December 11

Amos, Psalm 130, Revelation 3

Much like the other prophets, Amos was telling the people of Israel that God is going to judge them for their sins. So, what was their sin?  Being raised Jewish and coming to receive Jesus as Messiah later in life, I realize that the "chosen people" of Israel sinned not only against God's laws but against His love. What I've learned in my journey which connects by Jewish roots to my Lord Jesus is that God chose the nation of Israel to reveal Himself to, and gave them the responsibility to recognize the Messiah through the Scriptures and proclaim Him throughout the world. That's a pretty big responsibility, and as with all things in life, with this responsibility came accountability. The nation of Israel turned their back on God throughout their history, and as Amos warns the nation of the consequences of ignoring their responsibilities in their time, I believe we can draw a parallel throughout our reading and see how Jesus reminds us of our responsibility to carry the message of the gospel into the world because we know how The Story ends. "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you". (Rev. 3:3)  As Christ followers we have been given a responsibility through word and deed and we will be held accountable. As we pray through this advent season, take yourself back 2000 years and let your heart rejoice and be in awe with the angels in knowing that a wonderful event is about to happen. The One who was prophesied about in the Scriptures will be born. Let's be grateful because  from that birth we received a kingdom that cannot be shaken and the Lord our God is always with us now and not yet. It is in His return we have our hope. "Put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption." With the power of the Spirit which lives in us, filled with His love, rests our responsibility. Let's go share the Good News. 

Randi

bible blog post Monday December 9th

The Hope In Advent   (Revelation 1:4-8)

This day of Advent brings us that much closer to the much awaited and anticipated celebration of Jesus Birth.  Advent means "coming" or "arrival".  We spend this month looking forward to the celebration of Christ's birth and what it meant, what it brought, and what it promises for the future.  How fitting that our New Testament reading today starts in the book of Revelation and speaks of Christ's first arrival and the freedom it brought and then sets our eyes to looks forward to his second arrival, a new season of Advent for us. (Rev 1:4-7)

As we enter in to day 9 of Advent let us be encouraged to look forward to the arrival, to the day when we will meet "the Alpha and Omega....who is, and who was, and who IS TO COME, the Almighty." (Rev. 1:8).  His coming again will bring the fulfillment of the freedom his first arrival brought us.  It offers hope for today where no other hope can be found.  Many are going through difficult and uncertain times.  Many are facing grief and loss.  Many are facing challenges and fears.  Don't loose hope!!!  Look forward!  Be reminded and encourage to live in a constant season of Advent where we seek the one who is and we look forward to the one who is coming to be our help, our hope, and our strength for the right now. 

Spend some time this Advent day in the hope of Christ, who he was and what he did, who he is for us today, and the promise of his return in the future to bring us back to where we belong.  Let the season of advent (both of Christmas and Christ's return) bring a joy and a song to your heart that can only come from him.

Verses that can be used to reflect on and to encourage you this Advent day:

Ephesians 3:12   "In him (Jesus Christ) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."

Isaiah 40:31 "those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Philipians 1:6 "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

December 7: Pearl Harbor, Bataan, and Hope

Hosea 6:1-9:17

3 John 1:1-14

Psalm 126:1-6

Proverbs 29:12-14

Seventy-eight years ago, a period of fear, despair and helplessness dawned with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  On the west coast, people lived in fear the Japanese were next going to attack California.  The hopelessness was perhaps most evident in the Bataan Death March, where anywhere from 60 to 80 thousand Filipino and American soldiers were forced to march 65 miles to Manila, defeated.  A tenth of them didn't make it.  And it wasn't until almost 40 months later, after terrible battles in horrific conditions, was Manila liberated.  

Some victories take much longer.  Years later the Philippines was taken over by a dictator in 1965, one who declared martial law in 1972, and ruled till 1986. Twenty one years' waiting and praying, till a peaceful revolution ousted Marcos.  Even longer - the ordeal of East Germany, from 1945 to 1989.  Forty-four years' suffering, many in despair under the communists, till the Berlin Wall finally fell. 

The hardest battles, the ones that never seem to end and most often lead to despair and hopelessness, are the ones we fight to live our lives as best we can.   However we try to do the right thing, so many things trip us up.  Those who eat right get heart disease.  Those who don't smoke get lung cancer.  Those who save lose their savings.  Perhaps most frustratingly, those who try to live good lives continue to struggle with habitual sin.  

When mired in the helplessness of that never ending battle, where to find hope?  The psalm is clear: we cry out to God.  "Restore our fortunes, Lord, like streams in the Negev.  Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.  Those who go out weeping carrying seeds to sow will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with them."

Father, the battle is never ending, and we face certain defeat fighting it on our own.  Be our strength in battle, our hope amidst despair, our victory.

December 6

Hosea 4

 

 "Life is hard, but it's really hard when you are stupid."   John Wayne 

 

The very foundations of our society are being shaken and as a result we are making stupid decisions. At the same time, even the mention of common sense or guidance from the Bible is scoffed at and ridiculed.

  Kids are told they are freaks of nature or star dust, and we wonder why they have no purpose or meaning in life. 

  You can wake up today and choose what sex you are. There are now 63 genders.  

  Last week a British birth coach was forced to resign because she suggested that people who have wombs are… women. Can you imagine that!!!

  Joey Morris plans on marrying the love of his life - a robot troll doll that he has been dating for the last two years.

  Nazism is on the rise globally.

  Some of the staunchest abortion supporters admit a fetus is a baby, a human being. But to them it doesn't matter, because a woman has a right to do what she wants "with her own body."

 All of this causes me to question, doesn't anyone see the level of stupidity we have risen to?

 

Hosea saw the rise of stupidity in his day and he called it out. 

 

"There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land.  There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; They break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. " 4:1

 

     WOW, if that doesn't sound just like our society today!  So what is the only hope for this darkness?  It is found in verse 6, "my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge." It is the knowledge of God that is the only hope for our future. 

 

When this country was founded, the first goal was to establish schools. Early Christians realized we were called to love God with our heart, soul, and MIND. Schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Brown were all founded with the purpose of bringing the knowledge of Jesus to the students. In fact, 92% of the first 138 colleges and universities in America had that same goal. Our forefathers realized that if young people did not have knowledge of God, they would be destroyed.

 

In the end the hope of America is found in reading, studying and obeying the Bible. To that end, would you consider asking someone to read through the Bible with you in 2020?  This simple invitation could bring light to the darkness. Who could you ask? 

 

 

 

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Thursday, December 5

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." (1 John 5:11-15)

We often hear the refrain:  in life, there are no guarantees.  The financial services industry often makes the disclaimer:  "Past performance is no guarantee of future results."  We often understand that the only constant in life is change.  Naturally, we have reasons to expect uncertainty in worldly affairs.

Yet, in Kingdom terms, those who have a relationship with God may trust in God's many promises.  These promises are secure because of the trustworthiness and all-powerful nature of our sovereign God.

Here, we read about the certainty of salvation for those who have received the Son into their lives and the promise of God's responsiveness to our prayer according to His will.  These promises sustain us and become even richer when considering the brevity and fragility of life.  Rooting our confidence in God, we may carry through even in times of struggle and loss.  We will not be alone, for He promises never to leave or forsake us.

Which promises do you need to remember today? How could you be reminded?  What about writing one down in a journal or notepad?

Lord God, thank You for your very great and precious promises, which you have given us to strengthen and sustain us.  Bring to mind which promises we need to remember today and help us to cling to you in times of struggle and loss.  We love You and honor You today.  In Jesus's Name, amen.

Blog post December 4th

Blog post December 4th

 

Daniel 11:36-12:13

1 John 4:1-21

Psalm 123:1-4

Proverbs 29:2-4

 

"God is love", not "Love is God".

 

From today's reading we see how the antichrist will start to become the center of people's attention and there will be great suffering for Gods people ahead. Yet the great suffering is tempered by a great promise of hope for true believers.  Many people try to be "stars" in the world of entertainment, only to find their stardom is temporary. God tells us how we can be eternal "stars" by being wise and leading many to Gods righteousness. The trials we face make little sense to us when we go through them, but they can purify us if we are willing to learn from them. God does not reveal everything to us in life. He will tell us all we need to know.

  "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits" in 1 John 4:1,2 means that we shouldn't believe in every message or anything that someone says that was inspired by God. We need to make sure that their words line up with the word of God. We can also test this by seeing how that person's lifestyle and the fruit of their ministries but most importantly, is what they believe about Christ.  Do they teach Jesus is fully God and fully man? Our world is filled with voices claiming to speak the word of God. Give those voices the tests to see if they are speaking Gods truth as there are false prophets.

 

The antichrist will be a person who embodies all that is evil. It is easy to be frightened by the wickedness we see all around us and overwhelmed by the problems we face. Evil is stronger than we are, however God is even stronger. He will conquer all evil and his spirit and his word lives in our hearts. God is the source of our love, he loved us enough to sacrifice his Son for us. Jesus is our example of what it means to love, everything he did in life and death was loving. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love, He lives in our hearts and makes us more and more like Christ. God's love always involves a choice and an action, and our love should be like this. How well do we display our love for God in the actions and choices we make?

It is easy to say we love God when that love doesn't cost us anything more than weekly attendance at religious services. But the real test of our love for God is how we treat people right in front of our family members and fellow believers. We cannot truly love God while neglecting to love those who are created in his image. 

 

 Many people in today's world do not acknowledge that Jesus is from God, they believe in things of the world and not of God. They place their trust and life in the world and not Jesus. In a season where we rejoice in Jesus, let us extend Love to one another and be an example of the love that Jesus is in us.

 

Bible blog post Monday December 2nd

Yesterday was the first day of Advent.  The Latin meaning for the word Advent is "coming" or "arrival".   Over the next 4 Monday's I would like to look at the daily reading for the day with Advent in mind.  To look at it in ways that reveal aspects of Christ's arrival that we will (or should) celebrate on Christmas Day.  My hope is for it to help keep our focus on the true celebration that is Christmas.

"What Child Is This?  What Gift Does He Bring?"   (1 John 3:1 & 5)

"But you know that he (Christ) appeared so that he might take away our sins.  And in him is no sin."  1 John 3:5

December is a busy time of year.   The weeks leading up to Christmas are full of preparations such as gift buying, cooking making, tree decorating, parties, Christmas cards and more.  1 John 3:5 is a great reminder for us to not loose sight, to not loose anticipation of what Christmas is truly about, what Christmas offers. 

Christ's anticipated arrival was meant to usher in a promise made by God from the beginning; from that first sin committed by Adam and Eve.  He would come, take the penalty of our sin on our behalf, and free us from it all; sin and spiritual death.  It was a gift of love given to us which was long prepared and awaited.  It was the ultimate gift given, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger.  It was a gift that would grow without sin with one purpose which was to die in our place.  There is no gift that will be found under the tree this year that will be greater than that first gift of love given to us at Christ's birth and that was completed upon his death.  John 15:13 tell us this, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends."  Christ was born to lay down his life for us, there is nothing greater. 

We are far more than just friends of God.  In today's reading in John 3:1 it tells us that we are his children.  So let us enter into this Advent season with childlike excitement for Christmas knowing that what comes is the celebration of the best gift ever given to us.