Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
After the stern warning of Revelation 18:1-3, our Lord provides a gracious invitation: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues’” (verse 4). Even at that terrible time of the Tribulation, our Savior God continues to call all, and some will listen and respond to His offer of full, free, and forever forgiveness. The principle of this verse is certainly applicable to us right now. For example, Ephesians 5:11 exhorts, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” The forces of darkness may be briefly rich (Revelation 18:3) – filthy rich – but their activities are doomed to financial failure, for theirs are “the unfruitful works of darkness.” I Timothy 5:22 cautions, “Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakers of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” Moreover, we need to be alert in order to avoid the precursors of the coming Antichrist: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1). May we hear and heed the kind call of Christ Jesus today.