Mark's Daily Reading Journal

In Isaiah 55:11 God gives us a promise concerning HIS wonderful Word...you have probably heard it quoted often..."So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."  If those words are too familiar to you, please allow the full weight of them to penetrate your heart and mind.  God's will and purpose WILL be accomplished in HIS creation.  We have pointed to HIS absolute sovereignty and providence many times throughout the past year...HIS will, will be done!

The question is where am I and where are you in relationship to HIS will?  HIS Word tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:11)...praise God!   Will you bow the knee and confess HIS as Lord before you die and spend eternity in HIS glorious presence or will you bow the knee and confess HIS as Lord after you die and spend eternity in hell?  I am amazed every time I read of those in Revelation who refuse to repent and turn from their evil ways...we witness the wrath of God being poured out and still they refuse to repent!

Rev 9:20  The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

Rev 9:21  and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

Rev 16:9  Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

Rev 16:11  and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

So if you have never come to Jesus please hear the invitation of Revelation 22:17,  The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.   Hear the invitation of Isaiah 55:1  “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."  For those that receive Jesus by faith, for those who are weary and come to Jesus, HE will give you rest and you will have access to the throne and to the water of life as we see in Revelation 22:1,  "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb"  This is a free gift of our Great God's grace, it cost HIM HIS own blood so that we could come without payment.  Praise God for Revelation 21:6...And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 

For those of us who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, but we have become lukewarm or we have not noticed that we have wandered away from the shepherd, the good shepherd...one moment we were by HIS side and the next thing we knew we had wandered away being enticed by greener pastures.  Let's not be like the Israelites in Amos!  You may remember in Amos that 5 times God lamented that HE had labored to get HIS people to return and 5 times HE states "yet you did not return to me."

Zech 1:3“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return to Me,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I may return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.

Mal 3:7  “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

You may be wondering how to return...that is the awesome thing about God's Word...HE has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  In John 14:21 Jesus teaches how vital it is that HIS followers walk in obedience to HIM, remember..."Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  If you long to be intimates with Jesus and behold more beauty than you can conceive obey what you know already and then HE will reveal more to you.

Secondly, remember how you loved HIM when you first came to faith in Christ, remember the joy, the excitement of the new found relationship with the Creator and sustainer of the universe...remember, repent and do the things you did at first!  Revelation 2:4-5  But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

'Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose', William Templed

Oh God, oh God...prone to wander LORD I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, take my heart LORD, take and seal it, seal if for thy courts above.  Father, seal it for YOUR glory and for my JOY in YOU.  Father enable me by the filling of YOUR precious Holy Spirit to walk, live, breath in a manner worthy of the gospel...this  is impossible apart from YOU working this in me!  Father ignite a white-hot fire in my heart and mind for YOU and YOU alone in 2009...enable my little light to burn bright for YOU...Matt 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.  Father, teach me what it means and enable me to meditate on YOUR Word day and night...please enable me to be the blessed man of Psalm 1...enable me to find ALL my delight, joy, satisfaction in YOU though YOUR Holy Word!  Please accomplish this in a way that YOU get ALL the glory and I am filled with YOUR JOY...the Joy of my Master, Lord and Savior.  Thank you for YOUR Word, thank you for the gift of salvation, thank you for my family.

Though we walked away from a successful business 11 years ago to follow you into ministry and by this worlds standards we have nothing...I know, I know that I am unbelievably rich...I am rich in relationships...first my relationship to YOU, secondly my wife and then children and the friends you have given us!  I know enough to know that the glorious inheritance in heaven is that we get YOU!  THANK YOU!  LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH PRAISE THE LORD!

love,

m

I believe that my favorite definition of Worship is the one penned by William Temple...'Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose', William Temple

I believe that is my favorite definition...the question is...is this my experience moment by moment, day by day?  Does the rebuke of the Lord through Malachi bring conviction on me, my church, my denomination...Christianity in America?

Carl Misner, brilliant scientist, made the following comments about organized religion and Albert Einstein...

I do see the design of the universe as essentially a religious question. That is, one should have some kind of respect and awe for the whole business. . . . It's very magnificent and shouldn't be taken for granted. In fact, I believe that is why Einstein had so little use for organized religion, although he strikes me as a basically very religious man. He must have looked at what the preachers said about God and felt that they were blaspheming. He had seen much more majesty than they had ever imagined, and they were just not talking about the real thing. My guess is that he simply felt that religions he'd run across did not have proper respect . . . for the author of the universe.

Nietzsche “you will have to look more redeemed if you want me to believe in your redeemer."

Consider the questions that probe the hearts of the Israelites and allow them to probe your heart!  I have to say parts of this were painful, but healing for me!

QUESTIONS MALACHI ANSWERS

How have You loved us? (Mal. 1:2) God’s choice of Israel proves His love.

How have we despised Your name? (Mal. 1:6) Failure to honor God is disrespect.

How have we defiled You? (Mal. 1:7) Failing to give God our best cheapens Him.

Why shouldn’t God hear our prayers? (Mal. 2:14) You break faith with your wife.

How have we wearied God? (Mal. 2:17) By calling the evil person good.

What do you mean, “return” to God? (Mal. 3:6) If you violate God’s Laws, you’ve left Him and thus must return.

How do we rob You? (Mal. 3:8) By failing to pay required tithes.

What have we said against You? (Mal. 3:13) Saying it is futile to serve God is to deny Him.

It is amazing to me how few Christians read their Bibles daily...it is not amazing that those of the world never pick up a Bible!  Let it sink in that there are five gospels, put your stones down...the five gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and your life...the world will never read the bible, but if you claim to be a Christian they will read your life. 

Malachi 1:6 asks a very pointed question...God's asks if I am Father, then where is my honor, if I am master, where is my fear?  We have pointed out many times that the fear is the proper reverence and awe in the light of who God is and what HE has done!

Mal 1:6  “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’

Does the life I live, does the life you live reflect that we are the adopted children of the sovereign God of the universe?  Does it reflect that HE purchase us with HIS OWN blood?  As we launch into 2009 my prayer for me, for mine and for you is that our lives will burn with a passion and a zeal that is an appropriate response to who HE is and who we are in HIM!  Oh that our hearts will burn in 2009 as HE opens the Scriptures to us...that the world would see and be amazed and filled with wonder and not filled with ridicule.

pursuing HIM in 2009

love,

m

Throughout the year I have pointed to one of my favorite teachers and author's summary statement of the bible, Dr. Ken Easley, it is simply this, "that the Lord God through his Christ is graciously building a kingdom of redeemed people for their joy and for his own glory."  This Kingdom story has been unfolding before our eyes as we have read through the bible this year and it is unfolding in the midst of our days if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.  You and I are living out the days of the church age between the first and second coming of our Lord...HIS second coming will be magnificent for those who belong to HIM.  I want to encourage you to prayerfully labor to keep this in mind as 2008 comes to a close and we launch into 2009. 

In our reading today in Zechariah we witness all of these events culminating in the rule and reign of our great and awesome God!

Zechariah 14:9  And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.  One commentator unpacks the verse this way:

The Messiah will not only reign as King of Israel but He will also be King over the whole earth. The worldwide scope of His reign is supported by Zechariah’s description of Him elsewhere as ”the Lord of all the earth“ (4:14; 6:5; cf. Micah 4:13). This is confirmed by the Apostle John’s identification of Him as the ”Lord of lords and King of kings“ (Rev. 17:14; 19:16). He has always been the one Lord (Deut. 6:4) in His unique, solitary, incomparable Being (cf. Isa. 37:16; 45:5-6, 14, 18, 22; 46:9). When He establishes His millennial kingdom, He will be universally recognized as such and worshiped as the one true God (Rev. 21:3). With idolatry and false worship cut off from the land (Zech. 13:1-2) His name will be the only name (cf. Acts 4:12) recognized in worship by people.  Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (1:1570). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Over and over in God's precious Word we see our great God finally taking HIS proper place on the throne of the nations and ruling the earth in righteous and justice.

Re 11:15  Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Ps 10:16  The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.

Ps 22:28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

Ex 15:18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”

Da 2:44  And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,

Da 7:14  And 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 one that shall not be destroyed. 

The following video is 10 minutes long and worth every second.  It is Michael W. Smith in concert singing Agnus Dei...Lamb of God.  If you watch carefully about half way though Smith tries to transition to another song and the crowd, or the Holy Spirit will not allow it.  Watching the video I began to weep because it hit me that this it one of the few times I have ever witnessed a crowd respond appropriately to what they have witnessed!  Every Sunday thousand of people go nuts watching football and they sit in church stone faced looking at their watch wondering when they will get to go eat.

Here we witness an appropriate response to our Holy, awesome and majestic God...I pray that your soul will be nourished and watered as you worship the King of kings and LORD of Lords.

Psalm 147:10-11 His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, 11  but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Eph 5:7-10 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

Reading Psalm 147 this morning I was captivated with one thought...knowing that "the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love."  Specifically that the "Lord takes pleasure."  Pause for a moment and consider that the sovereign God of the universe, the one who gave names to every star and was not stressed in the process, the one who Isaiah tells us holds the oceans in the hollow of HIS hand, the one who's thoughts out number the grains of sand...I could go on and on...the point is that this very magnificent and awe striking God takes pleasure in something...HE finds delight in something...God delights,  "the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." 

I will confess that I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, or the brightest crayon in the box, but when Paul tells me in Ephesians to try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord, I get that...I understand that it is wise to learn what it means that "the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." 

The fear of the Lord is to hold an intense and powerful reverence and awe of who God is and what HE has done in and through the Cross as HE offers HIS steadfast love to those who place their hope in HIM.  Remember Jesus words in Matt 9:13,  “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Jesus was quoting Hosea 6:6, "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

We do not impress God with what we bring to the table, HE is not impressed with our skill sets or our intellect or our business savvy...HE does not need us, we need HIM!  HE did not create us because HE was lonely...HE created us to see HIM, to behold HIM and in that moment to be filled with awe striking reverence, amazed at HIS majestic power and then in response to seeing HIS glory we worship, we fall on our faces as though dead and worship the King of kings and Lord of Lords. 

Amazingly, as we behold HIM we become like HIM...Is 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Ps 149:4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

Rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice!

love,

m

As we began reading in Zechariah we pointed out two themes that emerge as you read this wonderful book?  First, Zechariah is filled with references to Christ and Zechariah tells of the second coming of the Messiah.  As you read this book you get the sense that there is so much more to be found in this book for those that are willing to do the work.  At the same time you find treasure laying on the ground all around as you walk through the landscape of Zechariah. 

For example in Zechariah 9:9 we see that our King has come (foretold) and will return!  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. "

Zechariah foretells the coming of Messiah and in Zechariah 10:2 he says, "For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation.  Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd."  Do you remember what Jesus said in Matt and Mark about the crowd?

Mt 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Mk 6:34  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

Paul teaches us that Christ [is] in you, the hope of glory Col 1:27, and in Gal 4:19 he points out that much of his ministry is to see Christ become incarnate in the followers of Christ..."My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you."  I point this out to say that IF you are a follower of Christ, IF Christ is in you, IF HE is being formed in you...you will have a shepherds heart.  IF Christ is incarnate in you there will be a desire to shepherd the sheep, to shepherd those that God has given you influence over.  This might be your family, it is your family...your class, small group, people at work...it is where the Lord has placed you.

I was struck with the rebuke of the worthless shepherds!  I do not want to stand at the judgement seat of Christ and be rebuked for how I failed as a shepherd.  The wonderful thing is my job is to surrender to the good shepherd, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and as Christ is formed in me, my hope of glory HE gives me HIS heart for the sheep and HIS heart to shepherd.

My love will not help anyone, but as God breaks my hard heart HE is able to pour HIS love and life giving grace through me and shepherd others through my yielded life!

Zech 10:2  They are afflicted, because there is no shepherd.

Zech 10:3  My anger is kindled against the shepherds, And I

Zech 11:3  There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail, For their

Zech 11:5  And their own shepherds have no pity on them.

Zech 11:8  shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient

Zech 11:15  for yourself the equipment of a foolish shepherd.

Zech 11:16  For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd

Zech 11:17  Woe to the worthless shepherd Who leaves the flock!

Father in heaven...fill me with YOUR Holy Spirit, enable me to yield, surrender...every part of my heart, mind and soul continually that YOU might be fully formed in me for YOUR glory and my joy in YOU!

love,

m

In December of 518 b.c. a delegation came from Bethel to ask whether the people should continue to fast and mourn on dates set aside during the exile to commemorate the fall and destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple (7:1–3). God’s response is a rebuke. Were the people sorry about the sins of the past, or only sorry about the disaster? (vv. 4–7) Ritual had no meaning to God before the Exile, nor does it have meaning after. The issue was and is whether faith is real and is expressed as compassion and maintaining justice in the land (vv. 8–14). The rebuke is tempered by the prophet’s revelation that the Babylonian Captivity was an expression of God’s jealousy (passionate concern) for His people. The same passion which in the past was expressed in judgment will, in the future, produce a righteous society that is abundantly blessed by the Lord (8:1–17). When God brings in the age of blessing, mourning will be turned to joy. The Jews present weak and oppressed condition will be reversed, and powerful nations will journey to Jerusalem to seek the Lord (vv. 18–23).  Richards, L. O. (1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.) (579). Wheaton: Victor Books.

Zechariah 8:23 Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ” ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ” ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Does anyone say that about me?  Does anyone say that about you?  Is my faith real enough, is my relationship with Jesus real?  Do people smell the fragrance of Christ when they are around me?  As I seek to follow Christ, as I long to journey with Christ will others say...‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

I pray that this song is true of your life...I pray and hope and wish this for each of you...there is a joy in the journey, the joy is Jesus!

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it
A pardon for all who believe
Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind

To all who've been born in the Spirit
And who share incarnation with Him
Who belong to eternity stranded in time
And weary of struggling with sin
Forget not the hope that's before you
And never stop counting the cost
Remember the hopelessness when you were lost

There is a joy in the journey
There's a light we can love on the way
There is a wonder and wildness to life
And freedom for those who obey
And freedom for those who obey...

How often have you felt like your prayers never left the room you were in...how often have you felt like you were just talking to yourself?  Be honest...there are times when it feels like praying is of no use!  Hey, calm down...I said it feels like!  Beyond the spiritual warfare and attacks to keep God's children's from praying there are a number of instances in God's Word where we learn that the prayers of the Saints are hindered.  One of those is mentioned in our reading in Zechariah today.  Let's take a few minutes to look at  several others and then we will camp out on Zechariah for a few minutes.   In Psalm 66:18 we see that if we regard iniquity in our hearts God will not hear our prayers...is there unconfessed sin in your life or areas where you are unrepentant?  In Matt. 6:5 we see the religious leaders rebuked because they prayed for show to be noticed and recognized by people...bad idea!  James 4:3 rebukes God's children for asking with the wrong motives, carnal motives.  In James 1:5–6 God's people are told to ask for wisdom and to ask in faith...asking and not believing will hinder your prayers!  Dan 10:10–13 references the demonic activity mentioned above.  In 1 Pet. 3:7 husbands are commanded to live with their wives according to understanding so that their prayers will not be hindered.  I believe that Luke 18:10–14 teaches us that the prideful will not be in heaven and that the prayer of the broken and humble gets God's ear!  Mal. 3:8–10 does not specifically pertain to prayer, but it does say that those who rob from God in withholding their tithe and offerings will not be blessed like those who do.  I desire the windows of heaven opened and pouring down blessing in my life and in the lives of those I minister to...Mal 3:10 "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."    Matt. 5:23–24; 12, 14 teaches us to quickly reconcile with our brothers and that we must forgive one another.  In Prov. 21:3; 1 John 3:16–17 we see that if we who profess to be God's children do not love and help the poor, not that our prayers will be hindered, though they will, its a bigger issue...we are not saved!  God's true children will love what God loves!

This brings us to Zechariah...one way of saying this is that if you refuse to listen to and obey God's Word HE will not listen to your prayers...check out these three passages.

Zec 7:11-14 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”

Proverbs 1:24-28 Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25 because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, 26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27  when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

Pr 28:9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

I really don't want my prayers to be an abomination to my Lord, to the Lord of Hosts, Yahweh!  From one perspective it seems like a lot to keep up with, but I believe that there is an easy answer...well, easy and not so easy:)

John 14:21 teaches us something beautifully profound!  "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”  Really our only job is to follow and love Jesus!  If that is our hearts passion, burn and desire then we will be Spirit filled and the Holy Spirit will tell us when we go out of bounds.  Our mission is to know HIM and make HIM known if we press hard after HIM...HE will bring our lives joyfully into alignment with HIS precious Word!  If this is our heart's desire we will not refuse to listen to HIM and we will not ignore HIM...we will long to listen attentively and HE will hear our cries!

Pursuing HIM together!

m

I am certain that my thoughts today will only apply to me...most of you so walk and live life in the Spirit that you are free from fear, anxiety and worry.  I know that I should have progressed beyond this point by now...I am appalled at myself too.  I am amazed that I can be running a great race of faith and fall flat on my face and in a moment be filled with anxiety.  What do I do when I fall?  I do the same thing that God's children have been doing for thousands of years.

Old Testament saints experienced victory over fear by the presence of the God's Spirit. When God wanted to encourage the people to rebuild the temple after the exile, he said in Haggai 2:5, "Work, for I am with you . . . My Spirit abides in your midst. Fear not". If the Israelites returning from God's painful discipline in the Babylonian captivity can rest knowing that God's Spirit will protect them, how much more God's children today!  We who have the overwhelming assurance of God's love and power in Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension! Old Testament saints knew then and Christians know today that victory over any and all obstacles belongs to God. Zechariah 4:6 teaches us, "Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts."  Over and over in God's Word we see the Spirit of God empowering ordinary, weak people to do extraordinary and amazing things for God.

Luke 4:14  And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

Act 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Act 4:33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

1 Cor 2:4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

Eph 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

1 Thess 1:5  because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

2 Tim 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Oh brothers and sisters rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in knowing...rejoice in knowing...rejoice in knowing HIM!  Remember what God said in Jeremiah 9:23-24 ?  Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”  Oh God enable me to see how breathtaking this really is...that YOU have chosen to reveal yourself to your children, that you have chosen to give understanding about yourself to your children.  Enable me to see the unsearchable treasure in you...rejoicing in knowing that "you have not [given your children] a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have [given us] a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Enable us to walk, live, breath by faith in the strength and power of YOUR Spirit for YOUR glory and our JOY in YOU!

1 Cor 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

In HIS infinite mercy and grace our heavenly Father continues to deepen my love for HIS precious Word and for HIM, this love is a gift of HIS grace...I am learning to read in an expectant prayerful posture, crying out for HIM to show me HIS glory.  When I enter HIS presence with the right heart attitude, with a desire simply to spend time with my ABBA, longing to know HIM and love on HIM, HE lovingly reveals something wonderful about HIMSELF or some wonderful promise that I have missed.  On the other hand, if I show up wanting to increase MY knowledge of God for my own purposes it does not go very well:(  I know that you are all shocked and appalled that I would ever do such a thing:)  

I often feel like an infant or a little child in HIS presence, awestruck by HIS glory and grace, awestruck by HIS majesty and power, awestruck that HE rejoices over me (Zeph 3:17).  One of the things that I watch for in HIS Word is repetition of a phrase.  Could it be that we parents learned this from HIM?  Learned what Mark?  Repetition!  Remember parents...don't touch that!  don't touch that!  don't touch that!  don't touch that!  don't touch that!  don't touch that!  don't touch that!  I SAID...DON'T TOUCH THAT!  It always sounds funny to hear other parents talking that way...when I am doing it, funny is normally not what I am feeling:)  Sorry for the digression, we were talking about repetition!

In Zechariah, the power packed words the Lord of Hosts shows up 53 times in 46 verses...I don't know if that is a record, but it is amazing that this majestic name for God would be used so many times.  The name the Lord of Hosts is translated JEHOVAH-SABAOTH.  You may recall that Goliath had an encounter with JEHOVAH-SABAOTH, it did not go well for Goliath!  In 1 Samuel we see that “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 defied’ ” (1 Sam. 17:45).  The Israelites were terrified, they were paralyzed with fear, day after day the giant Goliath hurled insults at them and their God.  Filled with fear none dared to take on Goliath.  Amazingly, a small shepherd boy named David, stepped forward.  David would gladly fight Goliath in the name of Jehovah-Sabaoth.  David was not trusting in his ability or in his power, he was resting in the Lord of Hosts!  We will see this clearly in Zech 4:6..."Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts."

Remember Hannah?  Eli thought that she was drunk, but Hannah had been taunted and ridiculed for being barren. She cried out to Jehovah-Sabaoth to give her a child, and the prophet Samuel was born (1 Sam. 1).

You and I may rejoice in knowing that Jehovah-Sabaoth still answers the cries of those who are desperate for HIM in their circumstances. He is the great Protector, Deliverer, and Enforcer of justice.  It is cool to know that the name Zechariah means Yahweh remembers!  Remember, Yahweh is God's personal name, just like a general in the army is called general, but he also has a personal name.  God's personal name is Yahweh and in the book of Zechariah Yahweh shows up in power and might as the Lord of Hosts, JEHOVAH-SABAOTH.  We find great hope and joy in knowing that the Lord of Hosts, mighty in battle, remembers HIS OWN!  Yahweh remembers!

The other phrase that shows up frequently is "the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah."  These words show up 6 times in Zechariah and 99 times in the Old Testament, not the Zechariah part, that is only in Zechariah:)  "The Word of the Lord came to" is in the OT 99 times!  As I was taking note of its use in Zechariah it hit me like a 4x4 upside the head..."the Word of the Lord came to Mark."  ..."the Word of the Lord came to Mark."  ..."the Word of the Lord came to Mark."  ..."the Word of the Lord came to YOU! 

Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us, the Word incarnate came to me and HE came to you!  In Romans 5:5 we see that "the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."  Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate came to me...what have I done with this treasure?  How did I respond?  How do I respond daily, moment by moment?

Matt 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

So the Lion of the Tribe of Judah arrives on the scene, the Good Shepherd who lays down HIS life for HIS sheep and we see in Revelation 1:5 that this is "Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood"  By HIS blood HE makes the way so that the Word of the Lord may come to you and the Word of the Lord may come to me! 

Jehovah-Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts has used HIS great and mighty power to defeat sin, death and Satan...the price HIS OWN BLOOD and now the way is open for us to be recreated, redeemed and enter HIS presence by faith and walk with HIM daily by that same faith...the righteous man shall live by faith.

The Word incarnate came to you...What will your answer be?  Will you hear the call?

pursuing HIS presence together!

love,

m

Christmas 2008 is 4 days away, 2009 is 10 days out...with every passing year time seems to accelerate.  In my sane moments Psalm 90:12 rings louder and louder..."So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom."  My Mother died in 1996 and my Dad recently went to be with the LORD...the night he died, after crying, praying, and talking to Diane the thought that rang out in my heart and mind was "you're next."  IF I live to the age of my Dad I have 11,300 days to go, IF I live to my Mom's age I have about 5,400 days remaining.  If you read Psalm 139 yesterday, and I pray that you did, you will find that God has determined how many days, hours, minutes and seconds we will spend on planet earth! 

Psalm 139:16-17 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

You and I have a determined number of days!  You might ask me why do I exercise, good question.  I exercise because I have been given stewardship of this body, I am not my own I was bought with a price...remember!  I believe I need to take good care of all the gifts God has entrusted to me, the side benefit is the quality of life experienced in the days HE has given me.

Sorry for  the digression, the point is we are commanded to live lives worthy of the gospel (Phil 1:27, Eph 4:1), we have been commanded to be sober minded in this world (1 Cor 15:34, 1 Peter 1:13), right?  How do we do this?

Zec 1:1-4  In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo, saying, 2 “The Lord was very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. 4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the Lord.

How do we do it?  Repentance and faith, repentance and faith!  The LORD speaks beautiful Words through Zechariah...RETURN TO ME...RETURN TO ME!  I am fearful that we are doing the same thing that the Israelites did...remember Mt 23:35?  "so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar."  We may not murder anyone physically we simply don't pay attention!

How much time, real time do you spend in God's precious Word...I don't just mean reading your daily reading so that you can check a box I mean how much time do you, and how much time do I spend in HIS Word crying out to HIM to open the eyes of our hearts to HIS Word.  How much time do we spend on our knees with the Word...crying out FATHER, you have my whole heart, you have my undivided attention?  How often can I say that the Word of the LORD CAME TO MARK?

The God of the universe is speaking to you and I and HE is saying RETURN TO ME AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU! 

Eccles 5:2  Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.  My translation...shut your mouth and worship the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords, be in awe of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah...let your hearts over flow with adoration for the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World!

 

The amazing little book of Habakkuk was written around 640-615 B.C., prior to the fall of Assyria and the Babylon's coming to power.  God had worked through the Assyrians to discipline Israel and as we read Habakkuk we see that HE is raising up Babylon to bring judgement on Assyria and to punish Judah.  The question that cries out loudly from Habakkuk is how in the world could God use a godless, wicked nation like Babylon to carry out his purposes?  You have to wonder and think, but Lord it looks like YOUR cure for the disease of rebellion and injustice among YOUR people is worse than the disease itself.  You have to admit from our perspective it looks that way, but clearly not from God's point of view!

The short answer is that the wicked will be judged and the word that God sends to HIS prophet is that the "righteous shall live by his faith."  Habakkuk 2:4  These precious Words are repeated 3 times in the NT.  If you check your Bible you should see a note related to the word "faith" and that note should tell you that the Hebrew word may also be translated "faithfulness."  Do not misunderstand, not perfection, but a life of faithfulness to the Lord Jesus.  It pictures the direction of your life and that direction should be toward Jesus until Christ is formed in you.  You will still fall, stumble and do stupid things, but you quickly repent, confess your sins and get back in the pursuit of our Lord.

Rom 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Gal 3:11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”

Heb 10:38  But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

The point is difficult but simple...it is simple in that God's children are to live by faithfulness, trusting in the promises of their great God.  The hard part is that we walk by faith and faithfulness regardless of our circumstances...regardless of who is in power, regardless of the evil that surrounds us, God's children are called to live by faith, faith in and toward God.  Consider these amazing Words by Habakkuk!

Hab 3:17-19 Habakkuk Rejoices in the Lord 17  Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.

From our perspective he has just said if Wall Street crumbles into a heap of trash and the bond market ceases to exist, if the oil refinery's cease producing gas and all our live stock dies and drought destroys our ability to produce food and our infrastructure crumbles and collapses under it own weight (it's the end of the World as we know it...someone should write a song)  "yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places."

There is only one reason that Habakkuk could say that...do you remember what he said in Hab 2:14?  “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea."  He had glimpsed the glory of God!  Think about the men that were radically transformed by a glimpse of the glory of God...Moses, Isaiah, Enoch, Job, Elijah, John, Peter, Paul.  The one thing that men and women that are radical for God have in common is that they caught a glimpse of the Almighty and they were radically and eternally transformed.  After they had witnessed true glory, beauty...mind blowing majesty the things of this earth were viewed as rubbish.

Philippians 3:8-11  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Oh Father in heaven show me YOUR glory, show me YOUR glory for YOUR glory, for YOUR namesake and my joy in YOU.

love,

m

Only two days ago we witness Jonah reluctantly preaching in the streets of Nineveh and the result was a great revival, so great that Jesus spoke of it and said that the men of Nineveh will stand at the judgement and condemn the generation of Jesus day.  In our reading in Nahum we must fast forward about 100 years and we find Nahum telling of the coming complete destruction of Nineveh.  Apparently, the revival had been short lived and the people quickly returned to their evil ways.  If you do a little historical study you will find that Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrians, was known for its horrific brutality and ruthlessness in dealing with those they conquered...they make Hitler look nice!

I only point that out because as you read Nahum you almost want to feel sorry for those that God is pouring HIS wrath on and the text does not tell of the evil nature of the people of Nineveh!  The striking thing for me is that it does not matter how nice or evil you appear everyone that dies outside of Jesus Christ will spend eternity with the full wrath of God bearing down on them...the torment and suffering will be unspeakable and it will be eternal.

If you hold Nahum in tension with our readings in Revelation you cannot help but be in awe of the Wrath of God that is to be poured out on the earth.  Just like God sent Jonah to Nineveh, HE has sent countless warnings to the generation you and I live in.  Think about it, our generation has more opportunity to study, read, meditate and think on the things of God than any generation of the past...we have the full counsel of God's word and we have technology to help us study HIS word and what have we done with it?  How many generations will stand up at the judgement and condemn us!

If you are not in Jesus flee to HIM, run to HIM for refuge and rejoice in knowing that if you have been purchase by HIS blood you will be sheltered from the coming wrath.  In Nahum 1:7 we read that, "The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him."  Take refuge in HIM!

love,

m

There are so many tensions in the Christian life, for the one who longs and burns to pursue and follow the lover of his/her soul.  A few years into the journey with Christ Jesus many tensions begin to arise...at least for me they did.  We are commanded to be holy as HE is Holy, we are commanded to live separated lives from the world, we are told to go and sin no more and then we are told that if we say we have not sinned we are calling God a liar...I don't know about you but I'm not going to call God a liar, bad idea!  We recently read a beautiful verse in  1 John 1:9-10, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

Without dwelling on it we know that we are not called to sinless perfection this side of eternity, here is the fun tension part, we are still responsible for sin, every time we sin it was our choice and we are responsible and yet we are commanded to go and sin no more.  That is one reason I love our reading in Micah 7 it gives me an answer and hope as I continue in the struggle with sin!  How is that Mark?  Glad you asked:)

Often when I fall and sin the accuser immediately begins throwing fiery darts at me and making accusations...things like, "you call yourself a minister and a teacher, you are not qualified, you are a failure...look at you, you are anxious over finances, over your kids, over your ministry...you are a mess, look at you, you can't even help yourself, how can you help anyone else!"

I don't know what your accusations sound like, but I believe that you know!  What do I do?  Micah 7 became a key for me many years ago!

Micah 7:7-9 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation.  My God will hear me. 8  Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.  Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.  9  I will bear the indignation of the Lord Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.  He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His righteousness.

I work my way through these precious Words and though I have fallen by God's amazing grace I get back up and enter again the race of faith!  This is what it looks like for me...

“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy.” You make accusations over my failure?  You will not draw me into your deception?  I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me!

“When I fall, I shall rise.” I have fallen, I have sinned, I hate it. But Oh my enemy, I will rise. I will rise, not because of anything in me but because  of Jesus...Jesus is my Advocate!

“When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.” The guilt and shame that come with the stumbling and falling are horrible...I am guilty.  Here is the awestriking thing...all I have to do is repent, confess my sin and look with the look of faith unto Jesus the author and finisher of my faith.

“I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me.”  My accuser, my enemy, your accusation is true that I have sinned.  I am bearing the indignation of the Lord. BUT THE SAME ONE who is indignant at my sin is the same one who will plead my cause.  This same one bore the indignation at the Cross...2 Co 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  Jesus took my indignation, HE took my shame and guilt, HE became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in HIM!  GLORY!

“He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication.”  Isa 46:13 “I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; And My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, And My glory for Israel.

I heard a sermon several years ago by E.V. Hill, in the sermon he said that when the enemy comes against you to hit him with the Word...before it was over he had a stadium filled with men shouting, hit him with the Word!  He pointed out that when Jesus was tempted in the desert that HE defeated Satan with the Word of God!  In defeating Satan this way HE was teaching us how to do the same thing...hit him with the powerful Word of God!  Unsheathe your weapon child of God, look unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith and every time you fall be quick to repent and resume the race of faith!

Micah 7:15 “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.”

Micah 7:18-20 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?  He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19   He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. 20  You will give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.

Laboring in HIM to run the race that counts for eternity!

love,

m

We have spent a little time throughout the past year touching on suffering and the sovereignty of God, we have encountered countless passages that tell us that God's children will suffer in this life.  You may recall 2 Tim 3:12..."Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."   What about 1 Pet 4:13, "but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation."  If we do not embrace this teaching from God's precious Word it will lead us into despair when suffering comes.

This fifth seal has always amazed me...we see God telling those who have been martyred for their faith and faithfulness to wait until "the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been."

Rev 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

We see in Isaiah that God does not deliver us from the storms of life BUT HE promises HIS presence through the storms!

Isa 43:1-3  But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  2     When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3     For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 

What a joy to know that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is present with HIS OWN, those HE purchased with HIS OWN BLOOD, in all the storms of life...what a joy to know that though we have trouble in this world the one who owns us have over come the world...HE is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Pursue HIM!

love,

m

In our reading today you just have to wonder what is eating Jonah, what is wrong with this preacher sent to share God's Word with 120,000...what is eating you man!  Oh, I was not referring to the great fish:)  We have spent so much time this past year talking about pursuing the presence of God, we have touched several times on Exodus 33 and Moses crying out to God not to send them into the Promised land if HIS presence does not go with them.  How is it that we see Jonah fleeing the presence of the Lord?  The Word of the Lord came to Jonah and Jonah went the opposite direction.  We are told three times in Jonah chapter 1 that Jonah is fleeing the Lord's presence...most of the time when you see this phrase in scripture it is not a good thing!

Job 1:12  “Very well,” the Lord told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job ⌊himself⌋.” So Satan went out from the Lord’s presence.

Jonah 1:3  However, Jonah got up to flee to Tarshish from the Lord’s presence. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. He paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, from the Lord’s presence.

Jonah 1:10  Then the men were even more afraid and said to him, “What is this you’ve done?” For the men knew he was fleeing from the Lord’s presence, because he had told them.

2 Thess 1:9  These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord’s presence and from His glorious strength,

What was eating Jonah besides the great fish?  The fact that the Assyrians living in Nineveh were a ruthless, vicious people and we infer from the text that Jonah wanted to watch God incinerate the residents of Nineveh, you get the sense that nothing would bring him more joy than to sit back and watch fire and brimstone rain down from the heavens on Nineveh.

What Jonah did not know is  that Yahweh had and has plans in the future for Nineveh, those plans are still future from our point of reference of time...remember what Jesus said?

Matt 12:40-41  For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.

Yahweh had plans for Nineveh so HE sent HIS Word to Jonah, whom God appointed to take that Word to Nineveh.  Jonah disobeyed so God hurled a violent wind at the sea, God caused the lot to fall to Jonah, God appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah whole and then three days later to vomit Jonah out on dry land...Jonah finally fulfills his part with a bad attitude.  To deal with the attitude God appointed a plant to grow in a day a provide shelter for Jonah and then God appointed a worm to attach and kill the plant.

Jonah 4:10-11 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” 

Every thing obeyed God except Jonah, God had to bring him to the brink of death for him to obey...everything obey without an attitude except Jonah even after his near death experience...as I sit here staring at the little blinking cursor I am convicted by how much I am like Jonah when I am walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit!  What is eating Jonah?  I believe that it  is the cancer of his own flesh!

Father in heaven,

fill us with YOUR Holy Spirit and enable us to walk, live and breath in obedience to YOUR precious and holy Word...for YOUR glory and our JOY in YOU!

love,

m

El-Shaddi shows up in our reading today in Rev 4:8, "And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

El-Shaddai The Almighty, All-Sufficient God

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty; … I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to make you into a mighty nation’ ” (Gen. 17:1, 2).  Abram and Sarai were childless and well beyond childbearing age. Yet El-Shaddai (translated “Almighty God” or “God Almighty”) promised them innumerable descendants. It was humanly impossible, but God has the power to make all things possible (Luke 18:27).

The prophet Jeremiah exclaimed, “O Sovereign Lord! You have made the heavens and earth by Your great power. Nothing is too hard for You!” (Jer. 32:17). Job declared, “We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty” (Job 37:23).

Exalt EL-SHADDAI …because He is our almighty Lord who makes us abundantly fruitful for Him.

“By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope” (Eph. 3:20).  Bright, B. (2000). God : Knowing him by his names (10). Orlando, FL: NewLife Publications.

Throughout God's precious Word HE shows HIMSELF to be the Almighty, All sufficient creator and sustainer of all things!

Amos 3:13  “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares the Lord God, the God of hosts,

2 Co 6:18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Re 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Re 11:17 saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.

Re 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!

Re 19:6  Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,  “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

Re 19:15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Re 21:22  And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

Each time I seek to contemplate who God is and what HE has accomplished through the Cross I come away speechless...is it not stunning, breath taking, awe inspiring to KNOW that the "LORD God Almighty, the all sufficient ONE "will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

FATHER in heaven..."I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." Is 61:10

love, m

This is a phenomenal passage, in that it demonstrates the faithful tender mercies of our great God!  Think about it...you have a church that God describes as VOMIT in HIS mouth!  I don't know if you can remember the last time you hurrled, but it is a most unpleasant experience.  What does God do?  You would think that HE would spew them out of HIS mouth, erase their names from the book of life and be done with them...but NO!

HE severely rebukes the Church in Laodicea and then in verse 18 HE gives them counsel and HE tells them that HIS sharp rebuke and counsel is a demonstration of HIS love.  If that is not enough in verse 20 HE encourages them and exhorts them to invite HIM in...can you imagine the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the King of kings and LORD of Lords, Creator, Sustainer of the universe telling you (after you have acted like a spoiled rotten 3 year old child) invite me in, open the door, listen for MY voice, hear MY voice and I will enter in a fellowship with you! 

Now we come to the mind blowing part...HE tells us that those that overcome will sit with HIM on HIS throne!  DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?  It sounds like a fairy tale, but it is true because it is God's Word!  I must confess I am struggling with this as I sit here staring at a blink cursor...follow this with me.  First I am under God's Wrath, dead in my sins and trespasses...through faith in Christ Jesus I am born again and become a child of God.  In that moment I have been changed in the twinkling of an eye from an object of God's  wrath, doomed to eternity in hell to a child of God and an object of HIS unconditional love!  GLORY!  As I grow in maturity in Christ there are many times I am like vomit in HIS mouth and in HIS unconditional love He disciplines me bringing to zealous repentance...GLORY, GLORY!  After the rebuke and discipline HE exhorts me to invite HIM in, HE longs to reveal HIMSELF to those HE has purchased with HIS own blood!  Then HE tells me that that if I surrender and allow Christ to conquer through me...Christ in us the hope of glory...HE will grant me to sit with HIM on HIS throne!  GLORY, GLORY, GLORY!  LORD I believe, help my unbelief!

Rev 3:15-22  “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ” 

Father in heaven,

please grant us eyes to see and ears to hear...open the eyes of our understanding and enable us to live in the light of our future and not bound by our past!  Enable us by the filling of YOUR Holy Spirit to walk in a manner that is pleasing to YOU, in humility and in awe and amazement to know that YOU have saved us from the hell we deserve and have set us on a path that is destined for YOUR throne!  Truly, "eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

love,

m

God is absolutely sovereign in HIS universe...absolutely!  HE is sovereign over all good and all evil, nothing happens apart from HIS will.  It is vital to a healthy view of our creator, sustainer and our Savior to acknowledge HIS sovereignty in and through HIS creation.  We addressed God  and suffering a few weeks ago and today in Amos we see that God is directly responsible for sending affliction and adversity on HIS people to bring them back to HIM, to move them to a right relationship with their creator.  This is at times a painful but good thing!

Amos 4:6  I gave you absolutely nothing to eat in all your cities, a shortage of food in all your communities, yet you did not return to Me— the Lord’s declaration.

Amos 4:8  Two or three cities staggered to another city to drink water but were not satisfied, yet you did not return to Me— the Lord’s declaration.

Amos 4:9  I struck you with blight and mildew; the locust devoured your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me— the Lord’s declaration.

Amos 4:10  I sent plagues like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I caused the stench of your camp to fill your nostrils, yet you did not return to Me— the Lord’s declaration.

Amos 4:11  I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick snatched from a fire, yet you did not return to Me— the Lord’s declaration.

In Amos 5:4 the Lord proclaims to HIS people "Seek Me and live!"  In our reading in Revelation we learn in 2:23 that the Lord is the one "who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works."  As HIS children we know that HE is working in and through our circumstances to bring us back to HIM or to keep us in the pursuit of HIM..."seek Me and live!"  HE knows and searches our hearts and minds, HE perfectly knows and understands our heart motives and He longs to bring our heart motives in alignment with HIS and HE longs to give us HIMSELF.  HE LONGS TO GIVE US HIMSLEF?  YES, HIMSELF!  We read it in Rev 2:28-29  And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

What must I do to have Jesus, the bright and morning star?  HE tells us clearly in Rev 2:25-26 hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,

1 Jn 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Re 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

Rejoice and praise HIM in your circumstances because HE is finishing the good work that HE began in you and you can trust the HE will bring it to completion for HIS glory and your JOY in HIM.

Let's strive to outrun all the others in pursuit of HIM!

love,

m

Jesus has some harsh words for the Church in Revelation chapters two and three...and if you and I have eyes to see and ears to hear HE has some harsh words for us.  I'm sorry, I will not project onto you...HE has some harsh words for me!  I will simply say while it is not pleasant to hear or receive HIS rebuke I rejoice in being rebuked!  You may be thinking that I have lost it and I would not argue with you if you said that; however, if I am rebuked as a son then I know that I belong to HIM!  Remember Heb 12:6 "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”  Scourges?  Yes, scourges...it really hurts!  Then why do you rejoice in it?  Because it show that I am HIS and that HE has received me and Proverbs 12:1 says that "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid."  So I figure I don't want to be stupid in God's eyes...so what is the opposite of hating reproof?  Rejoicing in it and embracing it as a son of the Most High God.  I know from Proverbs 13:24 that if God does not discipline me HE hates me, meaning I am not HIS.  Proverbs 13:24 puts it this way, "He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently."  Augustine had the right idea when he said that he would try to kiss the hand of the Father as HE smote HIM!  I think that is something like being scourged.

Revelation 2:3-5 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

The best way for me to get a grip on this is to think about my relationship with my wife Diane.  Amazingly, we have been married over 25 years now...wow!  We are blessed with a good marriage, but I confess that we have to continue working at it.  This may shock you, but every now and then I do or say something really stupid and she has the audacity to get mad at me...shocking I know!  Even more surprising to you may be that she will say something in response to make me mad...you may be thinking, "well I never."  All I have to say is that you should some time!  Sorry!

At that moment I pull away and begin to think about the things that I love about Diane and the things that drew me to her 26 years ago and then I think about demonstrating my love to her the way I did back then.  It is amazing how quickly my heart softens when I think back about what attracted me to her and how I pursued her to be my wife.

Just like it is easy to take my relationship with Diane for granted if I am not careful it is easy to take my relationship with Jesus for granted if I am not careful.  I think back to the events leading up to my salvation, how I can see God's finger prints all over the events leading me into a relationship with HIM through his precious Son, I remember the powerful and intense emotions of coming to faith in Christ and how I rejoiced in my new found love in my Lord and Savior.

This is God 's Word to us in Revelation 2:3-5!  Remember the love you had at first and repent for not loving Jesus the way you were created to love HIM.  I believe it is important to note that it appears that the Ephesians are still doing church work, but they are doing the wrong things with the wrong heart motive!  Remember, repent and do the Works you did at first!

Pursuing our first love together!

love,

m

Take a moment or two and consider who Jesus was, is and is to come!  If you are a user of Facebook you know about the status update feature...there is a little box that is always at the top of your screen that says "Mark is..." and then you fill in what you are doing at that moment.  Obviously it only says "Mark is" if you name is Mark:)  Anyway sorry for that digression...let's try this with Jesus.  Jesus is...

“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).  “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  “I am from above” (John 8:23).  “I am the gate” (John 10:7).  “I am the door” (John 10:9, NKJ).  “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11).  “I am the Son of God” (John 10:36).  “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).  “I am the true vine” (John 15:1).

Jesus is...Advocate (1 John 2:1, NKJ)  Almighty One (Rev. 1:8)  Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13)  Amen (Rev. 3:14)  Anointed One (Dan. 9:25)  Apostle and High Priest of our confession (Heb. 3:1, NKJ)  Arm of the Lord (Isa. 51:9; 53:1)  Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2, NIV)  Author of Life (Acts 3:15)  Author of Salvation (Heb. 2:10, NIV)  Beloved (Mat. 12:18)  Blessed and only Ruler (1 Tim. 6:15, NIV)  Branch of the Lord (Isa. 4:2)  Cornerstone (Psa. 118:22)  Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4, NIV)  Christ of God (Luke 9:20, NIV)  Creator (John 1:3)  Deliverer (Rom. 11:26)  Eternal King (1 Tim. 1:17)  Everlasting Father (Isa. 9:6)  Faithful and True Witness (Rev. 3:14)  First and Last (Rev. 1:17)  Firstborn from the dead (Rev. 1:5, NKJ)  Glory of the Lord (Isa. 40:5)  God (Isa. 40:3; John 20:28)Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14)  Guardian of our Souls (1 Pet. 2:25)  Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22)  Holy Servant (Acts 4:27)  Holy One from God (Mark 1:24)  Holy One of Israel (Isa. 41:14)  Holy, Righteous One (Acts 3:14)  Horn of Salvation (Luke 1:69, NIV)  Immanuel (Isa. 7:14)  Jesus (Mat. 1:21)  Judge of Israel (Mic. 5:1,   NKJ)  King (Zec. 9:9)  King of kings (1 Tim. 6:15)  King of the Jews (Mat. 2:2)  King of the Nations (Rev. 15:3)  Lamb (Rev. 13:8)  Lamb of God (John 1:29)  Lawgiver (Isa. 33:22)  Leader (Isa. 55:4)  Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5)  Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15)  Lord Our Righteousness (Jer. 23:6)  Man of Sorrows (Isa. 53:3)  Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5)  Messenger of the Covenant (Mal. 3:1)  Messiah (John 1:41)  Mighty God (Isa. 9:6)  Mighty One of Israel (Isa. 60:16)   Morning Star (Rev. 22:16)  Our Glorious Lord (1 Cor. 2:8)  Passover Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7)  Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6)  Prophet from Nazareth (Mat. 21:11)  Redeemer (Job 19:25)  Righteous One (Acts 7:52) Rising Sun (Luke 1:78, NIV)  Rock (1 Cor. 10:4)  Root of David (Rev. 5:5, NIV)  Rose of Sharon (Song 2:1)  Ruler of God’s Creation (Rev. 3:14)  Ruler (Mat. 2:6)  Ruler of Kings (Rev. 1:5, NIV)  Savior (Luke 2:11)  Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15)  Son of David (Mat. 1:1, NIV)  Son of Man (Mat. 8:20)  Son of the Blessed God (Mark 14:61)  Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32)  Source of Eternal Salvation (Heb. 5:9)  Sun of Righteousness (Mal. 4:2)  Witness (Isa. 55:4)  Wonderful Counselor (Isa. 9:6)  Word (John 1:1)  Word of God (Rev. 19:13)  

It is stunning and unthinkable that Jesus the one who is all over the above and much much more...please don't make the mistake that scripture exhaustively paints a portrait of Jesus for us...it is only the tip of the iceberg  So when we read in Rev 1:5  that, "from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.  To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood "  As I grow in my understanding that the one described above freed us from our sin by HIS OWN BLOOD, HE suffered a horrific death in my place I have but one response...to long and burn to worship HIM in spirit and in truth...for HIS glory and my JOY in HIM!

Heb 9:14  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Heb 13:12  So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.

Tit 2:14  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

I believe that the fruit of a life that rightly understands the gospel will be a life that seeks to be a worshipper in spirit and in truth and one who is zealous to do what Jesus tells him to do...zealous for good works!

Pursuing HIM together

love,

m

I grew up in Houston Texas, if you have ever been to Houston in the summer you know that the heat and humidity can be overwhelming!  I remember many times playing outside in the summer time in the stifling heat and in the distance you could see the black clouds moving quickly across the sky.  With a blast the drenching rain would fall, the temperature would fall, and for a brief time there was relief from the heat.  I remember in my preteen and early teen years when the storms would come we would not seek shelter, but allow the torrents of water to drench our bodies and we would continue to play the game of the moment.  It was a blast to play football in a driving rain...at least I thought so at the time:)

I could not help but think back to those days as I read the words of Hosea 10:12, "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you."  I think of the stifling heat and humidity of our culture, unfortunately in can get hot and stifling in our churches...OH..."it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you."   

Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Isaiah 45:8 “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it.

Father in heaven pour out your Holy Spirit on us and our children, let YOUR clouds rain down righteousness on YOUR people for YOUR glory and our healing and joy in YOU.  Lord Jesus you promised that “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”   Sweet Jesus as the Psalmist writes in Psalm 72:6 "be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!"  Lord Jesus water our hearts inside and out with YOUR righteousness for YOUR glory and our joy in YOU!

Lord Jesus be incarnate in YOUR children that we may know YOU intimately and make YOU known to those you place in our path!

Jude 24-25 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Have you ever had an experience where you were in a public place and saw someone that you knew and you know that they saw you, but they did not acknowledge your presence?  They had the audacity to act like you were not even there!  After leaving you were quickly on the phone calling your spouse or a close friend to tell them of the horrific injustice that had been thrust upon you!  Why, they did not even acknowledge my existence...well, hmm,  well, I NEVER!

The only thing that I know to say to that is..."well you should some time."

I have to confess that every time something like that happens to me...my heart and mind go to Hosea 6:6!

Ho 6:6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.  The NIV puts it this way..."For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

After Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to follow HIM the religious leaders questioned the disciples, wondering why Jesus would associate with sinners...Jesus quoted Hosea 6:6.  In Matt 9:13 Jesus tells them to "Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Another time Jesus is questioned by the religious leaders about breaking the Sabbath in Matt 12:7, and HE gives them the same answer...7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Since God gave us this Word in Hosea 6:6 and God the Son repeated it twice I believe that this is worthy of our prayerful meditation.   Jesus points out that God is looking for a love for God and for people...the two greatest commandments.  HE wants our love over our service or sacrifice...HE knows if our heart is right in love and devotion to God service and sacrifice will follow! 

Consider, if you a mere creature feel slighted when you are not acknowledged...HOW GREAT IS THE INJUSTICE WHEN CREATURES DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRESENCE OF THEIR CREATOR?  There is great guilt for every image bearer of the Triune God.  I believe that Romans 1:20 makes that clear..."For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." 

How much worse for a child not to acknowledge a parent!  What do you think of a child who never acknowledges the provision and sacrifice of their parents? 

Father in heaven,

Enable me to live, breath, drink, walk in a manner that acknowledges YOU with ALL my heart, soul, mind and strength!  Please work this for YOUR glory and my JOY in YOU!

love,

m

What was it that brought the Apostle John great joy, what made him rejoice, what made him happy?  To see God's children walking or living in the truth, living according to God's precious Word!

2 John 1:4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.  This is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

I arrived home from a conference late last night, this morning I had a difficult time getting the mattress off of my back and when I did my brain did not want to move with my body:)  All that to say that I sat here for some time staring at Hosea 4:6...My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge...My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge...My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge...

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

The intense weight of these words slowly began to penetrate my heart, mind and soul...why are the people destroyed?  Because of a lack of knowledge, because they rejected knowledge...after reading 2 John 1:4 my heart quickly went to Jeremiah and Zechariah...

Zechariah 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Cry out in desperation for HIS Spirit to complete the good work HE began in you...provided you are HIS child...cry out knowing that you and I can do nothing apart from the presence of the Spirit of Almighty God working and moving within us.  Cry out in desperation, knowing that man does not live on bread alone but on every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  Then from the humble heart of desperation we can begin to delight, rejoice and boast in the knowledge that HIS Spirit has opened our understanding to know and love the only one who is the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth!

Jeremiah 29:13  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Father in heaven,

By YOUR Spirit and YOUR power enable us to pursue YOU, to seek YOU with all of our hearts for YOUR glory and our JOY  in YOU!

love,

m

You just have to love the Apostle John, he says the same thing over and over in different ways.  If you think about the Apostle Paul, Paul is so systematic, he is like an attorney with a clearly lined out thought process,  a clearly planned case or argument.  John feels more like I am watching a magnificent and brilliant painter, painting portraits of Christ...he paints over here for a moment then he moves apparently in a random manner and paints another part of the portrait.  I am sure that some of you are thinking that I am out of my mind:)  My point is simply to notice the way John writes...it just feels more like an artist than an attorney.

In John chapter 5 for example John is flying around the idea of the testimony that God has given about HIS Son.  I don't know about you, but when I see a verse like 1 John 5:13 it grabs my attention..."I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."  If I have not been reading prayerfully and carefully a sentence like this gets my full attention and I immediately want to know what "these things" are that John is talking about.  Some have incorrectly applied this to all of God's Word.  First, John did not have a Bible like we do and secondly, from the context it is easy to see that it refers to the things that John has written in 1 John!  So what are "these things?"

John does something similar at the end of his gospel in John 20:31 when he writes, "these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

In verse 9 John tells us "this is the testimony of God the he has borne concerning his son," and my mind thinks OK, here it comes, get ready Mark!  Then HE says it..."whoever believes in the Son of god has the testimony in himself."  I must confess my initial thought is what in the world does that mean!  If I think that way I can only imagine that the melancholy types are really frustrated.  Let's read through the passage and see if it becomes more clear:) 

1 Jn 5:9-13 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

In Romans 8:16 I believe that Paul sheds some light on how we can look at this passage..."The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God."  What is another way of saying bears witness?  Testimony!  In the preceding verse Paul wrote in Rom 8:15 "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”   Paul said almost the same thing in Galatians 4:6,
"Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

OK, so the testimony we have is in us, we have received it because God sent forth the Spirit of HIS Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba Father," and this testimony, "that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son."

Let's think in terms of physical life for a moment...some of you may remember René Descartes, the French philosopher who said, "I think, therefore I am."  I'm not sure why I threw that in, it's not very helpful.  How do you know that you have physical life?  We can check your vital signs, right?  OK, stay with me now...come on!  How does your tongue know that honey is sweet?  By taste!  How do your eyes know that the sky is  blue on a clear day?  By sight!  How do I know that I am alive to God in Christ Jesus my Lord?  By faith!

Rom 1:17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Gal 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Gal 3:11  Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” d

His Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God and I see this by faith...and if I am a true child of God I will cry a lot!  Do you cry Abba Father with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength?

Alright Mark, make up your mind!  Is it no fear or know fear?  The answer is yes!  Throughout the year we have talked about how vital it is to our spiritual life to have a healthy fear of God.  All throughout scripture we are taught to fear God with the connotation being reverence and awe.  I believe that the key we see in 1 John is when John tells us that "fear has to do with punishment."  We must distinguish between punishment and discipline...in Hebrews we learned that our Heavenly Father disciplines those HE loves.  While discipline is never pleasant, it is an encouragement to be disciplined because it serves as a confirmation that we are children of God.  You may remember Romans 8:15 where Paul teaches us that "you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Praise God that we did not receive a spirit of fear, but we have received a spirit of adoption that enables us to cry Abba Father!"  So what do we make of the word "punishment?"  Forgive me for this, but the only other time this word is used in the New Testament (Greek) is in Matt 25:46...And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

1 Jn 4:18-19  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

So there is no fear of the wrath of God for the children of God because we now have peace with God...praise God!  Remember what Paul wrote in Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Cor 7:1  Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

1 Pet 2:17  Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

Rev 14:7  and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

When Zach and Kyle, my boys, do what is right they are delighted to be around me, but we they do wrong they have a healthy fear of Daddy.  It is similar for the children of God. 

Heb 12:9-11 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

 

So the answer is yes, no fear and know fear and live!

love,

m

1 Jn 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

After the fall into sin the image of God in man was ruined beyond recovery, no longer could man walk with God and fellowship with HIM in the cool of the day.  Most every world religion speaks of finding your path up the mountain to God.  All paths up the mountain DO LEAD TO GOD, BUT THEY LEAD TO HIS WRATH AND ETERNAL DESTRUCTION.

Christianity is alone in that God HIMSELF came down the mountain took on human flesh, became a man to live a life we could not live and to pay a penalty we could not pay.  Jesus came that we might be born from above, that we might be recreated in HIS image and the relationship restored.  The beauty of this is that each of us is equally desperate for Christ to live HIS life through us and  "All my soul needs Is all Your love to cover me So all the world will see That I have nothing without You."

Take these hands and lift them up
For I have not the strength to praise You near enough
For I have nothing, I have nothing without You
Take my voice and pour it out
Let it sing the songs of mercy I have found
For I have nothing, I have nothing without You
Chorus:
All my soul needs
Is all Your love to cover me
So all the world will see
That I have nothing without You
Take my body and build it up
May it be broken as an offering of love
For I have nothing, I have nothing without You
All my soul needs
Is all Your love to cover me
So all the world will see
That I have nothing
But I love You
With all my heart
With all my soul
With all my mind
With all the strength that I can find
Take my time here on this earth
And let it glorify all that You are worth
For I am nothing,
I am nothing without You

Desperate for Jesus!

love,

m

This morning I sat down to read the daily reading in God's Word and I did the reading in Daniel and then moved on to 1 John, I was almost done in 1 John when I was grieved in my spirit that my eyes had passed over words like "advocate," and "Propitiation," without being deeply moved.  I backed up, repented of an indifferent heart (at best) toward the unsearchable sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  I backed up and delighted and rejoiced in knowing that I have an advocate with the Father...every time I stumble and fall Satan is right there to make accusations against me and Jesus is standing between the Father and me as my advocate.  When the Father looks at me HE delights because HE sees the righteousness of HIS only begotten Son.

Not only is the Son our advocate, but HE is the propitiation for our sins!  What in the world does that mean?  What is propitiation?  You can try asking Noah Webster and Charles Merriam, better know as Merriam-Webster, but they are no help, actually they are wrong!  "1 : the act of propitiating  2 : something that propitiates specif : an atoning sacrifice."  Act of propitiating...Wow, that really clears it up for us!  "An atoning sacrifice" does more to obscure the meaning that it does to clear it up for us.

The best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture!  Below are the four instances propitiation shows up in God's Word!

1 John 2:2  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Rom 3:25  whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Heb 2:17  Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Some modern translations obscure the meaning by using language that refer to the removal of guilt or punishment, when the Greek word literally means the removal of or the turning away of wrath. There is a divine wrath against sin check out Romans 1:18, and forgiveness does not mean ignoring this. Propitiation, the turning away of anger, is not the whole story of Christ’s saving work, but it is a vital and important part of it.  Prayerfully seeking to rightly understand what it means that Christ is our propitiation, our expiation and our atoning sacrifice provides much life, strength and vitality to our faith.  If you have ever cried, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief," then pursue a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and exactly what HE did for us on the Cross.  Mark do I need to do this before I am saved?  ABSOLUTELY...NOT!

Pursue HIM, know HIM, love HIM, and make HIM known!

love,

m