Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
Isaiah 53:1 ESV
Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
It is those who enter the body of Christ. Belief brings us into the body and it is there we experience the power of God. He entered our flesh and raised it from death. We in the flesh enter His body on earth, bringing our flesh to join with His life.
It is in the body that the Holy Spirit resides and brings to us the truth and life of God.
Romans 12:9 ESV
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Love that is pure and genuine comes from the Lord.
Love allows us to hear and obey the word of God. Love allows us to choose between good and evil. It is love that chooses the good.
Romans 12:10 ESV
Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
When Jesus asked Peter for the third time, "Do you love me?", He changed the word love from a lofty and divine love to a word that means brotherly affection. Jesus was asking if Peter loved Him in an intimate and personal way.
Peter had been replying in that way all along. Jesus was letting Him know that their relationship had been restored.
The brotherly affection and honor due to Christ is to be given to all in the body of Christ. We have been made brothers and sisters of Jesus and children of the living God. If we love Jesus, then we are to love others, even as we love ourselves. As we do for the least of them, we have done it to the Lord.
Psalms 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
The Lord is an ever present help in times of trouble and our song of joy.
John 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
In the wilderness Jesus was tempted by evil, for this is the land of the knowledge of good and evil.
In the wilderness we find ourselves tempted by both good and evil. God woos us with the word and tempts us with the good. In fact, it sounds too good to be true and that's the good news.
It's true!
1 Timothy 2:1-4 ESV
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
When Jesus died for the world, it was an invitation to all people to come to the knowledge of the truth. This should be our prayer and desire. Salvation is not imposed, but for those who would come, so come and see.
Revelation 1:9
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
The kingdom of Christ requires a constancy and endurance in the face of tribulation that is unique to those in Christ. The trials and experiences are not unknown to those outside the kingdom, but for the believer the encounters of life will result in an eternal refinement and learning. Now we experience them as we walk in the kingdom of heaven. This takes place after our baptism of repentance, as it was with Jesus.
We then find that all things do work for the good of those who love the Lord. When we can give thanks to God in all things and circumstances because we can see that the Lord can work in the good and bad experiences that come our way.
It is often in the wilderness and when alone that we encounter God. That was the case for Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel, and Jacob. John encounters this vision from God in his solitude on this remote rock in the sea.
When a man dies his body remains, but something leaves the body that is more the man than that which is left behind.
Science is consumed with understanding a thing that will soon be a corpse. A follower of Christ is consumed by life.
If God did not speak the truth, then truth is up to man.
If truth is up to man, then there is no truth.
God is one and He the truth.
Man is many and has no one truth.
One describes God and truth.
May His light shine on you this day!
Psalms 4:1 ESV hear my prayer
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of David. Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
We are to wait on the Lord, even as He waits patiently for us.
Micah 7:7
But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
Genesis 13:14-18 ESV
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
God told Abram to arise and walk on the land that God was promising to give to him and his descendants forever. He did so and built an alter to worship the Lord.
Jesus tells us to arise on the land He promises to give us forever. We are transferred to the kingdom of heaven
1 Peter 2:11 ESV
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
Is all passion bad? No. Only those which wage war against your soul. Our soul has a passion for God, whether we've found it or not. The Passion of Christ was to give Himself completely for the soul of man. Our ultimate soul mate is Christ.
We are passionate beings because we were created by a passionate God. It is when the passions of the flesh interfere with the will of God, which is our true passion, that we run into trouble. That which is of the flesh will quickly fade, but the soul which is fed by the hand of God will be satisfied.
Matthew 13:23 ESV
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
We are from the dust of the earth and so this parable which compares us to soil is appropriate. The word compared to a seed can remind us of the seed of Abraham, which is Christ the word of God. If the word takes root in our soil, we will yield the fruit of the Spirit. That fruit bears the image of God, according to God's grace and the nature of the soil of our earth.
It is a heart yielded to God that lives up to His purpose and has found the way.
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 ESV
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
The deception of Eve in the Garden is replicated and played out every day. Many voices ask the same question the serpent asked in the beginning. "Did God really say that?" Each of us stands in Eve's place as a member of the Bride of Christ. We hear the smooth words of the world that seem to make sense and can tempt us into choosing from the wrong tree.
When Jesus encountered temptation in the wilderness, He responded with the written word of God. He showed how to overcome the world, and that by using the word of God we can turn Satan away.
We must be prepared to give an answer for the hope within us, for the question will be asked. We will find it in the word of God. Jesus called us to be different, to be in the world and not of the world. When His word becomes ours, we manifest His Spirit in these bodies of flesh. The union of heaven and earth has begun.
May the meditations of our hearts be found pleasing to the Lord.
Revelation 1:9
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
The kingdom of Christ requires a constancy and endurance in the face of tribulation that is unique to those in Christ. The trials and experiences are not unknown to those outside the kingdom, but for the believer the encounters of life will result in an eternal refinement for those who find themselves in the wilderness of the world. This takes place after our baptism of repentance, as it was with Jesus.
We then find that all things do work for the good of those who love the Lord. When we can give thanks to God in all things and circumstances, we can see that the Lord can work in the good and bad experiences that come our way.
It is often in the wilderness and when alone that we encounter God. That was the case for Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Ezekiel, and Jacob. John encounters this vision from God in his solitude on this remote rock in the sea.
There was the whole world outside the Garden of Eden. There will be a whole world outside the gates of the New Jerusalem.
From there, Christ and His Bride will multiply and subdue the world. That is to bring His life into the flesh of the earth. We will be part of that process, for we are the Bride.
1 Timothy 2:13-15 ESV
For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Adam was not deceived, yet also became a transgressor. His can be viewed as the greater transgression. Because of him the ground was cursed and man labors under that curse today.
Through childbearing. from Eve's descendants would come the Son of Man. He would take Adam's place and would succeed where Adam failed. Jesus would combine the dust of the earth with the breath of life and manifest the full image of God in man.
If the Church continues in faith and love and holiness, with self control, we will be saved. It is not a corporate judgment, but decided by each person's walk. We can walk where Adam could not.
A child of man is born through the will of man. A child of God is born through the will of God.
We pray for His will to be done.
Psalms 3:8 ESV
Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
We are blessed with every heavenly blessing because we are in the body of Christ. Heaven on earth begins with us and is complete when we descend as the New Jerusalem.
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
Matthew 8:23-26 ESV
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Remember in Genesis when Adam was asleep while Eve was being formed? This account in Matthew foreshadows or points to the same truth of Christ.
Jesus went away, which could be equated to a type of "sleep", while a suitable companion is being fashioned, that is the Bride of Christ, into a helper in the kingdom of God.
Jesus falling asleep in the boat with His disciples is a picture of the Church in the boat with Christ, which includes the idea of the Noah's ark flouting on the waters of the world. He is with us. He may appear to be asleep, but He is not.
Ask Him to rise in your life and calm the sea. Your faith can do this. He certainly can and will.
Mark 8:22-26 ESV
And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”
This is a picture of what happens to those who come to Jesus and they receive their sight. The word is the living water which comes from the mouth of the Lord which brings sight to the blind. We can see but dimly until He returns to touch us again. It is then we will be able to see clearly.
We are to not return to the village, or the world from which we are led, but we are to begin our journey to our new home. We start with an incomplete vision when first touched by the hand of Jesus and our vision grows clearer as we walk with Him until we pass from this life into light of God. In that light we shall clearly see.
It is a parable which does not seem to be a parable at first. There is much of life here that can offer insight into the things of God. Often a second look is required. More often it may take many looks to see it, if we comprehend it at all.
Mark 11:20-25 ESV
As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
"This mountain" is the failed mountain of Israel. Israel is the fig tree that was not able to produce the fruit sought by God. Man is unable to do what God can do. The time was near when worship of God would not be on one mountain or another, but would happen in and through the Spirit.
A "mountaintop" experience with the Lord does not require travel to a distant sacred mountain. The mountain of the Lord has moved to us as the Holy Spirit comes and abides with each believer. We have the power to move that mountain of man by inviting Him into our lives. The mountain of the world will be thrown back into the sea and will sink beneath the waves.
If you have faith in Jesus, you have already moved that mountain.
True worship is a word away. It is because the word has come near. Enter the word and come see.
Revelation 1:7-8
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Here we see another expression confirming that Jesus Christ and the Lord God are one - the Almighty. Christ will return with the clouds and the one who was pierced at His first coming will be wielding a sickle at His second coming. The seed sown at first will have produced a harvest ready for His return.
Revelation
Psalms 95:10-11 ESV
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
This generation would fall in the desert before reaching the promised land. They had seen the work of the Lord, yet did not follow Him in their hearts or learn His ways. They followed the Lord according to the ways of the world, but did not follow Him in the way He would have them go.
The same thing can happen today. We might think we are doing the right thing and may do things in His name, and yet not be known by the Lord. He knows His own.
The way to the kingdom of heaven does not so much mean being on the way as it does being in the Way. That is the way to Jesus, by knowing Him as we walk with Him. In doing so, we will rest easy with Him.
Adam was the first son of God as shown in the genealogy of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew. He gave up his birthright as the first son and fell from the grace of God.
Jesus was the second Son of God who came as the Son of Man. He came as the Son of Man because a kinsman was needed to redeem mankind from the fall. He fulfilled that role and paid the price for our redemption.
Now we can follow Him as sons of man and be transformed into sons of God by rising to His call for us to return to Him.
Revelation 1:6
and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
As the Bride of Christ, we have entered the kingdom of heaven which replaces and expands on the original Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created to subdue and rule the world, but were unable due to disobedience. Jesus Christ and His Bride will fulfill that charge.
We will perform and administer to the world and in His house as priests, even as Jesus Christ reigns as King and Head Priest.
Revelation 1:4-5 ESV
John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
Why are the letters to the Church addressed to churches in Asia, specifically in Turkey? Could it be because this the territory of the house of Satan? The throne of Satan is referenced in one of the cities, that being Pergamum.
Christ has entered the house of the strongman and is leading its captives out from the bondage of sin. The Church will find its home in the house of God.
God is from everlasting to everlasting. He is as He was and will ever be. This vision is given to communicate with man using images and language that we could understand. God does not sit on a throne, but, like a king, He rules creation.
The sevenfold perfection of the Holy Spirit fills the Church as signified by the seven churches addressed by Jesus in the letters that follow. This is amplified by the presence of Jesus among the lamp stands that symbolize the Church as the light of the world.
Jesus is the person of God that materialized in the form of a man portraying the image of God, which is the perfection of man. He became a person of man, the Son of Man, to allow us to become sons of God. In doing so, He becomes the firstborn of the dead which brings us to life in the heavenly kingdom.
Jesus has loved us with His life, as first demonstrated with the shedding of His blood and then with the gift of His eternal life.
Revelation 1:2-3 ESV
who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
As John the Baptist bore witness to the first coming of the Lamb of God, this John will bear witness to the second coming of the Lord which will be quite different. This time it will be as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
John's eyes are opened to this amazing vision and we are blessed in the sharing of this prophesy.
The last and final book of Scripture will end the story of God's interaction with man and creation, in which God creates and enters the material world and makes it His home.
From the beginning in Genesis to the final Revelation, God has woven the story of what was, is, and is to come.
The time is near.
Genesis 15:12 ESV
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Matthew 26:42-43
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
There is a connection between these two events. God made a unilateral covenant with Abraham while he was in a deep sleep. Walking between the animal carcasses, God was saying that He would die if He did not fulfill this promise to Abraham.
If we fast forward to the time of Jesus in the garden just before His crucifixion, we see the disciples asleep while Jesus confirms His sacrifice to death for those who like Abraham will place their faith in Him.
Both events signify a unilateral covenant by God for someone of faith. Abraham is the father of faith and we are His descendants of faith. It is faith in the word of God that brings us into His salvation.
We awake from our slumber in the darkness to new life in the Father of lights.
Revelation 1:1 ESV
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
Who is the angel sent to John? This verse tells us it is Jesus Christ. God gives Jesus the revelation to show John. Jesus delivers the message as the "angel of the Lord" who is referenced many times in the Old Testament.
This might also be seen as the angel that delivers the letters to the seven churches. It is Jesus that speaks in the letters. He stands among the lamp stands in front of the throne, which represent the seven churches.
Luke 1:1-4 ESV
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Theophilus means "friend of God". (OliveTree Enhanced Strong's).
If you are a friend of God, this gospel is written for you, that you may be sure of the message you have heard.
Love,
Luke
1 Timothy 2:5-6 ESV
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Why is there one mediator between God and man? Because the meeting point between God and man is when they came together in the man Christ Jesus. He is the bridge and the boundary where the two meet.
Why was the testimony given at the proper time? So we would know.
Exodus 33:18-20 ESV
Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
When we are free from this mortal flesh we will see God. When our bodies are are resurrected and made immortal, we will be like Him.
Death is the door that opens to eternal life with the Lord for those who love Him. Man cannot see God and live, but a son of God can do just that. He has provided the way for a man to become a son of God through Jesus Christ. We must die to self to live for God. He took that first step and beckons us to follow.
Jeremiah 1:11-12 ESV
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
The almond tree is the first to bloom after the winter season has stripped away the leaves of summer. Aaron's rod was a staff made of almond wood that blossomed and produced almonds. The lamp in the temple was fashioned like almond branches from which the light of God was portrayed in the seven flames which burned at the top of the lamp. These correspond to the seven torches in John's vision in Revelation of the throne room of God.
The word of God is the light of the world. It is spoken before it takes place. He is watching over His word until "it is finished." One day He shall enter His rest on earth as we are made complete in the image of God.
Man is able to increase in knowledge, but it is only God who imparts wisdom. Man will be whole when he finds God. Until he does, he will be able to build a tower into the sky, but never reach heaven's door.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 ESV
And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets,
so he may run who reads it.
For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
We have the word and the word is true. What is to come will come at its appointed time, just as Jesus came at the appointed time.
Our charge is to be waiting for it, waiting for Him when He returns. We don't want to miss it. Keep the lamp burning.
Romans 8:5-8 ESV
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Our mind is where the battle between good and evil is fought. If we experience the conflict between good and evil, we can be assured we are fully involved with life and the pursuit of life. A person who remains in their flesh will have a short life that ends in real death.
Salvation is not a mindless activity, but one that requires mindfulness. Living to die is an outcome mindlessness. Living to live is the result of an intentional mind.
Those who please God will live.
Romans 7:21-25 ESV
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Paul says we live in one body with two inclinations if we follow Christ. An inner being of the mind and an outer being of the body. The non believer does not have this particular problem because the law of God does not enter into their frame of reference of living life.
But the believer is thrown in a wilderness journey that takes place inside the person. It is a journey of faith which, if endured to the end, will allow us to conquer the world of self. We are constantly surrounded by the knowledge of good and evil and must daily choose between the two. It is essentially the choice between God and self because what defiles a person comes from within.
We will eventually leave this body behind after it has served its purpose as the ground to receive the seed of life. The viability and fruitfulness of the seed will depend on our "soil", of how we respond to what we have received. Jesus responded to temptation during His time in the wilderness with the word of God.
