04/13/2025
Sunday April 13 2025 Palm Sunday and it is a great day! We have such great weather and it is supposed to be great all week. I have waited for Spring to show up with a week of sunshine and bright colors in the flower beds. I have waited for the grass to be that color of green that only happens after the winter cold is over. I have waited for the warmth of the sun on my old balding head that brings on the new “tan” of another spring taking us to summer. I have waited for a lunch time outside the dining room and in the fresh air. I have waited and now I will enjoy this day. It is such a simple way to celebrate this new year. It is such a great wonder to experience each Spring. We so often forget what we should celebrate about the wonders that we are given by our Creator. We take for granted so many of the times, the ways, the days, and the efforts that God has put into our lives. I was listening to a collection of songs on one of my favorite YouTube videos. One of the songs that moved me was a song about how we should just wait on the One who gives us the “walk” in faith and the “run” to the freedom we will find in the faith to know that we can KNOW GOD. We have all the signs of the seasons of the year that give us the reminder that we are in another season of life that we will be renewed and will experience the ways that God continues to impress us with the beauty of the outdoors. If we were able to understand that this is the way that God makes everything in our life new. Just like the seasons of every year are provable and full of experiences, our own lives are also moving through time with the impressions of God’s hands on our lives. The miracles that are provable in the ways that He shows us the power of hands that create new life even after we endure another day that we feel like we can’t ever find new life. Because of the weariness of the last season, the last challenge, the last diagnosis, the last hunger pain, the last dollar, the last love we lost, and maybe even the last time we were healthy, we are given another “season”. We are given by God’s own promise as exampled by Winter becoming Spring, we are given another season. I turn to the passage in the Bible where we are directed by the ancient prophet Isaiah(40:31) and we can read about this phenomena where we are able to “wait” on the Lord for strength. I like my street translation better where we are implored to “weight” upon the Lord for the new day, the new season, the new year, the new friend, the new truth, the life, the new house. We put our weight on our God who creates a new heart in us. He creates a new path from the heavy path we just walked down if we put the weight of that old journey on Him…. He said it to a crowd of people decades later in a new place at another time of “heavy” in the lives of those who would listen to him share the heart of God… he told us to lay our burdens down, he told us through the old King David (Psalm 5:22) to cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. Even Peter wrote about the truth that if we cast our anxiety/cares on Him we will find his comfort and His care. So today I will wait and I will look forward to the new days that each Season brings to my life. I will also “weight” upon God. I know he can carry my wait and my weight just like he planned on it being that way. Another old wise man once wrote about this phenomena in Jeremiah (29:11) For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Oh it is a great Spring day, indeed!!
I am hosting another "Strategies for Living" over on our Community on Call page it is a LiveStream in about 20 minutes. Join in if you can. The notes are posted below.
Revelation 22
16 I Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. “I am the bright morning star”
a- I Jesus- Lesous- literally we are called to know freedom from the life of “no God”.Even more so we have been given the freedom from a life of “no God”.
b- have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches- pempo ego angelos martyreo sy houtos epi ho ekklesia- the proof of this freedom is proposed in the words and the lives of those who have seen God and those who know God and those who live in these freedoms given to us by God. We are people who agree that God can be known. We gather together to celebrate knowing God.l
c- I am both the source of David and heir to his throne- ego eimiho riza ho genos Dabid- the author explains to the reader that the “people who live in Faith(dabid)” that comes freely from God. This faith does not come from any other source. Jesus is God in the flesh. Now, Jesus is God in the Spirit(pneuma) breath of God. So, the source of power for our lives comes from God
d- I am the bright morning star- ho lampros pronos aster- in context the author explains that our covering or our righteousness is because of the work of Jesus- birth, life, death, resurrection. And, therefore this work of Jesus will show us how we can live in the knowledge of God. This life of faith enlightens our path, projects truth, empowers wisdom, and validates relating to God.
17 The Spirit and bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.
a- The Spirit and bride say- ho pneuma kai ho numphe lego- the relationship between God and his church are often described as actions that are like a bride and a bridegroom- the bride is “promised” to become the one who enters into a bond. It is truly like when we come alive in faith and agree that we can know the Living God… we become bonded to His love for us.
b-come- Let anyone who hears this say- erichomai kai lego ho akouo lego- in this bond of God’s love for us we “enter” into the ability to hear his voice. We are invited to live in the influence of His promises for our lives.
c- come- Let anyone who is thirsty - kai erchomai ho dipsao erchomai- We who hear God’s voice are further invited to be understood by God through his love for us. Our suffering has meaning to God. It is when His authority really becomes “satisfying”. We need to find comfort in God’s word
d-come- Let anyone who desire drink freely from the water of life-lambano ho thelo lambano hydor zoe dorea- here again we are reminded of the truth that God has a freedom for each of us. This freedom is never ending when we trust God with our life. The love that God has for each of us in unconditional. We cannot purchase his love for us. He became flesh like us so that we could know Him, hear his words, see his power, experience his presence and know that He paid the price with his life so that we could have life that is full of freedom from the lies that God cannot be known. Our lives become powered by God, our soul becomes alive in His love for us.
Life itself becomes filled with what we come to learn about God’s plan for our life. We can literally “carry/hold” His love for the rest of our lives.
18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book. If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.
a- I solemnly declare to the words of prophecy-ego martyreo pas ho akouo ho logos ho propheteia-John everyone who hears is giving his witness to this view of truth that God can be known by man. He is reminding us of the value of “looking” for God in our lifetime.
b-written in this book- houtos biblion- the words of this book are a place where we can experience the truth of how we can know God. It is in Jesus Christ.
c- if anyone adds anything to what is written here- ean tis epitithemi epi autos- interesting context here because the author is saying that if we use the words of this “biblion” as a weapon to put people in bo***ge, then we will encounter the outcomes of bo***ge on our own lives.
d- God will add to that person the plagues described in this book-theos epitithemi epi autos ho plege ho grapho en houtous biblion- continuing with the thought of making a weapon out of the “biblion”, the author is warning us that the great harm to our spirit is to become “without God”. So, this translates as a valuable warning to not lay these words down and have them become misguided or mistaken. We can do great harm if we put bo***ge on other men to wound them.
19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
a- if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy-kai ean tis aphaireo apo ho logos ho biblion houtos propheteia- another way that we can reduce the value of God’s truth is to cut down the access to truth by eliminating the “culture” of the meanings of lessons and the examples, and the direction that the Holy Spirit can use for our finding God in Jesus Christ.
b-God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book- theos aphaireo autos meros apo ho xylon zoe kai ek ho hagios polis grapho en houtos biblion- we all have a destiny in the hands of God. We are promised to “eat” or partake in our “Share” of God’s goodness and the power of His love for us. If we devalue God’s place in our lives we will find that our place of understanding God’s love will become impossible. We make the choice to allow God to become our source of life. By not taking his words into our lives, our soul becomes lifeless or continues to not be “alive”.
20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes I am coming soon!”
a- ho martyreo houtos lego nai erchomai tachy amen erchomai- John continues to remind us that Jesus was God in the flesh and He indeed did say these words and they were accounted for by many men and most importantly by God himself. So it is truthful when John writes that we will see God. He will show himself to those who have the power of God to know God. We are reminded that knowing God is a power of God’s love for us. It is freely given, if we receive it
21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.
- doxa lesous Christos meros theos hagios anthropos- the gift of God’s love for us is found in Jesus Christ and the work that he did for us to know God. We can become God’s people.
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