Category: Good Life Journal

Scripture

Revelation 15:3-4 – And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Observation

Seven angels with harps sing a song of Moses and of the capital L, Lamb of God, Jesus, giving glory to God!  The song now not only represents saving the nation of Israel from Egypt but Jesus as the savior to all people and nations.  The song tells us that the King is great, amazing, just and true.  Then there is the rhetorical question, who will not fear and glorify the Lord?  God is the only one who is holy and all nations will worship His righteousness.

Application

I must remember that this is God’s plan from the beginning!  God and only God is all powerful, loving, just and true. I need to find comfort that I serve an omnipotent, holy God who rules with justice and integrity.  Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.  Therefore, someone who does not fear God is foolish.  We were created to know God, make him known thereby glorifying His name.  Our story should be His glory.  In the last verse of the song, the angels tells us the end of the story where every knee shall bow before the Lord.

Prayer

Father,

Thank you for having Jesus be our sacrificial Lamb from the beginning.  Let me fear you, honor you and have my story be your glory.

Scripture: “Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth—to every nation and tribe and language and people.

 

And he said with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgement has come and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”  Rev 14:6-7

 

“If anyone worships the beast…he also will drink the wine of God’s Wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger…” (excerpts from Rev 14:9 and 10)

 

Observation:  What is the basis of the Gospel? Perhaps the foundation of the Gospel is simple (but not talked about as much): Fear God and give him glory because he is Creator of all things.

 

Analysis:  Sometimes I talk about the Gospel in a way to communicate a wonderous benefit like going to heaven when dead.

 

Can’t beat that but as I am sitting here it is making me think that this message is like “What are you doing after winning the Super Bowl?  I am going to Disney World.”  Pretty sharp, I know, but I can’t help thinking that way.

 

What should I be saying, then?

 

I think that studying the subject of the Gospel broadens the possibilities of what and how I respond to the world around me with the Gospel.

 

For instance, I read v. 9 and 10 about the Cup of God’s Wrath.  Of course, it is the same Cup that Jesus asked the Father to remove (Mark 14:36) but said, “Not my will, but yours.”

 

Thinking and talking about the Wrath of God seems like such a downer.  Emphasizing the Love of God is giving a lop-sided view of the Gospel.

 

I can realize the above intellectually and for the life of me it is difficult to represent the Gospel in a complete way—without preaching the entire and complete Gospel to myself.  To do that means I need to study the complete Gospel—God’s Attributes, the Doctrines of the Church (including the doctrine of Sin), etc.—all of these contribute to my understanding and subsequent, fall on my face, surrendered worship of the Most High God.

 

I find myself working at understanding the Gospel daily.  Sometimes I don’t rejoice because the cares of this life interrupt—I will bet that is what everyone encounters.  However, while the road of righteousness is narrow, it is the steady and insistent plodding forward that represents the endurance of the saints.

 

Persevere to the end, my friends.

 

Prayer:  Father, how much do I want to learn about Your Eternal plan, the Gospel.  I want to learn as much as You care to reveal.  The stuff I want to learn is not secret but are revealed by Your Word and through You, the Holy Spirit.

Hear my cry, O Lord.  Help me persevere to the End.  AMEN.

Scripture: “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come—for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

 

And they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony—for they loved not their lives even unto death.

 

Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them!  (Rev 12:10-12)

 

Observation:  Here is one of the more straightforward and puzzling sections of scripture I have (and still) encounter.  While Jesus is preeminent in all things, this is a lot about the serpent, the devil.

 

Analysis:  More than occasionally I run into Scripture that doesn’t seem to have direct application to me.  I shouldn’t be surprised: to know and learn about my Lord takes study and not be satisfied with bullet point/outline exposure.

 

Because I am in business, I see a lot of “executive summary” formatted memos.  Nobody has time, “Just give the top line stuff.”  Essays must be shrunk to a PowerPoint presentation—no matter if the background is pertinent to understanding the meaning of the so-called bullet points.

 

I think that Chapter 12 gives me insight into the other, heavenly conflict side of the Gospel—especially some insight into the rebel angel Lucifer.

 

There are several scripture references to employ to begin to put a picture together of this creature. Is it important?  Sort of—not something I would have recommended to my younger self so many moons ago.  Most of what I have concluded conflicts with the general opinion of the masses, such as: it is serious error assuming that the “eternal conflict” is war between God and the devil or even Jesus and the devil.  Not even close.  The devil and his permissioned actions are part of the whole Gospel of God.

 

Here are some references: Gen 3; Job 1-4; Is 14.  There are others—but they must be pieced together to perceive the picture.

 

Here in Chap 12, I see the conflict between fellow angels: Lucifer who became a traitor and Michael who did not.  Becoming a traitor (like all of Mankind is now) is being entirely convinced of your own thoughts, options, and conclusions of what is good and bad.  That is the basis of the heavenly rebellion: (Is 14) Lucifer thought he could and should aspire to be God, or at least equal with the Most High.  He is a fool.

 

The role the devil played in Gen 3 was the role of a deceiver; enticing Adam through Eve to consider that God may have been mistaken in Adam’s potential.  God wasn’t, knew it from before time, knew that  Adam was to be a rebel so that His Grace would be shown to redeem traitors and rebels—folks (like us) who do not deserve Redemption—but, because His Grace through the Atonement was provided—freely, by His Own decision and without a need of transaction of any of my works to exchange for that Atonement.

 

I am still in the process of figuring this out and looking forward to the Holy Spirit to make it straight.  After all: The Gospel is so very cool.

 

Sometimes journaling is writing down what you don’t know as well as what you do know and knowing that the Holy Spirit will fill in the blanks someday down the line.

 

Prayer:  Lord, You know that I have been musing over this subject for some time.  I am just remembering that “our fight is not with flesh and blood, but with powers in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12.)”  And yet, I cannot get past that the daily struggle isn’t with the influence of a 3^rd party like devils and demons, but with our own Sin.

Help me with this, Lord, so that I am thinking right when it concerns the Gospel.  AMEN

Scripture

Vs 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Vs 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God …

 

Vs 19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

 

Observation

The final trumpet has blown and the Kingdom of God that Jesus steadily preached about as being “at hand”, has finally come to full fruition.

God, always on the throne, takes full reign from the world now!

The response of those surrounding God is worship.

And now even the hidden place of God, the most inner part of the temple, is revealed and can finally be “seen”.

The ultimate promise of God … His Covenant … has come about.

 

Application

The world as it is now will not always be so.

I must live with eternity in mind and from the perspective of the Kingdom of God.

This should look confusing to the world around me.

This should prompt questions from those who see how I live.

Am I living more in line with the “kingdom of the world” or the “Kingdom of our Lord”?

 

Do I have worries, anxieties, and fears? Are they same as everyone else in “the world” around me?

They shouldn’t be!

Any fear I have should be of the Lord and His coming judgement.

But with His ultimate judgement comes ultimate justice!

And because of the grace of God, He will judge me as innocent in the white robe of Christ!

 

How do I respond? … Is it with worship?

Are my days now filled with worship of the things of the world’s kingdom or the Lord’s kingdom?

Do I worship Him now for the things He has done and live in faith of the things He will do?

 

Do I plea for those around me to know this coming judgement?

The temple … the house of God … will be opened and his promises seen …

Do I worship now and love other enough to tell them of the promises?

 

Prayer

Thank you, God, for your promises

Thank you for your just judgement

Help me to live in light of it today

In Jesus name,

Amen

Scripture:

[9] So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. [10] I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour.

 

Observation:

The Word of God is sweet to some – to those who believe.  The Word of God is bitter to those who are hostile to the ways of Jesus and do not believe.

 

Application

I recognize this more and more in these end times, where the Word is very sweet to some and extremely bitter to others.

 

Some find the law of he Lord to be perfect.  We find great joy in following Jesus and consuming the Word is part of our being.  I believe that’s what is meant by tasting as sweet as honey.

 

On the other hand, and as prophesied, there seems to be an increase in the number of people who are increasingly hostile to the ways of Jesus, which will lead to death apart from Him if they don’t come around to seeing the light.  This is the Word turning sour in the stomach.

 

Jesus came full of Grace and Truth.  While He offers it freely to all, Grace saves some.  When Jesus comes again, His righteous judgement will condemn those who do not believe.  We should all do our best to reach those who do not believe before it is too late for them.

 

Prayer:

Lord thank You for the sweetness of Your Word.  Thank You for saving me, as sinful as I am and for the promise of spending eternity with You. Amen.

Scripture:   The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the:

 

• Works of their hands, nor give up;
• Worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood (which cannot see or hear or walk), nor did they
• Repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.  (Rev 9:20-21)

 

Observation:  Blunt, specific language is found right here.  Then how is it that I squirm and shift under these words trying to find a way out of conviction?

 

Analysis:  In the previous couple of chapters I have been numbed by the relating of all the trumpets, horns, shouting, horses and all that stuff.   Reading about it and what starts the Terrible Day of the Lamb makes me anesthetized to any imagination of what reality will look like.

 

I guess that is why Tim LaHaye sells a lot of books concerning the End of Days.

 

Here are a couple of verses I can relate to, though.  Why?  Because I picked up, not on the words of demons, idols, murders, sex, or sorceries, but on the word REPENT.

 

There are points in my life where I use the word REPENT almost flippantly, tossing it at the end of an apology, sort of saying “I really am sorry, so much so I REPENT.”

 

This section of Rev 9 is relating about folks who did not REPENT and fell victim to the Angels appointed by the Lamb to begin expending wrath on the earth.

 

Here is what I think is really the shame in this: These folks mentioned in vs. 20:21 ignored the recognition that they may be dabbling in these same recognizable conditions: demons, idols, murders, sex, or sorceries, and the like.  They weren’t fooled—these things were brazenly ignored so that the man in the mirror could be satisfied.

 

I realize that I can be brazen and ignore this stuff when I observe my face in the mirror.  I can claim “Grace, O God, Grace…” without any (or maybe a small, if it isn’t too difficult) intention of repenting.

 

This is what I am more apt to do: Review the people around me and specifically preach “Repent, you vile and ignorant people”, giving mucho grace to moi, but condemnation a plenty to others—or just conceding “the way of the world” and tromping off in the sunset…

 

Prayer:   Lord, may this change in me, thoroughly and immediately.  Make me look deeply into myself, being candid and honest but kind and gentle with candor to others.  I want to point the way to the Lamb, knowing He is the Atonement for my sin, but not forgetting eventually You are the Lamb who is also the Lion.  AMEN.

 

Scripture
Revelation 8:4-5: – and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.  Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

Observation–

The prayers of God’s people (the saints) are an offering to God that He hears.  God hears the prayer of His people and acts to deliver them similar to the cry for rescue in Exodus.  The angel throws fire on the earth and thus begins God’s final Judgement.

Application –

God is a just and holy God and he created us in His image to know and honor Him.  From the Garden forward, we have turned our backs to God and sinned against Him.  A just and holy God can’t tolerate sin.  In his grace, God sent Jesus to pay for our sin so we can repent and have a relationship with the Father.  There is but one way to the Father, through the son.  I must remember the gospel daily and know that God loved me so much that He saved me and hears our prayers.  Jesus is returning and God will have a final day of judgement for those that don’t know Him.  This is eternity in Hell separated from God.

Prayer –

Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus to save us from death.  Thank you for hearing and acting on our prayers.  Let the Spirit guide me to live with a sense of urgency for those who are lost facing judgement and an eternity in Hell.

Scripture:  After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number—from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages—standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice:

 

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

 

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying:

 

“AMEN!  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!  AMEN.”

 

Observation: Do I continue to realize that, while the stuff about the Beast and the Antichrist, and all that gets the controversial imagination going, this prophecy may really be about the Lamb and his Church?  Nah, I am just like everyone else.  I just need to reorient my punkin’ head.

 

Analysis: One of the good things about going through Revelation like this (taking all month) is that it is slow going.  I have time to read and really think carefully about what I am reading.

 

Seriously: If I were to hover on the Beast and the Antichrist, the Four Horsemen, Jezebel, and all that, I could go off into the Never-never Land of the Ever-Increasing End of Days Theories.  Some folks have made a lifetime ministry about these things—probably getting no closer to the truth than when they began.

 

Compartmentalizing all of that for a time, I am seeing the breadth of absolute worship to the Lamb.  Trying to imagine this is, on one hand breathtaking, and on the other, unimaginable.

 

What do I take away?

 

All the sounds and singing have strong theology backing it up.  Good when sight replaces faith in heaven; absolutely needed when I am trying to “renew my mind that I may discern what is the will of God.” (Rom 12:2)

 

Here on earth my mind can cloud up with sin warring in my members—and mess up how I should be reacting.  I don’t want to put on a false performance, but something as real and as like what the Scriptures reflect as possible.

 

How then?  Like what is said about real estate and location, Doctrine, Doctrine, Doctrine.

 

Prayer:   Thank you, Lord AMEN

Scripture:  When (the Lamb) opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.  They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true: How long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

…Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the Face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb…”  (excerpts from Rev 6:9-16)

Observation:  This is more description of the Great and Terrible day of the Lamb.  Will I ever look at the face of a lamb again in the same way?

Analysis: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  Heb 13:8

I remember this scripture so I can embrace that Jesus is unchangeable as part of His Character.  I don’t have to consider that He will once change His mind from this to that and back again, making me wonder what He is like today; or, how does He look upon me?  Favorably, unfavorably?  Does He ever consider that perhaps he should withdraw His Salvation from me just because?

Of course not.  His unchangeableness describes His eternal character and I can confidently rest on that knowledge.

With that in mind, should I or can I just focus on one Aspect of His Character?  I shouldn’t—but I do.

Revelation reveals so much of our Lord’s total Character:  He is Love, yes, and all those embraceable attributes.  Revelation also brings the facts of His Justice, His Wrath, His Anger, being an Avenger, etc. to be faced.

I cannot escape or ignore that as much as the face of the Lamb is loving and sacrificial, He is equally the face of the Wrath of the Lamb.

A God of abundant Grace; a God of fearsome Wrath—same God, single character.

No matter how much I might recoil at the thought, this is fully the Gospel as well as any other facet.

Prayer:  Lord, I am not far from either place: “avenge me” or “rocks fall on me and hide me from the Wrath of the Lamb.”  My thinking is that I am not grown up enough to declare “You are righteous and true in all Your Judgements” as Sovereign God and not smugly think I have a “get out of jail free” card up my sleeve.

You are to be fearfully Praised and Adored, O Lord Jesus of Your fullness in ways that I possibly imagine at the same time.  Draw me near, O God, draw me near.  AMEN

Scripture: “And (the 24 elders) sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God…

 

And then I looked, and I heard…the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’

 

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’”  (excerpts from Rev 5:2-14

 

Observation: It is good that John has written this vision down because I certainly couldn’t imagine this scene.  Even now, with the text right in front of me, it is difficult to put a picture together.

 

Analysis:  I must jump back to verse 2 and 4: “Who is worthy to break the seals on the Scroll and read?”  “…and I began to weep LOUDLY because no one was found worthy…”  In verse 5, “One of the elders said to me, ‘Weep no more, behold, the Lion of Judah…” (all paraphrased)

 

The section goes from a challenge to the congregation to a declaration of the Only Worthy One and results in a cascade of loud vocal and physical reaction:

 

• 24 Elders sing a new and significant song;
• An innumerable count of angels and other heavenly beings ROAR with a declaration of “Worthy is the Lamb.”
• Then every creature in creation said, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing, honor, glory, and might forever!!”

 

None of this is quiet.  All seems to be as loud as they can get.  Heaven must have shaken from the sound waves and decibels of the collective volume from the throats of every creature, great and small.

 

And what do I do?  Sometimes a church mouse is louder than I am.

 

Jesus told of a principle: “…for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45b

 

I can get conflicted on this subject.  On one hand Jesus deserves from me the effort described in Rev 5.  On the other hand, I don’t want to call attention to myself and weird folks out in the congregation.  And yet, “What is the abundance of MY heart?” knowing that what is coming out of my mouth is indicative of the state of my heart.

 

I guess that is a daily double question, huh?  For sure, if I am NOT doing this in my private times, then I must ask myself, “Am I doing this to be seen by others and displaying the attitude of a Pharisee?”

 

Prayer:   Father, it is so difficult to overcome my innate tendencies to be a display in sinful ways.  How often did you, Lord, rebuke “religious” folks whose heart was for the accolades, the applause of the crowd but once inside their home, dropped it all “to be real?”

If I am not real towards You in my private times, then what I see in private is what I really am, right?  Probably close enough.  And if I am arguing favorably towards myself and my conduct, then I probably am deceiving the face in the mirror.

 

Help me to be fiercely transparent and humbly candid before you, O God.  AMEN.

 

Scripture:

[8] “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

[10] Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. [11] I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

 

Observation:

..you have kept my word and have not denied my name – Not only did they live by the Word of Jesus, the church at Philadelphia remained faithful to the name of Jesus.

 

..you have kept my word about patient endurance – the church is told that they will be rewarded for holding fast and endured persecution for living by the Word and staying faithful to Jesus.

 

I will keep you from the hour of trial –  The hour or trial is the tribulation, a time of God’s wrath when he punishes sinners with immense pain and suffering described later in Revelation.  When Jesus comes, He will bring the the faithful living saints, and those who are sleeping, to Him.  This will be a glorious day and will keep the saints from enduring the tribulation.  This is the rapture of the church.

 

I am coming soon – it could happen at any time so be ready.

 

Hold fast to what you have – unlike some of the other churches, the church at Philadelphia has remained reliant on God and faithful to Jesus.  They must remain this way.

 

Application:

I’ve heard it said that while God allows the righteous and wicked to live together, when the day of judgement comes, “God rescues the righteous before punishing the wicked.  As true believers and faithful followers of Jesus Christ, we should find peace in knowing that if Jesus were to come this instant, as we stay faithful to Him and live by His Word, we will go with Him and not endure His wrath during the seven year tribulation.

 

When Jesus returns, it will be soon, there will be no signs (like a thief in the night), and it will be sudden.  We need to stay ready and alert.  Stay immersed in, and guided by  the Word and His Spirit.

 

Even when, or especially when, the world is crashing down around us, we should strive to be like the church at Philadelphia in these ways – reliant on God and faithful to Jesus.  Build our lives around Him and never waiver.  This is God’s expectation of us.

 

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for choosing me.  Thank You for the promise that I will rise with the saints to be with You for eternity and that I will not endure Your just wrath during the tribulation.  Until You come again Lord, help me use the open door you have provided to spread the Gospel to the lost.  Amen.

Scripture: “I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil but have tested those who call themselves apostles (and are not) and found them to be false.

I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.

But I have this against you: (that) you have abandoned the love you had at first.

Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent, and do the works you did at first.”  Rev 2:2-5a

 

Observation:  The church at Ephesus: patient, enduring, discerning, but…there is a significant observation of losing their First Love.  Am I like that?

 

Analysis:  Losing my First Love: I kind of know what that is like.

In me it is a shadowed memory, something numbing or a fleeting feeling—a sensation I remember but maybe only vaguely.  Caught up with current doings, that memory of First Love can grow fainter with time.

Just like it is imperative to keep the romance with my wife alive, it is important to keep my love with the Savior fresh as well.

Maturity in Christ is not growth in knowledge that supplants emotion for Christ.  It is not “calming down”, stoicism, so-called “godliness” that majors in decorum and stateliness—it still is the fire in my eyes, wide open and passionate.  Responsibility doesn’t deaden the fire in my eyes, the fire stokes the flame, so I am responsible by being passionate about (and for) the Cross.

Is it demonstrative?  Yes, it can be—get my hands up, sing loud and firm, clap, and stop reading in monotone.  But all of that comes from the “burn”, fanning that glowing ember in my heart that cannot be quenched.

So how am I aware that I am letting that ember die down?  I almost get tired of saying this because I really don’t want it to become a cliché’ in my life: I let the Gospel be a lesser part of my mind, memory, and mediation—I start to forget the Gospel in favor of other things.

I am convinced that everything that I learn about the Bible, the stories, doctrine, Reformed Theology, etc. is all a part of the Jewel that is the Gospel.  I cannot separate any individual precept or principle as something that isn’t part of the Gospel.

The church at Ephesus was prophesized that they got their “works” right—but at the expense of abandoning their First Love.  I remember Matt 7:22 where Jesus encountered a bunch of folks who tried to plead their case by listing out their works done in the Name.

Jesus’ response?  “And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you.  Begone from me you workers of lawlessness.’”

I don’t want that to be me.

 

Prayer:   Lord, such a treacherous balance it seems.  Do the works you have decreed and potentially forget my First Love.  Remember my First Love and forget to do the works–such a Mary and Martha moment.

How can I serve you in both?  Help me to understand.  Until then, convict my heart and allow and help me to repent and move forward in You.  AMEN.

 

Scripture-

Revelation 1:17-18 – When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.  But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.  I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. “

Observation-

John falls to his feet as if he has fainted, almost dead, when he sees the glorified Jesus.  Jesus comforts John by placing his hand on him and tells him to have no fear. Jesus tells John that is the beginning and the end. Jesus has overcome death is alive forever and hold the keys to Death and Hell.

Application –

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega and our response to Jesus should be like John, to fall on our feet to worship the risen King!  What a comfort to be assured by Jesus that we are not to live in fear of death.  Jesus is alive forever and when we are in Christ, death will not hold believers as it did not Jesus.  Through the resurrection of Jesus, death is undone and we know our eternity is secure.

Prayer –

Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus to overcome the death that we deserve so we can repent and be reconciled to you.  Let us not live in fear of death knowing our eternity is secure when we are in Christ.

Scripture: “Beloved,

 

Although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

 

For “certain” people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation; ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  Jude vs. 3-4

 

Observation:  Want a head scratcher?  Read Jude.  Short book; needs to be long on study to fill in all the cracks and crevices.  Why was this included in the Canon?

 

Application:   I read Jude and I think I have it figured out.  I read Jude again and I am convinced that I have no idea how these thoughts go from one point to another in a manner that makes sense.

 

Oh, well: It is a book that needs careful unpacking—emphasis on the “careful.”

 

Verses 3 and 4 reveals a few certain things:

 

• Jude appeals to the readers to “contend for the faith.”
• He emphasizes the Faith is historic; short history for them, no less important for me further down the timeline.
• The “certain” people who are perverting the Grace of God are designated by God for this action, and;
• Somehow the Grace of God is being converted to sensuality and denial of Jesus Christ.

 

I don’t get all of this.  However, I do get this: It is very important to understand what is meant by “our common salvation” and to “contend for the faith.”

 

What is intended concerning “our common salvation?”  I think that there is a definition to be gained and applied.

 

“Contend for the Faith?”  I think that one thing for sure is “contend” should not be defined by being “contentious.”  Jude demonstrates that well when he writes, “I…write appealing to you to contend…”

 

In the book by J.I.Packer “Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God”, Packer lays out the ground rule to remember: God draws, or not draws—my responsibility ends at presenting the Gospel. Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6b)

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help me to keep my head on straight about this.  Contend for the Faith, yes, but not at the expense of conducting myself disrespectfully towards You.  AMEN.

Scripture:  Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

 

And when (the disciples) saw him the worshipped him, but some doubted.

 

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”  Matt 28:16-20

 

Observation:  Precise directions are stated here. So why do I get hung up with the “Great Commission?”

 

Application:  Confession: From my youth I have been hung up with the “Great Commission.”

 

Why is that?  I had the sense that believers around me were looking for notches in the spine of their Bible first and foremost—like gunslingers of old notched the handle of their gun of people they shot.  Others looked to the nations across the world but didn’t look at their neighborhood.  There were others that preached getting baptized but didn’t preach discipleship.  And lastly, being a Charismatic, you couldn’t get to the “deeper life in Christ” without a direct experience with the Holy Spirit.

 

All true, and at the same time, rubbish.  Where was the whole Gospel in all of this?

 

So, I waited my years.  I learned, I experienced, I fell, I got back up again and promptly fell again—repeated this over and over.  I actually thought that somewhere around in my early 30’s (just like Jesus) I would be raised up to powerfully preach.

 

Didn’t happen.

 

Now I am in my 6^th decade and am confident of this: The Father has me right where He wants me.  I have had some influence, but certainly not Billy Graham scale.  I have a disciple in my wife where, as God intended, I learn from her far more than I think I teach.  I have become systematic in Christian theology, both Reformed and Charismatic (which I happen to think is Orthodoxy).

 

And I have learned so much of the whole Gospel—and feel so better prepared to talk about it.

 

Early on, I felt like cannon fodder.  Now, I think I am coming up to be a trained soldier for the Kingdom.  The preaching of the Gospel has only one end: To make Disciples.  That is what I want to be a part of.

 

Prayer:  Father, Only You call people to yourself. Some are not chosen.  It is erroneous to think I didn’t try hard enough, I wasn’t persistent enough—all those adjectives that describe my “effort” in evangelism—when the truth is that “many are called, few are chosen” and that You are the generator of the change in a human heart.  But, making disciples… Help me keep my eyes totally and solely on You.  AMEN.