The Rebellious Versus The Faithful Child

Romans 9: 4-5

God gave every advantage to the Israelites.

Who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons,

The adult children who will help run the Family business, the Kingdom;

and the glory

The honor of being God's sons.

And the covenants

The agreements, the contracts with God.

And the giving of the Law

All the rules for prosperity and peace.

And the Temple service

The means of having a relationship with God as His children.

And the promises,

All God said He would do, His revealing of the future.

Whose are the fathers,

Descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And from whom is the Christ according to the flesh,

Jesus' human genealogy was through David, of the Tribe of Judah, the son of Jacob, or Israel.

The Israelites were given all the advantages over all the other Nations. 

Romans 10: 20-21

Isaiah is very bold and says, "I was found by those who did not seek Me, I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me." 
But as for Israel He says, "All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people."

God said that He was found by people who didn't even realize they were looking for Him, but He held His hands out all day for Israel, who He had given all the advantages, but they were disobedient and obstinate.

Isn't that the way it goes. The child in the family who is favored, even spoiled, is the rebellious one, while the ignored child turns out to be the most responsive. 

O my Father, I didn't know that it was You I was seeking, when I was searching for the Truth. But You are Truth, and You honored my search by coming to me and revealing to me that Jesus took my place in death. That's when You rescued me from the addictive sin that had trapped me, and caused me to be born into Your own family. 

You had wanted Your chosen Nation, Israel, to be Your examples to show the World what a good God You are, by obeying Your laws and rules so they could enjoy Your blessings, then the other peoples would also want to worship You instead of their idols. 

But the Israelite Nation had a real problem consistently focusing on You and Your ways, and strayed so far that they failed to do what You intended. 

But You knew this would happen, and You told Isaiah and other Prophets how You would call people of other Nations to yourself, also. 

And You called me, Father--one who has no discernible genetic descent from Abraham--to be Your daughter in Your own Family. 

O Father, I pray for all Your children, and all those who will be Your children. You know, since before You created anything, who would be Yours; and You call us to Yourself in Your time and in Your way, in every Time and every age. 

O my Father, I pray for Your wayward son Israel. I pray that the veil over their eyes would be removed, and they would recognize who You are and how You Love them. I pray that Your hand of Peace would be over Jerusalem, the Capital of Your Nation at the Center of the Earth. 

And I pray for Your children who are being persecuted. Father, my brothers and sisters who are living in areas of the World where the political climate is taken over by evil and hates all those who abide by Your Book. 

Father, You have torn the veil that separates us from intimacy with You, and You have broken down the wall between Hebrews and Gentiles. We are all to have the same faith, believing the same Scriptures, and we are all sisters and brothers in Your own Family. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!




 

The Man Of Lawlessness

II Thessalonians 2: 1-12

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,

Here Paul puts Jesus' return and the Rapture of the church together. 

That you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the Day of the Lord has come.

Some of their teachers were saying that the Lord had already returned. Paul is telling them not to worry, it hasn't happened yet, they didn't miss Him. 

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

We are to look at what is going on around us to see when some powerful ruler acts as though he is above the law. 

Okay, almost every government official of every Nation acts like they are not subject to the same laws we are. 

So let's see what this particular one does:

Who opposes and exalts himself above every god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the Temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 

This person will promote himself as the only one to be worshiped, in the middle of Daniel's seventieth week (Daniel 9:27), persecuting everyone who will not bow down to him.  

Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 

Paul had taught these believers as much as he understood would happen according to God's plan, but he wasn't in Thessalonica very long, being run out by the Jews who didn't believe him (Acts 17:5-10). 

And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 

Okay, Paul told them, but he didn't tell us who this is who is restraining; and now we have several theories propounded by theologians, but no proof of any of them. 

I will leave that to God to reveal or not what this is that restrains the evil and lawlessness to prevent the "man of sin" from being revealed. I suppose we will know after the fact. 

When this person compels everyone to worship him by preventing anyone to buy or sell anything without giving him fealty, he will use the World's economic system to enforce his theology (see Revelation 13:15-18). 

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the Appearance of His Coming;
That is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

This person is in direct opposition to God, wanting to be God, and trying to act like a god with miracles and deceptive wonders. So he also is in opposition to the people of God, both Jews and Christians. 


Be watching who is anti-Semitic, for one indication. And for who doesn't approve of Christians proclaiming only One Way to God, through the Blood of Christ. This is the spirit of lawlessness at work today.

And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the Truth so as to be saved.
For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

Paul is talking about the people now, who follow the World instead of following Christ. Since they refused to accept the Truth that we all deserve to die (The wages of sin is death; Romans 6:23), and will not accept Jesus as the Savior. 

So God will let the man of sin make it impossible for these people to be saved, so they will elevate him instead of God. 

What could be such a strong "deluding influence" but the new technology out of the Far East that puts emotion and thought control into implantable chips, along with medical and financial information. So don't get any chips implanted!

In order that they all may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

God's judgment is absolutely righteous, and these people will show themselves deserving of God's wrath, that King Jesus will dispense with His Word--the sword that proceeds out of His mouth (Revelation 19:15). 

O my Father, please prepare all of Your people, both Your children and the Israelites You have chosen, to survive the wrath You will be pouring out on the World, and to reach all of the rest of Your sheep who are still searching. 

Thank you so much, my Father, for putting the wrath I deserve on Your own Son as He suffered as Lamb of God. Strengthen me to stand firm in the face of the enemy's minions when they confront, and protect me, to live to see and take part in the Glorious Appearing of my King. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Faith And Love

II Thessalonians 1: 3

... Your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.

Our faith and our love are mentioned together here. Is there a connection? I think so. 

Our faith is how much we are trusting God. God is Love, and the better we get to know Him, the more we will realize how much He loves us. Then the more trust we can put in Him, becoming more comfortable in His care, knowing that He has only good planned for us. 

And as we become more aware of God's absolute power over all Creation, and every moment through Time; then we will naturally (supernaturally?) lean more on Him and His wisdom and knowledge to guide our steps each day. 

And we will find that we also love what He loves, other people. Especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. And also His lost sheep. 

So when Paul noticed how the believers in Thessalonica had "greatly enlarged" their faith, they were also growing in their love for one another. 

O my Father, may all of us, Your children, greatly enlarge our faith, getting to know You better every day. And may our trusting You grow our hearts in love for one another. 

May our love for one another show the World how good You are, Father; and that You Loved us so much that You sent Your own Son to be our Lord and our Savior. 

O Father, teach me how to love my sisters and brothers, help me to do what shows love; as love is an active verb, not a fleeting feeling. Show me what I can do to love my neighbor, and show Your Love to the World.

Show me, Father, how to love those especially close to me, and I to them. Help us to love one another with the active Love that You Love us with. Open my eyes to see their needs, and how I can meet them. 

Father, You have given me everything I need. You have always been so generous with me, help me to also be generous with others, as Your hands and feet. 

And send me, Father, to your lost sheep. Allow me to contribute the abilities and resources You have granted me, for the advancement of Your great Kingdom, to hasten the Glorious Appearing of my Lord and Savior.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Pains Of Childbirth

Romans 8: 15, 22-23

... You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out,"Abba," Father! 
For we know that the whole Creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 
And not only this, but we ourselves, having the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 

The whole Earth is groaning and writhing as in childbirth, under the curse put upon it by Adam's sin, until Jesus' return to make it "new." 

When Adam sinned, the Earth and its environment, the Universe, was cursed with death. Science calls this the Second Law of Thermodynamics, or Entropy; things tend to wind down and wear out, going from order into chaos.

I've been hearing lately, these past few years, and more and more as time goes by, of all the geological upheavals with volcanoes and tectonic plates shifting, causing weird weather and stuff. And with the Watchmen's Earth and Space Connection reporting all these accelerated global anomalys, and looking at what the weather is doing around me, I can't help but believe that the Earth's birth pangs are reaching their zenith. 

The final, global, world-wide earthquake that will flatten the mountains, overflow the islands and split apart the Continents will greet our Lord's Glorious Appearing; as soon as every person living will have heard the Gospel with enough understanding to accept or reject God's ways. 

It could be any day now!

O my Father, thank You for telling us in Your written Word what to expect, so we can be prepared for what is coming. Help us, Father, to do the things You would have us do, go where You want us to be, and talk with the people who need to hear what we have to say. 

Send workers into Your fields white to harvest; to find Your lost sheep; to build and promote and finance Your Kingdom on this Earth; and draw to Yourself every one of Your children, leaving no one with any excuse. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

From Condemned To Accepted

Romans 7: 18

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

My flesh is polluted by Original Sin. 

When the original man, Adam, willfully sinned in disobeying the only rule he had to obey and ate that piece of fruit, it damaged his DNA. And he passed that brokenness to his progeny, and every generation has broken it a little more ever since.

That's why nothing I can do in my flesh is acceptable to God, being polluted by that sin-nature; even my most noble and altruistic endeavors are stained by it.

8: 1

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Now that Jesus has given Himself to be the Lamb of God, He is my personal Sacrifice, who takes my death and pays my debt. And His Blood, splattered on the sides of His altar, the Cross, washes away my sins. So now God forgives me and sees me as "in Christ" as I died and rose with Christ Jesus. And He suffered all the wrath of my condemnation for me. 

8: 9

... But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.  

When I knew that Jesus took my death upon Himself for me, and I died and rose with Him, is when God put His Holy Spirit in me, which is the Spirit of Christ. He lives in my spirit, making it alive, giving me real Life, in addition to my human life. 

Now I have the ability to choose to do what is right. And these choices are acceptable to God, being done in the power of His Holy Spirit. 

O my Father, You have thought of everything. You are our source of everything. You have planned out and designed everything You made, and Your creation obeys Your "natural laws." 

But You have given Mankind a will that is free to choose, so that we can choose to follow Your ways. But we can also choose to disobey Your commands, to our own hurt. 

So You sent Your own Son to be our Lord God Almighty, to give us Your rules to live by, and the laws to obey. And to show us what He would do when He came to be our Savior and Redeemer. 

Until He saves us from sin, there is nothing we can do. Then, when He puts His Life in us, then we have the power to do what You will accept, and follow Your ways to accomplish the work You planned out for us to do, before You created anything. 

And we are Your hands and feet to do all the things You want done. And what You want is for Your family to be complete, and learn to be Your kings and queens to rule with You in Your mighty Kingdom. 

So we are here on this Earth, living in the World we made on it, as our school to be educated in all the ways of God to rule and govern righteously. 

And when we "graduate," we will be welcomed to Your great banquet table, and take our places as Your children in Your "family business," Your Kingdom. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!




 

Can We Know When?

I Thessalonians 5: 3-5

While they are saying, "Peace and safety," then destruction will come upon them suddenly, like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
But you, Brothers, are not in darkness that the Day should overtake you like a thief; 
For you are all sons of Light and sons of Day. We are not of night, nor of darkness.

We are told that the Lord's coming will be as a thief in the night, that we cannot have any idea when He may make His appearance. 

But this passage tells us that we may be able to know more than we've been told we could know. We are not in the dark as the rest of the World is. So we may be able to discern a little more about God's timing, to expect Him at an approximate time. 

We won't know the hour or the day, but we may be able to bring it down to the year, and maybe even the season of the year. 

We need to pay careful attention to what God has told us to look for before the Coming of the Lord, and if we're paying attention to what is going on around us in the World, connecting it with God's Word, then we just may be able to know more specifically when to expect His arrival. 

We are children of Light, not darkness; sons and daughters of the Day, not the night. We should be able to see what others do not see. 

We should be able to see in the Light of God's Word what the World is blind to, being in darkness. 

O my Father, You have laid out Your whole Plan of the Ages in the written Word You have given us. Please help us understand what You have told us, so we can be prepared and ready for what You have for us. Let Your Holy Spirit living in us open our eyes and minds and hearts to understand Your time-table, and be at work doing the works You planned before Time for us to accomplish. 

Send more workers into Your missionary fields to find Your little lambs that have lost their way, to lead them back into the safety of your One Fold with One Shepherd. 

Jesus said:

And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all Nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:15)

This tells me that every person alive will get the chance to come to the Father through the Sacrifice of the Son, or reject Him. Then The End will come. 

Father, You have told us everything we need to know; both for living here on this Earth in this World among our neighbors; and for being made fit to live with You where You live, forever. 

Send me, Father; let my words reach Your lost sheep, and strengthen Your children to trust You implicitly, even in the depths of persecution. Let them not despair, but know that their brothers and sisters are praying for them and working on their behalf. Let them know that their families are being cared for, and that they will be rewarded with a crown heavily laden with the precious jewels of their sufferings, to lay at the feet of our Lord. 

And may Your House be full and every place at Your banquet table be filled with all Your children, on that Day when we will rejoice together in all You have done, Father!  

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!




 

He Is Not Far

Acts 17: 24-28

For God who made the World and all things in it, since He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 

Our Creator God is greater than to be able to live in any kind of structure made by His creatures.  

Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things;  

So He doesn't need or rely on anything we can do, since He is the Source of everything we can have or give, He already owns it all, and us, too. 

And has made of one blood all Nations of men to dwell on the face of all the Earth, and has determined the Times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 

God has made all of Mankind from one man, Adam, and we are all the same Race of Man. God has scattered Mankind all over the World to live in our separate Nations with our varied cultures; He decided this before any of it was done. 

That they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach for Him,  

God wants everyone everywhere to know Him, to look for Him and reach out to find Him. 

though He is not far from every one of us;  

We can do this because He is not very far from any of us, wherever we may be, He is ready to be found by us. 

For in Him we live and move and have our being. ...  

Because He is the One who had the idea, He is the One who thought us up, and designed it all, and put His order into the chaos to form our Earth, and He planned it all out how we would live here and make our World on this Earth. 

We, the whole Universe, everything that exists, is His imagination. We are His thoughts and words, we have our being in His mind. If He were not thinking of us, we would not exist. 

So whenever anyone, anywhere, turns around from what they've been doing, He is right there, ready to welcome, ready to forgive, ready to take us into His loving arms and into His own family. 

It was never His intention for anyone to perish or suffer or be destroyed. He wants us all to come to Him in repentance, admitting that we deserve death, and letting His Son, our Savior, be our personal Sacrifice, taking our death on Himself for us, in our place. 

God's justice must be satisfied, then His mercy can forgive us and wash us clean, and His grace can give us His own Holy Spirit to live in our human spirit, making us alive with a brand-new life, much better than the "normal" life we've known. 

And in this new life we have the power and ability to do the right, good things that He determined we should do before He created anything.

And the Blood of Christ washes us pristine clean, as though we'd never sinned, suited and fit to live with God where He is. This is why He made us. 

Mankind is the pinnacle of creation. He made us to be His own family, to rule over His creation with Him, to participate with Him in His Family Business. 

O my Father, Your plans are so reasonable and logical, yet they are so far above my own reason and logic. I can't depend on my own understanding of what's going on, I don't have Your Big Picture. So I must lean on You, Father, as I curl up in Your lap, listening to Your Voice teaching me what I need to know today. 

Father, You know all the details of all of our lives, and how our paths will intersect today. You know what others need that I have to give, and how we can help one another each day. 

O Father, teach me Your ways today, help me do only what You would have me do or say. Keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth to keep me from exalting or promoting myself. Hold tightly to my hand as I walk through each day, so I won't turn to the right or to the left, that I won't pull away or wander off, and not run ahead or lag behind.

Help me to walk confidently and boldly in the way You have planned for me to go, so that I may be able to promote Your Kingdom; that my sharing might reach Your lambs who are searching for You. 

Protect Your missionary children from the goats who reject Your goodness and put darkness for Your glorious light. And protect all of Your children from the minions of the enemy who have allowed themselves to be deceived by him, especially those who are in the public eye. Use them, Father, to bring glory to Yourself in a public way that no one can deny.

And Father, I am eagerly anticipating that Day when my Lord King Jesus returns to claim His Kingdom. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess in every language that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, to the glory of the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Turn Around

I Thessalonians 1: 9

They turned to God from idols ...

They turned around to face God and turned their backs on their idols. This is repentance, to turn around. 

When we repent of our sins we turn our backs on the wrong things we've been doing and face the God of Truth, agreeing with Him on the sinfulness of our lives. 

If we don't turn away from those things, but try to hang on to them, then we're not repenting. We need to completely leave those attitudes and actions that draw us away from the good God wants for us. 

To agree with God about the sinfulness of what we've been doing is to confess those sins, and accept that Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself for us, in our place. That satisfies God's justice, and allows Him to forgive us and wash us clean. The Blood of the Lamb of God does this for us. This fits us to be able to live with Him where He is. 

And God also gives us His Holy Spirit to live in our spirit, making it alive, giving us a brand-new life right now while we're still here in this World. 

This new life gives us the power to say "No!" to those things we previously just automatically fell in to, and gives us another choice, to say "Yes!" to doing what is right, instead. 

This frees us to have the power and ability to do what is right. This is true freedom, not being chained to our bad habits. And He even gives us a new desire to do what is right, and enjoyment in it. 

Sin may be fun and give pleasure for a season, but doing right brings a joy that so far surpasses any other fun or pleasure. Fun never satisfies, but the joy of the Lord fills the soul! There really is no comparison! 

O my Father, You truly are everything I need! You are the Source of all that exists. You have made us, and put us here in this environment You made for us, and told us how to live here in compatibility with it and one another. 

When we turn to You and listen to what You are teaching us, and take You seriously, putting into our attitudes and our practices Your ways and Your thoughts, then our lives will bring You pleasure, and will promote good in this World. 

Then we will be sharing our own testimony of what You have done for us, and your lost sheep will be drawn into the safety of Your One Fold with One Shepherd. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess in every language, that Jesus is our Christ, our Messiah, our Lord and King; and You will get all the glory, all the credit, all the praise, for You have done it all.

Even so, come, lord Jesus!




 

More Noble

Acts 17: 11

Now these (Bereans) were more noble-minded than those in Thesalonica, for they received the Word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so.

This is very important. They were eager to hear what Paul had to say, but they didn't just take his words whole--they consulted the Scriptures every day to check out what he was telling them. 

Paul considered this to be "noble." They wanted to make sure they weren't being duped by reasonable words, but checked it all out by God's Word. 

Evidently those in Thesalonica just accepted what Paul had said, which was okay, because Paul spoke the Truth. But those in Berea wanted to make sure. 

That was good. It's very important to make sure that what you are being told really is true and right. So often people come along as teachers, teaching their own ideas, or stuff they heard from others, that sounds reasonable but doesn't square with God's Truth.  It's mixed with some kind of deception. 

The devil does this to mislead. He has lied to the World, mixing his lies with truth to make them believable, but getting people off the right path into side eddies and ditches. His efforts are to keep us away from the wonderful Salvation God provides, in order to destroy us. 

That's why Paul was encouraged by their checking out what he said against what God said, to make sure he was leading them rightly. 

And I also would be encouraged if you, my reader, would check out what I say in this blog, against what God says in His Word, to make sure that I am not leading you astray with reasonable words. 

If at any time you find that I may not be speaking strictly according to what God says, then, by all means, go with God. Let me know where I am amiss and I will research your sources so that I can correct my thinking. 

O my Father, thank You! You are so good and so gracious to give us Your written Word to read and digest and research and draw out the wonderful Truth You have put into it to teach us and lead us in Your righteous paths. 

Father, if anyone has tried to put into Your Word their own ideas, then I pray for them to be open to Your teaching, to know Your Truth which sets them free. 

And if I have mis-read or mis-understood something that I have shared, then give my brother or sister the courage to share with me, so that my thinking will align with Your thoughts and my understandings will be in accord with Your meanings. 

O Father, teach is to love one another as You have loved us--unconditionally, boldly, openly, and unashamedly. That we may help one another to love You more and serve You better every day. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Adoption As Sons

Galatians 4: 5

... That we might receive the adoption as sons.

Romans 8: 23

Even as we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 

Galatians 4: 6

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father!

"Abba" is "Dada," the first word out of a baby's mouth. God the Father is our Daddy, our Dad.   

The Greek word huiothesia, translated "adoption," describes a Roman concept unknown in today's Western culture, in which the natural-born or adopted son (or daughter) is declared a full adult in the father's family, inheriting the father's titles and estate.

And we who have been born spiritually into God the Father's family will grow up out of childhood, when our bodies will be changed and glorified, and we will be "adopted," declared an adult, with all the responsibilities and privileges of running the Family Business, the Kingdom. 

We will be His kings and queens ruling with Him. 

O my Father, this was Your plan from the beginning, that we would be Your family, ruling and enjoying all the future Universes You will create. And enjoying our "family times" with You, feasting and rejoicing in Your goodness and Love and wisdom and generosity. 

And every created thing will bow the knee and voice Your praise and blessing and riches and wealth and mercy and grace and justice, throughout all future eternity, forever and ever. Amen.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Wait For It

Habakkuk 2: 3

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

God is telling this obscure prophet, and also to us, that what He says will happen, will happen.

If it seems to us that it is taking too long a time, we are cautioned to keep waiting for it, because it will for sure happen. 

If God has told us that something will take place, then we can be sure that it will happen exactly as He said it would. But it will be in His time, not ours.

Everything He has said will take place is what He has already made to happen, as He sees the end from the beginning. He is speaking from what He sees, whether it is in our past or our future, it's all right now for Him. 

So we can trust what He says. We need to be looking for what He says will happen to happen, but not necessarily in the way we might understand. 

God told His prophets about events that would happen far in the prophet's future, so the writer of the prophesy may not have recognized what he was seeing in the vision, as modern technology and machines were unknown to ancient peoples. The writer had to use words describing things they knew, that would be similar to the unknown things they were seeing. 

Whatever would move of itself, they would understand as being living; as for example, what Ezekiel wrote about in chapters 1, 3:13 & 10 of his visions of the "living creatures" with "wheels" and "eyes," that could be machines of some sort.  

And I think that the "locusts" of Revelation 9:3 could possibly be armed drones. And the "horses" of v. 17 could be tanks.

I don't know, these are some of my ideas, and I may be way off base. But my point is that even though God has given us many details of what to expect, we may still not have an accurate picture of what will actually happen. But afterward, we will undoubtedly agree that it was exactly as He said! 

O my Father, You have so graciously told us so many details of our future history. You laid out to Daniel the World governments that would be in power from his day all the way down to today's World. 

And You showed John the whole scenario of the last seven years of this Era of Man on this Earth, that will precede Your Son's return to rule. 

So we know what to expect, but not how it will look to our modern eyes. We need Your discernment to be able to recognize these happenings as they will be happening. And they may be happening all together, overlapping, and in swift succession, not necessarily in the order it was given. 

It seems to me that John did not write in a chronological order, but in a logical order, to give order to what may come very chaotically. 

Father, prepare Your children for the turmoil and persecution and martyrdom that is coming soon. Already this Earth is beginning its "birth pangs" before the end. Keep Your own safe in Your arms, Father, through all the end-times confusion and troubles. 

O Father, our enemy knows his time is short, so he is furious, doing everything he can against Your ways and Your people, in his hatred of everything good. 

But he can do no more than You allow, Lord God Almighty. 

Even though it looks to us that this World is whirling away, You will let it go only so far, then You will "flick Your wrist" and draw it back like a yo-yo. 

And You will make all things new: new bodies for Your children, a new Earth to live on with us, in a new Heaven--a whole new creation!

And every knee will bow, and every tongue confess Your glory and honor and blessing and wisdom and beauty and praise, forever and ever, amen. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

All One

Galatians 3: 28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

God is no respecter of persons, but loves us all and sent Jesus to be Savior of us all. None has more or less value than any other. 

Every one of us has been born in sin, with a defective DNA that predisposes us to some weakness, some bent, some evil way that is unhealthy for us and repulsive to our Creator.

Some have sinned in a very public way, and others' sins are more private. But we all have sinned, because we are all sinners. It's been said that, "the ground is level at the foot of the Cross," because Jesus became sin, took on Himself our very sin-nature, for us, as the personal Sacrifice for each of us, one-by-one (II Corinthians 6:21). And His Blood washes us white as snow.

God is too pure to be able to live with even a shadow of a stain of sin. If He did, then Heaven would eventually get as bad as this World is. That is why the Son agreed to come to this Earth to be our Savior--to make us pure also, and fit to live with Him where He is. 

Rank of authority is not the same as value or worth. God the Father outranks the Son and has authority over Him, but they are both the same God, they are One. 

The Centurion at Capernaum understood how the structure of authority worked, and acknowledged Jesus' authority over the sickness of his servant. And Jesus commented that this Roman had more faith than those of Israel (Matthew 8:5-13). The Centurion's faith was an understanding of the authority structure. And he considered his servant of great value, the one who had the least rank. 

As God's children we all have tremendous value and worth to our Father. We are all valuable and are all in His family. So we need to see one another with the great value our Father places on us, while recognizing the ranks of authority among us. 

Parents are over their children, wives are to be subject to their husbands, and congregations are under the responsibility of their pastors. 

But we all respect one another as equal children of God, regardless of our race or nationality or socio-economic position. Whatever the clothes we wear or our accent or the shade of our complexion. We all have great value.

O my Father, You have made us in such diverse variety! And You have put Your beauty upon each and every one of us. Father, open our eyes to see the beauty and worth of all of our brothers and sisters, and afford them the respect and honor that You have given each of us. 

Teach us to do to others as we would have them do to us, and to love one another the way You have loved us. And let the World see our love and know that Jesus has come to save them, too. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord God, to the glory of the Father over all. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Run Or To Stand And Fight?

James 4: 7

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  

 So we have the Armor of God to wear in our battle with the enemy (Ephesians 6:11-17) which we are to wear while we:

wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places; ...
That we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (vs. 12-13).

We are to stand our ground and battle the devil.

But we are to flee temptation. I Corinthians 10:13 says to flee fornication, and 10:14 says to flee from idolatry. Paul tells Timothy to flee from the love of money (I Timothy 6:10), and to flee from youthful lusts (II Timothy 2:22). 

And I Corinthians 10:13 tells us a way to escape temptation. 

I need to recognize when I am to stand and fight (hand-to-hand wrestling, even), and when I am to turn tail and run away. Like Joseph did when Potiphar's wife propositioned him, leaving his coat in her grabbing hand! (Genesis 39:12-13). 

And in James 4:17 he says that, the one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin. A sin of omission. 

So we "miss the mark" when we do what is wrong, and also when we don't do what is right!

O my Father, please give me discernment when I am facing mere temptation I am to run from, compared to the enemy himself, who I am to stand up to and fight. 

Strengthen me for the fight, and teach me Your techniques for the hand-to-hand battle. 

And when it is my own flesh, this World around me, or the pull of demonic temptation, let me be humble enough to just turn away. 

And when I know how to do what is right, but I'm just too busy or too lazy or too selfish to do it, please draw my attention to what I am not doing.

I know that Your Spirit in me is strong and wise, and will lead me aright in the path on which You have placed my feet. Keep my hand firmly in Yours, as my Good Father, who will never let me go; even if I should try to pull away. 

Never let me wander or veer off to the left or to the right, but continue boldly on straight ahead, toward the goal of Your high calling in Christ Jesus wherewith You have called me. 

And Father, I pray as Jabez prayed in I Chronicles 4:10, that You would enlarge my borders of influence, that You would lead me and keep me from the pull of temptation, that I also would not be a pain, either to myself or others or to Your mighty, holy Name! 

And all the glory and praise belongs to only You, as our Boss, our Owner, our God Almighty; who has all the power and all the authority and all the regal majesty of royalty over us all. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!




 

What Kind Of Wisdom?

James 3: 17

But the wisdom from above is first pure,
then peaceable,
gentle,
reasonable, 
full of mercy
and good fruits,
unwavering, 
without hypocrisy. 

Pure is without alloy, unmixed, having no faults.

Peaceable is peace-making, calm, tranquil, not quarrelsome.

Gentle is soothing, mild, calming.

Reasonable is according to reason, rational, just. 

Full of mercy is willingness to forgive, spare, relent. 

Good fruits are the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). 

Unwavering means firm, unshakable, no doubt, no second-guessing. 

Without hypocrisy means no pretending, no feigning to appear as what one is not. 

Worldly wisdom is none of these, but is rife with selfish ambition and self-promotion. 

O my Father, please teach me to learn godly wisdom, to spurn drawing attention to myself; but let my words and life lift the Name of my sweet, dear Lord. 

Let all my works and efforts show others who You are, Father, and what Your Son has accomplished for their benefit and well-being. Let Your wisdom from above fill their thoughts and conversations replacing the deceptive wisdom of this World.

Draw them to Yourself, Father; let my reach extend to those who are seeking You, that Your words would enter their minds and hearts to rescue them from the addictions and bad habits and poor choices that have enslaved them. 

Send workers into Your mission fields, Father; even snatching them from the fire. Fill Your house and let every seat around Your great banquet table be occupied, with no gaps or vacancies. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bend, and every tongue will confess in every language Your great kindness and mercy and wisdom and grace, and bring You all the credit and honor and majesty that belongs to only You.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

What Is Faith?

Hebrews 11: 1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.  

This is the definition of Faith. It is substance, ground, confidence. It is knowing that what we don't yet see is what is real, what is sure. 

God told Habakkuk that, "The just shall live by his faith" (2:4), and this was quoted by the writer of Hebrews, "Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back [doubt], My soul shall have no pleasure in him" (10:38). 

And James says that we must ask God "in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think he shall receive anything from the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (1:6-8). 

So faith is trusting so firmly in God's character and goodness that there is no doubt or wavering in believing that God will give us what we ask for. And we will expect the answer and look for it. 

Jesus said to "ask," this means that we need to know what we want. 
Then He said to "seek," this means to look for it, expecting to find it. 
And He said to "knock," this means to do the work it takes to have it.

Always trusting in His goodness to give it to us. Faith is trust. I have faith in the chair I'm sitting in to hold my weight, so I sit down in it to type. 

The same way, I need to trust God to love me that much to give me what I am asking for, as I seek mentoring to learn how, and do the work to make it happen. 

O my Father, thank You for Your holy written Word, given to us to tell us about Your Son, and Your Spirit and Yourself. And to give us Your whole Plan of the Earthly Ages, from before the beginning to after the end! 

And a peek at the New Heaven and New Earth! 

And Jesus' rule will never stop increasing! (See Isaiah 9:7.)

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!




 

The Word Was Our Lord God

John 1: 1-2, 14

In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the Beginning with God. 
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and Truth.

There is so much here! When God created, He spoke. What He said is His Word. 

Theologians say that the Son "proceeds" from the Father, but this infers the passage of time. 

When God created, He created Time, so there was no Time before creation. 

The Father and the Son and the Spirit are God. Only one God, but three distinct persons. I don't understand this, but I am not a god, He alone is God. 

The Son is the Word of God, who participated in the creation. He had no beginning, He was already there in the Beginning. 

And it was this Word of God that took upon Himself the flesh of being human! He came to be with us where we are, so that He could make us fit to live with Him where He is. 

He became a human being, while retaining His Godhood. I don't understand this either; but I know that He needed to be the Eternal Person to pay our eternal debt in Time, and He needed to be human to die a human death, taking our place in the death we all owe for sin. 

And those who lived with Him were able to see His glory in His miracles and in His Transfiguration on the mountain and in His teachings with authority. 

Then they saw His glory in His Resurrection, proving that the Father accepted His payment on our behalf; displaying His grace to us in granting us the goodness we don't deserve, and the Truth that He taught, and in fulfilling the Truth in the Law and the Prophets, given to show what Messiah would do and be like. And He did accomplish the letter of all the laws, and the details of what the prophets had predicted long before. 

Jesus of Nazareth, our Christ, Messiah, and Lord God Almighty, came just as it was prophesied He would do, and finished all the work He came to do.

John is writing His eye-witness account so that we will recognize Jesus as God. And he was acutely aware of how much He Loves each one of us. John calls himself, "the one Jesus loved." So he shares with us the amazing, fantastic, unconditional Love he experienced with Jesus, so we can know that God gives each of us this same Love! 

Jesus Loves each of us so much that He agreed even before He made us, to be our Savior and Redeemer, so we could live with Him where He lives. 

This is our Almighty God, our Creator and Sustainer, who was seen lifted up on high on His glorious Throne, and His train filled the Temple in Heaven.

O my Father, thank You so much for sending Your own Son to be our Lord and our Redeemer! Thank You that You draw Your own children to want to know You, and to come to You through Your Son. It is You who has done it all. 

Please let my reach find some of Your lost sheep, Father. Let my words touch their hearts and show them how much You Love them, what You have already done for them. 

And send me into Your fields, Father. Help me, strengthen me, teach me Your ways, put Your words in my mouth, and keep my eyes on You as You lead and guide me along the path You have put my feet on. 

And every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of the Father; giving You all the honor, all the praise, all the majesty, forever and ever.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Predestined To Die

Acts 4: 27-28

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
To do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

Herod and Pilate and the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, this sounds like everybody. No one is exempt from this list. We are all guilty.

God decided ahead of time what would happen. Before anything was created, I can picture the Father and the Son and the Spirit hanging out together, discussing what they could do. And when they decided that this Mankind would have a free choice to choose God, they knew that Man could also choose to reject God. And the Son stepped up and took responsibility for him, to redeem him back.

So the Lord God gave the Law and sent His prophets so that the people would recognize Messiah when He came. And the Child was born and the Son was given, and His Name was called Jesus. 

So Jesus grew up and lived just like we do, as our example. And He proved who He was by His miracles. And He taught the people with authority. 

Then He completed His mission as the Lamb of God, our Sacrifice. He fulfilled the personal Sacrifice to save us one-by-one; and He fulfilled the corporate Sacrifice to purchase us, making Him our rightful Judge. 

So we are all His property, His possession. He owns us by Creation and by Purchase. And we who have realized He took our death, belong to Him also by Redemption. 

When we all got together, the Leaders and the Gentiles and Israel, to put Him to death, we were sacrificing our Lamb. We all agreed that He needed to die. 

And His Blood splattered on the sides of His altar, the Cross, washes away our sins. And His Blood poured out at the foot of the Cross purchases us all, everybody, of every time, every Nation, every language; no one is left out. 

Every person who ever lived is offered this opportunity to be saved from the sins that beset us all, and redeemed out of this slave-market of sin to be welcomed into the family of the King. 

O my Father, we are all born to live; but Your Son was born to die, so we can Live. Your grace and Your mercy are great! Your Love is beyond anything I can imagine; to know me, my weaknesses and failings, and to Love me anyway! 

Father, Your plans for me are so much better than I could think up for myself. You are good, and everything You do comes from Your great Love for us all. 

I don't know why people can be so foolish to not seek You and Your wonderful gifts. How Your heart must break to have people You Love to rebel and fight against You. But You will not force Yourself on anyone, You respect the choices You enabled us to make, even when they harm ourselves. 

O Father, send me to Your lost sheep who are seeking You. Let my reach extend into every area where the fields are white for harvest. Use me, Father, to find them and draw them into the safety of the One Fold with One Shepherd. Use my life and my words to show them Your Love and what You have already accomplished on their behalf through Your Son. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess in every language, Your glory and honor and wisdom and praise and authority and riches and wealth and joy!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Be Plugged In

John 15: 4-5

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 

To "abide" is to dwell there, to reside there. That's where you live. Jesus says we must live in Him. We must be aware of His presence with us, and trust Him to always stay with us and never leave. 

When we want to use an electric appliance, we need to make sure it's plugged in. When I had my coffee this morning, I plugged the coffee maker in, and it worked, it made my coffee. 

We also need to be "plugged in" in order to "work." 

I need to be connected to the source of Life and power in order to do anything of any value. I need to live every day in the presence and power of Christ, in His Holy Spirit. Life is spirit, and eternal Life is God's Spirit living in me. 

So we who have trusted Jesus' death to be our personal Sacrifice, and believe that He was buried and rose again, then His Blood has washed away all of our sins and His Spirit abides in us, to never leave. It's like we've been born spiritually, comparable to how we were born physically. 

That's why Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be "born again" to be able to see and enter God's kingdom (John 3:3, 5-8). 

A branch that is not connected can look like part of the vine, but if it's not attached to the vine, it will wither. It needs the constant flow to maintain its vibrancy and to bear fruit. Otherwise it's not good for anything. 

O my Father, thank You so much for grafting me into the Vine. Thank You that Your Spirit of Life has given me Life, and that I am living in the Life of Your Kingdom now, looking forward to when that Kingdom is established on the Earth. My King rules in my life now, and He will rule over the whole World when He returns. 

O Father, Your plan for my life is such a good path for me to follow! I find Your blessings of wonderful nuggets of Truth and Life and goodness every day. Keep my hand in Yours, Father; don't let me pull away or run ahead or lag behind. Let me not turn to the right or to the left or wander off. 

You are so good to me, Father, in every way. Strengthen me to lean only on You in all my interactions with others. Help me to think before I speak, keeping me from spouting off from my flesh. So that Your Name will be honored in all my dealings, and You will receive the credit for what You enable me to do. 

Father, help all Your children to know You better every day, and trust You more freely every day, and love You more deeply day by day. Weave all of the strands of our lives into Your great Tapestry of Time, working all the colors and shimmerings and shades into the beautiful patterns You have designed to display throughout all eternity. 

And You will receive all the honor, all the glory, all the blessings, all the wealth, all the power, all the might, all the authority; because You created all things, because of Your will they exist. We are all what You have imagined, and if You weren't thinking of us, we would not be! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

What's New About The New Commandment

John 13: 34-35

A new commandment I give to you , that you love one another, even as I have Loved you, that you also Love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have Love for one another. 

The commandment was to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. But we already treat other people according to how we see ourselves. When we have low self-esteem, then we will not treat others very well, either; and when we realize our worth that God has valued us at, then we also treat others as valuable.  

God's Love is not like our human, natural love. What is new about this commandment is that we are to love one another, not as we love ourselves, but as God Loves us. Not to consider one another only according to our natural affection for them, but to treat them as the valuable person they are in God's sight. 

God has Loved us with His agape Love which is unconditional. It doesn't matter what we have done in our past, God Loves us the same. Even when we were still sinners, enemies of God, He sent His Son to be our personal Sacrifice. He gave His very best, His most precious, for each one of us. That's how He loves us.

And that's the new commandment, that we are to give this unconditional Love to one another. This is not a feeling of affection, it's a decision of our will to treat one another with the value God places on each of us; the respect and honor due a special creation of the Almighty. Even when some brother or sister in the Lord has not treated us favorably, we are still to be gracious and forgiving toward them, as Christ has been toward us.

We cannot do this. We tend to see those who love us differently from those who hate us, so we have much affection for some and none for others. That's why we are not to depend on our feelings. We are to depend on His Spirit dwelling in us to be able to decide to deal with our sisters and brothers in Christ according to the value God has placed on them, and follow through to do it. Even if they still react negatively. God's Love can draw them.

O my Father, please help us to realize the great Love wherewith You have Loved us, even when we were still in rebellion against You. You Loved us with a Love far beyond our understanding, to draw us to Yourself and cause us to be born spiritually into Your own family. 

Father, You have given us Your own Holy Spirit to live in our spirit, making us alive right now, and on into eternity. Only with Your Love can we love others the way You have determined, and this supernatural Love that we are to demonstrate will show the World that Jesus really did come and die for us, and is alive forevermore. 

And all the glory and honor and praise and blessing and power and might and wisdom is Yours forever. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Follow The Money

Acts 16: 11-40

Now they are in Philippi, the the city of the church Paul wrote the Epistle to the Philippians to, which was a Roman colony. 

Their first convert there is a business-woman named Lydia, who invited them to stay at her home. 

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 
Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.
She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, I command you in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her! 
And it came out at that very moment.

It just so happened that a demon-possessed slave-girl was following them, crying out after them; but it annoyed Paul for a demon to be doing this, and he cast out the demon from her. He didn't want the promotion of a demon any more than Jesus had (Mark 1:23-25--Jesus told the spirit to "be quiet"). 

But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,
and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews,
and are  proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or observe, being Romans.

The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

But when the girl's owners saw that they couldn't make money off of her any more, that's when the accusations came. And it doesn't look like they even had a chance to defend themselves, but were immediately beaten and thrown into the stocks in jail!

Just like today, when righteous people are persecuted, lied about, and slandered--follow the money. 

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. 
When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, Do not harm yourself, for we are all here! 

I wonder how many of the other prisoners' interest was piqued by their music? God was not going to let this situation go, but He provided supernatural help using the natural processes of the Earth to show His approval of Paul and Silas. 

And when the jailer thought the prisoners had escaped, Paul had to reassure him, and the result was that the jailer and his whole household were saved. 

In the morning when the magistrates found out that they were Romans, they were afraid, as they were going to just let them go quietly. Now they know that these men are asserting their rights, so they asked them to leave the city, to avoid any trouble with their superiors. 

So they stopped by Lydia's house and encouraged their friends there and left. 

O my Father, I pray for those people of Yours who are being slandered and persecuted today. There are people who are doing much good for the people and for Your Kingdom. And their enemies hate them so much that there is nothing they can do to gain agreement with them on anything. 

O Father, our enemy knows his time is short, and is so fierce! But he is no match for You, my sovereign Lord. Please protect Your servants, especially the ones who are in the public eye and seem vulnerable to damage from attacks. 

Keep Your servants, Your children, in Your sovereign care, Father. Protect us all as we go about doing Your work among the heathen and others who don't know You. Lead us to Your lost sheep, Lord, to draw them into Your One Fold with One Shepherd. 

And we will all give You all the glory, all the honor, all the praise; for it is You who has done it all! You thought it up, planned it out, designed how it would work and function, and are working everything out to completion. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!