March 5, 2023: 1 Peter 2:11 - Home is Where Your Heart Is

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…” - 1 Peter 2:11

It has been said “Home is where your heart is” and the Bible tells us that is true for believers in Christ, who know this world is not our true Home but only a temporary stopping place on our way to eternity:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:19-20)

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (Jesus Christ; John 15:18-19)

“We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19)

“Now this is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world be cast out.” (Jesus Christ; John 12:31)

Since our time here is only temporary, we should not grow deep roots to things we own and with the people and things we love such that their hold on us is more than our love for Jesus and our desire to stand in the truth of God and trust in His eternal salvation. When the things and people of this earth are our treasure, when they are that which we value most instead of our eternal salvation, then we will do all that is necessary to protect and preserve them, even if it means turning away from God and what His word says. This is exactly what is happening in many American churches today and has been for quite some time. Their mission changed from carrying out the Great Commission, as Jesus gave to all who believe in Him as Savior, to the Great Collision because the thing that they value most - money - collides with what the Bible and what Jesus Himself told us we should value most: eternal salvation from sins through faith in Christ alone.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [riches].” (Jesus Christ; Matthew 6:24)

Many churches today are preaching a different gospel, one which has been altered to appease people who want not only to remain in their sin, their fleshly lusts which war against the soul, but also want everyone to accept and promote it, including and especially in the churches. This is exactly what was prophesied in the Bible that would happen in the last days before the start of the tribulation period and the second coming of Christ. The apostle Paul wrote about this in the book of Galatians:

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-10)

Believers in Christ are not exempt from temptation. It is not a sin to be tempted, but sin occurs when we give-in to the temptations. The lure of sin’s desire is what draws people back into sin. Believers must actively fight against this, and the only way we can is through the power and might of God, standing strong in Him and on His word. The world tells us to follow our hearts, and that is exactly why we are in the dreadful state we are in today, for as the Bible tells us, the heart is deceitfully wicked:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Sadly, many pastors of churches today are leading many people straight to hell because their hearts are not owned by God but by the devil himself. As the apostle Paul wrote about, it is the people themselves who attend the churches who will not stand for the truth of God and instead seek those who tell them what they want to hear - lies from Satan - instead of what they need to hear - the truth of God. There are plenty of false pastors and false teachers out there who are ready and willing to tell them what they want to hear. Paul warned about this:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom:

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching. 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,” (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

I believe we are this point in time that Paul described above. More and more pressure is going to be put on the church and on believers in Christ. I believe the ultimate end will be that the word of God is defined as “hate speech” and will be banned from all public areas, including social media, and then will be banned completely, even in our own homes. This is already done in many countries, and I believe that time is soon coming to the western nations, including America. As the pressure is applied, may we remember the exhortation of Peter in today’s Scripture verse and also of Jesus and Paul in the passages below. May we remember that we are only traveling through this world and that our true Home is with Jesus, and may we give our whole heart to Him.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions [dwellings]; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (Jesus Christ; John 14:1-4)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14) ✝️

March 4, 2023: 1 Peter 2:10 - I am so Thankful for God's Mercy

“…who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” - 1 Peter 2:10

Writing to the Jews who had been dispersed, scattered from their land in Israel to Roman provinces, primarily in modern day Turkey, Peter was encouraging his brothers and sisters who had turned to Jesus Christ, accepting Him as their Savior, and who were being persecuted for their faith in Him. He told them that though they were once not a people, they now are a people of God and though they had not obtained mercy, they now have obtained mercy. Peter’s words are reminiscent of the prophet Hosea’s words in the book of Hosea.

God had told Hosea to marry a harlot and have children with her because the nation of Israel had committed spiritual harlotry against God by departing from Him to worship false gods and idols. Hosea did as God commanded, and he married the harlot Gomer. Gomer bore three children, and God told Hosea to name them as shown below.

1. A son, Jezreel: “Jezreel” means “God will sow” or “God scatters.” The Jezreel Valley in Israel is where several great battles of the Israelites took place, and it is also in the same valley as Meggido. It is very interesting to me that this same valley is where the battle of Armageddon will take place, as described in Revelation 16:16 and when Jesus Christ returns and defeats those gathered together against Him (see Revelation 19:11-21).

2. A daughter, Lo-Ruhamah: “Lo-Ruhamah” means “No mercy.”

3. A son, Lo-Ammi: “Lo-Ammi” means “Not-My-People.”

Isaiah the prophet wrote about God’s coming judgment on Judah. God had promised both judgment on both nations, Israel and Judah, which once united under one king were now divided nations. God did in fact bring judgment upon both nations because of their unfaithfulness to Him. They had both chose to worship false gods and idols instead of worshipping Him, the One true God, the One who had delivered them out of bondage in Egypt. However, God always promises to restore His people if they repent and return to Him, for He is merciful and kind. Hosea wrote of God’s future restoration of His people:

“Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there it shall be said to them, ‘You are sons of the living God.’ Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel! Say to your brethren, ‘My people,’ and to your sisters, ‘Mercy is shown.’”

Though the Jewish believers in Christ to whom Peter was writing were still scattered from their land, by their belief in Jesus as their Messiah, they were now people of God and had obtained mercy through Jesus the sacrifice He had made by shedding His precious blood, so that all who believe in Him will be saved from sin.

As the Bible tells us, Jesus will return a second time after a period of seven years of tribulation upon the earth that the world has never seen, nor will ever see again. During this time, known as the time of Jacob’s [Israel’s] trouble, a remnant of the Jews will survive and will finally recognize Him as their Messiah and turn to Him in belief. As prophesied by the aforementioned passages from the book of Hosea, the children of Judah and the children of Israel will be reunited in the land that God gave them through His unconditional Abrahamic Covenant with them, and they will worship the One whom they pierced, Jesus Christ, Messiah and will be with Him forever in eternal glory.

But God did not send Jesus just to offer salvation through the Jews but to all peoples, Jews and Gentiles. God’s mercy is available to all. Salvation is free and available to all who call upon Jesus:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek [Gentile], for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him, For ‘whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’” (Romans 10:9-13)

As Peter first wrote in this first epistle to the Jewish believers in Christ, and again in verse 10, God is abundantly merciful to all who are born again through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)

I am so very thankful to be called a child of God, one of His own, and for His abundant mercy and love that He has shown me. I am so very thankful for the time that He has given this lost and dying world to turn to Him and be saved. I pray that if you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, that you will do so today, and you too, will be thankful to be called His child and receive His abundant mercy.

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” (Psalm 86:5)

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7) ✝️

March 3, 2023: 1 Peter 2:9 - Let Us Praise Him Who Called Us Out of Darkness

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…” - 1 Peter 2:9

Peter was speaking to Jewish believers in Christ in this epistle. He wasn’t speaking to them as Jews, however, but as Christians, those who answered the call of God to believe in His only begotten Son Jesus Christ as their Savior. We all must choose whether or not to believe in Jesus as our Savior, and no choice is a choice not to believe. God sent Jesus so that we all might be forgiven of our sins and spend our eternity with Him because God loves each and everyone of us. But, He won’t force us to believe in Jesus. As many people have already said, He didn’t make us as robots, programmed automatically to believe in Jesus. No, God gave us free will to decide for ourselves. Those who choose to believe are the chosen generation, a holy nation because we said “Yes, I believe” to Jesus as the only One who can redeem us of our sins. We can’t have it both ways by rejecting Jesus and expecting to be with Him when we die. Only believers in Him as our Redeemer, the One who paid for all of our sins with His precious blood, will be saved; only believers in Christ are a chosen generation and a holy nation, those who are called “Children of God.”

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, jut as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” (Romans 8:16-17)

All believers in Christ comprise a royal priesthood, for each of us is commanded by Jesus to tell others about Him, how He saved us, and how He can save them from all their sins, giving them true and abundant eternal life by calling them out of the darkness and into the light. After He was resurrected and before Jesus ascended to heaven He commanded His disciples:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Prior to being saved from all our sins by Jesus, we were all in darkness. Have you noticed how dark the world is getting? I live in the USA and I have noticed a very obvious change in our culture; the darkness is now out in the open, with nothing hidden in the shadows anymore. Award shows, half-time shows, opening ceremonies of games are draped in colors of black and red, with Satanic themes in full, unfiltered display to the world, as they perform to an audience of the masses, who praise their wicked and false gods. It’s permeated everything in our society, including in our schools, even in elementary schools, and if one speaks out against it, they are branded with the many names they have given to those who dare to take a stand against them and stand up for what is right in the eyes of God. Darkness, and not light, evil and not good, are being lifted up and praised in our society today. But what does the Bible teach about this?

“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 making intoxicating drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man!” (Isaiah 5:20-23)

No good thing will come upon those who do, promote, and/or accept the things that Isaiah the prophet described above. The line in the sand is being drawn in our country and in our world. Will you choose light over darkness, good over evil, salvation over sin, Jesus over Satan? It seems to me that we truly are living in times that are similar to Sodom and Gomorrah and also as the apostle Paul described in Romans 1:18-32. As a result, we will see the wrath of God upon our nation, upon our world as the time draws near for the rapture of the church, when Jesus calls up His believers, both dead and alive, to Himself in the clouds, when the coming antichrist confirms a covenant with many nations, including Israel, and the 7-year time of Jacob’s trouble begins, also known as the tribulation period. At that time, the unbelieving world will fall into utter chaos, for they will have sought after darkness instead of the light. Jesus Himself spoke of the consequences of choosing darkness over light:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that 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. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:17-21)

The darkness is led by Satan, whose goal is to destroy mankind and to make himself God. He hates humans, for unlike the angels, of which he is one, a fallen angel, humans are the only ones made in the image of God. Satan will do anything and everything needed to deceive people into thinking that they should follow him and not Jesus. As Satan deceived Eve in the garden, so has he deceived billions and led them to destruction and permanent, eternal separation from God, from Jesus, the light of the world, and they will live in never-ending darkness. Satan has deceived and used people in power to deceive the masses into destroying the family unit as it was designed by God, and this is so obvious in the USA. Satan surrounds his lies in words that tell people that are “empowered” by making choices that are offensive to God, when in reality they are not empowered at all but are enslaved by Satan, fettered and chained in sin without even realizing it. Jesus warned about deception in the last days as the main sign that would signal His second coming to earth. Many believers in Christ are being deceived because they are not testing the spirits, they are not using discernment to distinguish between lies and truth. Satan uses whomever he needs to in order to deceive people, including, and I would say especially, in the churches. Many churches are falling away from the truth of God in order to appease a world that is growing further and further away from God and His truth. Instead of standing on the word of God, they are trampling all over it, because they are not serving the One true God but they are serving the god of mammon, the god of money. At such a critical time in history when believers in Christ should be standing up for what is right in the eyes of God, many are caving to the pressures that are being put upon the world by men and women who have chosen to follow the darkness instead of the light.

So, where is our hope, for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and are standing on His word? It is absolutely critical in this time when the world appears to be in utter chaos that we remember that the word of God told us these things must happen before Jesus calls His bride to Himself in the clouds and before the events described in the book of Revelation and many other books take place, when Jesus will return to earth, this time in judgment, to put an end to the madness, to the evil, once and for all. Our hope is not in this world, for this world is dying; our hope is a living hope, and His name is Jesus. Anyone who has ever studied prophecy in the Bible and has seen all of the prophecies that have already been fulfilled knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that every single word in the Bible is of God and is true, and that all prophecies that have not been fulfilled will be fulfilled according to God’s perfect timing.

Oh, how I praise Him who called me out of the darkness and into the light! He is the light in this darkness that surrounds me, comforting me and reminding me that He is here with me. He guides me on the narrow path of righteousness, when sin and darkness encircle me. He is the light that will never be overcome by darkness but His light will overcome the darkness. He is the light that shines within me. He is the light who provides me with all I need to flourish in Him, not in my own strength but in His. He is the light that gives me life.

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (Jesus Christ; John 8:12) ✝️

March 1, 2023: 1 Peter 2:7-8 - He is Precious to We Who Believe

“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.” - 1 Peter 2:7-8

To believe or not to believe in Jesus as one’s Savior is a matter of the heart. The heart is what keeps people from believing in Jesus. The heart can choose to be filled with pride, envy, strife, coldness, stubbornness, and indifference or it can be filled with a love for Jesus like one has never known, something so deep that it is hard to describe to unbelievers. To we who believe in Him as our Savior, He is precious to us, more precious than anything or anyone else in the world. He speaks to us through His word, through His Holy Spirit, through His creation, and in many other ways. We read of all that He went through, all of the hatred that was shown to Him, and yet, He did not return hate with hate, because He was God’s plan of redemption, from the very beginning of creation.

But when our hearts are filled with pride, pride of ourselves and all that we have accomplished, or pride in thinking that we don’t need anyone to save us, that we can save ourselves, we leave no room for Him. I believe pride is the main reason - the stone of stumbling and a rock of offense - that keeps people from believing that God is real and He did send His Son Jesus to the world, that through Him we might be saved.

God, who is all knowing, knew that Israel would reject His Son Jesus, but He sent Him anyways. He knew that Jesus would be a stumbling block to most of them, and His prophet Isaiah foretold of this to the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah:

“He will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and 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)

When the Child Jesus was presented by Joseph and Mary His mother in the temple, there was a man Simeon who had come to the temple by the Spirit. It had been previously revealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When Simeon saw the Child Jesus with Joseph and Mary, Simeon prophesied to Mary:

“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 will be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35)

The Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes, were threatened by Jesus because people were believing in Him as the prophesied Messiah. In their eyes, He was untrained and He ate with sinners. Jesus also called them out for their hypocrisy. Their hearts were puffed up in themselves and in all that they thought they were, and they hated Him. The chief priests, scribes, and elders then plotted to kill Jesus. At His trial before the Sanhedrin, a court of the high priest and leaders, the high priest Caiaphas asked Jesus: “‘I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!’ Jesus said to 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 on the clouds in heaven.’ Then the high priest 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 hands, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?’” (Matthew 26:63-68)

These same people who found Jesus guilty and had Him crucified by the Romans were the ones that Jesus had come to save. But, instead of turning to Him in belief as their Savior, He had become their rock of offense. Their plan to have Him crucified was fulfilled, but it didn’t have the outcome that they intended. They intended for Him to die and life would go on as it was before, before He had walked the earth. But their lives would never be the same. As Jesus told His disciples what would happen before He died, the Romans completely destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple in 70 AD. Many Jews were massacred and most of those who survived fled to other countries in the Diaspora. (See Matthew 24:2, Luke 21:6, Luke 23:27-31).

Because of their rejection of Him, after Jesus died, was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, His disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, as Jesus had previously promised they would be. They began doing as Jesus commanded them before He ascended: they preached the gospel - the good news of salvation from sins by faith alone in Christ alone - to the Jews and the Gentiles all around the world, and that good news is still being preached today.

Sadly, Jesus was a stumbling block not only to the majority of the Jewish people but also to the majority of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, and He is a stumbling block to most people today. But to us who have chosen to believe in Him as our Savior, He is precious in our hearts, oh, so precious. He simply is our everything. ❤️ ✝️

February 28, 2023: 1 Peter 2:6 - He Who Believes on Him Will Not be Put to Shame

“Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’” - 1 Peter 2:6

God Himself brought forth Jesus, the Messiah, the One on whom everything is built. God brought forth Jesus through Zion, through the tribe of Judah. Jesus is the chief cornerstone of faith, and without Him, everything will be brought down. God Himself foretold of the Messiah thousands of years ago through His prophets of old, in the Old Testament. Isaiah was one of those prophets, and prophecies of Jesus are all throughout this book that was written to the people of Judah, when the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom of Israel, sometimes called “Ephraim,” and the southern kingdom of Judah. Jesus Christ fulfilled all the prophecies of His first coming, including the prophecies that most people would reject and despise Him, the One who was chosen by God and who is precious to Him.

God chose Jesus to be the Redeemer of sins for all who believe on Him. God chose an imperfect people, whom He set apart from the rest of the nations, to bring forth the Lamb of God, and nothing and no one was able to stop it from happening. Oh, yes, Satan, that serpent of old, tried to stop it but he did not succeed. Satan knew that Jesus would be born from a peculiar people and he did all he could to eradicate them from the face of the earth, to prevent the birth of Jesus, but he did not succeed. After Jesus came down from heaven and was conceived by the Holy Spirit through a virgin, Satan tried to kill the baby Jesus by having King Herod order that every baby boy two years of age and under to be killed, but Satan did not succeed in killing Jesus.

When Jesus was crucified on a cross, took on all our sins and cried out to God, saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” and as Jesus gave up His life, saying, “It is finished,” Satan thought he had won. But Satan did not succeed, for after three days, the stone was rolled away from the tomb and Jesus was resurrected to life by God. For forty days after He was resurrected, Jesus walked the earth and revealed Himself to many. And before He ascended to heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) As Jesus ascended to heaven and was taken up in a cloud, His disciples looked up, and “…two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’ ” (Acts 1:11)

Satan tried and tried to stop Jesus’ disciples from telling the good news of Him and His free gift of salvation from sins for all who would believe on Him, but Jesus’ disciples were faithful to Him, even unto death, with many dying a martyr’s death. But Satan did not succeed, for the good news of Jesus is still being proclaimed today, nearly two thousand years after Jesus’ death. The Bible, the word of God, still exists. Believers in Jesus Christ still exist; it wasn’t a temporary movement of people that were eventually overcome by those who came against them. No, this movement of faith in Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that was prophesied of Him from the very beginning, and it will never be destroyed. As Jesus told the apostle Peter, “And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [hell] shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Light will overcome the darkness, and that light is Jesus Christ. It is only in Him that salvation is found. It is only in Him that true life is found. Life here on earth is a temporary stepping stone to our eternity in which the fulfillment of all the prophecies of our salvation through faith in Christ alone will have come: entry into His eternal kingdom, when our salvation is complete, our heavenly inheritance. Just as all the prophecies of His first coming were fulfilled, so will be all of the prophecies of His second coming.

We are in a period of darkness in our world, and it will continue to grow darker and colder, as the love of many grows cold and many turn to wickedness and evil. But the light, the light of Jesus will not be extinguished; it will never be put out. The light is always there for those who seek it, and those who seek Him will find Him. Just as in a room that is pitch black, when there is fraction of light coming through the door, we see that light, the light that guides our way in the darkness.

The unbelieving world knows that something is wrong, desperately wrong in our world today. What is wrong is sin. Sin, uncontrolled. Sin that is rising to a level on a worldwide scale that I believe has never been seen before. Sin is increasing because the love of God, Jesus Christ, is decreasing. He is the One who holds everything together; He is the chief cornerstone. When we abandon Him, we are left to our own devices, which is sin, and sin kills, it destroys. In a culture that is obsessed with death and not life and one that embraces self, self, self and rejects the One who died not for Himself but for us, we are left with a culture that we see today: empty, shallow, heavy-burdened, unfulfilled, and always searching for something but never seeking the One who can make us feel whole and complete, the only One who can set us free from all our sins that are crushing us, like the weight of a building that is built without the firm foundation and the cornerstone to sustain it. Without Jesus, that building will come tumbling down, and that is what is happening in the world today; it is all collapsing. Satan thinks he is winning, but he has already lost the war that Jesus has won; Jesus is the victor! He is our only hope, and He is our living hope. Jesus is the only One who can set us free from all our sins, all our shame. All who turn to Jesus Christ, who believe on Him as Savior, will be saved. As Isaiah the prophet said, “And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” I urge you, if you have not accepted Him as your Savior, that you seek Him today, while He still may be found, and that you will not be put to shame but will be freed from all your sins and will share in the eternal glory with Him, in His beautiful light. ✝️

February 26, 2023: 1 Peter 2:5 - You Also, as Living Stones

“…you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 2:5

The apostle Peter in this epistle was speaking to Jews who had accepted Jesus as their Savior. No longer did they need to go to the temple, the house of God made by human hands, where the high priest would offer up sacrifices to God to atone not only for their sins but also for his own sin. Peter was reminding them that they no longer needed to do that, for Jesus Himself is the perfect, sinless sacrifice, given once and for all, for all who believe in Him.

Before He was crucified and resurrected, Jesus prophesied that the temple would not stand and that Jerusalem would be destroyed:

“Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” (Matthew 24:2)

“Now as He [Jesus] drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44)

And, that is exactly what happened when the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD and left no stone unturned.

Jesus Himself atoned for our sins once and for all with His precious blood, for all who believe in Him as Savior, whether we are Jew or non-Jew (Gentile). We who believe in Him, yes, every single one of us, are the living stones that make up His spiritual house that was not built with human hands, a house in which He is the cornerstone, and the house which stands forever and ever. Each of us as believers in Christ comprise the holy priesthood, and we praise His holy name, we sing songs of praise to Him, and we tell others about Him, planting seeds of faith so that they too might believe in Him one day as their Savior. We live our lives to the best of our ability so that we mirror His image to others. These are our spiritual sacrifices to God that Jesus makes acceptable to Him on our behalf, for without Jesus, we are still sinners in the eyes of God.

Unlike the Jewish high priests of the temple, who had to atone for their own sins, Jesus has no sin, and it is only by His perfect sacrifice that God will forgive us of all our sins.He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the only One without sin who could redeem us of all our sins.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:11-15)

Let us hold fast to our faith in Jesus Christ, never letting go:

“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:1-6) ✝️

February 25, 2023: 1 Peter 2:4 - Jesus was Chosen by God and Precious

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious…” - 1 Peter 2:4

Jesus was chosen by God to be the One on whom alone our salvation rests. Just as when you build a house, if you build it on something that is faulty, that is prone to give way to external pressure, it won’t last, so too is our faith. If you build it on anything but by believing in Jesus Christ as your Savior, it won't last, it will be washed away by the pressures of life. Jesus spoke of this when He taught the people:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken them 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.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Isaiah and the author of Psalm 118 both prophesied of Jesus being the precious cornerstone:

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily." Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet; the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.” (Isaiah 28:16-18)

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23)

Jesus Himself quoted both of these Scriptures when He told the parable of the wicked vinedressers to the chief priests and the Pharisees. This parable describes a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a hedge of protection around it and leased it to vinedressers to take care of it. However, when it was ready for the fruit to be harvested and the landowner sent his servants to harvest it, the vinedressers beat one servant, killed one, and stoned another. The landowner sent even more servants a second time and it happened again. The third time, he sent his son, thinking they wouldn’t do such a thing to him, but the vinedressers saw that it was the landowner’s son and instead of letting him come and harvest the fruit, they rejected and killed him. After telling this parable to the chief priests and Pharisees, Jesus asked them what the landowner would do to those who killed his son. (Matthew 21:33-40)

“They said to Him, ‘He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.’”

“Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’ ‘

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:41-44)

Jesus was chosen by God as the Messiah, the chief cornerstone, the One the Jews had been looking for, the One who had been prophesied of long ago in the Scriptures. But, as prophesied, He would be rejected by them and He was given to a nation - the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations - in order to bear the fruits of His vineyard. Sadly, most who have heard His message of salvation have rejected it. Instead of seeing Him as the cornerstone, the firm foundation on which salvation is built and who lives today, they see Him as a stumbling block, a rock of offense, and they do so at their own peril. But to us who believe in Him, the One chosen by God and precious to Him, He is our everything. He is our salvation.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’

“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made the foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks [Gentiles] foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is strong than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) ✝️

February 24, 2023: 1 Peter 2:1-3 - Let Us Grow in our Faith

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” - 1 Peter 2:1-2

What do infants need in order to grow? They need milk, and not just any milk but the kind of milk that provides all the nutrients formulated just right, designed by God, that gives them what they need to grow their bodies and their brains. Their brains are responding to stimuli, and they are forming the synapses that provide them with the ability to learn and communicate. In fact the brain of a newborn baby, “…already has about all of the neurons it will ever have. It doubles in size in the first year, and by age three it has reached 80 percent of its adult volume. Even more importantly, synapses are formed at a faster rate during these years than at any other time.” (See: http://www.urbanchildinstitute.org/why-0-3/baby-and-brain).

The first milk that an infant will receive from his or her mother is colostrum. Colostrum is a special milk that a mother’s body produces first, and it is specially formulated to build the newborn’s immune system and protect from infection. Colostrum then changes to breast milk two to four days after the newborn is born and lasts for about two weeks. Thereafter, the milk turns to mature milk and lasts as long as the mother is nursing. (See: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum).

Similarly, we are new believers in Christ should desire the pure milk of God’s word, and we should grow in our faith. Just as a newborn baby grows by consuming the nutrient-rich milk and then moves from drinking milk to soft food and then solid food, so should we grow in our faith; we should not be stuck in the milk-phase of being born again in Christ.

When we are first born again, I believe God gives us, through the Holy Spirit, the essentials of His word that we need to sustain us:

• John 3:16-18: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that 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.

• Ephesians 2:8: 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.

When we have believed that Jesus as our Savior, when we have come to that point in our lives, that, as David wrote, we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good:

“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8)

At the instant we are saved by believing in Jesus as our Savior, we are filled with His Holy Spirit, who helps us understand God’s word when we read it. But if we do not read it for ourselves regularly, we won’t ever grow out of that newborn stage of being a child of God, never moving off of the milk to the solid food stage, which is where we really begin to grow in our faith. I think many new believers make the mistake of relying on other people’s interpretation of God’s word instead of reading it for ourselves. Instead of getting the rich food formulated by God Himself in His word, they are getting an equivalent of “fast food.” Don’t get me wrong, I think it is important to read commentaries on Scripture but we must do this in addition to reading God’s word for ourselves because people, myself included,can be incorrect in our understanding of the Scriptures, or sometimes, people can intentionally twist the word of God to accommodate and/or justify their own sins. We must rely on the Holy Spirit first to teach us about God’s word.

As Peter first said in today’s Scripture verses, we must lay aside, “…all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,” for if we do not, we are not ready to move to the solid food of God’s word; rather, we are still in the newborn or milk stage of our born-again lives. Why is this the case? Consider that you are telling someone about Jesus but that same person has heard you cuss, perhaps even using the Lord’s name in a derogatory way, or heard you say that they shouldn’t do something when you yourself have done that very thing? How seriously are they going to consider what you say to them about Jesus? I am guilty of this myself, and I believe that is why my understanding of the Bible was at a certain shallow level for years because I was stuck in the milk phase of my growth as a child of God.

The apostle Paul wrote about this very thing when he wrote to the church of Corinth. In my Bible, the introduction to 1 Corinthians says, “First Corinthians reveals the problems, pressures, and struggles of a church called out of a pagan society. Paul addresses a variety of problems in the lifestyle of the Corinthian church.” In the passage of Scripture below, Paul is addressing the problems that they have amongst themselves, as believers in Christ.

“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

As Peter mentioned in today’s Scriptures verses, we should grow in our faith, if indeed we have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Similarly, the writer of Hebrews, whom many believe is the apostle Paul, wrote:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14)

In the Scripture above, notice that last part: “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” It is only by moving from milk to solid food by reading and hearing God’s word that we will, by having our senses exercised through the Holy Spirit, be able to discern both good and evil. This is absolutely critical in the end times in which we are living. The first thing Jesus Christ warned His disciples about that would be a sign of His second coming and of the end of the age was, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” (Matthew 24:4). Jesus went on in this chapter to tell them of false christs and false prophets rising up and doing many things to deceive them. His warnings are written all throughout Matthew 24. If we are still stuck in the milk phase, we are vulnerable to being deceived. If we truly have seen and tasted that the Lord is gracious and good, we must move out of the milk phase and into the solid food phase of our spiritual lives, reading His word everyday, praying for the Holy Spirit to help us understand His word, and pray that He would give us the ability to discern who is of Him, who is not of Him, and only to listen to who is of Him, for deceivers are all around us. ✝️

February 23, 2023: 1 Peter 1:24-25 - All Flesh is as Grass

“…because ‘All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” - 1 Peter 1:24-25

Life. It is so brief. When you’re a child, though, it doesn’t seem that way. Instead, it seems to drag on forever, especially during the school year and you’re waiting for summer to begin. Or right after Christmas, when you have another 364 days to wait until next Christmas. I remember when I was twelve years old and there was a boy at my school who I had a crush on. He was 15. I thought he was so mature. I couldn’t wait until I was 15. Then I graduated high school at 17, then at 18 I got married and went 10,000 miles overseas with my husband. Life was happening. I was working, trying to be a good wife and keep a clean house and learn how to cook quick meals, taking college classes, studying, living. Then three years after we moved back to the states, God blessed us with a son and four years later we were blessed with a daughter, and sadly miscarrying a daughter in between. After that, life sped up. Everything went by so quickly, until I realized one day after our kids were grown and living their own lives, just how short life really is. Where did all that time go? And now, if I go by average life expectancy statistics, I don’t have a whole lot of years left to live, maybe twenty.

When I look in the mirror I see myself but not like the self I used to be. Now, there are wrinkles on my face and neck, dark circles under my eyes, and gray hairs on my head when there used to be none. My face is less full, more sunken in. Just like the bouquet of flowers that I bought recently, the flowers start out vibrant and full of color, standing straight up, bringing a smile to my face when I see them. But then, after a few days, their leaves start to dry out, the colors of the flowers begin to fade, the flowers start to shrivel, and their once straight stems now start to become weak and droop. Just yesterday I threw away one of the flowers, a hydrangea, because it had died. Its life cycle was over. And one day too, I will die. My life cycle will be over. And one day too, you will die, your life cycle will be over.

But God, His word endures forever. It has endured for thousands of years, and it continues to endure, no matter how many men and women seek to destroy it. According to an August 2021 article from churchleaders.com, the Bible is either illegal or severely restricted in 52 nations, most of which are Muslim or Communist. I believe we are quickly coming to the point where the Bible will be banned in western countries as well, possibly starting with Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and England and then followed by the USA.

https://churchleaders.com/youth/403760-how-many-countries-is-the-bible-banned-in.html

If there is no power in God’s word, then why ban it? What harm can a powerless book do? But there is a reason why the Bible is banned in many countries. It is banned because there is power in God’s word, and those who ban it know it. They ban it because of their unbelief in the One true God and instead, are being led by Satan. And what does Satan know? He knows that the Bible is the word of God, he even quoted it to Jesus. Satan knows that it has the power for a human to read it and realize that God is real, that He has a plan for us, we were not created accidentally, we are all born sinners but there is hope, a living hope for redemption from all our sins, and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus came to offer salvation of sins to all who would believe in Him as Savior, God’s only begotten Son whom He sent to provide the way - the only way - of salvation. Satan does not want us to know that because he wants our soul and will deceive whomever he has to, including world leaders, to prevent you from having a Bible, and especially from you reading it for yourself.

Sinful men and women cannot save themselves because there is nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven; only Jesus can do that for us. Jesus did it once and for all when He came to this earth, preaching and teaching the message of salvation, only to be rejected by those He came to save. Jesus died on a cross via crucifixion, the most painful method of death known to mankind, saying “It is finished” as He took His last breath, was resurrected by God, walked the earth for 40 days after He was resurrected, and ascended to heaven, where He is now, at the right hand of God. Jesus’ message of salvation is for each and every single one of us. No one has sinned so much that they cannot be saved. If they truly turn to Jesus and ask Him to forgive them of all their sins and believe with their heart that only He can save them, He will. His word - His enduring word - promises us this free gift of salvation.

But what are we being saved from? We are being saved from eternal separation from God after we die. When we die, we will either be with God for eternity in His kingdom in heaven, which is God’s throne, (Isaiah 66:1), or we will be eternally separated from Him in a place called hell. All sinners who die in their sin and reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will be cast into hell. Jesus spoke of hell as a real place, including in the passages of Scripture below.

• “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33)

• “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…’ Then He will also say to 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 25:31-46)

For those who are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, our life here on earth is just the beginning. We are just getting a foretaste of what our true life will be like, where we will live forever in a place without sin and without death, and most importantly, we will be with Him! We will have been given our new glorified bodies. I am very happy about that, when I don’t have the aches that my aging body has now! And even though the earth on which I live has all the beautiful flowers and trees, majestic mountains, vast oceans, and amazing animals, I know that the God who created it all has something even more spectacular for His children when we get to His kingdom in heaven, for my God is an amazing God, a God of glory, a God of love and mercy and who also is a just God. He gives us all the opportunity to turn to Him and receive His free gift of salvation. Have you turned to Him and received it? The enduring word of the Lord is sent as a love letter to mankind. He truly wants to save us from our sins, telling us He doesn’t want any to perish but for all to have everlasting life, but He won’t force you to believe in Jesus. The choice is yours. When your time on earth is done, when your time of flowering is done and you have withered away, will you be cast into the fire or will you be made new in Jesus, never again to wilt or wither away but to flourish like a vase of fresh beautiful flowers, bringing a smile to His face?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) ✝️

February 22, 2023: 1 Peter 1:23 - Having Been Born Again

“…having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever…” - 1 Peter 1:23

Except for One, every single person ever conceived is formed from the seed of a man and the egg of a woman. Ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s only command in the Garden of Eden, which was not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the curse of sin - the sin nature - was put into every single human being born thereafter. Every single one of us is born by corruptible, human seed. If you think that isn’t the case, just watch children and see if anyone needs to teach them to lie and to be selfish. No one needs to; it is part of their - our - sin nature.

Because the result of sin is death, our lives here on earth are temporary, with the 2022 average worldwide life expectancy being only 72.98 years and here in the USA, it was lowered to only 76.4 years (see links below), which hasn’t been seen since 1996.

2022 Worldwide Average: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/life-expectancy

2022 USA Average: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/12/22/us-life-expectancy-continues-fall-erasing-25-years-health-gains/10937418002/

So who is the One who is different, who was made from incorruptible seed? That One is Jesus Christ. He is the only One who is from the Seed of God, the only incorruptible Seed, for in God there is no sin. Let us read Genesis 3:15, which mentions the Seed of a woman. How can this be, since women do not have seed but only eggs?

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

The “Seed” referred to is Jesus Christ, and this passage of Scripture prophecies that the serpent, who is the devil, also called Satan, who tempted and deceived Eve in the garden, followed by Adam’s sin, will war against her Seed - Jesus - and Satan will lose that war, as prophesied in the book of Revelation. And, it won’t only be Satan who is destroyed but all who choose to follow him instead of Jesus Christ.

So how does a woman have Seed, since we know that women only have eggs? The prophet Isaiah foretold of how Jesus would be born:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God-With-Us].” (Isaiah 7:14)

Before Jesus was born, a man named Joseph was betrothed to a virgin named Mary. He had found out that Mary had become pregnant, and yet, they had not had sexual relations together. When Joseph was trying to decide what to do:

“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him 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 [Savior], for He will save His people from their sins.’” (Matthew 1:20-21)

The Seed that was needed to conceive a Child was provided by the Holy Spirit, and thus was without sin; the Seed was not from that of a man. While Eve had in fact eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, she had been deceived by the serpent and was not held to account as Adam was. Before God had created Eve from Adam’s rib, God had commanded Adam directly:

“Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:15-17)

After Eve and Adam had eaten the fruit and after God had addressed both the serpent and Eve, God then addressed Adam, holding him accountable for his sin:

“Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’” (Genesis 3:17-19)

Thus, Jesus could not be born from the seed, the lineage, of Adam, for Adam was sinful in the eyes of God. Instead, Jesus would be born of incorruptible seed from the Holy Spirit, through a virgin who was a biological descendant of Eve, the woman. Jesus was born unto Mary and Joseph, and His birth fulfilled all of the prophecies that had been made of Him hundreds and even thousands of years prior.

It is through Jesus Christ and Him alone that we are born again. We human beings are all born of water, the water of a natural, human birth when our mother’s bag of water is broken during or sometimes even prior to childbirth. We live in water during our time in our mother’s womb. However, to be born again, we must be born of water and the Spirit of God, as Jesus told Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews when Nicodemus had realized that no one could do the things that he had seen Jesus do unless “God is with him”:

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.’” - John 3:3-8)

As the apostle Paul would later write in Romans 5:15, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.” And in Romans 5:19, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”

It is only by believing in Jesus Christ that we can be born again, for He was the only One who ever lived without sin. To have a sinner forgive sinners is nothing extraordinary, but to have the eternal, sinless, spotless Lamb of God forgive sinners, that is divine salvation.

Jesus is the Word of God, and He lives and abides forever, just as John the baptist wrote about:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

It is through Jesus and through God’s word, the Bible, that we can love our brothers and sisters fervently and with a pure heart. When we read God’s word, the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us from the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, helps us to understand and retain what we read. The word is described in Hebrews as:

“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. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:12-13)

I write this to my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, reminding us that though this world is growing ever darker and more wicked by the day, and some days it seems even by the minute, we have been redeemed by the precious blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we have the hope within us that the rest of the world does not have: the living hope of salvation of all our sins and that one day, and I believe that day is soon approaching, we will be with Him, when all of the sadness and horror we see in the world today will be replaced with joy. As Jesus told His disciples before He died, let us remember His words, for they apply to us - to all believers in Him - today:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ as your Savior, I can’t encourage you enough to seek Him while He still may be found, for you do not know when will be your last day on earth. We all have an appointed time to die, and we do not know when that day will come. We could exceed the average life expectancy or we may not; we are not guaranteed another day of life. Turn to Jesus today, before it’s too late, and be born again to a living hope in Jesus, the sinless, precious Lamb of God, the One whose blood was shed, the only One who can set you free. ✝️

February 20, 2023: 1 Peter 1:22 - Let Us Love Our Brethren with a Pure Heart

“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart…” - 1 Peter 1:22

To love one another with a pure heart is not to love as the world loves, as we once loved before we were saved from our sins by believing in Jesus. Love without the Holy Spirit within us is driven by our fleshly, sinful selves and our desires and not that of the pure love of God. True and pure love can only come after we have been born again, washed clean by the purifying blood of Jesus, and after understanding and obeying the truth of God through the teaching by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. God sent His only Son Jesus to show us what this pure and true love looks like.

“But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” - Titus 3:4-7

God described to us in His word what pure and true love really means.

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

If we believe not in the truth - the word of God - then we cannot love, for God is love.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” - 1 John 4:7-11

The outward manifestation of what it means to love with a pure heart is when we love our brethren - our brothers and sisters who also believe in Jesus Christ - by loving God and keeping His commandments.

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:1-2)

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” - Colossians 3:12-14

We are at a point in history when the persecution of believers in Christ is increasing, including in my country of the USA. It is more important than ever that we love our brothers and sisters fervently, with a pure heart, supporting one another, so that we may stand strong together in the solid rock and foundation of our salvation - Jesus Christ - until the day of glory arrives and we are with Him, the salvation of our souls being complete. ❤️ ✝️

February 19, 2023: 1 Peter 1:20-21 - Jesus was There at the Beginning

“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 1:20-21

Jesus wasn’t an afterthought, a backup plan, or anything like that because of the Jews’ rejection of Him as their prophesied Messiah; rather, He was there from the very beginning of creation. As written by John the baptist, through the Holy Spirit:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

Genesis 1:26 states:

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God knows the end from the beginning. He knew that Adam and Eve would disobey the only command that He gave them - not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and still He created them. He knew that from the moment they ate from the fruit of that tree, sin would enter them, that they would die, and they would pass on that sin through their children for all generations to come. With the sin would come strife, pain, and suffering, for sin does not lead to life but to destruction. And yet, a plan of redemption was waiting, waiting to be revealed.

God had chosen a Gentile named Abraham to be the father of the future nation of Israel. This nation would be set apart from the rest of humanity and would be a blessing to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). God knew when he chose Abraham that his descendants would not keep His commandments, would turn to false gods and worship false idols. God knew long before it happened that because of their disobedience to Him, He would split their nation into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, for sin causes division. Oh, do we see that now in our own nation of the “United” States. In their disobedience, God had a plan of redemption of mankind through the nation of Judah, even when it was conquered by Babylon and the majority of its people who survived were carted off to Babylon. But there was hope: as foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, the remaining Jews would return to their land 70 years later. Two prophets of God - Ezekiel and Daniel - were both exiled to Babylon. Daniel was still in Babylon after the Medo-Persian empire had defeated Babylon and remembered Jeremiah’s prophecy. During the first year of reign of King Darius the Mede, Daniel made this statement:

“…in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” (Daniel 9:2)

Daniel prayed to God and acknowledged the iniquity and sin of himself and of his people:

“O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day - to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets” (Daniel 9:7-10)

Daniel prayed that God would hear his prayer:

“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, My God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.” (Daniel 9:17-19)

While Daniel was praying and confessing his sins and the sins of his people to God, the angel Gabriel, who had previously given Daniel a vision, gave Daniel a great prophecy, which we know now as the 70-weeks prophecy. I encourage you to access this link to gotquestions.org to learn more about this amazing prophecy. (See: https://www.gotquestions.org/seventy-weeks.html).

“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.” (Daniel 9:24-27)

This prophecy starts with the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. This was fulfilled by the commandment of King Artaxerxes of Persia, which is written about in the book of Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 2:1-8).

The prophecy gives a timeline in terms of 70 weeks, where each week represents a 7-year period, for a total of 490 years. The first seven weeks, a period of 49 years (7 x 7) would be the time when the people of Judah, who had returned from exile, would restore and build Jerusalem. The second Jewish temple had already been built and was completed in 516 BC. This would be followed by 62 weeks, a period of 434 years (62 x 7). Messiah the Prince would come during this period, and at the end of the 62 weeks, He would be cut off, meaning He would die. It is very interesting that the prophecy says,“Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself.” (Daniel 9:26) We know that Messiah came not for Himself but for us, to offer all of us the way of salvation from all our sins: belief in Him as the Savior. Jesus did come to the earth and died by crucifixion in approximately 33 AD, fulfilling the prophecy.

The prophecy goes on to tell of the people of the prince who is to come who will destroy the city and the sanctuary, which is Jerusalem and the temple. That is exactly what happened when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. Thus, 69 of the 70 weeks of the prophecy have already occurred, leaving one week, a final period of seven years. Many Christians believe that the period between 69 and 70 weeks is the time for people to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, before the final week of seven years begins. We are waiting for that final seven years of the prophecy to be fulfilled, but before it is fulfilled, the antichrist must step on the scene.

This final week, a period of seven years, is when the prince who is to come - antichrist - will confirm a covenant with many for seven years. After the confirmation of the covenant, many Christians believe that the third Jewish temple will be rebuilt shortly thereafter. We are already hearing about the Jews’ readiness and desire to build this third temple and to resume sacrificing animals even before it is built.

This 7-year period is known as the “tribulation period.” It is spoken of by Jesus, and it is written about in the book of Revelation. The last 3-1/2 years is known as the “great tribulation.” It is at the 3-1/2 year mark of the tribulation period that the antichrist will end the Jewish sacrifices in the temple and will set up an abomination that causes desolation. Whatever this abomination is, it will cause the Jews to flee in fear from where they are. Jesus Himself prophesied of this in Matthew 24:15, “‘Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place.’ (whoever reads, let him understand), ‘then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.’” Jesus told them to flee immediately and not go back to their houses to retrieve anything. Clearly, this will be a time of great trouble for the Jews living at that time in human history, a time which Jesus referred to as the great tribulation period, the last 3-1/2 years in Matthew 24:21-22:

“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 would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

The last book of the Bible is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, or “Revelation.” This book describes the events that will happen during the last seven years, the final week, of the 70-weeks’ prophecy. At the end of the seven-year tribulation period, Jesus will return to earth at His second coming. Before Jesus was crucified, He foretold to His disciples of His second coming at the end of the great tribulation:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31)

The prophet Zechariah also prophesied of Jesus’ second coming:

“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.” (Zechariah 12:10-11)

It is at this point when the remaining Jews on the earth will realize that Jesus is their Messiah and will realize with mourning that they had pierced and rejected Him, and will finally turn to Him in belief and will be saved.

For the rest of the world alive at His second coming, Jesus will return as a Lion, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to defeat the antichrist, known as the “Beast” in Revelation, the false prophet, the rulers and their armies who will be gathered at Megiddo against Jesus and His armies He brought with Him from heaven. All, including those gathered against Him, who chose to reject His free gift of salvation in order to worship Satan and his antichrist and who hated good and loved evil, will receive their due penalty: death by the sword of His mouth, and eternal separation from Him in a place called hell, where they will be eternally tormented. Satan will then be bound for 1,000 years.

Jesus will then reign with His saints on the earth for 1,000 years, which is referred to as the Millennial Kingdom. At the end, Satan will be released for a short time, deceiving many, only to have their rebellion crushed and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone forever and ever.

Jesus will the destroy the earth by fire and create a new heaven, a new earth, and a new holy city - a new Jerusalem. Only His children, those who have been saved by His blood, will be there. Sin will be no more, and death will have been defeated; the 70-weeks prophecy will be completed. Jesus will have finished the transgression, made an end of all sins and reconciliation for iniquity, brought in everlasting righteousness, sealed up vision and prophecy, for they will no longer be needed, and Jesus, God’s anointed, will reign forever and ever:

“Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me [the apostle John, who wrote the book of Revelation through the Holy Spirit], ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.’” (Revelation 21:5-6)

“And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:3-5)

The curse of sin will be gone, for you see, God always had a plan of redemption of sins for all of mankind for all who would believe, and His name is Jesus. ✝️

February 17, 2023: 1 Peter 1:18-19: We Were Redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ

“…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.” - 1 Peter 1:18-19

What does it mean to “redeem?” Dictionary.com defines it as “to buy or pay off; clear by payment" or “to discharge or fulfill (a pledge, promise, etc.)” Jesus left heaven and came to this earth to teach to us the way of salvation. He was scourged and crucified, spilled His precious blood, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven so that we who believe in Him as our Redeemer, would be bought by Him, fully cleared of all of our sins, past, present, and future.

Silver and gold are highly desired in our world today, just as they were thousands of years ago. Silver was first used as money around 4,000 years ago, and gold around 3,000 years ago. Did Jesus redeem us with silver or gold? No. Why? Because they don’t last forever and they wear over time. After having been married about 25 years, the gold on my wedding ring had started to thin and I had to have it reinforced by a jeweler in order to prevent it from breaking in two. I also lost the diamond in my wedding ring about three years ago because one of the four prongs had become weak and I had not realized it, even though I had the prongs reinforced years prior to losing the diamond. Though silver and gold are of value, there is nothing more valuable or precious than the blood of Jesus Christ. It was His blood that redeemed us from our sins, for those who have purposely chosen to believe in Him as our Redeemer. The blood of no one else would be able to redeem us, for everyone else’s blood is tainted by sin. It took Jesus’ blood, the perfect and sinless Lamb of God, to purchase us and free us from all of our sins.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth - in Him.” (Ephesians 1:7-10)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.” (Titus 2:11-15)

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In this first letter from Peter, he was writing to the Jewish Christians who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. He reminded them that their fathers and ancestors had corrupted God’s Law, which God had given to their ancestors through Moses. They had added their own rules and regulations to the Law, and Peter reminded them that they could not be redeemed by “their aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers” but only by the blood of Jesus Christ.

“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:11-15)

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)

Whether we are Jew or Gentile, salvation is free and available to all who believe on Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus paid the price to redeem us of all our sins with His precious blood. Knowing that He made such a sacrifice for us, shouldn’t we live our lives in a way that pleases Him instead of making Him ashamed of us? Yes, we will sin because we are still on this earth and not with Him, but we should have a longing in our hearts to sin less and less, and we should feel guilt when we do sin and ask for forgiveness. I think the worst role model to an unbeliever is someone who says they are a Christian, go to church on Sundays, and then live like the devil six days a week. Why would unbelievers want to be saved by God who clearly has had no impact on a person who lives like that? As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:15, “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” When we do our best at doing this, I think unbelievers won’t look at us as hypocrites, living a “do as I say, not as I do” lifestyle. Let us remember and through the way in which we live our lives, give praise, honor, and glory to the One who saved us, the One to whom the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders will fall down before and sing a new song before the time of great tribulation upon the earth begins:

“You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:8-10) ✝️

February 16, 2023: 1 Peter 1:17 - And if You Call on the Father

“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear…” - 1 Peter 1:17

Each one of us, believer and unbeliever, will be judged by God. For unbelievers, those who choose to reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation, which He paid for with His precious blood, they will be resurrected to life, only to be judged by their works, what they did while they lived on the earth. Because no one can earn their salvation by doing anything other than believing in Christ as their Savior, their names will not be found in the Book of Life, and they will not be denied entry into the kingdom of God, instead spending their eternity in hell, separated from Jesus forever:

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Any anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15)

For believers in Christ, we are not judged by our works when it comes to determining if we are allowed to enter into God’s eternal kingdom because we are redeemed of all our sins through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, as Peter goes on to say in 1 Peter 1:18-19. However, we are judged for our works, that is, what we did for Christ while we were living on earth, so that He may reward us for what we did for His eternal kingdom. As Paul wrote in the Scriptures below, the work that we do for God must be built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ:

“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:5:15)

The Bible tells us that we will be rewarded for the works that we do for Jesus during our time here on earth:

• Revelation 11:15-18: Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying:

  “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

• Luke 6:35-36: But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. - Jesus Christ

• Revelation 22:12: And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. - Jesus Christ

• Matthew 16:27: For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. - Jesus Christ

Thus, we who are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and who call on God the Father - who is holy, holy, holy - for His kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven, shall be holy. We should have a longing in our hearts to please God and to tell as many people we can about the precious gift of salvation that He has given us, the gift that we ourselves chose to accept. We should live our lives without hypocrisy so that it doesn’t send a stench up to heaven but we live our lives in a way that mirrors and reflects His holiness, producing a pleasing aroma to God. Just as a child desires to please his parents, so should we desire to please and honor our Father in heaven, with a reverent fear of Him. As the four living creatures in heaven proclaimed day and night, may we say to Him:

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8) ✝️

February 15, 2023: 1 Peter 1:14-16 - Be Holy, for I am Holy

“…as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’” - 1 Peter 1:14-16

As believers in Jesus as our Savior, we are called “children of God,” and as such, we should have a desire in our heart not to imitate the unbelieving world but to imitate Him:

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.” (3 John 11)

When we make the decision to follow Christ, to believe in Him as the only One who can save us from all of our sins, we are instantly filled with the Holy Spirit. One of the things the Holy Spirit does within us is to help us become more like Christ if we allow Him to. However, sometimes we fight against the Holy Spirit because we love our sin and we don’t want to let go of it. I am guilty of this. Even the apostle Paul wrote about the battle within him in the book of Romans, saying that he knows what he is supposed to do according to the word of God but he doesn’t do it and instead, he does what the word of God says he is not supposed to do (see Romans 7:13-25). This is true for each and every single believer in Jesus Christ. The reason is that we still live in our fleshly, corrupted, and sinful bodies, and until we die and receive our new glorified bodies and are with Jesus, we will struggle with it. This is why we must put on the whole armor of God, as described in Ephesians 6:10-20, because Satan will do everything he can to make us abandon our faith, give up on Christ, and like a dog that returns to its own vomit, return to Satan.

God hates sin. Why? Because He knows the damage that it does to us - it kills us and assures our eternal destruction. That is why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to get us out of our sin and off the path that leads to death and destruction for eternity, the path that leads to eternal separation from Him. However, our salvation was not automatically given to us just by His coming; we must believe in Jesus as the only One who can save us from our sins.

Why does sin separate us from Him for eternity? Because in His heavenly kingdom, God, who is holy, cannot look on anyone who has sin. As the prophet Isaiah wrote of the coming kingdom:

“A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness, The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up to it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Though the world may consider us fools for our belief in Christ, we are on the only way that leads to heaven. This is similar to the new heaven, new earth, and a new Jerusalem that the apostle John wrote about in the book of Revelation, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) John confirmed that only those who overcome their sin through faith in Jesus Christ will receive their inheritance, their entry into the eternal kingdom of God:

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:7-8)

“But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:27)

It has been said that “imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” Are we choosing to imitate a holy God or the world that is led by the prince of the power of the air - Satan? Do we want to please the One who Redeemed us from all our sins or the one who caused us to stumble and fall into sin in the first place? God doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to desire to be more like Him and to actively fight against our desire to sin. He has given us the tools that we need to do that. If we don’t fight against our sin, then who are we really following? ✝️

February 14, 2023: 1 Peter 1:13 - Rest Your Hope Fully on the Grace

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ…” - 1 Peter 1:13

The battle that we fight as believers in Christ is not an easy one. Yes, the war against sin is already won by Jesus Christ, when He came to earth the first time to offer the way of salvation from sins through His precious blood, dying, being resurrected, and ascending to heaven. Jesus paid the price for redemption of our sins, once and for all, saying, “It is finished.” Anyone who puts their faith and trust in Him to save them from all their sins is saved immediately when they do that. They are then called a child of God. While every single person is made in the image of God, only those who have been saved by Him through faith in Jesus Christ are called children of God.

As children of God, we still must live our lives here on earth. We work at our jobs, pay our bills, get married and perhaps start a family, experience death of loved ones and friends, have health issues, etc. We still face challenges that the rest of the world faces, but how we approach and go through those challenges sets us apart from the rest of the world. We also will experience something that the unbelieving world will not - persecution because of our faith in Jesus Christ. During these days of crisis, how have we responded as followers of Christ? How has the unbelieving world responded? During one of those crises, COVID, alcoholism increased significantly. What does drinking alcohol do to your mind? According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drinking alcohol can result in “difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, impaired memory: Clearly, alcohol affects the brain. Some of these impairments are detectable after only one or two drinks and quickly resolve when drinking stops. On the other hand, a person who drinks heavily over a long period of time may have brain deficits that persist well after he or she achieves sobriety.” (See: https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm). When our brains are affected by alcohol, we cannot think clearly and it impacts our ability to be ready, with the full armor of God, when we go through a difficult and challenging time in our lives. For many people, alcohol may numb them to the things that are causing us to be troubled, but this numbness quickly wears off, leaving us right where we started: with the thing that is troubling us still there.

Peter tells us to gird up the loins of our mind and be sober. According to merriam-webster.com, to “gird up” means “to prepare (oneself) for action” or “to make (something, such as clothing or a sword ) fast or secure (as with a cord or belt).” If our minds are clouded by alcohol or any other drug that affects the mind, we will not be ready for action and we will not be able to act quickly with a clear mind. We are likely to make poor choices that we would otherwise not make when our minds are clear, some of which could affect us for long periods of time. The Bible speaks of the importance of being sober, including:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:6-9: You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

• 1 Peter 5:8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

• Titus 2:11-12: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

As the Scripture verse from 1 Peter 5:8 says above, the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We make it an easier task for him to do that when our minds are clouded by alcohol and/or other drugs. We let him whisper the words of doubt into our minds, “God doesn’t really love you, for if He did, he wouldn’t let you go through what you’re going through now. He isn’t a loving God.” Or perhaps something like, “God isn’t real. Do what you want, as long as it makes you feel good.” Or, “Did God really say…” causing you to have doubts about God and His love for you. Remember how Eve was deceived by the serpent in the Garden of Eden when he said to her, “Has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” The devil plants seeds of doubt into our minds by making us believe that God’s word is not true and that His commandments really aren’t for our good but instead He just wants to control us, to dominate us.

This is how the devil works. He deceives people. This is absolutely a spiritual battle that we are fighting, a battle for our souls. The devil will do anything he can to get us to turn against God so that he may devour us like a lion and steal our soul. We must remember what the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:10-13:

“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. 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. 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.”

What was the first thing that Jesus warned His disciples about when His disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming [His second coming] and of the end of the age? Jesus told them, “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” He also told them, “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” (Matthew 24:3-11). There are many false prophets and false pastors in churches today that are preaching a false Christ, embracing what is sinful to God, just as the devil deceived Adam and Eve in the garden.

So, what are we, believers in Christ, supposed to do? We keep our minds clear, not impaired by alcohol and other substances, and we keep ourselves ready by reading God’s word and praying to Him every day, which keeps our focus on the hope that we have - which unbelievers do not have - that we have been redeemed of all of our sins through our faith in Jesus Christ, and that at His glorious appearing, we will be resurrected to new life and will appear with Him in glory:

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

We will receive our new, transformed bodies and will have defeated death, and will be allowed entry into the eternal kingdom of God, as described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit corruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’

‘O Death, where is your sting? O hades, where is your victory?’

“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)

Is your hope resting on this sinful and dying world, or is it resting fully upon the grace of God through Jesus Christ? ✝️

February 13, 2023: 1 Peter 1:12 - We See that Which the Prophets Revealed to Us

“To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things which angels desire to look into.” - 1 Peter 1:12

God spoke His word through human men He chose to reveal to the world His plan of redemption for humanity - belief in His only begotten Son Jesus the Christ. Because God is omniscient, all knowing, He knows what will happen before it happens. He knows the outcome of things before they even begin. He knows our thoughts before we even think them. God knew that even when He created a perfect paradise and created man and woman to enjoy it and live in it forever in perfect peace, that they would fall into temptation and sin, and yet, He still created them. He knew that we, too, would sin, and yet, He still created us.

God chose Abram, a 75-year old Gentile, and spoke His covenant to Abram:

“Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

Abram was married to Sarai, who was approximately 65-years old when God had made His covenant with Abram. After some time had passed, God officially made His covenant with Abram, that we know as the “Abrahamic Covenant,” which was an unconditional covenant in which God bound Himself to the covenant while He had caused Abram to go in a deep sleep, thus Abram would not be responsible for keeping the covenant; only God Himself.

Many years went by and Abram and Sarai had doubted what God said since they didn’t have any children yet, They took matters into their own hands and had Abraham go into [had sexual intercourse] with Sarai’s maidservant, Hagar, who conceived and bore a child named Ishmael. When Abram was 99-years old, God told him:

“‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.’ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:

‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with your, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’”

God then told Abraham that as a specific sign of the covenant they are to keep, all male children of Abraham and his ancestors shall be circumcised when they are eight days old. God also told Abraham that he is to call his wife “Sarah” from that point on, and that He would bless her by giving her a son and that she would be a mother to many nations. Abraham then once again doubted what God said, even falling to his face and laughing, because that meant that he would be 100-years old and Sarah would be 90-years old when she bore a child - how could this be? Like Abraham, how many times have we ourselves doubted the power of Almighty God?

God then told them that Abraham’s son Ishmael from Sarah’s maidservant Hagar was not the one with whom He would establish His everlasting covenant:

“Then God said: ‘No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.” (Genesis 17:19)

Exactly as God had told Abraham, he and Sarah did conceive a child, she gave birth to him, and they called his name Isaac. Exactly as God had told Abraham, he did make Abraham a great nation and the twelve tribes of Israel were established through him, from Isaac’s son Jacob, whom God would rename to “Israel.” When God renamed Jacob, He said: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel [which means “Prince with God]; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Genesis 32:28) Oh, how have we seen Israel struggle with both God and men, and yet it has prevailed!

One of the twelves tribes of Israel was the tribe of Judah, from which we get the name “Jew,” meaning from the kingdom of Judah. Long before Jesus was born, the prophets foretold of His coming, and that He would be born of the tribe of Judah. On his deathbed, with his twelve sons gathered to him, Jacob (Israel) told each of them of “what shall befall you in the last days.” (Genesis 49:1). To his son, Judah, Jacob said:

“Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter [a symbol of kingship] shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood for grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.” (Genesis 49:8-12)

This passage of Scripture is filled with both prophecies that have been fulfilled and are yet to be fulfilled! I have touched on a few below.

1. Judah is the tribe that would be the leader of the other eleven tribes and the tribe of Judah would produce a line of kings, including David and the King of kings - Jesus Christ. The prophet Micah prophesied that Jesus would come through the line of Judah and He would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)

2. “Shiloh” is a messianic prophecy, referring to Jesus. See the article from gotquestions.org for more information: https://www.gotquestions.org/shiloh.html.

3. Judah is represented as a lion here and also in a prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 31:4: “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise), so the LORD of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it. Return to Him against whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.”

   The book of Revelation refers to Jesus as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah” as the only One worthy to loose the seven seals on the scroll that will unleash God’s righteous judgment on a wicked and evil world that has rejected God and embraced Satan: “But one of the elders said to me [the apostle John], ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.’” (Revelation 5:5)

4. The donkey would be bound to the vine and the donkey’s colt to the choice vine. At His triumphal entry, Jesus, who referred to Himself as “the true vine” (John 15:1, 5), rode in on a donkey’s colt (Mark 11:1-10). Jacob’s prophecy also seems to correlate to the prophecy by Zechariah of the coming King: “Rejoice, greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 49 that in Jesus alone is salvation found. Jesus would not only redeem Israel, but He would also come as a light to the Gentiles.

“Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the end of the earth.’ Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: ‘Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.’” (Isaiah 49:6-7)

God even said in the passage above, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel” and that, “You should be My salvation to the end of the earth.” That is an amazing prophecy that God gave to Isaiah! Upon Jesus’ birth and presentation to the Lord at the temple in Jerusalem, a devout man named Simeon was brought to the temple by the Spirit. He had previously been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When Simeon saw Joseph and Mary bringing in the Child Jesus, Simeon took Him in his arms, blessed God, and proclaimed:

“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 2:25-32)

Jesus Himself confirmed that God had sent Him as the way of salvation - the only way - and salvation that wasn’t only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles, when He said the following statements: [I have added bold text for emphasis.]

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe in condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-17)

As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:12, the prophets prophesied of things that would not be revealed to themselves but to people of a future time. When Jesus came to earth the first time, people alive at that time saw prophecy fulfilled with their own eyes. Jesus’ twelve apostles and His disciples would write the gospels, documenting the words of Jesus, and the books that comprise the New Testament so that we would know that Jesus Christ - in whom salvation is found - came to earth and fulfilled all the prophecies written about His first coming.

We who are alive now also have the benefit of having both the Old and New Testaments, which contain prophecies of the rapture of His church when, “in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,” Jesus will call up all who have ever believed in Him, both the dead and those still alive at the time the rapture occurs, and we will receive our glorified bodies - our salvation will be complete! (1 Corinthians 15:50-58, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) We also read about the prophecies of a 7-year time of tribulation on the entire unbelieving world, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, that will only end at the time of Jesus’ second coming; His righteous judgment on Satan, the coming final Antichrist, the False Prophet, and all people who chose darkness over light and rejected God’s plan of salvation through His son Jesus; His 1,000-year reign on earth, known as the Millennial Kingdom; and when He will destroy the earth by fire and create a new heavens, a new earth, and a New Jerusalem, where all believers in Christ will spend our eternity, free from sin and sorrow, a world as God intended it to be.

There are hundreds of prophecies yet to be fulfilled, and many have said we are living at a time that is the most exciting time in history to be alive as a Christian. Yes, as Peter said, the prophets wrote of “things which angels desire to look into.” We can choose whether or not to read and believe the prophecies and that they will be fulfilled. The choice is up to us to make. But I can say one thing, with all the evidence that exists that God is real, Jesus is real, and the Bible is real, not only through fulfilled prophecy but also through archaeological evidence, I know that every single word written in the Bible is true, it is written through people chosen by God, including His prophets, and it is for our benefit to understand His plan for humanity, and His plan of redemption for us through belief in His Son Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, our salvation, the only One who can set us free. ✝️

February 12, 2023: 1 Peter 1:11 - The Spirit of Christ was in Them

“…searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.” - 1 Peter 1:11

Oh, what it must have been like to be a prophet called by God to testify not only of the coming of Christ, the Messiah, but also to all the suffering He would experience and all of the glory that would come afterwards. As discussed in yesterday’s (February 11, 2023 post), Isaiah was one such prophet. Isaiah was married and had two sons when God gave him a single vision to write down, which became the book of Isaiah. Jeremiah was another prophet but God called him to be a prophet even before he was born:

“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified [set you apart] you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.’

“Then said I: ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak , for I am a youth.’” But the LORD said to me:

‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you,’ says the LORD.

“Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:

‘Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to thrown down, to build and to plant.’” (Jeremiah 1:4-10)

God called both of these men to warn the people of Judah, the southern kingdom of God’s people, who had whole-heartedly rejected God and worshipped false gods and idols, forgetting all that God had done for them. God warned them of the impending judgment that was coming upon them if they did not turn away from their wicked ways, repent, and return to Him. Through these two men, God sent warning after warning after warning, giving the people so many times to stop embracing the darkness and return to Him, the light. One of those times is when God said to Jeremiah:

“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said would benefit it. Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: ‘“Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.” ’ ” (Jeremiah 18:7-11)

Hearing these messages from God was difficult for Isaiah and Jeremiah, and not only did they hear them but they were commanded by God to go tell them to the people, even when Isaiah and Jeremiah knew that the people would not listen. Isaiah and Jeremiah even asked God how long would it be for the things that they were to prophesy would take place. In Isaiah 6:11 when God had called him to be a prophet after God had revealed Himself to him, Isaiah asked God, “Lord, how long?” And the prophet Jeremiah asked God, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?” (Jeremiah 12:1b) and “But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me, and You have tested my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. How long will the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, for the wickedness of those who dwell there, because they said, ‘He will not see our final end.’ ” (Jeremiah 12:3-4)

God told both Isaiah and Jeremiah that evil and wickedness of both His people and of the nations that persecuted them would not go unpunished but that He also would also preserve a remnant of His people through whom the Savior would come. The book of Isaiah is filled with many prophecies about the coming Messiah and how He would be a suffering servant, rejected and despised by men. He also prophesied of the glory of the King:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God-With-Us].” (Isaiah 7:14)

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Jeremiah also prophesied of the coming Messiah:

“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the LORD, ‘that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ ” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

These two prophets suffered tremendously and had such anguish for the people who would not listen. Jeremiah was even referred to as the “weeping prophet.” And yet, they continued doing what God had called them to do, regardless the consequences to themselves. They were steadfast in their faith in God.

After the prophesied judgments came when the majority of the people of Judah were exiled to Babylon, and 70 years returned to Jerusalem, which had been destroyed by Babylon, Nehemiah wrote about the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Nehemiah challenged his countrymen to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem that had been taken down. In his book “Nehemiah,” he wrote of the prophets and their warnings to the people of God’s judgment that at that time was about to come upon them, and he wrote of the people’s response to their warnings:

“…Yet they acted proudly, and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your judgments, ‘which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their shoulders, stiffened their necks, and would not hear. Yet for many years You had patience with them, and testified against them by Your spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful.” (Nehemiah 9:29-31)

God is indeed gracious and merciful. Instead of allowing the people of Judah to be completely destroyed, He preserved a remnant, who after being exiled to Babylon for 70 years, would return to their land, to Judah, thus preserving the people from whom the Messiah, the Branch of righteousness, Jesus Christ, would be born.

Now, nearly two thousand years later after the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, may we also take heed to the warnings of God’s prophets who foretold of His second coming and the events that would precede it. May those who have not put their faith and trust in Him as their Deliverer, Redeemer of all their sins, do that today, before they breathe their last breath on earth and enter into their eternity. There is a time coming soon when the whole earth will be in such tribulation that has never been known to mankind. For those of us who are saved by our faith in Jesus Christ, may we continue to trust in Him, no matter the consequences to our own lives, for we know our salvation is in Him, and our future glory awaits us. ✝️

February 11, 2023: 1 Peter 1:10 - The Prophets Prophesied of the Grace

“Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you…” - 1 Peter 1:10

The Bible has many prophecies of Jesus, of both His first coming and His second coming. All the prophecies of His first coming have come true, and all of the prophecies of His second coming will also come true. Jesus’ first coming was to offer each and every one of us the way to be redeemed from all of our sins, through belief in Him as the Christ, Messiah, Emmanuel - God with us. His name - JESUS - means Savior. At His second coming, He will come to judge a wicked and evil world.

The prophets were chosen by God to write down what God had told them. As Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:20-21, “…knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” In some cases the prophets did not understand what they were being told at the time they received the prophecy from God. One example is Daniel, who received a prophecy of the end time, as written in Daniel 12. This prophecy speaks of the 7-year tribulation period, the time of Jacob’s trouble, the time of the end before Jesus would come again and which He spoke about in Matthew 24:21. Daniel wanted to understand the prophecies that he had been told to write about. He wrote, “Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, ‘My lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said [I believe this is the angel Gabriel], ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’” (Daniel 12:8-9) As with this prophecy, it may take hundreds of years for the events of a prophecy to take place and be fulfilled. This is what happened with the prophecy of our Savior Jesus Christ when He left heaven and came to earth to offer us redemption from our sins through His precious blood, once and for all. The events were foretold hundreds of years before they happened, but they all happened.

The Bible gives strict guidelines for identifying a true prophet from a false prophet, including in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. This is critical because Satan will use whomever he can to send false prophets to deceive people. It happened in the days before Jesus, it happened during His life here on earth, and it is happening today, and I would say especially in our churches. Moses told us what should be done to false prophets:

“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. 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 18:20-22)

The Bible calls out false prophets, including in Lamentations 2:14, when Jeremiah wrote about Jerusalem, God’s holy city, that had been reduced to rubble when it was invaded by Babylon. God had allowed this to happen because of Judah’s idolatry, worship of false gods, and deep and repeated sin against Him. Instead of listening to the one true God, they had chosen to listen to false prophets. Oh, how are we seeing this today in our own country, the USA?

“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.”

Another example of where the Lord God called out the false prophets is written by the prophet Ezekiel:

“And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, ‘Hear the word of the LORD!’ ‘ Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!’” - Ezekiel 13:1-3

Jesus warned 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.” (Matthew 7:15-16)

The Bible establishes that there are true prophets who have been called by God and false prophets who speak things of their own mind and who have not been called by God in order to deceive people.

Long before Jesus was born, the prophets foretold of Him. Isaiah was one such prophet. In my Bible’s summary of the book of Isaiah it says, "Isaiah is like a miniature Bible. The first 39 chapters (like the 39 books of the Old Testament) are filled with judgment upon immoral and idolatrous men. Judah has sinned; the surrounding nations have sinned; the whole earth has sinned. Judgment must come, for God cannot allow such blatant sin to go unpunished forever. But the final 27 chapters (like the 27 books of the New Testament) declare a message of hope. The Messiah is coming as a Savior and Sovereign to bear a cross and to wear a crown.”

In chapter 53, Isaiah describes this Jesus, who would be despised and would be a Man of sorrows and yet would take on all our sins, healing those who believe from the shame of our sins. This beautiful prophecy is one of many in the Bible that foretells of the grace of God that provided the way out of sin for all who would believe. Because of its richness in the prophetic words that Isaiah wrote, through our sovereign God, I chose to include the entire chapter below and the last few verses of chapter 52 that describe Jesus as God’s sin-bearing Servant. I encourage you to access this link to see all the prophecies about Jesus not only in the Scriptures below but in the entire book of Isaiah that were later fulfilled: https://www.preceptaustin.org/messianic-prophecies-in-isaiah

“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high [lifted up]. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage [appearance] was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.” (Isaiah 52:13-15)

“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 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. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded [pierced through] for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes [blows that cut in] we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity [sin] of us all.

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not HIs mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions [sins] of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked - but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities [sins]. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Chapter 53 of Isaiah so accurately describes the reason why God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ, to this earth to suffer at the hands of those He was sent to save - all of us: To take on all of our sins as He was scourged and beaten beyond recognition, lifted up on on a cross and crucified, pierced with a spear, and be resurrected to life three days later, when He in fact saw His seed, those who believed in Him as Messiah, just as He will see us one day when we are resurrected to new life with Him in glory. He was the intercession for our transgressions. He is our grace. He did what the Jewish Law could not do - He took away all of our our sins - once and for all.

What do we have to do to receive His grace, His free gift of salvation that we do not deserve but which He made available to us? We have to acknowledge that we are a sinner and that only He can redeem us of our sins, just as the thief who was crucified at the same time as Jesus was. Two criminals were crucified when Jesus was crucified. One of them mocked Jesus, but the other recognized his own sin, saying to the criminal who mocked Jesus:

“‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” (Luke 23:40-43)

There was no time for the thief on the cross to get baptized. There was no time for him to do any good works. The only thing he could do was to acknowledge his own sin, that Jesus had done nothing wrong, that Jesus would go to Paradise when He died, and to ask Jesus to remember him when He was in Paradise. By doing so, he was given the free gift of salvation, and Jesus told him that on that day, he would be with Him in Paradise.

The only time it is too late to accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation from all your sins is when you die. For the thief on the cross, He was saved. However, for the other criminal, whose heart was hard and prideful and had no room for Jesus in it, he died and took all of his sins with him, forever preventing him from being allowed into the eternal kingdom of God, Paradise. Instead, he went to hell, forever separated from Jesus, in a place of eternal torment, the lake of fire.

Will you accept the gift of grace that has come to you, of which the prophets inquired and searched carefully, or like the criminal on the cross, will you and your hardened heart take all your sins with you to hell, for eternity?

February 10, 2023: 1 Peter 1:8-9 - Whom Having Not Seen We Love

“…whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith - the salvation of your souls.” - 1 Peter 1:8-9

This passage of scripture was written by the apostle Peter. Peter was one of twelve men chosen by Jesus to follow Him. We have many accounts of the times that Peter spent with Jesus. One of those is when Peter and the other disciples were in a boat after Jesus had performed a miracle of feeding more than 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus had told His disciples to get in a boat and go to the other side of where He was going. They did, but that night, there were high winds in the sea, tossing the boat to and fro. Jesus then went to them, walking on the sea, and when they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost and cried out with fear. Jesus said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus did, and Peter did go to Him. Peter was walking on water! However, when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and saw the boisterous wind, he became afraid and started to sink. Peter cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus did save Peter. Jesus stretched out His hand to his, saying to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” You might read these words and think that Jesus spoke them in a derogatory tone, but I don’t think that would have been how Jesus spoke them. I think it was instead spoken with love to Peter, reminding him that with God, all things are possible, even walking on water. The disciples then worshipped Jesus and said to Him, “Truly You are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33)

Peter was one of only three apostles - Peter, James, and John - whom Jesus took with Him to a high mountain when He was transfigured:

“…and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.'‘ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” (Matthew 17:1-8)

While Peter may have had good intentions in what he said, he had wrongly put Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. Moses represented the Law, and Elijah represented the prophets, but Jesus is God, and He has existed from the beginning. As the apostle Paul would later write in the book of Colossians:

“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” (Colossians 1:12-18)

The words that Peter wrote in today’s scripture verse in 1 Peter 1:8, “though now you do not see Him, yet believing” may have been especially meaningful to him. Peter loved Jesus, and when Jesus told him and the other apostles that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, be killed and on the third day be raised, it was Peter who took Jesus aside and said to Him, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” Jesus rebuked Peter, saying to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:21-23) We might consider this as harsh but Peter did not realize that he was speaking for Satan. Satan wanted to prevent Jesus from going to the cross because Satan does not want anyone to be saved from their sins but for all to worship him instead of God. Peter did not understand the greater plan of God.

Before Jesus was arrested and was crucified, He had told His disciples, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’” Peter then said to Jesus, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” “Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ Peter said to Him, ‘Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!’ And so said all the disciples.” (Matthew 26:31-35) As Jesus had told him, Peter did deny Jesus three times and immediately after the third time, a rooster crowed. What was Peter’s response when he heard the rooster crow? He remembered what Jesus had told him and he wept bitterly.

After Jesus died, was resurrected, and walked the earth for forty days with His disciples before ascending to heaven, He was by the sea, eating breakfast with Peter and six other disciples. Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved Him. Peter had denied Jesus three times before Jesus died, and now in Jesus’ restoration of Peter’s faith, Peter answered Jesus three times that he loved Him. The first time Peter answered that he loved Him, Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” The second time, Jesus said, “Tend my sheep.” And the third time Peter told Jesus he loved Him, Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

Peter did go on to feed Jesus’ sheep, preaching the good news of Jesus to both Jew and Gentile. And here we are today, reading the words of Peter, being fed the good news of Jesus. Peter wasn’t perfect, but He believed in Jesus as the Son of God, as the Christ. He had walked with Jesus, eaten with Him, saw Him perform many miracles, heard Him preach and teach to many people, even as many mocked and scoffed at Him. After Jesus was arrested, Peter knew from his own failings that he had denied Jesus, but after seeing the resurrected Jesus, his faith in Him was restored. Then after Jesus ascended to heaven and Peter and the other disciples were carrying out the great commission that Jesus had given to them - to go and make disciples of all nations - Peter pointed out in his first epistle (1 Peter) that here were people who believed in and loved Jesus, whose faith was being tested by persecution, and yet they never even saw Jesus with their own eyes.

Though we too see not Jesus with our eyes, we see Him with our heart. We read His word and we get to know all about Him, from the very beginning in Genesis, to the prophets of old who foretold of His first coming, long before it happened. We hear from those who were with Jesus when He lived and walked the earth, even from His mother when she sang a song before her Son was born, her spirit rejoicing in God her Savior. We get to know Jesus’ love for His disciples and even His love for those who persecuted Him and crucified Him, asking God the Father to forgive them, for they knew not what they were doing. We read of His deep love for us, being obedient to God the Father even to the point of death so that we - sinners in need of a Savior - would be saved from all our sins if only we believe in Him as our Savior. Oh, yes, and we read all about Him in the book of Revelation, and how He is coming again to this earth, but this time in judgment for those who choose sin over redemption, darkness over light, evil over good. We also see Jesus with our heart when we pray and talk to Him. He is always there, and He hears our prayers, all of them. We see Him through His Holy Spirit within us, guiding us and teaching us about Jesus in His word. You see, we don’t need to see Jesus with our own eyes to love Him and to believe in Him, because the Bible has taught us what faith is all about: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:1-3)

Peter knew that he would soon die and before he did, he wrote in his second epistle the following passage of scripture:

“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:16-21)

As a believer in Christ as my Savior, I urge you to stand firm in your faith as the unbelieving world grows darker and colder, and keep your love of Jesus in your heart by reading His word and praying to Him every single day, reading of all the prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus’ first coming and all that will be fulfilled at His second coming, and the eyewitness accounts of Jesus, including that of Peter. May we hold onto His truth until that day comes when we finally do see Him face-to-face, and oh what a glorious day that will be! ✝️