Messiah: Born a King

“Your house and Your kingdom will endure forever before Me; Your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16. NIV). “ ‘You are a king, then,’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37, NIV). “Grace and peace to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, and from the seven spirits before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, Who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father—to Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:4-6. NIV).

Amazingly, Nathan the prophet had a vision in which he saw the Lord God establishing the kingdom of David forever. When Nathan told David, the king had some thoughts of his own concerning the prophecy. “Is this Your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?” (2 Samuel 7:19b. NIV). David, though keenly conscious of God’s abounding grace, could not quite fathom how his own lineage would produce a ruler who would redeem the people. And we could answer David’s question: “No. To send His only begotten Son was not God’s usual way of dealing with man. That was His Supreme way!” Thus did the idea of an earthly Messiah gain momentum until it became a beacon for the nation in all of its troubles—during times of war, captivity and restoration. Little did the people realize how magnanimous, multi-generational and majestic the promise of Sovereign King was! And from the time of the earliest Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah King until the day when the promise will be completely consummated in the Second Coming of the Lord, the fulfillment of this promise has been anticipated. Already a major phase of the promise has been fulfilled. He lived among us in perfect estate, sinless and full of righteousness. When time for the sacrifice of His life came, He was “without spot or blemish,” a perfect Lamb, worthy to be offered for the sins of the world. That fact, accomplished and approved by God, can be accepted on the faith of any believer, even you and I! Oh! How God has worked a new work among us! At Christmas we sing many carols that celebrate the King’s coming. Turn to any of the carols about the Savior’s birth and read the words prayerfully and reverently. You will see how the idea of God with us, the King of Kings, struck wonder in the minds of countless poets—and so this magnificent knowledge still inspires awe. Mary MacDonald (1789-1872) captured the wonder in her lyrics “Child in the Manger,” not one of our most familiar carols set to the music of an old Gaelic melody, but majestic and meaningful: “Prophets foretold Him,/Infant of wonder;/Angels behold Him/On His throne; /Worthy our Savior/Of all our praises;/Happy forever/Are His own!” Amen!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Messiah: His Everlasting Dominion

“I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14. NKJV). “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-30, NKJV). “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’ “ (Revelation 1:7-8, NKJV).

Many scholars and Bible students have observed that the only promise the Lord Christ has not fulfilled yet is His Second Coming to earth. We know this to be true. Daniel who lived and prophesied about it centuries before the birth of Christ could, with his apocalyptic (end times) visions, see the everlasting kingdom established by the Ancient of Days (God Who is from everlasting to everlasting). The vision from Daniel 7:13-14 was given by Jesus Himself when he told them of His Second Coming and of conditions that will exist when He comes again. Many from various tribes will mourn at His return, for they will not be ready for the new and everlasting dominion to be established. John, in writing the Revelation, also stated that at the time of His Second Coming, He will come on the clouds and “every eye will see Him.” Again, John warns, there will be mourning because many will not be ready for His appearing.

Do you spend time thinking about the Second Coming and the establishment of His everlasting dominion? As a new day dawns do you ask: “Lord, could today be the day You come again to establish Your kingdom?” We need to read seriously and thoughtfully Matthew 24, Christ’s own apocalyptic teachings about His return. “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36). He gave this sound advice: “Therefore keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour” (Mt. 25:13).

Watchfulness and readiness are critical as we anticipate His second coming. He will come suddenly, when we least expect His arrival. But, as with His birth in Bethlehem, we have the prophecies, even from Himself, that this will occur. Watch and pray!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Saturday, December 18, 2010

Losing the First Love

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:…You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent, and do the things you did at first.” -Revelation 2:1, 4-5. (NIV)

How tragic when love is lost. Losing love can happen in many ways. In the physical realm of marital love, “losing the first love” one had for spouse, and failure to live up to the commitments of the marriage vows can cause love to fly out the window. To keep the sparkle, glow and growth of “first love” takes some working-at. But, with constant renewal and finding ways to stay close, to have fellowship, that “first love” can live on and on. Pardon me for my personal testimony here. Grover and I were married 60 years on December 23, 2009. Sixty years is a long time to love, cherish and stand by the same person! We committed to do just that, and God has enriched our love beyond measure. “Does he know you?” people ask me, knowing Grover has been afflicted with Alzheimer’s for fourteen years now. “He does not call my name, and has not in a long time,” I respond. “I think he knows me. But the important thing is that I know him!” I still love, honor and cherish him, and seek in all the ways I know to make his days comfortable and to let him know my love for him has grown, even in adversity. “’Till death do us part” meant a sacred bond to each of us. And, as poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote to her beloved husband, poet Robert Browning: “If God choose,/I shall but love thee better after death.”

Yes, by way of aside: I know the Bible teaches there is “no marriage or giving in marriage in Heaven,” but somehow I have in my mind that we’ll know each other there, “know as even also we are known,” be together as we explore our God-as-the-Architect mansion, praise Him throughout eternity, and be unshackled from earthly limitations as we dance throughout Paradise! And all of us there will have fulfilled our ultimate purposes: To praise and glorify God, to have perfect fellowship with Him!

But what about losing “the first love” in the spiritual realm, as Jesus Christ through the Apostle John pointed out in Revelation 2 in the letter to the church at Ephesus? Can we learn what is meant by this warning to get back on track spiritually, individually and as a church here in the 21st century? Look to Jeremiah 2:2 for an answer: “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.” And again, look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:12: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Herin lie clues to interpreting what is meant by “losing the first love.” I am saved, first and foremost, to have my broken fellowship with God restored. When Jesus Christ entered my heart, I wanted to learn of Him, be with Him, study the Bible to find out all I can about Him, grow in Christ-likeness. When I was a new Christian, even at the young age I was when He came into my heart, I wanted to have daily fellowship with Him! This should be my primary aim now: Not “service in the church,” although that is very important and something I really want to do! But if I have lost my desire to have fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father through the Holy Spirit, I have lost my first love! Woe am I if this is my condition!

“Losing our first love,” spiritually is also to lose the enthusiasm and zeal we had to tell others of Christ. And if we have lost the desire for fellowship, we will also lose the desire to witness and serve Him. I can remember, the very day I made known my commitment to Christ in a revival meeting at Choestoe Church in 1939. I went afterward to my cousin, Dennis, and told him how happy and thrilled I was that Jesus was my Saviour. “And He can be your Saviour, too,” I told Dennis. I didn’t know “how” to witness except to ask Dennis to accept Christ, too. Even my feeble, unpracticed efforts caused Dennis to listen and heed. In that same revival, he, too, accepted Christ as Savior and has remained faithful to him throughout these years. And so did 21 others, besides Dennis and me. It was one of the most soul-reaching revivals in the church’s records in a long time. How cold was Nottely River that second Sunday in August, 1939 as 23 of us lined up to be baptized by immersion! But that experience was a bit of Heaven on earth!

But have we allowed time, other pursuits and interests, and temptations to quell our zealousness to have fellowship with the Lord and to work gladly for the Lord? If so, there is a remedy. It’s simple. “Repent!” said the one who holds the seven golden candlesticks representing the seven early churches. To repent is an about-face, going in one direction and realizing it is the wrong way to go, turning around, and going back in the right direction. God will restore your “first love” for Him, your desire to have fellowship with Him! But the turning around, the decision to return to seeking God, to have enthusiasm (Greek: en-theos—in God) and direction and purpose—the decision-- is mine personally to make. I don’t have to quit! God can flood my heart again with that “first love” I had for fellowship with Jesus Christ and the desire to serve Him! The Apostle John, the writer of The Revelation, an old man, about 90, persecuted, and exiled to the Island of Patmos, had his “first love” restored seven-fold as evidenced by his writing of The Revelation. Again, a little “personal testifying,” as we said in my country church: The return is wonderful. And more times than not, the restored love is even greater than “the first love” temporarily lost!

If I only turn to God, no matter what time of the day or night, no matter my personal circumstances, He is immediately ready to restore in my spiritual life my “first love,” for Him!

Prayer: Lord, every morning and all during each day, I will lift my heart to You in repentance, and then seek Your face. Then, then, Lord, can I know my first love for You! And I can rejoice as I see Your working, Your will and Your way, even in this “latter stage” of my life! Selah!

[A note to those who receive my e-mail (or regular mail) of this daily devotional: I got a bit “carried away” today! Just a little (maybe) like John on the Island of Patmos which he describes in Revelation 1:10: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Today isn’t Sunday, which we normally call “The Lord’s Day,” but any day we are given is and should be the Lord’s Day. And a day to seek Him and to find Him!
So I wrote, and wrote!

I do know the difference between devotional, Bible study, sermon. But today, I seemed to experience an outpouring that just wouldn’t stop with two paragraphs or two pages! If you’ve patiently read to this point, thank you. My prayer is that God will use these words for His glory. If they draw you closer into fellowship with Him, as they have me as I’ve written them, then their sincere purpose will have been fulfilled! And to my beloved pastor, Rev. Jerry Bradley, I either was not at church the Sunday you preached on the First Letter to the Churches, or else I did not take notes as usual. I pray I have not erred from what I know would have been your excellent exegesis of the passage I’ve cited for today’s devotional. I send this with my love and prayers to God for all of you! Ethelene]

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, February 9, 2010