Month: November 2019

5.x.  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Revelation 1:9  I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 3:10     Because you have kept my word about patient endurance

Revelation 13:10     If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Romans 5:3-4    Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Romans 8:25    But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

2 Thessalonians 3:5    May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

James 5:7-8    Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Hebrews 10:36    For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Patient endurance is something I am drawn to today.  I wonder how this fits into our lives right now.  Doesn’t it seem like we living in a time of blessing?  Many of us categorize “endurance” as not speaking our mind to someone who has done or said something to us that is not what we expected.  We then go about our day and we stew, complain, and we might even tell someone else of the encounter.  we tell them in such a way that we hope they will join in on our pity party and validate our thoughts.  For sure this is NOT what patient endurance is.  I know I fall into this trap and though I don’t speak up I surely keep the thoughts rolling around in my head.  We all have seen people and how they are responding to situations in their lives.  We admire their response or how they act in times when they are going through a trial or testing.  They seem to have a shield around them that stops the “bad” from affecting their walk with Jesus Christ.  They honor Him through it.  The shield (intentional commitment to living to honor, glorify, follow, obey, trust, rely on, and cling to Jesus Christ) in their life overcomes the self-centered person.  They are kind to others.  They do not complain when trials come their way.  They cling to Jesus Christ through it all and praise His name.

What should patient endurance be like in our lives?

5.w. But you are the same, and your years have no end.

Revelation 1:4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come,

Exodus 3:14    God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

Psalms 90:2    Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Psalms 102:25-27     Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,  but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Isaiah 41:4     Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.

Hebrews 1:10-13     And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,  like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”  And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews 13:8    Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

James 1:17     Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

We all change in some way or another.  We make up our minds and then learn something new and we change it.  We have a great love for someone and then something happens and we change how we feel about them.  We have friends who come into our lives and then for some reason or another, our connection to them changes.  We make decisions and say we will stand firm on them and change our stance.  We design a home or some other project only to find that we would make changes because of what something we missed.  The fact of the matter is that we change and there is variation in what we think and do.  Our stance changes, our firmness changes, our commitments change, and our love changes.  Do we ever wonder if God is like this?  Do we even have a concept of a never-changing God, who was, is, and is to come.  The “I AM”.  The same yesterday, today, and forever? The One who there is no variation. The first and the last.

We do well to remember our unchanging God and walk worthy of who He is.  Our God is never changing.  Always loving with outstretched arms.  Always offering grace, mercy, and Love.  Always wanting us to open the door to our heart to Him.  All things are in and of Him alone.

5.v. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Revelation 1:4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Acts 26:23    that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

1 Corinthians 15:20-23     But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Colossians 1:18   And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Christ has Risen. He has Risen indeed.  Death did not have dominion over Him.  He rose again so that we would have a bright  light of validation of what is to come to those who believe.  We will too, rise again and forever be with Jesus Christ.  This is no small thing and sometimes I wonder if we live to carefree.  We believe in Jesus Christ and life after death but when it comes to lining in such a way that honors, glorifies, reveres, exalts, and gives thanks to Jesus Christ, we live no different than those who have no hope.  We are to live in this world and be a light to Jesus Christ.  There should be a difference in our lives because of what He did in our lives.  There should be a longing to see Him and a desire to live for Him in such a way that this thankfulness and reverence continues to change us.  If there is no difference in our lives and the way we think, act, and speak how is that living worthy of our calling and assurance of being raised from the dead to be with Him forevermore.

Live with your heart, mind, and soulfully directed at humbly living to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.

5.u. For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets

Revelation 1:1-3  The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Daniel 2:28-29    but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:  To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.

Amos 3:7     “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Romans 16:25     Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages

Galatians 1:12    For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:8   But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Romans 13:11    Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

James 5:8-9    You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.  Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

1 Peter 4:7    The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

At the right time, God reveals His mysteries (what has been hidden for ages) to us.  A day is coming and has been foretold when the end of this world and life as we know it will cease. The book of revelation is not some rambling of a weirdo imagination but rather the words of God Himself given to man so that we might know that the end time is at hand.  God makes these revelations known to reveal His all-knowing, all-powerful, and supreme control over His creation.  He makes it known to reveal His love.  He makes it known knowing that it will harden some hearts more and other hearts will be softened and come to saving grace knowledge of Jesus Christ.  He makes it known to give people warning.  He makes it known to give people hope.  Just because some of this revelation seems hard to understand and the full mystery of it has not been made clear does not make it less certain.   Man will choose to believe it or not but the fact remains the end of the world will come.  To some, they do not believe there is life after death or that there is a judgment after death.  They do not believe in heaven or hell.  They do not believe in God.  Oh that their heart would soften, the scales would fall off their eyes and they see, and their deaf ears made to hear of the Love of God through Jesus Christ and be saved.

5.t. Because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience

Job 15:25 Because he has stretched out his hand against God and defies the Almighty, running stubbornly against him with a thickly bossed shield;

Job 15:31  Let him not trust in emptiness, deceiving himself, for emptiness will be his payment. It will be paid in full before his time,

Isaiah 44:20    He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray

Galatians 6:7    Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Ephesians 5:6  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

The verse, “running stubbornly against Him with a thickly bossed shield” can describe many non-believers.  They have not only chosen to disregard God’s call to salvation they also put up a strong shield against that call from God.  I wonder what is was that hardened their heart to the point of actively shielding their heart, mind, and soul against the call of God.  There are those who believe there is a “god” but just don’t believe in God’s wrath and judgment.  They see no need for salvation because they are good enough and sin is what bad people do.  They are much better than these bad people.  There are those who do not believe in God and live according to their culture and the idols or gods their culture accepts.  They close their ears to the call of God and chose to believe a lie and cling to false hope.  There are those who know God and the need for salvation/redemption is real.  They hear the call of God and come to Him for a one and done salvation moment.  They seldom study God’s Word and seem to never grow in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of God.  There is really no apparent change in their life that can be seen by practical application of the principles of God.  They chose to live as an infant.

I really don’t know what person is worse, the openly hardened heart and the defiant person or the complacent, lukewarm, neglectful “Christian”.  The openly defiant person is recognizable and stands up for and defends what they believe even if it is a lie.  People who see them can see a vast difference between them and others.  They can say that life is wrong and I don’t want to be like that.  They may even be driven closer to God because these defiant people expose a choice that needs to be made.

The lukewarm, complacent, and neglectful Christian seems to have a more devastating effect.  People who see them will never see any difference in their lives.  They will never see how Love for Jesus Christ’s sacrifice has changed and continues to change their life. They will never see what it means to be a humble servant.  They will never see what it means to live in such a way to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in what is said and done.  They will never know how what thankful worship is.  But the worst of it is that some may think if this is all a Christian life is I see no need for it, it adds no benefit or change to a person’s life.

We can say all we want about how bad a hardened and defiant hearted person is but truly the person doing much more harm is the acknowledging Christian who lukewarmly waters down the sacrifice Jesus Christ made by living in a chosen state of neglect and complacency.

5.s. “Are the comforts of God too small for you?”

Job 15:11  Are the comforts of God too small for you, or the word that deals gently with you?

2 Corinthians 1:3-5    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Isaiah 51:12    “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,

Psalms 34:2-6    My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.  Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!  I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.  This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.

John 14:18     “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 14:16     And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

John 14:26   But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17     Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,  comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Asking the question, “Are the comforts of God too small for you?” is good of us to ask of ourselves.  Too often we are not content with God supplied comforts or of His word that deals gently with us.  Too often we are not content with the “Helper”, “Holy Spirit” because we have closed our hearts and mind to Him.  We find that yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit is lacking in our daily life and wonder what it even means to be lead by the Holy Spirit.  One reason we may not hear the leading of the Holy Spirit is that we have not cultivated an ear to hear Him speak into our lives.  We can certainly seek and desire to have this leading but being actively listening requires an intentional choice to not only hear but to be willingly going where and doing what the Holy Spirit is leading us.  Another reason why we may not hear the leading of the Holy Spirit is that we are not willing to wait for this leading and we move forward in our own strength, power, and wisdom.  When we do this we leave no room for God’s will to be done but rather what our will expects to be done. Another reason why we may not hear the leading of the Holy Spirit is that we are complacently walking in sin.

Whatever the reason for walking apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit there will always be the consequences of lacking power, faith, joy, peace, love, generosity, courage, faith, and hope in our life.  In this lacking, we will find ourselves being content with worldly things and allowing them to bring meaningless meaning to our lives.   “Are the comforts of God too small for you”

5.r. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Job 14:14  If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin: my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.

Ezekiel 37:11-12   Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’  Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people

1 Corinthians 15:42-44   So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Acts 26:8    Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

1 Thessalonians 4:16    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.

Death of our bodies will happen.  We will all die and enter into eternity.  The physical body we currently have will perish but we will be raised in an imperishable body.  God will raise us from the dead and our dry bones will once again be united with our spiritual body and we will walk with Jesus Christ in our new heavenly home.  Do you remember when Jesus said “I go to prepare a place for you” “In my Father’s house is many rooms”, in this promise we have hope of eternity?  In this promise, we find a reason to live worthy of being called and adopted as children of God.

Job is aware of man’s sin, God’s holiness, man’s death, God’s forgiveness in “till my renewal should come” and “my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity”.  It is more than just knowing about death and resurrection and sin and forgiveness.  It is knowing and living each day with the thought that I could leave this world and enter eternity in a moment.  We never know the exact time or day we will die and enter eternity.  We live most days like it is far off in the distance and give no more thought about it than for a couple of seconds at best if at all.  How would we live if we knew today was our last day in this earthly body?  How would we live if we knew today was our last day to honor, glorify, follow, trust, obey, and rely on Jesus Christ? Would you stand before our Savior and hear “well done my good and faithful servant?”  Or, would you hear “depart from me I do not know you.”

Our walk with Jesus should be much more than a passing thought each day.  It should be the primary and predominant thought throughout each day.

5.q. “Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”

Job 14:1  “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. He comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not. And do you open your eyes on such a one and bring me into judgment with you? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one. Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass, look away from him and leave him alone, that he may enjoy, like a hired hand, his day.

Psalms 103:15-16     As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;  for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.

James 4:14    yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

1 Peter 1:24    for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

Psalms 144:4    Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

Human life, though intense and beautiful in many ways, comes and goes in a season. Even the most productive, most privileged, most adventurous of mortal lives begin to fade just as they get underway.  This is understood and grieved by people of every culture, every generation, and every belief system. Human life is achingly temporary.  Scripture continually reminds us that God has provided (by grace and through faith in Christ) a true home and a secure future on the other side of this temporary life. In Him, we have hope of a future without end.  We must mentally engage in setting all of our hope in God’s future grace for us. We must choose to act as those who are God’s own people, rejecting the evil desires that drove our actions before we knew better. Our choices matter. Our God placed a high value on our lives, paying for them with the blood of Christ. Since God has made us able, we must now strive to earnestly live with our heart, mind, and soul focused on eternity and not the temporary things this world has to offer.

If you have ever raised children you are very aware of their lack of understanding time.  10 minutes or 10 years are the same because they have no point of reference or understanding of time.  Likewise, we as adults, have little to no point of reference or understanding of our length of days this side of eternity and eternity future.  Scripture gives us a glimpse of a reference when it says “ Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow”.

We do well to live out our faith in Christ with hope in eternity future and less hope on what this world has to offer.

5.o. Nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Job 13:15  Though he slay me, I will hope in him;

Psalms 23:4     Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Proverbs 14:32    The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing, but the righteous finds refuge in his death.

Romans 8:38-39    For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Job 19:25-28  For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,  whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

Psalms 27:1   The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

You can hear the love these men of God had for God.  You can hear it in their faith in God.  You can hear it in their hope in God.  When a person makes a life commitment to humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying, relying and trusting in God they have a deeper sense of God’s love and promises.  They are certain that even in worldly death they will be victorious.  They are certain of being with God upon their death.  Can’t you just hear the certainty of this in  “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God,  whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.”  Their hope was not in this life but in the life to come.  In our Sunday morning bible study, a person said this “we don’t spend enough time in God’s Word and because of this, we miss the promises of God and only see things of the world as important”  This is so true isn’t it?  We are so busy that we lose sight of eternity and can only see the present.  The present does not have much to offer our soul.  We do well to keep our eyes on Him who is worthy and has the keys to eternity in His hands.