Blog - Page 113 of 141 - Christ Church

Bible Challenge #4

Becky Pliego on September 22, 2017

Dear sisters,

What a blessing this Bible Reading Challenge has already been! We are so very grateful to the Lord for the way in which it has pleased Him to draw so many of us at the same time to His Word. We are grateful for each one of you. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your faithfulness. We pray for you every day that the Lord will make you understand the way of His precepts, that you will meditate in His wondrous works as you read about them in the Bible, and see them every day around you (Psalm 119:27).

This week we will be reading Genesis 37-50 and Matthew 20-28. Then, on Friday, we have a catch-up day before we start reading the book of Exodus (1-4) and Galatians (1-2). If you are current in your readings, I would love to be able to persuade you to read Galatians in one siting either on Friday (our catch-up day) or on Sunday. Reading the epistles in one sitting is truly wonderful, I am sure you will agree with me after you try it once!

We will read this week the story of Joseph, and we will be surprised to read that even though all signs point to him, he is not the one through whom the Seed of the Woman will come. He endures, by God’s grace, horrible circumstances to preserve the line through which the Promised One will come. For now I will give you the name of a character that you need to pay attention to in our readings this week: Judah. We will talk more about them in this week’s webinar. I can’t wait to share more of that with you! I hope you can watch it live (or recorded!) here.

We will be reading in the Bible and talking in our webinar about God’s Providence. We have been reading and understanding how God is Sovereign, which means that He does all that He pleases to do and that He chooses whoever he wants to choose to fulfill His purposes to bring glory to His name and good to His people. Now, God’s Providence is the way in which God actually directs all circumstances so that His plans may be fulfilled. Both are fascinating doctrines because they bring so much hope, comfort, and rest to the soul of the believers. And in Ch. 50 of Genesis you will see exactly this. Joseph will wholly embrace the life God has chosen for him to live because he knows that God is good, that God is sovereign, and that God rules through the acts of His Providence all circumstances including the decisions of men.

In Matthew we will be reading how the Devil, the Serpent, continues to plot a way to kill the Seed of the Woman. We will see God exercising His sovereignty and how through His Providence will direct the hearts of men to betray Jesus, to mock him, to kill him; a series of events will fall into place and the Seed of the Woman, the Promised One, will be hanged on the cross because God -not the Devil- had planned and decided it that way. Jesus’ crucifixion was God’s “plan A” since the very beginning.

But the story doesn’t end there. God’s plan to redeem the nations through the Seed of the Woman will be fulfilled. Christ will not remain in a tomb. So once again we will take the Book and read. We will read what the Devil, the Serpent, never saw coming: the Son of God, the Promised One crushing his own head. The question he has asked to tempt many comes to him as a powerful statement: God did say, Satan, that your head would be crushed! Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns! He is risen and risen indeed! Alleluia!

May our prayer this week be, Lord these circumstances are pressing me hard on my right, these others hard on my left, at times I feel crushed under the heaviness of them all, “But I trust in you, O Lord, I say, ‘You are my God.” My times in your hand, Sovereign God! May I keep, God, my eyes fixed on the risen Christ. Amen! (Psalm 119:14)

Happy reading, Friends!

Under His Sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the Team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

Grace & Peace: Revelation 70

Douglas Wilson on September 19, 2017

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:5–7).

We have identified this mighty angel with the Lord Jesus. He stands over the world, with His right foot on the sea and the other on the earth. He has the little book open in His hand. In this passage, He lifts up His hand to heaven in order to swear, in order to take an oath. This should resolve forever the question of whether it is lawful for believers to swear.

He swore in the name of the one who lives forever, the one who created heaven and everything in it, along with the earth and everything in it, and along with the sea and everything in it. That was the basis of His oath. What was the content of the oath?

He swore that there would be no more delay. The souls under the altar had been told to be patient for just a little while longer. They would have to be patient no more—the time has come. When the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, everything would be complete.

But what does that mean? There are two things expressed about this fulfillment. It is described as the “mystery of God,” and it was a mystery that had been declared beforehand to His servants the prophets. This gives us the content of the mystery plainly. Where the Scripture uses this phrase elsewhere, it is talking about the fashioning of one new kind of man—Christian—out of the old categories of Jew and Gentile.

“Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,” (Rom. 16:25).

“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ” (Col. 2:2).

“How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Eph. 3:3–6).

The mystery, given to the prophets down through the ages, but now unpacked and made manifest through the gospel, is that Gentiles are going to be made fellow heirs together with Jews.

The answer is that as long as the Temple in Jerusalem stood, there would be standing pressure for the Gentiles to become Jews as part of becoming Christian.This is all very well, but what does all that have to do with the seventh angel blowing his trumpet? The answer is that as long as the Temple in Jerusalem stood, there would be standing pressure for the Gentiles to become Jews as part of becoming Christian. This was the great controversy of the first generation in the church, and that controversy would continue as long as the Temple continued. The dominant identity of the church was going to be Jewish as long as the Temple remained.

When the seventh angel sounded, Jerusalem was done.

READ ALL GRACE & PEACE POSTS

Bible Challenge #3

Becky Pliego on September 15, 2017

Dear sisters,

Isn’t it great to know that we are ready to start week 2 of our Bible Reading Challenge? Week one was already a huge blessing and now as we go into week two we will be amazed about the story God is writing.

This week we will read Genesis 12- 36 and Mt. 8-19. Some of the chapters in Genesis are a bit longer, so you may want to divide your reading in two parts. Maybe read Genesis in the morning and Matthew in another window of time you open in your day. Yes, opening God’s Word will feel like opening a window of fresh air in your day! The days will never be quiet enough for you to read your Bible, especially if you are in that season of life in which your littlest are making messes in the bathroom and your teenagers are coming back from school really hungry. But it is there, in the midst of it all, that we can meet God in his word. Stop for a second and think about what you just read. You can meet God in the middle of your day in His Word. That is true and that is huge. Come!

We will be reading this week about Abraham and Sarah and God’s Promise. Isaac is born and God shows himself faithful -again. God will keep revealing Himself as the God who keeps Covenant in spite of all the sins we will see great men of God commit.

We will read about Isaac and their sons, and Jacob and his sons; and we won’t be able to put the Book down. Because, really? How is God going to keep the line of the Seed of the Woman alive if those He chooses are definitely not flawless characters?

In Matthew the story continues when Jesus comes down from the mountain and crowds start following him. He heals many because that is what God wills to do. And He doesn’t tell us why the Man with leprosy was suffering, or why the servant of the Centurion was paralyzed, etc. No, He sees beyond that and sees their faith and hears their cry for mercy and He chooses to heal them. Your faith will be encouraged for sure as you read those stories!

Jesus will call Matthew and the rest of the disciples just like God called his servants in the stories we are reading in the OT : Out of the pleasure of His own will! Don’t miss that. One of the ways God exercises his Sovereign will is by choosing men to fulfill His purpose and bring Him glory.

We will read some puzzling parables, like the parable of The Sower that Jesus tells to confuse his critical hearers. Parables, after all, Jesus tells us, are not to make the meaning of his teachings as clear as water. We can only understand them when the Spirit opens our eyes to see.

When you read the question Jesus will ask his disciples in chapter 16: 13-20, be ready to have a response. Every single human has to face that question and only the Holy Spirit can help us give the right answer that opens the door of Heaven.

Jesus will go up again on a mountain. But this time He will not be preaching, He will be transfigured and have a reunion with Moses and Elijah that a few of the disciples (He chose who) will witness. And guess what? It is recorded for us so that we may read and meditate upon, so take the Book and read it!

We will finish with a powerful question and statement that will shake your bones, strengthen your faith, and give you hope. Keep reading you will find it on Chapter 19 of Matthew verses 25-26 (don’t peek ahead!)

May our prayer this week be, “I come to you Jesus, labored and heavy laden, trusting that you will give me rest as I come to you in the Word.” (Based on Mt. 11:28-30)

A little note to answer a question we believe you may want to ask: all webinar recordings can be found on the Christ Kirk YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnTDQ1ggnV_wdm6JsHVBAaQ

Under His Sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the Team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

Grace & Peace: Revelation 69

Douglas Wilson on September 12, 2017

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11)

“And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not” (Rev. 10:1–4).

Between the sounding of the sixth and seventh trumpet, we have an interlude—in the same way that we had an interlude between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals in chapter 7.

It appears that the “mighty angel” that descends at this point should be identified as the Lord Jesus Himself. Here are some of the reasons. His appearance is consistent with how the Lord is described earlier in Revelation—face shining like the sun (Rev. 1:16), feet like brass burning as in a furnace (Rev. 1:15), and the rainbow that is now around His head was earlier around His throne (Rev. 4:3). He is clothed with a cloud, and that is new, but the Lord does appear on a cloud later (Rev. 14:14). The one sound argument that this is not the Lord comes from the fact that it is not mentioned here that John worships him as he did earlier (Rev. 1:17).

He has one foot on the sea and the other on the earth, indicating His authority over the entire globe.The Lord was the only one who could open the sealed book earlier, and here the mighty angel holds a little book, one that is already open. He has one foot on the sea and the other on the earth, indicating His authority over the entire globe. It also may indicate that He is speaking to Jew and Gentile both—the Jews being the land and the Gentiles represented by the sea.

Another indication that this is the Lord can be found in the allusions to Psalm 29. The thunders are the result of the angel’s loud voice, indicating that this is the voice of the Lord. “The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: The God of glory thundereth: The Lord is upon many waters” (Psalm 29:3).

The opened book is little, small enough for John to eat. The contents of the book have largely been unsealed, with the events contained in it accomplished for the most part. But at the same time, John is told not to write down what the seven thunders said. This is an indication that some things revealed to John were not to be fulfilled until later—a time outside the scope of the book. While the bulk of what John saw was fulfilled in the first century, there was some reserved for later.

For example, John is told later not to seal up the book of his Revelation, because the time was upon them (Rev. 22:10). Centuries before, Daniel had been told to seal up the words because the fulfillment was a long way out (Dan. 12:4). It would be odd for Daniel to be told this, when the fulfillment was four centuries away, and John to be told the opposite when the fulfillment of his words were to be over 20 centuries away. But here, what the thunders said has been withheld from us.

READ ALL GRACE & PEACE POSTS

Bible Challenge #2

Becky Pliego on September 8, 2017

Dear sisters,

Ready to start the Bible Reading Challenge? I am! What a great opportunity to be doing this together so that we can encourage one another to persevere in the Word.

We are Christian women, we believe in the Word of God, we believe in Jesus—the Word of God made flesh—and yet many times we fail to be women of the Word. We barely open our Bibles and soon we find that our faith fails. But God, in His kindness, leads us to Himself again and again. And again we open the Word and find that the Word of Life is there, ready for us to eat, to savour, to comfort us, and even to admonish us. So, let’s do that. No matter if you have been a faithful reader of the Bible for many years, or if you have neglected it for the longest time, come! Come take the Book and read it, He will never let you go away hungry.

This first week we will start our challenge by reading Psalm 119. Why this particular Psalm? Because here we find one of the greatest goals of our time in the Word: To love the Word. Yes, we say we love Jesus, but do we love His Word? As you read this Psalm meditate on it and ask God to give you more love for His Word, ask him to incline your heart to His commandments, ask Him to bless you with an obedient heart.

We will be also reading Genesis 1-11. But be careful how you read. Slow down. Many of these stories will most likely be very familiar to you (the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, the Tower of Babel), but I want to encourage you to read them as if it were the first time you were reading them. Let the stories become real in your imagination, let them capture you. These are powerful stories indeed!

The Gospel of Matthew is the first book we will be reading from the New Testament. This week, we will be reading chapters 1-7. Again, read these stories as if you had never heard of them. Be amazed at what you are reading… I mean, how can you not? You will be reading about God becoming a baby to dwell among us to save us! You will read about how the Wise Men followed a star to find the Christ. Yes. Think about that. Pretty amazing, right? And the two verses that tell us about Herod killing children trying to kill Jesus of Nazareth. Very sobering to think about this. We’ll then read about John the Baptist and his ministry; we will hear him call: “Repent and believe!” Then, we will encounter Jesus and the Tempter in the wilderness, and right after that Jesus on the Mount delivering a sermon that is life-changing.

Friends, may this be our prayer this week as we open the Word, “Open my eyes, Lord, that I may see wondrous things out of your law.” Psalm 119:18

This next Monday, September 11 at 10:00AM Pacific Time, we will start our Webinars! I am so ready! The Webinar will be hosted at https://www.christkirk.com/biblechallenge/ and the recording will be available at the same page immediately after the live webinar.

Grace upon grace,

Becky Pliego and the Team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship