HE WILL RETURN

 

HE WILL RETURN I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ...The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. John 14:18,26 Jesus left us, but we are not left as orphans. He is our comfort, and though He is gone, we are not comfortless. He will come again to us, and this is enough to sustain us through His absence. Jesus is already on His way; He says, “I come quickly.” He is rushing toward us. He says, “I will come,” and no one can stop His coming or delay it for even a moment. He specifically says, “I will come to you,” and so He will. His coming is especially for His own people. This is meant to be our present comfort while we long for the Bridegroom to appear. And even though Jesus left us, He didn't leave us alone! He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us continually as our guide, comforter, helper and teacher. Jesus thought of everything. Until the glorious day when Christ returns, we are watched over and cared for. By Charles H. Spurgeon, updated.

 

WHICH GOD IS TRUE?

 

WHICH GOD IS TRUE? By Biblical Creation on Facebook HERE IS THE ANSWER SO CLEAR THAT EVEN THOSE WHO MOCK IT CANNOT ESCAPE IT. We see this comment all the time; it keeps showing up like a broken record. Atheists come into the comment section here, and list a thousand so-called gods:  Zeus. Odin. Ra. Baal. Shiva. Molech. Mithras. "Which one is real"?, they ask. As if they have the perfect trap of a question. They throw names around as if quantity somehow replaces truth. They want to smear the God of the Bible by mixing Him in with manmade idols. But here is the truth that refuses to be silenced. Not one of those pagan gods ever stepped into human history. Not one ever wrote real prophecy that came true. Not one ever produced a world changing movement that transformed hearts and nations. Not one ever offered redemption for sin. They have legends. They have statues. They have myths. They have stories. But none of them walked into time and space to reveal Himself. The God of the Bible did. And He did it through Jesus Christ. Jesus did not point to another deity. Jesus declared that He Himself IS the Hebrew God in the flesh. The Great I AM who spoke to Moses. The Creator who spoke the universe into existence. The One who holds all things together and in whom all things consist. And to prove that His words were not empty, He came in public. He taught in public. He performed miracles in public. He died in public. And He rose again in public before hundreds of eyewitnesses who never recanted even under torture and death. No secret ceremony. No mystical cave. No private whisper. No rumor. No hallucination. Hundreds saw the resurrected Christ. They watched Him ascend. That is why the entire Roman world was shaken. That is why the disciples, who were once terrified fishermen, became bold, unstoppable messengers of the Gospel. Every other god is a fading carving or an idol cast from the dirt. They cannot speak. They cannot act. They cannot save. Their influence died with the civilizations that created them. But Jesus Christ lives. His tomb is empty. His message endures. His Gospel still transforms hearts, families, and nations. That is why we point to Him every day. That is why He is not one god among many. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only Living God. The only Savior. The only One who proved Himself before the eyes of history. And that is why the comment has been answered. Not with opinion. Not with myth. But with the undeniable reality of the resurrected King. End of story. CLICK HERE to visit Biblical Creation on Facebook Used with Permission

 

LESSONS IN THE SHADOW

 

LESSONS IN THE SHADOW He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. Isaiah 49:2 “In the shadow.” We must all go there sometimes. The glare of the daylight is too brilliant; our eyes unable to discern the delicate shades of color, or appreciate neutral tints—such as the shadowed chamber of sickness, the shadowed house of mourning, the shadowed life from which the sunlight has gone. But don't be afraid! It is the shadow of God’s hand. He is leading you. There are lessons that can be learned only there. He is only keeping you close until the moment comes when He can send you most swiftly and surely on some errand in which He will be glorified. —F.B. Meyer In some spheres the shadow condition is the condition of greatest growth. The beautiful Indian corn never grows more rapidly than in the shadow of a warm summer night. The sun curls the leaves in the sultry noon light, but they quickly unfold, if a cloud slips over the sky. There is a service in the shadow that is not possible in the sunshine. The world of starry beauty is never seen at its best till the shadows of night slip over the sky. There are beauties that bloom in the shade that will not bloom in the sun. There is much greenery in lands of fog and clouds and shadow. The florist has “evening glories” now, as well as “morning glories.” The “evening glory” will not shine in the noon’s splendor, but comes to its best as the shadows of evening deepen. If all of life were sunshine, Our faces would be fain To feel once more upon them The cooling plash of rain. —Henry Van Dyke From Streams in the Desert, updated

 

EARTHLY OR ETERNAL REWARDS

 

EARTHLY OR ETERNAL REWARDS “You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” Matthew 20:22 Every true mother wants the best for her children. The mother of James and John had a worldly dream for her sons, wanting them to have high positions in Christ’s kingdom. But she was mistaken in what she asked for, because she expected Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom, when he would establish a spiritual kingdom instead. Often, we ask God to bless us, and He does, but His blessings may come in ways we would never expect. Jesus asked James and John, "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" They answered without hesitation, "Yes, we can." (Whatever it takes, you name it, we'll do it.) James and John did not shrink from the “cup” they asked for, though they didn’t fully understand its cost at the time. James would become the first apostle to be martyred. John lived a long life, with victories and persecution and torture, exile and end times visions, until he died of old age, proclaiming the love of God from his deathbed. The brothers earned their rewards, as promised, but the journey was more difficult than they anticipated in the beginning. Christ answers our mistaken prayers in ways that are far better than what we could imagine for ourselves. He did give James and John high places in his kingdom, but not in the way their mother had envisioned. She was thinking of earthly rewards, but Jesus gave them everlasting eternal rewards and a crown of glory. By J.R. Miller, updated by C.S.

 

THE FIRST TRUMPET

 

THE FIRST TRUMPET Continuing the Study of Revelation REVELATION 8.7 The first trumpet sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. One third of the earth was burned up and one third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. -WEB Bible. An archangel blows the first of 7 trumpets: which means the events of the 7th Seal will begin! This is the final stage of the apocalypse in Revelation; it will be complex, and global in its scope. This will not be the first time a plague of hail and fire has happened on earth. One of the seven plagues of Egypt was hail and lightning, as depicted in the painting above. Exodus explains, from eyewitnesses, how awful the plague was: EXODUS 9:22-26 The LORD said to Moses, "Stretch forth your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt." Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and God sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. God rained hail on the land of Egypt. So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.   This is the first of 7 Trumpets: the terrible grand finale of the apocalypse has begun. Christ will return when the final trumpet sounds. IMAGE CREDIT: The Seventh Plague, by artist John Martin in 1823. We will resume our study of Revelation on Thursdays from now on.