“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

These are the words of Jesus, a promise to his disciples that he made during the last week before his crucifixion. In fact, just a little later on in Matthew 26:1-2, “When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ‘As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’”

We tend to attach more significance to the last words anyone knowingly says. When you are nearing death, you want to tell those you love what is absolutely the most important. What Jesus was telling his disciples is how to know about the end times, followed by instructions on how to be ready. That is a subject of interest to many people. We read Revelation with limited ability to understand the symbolism. We read passages in the Old Testament to try to interpret what we read in Revelation. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus gives us the plainest, easiest to understand description of what will happen in these gospel writings in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.

Here is the context: Jesus has been pouring into his disciples, trying to help them understand that He was really the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Peter had acknowledged him as the Christ, and then Jesus began to teach them “that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). They really had a hard time with that!

Later on, during Jesus’ last week before his crucifixion, Jesus pronounced “woes” on the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Then, as he is walking away from the temple, he tells his disciples that the temple will be destroyed (Matt. 24:1-2). They proceed to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples ask Jesus when this destruction will occur and “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matt. 24:3). They have lots of questions and know they do not have much time to get the answers.

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5). He, in the remainder of chapter 24, then gives all the signs to watch for.

Jesus is telling them to not get caught up in all the deceptions and the conspiracy theories that abound. And isn’t that true of our day as well? And as bad as it is now, especially with our access to so many sorts of media, it is only going to get worse. Jesus tells us that the words of false prophets will die with them. However, Jesus’ words will never pass away.

We learn from the Bible how to distinguish true prophecy from false prophecy. David Jeremiah provides some great insight directly from Scriptures: https://davidjeremiah.blog/how-to-spot-a-false-prophet/.

We can trust the words of Jesus; however, we cannot truly base our beliefs and actions on them unless we know them. And we will only know them by reading Scripture and engaging in Bible study and prayer. I am so thankful that our God has given us His Word, and His Word is powerful. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Just think of it: God spoke the world into being. He said, “Let there be light, and there was light.” John writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning” (John 1:1-2).

My friends, there is nothing more important than making time to read and study the Word. Only by reading the Scriptures can you know what God wants you to know about Him; only by reading the Scriptures can you understand the depth of your sin and the love God has for you that he gave his only Son in atonement for your sin so that you can have life everlasting. This is an offer, a gift, which has an expiration date—the date of your death. Do not take a chance. Receive the gift now. Be ready, as the Scriptures strongly recommend. And share it with everyone you know and love.

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

In Christ,

Judy

“…I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:18).

What a thrill to see how the church of Jesus Christ has grown from that band of twelve disciples at the time Jesus made this statement to become the largest religion in the world at more than two billion believers. It is true that we are now seeing membership declines in parts of the world, including the United States; however, this growth is still impressive.

The church in one sense is the local congregation of believers who regularly gather to worship and to be discipled. However, in the larger sense, the church is all the body of believers who have ever lived. In fact, as it says in Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” That great cloud of witnesses is the church—the body of all believers who have ever lived, and they are still useful to the work of the kingdom.

Jesus is the foundation and the corner stone of this virtual church structure, and we as believers are the living stones of the church. As Peter, the one to whom Jesus spoke the words that Matthew quotes above, tells us in 1 Peter 2:4-6 – “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

Why is Christ building his church? What does He even need a church for? Have you ever considered this? From the book of Genesis, we know that God called Abraham to go from his hometown of Ur to travel to the Promised Land, and He promised that from Abraham would come a great nation and a great land. The Bible tells us the fulfillment of this promise through Jesus, his Son. And through Jesus, the promise is extended to all who believe. Our Creator God created man to glorify Himself. “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory” (Isa. 43:6–7).

Most of Jesus’ promises are what he will do for us. However, this is a promise to build his church is one that He will fulfil through us as we submit to His will. I cannot imagine a better purpose in life than to follow the calling to serve the body of Christ as a faithful member of His church. What a joy to be faithful in all the “one another” commandments that evidence our love for each other as Christ loved the church. What a life goal to be rewarded as a good and faithful servant as in Matthew 25:23 – “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

And what indescribable joy when we celebrate with Christ in our new Eternal Home. We know that Jesus considers the church his Bride. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, “…for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready…” (Revelations 19:7).

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18).

In Christ,

Judy

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 5:9).

Have you ever experienced what I call a “David and Nathan moment?” In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan the prophet, through means of a parable, got it across to King David that he had committed the sins of adultery and murder (you must read the story if you don’t already know it).  This is called conviction. I believe that David felt gut-punched when he was convicted of his sin; I myself have felt the gut-wrenching sense of conviction of my sin—it is unbelievably uncomfortable.

Upon becoming convicted of sin in our lives, we have two choices:

1. Acknowledge our sin. This is called confession, and it means that we agree with God about our sin. In this case, King David’s response is “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:13), OR
2. Ignore the conviction, hoping it will go away. This is called hardening of the heart, and if you do it enough, you will become immune to your sin. “If we don’t confess our sins, they have a cumulative and desensitizing effect on the conscience, making it difficult to even distinguish right from wrong. And this sinful and hardened heart is tantamount to the “seared conscience” Paul speaks of in 1 Timothy 4:1–2. Scripture makes it clear that if we relentlessly continue to engage in sin, there will come a time when God will give us over to our “debased minds” and let us have it our way. The apostle Paul writes about God’s wrath of abandonment in his letter to the Romans where we see that godless and wicked “men who suppress the truth” are eventually given over to the sinful desires of their hardened hearts (Romans 1:18–24)” (From Got Questions)

As believers, we need to continually evaluate our choices—what we think, say, and do—and seek conviction. And when we receive conviction, then we must confess our sins as stated in 1 John 1:9. Confession means agreeing with God about our sin; it means admitting to God that we have sinned. Confession does NOT require a priest; it is a direct interaction with God. God is the only One who can forgive sin, and Jesus is our only Mediator. However, there are times when it is also appropriate to confess to others about our sin if that is what it takes to reconcile, or to ask for prayers or encouragement in overcoming our sin.

With confession comes repentance, an about-face, a turning from sin. We can’t just say I agree I have sinned, but I’m not going to change.  And the promise is this: when we confess our sins to God, he is faithful to forgive us and purify us.

Some supporting comments:

1. We all sin. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23).
2. All sins are equal before God, and without forgiveness will result in death. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a).
3. Some sins have greater earthly consequences than others. For example, while hate and murder are equally sinful before God, murder carries a greater punishment in earthly courts. (Matthew 5:21-22).
4. “Scripture singles out sexual sin as having worse consequences than other types of sin: ‘Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body’ (1 Corinthians 6:18). In this passage, immorality is considered apart from other sins such as dishonesty, pride, envy, etc. All sin will negatively affect the mind and soul of a person, but sexual immorality will immediately and directly affect one’s body.” (From Got Questions)

Where does grace fit in to all of this? In the Message, we learn “All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end” (Romans 5:20-21).

In our opening story, Nathan displayed the grace of Jesus Christ in confronting King David with his sin. King David received this grace, which led to his confession and repentance. Let us seek to follow David’s example so that we can receive God’s gift of grace and eternal life.

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

In Christ,

Judy

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 20:20-23).

One of the first rules of parenting is that the mom and the dad must back each other up. Otherwise, there is chaos because the children learn quickly how to pit one parent against the other (if that is not an example of our innate sinful hearts, I do not know what is). Do not get me wrong, as a child I sometimes wanted my mom to say “yes” to counter my dad’s “no,” or to just let something slide that he never would have allowed. However, although difficult to realize at the time, it was ultimately a comfort to know that they were on the same page because that gave my life a certainty and security I would not have had otherwise.

The attributes of God are demonstrated in His promises. One such attribute, his trinitarian nature, is demonstrated in God’s promise of unity, The word Trinity cannot be found in the Bible, but the truth of it can. While there is only one God, the Godhead consists of three distinct persons – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All are equally omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal, and unchanging, but each has unique functions.

Throughout the Bible, we see the Trinity operating in unity, each performing their specific functions, all to achieve the same objectives, kind of like the ideal parenting model. You never see an example of conflict within the Trinity. The Trinity was present at Creation. As far back as Genesis, God said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:27). Note the use of the plural. And the Hebrew name for God, Elohim, itself is plural.

Jesus often referenced the authority of God the Father and aligned himself with his Sovereign God.

• “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49).
• “Then Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him’” (John 8:28-29).
• As we see in the opening passage, Jesus prayed to his Father “that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”

In this passage, we see that we have the promise of unity that Jesus has with his Father. What a beautiful and comforting promise.

Sinclair Ferguson distinguishes six categories of union with Christ.

• Union with Christ is covenantal in that Christ’s obedience is accounted, or imputed, to believers. When we trust in Christ, God does not see our sin; he sees Christ’s obedience.
• It is carnal or fleshly in the sense that Christ became incarnate and thus became one with humanity.
• Union with Christ is also a faith union in which by faith Christians depend on Christ for nourishment.
• It is a spiritual union because Christians are united to Christ by the agency of the Holy Spirit.
• It is an extensive union in that Christians are united with Christ in everything he has done, including his life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and being seated at the right hand of God.
• It is finally a union of life because Christ lives in Christians, and he is visible in their lives.

What a beautiful and incredibly awesome thing it is that when we accept Christ as savior, then we are united with Christ through faith. We become one with Christ. That is why I close my messages with “In Christ.” This signifies our union with Christ.

This does not mean that we are never unhappy; it means that we are unhappy about the same things. It does not mean there is never conflict, but it means that we are committed to the same outcome. If we can be unified with the Godhead and each other on the things of eternal significance, then we are achieving the inherent promise of unity found only in God.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

In Christ,

Judy

“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19).

The weekly Chaplain’s Corners this entire year-to-date have been focused on the promises of God, and there are plenty more to come. However, I thought I would take a moment just to dwell on how incredible it is that we worship a God who is willing to make promises to us, and even more awesome that our God takes those promises seriously in His fulfillment of them.

I put this in the context of something a high school friend used to say. It went something like this: “I don’t want to promise you something because I don’t want to break it.” Well, I agree that is better than making a promise you know you cannot keep, because breaking a promise leads to breaking trust whether it is keeping confidence, showing up, or fulfilling a commitment. Trust is huge with me, as I imagine that it is with you. I will trust someone until they give me a reason not to, and once the trust has been spoiled, it is really hard for me to regain that sense of trust.

However, let us take this a step farther. It can become an excuse never to make a promise, even with the admirable intention of not wanting to fall short. Our relationships are built on making commitments—the right kinds of commitments—and then following through. I do not know about you, but I want a friend that will promise to keep a confidence and then do it, who will make plans with me and then show up on time, who will commit to doing something for or with me and then follow through. And that is what God has done, repeatedly. The Bible is one example after another of God’s promises and their fulfilment.

I thought a great deal about this as we have all learned more about interacting with those experiencing homelessness and the 5:1 principle—it takes five positive interactions to balance just one negative interaction. This principle is especially true with trust. We usually trust someone until they prove untrustworthy; but once trust is broken, it can take five or more times of demonstrating trustworthiness to overcome that one violation of trust. And again, it is not enough just to be noncommittal. How secure would that feel if we did not have commitments from God regarding His presence, His providence, His saving grace?

One of the elements of the Mission Code of Conduct is Trustworthy, described in ourEmployee Handbook as: “Earn future trust by accurately reporting current and past facts. Use power and influence prudently and humbly. Model the trustworthiness of God in leadership to encourage and develop trustworthiness in others. Demonstrate a commitment to the well-being of the people we are called to serve. Keep promises. Respond sensitively and appropriately to requests and needs.”

God’s actions always coincide with his promises. God is utterly trustworthy, being truth itself and unable to lie (Hebrews 6:18). He never makes covenant promises that he cannot or will not keep. Thus, those who trust in the Lord understand that when they hear God’s promises, what He has promised is as good as done. He will certainly fulfill His word.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Luke 16:10).

In Christ,

Judy