A Light in the Darkness

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 ESV             There is a Devil who works against the Kingdom with his demonic horde. He is a liar and the father of lies John 8:44. He seeks only evil ends by evil means. Peter here tells us he is like a roaring lion seeking to devour whom he can. The lion does not want to be seen until it is too late. So it is with the Devil and his ilk. They disguise themselves in many ways, even as angels of light 2 Corinthians 11:14. Foolish cartoons of an impish pitchfork wielding devil also serve as his camouflage making him to silly to be taken seriously. Better than this is when the whole idea of a spiritual dimension is ignored and disregarded.   Even great portions of the Church ignore spiritual realities, these no longer see their enemy the Devil anywhere and so he has them. Other portions of the Ch...

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.   If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.   Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. 2 Thessalonians 3:13-15 ESV                 The Thessalonians were very concerned about the second coming of Christ; it is the central matter in both of Paul’s epistles to them. In this letter it seems the brethren are concerned that the time is near, or that they might somehow miss the second coming if they don’t know when it is: see the first twelve verses of chapter two. Christians have often been concerned with the precise hour of Christ’s return and some with good reason.   We would all like to know, and many have sought for some means of determining the time of the return: even Isaac Newton made an attempt in his later life.  ...

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 5-7 ESV             As I write this it would be easy to lose heart. The outer self is greatly threatened by disease, and so the inner-self may also feel threatened. The looming presence has drawn quite near and people have reacted. The momentary affliction seems heavy and appears to stretch out beyond the moment. Even if we overcome the fear of death and of disease there are worries are other worries which assail us. We can be overwhelmed; our weakness can be exploited to drag us down to despair. Our hearts can become lost in the maze of concerns and uncertainties. What if we get sick? What we die? ...

I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord , who does all these things. Isaiah 45:7 ESV             In context God is speaking of the coming conquest of Israel and Judah by Babylon and later Persia. The chosen people will be exiled from the promise land as discipline, and God uses the conquering pagans as His rod. Cyrus will be the one to end the exile, see Ezra 1, Cyrus does not know God, and yet he is being used by God. He is being used in a very interesting way by God. The empire Cyrus inherits has conquered the promise land, subdued its people, scattered them in exile, and even defiled and plundered the temple. God says it is for His people sake this is done, and yet to His people it appears they are undone. Indeed, there is a whole book dedicated to just how bad these events are: Lamentations. In must have seemed a hopeless situation.      ...