Category: Revelation

  • Ready or not – it’s coming (Christmas too!)

    A banner with a Santa hat - the text reads, "Are you ready?"

    Good morning. It’s December 11th, and only two  weeks until Christmas.

    Two weeks to Christmas? How did that happen? It snuck up on me. I’m not ready!

    Ready or not, it’s coming soon. Are you ready?

    The thought that Christmas is only two weeks away instills panic in many people. Some have been ready since January, others by December 1st, and others are mostly ready. A good number of people haven’t even started their Christmas prep.

    Something in the fallen human psyche often causes us to want to procrastinate. For example, we all know it’s winter, and the likelihood of a winter car breakdown or getting stuck in traffic for hours is high. Yet, how many of us have any form of emergency gear in the car?

    It’s winter, and we know there is a good possibility of power grid failure for days or more. Yet, relatively few people are prepared for even two or three days without power, heat, or water. Even the government recognizes we should all have three days to two weeks of emergency food and water on hand. If the government thinks that things will return to normal in two weeks in the event of a disaster, you know it will most likely take far longer. 

    We see that played out in every major hurricane, flood, ice storm, and manmade or natural disaster. The government and relief agencies do their best, but more is needed.

    We know all that and still fail to prepare.  It’s called normalcy bias. One source describes it this way: “Normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a cognitive bias which leads people to disbelieve or minimize threat warnings. Consequently, individuals underestimate the likelihood of a disaster, when it might affect them, and its potential adverse effects. The normalcy bias causes many people to prepare inadequately for natural disasters, market crashes, and calamities caused by human error. About 80% of people reportedly display normalcy bias during a disaster?”

    It also plays out in other ways. I know people who know that the Christian faith is the truth, but they aren’t prepared to surrender to Jesus yet. They have some arbitrary date or event in mind that they want to pass before becoming believers.

    Millions, perhaps billions of people, have heard the call of the Holy Spirit yet refuse Him, thinking they are somehow immune to the consequences.

    Yet the Scriptures clearly state that everyone will hear the truth, and there will be consequences for what one does with that information.

    “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.  am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:12-13 ESV

    He is coming back to make all things right.

    But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—  lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.  And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake“ Mark 13:32-37 ESV

    Not being ready for Christmas might be uncomfortable. Not being ready for Jesus will be disastrous.

    Are you prepared?

    Be blessed

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

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  • God has prepared a new name for you

    One rendering of the Corbin coat of arms

    Names are important. They identify us to one  another. At church, it’s much easier to know who someone is talking about when they say Kevin than when they say “the grey-haired guy with a mustache.”

    Differing cultures have different name protocols. In the Bible, many names end with”el,” referring to God. This identifies the person with some component of their faith.

    In the Bible, you will also sometimes see a name with the word “bar” in it. Bar means “son of.” Thus, Jesus would have been known as Jesus bar Joseph, Jesus the son of Joseph.

    Many European-based cultures used something similar. The name Stephenson originally meant son of Stephan.

    They also used occupations or place names as surnames. Bob Clark was Bob the Clark (clerk), and John Smith was John the Smith (blacksmith, perhaps).

    My surname, “Corbin,” comes from a Norman name that refers to being under the sign of a raven. The ancient family coat of arms had three ravens on it. Today’s image is one rendering of the crest.

    Sometimes, we are called names that hurt us.

     What names have you been called during your lifetime that hurt you? Perhaps they had to do with appearance, fatty, four eyes, flat chested. Maybe they had to do with something you had done: thief, drunk, killer. 

    Or perhaps they were names you gave yourself: lazy, stupid, useless. It could be as simple as four kids in your class with the same name, which led to confusion: Bob, Sally, Tom.

    It doesn’t matter in the long run because God sees believers in a different light because of Jesus. There is a new name for those who believe. What an incredible thought.

    He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. Revelation 2:17 ESV

    I don’t know what your name will be—a precious child, a faithful servant, or something far more intimate and personal that Jesus is saving for His new bride. I do know that whatever name you are given will not hurt you.

    It will be your name alone, prepared for you in advance by the creator of the universe. No more hurt, no more anonymity, no more confusion. A unique name for you from God. 

    Enjoy it.

    Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

    Kevin

    Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.

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