The Resurrection

I'm having a convo with a relative about the Resurrection via email.  This is what I emailed him.  

Here are my thoughts on the resurrection. Its kinda long hope that’s okay ….

There are many things you could discuss on this topic but for the sake of this conversation I am going to stick with two main ones. Who? And Why?

Before I dive into that I want to set the stage for why I think it’s important to study and understand the resurrection as the Bible presents it.

First is that it is a basic foundational doctrine of the Christian faith. 

In Hebrews 5:12-14-6:1-2 Paul calls it milk….

“12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment”

Paul tells us here that if we don’t get the basics of Christianity we are considered babes. Among these basic truths are the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

Here, in Acts, Paul is persecuted not only because he proclaimed Christ but also because he proclaimed the resurrection.

Acts 17:18

“Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.”

The resurrection is something Paul breaks down in some detail a couple of different places. I’ll talk about those later.

Second is that the resurrection of the dead gives us Hope! If Christ had a resurrection then there’s hope that we will also.

John 11:25, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

1 Thessalonians 4, “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep (died) lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep (died) in Jesus.”

Since Jesus is the resurrection we can be assured that we have a life after we die. We have to remember that this life is only a vapor, it only lasts for a short moment in the grand scheme of eternality!

James 4:14b, “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away”

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that we can’t only hope that Christ will come through for us in this life but also in the next.

1 Corinthians 15

“And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

Thirdly we should encourage each other with the truths of the resurrection. Knowing that this life is not the end but is only for a moment. In 1 Thes 4 after talking about the resurrection of the dead and the “rapture” Paul instructs us to encourage each other with these words.

1 Thes 4:13-18

“13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep (died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep (dead). 16 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 (the resurrection). 17 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 always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

These are some of the reasons I believe it is extremely important to understand the resurrection.

So we know now that there is for sure going to be a resurrection of the dead and it will be after this life and go into the rest of eternity. And also that it’s important to understand. But now WHO gets to experience the resurrection and WHY?

I want to preface this so you know where I’m going. I believe that the Bible teaches that everyone, at some point, will experience the resurrection! For some this will be extremely glorious and they will be rewarded with eternal life. But for others this will be extremely negative and they will be rewarded eternal punishment in the lake of fire.

This is what Jesus says about it…

John 5:24-29. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Jesus says that those who do good will experience the resurrection of life. I believe based on Jesus’ other teachings (Matt 5-7 and John 15, ect.) that those who “do good” can only do so through His strength and NOT in their own; lest any man boast!

Jesus also says that those who do evil will experience the resurrection of condemnation. I also believe this goes with the other teachings of Jesus (Matt 5-7, John 15, ect.). Works have to be done in Christ’s strength and not ours but non-the-less have to be done, we have to produce good fruit. Just as Jesus addresses the Pharisees in Matt 23, people can have everything looking good on the outside but on the inside be dead. John 15 Jesus teaches us that we can do nothing apart from Him and that the only way to produce any fruit is to abide in the Vine (Jesus).

We have to note again that the resurrection is after a person dies. So those who do evil will be experiencing eternal condemnation.

Paul says this … Acts 24:15, “I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.”

Here he tells us that both the just and the unjust will experience a resurrection.

The resurrection is not just a New Testament theology. It is laced in the scriptures of the Old Testament. Which is undoubtedly where Jesus and Paul gets the whole idea any way. The book of Daniel talks of the resurrection of the dead this way. Daniel 12:2, “2 And many of those who sleep (are dead) in the dust of the earth shall awake (resurrect), Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul breaks down what will happen for believers at the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:51-55

51“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

                  55 “ O Death, where is your sting?

                      O Hades, where is your victory?”

We know from 1 Thes 4:16 that these dead are ones who were dead in Christ, or believers. “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.”

Here Paul tells us that the phrases “Death is swallowed up in victory O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” only belong to believers after the resurrection. It is something we put our hope in that will happen in the future. (Praise Jesus that we are going to live with Him forever!)

Conclusion: Everyone will experience a resurrection; Some unto eternal life and some to eternal condemnation.

The Rapture

My thesis: The Rapture takes place after the anti-christ comes into power and happens simultaneously as the second coming of Christ.

Lets first define the word Rapture. The word "rapture" is from Latin meaning "to snatch, to carrying off.."

Rapture isn't actually a word used in scripture but is pulled from a concept that the scriptures seem to present.

It comes from a phrase found in 2 Thes 2:1 which says, "gathering together to Him." And also, and maybe more directly, from 1 Thes 4:17 which uses the phrase, "caught up."

1 Cor 15 tells us that we will be receiving a body the is, as we say, glorified. Verses 35-55 explains in detail relating our future resurrected bodies to different natural things to help us understand. Verse 49 is a basic summary of the passage; "And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man." 1 Cor 15:49.

Later in the passage its said like this, "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Cor 15:51-54.

This is the resurrection that Paul so confidently preached about in Acts. (Acts 24:15)

So when does the Rapture take place?

Starting with 1 Cor 15:51-54 we see that Paul says the Rapture will take place at the "last trumpet."

1 Thes 4:13-18 says,

"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words."

We learn from this passage that a trumpet will be sounded and the dead in Christ will rise then those who are still alive in Christ will be caught up together with the dead into the clouds and meet the Lord in the air.

We can conclude that the trumpet talked about here is the same "last trumpet" Paul talks about in 1 Cor 15. We can also conclude that we will receive our heavenly bodies at this point.

Here are some other verses on Jesus returning on clouds:

Matt 24:30-31, "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."

Rev 14:14-16, "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat Onelike the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped."

Rev 1: 7, "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."

From these verses we learn that Jesus is coming on clouds. We also learn that every eye we see Him.

Now lets look at some verses that give us some timing for all this.

2 Thes 2:1-4, "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed(anti-christ), the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

This passage tells us that Jesus won't return until two things take place. 

1. The falling away takes place first.

2. the man of sin or anti-christ is revealed and comes into power. 

Jimmy Swaggart "Expositor's Bible" commentates that verse 3 should be translated differently. They say that 'falling away' should be more 'correctly' translated 'the departing away'. They say that this actually reefers to the rapture and that according to this verse that the rapture happens before the anti-christ is revealed. 

Lets take a look at some of the major translations out there to see how they translate it. 

(NIV) "Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction."

(KJV)  "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"

(NLT) "Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction."

(Holman) "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction."

(ESV) "Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,"

I'm not sure where the "Expositor's Bible" received its information but these other translators disagree with their findings. 

Now putting all these verses together we can see that Jesus won't return until the apostasy, falling away or rebellion occurs and after the revealing of the anti-christ. We also see that He will be returning on clouds, at the last trumpet. We also learn that Christians who are dead and alive will be raised to meet with Jesus in the clouds. 

All these verses make it pretty obvious. Lets tackle some verses that are a little more obscure. 

Many use the metaphor Jesus uses comparing the days of Noah to the coming of the Son of Man to support the pre-trib rapture theory. Heres what Jesus says:

Matt 24:36-44,  ³⁶ “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ³⁸ For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and did not know until the flood came and TOOK them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. ⁴⁰ Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will begrinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴² Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Here people say that Jesus is telling us that many will be 'taken' or raptured before the tribulation happens. If we look closely at the passage we find that Jesus liken to ones taken to the ones taken by the flood. That as is the days of Noah people were doing basic normal life stuff and weren't watching for the flood to come. Neither were they listening to the cry of Noah. So when the flood came it TOOK them. Like wise if we are not keeping watch the tribulation will come on us and we will be taken or killed by the judgments being released. 


Mark 13:32-36, ³² “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.³⁴ It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— ³⁶ LEST, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. ³⁷ And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”


Here Jesus tells us that we don't know the hour in which He is coming. But He then instructs us to WATCH and PRAY. He says in verses 35, 34 to watch, lest the master will come suddenly. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He's always sent warning to His people and given them insight to what His plans are. Jesus is telling us that we don't know the hour but if we'll watch we won't be taken off guard.

Luke says it this way: Luke 21:34-36(NAS),  34"Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; 35for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. 36"But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."

Jesus tells us here that the judgments will be coming, that is inevitable. But if our hearts are alert them it won't come on us suddenly. 

We must WATCH and PRAY! 


In Luke 17 Jesus gives the same example of Noah but in Luke's account Jesus gives the comparison of the time of Lot as well. In this example Lot is removed from the city, which in a way could represent the rapture but it seems that Jesus' point is that the judgement released (flood or fire and brimstone) came on people unexpectedly. And not the removal of the righteous. 


Another passage that some people use to support the pre-trib rapture theory is Matt 24:27, " For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." Linked with 1 Cor 15:52, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." They use these verses to explain that Jesus comes quick in a moment, fast as lightning and no one sees Him. To explain the verse in Rev 1, "all eyes will see" they say that Jesus has two comings. One that is secret before the tribulation and one that all will see after the tribulation.


I believe that the verse in 1 Cor 15 has nothing to do with how fast Jesus' return is. Paul is telling us how fast we will be changed from our mortal bodies into our immortal bodies. "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet."


As for the verse in Matt 24 that people again use to explain how fast Jesus will return I believe is talking about the exact opposite. Consider the verses: 


Matt 24: 23-28, “Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. ²⁴"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵"Behold, I have told you in advance. ²⁶"So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, or, 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them. ²⁷"For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. ²⁸"Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."


Luke 17:23-24, "And they will say to you, ‘Look here!’ or ‘Look there!’ Do not go after them or follow them. ²⁴ For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day."


In context Jesus is saying that we shouldn't be deceived when people say that the Christ has come because it will be obvious! Just as lightning is clearly seen across the sky or if if you see a corpse you know that vultures will be near by.


Conclusion: The Rapture and the Second coming of Jesus are one time events that happen simultaneously, with Jesus returning on clouds and collecting His elect; After the anti-christ has come into power. [I would say 1260 days into the Great Tribulation. (This part was undiscussed.) ]

The Anit-Chirst.

Let discuss Biblical truths of the Who, When and Where of the anti-christ.

There's a lot to say about the man of lawlessness, who could even come to power in our life time. Lets start with the When. Daniel 9:24-27 tells us about Seventy-weeks that are to take place. "Weeks" in the ancient day is a group of seven, sort of like saying a dozen (12). These Seventy-weeks are specifically Seventy groups of sevens years. Starting from Persian Emperor Artaxerxes Longimanus decree for the Jewish temple to be rebuilt (Nehemiah 2) and going 69-sevens or 483 years until Messiah the Prince comes, Daniel 9:25. (You think the Hebrews would have been counting down!)

At that point the "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary." Daniel 9:26. Jesus came about 483 years after the decree by Artaxerxes' decree and was crucified. The rest of verse 26 talks of war until the end, then in verse 27 it says, "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the midst of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate..." This 'he' is the anti-christ. He will make a peace treaty with many, probably the whole world, but break it in the 'midst' of the seven years, a little before half way. The reason I say a little before half way is because of Daniel 12:11, “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be 1290 days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the 1335 days." Ancient Jewish calendar was on a 360 days per year cycle so 1335 days is 3 years 8 months and 15 days. So the peace treaty is broken a little before half way. This will be the last 1335 days in natural history as we know it! :-)
The Anti-christ will take away daily sacrifices and set up what is called the "Abomination of Desolation." This is what is talked about in 2 Thessalonians 2. (I included the whole passage because its all so GOOD! I underlined the parts we're focusing on.)

¹ "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him ,... ³ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 2 Thes. 2:1-12

This passage tells us that the man of lawlessness or the anti-christ will set himself up as god in the temple. This is the abomination of desolation. Verse 1 tells us this happens before the Second coming of Jesus and our gathering to Him or the rapture! (Let no one deceive you.)

That's the When, how about the Who.
 Lets start in Revelation 13:1-9.
"And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. ² Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. ³ And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. ⁴ So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” ⁵ And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. ⁶ Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. ⁷ It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. ⁸ All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  ⁹ If anyone has an ear, let him hear."

Here we find that the anti-christ, the beast from the sea, is given authority, a throne and power by satan himself. (I think that the anti-christ will be fully possessed by satan.) He also suffers a head wound and is killed but then comes back to life. This is also talked about in other places.
Here's a few:
Rev 13:12, "the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed"
Rev 13:14, " the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived"
Rev 17:8, "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is"

He will continue for 42 months or 3 1/2 years or 1260 days. (This is 30 days before 1290, Dan 12:11, mentioned earlier.)

He also has seven heads and ten horns. Revelation 17:9-11 says, "The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. ¹⁰ There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. ¹¹ The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition." 
Here we learn that the seven heads are seven kings; probably seven kingdoms who persecuted Israel. The five that have fallen are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medio-Persia and Greece. The one that is, is Rome, since they were presently ruling at the time. The seventh I believe is Nazi Germany. In think this because compared to the rest of the kingdoms Hitler's 10 or 11 year rule was a "short time." The anti-christ will be "of the seven" meaning he will be a mixture of all those kings/kingdoms. Rev 13 expresses that the beast from the sea(anti-christ) is a lion, a leaopard and a bear. These are a combination of the beasts in Daniel's vision in Daniel 7. These beast are a prophecy of Babylon, Medio-Persia and Greece.

The ten horns are talked about in Revelation 17:12-14, ¹² “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. ¹³ These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
The ten horns are also ten kings. But these kings weren't alive yet. Verse 12 tells us they will be alive and ruling at the time that the anti-christ is alive. They will be of one mind and give their authority to the anti-christ. This will be the "many" the anti-christ makes a peace treaty with. (Daniel 9:27) I believe this treaty is probably with the whole world meaning that the world would be one a One World Government system.


The anti-christ will have authority from the dragon and from the kings of the earth. He will set himself up as god, to be worship by all. Any who deny will be killed. 

To be Continued...

Unite My Heart.

Ps 86:11, Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

What is this verse talking about?

Its a prayer that the Lord would teach us His way. In Hebrew when David says His 'way' (deh'-rek in Hebrew) he means God's road or His course of life for us.

We know God's faithful to anwser our prayers but we also knows it a process to learn the ways of Yah. David proclaims in the next part of the verse that as God reveals to him deh'-rek that David would walk in truth. The word truth in Hebrew is eh'-meth meaning stability, certainty, truth, trustworthiness, establishment.

David is saying that if You, God, will teach me Your way then I will live a life that is leaning on Your stability and not my own.

Calling truth what You call truth. Loving what You define as righteousness and not what emotions or the world around me defines as righteousness.

Daivd ends the verse with a prayer. That God would unite His heart to fear His name. One verson says it this way, "Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name."

Here David is saying, 'All the places in my heart that doesn't desire to fear You unite it with the rest and teach it Your ways.'

Abba, Teach us Your ways so we can walk in the realness of TRUTH. Bring unity to our hearts so we can fear You in fulliness!

Abiding ... So Simple Its Hard

There has been a lot of talk about Abiding around IHOP. It seems that its something Lord is doing in a lot of people. Personally the Lord has been teaching about this word "Abide".  Here are my thoughts on it. The dictionary says the word abide means to remain, continue or to stay; to have one's abode or dwell.

The word abide in the New Testament isn't something that can be defined simply in words but more in concept. Jesus teaches us about abiding through out His life with parables. Also in teaching us how His relationship with the Father was.


In John 14:10-11, Jesus teaches us that He doesn't do anything or speak in His own authority but in His Father's. He goes on to say that the Father is in Him and that He is in the Father.  "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me"


Later Jesus tells us that if we keep His word then He and the Father will come make their home with us. This is through the Spirit of Truth that Jesus says will come and dwell with us and in us and will abide with us forever. John 14:15-17


In John 15:1-6 Jesus teaches us how this works with a metaphor of a vine. He says that He is the vine and we are the branches. Here Jesus establishes that we can not bear fruit without remaining connected to Him. Just as the branch of a vine can not bear fruit if it isn't connected to the vine. Jesus says, in verse 4, "Abide in Me, and I in you." We are to rely on Jesus like a branch relies on the vine to give it life and substance. If we find ourselves ever out of that place of full reliance and are leaning on our own abilities we must correct it. Jesus is wanting us to live in like manner as He did with the Father. John 14:10-11, "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me." Not living in our own authority but only in His. Continually receiving love from Him. 


Jesus even takes it a step further. He tells us in verse 6 that if we don't continually abide in Him that we will be cast out as a branch is thrown into the fire and are burned. This is a very heavy statement. I believe it speaks on two levels. First, I believe that Jesus is speaking of an eternal punishment that will be rewarded to all who don't abide in Him. I also think that Jesus is teaching us how to keep ourselves from, as we say, "burning out." If we rely on our own abilities while trying to produce we will always fail. 


The good news is found in verse 1 and 2. Jesus identifies God as the vine dresser. When reading these verses and mediating on the concept of abiding its easy to loose hope and think that there is no chance that you could be fully surrendered to Jesus here is where hope is revived. God is the vine dresser who is going to prune us into the very brach that we need to be. Even if it hurts a little and for a short time, the end product is amazing. 


I think that we make this whole abiding thing really complex in our heads when it really shouldn't be. Jesus says in verse 5 that without Him we can do NOTHING. So we need to stop trying so hard. 


Luke 18:17, "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” Here Jesus teaches us that only those who receive the kingdom as a child will enter it. But what kind of child. The kind of child is found in verse 15, "Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them." An infant. Not a five year old or a ten year old but an infant. An infant is a person who is fully reliant on their parents. They can't feed themselves, clothed themselves, or even wipe themselves. We must be like infants to enter into the kingdom. If we aren't fully reliant then like in John 15 we will be cut off. 


Since Katrina is pregnant, lately I have been looking at it like an unborn baby. An unborn baby is abiding in it's mother's womb. The baby is connected, literally, to the mother and fully reliant on the mother for nutrition and life. 


So, in conclusion we must FIRST receive love from Jesus, taking moments in our day to just let Him speak to our hearts, love on us and wash us with His word (Eph 5:25). Then in response to that love, love God with ALL our being. Then, and ONLY then, we can in turn love people.