Tuesday’s Blog – Peace and Safety arriving

Tuesday’s Blog – Peace and Safety; continued!

Isaiah 53:3 – He is despised and rejected (forsaken) by men, A Man of sorrows (pains) and acquainted with grief (sickness) and we hid as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Bible Challenges and Comments

Most all of Christendom celebrates Resurrection Day during the Jewish Feast of the Passover and for many of us holidays and feasts are routine events that bring family and friends together. We tend to forget the true reason to have a feast or a focus on a specific holiday. Feasts and holidays are generally holy or traditional for both the Jew and the Gentile; therefore the Resurrection Day (Easter) and the Pesach (Passover) is a holy day or as for the Passover a holy period of eight days and one day of preparation, called “Erev Pesach” or Eve Pesach.

Now I am not an expert in any feast or holiday so what I am seeking to share with you this morning is something I remember from biblical studies of years ago. There are six annual feasts in Judaism and here they are: 1. Passover, 15th-22d Nisan; 2. Pentecost, 6th Ciwan) Pilgrimage; 3. Tabernacles, (15th-22d Tishri) Festivals; 4.Shemini `Atsereth, 23d Tishri: 5. New Year, Feast of Trumpets, 1st Tishri and 6. Atonement, 10th Tishri. The biblical study that I am referring to this morning was on the return of the LORD Jesus Christ for His church. What most Believers in the LORD Jesus (throughout time; that is the past 2,000 years) are expecting to happen soon.

We (the world) have witnessed the first coming of Christ (The Messiah) from heaven to earth: Matthew 1:18-25. We (the world) have witnessed Christ (The Messiah) return from earth to heaven, Acts 1:4-11. The First Advent of Jesus Christ was as the Lamb of God, the Suffering Servant, a man of sorrows. The First Advent is completed according to God’s Plan. There should be no doubt in the minds of Believers today that the Second Advent will come at an appointed time, just as the angels say in Acts 1:11.

Now here are some thoughts. Passover and Resurrection Day are vivid pictures of God’s major intervention in time, and the biblical study of years ago primarily involve these Jewish Feast Days in both the First and the Second Advent for the LORD (King Jesus) to set up His millennial Kingdom.

There is another event to take place before the Second Advent that most of the Church of Jesus Christ is waiting for and that is the “translation of the saints” at a time appointed by God. This Truth is found in a several passages in the New Testament; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Revelation 4:1-4. This event is sometimes confused with the Second Advent, but is an error to do so since this time is the eve of the Second Advent, just as the day before the Passover is called Eve of Passover on the Jewish Calendar of Nisan. 

As such the saints in this time of the church should NOW be preparing for the sound of the TRUMPET and the SHOUT come up here. This also does not mean that that “rapture” will happen the day before the Second Advent of the Messiah, it simply means in my understanding that the rapture precedes the Second Advent.

Lastly, it is impossible for anyone to determine the time or the season when Christ is coming again, the information above is just that; information. Why do I say that after spending the last two hours looking into this? Acts 1:8 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times and seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” But what God did put in our hands to know and to do is Acts 1:9 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.”

Keep Looking Up – The Resurrection Day is Sunday and the mid-point of the Passover; April 20, 2014 while this will not be the Messiah’s Second Coming, it could very easily be the RAPTURE of His Saints.

Tuesday’s Blog – Peace and Safety; continued!

Tuesday’s Blog – Peace and Safety; continued!

Lamentations 1:2 (The city from verse 1) – She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks and among all her lovers she has none to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; in that they have become her enemies.

Bible Challenges and Comments

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that the desolation is near. Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21:20-24

Saint Patrick’s Day! It is said by some that the amount of alcohol consumed on this day alone exceeds any other day in the course of a year. Gambling too, to get rich quick; I also hear that there is a jackpot in the legalized numbers games that is exceeding four million dollars. One news station this A.M. complained that it was not one of the largest, but who in their “right mind” would turn down four million dollars if they won it. Apparently I am not in my right mind, simply put… I do not play the lottery, nor do I want four million dollars. Also I must have cheated the world system on consuming a manly or ungodly share of alcohol too… I SHOULD BE TARRED AND FEATHERED and run out of town.

Of course I make no apology for my critical spirit toward the world’s point of view; I do not like the words of the world and I am sure that if you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ THEN YOU AGREE. The wisdom of this world is a blinding LIE. What! By the way is the FAITH that saves men, women and children from the blinding lie of the world?

Romans 10:8-13 – But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 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, 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." Then by the grace of God through faith you too will come to notice that the world and the wisdom in it is a LIE.

Some believers however have gone to sleep and some have become dull of hearing, they do not want to hear that God’s time piece is the nation of Israel for the coming tribulation on the nations. Thus they do not watch the signs of the times we live in as plainly explained in His Holy Word. Instead, these congregations of religious nonsense are focused on false issues of worship and love and they are asleep to the deeper issues that pertain to the signs of the times. See 2 Timothy 4:1-5 and Hebrews 5:12 through 6:8. I would like to conclude with the Words of Jesus concerning the times we see on the horizon today.

Luke 21:34-36 – "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Tuesdays Blog - Peace and Safety

Tuesday’s Blog – Peace and Safety!

Lamentations 1:1 – How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow is she, who was great among the nations! The Princess among the Provinces has become a slave (Forced laborer).

Bible Challenges and Comments

God is The God of Peace, The God of Promise and The God who Provides; there is not a day that has gone by in the life of this earth in that God has not given to all of Creation peace, promise and provision.

Matthew 6:19-34 – "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. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"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. "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

There are five Laments over Jerusalem by the prophet Jeremiah as he watches and recalls the receding blessing of God and the increase of trouble on the nation. It seems that I am caught between a rock and a hard spot. Wanting to talk of blessing and forgiveness and also knowing that we as a nation are being chastised by God for all the sin that we have committed in His face. By the way, all of that sin is forgiven by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ; John 3:16.

But this one thing I know, God understands the helpless estate that is the face of the nation today and He knows how to correct it. But have you noticed? The leadership of our nation still believes they can save the sinking ship without God! When I seek to warn or speak harshly to anyone who may want to listen, I try to find some area of scripture to back me up. There is a problem with this, don’t you know! As when I begin to share my woes – the LORD through the very Word I am reading says:

Lamentations 3:22-26 – Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Therefore, while the nation melts in the boiling pot of rebellion against God, let your soul know that the LORD is your portion and that your hope is in Him. the SOUL that seeks the LORD, He will grant deliverance with peace and salvation.

Tuesday’s Blog – Gold and Silver!

Tuesday’s Blog – Gold and Silver!

Proverbs 4:7 – Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and in all you’re getting, get understanding.

Bible Challenges and Comments

Many years have passed since I was a young sailor on a ship visiting Bermuda, we had only been on the Island one day and several sailors were in trouble with the local police. A half dozen sailors of 1^st division “deck hands” rented little mopeds to get around town. After a night of drinking and such, instead of returning the mopeds to the rental shop just a few yards from where the ship was moored, they drove right by and drove the little bikes right off the pier.

No, no… I was not one of those men, but as an unbeliever I did think; “wow! I wish I had thought of that!” but I would not have done the thing anyway since I am not a good swimmer. The thought in my mind this morning is, “fools despise wisdom and instruction” and as a result they cause much damage in a moment of ignorance. Reading in Proverbs 4 it is for me the challenge that God provides to remove as much ignorance from the mind of those who walk by faith and not by sight.

How is your walk today? Is it by faith or by sight; or do you consider yourself a fence walker? These are personal questions so I do not what an answer from you; I have enough to deal with on my own. It is a daily task to stay on the path of faith. Wisdom and understanding is just one source of instruction that comes from God to keep us on the right path. How unfortunate it is for the saint of God, to chase after “gold or silver” before he or she has the precious reward of the Wisdom and Understanding that God provides in the Holy Bible.

Notice Proverbs 4:10-13 – Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths, when you walk, your steps will not be hindered and when you run you will not stumble. Take firm hold on instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life and do not enter the pathway of the wicked.

God has provided for the believer in Jesus Christ in every way. We have the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, the Power of the Holy Spirit and the Provision of God our Father in all Wisdom and Understanding. Gold and Silver will perish but the Word of will never perish. So we need to daily put on the LORD Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, Rom 13:14, then you will not be running off the end of the world who has no hope.