Great Change Must Occur in order to Make All Things New

Today I read of the moment Jesus foretells of His second coming. He gives great detail of the dark days that precede His Presence, & in the midst of the markers, He says a simple, yet profound sentence:

Heaven & earth will disappear,

but my words will never disappear.

The heaven & earth we know shall pass away in preparation for our coming King! I wonder if it’s not so much the substance of change, but the quality of change?

Great change MUST occur in order to make all things new! What we know to be our source of light, sun, moon & stars, will be no more.

The sudden darkness will make way for His coming! The brilliant Light of the world will return not to destroy the heavens & earth, but to make all things new!

Jesus IS The Word! His words carry a vitality & endurance that even the greatest works of nature lack. His Word can be our sure & steadfast bedrock of promise as the end draws near, we just need read it!

In the days of Noah, people felt secure & careless, knowing not that a flood cometh! They knew not, for they believed not. They went about their own evil ways probably poking fun at the one righteous man among them who spent his years preparing for the coming day of deluge.

There is much happening that feels like Jesus’s second coming is at hand. We won’t know the day or hour, but like Noah, are we ready?

Or are we like the men of Noah’s time approaching each day ignoring what is promised to come?

Our preparedness or lack thereof will affect our perspective on that day, but it won’t alter the timeline of His return. Why?

👉🏽The end of times is not further off simply because men put it far from their minds. 

Jesus’s words are not vain, empty or unaccomplished. Not one word He has spoken has ever returned void.

The heavens & earth as we know them WILL disappear, but His words will not.

Will you be ready?

Father, great change must occur for new beginnings to unfold. Reveal any places in our lives that require change. We want to be like Noah who spent His years preparing for what was to come. If the earth shakes & the heavens quake during our lifetime, we rejoice as they are simply indicators of your coming return! Let us be ready!

#OneYearBible

February 6th One Year Bible Readings

EXODUS 23:14-25:40

MATTHEW 24:29-51

PSALM 30:1-12

PROVERBS 7:24-27

Be Wary of Bribes that Blind

Yesterday I wrote something that’s still rumbling in my thoughts. God loved Adam & Eve so much that He didn’t shield them from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. He placed it squarely in the center of the garden so they’d have a choice…& they chose knowledge over Him.

They didn’t make this decision on their own. They had a little help from the serpent who spun the story with a question: Did God really say…?

Then he painted a brilliant picture of the benefits that would come if they ate of the fruit. What he spoke was true-they WOULD know the difference between good & evil because for the very 1st time, humans would experience evil first hand by choosing it over their good God.

Today as I walked through the details God gave the Israelites after the Ten Commandments, one caught my eye:

Take no bribe, for a bribe makes you ignore something you clearly see.

I normally think of this as a bribe that will benefit me & hurt someone else, but sometimes?  Sometimes, I think the enemy bribes us with something so tempting that we ignore what we clearly see & hurt ourselves in the process.😬

I can think of many circumstances where I KNOW something to be true & want to walk in that Truth, but that sly devil whispers questions that casts a mist over my eyes. The benefit of walking in MY way instead of what I KNOW to be true suddenly carries away sound judgement & ushers in a decision I will later regret.

It can be something like eating sweets. You know the adverse affects it has on health & yet the thought of how yummy it’ll taste can cause you to ignore what you know for a momentary pleasure. Maybe it’s the lure of drugs, pornography, an inappropriate relationship, cheating on a test, dishonesty with taxes…

Regardless of the circumstance, the enemy is always out to steal, kill & destroy & one of his slyest ways is by offering a pleasurable bribe that blinds the clear sighted!

Father, we need blinders to keep us following You! Help us ignore the enemy’s bribes that make us blind. Our purpose is to worship You alone. Bring to mind anything that pulls us away from Truth & help us remove distractions so we may remain clear sighted with our gaze fixed on You alone!

#OneYearBible

February 5th One Year Bible Readings

EXODUS 21:22-23:13

MATTHEW 24:1-28

PSALM 29:1-11

PROVERBS 7:6-23

Do You Ever Wonder if the Ten Commandments were a Great Set Up by God?

I sometimes wonder if the Ten Commandments were a great setup…they were given for us to follow, but I don’t think there is one person who has ever followed them all???

I mean, have you ever lied? Have you ever wanted something someone else had? Have you even worked on the Sabbath?

I think the Law & subsequent sacrificial lamb system was given as a constant reminder that we will never be good enough to get into heaven. 

It feels pointless & hopeless until you realize this: 

It served as a constant reminder of our absolute need for the coming Savior!

I learned something new about the ten commandments this morning. Right before God introduces them, He reminds us of Who He is and what He’s done:

“I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.”

Our holy God rescues an unholy people who are still in need of saving from their sin, thus the arduous sacrificial system of cleansing is needed. The day would come, however, when the sinless last Lamb would be sacrificed for all sins, past, present & future!

A little bit later in this passage, He gives them an imperative & a promise.  He commands, “Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered, & I will come to you & bless you.“

The 10 commandments & following imperative to build the altar were given before the Savior surfaced on the scene! We now stand after the fact & can see the intent of the Law & the command to build a simple altar to honor God wherever His name is to be remembered.

If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior & Lord, He has fulfilled the Law & NOW we carry Him as the temple of His residence! In light of what we just read, our very lives are to become altars to remember our Savior & what He has done!

Father, we praise You for Your plan to woo us back to the garden. You created us to be in relationship with You, but You also gave Adam & Eve a choice to love You or love knowledge…& their choice ushered sin into the world. Yet, You still had a plan to bring us back. Help us remember Who You are & what You’ve done to save us from eternal slavery to our sin. Let our lives become altars that give cause for remembrance of You!

#OneYearBible

February 4th One Year Bible Readings

EXODUS 19:16-21:21

MATTHEW 23:13-39

PSALM 28:1-9

PROVERBS 7:1-5