Bible League: Living His Word And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven.Although presently the church of Jesus Christ must go through times of trial and persecution, a time of rest is coming – an eternity of rest, actually. It will come when the Lord Jesus returns from heaven "with his mighty angels, in flaming fire" (II Thessalonians 1:7-8). At that time those who believe in Jesus will receive rest, but those who do not believe "will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power" (II Thessalonians 1:9). Those who do not believe will never have rest again. It is helpful and hopeful that the Apostle Paul reminds us that our faith in Jesus Christ will one day be rewarded with rest. In this life many of us have received ill treatment for our faith. These times of trial and persecution are tiresome. They wear us out. The hope of a time of rest, the hope of a time of relief from all of it is encouraging. It helps us to hold on. It helps us to not give up. We may have troubles now, but the future is bright. Paul says that the time of rest is not just for us, but for him and his companions as well. Paul often made the point that our glorious future will be a shared future. He says, "We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you" (II Corinthians 4:14) and he says, "And now the prize awaits me--the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing" (II Timothy 4:8). At that future time, given Paul's point, we will be able to meet Paul, his companions like Silas and Timothy, and all the other saints of the Bible that have meant so much to us in this life. The promise of rest, however, is not exclusively a future reality. In the book of Hebrews it says, "So God's rest is there for people to enter" (Hebrews 4:6). And already, by faith, we may enter into that rest (Hebrews 4:3). Already, even in the midst of our trials and persecutions, our faith allows us to experience a rest of God that is a foretaste of the ultimate rest that is yet to come. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingMicah 1, 2, 3 Micah 1 -- The Word of the Lord to Micah: Destruction, Weeping and Mourning in Israel and Judah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Micah 2 -- Woe to Oppressors; Reproof of Injustice, Idolatry and False Prophets; Deliverance Promised NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Micah 3 -- Princes and Prophets Denounced NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 10 Revelation 10 -- The Angel and the Small Scroll NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.Insight One characteristic all children share is that they want to grow up—to be like big brother or like sister or like their parents. When we are born again, we become spiritual newborn babies. If we are healthy, we will yearn to grow. How sad it is that some people never grow up. The need for milk is a natural instinct for a baby, and it signals the desire for nourishment that will lead to growth. Challenge Once we see our need for God's Word and begin to find nourishment in Christ, our spiritual appetite will increase, and we will start to mature. How strong is your desire for God's Word? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Revelation 21:1 And there was no more sea.Scarcely could we rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old ocean: the new heavens and the new earth are none the fairer to our imagination, if, indeed, literally there is to be no great and wide sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores. Is not the text to be read as a metaphor, tinged with the prejudice with which the Oriental mind universally regarded the sea in the olden times? A real physical world without a sea it is mournful to imagine, it would be an iron ring without the sapphire which made it precious. There must be a spiritual meaning here. In the new dispensation there will be no division--the sea separates nations and sunders peoples from each other. To John in Patmos the deep waters were like prison walls, shutting him out from his brethren and his work: there shall be no such barriers in the world to come. Leagues of rolling billows lie between us and many a kinsman whom tonight we prayerfully remember, but in the bright world to which we go there shall be unbroken fellowship for all the redeemed family. In this sense there shall be no more sea. The sea is the emblem of change; with its ebbs and flows, its glassy smoothness and its mountainous billows, its gentle murmurs and its tumultuous roarings, it is never long the same. Slave of the fickle winds and the changeful moon, its instability is proverbial. In this mortal state we have too much of this; earth is constant only in her inconstancy, but in the heavenly state all mournful change shall be unknown, and with it all fear of storm to wreck our hopes and drown our joys. The sea of glass glows with a glory unbroken by a wave. No tempest howls along the peaceful shores of paradise. Soon shall we reach that happy land where partings, and changes, and storms shall be ended! Jesus will waft us there. Are we in him or not? This is the grand question. Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 40:11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.Matthew 15:32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, "I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way." Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Mark 10:13,16 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. • And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them. Psalm 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments. Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." 1 Peter 2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. Luke 12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. Ezekiel 34:15 "I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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