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| Christmas Eve Candlelight Services - Several churches around the historic town square of Burnsville, NC, will hold candlelight services. Higgins Memorial United Methodist Church will hold one at 5:30. Everyone is invited. |
My Meditations on Today’s Readings
(Ellipses are mine
and are used for contemplation.)
Key Phrases/Words:
Thus says the Lord, (x 8); Hear this word; Surely the Lord GOD does nothing
unless He reveals His secret to his servants the prophets, in the midst of,
within her; Make haste to me! Set a guard over my mouth, Keep watch over the
door of my lips; The Revelation to the 7 Churches, He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches (x 3), to him who overcomes, because you have kept my command to persevere
Choice of Self, Material
Gain over God and the Covenant of Brotherhood – Amos 1, 2 and 3 – (Facts:
What It Says – Summarized:
The
Sheepbreeder of Tekoa: God
has sent Amos as a prophet to pronounce judgment on the great nations –
Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, Judah, and Israel – all linked back in
genealogy to a brotherhood. The Cause of God’s Judgment Against the Nations: To
the Gentile nations: I will not turn
away its punishment…because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom…and
did not remember the covenant of brotherhood; because he pursued his brother
with the sword, cast off all pity, tore in anger perpetually, kept his wrath
forever, ripped open the women with child in Gilead that they might enlarge their territory; To Israel and
Judah…1) because they have despised the law of the LORD and not kept His
commandments, 2) their lies lead them astray, which their fathers followed…3)
because they sell the righteous for silver; 4) because they pervert the way of
the humble, 5) a man and his father go in to the same girl to defile My holy
name. 6) They lie down on every altar and drink the wine of the condemned in the
house of their god, 7) they gave the Nazirites wine to drink, 8) and commanded
the prophets to not prophesy. 8)They see great tumults in her midst and the
oppressed within her… for they do not know to do right, 9) who store up
violence and robbery in their palaces. God’s Judgment:
I will break, not turn away, devour,
punish, visit destruction upon them. I
will destroy the winter house along with the summer house. The houses of ivory shall perish, and the
great houses shall have an end, says the LORD. Principle: The Gentile nations are punished for their
destruction and oppression of the Chosen People. Israel and Judah are punished for forgetting
God when they are materially blessed.
Charles Stanley, Life Principles Daily Bible, pg. 1508: A relationship with God is
not only a phenomenal privilege, it is also a great responsibility. “The time has come for judgment to begin
at the house of God.” 1 Peter 4:17. The
ancient Israelites had allowed their pursuit of material abundance to eclipse
their commitment to God – and He will never allow for long anything or anyone
to take the place that belongs to Him alone.
Choice of God over
Self, Wickedness, or Material Gain – Psalm 141:1-4 – (Facts: What It Says) The Psalmist’s Request and Plea of God:
LORD, I cry out to You…Make haste to
me! Give ear to my voice when I cry out
to you! 1) Let my prayer be set before You as incense, 2) the lifting up of my
hands as the evening sacrifice, 3) Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; 4) Keep
watch over the door of my lips, 5) Do not incline my heart to any evil thing…to
practice wicked works…with men who work iniquity 6) and do not let me eat of
their delicacies. Principle: We can almost sense
the psalmist struggling to maintain His close walk with God while in the midst
of evil – almost as if he is one of the godly remnant left during the prophecy
of Amos in the OT reading for today.
Surely this was written in the midst of a time such as that – and this.
Choices of the Seven
Churches Through Their Works – Revelation 3 – (Facts: What It Says – Summarized) To
the Church at Sardis: 1) I know
your works. 2) You have a name…that
your are alive but you are dead.
3) Be watchful. 4) Strengthen the
things which remain, that are ready to die…for…I have not found your
works perfect before God. 5) Remember…how you received and heard, 6) Hold fast,
7) Repent. Yet even in the midst of
this dying church, a faithful remnant remains.
You have a few names…even in
Sardis…who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white,
for they are worthy. He who
overcomes…shall be clothed in white…I will not blot out his name from the
Book of Life…I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. To the Church at Philadelphia: 1) I
know your works. 2) See…I have set
an open door before you, and no one can shut it…for 3) you have a little
strength, 4) have kept My word, 5) have not denied My Name, 6)
those who lie and say they are Jews but are not, I will make to come and
worship before your feet and to know…that I have loved you…because…you
have kept My command to persevere.
7) I will also keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the
whole world. 8) Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have…that…no
one may take your crown. He who
overcomes…I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God. I will write on him the name of My God and
the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of
heaven from My God. And I will write on
him My new name.
To the Church at Laodicea:
1) I know your works. 2) You are neither cold nor hot. You are lukewarm. 3) I will vomit you out of My mouth…because…you
say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do
not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. 4) Buy
gold from Me that is refined in the fire…and white garments…that you may be
clothed…anoint your eyes with salve that you may see. 5) As many as I love,
I rebuke and chasten. 6) Therefore, be zealous, 7) and
repent. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and He with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. Principle: God knows our works –
as individuals and as churches. We will
be called on to give an account for these.
We are called to hold fast to His truth, His Word, His name, to Him in order
to overcome, to persevere to the end, for His glory.
My Lessons and
Applications: One of the things
God has brought me back to over and over in this year of study is to look at how
corrupt everything has become in almost every facet of our local, national and global
lives - in our individual and collective lives. With the great blessings within, and
in the midst of, this nation (like in the Amos prophecy and the Laodicean
Church), many of us have turned our zeal from God to our material possessions
and instead of praising and glorifying God, we tend to praise and glorify
ourselves. We have made our possessions
our altars, and deify ourselves as gods. Throughout man’s history with God, He has not
allowed this to continue without severe judgment. He alone will be God. Am I, like the psalmist in today’s reading,
crying out to God to enable me to persevere in my faith, to overcome, to keep me holy and
pure and separate from even desiring “to eat of their delicacies?” Am I more concerned about my relationship and
walk with God or my accumulation of wealth and material possessions? Am I willing to oppress, defraud, and destroy
others “that I might enlarge my territory?”
Do my works, my life give glory to God or to myself?
If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in. Revelation 3:20
What is your desire today? Is it set upon heavenly things? Do you desire true freedom to enjoy intimate
communion with God? Do you long to know
and enjoy just “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Eph. 3:18)? If so, you must draw near
to Jesus, obtain a clear view of Him in His preciousness and completeness; and
see Him in His work, His various offices, and His person. Christ is the great key to unlock all the
various treasures of God, for those who understand Him receive an anointing from
the Holy One by which they know all things (1 John 2:20). Thus, fling wide the portals of your soul,
and He will bring you the love you long to feel, the joy you desire for your
depressed spirit, and a peace you have never experienced.
Charles Spurgeon, Morning
and Evening
Jim Reimann’s commentary on the scripture above:
Rev. 3: 20 is often mistakenly used as a verse for
evangelism, but these are instead words of Jesus to His people – those who are
believers already. In fact, today’s
verse in its context deals with the repentance of the church. Jesus says, “Remember, therefore, what you
have received and heard; obey it, and repent.” (Rev. 3:3), and “Those whom I
love I rebuke and discipline. So be
earnest, and repent.” (Rev. 3:19) Thus, Revelation 3 is a warning from
Jesus never to allow sin to interrupt our fellowship with Him as believers.
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