Month: November 2012

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquites; the chastisment for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

Even though the verbs are past tense, they predict happenings future to Isaiah’s time. In this Servant – lamenting song Isaiah was saying that the Messiah would bear the consequences of the sins of men, namely the griefs and sorrows of life, though incredibly the Jews who watched Him die thought He was being punished by God for His own sins. In Matthew’s gospel, he found analogical fulfillment of these words in Jesus’ healing ministry (Matthew 8:16-17), because sickness results from sin for which the Servant paid with His life. In eternity, all sickness will be removed And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God  Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4) so ultimately it is included in the benefits of the atonement.

Wounded for our transgression . . .bruised for our iniquities—This verse is filled with the language of substituition. The Servant suffered not for His own sin, since He was sinless (Hebrews 4:15), but as the substitute for sinners. The emphasis here is on Christ being the substitute recipient of God’s wrath on sinners For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He also suffered the chastisment of God in order to secure our peace with God. By His stripes we our healed—The stripe (the Hebrew noun is singular) that caused His death has brought salvation to those for whose sins He died (1 Peter 2:24). Every person has sinned (Romans 3:23), but the Servant Substitute has sufficiently taken upon Himself the consequences of sin and the righteous wrath deserved by sinners (1 John 2:2). The manner in which God laid our iniquity on Him was so that God treated Him as if He committed every sin by every person whose lived, Though He was without sin, so justification can be given to every believer in Him. Think about it, I know want I’m like, yet God says because my faith and trust is in Him and His atonement, I am now declared justified for every sin I have ever committed. How can anyone not be humbled by that act of love for them?

Beloved friend, The holidays are here! How should we respond to God’s love for us? We should be seeking to glorify Him with our lives and walk in faith according to His Word and let our light shine for His glory and honor. This world wants to suppress the truth of this message more and more, as the world grows darker, may we grow brighter and let others know of the great love of Christ, Our Servant Substitute for our sins.

May the Lord bless your walk today!

But may the God of all grace , who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.1 Peter 510-11

The God of all grace! Love His title. The true and living God has all kinds and all measures of grace that He wants to impart into our lives. One of His grace attribute’s is that He allows us to dwell in His glorious abode of eternal glory by Christ Jesus. This is ours by the atoning death of Jesus Christ, our mediator. “He is the Mediator of the new covenant {of grace}, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant {of law}, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Hebrews 9:15). Meanwhile, until He returns for us, He wants to develop us spiritually (“perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you”). Part of His plan is to perfect our lives. Note, this does not mean sinless perfection, this speaks of God completing what is missing and equiping us for service. Christians are to live with understanding that God’s purposes realized in the future often require the painful enduring of the present. We are not immune to sickness, or the harsh realities of this everchanging world. But I can say that God will not waste not one hardship in our lives. Meaning He is able to turn a negative situation into a possitive for His glory (Genesis 50:20). Part of God’s plan for us is to establish our lives: This has to do with the Lord stabilizing our Christian walk, by keeping us steadfastly moving in the direction He has called us to.

This word was used to describe Jesus’ unswerving commintment toward the cross, and resurrection that awaited Him in Jerusalem. ” Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51)  And part of God’s plan is to strengthen our lives, our calling to serve Christ requires strength to serve which we do not have within ourselves. The Lord wants to teach us how to draw upon His mighty power, Paul the apostle prayed for that for the Ephesian church: “That He would grant you to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16). And finally from our text God’s plan is to settle us this involves us being increased more and more with knowledge and understanding to be enriched in every way. As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7) To walk in Christ is to live a life patterned after His.

Perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle—-These four words all speak of strength and resoluteness. God is working through the Christian’s struggles to produce strength of character. In effective maturity that is infused in us through our trials and the perfecting of us through His love, God is at work in every Christians’s heart right now. He only knowing the full outcome, we will walk by faith in belief that as we rely on His power and trust in His Word, we will be victorious in this life, and this will bring glory and honor to our Lord.

Beloved friend, The God of all grace is Jesus Christ, And He has resources we nothing about! He will deliver you wherever you are in the present time, perfecting in you His sanctifying grace that will transform you into what He wants for you.

May the Lord bless your walk!

 

 

 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconcilation. Romans 5:8-11

God’s love for His own is unwavering because it is not based on how lovable we are, but on the consistency of His own character; God’s supreme act of love came to us we were at our most undesirable, when His Son was condemned to die the death of a criminal at the hands of sinful men. And even if we were all righteous, or at least a good man (v.7),  Paul’s point is that we were neither of these persons, and yet, Christ sacrificed Himself for us all. When we were God’s enemies, Christ was able by His death to reconcile us to God. Certainly now that we are God’s children, the Savior can keep us by His living resurrection power. We are at peace with God and need not be afraid. For if He did so much for us when we were enemies, we should think upon what He will do for us now that we are His children. Much more equals grace— We belonged to the old creation under Adam, that of sinful fallen man where death and sin reigned, now that we are in Christ and a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), grace is reigning much more. Now that we have this power to live for Christ, we don’t need to fear what man fears. This world has its own set of values and considers Christianity to be too narrow minded to be of any value. Their attitude is to rather trust in fellow man than to place their trust in the Lord. God will be the final judge and renders His judgment for their works before Him whose actions are weighed. In our society, in the business world for example, we have “diversity training” and “multicultural training” classes. The belief is “if we can only teach people the right feelings, they’ll act correctly.” In the Bible, God says the opposite: “We’re to first act correctly, and then the right feelings will follow through His power.” Clearly, loving the unlovely is the foundation of God’s character, since Christ died for the church—the unlovely, we can do nothing less for others. The Christian loves God and fellow believers, and yet must have an absence of love for the world and its system to characterize the love life of those considered genuinely born again. “Love” here in our text is ordained of God, its measure is to the ends of the earth to all mankind and was offered to whosoever would believe in Him to give us all power to overcome this world, and to love one another, even the unlovely. God, and not the world must have first place in the Christians life.

Beloved friend, the Bible says, Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. (1John 4:17) This is not suggesting sinless perfection, but rather mature love marked by confidence in the face of judgement. Confidence being a sign that love is mature as He is, and being objects of His grace, and much more of His love, let us go on to good works that glorify Him especially in how we love others, including the unlovely like who we were once in this world.

May the Lord bless your walk!

 

 

Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And He was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except for this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19

Faith is like a seed; it seems small and weak, but it has life in it, and if it is exercised or cultivated, it will grow and release power in our life. Jesus public statement concerning the Samaritan’s response from his healing can show results from his faith. The Greek word translated “has made you well” can be translated “has made you whole” indicating that his healing was complete. It is the same Greek word often translated “to save” and is the normal New Testament word for saving from sin, suggesting strongly that the Samaritan who was once a leper, yet demonstrated faith in Jesus leading to his salvation. Evidently, even though a Samaritan was despised by the Jews, Jesus did not view Samaritans as anything more or less than other Gentiles. Leprosy always represents sin in the Bible, and here Jesus gives a clear indication of how an encounter with Him can lead to not only healing, but also being made whole. How many people who profess their need of Christ “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Yet, do not follow through to obey the Word of God. Notice, the healing was sudden, and immediately visible, but occurred after they obeyed His command. Another observation we can make: Jesus’ sending the lepers to show themselves to the priest suggest that they were Jewish. And this Samaritan was allowed or had been permitted to associate with them while ceremonially defiled and forced to live outside the village, but in their receiving from the Lord their healing, the other nine did not share his deep gratitude. Where are the other nine? How often has the Lord had to say this when it comes to us today? We have seen demonstrations by people who have professed faith in Christ, have received from Him forgiveness of their sins, yet, do not live with gratitude nor with a thankful spirit, or a thankful heart. There is a correlation of evidence in the life of a true believer that can be seen by their thankfulness. You can see this behavior very clearly in their lives, first in their public confession of Christ, their gratefulness of their salvation, and then also with their great love and thankfulness for their fellow believers.

Beloved friend, Jesus Christ was obedient to die for us out of love. Now we are to be obedient to live for Him out of love, with thankfulness in our hearts, This demands that we truly allow His mind with all its selflessness, sacrifice, servanthood, humility with longsuffering to shape our lives. Grace is everything for those who deserve nothing!

May the Lord bless your walk!

J.V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Psalm 96:1-9

The substance of this psalm, and portions of other psalms, 97, 98, and 100 are found in 1 Chronicles 16, which was used by David’s direction in the dedication of the tabernacle on Mt. Zion. The psalm has importance beyond that historical occasion, because it anticipates kingdom praise for the Lord from all the nations of the world. The Nations Worship the King: And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16-19). This very important passage reveals that some Gentiles will go into the millenial kingdom alive along with the redeemed Jews. A converted remnant from those Gentile nations will make annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship the Lord and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles during the Millennium. Commemorating the time when God “tabernacled” with Israel in the wilderness, the feast represented the last of three major pilgrimage festivals (Leviticus 23:34-36), which marked the final harvest of the years crops, and provided a time of rejoicing. In the Millennium, it will celebrate Messiah’s presence again dwelling among His people and the joyful restoration of Israel, including the ingathering of the nations. Those who refuse to go will experience drought (no rain always represented judgment since it deprives the people of life-sustaining water) and plague. Tragically, as the thousand years go on, there will be many people from all over the world who will reject Christ as Savior and King, joining in a final war against Him, only to be destroyed and cast into hell forever (Revelation 20:7-15). According to the psalmists and prophets, offerings and sacrifices will be presented to the Lord in the millennial kingdom, and that we worship the Lord because of the splendor of His holiness.

Beloved friend, Today we offer ourselves our bodies to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2) because of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice, the Old Testament sacrifices are no longer of any effect, yet we read from above text, that one day in the future, God will receive these offerings again. For those in Christ, the only acceptable worship is to offer themselves completely to the Lord. Under God’s control, the believer’s yet unredeemed body can and must be yielded to Him as an instrument of righteousness. Praise and thanksgiving must and should be given to the Lord everyday! We can see God’s plan of salvation unfolding before us, we see the nation of Israel today, and it’s turmoil with her volatile surroundings, and yet, Thanksgiving and praise should be given to the One who is our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! May you lead the way for your families to know why God is so worthy of giving thanks for all your blessings!

May the Lord bless your walk with Him!

 

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband (Proverbs 12:4)   Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord. (Proverbs 19:14)

An excellent wife here literally means “A wife of valor” and there is a close association with the description of the Virtuous Wife in Proverbs 31, where the woman made significant efforts to contribute to her husbands position in the community, and to his success. His domestic comfort promoted his advancements in public honor. A man’s good reputation begins with his home life, and thus the virtue of his wife. As man carries authority delegated to him by God, so woman carries authority delegated to her by God through her husband. Man is not from woman, but woman from man (1 Corinthians 11:8)  Paul’s meaning is that all believers, male or female, are equal in the Lord and complementary in the Lord’s work. Their roles are different in function and relationships, but not in spirituality or importance. In regards to the second text, One receives inheritance as a family blessing ( a result of human birth), but a wise wife is a result of divine blessing from God. He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord (Proverbs 18:22). Keeping a godly home with excellence for one’s husband and children is the Christian woman’s non-negotiable responsibilty.

If this seems like an out dated source of information, then consider the alternatives, Homes that are being run into the ground, are families without any spiritual guidance and truth from the Word of God. These are the ones that allow whatever seems right in their own eyes to dictate the atmosphere of their home life. Television and internet  and other sources of media are what rules the roost. But how can any biblical truth be found here? There must be an order in the home one in which honors God, and demonstrates His love to one another. God gives that role and responsibility to parents who are raising a family. For those who have already done so, there is a role as an older woman, meaning those no longer in child-rearing roles to mentor the younger women to honor their husbands by their own examples of godliness. Even men who are older can mentor the younger men in the church by showing absolute transparency in their relationships to these men. Meaning you must be truthful where you were not only successful, but also where you have failed in your marriage. Showing this kind of truthful transparency can really make a difference in their times of struggle.

Our marriages are meant to glorify God, and become a witness to the everchanging world that God never changes, and His Word and its biblical meaning never changes. This “ crown of her husband ” reminds me that one day, we will bow down to Him who gives us these crowns, and lay them at His feet. I want to build a strong marriage life that will be a great blessing to others, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive  a reward (1 Corinthians 3:13-14) But I could never do this without my beloved wife.

May the Lord bless your walk with Him today!

Dedicated to my wife Julie, Happy Birthday ! This week

 

 

Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humilty to all men. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:1-7

In closing his letter to Titus, Paul admonished Titus to remind believers under his care of their attitudes toward others including: Their rulers and authorities for one, whether they are believers or unbelievers, and with people in general, and reminding them of their own previous state as lost in sin. But for their gracious salvation through Jesus Christ, which is their righteous testimony to an unsaved world, and of their responsibilty to oppose false teachers and false doctrines within the church. All of these matters are essential to effective evangelism. Submission to the authority of Scripture demands submission to human authorities as part of a Christian’s testimony. Christians are to exemplify these godly virtues in their dealings with everyone. The admonition applies especially to dealings with unbelivers. The use of this phrase here is in general to all those who cross our path (all men). Paul reminds us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that, before salvation we were living lives that were characterized by such sins. And with that sobering truth should make believers humble in dealing with the unsaved, even those who are grossly caught up in immoral and ungodly behavior. If it weren’t for God’s grace to His own, they/we would be still guilty of the same wicked sins. The kindness and love of God—Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is our evidence that God loves us! Paul was speaking here of the incarnate Savior who was kindness and love appearing in human form. Not by works—Salvation has never been nor never will be by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9) washing of regeneration—Salvation is described for us in the O.T. as a cleansing that will wash away all sin (Ezekiel 36:25-31). And such cleansing was  symbolized in the Mosaic rite of purification for the concept of sprinkling in cleansing (Numbers 19_17-19). Our salvation brings divine cleansing from sin and the gift of a new, Spirit -generated life, Spirit-empowered life, and Spirit- protected life as God’s own children and heirs of His kingdom life. The Holy Spirit is the agent of the “working of regeneration. When believers are saved, Christ’s Spirit blesses them beyond measure (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law) Galatians 5:22-23.

Beloved friend, The central truth of salvation is justified by faith alone. When a sinner repents and places his/her faith in Jesus Christ, God declares them just, and imputes the righteousness of Christ to them, and gives them eternal life by virtue of the substitionary death of Christ as the penalty for that sinner’s iniquity. We become ” heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).

May the Lord bless your walk with Him!

 

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people,that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who were once not a people but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, be your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.1Peter 2:9-12

Peter uses Old Testament concepts to emphasize the priviledges of New Testament believers. In strong contrast to the disobedient who are appointed by God to wrath (v.8),  Christians are chosen by God to salvation. A royal priesthood—The concept of a kingly priesthood is drawn from Exodus 19:6 “And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel.” But Israel temporary forfeited this priviledge becaus of its apostasy (departure from the faith) and because its wicked leaders executed the Messiah. At the present time, we the church is a royal priesthood united with the Royal Priest, Jesus Christ. A royal priesthood is not only a priesthood that belongs to and serves the King, but is also a priesthood which exercises rule. This will be ultimately fulfilled in the future Christ’s millennial kingdom: “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:10) His own special people—Peter is reminding his readers that from the beginning God has chosen them out of the world, to be His own. And from there, has grafted in a Gentile people as well to become the people of God made up of Jew and Gentiles. Now Peter writes here a very significant reminder to us all, sojourners and pilgrims—Peter called his readers to a righteous life in a hostile world where Christians are foreigners and strangers in a secular society because their citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), good advice for us all. By using Christ as our example, believers are to use His life of power over the flesh in the midst of a hostile environment. Abstain from fleshly lusts—Perhaps more literal “hold yourself away from fleshly lusts” in order to have an impact on the world for God. Christians must be disciplined in their walk of faith, and consecrate their lives after Christ, and His Word in complete submission daily, in order to avoid the pulling away from Him by the desires of the sinful flesh (Galatians 5:16) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Conduct honorable—The Greek word for “honorable” is a rich in meaning word and implies the purest, highest, noblest kind of goodness. It means “lovely”, “winsome,” “gracious,” “noble,” “excellent.” Having been diciplined in the inward man, the Christian must outwardly live in a non-Christian society in a way that reveals Christ’s love by their inward self-controlled life. Which even when men accuse us of being evil, (narrow minded to their liberal ways), be reminded one day, upon Christ’s visitation to the earth, will bring glory and honor to His name.

Beloved friend, Jesus return is eminent. But no one knows the hour of His return but the Father, let us live in such a way, that our lives will be reminders to others around us that we have a Kingdom that has already be prepared for us, and therefore, we will not live in such a way that ever diminishes that great promise from God, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:3).

May the Lord bless your walk with Him!

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  John 1:43-46

Being from Nazareth in Galilee placed a great stigma on Christ. Galileans were regarded by the religious aristocracy in Jerusalem as being backward and ignorant. So someone from Galilee would not be considered a worthy candidate for the role of Messiah. Nathanael’s scorn may have centered in the fact that Nazareth was an insignificant village without seeming prophetic importance. This betrays the people’s great ignorance, because Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea not Galilee, they did not bother to investigate His true birthplace, thus showing their attitude of a lack of interest in messianic prophesies. We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets wrote—This phrase encapsulates the stance in John’s whole gospel: Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament—You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me (John 5:39). Christ, who is the Word of God (John 1:14) is the main theme of Scripture. The Jews in the times of Christ searched for their Messiah, they searched the Scriptures for eternal life but were not willing to trust what they had found nor its only choice.

The true nature of Jesus who was thought to be common was actually revealed in Matthew 17:1-6: After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. The true nature of Christ was endorsed by the remarkable appearance of Moses and Elijah. But even more important, that nature was revealed in the display of His glory (” transfigured “) and the declaration of the Father (“My beloved Son”). The majesty of Christ was put on display on that mountain. In spite of His common appearance, common upbringing, common lifestyle, and common background, there was absolutely nothing ordinary about Christ. His majesty was undiminished by the ordinary manner in which He chose to reveal Himself. He was still the royal King of heaven, even though in the flesh He was robed in common human appearance.

Beloved friend, I encourage you, live for Christ Jesus, and His righteousness! Be all who He has made you to be, common and ordinary among mankind, yet, of the utmost importance to those who are near, and especially to God the Father, whose eyes are always upon thee! Your His special treasure! Nothing ordinary about you to Him who loves you!

May the Lord bless your walk with Him!

Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Solomon’s final word on the issues raised in this book, as well as life itself, focus on one’s relationship to God. Solomon writes from the prospective of hindsight which he looks back with all of the concerns for life under the sun, with its pleasures and uncertainties, such things seemed comparatively irrelevant to him as he faced the end of his life. Fear God—If you fear God you don’t have to fear anything else; meaning you are safe in regards to knowledge of Him who holds your future. Living with eternity in your hearts because God has made men for His eternal purpose, for nothing else will matter in the end of life, and nothing else will satisfy during life. God knows our future, rules over every circumstance, and cares for us in ways that are far beyond our understanding. But death, in spite of its focused attention in this book Ecclesiastes which means “preacher”  was not the greatest equalizer, Judgment with retribution is the real equalizer as Solomon saw it, for God will bring every person’s every act to judgment. Unbelievers will stand at the Great White Throne judgment (Revelation 20:11-15) and believers before Christ at the Bema judgment (1 Corinthians 3:10-15; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). When all is said and done, the certainty and finality of knowing that God’s judgment will be fair and just, makes us want to live with deep reverence to the One who is ruling in all authority in this earthly life. Most people will not accept that God allows all the evil thats in this world, and all the suffering for which people unjustly endure. God is Sovereign over all of man’s affairs but does not force Himself but rather gives us free will to choose to fear Him. Solomon’s example of someone who had everything wisdom could bring to him. God also gave him more wealth than any king ever saw. Yet, here writing this book, shows that if one perceives each day of existence labor, and basic provisions as a gift from God, and accepts whatever God gives as His sovereign grace that person can live an abundant life (John 10:10). However, one who looks to be satisfied apart from God will live with futility regardless of their accomplishments or their accumulations. In light of this revelation we learn that for us today, we need to come to terms as to our own sin debt, and need of God’s forgiveness. His offer of forgiveness comes through His Son, Christ our Lord who died for our sins and payed the ransom for our sin debt (Mark 10:45). The King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:6) relinquished His privileges and gave His life as a selfless sacrifice in serving others by His substitutionary death on behalf of those who would put their faith in Him is in fact, the most glorious truth one could live with. Keep His commandments—Again the knowledge of God’s will for us in keeping His commands is to promote the highest form of life in which God is glorified in all of our acts and labor as we live by faith and walk in love.

Beloved friend, Today our country is facing perhaps the most important election in its history, our duty as believers is to seek above all that God would be glorified, and be pleased with our concerns we have over each candidate, over each proposition, and how we seek His will first before we cast our vote. Certainly our civic duty, but also our moral duty as Christians to honor what God would honor in our country’s legislative laws. We do our duty, and leave the results in the sovereign hands of God. I encourage everyone to vote in this next election.

May the Lord bless your walk!