Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Reflection: Today, the last day of the year 2013, we end our journey going through the Old and New Testament once and the Psalms twice. Congrats to you if you have been able to stay with the journey at whatever level. One of my favorite sayings is "progress not perfection". In any bible reading plan there are bound to be days you miss, but the great lie is when we say, "Well I blew that one I might as well stop all together." And today we end with an invitation and a challenge, which is a good way to end the year. The invitation comes from our last book in the bible, where the apostle John who has received this revelation from the angel says, "All who are thirsty come and drink from the free gift of the water of life!" John has challenged the 7 churches in the first century to not forsake their first love and not to be lukewarm in their faith. Now he invites them to come and drink of the living water that flows from the throne of God. In those days...

Reflection: When the topic of what Heaven will look like comes up the usual response is that we have no idea what it will be like, but it will be a lot better than what we live in now. And while I understand that no eye has seen or ear heard what God has prepared for those who love Him, today's passage gives us some foreshadowing of what the final revelation of God will look like. Today it is described as a new heaven and new earth. Notice it is not just an improvement on what we see now, but a complete overhaul. And this overhaul is accomplished by Jesus who now sits on the throne and says the words, "See I am making all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega!" This is reminiscent of what we see in Church at communion time when we say, "Jesus will return in great and promised glory." And in this sense every time we receive the holy sacrament, we are preparing ourselves for the wedding feast which has no end. What else do we see about the New Jerusalem? ...

Reflection: In our church, when we recite the Apostle's Creed, in the Second Article we say: "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suf­fered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead." Jesus came once to reveal God's great love for us on the cross, and He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Revelation 21 gives us further teaching on what that will look like. As the various judgments on the earth have taken place, today we read of a new heaven and new earth since the old one has passed away. And we see a judge on a throne who is Jesus saying, "I am making everything new!" There are at least two new things that are revealed right away. First, n...

Reflection: Although there is much debate over exactly what this passage means and how it is to be interpreted in light of historic events, there is one thing that can be said with absolute certainty. There are Christians of all stripes and sizes that have differing views on what this means for us. Generally speaking (and it is with caution I say this) there are 3 camps theologians fall into regarding the thousand year reign of Christ talked about in Revelation 20. 1. Pre-millenial - Generally means that at Jesus' second coming there will be 1,000 year reign of Christ with His saints and Satan will be bound until a final judgement. Obviously this hasn't happened yet. 2. Amillenial - "A" means "no", and thus those in the amillennial camp don't interpret this passage literally, but interpret it spiritual meaning and reality. Just as when Jesus taught on the spiritual reality of the kingdom coming here on earth as it is in heaven through the parables. ...

Reflection: Yesterday we celebrated Christmas, as we remembered God coming to us in the Baby Jesus, born of the Virgin. It was a humble beginning for our Lord, being born in a manger, and then moving to Nazareth, where he grew up. And in our readings for today, we see how Jesus will return in great and promised glory. Zechariah 9 describes the day The Lord will appear, sound the trumpet, and destroy Israel's enemies. And then, in Revelation 19, we see a great battle between the One called Faithful and True, the one called the Word of God, together with heavens armies against the beast, the false witness, and all the kings of the earth. The beast and the false witness, who had deluded people with receiving the mark of the best, are thrown into a lake of burning fire. The story reminds us of the final conquest over evil that Jesus will bring in, when He comes to consummate God's kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. So we live in between days. Jesus has come to us, God wi...

Reflection: We see an interesting intersection today between Zechariah and the book of Revelation when it mentions the two witnesses, generally thought to be Zerubbabel, the governor and civic leader, and Joshua, the high priest. The language of Joshua being cleansed of his sins, the replacement of his filthy garments with a clean one, is a foreshadowing what Jesus will do on the cross by giving us robes of righteousness to put on. Paul will use this metaphor in Corinthians when he says we need to take off our old clothes and be clothed with Christ. (See Colossians 3). Zechariah 4:6 is also a pivotal verse for understanding the transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Israel had always understood power in terms of military power, as it was always trying to protect itself from its neighboring enemies. Israel's whole identity was understand in the context of taking the promised Land and having a central place of worship in the temple. But now the prophet was telling ...

Reflection: It might be tempting as we read through these later prophets and the book of Revelation to think that God's judgment is arbitrary and capricious. But the psalmist today reminds us that God is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. While he judges nations and His own people for their sins, we see in a couple of places today that God's desire is to be at one with us. The psalm says, "The Lord is near to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them." Notice that God is quick to move to embrace us as we sincerely (in truth) seek Him. And in fact He wants to fulfill our desires. Notice ultimate fulfillment in life is being at one with God. Then, in Zechariah, we see a very similar theme when the prophet speaks to the people of Judah (the only remaining kingdom) and he says "return to me and I will return to you!" We see at the heart of God is a desire for us to not...

Reflection: Haggai continues to prophecy to the remnant of Israel and specifically to Joshua, the hi priest and Zerubbabel, the governor. Since Judah was a theocracy, Zerubbabel would have been in charge of governing according to the Old Testament law. Amidst all of the judgment for the things the people had done wrong, today's prophecy is filled with hope. A hope that the house would return to a former day and fill this house with His glory. So God would do His part and for their part he tells them to "be strong". And how could they be strong when they had seen so many things go wrong. He says, "Be strong for I am with you!" In fact even though were severe consequences for their disobedience as a nation, God had never forgotten His covenant with His people when He delivered them through the Red Sea from Egyptian bondage. For every Jew growing up this was the central image of God's power and that they were His chosen people. As another reminder God state...

Verse of the Day: A Call to Build the House of the Lord 1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and b...

Reflection: I wasn't struck by anything in the readings today, to be honest with you it was a little bleak, but I did get encouragement from the Verse of the Day from the Moravian Daily Text which states, "God's Word will never return empty/void!" What a promise from God, that as we seek to read God's Word, understand it and obey that it will not return void. Though we cannot always see where the yield is going to come from, God grows our faith one step at a time. God's Word leads us and gives us a rutter for life's most important decisions as to where we will use our time, talents and treasure to invest in His kingdom. At Christmastime we celebrate the Word made flesh, God among us Immanuel through the birth of His Son, Jesus. And Jesus the Word did not return void, but accomplished for us everything we needed in his life, death and resurrection. In the hustle and bustle of Christmas and all the parties, planning and packing of presents; create s...

Habakkuk 2 I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. The Lord’s Answer 2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. 4 “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faith. Reflection: The prophet Habbakkuk is from the 7th century, in the time where the people of Judah were about to be sieged by the Babylonians, who were rising in power at that time. In the first chapter, Habbakkuk questions why God would use such an unclean vessel for the judgment of His people. Then, in this second chapter, as Habbakkuk waits on The Lord, he is gi...