The Fourth Commandment: Our Rest, Our Witness. Remember the Sabbath. Exodus 20:8-11

Exodus 20:8-11 Amplified Bible

⁸“Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Keep the Sabbath [verse 8]

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

Throughout history there have been well-meaning, earnest Christians who have, perhaps without their ever knowing it, who have come to functionally believe the Ten Commandments are really only the Nine Commandments.

Somewhere along the way, some have decided the fourth commandment is not like the rest of the commandments but rather as a relic that belongs in the past.

In truth, though, the ancient command to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy has abiding significance for us all, even today.

Why has this simple command fallen on such hard times?

Some have claimed that its regulations and penalties were tied to the old covenant, so it must no longer be relevant.

Yet we do not treat the other commandments this way.

Others have said that the way Jesus spoke of being “lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8) diminished the commandment’s significance and force.

What about Jesus’ apparent intent here?

What the man Rabbi Jesus sought to overturn was not the Sabbath itself but the host of hypocritical external rules of the Pharisees.

I have long suspected what keeps most Christians from thinking of the fourth commandment as we ought to is simply that we do not like its implications.

We do not like, nor appreciate all of the subtle and not so subtle ways it intrudes into our lives, into our leisure and whatever else takes precedence in our hearts.

So we act as though this command is in a different category from the other nine.

However, If we truly want to grasp the significance of the Sabbath and respond to it in a God-honoring way, we must all embrace, as a conviction, the real truth that God has intentionally set aside the Sabbath day as distinct from the rest.

This was the case in the week of creation, with God resting on the seventh day and declaring it sanctified.

The church, in the age of the new covenant, then changed the day from the seventh day of the week to the first day to mark the resurrection of Christ.

In both cases, we see that the distinction of the day is woven into God’s work of creation and redemption.

With that conviction in place, we can see that the day is not simply a day set apart from other days, but it is, in Gospel Truth, a day set apart unto the Lord.

By not seeing it this way, we’ll be tempted to view our spiritual exercises on the Lord’s Day as something to “get over with” in order to “get on with” our week.

If this is our mentality, we stand condemned by the fourth commandment.

The Sabbath ought to be treasured for what it is: a gift of a day on which we enjoy, uninterrupted by leisure commitments or (if possible) by employment, the privilege of God’s presence, the study of God’s word, and the fellowship of God’s people.

Seen like that, this command becomes an invitation: not only to just something we should do but something we will each come to learn how to love to do.

If this is not how you have been viewing God’s Sabbath, then ask yourself:

What’s preventing you from honoring the Lord’s Day?

Take stock of your habits and receive the gift of the Sabbath.

From that next Sunday, be sure that your priority is not to make the Lord’s Day convenient but to make the Lord’s day exclusively about God, to keep it holy.

Keep the Sabbath [verses 9-10]

⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. [verses 9, 10]

Having established the fourth commandment remains what it has always been—a commandment of the Lord—and as such it is relevant to our lives, we can now turn our hearts, souls, minds, to thinking profitably about how to keep it.

But we must be careful as we get specific about honoring the Sabbath.

The Lord Jesus, after all, had some very harsh, strong words for the Pharisees regarding the way their moral specificity had become a means not of obedience but of self-righteousness (Mark 2:23 – 3:6).

With “quaking and trembling knees” and maturing humility, let’s take some quality time to consider how are we to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Let us try to explore: How do we prevent worldly concerns—those of leisure, recreation, and work—from infringing on our enjoyment and worship of God?

Let’s think first of public worship.

What kinds of conversations do you typically have prior to the worship service?

Are they concerned at any point with exclusively the things of God, or only ever with sports – making it to the home team game, family, and every other thing?

It takes a conscious and a thoroughly intentional act of the will to give eternal matters the very highest measure of maxed priority in our minds and mouths.

If you were to determine that in your preparation for worship you would set aside every priority which looms, loomed so large on other days, I guarantee the focus of your time at church would be changed.

The same goes for after the service.

When the last song has been sung and the service is over, how long does it take for your mind and conversation to return to worldly matters?

If we were instead to:

commit to spending time after the service speaking to one another about the greatness of God, the truth of His word, and the wonder of His dealings with us,

and praying with one another about the week ahead and the trials we face, then we would begin to understand better the “one another” passages in the New Testament about:

encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:25),

speaking the truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25), and

building one another up (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

—for we would then be prioritizing ourselves to actually living them out.

Similarly, in our private affairs on the Lord’s Day, spiritual improvement should still take priority.

That may mean additional family worship, reading edifying books, prayer, discussion of what was preached that morning, and more—but whatever it means, we should make it our aim not to let the cares of the other six days push into our efforts of growing our spiritual enjoyment of the first day of the week.

If we want to profit from keeping the Sabbath, and if we want to take the fourth commandment more seriously, then our convictions must fuel our actions, and our daily aspirations must turn into daily practices.

Avoid making unique rules that only serve to foster self-righteousness, but consider whether anything worldly needs to change, be re-prioritized Godly.

How would, should, could you change to keep the Sabbath holy the next time Sunday comes round, then Monday, then Tuesday then Wednesday and so on?

Our Sabbath Rest as Our Witness

[sermon illustrations]

The college student broke down in tears over his coffee.

Driven by competition for limited space in a pre-law program, he had just poured himself into studying virtually nonstop, eight hours a day seven days a week. After seven months he found he lost the ambition for learning—and nearly for life itself.

Driven by the desire for promotion and the prospect for more money for him an his growing family, [……….] takes extra work home every single night to get the one up on his fellow workers – he stays up till midnight every night for weeks. Taking no time for dinner with his wife or leisure time his young kids, he hears them crying.

Our reading today states that “in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth … but he rested on the seventh day.”

The ambition and creativity we bring to work is a reflection of our mindset on our Creator’s sovereignty over our lives and over the lives we genuinely value.

It’s part of how we reflect his image and a big part of how we serve as witnesses for him.

God also rested on the seventh day, however, and he calls us to do the same.

For us, good work hinges on good rest.

Without good rest our good work suffers.

The discipline of regular rest is a witness in our fast-paced world, especially when that time is focused on enjoying our Creator.

It speaks of God’s love to command what’s good for us.

Our ambitions would otherwise serve only to distract us from him and drive us into the ground if we let them.

How will you take our rest the rest of this week and this next weekend?

For the sake of good work later, let’s rest.

For the sake of sanity, let’s rest.

For the sake of glory to God in regular worship and fellowship, let’s rest.

God blesses those who “work hard” at resting in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s trust him to establish the work and rest of our hands (see Psalm 90:17).

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God, grant us and all our loved ones true rest on this Sabbath Day. May Your Holy and Sacred Presence drive out from among us anger and fear, worry and regret. Send your blessing upon us, that we may be people of the Word. Lord of work and of rest, thank you for these gifts. Help us to work hard and rest well. Please provide work where we need it. Please also bless whatever years of retirement rest we may have.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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The Second Commandment: Have or Make No Image Engraved or in Mind. Exodus 20:1-4

Exodus 20:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

²“I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³“You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁴“You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments are the supreme expression of God’s will in the Old Testament and merit our close attention.

They are to be thought of not as the ten most important commands among hundreds of others, but as a digest of the entire Torah.

The foundation of all of the Torah rests in these Ten Commandments, and somewhere within them we should be able to find all the law.

Jesus expressed the essential unity of the Ten Commandments with the rest of the law when he summarized the law in the famous words,

“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).

All the law, as well as laws of the prophets, is indicated whenever the Ten Commandments are expressed.

The essential unity of the Ten Commandments with the rest of the law, and their continuity with the New Testament, invites each and every on us to apply them to today’s ministries broadly in light of the rest of the Holy Scriptures.

That is, when applying the Ten Commandments, we will take into account related passages of Scripture in both the Hebrew [Old] and New Testaments.

“You Shall Have No Other Gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3)

The first commandment reminds us that everything in the Torah flows from the love we have for God, which in turn is a response to the love he has for us.

This unconventional, inexpressible miracle of love was demonstrated by God’s deliverance of Israel “out of the house of slavery” in Egypt (Exodus 20:2).

In our heart of hearts, from within the deepest depths of our souls, nothing else in our lives should concern us more than our desire to love and be loved by God.

If we do have some other concern stronger to us than our love for God, and who of us does not have other “stronger concerns,” they are not so much that we are breaking God’s rules, but that we are not really in relationship with Father God.

The other concern—be it money, power, security, recognition, sex, or anything else—has become our god.

These gods will have their own commandments at odds with God’s, and we will inevitably violate the Torah as we try to comply with these god’s requirements.

Observing the Ten Commandments is only conceivable for those who start by being determined to diligently study, to pray at having no other god than God.

In the realm of work, this means that we are not to let work or its requirements and fruits displace God as our most important concern in life.

“Never allow anyone or anything to threaten God’s central place in your life,” as Dr. David W. Gill [https://www.davidwgill.org/] puts it.

Because many people work primarily to make money for their and their family’s future, we might just conclude that an inordinate desire for money is probably one of the most common work-related dangers to the first commandment.

Jesus warned of exactly this danger. “No one can serve two masters…. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24).

But almost anything related to work can become twisted in our desires to the point that it interferes with our love for God.

How many promising up and coming, careers come to a tragic end because the means to accomplish things for the love of God—such as political power, financial sustainability, steadfast commitment to the job, status among peers, or superior performance—become their alpha to omega ends in themselves?

When, for example, recognition on the job becomes simply far more important than character on the job, is it not a sign that their reputation is displacing their love of God the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, as ultimate Alpha to Omega concern?

A practical touchstone in balancing life lived in the world of man and God is to just ask whether our love of God is shown by the way we treat people on the job.

“Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also” (1 John 4:20-21).

If we put our individual concerns ahead of our concern for the people we work with, for, and among, then we have made our individual concerns our god.

In particular, if we treat other people as things to be manipulated, obstacles to overcome, instruments to obtain what we want, or simply neutral objects in our field of view, then we starkly demonstrate that we do not love God with all our heart, soul, and mind as required by the Word of God for the Children of God.

In this context, we can begin to list some work-related actions that have a high potential to interfere with our love for God.

Doing work that violates our conscience.

Working in an organization where we have to harm others to succeed.

Working such long hours that we have little time to pray, worship, rest, and otherwise deepen our relationship with God.

Working among people who demoralize us or seduce us away from our love for God.

Working where alcohol, drug abuse, violence, sexual harassment, corruption, disrespect, racism, or other inhumane treatments mar the image of God in us and the people we encounter in our work – our co-workers and our neighbors.

If we can find ways to avoid these dangers at work—even if it means finding a new job—it would be wise for us to seek God, study, pray, to consider to do so.

If that is not possible, we can at least be aware that we need help and support to maintain our love of God in the face of our work.

“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol” (Exodus 20:4)

The second commandment raises the issue of idolatry.

Making and then Naming our Golden calves then marketing them for all to see.

Idols are gods of our own creation, gods that have nothing to them that did not originate with us, gods that we feel we control.

In ancient times, idolatry often took the form of worshiping physical objects.

But the issue is really one of trust and devotion.

On what “shirt” do we ultimately pin our hope of well-being and success upon?

On whose “lapel” should we ultimately pin our hopes of well-being and success upon?

Anything, Anyone, which is not capable of fulfilling our hope—that is, anything other than God—is an idol, whether or not it is a physical object, even a person.

The story of a family forging an idol with the intent to manipulate God, and the disastrous personal, social, and economic consequences which then tragically follow, are memorably told in Judges 17-21.

In the world of work, it is common to speak of money, fame, and power as potential idols, and rightly so.

They are not idolatrous, per se, and in fact may be utterly necessary for us to accomplish our roles in God’s creative and redemptive work in the world.

Yet when we then imagine that we have ultimate control over them, or that by achieving them our safety and prosperity will be secured, we have begun the so inevitable “foot to shovel to earth to digging our grave” descent into idolatry.

The same may occur with virtually every other element of success, including our preparation, hard work, creativity, risk, wealth and other resources, and favorable circumstances.

As Christian workers, we have to recognize how important these are.

As God’s people, we must recognize when we begin to idolize them.

By God’s grace alone, we can overcome the temptation to worship these good things in their own right.

The development of genuinely godly wisdom and skill for any task is “so that your entire trust may be in the Lord alone” [Proverbs 22:19].

The distinctive element of idolatry is the human-made nature of the idol.

At work, a danger of idolatry arises when we mistake our power, knowledge, and opinions for reality.

When we stop holding ourselves accountable to the standards we set for others, cease listening to others’ ideas, or seek to crush those who disagree with us, are we not beginning to make and shape, obsess over our graven idols of ourselves?

No Image Engraved or in Mind [eXODUS 20:4]

Exodus 20:4 Amplified Bible

⁴“You shall not make for yourself any idol, or any likeness (form, manifestation) of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth [as an object to worship].

If the first commandment

—“You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3)—deals with the object of our worship, the second commandment deals with the manner of our worship.

What the second commandment tells us is that it is not enough that we worship the correct God; we must also worship Him correctly.

The crystal clear and immediate meaning of the command is that God is to be worshiped without any visual symbols of Him.

Why the prohibition?

Because God is spirit: infinite and unfathomably great.

No physical representation could ever do justice to His glory and grandeur.

The problem with statues, shrines, and pictures is not that they don’t look good but that no matter how good they look, they will all inevitably severely blur the truth about God’s nature and character.

Such images will tend to distract men and women from genuinely worshiping the true and living God, [John 4:20-24] instead leading them to naively worship whatever physical representation of God is placed before them in the sanctuary.

Yet the second commandment takes us beyond mere images and idol-making and into our own thought life.

Our hands may be innocent of the skills and craftsmanship of hand making graven images, but our thoughts and imaginations are so seldom unskilled.

Any conception of God in our minds and hearts that is not derived from Scripture runs foul of this command.

When God gave strict instructions for the building of the temple, He ordered that the ark of the covenant, on which His presence would dwell, should reside in the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:34).

What was inside the ark?

Perhaps most significant is what was not in it: it contained no visible, physical, hand shaped representation of God.

Instead, there were the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.

It was as if God was saying to His people, as He says to us, Don’t look for Me in shrines, paintings, or statues. I’m not there. Look for Me in My word.

So we take our cues from God. If we want to worship Him—if we want to meet with Him and know what He is like—we must conform our minds to His word.

Our own attempts to conceive of God apart from divine revelation will utterly, invariably fail.

He has published His truth in His word, and so we are to tether ourselves to what is revealed there.

What’s at stake in this is the integrity not only of our worship but also of our lives—because when people go wrong in their worship, they’ll end up going wrong in their living.

Anything and anyone that encourages us to worship the correct God incorrectly will prove to be a detriment to our spiritual growth.

What an absolute tragedy it would be to embrace an image and miss the person of Christ, to sit at a shrine and miss the Savior, to worship a misconception and fail to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the Holy Words of God.

Instead, resist the temptation to modify God in your mind or to conform Him to your own graven image, and be sure to KNOW Him as He has revealed Himself.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

The Joy of Integrity Prayer

God, my Father, my Guide and Guardian of my life, illuminate my mind so I can better understand just how you want me to live. Your Living Word tells me that people of integrity who diligently follow after your instructions are joyful. You have said that those who obey your laws and search for you with all their hearts are blessed and happy. I plead with you for my own share of that indescribable joy! Intercessor Holy Spirit, please guard me and my thoughts against allowing evil to influence what I believe and do. Help me walk only in your paths. May my actions, and my worship more consistently reflect what you have said is right, good.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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What does it mean for us to have no other gods before God? Exodus 20:1-3

Exodus 20:1-3Amplified Bible

The Ten Commandments

20 Then God spoke all these words:

²“I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

³“You shall have no other gods before Me.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Perhaps the most basic truth about the God of Scripture is He is the only one.

There is no other.

This truth ought to simplify things for us because it teaches us that there is only one who is the worthy object of our love, loyalty, and devotion.

But the hearts of men and women are not so easily convinced or instructed.

And so it is necessary for God to give us the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me.”

The danger is not that there are actual other gods for us to worship but that we have a proclivity for making them.

On first glance, this first command is straightforward.

To live for a god other than the true God would be like taking a second spouse while your first spouse is still alive and still happy to be your spouse.

Worse, it would be like taking a second spouse who is in truth a figment of your imagination.

It would be a seriously severe breach of an exclusive relationship.

We must not kid ourselves that we are immune from the possibility of breaking this commandment.

Many of us read it and then picture people bowing down before statues or going through elaborate rituals, and those mental images assure us that we are not in much danger of violating it.

Yet the commandments are not restricted to our outward actions but also relate to the disposition of our minds and hearts.

From this perspective, there is the tough realization we may not be as far from those mental images as we assume.

We may not have statues to which we bow down, but maybe we have segments of our lives that we keep away from God, preserving them under the authority and exclusive sovereignty of some other little “deity”—ourselves, perhaps.

Ask yourself:

“Do I joyfully acknowledge God’s exclusive comprehensive claim on my life?”

“Is God in Alpha to Omega charge of my family, my work, my relationships, my money, my dating, my use of my time, my talents, my gifts and my services?”

Take a close and honest look to see if there are portions of life you try to keep from Him.

In addition to our keeping, “secreting” things away from God, another form of danger is functionally replacing Him.

When we put our family, our job, our hobbies, or anything else in the place that is God’s alone, we violate the first commandment.

To the degree that we allow anyone or anything besides obedience to God to direct our course day to day, we defy His law.

So we are not so safe from the possibility of breaking this commandment as we may think!

While we must acknowledge the truth that there is one God, we must also beware our own ability to put things in His place.

If we do not daily submit ourselves to Him and entrust the entirety of our lives to Him, something will take His place.

We are made to worship.

The question is, are you going to worship the living God or are you going to pretend there is another?

Put serious focus on these words: ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’

God’s Word leads us to the full life Christ died for us to live.

The Ten Commandments are guardrails for our modern-day lives.

We no longer live in the Old Testament church, where animal sacrifices upon altars were required for breaking God’s laws.

Today, we live under the new covenant, ushered in by Christ Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to forgive our multitude of sins.

We cannot follow the Ten Commandments through our own sheer will but can aim to through the power of the Holy Spirit given to us at salvation.

Still, we will never hit the mark of perfection as Christ did. He loved the Father with His whole heart, soul, and mind.

Thankfully, perfection is not required of us.

What Does ‘Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me’ Mean?

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Matthew 22:37-39

In ancient times, and in some places and people groups around the globe today, people worship a variety of gods.

God clearly stated, “I am,” and commands His people to worship Him alone.

“No deity, real or imagined, is to rival the one true God in Israel’s heart and life” (NIV Study Bible).

Worshipping other gods gives a false sense of security from a source other than God, who is everywhere, all-powerful, and all-knowing.

The Hebrew, often translated as ‘besides me’ or ‘before me,’ means ‘in my presence.

The point is that nothing else can qualify as god in your life.

The true God is not only to be number one but the only one.

Other gods can also constitute things we place higher than God in our lives.

The Bible defines these as idols, and they can be anything from money and possessions to food and working out or people and relationships.

Anything or anyone we place above God is another god.

As Christians, we are a “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” ( 1 Peter 2:9).

We are God’s people, set apart to live according to his ways.

His ways are not, and never will be, our ways.

Our tendencies are to cave to the cravings of our flesh and fall prey to the thinking they will give us the comfort and happiness we need.

God is faithful to bless us in this life, but there is no blessing bigger and more important than the source of the blessing.

Our marriages, best friends, jobs, houses, habits, and hobbies all take a serious backseat to the ONLY One who numbers our days.

Why Is it Important That ‘Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me’ Is the First Commandment?

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” [1 Timothy 2:5]

God’s laws are for our own good.

He is a loving Father who provides rules, boundaries, and discipline for His children as any good parent/caregiver does.

We don’t earn or keep our salvation by following God’s rules.

Obedience is a heart issue, which expresses our faith and trust in the Lord by instilling limits in our lives.

He has our best interest in mind.

Though Christians do not believe achieving the law is demanded for salvation, they still see the Ten Commandments as the establishment of God’s moral law.

Jesus called people to an even higher standard by obeying the commandments not only in their behavior but also in their hearts and minds.

When we take the time to be with God each day through prayer, worship, and the Word, we get to know Him better.

We’re not promised an understanding of all of the ways of God, but the deeper our relationship is with Him, the more we trust and obey.

God’s timing in waiting until the third order to give the commandments was no coincidence.

He had already proven Himself as their Deliverer and Provider and it was time to test their faith and reveal His divine standards for them.

God’s people knew then He who He was to them: their Provider and Deliverer.

He is unchanging.

He’s still our Provider and Deliverer today, and so much more.

Why Did God Need to Say ‘Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me’?

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.'” Exodus 32:1

God’s people struggled with faithfulness to Him.

In their fickleness, impatience, and lack of faith, they quickly turned to the temptation to worship as other nations did.

This time, it was by creating a golden calf representing Baal to worship.

But over time, Scripture mentions others gods they worshipped, too: Molek, Chemosh, Dagon, Asherah, and more.

In ancient times, this law steered people away from the many false gods worshipped by various cultures.

God’s people were surrounded by other nations who worshipped other gods.

I imagine, much like we easily compare ourselves to others who live different lifestyles today, God’s ancient people often wondered what life would be like if they worshiped other gods.

It’s a temptation they often fell into and angered God with.

What Other Gods Might Christians Be Tempted to Bow Down to Today?

“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” Matthew 4:10

Before we are tempted to think of God’s ancient people in a bad light, we have to realize that the devil tempted even Jesus to worship other gods!

In the modern, new covenant age we live in, we are tempted every day to look outside of the providence, provision of God for something the world promises to give us.

In fact, the world will always tempt us to believe we are entitled to certain things, such as amenities and circumstances.

When we genuinely seek to obey it with all our hearts, the first commandment guards us against falling for those lies.

In Modern times, this Commandment is a warning against elevating money or other worldly things to god-like status in our lives.

We could include social media, the Internet, shopping, coffee, or even our gym memberships.

Anything we are tempted to find happiness and peace in other than God is a lie that will end up failing us.

Outside of Christ, we are only wretched.

But in Christ Jesus, united to him, we are completely forgiven of our constant failure to keep them, his constant and perfect keeping of them is credited to us.

Jesus died for us, knowing we would not only be tempted by these things but fall prey to them, too.

Sometimes, we dive right in without much convincing or swaying.

The hope of Christ Jesus assures us forgiveness when we turn from those idols and other gods- no matter how deep we’re in – and come back to the Lord, who is our all in all.

The first commandment addresses a very human struggle, unavoidable even to the most faithful. Following this commandment perfectly is not God’s goal.

He knows we can’t do that.

He is much more concerned with our hearts, our trust in and obedience to Him.

The Holy Spirit will convict us when we’re falling off the rails.

And when we are genuinely repentant to turn back to Jesus, over and over again, He eagerly welcomes us all, washes us with His living water, again and again.

God always has our best interest in mind.

He loves us so much He sacrificed His one and only Son Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

He saved us from ourselves before we saw our first fleck of sunlight.

He knit us in our mother’s womb with such care, gifted us with talents, and gave each of us a unique purpose on this earth no one else can accomplish.

Our God loves us wholly, perfectly, and completely.

In Him, we find peace and happiness, hope and comfort, encouragement and love.

The true gauge of our lives is measured only by God, the Father, through our relationship with Him through Christ Jesus, our Savior.

He alone knows, and can plumb the deepest depths of our hearts and our souls.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

A Prayer to Have No Other Gods before God

Abba, Father.

You are the best Father to us. Yahweh, You are the path to peace, hope, and grace. Christ Jesus, Messiah, we come to the Father through You alone, by Your sacrifice to forgive our sins. Holy Spirit, You convict and counsel us when we fall away and stray from the guardrails intended to help us live our lives to the full. Help us to cling to this commandment, to love You alone, God. May our lives bring glory to You, today and always. Help us to grow a love for Your Word that inspires us to come to You daily through it, Father. You tell us to pray about everything. Let us each take Your wisdom into every day of our lives and let it fill our hearts to the brim. We pray to saturate our minds with Your wisdom so that we follow it in our daily lives, Father.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Loved by and Belonging to God, the Giver of Law and the Giver of Liberty. Exodus 20:1-2

Exodus 20:1-2 Complete Jewish Bible

20 Then God said all these words:

א ²“I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the abode of slavery.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

The Ten Commandments are some of the most recognizable words in the entire Biblical Canon, yet they are often among the most misunderstood.

How has the coming of Jesus transformed these ancient laws?

Do these commandments still matter to Christians today in 2023?

What does it look like to obey them in today’s world?

What do they tell us about God and His Love for His beloved Children?

In this devotional message we see in verses 1-2 three truths about the Law: it’s given by God, it follows the Gospel, and it’s the path of freedom.

Loved By and Belonging to God

Adonai, The Lord who claims our allegiance is God, our Creator and Savior.

God delivered Israel when he brought them out of Egypt.

They had been slaves there for hundreds of years.

Faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:13-21; Exodus 3), God called this people his own and continued his work of making them into a nation through which all other nations would be blessed.

Then, many years later, through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, God brought salvation to the world—and today God includes all who believe in Christ as his people, his worldwide family.

So if we believe in our Savior Christ, we belong to God, and we are His alone.

1 Peter 2:9-10 Complete Jewish Bible

⁹But you are a chosen people,^[a] the King’s cohanim,^[b] a holy nation,^[c] a people for God to possess!^[d] Why? In order for you to declare the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; before, you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.^[e]

1 Peter 2 puts it, we are a holy nation set apart to be “God’s special possession.”

From the beginning, it was love that created us and has bound us to God.

And since our relationship with God is based on love, God’s law is not a burden but a means of unconventional liberty towards showing love to our neighbors.

God, The Giver of Law and Liberty

Exodus 20:1-2King James Version

20 And God spake all these words, saying,

²I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

To faithfully read and respond to the Ten Commandments, we must first make a diligent effort to pray and study them, understand what they are and are not.

We find clarity in the truth that lies at their head: “I am the LORD your God.”

This poignant reminder of who God is precedes the instructions that follow.

In other words, the I am of God’s person grounds the you shall of His commands.

He can command us because of who He is.

The psalmist further expresses this:

“Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his” (Psalm 100:3).

God created us, and His being our Creator grants Him rights and authority over His creation.

Regardless of the efforts of our world to reject the creational handiwork of God, thus His authority over our lives, His role as our Ruler remains unthreatened.

He has made us; we are His.

When we should remember who spoke the law, we are in a position to grasp the purpose of the Ten Commandments as well as to understand what they are not.

First, the commandments are not a formal list of dos and don’ts given to restrict our personal freedoms.

God is NOT the Ultimate Cosmic Killjoy

God is not the Ultimate cosmic killjoy.

In fact, if you wanted to provide a heading for the Ten Commandments, you could instead call them “The Ultimate Guidelines to Freedom and Joy.”

They do not restrict our freedom but rather give us a blueprint for joy, showing us how life works best.

Second, the commandments are not intended as a ladder up which we climb to attain acceptance with God.

No such ladder has ever existed!

God brought His people out of slavery—from Egypt in the exodus, and from sin and death at the cross—before He called us to obey Him.

So we obey God because we have been “brought out by God,” not in order for us to somehow believe we could ever persuade Him to do so on our own time line.

If that were the case, why then did the bondage last as long as it did despite all the years of crying, pleading by the generations of Israelites held in bondage?

Until Moses had been prepared by 80 years of life at the pinnacle of authority, then at the bottom of authority for His “Burning Bush” encounter with God.

Rather than being rules that save us, the Ten Commandments serve as a mirror in which we should see ourselves, revealing the depths of our sin and our need for a Savior—and they show how we can all live every day to please our Savior.

Third, the Ten Commandments have not been rendered anywhere near obsolete by the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God and love our neighbor, He was summarizing the Ten Commandments (Mark 12:28-31 AKJV).

²⁸And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? ²⁹And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: ³⁰and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. ³¹And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

What does it mean to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

The first four commandments tell us. [Exodus 20 verses 3-11]

What does it look like to love our neighbor as ourselves?

The final six commandments flesh that out. [Exodus 20 verses 12-17]

Jesus, master teacher that He was, summed up the ten with the two.

When we see all this, we are ready to read the Ten Commandments and let them transform our lives.

We must see the sin that the commandments reveal and respond in repentance and faith in the only One who fulfilled the law and offers Himself as our Savior.

He, the Lord Jesus Christ, will ensure that this law is not merely etched into our conscience but also inscribed upon our hearts and upon our souls.

Give yourselves unto the Lord our God and His way, and His Truth and His Life you and I will find everlasting love, everlasting joy and His everlasting liberty.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit …

Let us Pray,

Psalm 40The Message

40 ^1-3I waited and waited and waited for God.
    At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
    pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
    to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
    a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
    they enter the mystery,
    abandoning themselves to God.

^4-5Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,
    turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”
    ignore what the world worships;
The world’s a huge stockpile
    of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
    compares to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know,
    and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words
    account for you.

⁶Doing something for you, bringing something to you—
    that’s not what you’re after.
Being religious, acting pious—
    that’s not what you’re asking for.
You’ve opened my ears
    so I can listen.

^7-8So I answered, “I’m coming.
    I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I’m coming to the party
    you’re throwing for me.”
That’s when God’s Word entered my life,
    became part of my very being.

^9-10I’ve preached you to the whole congregation,
    I’ve kept back nothing, God—you know that.
I didn’t keep the news of your ways
    a secret, didn’t keep it to myself.
I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.
    I didn’t hold back pieces of love and truth
For myself alone. I told it all,
    let the congregation know the whole story.

^11-12Now God, don’t hold out on me,
    don’t hold back your passion.
Your love and truth
    are all that keeps me together.
When troubles ganged up on me,
    a mob of sins past counting,
I was so swamped by guilt
    I couldn’t see my way clear.
More guilt in my heart than hair on my head,
    so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.

^13-15Soften up, God, and intervene;
    hurry and get me some help,
So those who are trying to kidnap my soul
    will be embarrassed and lose face,
So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable
    will be heckled and disgraced,
So those who pray for my ruin
    will be booed and jeered without mercy.

^16-17But all who are hunting for you—
    oh, let them sing and be happy.
Let those who know what you’re all about
    tell the world you’re great and not quitting.
And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing:
    make something of me.
You can do it; you’ve got what it takes—
    but God, don’t put it off.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

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Psalm 46 Be Still and Ponder Upon the Importance of How We Each View God.

Psalm 46 Amplified Bible

God the Refuge of His People.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to soprano voices. A Song.

46 God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable],
A very present and well-proved help in trouble.
²
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains be shaken and slip into the heart of the seas,
³
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains tremble at its roaring. Selah.

⁴
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
⁵
God is in the midst of her [His city], she will not be moved;
God will help her when the morning dawns.
⁶
The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered and were moved;
He raised His voice, the earth melted.
⁷
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.

⁸
Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has brought desolations and wonders on the earth.
⁹
He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow into pieces and snaps the spear in two;
He burns the chariots with fire.
¹⁰
“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Be Still and Know that I Am God.

We will tend to believe of being “busy” as something positive—something of a measure of our true success in life, maybe even a compliment—especially when we consider the negative implications of its opposites, being “idle” or “lazy.”

But we should not always assume, consider “busyness” as a Christian virtue.

Have you ever thought that busyness might just be a sign of Christian betrayal rather than Christian commitment?

We should definitely be thankful that many believers are busy for the Lord.

Giving, sacrificing our time and ourselves in service to God’s kingdom is an absolutely essential part of the believer’s life and the Christian experience.

But mere busyness does not necessarily equal faithfulness in the Christian life.

In a time of great social economic political upheaval and national crisis, God emphatically urged his people to simply “be still” and know that he was God.

Twice in Psalm 46, God’s people heard the assurance that the Lord Almighty was with them.

He would be their comfort and mighty fortress.

The key to experiencing that assurance, though, would be to approach God with a stilled heart and quiet trust.

When we actually withdraw from our busy lives to spend time with God, we find ourselves discovering, enjoying, experiencing the truest reality of his presence.

While we are not called by God to be either lazy or idle, neither are we called to a life of non-stop activity and service.

God’s gently emphatic invitation, “be still” unlocks for us the opportunity to experience the maximum allowable joy of actually, genuinely, knowing him.

What a blessed comfort this verse has been to multitudes of believers in Christ, down through the ages, who have heeded God’s invitation and rested on these words of the Psalmist and had their hearts stilled in the presence of the Lord.

What refreshment these simple words have bestowed on many little lambs who have listened to the voice of their Good Shepherd – that Great Shepherd of the sheep Who opens His arms wide to embrace all who will truly trust in His name.

But in context, we see another component to these words of reassurance.

We see a genuine plan to glorify His Name and to exult His Person among the nations of the world who rage against the God of heaven and His anointed King.

He is our Defense and our Defender against the enemies of our soul, and all who rest in Him find courage and strength.

He is our impenetrable refuge from the storms of life and our shelter in the midst of oppression, and we are called to be still and to know that He is God – for His purposes will never fail, He will be glorified throughout the whole earth.

It is of the greatest encouragement, both to His people Israel, and to His children of every age, that men who follow their own atheistic ‘will’ and construct their own anti-God plans, will finally be brought to nothing.

For God, and God alone will be exulted among the heathen and His purposes alone will come to fruition – but we who have trusted Him for salvation are to sit serenely in His presence, in quiet assurance, confidence and in godly trust.

Like the people of Israel in times past, Church-age believers are invited, called upon to ponder, remember the mighty deeds that God has done and to recall the myriad beyond myriads of miraculous, wondrous works that He has performed.

We are to rest confidently in the knowledge that He is our faithful God – the supreme Creator of all and Commander of the armies of heaven Who redeems us by faith in the shed blood of Christ, and will never leave us nor forsake us.

We are to:

rest peacefully in the truth of His Word and be still in His holy presence.

We are to know in our heart, by faith with thanksgiving, that He is the Lord our God Who alone pardons all our iniquities, heals all our diseases, Who redeems our life from the pit, and Who crowns us with lovingkindness and compassion.

He alone is our God Who satisfies our years with good things, renews our youth like the eagle.

He performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious… slow to anger and abounding in steadfast and immovable lovingkindness.

He is our Redeemer our Saviour and Friend.

He alone is our hope and strength, He will be exalted, for it is He who has made us, not we ourselves, for we are His beloved people, the sheep of His pasture.

Although the nations rage like the billows of the sea and the people imagine a vain thing against the Lord God Almighty, we are invited, called to be still in the presence of the Lord and to know Him in our heart by faith, with thanksgiving.

May we ponder what it means to be still in His presence and cease from all our strivings… and truly be at peace in His company – Whom to know is life eternal.

The Importance of How I View God

In light of the past few weeks’ of worldwide revival events, I have been taking more time to reflect and ponder.

My emotions have created a mixed bag, from skepticism to doubt, disbelief, questions, and indescribable awe.

On one hand, I decisively, definitely praise God if He is using these services to truly speak and to deeply ignite and inspire and move to transform lives.

I have not been to any of the services, but I have watched many of the streams and videos and I have been “stilled” and moved to tears of indescribable joy.

I know that God is powerful and can do anything He chooses, especially when we are not expecting it – but witnessing those students, images of people into the streets of our nation’s cities, into prisons and many international cities?

Such an inexplicably powerful experience to see the people acting on their belief that God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is “on the move.”

On the other, however, I think it’s a good and righteous thing to be cautious and careful with what we quickly interpret as come to believe to be the Spirit of God.

Even the Bereans in Acts 17 do this when Paul presents the gospel message to them.

Though eager to hear Paul’s teachings, they move to test them themselves in the Holy Scriptures, Study, Pray, Ponder, and then decide what is from God.

“As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men” (Acts 17:10-12, NIV).

Paul was known as an excellent teacher and an even better friend.

He truly cared that every person heard and had access to the Bible after his conversion from Saul to Paul.

This is why Paul felt called to attend as many missionary journeys as he did!

But no matter how great the speaker, one’s credibility and ability to represent the gospel should always be prudently studied analyzed in light of the Bible.

People are not the source of light themselves but are the ones pointing to the Light.

For this reason, 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 further notes,

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil” (NIV).

While I am not one to debate or judge if these revival services are real or not, their appearance has caused me to think about how I view God.

And more importantly, if I understand Him.

How Do You View God?

I was born into the Evangelical United Church of the Brethren.

Growing up, I was raised in a traditional EUB Church until 1968 when the churches merged to become the United Methodist Church.

I remember every service, worship session, and layout for an event looked exactly the same.

Over time, I didn’t know why I was doing or saying what I did.

Being so young as I was [7 years old] I didn’t even understand the Apostle’s Creed that I recited by heart every Sunday.

Quickly, God and my relationship with Him became routine, just rehearsed words that needed to be prayed to maintain my perfection status.

By the time I reached high school, my father had remove us from the Methodist Church and we then became members of a local conservative Jewish Synagogue.

My view of a God as my father became fractured was immensely distorted, and I truly started to wonder and ask, where is God, Jesus in the midst of my separation?

Verses that call God our Abba, or Father, have been an enormous challenge for me to understand and accept.

I have wrestled for years with how God can be “One God,” for everyone, angry and loving, forgiving and punishing, reachable, yet above and beyond us all.

But it wasn’t until a recent “live” revival streaming session that I realized I should give my current view of God so much more contemplation – and that led me to todays verse, to ask these questions: “Be Still?” “Do I Understand Him?”

Do I Understand Him?

While I might dare to believe we would all like to say we know and understand God fully, from how He works to why things happen the way they do, I do not think nor do I believe that “understanding God” is even remotely possible.

It is possible to know and have an intimate, close, and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

This is why Jesus came and died for us, so we could partake in this personal relationship with Him.

That’s the core essence of the gospel message.

However, God never expected us to try and figure out all His ways.

Isaiah 55:8-9 notes, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9, ESV).

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 furthers this point when it says:

“The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ” (ESV).

While we can obtain a mind like Christ’s, in purity, hope, and love, this does not mean that we will know and understand all that He does.

He is still God, and we are not.

He is still all-powerful, and we are not.

His ways are not our ways, and that is for a reason.

Should We Know It All?

When I was younger, and far more naïve than I am right now, I used to believe that if I knew “everything that would happen to me”, my life would be better.

If I always knew exactly what God wanted me to do, where He wanted me to go, and what He was doing, my life would be easier.

I look back now over the course of the last 43 years and I can only laugh.

As an anxious person, not only would I find all of this information to be rather overwhelming and paralyzing, but I’m confident that if I indeed “knew it all,”

two things would happen:

one, I would not rely on God to get through them,

two, I would try to convince Him, like Moses or Jonah, that I was never ever going to be the right person for whatever task He “dared” called me into.

In Jonah 1, beginning in verse 1, Jonah runs from God because of his fears.

God calls him to a high-caliber task, but Jonah doesn’t feel up for the journey.

Even later, when he runs back to God, he becomes angry at God for His grace, the same grace that was given to him earlier in the chapter.

Countless people in the Bible tried to understand God.

From Abraham, to Moses to Aaron, Job, and David and all the biblical writers.

But if I’ve learned anything from their interactions, it’s that God cannot be entirely understood, and while we can have a close fellowship with Him, He will still be above and beyond anything we could fully comprehend here on earth.

What Have I Learned About How I View God?

So what have I learned about how I view God?

I have learned that while God is a loving Father figure.

He is also so much more than I will ever be able to grasp.

He is unpredictable.

He is unlikely.

He moves in ways we’d think He would and ways we wouldn’t.

He is a quiet, still whisper but also a mighty and powerful storm.

He’s an oxymoron to those who don’t believe in Him and a mystery to those who do.

Today, I am learning that I have many more years of learning to go.

I will not understand Him entirely, but I’m choosing every day to grow closer to Him through prayer, reading the Bible, studying, meditating, and experiencing Him as I live – and something tells me that it’s okay-This is a life-long process.

How I view God is still growing.

I anticipate your view of God is growing as well.

I want to know Him as a Father.

I want you the reader to know Him as a Father.

I’ve known Him as a Friend.

I want you the reader to know Him as a Friend.

And I want to know and view Him for all that He is.

And I want you the reader to know and view Him for all that He is.

Even if it takes the maxed our entirety of a thousand lifetimes to experience:

“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.” ¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah. [Psalm 46:10-11 AMP]

The predicted and the unpredicted.

The known and the unknown.

However He is, that’s how I want to know and view Him.

Why ever He is, that is how I want to know and view Him.

Whenever He is, that is how I want to know and view Him.

Where ever He is, that is how I want to know and view Him.

Perhaps, you the reader, from wherever you are, will join in the joy?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord God Almighty, we rejoice that you are with us. Teach us to be still so that increasingly we can experience your presence in our lives through your Holy Spirit within. Father, I praise You that Your Word stands fast for ever and ever and that Your precious promises encourage me to rest in Your love and drink deeply from the Rock of my salvation. Draw near to every member of Christ’s Body and protect Your people Israel against the increasing roar of the nations. I pray for the salvation of the lost and for Your soon return, when Your name be exalted throughout all the earth and the nations will KNOW that You are God. I ask in the name of my Savior Jesus.

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Ash Wednesday: Deciding, Will We Ever Consent to Give Any Living Hope to Our Ailing and Hurting Hearts? Joel 2:12-14

Joel 2:12-14Amplified Bible

¹²
“Even now,” says the Lord,
“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],
With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];
¹³
Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”
Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];
And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].
¹⁴
Who knows whether He will relent [and revoke your sentence],
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering [from the bounty He provides you]
For the Lord your God?

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Lent Begins … Does Hope Also Begin For Hurting Hearts?

In a large number of churches today, the ancient words of today’s Scripture reading will be read every year in the traditional Ash Wednesday liturgy.

Ash Wednesday, which falls this year on February 22, is the first day of Lent, a season in the church calendar that invites believers in God and non-believers as well, to maybe start paying special attention to the suffering and death of Jesus.

Why are these instructions about rending hearts and not garments significant?

In the Bible the rending and tearing of clothes is a sign of mourning and is often accompanied by the placing of ashes on one’s head.

Biblically, Jacob tore his clothes when he heard a report that his son, Joseph, had been killed (Genesis 37:34).

And when young King Josiah heard the words of the Book of the Law after it was rediscovered in the temple, he tore his robes as a sign of grief over the nation’s sin (2 Kings 22:11).

The Patriarch Job, when he had suddenly lost everything – including his health, he sat down on the ground and covered himself from head to toe with ashes.

Sometimes, the harsh and harshest realities of life will cause us to sit ourselves own on the ground and desire to “cover ourselves from head to toe with ashes.

Sometimes the reality of sin is enough to break our hearts.

The season of Lent reminds us that no one felt the pain of sin more than Jesus.

Jesus had already given up everything he was at home with His Heavenly Father to come to us and to offer up to His maxed out example of genuine Godly living. [John 3:16-18, Philippians 2:1-11]

John 3:16-18 The Message

^16-18“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

Philippians 2:5-11 The Message

^5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

^9-11Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

When he was arrested, beaten, humiliated, crowned then crucified, Jesus was fully and completely, utterly, publicly stripped of his dignity and his garments.

More than that, his heart broke under the weight of our sin.

Joel’s reading for today is God’s invitation to return to him is answered by our looking to the cross of Christ, asking forgiveness through his sacrifice for us.

God promises to come unto us, wash away our sin and give us new life through the One whose torn garments, broken heart bring 100% healing for the world.

We Must Answer the Question: Will I Give My Heart Any Hope?

Joel 2:12-14 The Message

Change Your Life

¹²But there’s also this, it’s not too late—
God’s personal Message!—
“Come back to me and really mean it!
Come fasting and weeping, sorry for your sins!”

^13-14Change your life, not just your clothes.
    Come back to God, your God.
And here’s why: God is kind and merciful.
    He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot,
This most patient God, extravagant in love,
    always ready to cancel catastrophe.
Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now,
    maybe he’ll turn around and show pity.
Maybe, when all’s said and done,
    there’ll be blessings full and robust for your God!

Joel is the prophet who compares the coming Day of the Lord with a succession of locust invasions, which sequentially devour every crop and all vegetation in an unrelenting, visibly shocking, path of progressive destruction.

Both grain and fruit harvests fail due to the devastating onslaught of this four-pronged locust infestation.

The total destruction of Israel’s wheat and barley crops, along with the failure of the entire fruit harvest, causes all the people and priests alike to mourn and lament bitterly at how hopeless everything had become before their very eyes.

Not only were the priests instructed to mourn and call for a sacred assembly, but the entire nation was commanded to fast and to cry out to the Lord their God, in sincere repentance of heart.

Israel failed to heed the past prophetic warnings of earlier prophets.

Joel’s heartfelt appeal for repentance, his warning of coming destruction, is one more demonstration of the nation’s continued rebellion against the God of their forefathers, their refusal to heed His Word and obey the covenant promises they made at Mount Sinai.

What the chewing locusts left was eaten by the swarming locusts.

And what they did not devour, was taken by the crawling locusts and then the consuming ones.

In like manner, the prophesied day of the Lord will be one of the greatest destructions to befall the rebellious nation of Israel.

It will be a time such as the world has never seen, nor would ever see again.

However, it will be a time when Israel calls out to the Lord and He will hear and rescue His people.

The entire passage compares the advance and destruction of this terrible locust invasion with speedy horses.

It likens them to a vast army of marching men of war who steadily advance with unrelenting menace, in a strict formation – but who plunder everything in their path like a well organized band of marauders and thieves.

Israel’s rebellion against the Lord, which included sloth and drunkenness, resulted in the barrage of these devouring locusts.

And the consequences of their continued rebellion, apostasy, and disobedience, would result in judgement – the coming ‘Day of the Lord’.

Joel’s entire prophecy was given to the nation of Israel.

Although it was partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost when many men of Israel repented of their sins and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the full and final fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, which begins with a day of thick darkness and progresses into the glories of the Millennial Kingdom of Christ,

will take place at the end of Daniel’s 70th week i.e. the Great Tribulation, which is sometimes called the Time of Jacobs Trouble.

The continued grace and mercy of God can be seen in His divine appeal to the people of Judah to repent of their sins and return to the Lord – for we read:

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping and mourning.” [verse 12]

Both for the nation of Israel and for unsaved Gentiles alike, the precious truth of this passage is that it is never too late for sinners or backsliders to turn away from their sins, to return to the Lord with all their heart, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

It is a beautiful demonstration the goodness, grace, and mercy of our long-suffering God, remains fully open to ALL who will simply trust in His Word,

remember His goodness, genuinely return to Him with heart and soul – and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

It shows that fasting, with weeping and morning, is often associated with true repentance of heart.

And although, there is no written covenant, set rules, or legalistic regulations which are required of Church-age believers, it is very important and wise to take note of things that outwardly demonstrate an inward change of heart.

That is why the LORD says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.— Joel 2:13 NLT

God is far more concerned about hearts genuinely loving Him and longing to be in a relationship with Him than He is about a lot of external religious trappings.

The Hebrew Testament prophets emphasized that God’s people often lost their hearts to what was false and only gave lip service to God in their rituals.

Jesus also emphasized that God wanted us to love Him and serve Him from our hearts and not just by going through religious motions.

For us to make the max best decision possible “hope for our hearts,” We must hear several of Joel’s key phrases passionately speaking God’s invitation to us:

“Give me your hearts…”
“Don’t tear your clothing… tear your hearts instead.”

God pleads for us to return to Him, wholeheartedly:

“Turn to me now, while there is time.”

Why would the Almighty God plead with His lowly creations?

Because YHWH loves us and longs for us to come home to Him, and love Him — heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Our “Abba” Father is full and maxed out of unfailing love [John 3:16-18]

even now yearns to be utterly received, “merciful and compassionate” to us!

The amazing, awe-inspiring truth is as simple and straightforward as it is glorious: The Creator of the universe, with all of its vastness, mystery, and beauty, 100% knows us and longs for us to draw near to Him and know Him.

Let’s come to this God seeking to hug Him, and embrace Him and love Him and know Him and experience Him exactly as we are now loved and known by Him!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Merciful God, you called us forth from the dust of the earth; you claimed us for Christ in the waters of baptism. Look upon us as with mercy and forgiveness as we enter these next Forty Days bearing the mark of ashes, and torn and rendered hearts and please bless the journey through the desert of Lent to the blessed font of rebirth. As we remember our mortality and seek penitence today, we know you to be a God who is rich in forgiveness and abounding in steadfast love, love that culminates in eternal life with you. Guide our steps this Lent, so that we might find greater fulfillment in your promises and better serve others with a heart that’s reflective of you. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Lenten Preparation for Repentance: When Our Defenses Crumble, Where Will We Run to take Refuge? Psalm 11

Psalm 11 Amplified Bible

The Lord a Refuge and Defense.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

11 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust];
How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain;
²
For look, the wicked are bending the bow;
They take aim with their arrow on the string
To shoot [by stealth] in darkness at the upright in heart.
³
“If the foundations [of a godly society] are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”

⁴
The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven.
His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of men.
⁵
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
And His soul hates the [malevolent] one who loves violence.
⁶
Upon the wicked (godless) He will rain coals of fire;
Fire and ^[a]brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind will be the portion of their cup [of doom].
⁷
For the Lord is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice);
The upright shall see His face.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

What does it mean to ‘rend the heart,’ and not just the clothing?

Much more than simply giving a whole array of apologies for bad behaviour.

David the Psalmist is urging the people to remember God’s covenant promises.

It’s easy to make outward shows of penitence without reaching inward to the heart.

David calls for the same depth of repentance which Jesus calls for.

To that end, as we once again prepare ourselves for tomorrow, Ash Wednesday for me to reminds each of us that Lent is so very much more than simply a time apologize for our “weaknesses” so just to ‘get my life back on track,’ as it were.

Lent is a time of focusing what ought to be our habit of seeing the heart anyway.

Above all, Lent reminds us of the character of God, which we all too easily lose sight of when we stray from those habits of the heart: forgiving and gracious, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

But, once we commit ourselves to the works of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, once we send our hearts into engaging with the sword of God’s Word,

It is promised by the Lord that changes and transformations will take place.

When those changes and transformations start and God is getting under our skins, into our souls, there is no stopping God from achieving His desired ends.

It is only a matter of choosing our desired response – run to self or run to God.

Build our own Castles, taking safe refuge in our own self defense mechanisms, or as the Prophet Isaiah predicted would one day have to happen to humanity;

Isaiah 2:2-5Amplified Bible

²
Now it will come to pass that
In the last days
The mountain of the house of the Lord
Will be [firmly] established as the ^[a]highest of the mountains,
And will be exalted above the hills;
And all the nations will stream to it.
³
And many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;
That He may teach us His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For the law will go out from Zion
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴
And He will judge between the nations,
And will mediate [disputes] for many peoples;
And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not lift up the sword against nation,
And never again will they learn war.

⁵
O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

In our hearts an in our souls …

The Mountain of the Lord is firmly established as the Highest Mountain.

When the people say … come, let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord,

To the House of the God of Jacob;

That He may teach us His ways …

That we may walk in His paths…”

Then the Revival of our Hearts and our Souls may truly have their re-birth.

O’ House of Jacob …

O’ Body of Christ …

O’ Child of God …

COME …

Choose This Day Where You Should Run For Refuge

11 In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust];
How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain; [Psalm 11:1]

When it comes to degrees and measures of crises in our life, it is not a matter of whether they will come but when and then just how hardcore they will be.

When they do arrive in whatever capacity and catastrophe, our response will be to flee to a safe refuge— a safe haven somewhere or something or someone we implicitly trust will keep us safe and protect us from all the pounding storms.

So the question then will not be whether we will flee but where we will flee to.

Some of us will take the advice of David’s friends in Psalm 11.

These advisors urged him to “flee like a bird to your mountain.”

Difficulty had come for David, seemingly in the form of threats to his life, with wicked people preparing to aim their arrows at him (Psalm 11:2).

The counsel he received was essentially to head for the hills, to get away, to go somewhere that removed him from adversity as fast as he could if not faster.

David did not heed this advice.

But what about you?

But what about me?

While you and I likely will never face armed foes threatening you with violence, and for those whose lives intersected with combat zones, crisis will come to you someday, in one form or another, in some measure and some degree or another.

It could be social pressure, peer pressure, to compromise biblical convictions, an unwanted diagnosis, or intense relational or financial or an personal strife.

Where will you flee?

Where will I flee?

Will we too head for the hills, finding some form of escapism, be it an effort at numbing yourself with endless media consumption or abusing a substance, or throwing yourself into hyperdrive, frenetic activity in another part of your life?

Or will you and I be able to say with David, “In the LORD I take refuge”?

David had seen God deliver him from bears, lions, and a Philistine giant.

The Lord had more than sufficiently proven Himself to be a trustworthy refuge, and David remembered those moments and took that to heart, relying on God.

David knew the Lord was a mighty refuge; that had been borne out again and again in his life – his trust in God was grounded and rooted deep in experience, making it sturdy enough to withstand life’s darkness and the Evil One’s darts.

Have your eyes been opened to God’s trustworthiness?

Have you trusted Him in response?

If you are a Christian, remember that your new life began by taking refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once, you were facing the wrath of an eternal God, with no hope to be found.

The only hope you had was to cast yourself on God’s mercy and embrace the salvation offered in Christ, and so you fled to Him and found eternal refuge.

God desires for you and me to seek refuge in Him not only at the beginning of the journey but until Christ returns or calls us home, and not only for eternal salvation but in the measures and degrees of storms of this concourse of life.

Trouble will come—and when it does, you can either head for the hills or you can lift up your eyes beyond the hills and to the Lord “who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2), facing the crisis with 100% confidence and, yes, even joy.

100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Father.

100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Son.

100% Trust, Confidence and yes, even Joy … in God, the Holy Spirit.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord God Almighty, shaper and ruler of all creatures, we pray for your great mercy, that you guide us towards you, for we cannot find our way. And guide us to your will, to the need of our soul, for we cannot do it ourselves. And make our mind steadfast in your will and aware of our soul’s need. Pray, Lord, to shield us against our foes, seen and unseen. Teach us to do your will, that we may inwardly love you before all things with a pure mind. For you alone are our maker and our redeemer, our help, our very best friend, comfort, our trust, our hope; praise and glory be to you now and forever.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Asking Ourselves the Hard Questions, Preparing for Lent, How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in All of Our Weaknesses? 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

2 Corinthians 12:7-10Amplified Bible

A Thorn in the Flesh

⁷Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself! ⁸Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me; ⁹but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. ¹⁰So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

A Thorn in the Flesh …

The apostle Paul was dedicated to God.

But Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”—possibly a persistently challenging and spiritually demanding circumstance or disease that bothered him quite a lot.

He called it “a messenger of Satan, to torment” him.

We don’t know exactly what it was, but somehow it made Paul physically or spiritually [or both] weaker than he wanted to be.

Thorns prick, scratch, and wound.

However, the point of Paul’s example is that because of his thorn in the flesh, God was able to work through him and his weaknesses ever more powerfully.

Although Paul had pleaded three times with the Lord to take his thorn away, the Lord only responded saying to Paul,

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul notes that he was given his thorn “in order to keep . . . from becoming conceited.”

This means Paul knew if he did not have this thorn, he could have become self-reliant and proud of his ability to “power through anything by his own will.”

So Paul is teaching us that his thorn in the flesh was actually a good thing.

It was a sign of God’s grace to keep him focused on God, dependent on God, reliant on God and away from his becoming a proud “iron willed” follower.

And we can surely thank God for that.

This does not mean we should ask God to give us a thorn in the flesh.

We can trust that God knows what is best for us.

But if God does allow us to have a particular kind of suffering, we can also trust that he can use it to do good.

As Paul writes in another place,

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in Weakness?

Although being a Christian doesn’t grant us the power to endure every physical difficulty, it does grant us ready access to the Holy Spirit who abides within us.

His Holy Spirit may not be a superpower, but it’s a genuine supernatural power.

It may not enable us to look like the Hulk when it comes to both spiritual and physical challenges, but Holy Spirit provides us with an otherworldly strength to live into our oncoming circumstances and to conquer the challenges of life.

This is the kind of strength that can only be manifested in our weaknesses.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”

So what is this power, and how can we, as believers, come to access it during the up and coming Post-Pandemic Lenten season and strenuous challenges of life?

What Does ‘My Power Is Made Perfect in Weakness’ Mean?

We often try to come across as the I-can-do-it-all Christian—making perfect grades in school or raising well-behaved children while maintaining the ultra squeaky-clean Christian reputation in church.

If we come across a challenge that seems too much for us to handle, we often blame ourselves for not being “strong enough.”

As though we some how an in some way believe that God automatically expects us to do all the things with “ease” and never cave beneath the pressures of life.

But we were simply never created to bear this life through our own strength.

In fact, we don’t even have within ourselves the ability to bear its weight!

So why should we or do we, try so hard to look like Miss or Mr. Independent “Iron” Christian when, really, God frowns upon this type of approach to life?

It is impossible for us to conquer anything apart from God’s sufficient grace.

Writing this, I wonder if God purposely created our bodies to cave beneath pressure—so we could realize we can do nothing apart from Him (see John 15:5).

But rather than allowing this to make us frustrated, get all of our faults and all failures and failings all bunched up inside our heads, perhaps we should instead use these weaknesses to propel us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ, and drawing supernatural strength from the power of the Holy Spirit – to rely more on God?.

God intended us to rely on this Holy Spirit day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

This is why Jesus said this to His disciples before He was crucified:

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” [John 16:7]

John 16:7Amplified Bible

⁷But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the ^[a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

It is for our benefit that Jesus left the “Advocate,” which is the Holy Spirit.

If we did not have the Spirit abiding within us, then we would not have access to this power.

We would struggle through life, relying only on our own mental an physical muscles to face life’s battles.

But we do have the Holy Spirit.

This means as we abide in Him, we can draw strength from Him rather than ourselves.

We can ask Him to give us what we need to overcome this life.

Confessing ourselves before Him: “No, me, myself, I, simply cannot do it all.”

That’s a good thing!

If we could, then we would never have the opportunity to allow God’s power—which is far stronger than any human strength—to be made apparent within us.

We would continue through life as Miss or Mrs. or Mr. Iron Clad Independent Christian, never having a need to depend on God alone and gain access to His grave-conquering power.

What Is the Context of 2 Corinthians 12:9?

In this chapter, Paul shares about a heavenly vision God gave him that gained him access to spiritual revelations.

He was not permitted to share these insights with anyone and did not want to receive the credit for them.

To keep him humble, he says that God intentionally allowed him to have a “thorn in the flesh” (see verse 7).

Paul goes on to discuss the pain of this suffering, as well as its eventual advantage, in verses 8-10:

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Obviously, the strength he refers to in the final verse is not human strength but a supernatural strength.

And it is only through experiencing the weakness that he was he able to receive this power.

In other words, Paul recognized that it was not through an independent attitude that he could boast, but rather a complete dependency, reliance upon God.

It was this dependency and reliance on God that kept him humble as well.

It is also interesting to take a look at the meaning of the Greek words used in this passage.

The phrase “is sufficient” is arkei, which means to assist, benefit, and to be satisfied.

Christ’s grace benefits us in our weaknesses by allowing us to grow stronger—not in our might, but in His.

Thus, we are more equipped to face the challenges and sufferings of life.

The word “power” here is dynamis, which implies a force and miraculous power.

It is pretty miraculous when His strength becomes manifested in our weaknesses!

“Is perfected” is teleitai, which implies bringing to completion, to accomplish and fulfill.

When we receive His miraculous power to strengthen us, we don’t just receive a portion of it.

We can receive it to the full—and all for the singular purpose of accomplishing His perfect will.

Finally, the phrase “may rest” is episkēnōsē.

This is translated to mean to pitch a tent upon or to dwell and abide within.

How interesting is that?

So, If you like camping out under the stars …

So, if you like staying dry against the rains …

In a strong, dependable, reliable, long lasting, enduring, well staked tent,

Psalm 19Amplified Bible

The Works and the Word of God.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands.
²
Day after day pours forth speech,
And night after night reveals knowledge.
³
There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars];
Their voice is not heard.
⁴
Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world.
In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun,
⁵
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
⁶
The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷
The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul;
The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple.
⁸
The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed];
In keeping them there is great reward.
¹²
Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults.
¹³
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins;
Let them not rule and have control over me.
Then I will be blameless (complete),
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
¹⁴
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.

Let that love for camping become one more “JEHOVAH” sized reminder …

Christ’s power can literally descend upon us as we dwell and abide in Him.

This “tent” of Christ can remain our safe place of refuge.

It’s interesting to note, too, how the phrase “may rest” in this passage compares to the phrase “made His dwelling” in John 1:14:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

The passage “made His dwelling” is translated eskēnōsen, which means to dwell in a tent, to occupy or to reside.

So, Jesus came to earth so that He could dwell with us—and when He departed, He gave us the Holy Spirit so that He could continue to do the same.

He still dwells with us, and we can dwell in Him.

But we must crucify our desires to work and face this life apart from Christ.

After all, it is only as we abide and dwell in Him that we will display His full power within us, bearing “much fruit,” as mentioned in John 15.

What Does the Bible Have to Say about Weakness?

The word “weakness” in 2 Corinthians 12:9 implies suffering, insults, and persecution.

These aren’t exactly physical limitations but rather limitations we face in our everyday lives, such as the temptation to sin, heartache, and distress.

It is evident throughout the Bible that God does not intend to remove these weaknesses from our life.

If He did, then we would never have the pleasure of witnessing His power overcome.

We would never have the privilege of allowing our weaknesses to find their rest and completion in His strength.

Sadly, the idea of depending on someone may look like a weakness itself to our society.

We love to come across as strong, independent, and self-reliant, needing nothing and no one.

It is true humans are strong and intelligent—but this type of “Iron and Steel” independent mentality is frowned upon in God’s eyes.

And our strength is nothing to boast about, because according to 1 Corinthians 1:25, “God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”

So if God’s weakness is even stronger than our greatest strength, then why shouldn’t we willingly want to receive His power?

One of the reasons why God allowed His Son to come to earth was so that He could understand our human condition.

Basically, He wanted to become familiar with our weaknesses.

Hebrews 4:15-16 makes this clear:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus understands our sufferings.

Why, then, should we try to stubbornly fix our issues by ourselves when the One who has already conquered this world invites each and every single one of us to completely, utterly, and fully, rely on Him?

It is only when we relent in our own efforts and apply the above Scripture to our lives that we will then fully appreciate and abundantly receive the help we need.

God’s power being made evident in our weaknesses is also illustrated in stories throughout the Old Testament, such as David conquering Goliath, as well as in the following verses:

“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength” Isaiah 40:29.

“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 4:6.

Apostle Paul also spoke of God’s strength being made known in his weakness in Philippians 4:11-13:

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

When I read these passages of scripture, enormous joy arises within me because I realize just exactly how empowered I am.

Whatever trials or temptations God allows into my life, I can overcome.

Not in my own strength, of course, but in God’s power being made perfect in my weakness.

Another reference to our fragility finding completion in God’s strength is in 2 Corinthians 4:7, where Paul wrote:

“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Perhaps this is why God often uses the weak of the world to demonstrate His greatest power and to “shame the wise” (see 1 Corinthians 1:27):

So that more of His glory can be on display.

When we overcome a weakness we would not be able to conquer on our own, then it is obvious, just like the above verse says, the great power came from God and not from ourselves.

And shouldn’t that remain our main goal as Christians?

To spread more of His glory rather than our own?

But the only way we can gain this strength is to give up our independent tendencies and learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit within us.

Ephesians 3:16 says, “I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”

I believe God is searching for Christians who can admit their weaknesses and shortcomings, because only in doing that will His purposes be accomplished.

This is why Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit, after all.

So as we dwell in Him, we could be empowered to embrace the uncomfortable, including sufferings and persecution.

All for the sake of extending His Kingdom.

This means that the weaker we are, the more His power can be displayed within us and through us.

Apostle Paul was right—we now have every right to boast in our weaknesses!

This Lenten Season, Let’s choose to Go ‘camping’ with God, Son, Holy Spirit.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your grace is sufficient for all my needs. Help me to recognise and rejoice in the knowledge that Your power is made perfect in my own weakness. Help me to boast all the more gladly in my inabilities so that Your great ability may be manifest in my life. By thy Holy Spirit, May everything I do be to Your praise and glory, my Lord and my God. Creating and eternal God, whose grace is sufficient for us and whose power is made perfect in weakness, in our weakness and insufficiency, we offer our lives and the gifts of our living for the work of your mustard seed kingdom; in our Lord, King and Savior Jesus’ name. AMEN.

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A Comforting Question, Thought, For Today: Scripturally Speaking, What Do We Believe Heaven is Like? John 14:1-6

John 14:1-6Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. ²In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. ⁴And [to the place] where I am going, you know the way.” ⁵Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” ⁶Jesus said to him, “^[a]I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia. Amen.

An experienced traveler knows the value of making hotel reservations.

They spend some time working on their itinerary – the quality of the hotel they will be staying in, the quality of the food from local restaurants, entertainment venues which will help them pass their time while they are away from family.

The very thought of a comfortable room, a comfortable bed, the possibility of a good meal waiting for us at your destination just makes one feel more relaxed.

If we have to be away from our families, we might as well know the best ways we will be able to relax, get our share of work and rest, enjoy that time away.

The trip goes ever more smoothly when you have those advanced reservations.

In our reading for today from John’s Narrative, Rabbi Jesus speaks of hospitable lodging at the end of a long trip.

To comfort his disciples then, He tells us, his followers now , not to be worried during our journey on the road to eternity, on the road to our heavenly abode.

We have to trust in the Father.

In his heavenly abode there are many rooms.

And the Son prepares a special place for us.

The best medicine for a heavenly travelers heart is to utterly trust in God.

As we study this passage, we discover two important facts.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/14/1-3/t_conc_1011002

First, Jesus promises us more than just temporary housing.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3438/kjv/tr/0-1/

The Greek words refer to “dwelling places,” and that implies permanence and stability.

Once we travel into that heavenly sanctuary, we won’t have to worry about finding new shelter again.

Second, we won’t have to look for that place on our own.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/14/1-3/t_conc_1011003

On this earth, it can be challenging to find an unfamiliar location, even with good directions.

But Jesus himself will return to show us the way.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2064/kjv/tr/0-1/

The reservation confirmation for this heavenly lodging is going to be very simple.

BELIEVE IN GOD …

BELIEVE ALSO IN HIS SON, JESUS …

BELIEVE It’s forever safe for us in the hands of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have you trusted him fully?

But, I can imagine that such a complete level of trust should have come from Rabbi Jesus’ disciples in that Upper Room after they have been told their Rabbi was going away – was going to be arrested, humiliated, brutalized, and killed.

I can also probably safely guess that if we were the ones in that Upper Room, our hearts too would be greatly disquieted and visibly shocked, out of sorts.

Setting aside the indescribable shock of learning your Messiah is about to be [voluntarily] walking down the roadway into his own grave, from which there is no return, is the lingering question for them of exactly what comes afterwards.

A Place, A heavenly place, A heavenly Abode …. A Mansion with many rooms.

Prepared by Jesus Himself … who will return for us one day … take us “home.”

What About this “Heavenly Mansion, Heavenly Home?”

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!” ― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

Everyone wants to know about heaven and everyone wants to go there.

Except, who has actually been there and will testify, paint that masterpiece everyone will automatically point to and believe is the true and actual place?

Recent polls suggest that nearly 80% of all Americans believe there is a place called heaven.

I find that statistic encouraging because it tells me that even in this skeptical age there is something deep inside the human heart that cries out,

“There has got to be something more, something better.”

Something more than the pain and suffering of this life.

Something more than 70 or 80 years on planet earth. Something more than being born, living, suffering an dying, and then being buried in the ground.

Sometimes we talk about a “God-shaped vacuum” inside the human heart.

I believe there is also a “heaven-shaped vacuum,” a sense that we were made for something more than this life.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13Amplified Bible

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live; ¹³and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

God Himself, despite our own self-opinions, has made everything and everyone beautiful and appropriate in their own time, their own unique, individual place.

God has also planted eternity, a sense of divine purpose into our human hearts.

And then gifted us with an insatiable desire we always refer to as “curiosity.”

Considering this notion of “curiosity” and the always and forever lingering question “what comes next for us when Jehovah Ra’ah the shepherd comes?”

It is reasonable to say and then to believe that …

“We were definitely made to live forever somewhere.”

In a very real sense we were made for heaven.

There is another fascinating statistic I should mention.

Not only do most Americans believe in heaven, most people expect to go there when they die.

If you took a microphone to the streets of where ever you live and asked, “Do you think you will go to heaven when you die?”

the vast majority of people would answer, “I hope so,” or “I think so,” or perhaps “I think I’ve got a good chance.

Not very many people would say they aren’t going to heaven.

Perhaps one modest point is in order.

Whenever you talk about living forever somewhere, it would help to know for sure where you are going.

After all, if you’re wrong about heaven, you’re going to be wrong for a long, long time.

With that background, I now consider some what I believe are some of the most frequently asked questions about heaven.

But before I jump in, I should make one preliminary point.

The only things we can know for certain about heaven are the things revealed in the Bible.

Everything else is just speculation and hearsay.

The Bible tells us everything we need to know and I believe it also tells us everything we can know for certain about heaven.

Where is Heaven?

There are three things I can try to tell you in answer to this question.

John 14:1-3Easy-to-Read Version

Jesus Comforts His Followers

14 Jesus said, “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God, and trust in me. ²There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you with me, so that you can be where I am.

1. The most important fact is that heaven is a real place.

Twice in three verses Jesus calls heaven a place.

He means that heaven (“my Father’s house”) is a real place, as real as New York, London or Chicago.

The place called heaven is just as real as the place you call home.

It’s a very real place which is why the Bible sometimes compares heaven to a mansion with many rooms (John 14:1-3) and sometimes to an enormous city teeming with people (Revelation 21).

2. The Bible also tells us that heaven is the dwelling place of God.

His throne is there, the angels are there, the Lord Jesus Christ is in heaven.

Philippians 3:20 says very plainly that “our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

That’s why Jesus told the thief on the Cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

3. Third (and I find this fact fascinating), the Bible hints heaven is not as far away as we might think.

Because heaven is a real place, we will sometimes think it must be outside our present universe – which would mean billions and billions of light years away.

However, it’s very clear that the early Christians understood that they would pass immediately from this life into the presence of Christ in heaven.

How can that be possible if heaven is “beyond the farthest universal bounds?”

Hebrews 12:22-24Amplified Bible

²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels [in festive gathering], ²³and to the general assembly and assembly of the firstborn who are registered [as citizens] in heaven, and to God, who is Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous (the redeemed in heaven) who have been made perfect [bringing them to their final glory], ²⁴and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

Hebrews 12:22-24 tells us something amazing about what the gospel has done for us:

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

The writer is here comparing Mt. Sinai with Mt. Zion.

Under the old covenant no one could come near God except under very strict conditions – and then only by one person – the High Aaronic High Priest .

That’s why the mountain shook with thunder and lightning.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/heb/12/22-24/s_1145022

[Note: three times the writer of Hebrews uses a Greek word that means “to come near” or “to approach closely.]

But now in Christ, we have been brought near to heavenly realities.

Think very carefully and very prayerfully of what the author is saying:

We’re not that far from heaven.
We’re not that far from the angels.
We’re not that far from our loved ones in heaven.
We’re not that far from God.
We’re not that far from Jesus himself.
Heaven is a real place, it’s where Jesus is right now, and it’s not far away from us.

What is Heaven Like?

I would have to answer this by saying that the Bible doesn’t give us a great deal of information.

By the Word of God for the Children of God are images and pictures and visions of heaven and comparisons with life on earth.

What is heaven like? Here are seven biblical facts about heaven. It is …

God’s dwelling place (Psalms 33:13).
Where Christ is today (Acts 1:11).
Where Christians go when they die (Philippians 1:21-23).
The Father’s house (John 14:2).
A city designed and built by God (Hebrews 11:10).
A better country (Hebrews 11:16).
Paradise (Luke 23:43).

Most of us have heard that heaven is a place where the streets are paved with gold, the gates are made of pearl, and the walls made of precious jewels.

Those images come from Revelation 21, which offers us the most extended picture of heaven in the entire Bible.

If you ask me if I believe those things are literally true, the answer is yes and no.

Yes, they are literally true but no, heaven won’t be anything like we imagine.

It will be infinitely greater.

When John writes about a street paved with gold, I do not doubt his words.

He simply reports what he saw in his vision.

Thus, I believe his words are literally true.

They are also meant to tell us that the things we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.

Each of the stones and gems mentioned in the chapter represent something to the readers, have very well known and very specific spiritual qualities to them.

They are also meant to tell us that the things of this earth we value so highly in this life will be used to pave the roads in heaven.

https://biblehub.com/commentaries/revelation/21-19.htm

You may also google each stone individually … Educate Yourself.

Jesus Has Our Eternal Travel Itinerary Already Prepared For Us

John 14:1-7 The Message

The Road

14 ^1-4“Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

⁵Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

^6-7Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

Believe in God the Father …

Believe in God the Son …

Believe in God the Holy Spirit …

Believe in the Word of God for the Children of God …

Believe in the Life, Death, and Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Loving Father, thank You for Christ’s wonderful words of comfort, “Let not your heart be troubled…” Thank You that God the Son came to earth as the Son of Man to bring comfort to my heart, healing to my soul, and live in my spirit. Enable me, in the power of the Spirit, to hold fast to this wonderful truth in Your Word, and I pray that You endow me with the wisdom, the words, and the grace, to pour forth Your great comfort to others who are facing their own difficult trials. Our Father, what a total joy it is to know that Jesus has prepared a place for us in your presence! Help us to overcome our worries and to trust in you fully as we journey with you. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Are we Looking Through Heaven’s Open Door? 10 Reasons We Should Believe in Heaven. Revelation 4:1-4

Revelation 4:1-4Amplified Bible

Scene in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, ^[a]a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” ²At once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. ³And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] ^[b]a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald. ⁴Twenty-four [other] thrones surrounded the throne; and seated on these thrones were ^[c]twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, with crowns of gold on their heads.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Once John was charged to write the book of Revelation, when he met with the resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus in chapter 1, and having received Christ’s 7 letters to the 7 churches in chapters 2-3, he is given a vision of the throne room of God and commanded to, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”

Not only was John given important information for the Churches, but he was also commanded to ‘see’ and to ‘hear’ what was going to happen beyond the current Church age, “after these things.”

After acting as God’s heavenly, High Priest to the Church-age saints and interceding as heaven’s Mediator between God and man, John is shown how Christ will begin to take on His role of Judge, before returning to earth to claim His position as King of kings and Lord of lords.

“I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven,” John writes, “and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.”

The angel who met John in the prologue was the same angel who accompanied him throughout the entire revelation of Jesus Christ – which the Father gave to His Son… to give to John through His angel.

The apostle John was about to receive a preview of the future, which began with a vision of heaven in chapter 4 and moved to the worship of the Lamb of God in chapter 5.

He saw One seated on the throne which had the appearance of crystal-clear jasper and a blood-red Sardis stone, and John recorded that there was a rainbow surrounding the throne that reminded him of a brilliant green emerald.

Twice he was summoned to, “come up here.”

The same voice which sounded like that of a trumpet in chapter 1, commanded him to join the heavenly host of angelic beings that surrounded the throne of God, by means of a door which was standing open in heaven.

And being, “in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” John was given an amazing insight into the future.. and greater revelation of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God and Lion of the tribe of Judah.

After Christ’s revelation to the Churches ended, John’s vison changed, and he was ushered into heaven – in spirit and in truth.

He discovered that the heavenly scene into which he had been brought, was preparing to unseal a special scroll which had been securely sealed by God Himself with seven seals.

As the heavenly scene unfolded, John discovered that he was witnessing to the precursor of the prophesied judgement on earth – the Day of the Lord which he recorded in chapters 6-19 when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

The sight that John saw during chapters 4-5, were the heavenly preparation for that future time of Great Tribulation, recorded in chapters 6-19, which is to fall on a Christ-rejecting sinful world and which will bring Israel to national repentance and punishment to the God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world.

While John’s body remained on earth, his spirit was translated into heaven where he witnessed a vision of the angelic host that surround the throne of Almighty God – the Ancient of Days.

As he looked, John was introduced to four living creatures who worship God day and night and 24 elders who were clothed in white raiment with crowns of gold on their heads.

The vison of the throne-room of God, the worship of the Lamb Who was slain, and the presentation of a seven-sealed scroll, which no-one but Lamb could break, are all part-and-parcel of the heavenly vision John saw in chapters 4 and 5.

It was after he had received Christ’s revelation to the Church (chapters 1-3) but before the revelation of Christ to the world in His role as Judge (chapters 6-19) when the wrath of God is poured out upon the children of disobedience, that the aged apostle John looked,

“and behold, a door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said to him, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'”

In chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, the focus shifts to a new and powerful story of God’s ongoing mission.

This new section begins with John seeing “a door standing open in heaven.”

This picture surprises us because we know that an open door often extends an invitation to come in.

This is an enticing opportunity to believe because heaven is often considered a place of mysteries that we do not have access to.

For the most part, it is God’s secret—at least from our day-to-day living in this life.

But here Jesus opens heaven’s door.

And in a voice like a trumpet, he welcomes us, saying, “Come up here.”

The invitation promises to reveal “what must take place after this.”

But as John tells the story of walking through heaven’s open door, the future is not the first thing that catches his attention.

Instead, he sees “a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”

Heaven’s open door has us standing before the throne of all thrones, from which everything in heaven and on earth is loved and cared for.

Still today, the Holy Spirit opens heaven’s door wide so that we can visualize, believe, this scene and let its story encourage us to live by faith in Jesus today.

Considering Reasons to Believe in Heaven

Let us strive to remember that the one who reads, hears, and takes to heart this amazing revelation is blessed.

“Blessed is he that reads, and those that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand.”

Believing in Heaven …

“Heaven is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” –Stephen Hawking

I’m afraid of the dark.

If we are talking about the endless kind of darkness which offers us no light anywhere, no hope ever, and nothing but nothingness, who among us would not panic at the thought of that?

I expect people like Mr. Hawking simply find the idea of Heaven too good to be true, and thus conclude that it must be a product of man’s delusional yearning for “pie in the sky by and by.”

And yet, there are solid reasons for reasonable people to believe in the concept of a Heavenly home after this earthly life.

Here are some that mean a lot to me.

By no means is this list exhaustive.

It’s simply my laymen’s thinking on the subject.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less. {Ecclesiastes 3:1-22}

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then.

“I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

If it were not so, I would have told you.

Jesus said that.

I believe Him.

I choose to believe.

1. Jesus Believed in Heaven

In fact, He claimed to be a native.

The Lord said to Nicodemus, “No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13). No one knows a place like a native.

Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).

So, wherever we go when we die, it’s a paradise.

True, He left us a thousand unanswered questions on the subject, but what He told us is pure gold.

For instance, when He returns, the dead in Christ accompany Him (I Thessalonians 4:14).

It appears that our eventual destination is somewhere different from the initial, intermediate place called “Paradise,” but we should have no trouble leaving the details to Him – after all, we can trust the One who died for us.

2. Scripture consistently teaches the existence of Heaven.

We must not let people get by with saying the Old Testament knew nothing of Heaven.

“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” said David in everyone’s favorite psalm.

Or this one: “As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

Job said, “My Redeemer liveth and at last shall stand upon the earth; yet even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another” (Job 19:25-27).

Neither must we cave to those who say the only way to understand such verses is to get inside the mind of the one who said those words originally, as if what they said is determinative and authoritative.

Peter said the prophets said more than they understood and even angels could not fathom some of these things. (I Peter 1:12).

3. I believe in Heaven because I believe in earth.

It’s so wonderful.

There is nothing else like it in the universe.

Suppose we lived in some distant world and all we knew was the planets we have seen–the barren, rocky planets that are molten in the day and frigid at night, those covered with acidic clouds or endless hurricanes–

and if someone told us about earth, with its steadiness, its atmosphere, its lovely scenery and its plant life and the richness of its minerals and a thousand other delights, we would find it hard to believe.

And yet here it is.

We are residents of this amazing planet.

We take the earth in stride because it’s all we know.

4. There has to be a heaven to even up the earthly hell God’s most faithful sometimes endure for Jesus’ sake.

Those of us who are “carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease,” to use Isaac Watts’ unforgettable image, have little idea of the price some have paid for their loyalty to Jesus Christ through the centuries.

Many live under oppressive regimes in our day, punished for doing nothing more than meeting in someone’s living room to worship or giving a friend a Bible.

I’m tempted to say “God owes them, big time,” but I don’t believe I want to be presumptuous or blasphemous.

“God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you have shown toward His name in having ministered to the saints, and in still ministering” is how Hebrews 6:10 puts it.

If God were not to reward the faithfulness of the most loyal, it would be sin on His part.

After all, “this momentary light affliction is working for us an exceeding weight of glory far beyond all comparison” says 2 Corinthians 4:17.

5. Every caterpillar/butterfly testifies to our heavenly future.

Suppose we could inform that caterpillar crawling across a leaf of the glorious future just ahead of him (it?).

Would that humble creature believe he (it) would someday have gorgeous wings and flit through the sky?

So, why do we have such difficulty believing in the destiny God has planned for and promised to His own?

6. I believe in Heaven because the alternative belief is in despair.

“I would have despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).

This world, by the way, is not the land of the living, but is the land of the dying.

The “land of the living” is just over the next ridge, immediately following our final breath here.

Jesus said, “Because I live, you too shall live.”

Who among us has not grieved at the thought of never seeing a precious loved one again, as we have left the cemetery.

The alternative to faith is despair.

7. I believe in Heaven because some of the best people who ever lived believed in Heaven.

Pick up a Bible and read it ….

A whole lot of formerly ordinary people from literally all walks of life had come to faith in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit long before I was ever even told there was a God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12:1-2.]

8. I believe in Heaven because I believe in hell.

Luke 16:27-28Amplified Bible

²⁷So the rich man said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house— ²⁸for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’

There has to be a hell.

I don’t like to think much about hell.

But I have to because God’s Word teaches about it.

The plain truth is that hell is real, and real people go there forever.

Several times in the Gospels we read Jesus was grieved when people turned away from him–grieved because he knew they were walking down the road that eventually would lead to hell.

The message Jesus brought is simple: Unless you turn and put your trust in me, you will die in your sins and face an eternity without me.

In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we see the rich man begging for a little relief from his suffering.

Father Abraham explains that this kind of relief is not possible.

The rich man then turns his attention toward his brothers who are still living.

“Then I beg you … send Lazarus… Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”

Notice a short time in hell turned this unbeliever into a motivated evangelist.

In a sense the rich man is saying,

“Someone has got to warn people that hell is real and that real people go there.”

How tragic that the man in this story found out too late.

What’s it going to take for you to become motivated?

Pray God’s grace, not his wrath, will fill your heart with a passion to save the lost.

9. I believe in Heaven because it’s a great incentive to responsible living and compassionate everything.

Skeptics will point to the shallow sayings of some believers that for the Heaven-bound this world does not matter, and that improving life on Earth is just so much arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Those who say such are wrong, their thinking unbiblical, their teachings are misleading.

We have great responsibilities here in this life, and it’s not just to get people to (ahem) “pray the sinner’s prayer” so they can go to heaven.

We were commissioned to make disciples, a far bigger thing.

“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,” says Psalm 115:16, “but the earth He has given to the sons of men.”

We are stewards of this planet, and thus answerable to Him.

I’ll go so far as to say those who are working to give the planet clean air and pure water, safe streets, are also doing the work of the Lord in their own way.

10. I believe in Heaven because of reasons I’m yet to discover.

There is so much more.

As some have said, we are “hard-wired” to believe in God and likewise in Heaven.

I willingly accept that and see it as residue of the creation.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less.

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then. “I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

“If it were not so, I would have told you.”

Jesus said that. I believe Him.

I simply choose to believe.

God, the Father …

God, the Son …

God, the Holy Spirit …

The Revealed Word of God …

The Resurrection ….

In Heaven …

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for the book of Revelation and for the greater insight and understanding it gives us into the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus, of what is to take place after He comes to take the members of His mystic Body to be with Himself, and how we should live in this present age. I pray that You would bless me as I read and take to heart all that is written in this final book of Scripture. Thank You that You are the eternal and immutable God Whose plans and purposes can never fail. Thank You for the Cross of Christ and His glorious Resurrection, which secured for us an eternal inheritance, by faith. I pray that all I say and do would give glory to You and that one day I may cast my crown before His feet. Thank you for all Your goodness and grace to me and to all men. This I pray in Jesus’ wonderful name.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

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Exodus 20:8-11 Amplified Bible

Keep the Sabbath [verse 8]

Keep the Sabbath [verses 9-10]

Our Sabbath Rest as Our Witness

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Exodus 20:1-4 Amplified Bible

The Ten Commandments

The Ten Commandments

“You Shall Have No Other Gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3)

“You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Idol” (Exodus 20:4)

No Image Engraved or in Mind [eXODUS 20:4]

Exodus 20:4 Amplified Bible

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Exodus 20:1-3Amplified Bible

The Ten Commandments

What Does ‘Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me’ Mean?

Why Is it Important That ‘Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me’ Is the First Commandment?

Why Did God Need to Say ‘Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods before Me’?

What Other Gods Might Christians Be Tempted to Bow Down to Today?

A Prayer to Have No Other Gods before God

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Exodus 20:1-2 Complete Jewish Bible

Loved By and Belonging to God

1 Peter 2:9-10 Complete Jewish Bible

God, The Giver of Law and Liberty

Exodus 20:1-2King James Version

God is NOT the Ultimate Cosmic Killjoy

Psalm 40The Message

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Psalm 46 Amplified Bible

God the Refuge of His People.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, set to soprano voices. A Song.

Be Still and Know that I Am God.

The Importance of How I View God

How Do You View God?

Do I Understand Him?

Should We Know It All?

What Have I Learned About How I View God?

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Joel 2:12-14Amplified Bible

Lent Begins … Does Hope Also Begin For Hurting Hearts?

John 3:16-18 The Message

Philippians 2:5-11 The Message

We Must Answer the Question: Will I Give My Heart Any Hope?

Joel 2:12-14 The Message

Change Your Life

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Psalm 11 Amplified Bible

The Lord a Refuge and Defense.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

Isaiah 2:2-5Amplified Bible

COME …

Choose This Day Where You Should Run For Refuge

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2 Corinthians 12:7-10Amplified Bible

A Thorn in the Flesh

A Thorn in the Flesh …

How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in Weakness?

What Does ‘My Power Is Made Perfect in Weakness’ Mean?

John 16:7Amplified Bible

What Is the Context of 2 Corinthians 12:9?

Psalm 19Amplified Bible

The Works and the Word of God.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

What Does the Bible Have to Say about Weakness?

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John 14:1-6Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

What About this “Heavenly Mansion, Heavenly Home?”

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13Amplified Bible

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

Where is Heaven?