You Had Better Read This

"Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!  Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together....Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you." (Psalm 122:2) 

 

---------------- And may those who don't love you not prosper!

 

I changed my reading schedule this quarter to "blitz" straight through the New Testament.  I never encounter Luke 21 without a great sense of expectation, anticipation, joy, warning, caution.  Consider some of the verses:  

 8    "Take heed that you not be deceived"

 9    "Do not be terrified"

11    "There will be fearful...and great signs"

17    "You will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of 

         your head shall be lost"

24    "Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the

         Gentiles are fulfilled"

26    "The powers of heaven will be shaken

27    "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with

         power and great glory"

29    "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  When they are already

         budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near"

34    "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with...

         cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly" 

36    "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worth to...

        stand before the Son of Man"     ("Selah")

 

The key to the prophetic timetable is, "until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."  Then, "look up."  Gentile nations have "trampled" Jerusalem for centuries.  Jerusalem always has been the key to Biblical prophecy.  Why?  "For it is the City of" Jesus "the Great King."  This is the reason all of a sudden in human history Arabs are seemingly enamored with Jerusalem.  They don't want Jerusalem; they don't love Jerusalem; they don't, "pray for the peace of Jerusalem," because they are contrary to those of our text.  Put simply, they don't, "love you," Jerusalem. 

 

Beware those who allegorize our text. They are living in a world of pagan religion.  Biblical prophecy brings the reality that history is "headed toward a dramatic climax," and for the allegorists, they just don't want their "world" to come to an end.  They want their legacy, their "work," their "ministry" to go on perpetually, while the truth of the "God-Breathed" Word is that, "now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed;" and it's not their "salvation."  They want to be "near" you, take your money, your loyalty, your admiration.  Woe to them, "in That Day....Have nothing to do with them."  Rather, read the Bible for yourself.  Stay in the Holy Spirit, open to the Holy Spirit, praying in the Holy Spirit, stay in fellowship with the, "pure in heart," above all, "Looking unto Jesus."  Then, you can be very sure that in that day, you will indeed, "stand before the Son of Man."

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, my faith, my hope is You, not my understanding, not my anything.  "Even so, come, Lord Jesus."  Amen.  

************************************* 

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

Counseling Session, Anyone?

"Have I not written to you excellent things of counsels and knowledge, that you may answer words of truth to those who send to you."  (Proverbs 22:20, 21)

 

There are various translations of our text, especially verse 20.  Some commentators say that it is a difficult passage to translate, especially the word for, "excellent."  Wycliffe says that one translation is, "Have I not written 'to the ones sending thee?'"  And the LXX translates the latter portion, "Answer words of truth to them that question thee."  Possibility: "Have I not written to the ones sending thee [to] answer words of truth to them that question thee."

 

The Hebrew word translated, "excellent," is use elsewhere in Scripture as a military term and can also mean "a general of the highest rank," or "captain," also "triple, triangle, threefold measure."  Sorry, it's the theologian in me.  But what I see in our text is the Holy Trinity, not some vague number three or thirty as some translators use.  I see the Excellent One, Him of Excellent Things, the Living Triune God, "the captain of our salvation," Jesus the Christ, saying, "Look, "I have written to you of myself in Whom is all the treasure, 'of counsels and knowledge,' the One, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."  What you are searching for, longing for is in Me. 

 

Modern American culture has a plethora of counselors, self help books and preachers----- can be helpful, I suppose.  But the same people who flock to such also avoid, ignore, and neglect Him Who has promised, "of counsels and knowledge."  He has given his, "counsels and knowledge," in the written Word.  I say with Jeremiah, "O, earth, earth, earth, Hear the word of the LORD!"  Jesus Christ is the Word.  What is written is not black ink on white paper.  Those words are, "the breath of his mouth," His very presence, His very, "I AM"-----------------  Counseling session, anyone?

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, O Word of God, sink down deep in me today.  Amen.

****************************************

News, Commentary:    www.apf327.blogspot.com

 

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"The Kingdom of God Does Not Come With Signs"-- Not Yet, Anyway

"The kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed or with visible display, nor will people say, Look!  Here [it is]! or, See, [it is] there!  For behold, the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]."  (Luke 17:20b, 21-- Amplified Bible)

 

The difference between, "the Kingdom of God," and, "the kingdoms of this world," in this present age is that the latter come, "with signs to be observed or visible display."  The former does not.  Oh, it will come, and it will, "be observed," but not so in the present age.  If at His first coming Jesus would have come, "with signs to be observed or visible display," it may have impressed the shallow for a short period of time.  Yes, Jesus did miracles.  Some may not like this, but miracles are to help people come to faith; they are not the source of faith.  Faithless people need to "see" something.  Faith people do not.  Abraham, "went out, not knowing where he was going."  Moses, "endured as seeing Him who is invisible." Faithless people are slaves to, "the kingdoms of this world," because those kingdoms can be seen, and give the illusion of taking care of them, mothering them. 

 

Some day, "The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, will, "come with observation....Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even they who pierced Him.  And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him"----------- but not now.  In this age, Jesus came to call those who, "hunger and thirst for righteousness," people of faith as Simeon, "just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel," to call those who respond to the One who came among us as a humble Galilean carpenter, humiliated at the cross, not as some "charismatic" warrior, responding to demands for miracles, fleeting signs, circus-seekers as Herod. 

 

The blessed are not those who say, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."  The blessed people, the people who will, "eat and drink at [Jesus'] table in [Jesus'] kingdom," are and always have been, "those who have not seen and yet have believed."

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I accept what I have not seen.  Amen.

*****************************************

Devotional Archives:    www.apfdevotionals.blogspot.com

News, Commentary:    www.apf327.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"He Will Respond as Surely as the Arrival of Dawn"

"Oh, that we might know the Lord!  Let us press on to know him.  He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.  'O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?' asks the Lord.  'For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.'" (Hosea 6:3, 4 NLT)

This passage is at the same time quite poetic, yet quite disturbing.  First, the call of the prophet to, "know the Lord," and the call to, "press on to know him."  But then notice the contrast between God's faithfulness and man's unfaithfulness.  The Blessed Trinity, "will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring."  Yet in spite of this Faithfulness, man's, "love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight."  The possibility of this is always with us.  It is one possibility which keeps me in, "the fear of the Lord."

I notice that the times of greatest danger are the times when seasons seem to be changing.  Somehow with change the test of loyalty to Jesus Christ seems to be most pronounced.  Change can bring moments, some times prolonged "moments," of a sort of spiritual suspended animation.  Suspended animation can be defined as "the slowing of life processes by external means without termination.  Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means."  In Jesus Christ we don't die, but we can fall prey to "the slowing of life processes."  We are still breathing, we still have a heartbeat, we still go to meetings, "but they can only be detected by artificial means."

One could say with accuracy that the Biblical call is, "press on to know Him."  And "pressing" is key here.  If life has taught us anything, it has taught us that victory, overcoming victory and power for living comes to those who, "press on to know [Jesus Christ]."  Only in Him is, "the arrival of dawn," and, "the coming of rains in early spring."

Father, in Jesus' Name, Your response has always been a "surely" response.  I just pray that I always give you something to respond to.  Amen.
***************************************



When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"Strength to Deliver"

"They told him, 'This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them."
(Isaiah 37:3, NIV)

The king was right, not only in the immediate peril of war, but of life itself.  How many times we, "come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver...."  It is at this point Sovereign Grace rules.

I wrote this on Facebook the other day.  "World religions emphasize what you do.  Christianity emphasizes what Jesus did."  Spurgeon once said, "My hope arises from the freeness of grace, and not from the freedom of the will."  This is not the age old Calvinist/Arminian debate.  Extremist on either side are not Biblical.  They are "ism" oriented.  But today, beware of that "free will" which is worshipped by too many.  Joshua warned the Jews of following the Ark too closely, "free will" at work, doing what we want, when we want, where we want, if we want.  This has absolutely nothing to do with life in Jesus Christ.  "If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed."  The only good in my "free will" is when that "will" surrenders absolutely to Jesus Christ.

The Bible does speak of our choices, what is popularly called our "free will."  But beware of "free-will"-worship.  It got us into more trouble than anything in our lives.  Worship the Father, Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, Who Alone, when we, "come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver"----------------------------------------- will!

Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me suspicious of too much "free will" talk. Amen.
****************************
Read a Black Women's warning of Obama worship at:
www.apf327.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2