Devotionary

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Ep 482 – Revelation 1:4-8 Apr 12, 2018

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All those who call themselves Christians share a common belief in the eventual return of Jesus Christ. It is most often referred to as His second coming in order to distinguish it from His incarnation, when He came to earth the first time, in the form of a baby and born to a virgin named Mary. The four Gospels provide us with the details concerning Jesus' first arrival on planet earth. But it is the book of Revelation that provides us with the still future aspects of His second coming. And in Revelation 1:4-8. John reveals to the seven churches to whom his letter was addressed, that Jesus was going to come again, on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him, a reference to the Jewish people who had demanded His crucifixion and death. While the book of Revelation will dedicate just a few chapters to the return of Jesus to earth, its entire contents is designed to preface its eventual occurrence. There will be much that must take place on the earth before Jesus can come back. But we are given repeated assurances throughout the book that He will indeed return. He promised to return. And it is His return that will bring about the end of the centuries-worth of sin's deadly influence and Satan's oppressive rule over this planet. There is going to be a vast difference between the way Jesus came the first time and how He will appear in the future. He will not return as a baby in a manger. He will not return as a meek and mild carpenter who heals the sick and preaches a message of salvation to the lost. No, when He returns, it will be as a conquering King who reasserts His right to rule and reign over the world He Himself created. The New Testament writers typically describe Jesus as seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is in heaven, occupying His rightful place at His Father's side. But there is a day coming when Jesus will establish His Kingdom on earth, fulfilling the promise made by God to Jesus' ancient ancestor, King David.

Ep 481 – Revelation 1:1-3 Apr 11, 2018

Show notes

Today we begin a new study in the book of Revelation. Yes, for the next few months we are going to be working our way through this fascinating and often controversial book. There are those who avoid it like the plague, intimidated by all its strange visions and difficult-to-understand symbols. There are others who gravitate to it like it a puzzle book full of seemingly indecipherable clues and riddles they need to solve. But one of the things we have to keep in mind is that the book of Revelation is one of 66 books in the Bible. It is not intended to stand alone, and as we dig into it, we are going to discover that the answers to its many secrets are to be found in the pages of Scripture. Revelation is the last book in the Canon of Scripture and it provides us with a detailed vision of the things yet to come. There is much in the book that remains a mystery, even after centuries of study and debate. And while we may never know, this side of Christ's return, what each and every sign, symbol, vision and message means, we can know that God has a plan for the world and there is a day when His Son will return to restore all things. Revelation is meant to be a book of encouragement. In spite of all the doom, gloom, destruction and judgment found on its pages, it is intended to show that God is in control and He has a well-thought-out and fool-proof plan for the world He created, including all those who have ever lived and those who will be living when the events outlined on the its pages occur. To say that we will be studying the book of Revelation is a bit of a misnomer, because in order to do so, we will have to spend time in a variety of other books, both in the Old and New Testament. This study, like no other, will reveal the incredible integrity and synergy nature of God's Word. Virtually everything we are going to see on the pages of Revelation have been prophesied elsewhere in Scripture or find their meaning there. So, join me as we begin a study of the only book that comes with the promise of a blessing for those who read it and for all those who hear it.

Ep 480 – Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 Apr 10, 2018

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We are at the end of Solomon's book. And it leaves him near the end of his own life. But he has left us with much to think about and a great deal of wisdom to consider. And at the close of his book, he uses the phrase, "The end of the matter." It's his conclusion or summary to all he has written in his book. And what was the end of the matter according to Solomon: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. That's it. After all he has shared, this is what it all boils down to. A healthy reverence for God and a willing obedience to His will for your life. But as we will see, Solomon was still thinking in terms of earthly rewards and temporal blessings. He was advocating fear of and obedience to God because those things were necessary if you wanted to experience the blessings of God – in this life. What we are going to see in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 is that Solomon still had a rather limited understanding of how God works. He couldn't help but think that this life was the one in which the rewards of God were most likely to be conveyed. It was only in this life that man could experience the joys that God made possible through the five senses. The afterlife was a mystery, and no one was assured what was going to happen beyond the grave. But we know better. Because we know that Christ came to give life, and life more abundantly. And not just for this lifetime. He came to give us eternal life and to make possible joy beyond our wildest imaginations. This life is a dim shadow of what is to come. Any blessings we experience in this life pale in comparison to what we will experience in eternity. Contrary to what Solomon thought, this life is not the end of the matter.

Ep 479 – Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 Apr 09, 2018

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There is one irrefutable fact about life: It ends in death. And, in his old age, Solomon was keenly aware of that painful reality. The older he got, the closer he came to the end. And old age has a way of causing us to reminisce about the way things used to be or could have been. In Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, Solomon continues to address his words to young people. He wants them to know what he has learned from his years of life lived under the sun. He is a man who has accomplished much but is in the final stages of his life's journey. And while he has little to look forward to, he has much to look back on and he wants those he leaves behind to learn from his mistakes. He wants them to understand that one day they will be where he is. They too will one day face death. They will be forced to experience the effects of the aging process, as their physical capacities and mental faculties slowly diminish. So, what advice does Solomon have to offer those whom will be leaving behind? Remember your Creator. And do it while you're young. In other words, don't live your life without an awareness that it is God who gave you life to begin with. He is the giver of life and, ultimately, He is the one who determines the length of our lives. It would seem that Solomon is once again expressing the sentiment, "Don't do as I did." He had forgotten his Creator in his youth. Somewhere along the way, he had made the focus of his life anything and everything but God. He had wasted his youth on the vain and futile pursuit of worldly pleasures and temporal gains. But if he had it all to over, he would put God in His proper place: At the center of his life.

Ep 478 – Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 Apr 08, 2018

Show notes

There's a popular saying among Christians that states, "Don't be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good." The basic gist behind what it means is that we can spend so much time thinking about and waiting for heaven, that we end up doing nothing of value and significance in this life. And while that saying has a grain of truth in it, I fear that far too many Christians have taken it to heart and made it their life's mantra. And, as a result, they have become so earthly-minded that heaven has become an afterthought. But the apostle Paul warned the Colossian believers, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Being heavenly minded doesn't require that we sit around dreaming about and waiting on eternity. It means that we live our lives with an understanding that this is not all there is. Our reward is waiting for us in the future. And in Ecclesiastes 11:7-10, we're going to see that Solomon, like a lot of other Jews of his day, had a difficult time understanding just what was out there in the future. Eternity was a mystery to them. The Old Testament saints didn't have a well-developed theology of the eternal state, so it left them to focus most of their attention on the here-and-now. But as New Testament believers, we know what tomorrow holds and we also know who holds tomorrow: God. But, once again, the apostle warns us that we live in a day when there are those who are "headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior" (Colossians 3:19-20).

Ep 477 – Ecclesiastes 11:1-16 Apr 07, 2018

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Faith versus fear. That's a choice all of us face in this life, on a daily basis. As Christians, it can be so easy to verbally express our faith in God, all the while living with doubts that He can or will come through for us in the end. And the end is a big question mark for many of us. And by end, I mean the end of life. Death looms like a dark cloud on the horizon, and we wonder what it holds in store for us. In spite of all the promises in Scripture and the assurances given to us by Jesus Himself, we can still find ourselves doubting the reality of heaven and struggling with understanding just what eternal life really means. So, as a result, we end up concentrating all our time and attention on this life. Which is something Solomon would highly recommend. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 11:1-16, he will go out of his way to encourage a live-for-the-moment kind of attitude. For Solomon, the one thing we can know for certain is that this life exists and it can be full of joy and sorrow, good and bad, blessings and curses. We know from experience that life on this planet can be tough at times. But we also know that it can come with some incredible blessings. But for Solomon, death was a veritable unknown. He knew it was coming, but beyond that, he wasn't quite so sure of what came next. Which is what led him to seek fulfillment and satisfaction from this life. And while Solomon didn't have the whole redemptive plan of God spread out in front of him, he should have known that his God was a good and gracious God, who keeps His promises. But somewhere along the way, Solomon's faith in God had become just about the only thing in his life that had not increased in quantity or quality. Which left him fearing the future and living for the moment.

Ep 476 – Ecclesiastes 10:8-20 Apr 06, 2018

Show notes

In the first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon addressed the inherent weaknesses with wisdom. But now, in verses 8-20, he provides us with ample proof of wisdom's worthiness. It's a good thing. And if anybody could speak as an authority in wisdom, it was Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived. He had a lot of experience with wisdom. And over his long life, he had used and abused it. He had experienced its many benefits and suffered the consequences of relying on wisdom without relying on the one who gives it: God. In these verses, Solomon will change writing styles, delivering his message in the style we normally associate with his other book, Proverbs. He'll deal with wisdom as it relates to work and then he'll apply the proper association between wisdom and the tongue. Let's face it, just about all of us have to work for a living, so a great deal of our life is spent in an arena where wisdom is desperately needed, but often in short supply. And every one of us knows what it's like to struggle with trying to speak wise words. Far too often, we speak before we think, and end up saying things we regret. Wisdom could save us from a multitude of troubles, if we just learned to shut up before we speak up. As James wrote, "the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself." And Solomon would have wholeheartedly agreed. Finally, Solomon closes out this chapter with a primer on wisdom and leadership. Nobody wants to be led by a fool, but sometimes we fail to notice that we're the ones at the head of the parade, and wisdom isn't the tune to which we're marching.

Ep 475 – Ecclesiastes 10:1-7 Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

Solomon had a lot to say about wisdom. On the pages of his two books, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, he promotes the positive attributes of wisdom repeatedly. But as a wise man himself, Solomon had learned the sobering lesson that wisdom alone was not enough. Even wise people suffer. They can even make dumb mistakes. Wisdom is not an anecdote to life's problems or some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card that guarantees a success. And in Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon is going to sing wisdom's praises, while exposing its weaknesses. In the first seven verses of the chapter, he uses some interesting comparisons in order to warn against the weakness of wisdom. By itself, it proves to be an insufficient resource for understanding life, let alone for navigating the ups and downs that life can throw at us. Underlying his thoughts in this chapter is the premise with which he opened this book. He stated, "I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind." In essence, Solomon concluded that as he grew wiser, he simply became sadder and more disenchanted with life lived under the sun. But what he had failed to remember was that wisdom began with a healthy reverence for God. It's not a commodity God doles out like candy, but the result of a vibrant relationship with Him. He is wisdom, which makes Him its very source. Wisdom comes from God, but only as we get to know Him for who He really is and as we allow Him to reveal to us who we really are, especially without Him.

Ep 474 – Ecclesiastes 9:7-18 Apr 04, 2018

Show notes

Time and chance. These were two commodities that Solomon believed drove the affairs of life. And both were in the hands of God. Time was something God doled out to the human race and, according to Solomon, it was in some kind of arbitrary and unexpected way. Nobody knew how much time they were allotted by God. It was impossible to know your death date. And to a certain degree, this made life seem like it was all up to chance. In Ecclesiastes 9:7-18, Solomon explores the futility found in a world dominated by time, which slips through your fingers like sand, and chance, which tends to leave your fate up in the air and the future, uncertain. As he has stated before, Solomon recommends a life focused on eating, drinking and merriment. In other words, a life of uninhibited pleasure-seeking, where you make the most of whatever time you have on this earth. And you should do it before chance steps in to rob you of the opportunity. Not exactly a glass-half-full kind of outlook on life. For Solomon, life was full of unexpected and undesirable outcomes. Which is why he tended to come across as so negative. His motto seemed to be "make the most of what you have" – whether that "what" referred to time, money, a good meal, your health or a relationship. But living life for the moment tends to rob life of its meaning and purpose. It causes you to put all your eggs in the basket you hold in your hands, while ignoring any future blessings God may have in store for you in the days ahead.

Ep 473 – Ecclesiastes 9:1-6 Apr 03, 2018

Show notes

Back in chapter 3 of his book Solomon made the wise and perceptive pronouncement that God "has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end." He was right. God has put a longing for eternity in the hearts of all men, but in our current fallen state, we have a difficult time comprehending what that might look like. We are stuck in the here-and-now, unable to see beyond the grave. What little we know about life after death, we find in the Word of God. But much of what we have heard is nothing more than the blind conjecture of men. No one knows. And so, Solomon, unable to see beyond the grave, puts all his emphasis on the present. But as usual, he misses the point. He fails to comprehend what God has placed in the hearts of all men: The reality that there is an eternity awaiting each and every one of us. Because God is the god of eternity. And we are eternal creatures whom He has made. Solomon had no problem discerning the divine power of God. He was fully aware that God was in control of all things, including life and death. But what he couldn't understand is how the seeming injustices of this life would one day be worked out in the next life. He saw life as a struggle that ended in death, and nobody knew what lay beyond death's door. So, Solomon recommended making this life your main point of emphasis. As he so aptly put it, "A living dog is better than a dead lion." But what Solomon failed to recognize was the hope we have in an eternal God who has promised eternal life to whose faith is in Him and His promise of salvation.

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