Comings - Revelation 22:17

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' Let anyone who hears this say, 'Come.' Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life." There are two comings requested in this verse and they seem to be inclusive of one another. The first request is for Christ, the bridegroom, to come and is made by the bride, the Church, who is inhabited or indwelt by the Holy Spirit. But the invitation to come is also to those who have not yet come to faith in Christ and His salvation. And we can assume that the Spirit and the bride make this second request as well. Throughout the centuries, God’s people have waited for, prayed for, hoped for, and watched for Christ’s return. This intercession for Christ's soon return is clearly demonstrated in the closing words of John's revelation: "Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" (vs. 20). But this blessed hope is an entirely evangelistic proposition because it's a shared hope! You can't want the Lord to come without wanting people to come to the Lord. Thus, the coming of the Lord is inclusive of the coming to the Lord. And when others come to believe in Christ, then they join in the matrimonial chorus of intercession for His soon return. With the coming of the new year let our prayer be "Come quickly, Lord Jesus" and let us put our prayers into action by inviting others to come to the Lord Jesus.

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know - Malachi 1:2

"I have always loved you,” says the Lord." Malachi wrote to the Jewish exiles that had resettled in Judah probably sometime during the reign of King Darius of Persia (521-486 BC). Malachi begins his oracle by conveying the simple truth that God has always loved Israel. Malachi's portrayal of the love relationship between God and Israel has covenant implications. God's love may be identified with God’s choice of Israel as His people. God chose Israel to be His people; consequently, God loved them. So God loves His chosen people and wants to enter into a love relationship (covenant) with them. As I put my little girl to bed one night, we sang (as we always do) the familiar children's song--"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so"--and I personalized it with her name. This particular night as we sang the song, it seemed that the Holy Spirit impressed upon me the reality of the words of this simple children's song--that God's love for me and my little children is the basis for our present and eternal existence--an everlasting covenant of love. It's what gives everything meaning. I had never realized the song made such a profound theological statement! In fact, in less than ten words both Malachi and the chorus of this song say everything I try to say in a year of Bible meditations: "Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so." That's the message I try to relate through two hundred and fifty or so blog posts as I work my way through a version of the Bible each year. Yet, no post I write can express the simple truth of the reality of God's love with such clarity (and so succinctly) as do the words to this song or Malachi's opening declaration. But I take consolation in the fact that though the message is simple and true because the Bible declares it, it's the "this I know" part that seems to take a lifetime to learn and develop. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, the Bible tells me so. Yet, do I believe this? And how does this belief impact my life? Thus, I must repeatedly reinforce this message of God's supreme and absolute love for me, my children, and all His people through daily Bible study and prayer (and blog posts) to fully know and experience its reality. "And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Holy Cooking Pots - Zechariah 14:20-21

"On that day even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with these words: Holy to the Lord. And the cooking pots in the Temple of the Lord will be as sacred as the basins used beside the altar. In fact, every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. All who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices." The last chapter of the book of Zechariah closes with visions of both the salvation and judgment that occurs at the coming of God's universal Kingdom--"the day of the Lord." These last verses of the chapter and the book describe the pervasiveness of God's holiness in His Kingdom. So much so that even the inscription on the harness bells of horses and the cooking pots in the Temple will be holy. On the day of the Lord, the words inscribed on the plate on the turban worn by the high priest will be inscribed on horse bells. On that day, the pots and pans used to boil the meat or collect the ashes of animals sacrificed at the altar will become as holy as the bowls used to catch the blood of the slaughtered animal. But for common cooking pots to become holy and for horse bells to announce God's holiness, they must come into contact with something holy. Because God will dwell on the earth with His people on the day of the Lord, His holiness will transform even ordinary utensils into sacred vessels. God's presence makes the profane sacred, the ordinary extraordinary! God's presence sanctifies what is common and makes it special! Please Lord, make me a holy cooking pot! "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves" (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Small Beginnings, Enormous Endings - Zechariah 4:10

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand." When the first wave of Jewish exiles returned to Judea, they were enthusiastic about rebuilding the Temple that had been destroyed by the Babylonians nearly fifty years earlier. But when their efforts to start rebuilding the Temple were opposed and resisted by neighboring nations and internally by the current inhabitants of the land, the repatriated Jews became discouraged and the Temple continued to lie in ruins for almost twenty more years. Zechariah encouraged the Jews with a vision of the future. Within Zechariah’s sermons and visions were messages specifically addressed to the governor, Zerubbabel, the high priest, Jeshua, and the other priests. In this particular message God declared to Zerubbabel that He wanted to empower the Jews to rebuild the Temple and He would bless even the smallest effort to start--in this case, seeing Zerubbabel taking measurements for the blueprints of the Temple. God will bless small beginnings and turn them into enormous endings because even the littlest effort is an act of faith that God can bless. After all, it is not the power of your own will or strength that accomplishes great things--these enormous endings--for God, but it is the power of His Spirit working through you: "It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit" (vs. 6). During the Christmas season we are reminded that God works precisely in this way--turning small beginnings into enormous endings. When God came to earth to save humanity, the Savior was born in a barn and his parents used a feed trough for livestock as His cradle. Then they had to flee the country to prevent the child from being killed by a jealous and despotic king. And yet from these humble beginnings, the Kingdom of God was inaugurated and the redemption of humanity was accomplished! "I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:10-12).

Why Does God Allow Evil? - Revelation 12:7-11

"Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels. And the dragon lost the battle, and he and his angels were forced out of heaven. This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, 'It has come at last— salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony.'" This passage from John's revelation of the future indicates there is a rebellion against God that is of epochal or universal proportions. And this world and humanity are the battleground for this war. This passage explains that the dragon to which it refers is Satan and that he deceives the world and has a following of other angelic beings. Some interpret this time of the dragon's defeat and ejection from heaven as referring to the incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Nevertheless, three principles arise from this passage that help explain the presence of evil in the created order:

1. The events of this world are decreed and managed in heaven. God actively presides and rules over His created order. Thus, ultimate control and supreme authority over the universe emanate from God.
2. The evil that exists in this world is of cosmic proportions. The evil of this world transcends earthly events and its fundamental nature is ultimate insubordination to God's authority.
3. Evil is fundamentally a spiritual issue and, therefore, must be addressed in the spiritual realm.

Our ancestors effectively joined Satan's rebellion and so by being born human we are co-conspirators in this rebellion. God's justice system requires supreme restitution for the crime of rebellion, but Christ received the punishment for this high crime on behalf of all human beings. In other words, Christ has come to defeat the rebellion of Satan and those of humanity who join Satan in this rebellion against God's Kingdom: "But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil." (I John 3:8). While the mastermind of this rebellion, Satan, has enjoined humanity in his sedition, is it the result of a cosmic error in planning by God? An unintended consequence of free will? Collateral damage to the created order? Absolutely not! The redemption of human beings has always been God's plan since the creation of the world: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). The redemption of humanity is not to fix any galactic mistake or oversight God made in creation. We know from the biblical record and from our own human experience that we often learn best by learning from our mistakes. The biblical narrative is replete with well-intentioned and some not-so-well-intentioned people not obeying God. Regrettably, people often better understand God’s will by not doing it! Mercy is better received by those in need of it! John's revelation clearly discloses that God wins! God ultimately defeats the evil that has infiltrated this world though He may allow it to reside for a time to advance His redemptive plan. God is almighty and His plan is supreme, even to the extent that He can use the evil acts committed by persons and even the devil himself to work His good purposes. It seems that God is best able to redeem people in a world that is occupied by evil.

Staying Focused - Nehemiah 6:15-16

"So on October 2 the wall was finished—just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Nehemiah Chapter 6 recounts the extraordinary political intrigue taking place behind the scenes attempting to prevent Nehemiah and the Jews from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah was intimidated and threatened by former political officials and even some of the Jewish leaders conspired with these former officials to have Nehemiah killed. Yet, despite all this opposition, Nehemiah was able to organize and spearhead an initiative to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem and complete the project in just fifty-two days! The speed and success of the reconstruction project testifies to the fact that with God's help His people can accomplish quite amazing things. Furthermore, Nehemiah remained remarkably focused on the task God had called him to do in spite of all the distraction. In fact, the more pressure that was applied to Nehemiah, the more determined and steadfast he became: "They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination" (vs. 9). The focus on accomplishing God's plans and purposes demonstrated by Nehemiah requires that we are sure of our calling and certain that God is at work in us and through us. We must know and understand what God wants to do with our lives--His will--and He will give us the enabling power and staying power needed to accomplish our respective assignments. "I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us" (Philippians 3:13-14).

Solving Society's Problems - Nehemiah 5:15

"But because I feared God, I did not act that way." Nehemiah was the cup-bearer to the Persian king, Artaxerxes (465-424 BC). The cup-bearer was a trusted confidant of the king. When Nehemiah heard about setbacks in the reconstruction of Jerusalem, he requested the king's permission to return to Judea. Artaxerxes made Nehemiah governor of the province of Judea for twelve years. Nehemiah organized an effort to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Although he encountered both external and internal opposition, this major construction project was promptly completed. Severe financial distress for some people threatened progress on the wall's completion. Some farmers were diverting their efforts from growing crops to building the wall and required assistance in feeding their families. Some small landowners had mortgaged everything to survive and a famine in the land added to their hardship. And they were burdened by the tribute (taxes) they had to pay to the Persians. But to make matters worse, wealthy Jews were charging interest when they made loans to fellow Jews. Nehemiah was angry that the wealthy would charge their countrymen interest despite provisions in the Mosaic law that discouraged oppressing the poor and encouraged helping the less fortunate. Nehemiah himself was making loans of money and food to people without burdening them with interest and so he considered the actions of these wealthy Jews as counterproductive to their identity as God's chosen people. Nehemiah demanded these wealthy oppressors restore the property that had been mortgaged to them and repay the interest they had charged. This verse is the conclusion to Nehemiah's declaration that during his tenure as governor of Judea, he and the officials of his administration never exercised their authority to draw a food allowance from the local population because he feared God. In other words, Nehemiah respected people and helped the poor and oppressed because he feared God. Respect for God and His truth and reality builds and develops your conscience; it gives you compassion for people; it promotes peace among human beings. The fear of God places certain demands on our behavior and restrains us from acting out our worst human tendencies. A little more of the "fear of God" among people, especially people in power, would go a long way toward solving many of our society's problems! "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).