Good morning,

Return to Life

“In the book of Ezekiel we read of a time when the nation of Israel would one day return to life. Note what God said:

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God (Ezekiel 36:24-28).

Ezekiel wrote this at a time when the Babylonians had devastated the southern kingdom, and when the prophet himself had been taken into captivity. Yet he said there would come a time when a nation that appeared to be dead would come back to life under the providence and care of God. God has not abandoned His people. He still has a plan and purpose for them and for their future.” (Target Israel, page 46-47)

We are beginning to see this now. Many are returning to the land of Israel. Some have trusted Yeshua (Jesus) to be their personal Lord and Savior. However, this prophecy will have its fulfillment during the millennial age. This will be the time when Israel will be cleaned, given a new heart, be obedient to God, and will allow God to be their God.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

Israelites until 1948 were a people devoid of identity. They were scattered throughout the world without a place to call home. The prophet Isaiah knew that the children of Israel would be regathered to their God given land. It happened in one day just like Isaiah prophesied.

“Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. (Isaiah 66:8)

“Both Christian and Jewish scholars acknowledge this passage as a prediction of Israel’s rebirth in the land instantaneously, a nation born in a day. This has never happened before in all of history. Never has a nation or a group of people who were expelled from their land returned after 2,000 years with their language, their heritage, and their commitments largely intact.” (Target Israel, page 46)

This week we will look at Israel’s Return to Life. I will be quoting from a book called Target Israel, written by Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson. This would be a good book to read to understand how Israel fits into the whole dynamic of the Middle East.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

If My people

(Daniel Webster, 1872-1852)

If we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together–no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity!

“If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways–then I will hear from Heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Please consider seeking God today.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

Every-day mercies!

(Archibald Brown)

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!”Lamentations 3:22-23

Let us seek, dear friends, to have quick eyes in discerning the Lord’s hand in our so-called every-day mercies. The smallest comfort grows great in value, when viewed a gift from our heavenly Father!

The next string I will touch has sweet music of its own, and it should call forth the deepest “Thank God!” from every bosom. It is home mercy. Home! Home!! Surely, among all the gifts of Heaven, there is none more beautiful, or more worthy of our grateful praise–than a home where kindness, love, and cheerfulness abide. It has been well said that to Adam, Paradise was home–and to the holy among his descendants, home is Paradise. He who has a happy home can never be poor, or lack a theme for grateful song.

If we have been kept from falling into scandalous sin, then with grateful love we exclaim, “Having obtained help from God, I continue to this day.” We have been like men carrying gunpowder, and working in a forge where sparks are flying on every hand. With a nature like ours, so dangerously quick to sin, and living amid a very shower of fiery temptations–how great the grace that has preserved us thus far!

“Great are Your tender mercies, O LORD!” Psalm 119:156

Reflect on this.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

This week we will study the book of Amos. Today we will conclude our study with Chapter 9.

Chapter 9 Amos tells of the destruction, restoration and hope of Israel.

• Destruction of Israel (Amos 9:9-10) For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth. ¹⁰ All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
• Restoration of Israel (Amos 9:13-15) Behold, the days come, saith theLord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.¹⁴ And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.¹⁵ And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

Conclusion:

• Israel transgresses God’s laws
• Israel judged
• Israel will be restored

Have a great weekend.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

This week we will study the book of Amos. Today we will look at Chapters 4-8.

Chapters 4-8 Amos warns that Israel will be destroyed, and gives examples of this judgment. Amos comes, announces God’s coming judgment to the Northern Kingdom and uses the phrase, “the day of the Lord” referring to God intervening to punish and judge the wicked city, which would eventually be exile by the Assyrians.

• …yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. (Amos 4:6, 8, 9, 10, 11) Even though Israel had been punished through famine, no rain, disease and mildew, pestilence, and fire, they would not return to the Lord
• …seek me… (Amos 5:4, 6, 8, 14) For thus saith theLord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live: (Amos 5:4)
• Seek good not evil (Amos 5:14-15) Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so theLord, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.
• God despises ceremonies without righteousness (Amos 5:21-27) Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith theLord, whose name is The God of hosts. (Amos 5:27)
• Judgment upon Israel (Amos 6:14, 7:16-17) But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith theLord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness. (Amos 6:14) Now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. ¹⁷ Therefore thus saith the Lord; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. (Amos 7:16-17)
• Famine of God’s Word (Amos 8:11-12) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: ¹² And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

God is a longsuffering. However, His longsuffering has its limits. When god continues to try and get our attention and we reject it, we are ripe for God’s judgment. God is looking for people with repentant hearts. He wants us to seek Him, return to Him, and seek good over evil. God promises life for those who will.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week we will study the book of Amos. Today we will look at Chapters 1-3.

Chapter 1-3 Amos came as the days of the wicked Northern Kingdom were winding down. The people were religious but it was sadly superficial. Amos announces that the neighboring nations would be punished. There were many of these wicked nations including Damascus, Gaza, Edom, and Tyre.

• Transgressions of Judah (Amos 2:4-5) Thus saith theLord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the Lord, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked: ⁵ But I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.
• Transgressions of Israel (Amos 2:6-8) Thus saith theLord; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; ⁷ That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name: ⁸ And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.
• What God intends to do (Amos 2:14-16) Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself: ¹⁵ Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow; and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself. ¹⁶ And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith theLord.
• Destruction of Israel (Amos 3:14-15) That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. ¹⁵ And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith theLord.

This lesson should remind us that even though Israel was part of God’s chosen people, He still punished them for their wickedness. God will do the same for the child of God, if we continue to rebel against God. Be careful what you say and do.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

This week we will study the book of Amos. Who is Amos and what did he do? Glad you asked.

The prophet Amos was born in the territory of Judah but he prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel and the wicked King Jeroboam II. Amos prophesied against the nations around Israel and also condemned the northern kingdom of Israel for breaking God’s laws. He prophesied at the city of Bethel where King Jeroboam II resided, which had become a center for idol worship. He prophesied that the Israelites would be conquered by the Assyrians and removed from this place. Amos said that God could no more be in a relationship with the people of Israel that a man could be with an adulterous wife.

The purpose of the book of Amos was to announce God’s holy judgment on the Kingdom of Israel (the Northern Kingdom), call them to repentance, and to turn from their self-righteous sins and idolatry. God raised up the prophet Amos, as an act of His great mercy to a people who repeatedly shunned and disobeyed Him.

Tomorrow we will look at Chapters 1-3.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

 

Good morning,

This is thought provoking.

 Where are you going?

(Charles Orr, “How to Live a Holy Life”)

We have only one life to live–only one! Think of this for a moment.

Here we are in this world of time, making the journey of life. Each day we are farther from the cradle–and nearer to the grave! Solemn thought!

See the mighty concourse of human lives; hear their heavy tread in their onward march. Some are just beginning life’s journey; some are midway up the hill, some have reached the top, and some are midway down the western slope. But where are we all going? Listen and you will hear but one answer, “Eternity!” Beyond the fading, dying gleams of the sunset of life–lies a boundless, endless ocean called Eternity! There, you and I are daily traveling.

Time is like a great wheel going its round. On and on it goes. Some are stepping on–and some are stepping off. But where are these latter stepping? Into eternity! See that old man with bent form, snow-white locks, and tottering steps–his has been a long round, but he has reached his end at last. See the middle-aged man–his round has not been so long, but he must also step off. See the youth–he has been on only a little while, but he is brought to the stepping-off place. He thought his round would be much longer. He supposed that he was just getting started–when that icy hand was laid upon him and the usher said, “Come, you have made your round, and you must go!” The infant that gave its first faint cry this morning–may utter its last feeble wail tonight!

And thus they go. But where? Oh, where? ETERNITY!

If you were to start today and ask each person you met the question, “Where are you going?“ and, if possible, you were to travel the world over and ask each one of earth’s inhabitants–there could be but one correct answer, “Eternity!”

“Oh, eternity, Long eternity!
Hear the solemn footsteps of eternity!”

Only one life to live! Only one life–and then we must face vast, endless eternity! We shall pass along the pathway of life but once. Every step we take–is a step that can never be taken again.

This world is not a play-ground–or a place to trifle with time. Life is not given us to squander nor fritter away. To trifle away time, is indeed, to be the greatest of spendthrifts. If you squander a dollar–you may regain it; but a moment wasted–can never be regained. God gives us all the time we need to accomplish all that He purposes us to accomplish–but He does not give us one moment to trifle away.

We have only one life to live–only one!

This is a sobering thought wherever you are in life. No guarantees for tomorrow.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001

Good morning,

The Holy Ghost played an important part on the day of Pentecost. We will be looking at Acts1 and 2 this week. Today we conclude our study of Acts 1 and 2. The church grew rapidly and continued to grow because of the teaching of the apostles.

The church grows (2:41-42)

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. ⁴² And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Conclusion:

• Jesus fulfilled His promise that the believers would be baptized with the Holy Ghost
• When the believers were filled with the Holy Ghost they did receive power and were witnesses
• The ability to speak and be understood in many languages was for the purpose of proclaiming salvation in Jesus Christ
• Peter preached with the power of the Holy Ghost and 3000 people were saved

Verse 42 tells us how the new believers grew in their relationship to Jesus Christ. They continued to study the things of Christ, fellowshipped around God’s word, ate together, and were in a constant state of prayer.

The church is that place of study, worship, fellowship, and prayer. Please attend and become involved in your local church this weekend.

Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001