Tag: Sunday rest and reflection
Sunday Rest and Reflection:Death Swallowed!
Dear Friends,
What a beautiful day of resurrection celebration! The first day of the week is when Christians gather because it was the day Christ rose from the dead and neathly folded the burial shroud. He laid it aside and the tomb was empty! Angels rolled away the stone so that His disciples and followers could see for themselves what had transpired. This brought awe and wonder and led to worship as Mary recognized Jesus after mistaking him for the gardener. Worship is our response today and awe and wonder should still be our response to the risen Christ!
Reflecting on this week’s reading, Isaiah 25:7-8 stands out for me. “On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.” On Mt. Zion, Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy by offering Himself as the sinless sacrifice for our sins. He was laid in an empty tomb and wrapped in a burial sheet. Early on the first day of the week, Sunday, the Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb. A strong earthquake shook the earth, guards fell over, and an angel of the Lord came and rolled away the stone. (Matthew 28:1-7) Peter came sometime later and saw the strips of linen cloth lying by themselves. (Luke 24:12) The grave was empty and Jesus was no longer there!
Death had been conquered and this shroud of death that covers all men because of Adam’s sin had been removed. Faith in Jesus Christ removes the shame and disgrace of our sins and opens eternal life for us! This is reason to celebrate and worship! “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1st Corinthians 15:54) By faith we wait in hope for that glorious day!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:The Branch
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this day of rest and reflection! God is good to us and we have much to praise and thank Him for! We have a rich inheritance in Jesus Christ! He is our portion and the way to our promised eternal inheritance! As you gather today with God’s people for worship and receiving His Word, bow your head and heart and thank Him for loving you and saving you! Offer your heart to Him afresh today and humbly receive His grace!
Reflecting on the reading from this week, I would focus our attention on Isaiah 4 and the “Branch of the Lord”. Isaiah had been seeing a vision of Jerusalem and Judah under God’s judgment for their sin of rebellion. After that harsh judgment, Isaiah saw this “Branch of the Lord” that would be beautiful and glorious. He would come from the remnant that the Lord left by His grace. This remnant would be called holy and remain in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2-3)
The Lord would wash away their crimson stains by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. His glorious presence would enshroud Mt. Zion and those assembled there with a cloud of smoke by day and a flaming canopy of fire by night. This glorious presence would be a hiding place and a shelter from storm and rain.
As we look at this passage today, we see God’s grace in sparing a remnant of His people in order to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as King David. This “Branch” grew out of the remnant and was of the lineage of David. His ministry was to offer cleansing and forgiveness of sins first to His own people and then to the world. He took our own sins in His body on the cross and shed His sinless blood to cleanse us by a spirit of judgment and fire of the wrath of God. He rose again from the dead and ascended to the Father to send the precious Holy Spirit to be a glorious presence residing in His people. Through the Spirit, they would be kept safe and empowered to be witnesses through any storm.
We are enjoying the initial fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic word. One day, we who know the Lord will enjoy His glorious presence face to face! Come Lord Jesus!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:Wise Living
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the wonderful name of the Lord! The earliest church members were accused of being drunk on wine on the day of Pentecost! Instead, they had the best “high” of all, they were filled with the Holy Spirit! I pray that you will find joy and fellowship in God’s house today with the people of God! Worship and God’s word have wonderful after-effects of hope, encouragement and peace in our souls.
As I reflect on the readings of the last week in Proverbs, I am struck by the great need for God’s wisdom in our lives today. We can so easily become drunk, not just with alcohol, but with the ways of this world and our flesh. Material things and indulgence also dull our souls and cause us to live without purpose. Living for self and things is empty and leaves no lasting satisfaction because stuff doesn’t last and we always want more and better. It becomes outdated, breaks down, or loses it’s ability to give us pleasure.
The fear and honor of God is the beginning of wisdom and source of all true purpose and satisfaction. When I live for God and seek to love and honor Him, I find myself thinking His thoughts and desiring His ways. He is loving and compassionate to all. As I love God, I find myself loving others and wanting the best for them. When I love God and love others, I am most like God and most satisfied with my life and purpose! This is the essence of wise living and a life that God can bless.
May the Lord give you wisdom today to live wisely in this life! “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”” (1st Corinthians 1:30-31)
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:Freedom to Celebrate God
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this Sunday, July 4th! What a day to celebrate freedom in Jesus Christ! It is not only our nation’s birthday, but it is another celebration of the resurrection of the King of Kings! Now that’s something to get excited about! Jesus Christ is alive and our gathering together to Him could happen at any time. That’s when the real fireworks starts! A flash of lightening will light up the sky from east to west and the trumpet will sound and graves will be opened! We who are alive and remain, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air! We shall ever be with Him!
We celebrate our freedom today to worship in the church of our choice. Many countries do not have religious freedom but we are blessed by God to have no fear when we gather to praise our Lord. We are free to choose where and when and how we worship. This is a blessing to have choices and to be able to follow our hearts. We must be careful not to let our freedom become license to neglect the Lord and gathering with His people. Many have taken that route to their own destruction!
We celebrate God, Himself! Our awesome God is the King of Kings! He has forgiven us our sins and healed our diseases. He has redeemed our life from the pit and from destruction. He is a Father who has compassion on His children and is loving and merciful toward all He has made! He is our refuge in time of trouble and He protects us from all our enemies. He rules the universe in justice and truth, having all power and authority. He has promised us eternal life with Him and joy unspeakable as we dwell in His glory! What a celebration we can have today!
May the love of the Father and of Jesus Christ and the precious Holy Spirit bring you a brilliant revelation of His goodness that lights up your soul with heavenly fireworks on this special day!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:A Priest Forever
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ! He is our great priest who is now interceding for us at the right hand of God our Father! A priest stands between God and man and mediates issues between them. He offers sacrifices and bridges the gap between them. Jesus is uniquely qualified to do this because of who He is!
As I reflect on this past week’s readings, I am drawn to Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is quoted seven times in the New Testament and was used by Jesus to silence the religious leaders who were trying to trap him. (Matthew 22:44-46) The writer of Hebrews wrote extensively about Melchizedek, the priest of God Most High to whom Abraham paid a tithe of the spoils of Sodom. (Genesis 14:18-20)(Hebrews 7) Melchizedek was the king of Salem, the earlier name for the city of Jerusalem. He was also a priest of God Most High. He is unique in Jewish history, because there is no record of his birth or death. He appears and then is not mentioned again until Psalm 110 as being a priest of a special order.
Jesus Christ is a priest of this order! He is holy and blameless, set apart for God. He is King and will rule the earth from Jerusalem one day. He is declared a priest by God’s oath, not by the law: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind; ‘You are a priest forever.'” (Psalm 110:4) He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices for us, His people, day after day because He offered Himself for us once for all! (Hebrews 7:26-28) He ever lives to intercede for us and is the Son of God, made perfect forever!
That’s who we worship and why we gather each week on the first day! We celebrate our great priest who is King forever! We honor Him who sacrificed His own body and blood for us! We pray and give ourselves to do His work! What an honor to serve our King!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:Pass It On!
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this wonderful day of rest and reflection! What a day to gather with God’s people and celebrate God’s awesome presence, our salvation, and the coming rapture! The trumpet will sound and God’s people will be caught up to meet Him in the air, and thus we will ever be with the Lord. These are comforting words! We should always remember them when we gather with God’s people!
Today, I am thinking about another reason to gather together with each other. Psalm 78:1-8 tells of passing our values and knowledge of God on to the next generation. Faith is always only a generation away from extinction! If we fail to pass the baton of faith to the next generation, who will pass it to our children? How will they know of God’s power, His wonders, and His mighty acts of deliverance? How will they have faith to live a life pleasing to God?
God’s people have often neglected to pass on values and God’s law to their children. The results were always devastating! Sin leads to death and misery, no other destination! I have observed that faithful church attendance is a good way to pass values on to the next generation. That must be coupled with a life that is lived consistently day by day in the power of the Holy Spirit. God promises to be present with us and help us to live consistently.
We must remember that our flesh tends to be stubborn and rebellious. It is easy to make excuses and neglect the discipline of weekly church attendance, daily devotions and Bible reading. We get so busy that our priorities are out of order. The enemy of our soul also works to keep us from doing those things that promote spiritual health and the passing of values to our children. He is always out to disrupt that process because he wants to destroy our offspring.
Why not make some new priorities today to regular church attendance and consistent living? The purpose of that is your own spiritual health and the passing of values to the next generation. God will honor this and work with you. You and your offspring will be blessed by your decision!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:No Hearse Pulling a Uhaul!
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this Lord’s day, a day of celebration and rejoicing in our glorious King who is coming soon and suddenly for His Bride! The Church is preparing for the greatest day in all of its history! She is putting on spotless garments of Christ’s righteousness and preparing for the trumpet call that will come at an hour unexpected by the lost world. The Bride will be taken to the wedding supper and will experience joy unspeakable and full of Glory as they see Jesus Christ face to face! Oh, what a day that will be!
As I reflect on the readings of this last week, Psalm 49 draws my attention on this day of rest. The psalmist was reflecting on the rich and famous who trusted in their riches rather than in God. When death came to them, whatever wealth or possessions that they had went to others. (Psalm 49:10-11) The man who trusted in himself, his riches and fame had no real hope. They are destined for the grave and destruction. The psalmist spoke of death as “feeding on them”. (Psalm 49:14)
But the psalmist trusted in God. He knew that money could not buy his soul or ransom him from destruction. He trusted in God to redeem him from the grave and death. (Psalm 49:14-15) In fact, the godly will rule over the wicked in the morning of resurrection. The psalmist had resurrection faith and trusted in the mercy and grace of God to redeem him!
Many today live as if money and fame are the main points of life. They neglect God and His people. They make light of His laws and commands to love and worship Him and to love others. They run after the rich and famous and heartily approve of their sayings, even though they are ungodly and vile in God’s sight. The psalmist had a deep understanding of the end of all men. Those who lived for themselves would utterly perish. Those who lived for God would rule in the end forever!
Ask God to give you a clear picture of these truths today as you choose to worship Him and give yourself to obey His Word! The rewards are truly out of this world!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:Psalm 8
Dear Friends,
Greetings on this wonderful day of rest! We rest in the love and grace of a Savior who died for us and rose again to demonstrate His victory over death! We rest in His protective covering against our enemies and His justice. All who have trusted in Him receive mercy and forgiveness of sin and its penalty. All who are evil will be punished and we will be forever free from the enemy of our soul, Satan and his demons. We rest in His promise of eternal life in a glorified body and will live forever in His presence! What joy and reason to worship!
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” (Psalm 8:1) The Lord of heaven is our Lord! A personal relationship with Him is found in His Son, Jesus Christ! (Psalm 2:7,12) God’s name is majestic, invoking worship and wonder! His glory is above all the wondrous and beautiful heavens!
“From the lips of children and infants, you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” (Psalm 8:2) Children and infants easily praise the Lord without inhibitions. Praise on our lips is fitting for God’s “children”. Through simple and sincere worship, the enemy of our soul is silenced! Satan’s lies and accusations cannot penetrate the connection between God and His praising children! This is one reason why it is so important to be in a worship service with God’s children today!
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:3-5) The vast size and majesty of creation makes man seem insignificant. However, God has created man in His image and likeness. He is crowned with glory and honor. Man has been assigned rulership and dominion over creation and has great responsibility under the Creator! Part of gathering with God’s people is to receive instructions for dominion and to enhance God’s image in us!
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:9)
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:The Outer Fringe of God
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Glorious Name of Jesus Christ! The first day of the week was set aside by the early church to worship, because on that day Jesus Christ rose from the dead! The most significant truth and proof that Jesus is the Son of God was his powerful resurrection. That truth was verified by all the apostles and by over 500 who saw Him alive on one occasion. The apostles were so impressed and sure of the resurrection that they preached it and most of them gave their lives rather than deny it! Please gather with God’s people today and celebrate Jesus Christ as the resurrected Son of God!
As I reflect back on the reading for this past week, I am taken to Job’s reply to Bildad in Job 26. Bildad had told Job that man was no more than a maggot or worm and God was so great and powerful that man meant nothing to Him. Job responded with a description of God as the glorious creator of the universe and the one who hung the earth on nothing. God is the creator and creation reveals a God of power and thoughtful care for that creation. Reflecting on creation helps us know about God, but Job felt that what he learned from creation was “but the outer fringe of His works.” (Job 26:14) Creation was a “faint whisper” of God compared to all there was to know and understand. Job longed for a deeper understanding.
Job likened the search for God as men searching the depths of the earth for gold or silver or other precious metals. But God’s wisdom cannot be found by man in all his puny efforts. It can’t be bought with anything on earth. Job came to the conclusion that the fear of the Lord was wisdom and to shun evil was understanding! (Job 28:28) Faith has its foundation in the fear of the Lord. A humble respect for the God of creation brings true wisdom. From exploring the outer fringes of God through creation, God comes to Job (and us) with revelation and faith opens our inner eyes to see Him! Our redeemer lives! Resurrection life will be glorious! Though He slay me yet will I trust Him! He has become my salvation!
In His Love, Pastor John
Sunday Rest and Reflection:Willing Sacrifice
Dear Friends,
Greetings in the Glorious Name of Jesus! It is such a joy to be able to be in God’s house with God’s people to worship the one who willingly gave His life for us! No one has to force me to go to church; I delight to do that! It’s not just because I am a pastor either, for I would do this regardless! It isn’t a sacrifice; it is a great privilege and also a sacred responsibility. My wife and children are watching me. They are looking at my life and my leadership. They are learning by my example. My friends and neighbors are also watching. More than any of these, God, Himself is watching and knows my heart!
Esther was part of the Jewish nation in captivity. She was placed in the King’s palace in a foreign land and when one of the King’s officials plotted the murder of all Jews, she had a decision to make. It could have cost her life and position, but she fasted and made the necessary sacrifice willingly. (Esther 4:16) The end result was the saving of her people from execution. (Esther 9:22)
Job was a great man from the East who trusted in God. He willingly made sacrifices for his children each day to intercede for their souls. (Job 1:5) They were all killed in a sudden storm, but the end of Job tells of a double return for Job in everything he lost. He had ten more children, but the implication is that the other ten would be seen again in heaven! (Job 42:10-13)
As you join today with God’s people, willingly give yourself and your tithes and offerings to see God’s saving grace in your family and nation! Eternity will reveal the great rewards!
In His Love, Pastor John