Resurrection Sunday - Come Lord Jesus!!!

 

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
Revelation 22:20-21 

The book of Revelation can be summed up in two words: God Wins! Believers in Jesus Christ can look with joy and anticipation to the future, when our risen Lord joins heaven and earth together. We know, with the certainty of a promise from Jesus Himself, that the glorious, amazing day described in Revelation 21:1-4 will someday come true. Every tear will be wiped away and we will finally live as God created us to live, totally within His will, reaching our full potential. Our prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus!" is a cry that that day comes soon! 

But it is also a cry for today. Our work now is to bring glimmers of this future glory to our present reality. We can only do this with the help of our living, risen Lord. As Christians, our task is to cry out, "Come, Lord Jesus!" at the face of injustice, poverty, heartbreak and anguish, and together with Christ reach out to offer prayers, relief, truth, comfort and grace. Jesus asks to be invited into every place where His kingdom has yet to be realized, even the depths of our hearts. Come, Lord Jesus! 

Prayer: Dearest Lord Jesus, Thank you for Your death for our sins! Thank you that you rose from the grave! Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven! Come, Lord Jesus! In Your precious name I pray, Amen

* This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 39) - Sacred Moments

  

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:28-32 

These two disciples (Cleopas who was Jesus' uncle, the brother of Joseph, and another disciple) came so close to missing Jesus! As they traveled to an inconsequential town, they chanced upon a stranger. After a compelling conversation, the stranger began to hurry on His way. It was only because of their strong urging that He stayed behind with them. They had no idea that they were about to witness a sacred moment. As Jesus broke the bread, they were able to recognize Him for the first time that entire day. The stories were true! Jesus had risen from the dead!!! As quickly as they comprehended the miracle before them, Jesus vanished, leaving them astounded. 

Isn't that how we often encounter the risen Lord in our lives? Sacred moments come upon us in unexpected places and times. Epiphanies and revelations catch us unaware, and as quickly as we recognize the presence of the Lord, the commonplace closes in again. God's presence is real, but elusive, always at the edge of our vision. Yet as fleeting as that moment was for the disciples, they would never be the same. Whenever we encounter Jesus in our lives, it is our personal sacred experience. When we recognize the living Christ, we are compelled to cry out with the disciples, "The Lord is risen indeed!"

Prayer: Lord Jesus, bless me with sacred moments, when I encounter Your presence in my life. I can't imagine a life lived without You. You are my Lord, my Savior, my Best Friend. In Your name I pray, Amen. 

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion - Why is it Called Good Friday?

 

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Matthew 27:46


Thoughts: (the below article was written by Joni Erickson Tada and Steve Estes)

The face that Moses had begged to see--was forbidden to see--was slapped bloody. The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his own brow.... 

"On your back with you!" One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds his molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together". The victim wills that the soldier live on--he grants the warriors continued existence. 
The man swings. 

As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human forearm--the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless--the nerves perform exquisitely. "Up you go!" They lift the cross. God is on display...and can scarcely breathe. 

But these pains are a mere warm up to his other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during the day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon his spotless being...The apple of his Father's eye turns brown with rot. 

His Father! He must face his Father like this! 

From heaven, the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breathe. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The son does not recognize these eyes. 

"Son of man, why have you behaved so??" You have cheated...stolen, gossiped--murdured, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten...disobeyed...Oh the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name?? Have you ever held your razor tongue? Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions...and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families...acting smugly...accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves--relishing each morsel and bragging about it all! I hate, loathe, these things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me. Can you not feel my wrath??" 

Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this...but the divine pair have an agreement, and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed. 

The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction. 

"Father, Father, why have you foresaken me?!" 

But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who can not, who will not, reach down or reply. 

The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished. 

Prayer: 

Lord Jesus, thank You! Thank You from the bottom of our hearts for rescuing us from sin, from rebellion, from eternal separation and hell. Thank You Jesus. Help us to remember, each day, each moment, what You did for us. Help us to tell other people so that they too, can believe and be saved. May our lives count for Your glory and for Your Kingdom. In Your precious and holy and powerful name we pray, Amen.

Easter Devotion (Good Friday) - His Final Words

We can learn so much about Jesus if we consider what He said on the cross as He was about to die.

His first words were a prayer to the Father: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).

His second words were a pardon to a sinner, a criminal who was crucified next to Him who had said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Jesus replied, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).

Third, seeing His mother standing at the foot of the cross, Jesus said, “Woman, behold your son!” And, no doubt nodding toward the Apostle John who stood beside Mary, He said, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27).

His fourth words were a plea to the Father, most likely when the sin of the world was poured upon Him: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). There on the cross, Jesus bore our sin. On the cross, God the Father treated Jesus as if He had lived your sinful life. And He did this so He could treat you and me as though we had lived His perfect life. That is the good news of the Gospel.

His fifth words were of a personal nature: “I thirst!” (John 19:28). Imagine, this is the Creator of the universe saying, “I thirst.” He could have called in an angel, who would have flown from Heaven with a chilled bottle of water for Him. He could have spoken and a river would have appeared.
But though He was God, He never did miracles for His personal benefit. He only did miracles for the benefit of others. Jesus was fully God and He was fully human. He gave up the privileges of Deity and came to us as a servant. And so He said, “I thirst.”

Now we come to the sixth statement. Jesus said, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). In the original language, it’s the word tetelestai. It means it is completed; it is accomplished; it is done; it is finished. He didn’t say, “I’m finished.” He said, “It is finished.”
“Because the power of sin is broken, you don’t have to be under the power of any sin, any vice, any lifestyle. … You don’t have to be under the power of anything or anyone, because Jesus has purchased your freedom at Calvary.”
What was finished? The work that the Father had given Him to do. Finished were the sufferings of Christ. Never again would He bear the sins of the world. Never again would He even for a moment be forsaken by God. Finished was Satan’s stronghold on humanity. The Bible says, “Through death, Christ destroyed him who had the power of death, who is the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). Death was defeated at the cross of Calvary and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death died when Christ arose.
And He finished our salvation. It’s done. It’s paid for. It’s bought. You don’t need to add anything to it. It’s a gift to you. If you put your faith in Jesus, you can say with confidence, “I know that my sin is forgiven.”

Finally, He gave His seventh and final statement, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit’” (Luke 23:46).

Taken from an article by Greg Laurie Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

Easter Devotion (Good Friday) - His Great Love for Us

 

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,  for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was the Son of God.” When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Luke 23:44-49 

After examining Jesus' last words in the Gospel of Matthew, today we read the Gospel of Luke. At first glance, they seem very different. Matthew's account is a cry of despair and abandonment, whereas Luke's version shows us Jesus' great trust in God and submission to His will. Yet both of them contain quotes from Psalms, so each psalm should be examined in its entirety to understand fully what Jesus was saying. Luke's quote is from Psalm 31:5. Psalm 31, like Matthew's Psalm 22, is a cry for rescue from persecution that ultimately turns to praise. Like Matthew's account, Jesus' death cry holds the promise of hallelujahs to come. 

Yet Luke's story asks us to linger a moment at the foot of the cross. A soldier who had mocked Him realized at the moment of His death that Jesus was righteous - not just merely innocent but loved by God. Imagine the shock and fear he must have felt when he realized what he had just done! Where could one who had just murdered the Son of God find hope and mercy? The beautiful old hymn says it best. Beneath the cross of Jesus is where we are all confronted with "the wonder of redeeming love and my unworthiness." 

Prayer: Lord, keep me at the foot of Your cross, aware of the incredible gift of Your love to me, a sinner. Help me to see anew, this Good Friday, the awesome wonder of what You did for me. May I be eternally grateful and never ashamed of You. I love You Jesus. In Your name I pray, Amen.

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Maunday Thursday) - The Cry of His Son

 

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
Matthew 27:45-50 

What a horrible cry for the Father to hear from His Son!!! How it must have torn the very heart out of God! Yet during His time on the cross, Jesus was truly God-forsaken. Jesus took on all of humanity's sins and suffered execution at the hands of human beings in order to break the power of evil in the world. Because God is the very antithesis of sin, at that moment, God had to turn from the heartrending cry of His only Son.  

Yet this cry is also the first line of Psalm 22. Take a moment to read through the psalm. It is an encapsulation of Jesus' execution, resurrection, and salvation of all of humanity (written hundreds of years before these events actually took place). Although God had turned away at the moment of Christ's cry, by calling out the beginning of the psalm, Jesus was letting all who would hear know that He knew the end of the psalm too. God would rescue Him from death itself!!! 

Through the cross, the world would undergo a radical transformation. Every human being, Jew and Gentile, born and unborn, would recognize the power and the grace of God. Hidden in Jesus' heartbreaking cry from the cross was the hope of all humanity. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me to trust in the Father, even in the depths of despair. Father God, thank you for the incredible love that You have for us that would cause You to be willing to watch Your Son suffer and die for each of us. I praise You, thank You and love You with all my heart! In Your Son's name, Amen. 

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 36) - Total Forgiveness

 

Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
Luke 23:32-34

We've all struggled with forgiveness when we've been wronged. We know that God tells us to forgive, and we also know that forgiving others allows us to move forward and heal. But often our forgiveness is simply turning over the matter to God, trusting that God will hold them accountable for their sins. Even if we forgive, we sometimes take comfort believing that those who have hurt us will have to answer to God and be held accountable for what they have done.

But as Jesus hung on the cross in agony, He not only forgave those responsible for His execution, but asked that God forgive them too. His death on the cross was to be an atonement for all people, even those who had placed Him there to die. His forgiveness was not only personal, but cosmic. In the throes of excruciating death, Jesus asked that the biggest affront humanity had ever made to God be forgiven. 

This is the only reason we can dare to ask God for forgiveness for our sins. Forgiveness from God is a total cleansing, enabling us to stand as new creations, no longer accountable. Instead, our challenge is to live a new life of righteousness, dedicating ourselves to being true servants of Jesus Christ, the Savior who died for us. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me forgive others completely, as You have forgiven me. Help me to live a new life of righteousness, dedicating myself to being a true servant of Yours, Lord Jesus. Thank you for being my Savior. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 35) - The Horror of Gethsemane

 

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
Luke 22:39-46 

Jesus' time in the garden is the most anguished description of prayer in all of Scripture. He was facing humiliation and an agonizing death, but there have been martyrs who have confidently gone to their executions, secure in God's love for them and in their eternity with Him in Heaven. Why then did Jesus suffer so much in Gethsemane? 

Jesus asked for "this cup" to be removed. Throughout Scripture, a cup has been the symbol of God's righteous anger against sin and rebellion. Because Jesus was about to take on the sins of all the world, He would feel the full force of God's wrath falling on Him. The one person who was the closest and most attuned to the will of God and who could feel God's wrath the most acutely would face it with more force and power than anyone had experienced or would ever experience it. The pain that Jesus feared was not physical, as horrible as that would be. It was not about what humans could do to Him, but about the intense pain of anger and alienation from the Father. 

This is the horror of Gethsemane that night. It is what Jesus suffered for you and me. We never will be forsaken by God, no matter what, because Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath for us. 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I cannot even comprehend what You have done for me. Thank You for taking on God's wrath for my salvation. What I could never do, You did because You love me so much. I love you too, with all my heart! In Your Precious Name Lord Jesus, Amen. 

*This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Where is Jesus in Alzheimers and Dementia?

Before my mom went to be with Jesus, she suffered from Dementia and Alzheimer’s for a number of years. We watched her slowly lose interest in how she looked, in politics, and playing games with her family… Driving, a clean house. She lost interest and the memory of so many of the things that were important to her throughout her life. 

But the one thing she never lost interest in or love for, is the Lord Jesus Christ! Even when her mind couldn’t hold onto other things, Jesus was holding onto her! Her last words before she went to meet him in heaven were the words of the song "Jesus loves me". 

As I thought about this truth, I realize that those last few years were a picture of the assurance that each of us has that it’s not about us holding onto Jesus Christ, but it’s about Him holding onto us. “ For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him, (my faith in Him), until that day!” 2 Timothy 1:12

So, where is Jesus in Alzheimers and Dementia? He's right beside your loved one! If they put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, even if they don't remember your name at times, they will not forget Jesus. In fact, these terrible diseases seem to bring a person back to the only thing that truly matters in this world and in the world to come...knowing Jesus. Be encouraged and trust Him for your eternity! 

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 

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 creatures 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. They chose to know evil and to doubt God's guidance and His goodness. 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, that we could choose, to become His.  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

The Cosmic Battle for Humanity

 

What happened in Bethlehem (Herod's murder of all baby boys two years old and under - Matthew 2:16), was yet another stage in the conflict God had announced in Genesis 3:15. 

And I will put enmity (warfare)

    between you and the woman,

    and between your offspring and hers;

He will crush your head,

    and you will strike His heel.”

The seed/offspring of the serpent would oppose and eventually seek to crush the seed of the woman. The story that began in Genesis 3:15 was now running on through Matthew 2:1-17 and 16:18 to its climax. John saw this conflict in dramatic and symbolic form in the book of Revelation: 

1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

The "great red dragon" was "that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world" (v 9). And now, in the real-time version of John's vision, the Child had been born. The coming of the wise men was the first hint that the undeceiving of the nations had begun. And so the evil one let loose his lieutenant, King Herod, against the Child. 

We now live at a different point of John's vision: "The dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (v 17). 

Perhaps as you look at the world around you today, it feels as though the dragon must be winning - as Christians around the world suffer attack and harassment, as non-Christians hear the Gospel yet remain blind to the message, and as Satan accuses and tempts you on the battleground of your own heart. Yet however fierce the heat, hold onto our Savior's promise: "I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18). 

Taken from The Dawn of Redeeming Grace by Sinclair B. Ferguson

The War Against Christ - Herod's Killing Spree

 

 "Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old and under, according to the time he had ascertained from the wise men." Matthew 2:16

Couldn't we linger longer on the birth of Jesus, the shepherds and wise men worshipping Him and the angels praising Him with glorious song? Why speak of these ghastly details, Matthew? 

"If we skipped these verses, we would be missing something that Matthew wants to tell us. Embedded in Matthew's Gospel from the very beginning is the message that Jesus the Savior is for all the nations. Matthew begins with the Savior's family tree punctuated by Gentile women, tells us about Gentile scholars from the East seeking Him, and then records Jesus Himself being carried to the land of Egypt. And the Gospel ends with Him sending His apostles to make disciples of 'all nations.' His birth has worldwide significance. To use the language of Revelation, Jesus has come so that 'Satan...might not deceive the nations any longer' (Revelation 20:2-3). 

It is against this background that Matthew records how Satan tempted Jesus (Matt. 4:1-11); how one of His own disciples sought to divert Him (16:21-23); how religious leaders plotted against Him (21:45; 26:3-5); how another of His disciples betrayed Him (26:14-16); and eventually how His enemies, spiritually blinded, crucified the Lord of glory (26:47 - 27:50; 1 Corinthians 2:9). 

We have seen the explanation for this. At the center of Matthew's Gospel stands Jesus' vision statement:    'I will build my church!' (Matt. 16:18). He does this on enemy-occupied territory in the face of the 'gates of Hell.' (look into Mount Hermon and Caesarea Philipi and the incredibly wicked practices that went on there - Caesarea Phillipi). Jesus didn't want His followers hiding from evil. He wanted them to storm the gates of Hell. He was commissioning them to a huge task: to attack evil, and to build the Church on the very places that were most filled with moral corruption and wickedness. And He assures us, the gates of Hell 'shall not prevail.'

But it will not be for want of trying. Herod's murder of these little boys tells us how vicious Satan's opposition to Jesus is. This was the opening salvo of a war that would be waged against our Lord for the rest of His life. Herod himself was but a lieutenant in the history-long strategy of Satan to prevent Jesus accomplishing what He came into the world to do: namely, 'save His people from their sins' (1:21).

Taken from The Dawn of Redeeming Grace by Sinclair B. Ferguson

Out of Egypt...I called My Son

 

 "Now when they (the wise men) had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the Child to destroy Him.' And he rose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet (Hosea 11:1), 'Out of Egypt I called My Son.'"

The point in this story of Egyptian exile is about Jesus' identity; for later, once Herod was dead, Jesus would be brought out of Egypt, and thus fulfill Hosea 11:1...which reflects on the rescue of God's people - His "son" Israel - from slavery in Egypt. 

In Matthew's account of their escape to Egypt, "there are echoes of the story told in Genesis and Exodus. A family goes down into Egypt; a child is rescued from a wicked ruler; he grows up and leads his people out of their bondage; they pass through the waters of the sea; they are tested in the wilderness; eventually they reach the borders of the promised land. 

These events are like a shadow cast backwards into history from the life of the Lord. He is the reality. He is the true Son of God who was called out of Egypt; He would go through the waters in His baptism in the River Jordan (Matthew 3:1-17); He would be tested in the wilderness (4:1-11).

Matthew is telling us that in Jesus a greater exodus has begun. 30 years later, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus would discuss with Moses and Elijah the 'departure' (literally the "exodus", Luke 9:31) that He was about to accomplish in Jerusalem. This true and final exodus would not be a physical deliverance from an earthly pharaoh. It would be deliverance from Satan, and from the guilt, and power, and shame of sin.

Jesus being taken into Egypt was not simply for His own safety. It was to fulfill a prophecy - to fill out and fill up a pattern that God had written into His own people's history to point them forward to the full and final exodus that would bring us eternal salvation. And brought it He has! Now there is no earthly danger, worldly power, or spiritual snare that His people need to fear. 

Everywhere we look into this story, we discover that it is all about salvation. That is its central message. That is the Christmas message. And it is our greatest need. If only we would see it!"

Taken from The Dawn of Redeeming Grace by Sinclair B. Ferguson

Marked with a Cross

 

Then the glory of the God of Israel rose from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the LORD, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.” And as I listened, He said to the others, “Follow him through the city and start killing; do not show pity or spare anyone!…. Ezekiel 9:3-5

This occurred in the vision given to Ezekiel, by God, after God had shown him the incredible extent of idol worship in the temple of Jerusalem and in the surrounding area...along with the total depravity of their society. God's glory would now leave the temple and utter destruction would fall on Jerusalem/Israel. This happened in history through the Babylonian invasion. 

But before God's judgement would fall, He had one of His angels/cherubim go throughout the city of Jerusalem and mark the foreheads of all those who were greatly disturbed and saddened by the abominations and evil in their land...those who were saddened by the lack of love, worship, obedience and respect for Almighty God. 

The word "mark" is the Hebrew word "tav." (mark - as a sign of exemption from judgment). And from the Hebrew-Chaldee (Babylonian) Lexicon - "a sign in the form of a CROSS branded on the thigh or neck of horses and camels...which in Phoenician, and on the coins of the Maccabees has the form of a CROSS." Lexicon

Wow! So in Ezekiel's vision, he saw an angel dressed in linen, go throughout the city of Jerusalem and mark the foreheads of those who were grieved over the great sins of that city, with a CROSS! This mark of the CROSS on their foreheads, by an angel, would save them from the coming destruction! 

I sit in absolute AWE of God's Word! Once again, it points to JESUS. 

What is God's Wrath?

 

God’s wrath is His righteous response to the wickedness of sin and all who defy Him. His wrath is not an emotional response like human anger. God does not seek “payback” or “to get even.” Instead, God’s wrath is His settled, holy and measured reaction to the evil that destroys the beauty and wholeness He created. Because God is holy, He cannot compromise with sin and look the other way. God’s overwhelming passion for purity and all that is just and good moves Him to action. God exercises His wrath as a judicial act against rebellion and those who sin against Him (Exodus 15:7; Luke 21:22-24; Romans 1:18-20; 2:5-6; Revelation 6:16).

All people are born with a sin nature, and God’s wrath “rests” on every person from birth. Because of our sin nature, God’s wrath is the biggest problem people face, though most do not realize this. Only those who believe in Jesus Christ escape God’s wrath (John 3:36; Romans 5:9; 8:1; Ephesians 2:3-5). Believers deserve God’s wrath just like unbelievers but are rescued from wrath only because Jesus took the wrath that believers deserve.

Some dismiss God’s wrath as a “hellfire and brimstone” message intended to scare people into loving God. Most people reject or ignore the reality of God’s wrath and judgment. The thought that God would stand against people He created offends many. When Abraham heard of the grievous evil in Sodom, he struggled with God’s plan to destroy the city. When we fail to believe in God’s wrath, this wrong thinking leads to a casual approach to God and sin. 

In our culture today, many people will not call anything wrong, much less sinful. Public opinion scoffs at the idea that God even cares about what people do. People reject the gospel because they fail to believe that personal sinfulness deserves God’s holy judgment. This is a serious, fatal and eternal error.

The reality of God’s wrath may not be pleasant, but awakens us to the seriousness of rejecting God’s offer of grace and rescue through Jesus Christ. Discomfort with this truth does not make it less true. Does the reality of God’s wrath motivate you to pray for unbelievers and to share the gospel?

Understanding God’s wrath helps you recognize the seriousness of sin and its offense to Holy God. Believing we deserve God’s wrath elevates the wonder of salvation in Christ. The depth of this truth should be intensely personal. How incredible that God would love, seek and save ME, a rebel! 

Habakkuk prayed, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath, remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:1-2). If I am in Christ, though I deserve wrath, I receive mercy. What a wonderful, merciful Savior!  (BSF International)

How the Disciples of Jesus Died

 

1. Matthew. Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, Killed by a sword wound.

2. Mark. Died in Alexandria, Egypt , after being dragged by Horses through the streets until he was dead.

3. Luke. Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous Preaching to the lost.

4. John. Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge Basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered From death.
John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve As Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully

5. Peter. He was crucified upside down on an x shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6. James. The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club.

This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7. James the Son of Zebedee was a fisherman by trade when Jesus Called him to a lifetime of ministry. 

As a strong leader of the church, James was beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. 

Later, the officer Walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and Knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

8. Bartholomew. Also known as Nathaniel. He Was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

9. Andrew. He Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. 

His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words, "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it". He continued to preach to his tormentors For two days until he expired.

10. Thomas. He Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Subcontinent.

11. Jude. He Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

12. Matthias. The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot. He was stoned and then beheaded.

13. Paul. He Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament. 

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor to compare to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their times For the sake of the Faith.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Pass on to encourage other Christians. Why Do we feel sleepy in Prayer, but stay awake through a 3 hour movie?
Why are we so bored when we look at the HOLY BOOK. But find it easy to read other books?

Why is it so easy to ignore a message about God,
Yet we forward the nasty ones?

Why are Prayers getting smaller, but bars and clubs are expanding.

Why is it so easy to worship a celebrity, but very difficult to engage with God?

Streams in the Desert - With Me in the Storm

  

The wind was contrary (Matt. 14:24).

Rude and blustering the winds of March often are. Do they not typify the tempestuous seasons of my life? But, indeed, I ought to be glad that I make acquaintance with these seasons. Better it is that the rains descend and the floods come than that I should stay perpetually in the Lotus Land where it seems always afternoon, or in that deep meadowed Valley of Avilion where never wind blows loudly. 

Storms of temptation appear cruel, but do they not give intenser earnestness to prayer? Do they not compel me to seize the promises with a tighter hand grip? Do they not leave me with a character refined?

Storms of bereavement are keen; but, then, they are one of the Father's ways of driving me to Himself, that in the secret of His presence His voice may speak to my heart, soft and low. There is a glory of the Master which can be seen only when the wind is contrary and the ship tossed with waves.

"Jesus Christ is not my security against the storms of life, but He is my perfect security in the storms. He has never promised me an easy passage, only a safe landing."

Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale,
And then, no matter what winds prevail,
No reef can wreck you, no calm delay;
No mist shall hinder, no storm shall stay;
Though far you wander and long you roam
Through salt sea sprays and o'er white sea foam,
No wind that can blow but shall speed you Home.
--Annie Johnson Flint

Taken from Streams in the Desert devotional 

Streams in the Desert - We Will See Jesus Face to Face

 

 I do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy of mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon us" (Rom. 8:18).

A remarkable incident occurred recently at a wedding in England. A young man of large wealth and high social position, who had been blinded by an accident when he was ten years old, and who won University honors in spite of his blindness, had won a beautiful bride, though he had never looked upon her face. A little while before his marriage, he submitted to a course of treatment by experts, and the climax came on the day of his wedding.

The day came, and the presents, and guests. There were present cabinet ministers and generals arid bishops and learned men and women. The bridegroom, dressed for the wedding, his eyes still shrouded in linen, drove to the church with his father, and the famous oculist met them in the vestry.

The bride entered the church on the arm of her white-haired father. So moved was she that she could hardly speak. Was her lover at last to see her face that others admired, but which he knew only through his delicate finger tips?

As she neared the altar, while the soft strains of the wedding march floated through the church, her eyes fell on a strange group. The father stood there with his son. Before the latter was the great oculist in the act of cutting away the last bandage.

The bridegroom took a step forward, with the spasmodic uncertainty of one who cannot believe that he is awake. A beam of rose-colored light from a pane in the chancel window fell across his face, but he did not seem to see it.

Did he see anything? Yes! Recovering in an instant his steadiness of mien, and with a dignity and joy never before seen in his face, he went forward to meet his bride. They looked into each other's eyes, and one would have thought that his eyes would never wander from her face.

"At last!" she said. "At last!" he echoed solemnly, bowing his head. That was a: scene of great dramatic power, and no doubt of great joy, and is but a mere suggestion of what will actually take place in Heaven when the Christian who has been walking through this world of trial and sorrow, shall see Him face to face.
--Selected

Just a-wearying for you,
Jesus, Lord, beloved and true;
Wishing for you, wondering when
You'll be coming back again,
Under all I say and do,
Just a-wearying for you.

Some glad day, all watching past,
You will come for me at last;
Then I'll see you, hear your voice,
Be with you, with you rejoice;
How the sweet hope thrills me through,
Sets me wearying for you.

From Streams in the Desert devotional