New Heaven and New Earth

When the Great White Throne Judgment, as we read about in our last lesson, is complete, God will create a new heaven and a new earth.

Revelation 21:1-4:

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

It is interesting to see several things written here which have been ideas held by people throughout history. For example, the idea of the earth being the center of the universe will be true in the New Heaven and New Earth because God will set up His throne here on earth. And even though no person on earth throughout history (except Adam and Eve) has ever experienced a perfect world, that idea exists in our hearts and makes us yearn for it. It will exist in this New Heaven and New Earth.

There will be no more tears, no death, no sadness, no crying, no pain. We sometimes think no tears and no sadness and no crying are the same as no pain. But have you ever cried because something was so beautiful it brought tears to your eyes, or have you ever cried because you were so happy? Even perfect beauty and perfect joy will not bring tears because we will have bodies capable of expressing our pure joy.

Revelation 21:5-8:

5 And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Why would God bring into this perfect picture a reminder of those who will not be there? It is a warning to us who believe to purify ourselves (1 John 3:1-3) so we can be used of Him to witness to those who do not believe before it is too late. We cannot know what the next day or hour holds, and we want to stand before Him without the shame of unconfessed sin in our lives. People have only this life to accept Him as Lord and Savior (Hebrews 9:27), and we who already believe have only this life in which to store treasure in Heaven.

Prayer: Our loving Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the hope You give. Help us to be faithful witnesses for you to all those we know, until You call us to Your side forever. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

The Great White Throne Judgment

At the close of the Millennium, when unbelievers again make war against God, the war is ended by God destroying the world and the universe, as we read in Revelation 20:11-15: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

This is also the judgment Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:31-46 where we see the separation of people to His right and left. Everyone in the history of the world will stand before Him at this judgment – everyone, except the believers in Jesus of this time which we call the Church Age. We will have been judged for our works during the Tribulation (after we met Him in the air in the Rapture).

The judge on this throne will be Jesus – see John 5:19-29. No one who stands before this judgment throne will ever be able to say the judgment was unfair because the judge did not know what the individual had been through in their life.

One of God’s purposes for all of history and this creation in which we live today, is to make an end of all sin. We read this in several places in Scripture, but one we have already seen in a previous lesson is Daniel 9:24. God allowed sin to enter His creation when He decided to give us free choice. While this free choice did not include everything in our lives, it does give us the choice for where we will spend eternity – with God or not with God. We cannot choose HOW we can please God – that is His choice, and He chose to make Jesus the only way to Himself. We also cannot define what sin is and what is not sin – God says HE is the standard, and anything which does not meet His standard is not good enough (called sin, or missing the mark).

The first sin ever committed was the statement “I will” from one of God’s creations. Our greatest sin is also “I” in some form. Anything we try to do for ourselves is always leaving God out, and therefore is sin. God told Daniel that a certain time was set for all transgressions to be finished and then all sin to be ended.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, help us to understand that time is short and You want us who believe in You to be at work for Your kingdom rather than for ourselves. Give us hearts that are broken for the lost and may we go out into Your harvest fields to bring them the truth of how You are Lord Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

What is Prayer?

  

    We often talk about prayer. We pray before meals and offer to pray for one another. Yet familiarity

with the concept of prayer can blind us to its profound wonder. We can talk to the God of heaven and

He listens! Our quiet thoughts, spoken words, anguished cries and joyful praises enter the throne room

of Almighty God. God is exalted above us in every possible way, yet accessible to us. When we draw

near to Him, He draws near to us (James 4:8). We cannot overestimate the amazing privilege and

responsibility of prayer.

    Prayer is equally simple and complex. Most simply, prayer is talking to God. Believers pray to the

Father (Ephesians 1:17; 3:14), through the Son (John 14:13; 15:16; Romans 1:8; 5:1-2; Colossians 3:17) 

and in the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:18; Jude 1:20). Christ broke the barrier between God and sinful people 

and made access to Holy God available to those who believe in Him. The Holy Spirit prays for us with 

groanings too deep for human words (Romans 8:26). All parts of the Godhead are actively engaged when 

you pray.

    Prayer reflects a relationship with God. Your love for God and desire for Him draws you to prayer.

God speaks in many ways – through His Word, creation, our circumstances, other people, through the

Holy Spirit. In prayer, we speak to Him. Do you want to spend time with God, to listen and to speak to

the One who knows the secrets of your heart? Prayer is more about surrendering to God than 

communicating our agenda. Through prayer, God molds our hearts to His higher and better ways. By 

praying, you acknowledge you need what you do not have in your own strength. When you pray, you look 

beyond yourself to God who knows more and can do more than you could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20-

21).

    Prayer expresses dependence on God. The depth and regularity of your prayers indicate how

much you depend on God and how much you depend on yourself. When you pray, you acknowledge

God’s attentive, active interest and involvement in your life. You recognize His compassion for your

needs and power to act on your behalf (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15). Your needs are never too insignificant for

God to care about or too big for Him to handle. Even when answers to prayer seem slow in coming, God

is at work. The way you pray indicates what you believe about God. Your faith is not in prayer itself, but

in the God who hears and answers prayer.

    Prayer connects people on earth with God, their Creator. People do not pray because they do not

think rightly about God. Some reject God, and some ignore Him. They do not think God cares, listens to

them or will do anything for them. To fail to pray either ignores the reality that God exists or relegates 

Him as a distant being removed from daily life and real people. People often treat prayer as a last resort 

when all else fails. To fail to pray is to ignore a lifeline from God and to choose to live with only the 

limited resources of this world. What keeps you from praying? What does your prayer life reveal you 

believe about God?

    Prayer can be as natural as breathing for a believer. A child of God needs neither fanfare nor formula

to gain immediate access to the Sovereign of eternity. How do you feel when you receive a telephone

call from someone you love? God loves it when you call out to Him. He wants to spend time with you.

He wants you to tell Him what He already knows. Nothing you pray about ever surprises God or turns

Him away from you. He is not offended when you ask Him honest questions, pour out your heart and

confess your sins. Those who love God deeply speak to Him often. When you believe your prayers reach

and move the heart of God, you know you are never alone, hopeless or powerless. The act of prayer

acknowledges the care and power of God. Answered prayer glorifies God. Will you cry out to God in the

middle of your day or your challenge? Will you express your gratitude to Him with actual words when

you experience joy or pleasure? How does thinking about the privilege of prayer offer fresh wonder and

worship of the God who loves you, hears you and acts on your behalf?

The Millennial Kingdom

When Jesus has conquered the entire world on His return to earth, He will set up His kingdom on earth as He has prophesied in many Scriptures. Much of Zechariah chapters 8-14 are about either the Tribulation or about the Millennial Kingdom. There are many other prophesies about this time as well.

In this lesson we will review only a few of the basic prophesies. First, the time frame for this kingdom is stated as being a thousand years. Revelation 20:1-6 tells us about the beginning of this period. It begins with Satan being caught and imprisoned in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. Then there is a promise that those who reign with Jesus will do so for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:7-10 describes the end of the thousand years when Satan is released and war again comes to the earth. But Satan is again caught and this time his judgment is eternal – he is thrown into the lake of fire forever.

What will this kingdom be like? We see many promises:

Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

See also Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:2-5.

This kingdom will be one of enforced peace – see Revelation 12:5 and 19:15.

Throughout history mankind has given many excuses for why we cannot be perfect. Rather than believing we are born with sin in our hearts, we have always argued that forces of evil have influenced us or that circumstances have caused us to sin. One after another our arguments have been shown to be wrong, and this Millennial Kingdom will be the last of our arguments to be thrown out. We believe that if we lived in a perfect world where Satan did not tempt us, we could be perfect – and in this thousand years people will truly live in a perfect world…except they cannot be perfect because they still have the root of sin in their hearts. At the end of this kingdom, people will rise up against Jesus, the perfect King, with hatred and anger and try to destroy Him. Jesus’ answer will be to destroy the earth and the universe He created.

We continue with what comes next in the next lesson.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, help us to see that sin is in our hearts and not only in our actions. Help us to understand only You can remove this sinful nature as You create a new heart in us. Thank you for dying and conquering death to remove our sinful nature. We love you Jesus! In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Jesus' Second Coming

As we learned a few lessons ago, there are two events in prophecy which are sometimes called by the same name – Jesus’ return. They are very different in purpose and in completion. The Rapture is Jesus meeting His Church – the believers of this time between His ministry on earth until this event – in the air. Jesus does not appear to anyone on earth at the Rapture; He calls His people to Himself, meeting us away from earth.

At His Second Coming, Jesus will actually stand on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, at the exact place from which He left as described in Acts 1. This is also one of the clearest prophecies of this event – the angels declared to those watching Him ascend that He would return in the same way they had seen Him go.

It is also interesting to note that the first prophecy recorded of this return was made by Enoch when Adam was still alive, as we find in Jude 1:14-15: “It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

In Revelation 19:11-21 we find a description of Jesus’ Second Coming, a description speaking of war and judgment, blood and wrath. The scene in these verses is the end of the Tribulation period, where the armies of the world are gathered to finally and utterly destroy all that is left of Israel. And, as we read in verse 19, they are also gathered to make war against Jesus Himself. We see another description of this battle in Revelation 14:14-20 which tells us that the people gathered for this war will be packed into a valley which runs from Bozrah up to Meggido – a distance of about 180 miles (almost 290 km), and when this army is destroyed, the blood of people and animals will run up to three feet deep (about one meter). The devastation will be terrible.

But this has been God’s promise from the beginning for those who stand against Him. God has said from the beginning that sin means death. Yet, people insist they do not want to follow Him; in the end He will destroy those who have chosen not to turn to Him.

The answer is, as we read in Hebrews 4:7 “… Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” There is a day coming when Jesus will again stand on the earth, and the day for making a choice to follow Him or not will be gone.

Prayer: Righteous Father, we come to You today grateful for this chance to choose to be Yours, to follow You, to obey You, to stand with You, to believe You. Help us today to also be true and pure witnesses for Your love and encourage those around us to accept You as their Savior and Lord. We look forward to Your return Lord Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

The Tribulation

The time of the Tribulation, the seven years described in many prophecies in the Old Testament and in the book of Revelation, is a time of God’s judgment for the earth. Now, as this study is being written, before the Rapture, we see God’s forgiveness through His grace for mankind. We may even begin to believe God will always be loving and gracious and merciful and restraining His judgment, but this is not true. God could not be the God of truth and justice if He forever held His righteous judgment in check. While there are many other Scriptures which talk about this, we will study two in this lesson.

Psalm 103:6-9 “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.” Here we clearly see the warning that God’s mercy is not always the way He will deal with our sin.

Romans 2:6-11 “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” This passage says everyone will be judged according to their works with complete justice – justice based on God’s standards rather than ours.

The Bible also says that judgment begins with the household of God, so we who are His children will be the first to be judged for our works – and this takes place during the Tribulation, but not here on earth. This is described in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, which clearly states this judgment does not include a sentence of death. Every believer’s judgment of life and death has been forever completed in Jesus’ death on the cross. The judgment in these verses only determines whether we enter Heaven with treasure or without treasure.

The judgment of God during the Tribulation is mostly for nations of the earth. Of course, a nation cannot be judged without its people feeling the effects. From earth’s current population of about seven billion, so many will die in God’s judgments that perhaps only about five hundred million or so will survive till the end.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You today for the opportunity to believe in You so the judgment of death for our sin is completed and we do not need to face Your wrath in that day of terrible Tribulation. Help us always to remember that You are a God of love and justice. May we share this truth with others so that as many as possible might be saved. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Taken from Global Media Outreach 

The Rapture of the Church (part 3)

How will the Rapture happen? We look at several verses to tell us. As we read in the last lesson from 1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jesus will come to the clouds above the earth. In John 14:2-3 Jesus says, “…I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will [receive] you to Myself...” Please note, this is Jesus calling us away from the earth. Every government that cares about its people serving in other countries, will call their people home when they know war is about to happen. We are Jesus’ ambassadors here on earth, and He loves us too much to leave us here when the real war of evil is about to begin – Revelation 3:10 and John 17:15.

In our last lesson, from 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4, we have already read there will be a great shout and the sound of a trumpet to call us.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-15 tells us that all believers in Jesus who have died will rise first, and then we who are still alive here will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Him.

How do we know such a Rapture is possible? God has given us examples of them in the Bible.

Enoch - Genesis 5:24 “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.”

Elijah - 2 Kings 2:11-12 “And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it …”

Philip - Acts 8:39 “And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.”

Jesus - Acts 1:9-11 “And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight.”

The promise of this Rapture, before we enter the terrible time on earth as Jesus judges the nations of this world, is a “blessed promise” for us who believe. 2 Thessalonians 2 gives us a great picture of what these last days before the Rapture look like – and all we need to do is set the Bible alongside our newspapers or news programs to see how accurately Jesus has told us ahead of time what to look for. This chapter also warns us about the powerful deception coming, which we can already see all around us. The deception of the one-world government and one-world religion are knocking loudly at our gates. The world’s cry for peace at any cost is roaring at us from governments and schools and even many churches. We who are believers must cling to the truth and keep praying against the evil forces we see.

Prayer: Almighty Father, as You have prophesied, evil is nearer than ever before. But we choose not to fear, for You have promised You are greater than this enemy in the world is; so we join You in prayer to hold back the evil that wants to destroy. Purify us so we can stand with You whole-heartedly until You are ready to call us to Your side. We say with Your Spirit, “Come Lord Jesus!” In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

The Rapture of the Church (part 2)

As we read in the last lesson, the importance of understanding to whom a prophecy is given has much to do with how well we can understand the prophecy. For us, in our study of the Rapture of the Church in this lesson, this is very important. The seven years of Great Tribulation are part of Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks – a prophecy specifically stated to be about Daniel’s people, the nation of Israel. 

Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to a most holy place.”

Therefore, the prophecies of the terrible things happening in Revelation do not seem to be about us, the Church. This makes it easier for us to understand the two appearances of Jesus prophesied in the end times – the Rapture, and His Second Coming.

The Rapture happens in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

The Second Coming happens as every eye on earth sees Him coming (Revelation 1:7 and Acts 1:11)

Rapture – Jesus meets His saints in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Second Coming – Jesus sets foot on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4)

Rapture – He rewards us for our deeds (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

Second Coming – He comes to judge the unrighteous (Revelation 19:13-16)

Rapture – we don’t know when it will happen, there is no prophecy to tell us when

Second Coming – Daniel 12:11 tells us the number of days from a specific event till Jesus comes

How will the Rapture happen? We read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

Who will be raptured? We read the answer from Paul, speaking to believers in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your promise to come to get us one day very soon. We long for You to come, and say with the Spirit of God in us, “Come!” Help us to purify our hearts and lives so we are ready for this moment. And until that day, may we be about Your business...calling sinners to repentance and living in obedience and love. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

The Rapture of the Church (part 1)

 

The rapture of the Church – it being taken out of this world to be with Jesus – is something easily misunderstood when we misunderstand some of the central issues of the Bible. Just as parents treat their children differently as they grow through different stages of childhood into adulthood, so God has treated humanity differently as He has given us information about Himself. The more information He has given us, the greater is our responsibility to Him for what He has revealed. In 2 Timothy 2:15 we read that we are to study and handle the Bible rightly so we can follow Him faithfully.

There are four different kinds of people in earth’s history from God’s point of view:

* All those who do not believe in God/Jesus

* Three groups in history of those who believe in God/Jesus:

- Israel

- Church

- Believing Gentiles

It is these three groups of believers we need to understand in order to understand God’s prophecy program. In the Old Testament time, the Church did not exist. God’s work was with Israel, even though there are notable believers who were not of the nation of Israel. Melchizedek (Genesis 14:18-20), Job and his friends (book of Job), and the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-13) are just a few of these. But God’s prophecies center on Israel because it was through Israel He would bring salvation. This lack of prophecy about these Gentile believers does not change the fact of their believing in God nor does it change His love and care for them.

In the New Testament, all believers become part of the Church. Galatians 3:28 says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Prophecy in the New Testament is either about the Church or about Israel, and this is where we need to be discerning to know how to understand it correctly. For example, Matthew 24 is Jesus’ answer to His disciples’ questions about the Kingdom which had been prophesied in the Old Testament – so Jesus’ answer is about this coming Kingdom in which Israel is the main subject. The event around which this focuses then, is His second coming when this Kingdom on earth will be established.

The promises contained in John chapters 13-16, however, are promises which contain prophesies for the Church. In this last evening before He knew He would die, He was preparing His disciples for this new group in which they would become the leaders. Much of His ministry to them after His resurrection was also concerning the Church – for example, His charge to Peter to feed His sheep (John 21:15-19). His disciples did not understand then, but later did, that building His Kingdom was not all about Israel; it was about Gentiles as well. We will continue this in our next lesson.

Prayer: Father, teach us by Your Spirit how to rightly handle Your word of Truth. Thank you for giving us some indication of what will happen in the future so we can always be watching and ready for Your return. We love you Jesus! In Your name we pray, Amen 

From Global Media Outreach 

Ezekiel's War

Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 give a prophecy about a war coming, and names the countries which will be coming against Israel to destroy her. These countries named are Gog (Russia), Persia (Iran), Cush (Ethiopia) and Put (Libya), Gomer and Togarmah (Turkey).

This war is described in some detail. In verse 38:8 it says this war will come after the people are gathered from many nations – telling us it is a war which follows the prophecies of chapters 36 and 37. In the following verses we see several statements that the people of Israel are living in peace, and these nations are coming to take something of value. The remainder of chapter 38 describes how God alone will protect Israel. Chapter 39 continues with a description of the end of this war on the very day it is set to begin.

God also tells the way in which this army will be destroyed. In verses 17-23 of chapter 38, He says a great earthquake will come. Mountains will come down, and there will be fire and brimstone – perhaps a volcano with the deadly poisonous gasses will kill many of these people. The people of the earth will know it was God who destroyed this army.

In our world today, we see for the first time in history a pact between these major nations – Russia, Iran, and Turkey. (see https://nationalinterest.org/feature/unlikely-convergence-russia-iran-and-turkey-44617) It is, however, not a peaceful pact, as each of these countries has a definite personal gain it wishes to achieve. It is easy to see how these armies will fight against each other when survival will be in question (verse 21).

Why would God destroy an army in this way? He will do so to show the entire world that He is God and He protects His people. He will also demonstrate His power over what will be one of the greatest armies to ever be united against Israel. He wants people to know there are consequences when they turn away from Him. His judgment of sin, by the death of Jesus on the cross, is the only way to escape His curse for sin. Anyone who does not accept Jesus’ payment must face God’s judgment for themselves.

We can see, in our world today, how these nations are already in place, though they are not yet completely united in their hatred for Israel. But this can come very quickly, and the tides of war can sweep suddenly. This should never be a cause for fear for anyone who trusts in Jesus, because He will care for every one of His own. Our responsibility today is to make sure we are one of His, and then to tell as many others about Him as we can.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, if we did not know Your love we would shake in great fear for what is coming. But we trust You to keep every promise You have made, and You have promised to bring us to Your side when our life here on earth is done. Thank You for Your great faithfulness. We love You Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach

For further reading on this topic go to https://comfortoneanother.com/2019/05/07/why-would-russia-turkey-and-iran-invade-israel/ 

Israel Born in a Day

In Ezekiel 37 we read the prophecy of a valley filled with dry bones which are scattered, but God brings them back together, restores muscle and skin, and then breathes life back into these people to make them live again. Anyone who has seen pictures of the Jewish people who were rescued from Hitler’s death camps during World War II can clearly see in these people the images of this valley of dry bones.

God has always loved the Jewish people, even in those times when it has seemed as if He has forgotten them. This prophecy, in verse 14, tells of Israel’s return to their land – and was fulfilled in the years following the close of World War II. 

Isaiah 66:8 says: "Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." This was exactly fulfilled when, on one day...May 14, 1948...the country of Israel was established. 

And though the people have still been called Jews, they are truly, as also prophesied in Ezekiel 37:15-22, a united nation of all twelve tribes as they had not been in thousands of years since after Solomon was their king.  ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. 

Part of verse 22, There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms, has not yet been fulfilled – that they will have one king over them again. This will be fulfilled when Jesus physically returns to this earth in the near future. There is still a time of judgment coming, which Jesus called the time of Great Tribulation in Matthew 24:21. This day when Jesus will return is also the time, stated in Romans 11:26, when all Israel will be saved.

Israel still has a powerful enemy, Satan. And Satan still stirs up other nations in this world to try to destroy Israel. But God is protecting, and will continue to protect Israel with His hand – just as He also protects us, His Church, from things which are not in His plan. His protection does not mean we cannot die at the hand of someone who hates us, or that we will succeed in everything we set out to do in this life on earth. After all, His plan for us is not that we are successful in this earthly kingdom – His plan for us is for our far greater success in His heavenly kingdom.

There is also, still in the future, a great judgment coming for the nations which have oppressed Israel through the centuries. As the hatred for Israel grows in our world even today, so God’s judgment for those who hate Israel will also be great – see the promise/prophecy in Genesis 12:3 - "And I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.”. While this promise can be seen demonstrated in many incidents throughout history, it will be brought into full completion during this time of Great Tribulation.

Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, help us to see clearly how the events of our world today are a warning from You that this judgment on the nations which have hated Your people is coming just as You have given prophecy and promise over thousands of years. Help us who are Your people, whether Church or Israel, to be faithful to You and Your kingdom in these days – faithful without fear. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Israel in Prophecy

 

We move into prophecies now which have been fulfilled in the lifetimes of people who are still alive today. First, we need to understand something about prophecies. While God has a plan for all our lives, He chose one nation, one people, to be His for the purpose of bringing salvation to all the world. This nation is Israel. And though God knows – has already planned – what will happen to all the other nations and peoples of this earth, the Bible gives us prophecies only as they concern the nation Israel because it was, and continues to be, Israel through which He will accomplish everything else He has planned for all the world.

Many years ago a famous queen of England asked one of her advisors how he knew God existed. He answered, Israel. Surprised, she asked why he said this. He said that if Israel still existed after all the attempts the rest of the world had made to erase it from existence, it could only be because God was/is protecting her.

In Ezekiel 36 we can read a prophecy of God’s protection and restoration of the people. Throughout history there have been other nations which have determined to kill all these people, to wipe them from the face of the earth. We could name Hitler and Stalin as examples of this, though we see the same hatred alive today in many other countries.

Verse 38 is God speaking to the mountains of Israel to begin producing vegetation again in preparation for the return of the people. For many hundreds of years the land had been barren. Rome destroyed everything they could of civilization in 70 AD, and in the 1100s, during the times of the Crusades, the land itself was destroyed as trees were used for fire and weapons. Then God prophesied the land would again become lush and green as the people of Israel would return to it.

God had prophesied against Israel thousands of years earlier that He would disperse them among the nations if they continued to reject Him. This happened several times, and yet God brought them back again so they had the opportunity again to be faithful. After the nation demanded the death of Jesus, Messiah and Son of God, the Lord dispersed them again until the time would come for the end of what He had called the time of the Gentiles (see Romans 11:25 and Luke 21:24). This time essentially began when Israel was taken captive to Babylon. Then God gave Daniel at least two prophecies about this time – the golden statue and the Seventy Weeks prophecy from Daniel 9:24-27. 

Prayer: Father, we thank You for the mysteries of the prophecies You have given to us – mysteries we can unlock and understand only as we see Your purpose for all people and hear Your explanations through Your Word. Teach us Your Truth. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Daniels' Seventy Weeks

 

24 Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.

26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.

Daniel 9:24-27

A prophecy which has been partly fulfilled is found in our verses above. It is important to note from verse 24 to whom this prophecy is given. Since the person hearing this is Daniel, we know this prophecy is about Israel – Daniel’s people.

Verse 25 gives us the starting date for this prophecy to be fulfilled – the date of the order given for Jerusalem to be restored. This was fulfilled, and the date is given, in Nehemiah 2:1-5. The prince named in this verse is Nehemiah who, by the king’s orders, became the governor of Israel and brought the people back to God’s way.

Verse 26 says after this first period of seven weeks (49 years), when Nehemiah was in charge, will come an additional 62 weeks (434 years). At the close of this time the “Anointed One” would be cut off. Counting, then, the 483 years from the king’s decree for Nehemiah to restore the city of Jerusalem, we come to the year of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem – the event we today call Palm Sunday. That was the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey’s colt, offering Himself as the King of the Jews. His offer was refused, and a few days later He was crucified – cut off.

Verse 27 gives one additional week as the closing of this prophecy – a final seven years which is broken into two parts. This “week” or seven years begins with a covenant between “Daniel’s people” – Israel, and ends with the return of Jesus to earth. In Daniel 12:11, God tells us the exact number of days from the middle event of this seven-year period – the abomination of desolation – until Jesus steps onto the Mount of Olives, and puts an end to the “desolator” (the antichrist).

Prayer: Father, help us to understand Your faithfulness in completing everything You have prophesied in complete agreement with all You have said. Thank you for warning us ahead of time about things to come. May we keep our eyes always on You Lord Jesus. In Your name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Prophecies Given and Fulfilled

 

How do we know that prophecies we are reading about the end times will be fulfilled? All we need to do is look at the Bible and history to see how God’s prophecies have been fulfilled in the past. We will study two specific prophecies here as examples of many more fitting the same pattern of being fulfilled.

First, we look at the prophecy God gave to Daniel in 2:31-45. This is sometimes called Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream. The king dreamed of a huge statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, stomach and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay. 

God gave the interpretation of this dream to Daniel – a kind of world history of great conquerors. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, and the Medo-Persian Empire would be the chest and arms of silver. In Isaiah 45:1, over 300 years before it happened, God told Isaiah the name of the king – Cyrus – who would be instrumental in returning the Jewish people from their captivity in Babylon. 

“This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut"

We can all read history to see how the Greek and Roman empires became the third and fourth great conquerors of the world, and many of the details of these two conquerors are also given as prophecy by God. We find a restatement of these conquerors given in Daniel chapter 7, with some additional details which were also fulfilled in every detail.

Second, we look briefly at a picture-prophecy God gave in the Tabernacle He designed for the people of Israel – Exodus 2 – and the High Priestly role He commanded for Aaron – Exodus 26. While this space is far too small to give all the details, here are some of the ways this building was a prophetic picture of Jesus Christ:

- One entrance – Jesus is the only Way (John 14:6).

- Bronze altar and fixtures – bronze speaks of judgment; Revelation 1:5 shows Jesus with feet of bronze.

- Silver for the foundations – this silver was received as “redemption” payments the people paid for every male (Exodus 30:11-15) – Jesus paid the price of our eternal redemption.

- Curtains of fine linen – linen is a picture of righteousness (Revelation 19:8).

- Colors used in the Tabernacle: purple (Jesus is King of Kings – Matthew); red (Jesus’ blood); white (Jesus’ perfect life); blue (Jesus’ eternal home).

- Porpoise skin as the outer layer for the Tabernacle – this was the source of shoes, and there would have been no more available in the desert, so this becomes a picture of Jesus providing for all our needs.

We continue with the order of furniture in the Tabernacle:

- Bronze altar – Jesus’ sacrifice.

- Laver – keeping our hands and feet (our life) clean from sin.

- Candelabra – Jesus is the Light of the World, and also calls us the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

- Table of Showbread – fellowship with other believers in Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:22-40).

- Altar of Incense – prayer.

- Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat – Jesus gave His life, His blood, so we can come before God.

Third, there are more than 100 prophecies in the Old Testament that Jesus fulfilled when He came to earth as a human. The graphic lists just a few of them. 

Prayer: Father, help us to see the wonderful pictures of Jesus you have given us throughout the Bible and all the prophecies You have given for us to understand. You are so very good and we love you Lord! In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Created for a Purpose (2)

The "will of God" is to be "conformed to the image of his Son." This means He wants us to change until we look like Jesus. Have you ever noticed how couples who have been married for a long time start to look like each other? This is what we're supposed to do; be so close, so familiar, so intimate with Jesus that we begin to look like Him. Such intimacy and familiarity is achieved as we are filled with the Spirit – we give God’s Spirit complete control of our life every moment of every day, hearing Him and obeying Him immediately in all things.

Romans 12:2 tells us we are to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds." Some kinds of transformation can become very scary in our world as we watch our cultures being transformed into something we don't recognize.

Transformation for the Christian, however, is not a scary prospect because we know who and what Jesus is. We don't have to be afraid of becoming like Him. In fact, we look forward to it because for eternity "we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). Ephesians 5:27 describes in a different way what we will be when we are like Him: “…so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

Philippians 2 says: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." 

Prayer: Father God, we know that this kind of change is impossible for us to achieve on our own. But,  it is Your purpose for us through Your Spirit and requires only our willing choice to give You permission to make it true in us. Please help us, this day, to be comforted to the image of Your Son Jesus Christ. In His name we pray, Amen. 

From Global Media Outreach 

Created for a Purpose

What does God want me to be? What is God’s purpose for me? These questions are cries of our hearts from the moment we are born again until the moment we die. We yearn to know the meaning of our lives – God's will for our lives. This will be our discussion for the next few lessons.

When we study the Bible we find the phrase "the will of God" or "His will" several times and in several specific connotations. Let's look at them in order of occurrence in our lives rather than in consecutive scriptural order. The first is found in 2 Peter 3:9 where we are told "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." God's will for our lives, first of all, is that we should be saved. He wants us to be with Him for eternity.

Once we have been saved, the next "will of God" is our sanctification. This big word is used in the Bible in such places as 1 Thessalonians 4:3 - "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality." Sanctification means to be set apart. God wants us to be separate and different from the people of this world who are not His. One of the first demonstrations of sin in our life is living for our own pleasure and desire rather than for the good of others. We can see this in very young children who want their own way.

As we grow, the needs of our bodies become our gods so we follow every desire our bodies imagine. God’s purpose for us is that we control our bodies rather than being controlled by them. Sexual immorality is one of our easiest sins to fall into because it is a primary drive in our life – to join with someone to make a family. God created this need in us, but true satisfaction of this need can only come when our drive is controlled to be used only in God’s designed way – one man and one woman dedicated to each other in marriage to a life-long partnership so children can be raised in a safe and loving home. Anything – everything else is sin.

God’s command is for our complete commitment to Him – He wants us to have no other gods in our lives. Addictions are so easily made into gods in our affections and our slavery to them – but God wants us to be free of every slavery to sin. The only way it is possible is to set aside everything else which can keep us from Him. And because God intended the marriage bond to be the strongest relationship we have on earth, the physical relationship is intended to make this bond permanent.

God’s purpose for us is to be pure in our body and mind until our marriage, and then the marriage bed is sanctified by God and used by Him to make the husband and wife into a beautiful picture of how much He loves us as believers, a love giving everything to the other for their good.

Prophecies - Secrets and Mysteries

  

God tells us an important truth about Himself in Isaiah 46:9-10 which we need to understand as we begin: “…I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose.’”

All of creation and time belongs to God. He did not give it to us to be owners; He only asked us to be caretakers of His creation (Genesis 1:28-31 and 1 Corinthians 10:26).

But the interesting thing in the Isaiah verses is that God says He is telling us things, from the very beginning, which will be true at the end. This is called prophecy. Please note, He does not say He tells us everything. There are some things which are secret because we would not be able to understand or live with certain information. For example, if you knew today that you would die tomorrow in a car accident, you would be sad and angry. You would probably make certain to NOT be anywhere near a car tomorrow because you do not want to die. You would want desperately to change God’s plan. Yet, it might be that in your death many people would come to know Jesus. And if you were to live instead, all these people would not accept Him as their Lord and Savior and therefore would go to hell for eternity.

Even Jesus, when He was here on earth, said there were some things from God the Father He also did not know (see Mark 13:32-37).

There are also mysteries named in the Bible which were not revealed for a while, but are revealed at a later time. One of the greatest of these mysteries is the Church. All through the Old Testament God worked with the people of Israel. Yet, He left clues to this mystery in many places, as early as telling Abraham that all the people of the earth would be blessed through him (Genesis 12:3 and Galatians 3:8). We can read a greater detail of this mystery being revealed in Ephesians 3:1-13.

I encourage you, therefore, wherever you find the word “mystery” in the Bible to highlight it and study further on this subject. It is something Jesus wants you to know, but it will be given to you only through diligent study, and your determination to understand it from God’s point of view.

Prayer: Our Lord God, we come to You humbly today to ask Your revelation to our hearts of the things You want us to know. You have said in 1 John 3:3 You want this information to purify us, a purity of desire and ambition and purpose for our lives here on earth. It is also a purity of focus on You and all the things You desire to complete through us before the time is gone. We freely give ourselves to You for Your will to be done through us each moment of this day. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 

A New Creature

God created us with the ability to choose several things. We must choose if we will serve God or someone else. We cannot choose to make no choice – which is simply a choice against God. Jesus said, “If you are not for Me, you are against Me” (Luke 11:23). God never promises us more than one chance. In His grace He may offer us a second chance, or even more, but it is never guaranteed. 

He created us to be loved and to want to be loved. God loves us more than we can ever imagine. His love is beyond anything we have ever seen or known, and yet His is the only love which can ever truly satisfy our need for love.

When He gives us our new living spirit, He gives us the ability to talk with Him, hear Him, understand Him. Learning to do this well, will take the rest of our lives.

When you choose to belong to God you enter a battle zone like you’ve never experienced before because you gain an enemy more powerful than yourself, called Satan, who will hate you simply because God loves you. But do not let this battle discourage you for God has promised us the ultimate victory in this battle...God, now living inside of you, is far greater and more powerful than Satan (1 John 4:4). He has already won (John 16:33). As you allow Him to, He will change you to be like Him (Romans 12:2). Your responsibility is to get to know Him and you can only do this by reading His word (the Bible) and talking with Him. He will take you along a road filled with adventures, pain, terror, despair, love, and joy beyond anything you have ever imagined as well as indescribable peace.

Being a new creature means God is now able to make us into the unique person He created us to be. We must choose every moment to allow His changes to our lives, and we must also obey His every request of us, every command. Being a new creature also means we are set free from slavery to sin. This does not mean we will no longer sin, but it means we can now recognize sin in our life because the Holy Spirit is now able to point it out and we can hear Him (1 John 1:7-9). God promises He will finish what He started in you, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

*What does the hope of promised completion give you?

*How does this encourage you today?

Prayer: Thank you Lord that You have placed Your Holy Spirit in me to lead me, to show me Your love for me and to give me the power to resist the enemy. I rest in You and I thank You Jesus for Your death and resurrection that reconciled me to You. In Your name I pray, Amen. 

What is Salvation?

Read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21  

The question of “Why am I here?” has haunted mankind since after the Garden of Eden. What is my purpose? Who am I? People have tried to explain this many different ways, but there is only one person who can answer this cry satisfactorily – God.

We are created by God. We are created for a purpose, created by design, created because He loved and loves us (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:20-24). He made us in His image – which means we were created to have an eternal soul, the ability to choose, a consciousness of self, and a consciousness of God. We are the only creature on this earth with the ability to conceptualize ideas. But being made in His image also means He intended us to be His representatives in other parts of His creation. Adam and Eve were given responsibility for the garden, and later their descendants were given responsibility for the earth.

When Adam sinned it caused all of us to be born with the same defect. We are born spiritually dead. Adam and Eve chose to disobey God’s commands. This resulted, as God had promised it would, in their deaths. The immediate death Adam and Eve suffered was spiritual death, and ultimately it meant physical death. This dead spirit would be passed on to their offspring. Every human being born since has been born with the same dead spirit inside.

When we accepted Jesus as our Savior, He gave us a new, living spirit. Since God is Spirit (John 4:24), it is man’s spirit that is able to interact with Him. With a dead spirit we cannot interact with Him, obey Him, trust Him, or in any way please Him. So when we are born again, with the ability to love God, it is because He made our spirit alive again.

He decided to provide a way for us to come back to Him. He provided a way we could choose to become His and with this choice He gives our spirit eternal life (the Bible calls it salvation). With our new, living spirit we are able to talk to Him and obey Him.

There is only one way we can come to God. It is His way. It is a way which was completed without any action or effort from us. We cannot contribute a single thing to it. The Way is Jesus, God’s Son, by the death He died for us, and it is sealed – secured – by Jesus’ resurrection from death.

How can we gain this salvation? The Bible shows us the way.

*We must realize we are sinners – Romans 3:23

*We must acknowledge that all we deserve, or will ever deserve, is death – Romans 6:23

*We must believe in Jesus and confess (acknowledge) Him as Lord – Romans 10:9-10

*Accept His gift by faith – Ephesians 2:8

*We must choose to serve Him – Joshua 24:15

Understanding End Times Prophecy

Most of us want to know what lies ahead of us, what the future will hold, and how we can truly prepare for it. God designed us to want this – the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “…He has put eternity into man’s heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

He wants us to yearn for and seek these things through Himself rather than trying to find them through other ways – and the numbers of people who seek such information from fortune-tellers or other ways are pursuing this information from sources which cannot know God’s Truth but are eager to do evil toward the seeker. God warns us, in such places as Deuteronomy 18:9-14, against seeking information from such people. There is judgment coming to those who practice these things as well as to those who hire such people to advise them.

Then why would God place this desire in our hearts? He did so to make us turn to Him for the answers. And yet, He will not tell us everything because He has a purpose for this time of our lives here on earth – to teach us to walk by faith in Him (Hebrews 11:6). If we could know all that the future holds for us, we would never need to learn to walk by faith.

From the very beginning of creation, people have wanted to be independent. God created us to have some choices, so we could choose to love Him. He did not create us to be pets or robots. Remember, the very first temptation for the first people God created, Adam and Eve, was that of “being like gods, knowing good and evil.” This desire, being like God, was the very first sin, the sin of Lucifer. But it was not the “being like God” which was the sin; it was the fact that we would attempt to do so on our own which made it sin. In 1 John 3:2 we read “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”

What an amazing promise! God wants us to be like Him! But this cannot happen by our own efforts; we must allow Him to make us like Himself. This is where trust comes in; we must learn to trust Him to do something in us that we cannot completely understand.

Therefore, in this study of End Times Prophecy, we will learn how to understand the things God has already revealed to us who trust Him. He will not reveal this to anyone who is not His child, nor will He give understanding to us if we simply want to use the information for our own purposes. He wants us to learn to see His way rather than our own way.

Prayer: Father, teach us to know Your way, give us a spirit of trust in You as we have never before trusted. Open up Your Word to us and help us to understand as the days continue to get shorter. Come quickly Lord Jesus we pray, in Your name, Amen. 

Devotion taken from Global Media Outreach 

My God, In You I Trust - Psalm 25:1-2

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame.

Psalm 25:1-2

O Lord, You who rule, Lord of heaven and earth, I call You Lord, though I am not worthy to be called Your servant for from my youth I did not serve You. But I served Your enemy, the devil. Him I served diligently.

Nevertheless, I do not doubt Your grace for I find in the word of Your truth that You are a bountiful, rich Lord to all those who call upon You. Therefore, I call unto You. O Lord hear me, hear me, O Lord! With full confidence and assurance, I lift up, not my head or my hands as the hypocrites do in the temples, but my soul. I lifted up my heart, not to Abraham, for he never knew us, nor to Israel, for he never had knowledge of us, but just to You, for You are our Lord and Father. You are our Redeemer, this is Your name from days of old.

Therefore it is, dear Lord, that I trust in You, for I truly know You are a faithful God over all who trust in You. If I am in darkness, You are my light. If I am in prison, You are with me. If I am forsaken, You are my comfort. If I am in death, You are my life. If they curse me, You bless. If they grieve me, You comfort. If they will kill me, You will raise me up. And if I walk in the dark valley, You will ever be with me. It is right, O Lord, that I lift up my grieved and miserable soul to You, trust in Your promise, and am not ashamed.

Prayers from Rev. Simon, a persecuted Christian 

A Cry in Troubled Times - Psalm 25

Sometimes our lives as believers can be very difficult. David, before he became king of Israel, found it so when he was being hunted by King Saul, his own father-in-law. Saul, out of jealousy and hatred, wanted to kill David. So David escaped with the help of his wife (read the story in 1 Samuel 18-24) and lived in fear for his life for the next few years. The Apostle Paul suffered many things as well – and his list can be read in 2 Corinthians 11:25-27.

In our lifetime we see people facing these same kinds of issues today – people who are being hunted for no other reason than that they believe in Jesus Christ. It is hard to face such persecution. That is when we turn to Scripture to find both advice and comfort.

Other Christians in past years have done the same, and we can learn from their testimonies too. One such instance is this study, written by a minister whose people were being killed for their faith in Jesus. Rev. Simon used the words of David, as they are written in Psalm 25, to talk with God about his own pain and fears.

We pray these lessons will be an encouragement to you as you turn to God in the same way Rev. Simon did. As you hear the heart of this man weeping for his friends who were dying, possibly facing the same kind of treatment if those who sought his life would successfully find him, please also hear the peace and hope in his heart from knowing God was still in control. Please read and hear his confidence that God was very near to those who were being killed. Such hope and peace gives us, as it did Rev. Simon, the ability to praise God even in the face of death (see Matthew 5:10-12).

Psalm 25 Of David.

1 In you, Lord my God,

    I put my trust.

2 I trust in you;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one who hopes in you

    will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

    who are treacherous without cause.

4 Show me your ways, Lord,

    teach me your paths.

5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are God my Savior,

    and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

    for they are from of old.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth

    and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

    for you, Lord, are good.

8 Good and upright is the Lord;

    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right

    and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11 For the sake of your name, Lord,

    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

13 They will spend their days in prosperity,

    and their descendants will inherit the land.

14 The Lord confides in those who fear him;

    he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the Lord,

    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,

    for I am lonely and afflicted.

17 Relieve the troubles of my heart

    and free me from my anguish.

18 Look on my affliction and my distress

    and take away all my sins.

19 See how numerous are my enemies

    and how fiercely they hate me!

20 Guard my life and rescue me;

    do not let me be put to shame,

    for I take refuge in you.

21 May integrity and uprightness protect me,

    because my hope, Lord, is in you.

22 Deliver Israel, O God,

    from all their troubles!

Prayers for Boldness - Acts 4:23-31

These are prayers from the Bible to help us see the God of all seasons!

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. 

“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.

Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of Godl boldly.