At various times in the past
and in various different ways,
God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets;
but in our own time, the last days,
he has spoken to us through his Son. HEB 1:2
1 JOHN 2:22-28
My Soul's Beloved,
How much longer, Lord, until those who ought to know better refuse to give You the honor, the praise, the obedience, and above all the love that is due to You? They received the gratuitous gift of faith and their baptism, a priceless gift, but they have failed to recognize its value and act on it. My heart breaks for those members of my family, Lord, who are so lost to the pleasures of the world, to concupiscence and acedia that they live life superficially. They are like moths seeking the flame that will destroy them, and yet they throw themselves headlong into the meaningless and empty distractions of the world. These are the real antichrists who know the truth yet refuse to take it for what it is - the revealed Truth. God Himself pierced the veil of time and came among us as one of us. You were put to death before, and You continue to be put to death by those who are baptized yet indifferent to the things that will finally mean eternal life or eternal death.
They don't deny You Beloved, they just prefer their beige existence to living a life transformed by love for You and by the Holy Spirit. I will continue to pray, Lord, and I will try not to be too sad and weighed down by my grief for their lack of love for the faith that was Your precious gift to them. Help me, Lord. Sometimes the weight of my sorrow for their lack of faith, as well as my fear that they will be lost forever, fills me with grief that death may part us not just in time but also in eternity.
The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ –
he is the liar,
he is Antichrist;
and he is denying the Father as well as the Son,
because no one who has the Father can deny the Son,
and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.
Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning:
as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you,
you will live in the Son
and in the Father;
and what is promised to you by his own promise
is eternal life.
This is all that I am writing to you about the people who are trying to lead you astray.
But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you,
and you do not need anyone to teach you;
the anointing he gave teaches you everything;
you are anointed with truth, not with a lie,
and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.
Live in Christ, then, my children,
so that if he appears, we may have full confidence,
and not turn from him in shame
at his coming.
PSALM 97(98):1-4
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ –
he is the liar,
he is Antichrist;
and he is denying the Father as well as the Son,
because no one who has the Father can deny the Son,
and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.
Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning:
as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you,
you will live in the Son
and in the Father;
and what is promised to you by his own promise
is eternal life.
This is all that I am writing to you about the people who are trying to lead you astray.
But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you,
and you do not need anyone to teach you;
the anointing he gave teaches you everything;
you are anointed with truth, not with a lie,
and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.
Live in Christ, then, my children,
so that if he appears, we may have full confidence,
and not turn from him in shame
at his coming.
PSALM 97(98):1-4
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
JOHN 1:19-28
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
We must all be like John the Baptist, knowing the truth, we must spend every moment of our lives sharing the truth that sets all people everywhere free. John was aware of the mission entrusted to him to make way for the One who is to come. We, too, must make the way ready for Your second coming in glory and majesty. So many do not know You. So many know You but are indifferent, careless, too caught up with trifles, while the oil in their lamps has run dry.
They are fast asleep, exhausted by their frantic chase of the world's illusory promises, yet so fixated on the temporary pleasure of the flesh and the siren call of the world. The Bridegroom is coming. You are almost here, Lord. We are running out of time. You warn that death comes like a thief in the night, and when he does arrive, Lord, they will discover to their horror that the Bridegroom has come and gone and the gates of the Kingdom of God have been shut to them forever.
This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.
a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.
