I Corinthians 1: 1-9
Paul, called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsis, knew that it was God's decision to give him the gift of faith, not his own. And he appreciated the position God gave him to be an Apostle, a founder who would lay the foundation for God's church.
Paul wrote this letter from Ephesis. Sosthenes was the "chief ruler of the synogogue" in Corinth, who was beaten in the court of Gallio when the deputy of Achaia wouldn't listen to their case against Paul (Acts 18:12-17). Apparently he traveled with Paul to Ephesis.
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,
Paul wrote to the church, who were called by God to be separate from the World (sanctified).
with all who are in every place call on the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
As every person in the whole world who God calls to faith in our Lord. He is Lord (Boss) of every Christian, no matter where they live or what their genealogy is.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's grace is His goodness upon us that we could never earn. Only Jesus is worthy, and it is only through Him that we have access to God. Now that we are cleansed by His Blood, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to live in our spirit, we have the peace of Christ that surpasses what we can even understand, in the middle of all the chaos of our lives.
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
Paul is so grateful to God that He poured out His grace upon all these people who live in this wicked city.
that in everything you were enriched in Him,
God makes us rich and wealthy in so many ways.
in all speech and all knowledge,
Wealthy in knowing how to speak in positive ways, to build up and encourage; and wealthy in knowing all that God teaches us about Himself and how much He loves us and done so much for us.
even as a testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you,
Just as it was proven that Christ changed their lives and their thinking and their relationships with one another.
so that you are not lacking in any gift,
They have everything they need, they are wealthy and rich, in all the gifts God has for His church.
awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
They know Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom here, and they are looking forward to His coming.
who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God will keep them in His hand, and will finish what He started in them, not letting them go, to keep working in them all the way to the Day of the Lord.
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
God will always do what He says He will do. He is trustworthy, fully worthy of our total trust. Father God is the One who called us into having friendship with Himself and His Son, through what Jesus has done for us. Nothing we can do could ever accomplish this. That's why Jesus left Heaven to die for us. He not only Loves us, but He likes us and wants us to live with Him where He is.
This is incredible. Our God, the Father and the Son and the Spirit, made us to be the pinnacle of all He has made, and we will even have a position above His holy Angels, to be His kings and queens to assist Him in ruling and governing all He has created or will create.
So He has placed us in this World for now as His little children, learning how to be sons and daughters in His family; how to think and speak and live with His character through all of our own personalities.
This World is our school. We need to learn all the lessons and pass all the tests He puts us through while we're here, learning more and more of who He is, how He sees us, and how we are to respond to Him, in living our lives according to His ways.
Then He will give us all the things He put in this World for us to use to promote His Kingdom. So when He gives us financial wealth, it is a tool to use for helping others and spreading the Gospel, not to keep for ourselves.
When He gives us spiritual gifts, like to be able to pastor or teach or whatever, it is to minister to others, to help them; not to just use for our own benefit.
If He gives us natural abilities, they are also to use to benefit other people in helping them, not just ourselves.
Nothing He gives us is for ourselves. Yes, we can enjoy all He gives us, but we will enjoy all of it more together, when we share and give it away.
The rest of this letter Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth will show us how to do this.
O my Father, You are so good to us, in creating all You made just so You could make us and we could live here for a while as we prepare to live with You and enjoy You forever, doing all the things You planned and prepared ahead of Time for us to be and do. You are Great and You are Good and You are Generous. You didn't need us, but You wanted us, so You could share Yourself with us.
Help us now to learn what we need to know, to do what we are made to do, and to love You back and love others as You have Loved us!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, August 9, 2019
Thursday, August 8, 2019
The Kingdom And The End
Zephaniah 3: 1-20
Woe to her that is rebellious and defiled, the tyrannical city!
This is written to Jerusalem, but it can also be addressed to any Nation who fits the description.
Rebellious is the Hebrew word, mara', which means, "to rebel by whipping or lashing oneself with wings, as a running ostrich, or to lift up self; or filthy, gluttonous."
And defiled is ga'al, meaning, "to desecrate, pollute, stain."
So the people of this society have lifted themselves up by beating themselves up as a running ostrich flaps her wings violently. They do it to themselves. They are gluttonous in their eating, not taking care of their bodies with healthy foods, and have elevated their own ideas above the natural, reasonable ways God made this Earth to work.
She heeded no voice, she accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord, she did not draw near to her God.
These people think they know better, and will not listen to anyone else, or acknowledge that God has any authority over them. They are their own gods.
Her princes within her are roaring lions,
Those in government to rule over the people are only in it for their own gain, taken from the people they rule over.
her judges are evening wolves, they leave nothing for the morning.
Those who are to dispense justice are promoting their own ideas rather than looking at what the laws actually say, and their opinions are considered law.
Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;
Those who purport to speak for God are only out for their own gain, perverting God's Word to seduce the people into salacious and greedy ways.
her priests have profaned the sanctuary.
Those who are to teach God's ways have contempt for Him instead, and have profaned ("running sores") the place that should be a haven.
They have done violence to the Law.
They have turned the laws upside down, making legal what is evil, and declaring that what is right is not acceptable, wrong.
The Lord is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame.
This is a people in whom God is present. They have invited Him into their national life, and based their political existence on His ways. Even though they have not followed Him, He is still showing them the right ways, if they would only look. But those who reject Him are too proud to even blush.
I have cut off Nations; their corner towers are in ruins, I have made their streets desolate, with no one passing by; their cities are laid waste, without a man, without an inhabitant.
God has already shown Himself righteous and powerful, with the authority to punish other Nations who have done evil violence by wiping them out, as an illustration of the consequences of turning away from the good God is.
I said, "Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction." So her dwelling will not be cut off according to all [the discipline] I have appointed concerning her, but they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.
God wants us to see and understand history of how things work out. How when peoples destroy themselves for the profit of the few, then the whole society collapses. God shows us these things, so that we will learn to do right. But doing right is not easy, it can be painful in the short run, so we run instead toward what is easy or has short-term gains, but we are only shooting ourselves in the foot in doing so.
Therefore wait for Me, declares the Lord, for the Day that I rise up as a Witness.
Just wait for the Lord to let the hammer drop. He will, you can bet on it.
Indeed, my decision is to gather Nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the Earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.
Here we are, what God is planning to do, which He will carry out without fail. We can count on it. All the Nations who reject God will burn up. The whole Earth will erupt and burn and, in the final end, totally explode.
The Old Testament prophets were shown a lot of what God's plan is for Mankind and our Earth, but they didn't distinguish between Jesus' first and second comings, or the details of the timeline of the second time He comes.
When Jesus returns, He will come as the King over all the Earth. He will destroy all the armies who are surrounding Jerusalem, cutting them to ribbons with His Word. Everyone alive will see Him descending to the Mount of Olives, and all those who have kept themselves from being seduced by the antichrist will realize Who He Is, and come into His Kingdom in their present bodies. All the others will burn up.
For then I will give the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.
This is all the peoples of the World, who are entering into Jesus' Kingdom. They will know that He is Jesus of Nazareth who was executed in their place to cleanse them, and was Resurrected and is now the King of the World.
They will all be saved, and will all want to serve Him together as their King.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings.
All the Hebrew people who have been scattered all over the World who come into His Kingdom will also worship Him.
In that Day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; for then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.
When Jesus cleanses us with the Blood He shed on Calvary, then all the shame and regret for all the wrong we have done in the past is all wiped away. Everyone who had been proud or haughty will be removed, and no one will ever exalt themselves over our King again in all His World-wide government.
But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the Name of the Lord.
All the people who are in His Kingdom will humble themselves under the authority of the King, taking refuge in His righteousness.
The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; for they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble.
They won't see any need to defend themselves or cut corners or take advantage of one another, because the King will provide everything they need, with no worry.
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
God's people will have a spirit of rejoicing and celebrating and dancing and feasting and singing and shouting for joy for all that our Lord and King has done!
The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you will fear disaster no more.
The Lord Jesus Christ has paid the debt we owe, taking the wrath of God upon Himself in our place, so we are debt-free spiritually. He will be right here with us now, so we'll have no reason to be afraid of anything disastrous happening any more.
In that Day it will be said to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord God will protect His people. No more reason to give up, there is no one left to bother you.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
This verse applies to all of us who have come to Jesus as Savior and Lord. He is our Bridegroom and we are the Bride. He Loves us passionately, as a newlywed groom is enamored with his new bride. He has won the victory over all of our enemies, and rejoices in winning His bride. He celebrates her publicly with shouts of joy, but His Love-making will be private and personal with each one of us. And the honeymoon will last forever!
I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts--they came from you, O Zion; the reproach of exile is a burden on them.
Those Hebrews who were sent far away were heavy-laden with the burden of not being able to worship the way they wanted to, that they felt was right.
Behold, I am going to deal at that time with all your oppressors, I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the Earth.
When King Jesus sets up His government, He will take care of all the details in each person's life that needs to be set right. He will take away everyone who put down His people, and comfort them, lifting them up into positions of honor; making them famous and respected in all the nations that had oppressed them.
At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the Earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.
All the prophesies that tell of Israel being made the head instead of the tail will be fulfilled. Those Jewish people who "see Him who they have pierced" as His feet come down to the Mount of Olives, and "all Israel will be saved in a day," will be the favored Nation who repopulate the World. Along with the others of the rest of the Nations who have not followed the antichrist. They will all live in the Kingdom in peace and prosperity. For a thousand years.
After that 1000 years, Satan will be released from his imprisonment, and will again roam the Earth, gathering all the armies of people who have been born during this time and have never known any other government, deceiving and convincing them that King Jesus is not right. So they will surround the Capital city, and fire will come down from Heaven to destroy them.
That is when the whole Earth will be burned up and destroyed, and totally explode. The Universe will implode back into that tiny, super-heavy dot, and explode again (the Big Bang Theory), into a New Heaven (Universe) and a New Earth-like planet.
So Zephaniah was shown the very end of our existence, but he didn't understand the progression of the time-line that would unfold it all. We now have other Scriptures to combine with these, which gives us a little bit clearer understanding of the Big Picture; but we haven't lived through it yet, so we still don't have all the details.
What we do know, we can fully trust to happen just as God told us it will happen. He told us why it will happen that way, so that we will be encouraged to turn to Him and follow His ways, and not be in the majority who will be destroyed, but come into His own family to rule with Jesus in His Kingdom.
We who are saved today will be "called away" in the "Rapture of the saints" sometime in this process. There are different ideas among Bible scholars as to the timing of this event, but the Old Testament prophets did not see it at all. They were focused only on Israel.
But, as God's own family, His sons and daughters by the New Birth, we are His princes and princesses who are being trained to learn how to help King Jesus rule on His Throne, as He rules on the Father's Throne, as His kings and queens in His Kingdom on the Earth.
We will be in our resurrected bodies at that time, and will be His bride, and no longer have any other husband or wife to produce children. Those who enter the Kingdom in their mortal bodies will repopulate the World.
O my Father, You are so good! Your ways are so reasonable and right! Please help Your children to have a clear understanding of what You have told us so far. Show us that we don't need to have all our questions answered right now, but that we can be content with what we know, as we continue to study and You reveal more connections for a continually more complete picture.
And as we work our way through this line of Time, we will seek Your face, looking for the things You have told us to happen, to recognize that You are doing just what You said You would do, before our very eyes!
You are trustworthy, Father, and worthy of our full trust. Keep us in Your secure hand, as You lead us in the paths of righteousness, for Your Name's sake.
And every eye shall see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty and Sovereign King, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Woe to her that is rebellious and defiled, the tyrannical city!
This is written to Jerusalem, but it can also be addressed to any Nation who fits the description.
Rebellious is the Hebrew word, mara', which means, "to rebel by whipping or lashing oneself with wings, as a running ostrich, or to lift up self; or filthy, gluttonous."
And defiled is ga'al, meaning, "to desecrate, pollute, stain."
So the people of this society have lifted themselves up by beating themselves up as a running ostrich flaps her wings violently. They do it to themselves. They are gluttonous in their eating, not taking care of their bodies with healthy foods, and have elevated their own ideas above the natural, reasonable ways God made this Earth to work.
She heeded no voice, she accepted no instruction. She did not trust in the Lord, she did not draw near to her God.
These people think they know better, and will not listen to anyone else, or acknowledge that God has any authority over them. They are their own gods.
Her princes within her are roaring lions,
Those in government to rule over the people are only in it for their own gain, taken from the people they rule over.
her judges are evening wolves, they leave nothing for the morning.
Those who are to dispense justice are promoting their own ideas rather than looking at what the laws actually say, and their opinions are considered law.
Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men;
Those who purport to speak for God are only out for their own gain, perverting God's Word to seduce the people into salacious and greedy ways.
her priests have profaned the sanctuary.
Those who are to teach God's ways have contempt for Him instead, and have profaned ("running sores") the place that should be a haven.
They have done violence to the Law.
They have turned the laws upside down, making legal what is evil, and declaring that what is right is not acceptable, wrong.
The Lord is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame.
This is a people in whom God is present. They have invited Him into their national life, and based their political existence on His ways. Even though they have not followed Him, He is still showing them the right ways, if they would only look. But those who reject Him are too proud to even blush.
I have cut off Nations; their corner towers are in ruins, I have made their streets desolate, with no one passing by; their cities are laid waste, without a man, without an inhabitant.
God has already shown Himself righteous and powerful, with the authority to punish other Nations who have done evil violence by wiping them out, as an illustration of the consequences of turning away from the good God is.
I said, "Surely you will revere Me, accept instruction." So her dwelling will not be cut off according to all [the discipline] I have appointed concerning her, but they were eager to corrupt all their deeds.
God wants us to see and understand history of how things work out. How when peoples destroy themselves for the profit of the few, then the whole society collapses. God shows us these things, so that we will learn to do right. But doing right is not easy, it can be painful in the short run, so we run instead toward what is easy or has short-term gains, but we are only shooting ourselves in the foot in doing so.
Therefore wait for Me, declares the Lord, for the Day that I rise up as a Witness.
Just wait for the Lord to let the hammer drop. He will, you can bet on it.
Indeed, my decision is to gather Nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the Earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal.
Here we are, what God is planning to do, which He will carry out without fail. We can count on it. All the Nations who reject God will burn up. The whole Earth will erupt and burn and, in the final end, totally explode.
The Old Testament prophets were shown a lot of what God's plan is for Mankind and our Earth, but they didn't distinguish between Jesus' first and second comings, or the details of the timeline of the second time He comes.
When Jesus returns, He will come as the King over all the Earth. He will destroy all the armies who are surrounding Jerusalem, cutting them to ribbons with His Word. Everyone alive will see Him descending to the Mount of Olives, and all those who have kept themselves from being seduced by the antichrist will realize Who He Is, and come into His Kingdom in their present bodies. All the others will burn up.
For then I will give the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.
This is all the peoples of the World, who are entering into Jesus' Kingdom. They will know that He is Jesus of Nazareth who was executed in their place to cleanse them, and was Resurrected and is now the King of the World.
They will all be saved, and will all want to serve Him together as their King.
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings.
All the Hebrew people who have been scattered all over the World who come into His Kingdom will also worship Him.
In that Day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me; for then I will remove from your midst your proud, exulting ones, and you will never again be haughty on My holy mountain.
When Jesus cleanses us with the Blood He shed on Calvary, then all the shame and regret for all the wrong we have done in the past is all wiped away. Everyone who had been proud or haughty will be removed, and no one will ever exalt themselves over our King again in all His World-wide government.
But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the Name of the Lord.
All the people who are in His Kingdom will humble themselves under the authority of the King, taking refuge in His righteousness.
The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths; for they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble.
They won't see any need to defend themselves or cut corners or take advantage of one another, because the King will provide everything they need, with no worry.
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
God's people will have a spirit of rejoicing and celebrating and dancing and feasting and singing and shouting for joy for all that our Lord and King has done!
The Lord has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you will fear disaster no more.
The Lord Jesus Christ has paid the debt we owe, taking the wrath of God upon Himself in our place, so we are debt-free spiritually. He will be right here with us now, so we'll have no reason to be afraid of anything disastrous happening any more.
In that Day it will be said to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
The Lord God will protect His people. No more reason to give up, there is no one left to bother you.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
This verse applies to all of us who have come to Jesus as Savior and Lord. He is our Bridegroom and we are the Bride. He Loves us passionately, as a newlywed groom is enamored with his new bride. He has won the victory over all of our enemies, and rejoices in winning His bride. He celebrates her publicly with shouts of joy, but His Love-making will be private and personal with each one of us. And the honeymoon will last forever!
I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts--they came from you, O Zion; the reproach of exile is a burden on them.
Those Hebrews who were sent far away were heavy-laden with the burden of not being able to worship the way they wanted to, that they felt was right.
Behold, I am going to deal at that time with all your oppressors, I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will turn their shame into praise and renown in all the Earth.
When King Jesus sets up His government, He will take care of all the details in each person's life that needs to be set right. He will take away everyone who put down His people, and comfort them, lifting them up into positions of honor; making them famous and respected in all the nations that had oppressed them.
At that time I will bring you in, even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the Earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord.
All the prophesies that tell of Israel being made the head instead of the tail will be fulfilled. Those Jewish people who "see Him who they have pierced" as His feet come down to the Mount of Olives, and "all Israel will be saved in a day," will be the favored Nation who repopulate the World. Along with the others of the rest of the Nations who have not followed the antichrist. They will all live in the Kingdom in peace and prosperity. For a thousand years.
After that 1000 years, Satan will be released from his imprisonment, and will again roam the Earth, gathering all the armies of people who have been born during this time and have never known any other government, deceiving and convincing them that King Jesus is not right. So they will surround the Capital city, and fire will come down from Heaven to destroy them.
That is when the whole Earth will be burned up and destroyed, and totally explode. The Universe will implode back into that tiny, super-heavy dot, and explode again (the Big Bang Theory), into a New Heaven (Universe) and a New Earth-like planet.
So Zephaniah was shown the very end of our existence, but he didn't understand the progression of the time-line that would unfold it all. We now have other Scriptures to combine with these, which gives us a little bit clearer understanding of the Big Picture; but we haven't lived through it yet, so we still don't have all the details.
What we do know, we can fully trust to happen just as God told us it will happen. He told us why it will happen that way, so that we will be encouraged to turn to Him and follow His ways, and not be in the majority who will be destroyed, but come into His own family to rule with Jesus in His Kingdom.
We who are saved today will be "called away" in the "Rapture of the saints" sometime in this process. There are different ideas among Bible scholars as to the timing of this event, but the Old Testament prophets did not see it at all. They were focused only on Israel.
But, as God's own family, His sons and daughters by the New Birth, we are His princes and princesses who are being trained to learn how to help King Jesus rule on His Throne, as He rules on the Father's Throne, as His kings and queens in His Kingdom on the Earth.
We will be in our resurrected bodies at that time, and will be His bride, and no longer have any other husband or wife to produce children. Those who enter the Kingdom in their mortal bodies will repopulate the World.
O my Father, You are so good! Your ways are so reasonable and right! Please help Your children to have a clear understanding of what You have told us so far. Show us that we don't need to have all our questions answered right now, but that we can be content with what we know, as we continue to study and You reveal more connections for a continually more complete picture.
And as we work our way through this line of Time, we will seek Your face, looking for the things You have told us to happen, to recognize that You are doing just what You said You would do, before our very eyes!
You are trustworthy, Father, and worthy of our full trust. Keep us in Your secure hand, as You lead us in the paths of righteousness, for Your Name's sake.
And every eye shall see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty and Sovereign King, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, August 7, 2019
How Do We Understand This Today?
Zephaniah 2: 1-15
The first chapter told us about God's final destruction of this Earth, and it focused on Jerusalem and Judah.
Chapter two now tells God's people that He will judge her enemies, too.
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame,
Before the decree takes effect--The Day passes like the chaff--Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the Day of the Lord's anger comes upon you.
Zephaniah is telling his hearers to get right before all this comes about. We can all listen to him.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the Earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the Day of the Lord's anger.
Maybe if we of all the Earth, humble ourselves and seek the Lord, God will hide us from the devastation He will bring on all the wicked of the Earth.
Then he names all the pagan nations surrounding Israel: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, the Cherethites (Philistines) on the seacoast; all of Canaan, calling down desolations on them, so that their territories will become the property of Israel, the House of Judah, because the Lord their God will care for them and restore their fortune.
This can be when King Jesus sets up His Kingdom, and portions out the territories for His peoples.
Then God says that He will make Moab and Ammon like Sodom and Gomorrah, just nettles and salt pits, a perpetual desolation.
And, The remnant of My people will plunder them and the remainder of My Nation will inherit them.
Because God has heard all the insults with which they insulted them. God had told Abraham that he would curse those who cursed him and his descendants, and He will carry out this destruction at this time.
This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the Earth; and all the coastlands of the Nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
And every knee will bow.
Then He says how He will stretch out His hand toward the North to destroy Assyria and Nineveh; and describes how desolate that whole area will be.
This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt.
This description can be not only Assyria of Zephaniah's day, but can also be an arrogant super-power today who can be like this. So if the shoe fits ... !
Zephaniah was preaching to the people of his day, so he named all the peoples as they were then, and the situations that were extant at that time.
We can also apply these same consequences to peoples and Nations today who are doing the same things those ancient peoples did. God does not change, and His Word is for us today just as it was for those people then.
And after Josiah's reign as the king over Judah, his successors turned back to the idols and false gods of the peoples around them, even more violently than their predecessors. So Judah was carried off into exile, as the Northern Kingdom of Israel had, years before.
God gave Josiah to Judah for a few years, to forestall the judgment He would bring upon them; but after Josiah, they effectively called down judgment upon themselves.
I believe God has given us also a reprieve, an opportunity to turn back to Him and His righteous ways. We as God's children need to be working to promote His righteousness in our neighborhoods and societies and our culture, to tear down the temples of infant sacrifice as Josiah did, by removing public funding, and changing the thinking processes of our Nation.
I think that after this reprieve, our society will go right back to it's demon sacrifices and evil and wicked lifestyles, even worse than they have been in the past, like Judah did. We are all still human.
That's why God sent His Son to be born as a human being, to die our human death for each of us, shedding God's own Blood to wash us clean, and to cause us to be re-born spiritually with His own Holy Spirit living in us.
We have Divine Life living inside us, not to make us gods, but to give us Divine power to overcome temptation and gain the victory over our enemy, the devil.
O my Father, thank You for Your written Word. Thank You that we can trust You to have protected and preserved what You have told us, as the most ancient parchments say what our modern translations still say, with no conflicts or changes in any meanings.
Please help us to take to heart the seriousness of Your warnings. Your prophets spoke to the peoples of their day, but Your warnings are just as terrifying to us today, as our Nations are no better than those ancient ones were, and are calling down upon themselves the same judgments.
Help us be Your Light in this dark World. As the darkness deepens and swirls around us, let our Light shine ever brighter, as the Lighthouse that warns the boats away from the deadly reefs and shoals.
Strengthen us, Father, against the attacks from the enemy and his minions. Use our lives and our testimonies to draw all Your lost lambs into the relationship with You that You desire with all of us. Increase our territories to reach out to those who have yet to hear Your Name.
And let this Good News be preached to every living being to give them an informed choice, whether they will choose You and Your Love, or to rebel against Your gracious and generous offer.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The first chapter told us about God's final destruction of this Earth, and it focused on Jerusalem and Judah.
Chapter two now tells God's people that He will judge her enemies, too.
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather, O nation without shame,
Before the decree takes effect--The Day passes like the chaff--Before the burning anger of the Lord comes upon you, Before the Day of the Lord's anger comes upon you.
Zephaniah is telling his hearers to get right before all this comes about. We can all listen to him.
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the Earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the Day of the Lord's anger.
Maybe if we of all the Earth, humble ourselves and seek the Lord, God will hide us from the devastation He will bring on all the wicked of the Earth.
Then he names all the pagan nations surrounding Israel: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, the Cherethites (Philistines) on the seacoast; all of Canaan, calling down desolations on them, so that their territories will become the property of Israel, the House of Judah, because the Lord their God will care for them and restore their fortune.
This can be when King Jesus sets up His Kingdom, and portions out the territories for His peoples.
Then God says that He will make Moab and Ammon like Sodom and Gomorrah, just nettles and salt pits, a perpetual desolation.
And, The remnant of My people will plunder them and the remainder of My Nation will inherit them.
Because God has heard all the insults with which they insulted them. God had told Abraham that he would curse those who cursed him and his descendants, and He will carry out this destruction at this time.
This they will have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the Earth; and all the coastlands of the Nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.
And every knee will bow.
Then He says how He will stretch out His hand toward the North to destroy Assyria and Nineveh; and describes how desolate that whole area will be.
This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me." How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt.
This description can be not only Assyria of Zephaniah's day, but can also be an arrogant super-power today who can be like this. So if the shoe fits ... !
Zephaniah was preaching to the people of his day, so he named all the peoples as they were then, and the situations that were extant at that time.
We can also apply these same consequences to peoples and Nations today who are doing the same things those ancient peoples did. God does not change, and His Word is for us today just as it was for those people then.
And after Josiah's reign as the king over Judah, his successors turned back to the idols and false gods of the peoples around them, even more violently than their predecessors. So Judah was carried off into exile, as the Northern Kingdom of Israel had, years before.
God gave Josiah to Judah for a few years, to forestall the judgment He would bring upon them; but after Josiah, they effectively called down judgment upon themselves.
I believe God has given us also a reprieve, an opportunity to turn back to Him and His righteous ways. We as God's children need to be working to promote His righteousness in our neighborhoods and societies and our culture, to tear down the temples of infant sacrifice as Josiah did, by removing public funding, and changing the thinking processes of our Nation.
I think that after this reprieve, our society will go right back to it's demon sacrifices and evil and wicked lifestyles, even worse than they have been in the past, like Judah did. We are all still human.
That's why God sent His Son to be born as a human being, to die our human death for each of us, shedding God's own Blood to wash us clean, and to cause us to be re-born spiritually with His own Holy Spirit living in us.
We have Divine Life living inside us, not to make us gods, but to give us Divine power to overcome temptation and gain the victory over our enemy, the devil.
O my Father, thank You for Your written Word. Thank You that we can trust You to have protected and preserved what You have told us, as the most ancient parchments say what our modern translations still say, with no conflicts or changes in any meanings.
Please help us to take to heart the seriousness of Your warnings. Your prophets spoke to the peoples of their day, but Your warnings are just as terrifying to us today, as our Nations are no better than those ancient ones were, and are calling down upon themselves the same judgments.
Help us be Your Light in this dark World. As the darkness deepens and swirls around us, let our Light shine ever brighter, as the Lighthouse that warns the boats away from the deadly reefs and shoals.
Strengthen us, Father, against the attacks from the enemy and his minions. Use our lives and our testimonies to draw all Your lost lambs into the relationship with You that You desire with all of us. Increase our territories to reach out to those who have yet to hear Your Name.
And let this Good News be preached to every living being to give them an informed choice, whether they will choose You and Your Love, or to rebel against Your gracious and generous offer.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
The Final End
Zephaniah 1: 1-18
This whole 3-chapter book is about the Day of the Lord. But that Day will go from the time Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom, through the whole 1000 years of Earth's Golden Age, to the final End.
My meager efforts here are humbly offered. Comments are welcome.
The Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah son of Ammon, king of Judah.
Josiah was only eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years. He is considered a good king, because when he was about 25 years old he found the Book of the Law while doing repairs on the Temple, and got rid of all the idols and stuff because he whole-heartedly followed the Lord. But his reign was between really evil kings, before and after him.
Zephaniah was prophesying during this time. It is such a scary prophesy, because the kings before and after Josiah were really exceedingly wicked, and he was trying to scare the people into doing right.
I will completely remove all things from the face of the Earth, declares the Lord.
I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off Man from the face of the Earth, declares the Lord. ...
This looks like the final day of the Day of the Lord, when the Earth explodes. Everything and everyone will burn up and be destroyed at the end of God's timeline for this Earth.
Be silent before the Lord God! For the Day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has invited His guests ...
The Battle of Armageddon will destroy the evil armies, and the birds of prey will feast on their carcasses (like "guests" at a "feast"), but then people who are still alive will enter into the Kingdom. Mankind won't be totally eradicated from the face of the Earth until after the 1000 years. If this is at the final End, then the "guests" could be Angels?
On That Day, declares the Lord, ...
It will come about at that Time ...
A Day of Wrath is That Day, a Day of trouble and distress, a Day of destruction and desolation, a Day of darkness and gloom, a Day of clouds and thick darkness,
A Day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers.
This looks to me to be when Satan is released at the end of the 1000 years and gathers the armies to attack King Jesus' capital city.
I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
This looks like a liquefaction of the enemies attacking, right before the Earth explodes. A very terrifying picture.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the Lord's wrath;
None of this Earth's wealth can ever buy anything spiritual, including life, which is spirit.
And all the Earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the Earth.
This is what what will happen at the very end of this timeline we are living in. The Earth will explode, and the Universe will implode, and God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth-like planet. We get a bit of a glimpse of this New Earth in Revelation 21-22.
God is constantly urging people to do right, to turn to Him and learn His ways, so they can cooperate with how He designed this Creation to work, and experience the benefits He put into this Earth for us.
But we are vulnerable to the lies of our enemy who only wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything good God made.
Satan is so jealous of Mankind for God to kick him out of Heaven and put us in his position of being God's worship leaders! So he wants to get back at God by hurting the ones God loves--us!
Let's not let this depraved enemy have the upper hand--choose your pastors and teachers carefully, to not be sidetracked from the narrow path God has placed our feet on.
Yes, God wants us to enjoy the prosperity He put into the Earth for us, but He blesses us so we can bless others, not to just hold onto it for ourselves, whether that means finances, or gifts and abilities, or whatever else God gives us. We are to share and be generous in our sharing.
And we need to be strong in the Lord, wearing all of our Armor of God, to withstand the persecution that is coming, and has already come in many areas of the World. We will all be put through the refining process, as God's gold; the pressures that produce His diamonds out of the dust He made us of.
O my Father, please help us to pay attention to Your warnings. You are very serious, and You never exaggerate. What You have said is what You mean to say, just as You said it. We can trust You to always be truthful and forthcoming in telling us everything we need to know.
Now strengthen us, to withstand all the enemies attacks, Father. And thank you for telling us that when You pour out Your wrath on Your enemies, that it will not touch Your children, even though a thousand fall at our side, ten thousand at our right hand. It will be marvelous to watch! Hollywood can't out-dramatize You, Father!
And every knee will bow, and every created being will acknowledge that You alone are God; that King Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come,Lord Jesus!
This whole 3-chapter book is about the Day of the Lord. But that Day will go from the time Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom, through the whole 1000 years of Earth's Golden Age, to the final End.
My meager efforts here are humbly offered. Comments are welcome.
The Word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah son of Ammon, king of Judah.
Josiah was only eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years. He is considered a good king, because when he was about 25 years old he found the Book of the Law while doing repairs on the Temple, and got rid of all the idols and stuff because he whole-heartedly followed the Lord. But his reign was between really evil kings, before and after him.
Zephaniah was prophesying during this time. It is such a scary prophesy, because the kings before and after Josiah were really exceedingly wicked, and he was trying to scare the people into doing right.
I will completely remove all things from the face of the Earth, declares the Lord.
I will remove man and beast; I will remove the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, and the ruins along with the wicked; And I will cut off Man from the face of the Earth, declares the Lord. ...
This looks like the final day of the Day of the Lord, when the Earth explodes. Everything and everyone will burn up and be destroyed at the end of God's timeline for this Earth.
Be silent before the Lord God! For the Day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has invited His guests ...
The Battle of Armageddon will destroy the evil armies, and the birds of prey will feast on their carcasses (like "guests" at a "feast"), but then people who are still alive will enter into the Kingdom. Mankind won't be totally eradicated from the face of the Earth until after the 1000 years. If this is at the final End, then the "guests" could be Angels?
On That Day, declares the Lord, ...
It will come about at that Time ...
A Day of Wrath is That Day, a Day of trouble and distress, a Day of destruction and desolation, a Day of darkness and gloom, a Day of clouds and thick darkness,
A Day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers.
This looks to me to be when Satan is released at the end of the 1000 years and gathers the armies to attack King Jesus' capital city.
I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
This looks like a liquefaction of the enemies attacking, right before the Earth explodes. A very terrifying picture.
Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the Lord's wrath;
None of this Earth's wealth can ever buy anything spiritual, including life, which is spirit.
And all the Earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the Earth.
This is what what will happen at the very end of this timeline we are living in. The Earth will explode, and the Universe will implode, and God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth-like planet. We get a bit of a glimpse of this New Earth in Revelation 21-22.
God is constantly urging people to do right, to turn to Him and learn His ways, so they can cooperate with how He designed this Creation to work, and experience the benefits He put into this Earth for us.
But we are vulnerable to the lies of our enemy who only wants to steal, kill, and destroy everything good God made.
Satan is so jealous of Mankind for God to kick him out of Heaven and put us in his position of being God's worship leaders! So he wants to get back at God by hurting the ones God loves--us!
Let's not let this depraved enemy have the upper hand--choose your pastors and teachers carefully, to not be sidetracked from the narrow path God has placed our feet on.
Yes, God wants us to enjoy the prosperity He put into the Earth for us, but He blesses us so we can bless others, not to just hold onto it for ourselves, whether that means finances, or gifts and abilities, or whatever else God gives us. We are to share and be generous in our sharing.
And we need to be strong in the Lord, wearing all of our Armor of God, to withstand the persecution that is coming, and has already come in many areas of the World. We will all be put through the refining process, as God's gold; the pressures that produce His diamonds out of the dust He made us of.
O my Father, please help us to pay attention to Your warnings. You are very serious, and You never exaggerate. What You have said is what You mean to say, just as You said it. We can trust You to always be truthful and forthcoming in telling us everything we need to know.
Now strengthen us, to withstand all the enemies attacks, Father. And thank you for telling us that when You pour out Your wrath on Your enemies, that it will not touch Your children, even though a thousand fall at our side, ten thousand at our right hand. It will be marvelous to watch! Hollywood can't out-dramatize You, Father!
And every knee will bow, and every created being will acknowledge that You alone are God; that King Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come,Lord Jesus!
Monday, August 5, 2019
What Sort Of People Ought We To Be?
II Peter 3: 10-18
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief,
This term, Day of the Lord, can refer to the whole time from the Second Coming of the Lord, through His 1000-year Reign and the final destruction of this Earth and the Universe. (I Thessalonians 5:4 says that the Lord's Second Coming shouldn't take us unexpectedly like a thief, we should be expecting Him.)
Peter is saying that this will happen suddenly.
in which the Heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the Earth and its works will be burned up.
Here he's talking about the end of Earth's 1000-Year Golden Age, when Satan is released and gathers the armies of the World to attack King Jesus' capital city, and fire came down from Heaven and devoured them (Revelation 20:7-9).
That's when the Earth shall explode, the Universe will implode, and all matter will go back into the tiny, heavy dot, to explode again into a new Heaven and a new Earth (the Big Bang theory).
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
Since we know that all the material goods we are gathering for ourselves will not last, we need to put less focus on these and more on what will last, people who have Eternal Life.
Looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God,
We are to be anticipating His coming again, eagerly looking forward to it. And to hasten that day, by sharing with other people in our little worlds how God loves them and will do for them what He has done for us. Jesus said that when everyone alive has been given the opportunity to choose to accept or reject God's offer of Salvation, then the End will come (Matthew 24:14).
because of which the Heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
This should motivate us to get to work building His kingdom! Because all our stuff will go, and we won't even miss it at all!
But according to His promise we are looking for new Heavens and a new Earth, in which righteousness dwells.
The New Universe with the New Earth-like planet for us to live on will be built on a whole new basis of existence, with no more curse for sin. No more winding down or wearing out. No more Second Law of Thermodynamics. Only right beings and right doings, nothing wrong or amiss, all righteousness. And all new stuff!
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
So we need to be living our lives now in the best way we can. Doing all we can to follow our Lord in His footsteps, not veering off, but earnestly endeavoring to be right and kind and compassionate with everyone, and keep ourselves from being soiled by the World around us.
And regard the patience of our Lord as Salvation;
Because He hasn't come yet, we still have time to witness our faith to others, so they can be saved, too.
just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to all the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
Peter is talking about Paul, also having written Epistles.
As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things,
He says Paul also wrote about how we are to be living our lives for the Lord and His Kingdom.
in which are some things hard to understand,
When something is unclear, we need to understand it by what is clear.
which the untaught and unstable distort,
Some people who don't know how to study to get out what God put in, but instead look to put into it what they want it to say.
as they do also the rest of the Scriptures,
Peter is already, at this early date in history, considering Paul's writings as Scripture, on a par with the Old Testament; already compiling the Books of the New Testament.
to their own destruction.
Those who twist Scripture will suffer the consequences.
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,
Peter has already talked about false teachers. Here he is reminding his readers again to not be suckered in to following these slick deceivers who are preaching error instead of God's Truth.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Grow up spiritually being nourished by the Truth that gives life, the graciousness of God, and knowing Jesus better as our Savior, and more intimately as our Newlywed Groom.
To Him be the glory, both now and to the Day of Eternity. Amen.
And all the credit goes to Him, the Father and the Son.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Christ and Lord and King, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief,
This term, Day of the Lord, can refer to the whole time from the Second Coming of the Lord, through His 1000-year Reign and the final destruction of this Earth and the Universe. (I Thessalonians 5:4 says that the Lord's Second Coming shouldn't take us unexpectedly like a thief, we should be expecting Him.)
Peter is saying that this will happen suddenly.
in which the Heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the Earth and its works will be burned up.
Here he's talking about the end of Earth's 1000-Year Golden Age, when Satan is released and gathers the armies of the World to attack King Jesus' capital city, and fire came down from Heaven and devoured them (Revelation 20:7-9).
That's when the Earth shall explode, the Universe will implode, and all matter will go back into the tiny, heavy dot, to explode again into a new Heaven and a new Earth (the Big Bang theory).
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
Since we know that all the material goods we are gathering for ourselves will not last, we need to put less focus on these and more on what will last, people who have Eternal Life.
Looking for and hastening the coming of the Day of God,
We are to be anticipating His coming again, eagerly looking forward to it. And to hasten that day, by sharing with other people in our little worlds how God loves them and will do for them what He has done for us. Jesus said that when everyone alive has been given the opportunity to choose to accept or reject God's offer of Salvation, then the End will come (Matthew 24:14).
because of which the Heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
This should motivate us to get to work building His kingdom! Because all our stuff will go, and we won't even miss it at all!
But according to His promise we are looking for new Heavens and a new Earth, in which righteousness dwells.
The New Universe with the New Earth-like planet for us to live on will be built on a whole new basis of existence, with no more curse for sin. No more winding down or wearing out. No more Second Law of Thermodynamics. Only right beings and right doings, nothing wrong or amiss, all righteousness. And all new stuff!
Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless,
So we need to be living our lives now in the best way we can. Doing all we can to follow our Lord in His footsteps, not veering off, but earnestly endeavoring to be right and kind and compassionate with everyone, and keep ourselves from being soiled by the World around us.
And regard the patience of our Lord as Salvation;
Because He hasn't come yet, we still have time to witness our faith to others, so they can be saved, too.
just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to all the wisdom given him, wrote to you,
Peter is talking about Paul, also having written Epistles.
As also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things,
He says Paul also wrote about how we are to be living our lives for the Lord and His Kingdom.
in which are some things hard to understand,
When something is unclear, we need to understand it by what is clear.
which the untaught and unstable distort,
Some people who don't know how to study to get out what God put in, but instead look to put into it what they want it to say.
as they do also the rest of the Scriptures,
Peter is already, at this early date in history, considering Paul's writings as Scripture, on a par with the Old Testament; already compiling the Books of the New Testament.
to their own destruction.
Those who twist Scripture will suffer the consequences.
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,
Peter has already talked about false teachers. Here he is reminding his readers again to not be suckered in to following these slick deceivers who are preaching error instead of God's Truth.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Grow up spiritually being nourished by the Truth that gives life, the graciousness of God, and knowing Jesus better as our Savior, and more intimately as our Newlywed Groom.
To Him be the glory, both now and to the Day of Eternity. Amen.
And all the credit goes to Him, the Father and the Son.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Christ and Lord and King, to the glory of God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, August 4, 2019
God's Time Table
II Peter 3: 1-9
This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you, in both of which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder
Peter wrote both of these letters so that these dear brothers and sisters will not forget what they've been taught.
That you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy Prophets
This refers to the Old Testament prophesies that Jesus fulfilled by His life and death and Resurrection. And that He will fulfill by His Second Coming.
and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by us, your Apostles.
Peter acknowledged that he had been chosen to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus, one who would help to lay the foundation of the Church. So listen up!
Know this first of all,
This is basic, we all need to watch out for this to come about first.
that in the Last Days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
These are scoffers, mocking, making fun of serious things, making light of them. They're just interested in their own finances and pleasures.
And saying, "Where is the Promise of His coming? For ever since the Fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of Creation."
They've been promoting and publishing evolution, deliberately ignoring all the evidence of Creation that is obvious in the Earth all around us.
For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the Word of God the Heavens existed long ago and the Earth was formed out of water and by water,
They are ignoring all the scientific evidence that God formed the land-mass when He lifted it out of the waters of the Seas on Day Three (Genesis 1:9-10).
Through which the World at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
When God collapsed the water-canopy that had formed on Day Two when He separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament, our atmosphere. Evidence of this is the "continental shelf" that extends out into the oceans from the land, that then drops off. This is all the water from the canopy that raised the water level of the oceans. Noah's Deluge.
But by His Word the present Heavens and Earth are being reserved for fire,
God told Noah that He would never again destroy the whole World by water, and to show He's still keeping that Promise, we still can see His Bow, our rainbow, in the clouds, the same Bow that surrounds His Throne in Heaven (Revelation 4:3). Of all the planets we have found in the Universe, the Earth is the only one that can produce a rainbow. His Promise is only for this Earth.
When it is destroyed again, it will be by fire, it will burn up as it explodes.
kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
God has us all in His hand. He is just waiting for the right time. But He won't wait past that right time, when everything is in place just right.
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
The passage of time is experienced by us as we live through it. God sees it all as one line, one picture. So one day or a thousand years, it's all the same to Him, because He sees it all at once, and can focus on whatever point He wants.
The Lord is not slow about His Promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Just because God hasn't done everything He said He would do yet, some people think that He won't. They want Him to work by their timelines, as though He would obey mere man! God is God, Mankind is not, we serve His timeline.
He knows when He will finish this Epoch of the Age of Mankind, and Jesus has told us that everyone in the World will have a chance to make an informed decision to choose Him or reject Him, then The End will come (Matthew 24:14).
So we, as those who know God as our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, need to be aware of every opportunity to share with everyone we can how much God loves us all! We need to support the missionaries who are out there working on teaching God's Word to peoples of the World, and we need to go ourselves, if God sends us, to do everything we can for everybody alive to be able to hear!
It's up to us, brothers and sisters! We need to know what we believe, and why we believe it, and avoid all the false teachers. Then we can share God's Love by telling others in a way they can understand, how God has already done everything for them. Let's get to work!
Then when everyone has heard, and made their decision, THEN The End will come, King Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom here in this World, and we will help Him rule it as His kings and queens. For a thousand years. Earth's Golden Age. Finally!
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you, in both of which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder
Peter wrote both of these letters so that these dear brothers and sisters will not forget what they've been taught.
That you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy Prophets
This refers to the Old Testament prophesies that Jesus fulfilled by His life and death and Resurrection. And that He will fulfill by His Second Coming.
and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by us, your Apostles.
Peter acknowledged that he had been chosen to be an Apostle of Christ Jesus, one who would help to lay the foundation of the Church. So listen up!
Know this first of all,
This is basic, we all need to watch out for this to come about first.
that in the Last Days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
These are scoffers, mocking, making fun of serious things, making light of them. They're just interested in their own finances and pleasures.
And saying, "Where is the Promise of His coming? For ever since the Fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of Creation."
They've been promoting and publishing evolution, deliberately ignoring all the evidence of Creation that is obvious in the Earth all around us.
For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the Word of God the Heavens existed long ago and the Earth was formed out of water and by water,
They are ignoring all the scientific evidence that God formed the land-mass when He lifted it out of the waters of the Seas on Day Three (Genesis 1:9-10).
Through which the World at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
When God collapsed the water-canopy that had formed on Day Two when He separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above the firmament, our atmosphere. Evidence of this is the "continental shelf" that extends out into the oceans from the land, that then drops off. This is all the water from the canopy that raised the water level of the oceans. Noah's Deluge.
But by His Word the present Heavens and Earth are being reserved for fire,
God told Noah that He would never again destroy the whole World by water, and to show He's still keeping that Promise, we still can see His Bow, our rainbow, in the clouds, the same Bow that surrounds His Throne in Heaven (Revelation 4:3). Of all the planets we have found in the Universe, the Earth is the only one that can produce a rainbow. His Promise is only for this Earth.
When it is destroyed again, it will be by fire, it will burn up as it explodes.
kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
God has us all in His hand. He is just waiting for the right time. But He won't wait past that right time, when everything is in place just right.
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.
The passage of time is experienced by us as we live through it. God sees it all as one line, one picture. So one day or a thousand years, it's all the same to Him, because He sees it all at once, and can focus on whatever point He wants.
The Lord is not slow about His Promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Just because God hasn't done everything He said He would do yet, some people think that He won't. They want Him to work by their timelines, as though He would obey mere man! God is God, Mankind is not, we serve His timeline.
He knows when He will finish this Epoch of the Age of Mankind, and Jesus has told us that everyone in the World will have a chance to make an informed decision to choose Him or reject Him, then The End will come (Matthew 24:14).
So we, as those who know God as our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, need to be aware of every opportunity to share with everyone we can how much God loves us all! We need to support the missionaries who are out there working on teaching God's Word to peoples of the World, and we need to go ourselves, if God sends us, to do everything we can for everybody alive to be able to hear!
It's up to us, brothers and sisters! We need to know what we believe, and why we believe it, and avoid all the false teachers. Then we can share God's Love by telling others in a way they can understand, how God has already done everything for them. Let's get to work!
Then when everyone has heard, and made their decision, THEN The End will come, King Jesus will return to set up His Kingdom here in this World, and we will help Him rule it as His kings and queens. For a thousand years. Earth's Golden Age. Finally!
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Avoid Seductive Teachers!
II Peter 2: 17-22
These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.
A spring is supposed to have water; if it doesn't, it's deceptive, it's a lie. And a mist that comes in with a storm will not be beneficial, but destructive.
For speaking out arrogant words of vanity
They think they're so smart, but their words have no good purpose.
they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality,
They woo you in with promises of wealth and popularity and physical pleasures.
those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
Whenever anyone does get out of their clutches, it's "by the skin of their teeth."
promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption;
How can a slave give freedom to someone else? True freedom is the ability to do what is right, not to do whatever he wants.
for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
Whatever we give ourselves to, it becomes our master, whether it is sinfulness or the Lord.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
If they learn about the good ways of thinking and acting according to the Truth.
they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
In Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26 Jesus talks about a man who cleans himself up, as someone would when they see how godly people are blessed. But if that person didn't come to Christ in repentance, and let Him clean him up, it won't last.
I found that it was a downward spiral, every time I tried to "do better" I ended up doing worse. I didn't realize it at the time, but my own life illustrated the Truth of what Jesus taught here, and what Peter is also writing about.
For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
This is the "downward spiral" of the ups and downs of self-improvement.
It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."
When someone has a bad habit that has been going on in his life for a while, it takes effort to get out of it, and when he gets tired of all the effort, he just slides back into the familiar rut.
Only the power of God's Holy Spirit in us can break those cycles. These false teachers evidently do not have His Spirit to do this, but they still draw the crowds, so they just go on preaching their deceptive seductions.
As God's children, we must avoid these "empty springs" and not get suckered in to their deceptions that promise this World's goods and pleasures.
Don't think you can play around with these ideas, to get some temporal benefits. God does bless those who follow His ways, but He will not bless anything that veers off from His righteousness. Don't cut corners, or take any kind of short-cut. This World will one Day be burned up, and we will suffer the loss of eternal pleasures if we do.
We are to run away from temptation, not see how close we can get to the edge. If God blesses you with finances, it is so you can use that money to further His Kingdom. If He does not give you money, but you have other abilities and skills, then use them to serve God by helping others.
But in any case, avoid these deceptive teachers who only want to use you to increase their own bottom lines. They're not worth it.
O my Father, please strengthen Your children, give us discernment to see who is teaching lies and who is true to Your Truth. Father, help us to not desire Earthly riches for our own benefit, but to use all the benefits You have given us, for just our needs, and the rest to help others, in Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.
A spring is supposed to have water; if it doesn't, it's deceptive, it's a lie. And a mist that comes in with a storm will not be beneficial, but destructive.
For speaking out arrogant words of vanity
They think they're so smart, but their words have no good purpose.
they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality,
They woo you in with promises of wealth and popularity and physical pleasures.
those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
Whenever anyone does get out of their clutches, it's "by the skin of their teeth."
promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption;
How can a slave give freedom to someone else? True freedom is the ability to do what is right, not to do whatever he wants.
for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
Whatever we give ourselves to, it becomes our master, whether it is sinfulness or the Lord.
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
If they learn about the good ways of thinking and acting according to the Truth.
they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
In Matthew 12:43-45 and Luke 11:24-26 Jesus talks about a man who cleans himself up, as someone would when they see how godly people are blessed. But if that person didn't come to Christ in repentance, and let Him clean him up, it won't last.
I found that it was a downward spiral, every time I tried to "do better" I ended up doing worse. I didn't realize it at the time, but my own life illustrated the Truth of what Jesus taught here, and what Peter is also writing about.
For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
This is the "downward spiral" of the ups and downs of self-improvement.
It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."
When someone has a bad habit that has been going on in his life for a while, it takes effort to get out of it, and when he gets tired of all the effort, he just slides back into the familiar rut.
Only the power of God's Holy Spirit in us can break those cycles. These false teachers evidently do not have His Spirit to do this, but they still draw the crowds, so they just go on preaching their deceptive seductions.
As God's children, we must avoid these "empty springs" and not get suckered in to their deceptions that promise this World's goods and pleasures.
Don't think you can play around with these ideas, to get some temporal benefits. God does bless those who follow His ways, but He will not bless anything that veers off from His righteousness. Don't cut corners, or take any kind of short-cut. This World will one Day be burned up, and we will suffer the loss of eternal pleasures if we do.
We are to run away from temptation, not see how close we can get to the edge. If God blesses you with finances, it is so you can use that money to further His Kingdom. If He does not give you money, but you have other abilities and skills, then use them to serve God by helping others.
But in any case, avoid these deceptive teachers who only want to use you to increase their own bottom lines. They're not worth it.
O my Father, please strengthen Your children, give us discernment to see who is teaching lies and who is true to Your Truth. Father, help us to not desire Earthly riches for our own benefit, but to use all the benefits You have given us, for just our needs, and the rest to help others, in Your Name.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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