Isaiah 51:5 My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth, and My arm [z’roah in Hebrew] shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on My arm [z’roah] they will trust.
John 5:22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
Revelation 19:11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
On December 25, 1908, a newspaper in Messina, Sicily dared God to make Himself known by sending an earthquake. Three days later, the city was destroyed by an earthquake that killed over 84,000 people.
Do we really believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is returning soon? He is – He’s coming back to judge this world, and no one will escape His wrath except those whose sins are forgiven through living faith in His atoning sacrifice. The world, in its increasing sinfulness, rejecting His Son, seems to be daring God to bring judgment. This historical event in Messina speaks with shocking clarity that the God of Creation is real, that He listens carefully to the statements we make about Him and the communications we express toward Him (as individuals, cities, and nations), and that He is a powerful Sovereign King whose judgments are imminent and totally righteous.
Because of sin, we are all born destined to die. Every one of those 84,000+ people were corrupt from the womb and fated for death, so that when this dare came before the Lord in Heaven, He chose the moment to take them and reveal this serious and dramatic testimony of His judgment to all the world. By revealing His judgment as a warning, God shows His mercy to those who remain alive that we all may seek the eternal safety He offers. Yeshua’s sacrificial death provides eternal life for all who are destined to die from sin…that is, all that come to Him in faith.
God is the true, righteous, and final Judge of us all. Will you be found in Him when He judges? If clothed in His righteousness, the Lord Yeshua, we will escape His judgment for sin. Trust in Him completely and know He is not only a just judge but a “merciful, gracious, longsuffering” God who “abounds in goodness and truth”. [Exodus 34:6] With judgment looming — let’s also be about His business today!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]As we enter a New Year, remember the one constant true for everyone, rich or poor, male or female: each of us is given 8,760 hours in a Gregorian calendar year. That is, 1,440 minutes a day, or 525,600 minutes a year. Sounds like a lot, yet have you noticed how time flies these days?
Persecution and serious trials were regular fare for the early followers of Messiah. Apostle Paul who was stoned and left for dead [Acts 14:19] was not exaggerating when he affirmed, "Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God."
Our life, the life of faith, is pervaded by paradox. Life faces us with apparently irreconcilable conditions and realities that we struggle to understand and integrate, sometimes throughout an entire lifetime. The Lord himself exemplifies this reality in his dual identity as the expressed image of God and a fully human male who suffered the worst consequences of sin...without deserving them. We live daily within the paradox of God's perfect holiness and our fundamental human imperfection, constantly needing to accept His grace as we strive toward His perfection.
Throughout the history of the modern state of Israel, there have been accounts of angelic interventions protecting Israeli soldiers in the midst of intense warfare. One instance recounted by an Israeli military historian after the 1973 Yom Kippur war, describes an Israeli soldier in the Sinai taking captive an entire Egyptian column and leading them to where the Israeli troops were. The Egyptian commander was asked why he and his men gave themselves up to the lone Israeli soldier. He responded with surprise, ”One soldier? There were thousands of them.”
During 1941 the United States and Japan were in negotiations to resolve their difference as the rest of the world was at war. The special delegation of Japanese ambassadors, ostensibly sent on this “peace” mission, arrived shortly before the massive surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in which 2,403 Americans were killed, 1143 were wounded, eighteen ships were sunk or grounded, and 300 planes destroyed or damaged. President Franklin Roosevelt called it a “date which will live in infamy.”
The world these days is full of bad news, with tensions growing in the Middle East, economies on the brink of collapse, and nature constantly adding to the chaos with one disaster after another. It's a time of trouble all right, and for us believers it may sometimes be hard to believe – but it never is as bad as it seems. Let me illustrate with a joke I like to share with my messages.
When I’m dealing with what is beyond a normal, average trial, I need to muster a more militant attitude, and I remind myself of this promise; the Lord has given me authority to TREAD upon the enemy … to walk in His victory over every trial and tribulation that life brings.