Whenever I see turtles they are usually together with others, setting on a log. The same can be said of birds, perching on a telephone wire. And the same is true for many humans; and for believers, some have a rare pleasant fellowship. David said,
Behold. how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to dwell together in unity.
Psalm 133:1
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal John immediately got a vision of the heavenly temple; and his focus was under the altar of incense where he saw the souls of those who had been slain.
Who are the souls under the altar? These are the souls of the redeemed who were martyred very early in the Tribulation. It is possible that they were saved just after the Rapture of the church, as a result of the preaching of the 144,000 witnesses.
There is another group in Revelation 7:9-17, that is mentioned as a “great multitude” and as “ones who come out of the great Tribulation.” This is possibly a later group, which are from the last half of the Tribulation, and that is mentioned in Revelation 6:11 as “their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been…” Or, it may be that…
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Here’s another post from my book Prayer A to Z.
1. His forgiveness is rooted in His unconditional love. Though God does not always forgive everyone—He forgives only those who will repent of their sins—He does love everyone unconditionally. And that unconditional love is what draws sinners to repent so that He can forgive them. Thus, forgiveness is always contingent on repentance; but that doesn’t mean that He doesn’t always love us. He has always loved us and He always will, because that is His nature; God is love; it comes out of His own righteous and merciful character (Titus 3:4). God loves the whole world and He desires all to repent so that He can forgive them (2 Pet. 3:9).
2. His forgiveness was costly for Him. God purchased our forgiveness by the blood of His own son Jesus. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him [Jesus] we have…
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I recently went to visit relatives in southern Missouri. Where I stayed they contracted loggers to come and harvest their large trees–they had many acers of forest land. Well, what I saw was horrifying to me. They had cut down and hauled away just what they wanted and left the rest. There was very little clean-up of the land. It looked like a tornado hit it–you can see from the pictures. I’m not sure what the laws are in Missouri, but what was done is just wrong. You just can’t take want you want and leave the rest. I thought of when the buffalo poachers would kill so many buffalo just for their hides and leave the the dead buffalo lying all over on the prairie. (I saw this in the movie, Dances with Wolves).
In the breaking of the fourth seal John looked up and saw an ashen horse; and its rider’s name was Death; and one called Hades was following him.
An ashen horse. The ashen horse and its rider give us an image of death—or of dead bodies. And the one who follows him, Hades, tells us that all who die will soon stand before God and will be given a judgment of eternal hell. Thus, we may be sure that those who die under this seal are not believers; for when believers die, they will go straight to heaven to be with the Father.
What kind of death is this? First of all, we know that the rider (Death) and his follower (Hades) has the authority (or the power) granted to them from God to bring death to a fourth of the earth. Hence, death to around one billion people will…
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In a previous blog post I gave twelve good reasons to fast, and I invite you to look at that post. In this post I want to bring to you the wrong reasons to fast, just to make sure we aren’t inclined to fast that way. Here are five wrong reasons to fast.
1. As a form of religion or ritual. Arthur Wallis, in his book, God’s Chosen Fast, notes that in the history of the church, what was at first a matter of custom, such as the practice of fasting each Wednesday and Friday, became a matter of obligation.12 Be careful not to let this happen to you. Fasting should always be a matter of love to God, never of religion or ritual.
2. To punish the body for sin. Some have believed that the body is evil, and in order to secure the purity of…
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Recently, visiting my sister in Missouri, I ran across these old abandon houses as I was taking a morning walk through the woods.
In the breaking of this seal John looked and saw a black horse; and the one who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
A Black Horse
Most commentators would agree that the black horse is a symbol of famine, and some would add disease. I agree, because the hunger of famine is caused by a food shortage; and that food shortage—particularly fresh fruits and vegetables—would cause sickness and disease.
A Pair of Scales
The scales here, used to weigh food items, indicates to the reader that there will be a scarcity of food that will need to be rationed. Moreover, the voice that is heard in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius [a day’s wage], and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine,” gives us a true…
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When you pray, sometimes it is beneficial to fast. There are all kinds or types of fasts. Here are three categories of fasts.
Normal fast. This is a fast from food and drinks, but not from water. It is the normal way to fast, and how Jesus fasted for forty days.
Absolute fast. This is a fast from food and drinks, including water. It is how Moses fasted for eighty days on Mount Sinai, and how Elijah fasted in the desert (both were miraculous feats). There were other absolute fasts not miraculous, but were not much over three days. For no one can naturally live for much over three days without food and water.
Partial fast. In a partial fast, you would eat only fruits and (or) vegetables—like Daniel did. If you have health problems, if you are concerned…
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I was lucky to see both of these great birds in one day, just walking along.
Stephen Nielsen 