Tag: future

Spoiler Alert

Our readings for today are Esther 1-2, Psalm 139, and Revelation 1.

What are you thankful for today on Thanksgiving?

As I reflect on our assigned readings for today, one quote or statement I’ve heard before comes to mind.

“I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds it.”

Today, on Thanksgiving, this is one of the many things we can focus on and be grateful for.

Psalm 139 is a chapter commonly referenced in support of the sanctity of human life at conception, not just after birth. Psalm 139:13-15 speaks of God knowing us while we are in the womb. Then, in verse 139:16, this is taken a step further…

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Not only do these verses tell us God made us thoughtfully and purposefully, but He already knows our future. How? It hasn’t yet occurred.

Our small group is currently reading, Learn The Bible in 24 Hours, by Dr. Chuck Missler. In his book, Dr. Missler describes that for us life is a sequence of linear events. But, God is outside of the dimension of time so He can see the past, present and future. This is very hard for our human mind to comprehend. The way he describes it is that if you were sitting on curb watching a parade, you would experience and see each part of the parade as it goes by. But someone who is in a helicopter can see the beginning, the middle, and the end of the parade…all at the same time.

Our assigned reading in Revelation 1 speaks to this in verse 8…

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

This verse tells us He not only is the beginning and end…but He “was and is to come.” He has seen it all before it happens.

A few other verses speak to this. First, Isaiah 57:15 reads…

15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.

This tells us He lives in eternity and can see it all.

Another verse is Isaiah 46:10…

10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

He tells us here that He knows the beginning and the end and things “not yet done.”

I don’t know what things are going to happen in this world as we see social conflict and physical conflict all the time, with some very serious conflict going on right now in Israel and Ukraine. What I do know is these verses tell us He will accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 46:10), and I know the rest of the book of Revelation tells us He wins, and all pain and sadness will cease to exist (Revelation 21:4).

We also know He cares for us, and He’s with us as we go. The end of Isaiah 57:15 tells us He will “revive the spirit of the lowly,” and He will “revive the heart of the contrite.” Reading the entire chapter of Psalm 139 tells us how much He cares for us and the life He created in and for us. He tells us in Psalm 46:10 to “Be still and know that I am God.”

Please consider reading the entire book of Esther as we go through it in the upcoming days as yet another example of God’s perfect plan.

Today, let us give thanks for God’s plan and His ultimate and certain victory over Satan, sin, and death.

One Family, One Nation Under God

Our reading is 2 Kings 22.

Today, we read of King Josiah who we are told here began his reign when he was only 8 years old! He ruled for 31 years in Jerusalem. This chapter tells of Josiah rebuilding the temple, finding and reestablishing the Book of the Law, and if we read on in 2 Kings 23, we can see he restores Israel from many of their sinful ways and begins the Passover tradition which had not been kept in many years.

2 Kings 22:3 reads…

“And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he not turn aside to the right or to the left.”

King Josiah stood up for what was right and turned the nation to the Lord despite their many years and generations of sinful ways and what one would assume to likely be a lot of push back from the masses. We live in a world today where the masses, or a few who claim to represent the masses, want our nation to turn from what is right in the eyes of the Lord and from the Bible. Today, I just read where a cross honoring veterans who gave their life in World War I is to be torn down because a judge ruled it is unconstitutional and violates separation of church and state after an atheist group said it dishonors veterans killed who were not Christians. Seriously…you can’t even make this stuff up. Just over 17.5 years ago the entire nation cried when 2,606 people were killed when 2 planes struck the World Trade Center with most everyone calling it a senseless and horrific murderous act. Now, less than 2 months ago, the Freedom Tower or the “New World Trade Center” built in the same spot was lit up pink to celebrate an abortion bill passed in New York that will continue to allow hundreds of thousands, if not millions of babies being killed. How sad is this? It brings me to tears as I write this. The 10 Commandments tell us that we should not kill. How is one of these acts viewed as killing and not right, when the other act is celebrated by the same city and some of the same people who mourned the loss of their loved ones and friends back in 2001?

Well, what are we to do as Christians in this nation where many want us to turn away from God and His will? I wish I fully had the answer. I’m not one to protest and go on marches, etc., but I don’t know if that’s what we need to do. It does seem like we need to do something and is not only is very concerning if we don’t based on what the future trajectory of our wonderful country could be, but is also concerning if we don’t do something when you hear Jesus’ words in Luke 9:26..

“For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes to his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”

Again, I don’t know the answer or what all exactly I plan to do…except for I know the answer is not just spouting off in social media posts. I know what my wife and I do plan to do is our best to establish within our family that the Word of God is the one source of truth despite what the world tells us, and establish that we are called to live out the Word and the sacrificial love God showed us on the cross to others each day.

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says…

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk about them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

The book The Resolution for Men gives an example that if a family has 2 children who are believers, and they all have 2 children who are believers the number is 1,024 believers in 10 generations, and if the number was 4 children who had 4 children the number is 260,000 believers following God’s Word! This shows the impact of just one family’s decision to follow Christ. If you are in small group with 9 other couples who all happen to have 4 children in 10 generations that’s 2.6 million Christ-followers! THIS can change our country. THIS can change the world….just one family of Christ-followers living out God’s Word at a time. Who knows..there may very well even be a future “Josiah of the United States” in your bloodline.

The Plans He Has

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfareand not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 29:10-14

Well hello Bible Journal readers, another Monday is upon us! How are you feeling? I think of you and pray for you at the beginning of each week. I hope that you are finding joy and some peace in this holiday season. In these final days of the year, we have the opportunity to share a verse or two with you that is close to our heart. Jeremiah 29:11 has always been a foundational piece of the word for our family. I wrote these words on a small piece of paper the night before our son had a very important brain MRI in 2011. That small scrap of paper has been there ever since. We rely on these words to remind us that God will indeed fulfill his promises, that he has plans for us that are good and that he doesn’t ever harm us.

I had to go back to that little scrap of paper this week for the first time in a long time. A friend of ours died very suddenly in a place that was not his home and in a way that brought more questions than will ever be answers. It’s been a long time since I have questioned in the “but why God” sort of way. Honestly, I thought I was more mature in my faith journey than that, but this event changed things. This extinguished life without a why brought on unexpected waves of grief and anger. Have you ever had a rock bottom moment like that in your faith journey? I rolled it around in my mind looking for the grace or maybe a hint of mercy in the situation, but I couldn’t see it. I came back to my foundational verse, Jeremiah 29:11 and I got even more angry. There is no hope or future for our friend so what is the plan?When it came time to write today, I went back to my Bible, flipping pages looking for inspiration and came back to Jeremiah. For the first time in a very long time I began at the beginning:

“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” Jeremiah 29:1

 These are the words. The words of the letter. The letter sent to the exiles. So, before the exiles got this letter they were just exiles. In fact, I noticed for the very first time in the ten years that I have been frequently this page of my Bible that the name of this chapter is, “Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles” All along it’s been really helpful and comforting to read that part about God’s plan for hope and a future but I sort of missed the point. Without a period of exile, we can’t experience the hope and the future. Without the separation or exile from that which we hold dear, we can’t truly know Him. Shoot, I forgot that being a Christian does not guarantee that we’ll be protected from really hard things. It doesn’t mean that we’ll have an easy life without the broken parts. It does mean that when the really hard things happen that we will know to seek Him. And when we seek Him, He finds us. He finds us in the darkest dark when all we have left is to cling to Him with our whole heart. There may never be answers but there will berestoration.

If I’m writing to you today, I hope you find comfort and hope in this message. I hope you see that all Christ followers have a bottom of the barrel “whyGod” moment. We are all in exile some of the time. As Christmas draws near, I hope you’ll go to Him with all your heart. Pour out your hopes to Him and ask Him to intercede with good in your life. If you are approaching this holiday with trepidation because you are broken, go to Him. If you are reading this and you are not sure if He has a plan for you, go to Him and ask.

Have a great week!

 

Imagine – God’s Promises

Today’s Reading: 2 Chronicles 6:12–42; 1 John 5; Habakkuk 1; Luke 20

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  1 John 5: 13-14

This past weekend so many people were blessed by an amazing day that included spending time together and sharing life stories as they shopped together for Christmas. It wasn’t only the shopping, wrapping, and food baskets provided. It was the opportunity to be in the house of the Lord with so many believers and hear God’s words shared. God moved many hearts this day and in addition, we were blessed by four baptisms. This event called Imagine, hosted by Eastview, truly fills the hearts of all involved. Which are many!

For myself, the opportunity to listen, encourage, share, love on, and talk about God’s promises is priceless. Our stories of pain can often be surrounded by loss, rejection, anger, abuse, lying, insecurity, selfishness, and a feeling of being alone. These were just some shared and some of my own. As I heard these stories I listened and truly felt empathy, not just sympathy, because I could relate based on those same feelings at many points in my personal life.  After some tears, hugs, laughs, moments of silence, and gestures of affirmation between us we were able to talk about God’s eternal promises for us.  That in the midst of all that goes on during our earthly lives God has a plan and He loves us.  That in our pain and moments of feeling alone, He is always with us.  One friend of mine I shared the morning with recalled a time where her mother was in the hospital. While sitting next to her ailing mothers bed she cried out to God because she had the fear of losing her mother. In this moment Darla said she heard a voice saying,  “I’m here”. After hearing this, she had felt a sense of relief as her mom passed away that evening.  We agreed that when and if we listen hard enough and believe, God is saying, “I’m Here” to all of us whenever we call.

A few scriptures that we shared this day and I carry around with me as reminders of this promise are listed below. These verses help me in time of need when I’m struggling with how to handle my past, current challenges, and future worries. Sharing God’s word is hard sometimes, I’m not sure why?  Maybe, I let my own insecurities get in the way? But, when you share His words and promises they are affirming and possibly life changing for those you share it with. They change your own life as well. Here are a few of the verses we shared;

Past – I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

Obstacles – Count it all Joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfected and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

Hope – the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:11

Future– For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

During this time of the year this is so much Joy in giving, time together, and the remembrance of the birth of Jesus. There can also be so much pain in loss, family struggles, and feeling like you don’t measure up.  In our moments of pain and struggle we can’t allow these earthy worries take us over. We need to call out to God and ask for his strength and love. When you feel like you can’t call anyone else you can always call to God.

imagine

I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  John 8:12

 

Past, Present, and Future

This week we were asked to reflect on our:

I was________.

I am__________.

Today’s Reading Link:Exodus 40; John 19; Proverbs 16; Philippians 3

I do not consider that I have made it on my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

I know something about each and everyone one of us. Guess? We are all different. You are a masterpiece! There is no one in the world like you. We all have a different set of fingerprints. This unique and humbling information is also accurate for our lives. For myself,  I truly wished I would’ve been in the word more earlier in my life, but I wasn’t.  I also understand now that God has a divine plan for everyone and everything.  As we recently come off the official celebration of Jesus’s resurrection I reflect also on our past, present, and future in Him. I love thinking of what Jillian said yesterday as starting my New Year in Christ.  I’m excited for it! I love this opportunity to be in the Word with others daily. God knows our past and He plans our future.

For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. To give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Past: Often we can catch ourselves trying to compare, copy, or just want things that others have.  This can include a certain lifestyle, relationship, and of course physical or material things.  This was definitely evident for me growing up. An upbringing that included much adversity in home dynamics and living in poverty to our American standards.  I would do anything to get or make others believe that I had some kind of perfect life.  Acting in one way where on the inside there was an insecure kid who would try to impress others through lies. I was truly selfish in all things doing whatever to look and act a certain way no matter who was hurt. It was all about me.  This was all the center of my world and God wasn’t visible in any of it, and it showed.  We tend to want what someone else has or the next best thing. Not until some rock bottom experiences did I realize I needed to have a closer relationship with God.  I wasn’t able to do any of it.

God grabbed a hold of my heart and put some brothers and sisters in Christ in my life. I started to give more of my own life and desires to Him. So we press on knowing that Christ has made us his own and that is his desire for us.In order to receive this life you need to repent and open your eyes, answer the door, let Him into your heart. Repentance can be a momentary confession but is a lifelong process.

  • The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17:30 (We could dwell on the past and point fingers but we realize that isn’t the answer, Jesus is.)
  •  If anyone would come after me , let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but lose his life for my life, will save it. Luke 9:23-24

Present: We live in tension between who we have been and who we want to be. Faith in God allows us to let go and look forward to what he wants us to become. Not to hang onto our past, but grow in the knowing of God and a building of your relationship with Him. We have been forgiven, so we can look forward to a more purpose guided life with God. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

Future: God knows our final plans but in doing God’s will along the way our efforts in this partnership need to center on Him and not ourselves. We need to use our minds and heart. As we live for him, pray for guidance as you plan, and act in faith when working your plan.

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9

What’s your:

I was________?    

I am_________? 

Dear God,

I was selfish now I am changed while still a work in progress.  Thank you for the change in my life. Please continue encourage us to  put our Faith in you and not ourselves. Release us from the weight of our past and allow us to focus on our eternity with you.  We don’t deserve the sacrifice you made for us but we know you are a loving God who gives grace.  You know our past, you know or future.  I pray you keep us attentive to your lifeline in your Word that  you have provided and remembering the perfect example of your son Jesus. We lift this day up to you.  Let Your will be done.