The Attributes of God:

Having Right Priorities in Life. Revelation 22:10-21 “Behold, I am coming quick, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.”                   The greatest mistake in life is when we get caught up living life for the temporal rather than the eternal, for the accomplishments of the temporal are fleeting. The book of Revelation's final words not only summarize John's whole message but also provide the final words that capture the whole of the Scripture.  The conclusion of the whole message of Scripture brings us to the one essential truth that the awareness of Christ’s return is to govern every action and thought.                     The final message that brings not only the book of Revelation to a close but brings closure to the whole revelation of God’s...

The Justice of God Revelation 19 “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God Because His Judgments are true and righteous.”                   Of all the attributes that God manifests, the one we struggle with the most is His justice.  A loving God who cares and responds to our needs is safe, a God we can approach without fear.  But a just God who brings judgment on sin is not safe, and we approach Him with trepidation and fear. Thus, we sing of God’s mercy and love but rarely sing of His justice and wrath.  However, in Chapter 19, we hear the residents of heaven singing a song of praise, not for His love and compassion, but His judgment.                     To understand God’s justice, we must again affirm His holiness.  Sin is a violation of n...

The Majesty of God Revelation 4 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created.”                   Throughout history, only five people have seen the throne of God:  Isaiah, Ezekiel, Stephen, Paul, and John.  However, only Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John give us a vivid description of what they saw. All three of them struggle to describe the vision, for the throne room of God defies any earthly comparison.  The one thing consistently described in all three visions is the celebration of the glory and holiness of God.  The glory of God is manifested by the presence of indescribable angelic beings who spend eternity celebrating and rejoicing in the majesty of God.  John gives us the most complete description of the scene when he describes the ligh...

The Terrifying  Majesty of Christ Revelation 1:12-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.  And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One: and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”                   The Jesus in the manger is easy to identify with and understand.  Every Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus and tell the story of the baby born in a manger.  Like us, He is vulnerable and humble.  When we think of Jesus, we can grasp His humanity, for He shared the same daily struggles.  He became tired and thirsty.  In the face of death, He expressed His misgivings.  He was compassionate and relatable.  However, Jesus was more than just a human; He was also fully God, which w...

The God Who Controls History Rev. 1:4-8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”                   The book of Revelation is an enigma.  The descriptive language and the focus on judgment make us both uncomfortable and confused.  The more we study the book and read the multiple commentaries that have been written, the more confused we become.  It seems as if no one can agree about the symbolism's meaning, especially the events' timing and sequence.  However, the book begins with a declaration that “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it;  for the time is near” (1:3). The book ends with a warning to those who either add to the text or disregard its warning (22:19).  The message of the book is both to be ce...

Finding security in an Insecure World Jude 24-25  “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. “                   Recently, our society has become fixated on what we should fear.  Some things are seen as an existential threat, such as global warming, pandemics, and weapons of mass destruction.  Other things are seen as a threat to our health and safety: crime, the attacks of terrorists, and adversity.  But even more alarming is that we now fear those closest to us.  We fear our neighbors because they voted for a different party; we fear our schools because they are indoctrinating our children. We fear our doctors because we are told that the pharmaceutical companies are manipulating them. As the media bombards us with the tragedies that occur elsewhere, we start to see th...

Keeping Our Faith in a Fallen World “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of  our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” Jude 17-23                   Jude concludes his short letter by reminding us that this world will become increasingly sinful as it abandons God's truth. Some will ridicule Scripture's teachings as archaic and judgmental, justifying their pursuit of ungodly lusts.                     Yet, as we face a world of falsehood, Jude does not leave us hopeless.  As he closes his letter warning of false teachers, he gives us the keys to maintaining our faith and remaining steadfast in our obedience to Christ. In these final verses, Jude gives five comm...