Daily Inspirations

   Good morning. Today we start the book of Revelation. This is a book that many Christians either avoid like the plague, or delve into continuously to try to discover what the end times will bring, and when certain things will happen. We should avoid both extremes. While it is a book that new believers will not benefit greatly from, they should, after a time, read it. Some of the things were current when John wrote them. The majority of it is for the end times, which many Christians believe we are in today. Some things have double meaning – both for when they were written, and also throughout history that followed. I am assuming that all of you have heard of “the Apocalypse“. Apocalypse is simply the Greek word for revelation. The book begins with: the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond servant John. This opening verse tells us the purpose ...

   Good morning. Have mercy on some, who are doubting (possibly those who have been deceived by these apostates); save others, snatching them out of the fire (possibly those who have gone so far down the rabbit hole that there seems like there’s no way out); and on some have mercy with fear, heating even the garment polluted by the flesh. And an extremely important verse: 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. That is awesome beyond belief! He can even keep us from stumbling. It is one thing to “sneak in the back door of heaven“, but it is something else that here on earth He can keep us from failing to live the Christian life. Here is our collective exultation: to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen! That is the end of the book of Jude. Next time we begin (wait for it) the book of Reve...

   Good morning. But you ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts“. [My Bible says that the Greek for this phrase indicates that the apostles continually and repeatedly warned that such godless apostates would come.] These (the ones we talked about last time) are the ones who cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of the Spirit (that would indicate that they were not Christians). Instead of that - But you, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, (how?) 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. Father help us to do as Paul says, “pray without ceasing“ in the Holy Spirit, like Jude says.

   Good morning. These men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds, … for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. They pretended to be a part of the believers, but they had ulterior motives. What they showed to the other members of the church was not their true selves. Their punishment is very strong. These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. This last item is a technique that many deceivers use. They flatter people, telling them how great (in this case a Christian) they are. The listeners will then accept things that they normally would not. Father help us to listen to words from You no...

   Good morning. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming (possibly claiming to have a revelation through a dream), defile the flesh, and reject authority (they hold to what their dreams says, rather than listening to those in authority in the church), and revile angelic majesties (there are even some today who “take authority over“ angels and other powers in the heavens). But Michael the Archangel, when he disputed with the Devil and argued about the body of Moses (this is not mentioned in the Old Testament; but could be from one of the books of the apocrypha), did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “the Lord rebuke you!“. The implication is that, if Michael did not personally rebuke the devil, neither should they. Father it is You and You alone who has authority over the enemy. You said that we should pray that You would keep us from the power of the evil one, and so we do for the reader and his/her family.

   Good morning. Possibly as a warning: now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. Just because God brought them out of Egypt, it did not mean that they would be able to enter the promised land. Also it says that they did not believe. Of course some will say that that example shows that you can lose your salvation. Not all who came out of Egypt were believers, at least not in Moses. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. There are varying views on what that means, some of which sound like science fiction. Jude then talks about Sodom and Gomorrah. These indulged in gross immorality and are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Father help us to not fall away from believing in You and what You...

   Good morning. Today we begin the book of Jude. He does not claim to be Jesus’  brother; but he says he is the brother of James - accepted as the brother of Jesus. While I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. It sounds like people were arguing against what Christians believed and were trying to portray salvation as something different. We are not to lie down and let people trample all over our beliefs. Certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. This sounds like what is known as “greasy grace“. You can do whatever you want because God will forgive you through His grace. Father thank You that while Your grace is all encompassing; i...

   Good morning. Today we begin third John - A letter of encouragement to Gaius. I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. Here John is not just talking about financial prosperity. That by itself is useless, as Jesus taught about several times. John commends him on his behavior towards other believers. John mentions an individual in the church who loves to be first among the members and does not accept what John says. If I come, I will call attention to his deeds, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who desire to do so; and puts them out of the church. Do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God (just like he said in first John). This is the end of third John. Father, just like John, I pray that in all respects the reader may prosper and be in good health, just as his...

   Good morning. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ (my Bible says that most likely it is not the teachings that Christ gave, but rather the teachings about the Christ that refute Gnosticism), does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive them into your house (my Bible says this means do not let them stay with you if they are teaching the wrong things about the Christ i.e. Gnosticism), and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds That is the end of second John. Father thank You that we can have confidence in Your Word’s teaching about Jesus; who He is and what He did for us.

   Good morning. Today we begin second John. He writes to “the chosen lady and her children“. My Bible says that it could be to an actual woman or to a church and its members. He talks about the commandment that we love one another, just like he did in first John. And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. Once again a statement against Gnosticism: for many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Father continue to go with the reader and his/her family, blessing them richly every day.

   Good morning. Remember that one of the key tenets of Gnosticism is knowing. We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. That is obvious if you look at the situation around you objectively. The people of the world are getting worse and worse. We know that the Son of God has come (again against Gnosticism), and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God (my Bible says that it could either be talking about the Father or the Son) and eternal life. As a Christian, we are not dealing with good platitudes, but with the person of Jesus Christ. The result is eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols. We are not concerned about idols that are statues. We are concerned about things or ideas that take first place in our hearts, instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the end of First John. Father thank You that we can know Jesus...

   Good morning. John then says that if you see a brother committing a sin not leading to death, you should ask and God will give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for that. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death. It is not clear exactly what sin he was talking about. It could be that the sin leading to death was the denying that Jesus is the Son of God. We know that no one who is born of God sins (doesn’t mean never sins); but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. That is definitely awesome! We will finish the epistle next time. Father thank You that Jesus keeps us, and the evil one does not touch us.

   Good morning. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God (he is writing to believers, not unbelievers), so that you may know that you have eternal life. Some Christians go through their entire lives flip-flopping back-and-forth between believing they are saved and believing they are not saved. This says that you can have confidence that you are saved. What is one of the really great results of this? This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will (that is key – you don’t get just any old thing that you ask for), He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. That is awesome! It also reminds us of Mark 11. Father thank You that we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have eternal life, and that whatever we ask You, we shall receive!

   Good morning. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And what is that testimony? The testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. Too many times Christians get hung up on something that a nonbeliever does or says. They go after them vigorously, trying to convince them that what they do or say is wrong. This says that we should be concentrating not on what the person says or does, but on the question – do they have the Son, Jesus Christ. That is what is most important. It is our job to catch the fish – it is the Holy Spirit‘s job to clean them. Father thank You that we have the Son, and hence, have eternal life!

   Good morning. Speaking of Jesus: this is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. There is disagreement about what this means. Many say that the blood refers to the cross and the water refers to the water baptism of Jesus. When that happened, the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, and thus testified that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son (“this is My Beloved Son. Hear ye Him”. John was there when this happened). There are other beliefs about what the water, the Spirit, and the blood mean. Whatever they mean, Father we thank You for testifying that Jesus is Your Son.

   Good morning. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. Here is something exciting: for whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. We are over-comers. It is difficult to overcome many things; but to overcome the world is astonishing! The world is implanted upon us from birth. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Again, this goes against Gnosticism. But you say, “that is something from ages ago; it has no affect on me today“. There are many different religions that say that they are the way to God; but Christianity is the only one that says that Jesus is the Son of God. Father thank You that we are born of You and have overcome the world!

   Good morning. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,“ and hates his brother, he is a liar (liar, liar, pants on fire); for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom He has not seen. As we said before, people generally do not love someone that they have not seen. And this commandment (not a suggestion) we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. Here is another litmus test: whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (this reiterates a verse from a few days ago, and from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians), and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. You can’t help yourself. If you truly love God, you will also love your fellow believers. That does not mean that you won’t have disagreements with them. All families have disagreements; but when the chips are down, they stay together. Father we believe that Jesus is the Messiah and ask that You manifest Your lov...

   Good morning. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world (not just when we go to heaven, but while we are still here on earth). One of the greatest tools of the devil is the fear of having to face judgment after death. If you are uncertain about your standing with God, he can manipulate you into doing things that he wants instead of what God wants. Instead – there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. Are you confident in what will happen to you on the day of judgment? If not, you are not perfected in love. Father help the reader to be perfected in love so that he/she will have confidence in the day of judgment.

   Good morning. We may not have seen but John: we have seen (John actually did see Jesus) and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (This is going back to the verse that we just read the other day.) We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. “all you need is love, Love – love is all you need“. Father help the reader to experience Your love completely every day in his/her life.

   Good morning. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God made the first move. It could have been like a boy giving a box of candy to a girl for Valentine’s Day, and she rejects him. Sadly, a lot of people in the world do that very thing to God. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Like Father, like child. No one has seen God at any time (we humans generally do not love someone if we have not seen them); if we love one another (this is the evidence), God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit (and it is this Spirit that generates the love for one another). Father help us to act on this love that You have given us for one another.

   Good morning. A Valentine’s Day message from John: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Can’t you imagine one of those little candy hearts with a message on it – love one another? The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. The word “is“ does not mean equality. Just because God is love does not mean that love is God. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Christianity is the only belief system (it’s not a religion) that says that God sent His Son to die for us. Jesus was God’s valentine to us. Father thank You that not only can we experience Your love, but also we can express it to other believers.

   Good morning. And now one of our favorite verses: you are from God and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. The voice of Christianity gets drowned out by the voice of the world because it is saying what the world wants to hear. On the other hand: we are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. The world loudly and dramatically says, “listen to us!“; Those from God quietly and effectively speak God’s Word – the word of truth. Next time we will look at the perfect Valentine’s Day passage. Father thank You that we have heard Your Word, the word of truth, and it has done its work in us.

   Good morning. So how do we know whether or not it is the Holy Spirit or another spirit? By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God (I Corinthians 12:3 - no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed“; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,“ except by the Holy Spirit.); this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world. [My Bible says that by the statement “Jesus Christ has come in the flesh“, John excludes the Gnostics who taught that the divine Christ came upon the human Jesus at His baptism and then left Him at the cross so that it was only the man Jesus who died.] Father thank You that we have the Holy Spirit in us confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.

   Good morning. ... Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments… This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another just as He commanded us. It’s not one or the other – it’s both. And the results – the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him (are you keeping His commandments?), and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. Here is the litmus test – is the Holy Spirit dwelling in you? If so, then He abides in you. Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God (this sounds like the beginning of first Corinthians chapter 12), because many false prophets have gone out into the world. Just because someone says, “the saith the Lord…“, does not mean that they are speaking from God. Father thank You for Your Spirit dwelling in us. Help us to keep Your commandments.

  Good morning. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Sometimes Christians feel like they have done something wrong or don’t love their fellow believers. They go around condemning themselves. But God knows that we really meant to do the best. However, when we feel bad about something, there’s a good possibility we really did do something wrong. If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him (that is astounding), because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. Most of the time our heart is a good indicator of whether we have done well or not. Next time we will see what commandment John is talking about. Father whenever our heart condemns us, help us to seek You to find out if there is something we have done wrong.

   Good morning. We all love, but exactly what does John mean by love? We know love by this, that He lay down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That is a true demonstration of love. Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? That’s a good question. James asks virtually the same thing in his letter. Love, when talking about God‘s love, is an action verb. It is not touchy-feely – it is doing something for a brother or sister in need. In other words – let us not love with words or with tongue, but in deed and truth. Father help us to show the same love towards our fellow believers in Christ as Jesus did for us when He laid down His life for us.

   Good morning. So, how does John tie together not practicing righteousness and not loving your brother together? This is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. When you practice sin, you despise/hate anyone who practices righteousness. Most people, however, do not resort to murder when this happens. The end result of practicing righteousness – do not be surprised if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. That is the litmus test. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. That’s really strong – to call them a murderer. Father help us to love our fellow Christians even as You loved us.

   Good morning. The one who practices sin is of the devil (uh-oh SpaghettiOs); for the devil has sinned from the beginning. No one who is born of God practices (in Greek this is indicated by the tense of the verb) sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Remember that we are not talking about a one time sin. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor (can be translated even) the one who does not love his brother. The first is obvious; the second is not. John is going to tie these two together next time. Father thank You that when we allow You to control our lives, we practice righteousness and not sin.

   Good morning. Everyone who practices (doing) sin also practices (does) lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. It’s not the idea of a one time thing; it’s a repetitive doing sin. You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Again this is not a one time sin. John is not talking about the concept of sinless perfection. Make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. Just like with sin, this is not a one time doing of righteousness. We are talking about a lifestyle of either doing sin or doing righteousness. Father thank You that we can live a life of righteousness just like Jesus did.

   Good morning. Now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. Isn’t that something amazing to be looking forward to – to be like Jesus? And what should the result be: everyone who has this hope (confident expectation) fixed on Him purifies himself just as He is pure. If we want to be like Jesus when He comes, should we not act like Him before He comes? Father thank You that we will be like Jesus when He returns. Help us to purify ourselves before He comes.

   Good morning. Abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. This happens in the natural. People will say bad things about some leader when he/she is not there; but when he/she shows up, they feel shame at having disparaged his/her name. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. If we are born of God, we should be exhibiting His characteristics; namely, righteousness. See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us because they did not know Him. The world cannot truly know us, if they do not know the Father. Father thank You that we are like You. When the world sees us, they see You.