My Daily Pause

Comparing John 14, Acts 1:11; 3:21; 2 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and others, we can get a sense of Christ’s return from heaven’s perspective.

Peter’s Denial – 1660 – Rembrandt (1606–1669)

Things Christ will do when he returns:

• He will raise the dead to life (John 5:24-29)
• He will proceed with the judgment (John 5:24-29; Matthew 25:31-36)
• He will destroy the wicked and reward the righteous (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)
• He will give the crown of life to the faithful (2 Timothy 4:7,8)
• He will stop reigning, delivering up the kingdom to God (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Things Christ will not do:

• He will not offer himself a second time for the sins of the world (Hebrews 9:26-28)
• He will not restore any phase of fleshly or national Israel (Race is nothing with God – Galatians 3:27)
• He will not set up a kingdom (He’s already done that, the church is his kingdom)
• He will not extend a second chance for unbelievers to repent (Hebrews 9:27)

Things Christ is doing at this moment:

• He is reigning until all of his enemies have been put under foot (1 Corinthians 15:25f)
• He is interceding for the redeemed (Hebrews 7:25)
• He is administering all authority in heaven and upon earth (Matthew 28:18-20)
• He is providentially overseeing the fortunes of his church on earth (Matthew 28:19,20)
• He is preparing a home for the faithful (John 14:3)

Daily Bible reading for November 22

Psalm 113
2 Kings 21
Isaiah 11-12
John 14

As we prepare for worship today, let us really prepare.

Before Worship

As you are getting ready, be deliberate about the setting yourself up to be in a positive mood.

• Stretch or exercise lightly
• Eat something
• Dress well
• Sing some hymns – just the parts you know by heart

These are all things that set you up to have a great day, every day. They also show your intention of worshiping God rather than that you just barely made it.

During Worship

When you get to worship, make sure you are fully involved. Put away the world for a couple of hours. A complete worship should look something like:

• Bible class – listen, participate, ask questions. The teacher spent a lot of time preparing for you.
• Singing – bring your heart to this part of the worship, it is your instrument (Ephesians 5:19)
• Praying – listen to every word as they are offered up to God. Prayer is powerful (James 5:16)
• Communion – contemplate the love of God shown through the gift of his Son. (John 3:16)
• Giving – You should have already planned the portion of you earnings you will return to the Lord (1 Corinthians 16:2)
• Sermon – Again, someone spent a lot of time preparing. Takes notes. Write good points in the margin of your Bible. Try to understand.

Part of worshiping in spirit and in truth is actually being there in your whole heart, mind and body. (John 4:24) Start today looking for ways to improve that.

In 1 Peter 3:18-20, Peter compares baptism with the flood and the salvation of Noah’s family. In the same way that the flood separated Noah from the wicked, baptism separates us from the world and brings us into Christ.

Five More Ways the Flood Points to Baptism

So how else does the flood point to baptism and Christianity?

Cole Thomas – The Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge – 1829

• Noah was on the water for nine months, then began to live on the earth. Christians are to be born of water (John 3:5)
• The flood destroyed the wicked who laughed and scoffed at Noah. Baptism might be thought to do the same thing considering the numbers that scoff and deride it as unnecessary.
• Water saved Noah. Water saves Christians who walk in newness of life.
• The flood washed away the filth of an evil generation. Water washes away sins (Acts 22:16)
• Just a few were saved through the flood. Just a few, in relative terms, will be save through baptism.

Baptism is our way to get into Christ. Responding to our faith in baptism is God’s plan for the beginning of our life serving him. Baptism is the way we gain association with Christ ad his church.

God’s original intention for his children were to become a nation of his priests. (Exodus 19:6) Jesus was the cornerstone of that intention. Having been baptized into him, we are to be used as living stones to build up his spiritual temple. (1 Peter 2:4-5) Christians therefore, are his priests. The concept is also a major point in the book of Hebrews and mentioned in Revelation 1:6.

Part of the responsibilities of the priests were to offer sacrifices. This was a big deal to the Jews of the time because once Christ sacrificed himself, there was no more need for the bloodshed of bulls and goats. This took away a major part of the ceremony of the Jewish nation. Peter reminds us that that we are a part of the holy priesthood with related tasks to practice.

Ten Ways Christians Sacrifice

New Testament Christians do not offer sacrifices the same way the Jews did. We have a number of other responsibilities that Peter refers to as Spiritual Sacrifices. (1 Peter 2:4-5)

We sacrifice through our:

Francisco de Zurbarán, The Bound Lamb, 1635–40. Rights
reserved © Museo Nacional del Prado–Madrid.

• Our faith (Philippians 2:17)
• Our love of God (Mark 12:33)
• Our repentance (Hosea 14:2)
• Our confession of faith in Christ (Hebrews 13:15,16)
• Our baptism into Christ (Romans 12:1, Hebrews 10:19-22)
• Our praise of God (Hebrews 13:15)
• Our contributions (Philippians 4:18)
• Our songs (Colossians 3:16)
• Our prayers (Revelation 5:8)
• Our life of honor and love (2 Timothy 4:6, Ephesians 5:2)

As we worship and serve God in these various ways, we need to be mindful of the reasons we do them. We often forget the reason and only go through the motions.

Daily Bible reading for August 22

Psalm 20
1 Samuel 8
Jeremiah 52
1 Peter 2:4-10

We serve a loving and forgiving God. When he forgives us, his forgiveness is complete.

Seven ways God Forgives Us

From these verses we can see that we are never in a position to be left unforgiven. The rest is up to us to make some changes and ask!

• “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive. . .” (Psalm 86:5)
• “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12)
• “. . .For thou hast cast all my sins behind my back” (Isaiah 38:17)
• “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25)
• “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, and as a cloud, thy sins return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed. . .” (Isaiah 44:22, 23)
• “. . .I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34)
• “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18).

Daily Bible reading for August 19

Psalm 17
1 Samuel 4
Jeremiah 49
Mark 16