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It Might Be Time to Change the Channel!

God tells us flat out in the book of Jeremiah that we will begin to look like the things we pursue. The things we exalt and make the goal of life move from being the thing we desire to possess, to the thing that possesses us. That makes such sense because the things that we love, that we chase after, and I’ll be so bold as to say lust after, control us.

This is what the Lord says:

“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves. . . . Jeremiah 2:5

Our pursuit shapes the way we use our time, where we invest our resources, and even our friend circle. Not one area of life goes unscathed or escapes the tentacles of our pursuit.

Do not run until your feet are bare
    and your throat is dry.
But you said, ‘It’s no use!
    I love foreign gods,
    and I must go after them. . . . Jeremiah 2:25

Rolling all of this over in my mind and asking myself what I pursue with everything I am and praying in the back of my brain that my pursuit is of the Who and not a what, made me remember a Shel Silverstein poem I used to read to my Sweet Girl when she was little . . . Jimmy Jet and the TV Set.

I’ll tell you the story of Jimmy Jet–
And you know what I tell you is true.
He loved to watch his TV set
Almost as much as you.

He watched all day, he watched all night

    Till he grew pale and lean,

From ‘The Early Show’ to ‘The Late Show’

    And all the shows in between.
He watched till his eyes were frozen wide,

     And his bottom grew into his chair.

And his chin turned into a tuning dial,

    And antennae grew out of his hair.
And his brains turned into TV tubes,

    And his face to a TV screen.

And two knobs saying ‘vert.’ and ‘horiz.’

    Grew where his ears had been.
And he grew a plug that looked like a tail

    So we plugged in little Jim.

And now instead of him watching TV

    We all sit around and watch him.

Shel Silverstein

Quite the cautionary tale! Full of wisdom if we’re willing to take it in. I can’t expect to be consumed with the temporal things of this world and not look like I belong here. Like this is my country and my home.

Sister, we will be changed by what we run after and where we fix our eyes. We will resemble what we pursue and our pursuit will shape who we become.

Lord,
     Let me fix my eyes on Jesus.
     Let me pursue you with everything I am.
     Give me the desire to look like you.
     To be holy because you are holy.
     Influence who I am in the here and now.
     Shape me to be who you want me to be.
     In Jesus Name Amen.

Tags: glimpsed glory, Jeremiah 2:25, Jeremiah 2:5, Jesus, Jimmy Jet, poem hunters, Shel Silverstein

Comments 4 Comments
Categories A Life of Consumption, Resolve to Glimpse Glory, Uncategorized

Part 2: Our Circumstances Do Not Change . . . We Do

21 Nov

I am not going to try and put together a witty introduction. I am simply going to praise God for Who He is and for His love toward the residents of Biddinger Boulevard. Our day yesterday and certainly our night held many more challenges than we planned . . .

Surgery Morning: He is Amazing! 11/20/2015

Surgery Afternoon: Welcome Home! 11/20/2015

Surgery Evening: An Unexpected Turn! 11/20/2015

The opportunities for refinement and increased faith we faced are not the point of this post – the intentional praise of my Father in Heaven and thanksgiving for the lengths He will go to just to shower me with affection are. . .

The night was long and we saw all but two hours of the entire 24 hours so we drove home from the ER exhausted but also marveling at the road in front in of us. I hate driving in the snow and had asked a friend to pray for my anxiety about navigating the way home because a snowstorm had been predicted to begin around midnight. And there we were headed home a little after 1:00 a.m. on dry ground – the prayers of a righteous woman several miles away from us had held the wind to the left and the snowflakes to the right. Brett held up his smart phone for me to see the weather image he had pulled up and it showed the snow pattern all around us, but there we were without a flake.

Praise you Lord that You care about all things big and small.

We still had much to do when we arrived home and these two older-than-they-used-to-be-folks were dragging. We walked into our empty house to find it full of love . . . the gift of soup in our fridge, the sweetness of wine and chocolate on our table and our answering machine blinking with concern. Our house was empty but we were not alone.

Praise you Lord that You make Yourself known in the emptiness.

Our sleep was short but the day started with the assurance of His affection in the form of a tweet . . .

Message #1 – My Father’s Words

And facebook posts of thoughts and prayers . . .

Message #2 – My Father’s Children

And the notice of the blog that was trending here at Glimpsed Glory . . .

Message #3- My Father’s Heart

Praise you Lord that Your desire to speak my language knows no bounds.

The blog post noted on that stats page pictured above was a blog written on January 28, 2014 and I’m putting the full text of it at the end because you have to read it and let the faithfulness of God wash over you. If you look close at the picture of Brett I featured you’ll see that he is wearing shorts with the tube of a wound vac making itself known in that post. If you saw him today, November 21, 2015, you would see that he is wearing shorts and the tube of a wound vac is making itself known.

Consider our situation today nearly two years since that blog was posted . . . see how faithful God is in teaching, in developing, in pruning the character and the faith of His daughters and His sons. Brett and I read it together through tears. He doesn’t give up and He doesn’t let us settle. He is amazing and true to His word . . . The Holy Spirit truly did remind me of everything He had said that day . . .and it strengthened my heart, it girded my resolve.

Praise You Lord that You do not mind repeating Yourself.

And the exclamation point on the intentional praise that I needed to live in my heart and wear on my sleeve today had the familiar sweet ring of my Baby Girl . . .

Amen Sweet Girl! Amen! I will rejoice in the goodness of my God. I will pursue praise with zeal for His glory. And I will silence the voice of my enemies with the song of thankfulness in my heart. My God is faithful!

#intentionalPRAISE

Our Circumstances Do Not Change . . . We Do

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON JANUARY 28, 2014

STILL LIVING IT OUT ON NOVEMBER 21, 2015

Circumstances Do Not Change . . . We Do!

Our circumstances envelope us. They engulf us. They consume us. Too often my circumstances pull my actions and my attention to places I never intended to visit. I find myself in the middle of my own mind commotion solving issues, mulling conflicts, and traveling a general thought path that serves no one well. I’ve written some posts over the last year describing some of the circumstances that have occurred in life and I pray that I have highlighted the activity of the Extraordinary in the life of the very ordinary residents of Biddinger Boulevard.

If God’s drawn you to Glimpsed Glory on other occasions you know that my Man has been a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the nipple line down, for the last 20 years. And you also know that even though he’s been in that chair for all these years, in my eyes, he stands taller than any man I know.

For “his population” (a term we learned early in his rehabilitation which is never followed by what most would consider favorable statistics) his health has been good. He’s in constant pain that the doctor’s can’t pinpoint the source of because his spinal cord doesn’t transmit the pain signals the way it should anymore. He takes enough medicine to choke a horse on a daily basis to try and control a body that just won’t behave the way he wants it to. And the joints in his shoulders ache constantly from using them to walk. But for “his population” . . . .

And again, if God has drawn you to Glimpsed Glory before you are aware that my Man is my biggest protector and the Warrior on my Wall. He takes up the sword of God’s word and swings it with a surgeon’s precision in prayer every single day. Over and over and over again –every day—he takes up his position on that wall and he fights. I wrote these words about him during a hospital stay in March and they are every bit as true today.

That’s who my man is. Behind the spine that won’t cooperate with his brain anymore, past the legs that will not listen to the signal to move, beyond the hands that refuse to obey his command . . HE IS A WARRIOR. He is a protector. He is about the business of listening to the Commander and standing guard at the wall so that his family and friends can safely go to their own work. Every day, as surely as you rise from your bed and check off the tasks on your to-do-list, my man arises, grabs his sword and takes up his station. Oh how I praise God for the commitment He has given Brett to fight. (Warrior on My Wall, March 8)

God has truly raised Brett up to be a force for His Kingdom but that just wasn’t the way the whole thing began. We weren’t believers when Brett was injured. I have no doubt, Brett has no doubt, that the Hand and the Heart of God were definitely with us, but we were most certainly not with Him.

No, Sister, my Warrior and I did not begin this journey acknowledging Christ as our Comfort, our Sustainer, or our Friend. In fact, we began this journey by running from it. We ran as hard as we could to try and get away from the reality of it all. It was so much to take in without Jesus. Everything changed. Nothing was normal. We had no direction. . . . but we still ran.

It won’t serve you well or edify you in any way to share all the details of that time period, but this will encourage your heart.

No matter how hard we tried to escape our reality,

now matter how far we ran . . .

it was not further than the Heart of God was willing to go.

In all of our running, He was still pursuing us. He met me, He met Brett, knee deep in our circumstances. Some we had created ourselves and others we had not. Regardless of the origin of our situation, God appeared. He swooped down from heaven and He saved us. He intervened in ways that can only be described as miraculous because Girlfriend . . . that is what He does because that is Who He is. He is the God who does not change and the Savior who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Consider Hagar who reacted badly to a bad situation and ran from the reality of her circumstance.

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. ⁵And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” ⁶But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. Genesis 16:4-6

But she could not flee further than the Heart of God was willing to go.

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. Genesis 16:7

Consider Moses who killed an Egyptian and he ran from the reality of his sin.

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. ¹²He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. ¹³When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” ¹⁴He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” ¹⁵When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Exodus 2:11-15

But he could not outrun the Heart of God.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Exodus 3:1-2

And then there is Peter who denied the Messiah he professed to love and fled the courtyard filled with shame.

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” ⁷⁰But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” ⁷¹And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” ⁷²And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” ⁷³After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” ⁷⁴Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. ⁷⁵And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. Matthew 26:69-75

But he could not flee the Love of Messiah.

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. John 21:1

From the Old Testament to the New, God’s children have been running from their realities, fleeing from their circumstances, only to find that His Heart willingly comes after them. And Sister, He does not change.

He will appear, He will find, He will speak to His children in the midst of it all and He will open our hearts so we can discern His Presence, hear His voice and truly see Him.

Hagar’s eyes were opened and she saw the One who sees her. Her heart was opened and she knew the One that fixed His Heart on her . . .

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,”for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” Genesis 16:13

Moses turned to see the fire of God and His ears were opened to His call. His heart was opened to respond “Here I am” to the Great I AM. . .

When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Exodus 3:4

And Peter, who had gone out in disgrace, followed a heart that prompted him to run to Jesus. . . .

That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. John 21:7

And Beloved, when the Lord of Lord and King of Kings meets us where we are—no matter what has brought us there –and stirs our hearts toward Him, that’s when change takes place. When He reveals the Who of Him, when He allows us to glimpse His Glory, and when He peels back the veil so that we may see Him that, Dear One, is when change occurs . . .

not a change in our circumstance, a change in us.

Hagar saw the One who sees her and was directed back to her mistress. Moses heard the Voice from the flames and was told to return to Egypt. Peter ate with the Messiah and was told go “feed my sheep.”

Their circumstances were not changed but their hearts were.

Oh Beloved, this is my story. This is my Warrior’s story. As badly as he wanted to flee from his reality, as hard as he ran, He could not go further than the Heart of God was willing to go.

The Lord Himself jumped from the pages of His Word and opened the eyes of Brett’s heart to see Him. He did not heal Brett’s spinal cord, but He healed His heart. He did not restore his legs, but He restored His soul. He did not return Brett’s finger function, but He wrapped those hands that would not cooperate in the earthly realm tightly around that Warrior Sword for the heavenly battle. And he did not raise Brett up from that chair, but He did raise Him to life.

Brett’s circumstances did not, have not, changed . . . but he has. The one who ran from the Lord now stakes out His position on the wall and stands firm. The one who fled now fights. All because the One to whom the battle belongs revealed Himself as the Giver of Brett’s strength, his defense, and His salvation.

Exodus 15:2-3

“The Lord is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
³The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.

Do you see the Love of it all?

In His Sovereignty, He may or He may not remove us from our circumstances, only He knows what will serve the Kingdom plan best, but Sweet One whatever your reality is, however far you may have run, you can count on the Heart of God to come looking. And if He sends us back to our circumstance, we can be absolutely certain that we do not go alone nor do we return to simply “gut it out” in His Name. He did not save us and then leave us to hang on by our fingernails and grit our teeth until Glory. No Girlfriend.

If He sends us back, we return changed. We return more than conquerors. . . equipped for the battle . . . with His promises in our hands and His Glory at our backs. We return, from however far we ran, having been found by the Heart of the Living God, ready not only to survive, but dare I say, to thrive!

WE WILL PRAISE.

WE WILL REJOICE.

WE WILL THRIVE.

IN JESUS NAME

#INTENTIONALPRAISE

Tags: Brett Biddinger, facebook, Hagar, intentional praise, Moses, Nehemiah Man, Peter, twitter

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Keep Company with Glory, Resolve to Glimpse Glory

Let the Jar be Broken! Go Forth Mighty Warrior!!!

6 May

Oh how I love God’s timing and His desire to encourage our hearts. He is the One who created spurring one and another on toward love and good deeds . . . why does it is surprise me so that He practices it so well?

Just a short thought for this day . . . We are drawing near to the National Day of Prayer and as I asked God this morning to prepare my heart for sharing His word at a local gathering I prayed – “Lord, move this cracked pot out of the way so that only Your Light shines.”

See, I feel too nervous. I feel too small. And I feel too weak to speak about the Mighty God we serve with the reverence and the awe He so deserves. I want so badly to communicate in such a way that people are roused to follow hard after Him knowing that He will be found. It’s my desire that hearts will be awakened and that we will join arms in the faith to influence our communities and our nation. But I know all of that is beyond me – and there’s the root of my prayer – “Move this cracked pot out of the way – let your light shine.”

And His answer to me was immediate . . .Gideon. The runt of the litter in the smallest tribe. Called to stand with only a few in the Name of the Lord to defeat the enemy. The weapons God placed in their hands?

¹⁶Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. Judges 7:16

A Trumpet

A Jar

A Torch

Oh Lord you are the delight of my soul! He has given you and I the same weapons each and every day –

The Trumpet . . .The message of God and the announcement of the good news. Let those God has placed in our sphere of influences KNOW that God is in the house! Let us announce that He lives within us by word and by deed all for His glory.
The Jar . . . Lord, break this jar of clay—bust away our insecurities, take the idols we’ve surrounded ourselves with, strip us of our penchants to be self-absorbed and remove any ounce of pride that may rear its ugly head – smash our broken pots to reveal the treasure that we hold on the inside of us .
The Light . . .Shine Jesus Shine! Let Your Light shine through us and radiate Love to everyone we come in contact with! Lord, You cannot be contained and the darkness flees in Your Presence. The Light has dawned, defeated death and lives inside of every believer!

The trumpet, the jar and the torch are all we need to stand firm and He will scatter the enemy . . .

Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. ²⁰The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. Judge 7:19-21

How beautiful is He Sister? How can our hearts be anymore encouraged than to have the whole thing be shown to us in vivid color through Gideon and then walk into the New Testament to see it in our applied to own lives?

Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. ³And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^a]”>[a] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

¹³It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”^b]”>[b] Since we have that same spirit of^c]”>[c] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. ¹⁵All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4

He never leaves us guessing about His Presence in our lives or His Presence in our battles. And hear me when I say, He does not simply provide the victory . . . . HE IS THE VICTORY! To have the God of the Angel Armies, the Creator of the Universe, the Messiah who died and rose again, The Spirit who is the Lord – Shine forth from us. What other kind of prize could compare? What greater reward or spoils from the war would we possess? What other plunder might we desire?

Girlfriend, we have it all! Do not lose heart! Go forth Mighty Warrior your God is with you . . .

Tags: 2 Corinthians 4, Gideon, Jar, jars of clay, Light of Christ, Torch, Trumpet

Comments 3 Comments
Categories A Life of Consumption

40 Days Receiving Joy

17 Apr

At the beginning of the 40 days of Lent I shared openly that my spirit was feeling sluggish and the enemy was whispering in my ear all manner of lies about the Holy One leaving me behind. I shared just as openly that I wasn’t going to give in to the voice of deception or surrender my God-given joy without a fight and I gave my battle plan a name . . . Lessons from Lent.

Lessons from Lent was the challenge to read through the New Testament in those 40 days leading to Resurrection Sunday and blog each day about whatever lesson God pointed out. Now we’re on the other side of that season and I can tell you that God met me in ways I had never dreamed. Every single day as I read through the Scriptures He spoke to me through His Word and unveiled a treasure I’d not previously seen. I never found myself grasping for something to share or apply in my daily life—the struggle was usually narrowing it down to just one thing. Imagine that . . . I had a lot to say!

It was so wonderful to have the exclamation point of praise put on the first verse I remember totally capturing my heart: “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know” and for the shouts and accolades to reach the ears of what I would say is my life verse in Malachi . . . “I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Is there anything quite as beautiful as Scripture colliding head on with Scripture?

The same God, the One who does not change, who filled my heart with His truth in those first days of faith and thrilled me to no end with Jeremiah 33:3 revelations of His goodness and personal applications to my life was still with me. He still peeled back the curtain to display the riches of His word and He still enthralled me with every syllable. And just like in the early days of running my fingers over the pages and asking Him to let me know Him . . . He showed Himself to be absolute Love to me. And just the same as way back then, I heard myself whisper . . .”Why?—Why do You let me see the Much of You?” It’s the closest I come to joining heart-to-heart with the Psalmist who asked “What is man that you are mindful of him?” and in my imagination, he whispers that phrase with a catch in his voice just like I do.

And I fully believe God has used this trek across the calendar pages to introduce me to the Biblical truth of John 16:24 in a way I could not ignore or pass over quickly. It’s a concept I think He’s had me practicing but hadn’t begun to define for me or given me the unction to begin comprehending until this particular Kairos moment in life. His timing is always perfect . . .

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

God-given joy—complete, filled to individual capacity, secure . . . joy in the Name of Jesus—wasn’t that what I was fighting to keep a hold of? Wasn’t it the joy of my faith, the joy of being in His Presence, the joy of an attentive soul all to the glory of my Covenant Partner that I was considering when I posted the introductory paragraphs that preceded every Lenten blog entry . .

I’m not giving in to it! I am going to fight the good fight of faith and follow the example of my Nehemiah Man. I am going to stand firm in my faith because if I do not, I will not stand at all. I’m praising God for bringing me to a place of emptiness so that I can look to Him to fill my cup.

I’m coming before the Lord and I’m asking Him to do a new thing in me. To rouse my heart to His side and to draw me near in real and tangible ways. To plow through the fog that has settled over me in the form of health issues, physical stress, and emotional upheaval and lay a level path before me. I’m entering the throne room and I’m humbly reminding Him that He has invited me to come in my time of need. O Lord – be near to me. Love me where I am. Take me where I need to be.

I don’t know about you but when I read those lines that introduced the Scripture for the each post as we marched toward the Empty Tomb, they sound a lot like asking . . . Asking God to do the new thing, to rouse my heart, to draw me near . . . no matter what my circumstances might be. So unbeknownst to me, the entire journey was aimed at teaching me the word that lingers in the middle of the verse. The word that lives between the invitation to ask and the gift of joy to the full . . . receive.

Help Word Studies 2983 defines receive this way— lambánō (from the primitive root, lab-, meaning “actively lay hold of to take or receive,” see NAS dictionary) – properly, to lay hold by aggressively (actively) accepting what is available (offered). 2983 /lambánō (“accept with initiative“) emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.

So to receive as God intended it to be understood in this verse is to aggressively and actively lay hold to that which is offered. To make the volitional choice to accept what is available.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

The “receiving” we find here is far from a passive activity. There’s some work to be done to really possess it—to live in it. Much different I think than the gift of salvation we believe on Christ for and receive in His Name.

I’ve been as candid as will serve you well about the depth of my sin and I hope I have made it clear –in a no-holds-barred, full out, give Him all the Glory every time kind of way—that my salvation and my rescue was . . . my righteousness and my life are—all because of Him. He swooped down from heaven and pulled me from the depths. He brought me up out of the pit and planted my feet firmly in His freedom. He and He alone lifted me to the spacious place of Grace. The place where Light and Life are abundant.

And with a grateful heart I testify that He has increased my territory just as He has increased my faith and He has shown me the beauty of the land He has given me—the place where boundary and blessing meet. He lifted me up and brought me again to the spacious place, but praise to the Hope of Glory– the scenery on the way out of the cavern I found myself in was so much different. See my God is still God and my unchanging Messiah was ever present as the steadfast Spirit spurred me on but unlike the work of my salvation, this time . . . my participation was required.

I’m praying for God to give me the exact right words as I try to explain this and I remind you before your eyes land on a single syllable, I am not a theologian, a pastor or any kind of formal scholar. I’m a woman who sits at the foot of the Cross and asks to know her Savior better— who enters the Throne room of God and stands in awe that she is welcome there.

The pit I found myself in when I began the Lent journey wasn’t the same one God pulled me from when I began my faith walk. At the time of my salvation the Lion of Judah roared to my rescue and gave me the gift of eternal reconciliation with my Father in heaven. He scaled those smooth walls and carried me out of darkness into the Light. I could add nothing to His grace nor take a thing away from it. I could only repent and admit my need of the perfect salvation He had purchased for me. He did it all. He never swerved to the left or to the right. He kept His eyes fixed firmly on the will of the Father . . . His Love poured out on the Cross, His Mercy buried in the Tomb, and His Victory secured in His Risen Life – Jesus did it all! He met me in the pit and He carried me to new life . . . life abundant.

The place I found myself in this time didn’t have walls smoothed by premeditated sin and unholy actions. No, this one had walls jagged with circumstance and life issues that pressed in from every side. And unlike that first pit, this cavern had pieces of Rock jutting out all around me and He had prepared me to follow Him out—to keep in step with the Spirit, to do all things through Christ who strengthens me—and emerge victoriously into the Light.

He had given me toeholds and lifelines in His Word so that even though the enemy was actively hissing in my ear I could shout the praise of Jesus and silence my foe. I could put my combat boots on and go about the business of working out my salvation with fear and trembling. At His prompting I could put one foot firmly on the foundation of my Eternal Rock, grab hold of the Scripture with my right hand, and strain my eyes toward the Face of my Messiah. By His grace, I could wrap my fingers tightly around the Word, find the foothold of His truth, and move forward by faith, believing that He rewards those who seek Him.

Was God faithful in bringing me up out of the pit – He absolutely was but this was not the salvation swoop from heaven the work-is-done liberation – it was much more a build your faith muscles, stretch your heart, dig in and climb type of a rescue.

And right in the middle of it all, between the asking and the blessing was aggressive, active, volitional receiving.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:24

If I, if you, desire to hold tight to, to cling to, to live, move, and find our being in joy to the full, then you and I must be willing to go after the thing—to actively and aggressively grab hold of what our Father rescued us to possess.

A passive faith serves no one well.

We must be intentional in laying hold of the holy opportunities to fight the good fight, to train for the race, so that when the day of Christ Jesus comes we will get the prize for which we have been called heavenward. We have to be willing to put our feet in the toeholds of the temporal cavern walls we may find ourselves surrounded by and wrap our fingers around the lifelines of Truth He so graciously provides if we want the spacious place of freedom to be our daily reality.

Our days here on planet earth are all about developing the muscles we’re going to need to hold our heads high when the Good Shepherd places that jewel-laden, faith encrusted crown of glory on our heads. The active process of transformation from one degree of glory to another requires our active participation in combat drills—trials, tough stuff, messy life. Muscles unused never develop. Faith unexercised atrophies. Receiving His All is not for the faint of spirit and aggressive cardio work will be required because Girlfriend, He loves us to much to let us arrive in Glory with a heart that’s out of shape!

Tags: 1 Peter 5:4, 2 Corithians 3:18, Galatians 5:25, Jeremiah 33:3, John 16:24, Joy, Lessons from Lent, Malachi 3:6, Rock Climbing

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Categories Keep Company with Glory

Lessons from Lent: Day 40

4 Apr

An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (you’ve made it Sweet Sister — 39 days are under your belt and this is the final day!), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

I have been in a place of exhaustion over these last months. My mind has been clouded, my body has ached and insomnia has been my companion since late December. The enemy has been and is still whispering in my ear that my Jesus has forgotten me . . . that He has finally tired of my imperfections and left me behind.

That’s the cry of my heart Sweet Sister and I’m thinking that if I am in this place that perhaps you are too. It might be that different life situations have brought us here but here we are. If that’s the case, I want you to know that you are not alone and that you have a faith sister to walk through it with. We can do this together – you and I. It’s why God gave us to one another. We can join our hearts and we can offer up the next 40 days to the Beautiful One and trust Him to do the beautiful thing in us.

So here’s what I’ll do. I’ll post the daily reading on the blog (except for Sundays) and if you read the Scriptures not only will you have read through the entire New Testament by Easter but God promises that He’ll show you deep and unsearchable things you do not know. He promises that His word is alive and active and will transform your heart. I could use some transformation. What about you?

At the end of the daily passage, I’m going to share my “Lesson from Lent” – nothing long or drawn out just something that God uses to speak straight to my heart from the Scripture that day. I’m putting it at the end because if your time runs short on a particular day – I want you to skip reading my words, not His.

I’m hoping that you’ll start your own running record of what God is showing you. Maybe you’ll even be moved to leave a comment so your Sisters can glean from what you’re learning. No matter how you choose to keep track of all He shares with you . . . treasure it up in your heart Sweet One, meditate on it, mull it over, consider the whisper of the Lover of your soul. The God of the Universe is the only Voice we need to revive our tired souls. So, let’s you and I lean in close, pray for ears to hear and hearts to respond. Let’s dig in to the riches He has given us and prepare to be amazed by what He will reveal to our expectant hearts. O Sister, let’s boldly ask Him for a lesson from Lent and then brace ourselves for a glimpse of Glory!

Day Forty

April 3, 2015 ~~ Revelation 8-16

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

Revelation 17

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls then came and spoke to me, saying, Come with me! I will show you the doom (sentence, judgment) of the great harlot (idolatress) who is seated on many waters,

²[She] with whom the rulers of the earth have joined in prostitution (idolatry) and with the wine of whose immorality (idolatry) the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated.

³And [the angel] bore me away [rapt] in the Spirit into a desert (wilderness), and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was all covered with blasphemous titles (names), and he had seven heads and ten horns.

⁴The woman was robed in purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a golden cup full of the accursed offenses and the filth of her lewdness and vice.

⁵And on her forehead there was inscribed a name of mystery [with a secret symbolic meaning]: Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes (idolatresses) and of the filth and atrocities and abominations of the earth.

⁶I also saw that the woman was drunk, [drunk] with the blood of the saints (God’s people) and the blood of the martyrs [who witnessed] for Jesus. And when I saw her, I was utterly amazed and wondered greatly.

⁷But the angel said to me, Why do you wonder? I will explain to you the [secret symbolic meaning of the] mystery of the woman, as well as of the beast having the seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

⁸The beast that you saw [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is going to come up out of the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and proceed to go to perdition. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been recorded in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they look at the beast, because he [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is [yet] to come.

⁹This calls for a mind [to consider that is packed] with wisdom and intelligence [it is something for a particular mode of thinking and judging of thoughts, feelings, and purposes]. The seven heads are seven hills upon which the woman is sitting;

¹⁰And they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one still exists [and is reigning]; the other [the seventh] has not yet appeared, and when he does arrive, he must stay [but] a brief time.

¹¹And as for the beast that [once] was, but now is no more, he [himself] is an eighth ruler (king, head), but he is of the seven and belongs to them, and he goes to perdition.

¹²Also the ten horns that you observed are ten rulers (kings) who have as yet received no royal dominion, but together they are to receive power and authority as rulers for a single hour, along with the beast.

¹³These have one common policy (opinion, purpose), and they deliver their power and authority to the beast.

¹⁴They will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings—and those with Him and on His side are chosen and called [elected] and loyal and faithful followers.

¹⁵And [the angel further] said to me, The waters that you observed, where the harlot is seated, are races and multitudes and nations and dialects (languages).

¹⁶And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will [be the very ones to] hate the harlot (the idolatrous woman); they will make her cheerless (bereaved, desolate), and they will strip her and eat up her flesh and utterly consume her with fire.

¹⁷For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His own purpose by acting in harmony in surrendering their royal power and authority to the beast, until the prophetic words (intentions and promises) of God shall be fulfilled.

¹⁸And the woman that you saw is herself the great city which dominates and controls the rulers and the leaders of the earth.

Revelation 18

Then I saw another angel descending from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his radiance and splendor.

²And he shouted with a mighty voice, She is fallen! Mighty Babylon is fallen! She has become a resort and dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every loathsome spirit, an abode for every filthy and detestable bird.

³For all nations have drunk the wine of her passionate unchastity, and the rulers and leaders of the earth have joined with her in committing fornication (idolatry), and the businessmen of the earth have become rich with the wealth of her excessive luxury and wantonness.

⁴I then heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out from her, my people, so that you may not share in her sins, neither participate in her plagues.

⁵For her iniquities (her crimes and transgressions) are piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and [her] crimes [and calls them up for settlement].

⁶Repay to her what she herself has paid [to others] and double [her doom] in accordance with what she has done. Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed [for others].

⁷To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled in her wantonness [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that measure impose on her torment and anguish and tears and mourning. Since in her heart she boasts, I am not a widow; as a queen [on a throne] I sit, and I shall never see suffering or experience sorrow—

⁸So shall her plagues (afflictions, calamities) come thick upon her in a single day, pestilence and anguish and sorrow and famine; and she shall be utterly consumed (burned up with fire), for mighty is the Lord God Who judges her.

⁹And the rulers and leaders of the earth who joined her in her immorality (idolatry) and luxuriated with her will weep and beat their breasts and lament over her when they see the smoke of her conflagration.

¹⁰They will stand a long way off, in terror of her torment, and they will cry, Woe and alas, the great city, the mighty city, Babylon! In one single hour how your doom (judgment) has overtaken you!

¹¹And earth’s businessmen will weep and grieve over her because no one buys their freight (cargo) any more.

¹²Their merchandise is of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; of fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet [stuffs]; all kinds of scented wood, all sorts of articles of ivory, all varieties of objects of costly woods, bronze, iron, and marble;

¹³Of cinnamon, spices, incense, ointment and perfume, and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, fine flour and wheat; of cattle and sheep, horses and conveyances; and of slaves (the bodies) and souls of men!

¹⁴The ripe fruits and delicacies for which your soul longed have gone from you, and all your luxuries and dainties, your elegance and splendor are lost to you, never again to be recovered or experienced!

¹⁵The dealers who handled these articles, who grew wealthy through their business with her, will stand a long way off, in terror of her doom and torment, weeping and grieving aloud, and saying,

¹⁶Alas, alas for the great city that was robed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, bedecked and glittering with gold, with precious stones, and with pearls!

¹⁷Because in one [single] hour all the vast wealth has been destroyed (wiped out). And all ship captains and pilots, navigators and all who live by seafaring, the crews and all who ply their trade on the sea, stood a long way off,

¹⁸And exclaimed as they watched the smoke of her burning, What city could be compared to the great city!

¹⁹And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and grieved, exclaiming, Woe and alas, for the great city, where all who had ships on the sea grew rich [through her extravagance] from her great wealth! In one single hour she has been destroyed and has become a desert!

²⁰Rejoice (celebrate) over her, O heaven! O saints (people of God) and apostles and prophets, because God has executed vengeance for you upon her!

²¹Then a single powerful angel took up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, crying, With such violence shall Babylon the great city be hurled down to destruction and shall never again be found.

²²And the sound of harpists and minstrels and flute players and trumpeters shall never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft shall ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone shall never again be heard in you.

²³And never again shall the light of a lamp shine in you, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall never be heard in you again; for your businessmen were the great and prominent men of the earth, and by your magic spells and poisonous charm all nations were led astray (seduced and deluded).

²⁴And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all those who have been slain (slaughtered) on earth.

Revelation 19

After this I heard what sounded like a mighty shout of a great crowd in heaven, exclaiming, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! Salvation and glory (splendor and majesty) and power (dominion and authority) [belong] to our God!

²Because His judgments (His condemnation and punishment, His sentences of doom) are true and sound and just and upright. He has judged (convicted, pronounced sentence, and doomed) the great and notorious harlot (idolatress) who corrupted and demoralized and poisoned the earth with her lewdness and adultery (idolatry). And He has avenged (visited on her the penalty for) the blood of His servants at her hand.

³And again they shouted, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! The smoke of her [burning] shall continue to ascend forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).

⁴Then the twenty-four elders [of ^[a]the heavenly Sanhedrin] and the four living creatures fell prostrate and worshiped [paying divine honors to] God, Who sits on the throne, saying, Amen! Hallelujah (praise the Lord)!

⁵Then from the throne there came a voice, saying, Praise our God, all you servants of His, you who reverence Him, both small and great!

⁶After that I heard what sounded like the shout of a vast throng, like the boom of many pounding waves, and like the roar of terrific and mighty peals of thunder, exclaiming, Hallelujah (praise the Lord)! For now the Lord our God the Omnipotent (the All-Ruler) reigns!

⁷Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself.

⁸She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white—for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God’s holy people).

⁹Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, ^[b]to be envied) are those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me [further], These are the true words (the genuine and exact declarations) of God.

¹⁰Then I fell prostrate at his feet to worship (to pay divine honors) to him, but he [restrained me] and said, Refrain! [You must not do that!] I am [only] another servant with you and your brethren who have [accepted and hold] the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship God! For the substance (essence) of the truth revealed by Jesus is the spirit of all prophecy [the vital breath, the inspiration of all inspired preaching and interpretation of the divine will and purpose, including both mine and yours].

¹¹After that I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse [appeared]! The One Who was riding it is called Faithful (Trustworthy, Loyal, Incorruptible, Steady) and True, and He passes judgment and wages war in righteousness (holiness, justice, and uprightness).

¹²His eyes [blaze] like a flame of fire, and on His head are many kingly crowns (diadems); and He has a title (name) inscribed which He alone knows or can understand.

¹³He is dressed in a robe dyed by ^[c]dipping in blood, and the title by which He is called is The Word of God.

¹⁴And the troops of heaven, clothed in fine linen, dazzling and clean, followed Him on white horses.

¹⁵From His mouth goes forth a sharp sword with which He can smite (afflict, strike) the nations; and He will shepherd and control them with a staff (scepter, rod) of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath and indignation of God the All-Ruler (the Almighty, the Omnipotent).

¹⁶And on His garment (robe) and on His thigh He has a name (title) inscribed, king of kings and lord of lords.

¹⁷Then I saw a single angel stationed in the sun’s ^[d]light, and with a mighty voice he shouted to all the birds that fly across the sky, Come, gather yourselves together for the great supper of God,

¹⁸That you may feast on the flesh of rulers, the flesh of generals and captains, the flesh of powerful and mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all humanity, both free and slave, both small and great!

¹⁹Then I saw the beast and the rulers and leaders of the earth with their troops mustered to go into battle and make war against Him Who is mounted on the horse and against His troops.

²⁰And the beast was seized and overpowered, and with him the false prophet who in his presence had worked wonders and performed miracles by which he led astray those who had accepted or permitted to be placed upon them the stamp (mark) of the beast and those who paid homage and gave divine honors to his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone.

²¹And the rest were killed with the sword that issues from the mouth of Him Who is mounted on the horse, and all the birds fed ravenously and glutted themselves with their flesh.

Revelation 20

Then I saw an angel descending from heaven; he was holding the key of the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and a great chain was in his hand.

²And he gripped and overpowered the dragon, that old serpent [of primeval times], who is the devil and Satan, and [securely] bound him for a thousand years.

³Then he hurled him into the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and closed it and sealed it above him, so that he should no longer lead astray and deceive and seduce the nations until the thousand years were at an end. After that he must be liberated for a short time.

⁴Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to act as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted. Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes [beheaded] for their witnessing to Jesus and [for preaching and testifying] for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived again and ruled with Christ (the Messiah) a thousand years.

⁵The remainder of the dead were not restored to life again until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

⁶Blessed (happy, ^[a]to be envied) and holy (spiritually whole, of unimpaired innocence and proved virtue) is the person who takes part (shares) in the first resurrection! Over them the second death exerts no power or authority, but they shall be ministers of God and of Christ (the Messiah), and they shall rule along with Him a thousand years.

⁷And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his place of confinement,

⁸And he will go forth to deceive and seduce and lead astray the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth—Gog and Magog—to muster them for war; their number is like the sand of the sea.

⁹And they swarmed up over the broad plain of the earth and encircled the fortress (camp) of God’s people (the saints) and the beloved city; but fire descended from heaven and consumed them.

¹⁰Then the devil who had led them astray [deceiving and seducing them] was hurled into the fiery lake of burning brimstone, where the beast and false prophet were; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (through the ages of the ages).

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and the One Who was seated upon it, from Whose presence and from the sight of Whose face earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

¹²I [also] saw the dead, great and small; they stood before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is [the Book] of Life. And the dead were judged (sentenced) by what they had done [^[b]their whole way of feeling and acting, their aims and endeavors] in accordance with what was recorded in the books.

¹³And the sea delivered up the dead who were in it, death and Hades (^[c]the state of death or disembodied existence) surrendered the dead in them, and all were tried and their cases determined by what they had done [according to their motives, aims, and works].

¹⁴Then death and Hades (^[d]the state of death or disembodied existence) were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

¹⁵And if anyone’s [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21

Then I saw a new ^[a]sky (heaven) and a new earth, for the former ^[b]sky and the former earth had passed away (vanished), and there no longer existed any sea.

²And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed like a bride beautified and adorned for her husband;

³Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God.

⁴God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.

⁵And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine).

⁶And He [further] said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I [Myself] will give water without price from the fountain (springs) of the water of Life.

⁷He who is victorious shall inherit all these things, and I will be God to him and he shall be My son.

⁸But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations, and as for murderers and the lewd and adulterous and the practicers of magic arts and the idolaters (those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God) and all liars (those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed)—[all of these shall have] their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.

⁹Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven final plagues (afflictions, calamities) came and spoke to me. He said, Come with me! I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

¹⁰Then in the Spirit He conveyed me away to a vast and lofty mountain and exhibited to me the holy (hallowed, consecrated) city of Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God,

¹¹Clothed in God’s glory [in all its splendor and radiance]. The luster of it resembled a rare and most precious jewel, like jasper, shining clear as crystal.

¹²It had a massive and high wall with twelve [large] gates, and at the gates [there were stationed] twelve angels, and [on the gates] the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were written:

¹³On the east side three gates, on the north side three gates, on the south side three gates, and on the west side three gates.

¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundation [stones], and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

¹⁵And he who spoke to me had a golden measuring reed (rod) to measure the city and its gates and its wall.

¹⁶The city lies in a square, its length being the same as its width. And he measured the city with his reed—12,000 stadia (about 1,500 miles); its length and width and height are the same.

¹⁷He measured its wall also—144 cubits (about 72 yards) by a man’s measure [^[c]of a cubit from his elbow to his third fingertip], which is [the measure] of the angel.

¹⁸The wall was built of jasper, while the city [itself was of] pure gold, clear and transparent like glass.

¹⁹The foundation [stones] of the wall of the city were ornamented with all of the precious stones. The first foundation [stone] was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony (or white agate), the fourth emerald,

²⁰The fifth onyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each separate gate being built of one solid pearl. And the main street (the broadway) of the city was of gold as pure and translucent as glass.

²²I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Omnipotent [Himself] and the Lamb [Himself] are its temple.

²³And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendor and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp.

²⁴The nations shall walk by its light and the rulers and leaders of the earth shall bring into it their glory.

²⁵And its gates shall never be closed by day, and there shall be no night there.

²⁶They shall bring the glory (the splendor and majesty) and the honor of the nations into it.

²⁷But nothing that defiles or profanes or is ^[d]unwashed shall ever enter it, nor anyone who commits abominations (unclean, detestable, morally repugnant things) or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Revelation 22

Then he showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb

²Through the middle of the broadway of the city; also, on either side of the river was the tree of life with its twelve varieties of fruit, yielding each month its fresh crop; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing and the restoration of the nations.

³There shall no longer exist there anything that is accursed (detestable, foul, offensive, impure, hateful, or horrible). But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall worship Him [pay divine honors to Him and do Him holy service].

⁴They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

⁵And there shall be no more night; they have no need for lamplight or sunlight, for the Lord God will illuminate them and be their light, and they shall reign [as kings] forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).

⁶And he [of the seven angels further] said to me, These statements are reliable (worthy of confidence) and genuine (true). And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His messenger (angel) to make known and exhibit to His servants what must soon come to pass.

⁷And behold, I am coming speedily. Blessed (happy and ^[a]to be envied) is he who observes and lays to heart and keeps the truths of the prophecy (the predictions, consolations, and warnings) contained in this [little] book.

⁸And I, John, am he who heard and witnessed these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell prostrate before the feet of the messenger (angel) who showed them to me, to worship him.

⁹But he said to me, Refrain! [You must not do that!] I am [only] a fellow servant along with yourself and with your brethren the prophets and with those who are mindful of and practice [the truths contained in] the messages of this book. Worship God!

¹⁰And he [further] told me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book and make no secret of them, for the time ^[b]when things are brought to a crisis and the period of their fulfillment is near.

¹¹He who is unrighteous (unjust, wicked), let him be unrighteous still; and he who is filthy (vile, impure), let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous (just, upright, in right standing with God), let him do right still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still.

¹²Behold, I am coming soon, and I shall bring My wages and rewards with Me, to repay and render to each one just what his own actions and his own work merit.

¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last (the Before all and the End of all).

¹⁴Blessed (happy and ^[c]to be envied) are those who cleanse their garments, that they may have the authority and right to [approach] the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city.

¹⁵[But] without are the dogs and those who practice sorceries (magic arts) and impurity [the lewd, adulterers] and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and deals in falsehood (untruth, error, deception, cheating).

¹⁶I, Jesus, have sent My messenger (angel) to you to witness and to give you assurance of these things for the churches (assemblies). I am the Root (the Source) and the Offspring of David, the radiant and brilliant Morning Star.

¹⁷The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need ^[d]of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.

¹⁸I [personally solemnly] warn everyone who listens to the statements of the prophecy [the ^[e]predictions and the consolations and admonitions pertaining to them] in this book: If anyone shall add anything to them, God will add and lay upon him the plagues (the afflictions and the calamities) that are recorded and described in this book.

¹⁹And if anyone cancels or takes away from the statements of the book of this prophecy [these ^[f]predictions relating to Christ’s kingdom and its speedy triumph, together with the consolations and admonitions or warnings pertaining to them], God will cancel and take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the city of holiness (purity and hallowedness), which are described and promised in this book.

²⁰He Who gives this warning and affirms and testifies to these things says, Yes (it is true). [Surely] I am coming quickly (swiftly, speedily). Amen (so let it be)! Yes, come, Lord Jesus!

²¹The grace (blessing and favor) of the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) be ^[g]with all the saints (God’s holy people, ^[h]those set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively His). Amen (so let it be).

And the Amen rises to Glory

#lessonsfromlent

How appropriate to me that we would receive these final exhortations on this particular day . . .poised between the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Figuratively speaking, yesterday morning none of us would have “inherited all this” but tomorrow morning, we will rise to possess life forever with the Lamb.

We read the descriptions of those who will not be allowed to enter the gates of the New Jerusalem –the “detestable, foul, offensive, impure, hateful, and the horrible”–and we know that apart from Jesus . . . we are them. We, left to our own flesh, would be the lovers of falsehood, the deceivers, the lewd, the adulterers, the unrighteous . . . the hopeless.

The heart knowledge that we have been saved from the punishment we deserve drives me to my knees and the words that are such a source of joy to me ring through my ears . . .

But God.

How much more can He declare His love for us. In these chapters, so filled with symbolism and allegory, the reversal of our destiny could not be more clear. Had we not been given the Living Water at no cost to ourselves, the lake of fire would have been our eternal destination. But God . . .saved us from His wrath and ushered us to safety through the blood of our Sweet Messiah.

Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb we need to remember . . .⁹For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) ¹⁰Who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead [at Christ’s appearing], we might live together with Him and share His life. 1 Thessaloniahs 5:9-10

We deserved punishment, unrelenting agony, destruction, and worst of all separation from God. And yet it was Jesus who suffered it all and covered us with His Love. Our Messiah bled and Grace flowed.

We deserved punishment . . . But God protected.

We deserved destruction . . . But God delivered.

We deserved wrath . . . But God reconciled.

Unmerited favor was placed squarely on your shoulders, squarely on my shoulders, because the Messiah chose to place the Beam across His.

Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb we need to remember . . . ⁸But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. ⁹Therefore, since we are now justified (^[a]acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God. Romans 5:8-9

We read description after description in Revelation 17-22 of the final descent of the children of wrath and no matter what pictures our mind’s eye conjured, I don’t think we can begin to grasp the horror of it all. Does it not push you to a state of reverent worship to get even a small glimpse of what we have been rescued from? We are by nature children of wrath, heirs of God’s indignation . . . But God has made us co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb we need to remember . . .¹⁷And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. Romans 8:17

Is His compassion not breathtaking? His love for us beyond measure? What so great a rescue is this that the Son would wear our death so that we might be dressed in life? We’ve earned eternal destruction . . . . But God, who so loved us, blesses with life.

Between the Cross and the Tomb we need to remember . . .⁴But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, ⁵Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (^[a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation). Ephesians 2:4-5

We who merit existing in the dominion of darkness are brought before the Throne to live forever in the Presence of He who is Light. The entrance of Grace, the arrival of Love lifts us as gifts to heaven when the eternal dwelling we’ve earned is the fiery lake that burns and blazes with brimstone. But God has made the way home.

Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb we need to remember . . . ²²Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence. Colossians 1:22

I don’t know what the mental picture of Jesus Christ, the Beautiful One, presenting you holy and faultless to the Father does for you, but it overwhelms my heart. The reality of it is beyond me but the feeling of the Messiah stooping down from heaven to lift me before the Throne of God . . . does that not imply He finds me worth it?

Sister, He found you worth it. Drink in those words as you let your mind roll back over the torment of the crucifixion. The pain. The humiliation. The separation between the Father and the Son. If our reading over the last 40 days has revealed anything, it has revealed how utterly unworthy we are . . . But God found us worth it.

Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb we need to remember . . .¹⁶For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (^[a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. John 3:16

Oh Beloved, we shall not perish but shall have everlasting life in the Home God Himself has created for His children. The Hope of Glory has given His all to usher us Home. Grace has made the way. Mercy has pierced the world timeline so that at the end of the age you and I will enter safely in. Favor, Sweet One, has rested upon the unworthy and the gates of heaven have been opened to those who have cleansed their garments in the blood of the Lamb.

Girlfriend, the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last has done it all to bring us Home and between the Cross and the Empty Tomb we need to remember.

I need to remember . . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: Empty Tomb, glimpsed glory, High Sabbath, Lessons from Lent, Revelation 17, Revelation 18, Revelation 19, Revelation 20, Revelation 21, Revelation 22

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Categories Life Outside the Tomb, Resolve to Glimpse Glory, Uncategorized

Lessons from Lent: Day 39

3 Apr

An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (2 now because you have already accomplished thirty-eight), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

Day Thirty-nine

April 3, 2015 ~~ Revelation 8-16

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

Revelation 8

When He [the Lamb] broke open the seventh seal, there was silence for about half an hour in heaven.

²Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

³And another angel came and stood over the altar. He had a golden censer, and he was given very much incense (fragrant spices and gums which exhale perfume when burned), that he might mingle it with the prayers of all the people of God (the saints) upon the golden altar before the throne. ⁴And the smoke of the incense (the perfume) arose in the presence of God, with the prayers of the people of God (the saints), from the hand of the angel. ⁵So the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and cast it upon the earth. Then there followed peals of thunder and loud rumblings and blasts and noises, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

⁶Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

⁷The first angel blew [his] trumpet, and there was a storm of hail and fire mingled with blood cast upon the earth. And a third part of the earth was burned up and a third of the trees was burned up and all the green grass was burned up.

⁸The second angel blew [his] trumpet, and something resembling a great mountain, blazing with fire, was hurled into the sea.

⁹And a third of the sea was turned to blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea perished, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel blew [his] trumpet, and a huge star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it dropped on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— ¹¹And the name of the star is Wormwood. A third part of the waters was changed into wormwood, and many people died from using the water, because it had become bitter.

¹²Then the fourth angel blew [his] trumpet, and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that [the light of] a third of them was darkened, and a third of the daylight [itself] was withdrawn, and likewise a third [of the light] of the night was kept from shining.

¹³Then I [looked and I] saw a solitary eagle flying in midheaven, and as it flew I heard it crying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the rest of the trumpet blasts which the three angels are about to sound!

Revelation 9

Then the fifth angel blew [his] trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth; and to the angel was given the key ^[^a^]of the shaft of the Abyss (the bottomless pit). ²He opened the ^[^b^]long shaft of the Abyss (the bottomless pit), and smoke like the smoke of a huge furnace puffed out of the ^[^c^]long shaft, so that the sun and the atmosphere were darkened by the smoke from the long shaft. ³Then out of the smoke locusts came forth on the earth, and such power was granted them as the power the earth’s scorpions have. ⁴They were told not to injure the herbage of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only [to attack] such human beings as do not have the seal (mark) of God on their foreheads. ⁵They were not permitted to kill them, but to torment (distress, vex) them for five months; and the pain caused them was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a person. ⁶And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; and they will yearn to die, but death evades and flees from them.

⁷The locusts resembled horses equipped for battle. On their heads was something like golden crowns. Their faces resembled the faces of people. ⁸They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹Their breastplates (scales) resembled breastplates made of iron, and the [whirring] noise made by their wings was like the roar of a vast number of horse-drawn chariots going at full speed into battle. ¹⁰They have tails like scorpions, and they have stings, and in their tails lies their ability to hurt men for [the] five months. ¹¹Over them as king they have the angel of the Abyss (of the bottomless pit). In Hebrew his name is Abaddon [destruction], but in Greek he is called Apollyon [destroyer].

¹²The first woe (calamity) has passed; behold, two others are yet to follow.

¹³Then the sixth angel blew [his] trumpet, and from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God I heard a solitary voice, ¹⁴Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Liberate the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. ¹⁵So the four angels who had been in readiness for that hour in the appointed day, month, and year were liberated to destroy a third of mankind. ¹⁶The number of their troops of cavalry was twice ten thousand times ten thousand (200,000,000); I heard what their number was.

¹⁷And in [my] vision the horses and their riders appeared to me like this: the riders wore breastplates the color of fiery red and sapphire blue and sulphur (brimstone) yellow. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and from their mouths there poured fire and smoke and sulphur (brimstone). ¹⁸A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the sulphur (brimstone) that poured from the mouths of the horses. ¹⁹For the power of the horses to do harm is in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails are like serpents, for they have heads, and it is by means of them that they wound people.

²⁰And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues even then did not repent of [the worship of] the works of their [own] hands, so as to cease paying homage to the demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor move. ²¹And they did not repent of their murders or their practice of magic (sorceries) or their sexual vice or their thefts.

Revelation 10

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, robed in a cloud, with a [halo like a] rainbow over his head; his face was like the sun, and his feet (legs) were like columns of fire. ²He had a little book (scroll) open in his hand. He set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³And he shouted with a loud voice like the roaring of a lion; and when he had shouted, the seven thunders gave voice and uttered their message in distinct words. ⁴And when the seven thunders had spoken (sounded), I was going to write [it down], but I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up what the seven thunders have said! Do not write it down!

⁵Then the [mighty] angel whom I had seen stationed on sea and land raised his right hand to heaven (the ^[^a^]sky), ⁶And swore in the name of (by) Him Who lives forever and ever, Who created the heavens (^[^b^]sky) and all they contain, and the earth and all that it contains, and the sea and all that it contains. [He swore] that no more time should intervene and there should be no more waiting or delay, ⁷But that when the days come when the trumpet call of the seventh angel is about to be sounded, then God’s mystery (His secret design, His hidden purpose), as He had announced the glad tidings to His servants the prophets, should be fulfilled (accomplished, completed).

⁸Then the voice that I heard from heaven spoke again to me, saying, Go and take the little book (scroll) which is open on the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.

⁹So I went up to the angel and asked him to give me the little book. And he said to me, Take it and eat it. It will embitter your stomach, though in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. ¹⁰So I took the little book from the angel’s hand and ate and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but once I had swallowed it, my stomach was embittered. ¹¹Then they said to me, You are to make a fresh prophecy concerning many peoples and races and nations and languages and kings.

Revelation 11

A reed [as a measuring rod] was then given to me, [shaped] like a staff, and I was told: Rise up and measure the sanctuary of God and the altar [of incense], and [number] those who worship there. ²But leave out of your measuring the court outside the sanctuary of God; omit that, for it is given over to the Gentiles (the nations), and they will trample the holy city underfoot for 42 months (three and one-half years). ³And I will grant the power of prophecy to My two witnesses for 1,260 (42 months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth. ⁴These [witnesses] are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵And if anyone attempts to injure them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their enemies; if anyone should attempt to harm them, thus he is doomed to be slain. ⁶These [two witnesses] have power to shut up the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying (their ^[^a^]prediction of events relating to Christ’s kingdom and its speedy triumph); and they also have power to turn the waters into blood and to smite and scourge the earth with all manner of plagues as often as they choose.

⁷But when they have finished their testimony and their evidence is all in, the beast (monster) that comes up out of the Abyss (bottomless pit) will wage war on them, and conquer them and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies [will lie exposed] in the open street (^[^b^]a public square) of the great city which is in a spiritual sense called [by the mystical and allegorical names of] Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. ⁹For three and a half days men from the races and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and will not allow them to be put in a tomb. ¹⁰And those who dwell on the earth will gloat and exult over them and rejoice exceedingly, taking their ease and sending presents [in congratulation] to one another, because these two prophets had been such a vexation and trouble and torment to all the dwellers on the earth.

¹¹But after three and a half days, by God’s gift the breath of life again entered into them, and they rose up on their feet, and great dread and terror fell on those who watched them. ¹²Then [the two witnesses] heard a strong voice from heaven calling to them, Come up here! And before the very eyes of their enemies they ascended into heaven in a cloud.

¹³And at that [very] hour there was a tremendous earthquake and one tenth of the city was destroyed (fell); seven thousand people perished in the earthquake, and those who remained were filled with dread and terror and were awe-struck, and they glorified the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe (calamity) has passed; now the third woe is speedily to come.

¹⁵The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)!

¹⁶Then the twenty-four elders [of ^[^c^]the heavenly Sanhedrin], who sit on their thrones before God, prostrated themselves before Him and worshiped,

¹⁷Exclaiming, To You we give thanks, Lord God Omnipotent, [the One] Who is and [ever] was, for assuming the high sovereignty and the great power that are Yours and for beginning to reign.

¹⁸And the heathen (the nations) raged, but Your wrath (retribution, indignation) came, the time when the dead will be judged and Your servants the prophets and saints rewarded—and those who revere (fear) Your name, both low and high and small and great—and [the time] for destroying the corrupters of the earth.

¹⁹Then the sanctuary of God in heaven was thrown open, and the ark of His covenant was seen standing inside in His sanctuary; and there were flashes of lightning, loud rumblings (blasts, mutterings), peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a terrific hailstorm.

Revelation 12

And a great sign (wonder)—[warning of future events of ominous significance] appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and with a crownlike garland (tiara) of twelve stars on her head. ²She was pregnant and she cried out in her birth pangs, in the anguish of her delivery. ³Then another ominous sign (wonder) was seen in heaven: Behold, a huge, fiery-red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven kingly crowns (diadems) upon his heads. ⁴His tail swept [across the sky] and dragged down a third of the stars and flung them to the earth. And the dragon stationed himself in front of the woman who was about to be delivered, so that he might devour her child as soon as she brought it forth. ⁵And she brought forth a male Child, One Who is destined to shepherd (rule) all the nations with an iron staff (scepter), and her Child was caught up to God and to His throne. ⁶And the woman [herself] fled into the desert (wilderness), where she has a retreat prepared [for her] by God, in which she is to be fed and kept safe for 1,260 days (42 months; three and one-half years).

⁷Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels went forth to battle with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. ⁸But they were defeated, and there was no room found for them in heaven any longer. ⁹And the huge dragon was cast down and out—that age-old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, he who is the seducer (deceiver) of all humanity the world over; he was forced out and down to the earth, and his angels were flung out along with him. ¹⁰Then I heard a strong (loud) voice in heaven, saying, Now it has come—the salvation and the power and the kingdom (the dominion, the reign) of our God, and the power (the sovereignty, the authority) of His Christ (the Messiah); for the accuser of our brethren, he who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night, has been cast out! ¹¹And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]. +¹²Therefore be glad (exult), O heavens and you that dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in fierce anger (fury), because he knows that he has [only] a short time [left]!

¹³And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he went in pursuit of the woman who had given birth to the male Child. ¹⁴But the woman was supplied with the two wings of a giant eagle, so that she might fly from the presence of the serpent into the desert (wilderness), to the retreat where she is to be kept safe and fed for a time, and times, and half a time (three and one-half years, or 1,260 days). ¹⁵Then out of his mouth the serpent spouted forth water like a flood after the woman, that she might be carried off with the torrent. ¹⁶But the earth came to the rescue of the woman, and the ground opened its mouth and swallowed up the stream of water which the dragon had spouted from his mouth. ¹⁷So then the dragon was furious (enraged) at the woman, and he went away to wage war on the remainder of her descendants—[on those] who obey God’s commandments and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ [and adhere to it and ^[^a^]bear witness to Him].

Revelation 13

[As] ^[^a^]I stood on the sandy beach, I saw a beast coming up out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads. On his horns he had ten royal crowns (diadems) and blasphemous titles (names) on his heads. ²And the beast that I saw resembled a leopard, but his feet were like those of a bear and his mouth was like that of a lion. And to him the dragon gave his [own] might and power and his [own] throne and great dominion. ³And one of his heads seemed to have a deadly wound. But his death stroke was healed; and the whole earth went after the beast in amazement and admiration. ⁴They fell down and paid homage to the dragon, because he had bestowed on the beast all his dominion and authority; they also praised and worshiped the beast, exclaiming, Who is a match for the beast, and, Who can make war against him?

⁵And the beast was given the power of speech, uttering boastful and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom to exert his authority and to exercise his will during forty-two months (three and a half years). ⁶And he opened his mouth to speak slanders against God, blaspheming His name and His abode, [even vilifying] those who live in heaven. ⁷He was further permitted to wage war on God’s holy people (the saints) and to overcome them. And power was given him to extend his authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, ⁸And all the inhabitants of the earth will fall down in adoration and pay him homage, everyone whose name has not been recorded in the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain [in sacrifice] ^[^b^]from the foundation of the world.

⁹If anyone is able to hear, let him listen:

¹⁰Whoever leads into captivity will himself go into captivity; if anyone slays with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Herein is [the call for] the patience and the faith and fidelity of the saints (God’s people).

¹¹Then I saw another beast rising up out of the land [itself]; he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke (roared) like a dragon. ¹²He exerts all the power and right of control of the former beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell upon it to exalt and deify the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed, and to worship him. ¹³He performs great signs (startling miracles), even making fire fall from the sky to the earth in men’s sight. ¹⁴And because of the signs (miracles) which he is allowed to perform in the presence of the [first] beast, he deceives those who inhabit the earth, commanding them to erect a statue (an image) in the likeness of the beast who was wounded by the [small] sword and still lived. ¹⁵And he is permitted [also] to impart the breath of life into the beast’s image, so that the statue of the beast could actually talk and cause to be put to death those who would not bow down and worship the image of the beast. ¹⁶Also he compels all [alike], both small and great, both the rich and the poor, both free and slave, to be marked with an inscription [^[^c^]stamped] on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷So that no one will have power to buy or sell unless he bears the stamp (mark, inscription), [that is] the name of the beast or the number of his name.

¹⁸Here is [room for] discernment [a call for the wisdom ^[^d^]of interpretation]. Let anyone who has intelligence (penetration and insight enough) calculate the number of the beast, for it is a human number [the number of a certain man]; his number is 666.

Revelation 14

Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 [men] who had His name and His Father’s name inscribed on their foreheads. ²And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of great waters and like the rumbling of mighty thunder; the voice I heard [seemed like the music] of harpists ^[^a^]accompanying themselves on their harps. ³And they sang a new song before the throne [of God] and before the four living creatures and before the elders [of ^[^b^]the heavenly Sanhedrin]. No one could learn [to sing] that song except the 144,000 who had been ransomed (purchased, redeemed) from the earth. ⁴These are they who have not defiled themselves by relations with women, for they are [^[^c^]pure as] virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These are they who have been ransomed (purchased, redeemed) from among men as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. ⁵No lie was found to be upon their lips, for they are blameless (spotless, untainted, without blemish) before the throne of God.

⁶Then I saw another angel flying in midair, with an eternal Gospel (good news) to tell to the inhabitants of the earth, to every race and tribe and language and people. ⁷And he cried with a mighty voice, Revere God and give Him glory (honor and praise in worship), for the hour of His judgment has arrived. Fall down before Him; pay Him homage and adoration and worship Him Who created heaven and earth, the sea and the springs (fountains) of water.

⁸Then another angel, a second, followed, declaring, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She who made all nations drink of the [maddening] wine of her passionate unchastity [^[^d^]idolatry].

⁹Then another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a mighty voice, Whoever pays homage to the beast and his statue and permits the [beast’s] stamp (mark, inscription) to be put on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰He too shall [have to] drink of the wine of God’s indignation and wrath, poured undiluted into the cup of His anger; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. ¹¹And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no respite (no pause, no intermission, no rest, no peace) day or night—these who pay homage to the beast and to his image and whoever receives the stamp of his name upon him. ¹²Here [comes in a call for] the steadfastness of the saints [the patience, the endurance of the people of God], those who [habitually] keep God’s commandments and [their] faith in Jesus.

¹³Then I heard further [^[^e^]perceiving the distinct words of] a voice from heaven, saying, Write this: Blessed (happy, ^[^f^]to be envied) are the dead from now on who die in the Lord! Yes, blessed (happy, ^[^g^]to be envied indeed), says the Spirit, [in] that they may rest from their labors, for their works (deeds) do follow (attend, accompany) them!

¹⁴Again I looked, and behold, [I saw] a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud ^[^h^]One resembling a Son of Man, with a crown of gold on His head and a sharp scythe (sickle) in His hand. ¹⁵And another angel came out of the temple sanctuary, calling with a mighty voice to Him Who was sitting upon the cloud, Put in Your scythe and reap, for the hour has arrived to gather the harvest, for the earth’s crop is fully ripened. ¹⁶So He Who was sitting upon the cloud swung His scythe (sickle) on the earth, and the earth’s crop was harvested.

¹⁷Then another angel came out of the temple [sanctuary] in heaven, and he also carried a sharp scythe (sickle). ¹⁸And another angel came forth from the altar, [the angel] who has authority and power over fire, and he called with a loud cry to him who had the sharp scythe (sickle), Put forth your scythe and reap the fruitage of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are entirely ripe. ¹⁹So the angel swung his scythe on the earth and stripped the grapes and gathered the vintage from the vines of the earth and cast it into the huge winepress of God’s indignation and wrath. ²⁰And [the grapes in] the winepress were trodden outside the city, and blood poured from the winepress, [reaching] as high as horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia (about 200 miles).

Revelation 15

Then I saw another wonder (sign, token, symbol) in heaven, great and marvelous [warning of events of ominous significance]: There were seven angels bringing seven plagues (afflictions, calamities), which are the last, for with them God’s wrath (indignation) is completely expressed [reaches its climax and is ended]. ²Then I saw what seemed to be a glassy sea blended with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his statue and from the number corresponding to his name were standing beside the glassy sea, with harps of God in their hands. ³And they sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, Mighty and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God the Omnipotent! Righteous (just) and true are Your ways, O Sovereign of the ages (King of the ^[^a^]nations)! ⁴Who shall not reverence and glorify Your name, O Lord [giving You honor and praise in worship]? For You only are holy. All the nations shall come and pay homage and adoration to You, for Your just judgments (Your righteous sentences and deeds) have been made known and displayed.

⁵After this I looked and the sanctuary of the tent of the testimony in heaven was thrown open, ⁶And there came out of the temple sanctuary the seven angels bringing the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities). They were arrayed in pure gleaming linen, and around their breasts they wore golden girdles. ⁷And one of the four living creatures [then] gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath and indignation of God, Who lives forever and ever (in the eternities of the eternities). ⁸And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory (the radiance, the splendor) of God and from His might and power, and no one was able to go into the sanctuary until the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities) of the seven angels were ended.

Revelation 16

Then I heard a mighty voice from the temple sanctuary saying to the seven angels, Go and empty out on the earth the seven bowls of God’s wrath and indignation.

²So the first [angel] went and emptied his bowl on the earth, and foul and painful ulcers (sores) came on the people who were marked with the stamp of the beast and who did homage to his image.

³The second [angel] emptied his bowl into the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a corpse [thick, corrupt, ill-smelling, and disgusting], and every living thing that was in the sea perished.

⁴Then the third [angel] emptied out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into (became) blood.

⁵And I also heard the angel of the waters say, Righteous (just) are You in these Your decisions and judgments, You Who are and were, O Holy One! ⁶Because they have poured out the blood of Your people (the saints) and the prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. Such is their due [they deserve it]!

⁷And [from] the altar I heard [the] cry, Yes, Lord God the Omnipotent, Your judgments (sentences, decisions) are true and just and righteous!

⁸Then the fourth [angel] emptied out his bowl upon the sun, and it was permitted to burn (scorch) humanity with [fierce, glowing] heat (fire). ⁹People were severely burned (scorched) by the fiery heat, and they reviled and blasphemed the name of God, Who has control of these plagues, and they did not repent of their sins [felt no regret, contrition, and compunction for their waywardness, refusing to amend their ways] to give Him glory.

¹⁰Then the fifth [angel] emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was [plunged] in darkness; and people gnawed their tongues for the torment [of their excruciating distress and severe pain] ¹¹And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their anguish and their ulcers (sores), and they did not deplore their wicked deeds or repent [for what they had done].

¹²Then the sixth [angel] emptied his bowl on the mighty river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to make ready a road for [the coming of] the kings of the east (from the rising sun). ¹³And I saw three loathsome spirits like frogs, [leaping] from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴For really they are the spirits of demons that perform signs (wonders, miracles). And they go forth to the rulers and leaders all over the world, to gather them together for war on the great day of God the Almighty. ¹⁵Behold, I am going to come like a thief! Blessed (happy, ^[^a^]to be envied) is he who stays awake (alert) and who guards his clothes, so that he may not be naked and [have the shame of being] seen exposed! ¹⁶And they gathered them together at the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

¹⁷Then the seventh [angel] emptied out his bowl into the air, and a mighty voice came out of the sanctuary of heaven from the throne [of God], saying, It is done! [It is all over, it is all accomplished, it has come!] ¹⁸And there followed lightning flashes, loud rumblings, peals of thunder, and a tremendous earthquake; nothing like it has ever occurred since men dwelt on the earth, so severe and far-reaching was that earthquake. ¹⁹The mighty city was broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And God kept in mind mighty Babylon, to make her drain the cup of His furious wrath and indignation. ²⁰And every island fled and no mountains could be found. ²¹And great (excessively oppressive) hailstones, as heavy as a talent [between fifty and sixty pounds], of immense size, fell from the sky on the people; and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail, so very great was [the torture] of that plague.

And the Amen rises to the Throne

#lessonsfromlent

Here’s what I am hoping for you . . .you did not come here looking for a symbolic interpretation or a definitive word on the events described in Revelation. Scholars debate the perspective of the Book—is it historicist, is it idealist, is it preterist, is it futurist—and we’re going to leave all that debating to them.

More than anything else what the Book of Revelation resonates with in my brain is that God always finishes what He starts. We see so many parallels between these chapters that describe the final deliverance of God’s people and the first time He ushered them out of the hands of their oppressors in the Book of Exodus. We see the elements of the tabernacle in our mind’s eye as we peek inside the Throne Room and God’s Glory fills the temple. I’m left in awe that we’re given a glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant . . .the Law on the bottom, covered by the Mercy Seat, leading straight to the Presence of God . . . just as He introduced it in the wilderness. See God being God? Remaining Himself? Creating a platform for the future that features that same Holy One present since before time began.

We see the dragon waiting for the woman to give birth so he can devour her child here in Revelation and the very first announcement of the Messiah coming forth in Genesis 3:15 rings in our ears. Adam and Eve weren’t the only ones who heard the curse as it came from God’s mouth . . .the serpent heard every word.

¹⁵And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her ^[a]Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15 AMP

This first prophecy of Jesus could not have more clearly stated that the Savior would be a “He” and from that moment forward the serpent’s agenda had to include trying to destroy the “Offspring.” We see the evidence of it in the opening chapters of the Book of Exodus as Pharaoh is killing the Hebrew baby boys. It just seems to me that that had to be the work of the enemy, who even then, knew his time was short. And just like the woman Revelation records being cared for in the desert, God cared for His chosen people as they wandered for 40 years.

We see the Ancient Serpent, the Devil, still trying to destroy the Child through Herod at the birth of Christ and we travel with Joseph and Mary as they flee to Egypt in response to the angel’s warning. And how will the final fulfillment of the Revelation come to pass at the end of the age? I have no idea but I do know, and so do you Sister, that in every age God faithfully preserves His people.

I know it’s a very simplistic view but the idea of Revelation being our final deliverance, our final emergence from the constraints of this world . . .our final Exodus, well, that fits for me no matter where the scholars come down on the thing. Doesn’t it seem an exercise in futility to try and define the activity of God and make Him fit neatly into a box our finite minds have created? Our Infinite God, our Elohim, has been planning to deliver His children home since before time began and it seems that Revelation speaks a combination of flashbacks and flash forwards that concludes with God being God. The final Book, the conclusion of the redemption story where we see God be who He says He is and do what He says He will do is the culmination of it all.

The culmination of a God who does not change. The culmination of a God whose purposes cannot be thwarted. The culmination of a God who is, who was, and who is to come. There are many things left open to interpretation in the Book of Revelation but the constancy, the commitment, and the consistency of God is not one of them.

From the opening verse in Genesis to the concluding discourse in Revelation. . . . God remains God. The same God who cultivated the beauty of creation and spoke life into existence has authored life in you. The same God who met His people in their captivity and led them out under the banner of freedom has met us in our bondage, unshackled our hearts, and set us free. The same God who was faithful when His children were faithless is faithful to this very day.

We can’t get so immersed in looking behind the Holy Writ for the “what’s really being said” that we miss the clear message . . . He has saved us. He has delivered us. He has set us free. And Girlfriend, He will make certain that we make it home.

The way home has not changed . . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: glimpsed glory, Lessons from Lent, Revelation 10, Revelation 11, Revelation 12, Revelation 13, Revelation 14, Revelation 15, Revelation 16, Revelation 8, Revelation 9

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Categories A Life of Consumption, Resolve to Glimpse Glory

Lessons from Lent: Day 38

2 Apr

An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (3 now because you have already accomplished thirty-seven), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

Day Thirty-eight

April 2, 2015 ~~ Revelation 1-7

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

Revelation 1

[This is] the revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries]. God gave it to Him to disclose and make known to His bond servants certain things which must shortly and speedily come to pass ^[a]in their entirety. And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John, ²Who has testified to and vouched for all that he saw [^[b]in his visions], the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³Blessed (happy, ^[c]to be envied) is the man who reads aloud [in the assemblies] the word of this prophecy; and blessed (happy, ^[d]to be envied) are those who hear [it read] and who keep themselves true to the things which are written in it [heeding them and laying them to heart], for the time [for them to be fulfilled] is near.

⁴John to the seven assemblies (churches) that are in Asia: May grace (God’s unmerited favor) be granted to you and spiritual peace (^[e]the peace of Christ’s kingdom) from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits [^[f]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] before His throne, ⁵And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ^[g]ever loves us and has ^[h]once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood, ⁶And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

⁷Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall gaze upon Him and beat their breasts and mourn and lament over Him. Even so [must it be]. Amen (so be it).

⁸I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord God, He Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty (the Ruler of all).

⁹I, John, your brother and companion (sharer and participator) with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance [which are] in Jesus Christ, was on the isle called Patmos, [banished] on account of [my witnessing to] the Word of God and the testimony (the proof, the evidence) for Jesus Christ. ¹⁰I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like the calling of a ^[i]war trumpet, ¹¹Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Write promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

¹²Then I turned to see [whose was] the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³And in the midst of the lampstands [One] like a Son of Man, clothed with a robe which reached to His feet and with a girdle of gold about His breast. ¹⁴His head and His hair were white like white wool, [as white] as snow, and His eyes [flashed] like a flame of fire. ¹⁵His feet glowed like burnished (bright) bronze as it is refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. ¹⁶In His right hand He held seven stars, and from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday.

¹⁷When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead. But He laid His right hand on me and said, Do not be afraid! I am the First and the Last, ¹⁸And the Ever-living One [I am living in the eternity of the eternities]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore; and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead).

¹⁹Write therefore the things you see, what they are [and signify] and what is to take place hereafter. ²⁰As to the hidden meaning (the mystery) of the seven stars which you saw on My right hand and the seven lampstands of gold: the seven stars are the seven angels (messengers) of the seven assemblies (churches) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Revelation 2

To the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Ephesus write: These are the words of Him Who holds the seven stars [which are the messengers of the seven churches] in His right hand, Who goes about among the seven golden lampstands [which are the seven churches]:

²I know your industry and activities, laborious toil and trouble, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot tolerate wicked [men] and have tested and critically appraised those who call [themselves] apostles (special messengers of Christ) and yet are not, and have found them to be impostors and liars. ³I know you are enduring patiently and are bearing up for My name’s sake, and you have not fainted or become exhausted or grown weary.

⁴But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love that you had at first [you have deserted Me, your first love]. ⁵Remember then from what heights you have fallen. Repent (change the inner man to meet God’s will) and do the works you did previously [when first you knew the Lord], or else I will visit you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you change your mind and repent. ⁶Yet you have this [in your favor and to your credit]: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans [what they are doing as corrupters of the people], which I Myself also detest.

⁷He who is able to hear, let him listen to and give heed to what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). To him who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant to eat [of the fruit] of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

⁸And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, Who died and came to life again:

⁹I know your affliction and distress and pressing trouble and your poverty—but you are rich! and how you are abused and reviled and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. [Dismiss your dread and your fears!] Behold, the devil is indeed about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested and proved and critically appraised, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be loyally faithful unto death [even if you must die for it], and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). He who overcomes (is victorious) shall in no way be injured by the second death.

¹²Then to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Pergamum write: These are the words of Him Who has and wields the sharp two-edged sword:

¹³I know where you live—a place where Satan sits enthroned. [Yet] you are clinging to and holding fast My name, and you did not deny My faith, even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed (martyred) in your midst—where Satan dwells.

¹⁴Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: you have some people there who are clinging to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to set a trap and a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, [to entice them] to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols and to practice lewdness [giving themselves up to sexual vice]. ¹⁵You also have some who in a similar way are clinging to the teaching of the Nicolaitans [those corrupters of the people] which thing I hate. ¹⁶Repent [then]! Or else I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

¹⁷He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches). To him who overcomes (conquers), I will give to eat of the manna that is hidden, and I will give him a white stone with a new name engraved on the stone, which no one knows or understands except he who receives it.

¹⁸And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, Who has eyes that flash like a flame of fire, and Whose feet glow like bright and burnished and white-hot bronze: ¹⁹I know your record and what you are doing, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your recent works are more numerous and greater than your first ones.

²⁰But I have this against you: that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess [claiming to be inspired], and who is teaching and leading astray my servants and beguiling them into practicing sexual vice and eating food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but she has no desire to repent of her immorality [symbolic of idolatry] and refuses to do so. ²²Take note: I will throw her on a bed [^[a]of anguish], and those who commit adultery with her [her paramours] I will bring down to ^[b]pressing distress and severe affliction, unless they turn away their minds from conduct [such as] hers and repent of ^[c]their doings. ²³And I will strike her children (her proper followers) dead [thoroughly exterminating them]. And all the assemblies (churches) shall recognize and understand that I am He Who searches minds (the thoughts, feelings, and purposes) and the [inmost] hearts, and I will give to each of you [the reward for what you have done] as your work deserves. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not explored and known the depths of Satan, as they say—I tell you that I do not lay upon you any other [fresh] burden: ²⁵Only hold fast to what you have until I come.

²⁶And he who overcomes (is victorious) and who obeys My commands to the [very] end [doing the works that please Me], I will give him authority and power over the nations;

²⁷And he shall rule them with a sceptre (rod) of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, and [his power over them shall be] like that which I Myself have received from My Father; ²⁸And I will give him the Morning Star. ²⁹He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).

Revelation 3

And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Sardis write: These are the words of Him Who has the seven Spirits of God [^[a]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] and the seven stars: I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead.

²Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight. ³So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent. In case you will not rouse yourselves and keep awake and watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know or suspect at what hour I will come.

⁴Yet you still have a few [persons’] names in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy and deserving. ⁵Thus shall he who conquers (is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of Life; I will acknowledge him [as Mine] and I will confess his name openly before My Father and before His angels. ⁶He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).

⁷And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the Holy One, the True One, He Who has the key of David, Who opens and no one shall shut, Who shuts and no one shall open:

⁸I know your [record of] works and what you are doing. See! I have set before you a door wide open which no one is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept My Word and guarded My message and have not renounced or denied My name. ⁹Take note! I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet and learn and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰Because you have guarded and kept My word of patient endurance [have held fast the ^[b]lesson of My patience with the ^[c]expectant endurance that I give you], I also will keep you [safe] from the hour of trial (testing) which is coming on the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth.

¹¹I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one may rob you and deprive you of your crown. ¹²He who overcomes (is victorious), I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God; he shall never be put out of it or go out of it, and I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which descends from My God out of heaven, and My own new name. ¹³He who can hear, let him listen to and heed what the Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).

¹⁴And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the trusty and faithful and true Witness, the Origin and Beginning and Author of God’s creation:

¹⁵I know your [record of] works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth! ¹⁷For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

¹⁹Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude]. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.

²¹He who overcomes (is victorious), I will grant him to sit beside Me on My throne, as I Myself overcame (was victorious) and sat down beside My Father on His throne. ²²He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).

Revelation 4

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard addressing me like [the calling of] a ^[a]war trumpet said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future. ²At once I came under the [Holy] Spirit’s power, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne! ³And He Who sat there appeared like [the crystalline brightness of] jasper and [the fiery] sardius, and encircling the throne there was a halo that looked like [a rainbow of] emerald. ⁴Twenty-four other thrones surrounded the throne, and seated on these thrones were twenty-four elders (^[b]the members of the heavenly Sanhedrin), arrayed in white clothing, with crowns of gold upon their heads.

⁵Out from the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne seven blazing torches burned, which are the seven Spirits of God [^[c]the sevenfold Holy Spirit]; ⁶And in front of the throne there was also what looked like a transparent glassy sea, as if of crystal. And around the throne, in the center at each side of the throne, were four living creatures (beings) who were full of eyes in front and behind [with intelligence as to what is before and at the rear of them]. ⁷The first living creature (being) was like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature had the face of a man, and the fourth living creature [was] like a flying eagle. ⁸And the four living creatures, individually having six wings, were full of eyes all over and within [underneath their wings]; and day and night they never stop saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty (Omnipotent), Who was and Who is and Who is to come.

⁹And whenever the living creatures offer glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him Who sits on the throne, Who lives forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities), ¹⁰The twenty-four elders (^[d]the members of the heavenly Sanhedrin) fall prostrate before Him Who is sitting on the throne, and they worship Him Who lives forever and ever; and they throw down their crowns before the throne, crying out, ¹¹Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created.

Revelation 5

And I saw lying on the ^[a]open hand of Him Who was seated on the throne a scroll (book) written within and on the back, closed and sealed with seven seals; ²And I saw a strong angel announcing in a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll? And [who is entitled and deserves and is morally fit] to break its seals? ³And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in the realm of the dead, Hades] was able to open the scroll or to take a [single] look at its contents. ⁴And I wept audibly and bitterly because no one was found fit to open the scroll or to inspect it. ⁵Then one of the elders [^[b]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] said to me, Stop weeping! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root (Source) of David, has won (has overcome and conquered)! He can open the scroll and break its seven seals!

⁶And there between the throne and the four living creatures (beings) and among the elders [^[c]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [^[d]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] Who have been sent [on duty far and wide] into all the earth. ⁷He then went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him Who sat on the throne. ⁸And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders [^[e]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each was holding a harp (lute or guitar), and they had golden bowls full of incense (fragrant spices and gums for burning), which are the prayers of God’s people (the saints). ⁹And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation. ¹⁰And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!

¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels on every side of the throne and of the living creatures and the elders [^[f]of the heavenly Sanhedrin], and they numbered ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands,

¹²Saying in a loud voice, Deserving is the Lamb, Who was sacrificed, to receive all the power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and majesty (glory, splendor) and blessing!

¹³And I heard every created thing in heaven and on earth and under the earth [in Hades, the place of departed spirits] and on the sea and all that is in it, crying out together, To Him Who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb be ascribed the blessing and the honor and the majesty (glory, splendor) and the power (might and dominion) forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities)!

¹⁴Then the four living creatures (beings) said, Amen (so be it)! And the elders [^[g]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves and worshiped Him Who lives forever and ever.

Revelation 6

Then I saw as the Lamb broke open one of the seven seals, and as if in a voice of thunder I heard one of the four living creatures call out, Come! ²And I looked, and saw there a white horse whose rider carried a bow. And a crown was given him, and he rode forth conquering and to conquer.

³And when He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature call out, Come! ⁴And another horse came out, flaming red. And its rider was empowered to take the peace from the earth, so that men slaughtered one another; and he was given a huge sword.

⁵When He broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature call out, Come and look! And I saw, and behold, a black horse, and in his hand the rider had a pair of scales (a balance). ⁶And I heard what seemed to be a voice from the midst of the four living creatures, saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius [a whole day’s wages], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; but do not harm the oil and the wine!

⁷When the Lamb broke open the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living creature call out, Come! ⁸So I looked, and behold, an ashy pale horse [^[a]black and blue as if made so by bruising], and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades (the realm of the dead) followed him closely. And they were given authority and power over a fourth part of the earth to kill with the sword and with famine and with plague (pestilence, disease) and with wild beasts of the earth.

⁹When the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw at the foot of the altar the souls of those whose lives had been sacrificed for [adhering to] the Word of God and for the testimony they had borne. ¹⁰They cried in a loud voice, O [Sovereign] Lord, holy and true, how long now before You will sit in judgment and avenge our blood upon those who dwell on the earth? ¹¹Then they were each given a ^[b]long and flowing and festive white robe and told to rest and wait patiently a little while longer, until the number should be complete of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

¹²When He [the Lamb] broke open the sixth seal, I looked, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun grew black as sackcloth of hair, [the full disc of] the moon became like blood. ¹³And the stars of the sky dropped to the earth like a fig tree shedding its unripe fruit out of season when shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴And the ^[c]sky rolled up like a scroll and vanished, and every mountain and island was dislodged from its place. ¹⁵Then the kings of the earth and their noblemen and their magnates and their military chiefs and the wealthy and the strong and [everyone, whether] slave or free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, ¹⁶And they called to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on (before) us and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne and from the ^[d]deep-seated indignation and wrath of the Lamb. ¹⁷For the great day of His wrath (vengeance, retribution, indignation) has come, and who is able to stand before it?

Revelation 7

After this I saw four angels stationed at the four corners of the earth, ^[a]firmly holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind should blow on the earth or sea or upon any tree. ²Then I saw a second angel coming up from the east (the rising of the sun) and carrying the seal of the living God. And with a loud voice he called out to the four angels who had been given authority and power to injure earth and sea, ³Saying, Harm neither the earth nor the sea nor the trees, until we have sealed the bond servants of our God upon their foreheads. ⁴And [then] I heard how many were sealed (marked) out of every tribe of the sons of Israel: there were 144,000.

⁵Twelve thousand were sealed (marked) out of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 of the tribe of Gad,

⁶Twelve thousand of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 of the tribe of Manasseh,

⁷Twelve thousand of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 of the tribe of Issachar,

⁸Twelve thousand of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 of the tribe of Benjamin.

⁹After this I looked and a vast host appeared which no one could count, [gathered out] of every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. These stood before the throne and before the Lamb; they were attired in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰In loud voice they cried, saying, [Our] salvation is due to our God, Who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [to Them we owe our deliverance]!

¹¹And all the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders [^[b]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] and the four living creatures, and they fell prostrate before the throne and worshiped God. ¹²Amen! (So be it!) they cried. Blessing and glory and majesty and splendor and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might [be ascribed] to our God to the ages and ages (forever and ever, throughout the eternities of the eternities)! Amen! (So be it!)

¹³Then, addressing me, one of the elders [^[c]of the heavenly Sanhedrin] said, Who are these [people] clothed in the long white robes? And from where have they come?

¹⁴I replied, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are they who have come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

¹⁵For this reason they are [now] before the [very] throne of God and serve Him day and night in His sanctuary (temple); and He Who is sitting upon the throne will protect and spread His tabernacle over and shelter them with His presence.

¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun smite them, nor any ^[d]scorching heat.

¹⁷For the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Amen and so be it!

#lessonsfromlent

A favorite Bible teacher of mine introduced her study on the Book of Revelation with the following statement, “The Book of Revelation is intended to leave you bug-eyed!” Well, I have to say that for me, the words of John the Revelator have done exactly that and apart from the Words of it the idea that God would reveal such magnificence to a mere man and allow it to be passed through the ages . . . that gives me a slacked-jaw to go with my bugged-eyes.

God has always been about the business of revealing secret mysteries to and for His people . . .

⁴⁷The king answered Daniel, Of a truth your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a Revealer of secret mysteries, seeing that you could reveal this secret mystery! Daniel 2:47 AMP

but this Book stands apart and announce itself to be the Revelation of Jesus Christ, His personal unveiling and disclosure of the divine . . .

so the beauty, the awe, and the untouchableness of it all drips from the pages. And isn’t it amazing, that even as the Lamb of God peels back the curtain from the other side of Glory, He is still speaking only what the Father has given Him permission to say . . .

⁴⁹This is because I have never spoken on My own authority or of My own accord or as self-appointed, but the Father Who sent Me has Himself given Me orders [concerning] what to say and what to tell. John 12:49 AMP

The Father placed this treasure before Him and Christ, in full obedience, makes it known to us –in all of our mortality and imperfection–He still reveals the majesty of it all. . .to His friends.

¹⁵I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.] John 15:15

Even in Glory Sweet One, Jesus will be Jesus. Perfectly submitting to the Father. Leaning in close and hearing every Word He speaks. Going about the business of revealing Him to His children.

And God will be God . . . The One who is, the One who was, and the One who is to come. He will always be perfect in His will, always speak love, and always show Himself faithful.

⁴John to the seven assemblies (churches) that are in Asia: May grace (God’s unmerited favor) be granted to you and spiritual peace (^[a]the peace of Christ’s kingdom) from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits [^[b]the sevenfold Holy Spirit] before His throne, ⁵And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. Revelation 1:4-5 AMP

And the finale the Holy Spirit empowers us to pull our chair up close to in this concluding Book of the 66, is the final tie of the redemption account – the unchanging relentless love story written by the Author of Life. The ageless, timeless chronicle of our God purposefully and unflinchingly bringing His children into Glory to live out the eternity He set in their hearts.

Oh Girlfriend, what a life it will be! Our faith will become sight and our Jesus will be our flesh and blood reality! The Faithful Witness who pledged His love for us on the Cross. The Firstborn from the Dead who rose to give us life. And the Ruler of the Kings who chose us to be daughters drenched in the royalty of Himself. O How our souls must shout the Amen and to Him be the glory and power forever!

⁵And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ^[a]ever loves us and has ^[b]once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own blood, ⁶And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it). Revelation 1:5-6 AMP

My soul must shout the Amen. . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: glimpsed glory, Glory and Power Amen, Lessons from Lent, Revelation 1, Revelation 2, Revelation 3, Revelation 4, Revelation 5, Revelation 6, Revelation 7

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Categories A Life of Consumption, Resolve to Glimpse Glory

Lessons from Lent: Day 37

1 Apr

An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (4 now because you have already accomplished thirty-six), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

Day Thirty-seven

April 1, 2015 ~~ 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

1 John 1

[We are writing] about the Word of Life [^[^a^]in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands. ²And the Life [^[^b^]an aspect of His being] was revealed (made manifest, demonstrated), and we saw [as eyewitnesses] and are testifying to and declare to you the Life, the eternal Life [^[^c^]in Him] Who already existed with the Father and Who [actually] was made visible (was revealed) to us [His followers]. ³What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may ^[^d^]realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a ^[^e^]distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). ⁴And we are now writing these things to you so that our joy [in seeing you included] may be full [and ^[^f^]your joy may be complete].

⁵And this is the message [the message of ^[^g^]promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [^[^h^]no, not in any way]. ⁶[So] if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are [both] speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth [which the Gospel presents]. ⁷But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].

⁸If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts]. ⁹If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. ¹⁰If we say (claim) we have not sinned, we contradict His Word and make Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is not in us [the divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts].

1 John 2

My little children, I write you these things so that you may not violate God’s law and sin. But if anyone should sin, we have an Advocate (One Who will intercede for us) with the Father—[it is] Jesus Christ [the all] righteous [upright, just, Who conforms to the Father’s will in every purpose, thought, and action]. ²And He [^[^a^]that same Jesus Himself] is the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins, and not for ours alone but also for [the sins of] the whole world.

³And this is how we may discern [^[^b^]daily, by experience] that we are coming to know Him [to perceive, recognize, understand, and become better acquainted with Him]: if we keep (bear in mind, observe, practice) His teachings (precepts, commandments). ⁴Whoever says, I know Him [I perceive, recognize, understand, and am acquainted with Him] but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [^[^c^]of the Gospel] is not in him. ⁵But he who keeps (treasures) His Word [who bears in mind His precepts, who observes His message in its entirety], truly in him has the love of and for God been perfected (completed, reached maturity). By this we may perceive (know, recognize, and be sure) that we are in Him: ⁶Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as ^[^d^]a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.

⁷Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message which you have heard [the ^[^e^]doctrine of salvation through Christ]. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true (is realized) in Him and in you, because the darkness (^[^f^]moral blindness) is clearing away and the true Light (^[^g^]the revelation of God in Christ) is already shining.

⁹Whoever says he is in the Light and [yet] hates his brother [Christian, ^[^h^]born-again child of God his Father] is in darkness even until now. ¹⁰Whoever loves his brother [believer] abides (lives) in the Light, and in It or in him there is no occasion for stumbling or cause for error or sin. ¹¹But he who hates (detests, despises) his brother [^[i]in Christ] is in darkness and walking (living) in the dark; he is straying and does not perceive or know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹²I am writing to you, little children, because for His name’s sake your sins are forgiven [pardoned through His name and on account of confessing His name].

¹³I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know (recognize, be aware of, and understand) Him Who [has existed] from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have been victorious over the wicked [one]. I write to you, ^[^j^]boys (lads), because you have come to know (recognize and be aware) of the Father.

¹⁴I write to you, fathers, because you have come to know (recognize, be conscious of, and understand) Him Who [has existed] from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and vigorous, and the Word of God is [always] abiding in you (in your hearts), and you have been victorious over the wicked one.

¹⁵Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself]. ¹⁷And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever.

^18 [^k^]Boys (lads), it is the last time (hour, the end of this age). And as you have heard that the antichrist [he who will oppose Christ in the guise of Christ] is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, which confirms our belief that it is the final (the end) time. ¹⁹They went out from our number, but they did not [really] belong to us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But [they withdrew] that it might be plain that they all are not of us.

²⁰But you have been anointed by [you hold a sacred appointment from, you have been given an unction from] the Holy One, and you all know [the Truth] or you know all things. ²¹I write to you not because you are ignorant and do not perceive and know the Truth, but because you do perceive and know it, and [know positively] that nothing false (no deception, no lie) is of the Truth. ²²Who is [such a] liar as he who denies that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah)? He is the antichrist (the antagonist of Christ), who [^[^l^]habitually] denies and refuses to acknowledge the Father and the Son. ²³No one who [^[^m^]habitually] denies (disowns) the Son ^[ⁿ^]even has the Father. Whoever confesses (acknowledges and has) the Son has the Father also.

²⁴As for you, keep in your hearts what you have heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the first dwells and remains in you, then you will dwell in the Son and in the Father [always]. ²⁵And this is what He Himself has promised us—the life, the eternal [life].

²⁶I write this to you with reference to those who would deceive you [seduce and lead you astray]. ²⁷But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [^[^o^]permanently] in you; [so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you. But just as His anointing teaches you concerning everything and is true and is no falsehood, so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him [being ^[^p^]rooted in Him, knit to Him], just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].

²⁸And now, little children, abide (live, remain ^[^q^]permanently) in Him, so that when He is made visible, we may have and enjoy perfect confidence (boldness, assurance) and not be ashamed and shrink from Him at His coming.

²⁹If you know (perceive and are sure) that He [Christ] is [absolutely] righteous [conforming to the Father’s will in purpose, thought, and action], you may also know (be sure) that everyone who does righteously [and is therefore in like manner conformed to the divine will] is born (begotten) of Him [^[^r^]God].

1 John 3

See what [^[^a^]an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him. ²Beloved, we are [even here and] now God’s children; it is not yet disclosed (made clear) what we shall be [hereafter], but we know that when He comes and is manifested, we shall [^[^b^]as God’s children] resemble and be like Him, for we shall see Him ^[^c^]just as He [really] is. ³And everyone who has this hope [resting] on Him cleanses (purifies) himself just as He is pure (chaste, undefiled, guiltless).

⁴Everyone who commits (practices) sin is guilty of lawlessness; for [that is what] sin is, lawlessness (the breaking, violating of God’s law by transgression or neglect—being unrestrained and unregulated by His commands and His will). ⁵You know that He appeared in visible form and became Man to take away [upon Himself] sins, and in Him there is no sin [^[^d^]essentially and forever]. ⁶No one who abides in Him [who lives and remains ^[^e^]in communion with and in obedience to Him—deliberately, knowingly, and ^[^f^]habitually] commits (practices) sin. No one who [habitually] sins has either seen or known Him [recognized, perceived, or understood Him, or has had an experiential acquaintance with Him].

^7 [^g^]Boys (lads), let no one deceive and lead you astray. He who practices righteousness [who is upright, conforming to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action, living a consistently conscientious life] is righteous, even as He is righteous. ⁸[But] he who commits sin [who practices evildoing] is of the devil [takes his character from the evil one], for the devil has sinned (violated the divine law) from the beginning. The reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil [has done]. ⁹No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and ^[^h^]habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God. ¹⁰By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellow ^[i]believer in Christ).

¹¹For this is the message (the announcement) which you have heard from the first, that we should love one another, ¹²[And] not be like Cain who [took his nature and got his motivation] from the evil one and slew his brother. And why did he slay him? Because his deeds (activities, works) were wicked and malicious and his brother’s were righteous (virtuous). ¹³Do not be surprised and wonder, brethren, that the world detests and pursues you with hatred. ¹⁴We know that we have passed over out of death into Life by the fact that we love the brethren (our fellow Christians). He who does not love abides (remains, is ^[^j^]held and kept continually) in [spiritual] death. ¹⁵Anyone who hates (abominates, detests) his brother [in Christ] is [at heart] a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding (^[^k^]persevering) within him.

¹⁶By this we come to know (progressively to recognize, to perceive, to understand) the [essential] love: that He laid down His [own] life for us; and we ought to lay [our] lives down for [those who are our] brothers [^[^l^]in Him]. ¹⁷But if anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and ^[^m^]fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him? ¹⁸Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity). ¹⁹By this we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate, and pacify) our hearts in His presence, ²⁰Whenever our hearts in [^[ⁿ^]tormenting] self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us. [For ^[^o^]we are in God’s hands.] For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understands) everything [nothing is hidden from Him].

²¹And, beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us [if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us], we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God, ²²And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [^[^p^]watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [^[^q^]habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him. ²³And this is His order (His command, His injunction): that we should believe in (put our faith and trust in and adhere to and rely on) the name of His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and that we should love one another, just as He has commanded us. ²⁴All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. [^[^r^]They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us.

1 John 4

Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world. ²By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source]; ³And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would ^[^a^]annul, destroy, ^[^b^]sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [^[^c^]nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.

⁴Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world. ⁵They proceed from the world and are of the world; therefore it is out of the world [its ^[^d^]whole economy morally considered] that they speak, and the world listens (pays attention) to them. ⁶We are [children] of God. Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to ^[^e^]get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him] listens to us; and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us. By this we know (recognize) the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him]. ⁸He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. ⁹In this the love of God was made manifest (displayed) where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or ^[^f^]unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another. ¹²No man has at any time [yet] seen God. But if we love one another, God abides (lives and remains) in us and His love (that love which is essentially His) is brought to completion (to its full maturity, runs its full course, is perfected) in us!

¹³By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit. ¹⁴And [besides] we ourselves have seen (have deliberately and steadfastly contemplated) and bear witness that the Father has sent the Son [as the] Savior of the world. ¹⁵Anyone who confesses (acknowledges, owns) that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides (lives, makes His home) in him and he [abides, lives, makes his home] in God. ¹⁶And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.

¹⁷In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love ^[^g^]turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear ^[^h^]brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love’s complete perfection].

¹⁹We love Him, because He first loved us. ²⁰If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates) his brother [^[i]in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen. ²¹And this command (charge, order, injunction) we have from Him: that he who loves God shall love his brother [^[^j^]believer] also.

1 John 5

Everyone who believes (adheres to, trusts, and relies on the fact) that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) is a born-again child of God; and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him (His offspring). ²By this we come to know (recognize and understand) that we love the children of God: when we love God and obey His commands (orders, charges)—[when we keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and His teaching]. ³For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous). ⁴For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith. ⁵Who is it that is victorious over [that conquers] the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact]?

⁶This is He Who came by (with) water and blood [^[^a^]His baptism and His death], Jesus Christ (the Messiah)—not by (in) the water only, but by (in) the water and the blood. And it is the [Holy] Spirit Who bears witness, because the [Holy] Spirit is the Truth. ⁷So there are three witnesses ^[^b^]in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One; ⁸and there are three witnesses on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree [are in unison; their testimony coincides]. ⁹If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [if we are willing to take human authority], the testimony of God is greater (of stronger authority), for this is the testimony of God, even the witness which He has borne regarding His Son. ¹⁰He who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] has the testimony [possesses this divine attestation] within himself. He who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him out to be and represented Him as a liar, because he has not believed (put his faith in, adhered to, and relied on) the evidence (the testimony) that God has borne regarding His Son. ¹¹And this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹²He who possesses the Son has that life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life.

¹³I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in ^[^c^]the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, ^[^d^]yes, eternal life. ¹⁴And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him: [we are sure] that if we ask anything (make any request) according to His will (in agreement with His own plan), He listens to and hears us. ¹⁵And if (since) we [positively] know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted us as our present possessions] the requests made of Him.

¹⁶If anyone sees his brother [believer] committing a sin that does not [lead to] death (the extinguishing of life), he will pray and [God] will give him life [yes, He will grant life to all those whose sin is not one leading to death]. There is a sin [that leads] to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. ¹⁷All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin which does not [involve] death [that may be repented of and forgiven].

¹⁸We know [absolutely] that anyone born of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him [Christ’s divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him]. ¹⁹We know [positively] that we are of God, and the whole world [around us] is under the power of the evil one. ²⁰And we [have seen and] know [positively] that the Son of God has [actually] come to this world and has given us understanding and insight [progressively] to perceive (recognize) and come to know better and more clearly Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). This [Man] is the true God and Life eternal.

²¹Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods)—[from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life]. Amen (so let it be).

2 John 1

The elderly elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the elect (chosen) lady (Cyria) and her children, whom I truly love—and not only I but also all who are [progressively] learning to recognize and know and understand the Truth— ²Because of the Truth which lives and stays on in our hearts and will be with us forever:

³Grace (spiritual blessing), mercy, and [soul] peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ (the Messiah), the Father’s Son, in all sincerity (truth) and love.

⁴I was greatly delighted to find some of your children walking (living) in [the] Truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father [Himself]. ⁵And now I beg you, lady (Cyria), not as if I were issuing a new charge (injunction or command), but [simply recalling to your mind] the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. ⁶And what this love consists in is this: that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments (His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching). This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love [guided by it and following it].

⁷For many imposters (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter (the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ) and the antichrist. ⁸Look to yourselves (take care) that you may not lose (throw away or destroy) all that we and you have labored for, but that you may [persevere until you] win and receive back a perfect reward [in full]. ⁹Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine [is disloyal to what Jesus Christ taught], do not receive him [do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him] into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement. ¹¹For he who wishes him success [who encourages him, wishing him Godspeed] is a partaker in his evil doings.

¹²I have many things to write to you, but I prefer not to do so with paper and ink; I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

¹³The children of your elect (chosen) sister wish to be remembered to you. Amen (so be it).

3 John 1

The elderly elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the beloved (esteemed) Gaius, whom I truly love.

²Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers. ³In fact, I greatly rejoiced when [some of] the brethren from time to time arrived and spoke [so highly] of the sincerity and fidelity of your life, as indeed you do live in the Truth [the whole Gospel presents]. ⁴I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are living their lives in the Truth.

⁵Beloved, it is a fine and faithful work that you are doing when you give any service to the [Christian] brethren, and [especially when they are] strangers. ⁶They have testified before the church of your love and friendship. You will do well to forward them on their journey [and you will please do so] in a way worthy of God’s [service]. ⁷For these [traveling missionaries] have gone out for the Name’s sake (for His sake) and are accepting nothing from the Gentiles (the heathen, the non-Israelites). ⁸So we ourselves ought to support such people [to welcome and provide for them], in order that we may be fellow workers in the Truth (the whole Gospel) and cooperate with its teachers.

⁹I have written briefly to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to take the lead among them and put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority and refuses to accept my suggestions or to listen to me. ¹⁰So when I arrive, I will call attention to what he is doing, his boiling over and casting malicious reflections upon us with insinuating language. And not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive and welcome the [missionary] brethren himself, and also interferes with and forbids those who would welcome them, and tries to expel (excommunicate) them from the church.

¹¹Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen (discerned or experienced) God [has enjoyed no vision of Him and does not know Him at all]. ¹²Demetrius has warm commendation from everyone—and from the Truth itself; we add our testimony also, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³I had much [to say to you when I began] to write, but I prefer not to put it down with pen (a reed) and ink; ¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.

¹⁵Peace be to you! (Good-bye!) The friends here send you greetings. Remember me to the friends there [to every one of them personally] by name.

Jude 1

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and brother of James, [writes this letter] to those who are called (chosen), dearly loved by God the Father and separated (set apart) and kept for Jesus Christ:

²May mercy, [soul] peace, and love be multiplied to you.

³Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. [But] I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort [you] to contend for the faith which was once for all ^[^a^]handed down to the saints [the faith which is that sum of Christian belief which was delivered ^[^b^]verbally to the holy people of God]. ⁴For certain men have crept in stealthily [^[^c^]gaining entrance secretly by a side door]. Their doom was predicted long ago, ungodly (impious, profane) persons who pervert the grace (the spiritual blessing and favor) of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

⁵Now I want to remind you, though you were fully informed once for all, that though the Lord [at one time] delivered a people out of the land of Egypt, He subsequently destroyed those [of them] who did not believe [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him]. ⁶And angels who did not keep (care for, guard, and hold to) their own first place of power but abandoned their proper dwelling place—these He has reserved in custody in eternal chains (bonds) under the thick gloom of utter darkness until the judgment and doom of the great day. ⁷[The wicked are sentenced to suffer] just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the adjacent towns—which likewise gave themselves over to impurity and indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity—are laid out [in plain sight] as an exhibit of perpetual punishment [to warn] of everlasting fire.

⁸Nevertheless in like manner, these dreamers also corrupt the body, scorn and reject authority and government, and revile and libel and scoff at [heavenly] glories (the glorious ones). ⁹But when [even] the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, judicially argued (disputed) about the body of Moses, he dared not [presume to] bring an abusive condemnation against him, but [simply] said, The Lord rebuke you!¹⁰But these men revile (scoff and sneer at) anything they do not happen to be acquainted with and do not understand; and whatever they do understand physically [that which they know by mere instinct], like irrational beasts—by these they corrupt themselves and are destroyed (perish).

¹¹Woe to them! For they have run riotously in the way of Cain, and have abandoned themselves for the sake of gain [it offers them, following] the error of Balaam, and have perished in rebellion [like that] of Korah!

¹²These are hidden reefs (elements of danger) in your love feasts, where they boldly feast sumptuously [carousing together in your midst], without scruples providing for themselves [alone]. They are clouds without water, swept along by the winds; trees, without fruit at the late autumn gathering time—twice (doubly) dead, [lifeless and] plucked up by the roots; ¹³Wild waves of the sea, flinging up the foam of their own shame and disgrace; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of eternal darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴It was of these people, moreover, that Enoch in the seventh [generation] from Adam prophesied when he said, Behold, the Lord comes with His myriads of holy ones (ten thousands of His saints) ¹⁵To execute judgment upon all and to convict all the impious (unholy ones) of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed [in such an] ungodly [way], and of all the severe (abusive, jarring) things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. ¹⁶These are inveterate murmurers (grumblers) who complain [of their lot in life], going after their own desires [controlled by their passions]; their talk is boastful and arrogant, [and they claim to] admire men’s persons and pay people flattering compliments to gain advantage.

¹⁷But you must remember, beloved, the predictions which were made by the apostles (the special messengers) of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). ¹⁸They told you beforehand, In the last days (in the end time) there will be scoffers [who seek to gratify their own unholy desires], following after their own ungodly passions. ¹⁹It is these who are [agitators] setting up distinctions and causing divisions—merely sensual [creatures, carnal, worldly-minded people], devoid of the [Holy] Spirit and destitute of any higher spiritual life.

²⁰But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [^[^d^]make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit; ²¹Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)—[which will bring you] unto life eternal.

²²And refute [so as to] convict some who dispute with you, and on some have mercy who waver and doubt. ²³[Strive to] save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality.

²⁴Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight]— ²⁵To the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory (splendor), majesty, might and dominion, and power and authority, before all time and now and forever (unto all the ages of eternity). Amen (so be it).

Amen

#lessonsfromlent

I heard a message several years ago and the teacher suggested that sometimes when you’re in a bad spot, when your circumstances seem to overwhelm you, when your own heart condemns you . . . you have to “know what you know.” I think the book of 1 John says that more clearly and straight out than any other book in the Bible. There are over 25 instances of “know what you know” written down by the pen of John and I’ve been very blessed by God clearly telling me, over and over again, that if He’s going to say it that often, I need to live by it. And I’ve had a test or two to be certain I would know how to apply it.

When I am feeling overwhelmed by circumstances of my own making, weighed down in the knowledge that I still have to be on guard against things I should’ve been done with long ago . . . I know that my Jesus has drawn me out of the deep pit and rescued me. He’s brought me to the surface, led me to a spacious place and said “Breathe, child breathe.” And the part that always thrills me beyond belief is that He did this simply because . . . He delighted in me.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me. Psalm 18:16-19 (NIV)

When I am wondering if I can stand firm in my faith and not yield to the temptations that rage inside my heart, I know that in my struggle against sin I am sharing in the sufferings of my Messiah. That He has not now nor will He ever leave me to fend for myself in the hands of the tempter or at the mercy of my own flesh because He Himself has made the way out from under whatever compulsion or desire that may try and seize me. I know . . . He is faithful.

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Hebrews 2:8 (NIV)

¹³No temptation^[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

When I’m absolutely certain that I cannot do what needs to be done in a day, I look to Him and I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I know that I head into the battle of that moment under the Lord’s Banner and I know there is no fight He will lead me to that Jesus has not already won. I know . . . He has made me more than a conqueror.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)

Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. Exodus 17:15 (NIV)

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:37 (NIV)

When my heart has convinced me that I am alone, forgotten, and unimportant, I know He has summoned me by name and declared for all the heavenlies to hear that I am His. I know the Lion of Judah, my Mighty Warrior, has roared love over me and that the Lord Himself sings over me with rejoicing. I am firmly planted in the heart of my Savior, secure in His Holy Hand, and Sweet One . . . He calls me friend.

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all^[a]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. John 10:28-29 (NIV)

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. John 15:15 (NIV)

Girlfriend, His Word is chocked full of His declarations regarding us. But we don’t have a prayer of having His love letter on the tip of our tongues unless we’ve read it. Felt the edge of the pages. Searched it over, time and time again. Spoken it aloud. Heard the cadence of it and grabbed onto it with all our hearts. He woos us with His words and strengthens us with every verse but . . . none of this benefits or changes Him. He didn’t make sure the Holy Writ was preserved through the generations for Himself. . . God already knows God, inside and out.

Our overwhelming self-made circumstances do not take Him by surprise. He’s got some Scripture for that. Our struggling nature does not catch Him off guard. He’s given us a Passage for that. The demands of our days are not a revelation to Him and He’s given us verse after verse for that. He’s written it all down for us. He knew exactly how to meet our every need, cut through every circumstance, and answer every prayer. He has always known.

Nothing dumbfounds, takes aback, or renders our God speechless . . .He always has a Word for that. . .whatever that may be. He knew that you and I would waver without His Holy Voice to spur us on. He knew our knees would buckle if our heart couldn’t hear Him. He knew and it seems He put John’s pen to the paper to make sure we knew . . . that Sister, we need to know what we know.

I need to know what I know . . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, glimpsed glory, Jude, Know what you Know, Lessons from Lent

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Categories A Life of Consumption, Resolve to Glimpse Glory

Lessons from Lent: Day 36

31 Mar

An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (5 now because you have already accomplished thirty-five), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

Day Thirty-six

March 31, 2015 ~~ 1 Peter-2 Peter

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

1 Peter 1

Peter, an apostle (a special messenger) of Jesus Christ, [writing] to the elect exiles of the dispersion scattered (sowed) abroad in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²Who were chosen and foreknown by God the Father and consecrated (sanctified, made holy) by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and to be sprinkled with [His] blood: May grace (spiritual blessing) and peace be given you in increasing abundance [that spiritual peace to be ^[^a^]realized in and through Christ, ^[^b^]freedom from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts].

³Praised (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴[Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵Who are being guarded (garrisoned) by God’s power through [your] faith [till you fully inherit that ^[^c^]final] salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time. ⁶[You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations, ⁷So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed. ⁸Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy. ⁹[At the same time] you receive the result (outcome, consummation) of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰The prophets, who prophesied of the grace (divine blessing) which was intended for you, searched and inquired earnestly about this salvation. ¹¹They sought [to find out] to whom or when this was to come which the Spirit of Christ working within them was indicating when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow [them]. ¹²It was then disclosed to them that the services they were rendering were not meant for themselves and their period of time, but for you. [It is these very] things which have now already been made known plainly to you by those who preached the good news (the Gospel) to you by the [same] Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Into these things [the very] angels long to look!

¹³So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed. ¹⁴[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. ¹⁵But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. ¹⁶For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. ¹⁷And if you call upon Him as [your] Father Who judges each one impartially according to what he does, [then] you should conduct yourselves with true reverence throughout the time of your temporary residence [on the earth, whether long or short]. ¹⁸You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold, ¹⁹But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰It is true that He was chosen and foreordained (destined and foreknown for it) before the foundation of the world, but He was brought out to public view (made manifest) in these last days (at the end of the times) for the sake of you. ²¹Through Him you believe in (adhere to, rely on) God, Who raised Him up from the dead and gave Him honor and glory, so that your faith and hope are [centered and rest] in God.

²²Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart. ²³You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal ^[^d^]origin (^[^e^]seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God. ²⁴For all flesh (mankind) is like grass, and all its glory (honor) like [the] flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower drops off, ²⁵But the Word of the Lord (^[^f^]divine instruction, the Gospel) endures forever. And this Word is the good news which was preached to you.

1 Peter 2

So be done with every trace of wickedness (depravity, malignity) and all deceit and insincerity (pretense, hypocrisy) and grudges (envy, jealousy) and slander and evil speaking of every kind. ²Like newborn babies you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire) the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and grow unto [completed] salvation, ³Since you have [already] tasted the goodness and kindness of the Lord.

⁴Come to Him [then, to that] Living Stone which men ^[^a^]tried and threw away, but which is chosen [and] precious in God’s sight. ⁵[Come] and, like living stones, be yourselves built [into] a spiritual house, for a holy (dedicated, consecrated) priesthood, to offer up [those] spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For thus it stands in Scripture: Behold, I am laying in Zion a chosen (^[^b^]honored), precious chief Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] shall never be ^[^c^]disappointed or put to shame. ⁷To you then who believe (who adhere to, trust in, and rely on Him) is the preciousness; but for those who disbelieve [it is true], The [very] Stone which the builders rejected has become the main Cornerstone, ⁸And, A Stone that will cause stumbling and a Rock that will give [men] offense; they stumble because they disobey and disbelieve [God’s] Word, as those [who reject Him] were destined (appointed) to do.

⁹But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own ^[^d^]purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. ¹⁰Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul. ¹²Conduct yourselves properly (honorably, righteously) among the Gentiles, so that, although they may slander you as evildoers, [yet] they may by witnessing your good deeds [come to] glorify God in the day of inspection [^[^e^]when God shall look upon you wanderers as a pastor or shepherd looks over his flock].

¹³Be submissive to every human institution and authority for the sake of the Lord, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴Or to governors as sent by him to bring vengeance (punishment, justice) to those who do wrong and to encourage those who do good service. ¹⁵For it is God’s will and intention that by doing right [your good and honest lives] should silence (muzzle, gag) the ignorant charges and ill-informed criticisms of foolish persons. ¹⁶[Live] as free people, [yet] without employing your freedom as a pretext for wickedness; but [live at all times] as servants of God. ¹⁷Show respect for all men [treat them honorably]. Love the brotherhood (the Christian fraternity of which Christ is the Head). Reverence God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸[You who are] household servants, be submissive to your masters with all [proper] respect, not only to those who are kind and considerate and reasonable, but also to those who are surly (overbearing, unjust, and crooked). ¹⁹For one is regarded favorably (is approved, acceptable, and thankworthy) if, as in the sight of God, he endures the pain of unjust suffering. ²⁰[After all] what ^[^f^]kind of glory [is there in it] if, when you do wrong and are punished for it, you take it patiently? But if you bear patiently with suffering [which results] when you do right and that is undeserved, it is acceptable and pleasing to God. ²¹For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps. ²²He was guilty of no sin, neither was deceit (guile) ever found on His lips. ²³When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but he trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly. ²⁴He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree ^[^g^][as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For you were going astray like [so many] sheep, but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Guardian (^[^h^]the Bishop) of your souls.

1 Peter 3

In like manner, you married women, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate yourselves as being secondary to and dependent on them, and adapt yourselves to them], so that even if any do not obey the Word [of God], they may be won over not by discussion but by the [godly] lives of their wives, ²When they observe the pure and modest way in which you conduct yourselves, together with your ^[^a^]reverence [for your husband; you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect, defer to, revere him—to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband]. ³Let not yours be the [merely] external adorning with [elaborate] ^[^b^]interweaving and knotting of the hair, the wearing of jewelry, or changes of clothes; ⁴But let it be the inward adorning and beauty of the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, which [is not anxious or wrought up, but] is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵For it was thus that the pious women of old who hoped in God were [accustomed] to beautify themselves and were submissive to their husbands [adapting themselves to them as themselves secondary and dependent upon them]. ⁶It was thus that Sarah obeyed Abraham [following his guidance and acknowledging his headship over her by] calling him lord (master, leader, authority). And you are now her true daughters if you do right and let nothing terrify you [not giving way to hysterical fears or letting anxieties unnerve you].

⁷In the same way you married men should live considerately with [your wives], with an ^[^c^]intelligent recognition [of the marriage relation], honoring the woman as [physically] the weaker, but [realizing that you] are joint heirs of the grace (God’s unmerited favor) of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered and cut off. [Otherwise you cannot pray effectively.]

⁸Finally, all [of you] should be of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing [with one another], loving [each other] as brethren [of one household], compassionate and courteous (tenderhearted and humble). ⁹Never return evil for evil or insult for insult (scolding, tongue-lashing, berating), but on the contrary blessing [praying for their welfare, happiness, and protection, and truly pitying and loving them]. For know that to this you have been called, that you may yourselves inherit a blessing [from God—that you may obtain a blessing as heirs, bringing welfare and happiness and protection]. ¹⁰For let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days [good—whether apparent or not] keep his tongue free from evil and his lips from guile (treachery, deceit). ¹¹Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!] ¹²For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), and His ears are attentive to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil [to oppose them, to frustrate, and defeat them].

¹³Now who is there to hurt you if you are ^[^d^]zealous followers of that which is good? ¹⁴But even in case you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, [you are] blessed (happy, to be envied). Do not dread or be afraid of their threats, nor be disturbed [by their opposition]. ¹⁵But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully. ¹⁶[And see to it that] your conscience is entirely clear (^[^e^]unimpaired), so that, when you are falsely accused as evildoers, those who threaten you abusively and revile your right behavior in Christ may come to be ashamed [of slandering your good lives]. ¹⁷For [it is] better to suffer [unjustly] for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than to suffer [justly] for doing wrong.

¹⁸For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once ^[^f^]for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹In which He went and preached to the spirits in prison, ²⁰[The souls of those] who long before in the days of Noah had been disobedient, when God’s patience waited during the building of the ark in which a few [people], actually eight in number, were saved through water. ²¹And baptism, which is a figure [of their deliverance], does now also save you [from inward questionings and fears], not by the removing of outward body filth [bathing], but by [providing you with] the answer of a good and clear conscience (inward cleanness and peace) before God [because you are demonstrating what you believe to be yours] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. ²²[And He] has now entered into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with [all] angels and authorities and powers made subservient to Him.

1 Peter 4

So, since Christ suffered in the flesh ^[^a^]for us, for you, arm yourselves with the same thought and ^[^b^]purpose [patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having ^[^c^]the mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God], ²So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires, but [he lives] for what God wills. ³For the time that is past already suffices for doing what the Gentiles like to do—living [as you have done] in shameless, insolent wantonness, in lustful desires, drunkenness, reveling, drinking bouts and abominable, lawless idolatries. ⁴They are astonished and think it very queer that you do not now run hand in hand with them in the same excesses of dissipation, and they abuse [you]. ⁵But they will have to give an account to Him Who is ready to judge and pass sentence on the living and the dead. ⁶For this is why the good news (the Gospel) was preached [^[^d^]in their lifetime] even to the dead, that though judged in fleshly bodies as men are, they might live in the spirit as God does.

⁷But the end and culmination of all things has now come near; keep sound minded and self-restrained and alert therefore for [the practice of] prayer. ⁸Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and ^[^e^]disregards the offenses of others]. ⁹Practice hospitality to one another (those of the household of faith). [Be hospitable, be a lover of strangers, with brotherly affection for the unknown guests, the foreigners, the poor, and all others who come your way who are of Christ’s body.] And [in each instance] do it ungrudgingly (cordially and graciously, without complaining but as representing Him). ¹⁰As each of you has received a gift (a particular spiritual talent, a gracious divine endowment), employ it for one another as [befits] good trustees of God’s many-sided grace [faithful stewards of the ^[^f^]extremely diverse powers and gifts granted to Christians by unmerited favor]. ¹¹Whoever speaks, [let him do it as one who utters] oracles of God; whoever renders service, [let him do it] as with the strength which God furnishes ^[^g^]abundantly, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever (through endless ages). Amen (so be it).

¹²Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you. ¹³But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph [exultantly]. ¹⁴If you are censured and suffer abuse [because you bear] the name of Christ, blessed [are you—happy, fortunate, ^[^h^]to be envied, ^[i]with life-joy, and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward condition], because the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God, is resting upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. ¹⁵But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or any sort of criminal, or as a mischief-maker (a meddler) in the affairs of others [infringing on their rights]. ¹⁶But if [one is ill-treated and suffers] as a Christian [which he is contemptuously called], let him not be ashamed, but give glory to God that he is [deemed worthy to suffer] in this name. ¹⁷For the time [has arrived] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will [be] the end of those who do not respect or believe or obey the good news (the Gospel) of God? ¹⁸And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the godless and wicked? ¹⁹Therefore, those who are ill-treated and suffer in accordance with God’s will must do right and commit their souls [in charge as a deposit] to the One Who created [them] and will never fail [them].

1 Peter 5

I warn and counsel the elders among you (the pastors and spiritual guides of the church) as a fellow elder and as an eyewitness [called to testify] of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a sharer in the glory (the honor and splendor) that is to be revealed (disclosed, unfolded): ²Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility], not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by the advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully; ³Not domineering [as arrogant, dictatorial, and overbearing persons] over those in your charge, but being examples (patterns and models of Christian living) to the flock (the congregation). ⁴And [then] when the Chief Shepherd is revealed, you will win the ^[^a^]conqueror’s crown of glory. ⁵Likewise, you who are younger and of lesser rank, be subject to the elders (the ministers and spiritual guides of the church)—[giving them due respect and yielding to their counsel]. Clothe (apron) yourselves, all of you, with humility [as the garb of a servant, ^[^b^]so that its covering cannot possibly be stripped from you, with freedom from pride and arrogance] toward one another. For God sets Himself against the proud (the insolent, the overbearing, the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful)—[and He opposes, frustrates, and defeats them], but gives grace (favor, blessing) to the humble.

⁶Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, ⁷Casting the ^[^c^]whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, ^[^d^]once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you ^[^e^]watchfully. ⁸Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [^[^f^]in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. ⁹Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset—rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (^[^g^]identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. ¹⁰And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it).

¹²By Silvanus, a true (loyal, consistent, incorruptible) brother, as I consider him, I have written briefly to you, to counsel and urge and stimulate [you] and to declare [to you] that this is the true [account of the] grace (the undeserved favor) of God. Be steadfast and persevere in it. ¹³She [your sister church here] in Babylon, [who is] elect (chosen) with [yourselves], sends you greetings, and [so does] my son (disciple) Mark. ¹⁴Salute one another with a kiss of love [the symbol of mutual affection]. To all of you that are in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), may there be peace (^[^h^]every kind of peace and blessing, especially peace with God, and ^[i] freedom from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts). Amen (so be it).

2 Peter 1

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle (special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to those who have received (obtained an equal privilege of) like precious faith with ourselves in and through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: ²May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is ^[^a^]perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and ^[^b^]freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, ^[^c^]precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

³For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [^[^d^]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). ⁴By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature. ⁵For this very reason, ^[^e^]adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in ^[^f^]exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence), ⁶And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety), ⁷And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love. ⁸For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [^[^g^]full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). ⁹For whoever lacks these qualities is blind, [^[^h^]spiritually] shortsighted, ^[i]seeing only what is near to him, and has become oblivious [to the fact] that he was cleansed from his old sins. ¹⁰Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast) your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall. ¹¹Thus there will be richly and abundantly provided for you entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

¹²So I intend always to remind you about these things, although indeed you know them and are firm in the truth that [you] now [hold]. ¹³I think it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle (tent, body), to stir you up by way of remembrance, ¹⁴Since I know that the laying aside of this body of mine will come speedily, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. ¹⁵Moreover, I will diligently endeavor [to see to it] that [even] after my departure (decease) you may be able at all times to call these things to mind.

¹⁶For we were not following cleverly devised stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (grandeur, authority of sovereign power). ¹⁷For when He was invested with honor and glory from God the Father and a voice was borne to Him by the [splendid] Majestic Glory [in the bright cloud that overshadowed Him, saying], This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased and delight, ¹⁸We [actually] heard this voice borne out of heaven, for we were together with Him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹And we have the prophetic word [made] firmer still. You will do well to pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal (squalid and dark) place, until the day breaks through [the gloom] and the Morning Star rises (^[^j^]comes into being) in your hearts. ²⁰[Yet] first [you must] understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of any personal or private or special interpretation (loosening, solving). ²¹For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it [to do so—it never came by human impulse], but men spoke from God who were borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 2

But also [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed. ³And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep.

⁴For God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but cast them into hell, delivering them to be kept there in pits of gloom till the judgment and their doom. ⁵And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people]. ⁶And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [and thus] set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly; ⁷And He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless— ⁸For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds— ⁹Now if [all these things are true, then be sure] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom,

¹⁰And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, ¹¹Whereas [even] angels, though superior in might and power, do not bring a defaming charge against them before the Lord. ¹²But these [people]! Like unreasoning beasts, mere creatures of instinct, born [only] to be captured and destroyed, railing at things of which they are ignorant, they shall utterly perish in their [own] corruption [in their destroying they shall surely be destroyed], ¹³Being destined to receive [punishment as] the reward of [their] unrighteousness [suffering wrong as the hire for their wrongdoing]. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously and delicately]. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their ^[^a^]deceptions and carousing together [even] as they feast with you. ¹⁴They have eyes full of harlotry, insatiable for sin. They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness (lust, greed), [they are] children of a curse [^[^b^]exposed to cursing]! ¹⁵Forsaking the straight road they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam [the son] of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness. ¹⁶But he was rebuked for his own transgression when a dumb beast of burden spoke with human voice and checked the prophet’s madness.

¹⁷These are springs without water and mists driven along before a tempest, for whom is reserved forever the gloom of darkness. ¹⁸For uttering loud boasts of folly, they beguile and lure with lustful desires of the flesh those who are barely escaping from them who are wrongdoers. ¹⁹They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement—for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved. ²⁰For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first. ²¹For never to have obtained a [full, personal] knowledge of the way of righteousness would have been better for them than, having obtained [such knowledge], to turn back from the holy commandment which was [verbally] delivered to them. ²²There has befallen them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and, The sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire.

2 Peter 3

Beloved, I am now writing you this second letter. In [both of] them I have stirred up your unsullied (sincere) mind by way of remembrance, ²That you should recall the predictions of the holy (consecrated, dedicated) prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior [given] through your apostles (His special messengers). ³To begin with, you must know and understand this, that scoffers (mockers) will come in the last days with scoffing, [people who] walk after their own fleshly desires ⁴And say, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the forefathers fell asleep, all things have continued exactly as they did from the beginning of creation. ⁵For they willfully overlook and forget this [fact], that the heavens [came into] existence long ago by the word of God, and the earth also which was formed out of water and by means of water, ⁶Through which the world that then [existed] was deluged with water and perished. ⁷But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been stored up (reserved) for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly people.

⁸Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape you, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. ⁹The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish (pass away) with a thunderous crash, and the [^[^a^]material] elements [of the universe] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.

¹¹Since all these things are thus ^[^b^]in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities, ¹²While you wait and earnestly long for (expect and hasten) the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved, and the [^[^c^]material] elements [of the universe] will flare and melt with fire? ¹³But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise, in which righteousness (uprightness, freedom from sin, and right standing with God) is to abide.

¹⁴So, beloved, since you are expecting these things, be eager to be found by Him [at His coming] without spot or blemish and at peace [in serene confidence, ^[^d^]free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts]. ¹⁵And consider that the long-suffering of our Lord [^[^e^]His slowness in avenging wrongs and judging the world] is salvation (^[^f^]that which is conducive to the soul’s safety), even as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the spiritual insight given him, ¹⁶Speaking of this as he does in all of his letters. There are some things in those [epistles of Paul] that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist and misconstrue to their own ^[^g^]utter destruction, just as [they distort and misinterpret] the rest of the Scriptures. ¹⁷Let me warn you therefore, beloved, that knowing these things beforehand, you should be on your guard, lest you be carried away by the error of lawless and wicked [persons and] fall from your own [present] firm condition [your own steadfastness of mind]. ¹⁸But grow in grace (undeserved favor, spiritual strength) and ^[^h^]recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honor, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)!

Amen and so be it!

#lessonsfromlent

I am wondering as I conclude first and second Peter, if you and I might share the penchant for what I am going to call “passive separation.” Passive separation, as I have put the definition together in my head, comes from not purposefully remaining together. What I mean is this . . . might it be that you and I passively live two different lives because we don’t intentionally live one.

It seems to me that in both letters Peter is exhorting and admonishing Christians to live well by living Christ in every arena of life. He covers them all and there isn’t one instance that he cordons off and says “except for here . . . you don’t need to live Christ well here”–there are no asterisks.

So that makes me look over my own activities and my life. Am I consciously taking Jesus wherever I go? If I’m not choosing to always be aware of His Presence—because Sister He is there rather we choose to acknowledge it or not—then, am I choosing to leave Him behind? And if that is the case then, is this not reflective of the double-minded man James describes? Or the house divided against itself that cannot stand? Is it not true that by not choosing we have made a choice?

1 Peter 1 really encapsulates the entirety of both letters in its quote of Leviticus 11 . . . Be holy because I am holy. Not part of the time but all the time and not in just a be-conscious-of-your actions kind of way but in a go-after-it-pursuit-it-with-zeal this is my priority kind of way. If I’m reading Peter’s letters right, understanding the admonitions to be sober-minded, to be alert, to be on the ready, he’s exhorting us to make a point to live as the chosen people, the royal priesthood of God.

And I love that Peter, whose name comes from Petros which means part of a bigger Rock, wrote about the Living Stone—rejected by men. Don’t you think that would have been so personal for him? Maybe the echo of “Peter, do you love me?” would have been finally laid to rest by “Peter, I am the quarry from which you were hewn, I will always be with you.” Maybe that’s where the passion in 1 Peter 2 comes from when he puts the pen to page and encourages we who are “little s” stones to come to the “Capital S” Living Stone – not on a single occasion but as a practice, a personal habit.

We don’t want to confuse these verses with a preacher hopeful to have see unbelievers repent and have their eyes opened to salvation. Peter is talking to believers – those who have tasted that the Lord is good. Beloved, that’s you and I. We’ve made our confession, we know that the Lord is good, and now with the tense of the participle “come” Peter is telling us that the only way to live our lives like the Rock from which we were hewn, the Living Stone, is to come to Him on a regular, habitual basis. To have personal, intimate fellowship with Him. To be aware that He is ever-present in us.

And Peter moves right from this powerful call to live with the Rock into our lives as a“chosen people, a royal priesthood” and it strikes me so that in that same Book where God directs His people to “Be holy because I am holy” He establishes in detail all the things that will set the priests apart.

The priests were never meant to blend in. They were called to stand out because of who they were serving. They were given the privilege of meeting with God every day and performing the tasks He had set aside for them. They were called to “Come to Him” the source of their life, the source of their position, to serve at the physical temple and offer acceptable sacrifices . . . . every day.

¹²The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. ¹³The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out. Leviticus 6:12-13

See the intentionality of it all? God Himself lit the fire on the altar, consuming the sacrifice, showing it be acceptable. The priests were called to tend the fire that fell from heaven every morning. To intentionally come to the altar and purposefully add fuel to the fire, fan it to flame, and arrange the sacrifice for the fellowship offering. It was not to go out but to be diligently tended and the sacrifice made . . .every day.

We are called to come to Him, our source of life and position, to be built into a spiritual house and offer spiritual sacrifices made acceptable by Jesus Christ. Have we not been ignited with same Holy Flame from heaven by God Himself? Does not the fire of the Holy Spirit dwell within us? O Sweet One, does He not call us to be purposeful in arranging our sacrifices before Him? Is there any other way to burn away the unholiness that may linger within us? Is not our fellowship offering to be made every morning and will it not be our constant communion with the Living Stone that fans the flame of the Holy Spirit?

You, Sister loved by God, are a member of the royal priesthood called personally to “come to Him” your Great High Priest daily . . . habitually. To fan to flame the Holy Spirit placed within you and to be ever mindful of His ever presence. You are blessed Dear One. You have tasted that the Lord is good. You are set apart as His and you, Daughter of God, were not called to blend in!

Daughters of God do not blend in . . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Be holy because I am Holy, glimpsed glory, Lessons from Lent, Leviticus 11, Leviticus 6, Royal Priesthood

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Categories A Life of Consumption, Resolve to Glimpse Glory

Lessons from Lent: Day 35

29 Mar

An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

In the next 40 days (6 now because you have already accomplished thirty-four), the weeks leading up to Easter, the posts on Glimpsed Glory will be different. I am reading through the New Testament during this time and I am hoping the Holy Spirit will lead me to a fresh revelation each and every day. I’m going into it with a prayerful heart and an expectant spirit but I will fully confess to you that my soul feels sluggish.

Day Thirty-four

March 30, 2015 ~~ James

Amplified Bible

Footnotes: I’ve left the footnotes in place if you would like to track down sources in word study and language. Please follow the link to each chapter and scroll to the bottom of the passage.

James 1

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings (^[a]rejoice)!

²Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. ³Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. ⁴But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. ⁵If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of ^[b]the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. ⁶Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. ⁷For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord, ⁸[For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

⁹Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his elevation [as a Christian, called to the true riches and to be an heir of God], ¹⁰And the rich [person ought to glory] in being humbled [by being shown his human frailty], because like the flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun comes up with a scorching heat and parches the grass; its flower falls off and its beauty fades away. Even so will the rich man wither and die in the midst of his pursuits.

¹²Blessed (happy, ^[c]to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.

¹³Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted from God; for God is incapable of being tempted by [what is] evil and He Himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). ¹⁵Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death.

¹⁶Do not be misled, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷Every good gift and every perfect (^[d]free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation [rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]. ¹⁸And it was of His own [free] will that He gave us birth [as sons] by [His] Word of Truth, so that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures [a sample of what He created to be consecrated to Himself].

¹⁹Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. ²⁰For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires]. ²¹So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.

²²But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. ²³For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; ²⁴For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. ²⁵But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).

²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious (piously observant of the external duties of his faith) and does not bridle his tongue but deludes his own heart, this person’s religious service is worthless (futile, barren). ²⁷External ^[e]religious worship [^[f]religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.

James 2

My brethren, pay no servile regard to people [show no prejudice, no partiality]. Do not [attempt to] hold and practice the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ [the Lord] of glory [together with snobbery]! ²For if a person comes into your congregation whose hands are adorned with gold rings and who is wearing splendid apparel, and also a poor [man] in shabby clothes comes in, ³And you pay special attention to the one who wears the splendid clothes and say to him, Sit here in this preferable seat! while you tell the poor [man], Stand there! or, Sit there on the floor at my feet! ⁴Are you not discriminating among your own and becoming critics and judges with wrong motives?

⁵Listen, my beloved brethren: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and in their position as believers and to inherit the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him? ⁶But you [in contrast] have insulted (humiliated, dishonored, and shown your contempt for) the poor. Is it not the rich who domineer over you? Is it not they who drag you into the law courts? ⁷Is it not they who slander and blaspheme that precious name by which you are distinguished and called [the name of Christ invoked in baptism]?

⁸If indeed you [really] fulfill the royal Law in accordance with the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as [you love] yourself, you do well. ⁹But if you show servile regard (prejudice, favoritism) for people, you commit sin and are rebuked and convicted by the Law as violators and offenders. ¹⁰For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it. ¹¹For He Who said, You shall not commit adultery, also said, You shall not kill. If you do not commit adultery but do kill, you have become guilty of transgressing the [whole] Law.

¹²So speak and so act as [people should] who are to be judged under the law of liberty [the moral instruction given by Christ, especially about love]. ¹³For to him who has shown no mercy the judgment [will be] merciless, but mercy [full of glad confidence] exults victoriously over judgment.

¹⁴What is the use (profit), my brethren, for anyone to profess to have faith if he has no [good] works [to show for it]? Can [such] faith save [his soul]? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is poorly clad and lacks food for each day, ¹⁶And one of you says to him, Good-bye! Keep [yourself] warm and well fed, without giving him the necessities for the body, what good does that do? ¹⁷So also faith, if it does not have works (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).

¹⁸But someone will say [to you then], You [say you] have faith, and I have [good] works. Now you show me your [alleged] faith apart from any [good] works [if you can], and I by [good] works [of obedience] will show you my faith. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. So do the demons believe and shudder [in terror and horror such as ^[a]make a man’s hair stand on end and contract the surface of his skin]!

²⁰Are you willing to be shown [proof], you foolish (unproductive, spiritually deficient) fellow, that faith apart from [good] works is inactive and ineffective and worthless? ²¹Was not our forefather Abraham [shown to be] justified (made acceptable to God) by [his] works when he brought to the altar as an offering his [own] son Isaac? ²²You see that [his] faith was cooperating with his works, and [his] faith was completed and reached its supreme expression [when he implemented it] by [good] works. ²³And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴You see that a man is justified (pronounced righteous before God) through what he does and not alone through faith [through works of obedience as well as by what he believes].

²⁵So also with Rahab the harlot—was she not shown to be justified (pronounced righteous before God) by [good] deeds when she took in the scouts (spies) and sent them away by a different route? ²⁶For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead.

James 3

Not many [of you] should become teachers (^[a]self-constituted censors and reprovers of others), my brethren, for you know that we [teachers] will be judged by a higher standard and with greater severity [than other people; thus we assume the greater accountability and the more condemnation]. ²For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature.

³If we set bits in the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we can turn their whole bodies about. ⁴Likewise, look at the ships: though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the impulse of the helmsman determines. ⁵Even so the tongue is a little member, and it can boast of great things. See how much wood or how great a forest a tiny spark can set ablaze! ⁶And the tongue is a fire. [The tongue is a] world of wickedness set among our members, contaminating and depraving the whole body and setting on fire the wheel of birth (the cycle of man’s nature), being itself ignited by hell (Gehenna).

⁷For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea animal, can be tamed and has been tamed by human genius (nature). ⁸But the human tongue can be tamed by no man. It is a restless (undisciplined, irreconcilable) evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who were made in God’s likeness! ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing. These things, my brethren, ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a fountain send forth [simultaneously] from the same opening fresh water and bitter? ¹²Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can a salt spring furnish fresh water.

¹³Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his [good] works with the [unobtrusive] humility [which is the proper attribute] of true wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry, selfish ambition) in your hearts, do not pride yourselves on it and thus be in defiance of and false to the Truth. ¹⁵This [superficial] wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual (animal), even devilish (demoniacal). ¹⁶For wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity). ¹⁸And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].

James 4

What leads to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members? ²You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³[Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.

⁴You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love? ⁶But He gives us more and more grace (^[a]power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it). ⁷So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you. ⁸Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]. ⁹[As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins]. ¹⁰Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

¹¹[My] brethren, do not speak evil about or accuse one another. He that maligns a brother or judges his brother is maligning and criticizing the Law and judging the Law. But if you judge the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but a censor and judge [of it]. ¹²One only is the Lawgiver and Judge Who is able to save and to destroy [the One Who has the absolute power of life and death]. [But you] who are you that [you presume to] pass judgment on your neighbor?

¹³Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on our business and make money. ¹⁴Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow. What is the nature of your life? You are [really] but a wisp of vapor (a puff of smoke, a mist) that is visible for a little while and then disappears [into thin air]. ¹⁵You ought instead to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that [thing]. ¹⁶But as it is, you boast [falsely] in your presumption and your self-conceit. All such boasting is wrong. ¹⁷So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 5

Come now, you rich [people], weep aloud and lament over the miseries (the woes) that are surely coming upon you. ²Your abundant wealth has rotted and is ruined, and your [many] garments have become moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver are completely rusted through, and their rust will be testimony against you and it will devour your flesh as if it were fire. You have heaped together treasure for the last days. ⁴[But] look! [Here are] the wages that you have withheld by fraud from the laborers who have reaped your fields, crying out [for vengeance]; and the cries of the harvesters have come to the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵[Here] on earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to [the pleasures of] self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and have murdered the righteous (innocent man), [while] he offers no resistance to you.

⁷So be patient, brethren, [as you wait] till the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits expectantly for the precious harvest from the land. [See how] he keeps up his patient [vigil] over it until it receives the early and late rains. ⁸So you also must be patient. Establish your hearts [strengthen and confirm them in the final certainty], for the coming of the Lord is very near. ⁹Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you [yourselves] may not be judged. Look! The Judge is [already] standing at the very door.

¹⁰[As] an example of suffering and ill-treatment together with patience, brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord [as His messengers]. ¹¹You know how we call those blessed (happy) who were steadfast [who endured]. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the Lord’s [purpose and how He richly blessed him in the] end, inasmuch as the Lord is full of pity and compassion and tenderness and mercy.

¹²But above all [things], my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath; but let your yes be [a simple] yes, and your no be [a simple] no, so that you may not sin and fall under condemnation.

¹³Is anyone among you afflicted (ill-treated, suffering evil)? He should pray. Is anyone glad at heart? He should sing praise [to God]. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? He should call in the church elders (the spiritual guides). And they should pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord’s name. ¹⁵And the prayer [that is] of faith will save him who is sick, and the Lord will restore him; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].

¹⁷Elijah was a human being with a nature such as we have [with feelings, affections, and a constitution like ours]; and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and no rain fell on the earth for three years and six months. ¹⁸And [then] he prayed again and the heavens supplied rain and the land produced its crops [as usual].

¹⁹[My] brethren, if anyone among you strays from the Truth and falls into error and another [person] brings him back [to God], ²⁰Let the [latter] one be sure that whoever turns a sinner from his evil course will save [that one’s] soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins [^[a]procure the pardon of the many sins committed by the convert].

Amen to the reading of God’s Word

#lessonsfromlent

May I be so bold as to ask you what you are hoping for when you pray? Are you not hoping that God will act and show His heart toward you just as the Psalmists did?

And call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me Psalm 50:15

O Lord, You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts, You will cause Your ear to hear, Psalm 10:17

Aren’t we desiring God to hear us in our trouble and show Himself to us? To hear the longing and the desire of our petitions and answer us in real and tangible ways?

Certainly not in an arrogant way or as if God is somehow governed by our prayers, but isn’t it true that when we pray we do so with the certainty that God will show the Who of Him, His heart for us–His unchanging nature, by What He does?

The answer to our prayer may or may not look like we think it will, but it’s always a tangible expression of His love for us. He knows best and He reaches out – rather through a “yes”, a “no”, or a “wait”, to show us that He is with us. We have unswerving assurance from His Word that the What of Him will never contradict the Who of Him. And the Who of Him . . . is Love.

We know Who He is, but is there anything more beautiful than when He shows us?

His actions toward us will always reflect His faithfulness and unfathomable love for His children. . . and we aren’t the only ones who will see His activity. Other believers will see. Those yet to choose Life will see. It puts His heart for us on display. Not because He’s forced to, but because He wants to . . . isn’t that wild? The God of the Universe, wants us to know, and everyone watching to know . . . He loves us!

The same type of relationship – albeit imperfect—exists between me and my Sweet Bride-to-Be. If she asks me for something, I want my response to her to reflect the love I feel for her. Sometimes that means a “yes”, sometimes a “no”, and sometimes, she just has to wait. But it’s my desire to have the “what I do” express the “who I am” to her. Jesus gives us the same comparison in Luke 11 – if we as imperfect as we are can reflect our love to our children by our actions, then how much more so God?

And is it not true that no matter how small or how large the request is from our babies, we will move heaven and earth to act in their best interest. We want our actions to speak love to them. As their Mommas, our hearts are so full where they are concerned that it won’t stay inside. We have to care for them, we have to be concerned, we have to discipline . . . we are compelled to be actively expressing our love for them.

So we return to the Luke 11 question, if we, though we are so imperfect desire to have our actions show our love, how much more so will God pour His heart out on us? How much more will the What of Him express the Who of Him to us? Do you see what I’m saying?

Walk that same concept into the Book of James . . .faith without deeds is dead. You say you have faith, I’ll show you my faith by what I do . . . let that roll around in your head a bit.

When we’re praying are we not asking God to show us Who He is through What He does? Might it be that we indeed depend on God to have deeds that reflect His heart?

Apart from His works do we have faith that He exists, of course we do but the writer of Hebrews seems to address this very thought . . .

⁶But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. Hebrews 11:6

Our faith in God being God leads us to believe not only that HE IS (God exists) but that HE DOES (God rewards). See the match up?

So then, when the Book of James urges us to express our faith by what we do, might it be that the Lord’s brother is telling us to imitate God? To express the Who of our hearts by the what of our hands? To show the world Who lives in us by the love that flows through us? Love, if we are to follow the pattern of our God and the footsteps of our Savior, translates to action.

Could it be that faith without deeds is dead because faith cannot be present and not express itself? Isn’t it true that who we are always shows in what we do? If I am a child of God will I not live like my Father?

I think we’re on to something here because what occurs to me is that James would have seen this up close and personal. He’s exhorting us from what he saw lived out in his own household. He would’ve witnessed the expression of Love from a ringside seat. He would’ve known the power of deeds born from faith in a unique way. The Love he knew, wore skin and laid down steps of faith at every turn never failing to express the Who of Himself by What He did.

That all fits for me and maybe it resonates with you as well. Theologians, people far more learned and studied than I will ever be, have dissected and debated over this verse for years. But in the mind of this simple woman, it seems to me that the words of James on the subject of faith and deeds can be summed up in one single thought . . . Be like my Big Brother.

I need to live like James’s Big Brother . . . #lessonsfromlent

Tags: 1 John 4:16, glimpsed glory, Hebrews 11:6, James, Lessons from Lent, Luke 11:11

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Categories A Life of Consumption, Resolve to Glimpse Glory

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But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.

Marilyn (Bunny) Biddinger

My story, like yours, is a unique one. God planned it all, since before the beginning of time, and His love has watched over my every footstep. Reading that last line you may think that I have walked faithfully my entire life. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am what some might call a "late bloomer" in His patch of wildflowers and all would call blessed. At the age of 53, I have been acknowledging my need of Jesus for just a little bit more than 22 years. My husband of 29 years and I were blessed to come to faith together. And Oh, what a work God has done in us! He has poured out blessing after blessing as He has taught us to love one another by loving Him. And our greatest blessing? Glance at the picture above. She's the adorable one on the left. Thank you Lord for changing her faith heritage. All Praise, Glory and Honor to Him!

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Lord, Let me fix my eyes on Jesus. Let me pursue you with everything I am. Give me the desire to look like you. To be holy because you are holy. Influence who I am in the here and now. Shape me to be who you want me to be. In Jesus Name Amen.

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Praise you Lord that You care about all things big and small.

Praise you Lord that You make Yourself known in the emptiness.

Praise you Lord that Your desire to speak my language knows no bounds.

Praise You Lord that You do not mind repeating Yourself.

#intentionalPRAISE

Circumstances Do Not Change . . . We Do!

IN JESUS NAME

#INTENTIONALPRAISE

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A Trumpet

A Jar

A Torch

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An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

Day Forty

April 3, 2015 ~~ Revelation 8-16

Revelation 17

Revelation 18

Revelation 19

Revelation 20

Revelation 21

Revelation 22

And the Amen rises to Glory

#lessonsfromlent

But God.

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An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

Day Thirty-nine

April 3, 2015 ~~ Revelation 8-16

Revelation 8

Revelation 9

Revelation 10

Revelation 11

Revelation 12

Revelation 13

Revelation 14

Revelation 15

Revelation 16

And the Amen rises to the Throne

#lessonsfromlent

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An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

Day Thirty-eight

April 2, 2015 ~~ Revelation 1-7

Revelation 1

Revelation 2

Revelation 3

Revelation 4

Revelation 5

Revelation 6

Revelation 7

Amen and so be it!

#lessonsfromlent

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An Explanation of Lessons from Lent

Day Thirty-seven

April 1, 2015 ~~ 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude

1 John 1

1 John 2

1 John 3

1 John 4

1 John 5

2 John 1

3 John 1

Jude 1

Amen

#lessonsfromlent

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Lord,
Let me fix my eyes on Jesus.
Let me pursue you with everything I am.
Give me the desire to look like you.
To be holy because you are holy.
Influence who I am in the here and now.
Shape me to be who you want me to be.
In Jesus Name Amen.