I'm doing the Lucy thing

When my lil sis Lucy started out posting bible time stuff she began by posting a scripture and ending with "I don't know what that means". We always kinda give her grief, but now I'm gonna try it out.

"Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy." ~ Rev 22:11

This is in the last chapter of Revelation where it is talking about the end being near. So why should the vile ones continue to vileize? Why should they not repent? I'm probably missing something really obvious here, but this is a mite confusing. Any thoughts?

Mighty To Save

Everyone needs compassion,

Love that's never failing;

Let mercy fall on me.

Everyone needs forgiveness,

The kindness of a Saviour;

The Hope of nations.

Saviour, He can move the mountains,

My God is Mighty to save,

He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation,

He rose and conquered the grave,

Jesus conquered the grave.

So take me as You find me,

All my fears and failures,

Fill my life again.

I give my life to follow

Everything I believe in,

Now I surrender.

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,

My God is Mighty to save,

He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation,

He rose and conquered the grave,

Jesus conquered the grave.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,

We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus

My Saviour, He can move the mountains,

My God is Mighty to save,

He is Mighty to save.

Forever, Author of salvation,

He rose and conquered the grave,

Jesus conquered the grave.

My Saviour, you can move the mountains,

You are mighty to save,

You are mighty to save.

Forever, Author of Salvation,

You rose and conquered the grave,

Yes you conquered the grave

"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades." ~ Revelation 1:17-18

Just ordinary dudes

Today Jesus left his disciples. But before he left, they recieved the Holy Spirit for the first time. Now I came to Christ when I was too little to really know/remember the difference, and I can't imagine NOT having the Holy Spirit. Check out how radical it was here in Acts:

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome both Jews and converts to Judaism Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"
Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

" 'In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' "

I can't imagine how amazing that would be and how many nights I would be not able to sleep just thinking of all this meant to the world from there on out.

Through the Gospels at the speed of light

My reading plan is ruthless - it has me reading Jesus's death, resurrection, and birth all on the same day in different books! It's a crazy ride, but reading different people's accounts of the same thing is interesting, because I remember what Matthew said about the rich young ruler fresh when I'm reading it in Mark 30 minutes later :) But anyway, reading through them this time I noticed much more emphasis on John the Baptist than I'd noticed before. Take a look at these quotes by Jesus about John...

"What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear."

And then later...

"But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished."

John had a neat life - he was born to his parents in their old age and he is famous for his time in the desert baptizing and eating bugs with honey. He was Herod's favorite speaker (even though he didn't understand him) and was beheaded because of a woman who had some problem with him. This? This great prophet that was to come before Jesus? He certainly didn't have the most glamorous life. Most of the prophets in the Bible have this common theme of prophecying and then being persecuted normally like everybody else. But John is a little different than all these guys. We talk about Moses being loved by God and all that, but check John out! I look forward to talking to this guy in heaven one day.

Please pray for my focus (yes, again). I'm feeling a bit flurried and/or distracted in my spiritual life.

This is really all I have to say. 90 day reading is going well, I am staying caught up and all. I think I'll like taking it slow when this is done and actually really STUDY the stuff.

Those Iffy Things

Ever been in a situation in which your conscience was getting pricked, but it really couldn't be helped without being rude? Like maybe eating a ham dinner at someone's house when you don't eat pork, or getting invited to a party that may not be such a good idea. 1 Corinthians 10 addresses such matters.

"Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, 'The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.'

If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, "This has been offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience' sake— the other man's conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another's conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."

What do you get out of this? Is this iffy thing you're thinking about doing be glorifying to God? It's not an easy answer - if you DIDN'T eat the ham and hurt your hosts feelings, that would not be God-honoring or good for your reputation as a Christian. I found the part about "trying to please everybody for the sake of the gospel" very interesting. If I'm going about offending people in any way, what I believe in and what is important to me is probably not desirable for those around me. Just a little food for thought...

Doncha love when God works these things out?

This morning I read the part in Ezekiel where Ezekiel is getting a tour of the temple by the angel who is measuring everything. Twas quite long and I couldn't get a point out of it for the life of me. But before I could think/pray about it further, it was time for church.

Went to Eastside Baptist. Great worship! Then when it was sermon time, the main passages of what the message was on showed up on the screen. Whoa! Ezekial 47! Maybe somebody knows what this is all about!!! Before we go any further, here is the passage in question:

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.
As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?"

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."

Now you all may be more spiritually minded than me, but I was saying, "Wha......???" The pastor gave us the example of his three-year-old in a kiddie pool. It's really fun and great while she's 3, but when she's 16 it won't be the same. He said that the water in the passage was the water of the Holy Spirit - the living water. First it was ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep, and soon Ezekiel was swimming in the water. I wondered how deep I was in my spiritual growth. Does living water flow through you onto a dead world, making all live?

So my questions of this morning were all cleared up today perfectly. God gave me the passage, I didn't understand it, so he set up an explanation to the parable in the same day. Oh so thoughtful...