Category Archives: Eschatology

Eschatology, Jews and Gentiles

Will your anchor hold?

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One year ago, during the closing months of 2023, I was gripped by two urgent spiritual priorities. it was as if God had used a giant highlighter and written them across my mental and spiritual landscape.  I couldn’t get away from them.  I have spent the last fifteen months processing these compelling issues, and now have much greater clarity about both, though I am still learning.

The first issue is the inescapable Biblical truth of God’s enduring covenant with Israel.

How was I, as a Gentile Christian, to understand the implications of this truth?

I began seriously considering this question in the wake of the horrific Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, followed by over a year of warfare for Israel, and a rising tide of hatred, threats and intimidation poured out on Canada’s Jewish population.

Initially the question was simply how to understand what it was like to be Jewish in the wake of this unrelenting horror.  I knew that I needed to reach out to my few Jewish contacts. Among them were Alan and Robin Gilman. They were very gracious, and invited Marion and me to attend Shalom Restoration Fellowship, a Messianic/One New Man fellowship in Ottawa in which they are active participants. Since then, Marion and I have attended SRF about once per month, while also remaining active in our small (but growing) rural evangelical church.

My involvement in SRF, coupled with numerous conversations and an eleven-week online school of prayer focussed on praying for Israel, stirred me to dig more deeply into the Jewish roots of the Christian faith and the history of Jewish-Christian relations. This was not new territory for me, but God was highlighting it with fresh urgency, as if to say This time you really have to pay attention. This is important.

One of the tools that God put into my hands was a podcast produced by three American evangelical disciple-makers and students of the Bible. Among other things, the Apocalyptic Gospel Podcast highlighted for me the extent to which the New Testament is a thoroughly Jewish book.

I also had an opportunity to teach on God’s covenant with Israel at my church. As I worked through Romans 11 and related Scriptures, I became completely convinced that God’s covenant with Israel remains in effect and can never be revoked. About 1800 years before the  birth of Jesus, Abram – whose father was an idol-worshipper – had a life-changing encounter with Almighty God.  He lived in a time when the earth was full of cruelty and much wickedness, including ritual prostitution and the abomination of child sacrifice. In the midst of this corrupt culture, Abram was called to turn away from the gods of paganism and become a worshipper of the one true God.

This was the beginning of God’s plan to redeem the earth. From this one man (now renamed Abraham) God brought forth a nation, and made a covenant with them. He called them to forsake all other gods, to worship Him only, and to be a light to the nations. He promised to always be faithful to them.  If they were unfaithful to their covenant with God – which happened many times – He would discipline them, sometimes severely, but he would never abandon them. Centuries later, when God’s people had been exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness, the prophet Jeremiah reaffirmed that God would no more break his covenant with Israel than he would change the fixed order of day and night (Jeremiah 33:20)

Fast forward to the time of Yeshua (Jesus). After his death and resurrection, Peter, James, Paul and the other apostles proclaimed him to be the Messiah of Israel. Some Jews believed, especially in Israel, but many – especially in the Jewish diaspora – did not. In the face of this perplexing fact, the apostle Paul reaffirmed that God had not rejected His people Israel (Romans 11:1-2), and warned Gentile believers that Israel was the root into which they had been grafted, and that if they became arrogant towards those Jews who did not yet believe in Yeshua as Messiah, they stood in danger of God’s judgment (Romans 11:17-21).

But, you may say, that was a long time ago. If you are not Jewish, why should any of this matter to you?  If you are a Christian, quite possibly your church, like mine, has no Jews in it. Why all the fuss about an issue that has no relevance to your church or your life?

Consider this. If you consider yourself a Christian, God’s faithfulness to you personally is probably important to you. But if you have no problem with God changing his mind about his covenant with Israel, which he swore he would never break, why should he be faithful to you?

As a Gentile believer in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, I have staked my life on God’s faithfulness to Israel. My salvation is intertwined with the salvation of Israel.  I am a child of Abraham by faith. The people of Israel have many enemies because they, alone among the nations of the earth, are called to represent the worship of the one true God. Every faithful Jew is called to pray the Shema daily – “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5)  This call to be faithful to the one true God, coupled with the fact that the renewed earth will one day be ruled by the Messiah on the throne of David, is why Satan constantly incites the nations of the earth against Israel. It is also why Israel has failed so often and suffered so much. But the day will come when the leaders of Israel call out for their Messiah, Yeshua, and on that day He will come and save them (Matthew 23:39,  Zechariah 12:8-10).

While processing all this, I was also deeply impacted by revelations about a devastating history of sexual abuse at International House of Prayer in Kansas City. Though I have never lived in Kansas City, my son lives there with his wife and family, and over a fifteen-year period I had grown to love the worship and teaching ministry of IHOP-KC, with its focus on intimacy with Jesus, purity, humility, integrity, generosity, and readiness for the Day of the Lord. I never dreamt that beneath the shiny surface was a rotten core. I have been especially grieved for the victims of abuse, and for the thousands who had sincerely sought the Lord and served in worship and prayer at IHOP-KC.

How could a leader whom I respected so highly, who seemed to be a model of integrity and humility, be living such a double life?  And it’s not just IHOP-KC. There has been an epidemic of such revelations in the past two years. Why is this happening? One answer is an absence of the fear of the Lord .

My tour through the Apocalyptic Gospel Podcast has not only educated me about the Jewish faith of the first century apostles. It has also reminded me that our Jewish Messiah delights in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:3). Jesus and his apostles taught that this age would culminate in the Day of the Lord when evil would be judged, the earth would be cleansed and the Kingdom of God would come visibly and with power. In view of that day, said the apostle Peter, we must seek to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:11), and not be conformed to the ways of this world  (Romans 12:1-2).

In what are you anchoring your hope?  Every human attempt to bring in the Kingdom of God has been a dismal failure. Rather than puffing ourselves up with inflated hopes of what we can do by our own power, we are to live lives of prayer, holiness, love and self-control in view of His coming (Romans 13:11-12, 2 Timothy 1:7). We are to live generously, forgive quickly, serve others in love, and thus display the light of Messiah to the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We are to remember his faithfulness to Israel, and continue to place our hope in the Kingdom He has promised (Matthew 6:10). We are to invite others to share in our hope, and keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

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Covid-19 Nuggets of Hope, Eschatology

Nuggets of Hope 24 – The King’s Beauty

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This morning I began my day with a walk to see the horses in the field at the end of our crescent. Although the weather forecast tells me a blast of winter is coming, this morning I can still taste, see and feel the glory of spring. It speaks to me of the Creator’s great wisdom.

The Biblical storyline tells us what young children often intuitively understand – we were made by a good Creator. Our lives come from His hand. The beauty and complexity of creation testifies to His goodness and power. He made humans for intimate fellowship with Himself.

That storyline goes on to tell us that a rebellious angel tempted our first parents to choose independence, and ever since there has been a curse on creation. But even when the curse was first pronounced, Eve was promised that her offspring would one day crush the serpent’s head. That offspring is Yeshua, who was, who is and who is to come. He came once to announce the coming Kingdom in words and deeds of great power, and to offer his life as a sacrifice for sins. He is coming again to restore all things.

Some ask why a good God would permit terrible things like the coronavirus to occur. There are many ways of answering that question, but anyone who has been paying attention to the message of the Kingdom shouldn’t be surprised. We know from Scripture that many things will be shaken before Jesus returns to bring in the Kingdom that cannot be shaken. We are currently experiencing one of those times of shaking.

Near the beginning of COVID-19 lockdowns, Marion and I watched a movie about World War II. It reminded me of my parents. They were 22 and 18 respectively when the Netherlands was invaded by the Wehrmacht in May 1940. They lived in an occupied nation for most of the next five years. Did they know how long it would last? No, but they held on to the hope that there would be life beyond the war, and in that hope they gave themselves to living for the day when the war would be over.

We are called to live with our eyes on an even greater Day – not just the day when the covid-19 crisis will subside, though that will be a day of great rejoicing, but the day when our eyes see the King in his beauty. Our response to Him in this age will determine whether that Day brings us the joy of sharing his reward or the horror of irreversible judgement. We are made to share in His glorious Kingdom that is coming, and to inherit a new heaven and a new earth. Don’t let the troubles of today cause you to lose sight of that hope. Let that hope anchor your soul. The King is coming.

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Bride of Christ, Covid-19 Nuggets of Hope, Eschatology, Faith and Sports, Vision

Nuggets of Hope 21 – The Hope of Glory

The hope of glory.

The runners in this photo were both running for the prize. They were running to win. They were running with focus and determination.

One of them is my young friend Rebecca Greer. She is an exemplary young lady. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic she has continued to train and stay in shape.

Why does she do this? It would be easier not to.

The answer is that she has vision and a purpose that enable her to see beyond the limitations of this present time. She is living for fulfillment. She is running for the joy of it. She is running for the hope of glory.

God has designed humans to want fulfillment. We are made for joy. We are made for glory. We are made for the glory of God.

I would never want to minimize anyone’s positive achievements in this life. We all need hope and purpose to sustain us. Young people need the motivation of believing that there is a point to their efforts to live a productive life.  But the energy of youth does not last forever, and so we need to ask ourselves whether we are spending the substance of our lives for a prize that is temporary and fading, or for a prize that is eternal and will never lose its luster.

Many of us feel that our plans, hopes and dreams have been placed on hold by this pandemic. Just yesterday I lost perspective for a few hours and needed a sister in Christ to remind me of my focus. The specific challenges are different for each person, but all of us are in a battle to hold on to hope. In the midst of that battle, it’s good to lift our eyes and look to the heavens, to the One who is seated on the Throne.

Why is this pandemic happening? There are many possible answers to that question. But in the end, no circumstance is outside of God’s control. Wicked people contrived to put Jesus to death, but God had a higher purpose. It’s up to us which narrative, which script, which agenda characterizes our life. It’s up to us whether these few months of pandemic are wasted time or fruitful time.

Like Rebecca, we can choose to continue training during this time. Physical training has some value in leading to a better life, so I continue to work out and ride my bike. I do this because I want to remain fit, productive and positive in my focus. I still have some years left in this life, and I want them to be good ones. But for what purpose? What is my ultimate goal? What is yours? If we make the daily choice to let Jesus work on the inside of us, to teach us His thoughts and His ways, the benefits will be eternal.

Writing from a prison cell, the Apostle Paul wrote these words of encouragement to his dear friends in the church at Philippi,

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6

Although he was in prison, Paul wasn’t obsessed with his own troubles. His confidence was in God, and so he was able to encourage others with the hope of their eternal inheritance and God’s faithfulness.

I believe that promise. It’s one of the Scriptures that I speak over my life almost every day, and it has changed the way I think. Today and every day, I am choosing to fix my eyes on the hope of glory.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

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Covid-19 Nuggets of Hope, Eschatology, Holiness, Holy Spirit

Nuggets of Hope 18 – Go Buy Oil

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Go Buy Oil.

There are some who would say that this is a great time to buy oil stocks, when prices are at historic lows due to the COVID-19 crisis. That may be good financial advice, but it’s not the focus of this blog. Rather, in the midst of the current crisis, I want to encourage you to buy oil for the lamp of your spirit, while you still have time.

It’s clear from Scripture that before the return of the Lord, pressures will increase in society. The current crisis is not the end of the age, but it is a reminder that God has promised to shake all things prior to the return of the Lord. How we position our hearts is of the utmost importance.

In Matthew 24-25, Jesus is teaching on the end of the age, and he tells a parable to encourage us to keep our lamp of faith burning. The context of the parable is a typical first century Jewish wedding.

In a traditional Jewish wedding, after a year of betrothal during which the bride and groom were to remain separate and sexually pure, the groom would go to the bride’s parent’s home at an undisclosed time, to fetch her, and bring her to his father’s house where a place had been prepared for her. The friends of the bridegroom would await his return. When he returned with his bride, there was a loud shout of rejoicing, and the wedding festivities could begin.

The ten young women in Jesus’ parable were among those awaiting the bridegroom’s return. They were all invited to the wedding festivities but in the end, only five of the ten made it to the feast. It got late, they got sleepy, and five of them ran out of oil for their lamps. While they went to get more oil, the bridegroom came, the wedding feast began, and they missed it. Misty Edwards tells the story in this powerful song.

Jesus describes five of the young women as wise, and five as foolish. The foolish ones didn’t bring extra oil, but the wise ones did. The wise ones wouldn’t share their oil with the foolish ones, because they didn’t want to miss the wedding feast. Jesus doesn’t criticize them for this. In fact, he praises them.

So what has all this got to do with us, you may ask? Plenty. In the midst of this pandemic, it’s easy to get frustrated as we wait for it to be over. But the boredom of waiting is actually a spiritual opportunity which we shouldn’t miss. Jesus has instructed us to stay watchful and spiritually alert as we wait for His return. The key question for us is whether we will stay awake, with our lamps lit, ready for that day. Your lamp of faith and prayer can’t run on someone else’s oil. You have to have your own relationship with God. You can’t borrow someone else’s. The Holy Spirit is available to all believers, but some cultivate His presence in their lives while others run mostly on their own resources. It’s up to us whether we invest in our relationship with God. No-one else can give you their prayer life.

The pandemic will end eventually. Other crises will follow – some bigger, some smaller. Every challenging season that tests our faith is an opportunity to check our oil supply. God is willing to give us all the oil we need, but we have to seek it from Him – and it’s best not to wait for the last minute. If we want to be able to stay steady in challenging times, it’s up to us to develop the stamina we need. If you haven’t been cultivating your life in God, this is a great time for a reset. Right now we still have time to go buy oil for our lamps. Don’t waste the opportunity. One day, it will be too late.

 

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Covid-19 Nuggets of Hope, Eschatology

Nuggets of Hope 17 – The Man of Heaven

Dual citizenship.

As a believer in Jesus, you have dual citizenship. Whether you are a citizen of Canada, the USA or some other nation, your true citizenship is in heaven.

This thought that we are citizens of a different kingdom isn’t just a bit of escapist make-believe, or a nice fairy tale for young children, like the legend of the Easter Bunny. Paul, who had encountered the risen Jesus in a powerful way, was convinced that this Jesus was really alive, and was going to come again to rule over the coming Kingdom of God.

But our citizenship is in heaven.
And we eagerly await a Savior
from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who, by the power that enables him
to bring everything under his control,
will transform our lowly bodies
so that they will be like his glorious body.
Philippians 3:20-21

It’s important for us to be clear about the nature of our hope. The COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder to us all of our vulnerability to sickness and death. The people of this age are subject to physical death, and that includes believers. For those who hope in Jesus, though, physical death isn’t the end of the story. Even going to heaven isn’t the end of the story. God has something much better, more amazing and more glorious in mind.

When Jesus appeared to his followers after the resurrection, it is clear that his body had been transformed. He was still recognizable as the same person, and could touch the disciples, break bread with them and even eat a piece of fish, but he could also go through locked doors and ascend into heaven.

To explain this, Paul uses the analogy of a seed.

What is sown is perishable;
what is raised is imperishable.
It is sown in dishonor;
it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness;
it is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body;
it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body,
there is also a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44

He continues,

Just as we have borne the image
of the man of dust,
we shall also bear the image
of the man of heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:49

What a promise. We will be like Jesus! We will have resurrection bodies like his.

When everything around us seems to be shaking, when everything seems uncertain and nothing is like what we’ve been used to, when we don’t know how it’s all going to turn out, our hearts yearn for some solid assurance. Our leaders are doing their best, but they’re evidently scrambling to keep up with ever-changing events and the latest projections as to what might lie ahead. It’s plain that no-one really knows exactly what to expect. We need something that is more substantial than the current best guess as to when the pandemic will end, or how long the lockdown will last, or what conditions will be like after it’s lifted.

The first generation of believers in Jesus also lived in uncertain times. In common with all the people of their day, they were familiar with disease, famines, wars, injustices and other troubles of this broken age. Besides all that, their convictions about Jesus and his kingdom put them in danger from both Jewish and Roman authorities. Although they respected the authority of both, they were ultimately subject to a higher authority. This is why when Paul was on trial before the Roman governor Festus and the puppet King Agrippa (Acts 26), instead of pleading for his life, he urged them to consider the claims of Jesus. His hope was not in what either of them could do for him, but in the heavenly Jerusalem which was coming down out of heaven from God. He wasn’t worried about getting something from them. Instead, he hoped to give them something better than anything that they could offer him.

We who have put our hope in Jesus are called to serve God’s purpose in our day and generation. As my granddaughter Maddie loves to sing, we need to “let our little light shine” where we are. But our hope is a better hope than just things going back to the way they were. In reality, things probably won’t go back to the way they were before this pandemic, but we have something better to look forward to. Though we know that there are still troubles to come, we also know the Lord will be with us in the midst of those troubles. And beyond the troubles, we know that we will see Jesus coming in glory to make everything new, and that we will be changed – we will bear the image of the man from heaven.

I’m a citizen of the Kingdom that is coming. I belong to the man from heaven. That’s my hope and my assurance. How about you?

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Covid-19 Nuggets of Hope, Eschatology, Faith and Anxiety, Faith and Suffering, Holy Spirit

Nuggets of Hope 4 – God’s Spirit in us

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His Spirit lives in us.

In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, I am offering these brief reflections as a way of finding hope by turning our attention to God. Today I want to focus on the good news that those who have put their hope in Jesus have His Spirit living within them.

Writing to the believers in Corinth long ago, Paul penned these words – whoever is united with the Lord is one with Him in spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17 NIV). As Jesus promised, I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17 ESV).

This is powerfully good news.

If you have put your hope in Jesus, if you belong to Him, then even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the daily onslaught of bad news, the Spirit of Jesus dwells within you. Your thoughts and feelings do not have to be ruled by the latest frightening report. He is willing and able to give you wisdom, insight, comfort and direction. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

My friends, those are not just nice-sounding words. This is truth to live by. We don’t have to be paralyzed by fear. Jesus is holding us securely. Each day we can get up and set our hearts to trust Him, and direct our hearts to listen to what His Spirit wants to say to us about the affairs of the day. I have found that Holy Spirit is ready and willing to speak to me about anything that concerns me. It’s an amazing blessing that has brought me peace and perspective more times than I can count.

Not only that, the Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.  We have the hope of eternal life.  As Paul wrote to the believers in Rome long ago, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11 ESV). We don’t live for this life only. A million years from now, this current trouble will be only a memory, but how we respond to Him in the midst of it will have an eternal impact. He is developing our hearts, training us to trust Him, preparing us for glory. The rulers of this age quite clearly do not know what to do. They are making it up as they go along. I speak this with no disrespect. They are doing their best, and they are in need of our prayers, but they are clearly overwhelmed.

Our God, however, is far from overwhelmed. He is at work in this situation for the good of those who love Him. He is not worried or anxious. He is working in those who trust Him, preparing them for what is to come.

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NKJV

People of God, let us rise up in courage and seize the day. His Spirit lives in us.

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Dreams and Visions, Eschatology

When the lights go out

Derek Prince tells of a young Swedish woman named Barbara, who stayed with him and his wife Ruth for a period of three months to learn English. While staying with them, she told them a story.

Barbara was a pastor’s daughter and had lived a very sheltered life. But her friends at school had started telling her about some of the pleasures of life in the world, and she decided that she wanted to experience what she had been missing. She told her parents that she appreciated the way they had raised her, but that now she wanted to taste and see what the world had to offer.

Her parents wisely decided not to correct or criticize her. They simply told her that they would pray for her. And so they did.

That night, she had a powerful encounter with God in the form of a dream. In her dream, she saw two cities. One was a big, modern, beautiful city filled with flashing, glittering neon lights. Across the valley from the flashing city was another city of light, but this city did not flash and glitter. Its light was steady, calm and clear. As she considered the two cities a well-dressed, well-mannered and cultured man approached her and offered to show her the flashing, glittering city. She went with him, and he began to show her around. But the farther they went, the uglier he became. Soon she realized the man was the devil in disguise. As she considered this, horrified, she saw the lights in the flashing, glittering city begin to go out one by one, until it was in total darkness. She looked across the valley at the other city, and its light was as steady, pure and clear as ever.

At that moment she made her choice. She would pursue the city whose light never goes out.

It’s easy for us to think we are missing something if we don’t see the latest show, have the latest iPhone, go on every vacation trip imaginable, and so forth. And in themselves, many of the attractions of this world are innocent – though some are far from it. But if we let ourselves be enticed by what the world has to offer, we are walking a dangerous path. And once the lights begin to go out it’s too late to choose. We need to choose now.

Way back in 1979, Arlo Guthrie, son of the legendary Woody Guthrie, wrote a song with these compelling lyrics

Just one question still remains
To which we must respond
Two roads lead from where we are
Which side are you on?

Arlo Guthrie, Which Side, © 1979

Abraham, our father in the faith, was “looking for the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God“. That’s the city I am looking for as well, the one that is coming down out of heaven from God.

When the lights go out in the city of man, will you still have light to walk by? You can, if you have fixed your eyes on the City of God.

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Bride of Christ, Eschatology, Holy Spirit

Streams in the Desert

All along the way that I lead My people, I provide them with springs of living water, streams in the desert, to refresh them. Sometimes they camp by those springs and conclude that My Kingdom has come. Sometimes they dig deeper and bring forth a greater flow. They bring forth a good harvest and then conclude “This is the Kingdom!”. But the springs in the desert are not the goal. They are at once for refreshing, for blessing and for encouragement. They are signs of what is to come. Keep moving forward. Don’t camp for too long in one place or you will conclude that this age is your true home. Enjoy My blessing but don’t make your home in this age. The Day is coming.

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Ageing, Bride of Christ, Eschatology, Seasonal Thoughts, Vision

Here comes the sun

Tomorrow I will turn sixty-five years old. And as old guys like me are wont to do, I have been remembering past birthdays.

When I was a boy, what I loved most about my birthday was being able to have birthday parties at the park on the first warm Saturday of April. My friends and I would play soccer, British bulldog, frisbee and other games and just revel in being outside in the sun on a warm, bright day after a long winter.

A week ago, with an ice storm developing, it didn’t look as though we would see that kind of weather this April, but now here it is, and I am so thankful for what looks to be the first sunny, springlike weekend that we’ve had in quite a while.

Over the past few weeks it seemed for a while as though winter and spring were having a contest. We’d have a few warm days and then it would turn cold and wintry again. It seems a long time ago now, but the sap started flowing in the maple trees very early this year. A friend of mine who has a sugar bush was boiling sap to make maple syrup at the end of February. Then we had more cold, then more warmth, then more cold, then more warmth, and then that ice storm that made it seem as though spring would never come. But now here it is.

It’s like that in our walk of faith as well. When Jesus comes into our lives and His love first becomes real to us, it seems as though everything has changed and the world will never be the same again. But then we begin to experience the battle between light and darkness, hope and despair in our lives. We have an enemy who does not want us to live in the light of the Son, and he does everything he can to convince us that our hope in Jesus is actually a delusion and that spring will never come.

There’s a battle between light and darkness in our world as well. In fact, Jesus predicted that before his return to bring in the New Day, many of his people would lose hope in the face of increasing darkness, and their love would grow cold. Many would say “Where is this coming he promised?” But for those who endure to the end, the Sun of Righteousness would surely come and they would see His face and receive His reward.

I want to be one of those who welcomes that new day. And so, even when the darkness seems to be winning, I will turn my face towards the light, and seek to point others toward that light as well, because I know that he who promised is faithful.

Jesus, come as you have promised, and bring in Your gracious rule on this planet we call home. Your bride is making herself ready. We long for the light and warmth of Your new day.

Here comes the Son! Let’s get ready for Aslan’s Spring.

 

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Eschatology, Faith and Suffering, Rejection, Seasonal Thoughts

Born to die

Born to die.

That may not sound like a very cheery or appealing theme for a Christmas blog.

Yet that is the destiny that Jesus the Messiah embraced when he came down from heaven to earth to be born in a manger in a stable.

It is true, of course, that Jesus was born to do more than die. He learned obedience as a child growing up in a devout Jewish home. He learned a trade, like every young Jewish man. He studied the Scriptures and was a man of prayer who treasured his times alone with his Father.

After being baptized by John, He taught many, healed many, served many, forgave many, did good to many. He was praised by many but understood by few, was rejected by many and followed by a few, but in the end He was broken on a cross for them all.

When I was a child growing up we used to sing a Dutch Christmas carol with a very poignant line. ‘T kwam op de aarde en ‘t droeg al zijn kruis. He came to earth already bearing his cross.

Jesus was born in an out of the way place in an out of the way town. This was no accident. It was easy to ignore His birth, and many did just that. The shepherds and wise men had to purposely seek him out to find him.

Jesus is still making His appeal, but he still forces Himself on no-one. Though some have used force in His name, this was never Jesus’ way. The way of jihad and the way of the cross are totally opposite to one another. The way of the cross is the way of mercy. On one occasion He sharply rebuked the more fiery among his disciples when they proposed calling down fire from heaven on a town that rejected him. He made it very clear that there is a broad way and a narrow way, and that everyone has a choice.

There are usually no thunderbolts, no flashes of lightning, no earthquakes to confront those who reject or ignore Jesus and His message. There were signs, wonders and miracles aplenty in Jesus’ day and also in our day, but mostly they are recognized only by those who are humbly seeking God. Those who ignore or reject Jesus are usually blind to His signs, preferring to think that life will just go on as it always has.

Meanwhile His blood sacrifice is before the Father on their behalf, He is pleading for mercy for them, and his Father is delaying the day of judgment so that many of those who hate, ignore or despise Him may yet come to repentance.

But for those with eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts to feel, the signs of the times are everywhere, and the birth pangs of the New Age are increasing. The Day of Reckoning is coming – that great and terrible Day when the heavens open and Jesus returns to wed His bride and claim His inheritance. On that Day he will come as the Lion of Judah, the conquering King, and it will be too late to change your mind about Him. But for now, He cries out for mercy for you and me, for those who love Him, those who hate Him and those who are indifferent to Him.

For now, He waits. For now. But one Day the waiting will be over.

On that Day, every choice, every action, every motive will be brought into the light and the thoughts of every heart will be revealed. On that Day, those who love the Lord and His appearing will see Him face to face. On that Day, they will come to life and reign with Him.

How I long for that Day.

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