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 Wednesday - December 30, 2020 “He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.”                                                                                                                                                                       -Revelation 19:13-14                        There should be no question as to who the Apostle John is describing in these verses because he alone used the title, “The Word of God,” for Jesus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The armies that follow Jesus, also on white horses, must be the saints. They are “clothed in fine linen, white and clean,” which must be what Jesus clothes believers in when they are saved “by grace through faith.” We also know from Jude and Paul that believers will return with Jesus Christ as He comes back to estab

 Tuesday - December 29, 2020 “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." -Revelation 14:11                 We notice the very clear statement here that hell is eternal or “forever and ever.” Some misguided authors have recently laid hold of the concept that the unrighteous are annihilated, but there is no way to claim that position without ignoring this and many other Scriptures. On the other side, other recent authors have claimed that people in hell will somehow gain freedom after they spend enough time there, but this concept is also unsupported by Scripture. This verse is not recorded to scare people, but to serve as a crystal clear warning, to all people, to avoid this very real place where those who reject God’s free gift of salvation, by grace through faith, will be punished. He gives this strong warning because, as the Apostle Peter

 Monday - December 28, 2020                 There is much about the interpretation of this chapter concerning which godly men disagree and which can cause division of viewpoints – but rather than take a side in the various debates, I wish to point out the main import of these words. Namely, that when the gospel is proclaimed (as it has been very largely in Revelation up until now, and especially in chapters 4 and 5) and yet is rejected, the effect of that rejection upon people is terrible. There is a silence in heaven for about half an hour – a pregnant silence, a silence of momentary peace, the lull that comes before the storm. And then the angels, acting as God’s emissaries and portrayers of his providence, sound trumpets that unleash very terrible effects upon the earth. The message of these words is, therefore, over and over again, to turn to God, to take seriously his Word, to listen to his gospel, and proclaim that gospel to the ends of the earth and the end of time.       

  BIBLE READING: Revelation 1-3                 Benjamin Franklin once wrote; “God helps those who help themselves.” Some people think it comes from the Bible, but that isn’t the case. However, there is some truth behind what Franklin stated, and today’s verse from Revelation confirms this. You see there’s nothing that we can do to pay for the price of salvation. Jesus had to do that by sacrificing His life for our sins. But we have to respond to that sacrifice and this is where God helps us when we help ourselves to Christ’s salvation. The picture of this process that is painted for us in Revelation is that of Jesus knocking on the door of someone’s heart. Christ is outside waiting for a response. He can do nothing until the person opens the door of his or her heart to let Him into their life. This is why we hear of some Christians saying or writing that they gave their hearts to Jesus. They mean that they opened up their hearts and minds, spirit and souls to Christ. They hear

  BIBLE READING: 11John, 111 John & Jude                 ‘’If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”                                                                                                             —2 Corinthians 5:17                 The Christmas gifts have been opened, and some may already be broken or returned for refunds. Some gifts were a hit, others a miss. What is the greatest Christmas gift you ever received? Look at the life-altering richness of God’s gifts given to us through the Christ of Christmas. The closing words of Jude pulsate with hope and confidence. Jude speaks of faith, being kept from falling, standing faultless before God, prayer in the Spirit, God’s love, the mercy of Jesus, eternal life, and great joy. This is the life-changing, history-changing gift of God through faith in Jesus. God came to us in our helpless, hopeless brokenness and changed us and our future.   Take time to reflect on

  BIBLE READING: 1John “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”   -1 John 1:7                 In this verse, we are reminded of the cleansing power of Christ’s blood. John does not describe a future cleansing but a present one. Believer, our great hope is in the powerful, cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Peter considered the blood of Christ “precious blood” (1 Peter 1:9). The blood of Christ is so powerful in its cleansing, no sin can stand up to it. John is careful when he writes that ALL our sins are washed away. Not some sins, not most sins, but all our sins are cleansed by the blood of Christ. Count on it, Christian. All means all for those who belong to Christ Jesus.                 John Flavel wrote on the cleansing power of Christ’s blood: “Happy is that man who can say in a dying hour: ‘This is my comfort—”Forgiven!”‘ Remember, no sin can stand before the effective

  BIBLE READING: 11 Peter "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." - 2 Peter 3:10                 At the 1960 UN General Assembly, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev promised the world that they would see "something that has not been seen before”.   On October 30, 1961, the Soviets detonated the largest nuclear bomb in the history of the world on the Novaya Zemlya Island in the Arctic Sea. Nicknamed the “Tsar Bomba”, the area of destruction was 22 miles in radius. The Tsar Bomba’s mushroom cloud was 37 miles tall and it could be seen from a distance of 100 miles away. The Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons. That is the equivalent to 1,400 times the combined power of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.   Initially, the bomb should have had a yield of 100 megatons, but this was changed in a later stage since a

  BIBLE READING: 1 Peter                 There is an old story told of a preacher and his family who one year decided that they were really going to go all out with their outdoor Christmas decorations.   They had saved up their money and purchased a large, life-size Nativity scene that would cover a good portion of their front yard.   This set had everything, Mary and Joseph, angels, shepherds, animals, and of course the manger with the baby Jesus.   As they were putting the finishing touches on their front yard Christmas masterpiece, their young son brought out one of his favorite pool toys that he wanted to add to the scene, an eight-foot tall inflatable Tyrannosaurus Rex.   Although their nativity scene was large, this dinosaur was enormous towering over it all.   This certainly was not something that would fit within the context of the Nativity.   His father tried to explain to his son that dinosaurs became extinct long before the birth of Jesus, and that the T-rex just did not

  BIBLE READING: James                 While visiting an inlet of the sea that reached deep into land, leaving a sheltered bay, I noticed that the pebbles on that protected beach were rough and jagged—not smooth and polished. But out on the open shore where fierce waves break over the rocks, the pebbles were sleek and round.                 The same is true of Christian character. Just as the harsh treatment of the ocean waves makes the rough stones smooth, our trials, difficulties, and testings can produce in us the luster of Christian maturity. When circumstances become difficult, we can rest assured that God has only one design in view—the perfection of our character. That's why the psalmist could testify, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes" (Ps. 119:71). Echoing that statement, Scottish pastor Samuel Rutherford declared that he "got a new Bible" through the furnace of adversity. The Scriptures took on fresh me

  BIBLE READING: Hebrews 8-10                 Many tombstones include an epitaph, a statement about a person’s life or character. We don’t know if there was an epitaph on Jacob’s tomb, but Hebrews 11:21 remembers him as one who lived “by faith.” After Jacob’s death, his elder sons were afraid that Joseph would seek revenge for mistreating him (see Genesis 37:12-36). After all, payback would be understandable. But Joseph told them, “God intended it for good. . . .” When we live by faith, we see that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Joseph understood that God can redeem even the worst of circumstances for good, to show us his salvation. In Egypt, Joseph had suffered difficult times as a person sold into slavery, but he also learned that God was with him. And God amazingly raised him up to be a ruler in Egypt at a time when people from many nations would need food because of a great famine. S

  BIBLE READING: Hebrews 5-7                 Once we are saved by grace through faith we are to live by faith; to walk by faith; to mature in the faith and to grow in grace. We are to progress from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity and to become disciples of Christ, students of the scriptures and skilled in the word of righteousness. As believers who have trusted Christ for our salvation we are to develop in our Christian walk and advance from simply taking-in the pure milk of the Word to feeding on the strong meat of everything that proceeds from the mouth of God. We are to walk each day in spirit and truth as we regularly read, mark, learn, study, inwardly digest and practice the truth that we have been taught from the Word of God.. so that our senses are trained to discern good and evil.                 How sad when a Christian does not mature in their faith but remains a spiritual babe in Christ. How important that we grow in grace and increase in wisdom, understandin

  BIBLE READING: Hebrews 1-4                 Life is hard, and it doesn't always make sense. Things happen which to us from our perspective doesn't jive with the way things should be, and we are shattered from our place of peace and contentment. We feel a disconnectedness with everything, and we feel most disconnected from our Lord at such times. We cry out and there is no answer. We search and don't find. We have lost our center, our spiritual balance. This is life in this physical world, life where such things happen nearly all the time. We seem to spend our days careening around from crisis to crisis, chaos to chaos, problem to problem.   We get breaks every now and again, and we see the blessings of God covering us, but then something else happens and we find ourselves again wondering why we can't seem to stay centered and balanced, why we can't seem to stay in those moments of peace and serenity. Its life. Life happens. There is so much going on all the t

  BIBLE READING: Titus & Philemon                 The letter (epistle) to Philemon is an unusual book as compared to the other New Testament inclusions.   It is a personal letter to Philemon, a wealthy man and a laborer for Christ, who had church in his own house (vs. 2), from Paul. In it, Paul shares his concern to do right and his spirit to reconcile those that have parted ways. Apparently, Onesimus was a runaway slave of Philemon’s.   Onesimus ran to Rome, perhaps to hide his identity amongst the large population.   There, the runaway met Paul, who was in prison. How, they met in prison is not told. It could be possible that Onesimus was jailed for his running away, and that is how he met Paul.             Paul had the opportunity to lead this man to the Lord (vs. 10). It was not long until the two became good friends. Onesimus was a blessing to the now elderly, cold, imprisoned preacher.   Paul had a great need of Onesimus, but there was something that was more important

  BIBLE READING: 2Timothy “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped.” — 2 Timothy 3:16-17      The Bible is exceptional and unique because it is God’s own project from beginning to end. This is the foundational teaching of the Reformation, for it is through Scripture alone that God reveals his salvation plan.       The difference between the Bible and other collections of wisdom across the ages and around the world is that those collections are inspired by human wisdom. The Bible, says the apostle Paul, is divinely inspired. The term that Paul uses to describe this inspiration can be simply and profoundly referred to as “God-breathed.”             How the Bible is God-breathed is truly a mystery. God the Holy Spirit has spoken universal truth throughout history in all kinds of circumstances. Despite a vast array of personalities with all their individual

  BIBLE READING: 1Timothy “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” — 1 Timothy 6:6 In a surprising program on HGTV, people go looking for tiny homes. They don’t want an enormous monthly mortgage payment, and they don’t want to accumulate all kinds of unnecessary junk in their lives. So, they look at 200-squarefoot homes instead of 2,000 square-footers. Some of these have a master bedroom you crawl into under the rafters, a children’s bedroom under the other end of the roof, and a kitchen, dining room, bath, and living room cleverly squeezed into one small area. Sometimes the biggest question is “Do we really need a bathtub? A shower takes up less space.” In old Japan, a farmer’s futon was folded and stored in a closet each morning. Presto! The bedroom became a living room! “If we have food and clothing,” says Paul, “we will be content with that.” Of course, if we live in northern Canada, we might need a place to get in out of the icy blasts. But Paul’s point is well-taken.

  BIBLE READING: 1 Thessalonians 4-5 "Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" 1 Thessalonians 5. 11 Loving others includes encouraging one another. In Romans 12. 7-8, Paul lists encouragement among the gifts of grace. When people accomplish a common objective together, all are encouraged. Fellow believers encourage one another to "grow in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2Peter 3. 18) The Thessalonian Christians faced struggles and an uncertain future. Paul wrote to encourage them, reminding them of their faith and love and hope in Christ, all of which prepared them to be ready for the Lord's return. And with these assurances they could keep encouraging one another and building each other up. The gift of encouragement is important in our lives. En-cour-agement is a gift in the home, the workplace, the church- wherever we find ourselves. We can come alongside others and be there for one another. We can listen,

  BIBLE READING: 1 Thessalonians 1-3 ‘May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blame-less and holy … when our Lord Jesus comes.”                                                                                                             —1 Thessalonians 3:13                 What does it mean when you hear that someone’s “heart is in the right place”? Usually it means you can count on that person to do what’s right, in line with living God’s way. When Paul writes about our hearts, he’s talking about the core of our being, our real character, our true self. And he longs for believers to have a heart that is “blameless and holy” before God. That is a tall order!   How do we get a heart like that?   Not with delicate surgery in a hospital. We need hearts changed by the Spirit of God. We need moral, ethical change. We need thoughts that think about God first, and others second. We need help to do what we should do, but instead we often skip over and forget.