"Here Is The Conclusion of The Matter"

"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before...the strong men stoop....Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets....Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of mankind.  For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12, NIV)

I finished Ecclesiastes the other day; hence, our text.  Reading through the Bible regularly keeps one in reality, not in the preachers' hype of the last 50 years.

The "charismatic movement" pretty much fizzled out when reality set in.  People who were claiming and rebuking everything from Moscow to Washington began to realize that the Universe has a mind of its own, "the strong men stoop..., go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets."  Yes, people still get old and die, nations rise and fall, money comes and goes.  Perhaps the biggest dose of reality to hit evangelicalism/charismata adherents in recent years is the declining attendance and finances of the churches.  How is this possible to a people who said they can do anything?!?  In all of this, however, Jesus Christ continually fulfills His Eternal Purposes from generation to generation.  It is time for the Church to see the realities of life as the Bible describes them and not as some religious pundit.  When we do, we will be in a constant state to deal with the reality of life, not the religious talk of life. 

Reality reveals what our text today tells us, that people still get old and die, and people mourn the loss.  Reality reveals what Solomon discovered, that everything happens to everybody, regardless the spirituality or the lack of it; therefore, "Fear God and keep the commandments."  This is not fatalism, not some, "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die."  This is, "eat, drink and be merry in Jesus Christ," because living in Jesus we can face the realities of life.   

As the eagle who goes to the highest point in his domain when the storm is approaching and faces the direction of the approaching storm, expands his wings and is then lifted above the storm to soar, to literally "rise above it," so you and I, instead of running away, instead of flying to some cave and burying our heads in the proverbial sand, or what far too many do, just give up and quit, we are of, "those who hope in the Lord, (and) will renew renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles."

Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to always live and take comfort in, "the conclusion of the matter."  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

"....That They Also May Be One In Us" (Jesus)

"....that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."  (John 17:21)

Near the end of the Gospels reading for this quarter.  Jesus' prayer here was not something vague.  Jesus' reveals that unity is only possible in Him and Father.  All else is humanist gibberish.  "....one in Us," has a purpose, "....that the world may believe that You sent Me"--- not kum ba yah.

Jesus prays for you and me as participators in the unity of the Godhead.  In the Living Triune God is unity, a oneness which the world can only talk and sing about, not bring about.  Those of us who are in Jesus are in Father and the Holy Spirit and each other.  Maybe it's time for the Church to start acting like it.  This is a liberating "concept" to the world, if the world would only obey Jesus Christ.  Ephesians 2 tells us, "For Jesus Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,..so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity....For through Jesus we both have access by one Spirit to the Father."  The context is speaking of unity between Jew and Gentile.  But it is the same principle at work between any two parties.  It is simply rhetorical to ask, What could the world be like if you and I and all surrendered our lives to Jesus?  "....one new man from the two, thus making peace...."

This is Divine Unity.  This is Divine Peace.  This is for our welfare.  This is only possible by surrender to Jesus Christ.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray to walk in obedience to Your Prayer.  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

Yom Kippur

"He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain....He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it....When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place,..he shall bring forward the live goat.  He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites--all their sins--and put them on the goat's head.  He shall send the goat away into the wilderness...."  (Leviticus 16, NIV, The Biblical Yom Kippur)

Man has been trying to save himself ever since the, "fig leaves."  The "styles" have changed over the centuries, but nothing we can do can ever cover our naked sin before the Living Triune God.  Today's text, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, is God's answer to the sin problem.

Today is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, on the Jewish calendar.  One Jewish writer says this about the day: "....I mentioned the 'books' in which G_d inscribes all of our names.  On Yom Kippur, the judgement entered in these books is sealed.  This day is, essentially, your last appeal, your last chance to change the judgment, to demonstrate your repentance and make amends."  Another writer says, "According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to 'seal' the verdict....At the end of Yom Kippur, one hopes that they have been forgiven by God."  

The Word of God's response to such reasoning is found in Romans 10.  "Brothers and sisters, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.  For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.  Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.  Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." 

Hebrews 13 gives us even more insight concerning Yom Kippur.  "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp.  And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood.  Let us, then, go to Him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore.  For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-- the fruit of lips that openly profess His name."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You beyond words for the Day of days in history when "Jesus paid it all."  May I ever, "openly profess His name."  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

Sorry To Those Who Like Short Devotionals

"These searched for their family records, but they could not find them...."  (Nehemiah 7:64a, NIV)

The quarter is near a close; hence, I'm near the end of my "first-half," Old Testament reading.  Our text has an application to humanity in general.  Now I'm not attempting to give a historic exegesis of our text, but I don't think what I see here is "proof-texting." 

Mankind has been, "search[ing] for their family records," ever since the Garden.  Even psychiatrists tell us that central questions of humanity are: "Where did I come from?  Why am I here?"  Philosophers and religion-inventors have written and spoken about this since the time of Job.  We humans rejected the Family of God, Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit, and decided to build our own family, then kingdom (Genesis 11).  God judged that "search," and in Jesus' Blood and Cross, the Blessed Trinity revealed his Eternal Purpose.  "His purpose was to create in Himself one new humanity out of the two (Jew and Gentile), thus making peace" (Ephesians 2).  The Church of Christ is, in reality, One Big Family.  Rejection of, "His purpose," is the rejection of Life Himself--------- and the search will never end.

I read today of a man who killed his wife and four children, then set their house on fire; heartbreak.  It is difficult to know what goes on inside a person which drives him/her to such desperation.  Sin, Christless culture, loneliness, fear, anger, hatred, utter despair--- the list could go on.  Life without Jesus is not "life."  Without Jesus Christ, what people call "life" is really death in disguise.  People without Jesus will just continue the, "....search[] for their family records."

Over the years, not just as a pastor, but as a fellow human being on Planet Earth, I have noticed things for which religious pundits, e.g., pastors, teachers, "ministry" heads always seem to have an answer.  I have fewer and fewer.  Of course, the "tragedy" of humanity all goes back to our beginning, viz., the Garden; we just chose a very wrong path.  Our genetic make up is that of disobedience, which leads to, "I'll do it my way."  Anyone who offers an alternative life style, "just doesn't understand me."  As long as mankind continues to be driven by the Adamic genes, he is nothing but doomed.  Men and women will continue the futile, "search[] for their family records." 

History is one tragedy after another, with one exception.  It is what some theologians call, "The Christ Event."  In the middle of the most powerful of ancient empires, appeared Jesus.  The Cross of Jesus, Jesus' death, Jesus' resurrection, Jesus' ascension, Jesus' soon Second Appearing enables all who surrender their lives to Jesus, not just at an "altar call," but every moment of every day to find, "their family records."  Those of us, "who follow the Lamb wherever He goes," have our names in, "The Book of Life," the Great, "Family Record[]" of the Redeemed of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The word, "searching," should never be in those who are Followers of Jesus.  In Jesus Christ the, "search[] for their family records," is over.

Father, in Jesus' Name, "For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."  Amen.
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If you have never let us know that you are still reading the devotionals, we would love a, "still reading," note from you.

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

The Bible Is Not A Religious Reference Book

"The Lord will be king over the whole earth.  On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name."  (Zechariah 14:9, NIV)

Yes, "Jesus is Lord," now; Jesus is King now, always has been, "Alpha," and always will be, "Omega."  But, "On that Day there will," manifest to the world and those who, "obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," that God's Name will silence all other names.  The world, indeed, the Universe's arguments will be stopped.  Those who reject the Name of the Godhead, Jesus, will have to confess, whether voluntarily or not, that Jesus is, "the only Name." 

The best answer to those who say that the "Christian God" and the "Muslim god" are the same is, No He is not.  The Christian God is Jesus.  The Muslim god is, well, something to do with the moon.  Simple answer, though wildly, politically incorrect.  When people equate the One True God, Who is the Blessed Trinity and revealed as, "Immanuel, God with us," solely in the Person of Jesus Christ, with the false god, Allah, it reveals they do not know the Bible.  And when a person's only knowledge of what the Bible calls, "the faith of Jesus," is preachers and teachers, they are susceptible to all sorts of foolish teaching.   The closer we get to the close of the present age, the more such foolishness will rule in Christendom.  And, my friend, do not think that you or I cannot be found in such foolishness. 

It is not enough that you and I have read through the Bible once, or daily read favorite selected passages.  The Word of God is our, "lamp," and our, "light," not a religious reference book.  If we do not have a daily diet of Jesus' Words, the onslaught of deception will overtake us also.  As Paul warns the Gentile nations, "Be not highminded, but fear."  No one, no matter how "mature" they think they are, or how big the ministry, is exempt from deception.  The only guarantee we have is, abiding in Jesus, viz., "....abide in Me and My abide remain in you...." literally, Jesus' words, "remaining, staying," in us, and we, "waiting," in and, "awaiting," His Words.  This should be our awaking posture to each day, "awaiting," the Words of Jesus to and in us, daily, moment by moment.

No words of any person, no matter the eloquence or "wow-factor," can give life as Jesus', "God-Breathed," Words.  Give Him time to refresh you today.  I challenge you this day to give that one hour, which you give to something or someone else, to breathing in the, "God-Breathed," Words.  Along with the challenge I issue a warning:  The next year, not only in America, but around the world, will see events increasingly emerge which will bring increasing confusion.  And this confusion will not only overtake the "carnal" world system.  It will overtake the professing "born-againers" who think neglect of the Breath of God is no big deal.  I am convince, you are not of such.  You are as desperate as I.  "....If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect," is not just to some other, "very elect."  It is to you and me, to all who Name the Name.  He keeps coming back to me today, "Be not highminded, but fear."  The world system does not believe Zechariah 14:7.  Only those in whom Jesus Christ's Words rule believe/obey and walk in, "His Name [, Jesus,] the only Name."

Father, in Jesus' Name, no matter how "high" is my mind, it is not high enough for the battle.  Help me to walk in Your Mind.  Amen.
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US security services have made David's Tent move to another location because of the Pope's visit.  Please pray that David's Tent can get back to where it is supposed to be--------- soon.

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