The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Reading: Genesis 23-24 & Matthew 15-16
Today’s Passage: Genesis 24 – Here Comes The Bride
(Please excuse the picture of Swamp Thing. It will seem fitting as you read on. How do you think you looked before you got saved?)
Good morning. Genesis chapter 24 tells the story of how Rebekah became Isaac’s wife. Most of you reading this have heard a sermon on this chapter. Abraham is a picture of God the Father, who wants a bride for his son. Isaac is a picture of God the Son, waiting for the day he will take his bride. The servant is a picture of God the Holy Ghost, who is sent to find the bride and bring her safely to the son. And then there is Rebekah, the bride. I want to focus on her, and give you something to think about.
The first characteristic I noticed was her attitude toward Abraham’s servant at the well: she gave water to the servant and then watered his camels. She was not working her way to get to Isaac. She didn’t know about Isaac, or the mission of the servant. She wasn’t chasing after money or fame. Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” After you received Jesus as your Saviour, and met the Holy Spirit, are you still walking in the good works that God gave you to walk in? Are you an answer to prayer as Rebekah was?
The second characteristic I noticed about Rebekah is that she had to make the decision to go: to leave her world in Nahor and dwell in the promised land. Genesis 24:55-58 tell us she had he mother and brother holding her there…
“And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that she shall go. And he said unto them, Hinder me not, seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.” (Gen. 24:55-58).
We had to make the decision to receive Jesus as our Saviour. We had to decide to leave this world behind. Is part of this world still holding onto you? It tries to keep it’s claws in us, and a tight hold on us. Thank God we have the Holy Spirit giving us the power to leave the ways of the world behind. (See Acts 1:8).
The third characteristic I noticed is in last five verses of this chapter…
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.” (Genesis 24:63-67).
The vail: she covered herself. When we come to the Lord, we tend to put a veil over ourselves. Adam and Eve used fig leaves to cover up their nakedness. Peter put on his fisherman’s coat before jumping in the water and swimming to meet with the Lord (Peter was naked in his boat). Sin puts a veil on us. Only Jesus, our Saviour, our Bridegroom, can lift the veil of sin. He sees us exactly as we are. Thank God that He included in His Word, the Bible, verses like 1John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
When I think about the love that Jesus has for me, I am always drawn back to Ezekiel 16…
“Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.” (Ezekiel 16:1-8)
Remember, today, Who drew you out of the muck and the mier of the world.
Peace. (John 14:27)
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
God Will Provide Himself A Lamb
Today’s Passage – Genesis 20 – 22
“And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Heream I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” Genesis 22:7-8
Before I begin my thought this morning from today’s passage in the Scripture, let me say that I feel totally inadequate to even attempt to glean all of the depth and beauty that is contained in chapter 22. We are certainly treading on Holy Ground as we deal with the great test that God gave Abraham when He asked him to offer up his only son, Isaac. I strongly encourage you to prayerfully re-read this chapter, and ask God to open your eyes to the many wonderful pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ that we will see in this chapter. I will discuss some of these types of Christ from this passage in a minute, but first let me say, that God was definitely putting Abraham to the test by asking this of him. God had first promised Abraham a son twenty years before He actually gave him. Abraham had waited so long, but God finally delivered on His promise. To make matters worse, Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, who was born to a concubine had been sent away; so Isaac was all that Abraham had, and God was now asking him to give him back. Think now how you would respond to this. What if God were to ask you to sacrifice your only child? What if God were to ask you to let your child serve Him on a foreign mission field? We become pretty attached to the children God gives us, don’t we?
First, let us consider the person of the sacrifice. Before, we look at the pictures of Christ contained in chapter 22, let’s examine how the child, Isaac, is a picture of Christ. The birth of Isaac bears a striking resemblance to the birth of Christ in many ways making Isaac’s birth a type or a picture of the birth of our Lord. A. W. Pink in his work, Gleanings in Genesis, points out the following:
1 Isaac was the promised seed and son; and so was Christ. (Genesis 17:16; 3:5; Isaiah 7:14)
2 In both cases there was a long period of time between the promise of birth and the fulfillment of that promise. (Genesis 12:7)
3 In both cases the announcement of the birth to the mothers and the reception of the news were similar. (Genesis 18:12 – 14; Luke 1:34 – 37)
4 In both cases the name of the child was specified before birth. (Genesis 17:19; Matthew 1:21)
5 Both births occurred at an appointed time. (Genesis 21:2; Galatians 4:4)
6 Both births were miraculous. (Consider also the birth of Samuel and the birth of John the Baptist)
7 The name Isaac, which means laughter, was given by Abraham indicating the delight of the father. So too did Jesus’ Father declare His delight, when He said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
These types, which are replete throughout the Book of Genesis, remind us of the infallibility of the Word of God. How could any human instrument paint such an accurate and beautiful picture of our Lord centuries before His birth.
Now let’s consider the place of the sacrifice. Did you know that this Mt. Moriah is the very same mountain that the Lord Jesus would be crucified on years later. By the way, it is also the place where David offers his sacrifice; and also the same mountain where the temple would be built.
Finally. let us look at some of the other pictures contained in this chapter:
1 They arrived at Moriah on the third day. (v 4) For three days Isaac was thought to be as good as dead to Abraham. But on this third day, Abraham was given back his son alive. Of course, the third day is the day of resurrection.
2 The wood for the sacrifice was placed upon Isaac, (v 6) and carried by Isaac to the place of the sacrifice. Remember that Christ carried the wood for His sacrifice as well.
3 In verse five, they leave the servants behind. This was between the father and the son. Christ also left the disciples at Gethsemane; and even the two thieves were excluded when the darkness fell when Christ was on the cross.
4 Notice in verse eight, “God will provide himself a lamb”. This is not a reference to the ram that was given later on in the chapter. This is clearly a reference to Christ.
5 The Ram was caught in a thicket. Thorns were upon the head of the Saviour.
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
Posted in Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
Abraham Did A Little Walking With God Too
Today’s Reading – Genesis 17 – 19
“And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:” (Genesis 18:3)
Genesis 18 is a wonderful account which tells of the communion that Abraham had with his God. In the passage, three “men” appear at the farm of Abraham. We are not sure who all of these “men” are. Some have concluded that one of them was the Lord, and the other two were angels, which is certainly a good possibility because the very next chapter begins with two angels going to rescue Lot from the destruction of Sodom. I tend to believe, however, that these three were physical manifestations of the the three members of the Trinity. I could be wrong, but it is interesting that though there were three men, Abraham always only addresses them in the singular form as one. Nevertheless, the Lord and Abraham enjoy a sweet time of fellowship during this time. You get the feeling from the passage that they were not rushing to conclude their time together. A meal was prepared while the Lord waited.
During this time, God, no doubt, spoke to Abraham about many things; but one thing in particular that he told Abraham was that he would, in fact, have a son that would be born to Sarah. The miraculous thing about all of this is that Sarah and Abraham both are well beyond the child bearing years. Abraham and Sarah actually waited 20 years from the time that God first promised them a child to the time when their son, Isaac, was finally born. God is faithful to do all that He says that He will do in His time. During this afternoon of fellowship with Abraham, God reassures him again of the promise.
God reveals something else to Abraham during their time together. As Abraham was walking with the Lord as He was leaving, God shares with Abraham his planned destruction of the city of Sodom. God didn’t have to tell him, but He did. Of course, this got Abraham’s attention because he had a nephew in Sodom that he cared for. Abraham begins to intercede for the city of Sodom. He is begging God to spare the city, but his concern is really about Lot. God never promises to spare the city, and interestingly, He never promises to spare Lot; but He did say that He would spare the city if He had found ten righteous people there, which, by the way, He does not find. However, God does spare Lot and the family members that are willing to listen to Lot’s warning of the coming destruction. I want you to notice something very important, however, from chapter 19 and verse 29:
“And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.”
Did you catch it? It does not say that God spared Lot because he was righteous, though we know that the New Testament speaks of him as being “just” (justified). It also does not say that God remembered Lot. It does say that God remembered Abraham. What did God remember about Abraham? He remembered Abraham’s intercession on behalf of his nephew, Lot. God spared Lot and his family because of the prayer of Abraham.
What a wonderful picture we have here of prayer. God communing in sweet fellowship with his child. God revealing something to that child that would be of concern to him. God giving that child an opportunity to intercede, to pray for that very concern. And then the best part: God answering the request of the child: not exactly the way he wanted it; but a wonderful answer none the less. Kind of causes you to want to spend a little time in prayer yourself, doesn’t it?
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Gardens and Green Grass; or God’s Will?
Today’s Passage – Genesis 13 – 16
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.” (Genesis 13:10)
“But the men of Sodom were wicked before the Lord exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13)
The story of Lot is really a sad one. Lot came from the same stock as Abraham, lived in the same places, seemingly had the same training and influences; yet Lot had dreams and desires that were diametrically opposite to those of Abraham. In the account given us here in Genesis 13, we see Abraham and Lot both returning from a time of sojourning in Egypt. Egypt was certainly a busy place: people on top of people; culture; education; and pleasures: more pleasure than Lot had ever seen. Abraham had his fill of the big city. He wanted to get back to place in Canaan where he built an altar for the Lord: the place where God promised to bless him. You see, Abraham finally realized that he didn’t need all of the excitement of the big city: he just needed God.
Not long after they returned to Canaan, the land of promise, it seems that Lot and Abraham began to fuss about the size of land their cattle were grazing on, whether or not it was big enough to provide for both of their herds. These men were both already very wealthy, yet it seems that Lot wanted more. Maybe he was tired of living under the shadow of Uncle Abraham. Maybe he didn’t like all of those righteous rules that Abraham governed his home by. Lot missed Egypt: he missed the exhilaration of the city life. Abraham senses Lot’s frustration and offers to let Lot separate from him. I am sure he divided up the livestock, and sent Lot away with plenty. He also gives Lot the pick of the surrounding land. He told Lot that if he chose east, he would go west. You see, Abraham didn’t need what this earth could offer him: he only needed God. It seems that he had learned much from the error of his previous move into Egypt.
Lot, however, decides that Sodom is the place he ought to raise his family. I believe that there were three attractions that lured Lot to Sodom:
1 There were lots of people in Sodom. Now there is nothing wrong with people. I love people and, more importantly, God loves people. Jesus died to save people. However, it seems that whenever you get a lot of people grouped together in one place, wickedness just pours right in. Verse 13 tells us that Sodom was an exceedingly wicked place. Lot should have been repulsed by it, yet instead he was enamored by it. By the way, his attraction to this large number of people was clearly not for the purpose of evangelizing them. We will learn later in chapter 19 that Lot influences no one in the city for God.
2 There was a lot of pleasure in Sodom. He said it reminded him of Egypt. The Bible tells us that there is pleasure in sin for a season; but the wages of that kind of pleasure is death. Lot was attracted to the fast life.
3 Thirdly, we see that Sodom was a place of wealth and prosperity. There was plenty of money in Sodom. It was well watered. The livestock would do well there. Lot saw the chance to make some good money: maybe even a little more than ole Uncle Abe. Again, there is nothing wrong with money. I like what money can buy; but the love of money is the root of all evil. Lot wasn’t really concerned with the wickedness because all he could see was the dollars.
Through the years, I have seen a lot of saved people (remember, the Bible calls him “just Lot”) make the same mistake that Lot made. They leave the place of blessing where God is protecting them and providing for them, only to trade it in for a place where they think the grass is “well-watered” My pastor in Bible College used to say that the grass may look greener, but it just might be artificial turf. Be very careful that you stay inside the perfect will of God. Don’t trade in the spiritual, eternal blessings for the temporary pleasures of this world.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
X Marks The Spot
Today’s Passage – Genesis 10 – 12
“And Abraham journeyed, going on still toward the south” (Genesis 12:9)
There has only been two times in my life that God has clearly revealed His perfect will to me. I am not referring to the will of God that is revealed to all of us in the Word. What I am referring to is when God miraculously showed me where He wanted me to go and what He wanted me to do. The first time was when God showed me where to go to Bible College. I had been searching for His will regarding my training for the ministry and frankly I was not sure what to do. I won’t go into to all of the details, but after spending a lot of time in prayer, God made it crystal clear to me where He wanted me to go.
I will tell you a little bit more about the second time. I was in my last year of Bible College and the day of my graduation was at hand. I did not know at that time what God had planned for me after I finished. I had some thoughts about what I wanted to do, but I wanted to make sure that I was following God, not trying to get Him to follow me. I was out on my bus route in Texarkana one Saturday, and again I was praying about what to do. All of a sudden Charlie Clark, a preacher that I had known back in New Jersey. I decided to give him a call and ask his advice. I remember that he had once told me that he wanted to help start twenty new churches in south Jersey. Maybe God would allow me to be the pastor of one of them. I called 411, got his number, and called him, and surprisingly Pastor Clark picked up the phone. I shared with him my dilemma, and after a long conversation, he agreed to help me start a church when I returned home. I later found out that as soon as he hung up the phone with me, the phone rang again. This time it was Pastor Dan Owens, the pastor of Jersey Shore Baptist Church. Pastor Dan had been called by God to become a chaplain in the ministry, and he needed somebody to take the church that he had started in Galloway. God used Pastor Clark to connect me with Dan Owens, and the rest, as they say, is history. I believe with all of my heart that God through those circumstances revealed His perfect will regarding where He wanted me to go after I graduated from college.
Now I told you all of that to tell you this: it was nine years ago this week that the people of Jersey Shore Baptist Church voted me in to be their pastor. But before they chose me, God did. Now through these nine years there have been many good days, but there have also been many times of trial and testing. However, because I knew that I was where God wanted me, I did not quit. Though I have been tempted to do so many times, I did not move away.
In Genesis 12:6 – 8, Abraham entered into the land of Canaan, and God appeared to him and told him this was the place where He was going to bless him. X marks the spot. You don’t need to go anywhere else, Abraham, because this is the place of God’s blessing. How sad it is that in verse 9, Abraham is leaving the place of God’s calling. Verse 10 reveals that when a famine comes, he moves further away into Egypt. Do you know that God does not speak to Abraham again until he gets back to the place where God had told him to stay? (Genesis 13:14)
Christian, be very careful about the decisions you make in life. Things like where you live, whom you marry, what school you go to. All of the major decisions should be carefully prayed over, and counsel needs to be sought after. Don’t move unless you are sure you are in the perfect will of God. All of these decisions have long-term consequences. Make sure you get it right. And once you find God’s perfect plan for your life, don’t move, unless you are absolutely sure that God is moving you.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
It Doesn’t Take Long, Does It?
Today’s Passage Genesis 7 – 9
“And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.” (Genesis 9:21 & 22)
In Genesis 7 we have the account of the flood. God was grieved because mankind had become completely corrupted, and their wickedness was great upon the earth. God decided to start over with a man who walked with Him, named Noah. Noah and his family are instructed to build an ark that will keep them safe during the deluge of water that is about to cover the entire earth. For forty days it rains, and everything that breathes air on the earth dies. All. that is, except Noah and his family. In chapter 8 the rain stops, and the water levels gradually decrease until, finally, the dry land appeared, and Noah and his family were able to leave the ark and start a new life for themselves.
Chapter 9 begins with God blessing Noah and his family, and God also promises that He will never again destroy the earth with a flood. He seals the covenant with the rainbow, which was to serve as a reminder every time it rains. Everything seems to be going well. Noah and his family have the opportunity to live in peace with the full blessings of God on their lives. However, when we get to verse 21, we see how quickly even god men like Noah can mess things up. Here we see that Noah is drunk. Now this is the first mention of wine in the Bible. Theologians tell us about a law of Bible interpretation, which is called the law of first mention. This principle teaches that important clues can be gathered about a doctrine by studying the way it is first used in the Bible. Here we see the use of wine associated with drunkenness and other sins. Maybe, we should learn a lesson from this. The Bible will have much more to say in future chapters regarding drunkenness.
My point, however, is not to discuss the sin of drunkenness. I merely want to point out that man will quickly mess up a good situation. Adam and Eve did, Noah did, and we do the same thing today. It doesn’t take long for our sinful nature to reveal itself. We are two days away from the New Year. Many have resolved that this is the year that their lives are going to be different. Yet, most have already blown every resolution that they have made. We are desperately wicked people. Yet, for some strange reason, God loves us; and He doesn’t even see our wickedness anymore. Through the blood of His Son Jesus, God sees us, not as sinners, but as sons.
Don’t throw in the towel, however. You have blown in the past and you will blow it again in the future. Just get back up, confess the sin, and move forward. God knows your frame; He remembers that you are dust. Don’t let your failure keep you from coming back to God. He will always take you back. Get as close to Him as you possibly can. He will work in you, and make the necessary changes that need to be made in your life. He will continue to mold you into the image of Christ.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 3 comments.
Do You Want To Go For A Walk?
Today’s Passage – Genesis 4 – 6
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)
I am writing this thought on Saturday evening: New Years Day actually. I just took a walk with my daughter, Hannah; her friend, Lexi; and our dog, Casie. Casie is a little bit portly: well, actually she is downright fat. She needs to lose weight: so we took her for a walk. I thoroughly enjoyed spending the time with the girls and Casie. We talked, and laughed, and just enjoyed some quality time together. It was a time when my attention was focused on them, and their attention was on each other and me. I guess this is why God enjoys when His children walk with Him.
In our text we read about a man that is not mentioned all that much in the Bible: maybe a half dozen times; but we know that he walked with God; and we also know that God took him to Heaven long before his time to die. He has the distinction of being only one of two people in the Bible from the past that was “raptured” up to Heaven. Do you know who the other man was? I’ll let you research it if you do not know. Anyway, God took Enoch a few years prior to the flood of Noah’s day, and he is a picture of the believer today who will be taken to Heaven (raptured) prior to the Great Tribulation that will take place here on the earth in the near future.
My thought for this post, however, is not Enoch’s departure from the earth, but rather his walk with God. It is interesting that the phrase “walked with God” is only used twice in the Bible: here, and also once referring to Noah. I hope that some day, it can be recorded about me that I walked with God. My only resolution for this New Year is to get closer to God: to spend more time with Him. Recently, I have begun walking early in the morning so that I can spend some undistracted time with the Lord. I pray that it remains a regular part of my routine throughout the year. Don’t misunderstand, I also want to see some changes and improvements in my life this year, but I am completely convinced that the way to see real change occur is through a relationship with the Lord that daily grows more intimate. I like what Paul said in Philippians 3:10:
“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”
By the way, I know that I have been writing and speaking a lot lately about this theme. I can’t help it. It is in my head. I feel like the guy who just came back from vacation and can’t talk about anything else. I am excited about what God is going to do this year, and the best part about it is that I am not going to do the work; He is. All I am going to do is try to walk as close to Him as I possibly can; and just maybe, on one of our walks He will take me home to Heaven as well.
How about you? When was the last time that you took a nice long walk with the Lord? Have you been neglecting your time spent with Him? Why not determine that the one thing that you accomplish this year is strengthening your relationship with Him.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Today’s Reading: Genesis 1-3
New And Improved
Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2Corinthias 5:17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Philippians 1:6 – Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…
“Let us renew our trust in God and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.” – Abraham Lincoln.
Good morning. Happy New Year! As I look out over the melting snow, Genesis 1:1 came to mind. How many snow flakes make up all the snow that fell? One drop of water yields six snow flakes. Not only are the crystal patterns in those six snow flakes different from each other, they are also different from all the other snow flakes that fell. God created that. The billions of people in the world do not have the same finger prints: God created each and every one of them that way.
Ephesians 2:10 – For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
And if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. We are His creation. Each one of us have good works to walk in. God has ordained it. God created it that way.
Now, let me ask you, if the God of Creation: the God who created you and everything else: the God who loved you enough to leave heaven and be humbled as a man, dieing on a cross, and shedding His precious blood to pay for our sins; do you think He wants the very best for you?
Yes He does.
Will you trust Him more in 2011? Will you seek Him more this year. Do you know that as we draw close to God, the devil flees. The best place you can be is in the center of God’s will. Will you allow God to direct your path? Will you put your life in His hands this year? If you do, do you realize that God is responsible for the results? And do you understand that those results will bring gory to Him? You can be the new creature that God intended this new year. So, as Abraham Lincoln said, “Let us renew our trust in God and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.”
Peace. (John 14:27)
Posted in Devotions, Guest Posts, Thoughts from Genesis by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Even So, Come, Lord Jesus
Today’s Reading – Revelation 20 – 22
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
First of all, I want to congratulate those of you who have journeyed with us this year through the Bible. Reading the Bible through each year is quite an accomplishment, but it is also very rewarding. Some who are reading this post have not been completely faithful in your reading; maybe you were hit and miss. I have often been there myself. Don’t be discouraged! Try again this year. Our new journey begins January 1st in the Book of Genesis. I am excited also to offer a “Second Milers” program this year for those who desire to take their walk with God to a higher level. You will find more information on this program on the new page entitled “Second Milers”
Just a quick though from our reading today that is similar to what was posted a couple of days ago regarding invitations. Here at the very end of the Bible is another invitation for people to come to Christ. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Have you received that new birth that Jesus spoke of in John chapter 3? Jesus loves you very much, and desires for you to come to Him. He won’t force anybody to come; but as you can clearly see from the verse above, He invites you to come. All throughout the Bible, God has always offered an opportunity for people to turn from their sin unto Him. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, He still desires a relationship with you. Mind boggling, isn’t it. Why would God desire us? Maybe you’re a Christian, and you have strayed away from God’s will. God invites you too to come back to Him. He never stopped loving you either, no matter how far away you’ve wandered.
A final note to those of you who are doing well spiritually: God wants you to come in a little closer. John tells us in his gospel that God wants us to have “life more abundantly”. Very day our life ought to be more abundant than the day before. Why? Because every day we ought to be drawing closer to Him. Make 2011 the year that God gets all of you, the year that you surrender more fully to the will of God; the year that you are wholly yielded to the Spirit of God. Who knows, this may be year that Christ comes to take us home to Heaven. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. What a blessing it is to be a child of the King!
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Revelation by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Supper Is Almost Ready
Today’s Reading – Revelation 16 – 19
And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Revelation 19:9
I must confess that I really don’t understand all that is going to take place during that period of time called the Great Tribulation. I know that it will be a horrible time for those living on the earth for both the saved and the lost. I know also that it will be a time of rejoicing and receiving in Heaven. You might think that those words are not exactly adequate to describe what will take place there in that day, but maybe after I explain, you will understand what I mean.
The rejoicing part is rather self-evident. We will do a lot of rejoicing in Heaven. In chapter 19, we see the words, Alleluia, Amen, and Praise used repeatedly. The angels will be rejoicing, as well as the Saints. We will probably get a little glimpse as to what is going on in the earth while we are in Heaven awaiting the end of the Tribulation. We will see the destruction of God’s enemies. We will watch the destruction of Babylon, with all of the political power and false worship that it represented. God will win. We know that now through faith in his Word. I remember hearing a song years ago entitled, “I Read The Back of the Book and We Win”. That’s the truth! We are reading about it prophetically now, but someday soon we will see it. We should probably learn to rejoice now, shouldn’t we?
The Tribulation period will also be a time of receiving for those who are experiencing the events from Heaven. What will we receive? Well, for one, we will receive rewards for the works that we did for the Lord while we were on earth. The Bible calls those rewards crowns. I don’t know if I will receive any rewards or not, but one thing I know – I really don’t deserve any. Jesus deserves all the glory. Anything I did for His Kingdom that was of any value, He did through me anyway. I guess that is why the Bible says that we will cast those rewards back at the feet of Jesus.
What else will we receive? Well, I believe that all throughout the Tribulation Period we will be receiving new saints in Heaven. Saints that have made their robes white in the blood of the lamb through martyrdom. I believe that many will be saved during this period, but I also believe that most of those that get saved, will be martyred. We don’t know much about persecution in the time that we are living in today, especially in America; but most of these Tribulation saints will be faithful unto death. Every day, more will arrive. Heroes of the faith that chose death rather than live in allegiance to Satan.
Then, we will receive some supper. It is called a supper isn’t it? I wonder what we will eat? Can you imagine sitting at a table with the Lord and all of the saints? As I said before, I couldn’t possibly know all that will happen, but I do know that it will be wonderful, because everything He does is wonderful.
Posted in Devotions, Thoughts from Revelation by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.