Ask whatever you wish

John
Here it is again!  John 15:7 says "If you remain in me [Jesus] and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."  If we are in Christ, and abide in his nature, we will be asking for things that pertain to that nature, and therefore will be granted them.

Patmos

This is a map of Patmos and environs, the island where John was living when he wrote Revelation.  Patmos was actually a penal colony.  This map came from bible.cc.

The wonder of it all

Job
I found some really neat stuff in a number of passages today.  For instance, the end of Job 26.  I love reading passages that describe the work of God in nature.

"He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. . . . By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.  And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him!  Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

How faint the whisper we hear of God.  We can look around and see evidence of his handiwork, and we are in awe and wonder.  How much more so when we see him face to face!

Hosea/Revelation

Hosea 6:6 - "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."  Hosea is painting a picture of unrepentant Israel throughout his book.  This verse seems to hit at the heart of his message.  Israel is sinful, yet still trying to put on a pious face by going through the motions.  That's similar to the church of Ephesus that we read about in Revelation.  The Ephesians had done all the right stuff, but had forgotten their first love, their passion for God.

Let's not miss the point or take the letter of the law over the spirit of it.  God made us for relationship, not for rules.  Let's be relational!

Asking in Jesus' name

Today I would like to focus on John 14:13-14.  Here is the text: "And I [Jesus] will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

At first glance, that may sound too good to be true.  I can ask for anything and Jesus will follow through!  It's sort of like having your own money tree... except for those three words: in my name.  Let's harken back to a post I wrote a little while ago about making oaths in the name of God.  Whenever you start using God's name (God the Father, or Jesus the Son, or the Holy Spirit), you automatically (whether you like it or not) use the character and personal qualities behind that name.  Thus, when you ask for something in Jesus' name, you're asking for something that falls in line with all things good, noble, pure, true, selfless, joyful, and need I go on?  John 14:14 isn't a free gift for anything we want.  It's a free gift for anything in line with God, his will, and his character.

It's like that saying "Love God and do as you please."  The hidden premise is that if you truly love God, you'll be doing what pleases him, because that will in turn be what pleases you.  And as we take on the full nature of God (see Ephesians 4:24), this process becomes easier to follow.

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

Key verses
Jude 24-25 - To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Daniel

Let me say a brief word about the abomination of desolation mentioned in Daniel.  Many people believe that this desolation is yet to happen, but I believe they are mistaken.  The abomination has already occurred.  In fact, it happened a couple thousand years ago with the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  His name, Epiphanes (Antiochus was the name of a series of kings in the Seleucid dynasty), means manifestation, and he claimed to be the god Zeus in human form.  He was so set against Judaism that he conquered Jerusalem and offered unclean sacrifices in the temple, thereby desecrating the holy place and bringing about the abomination of desolation.

The betrayer

I have always been confused as to why the disciples didn't realize Judas was the betrayer earlier on.  Jesus plainly said in John 13:21 "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."  And then after they ask him who it would be, he says in v. 26 “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”  After that, he promptly gives the bread to Judas.  Does anyone have any suggestions about how they could have missed this clue?


Here is something from Gill's commentary which I have now looked up.  I'm not sure I totally buy into what he is saying, but it could be one explanation:
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
"Jesus answered, he it is,.... Jesus replied, by whispering; for had he spoken out, the rest could not have been so ignorant, as they still continued, after the sign was given: Christ, I say, whispered to John, and told him by what sign he might know the person, and that it was he,[....]"

Apocalyptic literature

Apocalyptic literature seems to be very often taken out of context.  By apocalyptic literature, I mean books of the bible like the last half of Daniel, parts of Ezekiel, and of course, Revelation (which we will be looking at in a couple of days).  These books and prophecies were written for the people who were contemporary to the authors' times.  That means that the prophecies would have meant something to those people, and that they did not speak about the fall of the USSR, or the US-Iraq wars, or anything else that has happened in the past few hundred years.  We can try and read anything we want into these prophecies, but let's face it - Daniel, Ezekiel, and John (author of Revelation) didn't know anything about the United States or Russia.  Granted, the Holy Spirit could have inspired them so much that they wrote about things they had no idea about, but I doubt that's the case, because it would have no meaning for anyone, even themselves, and God's word makes sense to whoever reads it, not just us.

Apocalyptic literature was a genre of writing that was used to comfort people in times of persecution, uncertainty, or other trials.  No matter how tough times get, we can always rely on God to save us in the end.  So one thing we can take away from these passages is that when we're experiencing our own troubles today (as we hear about major wars going on all over the globe), God will be with us and he will overcome.

Faithful in prayer

Daniel is a great example in persevering in the truth and holding fast to what you know to be the right thing to do.  Today, and this week, recall his faithfulness of prayer to God and, even with the threat of painful death.  I, for one, can be more active in conversing with God.  He clearly understood the importance of such an action, as he prayed even when the king made it against the law.  His example brings to life what Paul wrote in Romans 12:12 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

The ultimate trust in God

Key verses
Daniel 3:17-18 - If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

The Son of Man must be lifted up

Today's passage in John 12 was rather confusing.  There are some Greeks who come to Philip to see if they can gain an audience with Jesus, and Philip and Andrew go to Jesus to ask him, and then Jesus launches into a speech about the coming of his hour, when the Son of Man must be lifted up.  It appears as though he ignores the question, even though the text says "Jesus replied."  Here's an explanation that makes some sense of the passage (it was located at bible.org, by W. Hall Harris):
"The appearance of these Gentiles wishing to see Jesus indicate that it is time for him to lay down his life—the hour of his glory has come (i.e., his return to the Father through death, resurrection, and exaltation). This point is so important for the Evangelist (John) that we are never actually told if the Greeks get to see Jesus or not!"

Something else we can take from this passage is Jesus' comment that anyone who wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake will keep it.  Don't get too caught up in living this life for worldly goods and pleasures.  Live for Jesus, by following his commands and caring for others, and you'll find that in the end, that is the most rewarding.  Recall Solomon in Ecclesiastes - he tried everything under the sun and found that all of life was pointless unless God was involved.

The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood

1 John
The Spirit, the water, and the blood agree. John used these three to testify to Christ because the Old Testament law stipulated that there had to be two or three witnesses to a matter in order to determine the truth.  Interestingly, later translations of these verses - 1 John 5:7-8 - have added a few lines about how the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit testify in heaven and the Spirit, water, and blood testify on earth.  However, this addition does not appear in any manuscript prior to the fourteenth century.  There's an interesting article by Daniel Wallace on bible.org (click here) that talks about this issue at greater length.  The reason this later addition has been kept is because it speaks to the Trinity, and yet it isn't actually very reliable.  However, I'm not an expert on these matters, so if textual criticism is your thing, check out the link above.

Love drives out fear

I learned something today, or at least I was reminded - if you're in a loving relationship, there is no need to fear.  Love involves trust, and if you love someone, you won't be malicious or hateful toward him, and he won't have any reason to fear you.  God loves us; why should we fear him?  Of course, there is a holy fear and awe toward God as master of the universe, but there is no reason to fear him.

Love again!

1 John
I am going to carry on from yesterday's theme in 1 John - love.  I must admit, I didn't do the best job at putting 3:18 into action today.  It's easy enough to love a spouse or close friend, but we're called to do more than love those we like.  So today's application is to do better than we did before.  That's my prayer for myself and you - to show God's love to whomever I/you meet.  Since we profess to believe in God, we need to speak from his viewpoint, and that's love for all.

Love and life

Key verses
John 11:25-26 - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

1 John
Here is a great call to action: Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18).  My challenge to you (and myself) is to go out and put this verse into action.  Look around and ask, how can I show love in a tangible way to someone today?  It's interesting how love passes us from death to life.  Believing in Jesus means believing in the love he showed us.  That's love - he died so we would live.  We went from death to life.

We were meant for relationships, and love is at the heart of any relationship.  Let's build on that!

You ol' dry bones

Key verse
1 John 3:1 - How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Job 13:15 seems to have some very different translations.  The NIV says "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face."  This version seems to suggest that even though God has Job suffer bad times, Job will still trust that God has something better in store, although he will ask God why.  The NIV also includes a footnote, however, that says another way to read the verse is "He will surely slay me; I have no hope - yet I will surely defend my ways to his face."  This different version suggests that even though Job has no hope because God will definitely kill (if this is the proper translation of slay) him, Job is still going to ask God why.
In some ways, these two translations are similar, but the first seems to be more trusting in God than the other.

EzekielI like this passage about the old dry bones, because it reminds me of a song I once heard.

Here are the lyrics from an Internet site.
It was down in boneyard circuit
There was no way to shirk it,
A Preacher named Ezekiel was sent
he landed at the station
and saw the situation
a valley of dry bones was his audience
by way of a suggestion
the Lord asked him a question
can these dry bones be raised up from the dead?
The spirit was beseeching
the preacher went to preaching
and from the pulpit this is what he said

Oh you old dry bones,
hear the words of the Lord
Rise upon your feet
his goodness to repeat
lay aside your dry profession
get a holy Ghost possession
you have been bleaching in the desert long enough!

Righteousness

Key verse
Ezekiel 34:31 - "You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God," declares the Sovereign Lord.

 Ezekiel 33 says that God will judge us for our own sins, which in some ways is a relief, and in others not.  We can't rest on the laurels of our ancestors, but neither will we be punished for something we didn't do.  Our own righteousness or the righteous acts of our forefathers won't get us anywhere, but God's grace is sufficient for each one of us, wherever we are.  Let's rest in that!


For another view on Ezekiel 33, and its parallel in chapter 18, check out this link (click here).

Antichrists

Who is the antichrist, or antichrists, that John is talking about?  It's not one specific person, or group of people, per se, but rather, as Clarke's commentary suggests: "Every man who opposes the spirit of the Gospel, and every teacher and writer who endeavors to lower the Gospel standard to the spirit and taste of the world, is a genuine antichrist, no matter where or among whom he is found."  As long as we stick to the word of God, we will be able to discern the antichrists of our day.

The real question of Job

If you want to read more about the book of Job, check out this link (click here).  It's the Quartz Hill School of Theology's brief rundown on the book itself, as well as a short little blurb on wisdom literature in general, which we have been reading through Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (and now Job).
This website actually presents a new approach to Job.  Instead of wondering why the righteous suffer, which I have been thinking about because of this book, we should really be asking why do we fear God?  This is what Satan mentioned in Job 1:9-11.  The site puts it this way:   "The question which Job faced, and which we all must face, is a profound one: "Why do we serve God?" Is it for the good stuff we get from him, or out of fear of getting bad stuff? Or, do we do it simply because we love him? That is the real question!"
We have faith in God in the good times.  Actually, in the good times it is often easy to forget about God because life is going so great.  When the trouble hits, regardless of the reason, do we still have faith, even when we don't understand what's going on?  Do we still believe that God has a master plan?  That he is in control?  We should!

Against the gnostics

As we make our way through Job, I thought it would be interesting to insert a map of the land of Uz, which is where Job lived.

This map is from bible.cc

1 John
Some brief comments on 1 John - it was written partially to combat against early gnostic teachings, such as that Jesus didn't have a mortal, fleshly body, which meant that anything his followers did in the flesh didn't really matter.  As we will see in 4:2, John doesn't agree with these ideas (This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God...)

The blind man

Key verse
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

John
I like this story about the blind man (I read the whole thing).  I find it amusing that he asks the Pharisees if they want to be Jesus' disciples as well.  He stays true to Jesus, his healer, even though he gets accosted by the Pharisees.  Don't doubt the power of Christ, even if you bombarded by criticism and hatred.

Holy and godly lives

What can we take from today's reading?  We should live holy and godly lives.  Peter writes this in terms of how to react to the coming destruction of the world and the end of time, and we should always be mindful that this life isn't the end of the journey.  It's only the beginning, the training ground.  And since we don't know when our time is up, we should make every effort to live holy and godly lives at all times, so that we are ready.

He's on time

Key verse
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

What can we take from that verse?  If you're in a place where you've asked something of God, and he hasn't responded, maybe there's something else that he's working out in the background so that he can give you what you're asking for.  In order to achieve your miracle, there may be a lot of other little actions that you aren't even thinking about that have to happen first.  God has the perfect time in mind, and is looking out for your best interests, so just wait and trust.

Warning against false teachers

2 Peter was written to warn against false teachers, and in today's reading (2:17-22) we see how dangerous this false teaching can be.  They ensnare new Christians and end up making them worse off than they were before believing in Christ!  We can learn a lesson from this: make sure we know what Jesus taught so that we can properly defend our faith.  Reading the bible is one such way.  Another is listening to the wisdom of trusted friends and advisors.  Apologetics is a great way to stay in tune with what's true about God and Christian doctrine.  There are a lot of books on this subject, so go to your local library and check them out!

Ecclesiastes and eternity in our hearts

Back to Ecclesiastes!  I'm reading "Living on the Ragged Edge" by Chuck Swindoll, and I came across an idea that I need to share with you, since we just finished reading Ecclesiastes a little while ago.

Solomon writes about how meaningless life is, but that God has set eternity in the hearts of men.  Swindoll talks about how life really is boring and pointless if you don't live with God in mind.  Then he goes on to say that God likely made life to be that way, to be boring to us.  That's what Solomon meant by saying that God set eternity in our hearts.  He made us so that we would find life here on earth boring.  We have an innate curiosity about life beyond this earth, and here's the quote from Swindoll that drove it home for me: "... God made us that way [curious].  And if it gets boring enough on this earth, chances are great that we will search for God."

Light of the world

Key verse
John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Job
In the Old Testament, it was bad taste to speak before the person suffering spoke, so Eliphaz didn't speak up until after Job had lamented his situation.  Job 4:7 sums up Eliphaz's position, that Job must be suffering for some sin.

The glory of God

I read a footnote in my bible that discussed the four faces found on the heavenly beings that Ezekiel saw.  The lion, ox, eagle, and human all represent something in particular: the lion is the king of the wild animals; the ox is the strongest of all domestic animals; the eagle is the king of the air; and the human is set on top of all creation.  I also read in this website (click here for the whole article) that these animals represent something of Jesus Christ.  This idea may be reading a little too much into the text, but it said that Christ came as king, as servant (like an ox), as an intellectual (perceptive like an eagle), and as ruler over all things.
What I was really curious about was the wheel within the wheel, and what that means.  As far as I can tell, they simply represent another aspect of the glory of God, and how he is forever watching (the eyes on the wheels) and he never stops looking out for us.  Some people would like to think that these wheels represent some sort of UFO, but I thought that was a poor reading of the text in the eyes of the author.
Basically Ezekiel was blown away by these visions in which he saw the glory of God, and could barely find words to describe his experience.

Implicit trust

Key verse
Job 2:10 - "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"

I've done some background reading on the new books we're looking at in my Archaeological study bible.   Here are some things I learned, along with my own thoughts I'd like to share.

Job
I've learned something new about the book of Job.  Apparently, when it was written, the popular idea about suffering was that if you were going through bad times, it must be because you had sinned or your ancestors had sinned.  The story of Job shows that people can suffer even though they are righteous.  This new view presents a whole different picture of what God is like, and how little we can understand of him in our finite world.  Implicit trust and faith in the ultimate goodness of God is required.

How do you reconcile the problem of suffering in this world with the belief in a good God?

Ezekiel
This book was written for the exiles to Babylon.  Ezekiel was preparing them (in 593 BC) for the destruction of Jerusalem so that they wouldn't live in the false hope that the city would somehow be spared.  The city was destroyed in 586 BC.

A great reminder

Peter's exhortation to make our calling and election sure is a great reminder, and what a list to work on.  It's so easy, though, to fall into a rut and forget about what Christ has done for us, forget about being 'cleansed from our past sins'.  Again we see that our true faith in Christ should lead us to work on our character, increasing in goodness, kindness, self-control, godliness, love, and more!

Reading the bible

Key verse

Lamentations 5:19 - You, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 

_________

 I must admit, after reading some books about the bible, I have found that this current approach to reading the bible (four different snippets a day) is really not that effective for actually gaining anything from the bible study.  In order to get a true sense of the text, it's better to read larger chunks or entire books at a time, rather than select verses here and there.  For getting through the entire bible in 9 months, this is certainly a good way to do it, because you won't get 'bored' with a book, as you're reading four different ones at a time.

However, I will continue with this reading plan and once I am done, I will likely go back through book by book at a slower pace and have more time to study specific passages.

Humble yourself

Humble yourself before God, and he will lift you up.  That's often where we stop reading that verse.  Be humble, and we'll be raised up!  Except we're missing a vital part of that verse.  In due time.  When you've grown from the experience, God will lift you up.  Perhaps even after you've matured a little bit, and really understand what it means to be humble, you'll be lifted up, as Peter was speaking to the young men at this point.  The main point, however, is that we be humble.

It is hard for the righteous to be saved

It is hard enough for Christians to follow the way of Christ, let alone those who do not believe in Jesus.  After some study, that is what I get from 1 Peter 4:18, which states the following:
And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

If you're curious in reading a little more on that yourself, click here.

Ekhah! (Oh How!)

And so begins the book of Lamentations, a series of poems outlining the Jews' mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem.  It will be interesting to see whether this book ends in hope or sadness.

John 6:68 - Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
-The Twelve Disciples couldn't bear to leave Jesus, even if his teachings were hard, because they knew the truth about his message.  He truly was the Messiah, and promised eternal life and forgiveness of sins for all who believe in him.  There's no where else to turn.