So simple and yet I do not do this very often. Today join me in seeking to do this each day, start each day setting my heart and mind on things above (do not skip starting with prayer, Bible reading, making my posts in social media focus on things above)I can do this and you can to by focusing your mind, where you steer the mind, thoughts and actions follow…just like driving a car.
The topic is a thread throughout the Bible on how to do this and it’s importance.
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
1 Chronicles 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.
1 Chronicles 29:3 Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,
Colossians 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Psalm 49:11-17Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names…
Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
specifically identifies the author of the book of Revelation as John, who is generally identified as the apostle John, the author of the Gospel of John. DATE: The book was likely written between AD 90 and 95.
Revelation presents a glorious, reigning Christ.
The Gospels present Him as a Savior, One who came to take the curse of sin; but in this last book we see no humiliation. In one way Revelation is the most remarkable book in the whole sacred canon. Revelation tells us about the reign of Christ on this earth, which Satan wants to control. It tells of Christ’s complete and eternal victory over Satan. It describes Satan’s defeat and punishment, first for a thousand years and then for eternity.
Revelation was written using symbols.
The hard of hearing have a sign language, each gesture of which is filled with meaning. So it is with every symbol in Revelation: Each of the 300 symbols in this book has a definite meaning and signifies a great truth. This book was sent and signified by the angel to John, but it is the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the revelation of John.
More than 25 times in it we find Christ’s sacrificial title “Lamb.”
In addition, we see a vision of the future of the Church and the world in relation to Christ—events yet to be fulfilled. It has been said that the saving blood of Christ runs through the entire Bible like a red cord. It has also been said that the second coming of Christ runs through the Bible like a golden cord. We are saved and washed clean in His blood so that we may be ready and eager for His return.
In Genesis the heaven and earth were created—in Revelation we see a new heaven and a new earth.
• In Genesis we see the sun and moon appear—in Revelation we read that there is no need of the sun or moon, for Christ is the light of the new heaven.
• In Genesis there is a garden—in Revelation there is a holy city.
• In Genesis there is the marriage of the first Adam—in Revelation there is the marriage supper of the second Adam, Jesus Christ.
• In Genesis we see the beginning of sin—in Revelation sin is done away with.
• In Genesis we see the appearance of the great adversary, Satan, and sorrow and pain and tears—in Revelation we see Satan, sorrow, pain and tears destroyed.
God had determined from the beginning that His Son would be the ruler of this universe (see Isaiah 9:6-7)
. Revelation is the greatest drama of all time. The plot is tense throughout; the final scene is glorious, for Christ comes into His own. The hero is our Lord Himself; the villain is the devil. The actors are the seven churches. The characters unloosed by the seals of chapters 6 and 7 are introduced by four different horsemen. Then those summoned by the trumpets in turn leave the scene of action; and we see the Antichrist, the world ruler, stalking across the stage (see Revelation 13). This incarnation of the devil himself is determined to set up his own kingdom and be worshiped by people. But Christ brings all of Satan’s plans to nothing.
After all the struggle has ended and the beasts have been destroyed and the devil bound and “the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:4-5). This book brings to a climax the great story commenced in Genesis, and as all good stories should, it ends “And they lived happily ever after.” Notice the sevens in this book: • Seven churches • Seven signs • Seven seals • Seven plagues • Seven trumpets • Seven dooms • Seven new things
The Seven Golden Bowls When the seven trumpets sound, Satan releases his power to accomplish his objectives. The seven bowls are God’s power released against Satan. Even though God has revealed Satan’s utter evil, people still blaspheme God and do not repent (see Revelation 16:9,11).
bowls are God’s answer to the devil, blasting his dominion with plagues such as those of Egypt—blood, hail, fire, locusts, darkness, famine, sores, earthquakes, war and death. Satan has dared to challenge God’s power. God is now answering the challenge, unleashing the seven dooms of His wrath on a Christ-rejecting world: 1. Ecclesiastical—Revelation 17 2. Commercial—Revelation 18 3. Political—Revelation 19:11-19 4. The beast and the false prophet—Revelation 19:20-21 5. The nations—Revelation 20:7-9 6. The devil—Revelation 20:10 7. The lost—Revelation 20:11-15 Satan is forced into action. His kingdom is shaken to its foundations and he is undone. This ends in the battle of Armageddon (see Revelation 16:13-16), with Christ taking the leadership of His armies. This battle is fully described in chapters 17–19.
Repentance requires taking in a whole new point of view; looking at it God’s way. God simply asks us to turn. This is the way we accept His gift. When we do, certain outcomes are promised. If we don’t, or we “turn back”, alternate outcomes are promised.
Look And Live
Numbers 21:8-9 (NIV) The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” …Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
John 6:40a (NIV) “For my father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life.”
John 6:29 (NIV) Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Turn Or Burn – always a choice until you die
We all have been bitten, and sin is coursing through our veins. It will most certainly lead to death. There is only one solution, but it is an offense to our ability to save ourselves
Luke 13:3b (NIV) “But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Matthew 4:17 (NIV) From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Matthew 3:2 (Phi) “You must change your hearts and minds, for the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived!”
Mark 6:12 (TEB) So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins.
Acts 2:38 (NIV) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The Two Ways
The Wrong Way——–
The “way” we are looking: 1) will make sense if we look long enough; 2) will create desire to move in that direction; and 3) will lead to something. First, we will look at how this applies to man’s way.Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
If our line of sight is along our own way, or the way of the world, then this will begin to make sense to us as we continue to meditate on it, even if the way we are looking is really stupid. With this mind set, desire will spring up, which is the fuel that will lead us to destruction.
James 1:14-15 (NIV) But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV) … “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!…”
The Right Way<——————————–
Ephesians 4:17-24 (NIV) So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (Phi) You were spiritually dead through your sins and failures, all the time you followed this world’s ideas of living, and obeyed the evil ruler of the spiritual realm, who is indeed fully operative today in those who disobey God. We all lived like that in the past, and followed the desires and imaginings of our lower natures, being, in fact, under the wrath of God by nature, like everyone else.
Galatians 5:16 (NIV) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Ephesians 5:8-10 (NIV) For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.
The Gift Of God That Goes With Repentance: New Appetites
1 Peter 2:2 (NIV) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Ps 119:104-105 (NIV) I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore, I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Ps 16:11 (NIV) You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Col 3:2 (NIV) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Ps 101:3a (NIV) I will set before my eyes no vile thing.
Rom 13:14 (NIV) … clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of your sinful nature.
Ps 105:4 (NIV) Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Death is something we all dread, we do not talk about – only when forced to. It is easier to focus on candy and painted eggs than the reality that Jesus was dead, killed by our sins, the ultimate worthy sacrifice, worth more than anything past present or future. Then the empty tomb. Surprise, questions, curiosity. Jesus had to come back many times prior to His ascension to the right hand of God the Father to explain to His disciples and other key witnesses what had happened. He spent three years teaching, preparing anyone who would listen, from his 12 close friends, to the crowds who pressed in for miracles. Yet no one seemed to comprehend that magnificent gift that God has bestowed upon the world. The sting of death was no longer the apparent final ruler, sin could no longer capture and keep anyone who called upon Jesus name.
Jesus won the War to end all Wars. Satan began it when he rejected God. Jesus ended it on the cross.
Thank you Jesus. I have Hope and eternal life in you.
“newspapers were actively misrepresenting something to their own public. Someone who read the paper was mistaking the journalist for an intermediary between himself or herself and the product, the piece of news….
So clearly there is an agency problem. There is no difference between a journalist at The Guardian and the restaurant owner in Milan, who, when you ask for a taxi, calls his cousin who does a tour of the city to inflate the meter before showing up. Or the doctor who willfully misdiagnoses you to sell you a drug in which he has a vested interest.”
–God has our back no matter what-the exit from this life is death no matter when it happens-be depending on Jesus for your correct exit strategy
-the country survived the 1918, 1957, 2009, and 2017 flu pandemics
– the models are being adjusted downward each day or week as real data comes in, the models were 100% wrong and created bad general public policy decisions based on fear. we were going to have millions dead in the USA even with social lockdowns, now the ‘models’ predict less than 60,000 may die by early fall. That is a bad flu season that never gets much news coverage.
– the CV19 is bad if you get sick from it in some cases. Most people do not get sick after exposure. Most do not even know they have been exposed. if you are over 55, take extra precautions.
-we are better connected exponentially than ever before, there is a -nobel prize race occurring globally to develop vaccines and therapy/antidotes. Those who are at risk and get critically sick are being treated successfully in many cases.
–We are resilient, ignore fear, pray, wash your hands, if you feel sick call a doctor. Be calm and continue. Fear leads always to bad decisions.
We believe that our healthcare delivery system in the United States is quite extraordinary. I know many of you are watching the Act Now model and the IHME model from — and they have consistently decreased the number, the mortality from over almost 90,000 or 86,000, down to 81,000 and now down to 61,000. That is modeled on what America is doing. That’s what’s happening.
It just so happens that 61,000 is exactly the number of deaths that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributes to the 2017-2018 flu season. As much time as media folk spend on the differences between coronavirus and the flu, perhaps they should also spend some time discussing similarities.
Now government needs to get out of the way and let the American people protect those vulnerable to the virus—as well as the surging population of people who are vulnerable to government-created poverty. The Journal’s Sarah Chaney and David Harrison report:
A record 7.5 million Americans were receiving unemployment benefits at the end of March as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hit the U.S. labor market.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that another 6.6 million had submitted claims in the week ended April 4 after reaching a record 6.9 million revised figure from a week earlier. Claims were hovering at just over 200,000 a week before the coronavirus-related shutdowns put millions of people out of work in mid-March.
1. 575K died in 2010 swine flu season, was a declared pandemic. we did not shut down the world and crash the economy. an average of 3.9K people died per day during H1N1 pandemic.
2. 170K people die everyday from all causes worldwide. CV 19 death totals so far are .45% of that total and 18% of the impact of H1N1 daily deaths.
3. It is more deadly, somewhere between 15 and 30% mortality rate if you are in high risk group or over 50ish. It is a nasty bug. There are other options to worldwide shutdown. Some Countries are using them with success.
4. The models do not work well for climate change, mad cow disease, foot and mouth disease, they are not curated or calibrated with each seasons infectious diseases… to me they are useless in directing deterministic public policy that destroys freedom and jobs
5. Either this is a con job that ranks among the most evil or simply ignorance on steroids driven by fear and identity politics?
I read a lot and here is what puzzles my logical brain concerning CV19..in these articles.
Herein lies the dilemma, or Sophie’s choice, of dealing with COVID-19. A full quarantine will result in the deaths of more elderly and medically ill people because more of them will become infected. A partial quarantine would likely result in a greater number of mild infections in young and healthy individuals upfront (but not total).
How many more elderly or medically ill people will die due to a full quarantine? It is hard to say, but a conservative estimate would be 5-10 times the number of young and healthy people who may die from a partial quarantine, based on fatality rates published by the CDC.
Is fundamental truth I believe is what God’s word says
Practical truth- material – worldly stuff
And abstract truth what we imagine it to be?
Spurgeon threw me for a loop today on his take on Jeremiah 5 and I started asking what abstract, practical, and doctrinal truth is. I understand Jeremiah 5 and what was going on in that scripture. More like just looking at a simpler way to define abstract, practical and doctrinal truths.
1 John 1:8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
1 Kings 17: 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”
Eph 6:14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
John 1:14 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John Hargrove take on truth
Cannot separate world truth from God truth, they have to cohere, make sense, God created and designed the world we live in, broken as it is, we can discern reality and truth through the lens of the Word of God and that guides us on a true journey based on the path that God wants us on.
John Hargrove Seeking Truth and Reality 