Daniel 7:13-14

Oh what a glorious day it is… our Savior reigns!

In His mercy He has reserved judgement but the days of grace will have an end. He doesn’t want anyone to perish but all of creation to have a chance of eternal life with Him through the salvation God the Father gives in the Cross.

Son of Man is Semitic for “human being.” Daniel saw One like the “Son of Man,” indicating that He is not a man in the strict sense, but rather the perfect representation of humanity. Jewish and Christian expositors have identified this individual as the Messiah. Jesus Himself used this name to emphasize His humanity as the incarnate Son of God. NKJ Bible.

The references to kingdom and dominion in this verse are what the Jews were anticipating. They sought an end to the world’s kingdoms by the establishment of God’s kingdom, which also meant an end to their suffering. It did not happen in Daniel’s lifetime, but those undergoing the persecution by Antiochus could hope for it in theirs. This kingdom concept is carried into the Gospels. Faithlife Bible.

Daniel 7:13–14 (NKJV)

¹³ “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.

¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, 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.

Psalm 2:8 (NKJV)

⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give You

The nations for Your inheritance,

And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

Psalm 145:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

John 8:12-19

The religious right can be spiritually wrong. JESUS is the only answer and the HOLY SPIRIT is our personal guide. Trust Him to get you where you need to go and to accomplish what has been determined for you from the beginning of time. Pray for discernment.

Even the elect can be fooled.

“I Am the Light of the World”. As the sun is the physical light of the world, so Jesus is the spiritual light of the world. As the light of the world, Jesus exposes sin and gives sight. 

Even if the Pharisees could see the Father, they would not receive what Jesus said. Jesus came to reveal the Father, and they had not received Him. NKJ Bible.

The antagonism between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders is cast as a battle between light and darkness.By referring to “your law” and not “our law,” Jesus appears to distance Himself from Jewish observance of Torah. By extension, the phrasing influences John’s audience to dissociate themselves from Judaism and “the Jews”. After claiming that His testimony is actually exempt from their requirement because of His unique origin, Jesus demonstrates that He is in compliance with their legal procedure anyway. There are two witnesses: Jesus Himself and God the Father. Faithlife Bible.

John 8:12–19 (NKJV)

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

¹³ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”

¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

¹⁹ Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

Isaiah 9:2 (NKJV)

² The people who walked in darkness

Have seen a great light;

Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,

Upon them a light has shined.

Malachi 4:2 (NKJV)

² But to you who fear My name

The Sun of Righteousness shall arise

With healing in His wings;

And you shall go out

And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

Mark 3:23-27

Our country is in a precarious position. The division that is being promoted in the Oval Office has permeated our country. It is causing worldwide instability. We need to find a way to unite and not to further divide. God help American if we are an example of His mercy and grace. unless our hope of being a christian nation no longer exists.

Jesus confronts the religious leaders with the possibility that, by opposing Him, they might be aligning themselves with evil powers. The defining mark of a disciple of God’s kingdom is allegiance to Jesus and His teaching. Faithlife Bible.

Mark 3:23–27 (NKJV)

²³ So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. ²⁷ No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.

Acts 23:5

We need to respect those that God has placed in positions of power. That includes ALL nations. ALL  positions of authority. That is not to say that we cannot disagree with them if it against Scripture but it does mean that it includes nations other than our own. It includes ALL of our elected officials…they are also instructed to not speak evil of each other. Our president and elected officials would do well to keep that in mind. 

The wrath of God is only tempered by His mercy and grace.

Acts 23:5 (NKJV)

⁵ Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

Exodus 22:28 (NKJV)

²⁸ “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Leviticus 5:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ “If a person sins, and commits any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord, though he does not know it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity.

2 Peter 2:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,

2 Corinthians 12;14

Sometimes we forget that our children honor us, as parents, by being good parents to their children. 

Honoring your parents has lasting rewards.

The wealthy believers in Corinth wanted to become Paul’s patrons—supplying financial support to him. Paul reminds them that their relationship to him is like children to their father—the father provides for them, not the opposite. 

2 Corinthians 12:14

Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.

2 Peter 2:10

We are not to speak badly about those who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ or those in authority…it is not our right to judge who God appoints.

Does President Trump despise any authority other than his own? He downgrades any government or elected official who opposes him.

Paul quotes Exodus 22:28

²⁸ “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Acts 23:4–5 (NKJV)

⁴ And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”

⁵ Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

2 Peter 2:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,

Jude 4 (NKJV)

⁴ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ezekiel 22:1-5

The only things that God hates is mans’ arrogance and pride. Our country is rife in both right now. He punishes those He loves and will use whatever happens as a teaching situation for our good and the good of His Body, the Church of Jesus Christ. we will learn the consequences of sin.

Money is one of the biggest idols in our country.

rife |rīf|

adjective [predicative]

(especially of something undesirable or harmful) of common occurrence; widespread: male chauvinism was rife in medicine in those days.

• (rife with) full of: the streets were rife with rumor and fear.

adverb

in an unchecked or widespread manner: speculation ran rife that he was an arms dealer.

Yahweh commands Ezekiel to judge, which appears to involve delivering an accusation rather than a verdict. The presence of idols makes the city ritually impure, though the city was already defiled due to bloodshed. Their sinful ways have brought the time for judgment even closer. The Hebrew word used here, cherpah, refers to a condition of shame or disgrace. Israel will be shamed before the nations. Faithlife Bible.

These verses focus on the sins of Jerusalem, principally bloodshed (social sin) as a result of idolatry (spiritual sin). A problem in the vertical relationship with God inevitably leads to some degree of injustice and injury in horizontal, human affairs. The city was ripe for judgment. When such hypocrisy is exposed and punishment is executed before the world, God’s people become lasting objects of ridicule. NKJ Bible.

Ezekiel 22:1–5 (NKJV)

22 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Now, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! ³ Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds blood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. ⁴ You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries.

 ⁵ Those near and those far from you will mock you as infamous and full of tumult.

2 Timothy 3:13-15

In this life  our only hope  is to carefully heed the voice of the Holy Spirit.  it is becoming harder everyday to discern good from evil or evil from good. By basing everything on the living Word of God in scripture and the still voice given to us through the Christ we can run the good race.  perfected in our sufferings and in our weakness... He will become strong.

Perseverance, keeping our faith in God,  enhances our ability to hear the strong mind of God that will be our guide until Christ comes again in glory.

Timothy learned first hand the way of life of a believer through his grandmother, mother and Paul. Jewish instruction in Torah began at the age of five. They were faithful servants.

Paul presents his conduct as an example of faithful service to God. He then encourages Timothy to remain strong in the faith, using God’s gift of Scripture to minister effectively. Faithlife Bible.

Paul emphasizes Timothy’s godly heritage. His mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois had faithfully taught him the Holy Scriptures. The truths of God’s Word directed Timothy to Christ. God’s Word and the Spirit of God are both essential for our salvation. The Word of God without the Spirit of God is lifeless; it has no power to act. But the Word of God empowered by the Spirit of God becomes a living force in our lives. NKJ Bible.

2 Timothy 3:13–15 (NKJV)

¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 6:11 (NKJV)

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

John 14:1-2

Today 58 people were killed and 500 wounded by a shooter in Las Vegas. My very soon to be 90 year old Father called feeling ill and I am taking him to the doctor once again. It is always a judgement call deciding if I should take him to the ER or wait until we can get an appointment at the office. Holy Spirit give me discernment. He always tells me that he is ready to go to be with Jesus….it gives me great comfort knowing that he is a faithful servant of the most high, Jesus Christ. 

When so much hardship and hatred seem to fill our nation it is comforting to know that Jesus has our back…trust in Him, not man!

Everybody has a longing for a permanent, secure place. Such places have already been set aside for all of God’s children. Jesus told His disciples not to be troubled, but to trust Him.

John 14:1–2 (NKJV)

14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Ezekiel 35:14-15

Judgement belongs to God alone. 

He will right every wrong and dry every tear shed by His children. He causes His goodness to reign on the righteous and the unrighteous now but it will not always be so.

Edom may have thought so highly of herself (see Obad. 3) that she believed she could assume the place of privilege her father Esau had lost, once Judah was destroyed. NKJ Bible.

Ezekiel 35:14–15 (NKJV)

¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The whole earth will rejoice when I make you desolate. ¹⁵ As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom—all of it! Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

Lamentations 4:21 (NKJV)

²¹ Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,

You who dwell in the land of Uz!

The cup shall also pass over to you

And you shall become drunk and make yourself naked.

Mount Seir (Hebrew: הַר-שֵׂעִיר; Har Se'ir) also known as Jibāl ash Sharāh, was a mountainous region stretching between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, demarcating the southeastern border of Edom with Judah. It may also have marked the older historical limit of Egypt in Canaan.

Mount Seir was named for Seir the Horite, whose offspring had previously inhabited the area (Genesis 14:6, 36:20). The children of Esau (the Edomites) battled against the Horites and destroyed them (Deuteronomy 2:4-5, 12, 22). It is specifically noted as the place where Esau made his home (Genesis 32:3; 33:14, 16; 36:8; Joshua 24:4).

The prophet Balaam, predicting Israelite victories over the Trans-Jordanian nations at the end of their Exodus from Egypt, stated "Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession”.^[3]

Mount Seir is also given as the location where the remnants "of the Amalekites that had escaped" were annihilated by five hundred Simeonites (I Chronicles 4:42-43). In 2 Chronicles 20:22-23, the "inhabitants of Mt Seir", i.e. the Edomites, came along with the Ammonites and Moabites against Jehoshaphat of Judah, however "Yahweh set ambushments" against them, causing their forces to annihilate one another. Mount Seir is also referenced in the prophetic books as a term for Edom, as in Isaiah 21:11, Ezekiel 25:8, 35:10.

Zephaniah 1:2-3

God is all merciful and full of grace not wanting even one person to perish…but He is also the One who’s right it is to judge...we are HIS creation. There will come a day of reckoning… 1.2.3.

There will be a complete destruction of all who do not worship Yahweh. Faithlife Bible.

The message of Zephaniah begins with a pronouncement of universal judgment. These words not only introduce the particular judgment that would be pronounced upon Judah, but they also speak of the final judgment that will usher in the kingdom of God on earth. There is nothing in the universe that really may be compared to the Creator, God abhors all forms of idolatry. NKJ Bible.

Zephaniah 1:2–3 (NKJV)

² “I will utterly consume everything

From the face of the land,”

Says the Lord;

³ “I will consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of the heavens,

The fish of the sea,

And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the land,”

Says the Lord.

Hosea 4:3 (NKJV)

³ Therefore the land will mourn;

And everyone who dwells there will waste away

With the beasts of the field

And the birds of the air;

Even the fish of the sea will be taken away.

Matthew 18:32-35

Withholding forgiveness  is never an option for Christ followers. We have been given the very life of Jesus for our sins and everything else is just peanuts.

Be fair to all people

Forgive without procrastination

and be very, very humble for the gift of eternal life that you have been given!!

Micah 6:8

Since God has lavishly forgiven Jesus’ disciples, they should continuously extend that same forgiveness. Faithlife Bible.

If our forgiveness should be in direct proportion to the incredible amount that we have been forgiven (v. 22), then we must always be willing to forgive. NKJ Bible.

Matthew 18:32–35 (NKJV)

³² Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ ³⁴ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

³⁵ “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

Leviticus 25:39 (NKJV) The Law Concerning Slavery

³⁹ ‘And if one of your brethren who dwells by you becomes poor, and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a slave.

Nehemiah 5:8 (NKJV)

⁸ And I said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?”

Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.

Lamentations 5:2-3

We, as professing Christians, should be a source of knowledge concerning the things of the Body of Christ. When we fail to shine the light of God’s Love for mankind  we are no longer helpful to His Kingdom. Hold firmly to the Holy Spirit who will guide us and teach us the Word of God made flesh...Jesus Christ.

We are the hands and feet of Christ.

Widows and orphans were among the most vulnerable groups in ancient Near Eastern society. Biblical law made special allowances for their care (Deut 24:19–21), and their oppression was symptomatic of a society that had lost sight of God’s ethical ideals (Isa 1:23). The losses inflicted on Judah through destruction and exile has reduced the people to a vulnerable state. Faith life Bible.

The Promised Land had been a gift from the Lord to Abraham. This inheritance was a kind of “down payment” on the future reign of God that would include the restoration of His people to that land. God demonstrated that He owned all nations and that Israel was to be His instrument for blessing all the nations on the earth. Yet in their present condition, the people of Israel seemed to be the most helpless of all people. NKJ Bible.

Lamentations 5:2-3

Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, And our houses to foreigners.We have become orphans and waifs,Our mothers are like widows