OVERFLOW

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4 Merry Christmas everyone! I hope that you were able to spend some good quality time with family and friends, reflecting on how Christ came to earth and took on flesh. And as wonderful news as that is, I pray that we have the same sort of yearning that the people had as they waited for the Messiah nearly 2,000 years ago. We too are yearning and waiting for His coming. And when that day comes, he will wipe away all our tears and death will be no more. May we be a people who are not captivated by the trappings and trinkets of the season. May our hearts forever be fixed on our Lord and Savior and may that reflect in how we interact with our family, friends, and neighbors throughout this year and into 2020. And I cannot wait to see you then. I will be taking a short hiatus (long...all of Jan

“Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old— unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.”  Lamentations 5:21-22  In our last article we looked at the last New Testament book in our Bible in a Year plan, Romans. In this post, we will look at the final Old Testament book in our reading plan, Lamentations. Lamentations is a very appropriate title because it very well summarizes what this book is all about. It is a book full of laments on the state of Judah. And even if you are unfamiliar with the context or occasion for the book, as you read it you get a very clear picture of what is going on in the lives of the people. They had been exiled and the kingdom of Judah has fallen, meaning that Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. This would have been unthinkable in the minds of the people (4:12) because this was the city of God, and their presumption that God would not allow anything bad to happen to the

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Romans 12:9-10 Today we consider the final New Testament book in our Bible in a year plan, Romans. It is a wonderful book to end the year with since Paul very concisely covers a great deal of topics in this letter to a church that he had never visited. And because of the breadth of theological doctrines and topics that are covered, it does a very good job communicating many of the themes that we find all throughout the other 65 books. In fact, if a person only had one book of the Bible available to them to read, I would want them to have the book of Romans. In this letter, we quickly encounter who we are; sinners who stand without excuse denying and rebelling against a just and holy God. And if anyone thinks that they are exempt from God’s judgment in the first couple chapters, chapter 3 makes it abundantly clear that “none is ri

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.”  Jeremiah 1:7–8  When the prophet Jeremiah was called by God, things were looking pretty good for Israel. The nation of Judah was being led by a Godly king, Josiah, and the threat from the Assyrian empire was gone since it had collapsed. It was during this time of prosperity and peace that Jeremiah prophesied judgment to come. The majority of the book is around the idolatry of the people and the impending judgment from God due to the people’s rebellion against God. And because we are probably watching a lot of Christmas movies right now, we are waiting for the twist. The point in the book when Jeremiah’s message shifts to a hopeful one. Or perhaps we remember in chapter 16 that Jeremiah is not to marry and have kids (16:2) and so we are hoping that Go

12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.  Philemon 12  The letter of Philemon is a letter written by Paul to…Philemon (1:1). This is a very short letter, 25 verses long, and will probably take you less than 2 minutes to read. In it, we read of Paul sending back an escaped slave, Onesimus, back to his master, Philemon. We do not know very much about the individuals mentioned, but what we do know is that Onesimus was probably not a good guy. For one, Onesimus had ran from his master (12) who was a believer despite most likely having been treated with Christian love (5-7). Secondly, Onesimus had come across Paul while he was imprisoned, this might suggest that Onesimus was put in jail for one reason or another, but we are just not sure. Thirdly, Paul makes mention that before Onesimus was useless to him, but now he is useful to both of them now that he was in Christ (11). Philemon, on the other hand, was a man who was highly commendable (4-7). Somewhere along the wa

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8  The letter of Colossians is one of four letters written by Paul that comprise the Prison Epistles (The four letters being Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon). Although this is a church that Paul is had not visited (2:1), in this letter we see that he has a very large heart for them and he rejoices over them for their steadfastness in the faith. Although this is a very short letter, Paul emphasizes three major themes in it: the supremacy of Christ, an active guard against false teaching, and instructions on Christian living. Firstly, Paul reminds them of the supremacy and primacy of Christ. He seems to even exhaust the entirety of Greek vocabulary to express the fact that Christ created all things, “in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominio

15 So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days.  1 Kings 17:15  Today’s passage comes during the reign of King Ahab over Israel, where Elijah the prophet announces a great famine in the land. During this famine, Elijah is commanded by the Lord to go to the Phoenician city of Zarephath and to find a widow who would provide for him. When Elijah does find her, the story takes an unusual and depressing turn as we learn that the widow and her son were preparing their last meals. We see just how destructive this famine was, and we think Elijah to be a bit calloused when he instead tells her to use their remaining flour and oil to instead make him a small loaf to eat. How can Elijah be so rude and unconcerned with the desperate state that this family was in. And without much explanation or buildup, the story comes to an abrupt end. In two verses we quickly learn that she trusted in God’s Word delivered by Elijah a

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Ephesians 5:15–16  Aww, the book of Ephesians, what a wonderfully beautiful and encouraging book. It is probably one of the most well-known books in the Bible in terms of its content, apart from the Gospels. We can quickly defend election by Ephesians, stating how God chose us to be His own before the foundations of the world (1:4). And how our salvation is not merited or earned by our own works (2:8-9). We can all quote, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (4:5) and that we should speak the truth in love (4:15). We also have heard how husbands are to love their wives like Christ and wives are to submit to their own husbands at many weddings (5:22-33) and that we should put on the whole armor of God (6:10-17). It is a very memorable book and welcome letter as we near the end of our Bible in a Year journey. Interestingly enough, for as much as we know wi

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10  One of the most heinous and grievous sins that we still see today is the trafficking of woman and men in the sex trade. And even worse, too many who are rescued and liberated out of this land of oppression find themselves back in it. Having been set free, they are lured back and brought back into captivity into the life that they had struggled to get free from. And as monstrous as it is that there are people who steal the freedom of woman and men now, a worse thing was occurring in the Galatian region. Many of the churches were turning away towards another Gospel and were being persuaded to return back to a life under the law and away from the grace of God. These false teachers were placing on the backs of these Galatian believers the yoke of the law which would only lead to death. As a counter-measure, Pau