YEAR 2, WEEK 50, Day 4, Thursday, 14 December 2023

https://esv.literalword.com/?q=zech+1%3B+rev+11

Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 14 December 2023:

Note: Here is a short video overview of Zechariah: https://youtu.be/_106IfO6Kc0

Zechariah 1:3 — Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you.”

The Father drew you to Jesus Christ (John 6:44), but you must choose to follow Him (John 12:26). If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your salvation is secure in His perfect, unyielding love, and you have received the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:1) However, the Bible warns that, in sin, you can “grieve” the Holy Spirit, “quench” the Holy Spirit, get out of “step” with the Holy Spirit, and even “outrage” the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; Galatians 5:25; Hebrews 10:29) – Don’t do that! You have been given an unimaginable gift in Christ. How much you enjoy it and realize its value depends on how you use it and what you do with it.

Your response to Jesus in your life will set the conditions for everything else in your life. In a practical sense, sin causes you to drift away from Jesus, creating a ‘distance’ from Him and a lack of fellowship, but you can return to Him by repenting from your sin. Nearness to God is not a matter of physical distance but rather distance in the spiritual realm. When we choose to sin, we are choosing to walk away from God and distance ourselves from Holy God who cannot partner with or bless sin. Returning to the Lord involves turning away from evil and following Him again in loving, wholehearted obedience.

If you have drifted from God, His call is to return to Him. God promises that if you return, He will immediately restore His relationship with you – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) Echoing Zechariah 1:3, James 4:8 promises if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. If you have wandered away from the Lord by walking in the flesh rather than the Spirit, repent and get back in step – “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

• Matthew 16:24 — If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
• Hebrews 11:6 — And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
• 1 Timothy 6:10 — For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
• Hebrews 2:1 — Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
• Proverbs 19:27 — Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
• Psalm 119:10 — With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
• James 5:19-20 — My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

“Why is it that some Christians seem to go so much deeper in their walk with God than others? Why have some had such powerful intercessory prayer ministries that have changed the courses of nations? Why has God chosen to anoint the words of some so that, when they speak or pray or preach, it is obvious that their words are consecrated by God? It is because these individuals have committed themselves to pursue God until His presence is powerfully real in their lives. They have decided to settle for nothing less than a vibrant relationship with God, and He has honored their desire. Have you become complacent with your relationship with God, or are you hungering for more? Don’t become satisfied with a relationship with God that is broken by sin and void of the power of the Holy Spirit. You have just as much of God’s powerful presence available to you as the greatest saint in Christian history! Return to God. There is so much more in store for you if you will return to Him. He awaits your response.” (Henry T. Blackaby)

Revelation 11:1-2 – Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.”

God’s people are divided between the faithful and the unfaithful.

Of note, Solomon’s temple could be rebuilt today without disturbing the Dome of the Rock which is located in the area where the outer court of Solomon’s temple was located. Many believe this will occur as a precursor to the Tribulation.

Note: Compare time references between Revelation 11:2-3, 11 and Daniel 7:25; 12:7, 11-12.

Revelation 11:3-6 – “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.

In the worst times on earth, God retains His witnesses.

Revelation 11:7 — Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.

A life well lived: The above verse from Revelation concerning the two witnesses reminds me of Acts 13:36 concerning the life of David –“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.” Like David before them, these two witnesses served their God-given purpose in the midst of a wicked generation on earth and then died. That sounds like a successful life. In contrast, I am reminded of Jonah who resisted the calling to serve as God’s messenger to a sinful nation and suffered tremendously because of His resentful heart. Jonah ran from what God had called him to do and was so depressed he cared not whether he lived or died. It took a near death experience and God’s miraculous provision for Jonah to accept begrudgingly what he had been called to do: “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord…. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” You have been saved miraculously and have been called as a witness (martyr in Greek) to testify before a sinful world. Joy comes from fulfilling your purpose. Unfortunately, Jonah never fully shared God’s heart for lost people, and therefore lacked the fulness of joy in life God intended for Him and all of us. God has called you to proclaim the truth to a wicked generation. Are you doing that with enthusiasm and joy? Do you have God’s heart for the lost? Do you accept persecution as the cost of doing business and a temporary pain which is nothing compared with the reward ahead?

• 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 — 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.

Revelation 11:11, 12 – But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them.

God will again raise people from the dead before His return. Still, unbelievers will remain in disbelief. Contrary to what many say, miracles cannot solve a faith problem. A lack of faith is not an evidence issue; it is a heart issue. Being afraid of God is not the same as “fearing God” in a biblical way that honors God as God and obeys Him.

Revelation 11:13 – And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

God knows that some will only give Him glory when terrible things happen to them. Even under the worst conditions, some will still refuse Him.

Revelation 11:15-19 – The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

God is Sovereign, and He controls all things. However, God’s Kingdom is the range of His effective will, where His will is done. God is not a tyrant and gives people the choice whether or not to “abide” in His Kingdom. Consider some of the things Jesus taught about the Kingdom:

• Matthew 6:33 — But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
• Matthew 21:31 — Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
• Matthew 21:43 — Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
• Mark 1:15 — “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
• Mark 4:11 — And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables….
• Mark 10:14, 15 — But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
  Jesus came, “proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 8:1),” and He “sent [the disciples] out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal (Luke 9:2).” The Good News of the Kingdom was and is that the Kingdom of God is “at hand,” within a person’s grasp; “the kingdom of God is in the midst of you (Luke 17:21),” the doors are open for anyone who would choose to enter into the realm or domain of God’s presence and will, living life with the goal, “thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. The Kingdom is now, among God’s faithful servants, but won’t be fully realized until Christ’s return when the will of all on earth will be His will, when we will not only be freed from the penalty of sin and the power of sin (the current state of God’s people), but when we will also be freed from the presence of sin on earth. Notice that the first two chapters of the Bible and the last two chapters of the Bible have this in common: there is no sin on earth. God will come and one day restore the Kingdom Adam and Eve ruined. Until then, we are called to live under the rule, reign and authority of the KING of the Kingdom as His ambassadors to foreign lands. We only have authority to do what the King commands, and within that authority, we have all power, everything has been given to us. Outside if His authority, we have no authority and power, anything we do outside His will is unauthorized for us and actually works against the KING and His authority. All sin is cosmic treason. Be faithful to your KING in all you do.

“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 14 December 2023: Today honor God by dishonoring sin. Have nothing to do with what God abhors, speak out against sin and call for repentance. Don’t run from your calling like Jonah but rather stand as a lampstand like the two witnesses in Revelation 11. (Proverbs 8:13; Revelation 11:3-12)