15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. 19 For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross-- whether things on earth or things in heaven. Having grown up in the Roman Catholic church I am no stranger to Jesus statues. Although I do not remember having them at home, I do remember them at church. They represented Jesus Christ. The one pictured in today's blog shows Jesus' 2 hands gestures. The one with 3 fingers up (close together) with 2 down is meant to remind us of God's nature, God is 3 in 1 and the 2 natures of Jesus, 100% God and 100% man. Jesus' other hand is on His heart which they call "the Sacred Heart" and is meant to remind people of Jesus' love and the physical wound of the soldiers spear as well as the emotional wound of people's initial rejection. Aaron's passage this past Sunday ultimately is about Jesus having first place in all things. It starts by saying that Jesus is image of the invisible God. Literally meaning He is the idol of God. A physical manifestation of the God who cannot be seen, like a living statue of God Himself. Notice all the words that Paul used to remind us of the truth that Jesus has first place in all things; before, head, beginning, firstborn and first place. The end of the passage reminds us that Jesus' is fully God, "God was please to have all His fullness dwell in Him". This does not mean that God gave Jesus something that didn't belong to Him already, rather He was pleased to have all the fullness of God's nature to dwell in Jesus human body. Paul also highlights His humanity, "and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross". It was through Jesus' human body that He was able to give His blood on the cross. That same blood that made peace between us and God and brought rule back to man which was surrendered when Adam chose to disobey God in the beginning. Man was to rule and subdue the earth but Jesus now rules and subdues all Heaven and Earth and we get to rule with Him! Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15
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Colossians 1:9-14 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him. Finding out that someone you know and love is now a believer, someone who was lost and now found is a joy like no other. There is something that automatically connects you to them even closer than you were before and this almost inexplicable desire to see them succeed in their new relationship with Jesus Christ. It may just be a selfish desire to have a like minded friend that will do life with you but one thing that comes somewhat naturally is a desire to pray for them like never before. Paul in our passage today pours out his heart for the new believers of the church in Colossee. His desire that they, "be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" was not so that they can walk around with big heads full of knowledge about God but rather, "so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God". What good is a tree is if it doesn't grow and bear fruit as it was planted to. Knowing what we created for gives us direction. We were made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. All of this comes from Him and is for Him. Paul says, "He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves." What more can we ask for? Who can you think of right now that needs this rescue and transfer? Take a moment to pray for them as well as those whom you know who are new to the faith and need to be reminded or maybe directed for the first time to this precious and timeless truth. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15 Colossians 1: 1-8 HCSB Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Timothy our brother: To the saints in Christ at Colossae, who are faithful brothers. Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth,the gospel that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace in the truth. You learned this from Epaphras,our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah on your behalf, and he has told us about your love in the Spirit. Good Morning Loved Ones! We are taking a short break form the Book of Revelation and will return to it this coming Monday. I will be in Bible study this Sunday but we will have a guest speaker. He has chosen to speak from Colossians 1:15-20 so we will start from the beginning of the chapter today and work up to those verses by tomorrow in preparation for this Sunday. It is so easy to think the Christian life is about you and Jesus but the reality is, if we have the Son we have the Father, the Spirit and each other as well. I love that Paul start his letter by including Timothy as our brother. Such a humble start to a book that is all about the supremacy or first place of Christ in all things. Paul says that it is by God's will that he was an Apostle, which means "one who is sent". Notice that from the beginning Paul makes this a family affair. "Timothy our brother", "faithful brothers" and God our Father is how he chooses to introduce this letter. Then he goes into the sweet salvation we have in Christ and what gave the Colossian church confidence and motivated them to serve Jesus. It was the knowledge of eternal security for all those who belong to Jesus. The Apostle Paul says, "the love you have for all the saints because of the hope reserved for you in heaven. You have already heard about this hope in the message of truth,the gospel that has come to you. It is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has among you since the day you heard it and recognized God’s grace in the truth." It is a privilege to be called family and saints, which simply means set apart. But then he shifts to responsiblity into KIngdom mode calling Epaphras,"our dearly loved fellow slave. He is a faithful servant of the Messiah". We have been granted family status in Christ but also the privilege and responsibility of service. No matter how close we grow in relationship to our Savior we should never forget our place in the Kingdom. He is the King, we are His slaves and servants purchased by blood. What a beautiful privilege once you know the One who is supreme over all things yet calls you family. May this fuel your soul as you go about your day. Have great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15 Revelation 9: 7-12 7 The appearance of the locusts was like horses equipped for battle.Something like gold crowns was on their heads; their faces were like men’s faces; 8 they had hair like women’s hair; their teeth were like lions’ teeth; 9 they had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle; 10 and they had tails with stingers like scorpions, so that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months. 11 They had as their king the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 The first woe has passed. There are still two more woes to come after this. Halloween is just around the corner and many kids will dress up like something they are not in reality. My favorite costume growing up was Dracula because he always seemed so dignified with his fancy suit and cape plus I liked to wear the fake teeth. Teenagers usually go for the more scary costumes like monster masks or zombies. My point being is that for that day they are like something they are not in reality. In today's passage we read of the scorpions again. I believe they are referred to as scorpions because of their number and actions. They will come as a plague to inflict pain on those who dwell of the earth. Below are some pictures of modern day locust plagues that happened in Africa and the other in Australia. These locust only hurt the crops. Children and teenagers like to dress up for fun but these demons described as locust are out to deceive and harm people. "like horses equipped for battle"- they are ready to move like and army. "Something like gold crowns was on their heads"- They will be recognized as having authority. "Their faces were like men’s faces" -They will not be recognized for the demons they are. "They had hair like women’s hair;"- They will be alluring. "Their teeth were like lions’ teeth;"- They will be fierce. "They had chests like iron breastplates; the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses rushing into battle; and they had tails with stingers like scorpions,"- They will come like an army quickly for battle with the intentions of hurting many. "So that with their tails they had the power to harm people for five months."- But they will not have free reign. They will only be allowed to do so for five month by our sovereign God. Remember it is Jesus who opened the scroll and started the sequences of the seven seals and the seven trumpets of which this is the fifth. It will be a terrifying time to live in for unbelievers or as they are called in Revelation, "earth dwellers". There will also be Jewish believers on the earth at that time but they will be protected by God's orders and seal. I do not believe the Church will be there at this time, we will be praising the Lord in His presence with those who were made able and willing to stand during the time of Revelation until they gave their lives willingly for their witness of Jesus Christ. Until that day comes let us praise the Lord with our words, thoughts and actions as we trust Him at school, home and play. This will not just happen, we need to surrender daily as living sacrifices. Will you surrender today? Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. Revelation 9: 2-6 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the shaft of the abyss, and smoke came up out of the shaft like smoke from a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then locusts came out of the smoke on to the earth, and power was given to them like the power that scorpions have on the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant, or any tree, but only people who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads. 5 They were not permitted to kill them but were to torment them for five months; their torment is like the torment caused by a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them. Yesterday at our Club Night we talked a bit about human suffering and the fact that sometimes it feels like your world is being completely turned upside down and that feeling of helplessness in the midst of it. I don't know how we got on the subject but someone mentioned zombies which reminded of the movie World War Z in which the world was plagued by a disease which made people like zombies. People became outwardly grotesque but also faster and stronger and they had an unstoppable desire to eat healthy people giving the movie watcher that same feeling of absolute helplessness and terror. Today's passage tells us that the devil will lead an innumerable amount of angry imprisoned demons out the abyss to inflict humanity with such suffering that they would even try to kill themselves but they will not be able to. A terrifying thought when you consider what they are already suffering and then you add the pain of what they try do to themselves on top of it. At this time God will be unleashing judgments directly on mankind. Locust, which is what they demons are licked to, by nature destroy nature but in an unnatural act they will be going after people. Like scorpions they will poison then but people will not die only suffer. Again we see God's absolute control in that He decides when and how these demons are released, what will not be harmed, who will and who will not be harmed and for how long. The Jewish believers who were sealed will not be harmed simply because God said so. Isn't is good to know that God has absolute control, especially when see the world around us getting worse. Paul tells us that all those who have heard the message and trusted Jesus for salvation are sealed as well, "When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." This seal is sign of ownership and protection so we know nothing can touch us unless it goes through God's good hand first. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. Revelation 9:1 The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. When you consider all the evil in this world, including that which we are capable of, thank God for the knowledge that nothing happens apart from God. Either He allows it or makes it happen. We cannot always know which one is happening but we can know that He is in control of all things. The devil is in NO WAY, SHAPE OR FORM equal to God. Erwin Lutzer, the Pastor of Moody Church, wrote a great book a number of years ago entitled God's Devil in which he laid out why even the devil and his schemes work to God's glory in the end. We see this played out so perfectly in the account of Joseph and the preservation of his people and so many many others in his day. The climax of the account being when he reveals his identity to his brothers who had sold him into slavery when he was just a kid and now stands as the 2nd most powerful person in the world at that time. He tells his brothers, who were terrified of retaliation, "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." Genesis 50:20 In today's portion of the Bible we read of another star falling from the sky. Unlike the star in chapter 8, this star is a person not an asteroid or comet. I believe it is Lucifer himself. Lucifer means light bearer, he was meant to to help the human race but instead took his position of privilege and deceived them to do the very thing God said not to do. This brought sin into the world and we've been paying for it ever since. The word given tells us plainly that even the devil doesn't do what he pleases, God grants him the keys to the abyss. The abyss is a place of waiting for final sentencing, a prison for the most heinous angels who rebelled against God's natural order. The ultimate evil God has ever allowed is what was done to His Son on the cross but it also brought about our great salvation from sin, guilt, shame and death. When you're felling as if your world is spinning out of control remember it is not. God causes all things to work together for good. Have great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the shaft of the abyss was given to him. Revelation 8:12,13 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light, and the night as well. 13 I looked again and heard an eagle flying high overhead, crying out in a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe to those who live on the earth, because of the remaining trumpet blasts that the three angels are about to sound!” Just over 20 years ago a movie came out called Armageddon where an asteroid was headed straight for earth and would destroy life as we know it. A crew of oil diggers alongside astronauts traveled to this moving asteroid where they were to drill into it, drop some nuclear bombs into the hole and save the planet. It was an incredible movie depicting the human spirit and what we could do if we set aside our differences and work together. There will come a day, as we read today, that nothing and no amount of people working together will be able to keep what is coming from happening. While I'm all for us preserving our planet we need to remember that ultimately God Himself will destroy it and make us a new one. In today's reading we see this in part. How a third of the Sun, moon and stars are darkened is a mystery but the effects on earth would be devastating. According to this article form Universe Today, "The Sun and the Moon work together to create the tides we experience here on Earth. Most of the rise of the tides comes from the gravitational pull of the Moon, but a small amount comes from the Sun. When the two objects are on the same side of the Earth, we get the highest and lowest tides, and when they’re on opposite sides of the Earth, the tides are less extreme." www.universetoday.com/26987/earth-sun-and-moon/ I'm no scientist but I imagine there being tsunamis and temperatures plummeting at the very least and if this wasn't enough these are just a result of the first 4 trumpet judgments bringing plagues on all nature, the earth's trees, grass, seas and fresh water have all been affected. These affected the world's population indirectly, The next three trumpet, the three woes announced and yet to come, will affect people directly in chapter 9. Thank God for His Word that tells us, "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are [alive here on earth or in His presence], we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing." 1Thessalonians 5:9-11 Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:4 Revelation 8:10,11 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter. There are few things I enjoy more than a cold cup of fresh water. Living in Chicago we get some of the best tap water and the best part is, we get it consistently. My mother-in-law lives in Puerto Rico, She has three sources of water at her disposal. Her home runs right alongside a river, she has tap water, and she is close to a fresh water spring. But during hurricane season she can lose it all just like that. She actually did on multiple occasions and when she finally got to enjoy some fresh water she was so relived! Reading today that,"a third of the waters became *wormwood" (*bitter) is unfathomable. There are so many in our church who literally run (marathons) for fresh water and raise funds so families in Africa and other countries can have access to clean water. When this time comes there will be no escaping it and "many of the people [will die] from the waters." As awful and sad as this is, it will be just as God showed John so many years ago. God will not be mocked and He will unleash judgment on the unbelieving world as it has never seen and will never see again after that. I am so grateful to be living, not only on this side of the cross, but on the side of the One who hung on the it in my place. He hold more than my future He holds me! Can you say the same? If you cannot we should talk. We love you too much to let any perish who is part of our ESM group. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:4 Revelation 8: 8,9 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Next year my wife and I are going on an Alaskan Cruise. I have been looking forward to this trip for some time now for a couple of reasons. One is simply because Alaska looks beautiful in pictures and I wanted to see it for myself and the other is I VERY MUCH dislike like heat and I don't think I'll suffer much from it there. -: ]> When I first read today's passage I though of commercial ships and their cargo alongside the fishing industry and the disaster that this will bring upon the world's economy let alone the number of lives that will be taken and impacted by the blowing of the 2nd trumpet. According to NOAA’s Fisheries Economics of the United States report released in may of 2017, U.S. commercial and recreational fishing generated $208 billion in sales, contributed $97 billion to the gross domestic product and supported 1.6 million full- and part-time jobs in 2015. read more www.noaa.gov/media-release/us-fishing-generated-more-than-200b-in-sales-in-2015-two-stocks-rebuilt-in-2016 While the first affected the landscape of the earth, its trees and grass this plague will effect the sea and the things in it- the ships and living creatures. Among those ships will be thousands of people on cruise ships. A terrifying thought but realistically considering the nature of people and their selfishness to indulge in in times of crisis this will the case. The world will know by this time that it is in time of tribulation but some will live as they've always have. I am in no way saying that enjoying a vacation or cruise is sinful in and of itself but with the rest of the world being destroyed it hardly seems like a time for leisure and or travel. Just picture someone taking vacation in Europe during World World II. One thing is for sure, believers will not be on vacation, for them the time of Revelation will be the worst tribulation the world has even seen. God has given us all things to enjoy. Let us enjoy the time we can have now of leisure and vacation because the time will come that we as believers will simply not have that luxury. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Memory Verse of the Week The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. Revelation 8:4 |
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