Resource Manager Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 01 June 2012 Joshua 18Isaiah 24Hebrews 6; 7 "HOW LONG WILL YOU PUT OFF ... " We continue to read the book of Joshua (a name which is the same as ‘Jesus’ and means ‘Saviour’) and we see Joshua urging of the nation, now in their promised land, to go and take possession and settle in the area of the land that had been allotted to them. Five of the tribes had done this, but today’s chapter 18 shows how Joshua now had to urge the remaining seven, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?” [Joshua 18:3] They responded to this urging, “So the men arose and went.” [Joshua 18:8] There is a comparison with this in our Hebrews reading today. The message is “and we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” [Hebrews 6:11,12] We live in a world that shows a lot of impatience and anxiety – and there is less and less hope about the future. Jesus in his final sermon forecast that when “…the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled … there will be signs … on the earth distress of nations with perplexity … people fainting with fear and foreboding of what is coming on the world.” [Luke 21:24-26] Let us make sure we possess “the full assurance of hope” as this world falls apart. Our reading in Isaiah [isaiah 24] ended on a triumphant note – of the time when “the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion andin Jerusalem and his glory will be before his elders.” [isaiah 24:23] But before that, note Isaiah 24:20, “the earth staggers like a drunken man … its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls ....” We see this as a fitting description of how our world is staggering today. Its transgression of the ways of God are causing it to fall apart. Let us not “put off” developing the faith and the patience and the earnestness, and a sense of “full assurance” – for, said Jesus, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” [Mark 13:13] and will then be ready to inherit the wonder of what God has promised. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2012 02 June 2012 Joshua 19Isaiah 25Hebrews 8; 9 "PURIFY OUR CONSCIENCE FROM ... " We live in a world where “conscience” is rarely mentioned. If someone is accused of wrong doing, they usually do their utmost to dodge around the accusations and imply they are “innocent” – if they have to admit anything, they resort to saying something was ‘inappropriate’ – never that they told a lie! This is especially the case with politicians. This approach to the issues of life should never apply to true followers of Christ; when they truly examine their hearts and minds they will be genuinely conscious of their failings. Our readings in the letter to the Hebrews puts all this into a balanced perspective. We read of the failures of those who lived under the Law of Moses and offered “the blood of goats and bulls … for the purification of the flesh’. But note the comparison with those who are committed to following Christ! We read, “How much more will the blood of Christ , who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” [Hebrews 9:13,14] The next verse tell us about Christ; “… he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance …” What a wonderful picture unfolds as we see references to the “mediation” work of Jesus in Hebrews 8 that “the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises” [Hebrews 8:6] and quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34 in the verses which follow [Hebrews 8:8-12] to show how all this was revealed in the Old Testament. Note particularly the prediction in Hebrews 8:10, “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God…” What an active conscience that creates! Another contrast is drawn between the Old and New covenants to show the difference between the Priests in the old tabernacle with its Most Holy Place and the situation now - where “Christ has entered … into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” [Hebrews 9:24]. Now note the conclusion; “ … so Christ , having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” [Hebrews 9:28] If we have developed a real heartfelt relationship with him we will have an urgent sense of “eagerly waiting” for him – that will become ever greater as we see this world disintegrating more and more into chaos. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2012 03 June 2012 Joshua 20; 21Isaiah 26; 27Hebrews 10 “… IN PERFECT PEACE WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE” In Isaiah and Hebrews today we have some heart stirring verses. Isaiah says to the Almighty, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in you” [isaiah 26:3] One can live surrounded by confusion, as Paul often did, but still have peace of mind. Isaiah writes of the ideal attitude, “My soul yearns for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you” [isaiah 26:9]. He looks ahead to when God takes action against the evil in the world. There will be an ultimate time of when this will happen! Of that time the LORD says, “Come my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the LORD is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity” [isaiah 26:20,21] Those who God regards as “my people” will be prayerfully waiting and maybe in a sense “hiding” as they wait for his deliverance – maybe an angelic one – because they have “drawn near to him with a true heart in full assurance of faith” as we further read today in Hebrews 10:22. This letter continues, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful” [Hebrews 10:23]. These words would have served a purpose in all the calamities that surrounded Jerusalem in AD67-70 and they have been just as meaningful in many situations for fully faithful believers ever since! His advice continues, “Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day of God’s ultimate judgements drawing near.” [Hebrews 10:24,25] That encouragement is followed by a warning to those who have “outraged the spirit of grace” [Hebrews 10:29] who may be inclined to accept the philosophy of some churches of ‘once saved, always saved’ regardless of how you lived after your conversion. The words (quoted from Habakkuk) in Hebrews 10:37,38 seem so appropriate to conditions in the world today, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and not delay, but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” By our concept of time he has delayed, but the signs are multiplying that man’s “time” is almost at an end – and our eternal future depends on us using ‘our time’ now by keeping our mind stayed on our Lord.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2012 04 June 2012 Joshua 22Isaiah 28Hebrews 11 “THE CONVICTION OF THINGS NOT SEEN” The Romans at first called Christians Atheists! This is shown in the records that have been found written by Roman historians early in the 2nd Century. Christians were seen as people who were worshipping something that could not be seen! The Romans could see their gods, but their gods were the work of men’s hands! These were our thoughts as we read the familiar chapter, Hebrews 11, this morning. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” We cannot see God’s world-wide kingdom because it has not happened yet! Things that have happened do not require faith, the evidence for them is before our eyes. Some 500 years ago some believers were being burnt at the stake because of their conviction that the established church was wrong – and they were preaching about this. Those who died were convinced of this, therefore they preached about what they read in the Bible, they refused to “recant” and deny it, they died for their faith in a hope that was vitally important to them. Even today such believers who live in some Islamic countries and even some Asian countries are having a difficult faith testing time. Could it happen in all countries? The accounts in Hebrews of those who suffered and sometimes died because of their faith, might make us anxious as to what a strong conviction might yet bring upon us if the nation in which we live becomes totally atheistic. Notice the examples in Hebrews 11 of the different things for which people were commended for doing or saying, that revealed their faith; Enoch is a most appropriate example, we read that he was “taken” and did not see death. When Jesus returns that will be the experience of those who are faithful and alive as Paul says in his writings. [1 Corinthians 15:51,52; 1 Thessalonians 4:17] What was Enoch commended for? In Hebrews 11:5 we read, “Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” Twice in Genesis 5 we read “Enoch walked with God” That simple statement sums up that Enoch was commended for his commitment to God at a time the world had become very ungodly. We read in Jude of Enoch that he “prophesied saying, “Behold, the Lord came … to execute judgement on all and convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness … and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him” [Jude 1:14,15] As this world grows ever more ungodly, we will be walking in the footsteps of Enoch and showing our faith in the same way as he did - even though some speak “harsh things” against us.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2012 05 June 2012 Joshua 23; 24Isaiah 29Hebrews 12 "BE VERY CAREFUL THEREFORE TO ... " Today we came to the end of the book of Joshua, and as Moses had done, Joshua, sensing his approaching death says, “and now I am about to go the way of all the earth” [Joshua 23:14] – now note what he then said, “…. Since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. Be very careful therefore to love the LORD your God.” [Joshua 23:10,11] What is the point about Joshua speaking about being “very careful” about their love for the LORD? The point will become fully clear to us in a week or two when we read John’s Epistles, written near the end of his life, “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” [1 John 3:18] There is a modern saying, ‘talk is cheap’ – and how true that is, especially when it comes to politics, but for those who are truly following Christ – how different their words must be. Peter made the same point in his 1st Epistle, he wrote, “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.” [1 Peter 1:22] The final words of Joshua see him telling the nation, “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness.” [Joshua 24:14] That generation did keep Joshua’s final word’s, just as those of Moses generation had heeded his words, but in Isaiah’s generation, that we also read today, we noted the telling words the Lord gave to the people of that time through him: they are, “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men therefore … the wisdom of their wise men shall perish” [isaiah 29:13,14] The point is then made that God is the potter who made all things, but “shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’” [isaiah 29:16] Human clay is saying this today in almost every situation. If there was a real prophet today what would God cause him to say? We should have a clear idea of what it would most likely be! Let us therefore “be very careful to …” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2012 06 June 2012 Judges 1Isaiah 30Hebrews 13 "LET MARRIAGE BE HELD IN HONOUR" The final chapter of Hebrews contains several straightforward statements which are just as much needed today – if not more so – as in the First Century. “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body (of Christ).” [Hebrews 13:3] We have been hearing quite a number of reports of members of the body in recent years – indeed in recent months - who live in difficult situations in a growing number of countries. How much will this spirit of intolerance spread before Christ returns? This animosity is toward those who turn away from the beliefs around them to seek to believe in what is real and true. The next verse says, “Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” We are seeing increasing evidence of “free love” (as it was called when we were young). But in the end nothing is “free” – God exacts a form of payment in judgement! God calls marriage a “covenant;” read the message he gave through his prophet Malachi. “The LORD was witness between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless though she is … your wife by covenant.” [Malachi 2:14] Real marriage is undertaken in the sight of God. Let us beware of twisting God’s commands to try to make them different. Malachi told the people that they had “wearied the LORD … by saying, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them” [Malachi 2:17] God’s principles are being twisted more and more today!! The next point in Hebrews is, “Keep your life free from the love of money” [Hebrews 13:5] and how much do most people love money today – and often borrow as much as they can to enjoy what they see as the ‘good’ things’ in life instead of having an attitude as we read in the verses which follow, “… be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” Can you confidently say that?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2012 07 June 2012 Judges 2; 3Isaiah 31James 1 "WHOSE FURNACE IS IN JERUSALEM" Our chapter in Isaiah [isaiah 31] ends with a declaration by “the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.” But, ignoring the chapter break, note the very next words, “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.” Then looking on to Isaiah 32:17, “… and the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness quietness and trust (mg. security) forever.” We are aware of so many prophecies which indicate a final time of crisis when there is a God ordained “fire” and furnace” immediately prior to the time when our Lord returns to reign in Jerusalem and justice and peace are established. But remember the question of Jesus, “When the Son of Man comes will he find faith on earth?” [Luke 18:8] In looking earnestly at events in the world today that seem to indicate that this time is almost upon us, the words of James we read today remind us how the faith of many believers will be under severe test! Recall the words last week in Hebrews, “”For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” [Hebrews 3:14 (also Hebrews 3:6)] So James’ words today are very appropriate – and challenging! “Count it all joy my brothers (and sisters) when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete…” [James 1:2-4] Then, having in mind the financial anxieties now in the world , we should think deeply about the words in James 1:9-11, “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass … so also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” Next note James 1:12 “Blessed is the man (and woman) who remains steadfast under trial, for when he (or she) has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” Finally, we must add James 1:21 “and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls”. Let us all read and meditate and plant thoughts from God’s word in our minds every day. --------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 08 June 2012 Judges 4; 5Isaiah 32James 2 "I WILL SHOW YOU MY FAITH BY MY WORKS" Today we read the challenging second chapter of James which tells us it is not enough to just talk about our faith, it has to become evident by what it causes us to do. James bluntly wrote, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” [James 2:17] Now James was writing to believers among the 12 tribes [James 2:1] who were scattered abroad; obviously he had already given this message to the believers in Jerusalem. Many Jews were still struggling with issues over keeping the Mosaic law and he makes the point, “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” [James 2:10] Abstaining from the fleshly ways of living that surround us is only one side of the matter, while this is vital, believers in every race and of every generation must realize there has to be a positive side to their way of living. Jesus told a parable about the house (mind) of a man that was cleaned it out of all bad things, but because it was left empty, tragedy followed [Matthew 12:43-45]. We must fill our minds with God’s word. James uses the example of Abraham, who is so often quoted as an outstanding example of faith, observing, “you see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works” [James 2:22]. James challengingly asks, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” This letter has been preserved by the Spirit, because that question is asked of all of us. The chapter ends with the blunt statement “faith apart from works is dead”. In a weeks’ time when we come to read 1 John we will see how he draws a similar lesson, but expresses it a little differently, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” [1 John 1:6] Yes the “truth” of God’s words we read each day have no eternal value unless we put them into “practice.” A final point that perhaps we should remember is that, as we read in Titus 3 last week, is that “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy” [Titus 3:5] which compares with Ephesians 2:9 where Paul says salvation is “not a result of works alone.” We see many good works initiated in this country, but so many are not done as a result of faith in God and a heartfelt love of his word. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 09 June 2012 Judges 6Isaiah 33James 3; 4 "BE OUR ARM EVERY MORNING" Our Bible readings today provoked a great multitude of thoughts. Isaiah 33 is quite a mixture and may be better if it had been broken up into 2 or 3 short chapters. Isaiah 33:2 is a delightful ‘prayer’ we can start the day with, “O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.” There is a hymn which we sing that we have no other arm to lean upon – and our daily reading and meditation on God’s word should cause us to appreciate the unlimited strength of that arm. How much did people need ‘the arm of the LORD’ in the troublous times of Isaiah when “the envoys of peace weep bitterly” [isaiah 33:7]. How much is that also the case today! Maybe not in weeping, but at least in frustration. Isaiah observes that “trembling has seized the godless” [isaiah 33:14] which is happening in some places today - but it takes our thoughts to the plight of the godless Israelites that we read in Judges. Many of these were worshipping God’s of human imagination, especially Baal and “made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds” [Judges 6:2] and Gideon “was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.” [Judges 6:11] Back in Isaiah we are uplifted by the positive vision of Isaiah 33:5-6, “The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.” When good kings such as Hezekiah and Josiah came to the throne, or good judges controlled Israel, there were times of “stability” but Isaiah is seeing beyond this to a time when “He (and she) who walks and speaks uprightly … and shuts his eyes from looking at evil … will see no more the insolent people … your eyes will see Jerusalem, an untroubled habitation, in immovable tent … there the LORD in majesty will be for us … the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.” [isaiah 33:15; 33:19-21; 33:24] They will experience “a harvest of righteousness” which has been “sown in peace by those who make peace” during their lives – as we read in James 3:14. And how do we sow in peace now? James tells us, “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits … ” [James 3:17] Let us “sow” – and in due time we will “reap” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2012 10 June 2012 Judges 7; 8Isaiah 34James 5 “BE PATIENT, ESTABLISH YOUR HEARTS” Our chapter in Isaiah today [isaiah 34] clearly has some application to our days. This is further illustrated by the way it flows into the next chapter which is so evidently a picture of life in God’s Kingdom: this chapter is often quoted and some of its verses form part of our hymns about the kingdom. The vision presented in today’s chapter has, of course, its roots in a situation in the prophet’s own time, but God causes the prophet to extend his vision much further. Look how today’s chapter starts, “give attention O peoples! Let the earth hear … for the LORD is enraged against all the nations and furious against all their hosts; he has devoted them to destruction … ” [isaiah 34:1,2] followed by the words “all the host of heaven shall rot away and the skies roll up like a scroll.” These words are seen as symbolic of the leaders, those in power in the nations, the ones the people look up to! This is even clearer in the next verse where we read, “my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens…” God’s sword! Isaiah 34:8 puts the focus on Zion, God’s holy mountain. “For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.” But why the reference in the next verse to Edom? Back in Genesis 36:1 we learn that Esau (the brother of Jacob) starts to be referred to as Edom. There is a parallel here to Jacob being renamed Israel. One of Esau’s wives was the daughter of Ishmael [Genesis 36:3]. Esau had 12 sons as did Jacob and the detailed list of his descendants [Genesis 36:9-43] shows they spread as far as the Euphrates [Genesis 36:37] This led us to ponder on the implication that at that at the time of the “recompense for the cause of Zion” there is a parallel event when “streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch” [isaiah 34:9] – and that Edom is a particular object of God’s vengeance? The chapter ends with God exhorting all those who are seeking him in this time of great trouble, “Seek and read from the book of the LORD … his Spirit has gathered them … from generation to generation they shall dwell in it. The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom … with joy and singing … The glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God … be strong and fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance … then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped …” You will see we have quoted as far as Isaiah 35:5 which illustrates the sequel from where we began to read at the start of Isaiah 34. Our reading in James 5:1-3 has parallel thoughts, it is about the “the miseries that are coming upon you … in the last days” and offers the powerful exhortation, “be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” [James 5:8] As the world moves closer to chaos how essential it is that we establish our hearts.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2012 11 June 2012 Judges 9Isaiah 351 Peter 1 "PREPARING YOUR MINDS FOR ACTION" What are you going to do today? Some people act and speak on the spur of the moment – and when they do they sometimes regret it afterwards. We began reading the first letter of Peter today and it occurred to us that Peter’s comment to his readers about “preparing your minds for action” may reflect on his own impulsiveness in his earlier years as illustrated in the gospel narratives. He is writing to those who had never seen or heard Jesus but who had come to believe in him and his message. He tells them they “are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” [1 Peter 1:5-7] How genuine is our faith in Jesus Christ? If God, in his overview of our lives sees a need to test it, we may have experienced, or may yet experience, a time of testing: this is not to weaken our faith, but to strengthen it. Nearly all of us are surrounded by self-centred people who are concentrating on their own interests, on things that are for their own advantage. As a result they frequently, especially in the spirit of life today, end up making a mess of their lives. Consider today’s reading in Judges 9 when, after the 40 years when Gideon was judge after he destroyed the images of Baal and defeated the Midianites, the people turned back to their own fleshly pursuits and false gods – and tragedy followed.Peter notes how the prophets learned “they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you.” [1 Peter 1:12] – in the same way believers must be conscious of the need to serve others in at least some of their actions. We must be involved in this. But in some countries it is difficult and challenging to do this! This leads Peter to make the point in the next verses, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” “Holy” means to be ‘set apart’ from the world. Some parts of the world create their own type of ‘Holy Men’ in strange ways, but for us we must, as we read last week, “strive … for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” [Hebrews 12:14] So what are you preparing your minds to do today? Also tomorrow?-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 12 June 2012 Judges 10; 11Isaiah 361 Peter 2 "LONG FOR THE PURE SPIRITUAL MILK" Peter’s letters contain so much that is appropriate to life today and the circumstances that challenge those struggling to believe and develop their faith in God. This is equally true of those who have spent a lifetime as believers but now struggle in a world that has become almost totally godless. The world distracts us from taking “the pure spiritual milk” - and many are experiencing a spiritual famine. God’s words through Amos are so true of today, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, ‘when I will send a famine … not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.’” [Amos 8:11] Now think about what Peter wrote, “as newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that you may grow up to salvation.” [1 Peter 2:2] Most people today have no time for Christianity, or in a God of any kind. Who can blame them for not believing in Christianity if they are to judge it by what they see of most churches today – it is a poor shadow and distortion of the message Peter and other Apostles took into the world with such energy and commitment so that the gospel became known throughout the Roman Empire: indeed Roman historians were writing about AD110-120 to testify how Nero put hundreds of Christians to death in Rome – and that was in AD64 - just 34 years (or thereabouts) after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus to heaven. How the message must have spread! Peter quotes what we read a few days ago in Isaiah which says true believers must “offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ ” [1 Peter 2:5-6 – see Isaiah 28:16] Peter, like Isaiah, is building up a mental picture of a spiritual house with Jesus being the cornerstone of the building, from whom all the measurements are taken. He makes the point, “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” [1 Peter 2:3] What is spiritual tasting like? So many “taste” the things that appeal to them, what humanly appeals and they enjoy! But those fed on “pure spiritual milk” know differently! They “come to him (Jesus), a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house” [1 Peter 2:4-5] The pure words of Scripture, carefully read, compared, fitted together and understood, provide “the pure spiritual milk.” It is the nutrient that leads to real growth “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light … now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” [1 Peter 2:9-10] Let us associate with those who take “spiritual milk” every day and make sure we are part of God’s “spiritual house.” -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 13 June 2012 Judges 12; 13Isaiah 371 Peter 3; 4; 5 "WHICH IN GOD'S SIGHT IS VERY PRECIOUS" What is “very precious” in “God’s sight”? 1 Peter 3 includes a message addressed specifically to wives. He writes, “… wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives – when they see your respectful and pure conduct” [1 Peter 3:1-2] Believing wives have a vital role in living for God and for Christ – and while the husband has an even more important role in the sight of God, wives have a responsibility to influence husbands who are failing to “obey the word” to influence them by their “respectful and pure conduct.” There is a human saying that contains a lot of truth – that ‘nobody ever wins an argument’ – this is because each is intent on putting their own point of view – not in listening to the other. “Respectful and pure conduct” has great power when done with a heartfelt consciousness of God. Peter warns wives against external adornments, instead “let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” [1 Peter 3:4] The phrase “in God’s sight” reminds us that God, through his spirit, sees far more than the “outward adorning” and men need to realise this just as much as women. We live in a world, especially the western world, in which nearly everything is now done for outward show: the houses that are built – both inside and out, the clothes people wear, and most appliances for sale, all have a heavy emphasis on “outward adorning.” On the other hand, we must beware of any inclination to go to the other extreme. If we try to make a point by doing that we will fail, humility is not “outward adorning” either. In 1 Peter 5, Peter mentions another type of humility. We read, “clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” [1 Peter 5:5-7] We recall what we read 4 days ago in James, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [James 4:6] Let us list the things which “in God’s sight” are “very precious” and make sure all, both men and women, have that inward adorning, becoming ever more conscious that God can see absolutely everything. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 14 June 2012 Judges 14; 15Isaiah 382 Peter 1; 2 "IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR THEM ... " We read the first 2 chapters of Peter’s second epistle today and he, like Paul in his 2nd letter to Timothy, is nearing the end of his mortal life. Peter is greatly concerned that all too many who had accepted Jesus as their Saviour were losing their commitment and turning back to fleshly ways of thinking and living. There is no half way position, either we are for Christ or we are not: either we are among the sheep or among the goats. Peter writes, “for if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back …” [2 Peter 2:20-21] Peter describes the way of life in the world around him – and it is so similar to today! “They have eyes full of adultery … they have hearts trained in greed … they promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.” [2 Peter 2:14,19] Beware of human promises especially if they are made by apparently godly people – telling you that you do not have to worry about whether you sin or not anymore because whatever you do, the blood of Christ means you are always automatically forgiven. Peter says that just as in Old Testament times there were “false prophets … also … there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies … and many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed … they will exploit you with false words.” [2 Peter 2:1-3] Reading the Bible regularly will enable us to identify “false words.” Finally, looking back at his 1st chapter we noted how believers should, because of the ungodliness all around them, “make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness … for if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful …” [2 Peter 1:5-6;1:8]. Let us all live with the aim of bearing fruit – that will be ripe when Jesus returns. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 15 June 2012 Judges 16Isaiah 392 Peter 3 "HE DID NOT KNOW THE LORD HAD LEFT HIM" The list in Hebrews of those who are named as examples of faith has some surprising inclusions and Samson is one of them. None of those in the list lived ‘perfect’ or blameless lives, but all had times in which they displayed great faith in God. We have just read the accounts of Samson’s remarkable strength because his hair had never been cut. When Delilah finally succeeded in getting him to tell her the source of his strength she shaved off all his hair and then awoke him and said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the LORD had left him. And the Philistines seized him …” [Judges 16:20-21] The LORD was the real source of his strength – and at his death he killed a great number of Philistines who had “praised their god. For they said, ‘our god has given our enemy into our hand’” [Judges 16:24]. We read that “Samson called to the LORD and said, O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once” [Judges 16:28] and the Philistine house to their God, built around two main pillars, collapsed as Samson was given the strength by the LORD to push them apart, “so the dead that he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.” [Judges 16:30] Now in the chapter we read yesterday there is a significant verse. When his father objected to him seeking a wife from among the Philistines and Samson insisted and “said to his father, Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes” [Judges 14:3], the next verse is very significant, “His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines.” This illustrates that God, who sees all and knows all; in giving us a free will, often weaves the weaknesses of our human nature into the way he achieves his divine purpose – especially among his people. Paul was aware of this, he wrote, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” [Romans 8:28] It is according to the Divine purpose that “things work together” – God frequently making use of human “weakness” to weave together his plans and bring them to pass. The more we read the Bible the more we will see examples of this.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 16 June 2012 Judges 17; 18Isaiah 401 John 1; 2 "BUT THEY WHO WAIT FOR THE LORD SHALL ..." Today we read the fascinating chapter, Isaiah 40, which was largely taken and put to music in the Oratorio ‘The Messiah’ about 250 years ago. It begins “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem … that her warfare is ended and her iniquity is pardoned.” Jerusalem has been the centre of warfare for much of the time since God gave these words to Isaiah. This city, with its magnificent Temple to God has been twice destroyed. But then in 1967 its ancient walls were again under the control of the people of Israel. How long will it be before Isaiah 40:5 is fulfilled? “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” But the passing centuries have seen that “the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand for ever.” [isaiah 40:8] Those who know their Bibles will also “stand for ever” and, for this reason they are reading Isaiah 40:9-11 with anticipation – “… O Jerusalem, herald of good news … say to the cities of Judah ‘Behold your God. Behold the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd …” Then Isaiah 40:17 tells us, “All nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.” This is more true than ever of the godless world of the 21st Century! But then the final verses ask and answer the most important question in life! “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator … they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” [isaiah 40:28,21] This reminds us of the words of Jesus, “those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection of the dead … they cannot die anymore because they are equal unto the angels …” [Luke 20:35-36] Each year we more eagerly and earnestly “wait for the LORD” – or should be – are you? Our regular reading and meditation on God’s word is our source of strength until it is renewed in ways beyond our comprehension when as Paul puts it, “we await a Saviour; the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body …” [Philippians 3:20-21] -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 17 June 2012 Judges 19Isaiah 411 John 3; 4 “SEE WHAT KIND OF LOVE” Our chapter in the First Epistle of John [1 John 3] starts with the above words! Love comes in different “kinds” and fully genuine love is proved by the actions that follow. When we get to 1 John 3:18 we read, “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” That kind of love should create a reaction in those who benefit from it. Look at and see how meaningful is the rest of that quotation, we read, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” This is an extra dimension to the familiar statement that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” [John 3:16] God sees those who really believe as being “children of God”. Those who are children of the world have little or no time for those who are living with the conviction they are “children of God”. But how wonderful when there are exceptions when people are genuinely influenced and attracted by the godly lives they see in others. Look at the point John made in 1 John 3:1-2, “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” Oh, but those who put him to death knew him! Yes, but they only knew him in a physical sense, they saw him as a rival, their minds were fixed on themselves, their motives were totally self-centred, their minds were blinded because of their own sense of self importance. Those who really think, in all humility, of the wonder of being known by God and becoming his children, develop a totally different mind-set in the way they think. Just 4 days ago we read these words in Peter, “Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties upon him, because he cares for you.” [1 Peter 5:6-7]. Those who develop the ability to see the kind of love that God has for those who serve him will, in all humility, develop a wonderful relationship with their Creator. Our first reading today [Judges 19] reveals a totally contrasting situation! It is an ugly story of human depravity. Why does the Bible contain such chapters? Because it is an honest record of the depravity of human life – and how God deals with it - as well as the wonder of spiritual life and of our potential to have a total relationship with God as his children. We love God, but let us be sure it is the right “kind of love”!-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 18 June 2012 Judges 20Isaiah 421 John 5 “THE VICTORY THAT HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD …” “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world,” writes John, and then he adds, “And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” [1 John 5:4]. What is faith? That’s is a fundamental question – and the answer is simple! Or is it? Consider what happened in the First Century – beginning with 12 ordinary men, most of them fishermen. Yes, miracles happened at times, but though these were a spur to faith, think of how many times Jesus said to them, “O you of little faith” (e.g. Matthew 8:26; 14:31; 16:8) Only later did they develop the faith that spurred them and so many others to be faithful in the face of all sorts of persecution. This arose because the pagan Greek and Roman world was challenged as to what it really believed, who really was the God that should be worshipped! The ‘god’ of atheism is starting to be ‘worshipped’ today and its dedicated adherents are starting to create more and more problems for genuine Bible believers. Paul in his letters to those converted from paganism reminds them “how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” [1 Thessalonians 1:9,10] These former pagans had reached a conviction as to the real nature of the Creator who sent his Son into the world. A conviction that included the realization that we are nothing, we are like a cloud floating through the sky, dissipating into nothingness unless …! Unless we seek a relationship with God! There is a well known verse which tells us, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” [Hebrews 11:6] Today the challenge to our efforts to develop such a faith - is the fiction of evolution – the impossible idea that everything by some means “created” itself! So we turn from human fiction to the wonder of what happened 2,000 years ago and has challenged human minds ever since. It is “our faith” in that event which enables us to “overcome the world” writes John. It is “our faith” that inspires us on to “victory.” John stresses a key point as he ends his first Epistle. “We know the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ” [1 John 5:20] Real faith inevitably leads us know God, it results in us having a ‘living’ prayerful relationship with him, in the same sense, but far greater, than the way men and women should aim to ‘know’ each other in marriage. Feeding on God’s word every day is an essential part in maintaining and developing that relationship.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 19 June 2012 Judges 21Isaiah 432 John 1; 3 John 1 "THIS IS LOVE THAT WE WALK ... " What is love? As we read the aged disciple John’s final two short Epistles, his use of the word “love” jumps out at us. He writes how, “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth … and this is love, that we walk according to his commandments.” [2 John 1:4,6] This is how we show our love in response to God’s love. We rejoice because others do the same. Remember what we read in 1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.” Paul’s words in Ephesians 2 always powerfully provoke our thoughts, that we “were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ – by grace …” [Ephesians 2:3-5] When we talk about our attitude of love we must think of the actions that show our love; a love very different from what most people in the world mean when they use the word! John goes on to write, “everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” [2 John 1:9] All who do this have a living relationship with the divine every day. The word “abides” relates to the word “walks”- it indicates a settled direction and purpose in life and is a vital foundation for genuine happiness and contentment. In his final epistle, addressed to Gaius, John says, “I rejoiced greatly when the brother’s came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” [3 John 1:3-4] Love is not self-centred, it is God-centred, then we see life from God’s perspective. The contrast to this has been so evident in the book of Judges which we finished reading today. The very last verse is a kind of epitaph! “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” – and that is the way in the world around us. Let us do what is right in God’s eyes and walk in love and truth.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 20 June 2012 Ruth 1; 2Isaiah 44Jude 1 "THE HAND OF THE LORD HAS GONE OUT AGAINST ME" The account of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi has a special message for us in encouraging us to see the ‘bigger picture’ of life, the picture as God sees it. Because of a severe famine Naomi with her husband and 2 sons move from Bethlehem to Moab. Some years pass but then her husband dies and she “was left with her two sons” [Ruth 1:3]. The sons marry Moabite women and “they lived there about ten years” [Ruth 1:4] but then her sons die. Naomi then decides to return to her home town of Bethlehem and one of her daughters-in-law insists on coming with her declaring, “Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” [Ruth 1:16] Naomi, at first, feels it would be better if Ruth stayed in Moab and states, “it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” [Ruth 1:13] As events unfold, we begin to see the bigger picture. God sees the end from the beginning. In Isaiah’s chapter today we see God is challenging those who worship idols, “Let them declare what is to come” [isaiah 44:7] as the LORD does. In Isaiah 46 we will read, “I am God and there is no other … there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done.” [isaiah 46:9-10] Naomi starts to perceive that “the hand of the LORD” weaves together events in a longer time frame in the outworking of his purposes; this is more than we mortals can normally comprehend, but we can catch some perception of it as we look back. Thus we see how Ruth became the grandmother of Jesse the father of David. The time came when David was being hunted by Saul and David saw the need to protect his parents from the probability of Saul’s vengeance and 1 Samuel 22:3-4 tells us he went to Moab and “said to the king of Moab, ‘Please let my father and mother stay with you’” It is evident why he trusted this king. This gives us a glimpse of how, under God’s oversight, “all things work together for good” [Romans 8:28]. So, in this 21st Century we eagerly watch to see how God will fulfil his word through Isaiah that we have read today in Isaiah 44 for “The LORD … will be glorified in Israel” [isaiah 44:22], and this nation is now a focus of attention in a the world that now largely believes in the ‘god of evolution’! But God declares, “I am the LORD who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself … who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish” [isaiah 44:24,25] Let us all search God’s word to see more evidence of his “hand” at work!-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 21 June 2012 Ruth 3; 4Isaiah 45Revelation 1; 2 "YOU HAVE ABANDONED THE LOVE YOU HAD AT FIRST" Today we started reading the thought challenging last book of the Bible. At the start the symbolic language is clearly explained, assemblies of believers (which is what the word for ‘church’ means) are called “lampstands” (Revelation 1:20 – candlesticks in the old A.V. – places where light should shine forth). The book is “a revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him (John) to show to his servants the things which must soon take place.” [Revelation 1:1] ‘Soon’ is as seen from God’s perspective! It was 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ! God’s angel told Abraham when he stopped him from sacrificing Isaac, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” [Genesis 22:8], yet it took him 2,000 years (in man’s time frame) to provide it. And here we are 2,000 years later and …? In this last book the answer is revealed – often by linking together messages God gave to the prophets, as we are reading in Isaiah. The 2nd chapter shows that our Lord and Saviour is the one “who walks among the seven golden lampstands” [Revelation 2:1] and because of that he can say to them all, “I know your works …” [Revelation 2:2, 19, etc] The first church, at Ephesus is praised for their “patient endurance , and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles, and are not, and have found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary” [Revelation 2:2,3] Those words are all positive and encouraging – and it comes as a shock to then read, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not …” [Revelation 2:4,5] The works of those who bear Christ’s name are only complete when their “works” show the love they profess. The more intensely we develop our relationship with Christ, a true loving relationship, the more this will result in actions. It is dangerous to only do things from a sense of duty. The comparison to the message to the church at Pergamum [Revelation 2:12-17] is significant. This church is contending with the influence of “Satan’s throne” which must be a centre of evil in their city “where Satan dwells” [Revelation 2:13] Despite this, “…yet you hold fast my name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness who was killed …” We reluctantly realize that opposition and danger in one form or another is ‘good’ for us. When I was a schoolboy in the England and the 2nd World War was raging, living by faith was far more real for those around me! Revelation is a message for all generations and our final thought is in Revelation 2:25 “… hold fast what you have until I come” Surely that is a message for today.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 22 June 2012 1 Samuel 1Isaiah 46; 47Revelation 3; 4 "DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING" Our readings today all provoke some challenging thoughts. First we read Hannah’s impassioned prayer leading her to tell Eli the priest, “I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD” [1 Samuel 1:15] Such is human nature that we usually only do this when there is some real crisis. Hannah proves herself to be a very spiritual woman and tomorrow we will read her marvellous prayer of gratitude, “My heart exults in the LORD.” [1 Samuel 2:1] Is that our experience? Do we really count our blessings? What qualifies as a blessing? Food for thought. God’s message through Isaiah is very challenging, “I am God and there is no other, I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning … I will accomplish all my purpose.” [isaiah 46:9-10] This pronouncement was followed by the statement, “Listen to me you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness.” [isaiah 46:12] Sadly God could equally say that today – not only to the world – but to most if not all of those who claim to be Christian. The third chapter of Revelation gives us 3 illustrations of the ultimate purpose of God in Christ’s messages to three different churches. The message to Sardis said there were “still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments (of righteousness – see Revelation 7:13-14 and Isaiah 61:10) and they will walk before me in white, for they are worthy.” [Revelation 3:4] He commends those in Philadelphia for their “patient endurance” and as a result of this says, “I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on earth.” [Revelation 3:10] Believers over the centuries have experienced severe times of trial, but many scriptures make it clear that an ultimate “time” is coming! He reproves the believers in Laodicea for their attitude! “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked.” [Revelation 3:17] adding, “Those whom I love I reprove and discipline” [Revelation 3:19] And, what is the personal part of the “end” that God declared from the beginning? Verse 21 tells us, “The one who conquers (AV overcomes) I will grant him to sit with me on my throne …” [Revelation 3:21] May he love us and may we accept any “discipline” he sees necessary so that we are counted “worthy”.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2012 23 June 2012 1 Samuel 2Isaiah 48Revelation 5; 6 "THE GREAT DAY OF THEIR WRATH HAS COME" It appears to us as we read the unfolding visions in Revelation that their sequence reveals different aspects of the ‘march’ of human history - as human beings try to avoid their responsibility to their Creator and the Saviour he provided. These different aspects all climax in the time when “the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone … (say)… hide us … from (God) … and the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” [Revelation 6:15-17] That is the key question – “who can stand?” When the systems of life on earth are totally falling apart in a greater crisis than ever before - only those who truly “know” God and “the Lamb” will be preserved from experiencing the divine wrath on a godless world. But note how in Revelation 5 there is reference to “golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints” [Revelation 5:8] The elders who hold the bowls sing “a new song” to the Lamb [Revelation 5:9] that has now appeared on the scene - and how wonderful are the words they sing. “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth” [Revelation 5:9-10] May we so live now that we are among the “ransomed people”. In 1 Samuel 2 we have Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving for her child Samuel; with what heart felt vision she ends it with the words, “He (God) will guard the feet of his faithful ones … The adversaries of the LORD are broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed.” [1 Samuel 2:9-10] Hannah was obviously a very spiritually perceptive person! May we have the same spirit, and regular reading of God’s words are an essential part of this! Her prayer (and ours?) is about to have its final and complete fulfilment as are the other prayers that are counted as incense in “the golden bowls” Make sure yours are among them so that you “can stand” on that “great day.”-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2012 24 June 2012 1 Samuel 3Isaiah 49Revelation 7; 8; 9 “WOE TO THOSE WHO DWELL ON EARTH” As we continue reading the final message of Jesus in Revelation we reflect on how much heart searching it has caused believers in every generation. It’s wonderful visions of an ultimate age of perfection and glory are balanced by the awesome series of woes beforehand. The last 1900 years bear testimony to the judgements that were predicted – but so many crisis have been the natural results of man’s follies and blindness toward God. For many in this present age, especially the young, it is hard to relate to the woes and disasters which many chapters describe. For one thing they are portrayed in largely symbolic language, for another, nearly all the present generation have not personally experienced fearful times of crisis. Our TV screens have been making them real, but the trouble is, so much of it is fiction, it does not seem real. Added to this, Computer war ‘games’ have desensitized so many to the awesomeness of it all. A few of our generation, such as ourselves, can remember being huddled into shelters with schoolmates because of “flying bombs” - also seeing gangs of workers under guard because they were ‘prisoners of war’ – we also had the urgent noise of anti-aircraft guns across the road trying to shoot down enemy planes. We know that awesome weapons of mass destruction exist – and there are powerful rockets able to deliver them, but it’s a threat we have become used to. After the collapse of Communism over 20 years ago, everything seemed rather good, but it has not lasted! Today’s political instability and disharmony between nations, with an impotent “disUnited Nations” unable to do anything other than talk, is worrying to some; but unless it affects them personally most people ignore what is happening. We read today in Revelation, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth” [Revelation 8:13], and the people who suffer that “Woe” are “those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” [Revelation 9:4] But those who do have that seal “are before the throne of God … for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” [Revelation 7:15,17] When to real day of “woe” arrives will you possess “the seal of God”? Jesus said, “ .. be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted June 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2012 25 June 2012 1 Samuel 4Isaiah 50Revelation 10; 11 “MORNING BY MORNING” We do not know a great deal about Isaiah’s personal situation. In John’s Gospel we read that “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him” [John 12:41], so the seeing was with the eye of faith, a vivid picture in the mind. Isaiah “saw” what was to come, believing with such total conviction that the experience was counted as seeing and John’s quotations from Isaiah are of the reactions, so largely negative, people were to have to God’s messages; this causes us to meditate on reactions today. The more we ourselves read and reflect upon what we read, the more we are challenged. We meditated on this as a result of reading Isaiah’s words in today’s chapter, “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious” [isaiah 50:4-5]. It is a privilege each day to start by reading God’s word, to awaken our minds, refresh our thinking with godly thoughts before our minds need to focus on the challenges of the day, let us not be revellious. This is, as we recall the in the words of James, “the wisdom that comes down from above” [James 3:15]. It gives us that inner strength and ability, not only to sustain us for another day, but also, it may well be, we may be used by our Lord by bringing us into contact with someone “who is weary” and we can impart to them some of the “strength” we have received from God’s word. Now the passage in Isaiah goes on to record a situation which was fulfilled in the life of the Master at the time of his arrest; but it must, we suspect, have also been part of the prophet’s own experience, “I gave my back to those who strike … I hid not my face from shame and spitting (see Mark 15:19) …But the Lord GOD helps me … therefore I have set my face like a flint …” [isaiah 50:6-7]. Let us try harder to feed on God’s word “morning by morning” and experience all the benefits that he can give, setting our faces to serve him in whatever situations we encounter.-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts