The Ultimate Reunion

THE ULTIMATE REUNION

 

This topic was brought to my mind this morning by the devotional in ODB by Joe Stowell. He used (1 Thess 4:13-18) for his text, which is commonly referred to as "the rapture passage". Paul was addressing the question of what happens to those loved ones who had died "in the Lord", and if they would ever see them again? This is a clear explanation of what will happen at the return of Jesus to receive His "Church/Bride", and includes "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall ever be with the Lord". This will definitely not be "a secret quiet little affair" as some believe, but I expect will be quite "noisy"! And of course only Father God knows when this will occur (Matt 24:36), although many people have made predictions of when this rapture will happen, but they are all "false prophets" according to Jesus.

 

But we can be certain that it will happen in God's perfect time, until then Jesus will remain at His Father's side "until" certain things happen, See

(Ps 110:1) or (Acts 3:19-21) for details. This should end all of those theories that Jesus might return "at any moment", these are definitely not true and are impossible according to scripture. But this will be what Joe calls "The Ultimate Reunion" with family or friends who knew Jesus as Lord and Savior, and have already passed on. This is our glorious hope if we have obeyed the advice given by Paul to Titus in (Titus 3:1-8), which is part of the "Gospel of the Kingdom" that must be preached to all nations and tribes and tongues before the "end of this age" (Matt 24:14), which are the words of Jesus.

 

Most everyone has at least a few people who you know had a relationship with Jesus before they died, and are now enjoying His presence in heaven. This is the "Ultimate Reunion" you can look forward to if you have that same relationship with Jesus here and now in this life. If you are not sure where you stand with Jesus, I would suggest you read (John 14:6) and then (Eph 2:1-10) where Paul explains clearly how we can be sure of this relationship with God. This is how we can be sure of having this "ultimate reunion" with those who have gone on before us!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                                 27/09/14     

Whose Side Are You On

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

 

In a recent article by Joe Stowell in ODB, he mentioned a quote by President Lincoln about whose side God was on in the US civil war. Lincoln replied, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right". That is a very accurate quote, and represents an attitude towards God that we should all embrace. In the book of Joshua, he had a strange encounter with a stranger with a sword in his hand. (Joshua 5:13-15) NLT Joshua demanded "are you friend or foe?" To which he replied "neither one, I am the commander of the Lord's army". This would probably have been the Arch Angel Michael, who was in charge of a great number of warring angels, whose job was to protect God's people. Joshua fell on his face in reverence and said "I am at your command, what do you want me to do?" The commander of the Lord's army replied "take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy" and Joshua did as he was told.

 

This is probably the proper response to any command we read in God's Word, instead of our often attitude that we will do things "our way", and ignore His way. Read (Is 55:6-11) for a clear instruction from God as to how we should respond to the hearing of His Word. Actually this whole chapter is an excellent read, which in the NLT version is headed up "Invitation to the Lord's Salvation". It makes it very clear that His ways are far above our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. In (Ps 139:23-24) we read "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life". Then in (Ps 73:28) we read "But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do". NLT

 

"So let's ask ourselves: are we on the Lord's side? Being on His side means that we will reflect His love to the world around us in the way we interact with others. We will forgive, treat others justly, and seek peace. God's ways are always best". That's how Joe finishes his article, and then ends with this prayer "Father, teach us to search Your ways so that we may know how to be on Your side of the critical issues of life". He closes with this punch line "When you draw near to God, you are sure to be on His side".

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                               04/12/14

 

Second Best

SECOND BEST

 

No one likes to be "second best", but always want to be first, its part of our human nature. There is a story in the OT that deals with this matter, it is found in chapters 29 and 30 of the book of Genesis. It involves Jacob who had gone to find a wife among his relatives in a place called Haran, where he met the daughter of his uncle Laban, who invited him to stay with his family for a month. Laban had two daughters named Leah and Rachel, and Jacob loved Rachel who was the younger of the two. Jacob agreed to work 7 years for Laban in return for Rachel as his wife, but Laban tricked him into marrying Leah, because of some custom that demanded the first born child must be married first. Anyhow Jacob stayed and worked an additional 7 years for Rachel and had them both as his wife. Rachel proved to be barren while Leah bore him several sons. She named the first one Reuben meaning "See a Son", the second one she named Simeon, meaning "Heard", and the third she named Levi, meaning "attached". Clearly she had been trying to please Jacob by bearing him sons, but she seemed to change at this point and bore him a fourth son and named him Judah, meaning "Praise", and then she stopped bearing children. Her attempts at gaining Jacob's love never worked for her, which reminds me of some people's attempt by various religious "works" to please God, who already loves the whole world so much that He allowed His only begotten Son Jesus to die for our sins (John 3:16).

 

We can do nothing to deserve or gain His love because He is love according to (1 John 4:8), and the word John used here for "love" is the Greek word [Agape] which always means a God kind of love, because "God is Agape". Because God is Agape, therefore all of His creation including every person whether they know it or not is loved by Him, and Jesus Christ His Son, our Lord and Savior is the door or entrance into a relationship with Him. (John 14:6) Bob Mumford points out in his teaching in "The Agape Road" that the 7 fold DNA of God consisting of 1/ Compassion, 2/ Grace, 3/ Slow to anger,

4/ Mercy, 5/ Truth, 6/ Faithfulness, 7/ Forgiveness, so we can rest assured that there is no such thing as being "second best" in His Church, which is the "Body of Christ". As long as you have made the choice to "believe by faith", accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and Father has adopted you into His Forever Family, you are part of His Family for Eternity!! That is certainly why the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is called "Good News"!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                             14/02/13

Secret Affairs

SECRET AFFAIRS (revised)

 

While recently reading again Jesus' "sermon on the mount", my attention was drawn to (Matt 5:27-30) where He addresses the topic of "adultery". He here compares the Old Covenant by first saying "You have heard it said----but I say to you----"then proceeds to list His interpretation of the topic at hand. In every case His words are stronger than the Old Covenant law. This made me think of the common practice of men viewing pornography today, which would be classed as "adultery", and I have read some statistics as high as 50-70 % of men in our churches regularly are involved. And under the OT the penalty for adultery was "death by stoning". And as I understand the penalty spelled out by Jesus, of losing an eye or a hand, is not a death sentence, it is still quite severe. It seems to me we would see a lot of men with one eye or one hand. How are we to deal with this present situation I wonder?  Thank God we live in the period of grace, when all sin can be forgiven because Jesus bore the sins of the whole world on the Cross of Calvary. Men need to be told that this is what God's Word demands, but because they are quite often Bible illiterates, because they don't read the Bible for themselves, or perhaps attend a church of some kind, that does not preach the pure gospel of the Kingdom of God, they simply don't know this.

But ignorance of the facts is no excuse, so unless these men are made aware of the truth of God's Word, they will all suffer the consequences.

 

Most people don't believe in a literal "hell", and we often hear expressions like "surely a Holy God wouldn't send a person to hell". And that is correct, God doesn't "send" anyone to hell, but because He is just and righteous, that is why He allowed His one and only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross to pay the debt we all owed. (Rom 3:23) and (Rom 6:23), but He leaves the choice to us. The choice is simple, chose eternal life in Christ, or don't chose Him and suffer the consequences of a wrong choice. The Bible is very clear on this point, there are only two choices, the right choice is "heaven" with Jesus, and the wrong choice is "hell" with the devil and his fallen angels. Hell was a place created for them, but because of people making the wrong choice either because of ignorance or rebellion, a lot of "good" people will end up there. Just imagine if you can, how out of place a known "sinner" would feel in heaven surrounded by millions of redeemed sinners praising Jesus along with millions of God's holy angels! I expect that is why our merciful God provided a special place for these people.

 Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                               23/04/12

The Beast Empires

THE BEAST EMPIRES

 

A careful study of world history will disclose that there was certain nation Empires that because of their hatred toward God's chosen people Israel over the years could be called "Beast Empires". That is the term that Robert Van Kampen chose to use in his book called "The Sign". Starting with Egypt, when a new Pharaoh came to power after the former one had welcomed Jacob and his family of 70+ souls to settle in a fertile section of the country called Goshen. Their family increased so rapidly that this new King was afraid they could become more numerous than the Egyptians, so he made them slaves, and their life became hard under bondage. We know from scripture that when they cried out to their God, He sent Moses to lead them out of bondage.

 

According to Van Kampen in chapters 6 and 7 of his book he lists a total of 8 beast empires starting with Egypt and ending with the rule of Antichrist as the eighth. On page 113 he gives a very interesting diagram showing these different Empires with their leaders. Number seven is not really identified but Nazi Germany under the leadership of Adolph Hitler and his attempt to exterminate the Jews would certainly be one possibility. The fact that this WW 2 happened just prior to the Nation of Israel being established back in their own land in 1948, and the demonic reign of Hitler and the holocaust he masterminded, all would lead to him as the most likely person in my opinion. In any event there has to be a seventh who received a fatal wound but who was restored to become the final Beast, (Rev 13:1-10)!

 

This is one of the more interesting parts of the "end times scenario" that Van Kampen includes in "The Sign". The main theme of his book would be how God is going to provide for Israel, His chosen people. As we know the enemy "Lucifer/Satan" has always been the avowed enemy of God since he was cast out of heaven long ago (Is 14: 12-23) and (Ezek 28:11-19). These 2 OT passages explain the very beginning of sin and wickedness that we see in our "Fallen World", and how our Creator will deal with this problem before He creates a "New Heaven and a New Earth" as described in (Rev 21:1-10). Our God who has always had a plan for this world way before He created this time and space world out of nothing, so to speak, will be sure to finish what He started. We who have a "relationship" with Him through His Son Jesus Christ (John 14:6), have a glorious future to look forward to!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                                 30/08/14

Two Gardens

TWO GARDENS

 

The Scriptures mentions two gardens, Eden, and Gethsemane. We are told that the "Garden of Eden" was a special place prepared by God as a home for our first human and his wife, Adam and Eve. Read Genesis chapter two for the details. It seems that God's plan for His first family on earth was to have them multiply and populate the earth with humans created in the "Image of God", (Gen 1:27-28). But we know that God has had an enemy ever since the Arch Angel Lucifer had to be cast out of heaven because "the sin of pride" was found in him and he rebelled against his Creator. See (Isa 14:12-17) and (Ezek 28:11-17) for details. Lucifer chose to make his new home on our planet Earth, which is the only one created to sustain life. He goes by different names here as Satan, Devil, Destroyer, Deceiver, and Beast etc. Because he was cast out of heaven, he has been the avowed enemy of God ever since, and naturally the enemy of God's children. When he entered Eden as a "talking snake", which should have tipped off Adam and Eve, that something was wrong because normal snakes don't talk. Then he lied to them about God's instruction to not eat the fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" or else they would die. They believed his lie and disobeyed the command of God, and brought the curse of "sin and death" on all of creation. See chapter 3 of Genesis for the details of this original sin, and (Rom 5:12-21) for Paul's list of the consequences of this one sin.

 

As we know, God's plan to remedy this situation was for His only begotten Son Jesus to become a human by way of the "Virgin Birth" of Jesus through the womb of The Virgin Mary of Nazareth. She was a Jewish maiden who was especially chosen to be the natural mother of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. After his life on earth was nearly finished, we see Him praying in the "Garden of Gethsemane" (Mark 14:32-42), the night He was betrayed. Jesus was the one and only "God/Man", 100% God and 100% Man, and of course He knew what faced Him on the cross. So His humanity was crying to His Father "if it is possible take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done and not mine". Our eternal salvation all depended on that decision made that day be our Savior Jesus Christ. He suffered the unimaginable horrors of Calvary for us sinners, what are we willing to suffer for Him as His followers today?

 

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                                 12/09/15

The Army of God

THE ARMY OF GOD

A popular chorus back in the "charismatic renewal" days of the 60's and 70's, before some of you were born, came to mind last week and with it the following thoughts. First let me give you the words of this chorus. "God's got an army marching through the land Deliverance is their song, with healing in their hands Everlasting joy and gladness in their heart And in this army I've got a part."

 

I'm not so sure that God has ever had an army, in the true sense of the word. We could sing the songs and pretend that we were, but when it came to going into battle against the enemy forces, many people went "AWOL"(Absent Without Leave) in case you've never heard the term! Two of my brothers were involved in WW2, one in the RCAF, the other in the Merchant Marines. I was too young of course, but I heard lots of stories after the war ended with the celebrations of VE Day in 1945. I'm sure that God wants an "army" to do battle against His enemy Satan and his kingdom of darkness, but does such an army really exist? Consider what an army, or "armed forces", the more politically correct term used today, actually consist of. The methods of fighting a war have changed drastically since WW2, but the requirements for the armed forces involved has not changed much. Basic "boot camp" is still the starting point for new recruits, where they learn the difference between their old life as a civilian and their new life as a soldier. This includes, but is not limited to, learning to obey orders even if they don't make sense. Some day their life may depend on it! How many believers do you know that have learned to obey a command given by their leaders to do something that they don't understand the reason for? We live in a society that is very "independent", and accustomed to making our own decisions based on what is best for us, with no thought to how it might affect anyone else! This is definitely not allowed in an army setting. We must know our "superior officers", and obey their commands. One of the problems in the church today (who we consider to be God's army) is that they are not submitted to leadership who has been appointed by God to lead His people. We have more "self appointed" leaders today, or ones elected by a group of people, and not set in place by God. How can we consider this thing we call a church the "army of God"? How do you suppose God calls it? I expect He would use some other word, and perhaps we should too!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                                                              11/10/11