Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

Happy New Years! I am beginning our walk through the New Testament one day early because I will be on the road tomorrow and don't want to get behind. You will be receiving the blog entries for five chapters a week to get through the whole New Testament in One Year. Sometimes the days vary but you will have all five by Sunday! I am excited to grow in our understanding, knowledge, and application of God's Word!  " Thy Word is a lamp unto my feed and and light unto my path! " Psalm 119:105   Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Matthew is the first gospel written though not the earliest one written. It is generally believed Matthew was written after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70., probably around 70 to 80 A.D. A.D. stands for "anno domini", which means "year of our Lord".  Mark is probably the earliest gospel written sometime between 60 and 70 A.D. Both Matthew and Luke draw from Mark's gospel and then add distinctives of their own based on...

Click Here to Read or Listen To Revelation 22 Congratulations! You made it through the New Testament in One Year! Even if you didn't and read a substantial part of the New Testament, Congratulations! I will be going through the New Testament, five chapters a week, again next year! I have read through the New Testament many times and every time I am blessed greatly. Reading God's Word on a daily basis is like Daily Bread. We need to eat every day right!   As people often say, " What comes around goes around", or " We end up where we started" .  The last book in the bible references the first book when it titles this chapter, " Eden Restored ".  If you remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had everything they wanted and needed. They had a perfect relationship with God and ach other. They had the perfect marriage to one another. They were naked and unashamed before God!   In Revelation 22, Eden has been restored.  Eden Restored 22 Then the ang...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Revelation 21 A New Heaven and a New Earth 21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” In the Lord's Prayer we pray, " Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."  Jesus came to inaugurate God's kingdom whe...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Revelation 20   The Thousand Years 20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. The 1,000 years that Satan was thrown in hell and bound with a great chain is called the "millennium". The are major interpretive differences among New Testament theologians which relate to this term. You have post-millennialists, who believe we are living in that period now as the tribulation has already happened. Pre-millennialists believe this will happen after the 7 year period of tribulation and then followed by the end of the world. Amillennialism is the belief the millennial period is ...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Revelation 19   Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon’s Fall 19 After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:  “Hallelujah!  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,  2 for true and just are his judgments.  He has condemned the great prostitute  who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.  He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”  3 And again they shouted:  “Hallelujah!  The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” John continues to write about the celebration of the fall of Babylon, the dominant world order, which was defeated during the 7 year tribulation. The roar of the "Hallelujah", which simply means "praise the Lord", sounded like the biggest choir ever assembled for worship of the Lord. The basic message was God is a power above all power. In all of these judgments not only was He true but also just. There is nothing God will ever do that is un...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Revelation 18 Lament Over Fallen Babylon 18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’     She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit,     a haunt for every unclean bird,     a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. 3 For all the nations have drunk     the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,     and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” We see the great influence Babylon had over so many entities in the world at that time. The word "haunt" means "dwelling place" or "prison". Included in these haunts were: demons, impure spirits, unclean birds, unclean animals and birds, that nations, kings of the earth, and merchants of the earth. You c...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Revelation 14   The Lamb and the 144,000 14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. This is an interesting and complicated passage and important for us to try and understand. The 144,000 who are set apart and spared from underg...

Click Here to Read or Listen to Revelation 17 Babylon, the Prostitute on the Beast 17 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” We again see Babylon, who is referred to as a prostitute. A prostitute is someone who commits adultery for a fee. In the Old Testament, Israel was compared to a prostitute because its infidelity toward God by worshipping idols. Babylon could represent the apostate church, or the kingdom of this world, which is ruled by Satan.  Revelation 16:19 and 14:8 have already declared Babylon’s fall. In Revelation 17 and 18, the fall of Babylon is carefully detailed.  Babylon is mentioned 287 times in the Scriptures, more than any other city except Jerusalem.   (Guzik) Babylon was later the capitol of the emp...