PT-3 "Obedience" (Matthew 28:19-20a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/6/2024 9:13 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  PT-3 “Obedience”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Matthew 28:19-20a

 

            Message of the verses:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;”

 

            One of the things that I have written about in my past SD’s is the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  This is one of the things that John MacArthur talks and writes about frequently, and it took me a while to understand this.  Let me just say from my past that when I became a believer that there were many things that I did not understand, but because of the patience of God I learned many of the fundamental things of the faith, and one of them is that Jesus Christ is not only my Savior, but He is also my Lord.  Yes this took me a while to learn this truth, but now that I know it this had made a difference in my life as it caused me to grow in the Lord.  Now I will quote from MacArthur’s commentary on this important subject.

 

            “Scripture knows nothing of receiving Christ as Savior but not as Lord, as if a person could take God piecemeal as it suits Him.  Every convert to Christ is a disciple of Christ, and no one who is not a disciple of Christ, no matter what his profession of faith might be, is a convert of Christ.”

 

            He goes on “The very point of Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler was of Jesus—refused to give up everything for Christ and submit to Him as Lord.  He sincerely wanted eternal life and had the wisdom to come to the source of that life.  But he was unwilling to give up his own life and possessions and obey Jesus’ command to ‘come, follow Me’ (Luke 18:18-23).  He was willing to have Jesus as Savior but not as Lord, and Christ would not receive him on those terms.  Because he refused to be Christ’s disciple when the cost was made clear (like those in John 6:66), he could have no part of Christ or of the eternal life that He gives.”

 

            I have heard that when a true born-again believer gets to heaven that he will have three surprises.  First who is there, second who is not there, and third that he is there.  That statement teaches me first of all that there may be some missing because of what is called easy believism.

Those who only accept Jesus as Savior are a part of that easy believism.  As stated one does not always understand that Jesus Christ is Lord right away, but if you are a true believer God will make that clear to you.  Salvation is a gift of God, and we can do nothing to earn it otherwise there would be people in heaven who have something to brag about and that would not bring glory to the Lord who deserves all glory. 

 

            I want to say something about our election which took place yesterday.  I am very happy that God extended grace to our country, a country that was on the brink of being destroyed from within.  This shows me that God is not done with our country.  I have mentioned that there are three prayers in the post exile part of Israel, one from Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel.  What they all have in common is the truth that Israel had sinned, and all three writers say “we have sinned.”  That is how I prayed to the Lord concerning our election that we have sinned and are in need of God’s mercy which I believe He gave to us.  Donald Trump is not perfect but I know for sure that he loves our country so much that even after being nearly killed he did not stop loving our country.  My prayer is that God will use this man to bring glory to the Lord.  I will pray for him daily as I pray for all of our Presidents even though I have not agreed with many of them, the Scripture tells us to pray for those who are in charge over you.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Continue to trust the Lord to give the US mercy even though none of us do not deserve it, for mercy is given to those who don’t deserve it as that is what mercy is all about.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to work in my heart so that I can serve Him each and every day to bring glory to Him.

 

11/6/2024 9:39 AM

 

              

 

PT-1 "Because of Who Believers Are" (1 John 15:b)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/5/2024 4:42 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                   Focus: PT-1 “Because of Who Believers Are”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  1 John 2:15b

 

            Message of the verse:  “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

 

            I have to say that this will be a very short SD for today, but what I will do is quote the many verses that MacArthur has reference to in this section.  The first thing we want to say is that “because believers are forgiven” and then I will begin to quote verses which support that quote from the beginning of MacArthur’s comments.

 

Psalm 86:5 “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.”

Psalm 130:3-4 “3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.”

Isaiah 1:18 “"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”

Matthew 26:28 “for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

Luke 1:77 “To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins,”

Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace”

Colossians 1:14 “in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Colossians 2:13-14 “13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.”

1 John 2:12 “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.”

 

            Now I will pick up where I left off with MacArthur’s comments after he gives this list of verses which we just looked at.  “have a true knowledge of God:” (more verses to make this point)

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”

2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Ephesians 4:13 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

Colossians 1:9-10 “9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

 

            Now back to the comments from MacArthur who writes “have the Word of God abiding in them:”

Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

 

            Now I continue with MacArthur’s comments:  “have overcome Satan”

 

James 4:7 “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

1 John 4:4 “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

 

            Continue with MacArthur’s quote “and have an increasingly intimate relationship with the Father”

1 John 2:12-14 “12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”

 

            Now continue with MacArthur’s quotation “they cannot love the world.  Anyone who loves the world demonstrates that the love of the Father is not in him.  Like Demas, such spiritual defectors manifest that any previous claim to know and love God was nothing but a lie (2:19).”

 

            Now there is a lot of Scripture to go over and so I think that because there is still more to look at that I will, Lord willing, finish this short section with the Scriptures added in my next SD.

 

11/5/2024 5:16 PM 

 

PT-2 "Obedience" (Matt. 28:19-20a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/5/2024 9:58 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  PT-2 “Obedience”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Matthew 28:19-20a

 

            Message of the verses:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;”

 

            I begin this SD by looking at the definition of the words “make disciples,” and in the Greek it is Matheteuo which is the main verb and the central command of verses 19-20, which form the closing sentence of Matthew’s gospel.  MacArthur adds that “The root meaning of the term refers to believing and learning.  Jesus was not referring simply to believers or simply to learners, or He would have used other words.  Matheteuo carries a beautiful combination of meanings.  In this context it relates to those who place their trust in Jesus Christ and follow Him in lives of continual learning and obedience. ‘I you abide in My word,’ Jesus said, ‘then you are truly disciples of Mine’ (John 8:31).  It should be noted that some disciples were not true (see John 6:66).”   “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66). 

 

            Now as we look at John 6:66 it can be determined that a person who is not Christ’s true disciple does not belong to Him and therefore is not saved.  On the other hand when a person genuinely confesses Christ as Lord and Savior, he is immediately saved, immediately made a disciple, and immediately filled with the Holy Spirit.  Now a new believer will probably not understand all of these things that have happened to him or her, but none the less they did happen to them immediately.  So the bottom line is not to be Christ’s disciple is therefore not to be Christ’s at all and that is something that no one once to find themselves in that situation.

 

            Once again I want to say that being a born-again believer in Jesus Christ is the most important thing that can every happen to you.  The Bible tells us that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  So “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  One has to realize that they are born a sinner, and that means that we sin because we are sinners.  On our own we can do nothing in order to be right with God and that is why God sent His Son to take our place on the cross in order to pay for all of our sins.  Once we realize this then we can confess to the Lord that we are a sinner and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your life to save you from your sins.  I realize that this sounds simple, but the truth is that no one can do anything on their own to become a true believer in Jesus Christ.  God will receive all the glory for everyone who belongs to Him for His Son did all of the word so we can be saved.

 

            Now once that we become a believer then the thing that we are to do is be obedient to the Lord and that is what this section is all about.  Things have to happen in order, first you become a believer, and then you are obedient in doing the work of the Lord.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Today could be one of the most important days in the life of our country, as today is voting day and if things don’t go the way that many believers hope that they will go then the United States and also the entire world will have great problems ahead of them.  My prayer is that God will have great mercy on our country.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to do the things that will bring glory to Him, and I pray that a part of His plan is to continue to use our country to bring glory to Him.

 

11/5/2024 10:38 AM

"Reasons Believers Are Not to Love the World" (1 JOhn 2:15-17)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/4/2024 9:12 PM

 

My Worship Time                                   Focus:  “Reasons Believers Are Not to Love the World”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  1 John 2:15b-17

 

            Message of the verses:   “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

 

            Now please think for a moment about this truth:  The kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God are inherently incompatible.  Here are some verses to show this is true:  1 John 4:5-6; John 15:19; Gal. 6:14.  As one compares the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God they will find out that the two are mutually exclusive and opposed to one another.  They are opposing, and cannot peacefully coexist.  Now when God created the world it was perfect, and that includes both Adam and Eve, but once they fell then the kingdom of the world began.  When a person is born-again they are born into the family of God and are then opposed by the Devil and also the kingdom of the world, and as stated they are opposite.  Now true Christians therefore will not be characterized by a habitual love for the world, nor will worldly people demonstrate a genuine affection for the gospel and its Lord.  Again we will look at some verse references to help us better understand this truth.  John 3:20; Acts 7:51; Acts 13:8-10; Acts 17:5, 13; Rom. 8:7; Col. 1:21; and 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16.

 

            John MacArthur writes:  “Clearly, there is an unmistakable line of demarcation between the things of God and the things of the world.  The ongoing moral and ethical deterioration of contemporary culture makes this obvious.  Even brief consideration provides a lengthy list of cultural agendas that are aggressively hostile to biblical Christianity: an attack on the traditional family by feminism; and active promotion of sexual promiscuity and homosexuality; and hedonism by the secular media; a steady decline in standards of personal integrity and business esthetics; an undermining of right and wrong by post-modern relativism; and so on.”

 

            The commentary that I have quoted from was from John MacArthur, and it was printed in the year 2007, and I’m sure that the sermons that he preached that are the background for the commentary were preached earlier than that.  My point is that things are very much worse now than they were in 2007.  As we move closer to the time when the Lord will return to take His Church to heaven in the event entitled the rapture the Bible says that things will continue to grow worse and worse. 

 

            Now what we are looking at in today’s SD is just a preview of things to come as these verses will be broken down and written about as we move on from SD to SD.

 

            MacArthur now gives us a preview of things to come in his commentary by writing “In order to support his admonition, John does not offer a long list of specifics or detailed illustrations.  Instead, he presents three general reasons believers must not love the world:  because of who they are, because of what the world does, and because of where the world is going.”  These are the three elements that I will be writing about as we continue to look at these verses.

 

11/4/2024 9:33 PM

PT-1 "Obedience" (Matt. 28:19-20a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/4/2024 8:46 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                   Focus:  PT-1 “Obedience”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                             Reference:  Matthew 28:19-20a

 

            Message of the verses:  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you;”

 

            Today I begin the second to last section from the book of Matthew, and as mentioned I began my study of Matthew on November 17, 1999, and I have to say that the saying a lot of water came under the dam is a true statement, as many things have happened in our world and in my world in the last five days, and I can also say that tomorrow will be a very important day in the life of the world to see if Satan gets his way in his desire to destroy our country.  I have complete confidence that God is in control of what is going on, on planet earth.  The Bible teaches us that things will continue to get worse and worse before the end times when after the rapture of the church the world will see the seven most terrible years in the history of the earth, especially the last three and a half years which will end what the Bible calls the Tribulation period, something that I have posted different Spiritual Diaries on my blogs from two times studying the book of Revelation.  The Bible states that if God did not step in to stop the battles that go on during the last days of the Tribulation period that there would be no world left.

 

            I have been talking about the different elements for effective fulfillment of the church’s mission which is how John MacArthur breaks up these last verses in the gospel of Matthew, and today I begin the fourth element which is obedience to the Lord’s command, made possible only when the attitudes of availability, worship, and submission characterize the believer’s life.

 

            I realize that what we are looking at in these last verses from Matthew’s gospel is called “The Great Commission,” as the resurrected Lord gives His marching orders for the church in these verses and so with the title “Obedience” given here we as His children are to be obedient in following His marching orders.

 

            MacArthur writes “It was in light of His absolute, sovereign authority that Jesus command, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

 

            “The transitional word is therefore.  ‘Because I am sovereign Lord of the universe,’ Jesus was saying ‘I have both the authority to command you to be My witnesses and the power to enable you to obey that command.’”

 

            Now we have to think back to the reason that the Lord began the nation of Israel, back in the Old Testament, and one of the things that they were to do was to be God’s light to the Gentiles in light of Jesus’ early ministry, it should not be surprising that His commission was to make disciples of all the nations.  This command that Jesus is talking about reminds me of different things that Israel was suppose to do as found in the ninth chapter of Daniel’s great prophecy.  Let me just look at these things that are found there for a moment.  24 “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place” (Daniel 9:27).  This is the beginning of the prophecy that Daniel was given to by an angel and in this prophecy of actually 490 years there are certain things that Israel is to do, and many of these things were done through their Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Notice the prophecy is decreed for your people (Israel) and your holy city (Jerusalem).  Then there are things that will be done within these 490 years as listed in the highlighted portion of this verse.  Jesus fulfilled many of these in His first coming, including the first four and the rest of them will be fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation period.  You see the prophecy began 383 years before Jesus came in and offered Himself as the Messiah, but Israel turned Him down and so He was crucified for our sins and then resurrected and went to heaven.  However there are seven more years of this prophecy to be fulfilled, which will be the seven years of the Tribulation period.  Notice the highlighted portion of verse 27 which tells us when this last seven years (one week) will begin.  27 "And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate."  This coming Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel for seven years, and I believe that during this first part of the Tribulation period that Israel will construct their temple, something that they are ready to do now.  The covenant will be broken in the middle of the seven years as seen in the second highlighted portion of verse twenty-seven.  It is the last part of this seven years which will be the most horrible time ever on planet earth.  The Lord will return as seen in the 19^th chapter of the book of Revelation, and He will not be alone as all the raptured saints of the church will come with Him.    “11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’”  After this judgment will come upon those who are still alive, the evil ones will go into the lake of fire, and the justified ones into the Millennial Kingdom.

 

            I got a little off of what is going on in Matthew 28, but sometimes I just do things that I believe the Lord desires me to do.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have a job to do, and that is to tell others about the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Great Commission tells me to do.

 

            My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to accomplish what He desires to do in my life and in our country. 

 

11/4/2024 9:38 AM 

PT-2 "The Command Not to Love the World" (1 John 2:15a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/03/2024 9:26 PM

 

My Worship Time                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Command Not to Love the World”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference:  1 John 2:15a

 

            Message of the verse: “Do not love the world or the things in the world.”

 

            I mentioned in my other SD’s that my wife and I took a weekend trip to watch our a volleyball tournament as our daughter is the coach at her school where she also teaches Spanish.  The school is a part of the church where we attend.  At any rate her team came in second in the state in a certain Christian schools, not certain what they call it, but it was the first time that our volleyball team ever got that far, and they came in second place which made us happy.  Our daughter is a very good coach and has done this for a number of years, and the thing that is best in her coaching is that she really has a great ministry with her girls, and also is a very good coach.

 

            Now it is time to write about this verse which I was going to do on the last day of October.  I begin with a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary as he writes “Second, John would not have commanded believers to hate the world of humanity.  That is because God loves people in the world and sent His Son to be the propitiation for their sin.”  He then give a whole list of verses which I am not going to put onto this SD.

 

            “The world and its things, which John warned his readers not to love, is the invisible, spiritual system of evil.  It is the kosmos (‘world order,’ ‘realm of existence,’ ‘way of live’) governed by Satan; as Paul reminded the Ephesians, ‘You formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is not working in the sons of disobedience’ (Eph. 2:2).  Later in this letter John wrote:  ‘the whole world lies in the power of the evil one’ (5:19; cf. 4:1-5; John 12:31).  The ‘world’ here refers to the same evil system that Jesus referred to when He said, ‘If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you’ (John 15:18; cf. 17:14).  So, it was not humanity in general or the created order that hated Christ, but rather the wicked, corrupt (2 Peter 2:19), demonic ideologies and enterprises that stimulate fallen humanity…In keeping with this understanding, the apostle Paul correctly viewed the world as engaged in a massive spiritual war against the kingdom of God.”

 

            “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the

flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

 

            Let us look at the word “Speculations” which means ideologies or belief systems, ranging from privitive, animistic systems to sophisticated, complex world religions, philosophies, political theories, or any unbiblical worldviews.  They represent all unbelieving ideas and dogmas that, often from an elitist standpoint, rise up against the true knowledge of God.  On can surely see this type of development in the world today as it seems that the world is racing to a one world “religion” along with a one world government which will be headed up by the Antichrist, who I truly believe is alive somewhere in Europe at this time. 

 

            MacArthur concludes by writing “In response, believers are commanded to confront and destroy the world’s spiritual lies and false speculations with the truth.  Paul thus identifies the world as the full spectrum of beliefs and inclinations that oppose the things of God, and John implicitly echoes that definition.  When a person becomes a Christian, he or she is no longer a slave to the world system.  Christians have been ‘rescued…from the domain of darkness, and transferred…to the kingdom of His beloved Son’ (Col. 1:13; cf. 2 Cor. 6:17-18; Eph. 5:6-12).”

 

            Lord willing I will continue in the next SD by looking at 1 John 2:15b-17, which I hope will be done in one SD.

 

11/3/2024 9:55 PM

 

             

 

PT-3 "Submission" (Matthew 29:18b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/03/2024 11:21 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-3 “Submission”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 29:18b

 

            Message of the verses:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

 

            I begin by writing about the fact that even the prophet Daniel foresaw sovereign authority being given to Christ.  This is seen in his night vision he beheld “One like the Son of Man…coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.  And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13-14, also look at Isa. 9:6-7).

 

            Now we can look at how Jesus Himself had described His coming dominion.  “The sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30, also look at 26:64).

 

            MacArthur writes “Jesus’ sovereign authority was given to Him by His Father, who ‘has given all judgment to the Son’ (John 5:22), ‘made Him both Lord and Christ’ (Acts 2:36), and has ‘highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ I Lord’ (Phil. 2:9-11).  Then, finally, in an act of adoring love and submission, ‘when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all’ (1 Cor. 15:28).”

 

            MacArthur goes on to write “Before giving the commission, Jesus first established His absolute, pervasive authority, because otherwise the command would have seemed hopelessly impossible for the disciples to fulfill, and they might have ignored it.  Were it not for knowing they had the Lord’s sovereign demand as well as His resources to guide and empower them, those five hundred nondescript, powerless disciples would have been totally overwhelmed by the inconceivable task of making disciples for their Lord from among every nation on earth.

 

            “Submission to the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ is not a believer’s option but is his supreme obligation.  It is not negotiable or adjustable to one’s own particular inclinations and plans.  It is rather the aptitude that says with absolute sincerity, “Whatever the Lord commands, I will do.”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It has been my desire to submit to doing what the Lord wants me to do, and I know that I have not always been faithful in doing it, but that is STILL my desire.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to be submissive to what the Lord has called me to do.  11/3/2024 8:35 AM

 

PT-2 "Submission" (Matt. 28:18b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/02/2024 11:21 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-2 “Submission”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 29:18b

 

            Message of the verses:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

 

            Let me explain why my Spiritual Diaries are late today.  My wife and I went to a place called Circleville, Ohio which near the middle of the state of Ohio, and the reason we went is because our daughter Kim is the volleyball coach for our church school, First Baptist Church of Elyria, OH.  This is the first time our team has ever been in the final four of their conference.  They won their game yesterday, (Friday), but came in second as they lost this evening and thus came in second in the state for their division.  It was a lot of driving as it is about 175 miles from where we live so that means I drove over 350 miles total in the last two days.  Needless to say that I am very proud of our daughter Kim and her team, as mentioned this was the first time our team has ever made it to the state finals.  Also needless to say this Spiritual Diary will be rather short.

 

            Let us begin by thinking about the early days of our Lord’s ministry where He demonstrated His authority over disease and sickness as seen in Matt. 4:23; and 9:35.  Also over demons in Matthew 4:24; along with 8:32 and 12:22, and then over sin in Matthew 9:6, and over death as seen in Mark 5:41-42; John 11:43-44.  Now except for the forgiveness of sin, Jesus even exhibited the authority to delegate such power to certain of His disciples, and followers as seen in Matthew 10:1; Luke 10:9, 17.  Jesus has authority to bring all men before the tribunal of God and to condemn them to eternal death or bring them to eternal life.  Look at John 5:27-29; and 17:2.  Jesus had the authority to lay down His life and to take it up again as seen in John 10:18.  Jesus has the sovereign authority to rule both heaven and earth and to subjugate Satan and his demons to eternal torment in the lake of fire as seen in Revelation 19:20; and 20:10.  Satan’s tempting Jesus by offering Him rulership over the world (Matthew 4:8-9) not only was wicked but foolish, because lordship of both heaven and earth are already Christ’s inheritance by what is called divine fiat.

 

            11/2/2024 11:38 PM

 

PT-1 "Submission" (Matt. 28:18b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/1/2024 8:21 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus:  PT-1 “Submission”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 29:18b

 

            Message of the verses:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

 

            In today’s SD I want to write about the third element for effective fulfillment of the church’s mission, which is another attitude, the implied attitude of submission.  Now the focus of Jesus’ declaration here is on His sovereign lordship, but it is in context it also clearly relates to the believer’s response to His rule.  I have to say that when I first became a believer it took me a while for the Lord to teach me a number of things, and I believe the first important truth was that Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh.  Later on He taught me that Jesus Christ is both LORD and Savior, He is my LORD and my Savior and He deserves all glory because of who He is.

 

            MacArthur writes “Before the Lord states the Great commission; He establishes His divine authority to command it.  It is because of His sovereign power that His followers are to have the attitude of complete, humble submission to His will”

 

            As we have been looking at this 28^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel we have been also looking at the time line of what happened after Jesus rose from the dead, and in order to do that it is necessary to look at the other gospel writers in their books which also tells of things that the Lord did after He arose from the dead.  I am learning that this 28^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel has some very important writings in it, actually more important than I knew before, and for that I am thankful to take the time to better account myself with this last chapter in Matthew’s gospel.

 

            MacArthur writes “Exousia (authority) refers to the freedom and right to speak and act as one pleases.  In relation to God, that freedom and right are absolute and unlimited.  The all is both reinforced and delineated by the phrase in heaven and earth.  The sovereign authority given Jesus by His heavenly Father (see Matt. 11:27) is absolute and universal.”  Now I wish to quote Matthew 11:27 “"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” 

 

            In light of what we are learning about the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ let me talk for a moment about the very important election that will happen on the 5^th of November in the USA.  "It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding” (Daniel 2:21).  This verse and others show us that it is God who chooses the rulers and leaders of the nations.  God is sovereign and there are many times that we will not figure out what He is doing and why He is doing things until afterwards when we look back on what happened.  I think of events that happened in WWII, and how so many Jewish people were killed by the Germans, and then on May 5, 1948 Israel became a nation on the very spot that God gave to them thousands of years ago.  God’s purposes are not always seen, but God is sovereign and so we who know Him through His Son must trust Him even though it is hard, very hard at times.

            I have written in earlier SD’s that I don’t believe that the USA will play a vital role in the end time. My thoughts are as many others that we will be destroyed from within, or be destroyed in war, or my favorite is that the rapture will come which will take all true believers from around the world to be with the Lord, and this certainly will change how the world is ruled, for the antichrist will come into power and the events of the last seven years of history for planet earth will begin as seen in Revelation chapters six through nineteen. 

 

            Bottom line is that as I pray for this upcoming election, my prayer is that God will have mercy on our country, also more important is that the Holy Spirit will bring about a great spiritual revival not only in our country, but around the world before the rapture will take place.

 

            There are three major prayers given in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel which took place after the Jewish people were allowed to go back to their land after Babylon had destroyed their land including the temple that Solomon built.  Take some time to read over these three chapters as seen in the following chapters:  “Ezra also contains one of the great intercessory prayers of the Bible (Ezra 9:5–15; see Daniel 9 and Nehemiah 9 for others). His leadership proved crucial to the Jews' spiritual advancement.”

 

            Lord willing I will continue this section on submission in my next SD.

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Learning submission to the Lord can be a challenge to me at times even though I know that He loves me and will never do anything to me that is not good for me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that the Lord will give my wife and I a very smooth trip today and tomorrow as we go and watch our daughter coach her volleyball team in a championship series about three hours from where we live.

 

11/1/2024 9:01 AM