March 17, 2023: 2 Peter 2:2 - Many will Follow Blasphemers

“And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.” - 2 Peter 2:2

What is blasphemy? Dictionary.com defines it as, “To speak impiously or irreverently of (God or sacred things).” Strong’s Concordance defines it as, “To slander, hence to speak lightly or profanely of sacred things.” In this Scripture verse, Peter is referring to the false teachers he discussed in verse 1, “who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” Peter is saying that the congregation - the people attending the churches who are listening to these types of people teaching and leading them - instead of opposing the false teachings and holding the church leaders to account, or even leaving the churches, not only stay in them but follow their destructive ways. When they do, they are blaspheming the way of truth.

What is the way of truth? This could be referring to several things, including:

• God is Truth: The song of Moses declares of God:

“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

• Jesus is the Only Way to God the Father: The words of Jesus in the Bible tell us in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus tells us that narrow is the way that leads to life:

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-15)

Ephesians 2:8 tells us we cannot earn our entry into heaven by anything that we do: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

When Jesus was brought by His accusers before Pontius Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You a king then?” and Jesus answered him:

“You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (John 18:37)

• Spirit of Truth: God sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth and to bring glory to Jesus. “But when the Helper [or Comforter] comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” (John 15:26) “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-15)

• The Bible is the Truth of God: “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

When a false teacher denies any of these truths - that there is only one true God; all of the Bible is given by inspiration of God; He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17); and after Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, He sent His Holy Spirit to testify of Him, then they are blasphemers and will be held accountable to God, as Peter discusses later in this chapter.

This chapter of 2 Peter is a difficult one. It is difficult to read, and it is difficult to write about. However, Peter did write about this to warn believers in Christ that it is critical to beware of false prophets, false teachers and false doctrines so that we are not deceived and led astray. I think it is also no coincidence that in 1 Peter chapter 1, Peter spoke of the importance of prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy is confirmation for us that the word of God is true, for no one could prophesy with such accuracy all of the events that have happened hundreds and even thousands of years before they were foretold unless they were prophesied by God; only He knows the end from the beginning. He is truth, and belief in His Son Jesus is the only way to Him.

During His time of ministry, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the well and was talking with her, which was not customary since Jews did not speak to Samaritans. He had asked her for a drink of water, and she had given Him some. After talking with her about the living water that only He can provide, He told her that she had had five husbands and the man she was with was not her husband. She told Jesus that she perceived He was a prophet. She said to Him:

“‘Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” (John 4:20-26)

The word of God tells us what happens to those who reject the truth, and it is not good. In the book of Romans chapter 1 verses 18-32, it speaks of the consequences of those who reject the truth of God.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that He made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their own thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:18-23).

The Scripture above clearly says that those who reject the truth of God are without excuse because everything that is made speaks to a Creator. I would say this is especially since the discovery of DNA and the realization of just how complex it is and how it demonstrates purposeful design by our great God and Creator.

This passage of Scripture also goes on to tell of three times that God gave them over and why:

1. Romans 1:24: “Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

2. Romans 1:20: “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another…”

3. Romans 1:28-32: “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

In the Scriptures above, I have emphasized in certain words bold text above. How many times just in the past few years have we seen prominent church leaders, including pastors and worship leaders, leave the church for the same reasons described above?

There is coming a day, and I believe it’s not far off, when the man of sin, the son of perdition, the final Antichrist will be the ultimate deceiver and will lead the majority of people alive at that time to destruction. He is the one “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) The apostle Paul tells us who will be deceived by him and why:

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, when the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2  Thessalonians 2:7-12)

This aligns perfectly with what Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews:

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:18-21)

For unbelievers, I cannot urge you strongly enough to turn to Jesus Christ and believe on Him as your Savior today, before it’s too late. Please, do not be deceived by the lies of Satan.

For my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I leave you with the words of the apostle John, who tells how we can guard ourselves against false prophets and false teachers and not be deceived:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1-6) ✝️

March 15, 2023: 2 Peter 2:1 - Beware of False Teachers in the Church

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” - 2 Peter 2:1

Peter the apostle knew Jewish history and that there had been false prophets who deceived many and because of it had brought God’s judgment. One example is during the time after Israel was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Ahab, the king of Israel, who worshipped false gods and “did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him,” (1 Kings 16:33) didn’t want to hear the truth; instead, he wanted to hear only good news of himself as spoken of by his so-called prophets. When he asked the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat go fight with him at Ramoth Gilead to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria, Jehoshaphat wanted to inquire of the Lord as to whether or not they should do it but Ahab instead wanted to inquire of his 400 “prophets.” Of course, his prophets told Ahab, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.” Jehoshaphat, still wanting to inquire of the Lord said to Ahab, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of Him?” Ahab told him there was one and his name was Micaiah. However, Ahab said of Micaiah, “…but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Ahab ended up calling Micaiah to him to prophesy but the person who worked for Ahab, his messenger, had gone to get Micaiah and told Micaiah, “Now listen, the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement.” However, Micaiah told him, “As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak.” Micaiah told Ahab what the Lord had told him and what he had seen, including “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.” (1 Kings 22:17) Then Micaiah said, “Therefore look! The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has declared disaster against you.” (1 Kings 22:23) One of the false prophets to the king then struck Micaiah on the cheek and Ahab had him imprisoned.

Ahab and Jehoshaphat went ahead and invaded Ramoth Gilead, ignoring what the Lord had told Micaiah. Ahab disguised himself and went into battle. Unbeknownst to him, the Syrian king had told his army only to fight Ahab, the king of Israel, and not anyone else. When the Syrian army saw Jehoshaphat, thinking he was the king of Israel, they went to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out. They realized he wasn’t king Ahab and turned back. However, one man of the Syrian army drew a bow and struck the disguised Ahab. Realizing he was going to die, Ahab sent all of the men fighting with him and Jehoshaphat back to their land and they fled, and king Ahab died. 1 Kings chapter 22 provides more detail than I did, but everything that Micaiah prophesied would happen, did happen. Yet, Ahab had chosen to ignore the words Jehoshaphat had spoken through the Spirit of God, instead listening to the smooth words of his false prophets, to his own death and destruction.

The prophet Micah also warned of false prophets. He warned the princes and people of Jerusalem who were rich and influential and were oppressing and abusing the poor for personal gain:

“Her heads judge for a bribe, her priests teach for pay, and her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD, and say, ‘Is not the LORD among us? No harm can come upon us.’ “ (Micah 3:11)

Oh, how do we see these types of false prophets in our world today! We see this type of attitude and perspective from the rulers in the USA and all over the world today! I think there is a majority of Americans who think like those prosperous rulers in Israel that Micah was speaking to that America is untouchable, that nothing can bring it down. Judges, priests, pastors, and prophets are bought and sold to the highest bidder, judging and preaching as they are told. But as we have seen in Israel and in Judah, and also in the times of Noah and Lot, God’s judgment will come, and I believe God’s judgment is already happening in America, and will continue. Why? Because the churches have been and are still being led at an increasing rate by false teachers. Instead of standing up for what is right in the eyes of God, they are caving to the dictates of powerful, wealth, sinful, and deceptive rulers who have thrown God out of everything, such that there are even so-called “pastors” who are proclaiming that the Christian faith must be “unhitched” from the Old Testament. We have pastors who during COVID chose to close their doors to their congregants for worshipping God and yet re-opened them as vaccine sites and received payment by the government.

There are people who are leaders in churches who openly support and promote abortion and living lifestyles that God calls out as sinful in the Bible. Instead of encouraging their congregants to pray to the Holy Spirit to help them stop committing these sins, they tell them they are approved of by God Himself. They have opened the wide gate and are leading many down the broad road that leads to destruction. Yes, we are all sinners, and yes, we all need a Savior and that Savior is Jesus Christ and salvation only comes through believing in Him as the One sent by God to save all who believe in Him. Once one has made that decision, however, God does not expect us to just go on with our sinful lives and do whatever makes us happy. No, God wants us to fight against that temptation to sin by putting on His whole armor and not letting the enemy - Satan - have his way with us.

When the Jewish religious leaders had caught a woman in the act of adultery and brought her to Jesus, He said to the leaders who wanted her to be stoned to death, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” None of them cast a stone at her and instead walked away after Jesus twice wrote something on the ground. We don’t know what He wrote, but perhaps it was something that they themselves had done, something that was sinful. After they left, Jesus asked the woman where were her accusers and had any of them condemned her. She answered, “No one, Lord.” Jesus told her neither did He condemn her but He also said something else to her. What did He say? Did He tell her to go and continue to sin because it makes her feel good? Did He tell her that adultery wasn’t a sin? Did He say that as long as society thinks it’s acceptable that it’s okay for her to do it? No! He told her, “…go and sin no more.” I believe He was talking about her specific sin of adultery, not that He never expected her ever to sin again in her life, because that is not humanly possible as long as we are still alive on this earth in our fleshly, non-perfected, non-glorified bodies. Jesus then said this: “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:1-12) Clearly Jesus sees committing what the Bible calls sin as walking in the darkness. Sadly, that is what our country is doing, we are walking in darkness while we claim to be Christian. If most professing Christians would read their Bibles for themselves and stop attending churches that do not preach the whole counsel of God, they would know that in the end times it is prophesied by the true prophets of God that darkness - perilous times - would increase and false teachers will arise and will deceive many.

Is it any wonder that as our nation is distancing itself further and further from Jesus Christ that we see increased chaos and immorality in our nation? Is it any surprise that in a recent Barna Research poll that only 4% of American adults have a Biblical worldview? Before I discuss that further, let’s look at an excerpt from a January 12, 2004 from barna.com regarding a Barna Research poll at that time of protestant pastors (See: https://www.barna.com/research/only-half-of-protestant-pastors-have-a-biblical-worldview/):

“Based on interviews with 601 Senior Pastors nationwide, representing a random cross-section of Protestant churches, Barna reports that only half of the country’s Protestant pastors – 51% – have a biblical worldview. Defining such a worldview as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible, and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize), the researcher produced data showing that there are significant variations by denominational affiliation and other demographics.”

Based on this poll and fast-forward to 2022, it is no surprise that only 4% of American adults have a Biblical worldview and only 9% of professing Christians say they have a Biblical worldview (See: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/barna-biblical-worldview-held-by-only-4-of-adults/):

Barna’s definition of a biblical worldview included a belief that absolutes exist and a belief that the Bible defines them. Additionally, the definition stipulated a belief that: Christ lived a sinless life; God is the “all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He stills rules it today”; salvation is by grace and not by works; Satan is a real being; Christians have a responsibility to witness; and the Bible is “accurate in all of its teachings.”

Why is this happening? Because we have wolves in sheep’s clothing leading the sheep, exactly as the apostle Peter warned about and as was prophesied would happen during the end times. How better to try and bring down the church than to plant false teachers within it? The book of Jude echoes the apostles’ warnings of false teachers that will deceive many in the last days:

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 16-19)

Paul warned of perilous times and perilous men in the last days:

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” (2 Timothy 3:1-9)

These are the characteristics of the general population in the world during the last days, and we are absolutely there. Paul goes on to warn those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ:

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing them from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:12-17)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Jesus warned His disciples about the signs of His second coming and of the end of the age:

“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:10-11)

How many pastors are not preaching and teaching about this to their congregation in churches today? How many don’t because they don’t want to offend anyone by convicting us of our sins? Instead, they are preaching all about love: love, love, love. Yes, Jesus does love us, and He loves us so much so that He doesn’t want us to remain in our sin but to turn away from it. He even told us, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15). Why? Because sin destroys, and it is what Satan uses to tempt us and turn us against God. Remember his words to Eve when he said to her, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). He questioned the word of God, just as so-called pastors today are questioning that the Bible is the word of God and they are destroying many lives. Jesus loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to remain in sin and be slaves to it, just as He demonstrated when He said to the woman caught in adultery, “Go and sin no more.”

We clearly live in the time of the last days before the return of Jesus. If you are attending a church that does not preach the whole word of God, including the prophetic books, if your pastor is not warning you about deception that is occurring all around the world but perhaps instead is preaching and teaching what was warned about by Jesus and His apostles, I strongly urge you to pray about it and ask God if you should get out of that church. Ask the Holy Spirit for you to be able to discern who is of Him, who is not of Him, and only listen to who is of Him. Also, listen to what the pastor says and see if it aligns with the word of God. If it doesn’t, then you are being deceived by an end times false pastor that is leading you astray. Don’t let Satan win, don’t listen to his lies; while they are smooth and appealing, so can poison be when a little is mixed with water.

I leave you with the words of the apostles Peter and Paul:

“Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for:

‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:5-11)

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Galatians 6:7-8) ✝️

March 13, 2023: 2 Peter 1:20-21 - Bible Prophecy is Not of the Will of Man but of God

“…knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” - 2 Peter 1:20-21

How many times have we seen in our modern, high-tech world today when so-called prophets prophesied that certain events would happen only to see that they in fact did not happen? When it comes to prophecy, you have to look at the track record of fulfilled prophecy, how many times the predictions actually came true. The same is true with Bible prophecy. It has been said that at least 27% of the Bible is prophecy, the telling of events before they happen, hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before they happen.

Sometimes it takes a long time for the prophetic events to be fulfilled. One example is the prophecy in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, that prophecies there would be enmity or hatred between the serpent, the devil, and Eve, the woman.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman [Eve], and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head; and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Satan took on the form of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and deceived Eve into eating the fruit of the one tree that God forbade her and Adam from eating. Because of it, God said there would be hatred against Satan and the woman, and since all people descend from Adam and Eve, this extends to all of humanity. Satan and his fallen angels hate humans and have been warring against them since the fall in Genesis.

The second part of this prophecy in Genesis 3:15 is that there would be hatred between Satan’s seed and Eve’s Seed. Women do not have seed, only men do. The Seed prophesied here is Jesus, whose name means “Savior.” Jesus wasn’t conceived by the seed of a human man and the egg of a woman. Rather, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit through a young virgin named Mary, who was related to Eve.

After Jesus was baptized by John and before Jesus began His ministry and chose His apostles, Satan tempted Him three times. When did Satan do this? It was after Jesus had been led to the wilderness and after He had fasted 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was hungry and likely weak after not eating for 40 days. After each of the three temptations by Satan, three times Jesus quoted Scripture to him. Why did Satan do that? He wanted to try and kill Jesus before He could tell people the reason why He came to earth: to offer salvation from sins by believing in Him, God’s only begotten Son. Satan wanted to stop Jesus even before He even started, but he did not succeed. How many times has Satan tempted us when we are weak?

Genesis 3:15 prophesies that Satan will bruise Jesus’ heel but Jesus will bruise his head. Satan did bruise Jesus’ heel when Jesus was crucified and nails bore Him to the cross, including one or more nails through His feet. An article from forbes.com dated December 8, 2015 writes about crucifixion and includes photographs of an ancient foot bone of a man that had been crucified and shows a nail through the heel of the foot. It also shows a reconstruction of the placement of the nail through the heel of the foot. (See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/12/08/this-bone-provides-the-only-skeletal-evidence-for-crucifixion-in-the-ancient-world/?sh=3e168c75476d)

Per the article (emphasis in bold added):

“When nails were involved, they were long and square (about 15cm long and 1cm thick) and were driven into the victim's wrists or forearms to fix him to the crossbar.  Once the crossbar was in place, the feet may be nailed to either side of the upright or crossed.  In the first case, nails would have been driven through the heel bones, and in the second case, one nail would have been hammered through the metatarsals in the middle of the foot.  To hasten death, the victim sometimes had his legs broken (crurifragium); the resulting compound fracture of the shin bones may have resulted in hemorrhage and fat embolisms, not to mention significant pain, causing earlier death.”

The method of crucifixion was not even invented until approximately 300-400 BC and yet the book of Genesis prophecies of something that would in fact happen to Jesus Christ long before it happened in approximately 33 AD. While the Bible does not explicitly state who wrote the book of Genesis, it is widely believed that it was written by Moses, and that it was written during the time when he led the Israelites out of Egypt between 1440-1400 BC. One article discusses this and gives reasoning as to why it is believed that Moses did write it (see: https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_678.cfm). Thus, we have the prophecy written approximately 1440-1400 BC and being fulfilled in approximately 33 AD.

In the Bible, there are many descriptions of Jesus being compared to a Lamb. John the Baptist even proclaimed, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Isaiah the prophet prophesied of the Savior in Isaiah 53:6-7 being led as a lamb to the slaughter. This was fulfilled when Jesus was tried and found guilty during the mock Jewish and Roman trials, prior to being crucified:

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53:6-7)

The night before the Exodus, when Moses would lead God’s people, the Israelites, out of their 400-year period of bondage in Egypt, God instituted the Passover with His people. The Passover involves slaughtering an unblemished 1-year old male lamb, taking a bunch of hyssop, dipping it in the blood, and then striking the doorposts and the lintels of the houses with the blood. The blood would be a sign that when God sent the tenth and final plague of the death of all the firstborn of all people and animals in Egypt, when He saw the blood on the doorposts and lintels, then God would pass over the door and prevent all of the Israelites’ firstborns from being killed. The Pharaoh of Egypt finally relented after this plague after his own firstborn was killed.

As part of the Passover, God also commanded the Israelites to roast the slaughtered lamb in the fire in its entirety and then eat it: “Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - its head with its legs and its entrails.” (Exodus 12:9) God also commanded: “In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside of the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.” There is a psalm that reads: “He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken.” This is a prophecy of Jesus, the Passover Lamb, that was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified.

To understand just how brutal and horrific crucifixion was, I have copied a link below to a Pubmed article that discusses the inventors and "perfecters” of it and which also describes the process of crucifixion. I highly encourage that you read this to understand all that Jesus suffered in order that we might be saved. (See: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14750495/).

In the referenced article, it states:

“Death was probably commonly precipitated by cardiac arrest, caused by vasovagal reflexes, initiated inter alia by severe anoxaemia, severe pain, body blows and breaking of the large bones. The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim.”

However, in the gospel of John after Jesus said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30), it reads:

“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies [i.e., Jesus’ body and the two other men who were crucified at the same time Jesus was] should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

“And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, ‘Not one of His bones shall be broken.’’ And again another Scripture says, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.’” (John 19:34-37)

The Scripture above from John fulfills a prophecy from the book of Psalms, written by King David, and two prophecies from the book of Zechariah, a prophet:

“For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all my bones. They look and stare at Me.” (Psalm 22:16)

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

“And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms [hands]?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’” (Zechariah 13:6)

A prophecy in Psalm 22:17 was fulfilled and was also written about in John’s gospel account:

“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each solider a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,’ that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

‘They divided My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’ (Psalm 22:17)

Therefore the soldiers did these things.” (John 19:23-24)

I have provided just several of the many prophecies that have already been fulfilled, and there are many, many more yet to be fulfilled. I would venture to say that the majority of the Bible is prophecy, and that prophecy was given to us so that we would read God’s word for ourselves, study it, and be able to recognize that when we see the signs of things that were prophesied that have not yet been fulfilled, we would be ready for the fulfillment of those things to come. The first coming of Jesus was foretold long before He came. His word gave the world signs to look for, events that would happen, and yet, His own people, the Israelites, did not recognize Him as their Messiah. And, neither did the rest of the world who were there when He walked the earth, seeing Him perform miracles.

So here we are today, having not only the Old Testament Scriptures written but also the New Testament, both of which prophesy of His second coming, and the New Testament prophesying of the rapture of the church prior to His second coming. Both the Old and New Testaments prophesy of a soon-coming and to-be revealed antichrist who will rule the world during a 7-year tribulation period that will precede Jesus’ second coming. But how many people alive today are aware of these coming events? How many people, including many Christians, have no idea what is coming? How many have been lulled to sleep with sweet lullabies of Satan, as he uses false pastors in false churches whispering sweet lies to the congregation, all the while making them feel good about themselves as they continue in sin that is promoted and accepted by their “church”? This in and of itself even fulfills Bible prophecy. In the book of Daniel in the prophecy of the end times in chapter 12, it states:

“Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:10)

The book of Jude speaks about this occurring in the last time:

“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” (Jude 16-18)

Jesus even said that prophecy was fulfilled when He explained why He spoke to the people in parables:

“He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given, For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’

“But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Matthew 13:11-17)

I believe Jesus’ words absolutely apply to all of us in our world today. Most people don’t believe He is the risen Savior, the One sent by God to offer salvation from sins and be given everlasting life through belief in Him. Most have succumbed to the lies of Satan, most are asleep at the wheel, and sadly, I believe this includes the majority of people in the church. There is only one way to God the Father and that is through Jesus Christ; yes, He alone is the narrow way that leads to everlasting life.

God’s word is full of prophecy, and God’s word is validated as the truth by fulfillment of such prophecies. For we who believe in this, we also know that unfulfilled prophecies will be fulfilled, in His perfect timing. For those who don’t believe, they are like the ones who were alive at the time Jesus lived and yet seeing Him with their own eyes, they did not believe and hearing Him with their own ears, they did not believe. Unbelievers in the world today have God’s word and for whatever reason, they either reject it after having read it or they refuse to read it. His word is a love letter to all the world that tells us things before they happen so that when they do happen, we won’t be filled with fear but will know that He is in control of all things and that He has a plan for all who believe in Him and His Son Jesus Christ, the Savior.

My prayer for anyone reading this is that if you are not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, by believing in Him as your Savior, that you would turn to Him quickly, that today would be the day of your salvation, for we are not guaranteed another day of life. Don’t be lulled to sleep by the lies of Satan, only to wake up in hell, forever. Turn to Jesus, the One prophesied of from the very beginning, the One who will bruise Satan’s head and cast him and all who follow him into the everlasting lake of fire and brimstone. ✝️

March 11, 2023: 2 Peter 1:19 - We Do Well to Heed God's Prophetic Word

“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts…” - 2 Peter 1:19

Dictionary.com defines “prophecy” as: “Something that is declared by a prophet, especially a divinely inspired prediction, instruction, or exhortation” and “a divinely inspired utterance or revelation.” Prophecy confirmed, prophecy fulfilled; it is what sets the Bible apart from any other book ever written. The Holy Bible is God’s sure word, breathed through the Holy Spirit to men chosen by God to write it down for generation upon generation to read and to heed. God’s word truly is a light in the darkness, and that is why many tyrannical rulers seek to ban it from their citizens in order to control them. They don’t want their citizens to believe that they have hope in anything or in anyone but in them, the ruling governments. But as believers in Jesus Christ, He alone is our hope; our hope is not in this world but in Him.

Something happens to the reader, under the leading of the Holy Spirit once a person has decided to seek Jesus, a light is poured out in the words so that the Bible begins to make sense to the reader. Years ago when I had not accepted Jesus as my Savior, I was always seeking to know the truth. Even as a teenager in high school, I wrote a term paper called “Creation vs. Evolution.” I wish I still had that paper as I would like to go back now and read what I wrote, but even then I was interested in knowing about God. After going to several churches during my early years of marriage and it was clear that they were more interested in our money than salvation of our souls, I stopped looking for a church to go to. While I believed in God, and that He held me accountable for my sins, I did not know Jesus.

When I was in my 40’s, I remember taking a class on Evolutionary Anthropology, and I remember the professor speaking of the Christian faith as mysticism, fables, and something that was not real, like he claimed evolution to be. It wasn’t too long after taking that class that I decided I had to know for myself: is God real, and why is Christianity the only religion that is right? Why is it so narrow? Around 2007 I decided, after failing a few times before, that no matter what, I would read the Bible for myself, no matter how long it took. After finally making it through Genesis, pushing through all of the genealogies, which is where I had previously stopped reading, I pushed through. I persevered. During that time, I had started going to church, where I heard God’s word read to me, and on June 27, 2010 I accepted Jesus as my Savior. About four years later, I finally finished reading the Bible on August 29, 2011. While I still did not understand a lot of what was written, I knew with absolute certainty: the Bible is the word of God and salvation from sins only comes from believing in His Son Jesus Christ as one’s Savior. I also knew that it had to be the word of God because there was the same common thread written throughout the entire Bible, even though it was written over a period of approximately 1,500 years by 40 different men who put God’s word down on papyrus scrolls. That common thread could not have happened by human thoughts alone; it had to be inspired by God Himself.

During my time of reading the Bible, it did something to me that no other book had done, it drawn me in and caused me to want to know more and more about God, His word, and His Son. And so I continued to read it, especially the prophetic books, the books that told of things to come sometimes hundreds and even thousands of years before they happened. I was especially interested in the nation of Israel. What was it about this tiny nation that causes such hate towards it all across the world, even today, and not only in the secular, non-believing world, but also in many churches?

I’ve heard it said that Israel is God’s timepiece, with the nation itself being the hour hand and the city of Jerusalem the minute hand; everything centers around Israel, and if you want to know what time it is in history, look to Israel. I absolutely believe that is true. While I have learned much more about the prophecies in the Bible since I believed in Jesus as my Savior, I think one of the main prophecies that convinced me His word is true is the return of Israel to the land that God gave them in the Abrahamic Covenant, as written about in the book of Genesis.

Throughout history, the Jews have been scattered from Israel after being conquered by nations, including the Babylonians, Assyrians, and the Roman Empire. Prior to 1948, most of the Jews had been scattered across the globe but after World War II ended, many came to Israel when the modern state of Israel was formed. “On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.” (See: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel). This momentous day fulfilled a prophecy by Ezekiel, who was a priest and a prophet who wrote it between approximately 593 - 565 BC. Ezekiel wrote it when Israel was divided into two kingdoms, with the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. During the time Ezekiel wrote it, Judah had been conquered by Babylon and the majority of its people were exiled to Babylon for 70 years. Ezekiel prophesied that though God was judging Israel and Judah, He would restore them and bring them back into their own land, unified. Below are some of the prophecies in the book of Ezekiel of a united Israel returning to its homeland:

“For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country.” (Ezekiel 34:11-13)

Ezekiel 36 says it was God Himself who scattered His people among the nations because of the blood they had shed and for their idol worship. Because they had profaned His holy name, He would sanctify His great name by showing the nations that He is the Lord God by bringing them (Israel and Judah) back into their own land, and when He would be hallowed before their eyes:

“So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.” (Ezekiel 36:19)

“But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land.” ‘ “ (Ezekiel 36:21-24)

“Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.” ‘ “ (Ezekiel 37:21-22)

And this is what happened on May 14, 1948 when the nation of Israel was reborn, and the Jews began returning to Israel from among the nations to which they had been scattered. It continues today as “Aliyah,” meaning immigration to Israel. In fact, immigration to Israel is increasing, likely due to increased worldwide persecution of the Jews and because of the prosperity of the nation of Israel. In an article dated September 19, 2022 by the Jerusalem Post, the number of Jews who immigrated to Israel in 2022 was up 128% from 2021, which had also seen a significant increase (See: https://www.jpost.com/aliyah/article-717539). After Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, the following year, 1949, saw the largest number of Jews - 239,954 - immigrating to their homeland. The Jewish Virtual Library has a table showing Jewish immigration from 1948 - 2022 (See: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/total-immigration-to-israel-by-year).

Another prophecy that has at least been partially fulfilled in Ezekiel is from Ezekiel 36:30: “And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.” It is amazing to think that this small country, only slightly larger than the American state of New Jersey, is able not only to produce enough fruit to sustain itself but also to export it to other countries. Per trendeconomy.com (See: https://trendeconomy.com/data/h2/Israel/08), in 2021, Israel exported “edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons” to countries including France, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Canada, and the USA.

There is a prophecy by the prophet Zechariah that centers around God’s holy city of Jerusalem. Per an article from therefinersfire.org (see: https://www.therefinersfire.org/recent_prophecy.htm), “Zechariah 8:7-8, the prophet said God would bring the Jews back from the east and the west to their homeland (Israel) and that they would be able to live in the city of Jerusalem again. This prophecy has been fulfilled more than once. About 2600 years ago, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took many Jews as captives to Babylon. But many Jews later returned from Babylon. The Jews rebuilt Jerusalem but the city was destroyed about 1900 years ago by the Romans. The Romans killed more than 1 million Jews and forced many more into exile. The Jews did not have control of Jerusalem again until 1967 when the Jews recaptured the city during the Six Day War.” Below is the referenced prophecy from Zechariah.

“Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.” (Zechariah 8:7-8)

While it is true that Israel now has control over Jerusalem and dwells in the midst of it, I believe the last part of this prophecy that states, “They shall be My people and I will be their God in truth and righteousness” is a future prophecy that will happen after the time of Jacob’s trouble and the remnant of the Jews who survive that time will believe on Jesus as their Messiah, as described below.

There is another prophecy of Jerusalem when the world will be fixated on it, and oh, do we see the turmoil in Jerusalem in our world today. To think of all the cities in the world and yet the world is fixated on Jerusalem. This is not by chance or by coincidence; it is the plan of God unfolding right before our very eyes. I do not know if this will happen before, during, or after the tribulation period, but I do know this: God said it would happen and it will happen, in His perfect timing. The prophecy is:

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness [or “reeling”] to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all the nations of the earth are gathered against it…In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:2-3, 8-9)

We have these prophecies from long ago that have either been partially or entirely fulfilled, and we also have those prophecies yet to be fulfilled. A prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled but which seems to be in preparation is when “Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2) and his alliance of countries attack Israel on the mountains of Israel. Many believe that “Gog” is from Russia. Per an article from gotquestions.org (see: https://www.gotquestions.org/Russia-end-times.html):

“Magog is a land “in the far north,” from Israel’s point of view (Ezekiel 38:15; 39:2). Most Bible commentators interpret “Magog” as Russia—and, indeed, Russia is straight north of Israel, all the way up to the Arctic Circle. According to this view, “Rosh” is a reference to Russia, “Meshek” is either Moscow or the people north of the Black Sea (the area of southern Russia and Ukraine), and “Tubal,” which is always listed with Meshek in Scripture, is identified as a city in Siberia or an area in central Turkey.

“Others see “Magog” as a general term used in Ezekiel’s day to identify barbarians living near the Black and Caspian Seas. Regardless of the exact locations of Magog, Tubal, and Meshek, there is no doubt that the general area includes portions of Russia and the former Soviet Union, and possibly some Arab countries.”

Per Ezekiel 38:5-6, the countries that align with Gog to invade Israel are:

• Persia, which is the former name of Iran

• Ethiopia, referred to in some Bibles as “Cush”

• Libya, referred to in some Bibles as “Put”

• Gomer, believed to be modern day Turkey

• Togarmah, believed to be the countries of Turk-speaking peoples.

Ezekiel prophesies:

“…and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am coming against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all you army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.” ‘ “ (Ezekiel 38:3-4)

“You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 38:16)

As Ezekiel prophesied, all of the nations that come against Israel will be utterly destroyed:

“‘And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken:

“Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ ”

‘I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘Every man’s sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.’ “ (Ezekiel 38:18-23)

The book of Ezekiel prophesies that Israel will not only be reborn physically but also spiritually, through believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, as their prophesied Messiah. While Israel has the blessings of God who brought them back into their own land, they are still living in unbelief with rampant sin against God, just as any nation that rejects Jesus. However, the time is coming when the unbelieving Jews and the rest of the unbelieving world will go through a time of hell on earth that will last for seven years. This period of time is known as the time of Jacob’s trouble. It is also known as Daniel’s 70th-week prophecy (see Daniel 9:27, 12:1-3) and the tribulation period (see Matthew 24:1-28). It is a time when God Himself sends a series of judgments upon a wicked world that Has rejected His Son, giving them time to repent and turn to Him before Jesus returns to earth to righteously judge all peoples and begin His 1,000-year reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Jews who survive the tribulation period will finally turn to Jesus as their Savior. Zechariah prophesies of the time when Israel will recognize Jesus as God’s Son, the One sent by God to save all who believe in Him, and they will mourn for Him:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

Zechariah also prophesies of the then-future first coming of Jesus Christ, referred to in the Scripture below as the “Shepherd,” His death, followed by the scattering of the Jews and the still future prophecy of the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble, when at the end of it one-third of the Jews will survive and will be saved:

“‘Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones. And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the LORD, ‘that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, “This is My people”; and each one will say, “The LORD is my God.” ’ ” (Zechariah 13:7-9)

Ezekiel had also made a similar prophecy which has yet to be fulfilled (bold text added for emphasis):

“Therefore says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name - after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 39:25-29)

These are just some of the prophetic Scriptures that I think are absolutely critical to be aware of in the days to come. Every single thing that is happening in our world today is pointing to the time when the world as we know it will collapse. I believe that immediately before the collapse, the rapture of the church will occur, when Jesus calls all believers in Him, both dead and alive, up to Himself in the clouds (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), Then, a strong man - the antichrist - will step onto the scene and shall as Daniel said in Daniel 9:27, “…confirm a covenant [treaty] with many for one week [7 years; the final week of Daniel’s 70-weeks prophecy in Daniel 9].” Antichrist will sign this “peace” covenant with Israel and many nations, and halfway through, he will break the covenant. Once antichrist signs it, the 7-year tribulation period will begin.

Why then do I tell you all of this? Because I believe that we are living in a time like no other and that time is oh, so short for unbelievers to turn to Jesus and be saved before that time that Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22) All of the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled, and all of His second coming will also be fulfilled, as well all of the prophecies of Israel. I ask you this: if you haven’t turned to Jesus and accepted Him as your Savior, what makes you think you will be courageous enough to turn to Him during the tribulation period when it will most likely cost you your life? The antichrist will demand that all worship Him and if you do not, you will be killed. If read this devotional stirs anything in you, that causes you to consider what is happening in the world today and how it relates to Bible prophecy, I strongly urge you to pray to Jesus to save you from all your sins, before it’s too late and you die in them, forever sealing your fate in hell, apart from Jesus. As Peter said in today’s Scripture verse, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place…” ✝️

March 8, 2023: 2 Peter 1:17-18 - This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am Well Pleased

“For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” 2 Peter 1:17-18

Six days after Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection to His disciples, Peter was one of only three disciples, James and John being the other two, who were led by Jesus up on a high mountain, where they witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus:

“His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.’ And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:2-13)

Peter, James, and John had seen the glorified body of Jesus Christ. Notice that God had not said for them to hear Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, but to “Hear Him!”

The description of the transfigured Jesus is reminiscent of what John wrote when he was exiled to the island of Patmos and through the Holy Spirit was given the revelation of Jesus Christ to write:

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,’ and '‘What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ Then I turned to see the voice that spoke to me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.’” (Revelation 1:10-20)

It is very interesting to me in John’s description of Jesus above, he says, “His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace.” Daniel in the Old Testament wrote of the time that his three friends from Judah - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego - all of whom had been exiled to Babylon, had been found guilty of not falling down and worshipping the image of gold that Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had made and ordered that everyone fall down and worship the image or be killed. He sentenced them to death by fire in the furnace and had heated it seven times hotter than it normally was heated. When Daniel’s friends were thrown into the fire, the intense fire killed the men who had cast them into the fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar said to his counselors:

“‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’” (Daniel 3:24-25)

Not only were none of Daniel’s three friends killed, their hair wasn’t singed and they didn’t even smell of fire. After having witnessed this with his own eyes:

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this.’” (Daniel 3:28-29)

Returning to today’s Scripture, God Himself had previously shown to Peter, James, and John the transfigured, glorified Jesus Christ, and it changed their lives forever. Though Peter, as prophesied by Jesus, would later deny Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified, He would later restore Peter’s faith and would tell Peter to lead His church: “Feed My lambs,” “Tend My sheep,” and “Feed My sheep.” (John 21:15-17) And that is exactly what Peter did until his death. Peter had been the first to proclaim correctly that Jesus is the Christ, and had said to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). Peter knew this in his own heart even before he had seen Jesus transfigured on the mount.

Today, we who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God, in whom God is well pleased, have the accounts of the disciples in the New Testament and we have the prophesies in the Old Testament that foretold of Messiah’s first coming, all of which were fulfilled. We also have the prophecies of the rapture of the church and of His second coming. We have the book of Revelation and in chapter 21, we read of the time when the current earth will be replaced with a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem, where, as John wrote:

“But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:22-27)

May we remember these words that give us hope, for this world is passing away, right before our very eyes. Everything is lining up exactly as the Bible says it would, including in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation. May we remember that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, sent to offer the only way of salvation from sins by believing in Him as our Savior, the One when after He was baptized by John the Baptist:

“Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

Are you trusting in God’s beloved Son, the One in whom He is well pleased, for your salvation? ✝️

March 7, 2023: 2 Peter 1:16 - Eyewitnesses to the Majesty of Christ

“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” - 2 Peter 1:16

Peter was one of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus Himself to learn from Him the message of the everlasting gospel: we can only be saved from all of our sins by believing in Him, the One sent by God from heaven, who would be crucified, spill His precious blood, die, be resurrected on the third day and walk the earth for 40 days, and then ascend to heaven to the right hand of God, where He is today. There is no other way to salvation; Jesus is the only way, and His word is truth and only He can give us everlasting life with Him and the Father.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18-19)

Peter was a simple fisherman, along with his brother Andrew, and they were fishing one day by the Sea of Galilee in Israel when Jesus approached them and said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-19) They immediately followed Him. Soon after, Jesus saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were also fishermen and were mending their nets. Jesus called out to them, and they immediately followed Him as well. What made these men, and later the other apostles, give up everything they had in an instant, their families, their homes, their livelihood as fishermen, and all that they had worked for to follow this Man? What was it about Him? How could He cause them to abandon all that they were and all they had to follow Him? They must have known there was something different about Him that would result in them following Him immediately, without hesitation. I would think that they had previously read in the Scriptures about His long foretold coming to earth, perhaps looking for their Savior, and that the Spirit of God had prepared their hearts for Him. Whatever it was, it was something so powerful that when Jesus was before them, before their very eyes, they left all they had and followed Him. Yes, there have been similar occurrences, even in recent history, when people gave up everything to follow people who claimed in some way to be the way to salvation, and many people died because they were not following the true Christ, the only way to salvation; instead, they were following deceivers and false christs who led them to destruction. Jesus even warned His disciples of this as a sign of the end times before His second coming. Peter also warned of these deceivers and their false doctrines in 2 Peter chapter 2. As we get closer to the return of Christ - His second coming - I believe we will see more and more of this.

How can you tell the difference between cunningly devised fables and the truth of God? The answer is prophecy. The Bible is the only book that has ever foretold events before they happen, hundreds and even thousands of years before they happen, that were later fulfilled. Shown below is a link to an article from gotquestions.org that lists some of the prophecies that were fulfilled by the first coming of Jesus Christ. It is estimated that a conservative number of prophecies of His first coming that were fulfilled is 300.

https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html

Today, we are seeing even more prophecies either being fulfilled or are close to being fulfilled. One of those is in the book of Revelation, chapter 13 when it is the time of the 7-year tribulation period and the antichrist will be in power. His false prophet, some type of one-world religion leader, will require that every single person alive in the world at that time take the mark or the name of the beast [antichrist] or the number of his name and worship his image in order to buy or sell or else they will be killed. We have never been at a time in history where this type of technology existed and could be used to restrict the buying and selling of every person in the world until now. Enter CDBC. What is CDBC? It stands for Central Bank Digital Currency. It provides the ability for every single purchase to be tracked digitally, and I believe ultimately controlled by a centralized bank that will be used by the antichrist during the 7-year tribulation period to prevent people from buying or selling unless they have his mark or the number of his name in their right hand or in their foreheads.

Per a November 14, 2022 article from crowdsourcing.com (see: https://crowdsourcingweek.com/blog/countries-with-cbdcs/):

“We are also very well aware that many people do not welcome CBDCs, and regard them as instruments of growing centralization, invasive government control and a threat to privacy. This has been covered in an article on our BOLD Awards platform, so we won’t re-run those opinions here.

“105 countries, representing over 95% of global GDP, are exploring a CBDC. 10 countries have fully launched a digital currency, with China’s pilot set to cover 23 cities.”

As I was writing this post today (March 7, 2023), I received a notification from endtimeheadlines.com that “Central banks of Israel, Norway, and Sweden are all preparing for digital currency payments.” (See: https://endtimeheadlines.org/2023/03/central-banks-of-israel-norway-and-sweden-are-all-preparing-for-digital-currency-payments/) I also think that the image of the beast that people will have to worship could be some sort of hologram that is displayed on their phone, and we do see holographic technology in our world today. And, the rate of people owning smartphones is increasing, with one estimate that in 2023, 89% of the world’s population will own smartphones (see: https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-have-smartphones). Perhaps when CDBCs are implemented worldwide, every single person must have a smartphone in order to conduct their banking.

The apostles of Jesus Christ witnessed His power through all of the miracles they saw Him perform with their own eyes, they heard Him preach the gospel of salvation through believing in Him as Messiah, and as I will discuss more in the next Scripture devotional, it was Peter, James, and John who were present at the moment when Jesus was transfigured right before their very eyes. They were eyewitnesses to His majesty. While we have not seen Jesus with our own eyes as they did, we can trust in the eyewitness accounts of all those who did see Him. We also have the evidence of the written word of God Himself, the Bible, of all the prophecies that were made and have already been fulfilled, the prophecies that are in the process of being fulfilled, and the knowledge and assurance that those not yet fulfilled will be fulfilled, in His perfect timing. You can choose to believe in Jesus as your Savior or not. You can choose to believe in His power and His second coming or not. If you reject Him, your choice does not change the truth; it only means you denied His majesty for a cunningly devised fable by the one who sought your destruction instead of your salvation - Satan. I pray that you don’t let Satan have your soul, but that you would turn to Jesus Christ and give it to Him, thus guaranteeing that one day you will see and experience His power and majesty for yourself, just as Peter the apostle did. ✝️

March 6, 2023: 1 Peter 2:12 - May Our Conduct Glorify God

“…having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” - 1 Peter 2:12

Peter was speaking to Jewish believers in Christ in this epistle (letter) to them. They were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, just as many Christians today are being persecuted, at an increasing rate. The “Gentiles” referred to in this Scripture verse were the non-Jewish people who were not believers in Christ, who were persecuting the Jewish believers. How many of us believers in Christ have been persecuted, mocked strictly for our faith in Jesus, and how many of us wanted to lash out at the ones persecuting us? I am guessing many of us have felt that way, but that is not what God wants us to do. Whether we are being persecuted for our faith or just living our lives in this world that is our temporary home, we should live a life that is pleasing and honorable to God.

So, how do we do that? We use Jesus as our model. When He was crucified on that cross, continuing to be mocked and scoffed after having been scourged and beaten beyond recognition, spat upon, and now with Roman soldiers at His feet, casting lots for His clothes, did He call them names, put curses upon them, and lash out at them? No. Instead, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) What powerful words He spoke, in love, for the lost, for the unsaved, for those who didn’t know Him. I wonder if any of those who heard Him speak those words recognized that He was more than a man who hung dying on that cross, that He truly was the Son of God, sent to the world not to condemn it but to save it, for all who would believe in Him as Savior. How many would remember His words when they themselves were dying? How many of them would glorify God by turning to Him in their last moments on earth, before they entered their eternity? Perhaps none did, dying in their sins, but maybe, just maybe, some did.

If we truly believe in Him and all that He did for us, we will do our best to keep His commandments, remembering what He said to His disciples, “If you love me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15) If we live our lives six days a week as non-believers and on the seventh day proclaim that we are a believer in Jesus Christ, how in the world can we expect anyone to think that we take our faith in Him seriously? Isn’t there enough hypocrisy in our world today with world, national, state, and community leaders continually telling the populace to do one thing while they themselves do not do it, and then they do the things that they told us not to do? Our world today is saturated with hypocrisy. Why in the world would I do something or believe in something that they themselves do not believe? No, if we truly believe in something, we won’t be hypocritical about the thing in which we believe; our belief would be demonstrated by the things which we do. If Jesus tells us we should live a certain way, that we should stand out, be set apart, from the rest of the world and not try to mimic the world, then we should do it, to the best of our ability. Yes, I know that we can never be perfect and free from sin while we are still alive and breathing in this world, but we should sin less and less after turning to Jesus Christ and believing in Him as our Savior. Otherwise, those who do not believe in Him will look at us who do believe in Him as our Savior as hypocrites and would likely not turn to Him, and that is not glorifying God.

When I was a teenager growing up, I used to look at all the teen magazines and the beautiful, young models on the magazine covers. I wanted to be just like them, to smile like them, to have their same hairstyle, and to dress the way they do. I must admit that at that age, I wasn’t a believer in Jesus. I was following the world, and by following it, I wanted to mimic it. It wasn’t until my mid-40’s when I turned to Jesus and believed in Him as my Savior that I started to realize that my sin wasn’t honoring God. I was living a double life. I then took steps to stop doing the things that didn’t glorify Him, including stopping watching pornography with my husband. While I still struggle with sin today, I am aware of it and I have guilt in my heart when I do sin, just as the apostle Paul wrote about his own struggles with sin in Romans 7:13-25. I realize now that the Holy Spirit has been working on me since the day I got saved, and I thank God for that. Now, my mind no longer desires to mimic the world but to mimic Him, to be like Him. Please, let me be clear, that trying to be more like Him doesn’t save anyone; rather, it is only through having a change of mind and believing in Him as the only One who can save us from all of our sins, the One who shed His perfect and precious blood, that saves us.

As Paul wrote in the book of Romans, let us remember the God whom we serve, and may we do all that we can to glorify Him. To those who persecute and mock us, or even when they are just observing us, let us not return hate with hate but instead shine the true and pure love of Christ and perhaps one day, they too will have a change of mind, turn to Him and be saved, and glorify God.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14).

“For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13) ✝️

March 5, 2023: 1 Peter 2:11 - Home is Where Your Heart Is

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…” - 1 Peter 2:11

It has been said “Home is where your heart is” and the Bible tells us that is true for believers in Christ, who know this world is not our true Home but only a temporary stopping place on our way to eternity:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:19-20)

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (Jesus Christ; John 15:18-19)

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19)

“Now this is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world be cast out.” (Jesus Christ; John 12:31)

Since our time here is only temporary, we should not grow deep roots to things we own and with the people and things we love such that their hold on us is more than our love for Jesus and our desire to stand in the truth of God and trust in His eternal salvation. When the things and people of this earth are our treasure, when they are that which we value most instead of our eternal salvation, then we will do all that is necessary to protect and preserve them, even if it means turning away from God and what His word says. This is exactly what is happening in many American churches today and has been for quite some time. Their mission changed from carrying out the Great Commission, as Jesus gave to all who believe in Him as Savior, to the Great Collision because the thing that they value most - money - collides with what the Bible and what Jesus Himself told us we should value most: eternal salvation from sins through faith in Christ alone.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [riches].” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:24)

Many churches today are preaching a different gospel, one which has been altered to appease people who want not only to remain in their sin, their fleshly lusts which war against the soul, but also want everyone to accept and promote it, including and especially in the churches. This is exactly what was prophesied in the Bible that would happen in the last days before the start of the tribulation period and the second coming of Christ. The apostle Paul wrote about this in the book of Galatians:

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-10)

Believers in Christ are not exempt from temptation. It is not a sin to be tempted, but sin occurs when we give-in to the temptations. The lure of sin’s desire is what draws people back into sin. Believers must actively fight against this, and the only way we can is through the power and might of God, standing strong in Him and on His word. The world tells us to follow our hearts, and that is exactly why we are in the dreadful state we are in today, for as the Bible tells us, the heart is deceitfully wicked:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Sadly, many pastors of churches today are leading many people straight to hell because their hearts are not owned by God but by the devil himself. As the apostle Paul wrote about, it is the people themselves who attend the churches who will not stand for the truth of God and instead seek those who tell them what they want to hear - lies from Satan - instead of what they need to hear - the truth of God. There are plenty of false pastors and false teachers out there who are ready and willing to tell them what they want to hear. Paul warned about this:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom:

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry,” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

I believe we are this point in time that Paul described above. More and more pressure is going to be put on the church and on believers in Christ. I believe the ultimate end will be that the word of God is defined as “hate speech” and will be banned from all public areas, including social media, and then will be banned completely, even in our own homes. This is already done in many countries, and I believe that time is soon coming to the western nations, including America. As the pressure is applied, may we remember the exhortation of Peter in today’s Scripture verse and also of Jesus and Paul in the passages below. May we remember that we are only traveling through this world and that our true Home is with Jesus, and may we give our whole heart to Him.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions [dwellings]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:1-4)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14) ✝️

March 4, 2023: 1 Peter 2:10 - I am so Thankful for God's Mercy

“…who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” - 1 Peter 2:10

Writing to the Jews who had been dispersed, scattered from their land in Israel to Roman provinces, primarily in modern day Turkey, Peter was encouraging his brothers and sisters who had turned to Jesus Christ, accepting Him as their Savior, and who were being persecuted for their faith in Him. He told them that though they were once not a people, they now are a people of God and though they had not obtained mercy, they now have obtained mercy. Peter’s words are reminiscent of the prophet Hosea’s words in the book of Hosea.

God had told Hosea to marry a harlot and have children with her because the nation of Israel had committed spiritual harlotry against God by departing from Him to worship false gods and idols. Hosea did as God commanded, and he married the harlot Gomer. Gomer bore three children, and God told Hosea to name them as shown below.

1. A son, Jezreel: “Jezreel” means “God will sow” or “God scatters.” The Jezreel Valley in Israel is where several great battles of the Israelites took place, and it is also in the same valley as Meggido. It is very interesting to me that this same valley is where the battle of Armageddon will take place, as described in Revelation 16:16 and when Jesus Christ returns and defeats those gathered together against Him (see Revelation 19:11-21).

2. A daughter, Lo-Ruhamah: “Lo-Ruhamah” means “No mercy.”

3. A son, Lo-Ammi: “Lo-Ammi” means “Not-My-People.”

Isaiah the prophet wrote about God’s coming judgment on Judah. God had promised both judgment on both nations, Israel and Judah, which once united under one king were now divided nations. God did in fact bring judgment upon both nations because of their unfaithfulness to Him. They had both chose to worship false gods and idols instead of worshipping Him, the One true God, the One who had delivered them out of bondage in Egypt. However, God always promises to restore His people if they repent and return to Him, for He is merciful and kind. Hosea wrote of God’s future restoration of His people:

“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel! Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’”

Though the Jewish believers in Christ to whom Peter was writing were still scattered from their land, by their belief in Jesus as their Messiah, they were now people of God and had obtained mercy through Jesus the sacrifice He had made by shedding His precious blood, so that all who believe in Him will be saved from sin.

As the Bible tells us, Jesus will return a second time after a period of seven years of tribulation upon the earth that the world has never seen, nor will ever see again. During this time, known as the time of Jacob’s [Israel’s] trouble, a remnant of the Jews will survive and will finally recognize Him as their Messiah and turn to Him in belief. As prophesied by the aforementioned passages from the book of Hosea, the children of Judah and the children of Israel will be reunited in the land that God gave them through His unconditional Abrahamic Covenant with them, and they will worship the One whom they pierced, Jesus Christ, Messiah and will be with Him forever in eternal glory.

But God did not send Jesus just to offer salvation through the Jews but to all peoples, Jews and Gentiles. God’s mercy is available to all. Salvation is free and available to all who call upon Jesus:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek [Gentile], for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him, For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” (Romans 10:9-13)

As Peter first wrote in this first epistle to the Jewish believers in Christ, and again in verse 10, God is abundantly merciful to all who are born again through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

I am so very thankful to be called a child of God, one of His own, and for His abundant mercy and love that He has shown me. I am so very thankful for the time that He has given this lost and dying world to turn to Him and be saved. I pray that if you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, that you will do so today, and you too, will be thankful to be called His child and receive His abundant mercy.

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” (Psalm 86:5)

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7) ✝️

March 3, 2023: 1 Peter 2:9 - Let Us Praise Him Who Called Us Out of Darkness

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” - 1 Peter 2:9

Peter was speaking to Jewish believers in Christ in this epistle. He wasn’t speaking to them as Jews, however, but as Christians, those who answered the call of God to believe in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as their Savior. We all must choose whether or not to believe in Jesus as our Savior, and no choice is a choice not to believe. God sent Jesus so that we all might be forgiven of our sins and spend our eternity with Him because God loves each and everyone of us. But, He won’t force us to believe in Jesus. As many people have already said, He didn’t make us as robots, programmed automatically to believe in Jesus. No, God gave us free will to decide for ourselves. Those who choose to believe are the chosen generation, a holy nation because we said “Yes, I believe” to Jesus as the only One who can redeem us of our sins. We can’t have it both ways by rejecting Jesus and expecting to be with Him when we die. Only believers in Him as our Redeemer, the One who paid for all of our sins with His precious blood, will be saved; only believers in Christ are a chosen generation and a holy nation, those who are called “Children of God.”

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, jut as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:16-17)

All believers in Christ comprise a royal priesthood, for each of us is commanded by Jesus to tell others about Him, how He saved us, and how He can save them from all their sins, giving them true and abundant eternal life by calling them out of the darkness and into the light. After He was resurrected and before Jesus ascended to heaven He commanded His disciples:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Prior to being saved from all our sins by Jesus, we were all in darkness. Have you noticed how dark the world is getting? I live in the USA and I have noticed a very obvious change in our culture; the darkness is now out in the open, with nothing hidden in the shadows anymore. Award shows, half-time shows, opening ceremonies of games are draped in colors of black and red, with Satanic themes in full, unfiltered display to the world, as they perform to an audience of the masses, who praise their wicked and false gods. It’s permeated everything in our society, including in our schools, even in elementary schools, and if one speaks out against it, they are branded with the many names they have given to those who dare to take a stand against them and stand up for what is right in the eyes of God. Darkness, and not light, evil and not good, are being lifted up and praised in our society today. But what does the Bible teach about this?

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for making intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man!” (Isaiah 5:20-23)

No good thing will come upon those who do, promote, and/or accept the things that Isaiah the prophet described above. The line in the sand is being drawn in our country and in our world. Will you choose light over darkness, good over evil, salvation over sin, Jesus over Satan? It seems to me that we truly are living in times that are similar to Sodom and Gomorrah and also as the apostle Paul described in Romans 1:18-32. As a result, we will see the wrath of God upon our nation, upon our world as the time draws near for the rapture of the church, when Jesus calls up His believers, both dead and alive, to Himself in the clouds, when the coming antichrist confirms a covenant with many nations, including Israel, and the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble begins, also known as the tribulation period. At that time, the unbelieving world will fall into utter chaos, for they will have sought after darkness instead of the light. Jesus Himself spoke of the consequences of choosing darkness over light:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:17-21)

The darkness is led by Satan, whose goal is to destroy mankind and to make himself God. He hates humans, for unlike the angels, of which he is one, a fallen angel, humans are the only ones made in the image of God. Satan will do anything and everything needed to deceive people into thinking that they should follow him and not Jesus. As Satan deceived Eve in the garden, so has he deceived billions and led them to destruction and permanent, eternal separation from God, from Jesus, the light of the world, and they will live in never-ending darkness. Satan has deceived and used people in power to deceive the masses into destroying the family unit as it was designed by God, and this is so obvious in the USA. Satan surrounds his lies in words that tell people that are “empowered” by making choices that are offensive to God, when in reality they are not empowered at all but are enslaved by Satan, fettered and chained in sin without even realizing it. Jesus warned about deception in the last days as the main sign that would signal His second coming to earth. Many believers in Christ are being deceived because they are not testing the spirits, they are not using discernment to distinguish between lies and truth. Satan uses whomever he needs to in order to deceive people, including, and I would say especially, in the churches. Many churches are falling away from the truth of God in order to appease a world that is growing further and further away from God and His truth. Instead of standing on the word of God, they are trampling all over it, because they are not serving the One true God but they are serving the god of mammon, the god of money. At such a critical time in history when believers in Christ should be standing up for what is right in the eyes of God, many are caving to the pressures that are being put upon the world by men and women who have chosen to follow the darkness instead of the light.

So, where is our hope, for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and are standing on His word? It is absolutely critical in this time when the world appears to be in utter chaos that we remember that the word of God told us these things must happen before Jesus calls His bride to Himself in the clouds and before the events described in the book of Revelation and many other books take place, when Jesus will return to earth, this time in judgment, to put an end to the madness, to the evil, once and for all. Our hope is not in this world, for this world is dying; our hope is a living hope, and His name is Jesus. Anyone who has ever studied prophecy in the Bible and has seen all of the prophecies that have already been fulfilled knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that every single word in the Bible is of God and is true, and that all prophecies that have not been fulfilled will be fulfilled according to God’s perfect timing.

Oh, how I praise Him who called me out of the darkness and into the light! He is the light in this darkness that surrounds me, comforting me and reminding me that He is here with me. He guides me on the narrow path of righteousness, when sin and darkness encircle me. He is the light that will never be overcome by darkness but His light will overcome the darkness. He is the light that shines within me. He is the light who provides me with all I need to flourish in Him, not in my own strength but in His. He is the light that gives me life.

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (Jesus Christ; John 8:12) ✝️

March 1, 2023: 1 Peter 2:7-8 - He is Precious to We Who Believe

“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” - 1 Peter 2:7-8

To believe or not to believe in Jesus as one’s Savior is a matter of the heart. The heart is what keeps people from believing in Jesus. The heart can choose to be filled with pride, envy, strife, coldness, stubbornness, and indifference or it can be filled with a love for Jesus like one has never known, something so deep that it is hard to describe to unbelievers. To we who believe in Him as our Savior, He is precious to us, more precious than anything or anyone else in the world. He speaks to us through His word, through His Holy Spirit, through His creation, and in many other ways. We read of all that He went through, all of the hatred that was shown to Him, and yet, He did not return hate with hate, because He was God’s plan of redemption, from the very beginning of creation.

But when our hearts are filled with pride, pride of ourselves and all that we have accomplished, or pride in thinking that we don’t need anyone to save us, that we can save ourselves, we leave no room for Him. I believe pride is the main reason - the stone of stumbling and a rock of offense - that keeps people from believing that God is real and He did send His Son Jesus to the world, that through Him we might be saved.

God, who is all knowing, knew that Israel would reject His Son Jesus, but He sent Him anyways. He knew that Jesus would be a stumbling block to most of them, and His prophet Isaiah foretold of this to the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah:

“He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.” (Isaiah 8:14-15)

When the Child Jesus was presented by Joseph and Mary His mother in the temple, there was a man Simeon who had come to the temple by the Spirit. It had been previously revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When Simeon saw the Child Jesus with Joseph and Mary, Simeon prophesied to Mary:

“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35)

The Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes, were threatened by Jesus because people were believing in Him as the prophesied Messiah. In their eyes, He was untrained and He ate with sinners. Jesus also called them out for their hypocrisy. Their hearts were puffed up in themselves and in all that they thought they were, and they hated Him. The chief priests, scribes, and elders then plotted to kill Jesus. At His trial before the Sanhedrin, a court of the high priest and leaders, the high priest Caiaphas asked Jesus: “‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on on the clouds in heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?’ They answered and said, ‘He is deserving of death.’ Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?’” (Matthew 26:63-68)

These same people who found Jesus guilty and had Him crucified by the Romans were the ones that Jesus had come to save. But, instead of turning to Him in belief as their Savior, He had become their rock of offense. Their plan to have Him crucified was fulfilled, but it didn’t have the outcome that they intended. They intended for Him to die and life would go on as it was before, before He had walked the earth. But their lives would never be the same. As Jesus told His disciples what would happen before He died, the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple in 70 AD. Many Jews were massacred and most of those who survived fled to other countries in the Diaspora. (See Matthew 24:2, Luke 21:6, Luke 23:27-31).

Because of their rejection of Him, after Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, His disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had previously promised they would be. They began doing as Jesus commanded them before He ascended: they preached the gospel - the good news of salvation from sins by faith alone in Christ alone - to the Jews and the Gentiles all around the world, and that good news is still being preached today.

Sadly, Jesus was a stumbling block not only to the majority of the Jewish people but also to the majority of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, and He is a stumbling block to most people today. But to us who have chosen to believe in Him as our Savior, He is precious in our hearts, oh, so precious. He simply is our everything. ❤️ ✝️

February 28, 2023: 1 Peter 2:6 - He Who Believes on Him Will Not be Put to Shame

“Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’” - 1 Peter 2:6

God Himself brought forth Jesus, the Messiah, the One on whom everything is built. God brought forth Jesus through Zion, through the tribe of Judah. Jesus is the chief cornerstone of faith, and without Him, everything will be brought down. God Himself foretold of the Messiah thousands of years ago through His prophets of old, in the Old Testament. Isaiah was one of those prophets, and prophecies of Jesus are all throughout this book that was written to the people of Judah, when the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel, sometimes called “Ephraim,” and the southern kingdom of Judah. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophecies of His first coming, including the prophecies that most people would reject and despise Him, the One who was chosen by God and who is precious to Him.

God chose Jesus to be the Redeemer of sins for all who believe on Him. God chose an imperfect people, whom He set apart from the rest of the nations, to bring forth the Lamb of God, and nothing and no one was able to stop it from happening. Oh, yes, Satan, that serpent of old, tried to stop it but he did not succeed. Satan knew that Jesus would be born from a peculiar people and he did all he could to eradicate them from the face of the earth, to prevent the birth of Jesus, but he did not succeed. After Jesus came down from heaven and was conceived by the Holy Spirit through a virgin, Satan tried to kill the baby Jesus by having King Herod order that every baby boy two years of age and under to be killed, but Satan did not succeed in killing Jesus.

When Jesus was crucified on a cross, took on all our sins and cried out to God, saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” and as Jesus gave up His life, saying, “It is finished,” Satan thought he had won. But Satan did not succeed, for after three days, the stone was rolled away from the tomb and Jesus was resurrected to life by God. For forty days after He was resurrected, Jesus walked the earth and revealed Himself to many. And before He ascended to heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) As Jesus ascended to heaven and was taken up in a cloud, His disciples looked up, and “…two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’ ” (Acts 1:11)

Satan tried and tried to stop Jesus’ disciples from telling the good news of Him and His free gift of salvation from sins for all who would believe on Him, but Jesus’ disciples were faithful to Him, even unto death, with many dying a martyr’s death. But Satan did not succeed, for the good news of Jesus is still being proclaimed today, nearly two thousand years after Jesus’ death. The Bible, the word of God, still exists. Believers in Jesus Christ still exist; it wasn’t a temporary movement of people that were eventually overcome by those who came against them. No, this movement of faith in Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that was prophesied of Him from the very beginning, and it will never be destroyed. As Jesus told the apostle Peter, “And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [hell] shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Light will overcome the darkness, and that light is Jesus Christ. It is only in Him that salvation is found. It is only in Him that true life is found. Life here on earth is a temporary stepping stone to our eternity in which the fulfillment of all the prophecies of our salvation through faith in Christ alone will have come: entry into His eternal kingdom, when our salvation is complete, our heavenly inheritance. Just as all the prophecies of His first coming were fulfilled, so will be all of the prophecies of His second coming.

We are in a period of darkness in our world, and it will continue to grow darker and colder, as the love of many grows cold and many turn to wickedness and evil. But the light, the light of Jesus will not be extinguished; it will never be put out. The light is always there for those who seek it, and those who seek Him will find Him. Just as in a room that is pitch black, when there is fraction of light coming through the door, we see that light, the light that guides our way in the darkness.

The unbelieving world knows that something is wrong, desperately wrong in our world today. What is wrong is sin. Sin, uncontrolled. Sin that is rising to a level on a worldwide scale that I believe has never been seen before. Sin is increasing because the love of God, Jesus Christ, is decreasing. He is the One who holds everything together; He is the chief cornerstone. When we abandon Him, we are left to our own devices, which is sin, and sin kills, it destroys. In a culture that is obsessed with death and not life and one that embraces self, self, self and rejects the One who died not for Himself but for us, we are left with a culture that we see today: empty, shallow, heavy-burdened, unfulfilled, and always searching for something but never seeking the One who can make us feel whole and complete, the only One who can set us free from all our sins that are crushing us, like the weight of a building that is built without the firm foundation and the cornerstone to sustain it. Without Jesus, that building will come tumbling down, and that is what is happening in the world today; it is all collapsing. Satan thinks he is winning, but he has already lost the war that Jesus has won; Jesus is the victor! He is our only hope, and He is our living hope. Jesus is the only One who can set us free from all our sins, all our shame. All who turn to Jesus Christ, who believe on Him as Savior, will be saved. As Isaiah the prophet said, “And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” I urge you, if you have not accepted Him as your Savior, that you seek Him today, while He still may be found, and that you will not be put to shame but will be freed from all your sins and will share in the eternal glory with Him, in His beautiful light. ✝️

February 26, 2023: 1 Peter 2:5 - You Also, as Living Stones

“…you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 2:5

The apostle Peter in this epistle was speaking to Jews who had accepted Jesus as their Savior. No longer did they need to go to the temple, the house of God made by human hands, where the high priest would offer up sacrifices to God to atone not only for their sins but also for his own sin. Peter was reminding them that they no longer needed to do that, for Jesus Himself is the perfect, sinless sacrifice, given once and for all, for all who believe in Him.

Before He was crucified and resurrected, Jesus prophesied that the temple would not stand and that Jerusalem would be destroyed:

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” (Matthew 24:2)

“Now as He [Jesus] drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44)

And, that is exactly what happened when the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD and left no stone unturned.

Jesus Himself atoned for our sins once and for all with His precious blood, for all who believe in Him as Savior, whether we are Jew or non-Jew (Gentile). We who believe in Him, yes, every single one of us, are the living stones that make up His spiritual house that was not built with human hands, a house in which He is the cornerstone, and the house which stands forever and ever. Each of us as believers in Christ comprise the holy priesthood, and we praise His holy name, we sing songs of praise to Him, and we tell others about Him, planting seeds of faith so that they too might believe in Him one day as their Savior. We live our lives to the best of our ability so that we mirror His image to others. These are our spiritual sacrifices to God that Jesus makes acceptable to Him on our behalf, for without Jesus, we are still sinners in the eyes of God.

Unlike the Jewish high priests of the temple, who had to atone for their own sins, Jesus has no sin, and it is only by His perfect sacrifice that God will forgive us of all our sins.He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the only One without sin who could redeem us of all our sins.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:11-15)

Let us hold fast to our faith in Jesus Christ, never letting go:

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:1-6) ✝️

February 25, 2023: 1 Peter 2:4 - Jesus was Chosen by God and Precious

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious…” - 1 Peter 2:4

Jesus was chosen by God to be the One on whom alone our salvation rests. Just as when you build a house, if you build it on something that is faulty, that is prone to give way to external pressure, it won’t last, so too is our faith. If you build it on anything but by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior, it won't last, it will be washed away by the pressures of life. Jesus spoke of this when He taught the people:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken them to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Isaiah and the author of Psalm 118 both prophesied of Jesus being the precious cornerstone:

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily." Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.” (Isaiah 28:16-18)

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23)

Jesus Himself quoted both of these Scriptures when He told the parable of the wicked vinedressers to the chief priests and the Pharisees. This parable describes a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a hedge of protection around it and leased it to vinedressers to take care of it. However, when it was ready for the fruit to be harvested and the landowner sent his servants to harvest it, the vinedressers beat one servant, killed one, and stoned another. The landowner sent even more servants a second time and it happened again. The third time, he sent his son, thinking they wouldn’t do such a thing to him, but the vinedressers saw that it was the landowner’s son and instead of letting him come and harvest the fruit, they rejected and killed him. After telling this parable to the chief priests and Pharisees, Jesus asked them what the landowner would do to those who killed his son. (Matthew 21:33-40)

“They said to Him, ‘He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.’”

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’ ‘

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:41-44)

Jesus was chosen by God as the Messiah, the chief cornerstone, the One the Jews had been looking for, the One who had been prophesied of long ago in the Scriptures. But, as prophesied, He would be rejected by them and He was given to a nation - the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations - in order to bear the fruits of His vineyard. Sadly, most who have heard His message of salvation have rejected it. Instead of seeing Him as the cornerstone, the firm foundation on which salvation is built and who lives today, they see Him as a stumbling block, a rock of offense, and they do so at their own peril. But to us who believe in Him, the One chosen by God and precious to Him, He is our everything. He is our salvation.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’

“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made the foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks [Gentiles] foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is strong than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) ✝️

February 24, 2023: 1 Peter 2:1-3 - Let Us Grow in our Faith

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” - 1 Peter 2:1-2

What do infants need in order to grow? They need milk, and not just any milk but the kind of milk that provides all the nutrients formulated just right, designed by God, that gives them what they need to grow their bodies and their brains. Their brains are responding to stimuli, and they are forming the synapses that provide them with the ability to learn and communicate. In fact the brain of a newborn baby, “…already has about all of the neurons it will ever have. It doubles in size in the first year, and by age three it has reached 80 percent of its adult volume. Even more importantly, synapses are formed at a faster rate during these years than at any other time.” (See: http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/why-0-3/baby-and-brain).

The first milk that an infant will receive from his or her mother is colostrum. Colostrum is a special milk that a mother’s body produces first, and it is specially formulated to build the newborn’s immune system and protect from infection. Colostrum then changes to breast milk two to four days after the newborn is born and lasts for about two weeks. Thereafter, the milk turns to mature milk and lasts as long as the mother is nursing. (See: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum).

Similarly, we are new believers in Christ should desire the pure milk of God’s word, and we should grow in our faith. Just as a newborn baby grows by consuming the nutrient-rich milk and then moves from drinking milk to soft food and then solid food, so should we grow in our faith; we should not be stuck in the milk-phase of being born again in Christ.

When we are first born again, I believe God gives us, through the Holy Spirit, the essentials of His word that we need to sustain us:

• John 3:16-18: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

• Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

When we have believed that Jesus as our Savior, when we have come to that point in our lives, that, as David wrote, we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good:

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8)

At the instant we are saved by believing in Jesus as our Savior, we are filled with His Holy Spirit, who helps us understand God’s word when we read it. But if we do not read it for ourselves regularly, we won’t ever grow out of that newborn stage of being a child of God, never moving off of the milk to the solid food stage, which is where we really begin to grow in our faith. I think many new believers make the mistake of relying on other people’s interpretation of God’s word instead of reading it for ourselves. Instead of getting the rich food formulated by God Himself in His word, they are getting an equivalent of “fast food.” Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to read commentaries on Scripture but we must do this in addition to reading God’s word for ourselves because people, myself included,can be incorrect in our understanding of the Scriptures, or sometimes, people can intentionally twist the word of God to accommodate and/or justify their own sins. We must rely on the Holy Spirit first to teach us about God’s word.

As Peter first said in today’s Scripture verses, we must lay aside, “…all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,” for if we do not, we are not ready to move to the solid food of God’s word; rather, we are still in the newborn or milk stage of our born-again lives. Why is this the case? Consider that you are telling someone about Jesus but that same person has heard you cuss, perhaps even using the Lord’s name in a derogatory way, or heard you say that they shouldn’t do something when you yourself have done that very thing? How seriously are they going to consider what you say to them about Jesus? I am guilty of this myself, and I believe that is why my understanding of the Bible was at a certain shallow level for years because I was stuck in the milk phase of my growth as a child of God.

The apostle Paul wrote about this very thing when he wrote to the church of Corinth. In my Bible, the introduction to 1 Corinthians says, “First Corinthians reveals the problems, pressures, and struggles of a church called out of a pagan society. Paul addresses a variety of problems in the lifestyle of the Corinthian church.” In the passage of Scripture below, Paul is addressing the problems that they have amongst themselves, as believers in Christ.

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

As Peter mentioned in today’s Scriptures verses, we should grow in our faith, if indeed we have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews, whom many believe is the apostle Paul, wrote:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14)

In the Scripture above, notice that last part: “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” It is only by moving from milk to solid food by reading and hearing God’s word that we will, by having our senses exercised through the Holy Spirit, be able to discern both good and evil. This is absolutely critical in the end times in which we are living. The first thing Jesus Christ warned His disciples about that would be a sign of His second coming and of the end of the age was, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:4). Jesus went on in this chapter to tell them of false christs and false prophets rising up and doing many things to deceive them. His warnings are written all throughout Matthew 24. If we are still stuck in the milk phase, we are vulnerable to being deceived. If we truly have seen and tasted that the Lord is gracious and good, we must move out of the milk phase and into the solid food phase of our spiritual lives, reading His word everyday, praying for the Holy Spirit to help us understand His word, and pray that He would give us the ability to discern who is of Him, who is not of Him, and only to listen to who is of Him, for deceivers are all around us. ✝️

February 23, 2023: 1 Peter 1:24-25 - All Flesh is as Grass

“…because ‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” - 1 Peter 1:24-25

Life. It is so brief. When you’re a child, though, it doesn’t seem that way. Instead, it seems to drag on forever, especially during the school year and you’re waiting for summer to begin. Or right after Christmas, when you have another 364 days to wait until next Christmas. I remember when I was twelve years old and there was a boy at my school who I had a crush on. He was 15. I thought he was so mature. I couldn’t wait until I was 15. Then I graduated high school at 17, then at 18 I got married and went 10,000 miles overseas with my husband. Life was happening. I was working, trying to be a good wife and keep a clean house and learn how to cook quick meals, taking college classes, studying, living. Then three years after we moved back to the states, God blessed us with a son and four years later we were blessed with a daughter, and sadly miscarrying a daughter in between. After that, life sped up. Everything went by so quickly, until I realized one day after our kids were grown and living their own lives, just how short life really is. Where did all that time go? And now, if I go by average life expectancy statistics, I don’t have a whole lot of years left to live, maybe twenty.

When I look in the mirror I see myself but not like the self I used to be. Now, there are wrinkles on my face and neck, dark circles under my eyes, and gray hairs on my head when there used to be none. My face is less full, more sunken in. Just like the bouquet of flowers that I bought recently, the flowers start out vibrant and full of color, standing straight up, bringing a smile to my face when I see them. But then, after a few days, their leaves start to dry out, the colors of the flowers begin to fade, the flowers start to shrivel, and their once straight stems now start to become weak and droop. Just yesterday I threw away one of the flowers, a hydrangea, because it had died. Its life cycle was over. And one day too, I will die. My life cycle will be over. And one day too, you will die, your life cycle will be over.

But God, His word endures forever. It has endured for thousands of years, and it continues to endure, no matter how many men and women seek to destroy it. According to an August 2021 article from churchleaders.com, the Bible is either illegal or severely restricted in 52 nations, most of which are Muslim or Communist. I believe we are quickly coming to the point where the Bible will be banned in western countries as well, possibly starting with Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and England and then followed by the USA.

https://churchleaders.com/youth/403760-how-many-countries-is-the-bible-banned-in.html

If there is no power in God’s word, then why ban it? What harm can a powerless book do? But there is a reason why the Bible is banned in many countries. It is banned because there is power in God’s word, and those who ban it know it. They ban it because of their unbelief in the One true God and instead, are being led by Satan. And what does Satan know? He knows that the Bible is the word of God, he even quoted it to Jesus. Satan knows that it has the power for a human to read it and realize that God is real, that He has a plan for us, we were not created accidentally, we are all born sinners but there is hope, a living hope for redemption from all our sins, and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus came to offer salvation of sins to all who would believe in Him as Savior, God’s only begotten Son whom He sent to provide the way - the only way - of salvation. Satan does not want us to know that because he wants our soul and will deceive whomever he has to, including world leaders, to prevent you from having a Bible, and especially from you reading it for yourself.

Sinful men and women cannot save themselves because there is nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven; only Jesus can do that for us. Jesus did it once and for all when He came to this earth, preaching and teaching the message of salvation, only to be rejected by those He came to save. Jesus died on a cross via crucifixion, the most painful method of death known to mankind, saying “It is finished” as He took His last breath, was resurrected by God, walked the earth for 40 days after He was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, where He is now, at the right hand of God. Jesus’ message of salvation is for each and every single one of us. No one has sinned so much that they cannot be saved. If they truly turn to Jesus and ask Him to forgive them of all their sins and believe with their heart that only He can save them, He will. His word - His enduring word - promises us this free gift of salvation.

But what are we being saved from? We are being saved from eternal separation from God after we die. When we die, we will either be with God for eternity in His kingdom in heaven, which is God’s throne, (Isaiah 66:1), or we will be eternally separated from Him in a place called hell. All sinners who die in their sin and reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will be cast into hell. Jesus spoke of hell as a real place, including in the passages of Scripture below.

• “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33)

• “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…’ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

For those who are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, our life here on earth is just the beginning. We are just getting a foretaste of what our true life will be like, where we will live forever in a place without sin and without death, and most importantly, we will be with Him! We will have been given our new glorified bodies. I am very happy about that, when I don’t have the aches that my aging body has now! And even though the earth on which I live has all the beautiful flowers and trees, majestic mountains, vast oceans, and amazing animals, I know that the God who created it all has something even more spectacular for His children when we get to His kingdom in heaven, for my God is an amazing God, a God of glory, a God of love and mercy and who also is a just God. He gives us all the opportunity to turn to Him and receive His free gift of salvation. Have you turned to Him and received it? The enduring word of the Lord is sent as a love letter to mankind. He truly wants to save us from our sins, telling us He doesn’t want any to perish but for all to have everlasting life, but He won’t force you to believe in Jesus. The choice is yours. When your time on earth is done, when your time of flowering is done and you have withered away, will you be cast into the fire or will you be made new in Jesus, never again to wilt or wither away but to flourish like a vase of fresh beautiful flowers, bringing a smile to His face?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) ✝️

February 22, 2023: 1 Peter 1:23 - Having Been Born Again

“…having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…” - 1 Peter 1:23

Except for One, every single person ever conceived is formed from the seed of a man and the egg of a woman. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s only command in the Garden of Eden, which was not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the curse of sin - the sin nature - was put into every single human being born thereafter. Every single one of us is born by corruptible, human seed. If you think that isn’t the case, just watch children and see if anyone needs to teach them to lie and to be selfish. No one needs to; it is part of their - our - sin nature.

Because the result of sin is death, our lives here on earth are temporary, with the 2022 average worldwide life expectancy being only 72.98 years and here in the USA, it was lowered to only 76.4 years (see links below), which hasn’t been seen since 1996.

2022 Worldwide Average: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/life-expectancy

2022 USA Average: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/12/22/us-life-expectancy-continues-fall-erasing-25-years-health-gains/10937418002/

So who is the One who is different, who was made from incorruptible seed? That One is Jesus Christ. He is the only One who is from the Seed of God, the only incorruptible Seed, for in God there is no sin. Let us read Genesis 3:15, which mentions the Seed of a woman. How can this be, since women do not have seed but only eggs?

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

The “Seed” referred to is Jesus Christ, and this passage of Scripture prophecies that the serpent, who is the devil, also called Satan, who tempted and deceived Eve in the garden, followed by Adam’s sin, will war against her Seed - Jesus - and Satan will lose that war, as prophesied in the book of Revelation. And, it won’t only be Satan who is destroyed but all who choose to follow him instead of Jesus Christ.

So how does a woman have Seed, since we know that women only have eggs? The prophet Isaiah foretold of how Jesus would be born:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God-With-Us].” (Isaiah 7:14)

Before Jesus was born, a man named Joseph was betrothed to a virgin named Mary. He had found out that Mary had become pregnant, and yet, they had not had sexual relations together. When Joseph was trying to decide what to do:

“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS [Savior], for He will save His people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1:20-21)

The Seed that was needed to conceive a Child was provided by the Holy Spirit, and thus was without sin; the Seed was not from that of a man. While Eve had in fact eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, she had been deceived by the serpent and was not held to account as Adam was. Before God had created Eve from Adam’s rib, God had commanded Adam directly:

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:15-17)

After Eve and Adam had eaten the fruit and after God had addressed both the serpent and Eve, God then addressed Adam, holding him accountable for his sin:

“Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Thus, Jesus could not be born from the seed, the lineage, of Adam, for Adam was sinful in the eyes of God. Instead, Jesus would be born of incorruptible seed from the Holy Spirit, through a virgin who was a biological descendant of Eve, the woman. Jesus was born unto Mary and Joseph, and His birth fulfilled all of the prophecies that had been made of Him hundreds and even thousands of years prior.

It is through Jesus Christ and Him alone that we are born again. We human beings are all born of water, the water of a natural, human birth when our mother’s bag of water is broken during or sometimes even prior to childbirth. We live in water during our time in our mother’s womb. However, to be born again, we must be born of water and the Spirit of God, as Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews when Nicodemus had realized that no one could do the things that he had seen Jesus do unless “God is with him”:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” - John 3:3-8)

As the apostle Paul would later write in Romans 5:15, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.” And in Romans 5:19, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

It is only by believing in Jesus Christ that we can be born again, for He was the only One who ever lived without sin. To have a sinner forgive sinners is nothing extraordinary, but to have the eternal, sinless, spotless Lamb of God forgive sinners, that is divine salvation.

Jesus is the Word of God, and He lives and abides forever, just as John the baptist wrote about:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

It is through Jesus and through God’s word, the Bible, that we can love our brothers and sisters fervently and with a pure heart. When we read God’s word, the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us from the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, helps us to understand and retain what we read. The word is described in Hebrews as:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)

I write this to my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, reminding us that though this world is growing ever darker and more wicked by the day, and some days it seems even by the minute, we have been redeemed by the precious blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we have the hope within us that the rest of the world does not have: the living hope of salvation of all our sins and that one day, and I believe that day is soon approaching, we will be with Him, when all of the sadness and horror we see in the world today will be replaced with joy. As Jesus told His disciples before He died, let us remember His words, for they apply to us - to all believers in Him - today:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ as your Savior, I can’t encourage you enough to seek Him while He still may be found, for you do not know when will be your last day on earth. We all have an appointed time to die, and we do not know when that day will come. We could exceed the average life expectancy or we may not; we are not guaranteed another day of life. Turn to Jesus today, before it’s too late, and be born again to a living hope in Jesus, the sinless, precious Lamb of God, the One whose blood was shed, the only One who can set you free. ✝️

February 20, 2023: 1 Peter 1:22 - Let Us Love Our Brethren with a Pure Heart

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart…” - 1 Peter 1:22

To love one another with a pure heart is not to love as the world loves, as we once loved before we were saved from our sins by believing in Jesus. Love without the Holy Spirit within us is driven by our fleshly, sinful selves and our desires and not that of the pure love of God. True and pure love can only come after we have been born again, washed clean by the purifying blood of Jesus, and after understanding and obeying the truth of God through the teaching by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. God sent His only Son Jesus to show us what this pure and true love looks like.

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” - Titus 3:4-7

God described to us in His word what pure and true love really means.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

If we believe not in the truth - the word of God - then we cannot love, for God is love.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” - 1 John 4:7-11

The outward manifestation of what it means to love with a pure heart is when we love our brethren - our brothers and sisters who also believe in Jesus Christ - by loving God and keeping His commandments.

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:1-2)

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” - Colossians 3:12-14

We are at a point in history when the persecution of believers in Christ is increasing, including in my country of the USA. It is more important than ever that we love our brothers and sisters fervently, with a pure heart, supporting one another, so that we may stand strong together in the solid rock and foundation of our salvation - Jesus Christ - until the day of glory arrives and we are with Him, the salvation of our souls being complete. ❤️ ✝️

February 19, 2023: 1 Peter 1:20-21 - Jesus was There at the Beginning

“He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” - 1 Peter 1:20-21

Jesus wasn’t an afterthought, a backup plan, or anything like that because of the Jews’ rejection of Him as their prophesied Messiah; rather, He was there from the very beginning of creation. As written by John the baptist, through the Holy Spirit:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

Genesis 1:26 states:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God knows the end from the beginning. He knew that Adam and Eve would disobey the only command that He gave them - not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and still He created them. He knew that from the moment they ate from the fruit of that tree, sin would enter them, that they would die, and they would pass on that sin through their children for all generations to come. With the sin would come strife, pain, and suffering, for sin does not lead to life but to destruction. And yet, a plan of redemption was waiting, waiting to be revealed.

God had chosen a Gentile named Abraham to be the father of the future nation of Israel. This nation would be set apart from the rest of humanity and would be a blessing to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). God knew when he chose Abraham that his descendants would not keep His commandments, would turn to false gods and worship false idols. God knew long before it happened that because of their disobedience to Him, He would split their nation into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, for sin causes division. Oh, do we see that now in our own nation of the “United” States. In their disobedience, God had a plan of redemption of mankind through the nation of Judah, even when it was conquered by Babylon and the majority of its people who survived were carted off to Babylon. But there was hope: as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, the remaining Jews would return to their land 70 years later. Two prophets of God - Ezekiel and Daniel - were both exiled to Babylon. Daniel was still in Babylon after the Medo-Persian empire had defeated Babylon and remembered Jeremiah’s prophecy. During the first year of reign of King Darius the Mede, Daniel made this statement:

“…in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” (Daniel 9:2)

Daniel prayed to God and acknowledged the iniquity and sin of himself and of his people:

“O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day - to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets” (Daniel 9:7-10)

Daniel prayed that God would hear his prayer:

“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, My God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Daniel 9:17-19)

While Daniel was praying and confessing his sins and the sins of his people to God, the angel Gabriel, who had previously given Daniel a vision, gave Daniel a great prophecy, which we know now as the 70-weeks prophecy. I encourage you to access this link to gotquestions.org to learn more about this amazing prophecy. (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/seventy-weeks.html).

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” (Daniel 9:24-27)

This prophecy starts with the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. This was fulfilled by the commandment of King Artaxerxes of Persia, which is written about in the book of Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 2:1-8).

The prophecy gives a timeline in terms of 70 weeks, where each week represents a 7-year period, for a total of 490 years. The first seven weeks, a period of 49 years (7 x 7) would be the time when the people of Judah, who had returned from exile, would restore and build Jerusalem. The second Jewish temple had already been built and was completed in 516 BC. This would be followed by 62 weeks, a period of 434 years (62 x 7). Messiah the Prince would come during this period, and at the end of the 62 weeks, He would be cut off, meaning He would die. It is very interesting that the prophecy says,“Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself.” (Daniel 9:26) We know that Messiah came not for Himself but for us, to offer all of us the way of salvation from all our sins: belief in Him as the Savior. Jesus did come to the earth and died by crucifixion in approximately 33 AD, fulfilling the prophecy.

The prophecy goes on to tell of the people of the prince who is to come who will destroy the city and the sanctuary, which is Jerusalem and the temple. That is exactly what happened when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. Thus, 69 of the 70 weeks of the prophecy have already occurred, leaving one week, a final period of seven years. Many Christians believe that the period between 69 and 70 weeks is the time for people to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, before the final week of seven years begins. We are waiting for that final seven years of the prophecy to be fulfilled, but before it is fulfilled, the antichrist must step on the scene.

This final week, a period of seven years, is when the prince who is to come - antichrist - will confirm a covenant with many for seven years. After the confirmation of the covenant, many Christians believe that the third Jewish temple will be rebuilt shortly thereafter. We are already hearing about the Jews’ readiness and desire to build this third temple and to resume sacrificing animals even before it is built.

This 7-year period is known as the “tribulation period.” It is spoken of by Jesus, and it is written about in the book of Revelation. The last 3-1/2 years is known as the “great tribulation.” It is at the 3-1/2 year mark of the tribulation period that the antichrist will end the Jewish sacrifices in the temple and will set up an abomination that causes desolation. Whatever this abomination is, it will cause the Jews to flee in fear from where they are. Jesus Himself prophesied of this in Matthew 24:15, “‘Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.’ (whoever reads, let him understand), ‘then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.’” Jesus told them to flee immediately and not go back to their houses to retrieve anything. Clearly, this will be a time of great trouble for the Jews living at that time in human history, a time which Jesus referred to as the great tribulation period, the last 3-1/2 years in Matthew 24:21-22:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

The last book of the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, or “Revelation.” This book describes the events that will happen during the last seven years, the final week, of the 70-weeks’ prophecy. At the end of the seven-year tribulation period, Jesus will return to earth at His second coming. Before Jesus was crucified, He foretold to His disciples of His second coming at the end of the great tribulation:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31)

The prophet Zechariah also prophesied of Jesus’ second coming:

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced, Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.” (Zechariah 12:10-11)

It is at this point when the remaining Jews on the earth will realize that Jesus is their Messiah and will realize with mourning that they had pierced and rejected Him, and will finally turn to Him in belief and will be saved.

For the rest of the world alive at His second coming, Jesus will return as a Lion, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to defeat the antichrist, known as the “Beast” in Revelation, the false prophet, the rulers and their armies who will be gathered at Megiddo against Jesus and His armies He brought with Him from heaven. All, including those gathered against Him, who chose to reject His free gift of salvation in order to worship Satan and his antichrist and who hated good and loved evil, will receive their due penalty: death by the sword of His mouth, and eternal separation from Him in a place called hell, where they will be eternally tormented. Satan will then be bound for 1,000 years.

Jesus will then reign with His saints on the earth for 1,000 years, which is referred to as the Millennial Kingdom. At the end, Satan will be released for a short time, deceiving many, only to have their rebellion crushed and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone forever and ever.

Jesus will the destroy the earth by fire and create a new heaven, a new earth, and a new holy city - a new Jerusalem. Only His children, those who have been saved by His blood, will be there. Sin will be no more, and death will have been defeated; the 70-weeks prophecy will be completed. Jesus will have finished the transgression, made an end of all sins and reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness, sealed up vision and prophecy, for they will no longer be needed, and Jesus, God’s anointed, will reign forever and ever:

“Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me [the apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation through the Holy Spirit], ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.’” (Revelation 21:5-6)

“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:3-5)

The curse of sin will be gone, for you see, God always had a plan of redemption of sins for all of mankind for all who would believe, and His name is Jesus. ✝️

February 17, 2023: 1 Peter 1:18-19: We Were Redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ

“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” - 1 Peter 1:18-19

What does it mean to “redeem?” Dictionary.com defines it as “to buy or pay off; clear by payment" or “to discharge or fulfill (a pledge, promise, etc.)” Jesus left heaven and came to this earth to teach to us the way of salvation. He was scourged and crucified, spilled His precious blood, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven so that we who believe in Him as our Redeemer, would be bought by Him, fully cleared of all of our sins, past, present, and future.

Silver and gold are highly desired in our world today, just as they were thousands of years ago. Silver was first used as money around 4,000 years ago, and gold around 3,000 years ago. Did Jesus redeem us with silver or gold? No. Why? Because they don’t last forever and they wear over time. After having been married about 25 years, the gold on my wedding ring had started to thin and I had to have it reinforced by a jeweler in order to prevent it from breaking in two. I also lost the diamond in my wedding ring about three years ago because one of the four prongs had become weak and I had not realized it, even though I had the prongs reinforced years prior to losing the diamond. Though silver and gold are of value, there is nothing more valuable or precious than the blood of Jesus Christ. It was His blood that redeemed us from our sins, for those who have purposely chosen to believe in Him as our Redeemer. The blood of no one else would be able to redeem us, for everyone else’s blood is tainted by sin. It took Jesus’ blood, the perfect and sinless Lamb of God, to purchase us and free us from all of our sins.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth - in Him.” (Ephesians 1:7-10)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.” (Titus 2:11-15)

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In this first letter from Peter, he was writing to the Jewish Christians who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. He reminded them that their fathers and ancestors had corrupted God’s Law, which God had given to their ancestors through Moses. They had added their own rules and regulations to the Law, and Peter reminded them that they could not be redeemed by “their aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers” but only by the blood of Jesus Christ.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:11-15)

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

Whether we are Jew or Gentile, salvation is free and available to all who believe on Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus paid the price to redeem us of all our sins with His precious blood. Knowing that He made such a sacrifice for us, shouldn’t we live our lives in a way that pleases Him instead of making Him ashamed of us? Yes, we will sin because we are still on this earth and not with Him, but we should have a longing in our hearts to sin less and less, and we should feel guilt when we do sin and ask for forgiveness. I think the worst role model to an unbeliever is someone who says they are a Christian, go to church on Sundays, and then live like the devil six days a week. Why would unbelievers want to be saved by God who clearly has had no impact on a person who lives like that? As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:15, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” When we do our best at doing this, I think unbelievers won’t look at us as hypocrites, living a “do as I say, not as I do” lifestyle. Let us remember and through the way in which we live our lives, give praise, honor, and glory to the One who saved us, the One to whom the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders will fall down before and sing a new song before the time of great tribulation upon the earth begins:

“You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:8-10) ✝️