The verses from Isaiah which Selwyn quotes in today’s study, are interesting:

Isaiah 2219-25 (NLT): ‘Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord. “I will pull you down from your high position. And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you. I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority. And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah. I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”

But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”‘

We can see from these words that the Lord calls his servant, gives him a title and authority, drives his servant firmly in place; and then, a time will come when this firm nail will be pulled out by the Lord. Clearly, these verses highlight the fact that our Lord has assigned specific roles to different people, for set periods of time. I wonder if the new President (USA) knows and understand this humbling truth?

I think it’s remarkable that Selwyn wrote the following some time back, and now it’s more relevant than ever: “When the peg of materialistic philosophy, upon which almost everything is hanging in this generation, is wrenched out by economic calamity – a possibility that is causing much fear now – then our hopes, our plans, our confidence go with it. This generation is hanging its hopes on the wrong peg – materialism. That peg should be God, for as He holds amid the stress of things, everything holds.”

The title to this study is a nice one; but it’s more accurate to say that when we turn towards home and start seeking reconciliation with our Father, there He is, looking down the road, waiting for us; and, He will run down the road to sweep us up in His loving arms when He sees us in the distance.

The verses set for reading and meditation are great. Note what Paul is saying – we can have no confidence in human effort – we can only be confident in what Jesus has done for us – it is faith, only. Through, and because of our faith, we do the good works prepared in advance by God for us to do.

The other point, highlighted by the bold text, is that we can, and should, have the confidence that if we press on, we will receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. It is wrong to call this confidence, in true faith: a presumption, a sin!

Finally, we should be like Paul and want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.  We must want to suffer with him – to carry our cross – sharing in his death, so that one way or another we will experience the resurrection from the dead!  Are you prepared to carry your cross and follow Jesus – determined to press on, in the face of the world’s growing opposition, to take possession of perfection for eternity?

Paul’s letter to the Philippians 3:1-14 (NLT): “Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith.

Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

Selwyn writes in today’s study: “… we continue mediating on the thought that God is first seen in Scripture in His capacity as Creator of the universe. The fact that the Bible opens in this way teaches us that without a Creator the universe has no proper framework or reference and lacks a cosmic meaning.”

On seeing the title of today’s study, I immediately thought – ‘yes, Jesus I wish you were back’. I just love these words from the last Chapter of Revelation, 22:12-20 (NLT): ‘ “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” 

Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.

Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! ‘

On watching the news or reading the paper often increases my desire for His return – to end this misery. What’s your view?

Selwyn continues his discussion, in regard to: ‘if God is not our starting point then creation has no proper framework or reference … only as God is given the central place in His universe can the sense of cosmic loneliness be overcome,   … ‘

To me, this point is so obvious, that nothing more needs to be said. If anyone has any doubts just look at the direction our western culture is heading, as it throws off all moral restraints, because it progressively denies God His rightful place.

What’s your view?

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Last night was very windy and some heavy rain, at times - enough to keep me awake for hours. Normally I can sleep through any disturbance, but not so last night. The good part of lying awake, in the pitch black, is that it’s very easy to pray – and that I’m very thankful for - our God, who is always awake and with love, listens and responds to the prayers of His people.

First off, I like to thank all those who read my posts on a regular basis. It’s now been a couple of years since I’ve started posting; and, when I started off there were only a few people who visited this site, but now there are significant numbers of people coming from a wide range of countries.

The Holy Spirit constantly amazes me as to how, and what methods, He uses to direct His Word, to the right person at the right time; it’s a privilege to be involved in His great work (albeit in a very small way).

One thing I’ve noticed is, the numbers visiting this site, appear to depend on the subject matter for each issue – once again, I feel that this matches what God is doing with His people and I think it’s a world wide, coordinated activity. That is, His divine story, is not a series of small, isolated and independent pockets of activity – but, a well-planned global approach to His purposes.

The study today, which includes a look at the first 13 verses of Genesis – had me thinking about how beautiful our created world is, at times - its beauty can still be seen in the midst of pollution. I went whale watching last Friday, at Jervis Bay  (south coast of Australia) -  and we spotted a couple of female Humpback whales with their calves, within the Bay. The mothers and calves migrate south, after breeding, down the southern coast making their way back to the Antarctic. Jervis Bay is a deep sheltered bay, good for the calves to rest and feed, to gain more strength before they continue their long journey.

Watching these large animals frolic in the shallows close to a beach, and to see the calves jump and play within such a beautiful bay; beaches of clean, white sand, and picturesque shoreline; gave one a glimpse of what it may have been like when God first created this world, and saw that it was good. The rate at which we are eroding the beauty of creation on this planet – you have to wonder, just how many more generations will there be, before such scenes have disappeared forever?

The one point I missed from yesterday’s study was the verses for reading and meditation, the first part of Jesus’ prayer (John 17:1-10, NLT):

‘After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life – to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

“I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. You gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything I have is a gift from you, for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. They accepted it and know that I came from you, and they believe you sent me.

“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. … ” ‘

We can know God through Jesus – there is no other way to enjoy an eternal relationship with God.

Selwyn starts today’s study, with the opening verse of Genesis: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” He writes: “The name for God here is ‘Elohim’, and points to the One who possess all divine power.  … LIfe cannot be meaningful unless it has meaningful resources. If there is no Creator then life is, indeed, meaningless. If, however, there is a Creator then all of life takes on a new and wondrous meaning.”

One of the reasons I included the verse from John 17, was to link it to the verse which headlines today’s study -  the introduction to creation.

Now let’s look at Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1:15-17 (NLT):

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”

Jesus is our creator God – I can’t stress this point strongly enough -  the teaching on the Trinity (in my view)sometimes emphasises the distinct differences (roles) between the three Persons, as we understand them, and fails to balance this view, with the complete unity of God. 

In Deuteronomy 32:39 (NLT), we read: “Look now; I myself am he! There is no other god but me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one can be rescued from my powerful hand!”  God spent hundreds of years with the Israelites teaching them there is but one God, there are no other gods. I’m firmly of the view that we are not going to find three separate ‘Gods’ in heaven – do you agree?

I like the theme of this issue – because, as Selwyn says, ‘to know God is the greatest goal a person can have‘.

He goes on to say: “The aim of this series of studies is to discover God more fully through the various names He uses in Scripture. A name, when used in the Bible, is not merely a designation; it is a definition.

The names of God reveals His characteristics, and reflecting on them should have a bearing on our own lives and character. As we meditate on God’s greatness, His grace and His love, every problem we have falls into its proper place.”

It’s worth remembering from what we discussed in the last issue – that we too, will be given a new name when we arrive in God’s kingdom. Our new name, will also define who we are – for eternity. As we develop our relationship with Jesus, His Spirit will also be moulding us into a new creation – how great is that?

The major problem with the modern world is the general preoccupation with the here and now – a period, that will only last for 80 or so, years. How sad it is, we often fail to appreciate that what we do now, will determine how we will spend more than 80 billion years – in perfect terror and loss, or perfect peace and love.  There is no middle ground, it’s either one or the other – what would you choose? A ‘good’ time now and hell later; or to carry your cross while you follow Jesus – and then heaven, later - you can’t live, with a foot, in both options – and that’s a fact. Do you agree?