January 16, 2023: Ezekiel 17:24 - I, the LORD, Have Spoken It and Have Done It

"And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done it.” - Ezekiel 17:24

All of the nations, every single one of them, will see and know that God has exalted the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ above all the kingdoms of the earth. This is a prophecy that will be fulfilled. Only Jesus’ kingdom will be worldwide, and only His kingdom is eternal. Daniel the prophet described it as:

“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14)

As I write this devotional, 2,700 people have flown, many if not all in their private jets, to Davos, Switzerland to attend the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting. There, they who call themselves the “elite” of the world will meet to talk about the various controls that they believe must be put in place in order to save the planet. They put more value on the earth than they do on human life, except for their own lives. For themselves, their own rules do not apply. This is what happens when humans worship the created instead of the Creator, Almighty God. The book of Romans addresses this issue:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man - and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:18-25)

They deny God exists, and they place no value on human life except for their own. They have exalted themselves rather than the only One who deserves to be exalted - God. There are many Scriptures that tell us how God feels about the proud. Unless they humble themselves before Him by repenting and turning to Jesus Christ, the only One who can save us from our sins, they will be brought low in judgment before Him:

• Isaiah 13:11: I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

• Isaiah 5:20-23: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, who take away justice from the righteous man!

• Isaiah 2:11-12: The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up - and it shall be brought low.

• Isaiah 2:20-21: In that day a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made, each for himself to worship, to the moles and bats, to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the crags of the rugged rocks, from the terror of the LORD and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily. Sever yourselves from such a man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?

Oh, these verses! Woe to the people who exalt themselves and worship false idols of silver and gold! There is coming a day when Almighty God will have had enough of mankind’s wickedness, just as He did in the days of Noah and Lot, when sin had become such a putrified stench to the Lord that He put an end to it! I believe we are quickly coming to that time in the world in which we live today. Technology is increasing at such a pace that it will soon, if it doesn’t exist already, be able to eliminate the ability of humanity to be human but will be transhuman. They want to make themselves gods and the rest of humans will serve them (see: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/04/transhumanism-advances-in-technology-could-already-put-evolution-into-hyperdrive-but-should-they/). That is the ultimate goal of the WEF, and God will not allow it. He will not be mocked.

There is coming a day when Almighty God will tell His Son Jesus Christ to call up to Himself in the clouds of all His children - all who have believed in Him as their Savior - in the rapture of the church. Antichrist will come upon the scene, the one to whom Satan will give authority during this time period. Antichrist will confirm a 7-year covenant with Israel, some sort of peace treaty, but it will be temporary, for Antichrist will break it after 3-1/2 years when he declares himself as God in third Jewish temple, which will rebuilt I believe in the not too distant future. Then Jesus will take the scroll from God the Father and will open the first of seven seals, and the 7-year tribulation period will begin. This will be when God’s righteous wrath is thrust upon a wicked and evil world. Those who remain on earth and turn to Jesus during this time will be saved from their sins but likely martyred for their faith. All others will be destroyed and will spend their eternity in hell, in the lake of fire and brimstone.

So what does the believer in Jesus Christ do in these perilous times? We trust in the Lord and lean not on our own understanding. We read His word and pray to Him daily. We rest in what the Bible says, knowing that these difficult times and dark days will not last forever. We know that God will take care of His own:

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:6) ✝️

January 15, 2023: Ezekiel 17:23 - On the Mountain Height of Israel God Will Plant

“On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell.” - Ezekiel 17:23

Through Israel, God sent His Son, Jesus. In this passage of Scripture, God likens the sending of His Son Jesus to the planting of a tree, where God cropped a tender young twig from the highest branches of a high cedar on a high and prominent mountain. That tree, Jesus, would grow into a majestic cedar, bearing fruit. Under the shadow of its large branches, birds of every sort would dwell or abide.

God sent Jesus to the world to offer salvation to all of us. As Simeon would later proclaim to God when Joseph and Mary had brought the Child Jesus to be presented before God, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:30-32)

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we abide in His shadow:

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.’” (Psalm 91:1-2)

The apostle John told us in 1 John 4:15, “If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” When we abide in Jesus, then we are under His protection through the trials of life. Through Him we endure, like birds weathering a storm or escaping the heat of the day, finding shelter in Him. When we abide in Him, He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1) Psalm 31:19-20 reminds us that He will protect us if we fear Him, not man, and if we put our trust in Him: “Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion [shelter] from the strife of tongues.”

When we abide in Him, through His Holy Spirit, we can bear fruit. We tell others about Him and how they too can be forgiven of all their sins because of His deep love for us; how they too can find shelter in Him, find new life in Him.

The days in which we live truly are perilous times, as foretold in the Bible by Paul the apostle in 2 Timothy 3:1-9. I truly believe, based on what I read in Scripture and my understanding of it, that we are living in the last days before Jesus calls up His bride - all who have put their faith and trust in Him - to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) and the time of great upheaval, the 7-year tribulation period begins. If you have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, if you are not abiding in His shelter, in Him, I urge you that today, you would do so, for you are not guaranteed another day or even another minute of life. Turn to Him today and let Him be your shelter, before the storms of life sweep you away in your sin, never to be forgiven. ✝️

January 14, 2023: Ezekiel 17:22 - I Will Take A Tender One and Plant it on A High Mountain

“Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.’” - Ezekiel 17:22

In the preceding passages of Scripture in Ezekiel 17:1-21, Ezekiel had spoken a parable which God had given him. This parable refers to Judah’s last king, King Zedekiah. It is important to know what is written in Ezekiel 17:1-21 in order to understand verses 22-24. I have copied below information from gotguestions.org about King Zedekiah (see: https://www.gotquestions.org/King-Zedekiah.html).

Zedekiah was king when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by Babylon and most of its people were carried into exile in Babylon. Zedekiah’s original name was Mattaniah, and he was son of Josiah. The Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar put him on the throne “to rule as a vassal king. Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king.” “In his ninth year on the throne, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, and as a result, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem.” Zedekiah had put his confidence in Egypt that it would help him, but that did not happen, and Jerusalem fell to Babylon.

Zedekiah then asked the prophet Jeremiah “to intercede to the Lord so that perhaps the Lord would deliver Judah. Jeremiah returns God’s answer: He has irrevocably handed Judah over to judgment, first by plague, and those who escape that will fall to the Babylonians. The only hope that any of the people have is to surrender to the Babylonians.”

“Zedekiah heard God’s definitive answer, but he did not like it. False prophets contradicted Jeremiah and preached a more favorable message (Jeremiah 23), but God reiterated His message to Jeremiah (chapters 24-25). Yet, Zedekiah did not listen to God and rebelled. “As a result, Zedekiah lost his sons, his sight, his freedom, and his throne. Through it all God was faithful to do what He promised. He carried out the judgment He had declared, but He also brought about the restoration. Seventy years later, Cyrus, king of Persia (successor to the Babylonian Empire), declared that all of the Jewish exiles who wanted to return to Jerusalem might do so, and they could take with them all the implements of the temple.”

This explains what is described in Ezekiel 17:1-21. This is what happens when people rebel against God and do not do what He has commanded them. We want to do things our way, especially when we are suffering and want to escape from it. We don’t want to trust in the Lord and His plan for us; instead, we make our own plans and follow them, to our own peril.

Turning now to today’s Scripture verse, this is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Earthly men put earthly kings up, propping them up, and those kings fall. They fall because they do not listen to God; instead, they go their own ways - the ways of sin - and reap what they have sown. In this prophecy in Ezekiel 17:22, Almighty God said, “I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs,” which many believe “the topmost” refers to the tribe of Judah, from which Jesus will come, “a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain.” Below are several Scriptures that support this being a prophecy of the Messiah.

• Isaiah 4:2: In that day the Branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.

• Isaiah 11:1-2: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

• Zechariah 3:8: Hear, O Joshua, the high priest, you and your companions who sit before you, for they are a wondrous sign; for behold, I am bringing forth My Servant the BRANCH.

• Isaiah 53:2-3: For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

• Isaiah 2:2: Now it shall to come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

It seems to me that it is no coincidence that the United Nations was given a bronze sculpture, titled “Let Us Beat Swords Into Ploughshares” by esteemed Soviet sculptor and artist Evgeniy Vuchetich (1908 - 1974). Per the un.org’s website, “The sculpture depicts the figure of a man, holding a hammer aloft in one hand and a sword in the other hand, hammering the sword into a ploughshare, a tool to till land for crops. This action symbolizes man’s desire to put an end to war and transform tools of destruction into tools to benefit mankind.” (See: https://www.un.org/ungifts/let-us-beat-swords-ploughshares). However, what the artist, the UN, and the majority of people fail to recognize is that only God can bring about an end to all wars and bring true peace, everlasting peace, and that is through belief in Jesus Christ as Messiah, the One who was prophesied about in Ezekiel 17:22-24 and though out the entire Bible. We will read more about the Ezekiel 17 prophecy in the next two devotionals. ✝️

January 13, 2023: Deuteronomy 18:21-22 - Do Not Be Afraid of False Prophets

“And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ - when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” - Deuteronomy 18:21-22

This is the test of a true prophet, one that is called by God, to speak the words which He has commanded: if the thing which the prophet spoke in the name of the LORD comes to pass, it is of God; otherwise, it is not and the prophet has presumed something instead of prophesying something that which only God knows and only God can give to a true prophet. Only God knows the end from the beginning. Only God knows everything. If a prophet is found to be a false prophet based on this test, God tells us not to be afraid of him.

There are many false prophets in our world today who have made predictions of things to come that did not come true, and there are still false prophets making predictions of things to come, especially in the political realm. If they have not been called by God to prophesy, they are merely guessing. If you are listening to someone who has prophesied in the past and that which they spoke of did not come true, stop listening to them, they are misleading you.

In 2 Peter 2, the apostle Peter has some words of doom to false prophets and also to false teachers. I have included all of this chapter as I think it is critical in our world today for people who say they have accepted Jesus as their Savior to know exactly what the Bible says about false prophets and false teachers and to avoid them like the plague. Our modern world is flooded with these liars and deceivers, who mix a little truth with their lies that are wrapped in phrases that are appealing to the masses to make them comfortable in their sin and not believe that Jesus is the only way to God the Father in heaven. Many of these false prophets and false teachers are not following the One true God but are following their god mammon, which is money.

In the Scriptures below, I have shown certain text in bold to add emphasis as to what Peter had said.

2 PETER 2:1-22

Destructive Doctrines

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even deying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Doom of False Teachers

“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) - then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of cleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

“But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

“ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ‘A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.’”

If your pastor, reverend, minister, etc. preaches anything that does not align with Scripture, he is a false teacher. If your pastor is a woman, she is a false teacher. If they have predicted something that was proven not to come true, they are a false prophet and you do not need to be afraid of them. I would ask you, what is the value in continuing to listen to them? It seems to me there is no value; rather, you run the risk of being deceived, for the Devil is cunning and will use whomever he needs to use in order to turn you away from God and lead you straight to hell.

Let us heed the words of Jesus in Luke 6:26 in which He spoke to His disciples right after He gave them the Beatitudes, which told them when and how they would be blessed. In direct contrast to the beatitudes, Jesus then pronounced these woes:

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Sadly, most people don’t want the truth of God and have rejected it, and the world we live in today is a sad and horrific reflection of that truth. Instead, they flock to the ones who tell them not what they need to hear but what they want to hear. It clearly shows we are living in the times spoken of by Paul when he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:3:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

I would say, based on all we see in today’s world, especially in the USA, we are there, we are in that time. Don’t be afraid of false prophets, but don’t listen to them either; run from them!

January 12, 2023: Deuteronomy 18:20 - False Prophets Shall Die

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.” - Deuteronomy 18:20

God is very clear on where He stands with false prophets. Those who speak something they claim is from God that He has not commanded them to speak or who speak in the name of other gods, shall die. Below are some other Scriptures about false prophets.

• Jeremiah 5:31 An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?

• Ezekiel 22:28 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord GOD,” when the LORD had not spoken.

• Ezekiel 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

• Lamentations 2:14 Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.

• 1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

• Jeremiah 14:14 And the LORD said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of the heart.

• Jeremiah 23:16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the LORD.”

When Jesus and His disciples were at the Mount of Olives and they asked Him, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Jesus then went on to describe a list of signs to look for but He had first given them a stern warning not to be deceived. (Matthew 24:3-5) Jesus also told them, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, it possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass, there the eagles will be gathered together.” (Matthew 24:23-28)

Deception is all around us. There are many false christs and false prophets in our world today. I pray every single day for God to give me discernment to know who is of Him, who is not of Him, and only to listen to who is of Him. As I will discuss further in the next devotional covering Deuteronomy 18:21-22, God provides the test of how to tell a true prophet - one called by God and who speaks His words as given by Him - and that is, if what the prophet prophesied does not come true, then he or she is a false prophet.

Jesus addressed false prophets during His time of ministry on the earth. He told His disciples: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” - Matthew 7:15-20

It’s fitting that in the next passage of Scripture, Jesus then told His disciples: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Jesus went on to tell them, “Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” As Isaiah prophesied long before Jesus was born, “He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.” (Isaiah 8:14-15)

The best way to guard against the lies of false prophets is to know the truth, God’s word, for ourselves. That way, when someone tells a lie disguised as truth, we will recognize it and not listen to the false prophet or false teacher. We must also be very careful because one of Satan’s tactics is to mix lies with the truth. Satan knows the word of God, and he uses that against those who are not discerning. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the resurrected Christ, was sent by God, is equal with God, and is part of the Trinity, anyone who denies any or all of these truths is a liar and a deceiver and should not be listened to. Anyone who denies that belief in Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved from our sins is also a liar and a deceiver. Wolves don’t come in wolves’ clothing; rather, they disguise themselves as sheep, and often the pastors/leaders of churches in our world today are deceiving many. Instead of giving their congregations the truth of God when it comes to sin, many are embracing their sin and saying God would approve of it. These same people, if they do not change their ways and turn to Jesus Christ in repentance, will hear Him say when they depart this earth, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

During the 7-year tribulation period, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, which I believe we are speeding toward at an increasing pace, there will be an evil trinity comprised of Satan (called the “Dragon” in the book of Revelation), the final antichrist (called the “Beast” or the “Beast from the Sea”), and the final false prophet (also called the “Beast from the Earth”). The apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation, wrote in Revelation 13:11, “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast [antichrist], whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” John also goes on to write that it is the false prophet that will cause every single human being on earth alive at that time to worship the antichrist and to “receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Anyone who does not do these things will be killed. Anyone who was not saved by believing in Jesus Christ prior to the start of the tribulation period will have a choice to make: will they do as the false prophet commands them to do or will they die? Anyone who turns to Jesus Christ during the tribulation period will likely need to make this choice and many will be martyred for their faith in Jesus.

Let us return to today’s Scripture verses in Deuteronomy 18:20: “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.” God is true to His word. While the false prophet of the evil trinity will not die a physical death, he, the antichrist and Satan the dragon will die a spiritual death. Unlike all human beings who reject Jesus’ gift of salvation and who die in their sins, Satan, antichrist and the false prophet will remain alive when they are judged by God. At the end of the tribulation period when Jesus comes from heaven to earth riding a white horse with the armies in heaven to judge a wicked and God-forsaking world, the antichrist and the false prophet will be “cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest [all who rejected Jesus] were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him [Jesus] who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.” At that time, Satan (the Dragon) will be bound for 1,000 years in the bottomless pit, while Jesus reigns on earth during His millennial reign. At the end of the 1,000 years, “The devil [Satan], who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 19:11-20:10) They will never, ever again be able to deceive anyone.

Until then, get ready by knowing the word of God for yourself. Things are about to get much, much worse. Lies and deception are all around us. If you go to church and/or listen to pastors online, listen to what the pastors are preaching. Does it line up with what the Bible says? Are the pastors being celebrated by the world? If yes, chances are, they are false pastors and are leading many to hell. I pray you won’t be one of them.

Jesus didn’t come to give us our best life now. He didn’t come to make us rich or to heal us from all that ails us. He didn’t promise us a trouble-free life. He didn’t come to make us comfortable in our sins or to celebrate them. He came because each and every single one of us are sinners, and He is the only One who can save us from our sins. Don’t be deceived by wolves in sheep’s clothing; turn to Jesus Christ and ask Him to save you. He will. ✝️

January 11, 2023: Deuteronomy 18:19 - I Will Require it of Him

“And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” - Deuteronomy 18:19

Moses was speaking directly to the nation of Israel. He had just told them what God had told him, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” Now, God, through Moses, was telling them that if they do not listen to His Prophet that He will raise up for them, God will hold them accountable for their actions.

It is estimated that Deuteronomy was written sometime between 1400 and 700 BC. Thus, it was written at least 700 years prior to the birth of Jesus Christ. God was telling His people long before Jesus, Emmanuel - God with Us - was born, so that when He was born, they would know whether the prophets who prophesied His birth were in fact true prophets, and this includes the Messianic prophecy made by Moses. There are many prophecies of the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have included several key prophecies below.

• The nations shall be blessed through Jacob’s offspring - Jacob is part of Jesus’ genealogy (Genesis 28:14)

• The Scepter (royal or imperial power or authority) shall come from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10)

• Born of a virgin and He shall be called Immanuel (God-With-Us) (Isaiah 7:14)

• David’s offspring will have an eternal kingdom - David is part of Jesus’ genealogy (2 Samuel 7:12–13)

• The Christ would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)

• Messiah will end up in Egypt (Hosea 11:1)

• Jesus would teach in parables (Psalm 78:1-2)

• Messiah would be a stone that causes people to stumble (Isaiah 8:14)

• Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner (Isaiah 40:3-4)

• Jesus would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13)

• Jesus’ hands and feet would be pierced (Psalm 22:16)

• Jesus would be resurrected (Psalm 16:10, Psalm 22, Job 19:23-27)

As these prophecies were fulfilled, it would become clear that the prophets who prophesied them were called by God to prophesy. My prior devotional discussed Deuteronomy 18:17-18 and the prophecy God gave to Moses. During the time of Jesus’ ministry, He performed a miracle by feeding 5,000 men with only five loaves of barley and two fish. The men whom He fed had remembered what God had told Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18, ”I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.” After Jesus had fed the 5,000 men, as well as all the women and children who had come with them, the men recalled the prophecy spoken of by Moses and said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (John 6:14)

However, most Jewish people rejected Jesus as their prophesied Messiah, including the Jewish leaders, the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, the latter of whom did not believe in resurrection. Only a small minority of Jews then and now have accepted Jesus as their prophesied Savior. They did not hear His words that He spoke on the authority of God the Father. After Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and arrested, He had to appear before the Sanhedrin, to Caiaphas the high priest, the chief priests, the elders, and all the council who sought to put Jesus to death. During the questioning of Jesus, He kept silent. Caiaphas then said to Jesus, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus then answered him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Caiaphas then “tore his clothes, saying, ‘He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think?’ They answered and said, ‘He is deserving of death.’ Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hand, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?‘“ (Matthew 26:65-68)

The Jewish leaders and any Jewish person who studied the scriptures at that time certainly knew of the prophecies about the coming of their Messiah and had seen them fulfilled. They had heard Him speak during the time of His approximately three year ministry, and they had seen Him perform many miracles. Yet, during one of Jesus’ religious trials, the Jewish leaders heard Him tell them with His mouth the answer to their question when they asked if He was the Christ, the Son of God. And yet, they did not believe Him and had Him put to death by the Romans by crucifixion. God had told His people hundreds of years before that He would hold them accountable if they would not hear Jesus’ words that He would speak in God’s name. And God has.

When Israel as a nation rejected Jesus as their prophesied Messiah and after His death and resurrection, God chose the apostle Paul, who formerly was a Jewish Pharisee named Saul who persecuted Christians until He was converted to Christianity on his way to Damascus and God changed his name to “Paul,” to bring the message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, the non-Jews. Paul wanted the Gentiles not to be arrogant in their salvation and not to consider themselves better than the Jews. He also wrote in the book of Romans, “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew.” (Romans 11:1-2) Paul spoke to the Gentiles of a remnant of Israel that would be saved by their faith in Jesus Christ: “Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” (Romans 11:5) Paul goes onto say, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’ ” (Romans 11:25-27)

The remnant of Israel’s salvation will only come when, as prophesied in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.” Thus, we see that while the majority of the Jewish people rejected Jesus as Messiah, and sadly, they went to their graves in unbelief and will be separated from Jesus for eternity in hell, there is a time coming when a remnant will be saved when their eyes and ears will be opened to the truth, and they will turn to Him and be saved. “As it is written, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ ” (Romans 9:33)

And since Jesus came not only to offer salvation to Israel but to all nations (Luke 2:30-32, John 3:14-18), as God told Israel, “And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:19) Are you hearing His words, have you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Your Savior? I pray you do, before it’s too late. ✝️

January 9, 2023: Deuteronomy 18:17-18 - I Will Raise Up For You A Prophet

“And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.’ “ - Deuteronomy 18:17-18

These are the words the Lord God spoke to Moses, but immediately prior to this, God had told Moses, “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations [detestable acts] of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)

Prior to this, three months after God used Moses to lead His people out of Egypt through the Red Sea, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. Moses went up to God, and God called to him from the mountain saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:4-6)

God had told Moses to bring Israel on the third day and when the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near Mount Sinai, “that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.” (Exodus 19:9). God had set specific requirements and boundaries for the people when they were to come near the mountain. “And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. (Exodus 19:17-20) When God told Moses to go down and warn the people not to gaze at Him, Moses said to God that He had told them to set bounds around the mountain, preventing them from coming up it. Thus, God told Moses that only he and Aaron should come up to the mountain. Moses then went down to the people and told them the Ten Commandments that God had given to them, starting with “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:2)

“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lighting flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’ And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin.’ So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:18-21)

Subsequent to this, Moses had called all Israel together to review the Ten Commandments with them. He told them, “The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us who are alive.” (Deutoronomy 5:2-3) Moses reminded them that they had told him they were fearful of the Lord and wanted Moses to go near and hear all that the Lord would tell them, and then tell it to them. Moses had done that for them when God gave him His Ten Commandments to give to the people. Moses had told them, “Then the LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep My commandments that it might be well with them and with their children forever!’ ” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29)

The Mount Sinai experience that Moses and Israel had tells us three key points:

1. God - Not “Mother Earth” Controls Nature and the Environment: On the third day when God met with Moses and the people of Israel, “there were thunderings and lightings, and a thick cloud on the mountain” and “Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.” (Exodus 19:16, 18) There are many references in the Bible to “thunderings and lightnings” that refer to God and the heavenly realm. This also foreshadows the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when on the third day, He would rise, “and behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.” (Matthew 28:2)

   Several examples include:

   • Revelation 4:5, which describes the throne room of heaven, “And from the throne proceeded lightings, thunderings, and voices.”

   • Revelation 8:5, “Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.”

   • Revelation 11:19, “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

2. The Power of God is Unlike Any Other: When the people of Israel saw all the things that happened when God was near, and they heard His voice, they were so terrified that they told Moses they didn’t want to hear God’s voice again nor the fire when He descended Mount Sinai because they thought they would die. Instead, they asked Moses to go near and hear the Lord God and tell them what He would tell Moses. They had the fear of God within them.

3. God Gave His Commandments to Keep His People and Their Descendants Well: Most people think that God’s commandments are meant to restrain us in order for Him to have control over us. However, as the Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 5:29, God wanted them to fear Him and always keep His commandments that it may be well with them - and also for all people. Oh, how far the world has fallen! On November 14, 2022, “Earlier that morning, climate activists smashed mock tablets of stone atop the mountain in reaction to world leaders' failure to follow through on commitments to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The act referenced the story in Exodus when after descending Mount Sinai, an angry Moses smashed the Ten Commandments in protest against the Israelites worshipping other gods.” (https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/faith/cop27-talks-stall-catholics-smash-tablets-pray-divine-intervention-sinai) Instead of obeying God’s Ten Commandments, the climate activists and the COP27 attendees came up with their own “10 Spiritual Principles for Climate Change”: https://climaterepentance.com/the-spiritual-principles/. Principle #8 is “Repent and Return”; for what are the repenting and to whom are they returning? They are not repenting for their sins and returning to God, that is clear.

Now, back to our Scripture verses for today. In the two verses that precede them, Moses had just told Israel, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.” (Deuteronomy 18:15-16 This was a prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ. During Jesus’ ministry, He performed a miracle by feeding 5,000 men with only five barley loaves and two fish, and had enough leftovers to fill twelve baskets. “Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, ‘This is truly, the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ ” (John 6:14)

Jesus would in fact be raised up, as prophesied by Moses. After Jesus would be crucified and give up His life on a cross, three days later, God would raise Him up, being resurrected to everlasting life. As Moses had talked directly with God and did all that He commanded, Jesus talks directly to God, doing all that He commanded. Moses was the intercessor for Israel, and Jesus is the intercessor for all who believe in Him. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 6:25) In all the good things that he did, Moses was not perfect and committed a sin that was so offensive to God that Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Jesus, however, is the perfect intercessor, “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.” (Hebrews 7:26-27)

Finally, let’s return to the words God spoke to Moses when He was preparing Israel to enter the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). The land of Canaan was filled with people committing all kinds of abominations and who looked to soothsayers, people practicing witchcraft, those who interpreted omens, diviners, and sorcerers. God had given the Canaanites 400 years to turn from their wicked ways but they did not. As a result, God would bring Israel into their land. As we will read in the next few days, God gives clear instructions on how to discern who is a prophet of God and who is not. Israel would have many prophets in the days to come after they entered the Promised Land, and they needed to know who was called by God to speak and prophesy to them and who was not. True prophets of God would be commanded by Him to speak. Jesus Christ, the Prophet of all prophets, would later say, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” (John 12:49-50)

As our world today grows further and further away from the one true God and turns to false prophets who are deceiving many and leading them straight to hell, let us remember the words of the apostle John: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” (John 4:1-3) As Jesus told His disciples the signs of His second coming and of the end of the age, “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:24) Thus, may we heed the words that God gave Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18-22 so that we will not be deceived by the lies of the increasing number of false prophets who have disguised themselves as wolves in sheep’s clothing. ✝️

January 8, 2023: Luke 1:50 - His Mercy is on Those Who Fear Him

“And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” - Luke 1:50

Fear. If there is anything that has gripped the world in the past three years, it is fear. But fear of what? Is it fear of Almighty God who holds your life in His hands, who knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb, the One who created the universe and everything in it? No, the majority of the world has a misplaced fear. What does the Bible, God’s word, tell us? Below are some verses that tell us whom we should fear and what or whom we should not fear.

Fear God

- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

- Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

- Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” - Jesus Christ

- Ecclesiastes 12:13 Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Do Not Fear

- Isaiah 41:13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you.”

- Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

- 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

- John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” - Jesus Christ

- Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

- Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Until my mid-40’s, before I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I lived my life in fear. Yes, I still functioned as a wife, mother, and at my work, but I had this sense of dread over me constantly. I had a fear of what would happen to our children if something bad happened to them, what if I lost my job, what if our nation was attacked again but on a bigger scale, what if… It took me years after turning to Jesus that I could see that He was working on me, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to show me that I needed to fear only Him, with a reverent fear, and trust in Him, in everything.

When COVID hit in 2020 and all that has happened subsequent to it, I think I would have lost my mind if I had not been saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and had made progress - through His Holy Spirit - in tackling my spirit of fear. I had the working and applied knowledge of His guiding word and His power within me to know that COVID was not - and still is not - anything I need to fear, nor is anything else that will arise.

God, who is all knowing, know that sinful men and women crave power and authority. It’s been like that since the beginning. That is especially true in our world today as we see global leaders puffing themselves up and calling themselves as “the elite.” They use fear as leverage over those they want to control to promote their agendas, forcing certain restrictions on the masses but they themselves do not adhere to them. Why? Because they have rejected Him and have aligned themselves with the Devil, whether knowingly or unknowingly. They want to be like god but reject the One true God.

When we reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation repeatedly, and we do wicked in the sight of God constantly, there comes a point when He will give us over to that which we crave - a life without Him here and a life without Him in our eternity. In the book of Romans 1:18-32, it states three times that God gave them up: “God gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts (v24); God gave them up to vile passions (v26); And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” I believe we see many people in our world today who have been given up by God to their sinful desires and lusts. Can they still be saved if they turn to Him, I believe the answer is yes, but like Pharaoh had hardened his heart many times as described in the book of Exodus, because of that, God Himself then hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The Bible does not tell us that  Pharaoh repented and turned to God.

Why do I mention all of this? Because as children of God - who include only those of us who have been born again by believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior - we are not to fear the world, the world leaders, or what will soon come upon them and the whole earth. As the Bible tells us, we are fighting a spiritual war that is a war for the souls of mankind. Those who are not saved because they reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will be forced to worship the final antichrist when he comes and take his mark or the number of his name - 666 - or be killed.

Everything that is happening in our world today is spiritual, and for those of us saved by Jesus, we must put on His whole armor in order to fight against this war and resist the urge to fear. Ephesians 6:10-20 tells us exactly what we are fighting and how to fight against it. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

How do we not fear? We do it first by being saved through faith in Christ Jesus, and we let Him be our strength: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)

Next, we put on the whole armor of God. Each piece of armor is described in verses 14-17. As any soldier in a war knows, we must put on all the armor, not some of it. “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand…” (Ephesians 6:13)

Finally, as stated in verses 18-20, we pray, we watch, and we persevere with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we tell others about His saving power of grace through faith in Him. God doesn’t want any to perish, to die in their sins,  and go to hell when they die. That is why He sent His only begotten Son: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” - Jesus Christ; John 3:17. Notice it doesn’t say, “but that the world through Him will be saved” but “might be saved.” We all have a choice to believe in Him or not. Jesus is coming a second time, this time not to offer the way out of sins through belief in Him but to judge all the wicked in all their unrighteousness.

As the apostle Peter foretold in 2 Peter 3:1:4, “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep [died], all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ “ And in v9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

In summary, I ask you to think about what or whom you are fearing. If you are not saved by believing in Jesus as your Savior, the things you have seen happen thus far are nothing compared to what is coming during a 7-year period know as the tribulation period, the time of Jacob’s trouble. Jesus described this time period as, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh wound be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22) Revelation 9:6 describes just one of the 21 judgments of God on a wicked world that hated Him and loved evil as, “In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.”

For those of us saved by the loving and merciful gift of God - Jesus Christ -we have nothing to fear, for our fear is a properly placed fear - in Him. For those who aren’t saved, they have everything to fear and will experience that fear for eternity, in a place they can never escape. Jesus told His disciples what will happen to those who choose to reject His free gift of salvation from sins and choose to go it their own way, that they will be divided as sheep - believers - on His right hand, and as goats - unbelievers - on His left hand: “Then He [Jesus] will also say those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels…’ ‘and these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ “ (Matthew 25:41, 46)

“And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” ✝️

So I ask you again: in whom or what do you fear?

January 7, 2023: Luke 2:51-52 - Jesus, A Time of Preparation

“Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” - Luke 2:51-52

Joseph and Mary started their second trip from Jerusalem back to Nazareth, this time with their twelve year-old Son, Jesus. The first time that Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem, where they had attended with Jesus the Feast of the Passover, Jesus had lingered behind in Jerusalem, unbeknownst to Joseph and Mary. After discovering He was not with them, they returned to Jerusalem and found Jesus sitting in the middle of the temple with the Jewish teachers listening to them, asking them questions, and astonishing them with His own answers. Now, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had returned to their home in Nazareth. This is the last time that the Bible mentions Joseph, and nothing else is mentioned of Jesus until He begins His ministry at the age of 30. (Luke 3:23)

In this brief passage of Scriptures in verses 51 and 52, we learn of three critical points:

1. Jesus was obedient to His parents: The fifth of the Ten Commandments as given by God to Moses to give to the Israelites says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12) Although Joseph was not Jesus’ heavenly Father, he was His earthly father, and Jesus obeyed him. Here was Jesus, the Son of God, who came to earth, perfect in every way and without sin, who knows the end from the beginning, and yet He lived a simple life with His earthly parents and His siblings, likely learning the same trade that Joseph practiced to support his family. Jesus provided the model for all of humanity to honor our parents. When we aren’t obedient to them, we are not obedient to God. Jesus was always obedient to God the Father, even to the point of death. Years later before He was crucified, Jesus prayed to Him, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Jesus was faithful to God until the end, and He is still faithful to Him today. We should take heed to follow His example. (Luke 22:42)

2. Mary was Faithful Even When She Didn’t Understand: Mary was obedient to God in all that He had promised her, even when it seemed impossible and she did not understand all that would happen or how it would happen. How in the world could she conceive a Child by the Holy Spirit? This had never been done before! What would her husband think of her, what would all who knew her think of her? But God made a way - the way - and He made the impossible, possible. She had in fact conceived a Child by the Holy Spirit, even though she had not ever known Joseph, her betrothed husband at the time. She trusted in the Lord with all her heart. Now, watching her young Son growing physically and in wisdom, she remembered and kept all the things God had told her and all that she had experienced in her heart, never forgetting them.
   Likewise for we who believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, while we may not understand all that is happening in the world and to us, let us remember His word and keep His word in our heart, for His word has told us things that will happen hundreds and even thousands of years before they have happened or are yet to happen. When the world doesn’t make sense, let us do what Mary did and as Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

3. Jesus Grew Not Only Physically but Spiritually: During the time when Jesus was age 12 through 30, the Bible tells us nothing more except that He increased in stature and in wisdom, and in favor with God and men. As any parent knows, the teenage years can be a challenging time for parents as their children begin to grow up and learn about the world. They begin to push back against their parents and begin to form their own opinions of things, especially as they go through puberty. Like all humans, Jesus went through puberty and experienced the range of emotions that goes along with it. However, as mentioned earlier, He was subject - or obedient - to His parents.
   

   During this time period, Jesus also grew in wisdom, and likely this is pertaining to all things spiritually, of the word of God. During His three days in Jerusalem at the Jewish temple, where He had talked with the Jewish scholars, they had seen something different about this young Man, something that astonished them. Jesus would begin His ministry 18 years later, and this time period prior to that was likely a time of preparation, to know what it means to be human, to know what it means to be tempted and yet not give in to sin, and to remain faithful not only to His earthly parents but to His heavenly Father.
   

   Similarly, our time here on earth is a time of preparation for us, as those who are called Children of God because we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. As that time for Jesus was preparing Him for something so much bigger, our time here on earth is preparing us for something so much bigger, a time when we leave this place called earth, when we leave our temporary shells that contain our physical bodies, and we are called up to Jesus, where we will receive our glorified bodies, and will be with Him. During this time of preparation, let us grow in our wisdom by reading and hearing His word for ourselves, letting the Holy Spirit increase our knowledge and understanding of it. Let us search the Scriptures for ourselves so that we may know the power of God.
   

   While we may not understand all that will happen and the order and timing of when it will happen, we do know that it will happen. Why? Because the Bible has a 100% accuracy rate of fulfilling prophecy. Just as Mary kept all those things in heart, so should we. Let us remember Mary’s song she sang before she gave birth to Jesus:

   
   “And Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name, and His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.’ ” (Luke 1:46-55) ✝️

January 6, 2023: Luke 2:48-50 - They Found Jesus in His Father's House

“So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.’ And He said to them, ‘Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.’ “ - Luke 2:48-50

After three days of being separated from twelve year-old Jesus while traveling back from the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem and having discovered He was missing, Joseph and Mary had just found Jesus in the temple, where He was listening to and asking questions of the Jewish teachers and also giving His own answers. I can’t imagine the relief Mary and Joseph must have felt when they had found Him! As a parent, it must have been agony to be separated from Him, not knowing where He was, what He was doing, and if He was safe. But Jesus was no ordinary twelve year-old young man. He is the Son of God, and He was right where He needed to be - in His Father’s house, doing His father’s business.

I have read commentaries that noted the distinction of what Mary said to Him when they had found Him, “Look, Your father and I have sought you anxiously.” While Joseph was Jesus’ stepfather, His true Father is God Almighty, for Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary. I am sure that Jesus meant no disrespect to Joseph and His mother but to acknowledge who His true Father is, and that sets Him apart from anyone else ever born on this earth.

I find it interesting that Jesus was the age of twelve when He went to Passover. After it ended and when His parents began their journey home with those who had come with them, Jesus. unbeknownst to His parents, went to the Jewish temple - His Father’s house. And not only did He go to the temple, He went to the part of the temple that was off-limits to most people and reserved only for the Jewish teachers. He sat among them, listening to them teach and asking them questions and also providing His own answers, astonishing all those who heard Him.

I don’t believe there is any coincidence that Jesus was twelve years old when He went to the temple. The number 12 is significant in the Bible; in fact, there are 187 references to it. I encourage you to access the link below to learn about some of the key references to the number 12 in the Bible. “Revelation alone has 22 occurrences of the number. The meaning of 12, which is considered a perfect number, is that it symbolizes God’s power and authority, as well as serving as a perfect governmental foundation. It can also symbolize completeness of the nation of Israel as a whole.” (bible study.org)

https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/12.html

Jesus is perfect in every way, and He symbolizes God’s power and authority. After Jesus had died and was resurrected, He told His disciples before He ascended to God the Father in heaven, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18) Jesus told the apostle Philip, “The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:10-11) Isaiah 9:6 prophesied of the coming Messiah before Jesus was born, “And the government will be upon His shoulder.” When He comes to the earth the second time in judgment, He will defeat all who come against Him and will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords on the earth for 1,000 years before He creates a new heaven, a new earth, and a new Jerusalem, where He and the Father are with all who believed in Jesus, forever.

Jesus is the only One who can provide completeness of Israel as a nation. When Jesus came the first time to earth to offer salvation to all who would believe in Him as Messiah, Israel as a nation rejected Him. But when the 7-year tribulation period comes to earth, the time known as “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7), the start of which I believe we are getting so very close to, the eyes of Israel will finally be opened at the midpoint of the tribulation, 3-1/2 years into it, when their false messiah, antichrist, the one with whom Israel will confirm a 7-year covenant of “peace,” (Daniel 9:27) reveals himself by committing the “abomination of desolation” (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15). At that point, as the prophet Zechariah prophesied, Israel’s eyes will finally be opened and they will see Jesus as their Messiah, “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10)

While two-thirds of the nation of Israel will die during the seven-year time of Jacob’s trouble, a remnant of one-third will be left, as Zechariah foretold, “‘And it shall come to pass in all the land,’ says the LORD, ‘that two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold as tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’’ and each one will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’’” (Zechariah 13:8-9)

As prophesied many times in the Bible, including in Ezekiel 37, God has started to restore Israel physically be bringing its people from the nations to which they were scattered and back into its land that God gave them, where it is no longer divided into the two nations of Israel and Judah. “…I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.” (Ezekiel 37:22) The return of the Jews back to the land of Israel is still happening. However, Israel is currently living in unbelief, rejecting their true Messiah, looking for the false messiah. They will only be restored spiritually during the time of Jacob’s trouble when they finally realize that their true Messiah - Jesus, Christ the Lord - already came, and when He comes the second time, they will turn to Him in belief and all Israel will be saved, as the apostle Paul said in Romans 11:25-27, “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” Paul then quoted the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 27:9) and Deuteronomy 7:8, 10:15, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; for this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.’” In Deuteronomy 4:30-31 Moses told Israel, “When you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”

Thus, while Jesus officially began His ministry at approximately the age of 30 (Luke 3:23), I believe when He stayed in Jerusalem, going to His Father’s house to do His Father’s business, this truly was a pivotal point in time, setting the stage for what would come. The world would never be the same. When His parents had returned to Jerusalem looking for Him and had found Him in the temple, He asked them, “Why did you seek Me?” If we are seeking Him, then why? If it is for any other reason than believing in Him as the Son of God, the One sent by God to offer salvation to all who would believe in Him as the Savior, the only One who can take away the sins of the world, then I urge you to seek Him with your whole heart, for as the scriptures tell us, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13) ✝️

January 4, 2023: Luke 2:46-47 - After Three Days, they Found Jesus

“Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and His answers.” - Luke 2:46-47

Twelve year old Jesus had been missing from Joseph and His mother for three days. After attending the Feast of the Passover, Joseph and Mary and their family and acquaintances had started their journey from Jerusalem back to their homes when on the first day of traveling, Joseph and Mary had discovered that Jesus was not with them. They then traveled back to Jerusalem, and after three days, they had found Jesus in a place they did not expect.

I believe this is a foreshadowing of what was to come when Jesus would give up His life and die on a cross, having been crucified by the Romans at the insistence of the Jewish religious leaders, who felt their power and authority was threatened by Jesus and that He had blasphemed God.

After Jesus died, He was laid in a tomb, and three days later, when Mary Magdalene, another Mary, and other women came to anoint His body with spices, they did not find Him where they expected Him to be. Instead, they were told by an angel of the Lord, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” “So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’” (Matthew 28:1-10) Jesus would next reveal His resurrected self to His other disciples, walk the earth for 40 more days, performing many miracles, and then He would ascend to God the Father.

Joseph and Mary had sought Jesus in the traveling caravan, in the place they thought He should be, and they did not find Him. They supposed He had been with them. After three days and having gone back to Jerusalem, they found Him in a place they did not expect to find Him, in His Father’s house, the Jewish temple. They did not find Him in the sanctuary, where people went to pray, but in the part of the temple where the teachers were. Here was Jesus, only twelves year old, sitting with Jewish teachers, highly educated in the word of God, not only listening to them but asking them questions. These were not just any questions a twelve year old boy would ask, for He astonished them with “His understanding and His answers.”How could this be? Years later, during Jesus’ time of ministry, He had met a Jewish Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. “This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ (John 3:1-2) Clearly, the Jewish teachers saw something different in twelve year old Jesus, something they had never seen before, just as Nicodemus had seen in Him years later.

Are you seeking Jesus with your whole heart? Have you found Him? The Bible tells us in Isaiah 55:6, “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near, “ and in Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jesus told His disciples, “Ask, and it will be given to you; see, and you will find; knock, and it will opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks, finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) Billions of people, and likely including many of the Jewish teachers that Jesus had spoken to those days in the temple when He was twelve years old, have not sought Jesus, and when they died, that door remained closed. The door for them to seek Jesus was never opened, for they did not seek Him. I pray you don’t wait until it’s too late to seek Him. ✝️

January 3, 2023: Luke 2:44-45 - Where is Jesus?

“…but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.” - Luke 2:44-45

Jesus’ parents Joseph and Mary had gone to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Passover and had taken the Boy Jesus with them, who was twelve years old. They had traveled with a group of people, including relatives, and now they were traveling back home after the feast had concluded. Travel at that time was not like traveling in today’s world, and with a large crowd that included young people and likely the elderly, they would have traveled even more slowly. With a large crowd of family and friends, Joseph and Mary had supposed that Jesus was with them when they left Jerusalem. However, after traveling a day, Joseph and Mary sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances and did not find Him. Thus, they went back to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

One definition of the word “supposed” or “supposing” is “to believe or assume as true; take for granted.” How many of us have assumed or supposed something to be true that in fact is not? The most critical thing I can think of is: are we supposing or assuming that we can be saved from our sins and go to heaven when we die, or are we basing what we think on fact, the word of God? As Jesus would later tell His disciples during His time of ministry on the earth, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

The world, including Oprah Winfrey, tells us there are many ways to heaven and that there cannot be only one way. She is supposing, based on her feelings, instead of basing her opinion on fact, the never changing word of God. How many people like her in the world believe as long as they are a “good” person, they will get to heaven? This is a lie from the Devil, and he is leading many straight to the pit of hell.

The apostle Paul in Ephesians tells us how we are saved, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Can you imagine what heaven would be like if we could get there by something we could do other than by believing in Jesus Christ? It would be a total brag-fest! “Oh, you got to heaven by only doing those things? Well, let me tell you that I got to heaven because I did this, and this, and this, and on and on.”

Instead of telling their congregants what Jesus said about how to be saved, that heaven and hell are real, and we will go to one of those two places when we die, many “pastors” are preaching only what they believe their followers want to hear - they are good, it’s okay to sin as long as the world approves of it, it’s all about them and making them feel good about themselves - because they want the people to keep coming back to their church and putting money in the donation boxes. Jesus’ words were clear and remove any and all doubt as to how one gets to heaven.

I would caution you not to take anyone’s word for granted when it comes to your eternity, for the world is corruptible; Jesus Christ is without sin and perfect in every way. Let us not suppose anything when it comes to our salvation. Let us see and read God’s word with our own eyes. Let us hear it with our own ears. Let us seek Him, while He still may be found, for one day, you will take your last breath and if you are not saved prior to dying, it will be too late for you.

Let us not suppose anything when it comes to our salvation. Let us know Him and where He is - at the right hand of the throne of God. “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.” (Mark 16:19)

January 2, 2023: Luke 2:43 - The Boy Jesus Lingered in Jerusalem

“When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem And Joseph and His mother did not know it…” - Luke 2:43

After the Feast of the Passover had ended, Joseph and Mary were ready to travel home with their son Jesus. However, unbeknownst to Joseph and Mary, Jesus had stayed behind in Jerusalem. We will read about why He had stayed behind in verses 46-50. I can relate to this account in two different ways, one as a parent whose child went missing, and the second as a child myself when I was lost from my parents.

As a parent myself, I can imagine Mary and Joseph’s fear and concern for Jesus’ safety when they realized that He was missing. My husband and I once took our young son to an indoor playground called “Discovery Zone” back in early 1990s. I had kept my eyes on our son the whole time, for the place was packed with children and parents, who were in all the different zones of this place. But in what seemed like an instant, I had lost sight of our son. I kept looking for him and when I could not see him with my eyes, I started to panic. I told my husband and he also told our friend, who had also come with his young daughter. We searched that place in a frenzy looking for our son. Finally, thank God, we found him, safe and sound. The relief I felt in being reunited with our child was indescribable.

As a young child, I really don’t know what age I was but possibly about nine years old, my parents and me and my brother went to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, CA. I remember my parents telling me to stay by their side and don’t wander off. However, I remember that right after we had entered it, I saw something that I wanted to go look at. Ignoring my parents’ instruction, I went from them and went to look at what I had seen. I hadn’t been there long and was ready to go back to my parents, but when I looked up, I could not find them. It was like they had vanished; they were nowhere to be found. Here I was in a strange place, packed with people, and I could not find my parents. I kept looking but to no avail. I was a lost child. Finally, after what seemed to me like hours, I don’t know if an employee noticed my likely panicked face as a lost little girl or if I had gone to this person for help, but I remember talking to this person and telling him or her that I could not find my parents. I think an announcement must have been made for a lost child looking for her parents, and not long after that, I was reunited with my parents. I was never as happy to see them as I was that day!

My experience of being a disobedient child, reminds me of all the times I have been disobedient to God, not heeding His commandments, for something glittery, something appealing, had caught my eye and led me astray. Every single time I am disobedient, it not only hurts me but it hurts Him. I am sure that my parents must have been overwhelmed with worry when they couldn’t find me, but when I had been reunited with them, they had welcomed me with open arms, just as Jesus, our Savior, will welcome us back when we turn back to Him. As we will learn in the next several devotionals, Jesus’ intentions of lingering in Jerusalem were to serve His Father, but my intentions were not to serve Him or my parents but to seek that which I had seen and wanted.

The book of Genesis and the temptation of Eve is a good reminder of what happens when we disobey our heavenly Father to satisfy our flesh. God had told Adam and Eve that they could eat the fruit of any tree except for the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Then the serpent had come along and questioned Eve as to what God had instructed her and Adam. Eve told the serpent what God had said but she also added something that God had not said to them, and told the serpent that if they ate or touched it, they would surely die. The serpent then lied to Eve and said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Then temptation set in for Eve. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” We know what then happened to Adam and Eve. They would have to receive the consequences of sinning against God. (Genesis 2-3)

Sin starts out small. We think to ourselves, “Oh, it won’t hurt me to just look at this thing which I desire.” But then it moves from looking, lusting, desiring something, to acting upon that which we desire, as Eve and Adam did, with the Devil there beside us, encouraging us to sin and ignore what God has told us. Yes, I was a young child when I had wandered away from my parents at the humongous flea market, but I had seen something I wanted and had disobeyed them.

How many of us have wandered from our heavenly Father, not heeding His voice and His commandments, which are pure in heart and are only meant to protect us from the consequences of sin? As we will read in Luke 2:46-50, Jesus’ intentions of lingering behind in Jerusalem were to do His Father’s business, but my intentions in disobeying my parents were to satisfy myself. The difference between the two intentions is a wide chasm, and unless we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, that chasm separates us eternally from the One who loves us more than we could ever know. Jesus is waiting for all to turn to Him, to believe in Him as our Savior, and when we do, He welcomes us back with open arms. Will you turn to Him today? ✝️

January 1, 2023: Luke 2:41-42 - The Passover Lamb

“His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.” - Luke 2:41-42

Both Joseph and Mary went to the Jewish festival of Passover every year. When Jesus was 12 years old, He also went with them. Here we have the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, without blemish - without sin, perfect in every way - who would soon have His own blood shed so that those who believe in Him would not die, going to His first Passover.

God had promised to redeem His people from the bondage of the Egyptian Pharaoh, where they had been enslaved for 430 years. God sent Moses to Egypt to free His people. When Moses and his brother Aaron went to Egypt and had their first encounter with Pharaoh, Moses told him, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ “ Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”

Pharaoh did not believe in the one true God, and made it even harder on God’s people to do the work he forced them to do. He had done evil to God’s people. Pharaoh’s heart was hard and refused to let God’s people go. Thus, God said to Moses and Aaron, “You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” When God sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh to show a miracle of casting down Aaron’s rod before Pharaoh and causing it become a servant, Pharaoh called his wise men and sorcerers and they did the same thing with their rods. However, Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. “And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said.”

Consequently, God sent the first of ten plagues to Egypt. However, Pharaoh hardened his heart repeatedly against the one true God and kept believing in all of his false gods and would not free God’s people. Finally, God sent the tenth plague, which would cause the death of the firstborn of all people in Egypt as well as the firstborn of all their animals. However, God spoke to Moses and Aaron and He instituted the Passover in that month, which God said “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month, every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.’

‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.’

God then told Moses and Aaron about the requirements for the Passover Feast that would be kept every year, and the lamb must be roasted in fire and eaten that night with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. “It is the LORD’s Passover.”

‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.’ ”

Thus, Moses and Aaron did everything that God had told them to do. Then Moses told all the elders of Israel all that the Lord God had told him and Aaron. Moses then said to them, “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” “So the people bowed their heads and worshipped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.”

“And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”

“Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have said.” (Exodus 12:1-31)

With the death of his own firstborn son, Pharaoh finally had relented and freed God’s people from their bondage in Egypt. Though much turmoil still lied ahead of them, the Israelites were free. It took the power of Almighty God and the blood of an unblemished male lamb to break their bondage of slavery.

John the Baptist would later proclaim when he saw Jesus Christ, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus breaks the bondage of all sins for all people who believe in Him, whom God the Father sent. Without redemption of our sins through Jesus Christ, we will be enslaved in our sin forever and ever in hell, making slavery in Egypt look like paradise. As with the Passover lamb in the book of Exodus, it took the blood of Jesus, who is without sin and perfect in every way, for the judgment of God to passover us who believe in Jesus, sparing us from not only death but eternal death in sin. Though the Jews were living their lives in Egypt in bondage prior to being freed, they were not experiencing true life, true life only comes from being freed by Jesus Christ.

At the age of twelve when Jesus went to the Feast of the Passover with His parents and saw with His eyes the sacrificing of an unblemished male Passover lamb, He would later become our Passover. Jesus would have His last supper with His apostles, and it was a Passover meal. He would be crucified and die on a cross and be resurrected three days later at Passover time. He is the final Passover Lamb.

Are you covered by His precious blood, forgiven of all your sins, or will you hold onto your sins, like Pharaoh and experience the heartache and consequences of your hardened heart?

“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” - 1 Peter 1:18-21 ✝️

December 31, 2022: Luke 2:39-40 - The Grace of God was Upon Him

“So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” - Luke 2:39-40

As in the account of the apostle Matthew, before Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem with Jesus to go to Galilee in Nazareth, Joseph had been warned by an angel in a dream, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” (Matthew 2:13) Herod the king had sought to kill Jesus and ordered that all male children ages two years and under be put to death. This is what pride, arrogance, and the desire for power does to people: it corrupts the heart and deep into the soul. Why would Herod be fearful if this Child was just like any child? It’s because Herod had heard about the account that people were saying that the magi had come from the East to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” This Child was unlike any other child who had even been born. Herod clearly felt threatened, and he wanted people to worship him, not this King of the Jews.

Joseph took the Child Jesus and His mother to Egypt, and they stayed there until the death of Herod the king. As they traveled back to Israel, Joseph was afraid to take them to Judea because Herod’s son Archelaus was reigning there. Joseph was warned by God again in a dream not to take his family there but instead to take them into the region of Galilee, to the city of Nazareth. Joseph did, and that is where the Child Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit.”

As a mother, I cherish those years when my children were little, watching them grow and learn and experience new things. I also realized that no one had to teach my sweet little children to sin, for ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, each and every person who has ever been born is born with sin. No one had to teach my children to lie when I asked them a question; no, they just did it. I remember when I was a young child in elementary school and I had found a little round rubber coin purse that had money in it. I took it to the principal’s office to turn it in, but I had secretly kept the money that was inside of it. I remember when the principal had asked me if there had been any money in it, and I had answered, “no.” I must have had a look on my face that told the principal I wasn’t telling the truth, and I believe he asked me again. I honestly cannot remember what I said, but I remember that I had been caught in a lie. It was the first time I had been caught by someone who wasn’t in my family, and that memory has stuck with me all these years.

Yet, there is One who was not born with sin and who has never committed any sins, and that is Jesus the Christ. I can’t imagine not ever committing any sins, for I can’t even go a day without sinning on some way, whether it’s a thought in my head that shouldn’t be or something else.

Jesus must have had a very close relationship with God the Father while growing up. We know from scriptures as He grew older and during His time of ministry that Jesus prayed often to Him. Jesus knew the burden that He would one day bear, taking on the sins of the whole world, and He needed God’s guidance and the closeness that comes by praying to Him. Jesus was surrounded by a world of sinners, and yet, He committed no sin. He provides the example of what it means to be in the world but not of the world. Yes, He lived on the earth, walked among us, was hated by many and loved by few, but He did not become like the world, conforming to what it calls “truth”; no, He stood strong in the word of God, even to the point of death, for He had a purpose to fulfill and He fulfilled it: to offer redemption of sins for all who choose to believe in Him.

When we choose to follow Jesus, we are born again by the grace of God, the grace that was freely offered to us when He went to the cross to bear all our sins. When we are born again by believing in Jesus as our Savior, we are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit within us. This is salvation. We are now called “Children of God.” As a child of God, we take off our old fleshly nature and we take on the nature of Christ. For some this happens rather quickly, but for some of us, including me, it’s a process that can take many years, even a lifetime. This is sanctification, when we are set apart from those in the world who have not been born again. As we become more like Him, we grow in wisdom by reading God’s word and praying to Him daily, and the more we do it, the more we desire it, for it is the bread of life.

Years later, as Jesus lay dying on the cross after having been scourged and beaten - to the point that He became unrecognizable - by the ones He came to save - all of us - He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Oh, what kind of love is this that even while dying in extreme agony, He prayed for us sinners! Will you seek Jesus while He still may be found in your life, before you take your last breath here on earth and enter your eternity? Will you accept His free gift of salvation from all your sins? If you are not saved, I pray you do not let another year, month, day, hour or minute go by without turning to Him.

I give you Jesus’ words He spoke to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews when Jesus told Him that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - Jesus Christ; John 3:16-18 ✝️

December 30, 2022: Luke 2:38 - The Grace of God for All Who Look for Redemption

“And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” - Luke 2:38

Anna was one of a handful of women in the Bible who was called a “prophetess,” which is a female prophet, one who proclaims God’s word and speaks for God. The name “Anna” is from the Hebrew name “Channah” or “Hannah,” which means “favored” or “grace.” Anna was the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old and a widow for a long time. She was married only seven years. She lived a life by serving God faithfully in fasting and prayers night and day.

Throughout Anna’s life, she must have experienced many trials, as she was a widow for many years. The Bible doesn’t say that she had remarried, so no other husband would have cared for her. Anna likely had known the scriptures about widows and that God has a heart for them, including:

- Proverbs 15:25 “The LORD will destroy the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow.”

- Psalm 68:5 “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.”

- Psalm 146:9 “The LORD watches over the strangers; he relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down.”

She trusted in the Lord and in His word. She trusted in Him to provide and in Him to make the way for redemption of sins.

Anna was one of two eye witnesses who saw the Child Jesus when Joseph and His mother Mary came to Jerusalem to present Jesus to the Lord in the Jewish temple. Simeon was the other eye witness to this extraordinary event. Like Anna, Simeon was old in age, and both had been looking and faithfully waiting for the salvation of the Lord to come. Anna not only came to the temple, the Bible says, “And coming in that instant.” She came without hesitation, for she knew something remarkable had happened! Oh, that we as believers in Christ may act as she did, not holding back, but trusting in the Lord, and when He says “Go!”, we go!

Anna gave thanks to the Lord for His blessed gift of redemption - Jesus, Christ the Lord - who offers redemption of all our sins for all who believe in Him, and she spoke of Jesus to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She knew that redemption of all our sins cannot come by coming to the temple no matter how faithful we are; rather, it can only come by believing in Jesus, sent by God, who is the Savior, Christ the Lord. She knew that Jesus was sent for all people, not just the Jews. For as Simeon proclaimed through the Holy Spirit when he held the Child Jesus, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

As Jesus would later tell His disciples during His time of ministry here on earth, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Are you looking to Him for redemption? Have you found Him and given thanks to Him, as Anna and Simeon did? ✝️

December 29, 2022: Luke 2:34-35 - That the Thoughts of Many Hearts May Be Revealed

“Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ ” - Luke 2:34-35

After seeing the Child Jesus and blessing the Lord for His salvation, Simeon also had some sorrowful and prophetic words for Mary. He told her that a sword would pierce through her own soul, for many would reject Jesus and their hearts would be revealed. This makes me remember Judas Iscariot, who would be one of the 12 apostles chosen by Jesus to follow Him and tell Israel of the way to redemption of sins and to live in eternal glory in heaven with God the Father. Yet, Judas was the one who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Judas’ heart was revealed, and it was a heart of greed, pride, wickedness, and evil; it was the heart of a sinner in need of a Savior. Judas had eaten, walked, and talked with Jesus, listening to all that Jesus had told him and the other apostles from the start, and yet he did not ever really know Jesus and believe that Jesus was who He said He was.

Simeon, through the Holy Spirit, told Jesus’ mother Mary that a sword would pierce through her own soul, a level of pain and anguish a mother should never have to experience. As a mother, I cannot imagine the sorrow Mary must have experienced as she watched her son Jesus grow and be absolutely hated and despised by the same people to whom God had sent His only begotten Son to offer them salvation from all their sins. Perhaps Mary would hear when people said of Jesus, “He has a demon and is mad [insane]. Why do you listen to Him?” Maybe she had heard what the Pharisees had said of Him, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.” As any loving mother knows, when our child hurts, we hurt. These words must have pierced her as a sword that cuts deep, for she knew the real purpose why Jesus had come to this earth. Perhaps Simeon’s words to her were also a foreshadowing of the spear or sword that would pierce the side of Jesus by a Roman solider after Jesus had given up His life. The horror Mary would have to witness as Jesus died and was then pierced by a sword would be for her like someone putting a sword straight through her soul.

There were so many people who absolutely hated and despised Jesus, just as there are today. This Child whom Mary loved so deeply would be the Man of sorrows, as foretold in Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, Jesus had revealed about Himself to the apostle John. In Revelation 1:16 John had a vision of Jesus and wrote: “He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” Jesus is the Word of God. As the Bible tells us in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word of God divides, separating those who have a heart for Jesus and those who are against Him. Jesus would later tell His disciples, “Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

Jesus knew what was in Judas’ heart, just as He knows what is in the heart of every single person who has ever lived. It is the heart that causes us to believe or not believe in Jesus as Messiah. Will we have a heart like Simeon’s, full of hope, love, and peace for our Savior, or will it be hardened against Him, like Judas, refusing to know Him, rejecting salvation, and ready to betray Him? What do your thoughts about Jesus reveal about your own heart? ✝️

December 28, 2022: Luke 2:33 - Joseph and Mary Marveled

“And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.” - Luke 2:33

As one could imagine, Joseph and Jesus’ mother Mary marveled at what Simeon had just proclaimed about Jesus when they had brought Jesus to the temple to present Him to the Lord. To “marvel” means “to be filled with wonder, admiration, or astonishment, as at something surprising or extraordinary.” (dictionary.com)

It must have been further confirmation to Joseph what an angel had proclaimed to him when his betrothed wife Mary had been found to be with child before they had come together. When Joseph was considering what to do about the matter, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”

To Mary, it must have been confirmation of what the angel Gabriel had previously told her before she had conceived by the Holy Spirit, “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” The angel Gabriel had also told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”

As Simeon spoke to her and Joseph, Mary also may have recalled when she had entered the house of Zacharias to visit her pregnant relative Elizabeth. When Mary greeted her, it happened that when Elizabeth, whose baby would later be the John who would baptize Jesus, heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in Elizabeth’s womb with joy, for he recognized his Savior.

Joseph and Mary may have remembered the prophecy of the coming Messiah as given by the Holy Spirit to Zacharias after the birth of his son John, who would prepare the way of the Lord Jesus:

“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

So here they were, Joseph and Mary, faithful unto God, trusting in Him. Did they know all that would happen to Jesus, the Son of God, to them, the Jewish people, and to all who would believe in Him? No, but they marveled at all that God had done, and they obediently listened to Him, and obeyed His commands. The world they lived in was the same as the one we live in today in one specific way: it was filled with sinners in need of a Savior. Joseph and Mary had witnessed with their own eyes the birth of the Savior, and had seen and heard shepherds who had come from their fields to see Him lying in a manager and praising God for Him, and a devout man come to the temple to see Jesus and praising God for Him.

As believers in Christ as our Savior, let us see and hear Him through hearing and reading His word, praying and being obedient to Him, trusting in Him in all things, even when we don’t understand, and let us marvel at all those things which were spoken of Him and have been fulfilled, and things spoken of Him which are yet to be fulfilled, for He will fulfill every single one of them, and we will marvel at Him. ✝️

December 27, 2022: Luke 2:28-32 - My Eyes Have Seen Your Salvation

“…he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.’ ” - Luke 2:28-32

The Holy Spirit had revealed something of tremendous importance to Simeon, a faithful Jewish servant of the Lord who had read about the prophesied coming of the Messiah. Simeon had been waiting for Jesus, the Consolation of Israel. The Holy Spirit chose this devout man and told him that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

The Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple, and he did. When Jesus’ parents had taken Him to be presented in the temple and to offer a sacrifice according to Jewish Law for the birth of a male child, Simeon was immediately filled with gratitude and joy, for the arrival of Jesus had come! While he likely had no idea of how Messiah would come, he probably had not been expecting Him to come as a baby. However, upon seeing the Child, Simeon knew immediately and beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Child was the prophesied Messiah. He lovingly took Jesus in his arms and blessed and praised God.

Simeon’s words speak volumes. There is so much depth in what he spoke. Simeon had put all of his hope in Jesus, so much so that he was now ready to depart this earth and move onto eternity, and he would depart in peace. He wasn’t clinging to this world; he was clinging to Jesus. He knew all the prophecies of the One he was now holding in his arms that had not yet come true would come true because the greatest prophecy of all had just been fulfilled: the birth of Messiah. He knew what the Lord had spoken to Isaiah and all the prophets about the Redeemer, who is the Holy One of Israel.

The words of praise Simeon spoke to God revealed that he knew that the Redeemer was sent not only to offer salvation to His people, the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. He also said God’s salvation would be the glory of God’s people Israel. Jesus was born a Jew, and His lineage is of the Jews, the people of Israel. The greatest glory that would ever come out of Israel is their salvation through the prophesied Messiah, Jesus the Christ. While they are not in glory yet because of their unbelief, there is coming a day, when Messiah will return to righteously judge the world and all of the remnant of Israel will be saved.

Do you have a heart like Simeon’s, full of hope, love, and peace for our Savior? I pray that you will have a heart like Simeon’s, blessing God for His salvation - Jesus the Christ - who one day, we too, will see with our own eyes. ✝️

December 26, 2022: Luke 2:21 - His Name was Called JESUS

“And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” - Luke 2:21

As part of the unconditional covenant God had made with Abraham, the Abrahamic Covenant, all males descended from Abraham must be circumcised. Circumcision was also repeated in the Mosaic Law. Jesus was born a Jew, to a Jewish mother, and would be raised in a Jewish home that kept Jewish law, including the rite of circumcision. Thus, He was circumcised on the eight day, and they named Him JESUS, which means “Savior,” as the angel Gabriel had said they should call Him before He was even conceived.

Jesus came to His own as a Jew, adhering to Jewish Law, for if He had not, He would have been immediately rejected by the Jews for not being circumcised. Though Jesus would commit no sins - ever - but would fulfill the Law, He was rejected because those He came to save didn’t need a circumcision of the flesh; rather, they needed a circumcision of the heart. Hundreds of years prior to Jesus’ arrival as a Child, the prophet Jeremiah had proclaimed to the Jews the words of God, saying, “For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: ‘Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest My fury come forth like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.’”

In much earlier times when Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible was written, which is part of the Jewish Torah, God said to the Jews regarding His Law, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” (Deuteronomy 10:16) In Deuteronomy 30:5-6 when God is telling His people of the blessings of returning to Him, He said to them, “Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.”

What is the greatest stumbling block between sinful men and women and the heavenly Father? The answer is the heart. The heart is full of pride, puffing us up, making us feel like we don’t need God; we can save ourselves, or even worse, that sin isn’t sin and we can do whatever we want without experiencing any negative consequences from our sin. Who or what is the answer? His name is Jesus, Christ the Lord. Jesus is the One - the only One, the only way - to God the Father. He came to earth as a Child to tell us of the way of salvation of sins, to lead by example, to show us what a soft heart does: it enables us to have eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of God. That truth is that we are all sinners, none of us can save ourselves, when we die, each one of us will go to either heaven or hell, and the only way to heaven is to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Getting circumcised won’t get us there, trying to keep the Divine Law of God won’t do it, for no one can keep it, trying to be a good person won’t either, doing good things for others, going to church, … won’t get us there, only Jesus can. Why? Because He was chosen by God to come to this earth by being born as a Child to a virgin, grow and begin His earthly ministry, choose His disciples to whom He would teach, die a horrible death of crucifixion on the cross, rise again after three days, walk the earth for 40 days after, showing His resurrected self to over 500 people, and ascend to the right hand of the heavenly throne of God the Father, where He is today.

Each one of us must decide if will we let our hearts continue in hardness, preventing us to have eyes to see and ears to hear the truth of God, letting that stumbling block remain intact and ultimately experiencing the worst consequences of it that we could ever face, or if we have a heart that is circumcised, ready to accept and follow Him, the One whose name is called JESUS. ❤️ ✝️