Words from The First and The Last

Words from The First and The Last

The book of revelations records,
“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.
  I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.  
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.”Revelations 2:8-11 
As I noted in my previous blog through the book of Revelations Jesus speaks to seven churches.
Scholars have noted that these churches can be taken as symbolic of churches even church movements, that are around today and have existed throughout history. Additionally they can be personalized by individuals.
The Second church mentioned is Smyrna. That was located at a major port city just north of Ephesus. The Imperial Roman cult was presence in the city as was a large number of Jews.
Here Jesus identifies Himself as “the First and the Last, “who died and came to life again.”
He notes that the church has gone through affliction and poverty yet is rich. It notes that they are slandered by people claiming to be Jews but were not.
It also offers words of comfort for anyone undergoing persecution for their faith today saying,
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” 
Today around the world there are churches and individuals who are as one person said “in dangerous neighbourhoods”. Areas of the world where being a follower of Jesus Christ can get you put in jail, attacked or even murdered.
It is said one Christian is murdered for their faith every seven minutes somewhere in the world. Many more are put in prison.
If you are a Christian living in the west that is not undergoing persecution take time to remember the persecuted church. Men and Women who are suffering for their faith. Take time to pray and if you are in the western democracies especially write to your member of parliament, or prime minister. Ask them to bring up the plight of persecuted Christians. It can’t hurt but it may just do a lot of good.
Perhaps even bring up to your pastor and Church congregation the need to keep praying and doing what you can to help believers in Christ that are being persecuted.
Please think about it.

Your First Love

Your First Love
The book of Revelations widely believed to be written by the apostle John speaks of seven individual Churches.
The first Church addressed is Ephesus John writes,
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lamp stands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  
You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.  
But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Revelations 2:1-7.
It has been said that each church addressed in the book or Revelations is representative (symbolic) of Churches that have existed throughout history and are around today. Further more one can personalize these churches.
Thus we can look at what is said about these church’s and see if it is like the church congregation or denomination or church movement we are involved with. At the same time we can look at ourselves and see if we are acting like the church described.
Here the Ephesian church is commended for what they have gone through, for their hard work. He commends them for not tolerating wicked men. For their testing of false prophets. He even commends them for hating the practices of the Nicolaitans a group of heretics.
He then says,
“I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.”
Our first love as believers must be God.
It is possible for a church or an individual to seem to be doing everything right yet not be truly following God.
Church congregations can hold bible studies, prayer meetings, help the poor, do all a Christian is suppose to do, yet not have God as their first love.
There are Churches and denominations today that require a believer in Christ to follow a very strict set of rules in order to be a member of their group.
The Pharisees in the time of Jesus were a good example of this. Intellectually they believed in God. But God was not their first love. They believed that in order to follow God correctly one had to follow a carefully crafted set of rules. Following the rules became more important to them than worshipping God.
Recently here in Canada there was a minister who said she was an Atheist but still wanted the denomination she was ordained in to keep her on as a minister.
This person was a good person, doing everything a minister does. Which to this persons mind meant she could still qualify as a minister. She missed the point.
In order to be a Christian cleric, one must first believe in God. Our faith in God must come first.
If our church congregations, denominations, ministers or even we as individuals do not have God at the root of our faith. Do not have God as our first love, we are falling short of what Jesus wants for our lives.
This is the lesson to be learned from Ephesians. The church in Ephesus had gone through a lot. For a time they were a shining light. But at the writing of the Book of Revelations they had lost their first love.
We as believers in Christ Jesus go through a lot in life. However we should never let what we are going through take us away from our first love.
Why not take some time to evaluate your relationship with Jesus, with God. Is He truly the first love of your life?
Please think about it. 

The Christian Life

The Christian Life
Someone said to me a few days ago,
“I have a feeling the new decade 2020 will be a time of revival.” They are not the first. Such feelings happen a lot in Christian circles at the end of decades, centuries and millennia.
That being said I thought it only right to address the issue. So for my next few blogs I am writing about what I believe God expects of Christians, believers in Christ Jesus. At the same time I am taking a look at the various types of churches that exist today through the lense of the churches mentioned in the book of revelations.
In this blog however I would like to look at what the apostle Peter says Christians are and should be doing.
The apostle Peter states,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 
Dear friends,
I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:9-12.
Do you do this?
Many years ago I was told by my first pastor to memorize the words of Jesus who said,

“So in everything,

 do to others what you would have them do to you,

 for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” 

                                                                                         Matthew 7:12.

He told me if you sincerely believe what Jesus is saying you will always remember to present the gospel of Christ in a respectful manner to all who will listen.
In following these words of Christ you will find yourself respecting those of different faiths, lifestyles, and positions in life.
Not only that you will find yourself being respected by others. And those who have the respect of others find it easier to present the gospel of Christ to non-believers.
The writer of Hebrews states,

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men

 and to be holy; 

without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 

                                                                                       Hebrews 12:14.

Please think about it.

Hell in a Handbarrow

Hell in a Handbarrow
Some time ago I came across a book by John B. Harrington called Essentials in Christian Faith published in 1958. After reading it I realized it could have been written yesterday, it’s message was,... is, that relevant.
It opens with this quote from Paul Gallico published in Esquire Magazine in 1948:
  “A writer in a popular magazine has written the following words; 'We are all, if you will pardon the expression, Headed for Hell in a handbarrow. If, ever the people of the world stood in need of a spiritual revival, it is now. We are beginning to poison the face of the earth with our miserable presence. The brakes are off. The cart of the world is sliding down the way greased with hatred, ambition, lies, self-seeking and avarice toward the pit.’"
  Harrington notes that Gallico makes no pretense of being "a religious man" noting that,  
  "...for him it is precisely religion in its organized forms which has in part caused the situation he deplores. He is careful to state that it is not "religion" for which he is looking. For in his opinion, religion throughout the history of our culture has advanced its control over human beings by the investment of bigotry and persecution. 
  Yet, out of despair over the current human situation he says; ‘The voice for which my heavy spirit is yearning must reach us all... For if it is not heard, we are lost. 
Something beyond our material enrichment and lust for power and position, some rewards founded on good will, selflessness, and the innate dignity of the human spirit...honour, humility, decency courage.”
If Paul Gallico is right and I believe he is, mankind is considerably nearer the bottom of that slope than he was in 1948. Moreover at the bottom of that slope is a very deep lake filled with brimstone.
Another Paul writing to a member of the first century church wrote the following,
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" 2 Timothy 3:1-4
This is happening today.
As I look around the world today it is easy to look a the various terrorist groups who claim to be acting in the name of their faith when they are not. They are simply evil men who attach religious names to themselves to try an justify what they are doing.
The same is true for many politicians and others here in the west. While they espouse “Christian values” their words and deeds show they do not.
Christianity is not immune to false teachers. In fact it is to Christians that the apostle Paul is writing to.
There are many men and women calling themselves Christian pastors, evangelist, who are not. This is true also for many who sit in the pews.
Jesus warned of us about such people saying,
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”Matthew 7:21-23.
As believers in Christ Jesus it is incumbent on us to show the world there is rest for their weary soul. That there is something beyond this world and the materialism there in. As Gallico puts it, “Something beyond our material enrichment and lust for power and position...”
Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
This is the message we as believers in Christ Jesus must reach out to the world with. For if we don’t we just may condemn someone to a Christless eternity.
Please think about it.

The Message of Christ

The message of Christ
The apostle Paul wrote,
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” Titus 3:4,5.
Writing to the Romans Paul states,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.
C. S. Lewis put what Christians believe this way,
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”  C.S. Lewis.
Christians believe individuals cannot work your way to heaven. The prophet Isaiah saying,
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6
The apostle Paul noting,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.
It is our faith in the saving grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ that saves us. Not our works.
The writer of Hebrews telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6.
The writer of Hebrews defining faith as,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for

 and certain of what we do not see.”  

                                                 Hebrews 11:1.

This is the message all Christians, all believers in Christ Jesus are called to do.
Do you believe this?
Please think about it.

Beware

Beware
The apostle Paul warns,
"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2Timothy 4:3,4.
The church as an institution has been around for centuries and like any institution that has been around that long, it has picked up a lot of baggage. Baggage the founding fathers of Christianity never intended to be there. That God never intended to be there.
Not only that there are many claiming to be Christians that are not.
The apostle Peter warns
"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.  
Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping." 2 Peter 2:1-3.
As believers in Christ Jesus we must be careful when it comes to the pastors, evangelist and others claiming to be Christians.
We must pray, read and study the scriptures for ourselves in order to know if what the teacher is saying is correct and not taken out of context.
As believers in Christ Jesus we are called to follow Jesus, to follow God by faith NOT specific preachers, evangelist or others claiming to have the truth.
Our faith must never be in a man.
As the writer of Hebrews puts it,
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12:2.
Please think about it.

Do Good Seek Peace

Do Good Seek Peace
The Psalmist writes,

"Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 

keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. 

Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." 

                                                                             Psalm 34:11-14.

Turn from evil, do good, seek peace and pursue it. This is a not only the call from the psalmist it is a call from God.
The apostle Peter writes,
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 
Dear friends,
I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:9-12.
So my question to you if you claim to be a true believer in Christ Jesus is; are you living such a good life among the non-believers around you that even though they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your good deeds and glorify God when he returns?
Please think about it.

All Day Long

All Day Long

The Psalmist writes,

"My tongue will speak of your righteousness 

and of your praises all day long."

                                               Psalm 35:28

If you claim to be a true follower of Christ Jesus do you speak of the righteousness of the Lord whenever you get a chance? Do you praise God often?
You should.
To quote the Psalmist again,

“Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;

 it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 

Praise the LORD with the harp; 

make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 

Sing to him a new song; 

play skillfully, and shout for joy.” 

                                           Psalm 33:1-3.

Why not take a few minutes now to praise God. To glorify His holy name?
Please think about it.

Give thanks

Give Thanks
In the book of Chronicles we read,

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; 

make known among the nations what he has done. 

Sing to him, sing praise to him; 

tell of all his wonderful acts. 

Glory in his holy name;

 let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 

Look to the LORD and his strength; 

seek his face always. 

Remember the wonders he has done, 

his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,...” 

                                                               1 Chronicles 16:8-12.

If you consider yourself a believer in God, a believer in Christ Jesus, can you give glory to God? Can you praise God.
For me praising God is quite therapeutic. In praising God I am made aware of His love. Of the fact that I do indeed have a lot to be thankful for.
If you claim to be a Christian. A believer in Christ Jesus, do you take time somewhere in your day to give thanks to God?
Please think about it.

All things work together

All things work together
The apostle Paul writes,
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
This portion of scripture can be the hardest thing to believe, especially when we are going through tough times.
Yet the apostle Paul believed this and the apostle Paul was someone who was no stranger to hard times.  Through all the hardship Paul went through, things did work for good. For it helped spread the gospel of Christ throughout the know world.
Paul during his life time was able to speak to the common man. He spoke to intellectuals in Athens. Was able to witness to people after a shipwreck. Paul also witnessed to Jewish leaders, to a Jailor, Roman soldiers, governors, even the Roman emperor himself.
Paul no matter what he went through lived his faith in word and in deed. Which is what we are called to do in our lives today.
So my question to anyone reading this who claims to be a follower of Christ Jesus. Do you believe what Paul wrote? Are you despite what you are going through, good or bad, telling people of your faith in Christ Jesus in world and in deed?
Please think about it. 

Our Journey

Our Journey
The Psalmist writes,

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. 

                                                                                      Psalm 23.

Life is never smooth sailing over calm waters. Life is more like a journey to a distant land. To get there we must walk not only through green pastures on pleasant sunny days, but  through storms and dark valleys.
The end however for anyone who believes in Christ Jesus, is entering into the house of the LORD. Where we will dwell forever.
Please think about it.

Shout for Joy!

Shout for Joy!
The Psalmist writes,

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 

Worship the LORD with gladness;

 come before him with joyful songs. 

Know that the LORD is God. 

It is he who made us, and we are his; 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 

give thanks to him and praise his name. 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; 

his faithfulness continues through all generations.” 

                                                                             Psalm 100.

Today is New Years day here in Canada. It is a time of celebration when we gather with family and friends.
If you are a believer in Christ Jesus I would urge you on this day and every day throughout the coming year to follow the words of the Psalmist who said,

“Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; 

praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; 

praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, 

praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, 

praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals, 

praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD.” 

                          Psalm 150

Please Think about it.