June 30, 2023: Psalm 139:4 - God Knows What I Will Say Before I Even Utter a Word

“For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.” - Psalm 139:4

When we are children, we must learn to speak words. We start with uttering sounds which bring delight to our parents as they watch us grow. Have you ever seen a baby that isn’t speaking a single word but is making all kinds of sounds and having a wonderful time because he has discovered his voice? He doesn’t care where the is or what time it is, he is simply amazed at this new thing he is now able to do. As a baby grows older, they begin to sound words as they are coaxed by their parents to say such words as “Mama” and “Dada.” I remember when our son first said “Dada,” we were so happy, although I must admit I wanted him to say “Mama” first! It wasn’t long before our children learn to say the word “no!” as they begin to show defiance against what we want them do. Watching our children grow is truly a blessing from God.

Just as a parent can sometimes sense what a child is going to say before they even say it, perhaps by reading the non-verbal cues, so does our heavenly Father know what we are going to say before we even say it. God, the One who created us, who designed us, who formed us in our mother’s womb, not only knows what we will say before we even utter a word but He also knows if the intent of our heart matches what we said. How many of us have had a child lie to us to our faces, where the words they spoke do not match the guilt shown in their face? Just as a child can’t hide it from their parents, neither can we hide anything from God; He is all knowing, He is all present, and He is all powerful. The Bible tells us that there is nothing that can be hidden from Him:

“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 4:13)

Just as God knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts, so does His word. In this same passage of Scripture in the book of Hebrews, itstates:

“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.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The Bible is the word of God, written by men chosen by God as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. I have heard it said by David Paul Kikrpatrick, “We don’t read the Bible, the Bible reads us.” I absolutely agree with this statement. When we read the Bible, do we receive it with a repentant heart, realizing we are all sinners in need of a Savior, His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, the only One who can save us from our sins and decide to turn to Him and be saved, or do we reject His word as myths and fables, or possibly consider it a book only meant to control and limit our abilities so that we won’t be like Him, choosing instead to believe the lies of the devil that have been in existence since he deceived Eve in the garden, causing her and Adam to fall from God’s grace?

How many of us have uttered words that we wished we could take back after seeing the hurt they caused someone? How many of us have been on the receiving end of those words, perhaps not just once but having a long history of hearing such words from someone who claims to love us, with each word hitting our hearts like a dagger being thrust into it repeatedly? How many of us have in anger taken God’s name in vain, have used His beautiful Son’s name as a curse word? How many of us have been pierced by our conscience not to say certain things but in defiance did so anyways, with the consequences lasting much longer than it took for them to roll off our tongues in anger? How many of us have done these things and not even regretted what we did? God knew what we were going to say before we even said it, and yet, He is willing to forgive us of all we have ever done, to forgive every hurtful word spoken, if only we would do one thing: believe in His Son Jesus Christ. Why? Because of His deep love for us, a love beyond compare:

“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.” (John 3:16-17)

God is willing to wipe clean every single sin we have and ever will commit if only we believe in His Son:

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14)

God will remember no more the hurtful words we spoke. He will remember no more the sinful thoughts in our heart that were there even before we put them into words. But if we continue in our sin, in our pride, in our hard-heartedness, in our rejection of His priceless gift of salvation from sins offered to us by the precious blood that was shed for us by His sinless Son Jesus Christ, He will leave us in our present sinful state, honoring our choice, our free will.

What does the Bible say about our present state?

“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.” (John 3:18-19)

Look at our world today: is it growing lighter or is it growing darker? It is clearly seen that the darkness is increasing, with deeds that were once hidden in the shadows are now out in the open on full display for all to see, even by very young children. We are living in perilous times before the end of the age, before the second coming of Christ, as the Bible prophesied thousands of years ago, and it’s not just happening in the unbelieving world but even in professing churches, where false pastors and false teachers are preaching and teaching a false doctrine, deceiving many who willfully are ignorant because they don’t want the truth of God but wanted their ears to be tickled by smooth-sounding words. I urge you will all my being that if you are not saved by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior, that you consider for a moment, what would happen if you were to die today, perhaps in the next hour, and where will you spend your eternity? I pray you take to heart Jesus’ words:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Further, I pray you utter words with your tongue something similar that the apostle Peter, whose former name was Simon Bar-Jonah, said when Jesus asked His apostles, “But who do you say that I am?”:

“Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:16-17)

What do your thoughts say about your heart? What do your words reveal about your heart and about you? Do you have a heart for God, or is your heart all about you, all about self? Turn to Jesus today, give Him your heart, before it’s too late. ❤️ ✝️

June 28, 2023: Psalm 139:3 - God Knows the Motives of Our Heart

“You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.” - Psalm 139:3

God is omniscient, which is all-knowing, omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere, and He is omnipotent, which is almighty or infinite in power. In this verse of the psalm, David acknowledges God’s omniscience. God knows which path we choose, where we go on that path, and why we choose to go the way that we did, knowing the motives of our heart. He knows when we lie down to go to sleep and the thoughts that go through our minds before falling asleep.

When Israel’s king Saul disobeyed God’s commands when Israel was at war with its enemies that were on every side of them and had defeated them and in his pride had set up a monument for himself, God rejected Saul as king, regretting that He had set him up as king. God sent the prophet Samuel, who had grieved over the actions of Saul, to confront Saul regarding his actions. When Saul saw Samuel, he told Samuel, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD,” which was a lie, for he had not done all that God had commanded him to do after he had defeated his enemies. Two times Saul mades excuses for what he had done, even blaming the people for part of his decision. Samuel then said to Saul:

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of the rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he also has rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

During the course of Saul’s conversation with Samuel, Saul said to him two times, “The LORD your God.” (1 Samuel 15:15, 21). Clearly, if Saul truly believed in God with his heart, he would have said "The LORD my God,” but he didn’t. Then, Saul truly stated that he had sinned by transgressing God’s commandment and had done so because he was fearful of the people and obeyed their voice instead of God’s. He then asked Samuel to pardon him. Notice that Saul did not confess to God Himself that he had sinned against Him. Saul simply wanted to make a statement that he had sinned and move on with being king, and he wanted Samuel to go with him to worship the LORD. However Samuel told Saul:

“I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:26)

As Samuel turned away to leave, Saul took the edge of Samuel’s robe and it tore. Then Samuel said to him:

“The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.” (1 Samuel 15:28)

Saul then stated again that he had sinned and asked Samuel to honor him before the elders of Israel and go with him to worship God. However, just as Saul had done twice already, he said, “…that I may worship the LORD your God” (1 Samuel 15:30). It was evident that Saul did not believe in God and did not want to worship Him; rather, he only wanted the benefits and blessings that God had bestowed upon him as of king of Israel but in his heart, he did not believe. God knew Saul’s heart and the motivations of it; that his motivation was self and not God.

As instructed by God, Samuel then went on to anoint the next king. However, the king was definitely not one any human being, including Samuel, would have chosen. Humans tend to want people who are in charge to be strong in word, physical stature, and in power, and one who will lead them on paths that most of the time are not in alignment with the path God wants us to take. God told Samuel to go to a man named Jesse, a Bethlehemite, telling Samuel, “For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.” (1 Samuel 16:1) . Fearing what would happen if king Saul heard what Samuel would do if he found out, God reassured him to go to Jesse and take a heifer with him and say, “‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.’” (1 Samuel 16:2-3)

Samuel did as God instructed him to do. He consecrated Jesse and all his sons and then invited all of them to the sacrifice. Jesse had eight sons, and the first son, Eliab, was brought to Samuel. Samuel looked upon him and said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him!” (1 Samuel 16:6) However, God told Samuel:

“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

Six more sons of Jesse were brought before Samuel, and God said He had not chosen them. Samuel then asked Jesse if all the young men were there. Jesse told him:

“There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” (1 Samuel 16:11)

Samuel told Jesse to bring him that son, and Jesse did. Then God told Samuel, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” (1 Samuel 16:12) Samuel did anoint David “in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” (1 Samuel 16:13)

It is interesting that David was the eighth son of Jesse. I don’t believe this is any coincidence, as the number eight in the Bible has deep significance. Per Biblestudy.org:

(See: https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/8.html)

• The number 8 represents new beginning, meaning a new order or creation, and man's true 'born again' event when he is resurrected from the dead into eternal life.

• Eight is also an integral part of Jesus' sacrifice. Like the Passover lamb, Jesus was selected as the Lamb to take away man's sins on Nisan 10 (April 1, 30 A.D. - John 12: 28 - 29). He was crucified on Nisan 14 (Wednesday, April 5 in 30 A.D.). His resurrection occurred three complete days after he was buried, which was at the end of the weekly Sabbath day that fell on Nisan 17. Nisan 17 was day 8, counting inclusively, from the time Christ was selected as man's sacrificial Lamb. All this bears record of Jesus' perfect sacrifice and His complete victory over death.

• Boys were to be circumcised on the 8th day. The number 8 symbolizes circumcision of the heart through Christ and the receiving of the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:28 - 29, Colossians 2:11 - 13). Those in Christ are becoming a new creation, with godly character being created by the power of God's Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:10; 4:23 - 24).

God rejected the sons of Jesse whom man would have chosen because God looked at the heart. God looked at David’s heart and not his outwardly appearance. This David was the shepherd of the sheep, and it is this David from whom Jesus, the Good Shepherd, would come, and His kingdom will be set up and it will last forever, as prophesied in Isaiah 9:6-7:

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

It was this David, who before he became king and while Saul was still ruling as king, would have boldness as a lion because of his strong faith in God and was not fearful of men and what they could do to him. His boldness and courage in the Lord was fully shown when Israel was battling their enemy the Philistines. One of the Philistines was a giant named Goliath, who stood approximately 9 feet 9 inches tall. While taking food to his brothers and their captain who were at the camp near the Philistines in battle array, David had left his sheep with a keeper, and heard the men talking about this Philistine who had said he had come to defy the armies of Israel. David said to them, “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26) David’s words were reported to king Saul, and he sent for David. When David came to Saul, David said to him:

“Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:32)

But Saul told David he was just a youth and could not fight this man of war, but David persisted, saying:

“‘Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. Moreover David said, ‘The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul said to David, ‘Go, and the LORD be with you!’” (1 Samuel 17:34-37)

Oh, what beautiful words David spoke, and they were also prophetic words, symbolizing the coming Messiah who would keep His Father’s sheep - all who put their faith in Him for salvation of sins - and give His life for His sheep. What a beautiful connection between David the anointed king and to Jesus, God’s Anointed One and the King of kings. David was willing to put his life on the line for his sheep no matter how big or small the threat was, whether an animal that threatened his father’s sheep or this uncircumcised Philistine who defied the armies of the living God.

Saul then clothed David in his armor but it was too big for David and he couldn’t walk in it so David took it off. Instead of being armored by man’s armor, David took up the armor of God in the name the Lord. He took his shepherd’s staff and chose five smooth stones from the brook, put them in his shepherd’s bag, and with his sling in his hand, he set off toward the Philistine. It is very interesting that David never referred to Goliath by his name, for it meant “champion,” and this uncircumcised Philistine was no champion in the sight of David; only one who defied the armies of the living God. When David came upon him, the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” (1 Samuel 17:43) The Bible tells us:

“And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, ‘Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!’ Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:43-47)

When the Philistine came to meet David, without any hesitation David hurried toward the Philistine army to meet the Philistine. David took one smooth stone out of his bag and shot it with his sling toward the uncircumcised Philistine, striking him on his forehead and killing him. He then cut off his head with the Philistine’s own sword. When the Philistine army saw what had happened, they fled in fear.

David had put his faith and trust in God to direct his path even as a young man when he was likely in his teens, when without fearing what man - even a giant - could do to him, he boldly in his faith confronted and killed the uncircumcised Philistine.

David would later become the king of Israel, but prior to becoming king he would suffer many things because king Saul resented David and was full of envy and persecuted and tried to kill him. Through that persecution, we have many of the beautiful psalms that David wrote in the book of Psalms, including Psalm 40, which is a psalm that emphasizes the importance of persevering in our faith in the midst of our trials of life. Below is this beautiful psalm, likely written at the end of his life:

“I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth - praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD.

Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; my ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, ‘Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.’

I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.

Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me! Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who seek to destroy my life; let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor who wish me evil. Let them be confounded because of their shame, who say to me, “Aha, aha!”

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, ‘The LORD be magnified!’ But I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God.” (Psalm 40)

David wasn’t perfect, and he committed many sins, including committing adultery with Bathsheba and getting her pregnant and trying to cover it up by having her husband killed by putting him at the front line of a dangerous battle. But David repented and turned back to God, and unlike Saul’s false repentance, David’s was true, it was from the heart, saying to the prophet Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” (2 Samuel 12:13) Nathan then told David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.” (2 Samuel 12:13-14)

David also wrote about his sin in Psalm 51:

“For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight…” (Psalm 51:3-4)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit with me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:10-11)

While David’s child with Bathsheba did indeed die, God blessed them with a son, Solomon, who would build the first Jewish temple of God, and it would be from the lineage of Solomon whom Jesus would be born.

David went on to become the greatest earthly king that Israel ever had, and it is through his bloodline that Jesus Christ - the King of kings and Lord of lords - was born through the Holy Spirit. David trusted in the Lord all the remaining days of his life. David’s example shows us that none of us are perfect, even David, but when we sin against God and acknowledge with our heart that it is He whom we have sinned against, the Lord is quick to forgive us, and that is why He sent Jesus, the Good Shepherd, to redeem all who put their trust in Him to forgive us of our sins. Of David, the apostle Luke, the author of the book of Acts, wrote:

“And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all my will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior - Jesus…” (Acts 13:21-23)

How many of us are like David and currently facing the “Goliaths” in our own lives? Let us be like David and put our trust in the Lord, no matter how big the giant is, no matter how intimidating it may be. God can do a mighty work in our lives if we don’t see the problem before us but we see the power of the living God, in whom we should put all our trust.

When we decide to put our faith and trust in God, as David did when he was a young man, when we decide to follow God’s path, the path that leads to righteousness through believing in His Son Jesus Christ, we have all we need to slay the giant in our lives with one smooth stone, a stone that is packed with the power of Almighty God.

I leave you with the words of David from another beautiful psalm of his, from Psalm 31:

“Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” (Psalm 31:23-24) ✝️

June 22, 2023: Psalm 139:2 - God - Not Man Nor Technology - is Omniscient

“You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.” - Psalm 139:2

Eternal God knows everything about you and everything about me. There is nothing hidden from Him; no thought, no action, no cursing of Him, no praise of Him. He sees and hears it all, and He knew exactly what we would say or do before we said it, before we did it. There is no covering up of our sins that He cannot see through. He knows our thoughts, piercing into not only our mind but into our hearts, knowing the motivation of such things, whether for His good and pleasure, or for ours.

When we lie in our bed before we fall asleep, thanking Him for all He has blessed us with, for getting us through another day, whether it was a difficult or an easy one, He hears us. When we rise up, ready to start the next day, He knows whether we thank Him for His tender love and mercy, giving us another day of our life here on earth, thanking His Son Jesus Christ for giving us the greatest gift we could ever receive, He hears us. When we ask Him to trust and obey Him in all things and lead us in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake, He hears us. When we fail and the wretched old man within us causes us to sin, God forgives us when we ask for forgiveness. He knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts and when our desire is to please Him, even when we fall short.

When we cry out to Him because life is hard, He hears us! When we seek comfort and strength by reading His word, He sees us, and He speaks to us through it, leading us into all truth by His Holy Spirit. As we read the pages of His word, as we pray to Him, He assures us that we are not alone, that He will always be with us, we who have put our trust in His Son Jesus for our salvation, to redeem us of all our sins. Though physical distance separates us from Him who sits upon His heavenly throne of glory, He dwells within us through the Holy Spirit. Yes, God is all knowing, and He knows every single thought we have ever had, and He knew them before we even thought them.

We are at a time in history like no other, a time when artificial intelligence is increasing exponentially such that for the first time on May 1, 2023, it was announced that “An AI-based decoder that can translate brain activity into a continuous stream of text has been developed, in a breakthrough that allows a person’s thoughts to be read non-invasively for the first time.”

(See: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/01/ai-makes-non-invasive-mind-reading-possible-by-turning-thoughts-into-text)

Mankind is doing all that it can to be God, but it will never be God, only a false god, a cheap imitation. With the majority of humanity rejecting who God is and His free gift of salvation from all sins, by trusting in His Son Jesus, it has turned to the lies of Satan instead, and he is leading the world into the same trap in which he led Adam and Eve. First, he planted seeds of doubt of what God had said to them, asking Eve, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’ “(Genesis 3:1) Next, luring Eve, Satan twisted the words of God when He told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in that day that you eat of it you shall surely die,” (Genesis 2:17) and Satan lied and deceived Eve, saying to her, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5) Satan twisted the words of God, that were meant for protection of Adam and Eve, into words that made Eve think God only wanted to control Eve and keep her beneath Him and not like Him. What loving father would not want to protect his children and do everything he could, including setting up boundaries that are for their good? Do we as parents not set up boundaries for our own children? God knew that if Adam and Eve ate from that tree, they would no longer live forever in the Garden without sin but would die, because of their sin.

The majority of mankind rejects the one true God because it loves its sin - even denying that it is sin - and is trying to be God by making fake imitations of Him. How ironic it is that in one breath they deny that God exists, only to be followed by trying to create something they call “God” but which is made by man? God is eternal and has always existed; no one created Him, He always was. The desire to be God is what caused the fall of Satan, it was his pride, as the passages of Scripture from the Bible’s books of Isaiah and Ezekiel describe:

“How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart:

‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

“Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)

“You [Satan] were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, , and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up [proud] because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…” (Ezekiel 28:12-17)

In Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, while the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel were writing about two earthly kings - the king of Babylon and the king of Tyre - Isaiah and Ezekiel were also speaking to the power behind these two evil kings, and that power is Satan. It was Satan who deceived Eve, and she willingly heeded his words instead of heeding God’s command, and it was Satan who deceived these two kings, who willingly rejected the One true God. In Ezekiel 28:13, it was Satan who was in the garden of Eden and no earthly king; he was the anointed cherub, and he is the one who was the seal of perfection. However, instead of praising God for all God had done for him, Satan was full of pride, wanting to replace God with himself. All that God had given him wasn’t enough for him - he wanted to be God. Oh, how do we see that today in our world, especially in the USA, a country that has been blessed abundantly by God because it once loved God and put its faith and trust in Him for many years, but now has become like Satan, full of pride and hatred of God, and wanting to replace Him with self.

Because Satan is not God and will never be, and because he is not omniscient, he is not all-knowing, he must empower men and women who have rejected God and accepted Satan to create tools that will give him and his coming frontman - the final antichrist - all power over humanity, which includes artificial intelligence, including the ability to read people’s minds. Sadly, there are many who willingly - happily - have done that, including those in the World Economic Forum, governments, social media, media, entertainment, education, and many others; they have sold their souls to Satan, just as Judas did when he betrayed Jesus Christ for thirty pieces of silver. They have not heeded the word of God that warns them of the consequences of pride:

“He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.” (Psalm 66:7)

“A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.” (Proverbs 29:23)

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty [disdainfully proud] spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

“When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” (Proverbs 11:2-3)

“The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4)

“‘Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be greatly despised. The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’ Though you ascend as high as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,’ says the LORD.” (Obadiah 1:2-4)

“And Babylon, the glory of the kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 13:19)

God has nothing good to say about pride, only that it goes before destruction. If there is one characteristic of the USA that stands out in our world today, it is pride, and if anyone takes exception to it, especially those of us who have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we are mocked and hated. But we know that nothing is of more value than our soul, and our soul belongs to Jesus Christ, not Satan.

Many in our world today have become so puffed up, so prideful that they believe they can be gods and have wholeheartedly rejected the One true God. Globalist and declared atheist Yuval Noah Harari declared at a 2018 conference, “Homo sapiens are in the process of becoming gods.” (See: https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/homo-sapiens-are-in-the-process-of-becoming-gods-yuval-noah-harari-2325351-2023-01-23)

The globalists are busy creating as we speak every tool needed by Satan that will be used when the final antichrist, also referred to as the “man of sin,” the “son of perdition,” and the “lawless one” will begin his 7-year reign of power on the earth, when, through the use of the technological tools, he will control every single aspect of a person’s life: where they can go, what certain medical injections they must receive, what they can buy and sell that likely will be enforced by a digital system of currency, and will force everyone to take his mark or the number of his name - 666 - and worship him or be killed. They will worship his image and they will worship their false god, likely through artificial intelligence. The antichrist’s false prophet will be the enforcer of this required worship of the beast, the antichrist. Everything is being set into place for this antichrist system.

Artificial intelligence is rising quickly. Read the words of Yuval Noah Harari and what he recently had to say in June 2023 about AI and religion:

(See: https://www.christianpost.com/news/israeli-futurist-predicts-ai-will-soon-write-a-new-bible.html)

“AI can create new ideas. [It] can even write a new Bible.”

“In a few years, there might be religions that are actually correct,” he said. “Just think about a religion whose holy book is written by an AI. That could be a reality in a few years.”

NBC News and other media outlets reported on June 14, 2023 about an “AI Jesus” that is streaming on the gaming platform called “Twitch” and which is advising people on different subjects, including dating and gaming but also on spirituality issues. Chatbots enable users to have a conversation with a computer as if the user was speaking to another person, via live chat messaging. Here are two quotes from the “AI Jesus” chatbot created by The Singularity Group, which is based in Germany:

“As Al Jesus, I don't have physical belongings, but encourage you to consider what brings you happiness and comfort and make your decision accordingly.”

“My aim is to foster a positive, supportive community here on Twitch, helping others on their journeys toward spiritual growth and understanding.”

(See: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/ai-jesus-twitch-stream-rcna89187)

As with any computer program, it is programmed, which means it can be programmed to include bias, including bias against the true teachings of Jesus Christ: that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life and no one gets to the Father except through Him (John 14:6), and that all who believe in Him are not condemned but are saved but all who do not believe are condemned already (John 3:18). Jesus never encouraged people to consider what brings them happiness and comfort but wanted them to consider their eternity and where will they spend it: in heaven or hell. The programmed words of AI Jesus are fluffy words of nonsense designed to lead people to hell and away from the truth of God and sadly are the same words that many churches are teaching.

People are flocking to this AI Jesus, as though it is their shepherd, but it is a counterfeit Jesus. Jesus Himself warned His disciples not to let no one deceive them as a sign of the end of the age and of the time prior to His second coming, in a time known as the 7-year tribulation period, or the time of Jacob’s trouble. Many believers in Christ believe the tribulation period will occur after the rapture of the church and then the final antichrist will step on the world scene to take his 7-year reign of terror. Jesus also said to His disciples:

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:23-28)

Jesus Christ - who came to the earth, was crucified and gave up His life, died, was buried, three days later rose again, and after forty days on earth, ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God - IS the true Jesus and IS the good shepherd:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives HIs life for the sheep. But a hireling [hired man], he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep [Jews]. And other sheep [non-Jews; Gentiles] I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life [died by crucifixion] that I may take it again [resurrect]. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (Jesus Christ; John 10:11-18)

I think it is no coincidence that the group that created this chatbot is named the way that it is considering the definition of “technological singularity”:

“The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization.”

(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity#:~:text=The%20technological%20singularity—or%20simply,of%20the%20singularity%20hypothesis%2C%20I.%20J.)

It is no concidence that of the Great Tribulation period, Jesus warned:

“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.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:21-22)

The usage of AI is increasing exponentially, and the globalists who hate and reject God are foaming at the mouth at all the various ways they will use it to control the majority of the world’s population. They are pawns in the hands of Satan, willingly doing his work because they believe they will be on the winning end of the war that is to come. They are greatly mistaken. They are greatly deceived. As Jesus said of Satan, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” (John 10:10) Jesus Christ has already won the war; Satan is a defeated foe. Anyone who has read the book of Revelation knows the future of Satan and all who are allied with him: they are all cast into hell, “the lake which burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8), forever separated from God and all that is good.

The time is now to choose: are you allied with Jesus Christ or are you against Him? Have you put your faith and trust in Him, believing in your heart that He alone can redeem you from all your sins, or have you put your faith and trust in anything else to save you, or even believing that you don’t need redemption from anything and that which God calls sin isn’t, and that you can do anything you want and suffer no eternal consequences for it? Are you chatting with an AI Jesus and considering what brings you happiness and comfort, are you praying to and talking with the real Jesus, the real God, who wants to lead you to salvation?

Jesus Himself told His disciples:

“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

“Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.” (John 12:44-45)

Only God is omniscient, is all-knowing; not man, not technology, not artificial intelligence, not a manmade chatbot. Only He knows all your thoughts and whether you are saved by believing in Jesus Christ, the good shepherd, as your Savior. If you have not done so already, will you put your trust in Him today, before it’s too late? Let us remember that only He is good and may we heed His words:

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10) ✝️

June 17, 2023: Psalm 139:1 - The LORD Knows Me

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me.” - Psalm 139:1

Psalm 139 was written by David, and some believe it to be written when he was made king of Israel (see: https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/parallel/paral18.cfm). This one statement that David wrote is so simple and yet deeply profound. First, David acknowledges who God is and refers to Him by His name, which in Hebrew is “YHWH” (See: https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/god-yhwh/difference-between-lord-Lord-and-LORD.htm, which states, “When the word “lord” is written in all upper-case letters (LORD), the Hebrew behind this word is the name of God, יהוה (YHWH).”) What else do we know about God’s name? Before God used Moses to lead His people, Israel, out of captivity in Egypt, God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire on the mountain of God, called Horeb or Sinai:

“Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)

“Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them,”The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.” ‘ Moreover God said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” ’ ” (Exodus 3:13-14)

Moses did as God commanded him to do and went to Egypt with his brother Aaron. After meeting with the Pharaoh of Egypt, telling him what God had told Moses, to let God’s people go, Pharaoh not only did not free God’s people but tightened his grip further on them by causing them to make the same quota of bricks but without giving them straw. Moses reported this to God, and feeling deep sorrow for the people, for Moses himself was also an Israelite who had been saved as a baby in Egypt by Pharaoh’s daughter when Pharaoh had given the command to kill all male Israelite babies. Years later, while living in Egypt with his heritage undisclosed, and after seeing his people suffer at the hands of Pharaoh, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew (Israelite). Fearing for his life, Moses fled Egypt and lived in Midian, which is where he was living at the time he was tending sheep for his father-in-law and had went to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Now, after returning from Pharaoh after he refused to free the Israelites, Moses asked God:

“Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)

How many of us have felt as Moses did at that time? Here he was, faithful to God, doing as He commanded him, and yet the situation did not improve, it did not have the outcome we intended. Not only that, things were now worse. But God was not finished with the work He was doing through Moses for His people Israel:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.’”

Next, God did something that He had not done before: He would make Himself known to His people by His name, not by His title but by His Divine Name, which allows a very personal connection between them:

“And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them. I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage and I have remembered My covenant. Therefore say to the children of Israel:

“I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage; I am the LORD.” ‘ “ (Exodus 6:2-8)

And God did exactly as He promised. Because of Pharaoh’s hard heart against God, God had to send ten plagues or judgments upon him before he finally let God’s people go. Even when he did let them go, his heart was again turned against the Israelites and he and his army with many chariots and horses chased after them. At this point, God performed another miracle when the Israelites were boxed in with nowhere to go and He opened the Red Sea for all the Israelites to cross through it on dry land. When Pharaoh and his army went into the sea after them, God had Moses stretch out his hand and water of the sea had swallowed up Pharaoh and all his army and everything with them. God had made a promise to His people, and He kept it, exactly as He said He would. How many of us have experienced a time in our lives when God accomplished something miraculous in our own lives in a way that we never expected, at a time when we too felt boxed in, with nowhere to go?

Returning to today’s Scripture from Psalm 139, David knew God as LORD and called out to Him by His name (YHWH). Next, David said that God had searched him known him. Later in this psalm, David would acknowledge that it is God who created him, forming David in his mother’s womb, and knowing all of the days of David’s life before he even took his first breath. Can anyone know us better than the Divine One who created us? God knows absolutely every single thing about us, and God searches our heart. He knows if we truly love him with all our heart, He knows if we are seeking Him, as He sought us. David wrote of this to his son Solomon, whom God chose to build the first Jewish temple:

“As for you, my son Solomon, serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)

The book of Romans also tells us that God searches our hearts:

“Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:27)

The passage of Scripture from the book of Jeremiah contrasts the heart of a man whose trust is not in the LORD but in man with the one who trusts in the LORD. It also tells us about the condition of the heart:

“Thus says the LORD: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD, for he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is in the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. 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 17:5-10)

Through the power of the great I AM, the LORD God, Moses did lead God’s people, Israel, out of Egypt, and during their journey to the Promised Land, God gave them the Ten Commandments. The first and the greatest of all commandments was reiterated by Jesus when one of the scribes asked Him what is the first commandment of all:

“Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment.’ “ (Mark 12:29-30)

God searches our heart and knows if we truly love Him and have put all our trust in Him; we cannot fool Him. Yes, we will have our times when we are anxious, when we are scared, when we feel boxed in, as the Israelites did at the Red Sea, with nowhere to go and the Egyptians in hot pursuit of them, when we wonder why certain things are happening to us, but let us never forget that He is God, YHWH, and we know Him by His name. There is nothing that is happening to us that He did not already know. He is still holy, He is still on the throne, and He is still in control. He knows the end from the beginning, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. When we go through those dark times in our lives, let us pray like David did later in this psalm:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

When we are so scared and there is little or no light in our path, let God lead us, for He is our light, walking with us in our Red Sea moments, getting us through them, one trial at a time, leading us in the way everlasting. If we do this, every storm, every trial, every tragedy will be worth it in the end; all of these sorrows will be replaced with joy everlasting:

“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, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3)

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25) ✝️

June 15, 2023: Psalm 145:9 - The LORD is Good to All

“The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” - Psalm 145:9

Oh, what a true verse in the song of God’s majesty and love that David the psalmist wrote of our God! God is good to all. His goodness reaches to the most kind and humble people you could ever know to the wretched and murderous ones filled with hate in their heart. His goodness extends to all people, who are all sinners in need of a Savior.

God’s goodness was demonstrated in such a way that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to suffer in a way that no one has ever suffered. Jesus, who never sinned, had all of our sins placed on Him - the sin of every person who had ever lived at that time, extending to the sins of all people still to come - feeling the loneliness of sin, even asking God, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34), a statement prophetically uttered by David long before Jesus came to earth (Psalm 22:1). But God, He did not forsake Jesus. Oh no, three days after Jesus gave up His life and His body was placed in the tomb, God raised Jesus from the dead, and for 40 days, Jesus remained on the earth, spending time with His apostles and disciples before He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. Oh, yes, our God is good, and He promises to resurrect to new life all who put their faith and trust in His Son Jesus Christ.

God’s mercy extends to all through His works. Psalm 111:7 tells us, “The works of His hands are verity and justice…” “Verity” means that which is true, or truth. God’s goodness never changes. Our rejection of His goodness is not a reflection of Him but of us, of a prideful and unrepentant heart and a rejection of the truth. For one to be good, one must be just, and God is a just God. For those who reject His mercy and forgiveness, He will judge them, He will deliver justice to them. That time is coming, but until then, we are in a time of mercy and grace. It’s not too late to turn to Jesus Christ and receive His free gift of salvation from all your sins. As David urged all as he wrote in Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” Will you do that today? ✝️

June 13, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:14 - Keep the Good Thing Committed by the Holy Spirit

“That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” - 2 Timothy 1:14

The more I read the Bible, the more it draws me in, giving me a hunger for it like no other book I have ever read. There is a reason for that: it is no ordinary book. As Paul would later write to Timothy:

“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 3:16-17)

Before I became a believer in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him alone for my salvation - redemption of all my sins, paid by His precious blood - I started reading the Bible. I was seeking God but not yet filled by the Holy Spirit. However, as Jesus told His disciples, the Holy Spirit was convicting me of my sin, showing me I am a sinner in need of the Savior:

“And when He [the Holy Spirit] has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler [Satan] of this world is judged.” (Jesus Christ; John 16:8-11)

This conviction was so strong that I sought to know the truth, and I found it. After having read the entire Bible cover to cover, I absolutely knew it was the word of God, and not long after that, I put my faith and trust in Jesus for my salvation and I gave Him my heart. Once I did that, I continued to read the Bible and I started to understand things that previously did not make sense to me or which I did not comprehend the first time that I read it. Things started to connect, particularly with Bible prophecy, which is the foretelling of things to come before they actually happen. The Bible is the only book that accurately prophesies events to come hundreds even a thousand or more years before they happen. The first coming of Jesus Christ is one of those events, and He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies written about the coming Messiah in the Old Testament.

Every single person who has turned to Jesus Christ, believing in Him as their Savior, is instantly filled with the Holy Spirit. Once the conversion happens, as Jesus told His disciples, the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth (John 16:13). It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can understand God’s word.

When Jesus was speaking with Nicodemus, a Jewish man and a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews who had come to Jesus by night to ask Jesus some questions. Nicodemus knew there was something about Jesus, something different:

“‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You 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 the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’” (John 3:1-6)

As humans beings, we are differ when ent from everything else created by God, because we are created in His image and we are born of water. When we are in our mother’s womb, we are enclosed in a bag of water. A mother’s bag of water breaks before her baby is born. As the Bible tells us, in order to see the kingdom of God, to be allowed entry into it, we must be born again by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. We are baptized by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we must be water baptized to be saved by Jesus Christ; no, the only requirement is that we believe or trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation from sins. We can known this to be true by remembering the thief on the cross who was one of two men who were crucified at the same time that Jesus was crucified. He acknowledged he was a sinner and he acknowledged Jesus is the Christ, and said to Jesus, “‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:42-43) There was no water baptism, only belief in Jesus in who He is and a baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Paul the apostle wrote about receiving the Holy Spirit in his letters to the church in Corinth, Greece:

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free - and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

Paul wrote about believers having the Holy Spirit in the book of Romans:

“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.” (Romans 8:1)

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9)

In the book of Ephesians, Paul also wrote about believers in Christ being sealed by the Holy Spirit:

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:4)

We are sealed by His Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth, giving us understanding of the Scriptures that the unbelieving world does not understand, no matter their status in this world. They can have billions of dollars and be rich and powerful beyond compare but be spiritually bankrupt and without understanding of the things of God because they have rejected Jesus Christ. Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 2:

“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained [predetermined] before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written:

‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man [unsaved] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:6-16)

The Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their sins, showing them they need to be saved by the One who is righteous - Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is the way out of judgment, out of condemnation:

“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.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:17-19)

Each of us has a choice to make: do we choose salvation or condemnation, do we choose light or darkness, do we choose good or evil, do we choose Jesus or Satan? Satan is the god - the false god - of this world. This is acknowledged in the book of Luke when Satan tempted Jesus Christ when Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days and fasted during those days of temptation. Satan said to Jesus in one of those temptations:

“Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve,”’” (Luke 4:5-8)

Notice that Jesus did not dispute Satan’s claim that all the kingdoms of the world had been delivered to him. I believe that Satan has tempted many people as well, promising them many material things in exchange for their worship of him, for their souls, and disregarding Jesus’ words that they should only worship and serve God. The time is coming when Satan and all who follow him will be judged when Jesus returns to earth a second time. At Jesus second coming, however, He will not come as a lamb offering salvation from sins but as a lion, pouring out His righteous wrath on a world that chose condemnation over salvation, darkness over light, evil over good, and Satan over Him.

God’s word is a message of salvation through believing and trusting in Jesus Christ and as a warning of the spiritual war that is at work and has been since the garden of Eden for the souls of mankind. Either Jesus or Satan will own your soul; there is no in between. For those of us whose souls are owned by Jesus, we will suffer persecution and I believe this will increase even more than it already has, including the banning of the Bible in the USA, as it already is in other countries. On June 2, 2023, a school district in Utah that oversees the “education” of 72,000 students banned the Bible because one parent complained “its verses were too vulgar or violent for younger children” and the parent was “frustrated by efforts to ban materials from schools.” This, I believe, is the start of severe persecution coming to our country, as the USA continues to abandon its faith in God to believe the lies of Satan. The Bible even foretells of this. The ones doing the persecuting and deceivingare unknowingly being deceived themselves by Satan, whose goals are to steal, kill, and destroy. (See: https://apnews.com/article/book-ban-school-library-bible-fc025c8ccf30e955aaf0b0ee1899608a)

“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors 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.” (2 Timothy 3:12-15)

Those us who are in Christ must heed the words of Paul and keep the good thing, the doctrine of the gospel, the good news of salvation though faith in Jesus Christ and we must keep it not by our own strength but through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Let us remember that our trust, our hope, our eternity is not in this world but in Jesus Christ, and He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and one day, I believe soon, our salvation will be complete, when we are with Him, never looking back on the things of this world but only looking ahead, to a glorious eternal life with Him and all our brothers and sisters, where sin and sorrow abound no more.

When Jesus was brought to the court during one of His trials before He was crucified, He was asked a question by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor to whom the Jews had brought Jesus to put Him to death:

“‘Are You a king, then?’ Jesus answered, ‘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.” (Jesus Christ; John 18:37)

In the book of John, we have an account when Jesus was talking to the Jews in the Jewish temple. Jesus said to them:

“But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (Jesus Christ; John 10:26-30)

I leave you with these five questions:

1. Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, believing in Him for salvation from your sins?

2. If not, are you prepared to spend your eternity in hell, separated from Him forever, in a place of never-ending torment?

3. What is holding you back from turning to Him?

4. Is not turning to Him going to be worth it in the end?

5. Will you be like the thief on the cross that is with Jesus now in Paradise, or will you be like the other thief who mocked Jesus and is now in hell, in a place of torment forever?

June 10, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:13 - Hold Fast the Pattern of Sound Words in Faith and Love

“Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” - 2 Timothy 1:13

What does it mean to “hold fast?” It means to keep or to remember, to keep close to one’s heart. Memorizing Scripture verses is something that has been very helpful to me but it did not come easy. When I was part of a very small church choir, our director asked us to memorize Psalm 100. To me, it was like I was back in school again, and that Scripture seemed so long to me! I was completely intimidated when others in the choir were able to recite it and I was still trying to memorize the first three verses. Let us read Psalm 100 for ourselves:

“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” (Psalm 100)

Eventually, with more work at memorizing the verses, including writing them down, I was able to memorize this Scripture. That one memorization exercise led me on a path to want to memorize more verses. I decided to add them as a note in my phone and a reminder daily at noon to read them. The next verse I decided to memorize was one that really hit home for me, it was about tribulations, difficulties in life:

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4)

I needed this verse desperately at the time because I was going through extreme difficulties in my life and with my family. This verse reminded me that there is a purpose in all of the troubles that I was experiencing, that it wasn’t all for naught. When we go through these difficult times in our lives as a peculiar people who have put our faith and trust in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and if we hold fast to His word, the trials produce in us the ability to persevere, to keep going and not give up and abandon our faith in Him. These tribulations reveal whether our faith in Him in genuine - is it real, or is it a veneer that is worn away when troubles come, like pounding rain and whipping winds on a house that was already weathered many storms? If our faith in Jesus is genuine, if it is real, then it produces that which no one and nothing else in this world can offer us: hope.

“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. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3-9)

One of the benefits I have received from memorizing Scripture, including the two Scriptures below, is that when I am in a situation where I am stressed or worried about something, whether it be something about my family or myself, I say those verses in my head and it calms me, it gives me peace when chaos surrounds me:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah.” (Psalm 46:1-3)

God’s word, sound words spoken of by the apostle Paul and all the apostles, all the prophets, by Moses and all who wrote books of the Bible as they were called by God and inspired by Him, and words spoken by His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, remind me that God is in control, and He has already won the war. No matter what may happen in this life, Jesus has bought me at a price - by His precious, sinless blood - and my salvation is found in Him and in Him alone.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, may we heed Paul’s words to Timothy and hold fast the pattern of sound words in faith and love, holding them close in our heart, knowing that Jesus “has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,” and that we who believe in Him will not perish and are not condemned but will receive from Jesus Christ the completion of our salvation and the crown of life. We will see a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem created, and we will never thirst, never sorrow, and we will dwell with Him, and we shall be His people and God Himself will be our God. ✝️

June 9, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:12 - I Am Not Ashamed, For I Know Whom I Have Believed

“For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” - 2 Timothy 1:12

As I read these beautiful words of Paul the apostle, they are like a healing balm to my soul and my spirit. They calm the anxiousness inside me, in my mind. They remind me in whom I have put my trust. Is it myself? Oh no, quite the contrary, for I am here for a moment and gone the next, I am just an imperfect, sinful vessel designed and created by the Creator. Is it in my fellow man? No, for they also are created beings, just like me, and they too are imperfect and sinful, here in this life for just a brief moment in the span of eternity. Yes, I used to put my trust in myself, then other people, including governments, and then I too had a moment like Paul did when his life was completely transformed by the light of Jesus Christ. While I wasn’t persecuting Christians as Paul was, I had been putting my trust in everyone and everything else except Jesus Christ, even though I believed that I was saved in Him. I really think that it was at that moment in time when I truly turned to Jesus Christ, giving Him my heart, that I was saved by Him, that moment in my closet, on my knees crying out to Him to save me. It brings to remembrance what I would later read in the Bible as David wrote about the day God delivered him from his enemies:

“When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry entered His ears.” (2 Samuel 22:5-7)

Just as God had heard David’s voice when he cried out to Him, so did God hear my voice when I cried out to Him. From that moment on, I truly knew the saving power of a loving and merciful God, who called me, “child of Mine.” It also reminds me of another of my favorite Scriptures, also written by David that says:

“The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite [repentant] spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

The apostle Paul wrote in today’s Scripture verse, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” David, who would later go on to become King David, wrote these words:

“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want [lack] to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalm 34:6-10)

David and Paul had tasted of the goodness of the Lord our God and saw that He is good. They put their trust in Him, and so do I. They were not ashamed for putting their trust in Him, and Almighty God got them through extremely difficult circumstances. After being saved by Jesus Christ, Paul suffered many things for his faith but he never turned away from Jesus. David committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba, a married woman, who became pregnant with his child, and had her husband Uriah the Hittite killed in war by putting him at the front line of the fiercest battle. David went on to marry Bathsheba. When confronted by the prophet Nathan about this sin, David admitted to him, “I have sinned against the LORD.” The Bible tells us, “And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Nathan also told him that the child would die because of David’s sin because “…you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme.” (2 Samuel 12:13-14). David pleaded for his son’s life, but God did enact His judgment, and David remained faithful to God.

In this account of David, we learn that when we confess our sins to God, acknowledging that we have sinned against Him, He does forgive us. We also learn from Psalm 51 that David repented of his sins and turned back to God. He truly was sorry that he had sinned against God, not just sorry that he had gotten caught in his sin. David wrote:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight - that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.” (Psalm 51:1-4)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.” (Psalm 51:10-13)

God did create a clean heart in David, a heart that trusted in God through many more trials David would later have in his family and as king of Israel. As evidenced by David’s words in the beautiful book of Psalms that he wrote, he called out to the Lord, and the Lord heard him. David trusted in the Lord no matter what happened, praising God for who He is and for His love and mercy:

“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them. The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.” (Psalm 103:17-19)

David and Bathsheba would go on to have a son, Solomon, who would succeed his father David as king and the last king of united Israel before it split into two kingdoms. Solomon would build the first Jewish temple, known as Solomon’s temple. King David had wanted to build the temple for the Lord but God forbid David because he had shed blood and told him that his son would build it instead. Most importantly, Solomon continued the ancestral line of David from which Jesus the Messiah would come, as prophesied in the Bible. The apostle Paul would later write in the book of Acts:

“And afterward they [Israel] asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior - Jesus - after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.” (Acts 13:21-24)

David and Paul are just two examples in the Bible of people who did horrible, sinful things but because they confessed their sins and repented and turned to God in belief, they were saved. They were not ashamed of their faith in God, for they knew He holds the key to their salvation. They are relatable examples of two people who were just like us - sinful and in need of a Savior - who, when they turned to Him to be saved, they were. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect; rather, He expects us to be faithful to Him. When we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.

We are at a point in human history when many who profess with their mouths to be saved by Jesus Christ are now ashamed of their faith and are turning from Him, turning instead to the world in all of its shameful lusts, to their own peril. May not this be true of you, may this not be true of me. May we instead remember the One in whom we have believed and, as Paul lovingly wrote, be persuaded that no matter what happens to us on this earth, He is able to keep what we have committed to Him until that Day. Brothers and sisters, let us stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, remembering what our brother Paul wrote of our hope in Jesus Christ:

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep [died], lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will be no means precede those who are asleep [dead]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober [self-controlled]. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) ✝️

June 6, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:11 - Paul - a Preacher, Apostle, and a Teacher of the Gentiles

“…to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.” - 2 Timothy 1:11

The apostle Paul was nearing the end of his life, and he knew it. When he was once again imprisoned in Rome, he was encouraging Timothy, a young pastor whom Paul was teaching in the faith. He had previously told Timothy in this chapter not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to share with Paul in the sufferings for the gospel. What an example we have with Paul of a life changed by Jesus Christ. He was a Jewish man who was born in the Roman city of Tarsus. Paul was not just any Jewish man but one of the Pharisees, a sect of religious leaders in the synagogues. Saul fervently persecuted the early Christians, including Stephen, who was stoned to death for his faith in Jesus Christ. Before Paul’s conversion to Christ, he was known by the name of Saul, and of Saul the Bible tells us:

“Now Saul was consenting to his [Stephen’s] death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.” (Acts 8:1-3)

The Bible then tells us of Saul’s desire to go and find more Christians, who at that time were people who were called followers of “the Way”:

“Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if the found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2)

We are then told of Saul’s conversion to Christianity when he journeyed along the road to Damascus to accomplish his mission with the men who were traveling with him, when :

“…suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’” (Acts 9:3-5)

Did you notice what Jesus said to Saul? Jesus said, “…why are you persecuting Me?” Persecution of the Christians was a persecution of Jesus. As Jesus had previously told His apostles:

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’” (Jesus Christ; John 15:18-25)

As Saul had witnessed the stoning of Stephen because of Stephen’s love for Jesus and Saul was now journeying to find other Christians to persecute, Jesus’ words were already being fulfilled. Let’s examine some other things that Jesus told His apostles and disciples would happen to them because of their love for Him:

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.” (Jesus Christ; John 16:1-4)

As Saul journeyed on that road to Damascus, he must have felt that he was doing God’s work in persecuting Christians, but something happened to him that he did not expect: Jesus Christ stopped him in his tracks. After Jesus asked him why was he persecuting Him, Saul had asked Jesus what he wanted him to do, and Jesus told him to go into the city and then would be told what to do from there. After Saul rose up from the ground, when he opened his eyes, he was blind; he had been blinded by the light of Jesus. The men who were with Saul had heard a voice speaking to Saul but they had seen nothing. They then led Saul into Damascus, where Saul met a disciple named Ananias, whom the Lord had told that Saul of Tarsus was coming to him and that Ananias should put his hand on Saul to restore his sight. Ananias pushed back because he had heard about this Saul of Tarsus and how he had persecuted the Christians, but the Lord said to him:

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Jesus Christ; Acts 9:15)

Ananias did as Jesus told him to do, and when he found Saul, he laid his hands on him and when he did, Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit and his eyes were opened. Saul was then baptized. The Bible tells us that Saul then immediately began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. People who knew him or who had heard of him prior to his conversion were amazed, saying:

“‘Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?’ But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ. (Acts 9:21-22)

Can you imagine seeing this transformation on a man that hated people who followed Jesus to then change to preaching that Jesus is the Son of God? While some people were amazed by it, others were extremely dismayed. We are then told of the Jews’ plot to kill Saul, but God prevented this from happening, for Saul was on a mission from God to tell not only the Jews of the good news of the saving power of Jesus Christ, but also the Gentiles, the non-Jews. After he had gone with Barnabus to the synagogue at Antioch to preach to the Jews, the Bible tells us that the Gentiles begged for them to preach to them about Jesus. Paul and Barnabas told the Jews that they could not be justified (saved) by keeping the law of Moses and that only Jesus could save them, but when the Jews saw all the Gentiles wanting to hear about Jesus, the Jews:

“…were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13:45-47)

Paul suffered many things in his life as he carried out his mission from Jesus Christ, just as Jesus said he would. Paul would later write about one thing in particular that caused him to suffer:

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet [beat] me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

We don’t know what this thing was that Paul wrote about, but it sounds to me that this one thing caused Paul to keep his ego in check, and not only that, it caused him to rely on Jesus Christ when he was weak. Christ was Paul’s strength, and Paul definitely needed that when he was in prison, in his old age, writing this letter to Timothy.

How many of us believers in Christ today are like Paul, boasting in our infirmities, reproaches, needs, persecutions, and in our distresses, for Christ’s sake? As not only Paul but many of the apostles and other people in the Bible demonstrated to us, there is a purpose in our suffering: our faith in Jesus Christ is sufficient, and He is our strength when we are weak, and not only that, His strength is made perfect in it. When we finally get to that place in our lives when it’s just us and Jesus, He is our everything, and He is all that we need.

On the road to Damascus, Paul could have told Jesus that he didn’t believe in Him and that he would not do what Jesus told him to do, but he didn’t. He believed in Jesus, and he was willing to do all that Jesus told him to do. I thank our Lord Jesus that He chose Paul, a preacher, apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for he is a powerful example of what a life changed by Jesus Christ looks like. Paul truly is an example to all of us that God can use anyone who is willing to share the good news of salvation through belief in Jesus Christ, even those we thought could never be used.

“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9) ✝️

June 4, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:10 - God's Purpose and Grace was Revealed by Jesus Christ

“…but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel…” - 2 Timothy 1:10

The Bible is an amazing book. It has completely changed my life; I will never be the same. Long before I decided to read it, I was wandering through this world, trying to understand why certain things had happened to me that affected my view of society. Growing up with my parents and younger brother, life was pretty good, but all that changed in 1976 when my parents moved from California to a dry and parched land out in the country about 40 miles east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. When my parents lived in Goleta, California, not far from Santa Barbara, they had a thriving antique business and my dad was also an auctioneer. They were self-employed, as were my grandparents, who had already moved to New Mexico. After the move, my parents’ antique business went from thriving to starving as the type of antiques they sold out west were not sought after in Albuquerque. Not long after we moved, they quit their antique business and decided to try their hands at real estate. That didn’t work out either, and at some point they declared bankruptcy. I don’t remember all of the details, but I just remember that life was a struggle. About 3-4 years later, my parents divorced, and I felt like my life had ended. Though my life prior to their divorce had been hard, it was the only life I knew. Now, I watched as my mom struggled to make ends meet, all the while her heart was broken over the divorce. It was during that time that my own heart began to harden. I started listening to the women’s liberation movement and singing songs like “I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy and “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. I also started putting up walls around my heart to guard it from any future heartbreak. When something hurtful happened to me, I would just put another row of bricks around the wall of my heart, making it a little higher each time.

About two years later, I got married at a young age and then experienced all the difficulties of a marriage that was created with no solid foundation on which to make it work. I was existing, but I wasn’t truly living because there was an emptiness, a longing, inside of me that, over the years, I realized nothing could fill it, even with our beautiful children and no matter how much success I achieved in my job, no matter how many nice things I was able to buy because of my and my husband's jobs, and no matter how much I worked at becoming physically fit; the emptiness was still there. What would it take to fill it? Not only was there an emptiness inside of me, but there was also a feeling of fear. Looking back, it was this feeling of fear, the feeling of “what if this were to happen” or “what if that happened” that left me an emotional wreck, though I might have seemed to “have it all together” on the outside. After 9/11 happened, I was even more fearful, especially over the future of our two young children and what it held for them. But the emptiness inside of me was even more powerful than the fear inside of me, and it drove me to do something I had done a few times before but had always failed at doing: to read the entire Bible for myself.

I started on this journey of reading the Bible with an open mind, thinking there probably is a God but not knowing much more than that. I remember reading in Genesis and struggling with the genealogies, not realizing then the importance of them, as they recorded the family lines that would eventually be traced to Jesus Christ. I remember reading some things that were difficult, such as when God eventually dealt with sin after giving people much time to turn from it and to turn to Him.

I remember reading the book of Job and really having a hard time reading all the excruciating things that Job went through, losing all he had, seeing all of his children die, having his friends point at him as the reason it was all happening because he must have committed some horrible sin and he was being punished by God for it. Even Job’s wife’s words must have been like a knife to the heart when she told her husband, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9) What was Job’s response to her? Did he say that he agreed with her and curse God? “But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10)

Job did not know that before all this happened, God had been talking to Satan about Job, saying, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” (Job 1:8) Satan then told God that the only reason Job was like that was because God had put a hedge of protection around him, his family, and all that he had and had blessed Job abundantly and if it were all to be removed, then Job would “surely curse You to Your face!” (Job 1:11). God then told Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” (Job 1:12). Job went through all that Satan had put him through, and which God had allowed. Job felt all alone in the world, asking God why all this was happening to him. Job regretted the day he was born, for he was in so much sorrow and pain. How many of us have felt that way, like we are all alone, with no one to help us? I can tell you that I have felt that way many times in my life, and many times I blamed God for my situation, for my pain, for my feeling of being trapped, with nowhere to go.

But Job never cursed God. He continued to pray to God, pouring out his heart to Him, including in this prayer:

“My spirit is broken, my days are extinguished, the grave is ready for me. Are not mockers with me? And does not my eye dwell on their provocation? (Job 17:1-2)

Through the tears, through the pain, Job cried out to God, never once saying that he was done with God and would trust in Him no more. Oh, no, the opposite is true; Job continued to trust in God even though he did not understand why all of these horrible things had happened to him and why God was allowing it to happen. I love what he said in the verses below:

“Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever! “ (Job 19:23-24)

Praise God that we DO have Job’s words written in a book that will stand forever! We have Job’s example that it’s okay if we ask God why He is allowing these things to happen to us, that as Job did, we should call out to God and pray to Him when we are fearful, when we are hurting, when we feel that we are all alone in our sorrow and pain and that perhaps God has forgotten us. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, and He wants to hear from us, just as He heard from Job.

Job had many conversations with God, with God revealing to Job that His ways are not our ways. He is holy, and we are not. He is all powerful, all knowing, and all present, and we are not. He created everything there is, and we did not. How can we understand all that God does when we are not Him? The answer is we simply cannot understand but we must trust in God in all seasons in our life, in the good times and the bad times. Contrary to what many churches teach, God did not put us on this earth to provide us with all the comforts that life has to offer us and to keep us from going through tragedies and sorrows in this world. That is a false, prosperity god that is being taught. No, God put us on this world to see that we need Him in our lives to help us through the difficult times, to walk with Him through those times and cry out to Him, and most importantly to see that we need His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to redeem us of all our sins, because we absolutely cannot save ourselves, only Jesus can. At the end of the book of Job, Job again acknowledged who God is, not just hearing Him but seeing Him truly as He is - Almighty God - and he repented of his sins:

“Then Job answered the LORD and said: ‘I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, “Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?” Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, “I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’” (Job 42:1-6)

After Job repented, God told Job’s three friends to go and take a burnt offering to His servant Job and Job would pray for them, “because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” (Job 42:8) Job did pray for his three friends and the Bible tells us that “God restored Job’s losses.” (Job 42:10) God blessed Job with ten more children and restored all that he had, even more so, and all his family and acquaintances comforted him.

I have to admit that I had to read the book of Job three times before I understood its meaning. I believe that God was working on my own heart between the times that I read it. I think the most difficult thing for me to do in my walk with God over the years has been to trust in Him, no matter what. That is what the book of Job has taught me, and it was only when I walked with God, cried out to Him, and even questioned why He was allowing the sorrows and pain in my own life to happen, that it was during that time that I saw that there was a purpose in my suffering, and that purpose pointed to Jesus Christ, my Redeemer. I myself needed to repent - which means to turn from my sin and turn to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him for my salvation, and I did. And now, I echo the words beautifully spoken by Job in his time of sorrow but a time when he trusted in the Lord when everyone else had abandoned him:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns with me!” (Job 19:25-27)

Job knew that His God is a living God and that one day He will stand on the earth. Job also knew that one day he himself would be resurrected from the dead and would receive his glorified, new body and would see God with his own eyes, and Job longed for that day. The same is true for us, and those who have been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all our sins, and we will be resurrected and receive our glorified bodies and will live in eternity with Him. But for all who have not accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation, they will spend their eternity separated from Him in a place called hell, a real place that Jesus spoke of many times when He walked the earth, that is a place of torment and eternal sorrow and pain.

Before I finish today’s devotional, I ask you: If you have not received the grace of God through the free gift of salvation by trusting in Jesus Christ, will you put your faith and trust in Him today, before it’s too late and you take your last breath as you exit through the door of your temporary life and enter the door of your eternity? Jesus told us He is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Is He knocking on the door of your heart? Will you let Him in? Jesus wants you to turn to Him, for He loves you more than you could ever know.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Jesus Christ; Revelation 3:20)

Reading the Bible truly changed my life. It pointed me to Jesus and my need for Him. And now, that emptiness inside of me that could not be filled with anything on this earth, has been filled with Him, and I know that my Redeemer lives. ✝️

June 1, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:9 - God Had a Plan of Salvation Before Time Began

“…who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began…” - 2 Timothy 1:9

God had a plan of salvation from the very beginning, before time had even begun. God called Moses to write the Law, and God called the prophets to prophesy of the coming Messiah, both of which pointed to His plan of salvation: grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus had given up His life on the cross after having been crucified and now it was three days later after He had risen from the dead, fulfilling what He had previously told His disciples. That same day as He had risen, there were two of His disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus and they were discussing all that had happened regarding Jesus. Jesus came to them, but they did not know it was Him, and asked them what they were talking about and why they were sad. They told Him that Jesus “was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” and told Him that the chief priests and rulers of the Jews had had Him crucified. They told Jesus, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.” They told Him about the women who had come to Jesus’ tomb earlier that day but did not find the body of Jesus and had seen a vision of angels who had told them that Jesus was alive. They told Him that some who were with them had gone to the tomb but did not see Jesus. That is why they were sad. Did you notice that they said they “were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel”? They had given up hope. Though they had heard and seen the things that Jesus had done, and yet, after He died and they didn’t see Him with their own eyes, they no longer believed that He was the One. They had given up hope. Their eyes were closed to the truth.

“Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)

Can you imagine hearing Jesus explain to them all the Scriptures and prophecies in the Old Testament that pointed to Him, the coming Messiah, who now had come, was crucified, died, and rose again? Let us recall some of these prophecies of Jesus:

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear…” (Deuteronomy 18:15)

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” (Deuteronomy 18:18)

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

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

As they came to the place they were going to, Jesus told them that He was going to continue walking but they asked Him to come and stay with them, and Jesus did. Jesus ate with them, and then the Bible tells us, “Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.”

“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:31-32)

I love how it says, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us.” We too can have that same feeling, that same longing for Him, that same assurance within our hearts when we read His word for ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit. When I read from the Old Testament the prophecies of Jesus coming to earth to offer salvation for all who believe in Him, my heart burns, for I know deep within my heart that it is all true, every word of God, and it all points to Him, from Genesis to Revelation. These two men who walked with Jesus and listened to Him tell of the Scriptures that pointed to Him reminds me of the psalm,“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Though He is not physically here with me, His word is, and it guides me through my path in this life. His light reminds me that the darkness will not win, for He has overcome.

Let us read Psalm 2, which is profound in its prophecy of Jesus:

“Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed [Messiah], saying, ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: ‘Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.”’ Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are those who put their trust in Him.” (Psalm 2)

Are not the nations raging in our world today, and the world rulers, those who call themselves the “elite,” are plotting a vain thing? They believe that God does not exist and deny His Son Jesus Christ, and yet they believe themselves to be “gods.” They persecute those who believe in Jesus and call them fools for believing in His word, the Bible. This psalm tells us what will become of those who are against His Anointed, and it’s not going to end well for them. But for those of us who are in Christ, we are blessed because we have put our trust in Him; Jesus is our only hope.

Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ was the plan from the beginning of time. God used the people He chose Himself - the Jews - to show mankind that no matter how perfect, no matter how “good” one might think he is, there is nothing we could ever, ever do that could redeem us from all our sins. The Law that God gave the Jews was to reveal to us the depths of our sinfulness and that it took the precious blood of His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ to wash us clean of our sins to all who choose to believe, to put their trust, in Him. The Law revealed our sin and the Son redeems us of our sin, but we must first choose to believe in Him, Jesus our Redeemer. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews:

“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 in Him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:16-18)

The key word in this passage of Scripture is “believe.” God sent Jesus on a rescue mission to provide the way - the only way - for mankind to be saved from all its sin. However, as with any rescue mission, it is up to each and every one of us to decide whether or not we want to be rescued. If we are in a burning building and firemen come to take us out of the fire, it is our decision whether or not to remain in the fire or to escape from it. If we are drowning in an ocean and a lifeguard comes to us, extending his hand to us to pull us out of the depths of the sea, it is up to his to take his hand or to reject it. God gave us free will, with the decision of whether or not to believe in Jesus, resting on our shoulders. God wants all of us to be saved, but He won’t force us to believe. His offer of salvation is His love for you, personified by His Son Jesus Christ. Will you take His hand or will you reject it? No greater love was ever known than the love that Jesus has for us.

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, the tGod 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.” (1 John 4:9-10) ✝️

May 28, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:8 - Do Not Be Ashamed of the Testimony of Our Lord

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God…” - 2 Timothy 1:8

As it was in Paul’s time, so it is in our time that we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus Chris, and many of us will suffer for it, with some suffering tremendously, even to the point of death, as it was with the apostle Paul. Here Paul was in prison, possibly in Rome, writing to Timothy, one whom Paul was mentoring in the faith, to encourage Timothy and remind him that he would be attacked for his faith but that he must endure until the end, for our reward is with Christ.

Let us consider what is “the testimony of our Lord” that Paul wrote about in today’s Scripture verse. In chapter 19 verses 7-10 of the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible of which its writer, the apostle John, said is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show the servants - things which must shortly [quickly or swiftly] take place” (Revelation 1:1), it states:

“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory; for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’ And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” (Revelation 19:7-10)

The purpose of Bible prophecy is to point us to Jesus Christ, and there are prophecies of Him from the very beginning, in the book of Genesis, including in Genesis 3:15 when it was prophesied that the devil, also called Satan, would bruise Jesus’ heel but Jesus would bruise his head. This happened when Jesus was crucified on the cross, when a nail was driven though His heel, and Jesus gave up His life. The devil thought he had won, but Jesus didn’t stay dead; oh no, He rose again, resurrected, and is at the right hand of God today, until He will call up His church to Him in the rapture and will begin the 7-year tribulation period by taking the scroll from the right hand of God the Father and open the seven seals on the scroll. And, as prophesied in Revelation 20:10, Jesus will eventually defeat the devil and will cast him into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he will be tormented forever. It is no surprise that the devil doesn’t want us to read the book of Revelation for two reasons: first, we will read of his ultimate demise and second, it is the only book of the Bible that comes with a blessing to those who read it and hear what it has to say and keeps or remembers the things written in it (Revelation 1:3).

The prophecies about Jesus are all throughout the Bible, showing us that we are all sinners in need of a Savior and that there is nothing “good” that we could ever do that could save us from our sins once and for all. Remember what Jesus said before He gave up His life on the cross? He said: “It is finished!” (John 19:30). He did it once and for all so that by His precious, sinless blood, we can be saved from all our sins by believing He is the Christ, the One sent by God to offer salvation to all who would choose to believe, to trust, in Him for our salvation. We don’t need to follow the Mosaic Law that God gave the Jews in the Old Testament, we don’t need to sacrifice animals to atone for our sins; no, Jesus is the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world, once and for all, for all who choose to believe in Him as their Savior.

When we are saved by believing in Him as our Savior, we are sealed by His Holy Spirit:

“In Him [Jesus] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

What did Jesus testify of Himself when He was here on the earth the first time? Let us examine some Scriptures:

“Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, ‘You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.’” (John 7:28-29)

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)

“I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” (John 8:18)

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up [crucify] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.’” (John 8:28-29)

“I and My Father are one.” (John 10:30)

“Jesus answered, ‘If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, “I do not know Him,” I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.’” (John 8:54-56)

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My father will honor.” (John 12:25-26)

“Now this is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up [crucified] from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:31-32)

It all comes down to this:

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up [crucified], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. 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.” (John 3:14-19)

There is one way to salvation from all sins and it’s not by our good works, it is not by believing in any false religion this world has to offer, it is not by pretending that sin isn’t sin and that there is no heaven and hell, that there is no one true God; the one way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, and it is a narrow way. Every single one of us will go one way - either the broad way or the narrow way:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

“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 7:13-14)

Notice in the Scripture above, Jesus said, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Just as Jesus suffered on this earth when He taught the truth of God to those who didn’t want the truth and was hated and suffered at the hands of sinful men and women, so too will we suffer for our belief in Him. The truth of God is not meant to puff us up with pride and make us feel good about our sins. Oh no, that is what Satan does, and the majority of the world loves him for it, whether they realize it or not. Sadly, this extends to most churches that take great precautions not to offend anyone. I am here to tell you that like it or not, our sin is extremely offensive to God and because of our sin, we are not allowed to enter into His eternal kingdom if we have any sin in us. The only way we can be cleansed of all of our sins is by believing in His Son Jesus Christ, who washes us clean from all sins. But, to a lost and dying world that loves sin more than it loves God, the Bible is offensive and it is intended to be. Jesus even told us:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father; a daughter against her mother; and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 10:34-36)

Jesus knew that the truth of God would divide people, and have we ever seen the world more divided than now? The spiritual war that is being waged for the human soul is rising to a level that I would venture to say has never been seen before. I think God is giving us these last moments in human history before the start of the tribulation period to rock us to our core to see that we are lost in our sins without Jesus and that He is our only hope so that we would turn to Him and be saved.

The writer of Hebrews describes the word of God - Jesus Christ - as the One who discerns our thoughts and the intents of our heart:

“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)

The apostle John wrote of the Word:

“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)

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

We are born with sin in us, inherited from Adam and Eve. The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death, meaning if we remain in our sin when we die, we will take that sin with us not only into death but also into our eternal life. I think it is becoming clearer now, even to the unbelieving world, that there is a spiritual war being waged across the world and that war is intensifying as we draw oh so close to the rapture of the church, the revealing of the final antichrist, and the time when he will reign upon the earth for a period of seven years in a time known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, also known as the tribulation period. Sadly, many people who once professed to be Christians are turning away from their faith, they are ashamed of the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ. They love their sin more than they love God.

As Christ suffered for preaching the truth of God, so shall we, but our temporary sufferings on this earth are nothing compared to the glory that awaits us, when we are Home with our beloved Savior. We do this not in our own power but in the power and might of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 6:10). The apostle Paul suffered so very much for our Lord, but he never was ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, and he never gave up hope. Brothers and sisters in Christ as we await our Savior’s upward call, let us remember and heed the words of the apostle Paul, our dear brother in Christ:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18)

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:

‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39) ✝️

May 24, 2023: 2 Timothy 1:7 - God Has Not Given Us a Spirit of Fear

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1:7

What is the thing or person that you fear the most? Is it a fear that something will happen to a family member or to you? Is it a fear of going to war? Is it a fear of not being able to pay your bills or not being able to feed your family? If you are a young person, do you fear not being liked and accepted by your friends? Whatever it is that you fear, fear will drive us to do things we normally will not do. Misplaced fear puts our lives in jeopardy, and not only our temporary lives here on earth but more importantly, our eternal lives after we exit this life and enter our permanent life. Consider your life over the past three years when COVID hit. What caused you to fear? Was it a virus? Was it fearing you could lose your job if you didn’t do certain things you were told you must to do in order to keep it? Looking back now, three years later, if you did something then that you wouldn’t do now, knowing all that you know, what caused you to act the way that you did at that time? If you are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and believe in Him as your Savior and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, were you guided by Him or were you guided by your fear?

When we act on our feelings because we are fearful of something, we are more inclined to make bad decisions. I am definitely guilty of doing this. But when we are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, we have something that those who are not saved do not have and that is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Helper” or the “Comforter” who “will teach you all things” (John 14:26) and who “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.” (John 16:13). When we have the Holy Spirit within us, we have Him to help us to understand the Bible when we read it for ourselves. But we must read it to understand it; if it is just another book that sits on a bookshelf or on a coffee table, it doesn’t do us any good. It is critical now, more than ever in the times in which we are living, that we read the Bible for ourselves and let the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth because deception is at an all time high, not just in our country but all over the world.

I believe we truly are living in the very last days before the rapture of the church, when Jesus calls up to Himself in the clouds all who died as believers in Him as well as those who believers who are alive at that time (see 1 Thessalonians 4-15-18 and 1 Corinthians 15-50-54). After that, I believe the final antichrist will step on the world scene, confirm a covenant/treaty with Israel and other nations that will last seven years, and the 7-year tribulation period, also called the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” (Jeremiah 30:7) will begin. Based on what the Bible says, particularly in the prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation, there is soon coming a tyrannical government such has never been seen in the world, nor ever will be seen again. It will make the lockdowns in 2020 look like child’s play. If you were fearful then, what will you do when it happens again, only so much worse? Will you stray from your faith, perhaps thinking that God doesn’t exist? As I am writing this devotional on May 22, 2023, a headline popped up on my phone: “Only half of Americans now say they believe in God.” (See: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/4012827-does-god-exist-only-half-of-americans-say-a-definite-yes/). At a time in history when it is absolutely critical not to be led by our feelings but to be led by the word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, is it any wonder that the United States is in such turmoil? Skyrocketing lawlessness, no respect for human life, especially with the unborn, increasing rates of depression and suicidal thoughts, drug use on the rise and the legalization of drugs that for many years were deemed illegal, sexual immorality, confusion, and perversion, and it goes on and on. Is it any wonder that we in the USA are seeing all of these problems increase when at least half of us don’t even believe that God exists? Add to that, you have powerful men and women trying to be gods - false gods - themselves and/or trying to create their own “gods” through artificial intelligence, which is becoming an increasing threat to humanity’s existence at lightning speed. Can you see that everything is converging and that it is only by the power of God and His loving restraint that everything hasn’t been set on fire yet?

The book of Daniel describes this tyrannical government as the fourth beast in a dreadful vision Daniel had. Daniel’s vision of the three other beasts that describe the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek Empires have been fulfilled with stunning accuracy, so much so that there are people who refute that the book was written in the 6th century BC and say instead it was written in the 2nd century BC. For a response to these claims, see: https://www.spiritandtruth.org/teaching/documents/articles/34/34-contents.htm.

The fourth beast Daniel wrote about represents not only the Roman Empire that did in fact come into power, as Daniel envisioned, but also a future revived version of it. We have already seen a precursor of this revived version of it with the European Union.

In the book of Daniel, it tells us that Daniel’s vision was interpreted by someone we only know as “one of those who stood by.” (Daniel 7:16) Whomever it was described this fourth beast:

“The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” (Daniel 7:23-25)

Many believers in Christ who read and study Bible prophecy, myself included, believe the person who is described above as rising after the ten kings and subduing three of them is the final antichrist, who will persecute believers in Christ who are alive at that time - those who will become believers in Christ after the rapture occurs and will be martyred for their faith in Jesus.

Antichrist, also called “the beast” in the book of Revelation (Revelation 13:1), “the man of sin” and the “son of perdition” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, and the “lawless one” shown in the Scripture below, will be empowered by Satan:

“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.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)

The Jewish nation of Israel will be willingly deceived by the antichrist. Israel will confirm the 7-year covenant with antichrist at the start of the tribulation period, believing he is their friend and ally. I believe that either prior to or not long after the covenant is confirmed, antichrist will inform Israel that it can build its long-hoped for third Jewish Temple, and it will likely be built in just several months’ time. Preparations for this third temple have been in the works since 1987 by the Jewish Temple Movement. 3-1/2 years into the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble, antichrist will commit the abomination of desolation as prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 9:27 and referenced by Jesus in Matthew 24:15. Antichrist will force the Jews to stop sacrificing in their third temple, and he will do something so disgusting that it is called an “abomination,” which is defined by dictionary.com as, “a vile, shameful, or detestable action, condition, habit, etc.” It will be at that time, finally, that the Jews will recognize who antichrist really is and will flee for their lives. This will start the last 3-1/2 years of the tribulation period, referred to by Jesus as the “great tribulation”:

“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.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 24:21-22)

As I quoted the Scripture a couple of paragraphs above from 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, the Bible also tells us that those who were deceived by antichrist through the power of Satan will perish “because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” And, read this:

“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 2:11-12)

They will reject the truth of God because they love their sin and want to remain in it, will willingly be deceived; consequently, God will send them strong delusion. This is the complete opposite of having a sound mind, as Paul wrote about in today’s Scripture verse. When one chooses to reject the truth of God to believe the lies of Satan, because God gave us free will and did not make us robots, He gives us what we want. Sadly, most people don’t want the truth; rather, they want lies that sound good and make them comfortable in their sin, such as all roads lead to heaven, or one is “good enough” to get into heaven, or God isn’t real and when you die, nothing happens. Satan will tell you anything you want to hear to keep you deceived and to keep you from turning to God and believing in His Son Jesus Christ to redeem you of all your sins, to wash you clean by His precious blood. Why? Because Satan hates God, and he hates humanity because we, unlike angels, are the only ones made in the image of God. Satan wants to bring you and billions of people with him to hell, for eternity. Satan wants to be God, but he never will be, and eventually he will know that God will not be mocked. The book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, tells us Satan’s future:

“The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast [antichrist] and the false prophet [a religious leader working with antichrist during the 7-year tribulation period] are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)

Sadly, this is where most people will end up because they chose to reject the truth of God and believed the lie of Satan.

For believers in Christ, we have God’s word, the Holy Bible, that tells us what is going to happen before it happens. It told us that Jesus - the Messiah - was going to come the first time to offer salvation from sins for all who choose to believe in Him, trusting in Him for their salvation, and He did come, exactly as the Bible prophesied, with such specificity it is beyond any human’s ability and absolutely is the divine word of God. The Bible also tells of a rapture of the church that is caught up to Jesus before the start of the tribulation period, and of His second coming, when He “treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:15) and defeats all those who will have rejected God and embraced Satan. It also tells when Jesus will finally set up his kingdom, which will never pass away:

”I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

God has given us His word that by reading it, we will know what is to come. People who were born thousands of years ago had what we now call the Old Testament, the time when God’s people - Israel - were told about their coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. At the time of Jesus’ birth, people were alive and some were looking for Messiah, but just like today, most rejected Him. Today, we have God’s word that includes both the Old and New Testaments that contain hundreds of prophecies that are still to come to pass. As we come clearer to those prophecies being fulfilled, those things that didn’t make sense a hundred or even a few years ago are beginning to make sense. For example, would you have ever thought that the sovereign nations of the entire world would be willing to cede their authority to one person, a one-world leader? What just happened during COVID when the entire world was locked down because a few global leaders said we needed to? Would you have ever thought that technology would be in place that would accommodate a mark of the beast system that requires all people to have a mark on their right hand or their forehead in order to buy or sell? People are already being conditioned to accept this, such as with Amazon’s “Amazon One” payment system where you “use your palm to pay at a store…” (See: https://one.amazon.com). What kind of technology would be required to enforce a mark of the beast system to track all buying and selling of every single person on the planet? Once we move to a digital system of money that replaces all cash - literally removes it from every single country - and everything is digital, it means every single purchase can be tracked and it also means it can be restricted. I would go as far to say that within a year or less, every single nation will be on the Central Bank Digital Currency/equivalent and cash will be gone. Are we not already being prepared for this? On April 6, 2023, a bill in the USA was passed to the Senate to support “reliable, interoperable digital identity verification in the public and private sectors.” (See: https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/us-digital-identity-bill-passes-through-to-senate/). Is this moving us closer to or further away from a mark of the beast system?

The Bible tells us that those who take the mark of the beast must also worship the image of the beast. How is it possible to enforce this worship by every single person on the planet? The Bible says, “that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” (Revelation 13:15) Could it be that this image may be a hologram that is projected in the eyesight of every single person, such as with an augmented-reality (AR) headset (See: https://screenrant.com/iphone-discontinued-replaced-apple-ar-future-plan-claims/) and that AI-type technology will sense, perhaps by something that is injected into every person, when that person is not worshiping the image and will do something within that person to cause them to die? Is any of this that far-fetched? I venture to say that it is not. The capabilities of technology and AI are increasing at such a worrisome pace that even some technology leaders have called for a 6-month pause on AI advances (see: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/29/1166896809/tech-leaders-urge-a-pause-in-the-out-of-control-artificial-intelligence-race).

I think of all the things that have happened in the past 100 years that related to Bible prophecy being fulfilled was the reestablishment of the Jewish state of Israel. After all, how could there be a third temple in Israel that Jews would go to in order to worship and perform their sacrifices unless the Jews were back in their homeland of Israel? This was only made possible when the Jewish nation of Israel was reborn after WWII on May 14, 1948 and after it regained control of Jersualem in the Six Day War in 1967.

Everything the Bible prophesied about in the end times is being set up, and when the 7-year tribulation period begins, it will literally be hell on earth. If you are an unbeliever and were filled with fear three years ago when COVID hit, I warn you that you haven’t seen anything yet; COVID was just a beta test of the real thing that is yet to come. It was a test to see who would be filled with fear and submit to whatever we were told to do, even reporting neighbors and friends who would not comply with mask mandates. Now, even the New York Times reported that mask mandates made no difference (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html). How many families were divided and friendships ended over controversial injection requirements, where the injections were fast-tracked and did not undergo typical clinical trials of prior injections and were not pulled from shelves after many reports of adverse events from people who had received the injections, such as prior vaccines with poor outcomes had been pulled in the past? Why did the CDC change its definition of “vaccine”? (See: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article254111268.html).

It’s not important if you believe me or not. What I care about is your soul and where you are going when you die. That is why I take the time to write these devotionals, to warn people about what is coming, based on what the Bible prophecies, and to give them the good news of salvation from all sins through believing in Jesus Christ. I write them when I know that few people, if any, are reading them. My hope is that if they aren’t reading them now, perhaps they will stumble upon them one day and read them at that time.

I even ask you to do this if you don’t believe me: print this, save it for a year, and in one year, go back and read it and see what has changed in a year’s time. I pray first and foremost that by that time, you will have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save you from all your sins. But if not, then see if what I said matches up to what is happening at that time, and please know, I base everything on what I have written on my understanding of what the word of God says; I am not a prophet, rather, just a believer in Christ who doesn’t want anyone to have to go through the tribulation period or go to hell when they die. If it does match up, then ask yourself, how did she know this? Could it be that the Bible is in fact the word of God and that everything that is prophesied in it will happen exactly as God said it would?

For believers in Christ, we should not have a spirit of fear when it comes to the end times because His word is given to us that we may read it and know what is going to happen before it happens. When we do that, it prepares us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally and gives us confidence in Him and His promises. Let us read and remember some of His promises:

• “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’” (Isaiah 41:13)

• “Say to those who are fearful-hearted, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.’” (Isaiah 35:4)

• “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

• “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 to 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)

• “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:18)

• “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

• “And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” (1 John 1:25-27)

• “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

• “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)

• “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” (1 John 3:23)

Let us remember whom Jesus told us we should fear:

“And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” (Jesus Christ; Luke 12:4-5)

Why did Jesus say this? How many pastors in churches today refuse to quote this Scripture verse because they are worried it might offend people? Why did Jesus say it? Because He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. He loves you and wants you to turn to Him and believe in Him as the only one who can save your from all your sins and give you eternal life.

There comes a point when a person has rejected Jesus so many times that He gives people over to what they want, and at that point, they will no longer have a sound mind. The book of Romans chapter 1 says three times that God gives them over:

“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their 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.” (Romans 1:24-25)

“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.” (Romans 1:26)

“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…” (Romans 1:28)

I believe these are the same people whom we read about in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 who will be deceived by the antichrist when he comes and God will send them strong delusion. I believe we are seeing a precursor to this already, in a world that seems like many people have gone mad, they have lost their minds.

In the end, it all comes down to one thing: are you with Jesus or are you against Him? We who are with Him place our fear in Him, for He has the power to cast into hell, but because we are saved by Him, we will not go there when we die but will be with Him for eternity. Because we are saved by believing in Him, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us, and we love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have a sound mind because we know Him - Jesus - by reading His word and praying to Him, and we will not be given over to a debased mind. May we not fear what is to come upon this unbelieving world but have confidence in Him, Jesus the Christ, our blessed Redeemer:

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:27-29) ✝️

May 19, 2023: 2 Peter 3:18 - Let Us Grow in Him and Give Him Glory

“…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” - 2 Peter 3:18

The apostle Peter wrote this second epistle knowing that he would soon die, as he wrote about in 2 Peter 1:14. What an example we have in Peter of someone who grew in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Let us remember the moment when Peter, who was then called Simon, and his brother Andrew were fishermen in their boats, first saw Jesus, who told them, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) Simon told Jesus they had been fishing all night and had not caught any fish but he would do as Jesus said. When Simon and Andrew did as Jesus said, they caught so many fish that their net began to break. “When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’ (Luke 5:8) “Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:18-20)

Peter was the first of the twelves apostles to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ:

“When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, ‘Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ So they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” (Matthew 16:13-20)

Peter was in the inner circle of Jesus’ apostles, along with James and John. They were present when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1). Along with Peter’s fellow apostles, they saw Jesus perform many miracles. They walked and talked with Jesus, they ate with Him, shared the Passover meal with Him three times, including when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper the night before His death. Peter was in the boat with the other apostles during a severe storm when they saw Jesus walking on water toward them. Peter was the only one who took a leap of faith when encouraged by Jesus to come to Him, to walk on water, until fear filled him and he took his eyes off of Jesus and instead focused on the boisterous wind. As he began to sink, he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” and Jesus did save him, asking Peter why he doubted. (Matthew 14:22-33) How many times have we doubted what Jesus can do in our lives? How many times have I doubted?

When Jesus told His apostles that He must “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day,” it was Peter who took Jesus aside and rebuked Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:21-23) Peter did not know the plan of God and that there was a purpose for the all the suffering that Jesus would go through and although Jesus would die, He would be resurrected and pay the price for redemption of sins for all who choose to believe in Him as the Christ.

Before Jesus was arrested, He told His disciples that each of them would be “made to stumble”:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

“I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’”

“‘But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples.” (Matthew 26:31-35)

Before Jesus was arrested, He was in the garden of Gethsemane with His disciples. Judas, Jesus’ betrayer, came with the chief priests and Pharisees and a detachment of troops seeking to arrest Jesus. Peter took his sword and then cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Jesus then said to Peter:

“Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup with My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11)

How many times have we taken manners into our own hands so that we could fix a situation according to how we believed it should be fixed rather than letting Jesus be in control of it? I have tried many, many times to fix a situation, only to make it worse.

Though Peter said he would absolutely never deny Jesus, he did, and he denied Him three times, exactly as Jesus said he would. Why? Peter feared for his life, perhaps fearing they would do to him what they were going to do to Jesus. After the third time Peter denied knowing Jesus, cursing and swearing, immediately a rooster crowed and Peter was filled with deep remorse for what he had done:

“And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So he went out and wept bitterly.’’ (Matthew 26:75)

How many of us have made huge mistakes in our lives, doing things we ought not to do, because we feared what people might do to us instead of fearing God? Peter had just made a huge mistake in his life, and he likely felt like he had lost everything.

As Jesus foretold, He was crucified on a cross and He died. As prophesied approximately 700 years before it happened, His body was placed in a tomb of a rich man:

Prophecy: “And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9)

Fulfillment: “Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.” (Matthew 27:57-60)

Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus’ followers, and other women went to the tomb early on the third day to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. Mary saw that the large stone that had been placed in front of it had been taken away. She ran back to tell Simon Peter and John what had happened, saying, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:2) Peter and John ran to the tomb, with John arriving first. John wrote about what they saw:

“And he [John], stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linens cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.” (John 20:5-10)

Notice above it says, “Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed.” This Scripture is referring to the apostle John. Notice that when Peter went into the tomb, though he looked and saw the same thing John subsequently had seen, it does not say that Peter believed. Peter was seeing with his own eyes that the tomb was empty and the burial cloths that once wrapped the body of Jesus, were lying on the floor, with Jesus’ body nowhere in sight. How many of us have doubted what we have seen with our own eyes, like Peter did? Did Peter not remember the three times that Jesus had predicted His own death and resurrection?

1. “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Matthew 16:21)

2. “Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.’ And they were exceedingly sorrowful.” (Matthew 17:22-23)

3. “Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.” (Matthew 20:17-19)

As Jesus also prophesied, He did rise again on the third day. The Bible tells us that after Peter and John had left, Mary stayed outside the tomb and wept and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white who asked her why she was weeping. She told them it was because someone had taken Jesus’ body and she didn’t know where they had laid Him.

In the gospel of Mark, we have another account of Mary’s interaction with the angel at the tomb of Jesus, who told Mary and the women with her when they saw that the angel and that the tomb was empty:

“But he [the angel] said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples - and Peter - that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.’” Mark 16:6-7)

The angel specifically told them to go tell Peter. This is not coincidence. Also notice that it does not say, “Tell His disciples, including Peter.”

After speaking with the angles, Mary turned around and saw Jesus but didn’t realize that it was Him. Jesus asked her why she was weeping and whom was she seeking. Thinking He was a gardener, she asked Him where He had laid Jesus’ body:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” (John 20:16-18)

Through all of this, Jesus was teaching Peter a lesson: God has a plan, and His will, will be done. We may not like the plan, it may not be how we would do things, we may not even understand it, but we must trust in God not only with that plan but with everything in our lives.

After Jesus resurrected, His disciples were hiding from the Jews in a room for fear of them. Jesus appeared in the midst of His disciples in the room and said:

“‘Peace be with you.’ When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20:19-23)

The apostles of Jesus were now commissioned by Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, ready to go and preach the good news of salvation of sins through belief in Jesus Christ. But there was a matter of the heart in Peter that still had to be dealt with. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two other disciples were at the Sea of Tiberias. Simon Peter said he wanted to go fishing and the other disciples went with him. They spent the entire night fishing and yet had not caught a single fish. The next morning, Jesus saw them from the shore and called out to them. But the disciples did not know it was Jesus. He asked if they had caught any fish and they told Him no. He told them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” (John 21:6) And so it happened again, the net was so full of fish that they could not bring it into the boat. John immediately then recognized that it was Jesus, and he told Peter, “It is the Lord!” Peter then put on his coat and plunged into the sea. He dragged the net, that had 153 fish in it, to the land and was able to keep the heavy net from breaking. Jesus then invited His disciples to come and eat breakfast with Him. This time, they knew it was the Lord.

Now, it was time for a restoration of Peter. Just as he had denied Jesus three times, Jesus would ask Peter three times if Peter loved Him, and each time, Peter responded affirmatively. Jesus told Him respectively after Peter answered, “Feed My lambs,” then “Tend My sheep,” and finally,”Feed My sheep.” For each former denial of Jesus, Peter confirmed that he did indeed love Jesus. The Bible tells us of the third time, “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’” Jesus ended the conversation with how Jesus had first started it, when He had first seen Peter and his brother Andrew fishing that day, saying: “Follow Me.” (John 21:19)

Peter did follow Jesus, and he spread the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Peter preached boldly on the day of Pentecost when over 3,000 souls were saved. He wrote the two epistles that we have read and studied over the past weeks. Peter did in fact grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, giving Him glory. May we remember the words Peter spoke, through the power of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost to the men of Judea and Israel:

“‘Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.’ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying ‘Be saved from this perverse generation.’ Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:36-41)

We have now come to the end of the second epistle of Peter. May we remember Peter’s words from his first epistle:

“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)

Finally, I ask you: Does the inheritance Peter spoke of above apply to you? Do you have the living hope of Jesus Christ? Are you kept by the power of God through faith for salvation? If not, what are you waiting for? ✝️

May 17, 2023: 2 Peter 3:17 - Beware Lest You Also Fall

“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked…” - 2 Peter 3:17

God’s warnings to us are all throughout the Bible. He warns the wicked to turn from their ungodly ways and to turn to Him. He warns those who profess to be saved by Jesus Christ to be watchful and to be able to discern truth from lies, for deceivers will run rampant in the last days before Jesus’ return. He warns those who are saved in Him to remain steadfast and to know that any delay in His coming is only to provide more time for sinners to turn to Him. We are to be assured that He will come and should not give any second thought to the words of mockers and scoffers in the last days.

Our world today is on fire, with chaos and crises rising to a level never seen before on a worldwide scale. We are seeing human depravity increasing at a rapid pace and that aligns perfectly as Paul the apostle wrote about in Romans 1:18-32. We are seeing people who are lovers of themselves and not lovers of God as Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. We read about things happening in so-called churches that are blaspheming God, as their congregations clap and praise in their deceived approval. And yet, where are the pastors who are preaching and teaching about the end times and what the Bible tells us the world will look like in the days before Jesus’ second coming? Why are such a small number of pastors preaching and teaching about this, especially here in America? Sadly, I believe the answer is because most have sold out to the lies of the devil, Satan. The message of the Bible is truth, and most people don’t want to hear the truth. Rather, they want to hear that all roads lead to heaven. Per a November 23, 2021 article from Pew Research Center that conducted a poll of US adults (see: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/11/23/few-americans-blame-god-or-say-faith-has-been-shaken-amid-pandemic-other-tragedies/):

“Christians who believe that many religions can lead to eternal life in heaven were asked whether they believe that this privilege is reserved only for members of other Christian religions, or that some non-Christian religions can also lead to eternal life in heaven. Among all Christians, a majority (58%) say that many religions can lead to eternal life in heaven, and within this group, the prevailing view is that members of some non-Christian religions are able to attain eternal life in heaven (43% of all Christians express this view). Just 13% of U.S. Christians say that many religions can lead to eternal life in heaven, but that only Christian religions qualify.”

If anyone has ever read the Bible for themselves, they will know that beyond a shadow of doubt, you must believe in Jesus as your Savior, meaning you put your trust in Him to be saved from all your sins, in order to be allowed entry into heaven, His kingdom. Jesus Himself told His disciples:

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

Jesus’ statement above eliminates all other ways to heaven; there is no way to it except through Him. Further, Jesus said:

“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 leaves to life, and there are few who find it.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 7:13-14)

“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.’” (John 10:7-10)

As Jesus said above, the thief - Satan - “does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” Satan will tell lie upon lie in order to deceive people by appealing to their desire to cling to their sin and not to cling to Jesus. Satan makes us feel good about our sin, telling us we were born that way, and in a literal sense, he is correct because we are ALL born with sin but that does NOT mean we must stay in our sin. We ALL sin, and as our society becomes more and more depraved, it has approved of certain sins, putting them on full display, especially in the entertainment and media industries. Why? Because the great deceiver wants us to think it’s okay to sin and that we should hate the God who created us because He just wants to oppress us. Satan wraps us in everlasting chains of bondage to him, never to be broken. Only Jesus can break those chains of sin:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jesus Christ; John 8:34-36)

We are in a spiritual war for our souls. When a soldier goes to war, he is prepared for it, he trains for it, well in advance. He is taught certain things so that when he is on the battlefield, he doesn’t have to think about what he does; rather, he automatically does it. The same is true for a believer in Christ. We have given our souls to Jesus Christ because we have chosen to believe, to trust in Him, as the Redeemer of all our sins, for our salvation. Because we have trusted in Jesus, the enemy Satan wants to do everything he can to steal our soul, and he will do it in very tempting ways. One of the most deceptive ways he will do this is by planting false teachers and false apostles in churches that preach a twisted and distorted gospel, as Satan lures people back in to the snare of sin. I believe this has been happening with greater frequency in the last 20 years or so, particularly with the “seeker friendly” movement in which churches focused not on bringing the truth of God to people but to expand the size of their congregations, thereby increasing their revenue. They turned from preaching what people needed to hear to what people wanted to hear. The apostle Paul wrote 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 longsuffering 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)

We are absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt, at the times in which Paul wrote. As I sit here, writing this devotional, this headline popped up on my phone: “Alarming number of Americans are ditching their faith in Christ.” It is an article from endtimeheadlines.org that cites a Public Religion Research Institute poll whose results are posted on Axios.com. (See: https://endtimeheadlines.org/2023/05/alarming-number-of-americans-are-ditching-their-faith-in-christ/ and https://www.axios.com/2023/05/16/rising-number-americans-switch-religions).

“According to Axios, The jump in religion-switching comes as many Americans say they no longer believe in their initial religion’s teachings — or, in many cases, disagree with a religion’s stance against LGBTQ+ people. More Americans also are turning away from Christianity and are seeing themselves as unaffiliated with any religion or as religious “nones,” even as some conservative Republicans seek to inject more religion into schools and public life.”

More and more people who once professed to be Christians are turning away from their faith. The Bible warns us repeatedly to be grounded in God’s word, to be on guard against the lies of deceivers and to be able to recognize them as lies and not as of truth. However, if we do not read God’s word for ourselves, we will not be able to discern lies from truth and we are in danger of being led astray by false teachers and false pastors that have infiltrated the churches. Peter and Paul, two apostles of Jesus Christ, warned us of this, and so did the apostle John. Let us heed their warnings and plant ourselves firmly in the word of God, putting on His whole armor that we may be able stand against the wiles/schemes of the devil, and continue to abide in our Lord Jesus Christ:

”Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

“Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

“And now little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. (1 John 2:15-29) ✝️

May 14, 2023: 2 Peter 3:16 - Some People Twist God's Word to their Own Destruction

“…as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” - 2 Peter 3:16

Before Jesus was crucified, He had told His apostles that when He was no longer with them, they would receive the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus also referred to as the “Helper,” who would teach them all things and help them to remember all that Jesus had taught them (John 14:26, 16:13-15). When a person has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ to save them from their sins, the apostle Paul wrote that we are instantly filled with the Holy Spirit. This is not speaking of water baptism; rather, it refers to the Holy Spirit that enters us the moment we are saved by putting our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior:

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greek, whether slaves or free - and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” ( 1 Corinthians 12:13)

Paul also wrote:

“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)

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” (Romans 8:9)

When we have the Holy Spirit of God within us, He leads us into understanding of God’s word. As with anyone who is learning, we don’t start off at a collegiate level; rather, we start with the easy things. When we first began to read as a child, we started off learning our ABCs in the alphabet. Then we learned short words and we learned how to put them together into sentences, increasing in the difficulty of things which we read. The same is true in the Bible: we start with the simple things by reading the milk of God’s word and then we progress to the solid food, the meat of God’s word, which is more difficult to understand because it is based on knowledge that we acquired previously by studying the milk of God’s word. Peter wrote about this in his first epistle:

“…as newborn babes, desire pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:1-2)

Have you ever seen newborn babies when they are hungry? When they are near their mother, it is as if they can smell their mother’s milk and they have a rooting reflex and they are searching out their mother’s milk. This rooting reflex also happens when they need to be comforted. Like a newborn baby, Peter tells us we should seek God’s word as if our live depends on it because it does depend on it, just as a newborn baby’s life depends on milk. God’s word both feeds us spiritually and comforts us. We should have this deep desire in our heart to read His word because we want to know about Him and His plan of salvation for us.

The apostle Paul also wrote about this in 1 Corinthians, as did the author of Hebrews, of which some people believe Paul also wrote, and emphasized that we should not stay in the milk of the word but should grow in our reading of it so that we can progress to the solid food of the word, the more difficult things:

“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…” ( 1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

“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 5:13-14)

If we do not progress in our reading of God’s word, which includes reading from both the New and Old Testaments, then we are at risk of misunderstanding the meaning of the more difficult Scriptures. Imagine a first grader trying to read a college-level book and not only trying to read it but understand the meaning of it; it doesn’t work. We must read from the prophetic books in the Old Testament, including Isaiah to read of the many prophecies of the first coming of Jesus Christ that were fulfilled and written about in the four gospels and throughout the New Testament. We must read the book of Daniel to understand the book of Revelation. If we only read one without the other, we are not getting the full understanding of God’s word. We must progress from the milk of the word to the solid food in order to deepen our understanding of who God is, His plan of redemption for us that came through His chosen people when Jesus Christ came to earth the first time, and what is coming next in His written plan of history that tells us what will happen before it happens. Only Almighty God could write this.

I have learned that there are things written in the Bible that we can only understand when it is God’s timing for us to understand. The prophet Daniel is a perfect example of this. Daniel was given by God the amazing ability to tell Babylonian kings the dreams that they had dreamt and also to interpret them. These dreams all related to actual historical events that at that time, had not happened but did happen. Daniel was also able to interpret a statement that had been written on a wall by a hand with no body and which foretold the fall of a wicked and final Babylonian king to the Medo-Persian empire. Daniel was also given visions of his own that greatly troubled him, one of which was a prophecy of the end time in Daniel 12. It prophesied of, “a time of trouble, such a never was since there was a nation, even to that time.” However, this time, no interpretation of the vision was given and instead, Daniel was told:

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” (Daniel 12:4)

In the vision, Daniel heard two men speaking and Daniel wrote:

“Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’” (Daniel 12:8-9)

This demonstrates that there are some things written in the Bible that were prophesied hundreds and even thousands of years prior that we simply will not understand until we grow closer to the time when they will be fulfilled. The things prophesied in the book of Daniel parallel what is written in book of Revelation, which describes the last seven years of the end of the age before Jesus Christ returns at His second coming. Until we get closer to the time of the end, they will be veiled and we won’t understand them fully. I believe we are starting to see them unveiled and what previously did not make sense, is beginning to make sense. An example of this unveiling of prophecy is in the book of Ezekiel.

For thousands of years, God had scattered the Jews from their land Israel because of their sins against Him. The prophet Ezekiel wrote about this:

“Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name - when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.” (Ezekiel 36:18-21)

Between approximately 593 and 565 BC, the prophet Ezekiel wrote a prophecy that until May 14, 1948, not many people alive prior to that time believed they would ever see happen: the return of Israel to its land. But God had promised to do this, and not for their sake but for His holy name’s sake:

“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 countries, and bring you into your own land.”’” (Ezekiel 36:22-24)

This prophecy, also written about in the Scripture passage below, has been partially fulfilled as of May 14, 1948, when the nation of Israel was reborn:

“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)

Notice in the Scripture above it says, “on the mountains of Israel.” I listen online to a pastor named Dr. Andy Woods at Sugar Bible Church. In 2022, he had a series of messages titled “Middle East Meltdown” in which he discussed the events prophesied in the book of Ezekiel in the war of Gog and Magog. I remember during several of these messages, he mentioned that it had occurred to him that the Bible mentions repeatedly the words, “mountains of Israel,” including in: Ezekiel 6:2-3; 17:23; 20:40; 34:14; 36:1, 4, 6, 8; 38:8, and 39:4, 17. Pastor Woods said that prior to the Six Day Way in 1967, Israel did not control any of the land of the mountains of Israel and it was only when it won this war through the power of Almighty God that Israel took back control of the mountains of Israel. Siggy Fried who was 23 at the time of the war and was attending college in New York, flew to Israel on June 3, 1967 and wrote about in a journal that he kept during the war. In his journal, he wrote how Israel had gained control of the mountains of Israel. (See: https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/six-day-war-diary/).

The prophecy in Ezekiel 37:21-22 above also says that Israel will no longer be a divided nation. Long ago, it was divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Subsequently, Israel was taken captive to Assyria and Judah was taken captive to Babylon. Since 1948 and 1967, we have seen even in our generation Bible prophecy being fulfilled. However, there are still prophecies of Ezekiel that are yet to be fulfilled, most importantly of which is when they will will no longer defile themselves and will believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah:

“‘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 39:29)

As we can see, sometimes it takes a long time for prophecy to be fulfilled, and as evidenced by the prophecies of Ezekiel, we have seen some prophecies being fulfilled in our generation and others that while not yet fulfilled will be, in God’s perfect timing. The evidence of fulfilled prophecy to me is what solidified my faith in Jesus Christ. However, I would not have known about the prophecies unless I had read God’s word for myself and was given the power to understand it through the Holy Spirit.

If someone who is not seeking God but read God’s word, they simply will not understand it because they are not seeking Him with their heart:

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14)

As Peter told us in today’s Scripture verse, “as also in all his epistle’s, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures,” without the understanding given by the Holy Spirit, the Bible will not make sense to them, especially those things which are difficult to understand. Instead, they consider the Bible a bunch of made-up stories by men and think of God as a power-hungry thorn in their side who only wants to make them miserable by His never-ending set of rules. Some, sadly, have a completely twisted view of the Bible and look at Satan as the one who truly cares about them and doesn’t withhold knowledge from them and is the light bearer. This is deadly thinking and is a snare of Satan that has led many into the trap of captivity, from which they will never, ever escape.

When I was not saved yet through the grace of God by believing in His Son Jesus, I had this longing, this desire in my heart to know the truth. I did not know it at the time, but I was being convicted by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was showing me that I was a sinner in need of a Savior and that the Savior is Jesus Christ. Jesus told His apostles that when He would go away [would be crucified, die, resurrect, and ascend to heaven], God would send His Holy Spirit to them:

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (Jesus Christ; John 16:8)

I was in my late 30s when I began searching for the truth. I had to know: is believing in Jesus Christ for my salvation of sins the only way to heaven? I had to know why it was different from all the religions in the world. So I sought God with my heart and with an open mind. What does the Bible tell us about seeking Him? The prophet Jeremiah wrote about this to the Jews who had lived in Judah and had been taken captive by Babylon. God, through Jeremiah, was telling them He had a future for them and that they should not listen to the false prophets who were telling them lies. He told them they would return to their land after a period of 70 years. Then God gave them loving words of encouragement that apply to us, whether we are Jew or Gentile, today:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

After four years of reading the Bible, I knew the absolute truth: every word in the Bible is true, and the only way to God the Father is by believing in His Son as Redeemer of all my sins. It is by His grace that I am saved.

I would strongly encourage anyone reading this that if they have not ever read the Bible in its entirety, to read it completely, beginning with Genesis and ending at Revelation. I also recommend not signing up for a 1-year Bible reading plan, as I personally think it moves too quickly and the reader is at risk of missing out on a lot of what is written simply because of trying to meet a timeline. Instead, I recommend that you go at your own pace, really taking the time to understand God’s word and to think about it, letting the Holy Spirit guide you and teach you. I suggest that if your Bible has a center column with notes in it, that you read some of them as well as they contain information such as explanatory notes, cross-references, and links between the New and Old Testaments.

As with any task set before us, reading God’s word takes work. We must decide in our hearts and our minds that this is something that we want to do so that we may grow in our understanding of Him, grow closer to Him, and become rooted deeply in our faith in Him. Though we may be persecuted for our faith, and if we are doing anything for Him, we will be, though we may even be imprisoned or even killed for our faith in Him, when He has written His word in our hearts, that is something that no one can ever take away from us.

When we have done this work for ourselves, taking the time to read the Bible, asking the Holy Spirit to provide us with knowledge, understanding, application, and wisdom of it, we will see this beautiful tapestry that God has woven for us, throughout His word, and how it all connects and how it all points to His plan of salvation for us: believing in His Son Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of our sins.

“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.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) ✝️

May 10, 2023: 2 Peter 3:15 - The Longsuffering of Our Lord is Salvation

“…and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation - as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you…” - 2 Peter 3:15

Moses, the man who had led God’s people, Israel, out of 400+ years of bondage in Egypt, went up to Mount Sinai a second time to receive the tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments of God, also called the two tablets of Testimony. The first time he had received them from God, when Moses came down from the mountain, he saw the people of Israel worshipping a golden calf they thought Moses wasn’t coming back from the mountain and they had turned away from God, quickly forgetting all that He had already done for them. They proclaimed it was the golden calf that they themselves had made that had brought them out of Egypt instead of giving Almighty God the glory. They returned to their sinful and idolatrous ways. Before Moses had come down the mountain, God had told Moses what the people were doing, and God wanted to destroy them and instead making a great nation through them, He would make it through Moses. However, Moses interceded for them, saying:

“LORD, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?” Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” (Exodus 32:11-13)

God did relent from pouring out His wrath on the repentant Israelites. Moses came down from the mountain, and when he saw the people and heard them singing and dancing around their false god they had made, Moses’ anger arose and he cast the tablets to the ground, breaking them in pieces. Moses burned with fire the false god they had made, ground it into powder, mixed it with water, and made the people drink it. Moses had those who were with him and were on God’s side to come to him. All but 3,000 were on God’s side and came to Moses. Moses commanded that those who had sinned against God and turned away from Him be killed, and they were. Moses then approached God the next day and atoned for the sins of those who stood with God. God then told Moses that He would use Moses to lead the people out of Sinai and into the Promised Land and that His presence would go with him. Then God instructed Moses to go up by himself the next morning to receive a new set of the tablets of Testimony. Moses cut two tablets of stone and brought them with him up to Mount Sinai. God then spoke to Moses, revealing His character to Moses:

“Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation.’ So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. Then he said, ‘If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked [stubborn] people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.’” (Exodus 34:5-9)

Just as the Lord God was longsuffering to His people, the nation of Israel, so is He is longsuffering to us. He forgives all sin to those who repent - who turn to His Son Jesus Christ - believing in Him as their Savior. But for those who are guilty, and all of us are guilty of sin because are born with it, and do not turn to Jesus and choose to remain in their sin, some of whom may have continued in their rejection of Jesus’ free gift of salvation in multiple generations of their family, God will not clear their guilt; instead, they will die in it. Those 3,000 people who had experienced the goodness of God as He led them, through Moses, out of Egypt, freeing them from their chains of slavery, turned away from God and turned to idol worship, and given the chance to return to Him, they chose not to and received the due penalty for their sins: death. They chose darkness over light, just as people in the world today have chosen. God sent His Son Jesus Christ to offer each and every one of us the way out of our sins and that is by believing in Him as the only One who paid the price with His precious blood to redeem us of our sins. Sin Jesus’ first coming to earth, and when He died and resurrected and is alive today, all who turn to Him and believe in Him will be saved; we will no longer be found guilty of our sins but are pardoned of our iniquities. When He returns to earth a second time, it won’t be to offer salvation but to execute His righteous judgment on a sinful world that rejects salvation, chooses to remain in sin, and aligns with the darkness, with Satan. When Jesus comes again, for those not saved, it will be too late to turn to Him, and they, like the 3,000 in Sinai, will be found guilty and will die in their sin. All who have lived since Jesus came the first time and who rejected His free gift of salvation and died in their sin will never have peace in their eternity, only eternal torment.

So now, as we await the second coming of Jesus, there are many who mock and scoff at believers in Christ, saying He will not come again, but He will. God said it, and it will be done; you can count on it. Any delay is only because of His deep love for us and that He wants no one to perish but that all will turn to Jesus and be saved. As with the 3,000 in Moses’ day, you must make a choice: are you on the Lord’s side - with Jesus - are you against Him? The choice is yours alone to make.

May 9, 2023: 2 Peter 3:14 - May We be Without Spot and Blameless

“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless…” - 2 Peter 3:14

Before Jesus was crucified, died, resurrected, and ascended to heaven, He had told His apostles several times that He would soon be leaving them but that God would send them another Helper, or Comforter:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him, nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (Jesus Christ; 14:15-18)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:26)

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…” (Jesus Christ; John 16:13)

When we decide in our heart to believe in Jesus as the Redeemer of our sins, the only One who can save us from all our sin, we are instantly filled with the Helper, who is also called the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul explained this:

“In Him [Jesus] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13-14)

The Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s word, the Bible, and to get to know Him better. Part of knowing Him is a desire to be more like Christ. When we look up to someone, we often try to be like them, and that is how we should live our lives when we are saved by Jesus. Notice than in the Scripture above from John 14:15-18, the first thing Jesus said was, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” Notice He did not say go and do whatever we want because we are saved by Him. If we abide by that type of thinking, we may not have truly accepted Jesus as our Savior and at a minimum, we are putting ourselves at risk of being swayed by the Devil to turn against God. While it can take some time for a new believer in Christ to begin to let go of their own sinful ways, as it did in my own life, eventually, there should be a noticeable change in that person that reflects Jesus in their life. When we love Jesus, we don’t want to disappoint Him and we try harder so that we don’t. Yes, we will still make mistakes, yes, we will still sin while we are in our sinful bodies here are on earth, but we should have a longing to please Him and to let go of this world that offers us no hope for our eternity. Over the years, by reading His word and praying often to Him, as I went through many difficult times in my family life, I have learned that I can depend on Jesus, no matter what; He is always there for me and always will be. Knowing that, I don’t want to be that selfish and sinful person that I used to be, because when I was, I had no peace in my life, only turmoil. Yes, I’m still a work in progress, and will be until I’m finally Home with Him. I am a sinner who has been saved by His grace, and I know that there is nothing that I could ever do that could save me from my sins. As we go through our lives, may we let the Holy Spirit lead us in these perilous times when sin abounds and is exalted and anything that is of Christ is hated, and may we remember the words of the apostle Paul:

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58) ✝️

May 8, 2023: 2 Peter 3:13 - Believers in Christ Look for New Heavens and a New Earth

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” - 2 Peter 3:13

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...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.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:1, 26-27)

When God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, He created them knowing that Adam and Eve would sin, doing the one thing He had forbidden Adam to do or else he would die - to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 1:16-17) - knowing that the curse of sin would begin at the point they ate of that tree and that sin would be passed down to every single person ever born thereafter. Adam and Eve’s sin did not surprise God; no, He knew they would sin before they sinned, and He knows that we will sin before we ourselves commit sin. But God had a plan, a plan of redemption of sins through His Son Jesus Christ.

As part of His perfect plan, God would first show us Himself, His holy character, through the nation of Israel, whom He chose to set apart from all other nations, and to whom He gave the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law is “made up of the Ten Commandments, the ordinances, and the worship system, which included the priesthood, the tabernacle, the offerings, and the festivals (Exodus 20-40); Leviticus 1-7; 23).” (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/Mosaic-Law.html). The Mosaic Law was to reveal that sin is inherent in each and every one of us, that while the Law is good and holy, no one could ever fully keep it, and to point the nation of Israel to the One - the only One - who can forgive and wash clean all sin by His precious blood, and He is the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to earth the first time to offer salvation from all sin to the nation of Israel, most rejected Him as their prophesied Messiah and had Him crucified. However, that was not the end of the story; rather, it was just the beginning. Jesus did not stay dead, but rose from the dead three days later and after 40 days, He ascended to the right hand of God the Father. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles of Jesus Christ to preach and teach the good news of salvation. The apostle Paul, a former Pharisee who previously went by the name of Saul, a Jewish religious leader who had previously persecuted those who followed Jesus, had been converted on the road to Damascus by Jesus and was chosen by Jesus to bring the good news of salvation to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19):

“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings and the children of Israel.” (Jesus Christ; Acts 9:15)

Paul later wrote about this in the book of Ephesians:

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles - if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets; that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power.” (Ephesians 3:1-7)

From the very beginning, God intended to send Jesus to save all peoples and not just the nation of Israel. The prophet Isaiah wrote about this in the book of Isaiah, long before Jesus came to earth the first time:

“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD…And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:1-2, 10)

The “root of Jesse” refers to the lineage of King David, and Jesse was David’s father. Jesus is a descendant of King David and is of the tribe of Judah. The apostle Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy above in Romans 15:12. In the last book of the Bible and its last chapter, Revelation 22, Jesus Himself stated:

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16)

Though the majority of the nation of Israel has rejected their Messiah, when Jesus Christ returns to earth a second time after a 7-year period of horrific tribulation upon the earth, a remnant of Jews will be alive and all of that remnant will be saved, as Paul wrote about and quoted from Isaiah:

“And so all Israel will be saved [delivered], as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob [whom God renamed to “Israel”; see Genesis 35:10]; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” (Romans 11:26-27)

The prophet Zechariah also wrote about Israel’s rejection of Jesus as their prophesied Messiah, how they would be scattered from their land, that most would die in its rejection of Him, but a remnant would 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)

God has had a plan since the very beginning, even in the book of Genesis where the first prophecy about Jesus was made when God said the words below to the serpent - Satan - who had deceived Eve into eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 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 3:14-15)

I have put in bold above the text that prophecies of Jesus. Gotquestions.org explains this in a simple way: “The serpent and the "seed" of Eve will have conflict; the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent. Jesus is this seed, and He crushed Satan at the cross.” (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/prophecies-of-Jesus.html).

Just as a person who is born again and made new by believing in their heart that Jesus is their Savior and He is the only One who can save them from all their sins, Jesus will create a new heavens, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem where only we who have been made new in Him will live in our eternity. Isaiah prophesied of this:

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.” (Isaiah 65:17-19)

When the apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his faith in Jesus Christ and was given the revelation of Jesus Christ to write, John “…looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven,” and was told “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this” (Revelation 4:1). After writing about the 7-year tribulation period upon the earth, Jesus’ second coming, His 1,000-year reign on earth, and the great white throne judgment during which all those not saved by Jesus will be found guilty and cast into the lake of fire, John wrote in chapter 21 of what he saw:

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; three shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘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. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son.’” (Revelation 21:1-7)

For believers in Jesus Christ as our Savior, this is our hope! We have a hope that the non-believing world does not have, and that is His promise: God will one day judge sin and He will do it in His perfect timing, giving much time for people to realize their sin and turn to Jesus in belief as their Redeemer; for all who are saved by Jesus, we will see Him destroy by fire the current heavens and earth and will witness the creation of a new heaven, a new earth, and a New Jerusalem and will be allowed entry into His glorious kingdom.

For the unsaved, they have no such hope, for by their own choice they reject God and His promise of salvation:

“…having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:18-19)

Instead of believing the truth of God, they chose to believe the lies of Satan. Consequently, they will spend their eternity separated from God, as John wrote about in Revelation:

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

“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 [Jesus Christ’s] Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27)

Do you have this hope? Is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? If not, I pray you turn to Jesus today, before it’s too late. ✝️

May 5, 2023: 2 Peter 3:12 - Looking for and Hastening the Coming of the Day of God

“…looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?” - 2 Peter 3:12

This verse continues with what Peter wrote in the preceding verse, verse 11, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…”

My husband and I just returned from visiting Paris, France. I had never been to Europe before, and my husband had only been to Italy once for a work trip. I absolutely love architecture and photography, and I was snapping photos all throughout the places we visited, one of which was the Louvre Museum. I was amazed at its size; a mere photograph cannot genuinely portray the scale of it. The beauty of its architecture abounds, both inside and out, with the minutest of details that work together to present an unforgettable image to the eyes of the beholder. Securely held within its walls are works of art, masterpieces, that we rarely see being created in our modern world today. We saw paintings that were of such size that filled entire walls of large rooms, representing the history of our world as it was when the artist captured that moment in time so that even now hundreds of years later, we can see what he or she had seen. We walked through galleries of Roman, Greek, and other beautifully sculptured statues and sculptures. As we walked through the gallery containing French Crown Jewels, we beheld crowns and necklaces once worn by kings and queens. After eating lunch in an inside cafe, I stepped outside to a balcony that beheld a magnificent courtyard view, including the famous Louvre Pyramid, surrounded on three sides of the Louvre Museum. As you might be able to tell, I was in awe of what my eyes beheld, not able to take it all in, wanting to pause longer so that I could see every aspect of its artistry craftsmanship before moving onto the next room, where more beautiful creations awaited me. And yet, one thought, a persistent thought, kept occurring in my mind: as palatial as the Louvre Museum is, one day, it and everything on earth and the heavens will all be burned up, and that day will be in the coming Day of God.

For believers in Christ, we have the assurance of the word of God Himself that, while this earth and the heavens that He created are spectacular, mankind, because of its sin, has corrupted it, just as it was corrupted in the days of Noah, when God sent the worldwide flood to destroy all that was corrupted. For those who are not saved by believing in Jesus Christ as the only One who can save them from their sins and from what is coming, when they die, they will not be with God; rather, they will be in hell, a place of fire and torment. After Jesus returns to earth in His second coming, He will destroy with His mouth by a sharp sword - the word of God - all who are alive at that time and who are against Him and who choose to follow Satan instead. He will then reign as King of kings and Lord of lords on earth for 1,000 years, at the end of which time He will resurrect from the dead all who have died in their sin, who chose not to believe in Him as their Savior. Because they chose not to believe in Him, Jesus will judge them by their works, what they did on earth and will be found guilty because nothing we could ever do could save us from our sins, and will be cast into the lake of fire, forever. It will be their second death, a death that never ends.

For believers in Christ, He will make a new heaven and a new earth, and a New Jerusalem, its holy city. As beautiful as anything is that is created by mankind here on earth, it cannot compare to the beauty of God. Chapter 21 of the book of Revelation describes this new heaven, new earth, and the New Jerusalem. The best part of this new creation that God will make is that sin will abide no more. No longer will the earth be destroyed by men who seek to destroy it because of their love for money and power. No longer will there be death - there will be no more funerals of loved ones and friends - there will be no more sorrow, nor crying, for death will have been swallowed up - we will have our victory in Christ! The fulfillment of our promise of salvation will be complete, and we will live with our brothers and sisters in Christ, with Him, for eternity, no longer bound by time. We will see things that are beyond compare to anything we see here on earth, even all the beautiful sights I took in with my eyes at the stunning Louvre Museum.

Knowing all these things which are to come, then how should we live our lives as believers in Christ and what should we be looking for and hastening? The answer is clear: our lives here on earth are meant to show us what God has been pointing to throughout human history, in His word, the Holy Bible: salvation is found only in His Son Jesus Christ, and believing in Him as our Savior is our key to victory over death, when we will close the door on our lives here, and we open the door of our eternity, when we will behold with our eyes something so spectacular that we will drop to our knees and bow and confess “that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11) ✝️