Day 355: Amos 3-6; Revelation 9 — By the Light of the Slivery Moon

December 21st, 2010 by Matt Lee

Right now as I write this it is 1:30 AM on the winter solstice and I have awoken to partake in the viewing of the lunar eclipse. Unfortunately it is very cloudy and there are only brief glimpses of the slivery moon. Mildly disappointing. Like someone promised me a grand event and didn’t follow through (at least not with the grand part).

Fortunately God is not like that. He always follows through. Today’s reading in Amos 3-6 is replete with messages from God listing out the warnings and chances he has given Israel to repent. And since they have chosen not to follow him but rather the ways of the nations around him, he will soon destroy them utterly.

Yet just like the small break in the clouds for me tonight, there is a glimmer of hope as there is with every message from the Lord “Seek the LORD and live” (Amos 5:6). God never warns us just to let us know what is coming. He always gives the opportunity to repent and be made right with him.

If we choose not to repent, our fate will be the same as those in Revelation 9. If we do repent, well, you’ll have to read the rest of Revelation to find out how that turns out.

For now, I’m going to head outside one more time and hope for a break in the clouds and then back to bed with the sane people.

Posted in Amos, Grace, Judgment, Mercy, Redemption, Repentance, Revelation | 2 Comments »

Day 354: Joel 2:18-Amos 2:16; Revelation 7:13-8:13 — Redemptive cycles

December 20th, 2010 by Powell Pendergraft

God punishes the vile idolatry of the people sending extraordinary “natural” disasters. Afterward He will return the fortunes of the people. The planned outpouring of the Spirit of God demonstrates His next step to redeem man, to adopt people as His children, beautiful apocalyptic, revealing, language, Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:14-21. Israel was led by Spirit filled people chosen of God, but these covenant people as a whole were not related to God in the Spirit as those today are, Romans 8:9-11. The dramatic antithesis of Isaiah 2:4 tells His people that they will defeat their enemies. The cycles of “the day of Lord” say He will repay the evil and extract the faithful from doom.

Amos, the fig nipper of the Tekoa, declares the end of the nations throughout Palestine. The intense number language, for three — for four offenses, tells us God is done with them. But these words, again, speak of the global reign of God, not just a God of Hebrews, but of all mankind. As you read these passages in Amos get out a map and swirl your finger from place to place, Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, Israel, a swirling storm of fury and destruction.

The context of Revelation shows the intention of God to preserve His people, the church, and expunge the rebellious from heaven and earth. The cycles of judgment and deliverance are nearly dizzying. The Lamb receives the scroll, one who shall reveal and lead the destiny of His people. As the seals break cycles of punishment and time to repent are given to the offending powers, one fourth destruction. In the trumpets, one third destruction. By the time the bowls of wrath are poured out, it’s all over. Those who persevere in spite of the pressures of the evil culture will pass into the throne room of the Holy One, to an eternal, blissful life in His presence, Revelation 7:13-17.

What do we take away from this?

1. Beauty and meaning in prophetic language need not be confusing. It speaks of the justice, mercy, and love of God to move us to faithful living, waiting the last great “day of the Lord.” 2 Peter 3:8-13

2. Our Faithful Creator means what He says. It may or may not seem that way to us as the world appears to ignore Him or twist His holiness into covenants He did not write. He wants all of His creation to turn to Him, but He will wait only so long. Those cycles of judgment and reward may come in the very personal death of someone, passing them into the Ultimate Reality, in the building up of a “good” nation or destruction of one that is vile, Psalm 33:12, yet certainly will come in the end of all things temporal.

Prayer: Almighty God, Holy, Righteous, Merciful: In this day please help us see Your judgments and blessing, patiently to wait the wonders not yet known, and by Your Spirit to live holy and endure. In Jesus name, Amen.

Posted in Amos, Joel, Redemption, Revelation | Comments Off

Day 353: Revelation 6:1-7:12 — My Mind Can’t Comprehend

December 19th, 2010 by Matt Wilson

Revelation is a daunting book for most people. At times it can be awe-inspiring, difficult to read or hard to comprehend. What I’ve realized over time is that my mind is far too small to fully comprehend God’s majesty and his power. Once you can realize that, once you can step back and say, “It’s okay…it will all be revealed to me soon enough,” the easier it is to make it through Revelation.

The passage I would like to concentrate on today is one that I sometimes close my eyes and try to imagine. Turn with me to Revelation 7:9-12

“before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

I’ve been to some concerts where there was a few thousand people and have marveled when the band would let the crowd would sing along. It is indescribably powerful to hear thousands of people singing the same thing. To be so passionate about something that they instantly fall in sync with one another. Now…close your eyes and try to imagine a multitude so large that you couldn’t begin to count them. Going further, imagine them singing praises to God in their loudest voices. The heavens would shake. Won’t that be wonderful? Won’t that be something that we can’t possibly describe?

That is the goal, isn’t it? Isn’t that where you want to be? Me too! All power and praise belongs to our God!

May God bless you and keep you!
Matt

Posted in Revelation | Comments Off

Day 352: Hosea 9 & Revelation 4 — Holy Worship vs. Unholy Harlotry

December 18th, 2010 by Jim Hays

The Old Testament reading from Hosea 9 and the New Testament reading from Revelation 4 present an interesting contrast in worship.

God sends Hosea to judge the sin of Israel. They have played the harlot (v. 1)—in effect, they have cheated on God. God had saved them from the oppression of Egypt and led them to a land flowing with milk and honey. And in return, Israel nestled in with the native Canaanites and adopted their Baal gods as their own.

There is always a price to be paid for spiritual adultery and Hosea runs down a laundry list of punishments that Israel will suffer because of their infidelity.

1. They will lose their joy (v. 1-2). In another 250 years, Nehemiah will tell Israel, “The joy of the Lord is your strength!” But Israel’s unfaithfulness to God in places like Baal Peor and Gilgal will rob them of any joy at this time.

What about us? We lose our joy when we live for ourselves instead of living for God and others. Selfishness produces only bitter cynicism in the end. But selflessness is the greatest way to live because it was the way of our Savior.

Our faith in Christ produces in us an “inexpressible and glorious joy” because the end result is the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:8-9). James says that we can even be joyful when we go through dark times and deep valleys, because hard times produce in us perseverance and maturity (James 1:2-3).

2. They will be cast into exile (v. 3-6) and will be abandoned by God (v. 17). The Assyrian army is coming. And they are going to take Israel captive and exert their will into their lives. It’s like Egypt all over again! And while in exile, they will not be allowed to offer sacrifice … they will be forced to eat food they considered unclean … it’s not going to be a pleasant experience.

Have you ever felt exiled from God—felt “separated” from Him? Have you ever felt like God was far, far away? The wonderful thing about God is that He is never far away. If we will just take one small step toward Him, He will run to meet us (Luke 15:20). He loves us that much!

When we came to Jesus, we were provided with a great promise—that we would never again be separated from God’s love. Nothing can come between us—for we are “MORE THAN conquerors through Jesus Christ, who loves us” (Romans 8:37-39).

3. They will lose spiritual discernment (v. 7-9). Their prophets will be fools. Their spirituality will be insanity.

It’s very easy for us to lose sight of what’s truly spiritual, too, isn’t it? We are enticed by the wily ways of Satan and we fall prey to his cleverly designed traps. We trip over our own sins. It seemed like a good thing to do at the time. It felt right. Our spiritual eyesight has been blindfolded.

The only way for us to stay on the right path—the spiritual path—is to play follow-the-leader. We must “fix our eyes on Jesus” and “set our hearts on things above”.

Israel did a great job of showing us what not to do and we must learn from their mistakes.

Contrast that to the beautiful picture John paints in Revelation 4.

You want to talk about Spiritual discernment! John said he was “at once in the Spirit”! Immediately! Suddenly he found himself in the very presence of Almighty God with trumpets and angels and multiple thrones. White robes, golden crowns. Thunder, lightning and the very Spirit of God.

And then John sees four creatures whose only job in heaven is to praise God’s name endlessly. And when these creatures praised God, the twenty-four elders seated on the thrones would fall down and cast their crowns at the feet of the True King!

And praises flowed! Shouts of, “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty who was, is and is to come! You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power—for You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.”

Now that’s a worship service I want to be a part of! Amen? Wow! By the way, you know who the twenty-four elders represent? US! You and me! God’s church! I can’t wait!

Playing the harlot and cheating on God is a cheap, short-lived, thrill of the moment way to live. There’s no joy there—only exile and sadness and loss of spirituality.

But when we give ourselves completely to God, he will reward us with things that last—eternal things like joy and peace and love. And one day, we will take part in an eternal worship that will go beyond our wildest imagination!

Grace and peace, church. Deborah and I are praying for you. See you soon, Lord willing.

Posted in Hosea, Revelation, Worship | 1 Comment »

Day 351: Hosea 5:1-8:14 and Revelation 3:1-22 — We’ve Heard This Before

December 17th, 2010 by Scott Epperson

God is patient. God is kind. God shows mercy abundantly. God did this over and over with Israel and then, after the kingdom divided, with Israel and Judah. However, God finally lost the patience, lost his kindness, and lost the mercy for a number of reasons but mostly because they arrogantly defied God, prostituted themselves to man-made gods, and were unrepentant. We’ve heard God through other prophets, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, saying the same condemnations to Israel and Judah that we now hear in this reading in Hosea. Why didn’t the Israelites and Judahities listen to God prior to this before it was too late? From my studies, it appears that they wanted what they saw others around them doing and having. They didn’t care to be set aside for God — they wanted to be like the other nations around them. Then their pride took over and they wouldn’t do it God’s way and they couldn’t return to Him (Hosea 5:4-5). Their worship and way of life even became a stench to other worldly nations around them. When other nations around them began to tear away at their nation, who did they turn to? Not God. Instead they turned to Assyria and Egypt for help. For this, God said that Ephraim (Israel) and Judah would be torn up and carried off (Hosea 5:14)

And what was God saying in the reading in Revelation 3 to the churches in Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea? Essentially the same thing. You think you are doing the right thing, but you are not (Revelation 3:1). To Laodicea, He states that because they are neither hot nor cold, he was going to spit them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). However, just as God did in dealing with Israel and Judah, in Revelation he tells these churches that a few will be spared. To these Jesus talks about overcoming Satan, that they will walk with Him and God and his angels, and that their names will never be blotted from the book of life.

I don’t know about you, but after reading today’s Old Testament and New Testament readings, these words come as a joy to me. They help me see past the troubles to give me hope for the future. God is patient and kind and merciful to those who follow His plan. We ALL mess up, but being repentant and keeping our eyes and hearts toward God brings us toward Him.

Posted in Hosea, Revelation | Comments Off

Day 350: Hosea 1:2-3 — Think about how God feels?

December 16th, 2010 by Randy Consford

In Hosea 1:2-3, God tells Hosea to marry an adulterous wife and take her children out of wedlock. This is a shocking action by God. Yet, it is in actuality God’s story that Hosea is called to live out. We think a lot about poor Hosea who had to enter into this awful situation. In reality, we are given an insight into how God feels. God marries or makes a commitment to His people. His people become unfaithful and break their commitment by seeking other gods and having a relationship with them instead of the one true God. Do we ever stop and think about the God who is faithful to us even though we have prostituted ourselves to other things besides Him? Yes, He disciplines and judges us because He loves us. If you get a chance, skip ahead to Hosea 11:1-9 and read the touching proclamation of God about how He loves us in spite of what we have done. Read this section and think about God when in anguish He asks the question, “How can I give you up…?” (Hosea 11:8) Have you ever stopped to think about how God feels? I read this story from Hosea and I realize, I have hurt my God. This is not the final part of the story because my God forgives. He sent us His Son!

Posted in Committment, Divorce, God, Hosea, Love, Loyalty | Comments Off

Day 349: Revelation 1:1-20 — Lord Come Quickly

December 15th, 2010 by Scott Dutton

It is December 15, and my world is so busy right now. Ava and I will be traveling this week to be with our daughter and son-in-law on a special occasion for them. After a funeral this last Saturday, and a ton of work dropped in my lap last week, I was rushing around this morning trying to get loose ends tied up and looked up my text for today. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Of all the books in the Bible, none have been mangled in interpretation more consistently than Revelation. I can remember as a teenager listening to a preacher expound on this book, and believe me, it was really frightening. Not sure the man meant for it to be so, but it was, none-the-less.

One of the greatest events for me and this wonderful book was to see Richard Rogers’ title for his class at Sunset “Hallelujah Anyway”. That title set the stage for an understanding of the book that erases fear rather than fosters it.

There are some keys in the first twenty verses that clue us in to the fact that most understandings of the book are lacking. Maybe the best way to start a study of Revelation is by reading every Old Testament prophet and seeing just how prophetic language is used and applied in those books.

Revelation 1:1 – key phrase is “things which must soon take place”. Soon in this instance is defined as speed or quickly. Verse 3 “for the time is near” – near would be defined as near, of place and position. These definitions come from Strong’s enhanced lexicon. These words speak about an future near to John, not some distant day thousands of years into the future. In the first nine verses of Revelation, John was speaking not in prophetic language, but in ordinary everyday language to be understood in ordinary terms.

As you progress through the book keep in mind that the events were future to John and the people of the first century. To us they are in the past. The great message of this book is no matter what happens in life, if we are a part of the family of God, we win in the end. Hallelujah, Lord come quickly!

Posted in Revelation | 3 Comments »

Day 348: Daniel 9 — For Great Mercy

December 14th, 2010 by Matt Lee

In Daniel 9 we read the fervent prayer of Daniel lamenting the sins of Israel. It’s not a finger pointing. In fact he uses the first person plural throughout. Lots of “we”. He includes himself in it all even though he was likely very young when all of it was going on. At no point does he shirk the responsibility or blame anyone else. He bears the full brunt of the shame and punishment for the nation he loves. Quite a different picture from what we would expect, a distinct contrast to the Pharisee that Jesus mentioned who was so thankful to not be as sinful the tax collector just around the corner.

Later, in his prayer for mercy he once again assumes a posture of humility. As he pleads for forgiveness, it is not because he or Israel deserves mercy but because God is righteous. “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.” And it is for God’s own sake, not his own that Daniel asks for mercy.

Posted in Blame, Daniel, Forgiveness, Mercy, Repentance, Sin | Comments Off

Day 347: Daniel 5:1-7:8; 2 John 5-3 John 14 — The Most High Reigns everywhere

December 13th, 2010 by Powell Pendergraft

As a child I liked the “away from home” times when I could be just myself, not mom and dad’s little boy. Yet I was always glad there was “home” to which I could come back. As adults, our parents may be far away or have gone on to be with the Lord. When we need that concrete sense of care and guidance in a troubled world what can we do? Where is home?

Exiled Jews read Daniel and saw that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not confined to Palestine or to the affairs of Israel. Daniel refers to Him as Most High God. Most High, or Most High God, occurs in the Pentateuch, Psalms, Ezekiel and Daniel in the OT. I believe this expresses the unique nature of the True Creator of heaven and earth. The rulers of pagan lands had many gods, but they learned that Dagon or Marduk cannot compete with Jehovah — the Great I AM, because He IS and they, frankly, are NOT. Belshazzar is weighed and found wanting, Daniel 5:27. The evil conspiracy against Daniel fails. Darius, perhaps a throne name or regent for Cyrus, declares the God of Daniel to be “the living God,” Daniel 6:26. Daniel sees in visions future kingdoms and the coming of Messiah. Daniel, captured as a youth but now a very old man, knows God alone reigns. He is at home in the presence of God — among pagans or lions.

John hears that “children” of faith are strong, yet warns that the faith is under attack by those denying the earthly life of Jesus — these are antichrist, by those in the church whose pride would keep even the words of the holy apostle from taking root among them. He tells them, and us, to welcome and support those who proclaim the gospel of Christ and teach His covenant. Strangers in this world, yet at home where God is.

So, what do we take away? God reigns. Reigns always, everywhere, in spite of how it seems to me. Reigns and blesses me. Reigns and I must bless Him. Always. Everywhere. Home is where God is for the faithful.

Holy Father, Righteous and True: You have set blessing and strength before me today. I choose You. Thank you for choosing me. I long to go that long home where I can see You face to face. Until then I will be at home in You right here. In Jesus name, Amen.

Posted in 2 John, 3 John, Daniel, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Day 346: 1 John 5:1-2 John 4 — What is Love for God?

December 12th, 2010 by Matt Wilson

How many of you have someone in your family or circle of friends that is hard to buy for? Every year at Christmas my sisters and I engage in a yearly topic — what to buy Mom for Christmas. This is a woman that never asks for anything, never wants anything and never buys anything for herself. No indicators. No hints. Nothing. She is a great mystery to buy for because I have no idea what she wants. As I have gotten older, I realize that Mom’s greatest present at Christmas is for her children and grandchildren to be at her house.

If you will pardon my analogy here — sometimes we think that God is hard to buy for too. We wonder how we can please God. Well…look no further! I have the perfect gift for Him! Turn with me to 1 John 5:3 and read along. It is very short but very clear. “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.” Sound familiar? It should.

1 John 2:3-5

John 15:10

Could it really be that simple? Yes! I know my kids love me because they obey and they return my affections. Is that very elementary? Yes! Be obedient! Follow God’s commands. Be in his love. Be in him.

May God bless you and keep you!

Matt

Posted in 1 John, Love | Comments Off

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »