Watch

A few things have become evident to me over the past few weeks in talking with people and listening at church. Those things are:

1.) Spend time reading the Bible. It's becoming more and more critical to be able to discern the truth for yourself as these days come and go (I would check out 1 Timothy 3:1+). We each need to spend time reading our own Bibles and hearing from the Lord ourselves. I cannot emphasize this enough.

2.) Watch. We need to be watching. We need to be paying very close attention to what is happening in society. We need to remember the words of Jesus in Luke 17:26, 27. I don't think we can be watching too closely. Maybe Jesus won't come back today or tomorrow, or even this week, but I assure you, there will be a week we start and don't finish. I can't emphasize this enough either, especially in light of Matthew 25:5. Watch!

Enoch - One of the Two Witnesses?

In Revelation 11, we read about these two people referred to as the "two witnesses." I've heard a few theories about who these people might be. These are the possibilities I've heard:

Enoch - In Genesis 5:24, we see this person as someone who actually did not die. He walked with God, and God took him. I'm not too sure what that means; it could be something similar to what happened with Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11.

Elijah - This guy was the epitome of the office of the prophet. He did incredible miracles and spoke with amazing authority. We know from 2 Kings that he did not die, as I said before.

Moses - This guy was the epitome of the law, so much so that his name is synonymous with the word "law" in the New Testament. We do have record of his death (Deut. 34:7, Josh. 1:2), which may well make him less likely as one of the two witnesses. At the same time, I don't really know why it would be a prerequisite to never have died in order to be one of the two witnesses.

John the Apostle - We don't have a record of his death. Some people theorize that he might be one of the two witnesses because of what Jesus said in John 21:21-22.

I've heard people teach that one of the possibilities is that Moses and John may be the two witnesses because Moses would be a representative of the Old Testament law, and John would be a representative of the New Covenant of grace. I can understand that line of reasoning. Others say it could be Moses and Elijah, as we would have a representative of the law and the prophets. Could the transfiguration in Matthew 17 be some kind of foreshadowing of this? I've also heard that it could be Enoch and Elijah, because these are the two guys that were taken to heaven without dying. I've even heard that these two witnesses could be just some future people not from the past.

As far as I know, this is all speculation. Actually, I'm not sure it's terribly critical to get this pinned down. It is fun to think about though.

Last weekend I went to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. There was a lot about how the creation took place in six literal days. There was a lot about Noah's worldwide flood. There was a lot about how, especially in these days, we need to take great care in NOT compromising on what the scriptures say. I watched a short video about the danger in compromising on the first few chapters of Genesis, and how that carries huge theological implications for the origin of sin and death and the need for a Savior (see Romans 5).

And there was this exhibit that jogged my memory of 2 Peter 3, especially verse 5:

"For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water...."

(This has everything to do with my discussion on the two witnesses, I promise!)

During my time at the museum, I realized something: that as more and more people reject God and especially the creation account, the more they are fulfilling one of His prophecies about the last days. I find it ironic that as people deny God's existence and the fact that He created the universe, they are, in effect, becoming part of the fulfillment of the prophecy found in 2 Peter 3. Incredible!

And that's exactly why I think it's probable that Enoch will be one of the two witnesses. How awesome would it be if Enoch, having been a contemporary to Adam himself, would be one of the two witnesses to tell the world that creation really did go down the way it's described in the early chapters of Genesis? It would be "in your face" to a world that had been saying all along what 2 Peter 3 describes. It would be an act of grace on God's part to give the world a witness who was really there, just to try to wake them up to the truth.

So I've got another reason to believe Enoch will be one of the two witnesses: he will witness to the fact of a literal six day creation, and that all ties in to the prophecy of 2 Peter 3.

"Good" Friday

When I was a kid I was a little confused about Good Friday and Easter Sunday. After awhile, I realized that Sunday, the first day of the week, is when Jesus rose again from the dead. Shortly thereafter, I found out that Good Friday is the day we remember the Lord's death.

I specifically remember thinking, "Why do they call it Good Friday if that's the day they killed Him? Maybe they should call it 'Bad Friday'." It wasn't until later that I realized what was so good about Good Friday. And it wasn't until February of 1998 that I appropriated what He did in my life.

Here's what's so good about Good Friday: propitiation.

Okay, so what's "propitiation"?

Propitiation is the act of having the punishment of your sins paid for. It's the act of Jesus standing in for you. Since you cannot redeem yourself, He stood in for you.

Without the cross of Jesus Christ, there is no hope or redemption for humanity. There is no reconciliation for mankind back to God. Since Jesus paid the price for your sins and mine, there is now hope. And this is why Good Friday is so good.

As you go throughout this weekend, I sincerely hope you keep at the forefront of your mind the significance of these days. It's not about eggs or candy or bunnies. It's about your redemption and reconciliation back to God.

The Old Testament

My wife and I just got done reading the Old Testament together. It took us about 70 days. Here's what I took away from that reading:

Israel messed up, big time. They were so entrenched in idolatry it wasn't even funny. One thing that struck me particularly was the practice of causing their children to "pass through the fire to Molech." The image had a place for building a fire in it, and it had outstretched arms. The people would build a fire in there, heat the thing up red hot, and place their children in the image's arms. Human sacrifice...to a god that wasn't even real.

As a side note, before we get too grossed out by these "primitive people," we still have the same practice today. It's called abortion.

God really let 'em have it in Malachi. I definitely want to come back to that book.

Idolatry: anything that takes your heart away from God.

Reading chapter after chapter after chapter of God's warnings to these people really made me question, on a daily basis, do I have any idols that take my heart away from God? I did some real soul-searching then.

God said on a few different occasions: "Return to Me, and I will return to you."

A nation cannot indefinitely get away with wickedness.

The essence of the law: Love God, love others. Defend the widows, fatherless, and poor.

Don't pervert justice.

There's an obscure OT law that says you're not to return a runaway slave to his master. Yet Paul did this very thing in the book of Philemon. Why would Paul knowingly violate the law?

Something that I keep thinking about is what God said to Abraham: "I am your Shield, your exceedingly Great Reward."

Sweet verse in Jeremiah 29: "And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you."

I could go on, but I think I learned more than I realize!

Debt

The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. Proverbs 22:7

My family and I were just talking recently about people's attitude toward carrying debt. It seems for some people that it doesn't matter how much something costs; it only matters how much credit you can obtain. Monthly payments are considered more than interest paid. I think that's just a bad place to be, mostly because of this proverb. Think about it: when you go to work, the money you're making is for someone else, not you. If you're carrying debt, you're someone else's servant until that debt is paid. That's a great piece of advice we should all consider.

My wife and I were driving our 02 Ford Explorer (with 127,000 miles) past a car lot the other day. We saw a brand new Ford Explorer with a price tag of $33,000! Even if you were able to obtain 0% interest on that for 60 months, your payment would still be $550/month! If you ask me, that's absurd. That's coming close to our house payment for the first house we bought in 1999.

What's even scarier is our national debt. Don't be fooled; no one really knows what $12 trillion looks like. It's kind of like saying the universe came into being 14 billion years ago. Nobody can even fathom a number that large. And the thing is, it doesn't seem to matter one bit to anyone is Washington that we're this far in over our heads. According to this proverb, the US is a servant to all our creditors. In some sort of roundabout way, we are owned by and playing the servant (or with this kind of debt, "slave" would be a more appropriate term) to foreign countries who hold our notes. When will they call our loans?

With Your Whole Heart

At men's breakfast Thursday someone quoted Jeremiah 29:13:

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

That phrase, "with all your heart" struck me. There's a challenge there: seek Him with all your heart. Then you will find Him.

To be able to know God on an intimate level is a mind-blowing privilege afforded us only through the blood of Christ. That's a whole study in and of itself, but God's call here is to search for Him with all your heart. What does that mean?

• Prioritize. What are you spending your life on?
• Don't get distracted with the non-issues of a temporary world. Very hard to do.
• Watch out for half-hearted seeking. That means Bible reading and prayer as a check box on a to-do list.
• Money or God? Are you spending your life laying up treasures on Earth or heaven?

Spend some time diligently searching and seeking after God. Pray, read your Bible, and really try to get to know Him. If you're really watching and listening, He will be found by you.

Great Promise

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9

This is an absolutely fabulous verse. This is a verse that I hold onto dearly. When I mess up, I take great comfort in this verse's promise. If I confess, He'll forgive and cleanse. He'll do the same for you, if you just ask.

Crazy Reading Schedule

My wife and I embarked on a 90 day Bible reading program in January as a "resolution" of sorts. I was pretty excited about it then, and I still am today. Brooke and I are just about half done, and I have to say, it has truly been awesome.

The reading schedule is crazy at times. I don't recommend doing it unless you can devote 45-60 minutes every single day for 90 days straight. When was the last time you ready 15 chapters of 1 Chronicles in one sitting?

I really thought the genealogies would be worse, but they're not that bad. Don't let them intimidate you!

The one thing I've learned though is that you can really get a pretty firm grasp on Israel's history and God's dealing with them if you do this schedule. Everything flows together so well, and everything is so fresh in my mind that it all makes sense. So often we pick and choose our way through the Bible, reading passages here and there in disjointed fashion. But there is much to be learned by reading big portions of it all at once as a book, and not just a handful of verses here and there. It's a different type of study than a verse by verse, but it's beneficial all the same.

With that said, I still have my reading to do for tonight. Tonight's reading: Nehemiah 1:1-13:14.

Humbleness

We sang a song in church today by David Crowder called "All Creatures of Our God and King." This is an absolutely fabulous song. I think I caught somewhere that these lyrics were written by St. Francis of Assisi, but I'm not sure. It's immaterial. There's a verse that says:

All creatures their Creator bless

And worship Him in humbleness

Oh Praise Him

Oh Praise Him

That got me to thinking about this "humbleness" thing. This is really something I need to work on...I have a large propensity for arrogance, pride, and this "it's my way or the highway" attitude. Nevertheless, there are a few passages this word reminded me of:

So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?" 1 Samuel 15:17

This is where Samuel is confronting Saul about not keeping the Lord's command to utterly destroy the Amalekites. My point really isn't in any of the details of the story; I just really like Samuel's rendering of the virtue of humilty:

"When you were little in your own eyes...."

I think this is a great definition of what it means to be humble: be little in your own eyes.

Here's the second passage I thought of:

So [Gideon] said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." Judges 6:15

This is the story of Gideon. It's a pretty well known story, and we're all familiar with the great victory God gave to Gideon using just a few hundred men. If my memory serves me correctly, they gained victory over 100,000+ men of the enemy! That's a pretty incredible victory, but take notice of Gideon's heart: he considered himself to be the least in his whole family, in the whole tribe. He really did not have a very high opinion of himself. What a good way to be.

Finally, here's the last passage I thought of:

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Philippians 2:3

What an incredible passage. So often in school we were taught about the importance of having high self esteem. The world teaches us to esteem ourselves highly, whereas Christ teaches us to esteem others more highly than ourselves. I really like what this passage says of Christ a few verses later:

...He made Himself of no reputation.

What a great picture of what it means to be humble. It really is a virtue we ought to work toward:

To be little in our own eyes

To consider ourselves the least

Esteem others more highly than ourselves

Make ourselves of no reputation

Blogging Again

Well I'm not too sure about starting something like this again. I already have a blog, but for one reason or another, a blog turns into a "must do" sort of thing for me, and I actually end up feeling guilty for not keeping it updated. We all know how that is: there are few things more irritating on the internet than an out-of-date website or blog. As a result, I have some reservations about blogging again.

On the other hand, I really feel responsible for cultivating and using any gift I may have. I really do enjoy communicating with other people about the Bible. I'm not usually one to turn down an opportunity to lead a study or do a devotional. I'm long-winded, so I can usually find something to say, even last minute.

Having said that, since I don't get those kinds of opportunities as much as I would like, I'm thinking this might be a good outlet. I'm not sure if I will average even one hit per week (except for my own), but I'm not sure that even matters. I guess if I have something to say, I should say it, even if few listen.