A Horrible Destiny

 

Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Do you remember the time you were lost as a child, or slipping over a precipice, or about to drown? Then suddenly you were rescued. You held on for “dear life.” You trembled for what you almost lost. You were happy. Oh, so happy, and thankful. And you trembled with joy.

That’s the way I feel at the end of the year about my rescue from God’s wrath. All day Christmas we had a fire in the fireplace. Sometimes the coals were so hot that when I stoked it my hand hurt. I pulled back and shuddered at the horrendous thought of the wrath of God against sin in hell. Oh, how unspeakably horrible that will be!

Christmas afternoon I visited a woman who had been burned over 87 percent of her body. She has been in the hospital since August. My heart broke for her. How wonderful it was to hold out hope to her from God’s word for a new body in the age to come! But I came away not only thinking about her pain in this life, but also about the everlasting pain I have been saved from through Jesus.

Test my experience with me. Is this trembling joy a fitting way to end the year? Paul was glad that “Jesus . . . delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10). He warned that “for those who . . . do not obey the truth . . . there will be wrath and fury” (Romans 2:8). And “because of [sexual immorality, impurity, and covetousness] the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6).

Here at the end of the year, I am finishing my trek through the Bible and reading the last book, Revelation. It is a glorious prophecy of the triumph of God, and the everlasting joy of all who “take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17). No more tears, no more pain, no more depression, no more sorrow, no more death, no more sin (Revelation 21:4).

But oh, the horror of not repenting and not holding fast to the testimony of Jesus! The description of the wrath of God by the “apostle of love” (John) is terrifying. Those who spurn God’s love will “drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Revelation 14:10–11).

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Jesus will “tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty” (Revelation 19:15). And blood will flow “from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 184 miles” (Revelation 14:20). Whatever that vision signifies, it is meant to communicate something unspeakably terrible.

I tremble with joy that I am saved! But oh, the holy wrath of God is a horrible destiny. Flee this, brothers and sisters. Flee this with all your might. And let us save as many as we can! No wonder there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous (Luke 15:7)!

DO THE FIRST WORKS —REPENT!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY DECEMBER 29, 2022.

SUBJECT: DO THE FIRST WORKS —REPENT!

Memory verse: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent." (Revelation 2 vs 5.)

READ: Matthew 3 vs 1 - 2; 4 vs 17:

3:1: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

3:2: and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

4:17: From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

INTIMATION:

Repentance means “to turn,” it is the state of being penitent, implying a change in behavior, turning from sin toward God. It is to be sorry for, or wish to have been otherwise, what one has done or left undone, it is a change of heart, and make a moral U-turn from sin to God in humility.

Jesus started His ministry with the message of repentance, and this underscores the importance of the message, and the relevance of its timing in our relationship with God. The first step in turning to God is to admit your sin. Then be sorry for it, and ask God (only Him forgives sin) to help you. God will receive you and help you live the way He wants. It is the nature of our 'Loving, and Ever Merciful Father' to forgive our sins, hence His call to us to repent. 

Consequently, in our memory verse, Jesus tells us to, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent." (Revelation 2 vs 5). And, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (First John 1 vs 9).

Your confessing your sin frees you to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It eases your conscience and lightens your care. God wants to forgive us, hence He allowed His beloved Son to die just so He could offer us pardon. When we come to Christ, He forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. We don’t need to confess the sins of the past repeatedly, thinking that God will hear us by our many words. Confess your sin and believe God for forgiveness; “He that promised is faithful, and will do it.” 

Repentance happens inside with a cleansing that isn't seen right away when confession of the sin is made. True repentance is revealed in changed attitude. It does not end with words of confession, lest it would be mere lip service. It must lead to corrected behavior and changed attitude. When you sin and are truly sorry, confess this to God, ask His forgiveness, accept His grace and mercy. 

Then, as an act of thankfulness for your forgiveness, make the needed corrections. No matter how evil you have been, it is never too late to humble yourself, turn to God and ask for forgiveness. God puts no limit on the number of times we can come to Him to obtain mercy, but we must come in order to obtain it, recognizing our need and asking Him to help. Because we have a tendency to sin, repentance is the true measure of our spiritual sensitivity and makes us valuable to God.

Repentance has too sides; turning away from sin, and turning toward God. To be truly repentant, we must do both. We can't just say we believe and then live any way we choose, and neither can we simply lead a morally correct life without a personal relationship with God, because that cannot bring forgiveness of sin.

Our Ever Merciful and Loving Father is at your door knocking, calling you to repent, and do the first works. If you hear His voice do not harden your hearts. In turning to Him remains a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Prayer: My Heavenly Father, ever Merciful and Loving, I am a sinner. I cannot help myself. I repent of my sins, and I come to you now, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Strength and my Redeemer. Forgive me my sins. Be my Lord and personal Savior. Cancel my name in the book of death, and write my name in the Book of life. From henceforth I am yours forever, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen!

PRAISE THE LORD!

Glory Is the Goal

 

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:2)

Seeing the glory of God is our ultimate hope. “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). God will “present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy” (Jude 24).

He will “make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Romans 9:23). He “calls you into his own kingdom and glory” (1 Thessalonians 2:12). “Our blessed hope [is] the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Jesus, in all his person and work, is the incarnation and ultimate revelation of the glory of God. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). “Father, I desire that they . . . may be with me where I am, to see my glory” Jesus prays in John 17:24.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed” (1 Peter 5:1). “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).

“We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7). “This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). “Those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30).

Seeing and sharing in God’s glory is our ultimate hope through the gospel of Christ.

Such a hope, that is really known and treasured, has a huge and decisive effect on our present values and choices and actions.

Get to know the glory of God. Study the glory of God and the glory of Christ. Study the glory of the world that reveals the glory of God, and the glory of the gospel that reveals the glory of Christ.

Treasure the glory of God in all things and above all things.

Study your soul. Know the glory you are seduced by, and know why you treasure glories that are not God’s glory.

Study your own soul to know how to make the glories of the world collapse like the pagan idol Dagon in 1 Samuel 5:4. Let all glories that distract you from the glory of God shatter in pitiful pieces on the floor of the world’s temples. Treasure the glory of God above all this world.

LET THE JOY OF THE LORD BE IN YOU ALWAYS!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 28, 2022.

SUBJECT: LET THE JOY OF THE LORD BE IN YOU ALWAYS! 

Memory verse: "Rejoice in the Lord always: Again I will say, rejoice." (Philippians 4 vs 4.)

READ: Psalm 37 vs 4 - 5; Isaiah 12 vs 3:

Psalm 37:4: Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. 

37:5: Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

Isaiah 12:3: Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

INTIMATION:

Joy is a common theme in Christ’s teaching—He wants us to be joyful always. The joy of the Lord is the quiet, confident assurance of God's love, and His attendant works in our lives which is constant with us in all circumstances. The joy of the Lord is lasting because it is based on God’s presence within us. The key to immeasurable joy is living in intimate relationship with Christ the source of all joy. When we do, we will experience God’s special care and protection and see the victory God brings even when defeat seems certain. The fullness of our joy comes from a consistent and intimate relationship with Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit—the rivers of living water. As we contemplate His daily presence, we will find contentment. 

The Bible, in John 7 vs 37 - 39, says, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, Let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, who those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” 

Salvation is a gift from God that ensures our overwhelming and unparalleled inheritance in Jesus Christ. You can only access this by your delighting (being joyful) in the Lord. When you delight in the Lord, you will commit your ways to Him, completely trusting in Him, and surely He will give you the desires of your heart, and ensures that they are accomplished. 

Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ, that is, abiding in Him, and Him in you; being a branch of the vine that you may bear fruit. Abiding in Christ means (1) believing that He is God’s Son, (2) receiving Him as Savior and Lord, (3) doing what God says, (4) continuing to believe the gospel, and (5) relating in love to the community of believers—the Body of Christ. 

When our lives are intertwined with His, He will help us walk through adversity without sinking into debilitating lows and manage prosperity without moving into deceptive highs. The joy of living with Jesus Christ daily will keep us levelheaded, no matter how high or low our circumstances. True joy transcends the rolling waves of circumstances. 

For instance, the apostle Paul wrote our memory verse to the believers in Philippi while he was in prison. It is quite strange that a man in prison will be telling a church to rejoice. But his attitude teaches an important lesson; our inner attitude do not have to reflect our outward circumstances. The apostle Paul was full of joy because he knows that no matter what happens to him, Jesus Christ was with him. 

If you are not joyful, you will never look at things in the right perspective. Ultimate joy comes from Christ indwelling within us through the Holy Spirit. He who lives within us will fulfill His final purposes for us. As we understand the future He has for us, we will experience joy. Don’t base your life on circumstances, but on God who controls circumstances.

To delight in someone means to experience great pleasure and joy in his or her presence. This happens only when we know that person well. Thus, to delight in the LORD, we must know Him better. Knowledge of God’s great love for us will indeed make us delight in Him. And we will commit ourselves to the LORD; entrusting everything—our lives, families, jobs, possessions—to His control and guidance. We are to trust in Him, believing that He can care for us better than we can ourselves. We should be willing to wait patiently for Him to work out what is best for us.

Prayer: Abba Father, You are my everything. My joy is complete in You. My total confidence is in Your assured presence and fellowship with me always, Surely, Your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life as I dwell in Your presence forever, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

What Is Your Aim?

 

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. . . . And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)

When you get up in the morning and you face the day, what do you say to yourself about your hopes for the day? When you look from the beginning of the day to the end of the day, what do you want to happen because you have lived?

If you say, “I don’t even think like that. I just get up and do what I’ve got to do,” then you are cutting yourself off from a basic means of grace and a source of guidance and strength and fruitfulness and joy. It is crystal clear in the Bible, including these texts, that God means for us to aim consciously at something significant in our days.

God’s revealed will for you is that when you get up in the morning, you don’t drift aimlessly through the day letting mere circumstances alone dictate what you do, but that you aim at something — that you focus on a certain kind of purpose. I’m talking about children here, and teenagers, and adults — single, married, widowed, moms, and every trade and every profession.

Aimlessness is akin to lifelessness. Dead leaves in the back yard may move around more than anything else — more than the dog, more than the children. The wind blows this way, they go this way. The wind blows that way, they go that way. They tumble, they bounce, they skip, they press against a fence, but they have no aim whatsoever. They are full of motion and empty of life.

God did not create humans in his image to be aimless, like lifeless leaves blown around in the backyard of life. He created us to be purposeful — to have a focus and an aim for all our days. What is yours today? What is yours for the new year? A good place to start is 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

WHY JESUS CHRIST CAME TO THE WORLD!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

TUESDAY DECEMBER 27, 2022.

SUBJECT: WHY JESUS CHRIST CAME TO THE WORLD!

Memory verse: "Jesus says to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." (John 14 vs 6.) 

READ: Luke 2 vs 10; John 1 vs 4; 3 vs 8, 16; 10 vs 10; 14 vs 27; 16 vs 33; Acts 10 vs 38:

Luke 2:10: Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people.

John 1:4: In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

3:8: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

3:16: For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

10:10: The thief does not except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

14:27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives Do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

16:33: These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Acts 10:38: How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him.

INTIMATION:

Jesus came to reveal and represent the Father, and as well show us the way to the Father. He is the visible, tangible image of the invisible God. He is the complete revelation of what God is like. To know Jesus is to know God (Colossians 1 vs 15 - 16; Hebrews 1 vs 1 - 4). He is our path to the Father. As the truth, He is the reality of all God’s promises. As the life He joins His divine life to ours, both now and eternally. 

Jesus Christ is the Creator of life (John 3 vs 3), and His life brings light to humankind. In His light, we see ourselves as we really are (sinners in need of a Savior). When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blindly and falling into sin. He lights the path ahead of us so we can see how to live. He removes the darkness of sin from our lives. When Christ guides you in His light, you will never need to stumble in darkness. 

Jesus came to bring salvation to mankind, and restore man to the glory he lost in the Garden of Eden, as well as restore divinity to man. God's Will of abundance for us was supreme until that fatal day Adam and Eve, our first parents, committed high treason against God by doubting His integrity, and believing God's permanent enemy—Satan. 

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. All evils are the works of the devil. But Jesus came to destroy all his works. Jesus, reading from the book of Isaiah, said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed: To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4 vs 18 - 19.) Jesus was proclaiming Himself as the One who would bring this good news to pass. 

Jesus came to restore the supernatural back to man. In Mark 16 vs 17 - 18, the Scripture says, “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; They will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” There are times when God intervenes miraculously to protect His followers. Occasionally He gives them special powers. This does not mean, however, that we should test God by putting ourselves in dangerous situations or try to tempt the laws of nature. 

Jesus came to bring unspeakable joy to the world. The demeanor of a Christian lifestyle is that of joy for what Christ has wrought for us in redemption, and the hope of living in eternity with God. Ultimate joy comes from Christ dwelling within us. Christ is near, and at His second coming we will fully realize this ultimate joy. He who lives within us will fulfill His final purposes for us. In First Peter 1 vs 8, the Scripture says, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” 

Jesus came to bring peace that passes all understanding to humanity. The result of one’s prayerful communication with God that is based on faith, is an inner tranquility that cannot be expressed in words. The end result of Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance in any circumstance; with Christ’s peace, we have no need to fear the present or the future. Sin, fear, uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are at war within us. The peace of God moves into our hearts and live to restrain these hostile forces and offer comfort in place of conflict. Peace comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. 

He came to give us life at its best. The life Christ gives now is abundantly rich and full. It is eternal, yet it begins immediately. Life in Christ is lived on a higher plane because of His overflowing forgiveness, love, and guidance. Jesus affirms that one is not only saved if he enters through Him as the door, but such a person will also comprehend and enjoy the fullness for which life on earth was meant to be. It is only in Christ that one understands, and thus receives those blessings that enrich and enhance living. “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue.” (Second Peter 1 vs 3.) 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You For the gift of Your Son, Jesus, to mankind. Now that I have accepted and proclaimed Him as my Lord and Savior, may all the reasons for His coming be fully expressed in my life, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

How to Contemplate Calamity

 The waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me. . . . This God — his way is perfect.” (2 Samuel 22:5, 31)

After the loss of his ten children owing to a natural disaster (Job 1:19), Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). At the end of the book, the inspired writer confirms Job’s understanding of what happened. He says Job’s brothers and sisters “comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

This has several crucial implications for us — lessons for us here at the dawn of a new year — as we think about calamities in the world and in our lives — like the massive disaster that occurred December 26, 2004, in the Indian Ocean — one of the deadliest natural disasters on record with 1.7 million people made homeless, half a million injured, and over 230,000 killed.

Lesson #1. Satan is not ultimate; God is.

Satan had a hand in Job’s misery, but not the decisive hand. God gave Satan permission to afflict Job (Job 1:12; 2:6). But Job and the writer of this book treat God as the decisive cause. When Satan afflicts Job with sores, Job says to his wife, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10), and the writer calls these satanic sores “the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). So, Satan is real. Satan brings misery. But Satan is not ultimate or decisive. He is on a leash. He goes no farther than God decisively permits.

Lesson #2. Even if Satan caused that tsunami in the Indian Ocean the day after Christmas, 2004, he is not the decisive cause of over 200,000 deaths; God is.

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 and 11 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8–9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves. But he didn’t.

Lesson #3. Destructive calamities in this world mingle judgment and mercy.

God’s purposes are not simple. Job was a godly man and his miseries were not God’s punishment (Job 1:1, 8). Their design was purifying, not punishment (Job 42:6). James 5:11 says, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

But we do not know the spiritual condition of Job’s children who died. Job was certainly concerned about them (Job 1:5). God may have taken their life in judgment. We don’t know.

If that is true, then the same calamity proved in the end to be mercy for Job and judgment on his children. This double purpose is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.

The clearest illustration of this is the death of Jesus. It was both judgment and mercy. It was judgment on Jesus because he bore our sins (not his own), and it was mercy toward us who trust him to bear our punishment (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24) and be our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Another example is the curse and miseries that have come on this earth because of the fall of Adam and Eve. Those who never believe in Christ experience it as judgment, but believers experience it as merciful, though painful — a preparation for glory. “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope” (Romans 8:20). This is God’s subjection. This is why there are tsunamis. But this subjection to futility is “in hope.”

Lesson #4. The heart that Christ gives to his people feels compassion for those who suffer, no matter what their faith is.

When the Bible says, “Weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15), it does not add, “unless God caused the weeping.” Job’s comforters would have done better to weep with Job than talk so much. That does not change when we discover that Job’s suffering was ultimately from God. No, it is right to weep with those who suffer. Pain is pain, no matter who causes it. We are all sinners. Empathy flows not from the causes of pain, but from the company of pain. And we are all in it together.

Lesson #5. Finally, Christ calls us to show mercy to those who suffer, even if they do not deserve it.

That is the meaning of mercy — undeserved help. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Luke 6:27). This is how Christ treated us (Romans 5:10), dying for us when we were his enemies. By that power, and with that example, we do the same.