Blog 321 for June 10, 2023

Lately, I have been thinking more and more about the return of our Lord.  With all of the signs for his coming fulfilled, I am wondering what is delaying His return. John the Apostle has a tremendous word for us in I John chapter 2 concerning confidence for the Lord’s coming. To be prepared for the coming of Jesus is the hope of all His people. It is a glorious prospect to contemplate. On the other hand, to be ashamed before Him at His coming is a fearful predicament. John is showing us how we should be living in the hope of that great event. 

The first thing that John wants us to know is WE SHOULD ABIDE IN GOD’S WILL. He says in verse 17 “...He who does the will of God abides forever.” That means we must oppose the world. That is what John is saying in First John 2:14-17. We must never forget that the world system is powerful! John goes on to say that we must overcome the wicked one in verse 14. Don’t forget, “Greater is He that is in you! John then says we must obey God’s will.  The goal of our Lord was to please His Father. 

God has a plan for your life.  John says in verse 14, WE SHOULD ABIDE IN GOD’S WORD.  “The Word of God abides in you,”  John says there is power in God’s Word that makes you strong.  By the Word of God, we prevail. Remember Jesus defeated Satan with the Word of God!  John then says that there is permanence in God’s Word in verse 14 when it abides in you.  If God’s Word abides in us, no one or thing can ever destroy it. John wants us to know about the promises of God’s Word.  Our Lord wants us to stand on His promises because sometimes that is all we have.

So, let us abide in God’s will, and abide in God’s Word, preparing us for HIS coming. 

  
Charles Kirby

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Blog 321 for June 10, 2023

  REMEMBER FLAG DAY and REMEMBER YOUR SPIRITUAL BIRTHDAY!

I like flags! It is evident by the fact that throughout my life I have bought all kinds of flags, such as a Flag for Spring, one for Autumn, an Easter Flag, a Christmas Flag, and of course, an American Flag, just to name a few!  We’ve loved and enjoyed them all, especially the American Flag and the Christian Flag I’ve pledged to many times throughout my life.

June 14 is Flag Day. It was first officially observed in 1877 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the selection of the flag.  We celebrate June 14 in memory of the day in 1777 when the continental congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States.  President Woodrow Wilson established Flag Day as an annual national celebration in his proclamation issued on May 30, 1916.  We will have our American flag flying proudly on June 14, 2023.

I feel a “song coming on."  Sing it with me!!!  Words were written by Frances Scott Key in 1814. “O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?  Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, o’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.  O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Now, how about our pledges?  Do you remember all of them?  Many years ago, Charles and I founded/organized Little Rock Christian School in the church we pastored.  He served as president; I, as Vice-president.  We required our students to recite the following pledges each morning of school. 

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America; and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

“I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word, and will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path, and will hide its words in my heart, that I might not sin against GOD.”

“I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands; One Brotherhood uniting all mankind everywhere in service and love.”  

While we are remembering Flag Day, may we faithfully remember the day we committed our lives to Jesus; and the many times we have pledged allegiance to JESUS, our Savior, by our testimony, and our living.  

Bess

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