December 20, 2010 (Revelation)

I finished Revelation this morning - the book that promises a blessing to all who listen to it and obey what it says.

I think we should all read Revelation much more than we do. It is a hard book to really relate to - to understand with all the symbology. But the underlying theme is that Jesus will come back, will judge the earth and will rule and reign forever. At the end of the book as the angel is talking about the approaching end of the world he says "For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus." As Paul said, I want to know Christ and Him crucified. Jesus is the beginning and end of all we need to know. He is the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. He is coming back to rule and reign - He alone is worthy to open the seals of the final chapters of the world as we know it.

We just watched Robin Hood - and as I read this next section I thought of the battle scenes and the horses riding into battle. Those scenes pale in comparison to what I just read:

^19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. ¹² His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. ¹³ He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. ¹⁶ On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

¹⁷ Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: “Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. ¹⁸ Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great.”

¹⁹ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. ²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. ²¹ Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.

And as I read not that long ago in 2 Peter, he tells us that we are to live holy and godly lives as we await the things fortold in Revelation, and we are to 'hurry it along'. How can we 'hurry it along'? I think by living holy and godly lives and doing everything we can to tell others of His wonderful love and of the way to escape the wrath to come through Jesus and Jesus alone.

^3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

And as Revelation ends:

^22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

December 14, 2010 (I John 1-5)

One of the debates I've often heard/wondered is the debate that since Christ lives in us, we have the ability to not sin. It seems as if chapter 2 backs that statement up:

¹ My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. ² He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

From personal experience, I would love to have a day where I didn't sin. I've never done it, but I guess it's possible.

How do we know we belong to God?

³ And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. ⁴ If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. ⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. ⁶ Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

We cannot hate anyone. It is not part of our DNA anymore.

⁹ If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. ¹⁰ Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. ¹¹But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

Then John goes into a different statement about the different groups he is writing to:

¹⁴ I have written to you who are God’s children
because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith
because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
and you have won your battle with the evil one.

The thing that stuck out to me in that group is that those who are mature know Christ - and by that statement, I picture really knowing Him. Not knowing about Him, but truly knowing and having a living, vibrant, personal relationship with Him where there is communication going both ways. I think that is where my downfall is. I'm pretty faithful about reading His word, but what about my prayer life? I pray, but I don't think I am anywhere near where God wants me to be in that regard. I picked up a book from my bookshelf last night -"Too Busy Not to Pray" by Bill Hybills. I bought it years ago and never read it. It's time to read it now.

And then the final convicting verses. As I said to Chris - finding the balance here is not easy.

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

December 13, 2010 (2 Timothy, 2 Peter, Jude)

Well, I know what my new years resolution will be - blog/journal every day. This has been pitiful! Hebrews had so much in it.

As I'm reading these final books of the New Testament, I can tell these writers are at the end of their lives. It's as if they are again reminding their readers of the important things of life. And in Paul's case, he was imprisoned for what he believed. A lot of the content in these ending books is about suffering for Jesus - something we don't know that much about, but may be coming in this godless world as we take a stand for Jesus.

I'll summarize from 2 Timothy first the verses that I thought were particularly pertinent to these days.

^2:3 Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴ And as Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in his army. ⁵ Follow the Lord's rules for doing his work, just as an athlete either follows the rules or is disqualified and wins no prize.

^2:22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.

^3:1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. ² For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. ⁴They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. ⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

^4:1 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom: ² Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

³ For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

⁵ But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

⁶ As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. ⁸ And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

⁹ Timothy, please come as soon as you can. ¹⁰ Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia.

And now from 2 Peter. These beginning verses tell us the benefits of what happens when we know Jesus better:

^1:3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. ⁴ And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

⁵ In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

⁸ The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

And Peter reminds us that it isn't easy - we need to work at it. But the reward will be worth it.

^1:10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. ¹¹ Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

He gives us an answer for those that laugh at the truth:

³ Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. ⁴They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

⁸ But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. ⁹The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgement.

And he ends his book with a solemn warning as to how we are to live:

^3:11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, ¹² looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. ¹³ But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

¹⁴ And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.

¹⁵ And remember, the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.

December 8, 2010 (Titus 1-3, I Peter 1-5)

Why did Peter write this book? It's in his closing:

5:20 My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace.

I Peter is all about enduring under trials. Our trials are God's grace for us? I guess we experience His grace more as He helps us to endure. He explains more about trials at the beginning of his book:

^1:6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. ⁷These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

⁸ You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. ⁹ The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

We are all accountable for our actions and God has no favorites:

^1:17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.”

Again, we are reminded that this world is not our home:

^2:11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. ¹² Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

When I read and thought about this next verse, I had a visual image of the majesty of Christ.

^3:22 Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers are bowing before Him.

Do we really think about what is happening in heaven? We were just reminded the world is not our home - heaven is. And right now in heaven everyone is bowing to the aouthority and honor of Jesus. That is what true faith is - bowing to the authority of Jesus even when we can't 'see' Him.

The end of the world is coming soon - what are we to do?

⁷ The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. ⁸ Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

God has given us all gifts - are they so that people can 'praise us' for what we do?

¹⁰ God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. ¹¹ Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

No, when we exercise our gifts we only do it as God works through us - all praise and glory and honor belong to Him, not us. It's so easy for us to take the credit. God, forgive us and remind us that it is Your Son working through us - Christ in me, the hope of glory.

December 5, 2010 (I Timothy 1-6)

Paul's instructions to Timothy have a lot of wisdom in them:

1:19 "Cling tightly to your faith in Christ, and always keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked."

There was a time when I was deliberately violating my conscience - and it absolutely killed my walk with Christ. I had no assurance of His love, no assurance of His answers to prayer, and was continually 'at war' in my soul. I truly felt like a 'shipwrecked' soul. That is no way to live and I'm grateful for His love that led me out of that period.

The spiritual life is one of training. Paul tells us "Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness." and then he acknowledges that physical training has some value but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the life to come. A few verses later we see the importance of taking our spiritual life seriously:

4:15-16 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God will save you and those who hear you.

Can everyone see my spiritual progress? I would dare say "no".

And now for the "love of money" section and Paul's teaching about wealth:

^6:6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. ⁷ After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. ⁸ So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

⁹ But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹¹ But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. ¹³ And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. ¹⁵For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. ¹⁶ He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

¹⁷ Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. ¹⁹ By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

²⁰ Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. ²¹ Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness.

May God’s grace be with you all.

December 4, 2010 (Philippians 1-4)

There is so much in these epistles of Paul. Chapter 1 contains the encouraging verse that God will never give up on us, but will continue to work in us until Christ returns:

⁶And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.

And then, another one of Pauls' prayers -

⁹ I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding. ¹⁰ For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. ¹¹ May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

What really matters in this life? That our love for each other will overflow more and more and that we will grow in our knowledge and understanding. We can't take credit for any of the good things produced in our life - Jesus is the One who does them - and this brings glory to God.

This next verse is another reminder that our focus should not be down here on earth:

²⁷ Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.

Now to Chapter two - and this verse is always convicting. I am really going to try to put this verse into practice today. I'm going to focus on it, and not forget about it. I feel like that is what I do so often....I read God's word, am convicted by it, and then just go on my merry way without really implementing the things I just read. How's verse 14 for 'impossible' -

¹⁴ In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing, ¹⁵ so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. ¹⁶ Hold firmly to the word of life;

Chapter 3 contains a string of verses I have posted to my mirror. The trouble is, they are posted there, but do I read them every day? No, not in the past. But today I am renewing my commitment to read this section every day. I just timed myself - one minute. One minute to get my focus on Christ and be reminded that everything else is worthless when compared with knowing Him.

⁷ I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. ⁸ Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ ⁹ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ¹⁰As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, ¹¹so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!

¹² I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

¹⁵ I hope all of you who are mature Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. ¹⁶ But we must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already.

Chapter 4 has another section that needs to be on my mirror that I should read every day. I will print this out later today and tape it up there.

⁴ Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵ Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And then to end, this ties into not complaining and arguing. If we can control our thoughts, we will control our actions:

⁸ And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹ Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

Jesus, may Your grace and Your Spirit enable us to put all these things into practice. Please continue to rid us of ourselves and allow us to live in You.

December 1, 2010 (Ephesians 1-6)

Ephesians - another book like Colossians - rich in truth.

Again, we hear of God's secret plan - a plan centered on Christ. What is God's purpose?

¹² God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. ¹³ And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. ¹⁴ The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

And now, for the prayer verses. How would our lives change if we prayed this for one another? How convicting is verse 16? - "I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly." And now for the complete verses on the prayers we should be praying for one another.

1:16 I pray for you constantly, ¹⁷ asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. ¹⁸ I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.

¹⁹ I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰ that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. ²¹ Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come.

^3:12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. ¹³ So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

¹⁴ When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. ¹⁷ And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots will grow down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. ²¹ May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.