What a wonderful wonderful day. We are so blessed as Christians, BLESSED!
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
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I sing praises to the Savior who hears prayer. I thank the Holy Spirit for moving in the two people at our campground ministry to be baptized in the river today. There is nothing greater than a regenerated heart, saved by grace.
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
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I praise and thank the Savior for drawing many to Him, some of whom are emerging from besetting sins to once again live a holy life in these last days.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
I praise Him for raising up good pastors who preach the word from the Living Water and edify their sheep.
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What a refreshing, encouraging day. The Holy Spirit is moving in the world, maybe not widely, but deeply, soul by soul.
He is as ever, open for business.
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My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. (Psalm 145:21)
This is a staggeringly incomprehensible verse, but it is true:
“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.” (Luke 12:37)
I believe the Bible totally and completely. I believe every word is true. I have faith that the Lord will bring all things to completion just the way He said. I rejoice in the future of eternity and glad He gives us that hope of the future.
But to think of us being served by Him just leaves me no words! What a picture this verse creates. It reminds me of the time Jesus girded Himself and washed the feet of the disciples. He is always giving us a picture of humble service.
In this dark time of confusion and hate, chaos and uncertainty, let’s dwell on this future reality for a bit. We will see His face. We will be finally delivered from the presence of sin, ours and the world’s. We will reunite with loved ones. We will meet new brethren. We will see His glory! But this is true too: we will sit at His table and sup with Him!
Let’s examine what present and past theologians have had to say about this verse.
In the past, Tim Challies posted an article titled The Most Terrifying Thing God Can Do. It’s a terrifying article. It crushed me reading it and apparently it did for many others as well. I saw this article referred to and re-posted numerous times.
The most terrifying thing God can do is to turn an unsaved person over to his sin. Having just gone through Romans 1 in my Sunday School class, I was starkly reminded again of God giving them over to their sin. It’s stated three times at the end of the chapter. This again clutched my heart with terror and grief. Sin is such a powerful drug, a terrifying trap.
In biblical times, a shepherd’s main concern was the welfare of the flock. Providing the sheep with food and waters as well as guarding them from predators and thieves were primary responsibilities. Highlighting this relationship, Jesus says in the scripture, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11). [from Logos Bible Software]
Whatever a fundamentalist is these days, I’m often “accused” of being one. We know that to the world, “Fundies say the darnedest things” and I’ve been quoted on that so-named forum more than once. The world points to biblical Christians as narrow minded, bigoted, closed minded, or myriad of other epithets to indicate that we need to be accepting, tolerant, and broad minded, especially of ‘all religions.’
A certain gentleman made the following remark on Facebook: “The Fundies have little room in their hearts for a good man like this [the Pope] and even less room in their minds.“
We have all the room that is possible to have for a man like that, because there but for the grace of God, go us. We love our fellow man enough to witness to the power of Jesus to turn a heart of stone like the Pope’s into a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26).
There aren’t any “good men.” There aren’t even ‘all religions.’ There are only two. God’s and satan’s. Much about the Christian life is very stark and clear. It is either-or. Heaven or hell. World vs. Christian. Unforgiven sinner or forgiven sinner. In fact, being “narrow minded,” at least where the Bible and the Lord’s commands come in, is a good thing.
Satan will mimic, counterfeit, masquerade and just plain lie as to the way to heaven.
In a recent sermon about heaven John MacArthur delivered to an audience of youths, he drew on the Bible to show just how narrow the way is and how wide is the gulf between the two worlds. This sharp divide of either/or, in or out, is discussed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus used several metaphors to draw the distinction between the two ways. MacArthur explained:
Strive to enter the narrow gate. What is this talking about? What does it mean to strive to enter the narrow gate? … As we come to the end of the Sermon on the Mount there is a series of contrasts.
Two gates, wide and narrow Two ways, broad and narrow Two destinies, life and destruction Two crowds, many and few Two trees, one good, one corrupt Two fruits, one good and one bad Two builders, wise and foolish Two foundations, rock and sand Two houses, one stands and one falls
If being narrow-minded means ONLY accepting the Lord’s truth and not all the world’s, I will gladly accept the description. If being too narrow means I am on the Lord’s narrow road, I am grateful. If I am in the crowd of the few and not the many, then all is well.
How many entrances do we need? One is all it takes, and for Jesus, it took a lot. He lived a scrupulously sinless life. He suffered the indignity of humiliation on the cross. He bore all the punishment and wrath for sin into His very self, and He endured the agonizing separation from His Father for the first time in all eternity. He did this to make a way for us to enter through Him.
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (Matthew 7:13)
Poetry by Kay Cude. Used with permission. Right click on image to open larger in new tab. Artist’s statement below.
I keep returning to our (me!!) needing to “remember” God’s promises and provision. GOD THE I AM is the only fortress in Whom we find a righteous protector, defender and provider. He is the only place of eternal refuge from the world’s continuing tragedies and chaos. He is the stronghold Who is and Who will provide peace, wisdom, understanding, instruction and endurance.
This section of verses that show Jesus’ life are focused on His attributes & earthly ministry. We’ve seen Him as servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and healer. We looked at His attributes of omniscience, His authority, and now His sinlessness.
He came from glory where righteousness reigns. He descended to an earth that’s cursed where every single human is depraved, thoroughly drenched with a sin nature. He lived among us, sinlessly and perfectly fulfilling the Father’s commands for righteous living. He did this at every moment in every way. Not one blot, not one thought, not one act of anything less than perfection.
For this, He was reviled, mocked, hated, and killed.
We have been through a section of verses that show Jesus’ life in His earthly ministry. We’ve seen Him as servant, teacher, shepherd, intercessor, and healer.
Now we look at His attributes. Today- Omniscience.
We are in the section of my Advent thirty day flow where we examine PROPHECY, ARRIVAL, and EARLY LIFE of Jesus.
In this section I chose verses that reflect the prophecies that predict His coming. Prophecy warns of coming judgment but it also comforts in that it foretells the holy and wonderful resolution of all things for the believer. This resolution didn’t begin with Jesus’ incarnation as a babe in the manger, it began before the foundation of the world when the God-head held an intra-council discussion and Jesus voluntarily chose to become the sacrificial Lamb.
Thirty days of exalting Jesus though selected verses with pictures representing the prophecy, life, death, resurrection, and Second Coming of our Savior.
the-end-time.org 