest, to offer the fragrant perfume of our prayers before the Eternal Throne of God in Heaven; and Myrrh, a burial spice, indicating that He would submit to going through Death itself in order to conquer it, and He will destroy it at the end of this Earth's time as the last enemy to be destroyed.

Because these wise men presented gifts to Jesus, we give gifts to one another at Christmas. But the greatest Christmas gift is Jesus, Himself: That God loves us so much that He gave, He gave us His only Son, He emptied Heaven of His Son for a time, so that whoever would put their trust in Him would never die eternally, but live with Him forever. That is the great wonder and Truth of Christmas.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Christmas Enouragement

II Thessalonians 2:15-17

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.--

Paul only had 3 weeks in Thessalonika to plant a thriving church there, as the Jewish leaders were very contentious. The city is in Macedonia, where God led Paul instead of into Asia. Paul went from there to Berea, where the Jews followed him, and he had to leave there, too.

May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself--

Jesus is God's Christ for us and our Lord, who himself loves us and gave himself for us. That is why we are remembering His birth this Christmas: He was born so that He could die for us.

and God our Father--

God is our Father by the New Birth.

who loved us--

He loves us so much that He sacrificed His only Son to redeem us.

and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement--

His grace, the good He gives us that we don't deserve, is very encouraging, lasting forever.

and good hope--

This encouraging Grace gives us hope, the certain knowing of the good future God has planned and prepared for us.

encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.--

Knowing this will give us great encouragement, to make us strong in the good deeds God planned for us to do and say for our benefit and prosperity and God's glory; He gets all the credit for having planned it all out and accomplished it according to His will, in His time and in His ways.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Fear Or Obedience?

Matthew 1:16; 2:22

But after he considered this (divorcing Mary), an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."

Joseph was a good man, who wanted to do the right thing. But when he found out about Mary's pregnancy, he knew it wasn't his, and he was afraid. It took the angel to convince him to go ahead and marry Mary anyway. Joseph didn't give in to his fear, he obeyed.

But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee.

Here Joseph was afraid again, but he didn't need to go against his fear this time. He obeyed the angel again and went back home to were he and Mary first met and got engaged.

Fear is not a good thing. Fear can make us do things that we would never consider otherwise, things we will regret later. Whenever we feel fear about something, we could ask ourselves, "Why am I afraid? What am I afraid of?" That will bring us to realize that either our fear is unreasonable, and we need not fear; or that it is legitimate, and what we are to do about the situation. So we need never give in to our fear, we can use our intelligence God gave us to reason out the best, most righteous course to take. Like Joseph did, in obeying instead of giving in to fear. He was a righteous man, the Dad God picked out to raise His Son.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Sin And Transgression

Isaiah 53:12

For He bore the sin of many,--

Often Scripture uses "many" for "all." Jesus bore our sin-nature on the cross for every one of us; the infinite payment, enough for every person who ever lived, or will live.

And made intercession for the transgressors.--

Transgressors are those who have transgressed God's law, who have committed overt sins. So the death He died paid for every sin that could ever be committed by anybody. He had to be God to be the eternal Person to pay our eternal debt in time. And He had to be a true human being, to qualify to die our human death. We remember His human birth at Christmas, as He broke into humanity.

May this Christmas bring to mind how God, in His love for us, emptied Heaven of His Son for a time, to bring us to Himself to spend eternity with Him! O how can so many refuse to come to You O Lord, Who loves us so?

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Spirit Of Truth

John 16:3

But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth. . . . He will tell you what is to come.

God's Holy Spirit is His life inside us, in our spirits, giving us spiritual life, when we were spiritually dead. When we learn to hear His voice, that still, quiet knowing deep in our souls, then He teaches us to discern what is True and Righteous, and the wise path to take. We need never again be deceived by the world.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Unexpected Realms

John 6:27

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. . . .

I am not to put all my focus and energies into this world's provisions. I am to be satisfied with my physical needs, of food and clothing, and focus my energies and time on that Spiritual Food, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which is His Word. My priority is to rest on Bible study and application to my daily life, and sharing the Truth God teaches  me; sharing also the Goodness of God in answered prayer, and how His leading brings us into unexpected realms. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Love Abounding

Philippians 1:9-10  

And this is my prayer: That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the Day of Christ.

Love abounding in knowledge and depth of insight would not be critical of all the imperfections that knowledge and insight would reveal, but would discern the best, righteous and holy path to take (words to say), in order to not sully what purity we've attained or be open to blame for the wrong or criticism we did not succumb to. That would be real love. Find the positive to agree with to encourage the other. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Christmas Meditation

It is so incredible that the God Almighty, the Lord of Creation, would come to this Earth to live among us as a Man! To enter our realm as a tiny, helpless baby, and grow up as every one of us does. To not come to a household of means, or prestige, but to a poor, working family. For the Creator of the Universe to learn the trade of a carpenter. All this amazes me. 

Jesus experienced family life the same as every other human; with a mother who didn't always understand, a father who died before Jesus reached adulthood, brothers and sisters who probably got very exasperated with a big brother who never did anything wrong! 

While He was dying, He didn't leave His mother in the care of any of His own brothers, He knew that John the Beloved would have the compassion and gentleness to give her appropriate care; and Mary moved into John's house the same day Jesus died (John 9:27). This John, who with his brother James, had been known as the "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). Astounding are the changes the Lord makes in lives when people just believe and trust in Him to be and do exactly what He says and claims. 

This Christmas, let us kneel before the Manger and worship this Child who is the Lord and our King and God's Sacrificial Lamb who purchased us all with His precious Blood. We are all born to live: He was born to die.

But He did not stay dead, He conquered that enemy, and will return soon to claim His kingdom.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

We Must Grow Up

John 1:12-13; 3:7

Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 

You must be born again.

We must be born into God's family in order to perceive God's kingdom. We are not yet "adopted" as adult children with all the rights and responsibilities of running the family business, but we are to be born spiritually, comparable to having been born physically into our natural families. 

We are now brothers and sisters in God's own Family. And we squabble as children do. When we "grow up," we will rule with King Jesus.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Our Adoption As Sons

Romans 8:22-24

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. . . .

Our "adoption as sons," We have been "born again," born into God's own family. But we are still "children" as we live in this world. The ancient Roman idea of "adoption" was more than taking into your family one who wasn't born into it, but actually referred to the ceremony that declared a son (born into the family or not) to be an adult with all the rights and responsibilities to run the family business and inherit the fortune. So our "adoption" will be our  glorification, when this mortal body will take on the immortal, when this corruptible will become eternal. Then we will shine like the sun.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

 

Fervent Lips With An Evil Heart

Proverbs 26:23-26

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips with an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

This describes a smooth-talking politician. Don't believe anything they say while campaigning; look at their record, or their past life, see what they have done, how they've voted or lived their life. And pray for discernment.

Pray that God will bring His righteousness back to our National life, to shine His light into the other Nations again, and draw them back to God's Truth.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

The Slippery Slope

Psalm 19:12-13

Who can discern his errors? --

We lie to ourselves.

Forgive my hidden faults. --

Those I am still in denial of, hiding from myself.

Keep your servant also from willful sins, --

The ones I choose to commit, my foolish choices.

may they not rule over me. --

The slippery slope becomes a plunge into darkness: addiction.

Only then will I be blameless, --

Fully forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Innocent of great transgressions. --

If I never do the little thing, it won't lead to a bad habit; if I stay as far away as I can from that edge, there'll be no danger of slipping over it.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

To Save That Which Was Lost

Luke 19:10

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who takes care of the sheep. I know how lost I was. I was wandering across this nation when God used circumstances to "herd me into a corner," so to speak: He brought me home to my mother's house. There He found me. I had been searching for the Truth, but I didn't know that Jesus is the Truth. So when God showed me Jesus, hanging on that Cross, I knew He didn't deserve that death at all, I did. I had been living my life totally against all His rules, and Jesus took my full, eternal debt to God and paid it in full, as the Sacrificial Lamb of God, and set me free from the bondage that had held me fast. Praise God for His mercy and grace to me!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus' Human And Regal Genealogy

Jesus was a Jew of the Tribe of Judah. He received His human nature from Mary, whose genealogy we find in Luke 3:23-31. His legal father, Joseph, was also descended from King David, through the royal line, through Solomon and the whole dynasty of kings of Israel and Judah, as recorded in Matthew 1:6-16. But the last king of Judah, Jehoiachin, was so wicked that he was cursed, in that none from his bloodline would ever again assume the Throne of David, in Jeremiah 22:30. So Joseph was not eligible to be the king, even though he was of the bloodline, because he was directly descended from Jehoiachin. But Mary's line came through King David's son Nathan, the brother of Solomon, who received the crown. So, Jesus inherited the Royal authority to the Kingship legally through Joseph, and directly through the bloodline of His mother Mary. Jesus alone could reign on David's throne.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Don't Let The Baton Drop

Judges 2:10, 19

 

After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord not what He had done for Israel. ... They refused to give up [doing their own things] their evil practices and stubborn ways.

It only takes one generation to drop the baton. We who know the Lord must be sure to teach our own children and grandchildren who God is, what He is like, and what He has done and promised to do. We must give them the only hope there is for this world. Even if our own children neglect to practice or believe, then we must teach our grandchildren, and even their children, should we remain here to see them. We cannot allow our own families to sink into the pit of evil and wickedness, hopelessness and misery.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Surely He Will Rescue You

Psalm 91:3-8

Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe it with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

This will literally come to pass during the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation, spoken of by John in the book of Revelation. God's own children who will be alive at that time will escape all of the devastation that the Trumpets and the Bowls will announce/make happen. Just as God saved Hanania (Shadrach), Mishael (Meshach) and Azaria (Abed-Nego) from the fiery furnace, even though they were in the midst of the fire; and Daniel (Belteshazzar) from the lions in their den (see Daniel 3 & 6), He will also save us from all the terrors, pestilences, plagues, snares, arrows and everything else He uses to punish the wicked during that time. Even though He will allow them to behead His martyrs, even as they (the wicked) will be suffering and seeking a death they will not find. We will only observe it with our eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. None of it will come near us: God's wrath on us was poured out on Jesus while He was on the Cross.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Job's Redeemer, And Ours

Job 19:25-27

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the Earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes--I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Job knew that Jesus would walk this Earth--that He would have a human body. And we now know that when Jesus returns to rule, we will be raised to rule with Him. All of His who have died will be raised with a glorified body, and all of His who remain alive until that day will be changed. Job didn't know how it would all happen, but he had his basic facts down.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Good Grief

Matthew 14

This chapter records the death of John the Baptist, the feeding of the 5,000, and Peter walking on the water with Jesus.

When Jesus heard about John's beheading, He needed to grieve His cousin's death, so He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. But the people heard where He was going and raced there on foot. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick. His compassion put off His grieving. Only after He sent His disciples ahead of Him and dismissed the crowd, did He finally have a few hours alone, and could process His grief, in prayer. Then He looked out during the 4th watch, 3-6 am, and saw the little boat on the sea and walked out to it. Even Jesus found time to grieve.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Be Strong And Very Courageous

Joshua 1:6-9

Be strong and courageous, ... be strong and very courageous. --

My strength is in the Lord Jesus, who gives me strength. My courage is the result of my faith, trusting in God's presence and promises.

Be careful to obey all the Law; ... do not turn from it to the right or to the left, --

Knowing God's rules for living, I am to be careful to not go to the right, by making them too strict and confining, or to the left, by loosening their hold on me, considering them not that essential.

That you may be successful wherever you go. --

Obeying my Maker's instructions for living will result in my success in whatever I am to accomplish.

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. --

I am to know God's Word so well, and think about it all the time, to be aware of what it says about how I am to respond to whatever circumstances I may find myself in.

Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Following the Maker's instructions will allow my life to run as He designed it to run, and I will succeed in what He planned for me to accomplish; and that will result in prosperity in that which I am to have in order to be generous with those who have not; this will be a testimony of how good God is.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. --

God will always enable me to do what He commands me to do.

Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, --

I never need to give in to fear or cowardice; I am to be strong in Him.

For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. --

God promised Joshua that He would continue to be with him, just as He was with Moses before him; and Jesus promises me that He would never leave or forsake me.

No matter what I may face in life, good or bad, joyful or grief-filled, I can always count on God to keep His promises to me. I will be able to trust His love, wisdom and strength to bring His good out of everything that I do or happens to me. And I can rest in that.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Pondered Them In Her Heart

Luke 2:19

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

The shepherds had just visited, and it meant a lot to Mary, to "treasure up" this visit and to "ponder... in her heart" what they said. Imagine hearing that holy angels announced your baby's birth with the light of glory! Of course the mother thought long and hard about these supernatural things that happened.

O my Father, thank you for your record of what actually happened on that night. Help me to always treasure up these things and ponder them in my heart, to muse on all that You have done in unfolding Your plan; help me to always be mindful of Your great love-gift to us.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

"No Eye Has Seen"

Isaiah 64:4

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

I Corinthians 2:9-10

But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

So amazing! Isaiah had no idea what God was going to do for us. The whole New Testament testifies to all that God is now revealing to us, things which were unknowable mysteries, hidden in God in ages past. The writer of Hebrews summarizes the whole Old Testament in chapter 11, concluding that "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect (complete)" (v. 40). Each of us has a part in God's great Plan of the Ages; "But we have the  mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:16), and we get to be Christ's "hands and feet" to broadcast His seed of the Gospel to every language, tribe and nation.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

A Child Is Born, A Son Is Given

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, --

The Child was born, this is a new baby, never before seen.

to us a Son is given, --

This is the Son who was from the beginning, is now, and will be forever, the Son of the Father, proceeding from the Father as His Son from forever past; now given to us in this new baby.

And He will be called --

These are some Names of God, applied and attributed to His Son.

Wonderful, --

Full of wonder.

Counselor, --

One whose counsel is full of wonder, appropriate, complete, righteous.

Mighty God, --

The omnipotent (all-powerful), sovereign God, who has all authority.

Everlasting Father, --

The progenitor of all who will live forever with Him.

Prince of Peace. --

The Noble, who wields the power and authority to establish true Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace --

His government will continually grow stronger and more pervasive, bringing true Peace to all who are subject to His rule.

There will be no end. --

His reign will continue forever: It will begin with the 1000 years on this Earth (Revelation 20:2-9), through the Final Battle when the Earth will explode (v.9; II Peter 3:7-12), and will continue on the New Earth which will last forever, through all Eternity Future (chapters 20 & 21). 

He will reign on David's throne --

Born as a direct descendant through the bloodline of King David and his son Nathan (Luke 3:23-37, His mother's bloodline), and inheriting the Birthright to ascend the throne through King David and his son Solomon, through the whole kingly line (Matthew 1:1-16, His legal father Joseph's descent through every king who reigned in David's dynasty).

and over his kingdom, --

David reigned over the ancient kingdom of Israel, all 12 tribes, as did his son Solomon. We know these people today as the Jews, in modern Israel and scattered throughout all the nations of the world.

establishing and upholding it --

He will make it sure and stable (by binding the Enemy, Revelation 20:2, 3, 7), and lift it up in authority and quality over every other government that has ever ruled in this world.

with justice and righteousness --

He will accomplish this by enforcing true justice among the peoples through the rightness that guides His every decision and ruling.

from that time on and forever. --

Beginning with the 1000 years, and continuing forever, see above.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. --

Our Lord Jesus Almighty is a very passionate God. We see His passion through the Old Testament in His pleading with His people to do right, and His discipline of His chosen nation in allowing her to be subjugated to her enemies, and His broken heart over the unfaithfulness of His "wife." We see it in the New Testament in His "Passion" on the cross, loving us so much that He was willing to suffer the agony of the pain and the separation from His Father; we see it in His designating the Church to be the Bride of Christ, indicating that He loves us, is in love with us, as a bridegroom is delighted with his bride, and desires that we respond to Him in joyful submission to Him as His bride on their wedding night, resulting in ecstatic pleasure to both Bridegroom and bride.

The greatest human passionate love is but a shadow of the zeal of our Maker, who made us in his own image and likeness, to be His children, His army, His temple, His witnesses and ambassadors shining His light, His very bride and wife, His partner for all eternity.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The People Still Had Not . . .

II Chronicles 20:33

The high places, however, were not removed, and the people still had not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.

Asa's son Jehoshaphat devoted his heart to the ways of the Lord, and he removed the high places and Asherah poles from Judah (17:6). He also sent his officials to teach in the towns if Judah, sending with them Levites and priests, taking the Book of the Law with them; they went to all the towns of Judah and taught the people (17:7-9). Then he appointed judges in each of the cities in Judah to administer the Law and to turn the people back to the Lord (19:4-11). And when Moab, Ammon and Mount Seir got together and made war on him, Jehoshaphat sought the Lord, and set men to sing praises to the Lord ahead of his army, and God set ambushes and destroyed them (20:1-30). And still the people did not set their hearts on the God of their fathers.

Even after the reigns of both King Asa and King Jehoshaphat, who both were "good kings" and tried to turn their nation Judah back to God, the people still were stubborn and willful and clung to their false idols, replacing the "high places" that had been demolished. 

O my Father, please send us your Asa, to show the way to America, and even a Jehoshaphat to reinforce Your ways among our people. Even if the people refuse Your ways, and are determined on rebuilding the false, weak idols, we need strong leaders to show us the right way; and no one will have any excuse when Jesus returns to claim His kingdom and rule for 1000 years and forever.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Send Us An Asa

II Chronicles 14:2-5

Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. He removed the foreign altars and the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to obey His laws and commands. He removed the high places and incense altars in every town in Judah, and the kingdom was at peace under him.

O Father, God of Asa and David, please send us an Asa in America! Return us as a nation to the God of our fathers, the Founders; back to following and obeying the letter and the spirit of our Constitution which decrees Your righteousness, Lord God of the Universe. Bring us back to Yourself before the end, as You did with Judah.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Grave Clothes

John 11:44

Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

This is when Jesus called Lazarus forth out of the tomb cave. Apparently Lazarus was not able to remove the burial bindings himself, and needed help to get free of them.

O my Father, am I still bound with some of those strips of grave clothes that remain of my fleshly nature? Help me, Father, to recognize them for what they are, and the strength to discard them; or send to me someone who can remove them from me if I cannot do it myself, like Lazarus. Show me how to "put off the old man" and "put on the new man" that is of Your Spirit Who lives in me. Teach me Your ways, for they are not my ways; and Your thoughts, for they are not my thoughts; that I may speak only Your words, and do only the things You have planned before time for me to accomplish to further Your kingdom here and bring glory to Your Name.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Only Two Lifetime Requests

Proverbs 30:7-9

Two things I ask of You O Lord; do not refuse me before I die; --

There are only two things I ask of You, my Lord and Master of me as Your slave: please grant me these every day of my life until I die.

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; --

Do not allow any false or misleading words to proceed out of my mouth (or my fingers as I write or type), and do not ever allow me to be mislead by any other false or misleading words from others.

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. --

Any more than food and clothing is considered riches. I ask only my daily needs, no more.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say, "Who is the Lord?" --

If I find I have too much more than I actually need, I may start thinking that I have gotten all of it by my own power, abilities and wisdom, and think that I don't need the Lord any more.

Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the Name of my God. --

Or if I find I don't have enough, I could be tempted to stop trusting in You, and use unethical methods to get what I think I need, by taking advantage of others, and by my dishonesty I would bring shame on the One I claim to worship. 

O my Lord, how often do I worry that I may become poor, that my resources will not last my lifetime? I testify that "God takes good care of me every day," but am I really trusting You to do that into the future? Or am I really trusting in my own ingenuity to grow my nest egg? O my Lord God, my Abba, Daddy, teach me to trust You to meet all my needs, and to accept joyfully all that You provide now and into the future.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

 

The Most Powerful Force In The Universe

Ephesians 3:14-19

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

It appears here that the "fullness of God" that we may be filled with, is love! Love is the most powerful force there is. Love created the universe, and God's faithfulness in maintaining all the balances in the universe is based on His love for it. And when we love Him and one another, then we will fulfill all His laws, all the "Manufacturers Instructions" for life in this world.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Became Flesh

John 1:14

The Word became flesh . . .

The Word, that was with God and that was actually God Himself, the Creator and Lord of all Heaven and Earth and the whole Universe. This is Who came down, from His Glory in Heaven, and "became flesh." God is Spirit, always was and always will be. But this Word, this One Who proceeds from the Father, so is His Son, took upon Himself the actual flesh of humankind, and became a Man! The Creator became a part of His own creation! I cannot grasp the magnitude of this thing that God did--to leave the Home He deserves to dwell among filthy, evil little creatures is totally beyond my comprehension. But I know He did!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Worship

Exodus 23:33

...The worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.

The way they worship their gods; what they do that honors their gods. It will look so good, so beneficial, so right, that you will be snared, caught up in it. Today we don't bow down to statues in our society (except Catholics), but our culture encourages us to put our trust into our own abilities, to "lift us up by our own bootstraps." To trust in the money we earn, or the company we work for, or the government that encourages us to be dependent on it. But our trust is to be in the God who created all things and everyone, and His Son who paid our debt; we are to think His thoughts, not the world's.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Reconciliation

II Corinthians 5:17-21

If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -- Because we are "in Christ" we don't have to fall back into the old pattern of doing what we think we want, into that old way of responding to that bad habit, or that old hurt that formerly ruled our days.

All this is from God, -- God has performed a miracle in each of us in causing us to be born into His own family by the New Birth.

Who reconciled us to Himself -- Just as I change my checkbook register to reconcile it to the bank statement, so God changed us to agree with who He is; the life He has is spiritual and He has given us that same spiritual life that He lives, causing His Spirit to come into our spirits to make them alive. Where we were dead spiritually, we are now alive.

Through Christ -- Because of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross and His Resurrection.

And gave us the ministry of reconciliation: -- We have a job to do, a ministry, to let people know what God has done for us.

That God was reconciling the world to Himself -- God is the only One who changed (will change) everything in relation to Himself.

In Christ, -- Only by what Jesus accomplished.

Not counting men's sins against them. -- God doesn't need to consider our sins on our side of the Ledger, but can now put them on Jesus' side.

And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. -- This is the message we are to teach the world, that God has already taken care of all our sins, wounds and problems; in putting them on Jesus on the Cross to pay for all our debts; and God raised Him from the dead to prove that He accepted that payment on our behalf.

We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. -- We are to implore, to beg you, to take God up on His offer to allow Jesus to pay your debt in full, and let Him change you into the person God created you to be, in planting in you His own Spirit to make you alive and able to do the good works that God planned ahead of time for you to do, so that you will get the benefits and He will get the credit.

God made Him who had no sin -- Jesus.

to be sin -- to carry our very sin-nature.

for us, -- in our place, each of us, to pay our debt of death.

So that in Him -- Only in Christ, who paid it.

we might -- Now it is possible.

become -- Actually be, not just do.

the righteousness of God. --To be able to do what is right in every circumstance because of the power of His Spirit living in us, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Each of us now is His temple, where He lives.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Live Up To What We Have

Philippians 3:16

Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

We all know what we know. We have some idea of how God loves us, and some of what he has revealed to us of Himself, of who He is. We have learned that we ought to be kind, to love our neighbor, to help the poor, because that's how God is good to us. But how often do we just think of ourselves, of what would serve our purposes, of what would please us. We even sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that we are working for God's purposes, when we're really just following our own agenda. 

God has given each of us different combinations of personality, natural abilities and talents, and various spiritual gifts. Each one of us is different from every other one, even identical twins are different from each other. So the plans He has for each of us is according to the way He made each of us, different from every other. God made us all different, so that everything would get done. You are concerned for the environment? Good, we need to take care of this planet God has put us in charge of. You are concerned for the animals about to go extinct, or are being treated shamefully? Good, they are here for our use, but not abuse. You are concerned for the children who don't have enough to eat? Good, they are precious, and we can do much to meet their needs. You are concerned for the lost, and desire that they hear the Gospel to further God's Kingdom here on earth? Good, that's the most pressing need, and we are to pray that God sends more workers into the fields that are already white to harvest. 

Let us all do what we can, and everything will get done.

O my Father, You have been so good to me, and You continue to shower upon me Your goodness, every day and in every way. Thank you so much for all the ways You have taken care of me each day, and all the wonderful blessings You shower upon me continually. Please help me to remember Your ways as I leave my house to spend time with people, people You love. Let me get my focus off of myself and actually see them as You see them, to listen to them with Your ears, and enable me to be Your hands, Your feet, Your voice, to meet their needs in ways that will benefit them; and You will receive the credit, the glory. Help me to live up to all that I have already attained.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Johnathan's Love For David

II Samuel 1:25-26

How the mighty have fallen in battle! Johnathan lies slain on your heights.

I grieve for you, Johnathan my brother; You were very dear to me.

Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

David was a man who knew God, so he knew what real love was--he knew the unconditional love of God, and he recognized that love also in Johnathan. That love is not physical. None of David's wives were actually in love with him; even Michal, who thought she loved him, only loved the idea of him as the great hero and king, and when he took off his royal robes and danced in the common tunic before the Lord, she hated him. Johnathan loved David for who he was.

God loves us for who we are, too. This love is pure, it is true, it is deeper than we can know, and nothing we can do will ever change this love, to increase it or decrease it. This is the love that sent His only Son, Jesus, to become a Man, to pay our debt of sin for each of us, so that now God is free to forgive us. He will draw us to Himself, teach us His ways (for they are not our ways), meet all our needs, and help us to have the victory over all our hurts, bad habits and hangups. He will show us how to solve all our problems, heal all the wounds we have or have inflicted on others, mend our family relationships, and use us as His hands and feet to reap the fields of the world, ripe to harvest, sharing His Gospel, His Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.

God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance." That is His love for us all. But He will not force us. He gently calls, and those who refuse to hear His call, who rebel against His authority as Creator, and choose to go their own way; He will allow to go their own way, away from goodness, away from order, away from light and love, and allow them their choice to spend eternity without Him. But to those who want to know the Truth, who make the effort to seek Him, and desire to know His ways; He will call, and they will answer; He will draw and they will come; He will save and redeem from the bondage that has enslaved them, giving them the power and authority to make good choices to do good and righteous acts. This is what He has done in and for me, and He wants to do the same for you, too.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!