Tag Archives: repentance

Day 350: Temporal vs. Eternal treasures

Amos 4-6; Revelation 7

Revelation 6 ended with the question: Who can stand? For the 7th seal represented the final judgment – the Day of the return of Christ. But before the 7th seal is opened, there is an interlude in which John is shown how the saints are protected in the opening of the seals… In essence, Revelation 7 answers the question raised in the previous chapter…

Who can stand under Christ’s judgment? Only those sealed by His grace.

Revelation 7 gives us a glimpse of both the past and future for the believer. John is shown a scene from the past when God seals His servants. This does not remove them from the suffering to be inflicted on the earth – but preserves them as God’s own for the final day. The 144,000 who were sealed is a symbol for completeness. In other words, “everyone who will be saved and who will persevere through the trials and tribulations of this age is protected by God. Not a single one can be harmed spiritually. What amazing comfort this must have been for those suffering already within the seven churches!” (P. Gardner, Revelation, pg 109). And this is a comfort to us who live in the midst of suffering and evil in today’s world.

Once the complete number of God’s servants is sealed by God, the scene switches to show their glorious future…our future before the throne of God!

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10).

John goes on to describe our glorious future in Christ!

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15-17).

When you consider the future that awaits the believer, the stern warnings in Amos toward Israel become more meaningful. For Israel was trading the true God for powerless idols. They were offering the true God their bare minimum while oppressing the poor to become rich. They chose the fleeting treasures of this world over the glory of an eternity spent with God.

Because of God’s love for Israel, he sends trial and strife in order to turn their hearts back to Him (Amos 4:6-11). But they refuse Him. They refuse His grace. They refuse His love, and they are left unprotected from the four winds of judgment who bring calamity upon the earth.

What treasure do you seek? Temporal or eternal? Forsake the idols of this age and return to the True God!!

Disclaimer: I humbly and cautiously offer an interpretation of the book of Revelation based on my Reformed understanding of Scripture, an Amillennialist eschatology, and a heavy reliance on the book,Revelation, The Compassion and Protection of Christ by Dr. Paul Gardner.

Day 349: The Scroll and The Judgment

Amos 1-3; Revelation 6

Amos was a contemporary of Hosea and also prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel shortly before their fall to the Assyrians in 722 BC. The first two chapters of Amos record God’s judgment on Israel’s neighbors. Smug and prosperous, Israel was probably unprepared for Amos to turn God’s judgment oracles toward them in Chapter 3. But Israel had forsaken their true love for ritualistic religion and oppressed the poor to secure their wealth. They would be held to a higher standard because they knew God’s law and ignored it.

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities (Amos 3:1-2).

Judgment is the theme of Revelation 6 as well. We watch as Jesus opens the seals of the scroll. As each seal is broken, judgment is released on the earth. Interpretations vary, but none deny that God will judge the earth.

The first four seals reveal four horsemen that hearken back to Zechariah’s vision of the patrolling horsemen (Zech 1:8-17; 6:1-8). “The horsemen are used as God’s instruments to bring judgment on his people’s enemies. The colors stand for the four points of a compass” indicating that the whole earth is affected by the horror these riders inflict (P. Gardner, Revelation, pg 95). It’s as if Satan has a bow and is set to “conquer” which is why Jesus exhorts the churches to “overcome” in Rev. 2-3.

I believe we are living under the effects of the four riders on the earth, presently. For they bring war, famine and disease…BUT, their power is limited by God. Specifically, we read that the horsemen bringing famine and death are restricted in their destruction (6:6, 8). When the fifth seal is opened we see God’s rationale for the judgment rendered by the riders…to avenge the blood of the martyrs. But it is also important to note that Christians are not exempt from the horror that is brought by the horsemen. “The work of these evil forces therefore brings punishment on some but also works to refine the faith and works of those who belong to Christ” (P. Gardner, Revelation, pg 93).

The sixth seal reveals the end is near – that Jesus is on His way to finally judge the earth, and the whole earth cries, “Who can stand?”

The Sovereignty of God is on full display in John’s vision of the seals. The horsemen are agents of Satan – but they are directed and restricted by God! How do we reconcile God’s love with this picture of Him sending horror on the earth?

We must remember that our lives are but a small dot on an eternal line.

The same suffering that embitters the unbeliever toward God refines the Christian in holiness. And God not only sends the bad, He also sends the good! The same blessing that causes the unbeliever to turn away from God in self-sufficiency will cause the believer to fall to his knees in gratitude. Our responses to both suffering and blessing reveal our true allegiance. And in God’s mercy, He delays His return so the sinner can repent and be saved!

Disclaimer: I humbly and cautiously offer an interpretation of the book of Revelation based on my Reformed understanding of Scripture, an Amillennialist eschatology, and a heavy reliance on the book,Revelation, The Compassion and Protection of Christ by Dr. Paul Gardner.

Day 345: God’s desire for repentance

Hosea 5-8; Revelation 2

Ephraim (or Israel) is like a dove,
silly and without sense,
calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
As they go, I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
I will discipline them according to the report made to their congregation.
Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
I would redeem them,
but they speak lies against me (Hosea 7:11-14).

From the first sin committed in the garden, God has always given His people the opportunity to repent. God is our Father, and he longs for our repentance – not just our initial turning to Him in salvation, but an ongoing, returning and surrendering before Him.

Israel did not respond to God’s patient kindness, so He disciplined the nation in the form of a foreign invader. Why? To bring about repentance!

God’s desire for repentance is at the center of the book of Revelation.

In today’s reading, Jesus begins his letters to the seven churches. Even though Jesus’ words were addressed to a specific church, we must not fool ourselves into thinking His words were not for us…for He ended each letter with the same exhortation, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” teaching us that His words were meant for all churches in all times.

Jesus’ words to the churches were encouraging because he shared details which revealed he was intimately acquainted with their strengths and weaknesses. He knew them. But we should be sobered by his warnings – especially to Ephesus and Pergamum. Both churches were warned to repent of their accommodation with the world. We as the modern church must strive against the waves of our culture that threaten to dilute the call to repentance, faith and holiness! Jesus warned that our churches would die in the wake of compromise.

Another sobering truth that we glean from Jesus’ letters is the extreme suffering each church was undergoing, not the least of which was in Smyrna. Jesus says to them that “for 10 days you shall have tribulation” (2:10). Like most numerical references in Revelation, this number is figurative and teaches that the time of tribulation has a set time – it is limited. Many of the Christians in Smyrna would be put to death for their faith, but Jesus promised them the “crown of life” and ironically, even though they would endure the “first death,” they would not face “the second death” or the final judgment for those who die outside of Christ (2:11).

Most encouraging is the promise given to each church who “conquers” or “overcomes.” The promise is different for each church – but applicable to every one who perseveres and overcomes the temptations and suffering in this world.

Are you one who “overcomes”? Are you willing to sacrifice the wealth and riches of this world to gain the riches of God’s eternal Kingdom? Are you willing to walk through the narrow gate of repentance to “eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7)?

May we be among those who conquer life’s trials and persevere in faith to enter into the presence of our KING!

Disclaimer: I humbly and cautiously offer an interpretation of the book of Revelation based on my Reformed understanding of Scripture, an Amillennialist eschatology, and a heavy reliance on the book, Revelation, The Compassion and Protection  of Christ by Dr. Paul Gardner.

Day 337: God is Light

Psalm 138-139; 1 John 1:1-2:17
(Psalm 137 was read on Day 229)

1 John has always made me slightly uncomfortable. I think it’s the apostle’s “all or nothing” style of writing. He says things like:

If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1:10).

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him (2:4).

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (2:15).

I know I don’t keep his commandments perfectly…does this mean the truth is not in me? And I know that sometimes I love the things of this world more than Christ…does this mean that the love of the Father is not in me?? What does John mean?

Firstly, John is refuting a specific false teaching (which we will cover in-depth tomorrow!) But also, if you read closely, he is not demanding we have to be perfect – because mixed in with all of John’s “all or nothing” statements is the gospel…John reminds us that we will still struggle with sin, but “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). He also reminds us who rescued us from sin… Jesus, “which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands” (1:1). He is the propitiation for our sins…in other words, He made atonement for our sins to satisfy the wrath of God!

It is in this context, of seeking forgiveness and God’s grace, that John exhorts us to live in the “light” and not in the “darkness.” Living in the light is only possible because of the life of Christ. If we are true believers in Christ, he has regenerated our hearts and empowered us with His Spirit so that we might obey his commands (2:3-6). Without the help of Christ, we are left in the darkness. But because of Christ, we are forgiven; we are able to know him, and we have overcome the evil one (2:12-14).

I’m sure John struggled with sin, so he is not commanding us to be perfect. But he is exhorting us to strive to live in the light – in both knowledge and holiness – to pattern our lives after the light of Christ.

I’m thankful to be reading Psalm 139 on the same day as 1 John! For in this Psalm, David reminds us that – as children of God – we will never be separated from His presence. That even the darkest places are light to God – and we are never hidden from him. He knows us, intimately, and still pursues us. This gives us confidence to draw near and confess our sins as John commands us in 1 John 1:9. He is our loving Father. He is light!

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24).

Day 292: The final days of Job

Job 40:6-42:17

And Job died, an old man, and full of days (Job 42:17).

I think Job 42 has to be one of the most satisfying chapters in all of Scripture. It begins with repentance and ends with restoration. And not just a small restoration, but an overflowing, abounding with grace and mercy restoration!

What is most encouraging to me is not how God vindicates Job before his friends or how God doubles Job’s possessions or even how God gives him a new family. All of these things are wonderful, but… what most encourages me is that God does not rebuke Job. God rebukes his friends, but not Job, himself.

Job’s anger against God never tipped the scales to “sinning against God.” That’s encouraging to me. I guess through all of Job’s questions and tantrums, he continued to seek and pursue God relentlessly. And we can see Job’s great love for God in the anguish he experienced when he (wrongly) concluded that God had abandoned him. Through Job, I learn that God can handle my anger. He will not leave me or forsake me. This is a great comfort!

I’ll conclude our study of Job with one last question…

Did Job ever learn the why behind his suffering? No. In the end, knowing the who was enough. Like Job, we typically will never fully understand the why’s of our suffering. We must be content with knowing the Who!

Day 291: Where is God’s wrath?

Job 38:1-40:5; Colossians 4

God’s wrath… all of Job’s friends expected it. In fact, all three of their first references to God spoke of his wrath!!

Eliphaz’s first mention of God referred not to His holiness, His love, His mercy, or His goodness, but to His anger toward “those who sow trouble:” “At the breath of God they are destroyed; at the blast of his anger they perish” (Job 4:9).

Bildad’s first reference to God touched on one of Job’s deepest griefs, the deaths of all ten children. Did BIldad refer to the God who heard “Rachel weeping for her children” (Matthew 2:18)? No! To the heartbroken father, Bildad said of God: “When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin” (Job 8:4).

Zophar’s first reference to God was not a prayer on his friend’s behalf, but a wish for God’s wrath to rebuke Job: “Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you…” (Job 11:5).

(Frances Bennett, Job, Lessons in Comfort, CEP, 2009, pg 89-90)

So when God finally speaks, and says to Job, “Brace yourself like a man,” (Job 38:3) we expect God to unleash his wrath…but he doesn’t.

God talks about creation and how “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy” (38:7).

We see his grace as he creates the dawn to limit evil (38:12-15)…and as he sends the stored-up snow to slow or cease wars and catastrophes (38:22-23).

We see his care and concern for his creatures… providing food to the raven (38:41), watching the birth of the does (39:1), freeing the donkey (39:5) and releasing the ox from its burden (39:9-12). He gives the horse its might (39:19-25) and even the ostrich is given joy (39:18).

Where is God’s wrath? I only see grace. And how does Job respond?? 

Then Job answered the Lord and said:
“Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?
I lay my hand on my mouth.
I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:3-5).

Job sees his smallness in the face of God. He recognizes that He does not understand his small role in God’s big plan, and he vows silence. No more questions. No more demands for justice. Just a quiet, humble trust.

Day 276: Take the high-road

Esther 7-10; Galatians 5

Esther concludes in dramatic fashion as she reveals Haman’s evil plot to destroy the Jews to the king. One of my favorite aspects of this story is how the foolishness of evil is revealed – especially in the ironic relationship between Haman and Mordecai. In the end, evil is defeated in the most humiliating of ways – as all of Haman’s evil plans come back on him!

But let’s turn our attention to Galatians 5, where Paul is continuing to persuade the Gentile Christians to not look to the law for salvation…

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. […] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love (Galatians 5:2; 6).

And then Paul clarifies himself…

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

Paul then paints a vivid picture of how to live by faith. He instructs the Gentile Christians in Galatia to walk in the Spirit. He lists all the ways to live in the “flesh” and contrasts them with the fruit of living in the Spirit. The fascinating thing about these two lists is that they contrast the “works” we are able to accomplish in our own power with the “works” that the Spirit can accomplish through us. Do you see the difference? One list represents “our effort” and the other list represents “God’s effort.”

This is what we are able to accomplish with our sin nature at the helm: impurity, idolatry, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, envy (5:19-21). I took out the “bad” sins just so we can more easily identify with this list…because all of this list – even the “bad” sins I omitted – are present in our churches today.

Contrast this with what God can produce in us by the power of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control (5:22-23)….This is the way of faith.

When Paul says that we are “free from the law,” he is not saying we are no longer under moral obligation…No! We are to live a life surrendered to the Spirit – so that our lives can no longer be condemned by the law.

In a way, it’s a higher calling – made possible only by the Spirit’s working in our life!

Day 274: Faith & Law

Esther 1-3; Galatians 3

Today, we move on to the book of Esther – which is unique in the fact that it is the only book in the Bible which never mentions God by name. But God’s hand is woven throughout its pages – in the faith of the main characters as they trust Him for their very survival.

Today’s chapters serve to introduce us to the main players of the story. Mordecai and his cousin Esther, faithful Jews living under the gluttonous Persian king, are foiled by the evil and vain Haman who plots the annihilation of every Jew throughout Persia! This dramatic story will continue tomorrow, but for now let’s turn to Galatians 3…

Remember, Paul is writing to the churches throughout Galatia because even though they accepted the gospel of salvation through faith, they were being tempted by false teachers to add aspects of Jewish law to their new Christianity. We would call this “legalism” in our modern circles. Whatever you call it, it’s wrong!

Paul makes his argument stronger by pointing out the fact that Abraham was justified by faith before the Law was given. In other words, justification by faith trumps the law!

But if it’s impossible to be saved by observing the law, this leads to the question… why did God give the Law? This is a great question because the answer reveals a meaningful truth…

The purpose of the Law is to display the holy character of God and establish the standard for righteousness. So when we compare ourselves to this holy God and this perfect standard, we can respond in one of two ways… self-justification or repentance.

Consider Adam. He had one law. Just one. And Adam had the chance to repent immediately after he had sinned in the garden… But Adam chose self-justification instead of repentance. He made excuses. He did not own his sin and ask for forgiveness.

So what is our response when we break God’s law? Will we justify ourselves and make excuses for our sin? Or, will we own our sin and ask for forgiveness? In other words, will we repent?

Repentance and faith levels the playing field. No nation, gender or race has preferential treatment – for all have sinned, and all need to be saved. The covenant of grace is powerful enough to save anyone.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:28-29).

Day 268: The joy of the Lord

Nehemiah 8-10

These chapters in Nehemiah are a foretaste of the final restoration we will experience in the new heaven and new earth! They depict the beautiful renewed relationship between God and His people. It begins with the people assembling together to hear the reading of the Law.

This was an important occasion. They had even built a platform on which Ezra would stand as he read. And as he read, the Levites were stationed throughout the crowd to ensure the people understood!

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading (Nehemiah 8:8).

After hearing and understanding the Law, the people wept over their sin (Neh. 8:9). This response from the people proves that they really understood what was read. Because then they could see how great their sin and the sins of their forefathers really were.

But Ezra and Nehemiah told the people not to weep – it was to be a day of celebration! The people were to rejoice over their renewed relationship with their God. It is in this context that Nehemiah says the well-known verse… “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh. 8:10).

What was the source of God’s joy? The humble repentance of His people!!

After the priests recounted Israel’s long and troublesome history (Neh. 9), they renewed their covenant relationship with God by committing to uphold the Mosaic Law (Neh. 10).

The gospel is found in the vivid details of this passage. God’s word should cause us to grieve over our sin. But we have a God who really loves us. We can approach His throne to find grace and forgiveness because of the value He places on His relationship with us! He rejoices over our repentance. He is happy to renew and restore us… And from God’s joy, we are given the strength to stand – forgiven – in His presence! 

May our penitent hearts be his joy, and may His grace be our strength!

Day 264: A godly sorrow

Ezra 9-10; 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:16

In today’s reading, Ezra learned that the Israelites had already succumbed to the temptation to intermarry with the local foreigners. Even though less than one hundred years had passed since the people first returned to Judah, they were already diluting the Jewish faith with foreign gods.

Some might judge Ezra’s response as extreme. He tore his clothes and wept and mourned. But he knew what this meant for the future of his people. He knew that compromising in this one area would open the floodgates and lead to apostasy and judgment. He did not want Israel to repeat her history!

Fast forward to today’s reading in 2 Corinthians and we find Paul addressing the exact same issue. Paul uses Old Testament imagery to drive home the point that the church is God’s covenant family, and because of His grace and mercy, we should strive to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

Our sin should bring us much grief and sorrow. But, it should not lead to despair and hopelessness! Listen to the Israelite’s response to their sin (from Ezra)…

…the people wept bitterly. And Shecaniah […] addressed Ezra: “We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women from the peoples of the land, but even now there is hope for Israel in spite of this (Ezra 10:1-2)!

Why was there hope? Because of God’s Great Grace and Mercy!

But God’s grace and mercy can only be experienced through humility and repentance. Both Paul and Ezra describe repentance in today’s passages. Ezra describes how the people not only “wept bitterly” over their sin, but made drastic decisions to make things right. And Paul describes how the Corinthians’ repentance brought him much joy.

In both cases, repentance restored the relationship with God and brought about God’s comfort and grace. This is the beauty of repentance!

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret… (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).

We must never believe that our sin is out of the reach of Forgiveness. The shadow of the cross covers our greatest sins!