The book of Revelation contains a multifaceted promise: 1) That the one who reads it to the church will be blessed, 2) that the listener will be blessed, 3) that the one who obeys its instruction will be blessed, and 4) that the time of the end is near. I had the privilege of reading chapter one of this book aloud to a group of believers on the island of Patmos. Together, we experienced a taste of this promise.
Our plans for building a house for our family, or for the church may be well-intended, but will not succeed without the Lord. Can you furnish your house with love, joy and peace without the Spirit of God? It is good that you work to provide food, shelter and education for your kids, but who will shepherd their hearts? Who will save their souls? Who will prepare them for eternity? When we decide to BE the family of God, He will BUILD the house. As Jesus told Peter, “Upon this rock, I will build my church.” Let God build your house.
The principle of sowing and reaping is found throughout the Bible. The principle involves at least two features: 1) You reap according to what you sow. You sow grass, you get grass. Sow weeds, get weeds. 2) You reap more than you sow. This is the principle of multiplication.
We can choose to sow good seed even in seasons of suffering. Even when it is tempting to eat the seed rather than sow it. When we sow good seed, we can trust the Lord with the harvest. And when the time for reaping comes, He turns our weeping into joy.
The prophet Hosea records this stinging accusation from God about Israel. Notice how God lists His concerns: First, He describes the brokenness of their relationship with Him, then He details the brokenness of their relationships with one another. As it regarded their relationship with God, He accused them of three “No”s– No faithfulness, no love, and no knowledge. These three “no”s were not only God’s priority concern, but they also led to His secondary concern, namely the breakdown of their human relationships, both family and civilization. In summary, they failed to keep the Great Commandment: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
John explained his purpose for writing his first epistle. It was to assure new believers of their salvation in Christ. This letter is still a great place for new believers to begin their Bible studies. When we receive Jesus as Savior, believing in His name and trusting Him as Lord, we can have confidence in our relationship to Him and our future with Him. As newly adopted children we may struggle with separation anxiety, but God says, “never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). You can “know” with confident assurance that when you “got” Jesus, you “got” eternal life.
After Daniel received a vision of the end of days, he was greatly troubled and asked for more detail. But the angel replied that the words were sealed until the end. The comfort that Daniel was given wasn’t the details of the outcome, but the promise that he would “rest” and then “stand” at the end. In the meantime, Daniel was to keep going the way he was going. In other words, “Don’t worry Dan, God has the end of things all worked out. Just keep being faithful during your days. He’ll make sure you stand with Him at the end of days.”
One of the psalms of ascent, this one written by David, it encourages pilgrims to prepare themselves for worship in Jerusalem by praying for its shalom (peace). Perhaps we need songs to sing as we get ready, loading our kids in the car and driving to church each week. In this way we would bring our glad worship to the house of the Lord.
This is one of the 15 “Psalms of Ascent.” Psalms 120 through 134 were written for pilgrims to sing as they ascended towards the holy city, Jerusalem and the temple mount. Today, many pilgrims, both Jew and Christian alike, read these psalms on the Southern steps approaching the Huldah or Triple Gate to the temple mount. But we don’t have to go to Israel to be inspired and encouraged by these psalms. Who will help me climb out of this valley? Who will answer my cry and need? My Helper is the Creator. He is the Lord!
These same three “desires” were the weaknesses that Satan targeted in the garden and the wilderness. The first Adam and his wife fell to the temptation that the fruit was good to eat, pleasing to the eye, and would make you wise like God (Gen.3:6). But the second Adam, Jesus, did not succumb to Satan’s 3-way temptation in the wilderness (Matt.4). Satan still uses these same three temptations. But living in the power of Christ, we can overcome.
Confess – ὁμολογέω (homologeó) – literally “say the same,” to agree or admit. When we confess our sin to God it is not news to Him. He knows our sin already. Confession is agreeing with God that we have sinned, so that He can forgive us and cleanse us.