What Are We Watching?

NEW POST on "Jerusalem Watch" Blog:  www.apfjw.blogspot.com

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"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief."  (1 Thessalonians 4:4)

 

There is enough history of God's faithfulness to His Words which should be a warning to all humanity that, "this Day," is coming as sure as anything will come------ and it will come, "as a thief in the night."  As the foolish maidens whose oil supply was shortsighted, so will be those who, "this Day  should overtake...."  The good news to you and me in our text today, however, is that you and I need not be afraid, because we are, "not in darkness....[We] are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as others, but let us watch and be sober."  This sobriety will ensure our deliverance in, "That Day."

 

There are distractions all around us today which are designed to keep us from vigilance and sobriety.  The answer is not to cloister ourselves in some religious "retreat."  In Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are commissioned and empowered to walk the streets of the town or city in which we go about our daily lives, but warned to, "watch and be sober."  Central to this is obedience to the "God-Breathed" Word, which of course we cannot do if we do not know the Scriptures.  Also, watchful prayer is integral to, "watch and be sober," as is regular fellowship with other Followers of Jesus Christ and serving others, "means of grace," which are far too underrated in today's Christian Community.  

 

The days and hours are ticking by towards the close of our sojourn in this life and towards the close of, "this present age."  Do not let, "this Day... overtake you as a thief....For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together ("in union") with Him."   

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, in the Holy Spirit keep me ever mindful of the walk of sobriety and vigilance.  Amen. 

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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 Uncertainty of What We Cannot See Is More Sure Than....

"And the people complained against Moses, saying, 'What shall we drink?'"  (Exodus 15:24)

 

Suffering is a part of the human condition ever since the Fall.  More people in human history have known life times of suffering than life times of peace, prosperity, and freedom, for example, as in the United States of America.

In my reading of the Biography of Bonhoeffer, this reality was brought home to me in a very vivid, at times even depressing, way.  The Germany of his time was filled with two wars, the chaos of the Weimar Republic, and the barbarism of the Nazi era.  Amidst life's unanswered questions, Bonhoeffer concluded, "Everything we cannot thank God for, we reproach him for."

 

In the Exodus we read of the great deliverance of the Jews from 400 years of suffering under Egyptian slavery.  The Exodus was a series of one "miracle" after another.  But when the Jews were without water for a short time, their first reaction was not to thank God for what He had already done, for Who He Is, or anything else.  Their first reaction was to complain, and it was a complaining which led to a desire to return to bondage.  It seemed as though bondage with certainty was preferential to freedom with uncertainty.  It was perversion of reality. 

 

A life of faith and trust in Jesus Christ is a life in the freedom of "uncertainty" as opposed to a life of the bondage in "certainty."  The foolishness of man will not allow him to see that what we call certainty is as fleeting as the summer wind.  And what most would call uncertainty is really the glorious life of faith and obedience in Jesus Christ and His Word.  It is eternal life; eternal security, as opposed to nothing of certainty or security.

 

When they were a few days without water, had the Jews just stop to realize what The Living Triune God had already promised, had already fulfilled in such glorious power, they just would have said, "Well, no problem.  After all, His Name is, 'Faithful and True.'  What we cannot see is more sure than what we can see."

 

Father, in Jesus' Name, may I always remember that.  Amen.

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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

What If Life Is Really Not All That "Complicated?"

"Whoever despises the word and counsel [of God] brings destruction upon himself, but he who [reverently] fears and respects the commandment [of God] is rewarded." (Proverbs 13:13, Amplified Bible)

The Proverbs always get right "to the point."  Despise, "the word and counsel [of God]," and you have destruction.  Fear and respect, "the commandment [of God], and you are, "rewarded."  Life teaches this to believer and unbeliever.

There are many things in the Bible which I did not have to read in the Bible to know the truth of it.  Life itself is the best affirmation and witness of the Scriptures.  A person simply does not violate the Word of God and avoids, "destruction upon himself."  Notice, it is not God who brings the destruction.  It is, "upon himself."

The best way to avoid, "destruction upon himself," is to fear and obey, "the word and counsel,..and commandment of God."  How many times does our Lord Jesus say, "Blessed are"?!?  And the blessing is always to those who demonstrate their fear and respect of, "the word and counsel,..and commandment," by doing His, "word and counsel,..and commandment."  I commend this approach to all "counselors" out there.

Father, in Jesus' Name, keep me from complicating the obvious.  Amen.
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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

"In God, Whose Word I Praise," i.e., Obey

"In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can mere man do to me?" (Psalm 56:4, NASB)

The Psalm begins by David speaking of his enemies.  They, "would swallow me up; fighting all day he oppresses me."  They, "would hound me all day, for there are many who fight against me...."  Literally, the enemy, "pants as a raging beast."  David's response?-- "In God, whose word I praise,..I have put my trust...."  Or, "In God I will boast in His word," or, "shine forth His word."

As I read some news today I prayed Psalm 56 for the safe rescue of all the Chilean miners, "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you," and for the total failure of the human embryonic stem cell experiments, "All day long they distort my words."  Adult stem cell treatments have already proven successful and require no murder of human life.  The abortionist, however, pushes for embryonic stem cell procedures because if successful they will then advocate even more murderous procedures.  He, "pants as a raging beast."  The panting, "raging beast," is the slave of the Satanic world view which rejects or distorts the Word of God, Jesus Christ, "whose word I praise."  If the Christian church continues to praise/obey anything or everything above, "His Word," the resulting world will make Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia look like Sunday School picnics.

The coming US election gives America one more chance to, "praise His word," by bringing forth, "fruits worthy of repentance," a repentance for the embrace of a president and a deceptive Congress, both of which advocate embryonic stem cell procedures and the murder of even late term children, "as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother."  People sitting in church buildings on Sunday mornings who continue to mouth songs, "worship," preach, or do anything else which has the appearance of godliness, yet continue to approve of those who are the exact opposite of Jesus Christ, and praise and approve everyone and everything but, "God, whose word I praise," will not be able to, as the Psalm concludes, "walk before God in the light of the living."  This is reserved for the obedient, for those who not only say, but live, "In God, whose word I praise," i.e.,----- obey.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You that You have manifested Yourself In Your Word, Jesus Christ, Whom, "I praise."  Amen.
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For A Jew's Perspective on War and Peace:   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

"God-Chasers?"--How About "God-Pleasers!"

"But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts." (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

I heard a pastor on television briefly yesterday.  He spoke of the trend toward liberalism, which I too have observed over recent decades, among the so-called evangelicals.  Whatever his conclusions, the reality is that much of the modern evangelical movement has adopted a "silence" on the Blood Covenant, the Cross, holiness, and the Return of our Lord Jesus Christ, to name just a few.

Our text speaks of a great temptation, which is really nothing new, in the Christian community, the temptation to speak, "as pleasing men...," that which sells rather than that of which our Lord Jesus spoke concerning the Holy Spirit, Who, convicts, "the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."  The one absolutely surrendered to Jesus Christ, will, "speak...as pleasing God...who tests our hearts." 

It does not take even a "careful" reading of the Scriptures to realize that much of what is contained therein is not, "pleasing men."  But it is all, "pleasing...God."  And if you and I have a heart which is after Jesus Christ, a heart hungering and thirsting, not for for "flesh-pleasing", but hungering and thirsting for God-pleasing, then when, "God...tests our hearts," we will be found even as Enoch, "For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God."

Father, in Jesus' Name, my greatest desire is to be, "approved by [You]."  Amen.
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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