SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/4/2017
8:17 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Hope”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 16:33
Message of the
verses: “33 “These things I have
spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have
tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."”
We begin today, to look at the last verse in the
sixteenth chapter of John’s gospel, and it also ends our study of faith, hope,
and love, along with ending our study of Jesus’ interaction with His disciples,
as after prayer with the Father to ensure that He will answer all of the
promises that Jesus has been giving to His disciples which also apply to all
believers Jesus will go to the cross to ensure that the debt of sin will be
paid for all who will trust Him for the salvation that God has promised to
them, and as Jesus said in chapter ten that none of those that the Father has
given Him as a love gift will ever be snatched out of His hand. What a wonderful promise that is from the
Father.
Now I have mentioned that as we look at this word “hope”
as seen in the pages of Scripture, especially when we are talking about our
hope in Christ it is a noun and not a verb.
If someone would say that “I hope that it will rain tomorrow, or I hope
it will stop raining tomorrow we see the word used as an uncertainty, but when we
read what Paul wrote to “Titus in 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the
appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,” we see that
as a sure thing for our Lord has promised to return and we know that He will.
As mentioned we study the last promise of the three,
love, faith, and hope which Christ gives to His disciples and we see this word
described as peace in verse 33 for hope indeed should bring peace to us even
though our Lord also promised that there will be tribulation that we as
believers will have to go through in our lives.
We will now look at a rather long Scriptural quote from Luke 21:8-24
which our Lord gives a part of what is called the “Olivet Discourse” where He
speaks of what will be going on in what scholars call “The Great Tribulation” which
is the last three and a half years of the “Tribulation Period” which happens
right before our Lord returns.
8 And He said,
"See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying,
’I am He,’ and, ’The time is near.’ Do not go after them. 9 “When you hear of
wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place
first, but the end does not follow immediately." 10 Then He continued by
saying to them, "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against
kingdom, 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues
and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 “But
before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute
you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings
and governors for My name’s sake. 13 “It will lead to an opportunity for your
testimony. 14 “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend
yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your
opponents will be able to resist or refute. 16 “But you will be betrayed even
by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of
you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 “Yet not a
hair of your head will perish. 19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives. 20 "But when you see Jerusalem
surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. 21 “Then
those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the
midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter
the city; 22 because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are
written will be fulfilled. 23 “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who
are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the
land and wrath to this people; 24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword,
and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled
under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
As we look at the things that will happen during this
most awful time ever to come upon our earth God has promised peace to those who
will go through it, a peace that can only come from the God of peace. There are many passages from the Word of God
that promise God’s peace and one reason that believers can have peace is
because of the promise in this 33rd verse where Jesus states “but
take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Now as we look at these words they are in what some would call the “prophetic
tense” in other words even though they have not happened yet, for when stated
Christ had not gone to the cross, it is as if He had already done that and we
know that in the next few hours after stating it that Jesus will indeed go to
the cross where His death will overcome the world, the flesh and the
devil. He does this because He has
conquered sin, paid the price of death that sin demands and since all believers
are “in Christ” we have what Christ has and this can be seen in 2 Cor. 5:21 “He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.” (The great
exchange verse.)
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Studying the book
of Colossians and in particular chapter one which speaks of reconciliation
these verses in John bring out the meaning of promise of reconciliation for
that took place when Christ died on the cross to take care of the sin problem
so that I as a believer can be reconciled to God and God to me. The cross of Christ is the most important
event that has ever happened on planet earth for without it I would still be in
my sin headed for a Christless eternity away from God in hell. I owe everything to Christ and many times I
fail Him, and yet grace is always there even though I do not deserve it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Be thankful and faithful today as my hope is
in the Lord who gave Himself for me who paid the price for all my sin at Calvary.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Angels had rolled away the
stone” (Matthew 28:2).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said ‘does Job fear God
for nothing’?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/4/2017 8:57 AM
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