Dr. John Reddy

Monday, May 14, 2012

“Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. ” [Luke 21:28]

"Your Redemption is Drawing Near"

And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” They are “the two olive trees” and the two lamp-stands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city...where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.

Television and the 24-hour news networks make it possible for people around the world to see the dead prophets and rejoice at their deaths. Many other events that are prophesied are happening right in front of our eyes.

Christians are under attack throughout the world today. In the United States Christians still enjoy freedom to worship God without suffering much more than ridicule, hatred, or discrimination at work and school. However in many other countries such as China, Sudan, Africa, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Russia, and many Muslim nations, Christian suffer much greater persecution and often times death for their faith. During the tribulation this suffering will be worldwide and will continue even to the point of martyrdom. These signs will increase in intensity and severity as the tribulation approaches, much like the birth pangs or contractions of a pregnant woman worsen as the delivery time approaches.

"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." Matthew 24:6-8.

Are you ready?

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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Listening and Doing

Listening and Doing

Anyone who hears the word but does not change his behavior is like a man who takes a fleeting glance in the mirror each morning, then completely forgets what he saw. He derives no benefit from the mirror or from looking into it. Of course, there are some things about our appearance that cannot be changed. But at least we should be humbled by the sight! And when the mirror says "Wash" or "Shave" or "Comb" or "Brush", we should atleast do as we are told. Otherwise the mirror is of no practical benefit to us.

It is easy to read the Bible casually or because of a sense of duty without being affected by what we read. We see what we ought to be but we quickly forget and live as if we were already perfect. This type of self-satisfaction prevents spiritual progress.

In contrast is the man who looks into the word of God and who hasbitually reduces it to practice. His contemplative, meditative gazing has practical results in his life. To him the Bible is the perfect law of liberty. Its precepts are not burdensome. They tell him to to exactly what his new nature loves to do. As he obeys, he finds true freedom from human traditions and carnal reasonings. The truth makes him free. This is the man who benefits fromt he Bible. He does not forget what he has read. Rather he seeks to live it out in daily practice. His simple childlike obedience brings incalculatable blessing to his soul. This one will be blessed in what he does.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

"...So the Sun stood still and the Moon stopped..."

"...So the Sun stood still and the Moon stopped..."

Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon—joined forces. They moved up with all their troops and took up positions against Gibeon and attacked it.

The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”

After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the LORD hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:

   “Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
   and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
So the sun stood still,
   and the moon stopped,
   till the nation avenged itself on[b] its enemies,

   as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

   The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a human being. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!

Then Joshua returned with all Israel to the camp at Gilgal.

Assured of victory by the Lord, Joshua engaged the enemy's forces at Gibeon, causing them to flee. Two miracles occurred in the destruction of the enemy. First there was a tremendous hailstrom, which killed more men than the Israelites had slain. But note that they were discriminating hailstones--they killed only the enemies.

Then, at the request of Joshua, the sun and the moon "stood still", prolonging the hours that the Israelites could continue to pursue and destroy the foe before they could escape to the security of their walled cities. It is literally descriptive language to say that the sun and the moon stood still.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Esther: "...And if I perish, I perish"

"...And if I perish, I perish"

The Jewish population was stunned as the news broke through out the land, as the execution order for all the Jews was decreed. There is always sadness where evil regins. Mordecai put on mourner's garb and lamented through the city until he came to the king's gate, beyond which he could not go because sackcloth was not allowed in his majesty's presence. He knew that he was the main object of Haman's hatred. The fate awaiting his nation had been unwittingly prompted by him.

Since custom forbade Ester to leave her confinement in the palace, she sent a servant to take some garments to clothe Mordecai so that he might not be seen in sackcloth by the king and lose his life. But Mordecai refused to disguise his anguish. When Hathach, Ester's personal servant came to find out why he continued in mourning, Mordecai told him the whole story.

Esther responded to Mordecai by reminding him that it was a capital offense to appear before the king uninvited, unless he spared the intruder's life by extending the golden scepter. She told of a futher complication which would make such action doubly dangerous: She had not been summoned by Ahasuerus for thirty days, indicating that she may have somehow incurred his displeasure.

Making her decision, Esther instructed all the Jews to fast with her for three days. Then she would go before the king.

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

"Although my danger be great and evident, considering the expressness of the law, and the uncertainty of the king's mind, and the severity which he showed to my predecessor, Vashti, yet rather than neglect my duty to God and to His people, I will go to the king and cast myself cheerfully and resolutely upon God's providence for my safety and success."

The Christian's attitude in difficult and trying circumstances should not be one of fatalism but of optimism, especially when it comes to approaching the heavenly throne for grace to help in time of need. We have bold and confidant access; the sceptor of God's forgiveness has been stretched out to us at Calvary.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

David inquired of the LORD

David inquired of the LORD

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?”
   “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.
They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat— part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?”
   He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”
David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?”
   He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”
He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Light and Darkness

Light and Darkness

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Now it follows that in order for a person to be in fellowship with God, there can be no hiding of sin. Light and darkness cannot exist in a person's life at the same time, any more than they can exist together in the room of a home. If a man is walking in darkness, he is not in fellowship with God. A man who says he has fellowship with Him and habitually walks in darkness was never saved at all.

On the other hand, if one walks in the light, then he can have fellowship with the Lord Jesus and with his fellow Christians. A man is either in the light or in darkness. If he is in the light, he is a member of God's family. If he is in darkness, he does not have anything in common with God because there is no darkness in God at all. Those who walk in the light, that is, those who are Christians, have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses them from all sin.

All God's forgiveness is based on the blood of His Son that was shed at Calvary. That blood provided God with a righteous basis on which He can forgive sins, and, as we sing, "the blood will never lose its power." It has lasting efficacy to cleanse us. Of course, believers must confess before they can receive forgiveness.

Then again, fellowship with God requires that we acknowledge the truth concerning ourselves. For instance, to deny that we have a sinful nature means self-deception and untruthfulness.

In order for us to walk day by day in fellowship with God and with our fellow believers, we must confess our sins: sins of commission, sins of omission, sins of thoughts, sins of act, secret sins, and public sins. Yes, true confession involves forsaking of sins: "He who covers his sins will not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

Are you walking in darkness or are you walking in the light?

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Jesus feeds the five thousand

Jesus feeds the five thousand

When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

This incident is filled with significance for disciples who are charged with the evangelization of the world. The five thousand represent lost humanity, starving for the bread of God. The disciples picture helpless Christians, with seemingly limited resources, but unwilling to share what they have. The Lord's command, "you give them something to eat" is simply a restatement of the great commission. The lesson is that if we give Jesus what we have, He can multiply it to feed the spiritually hungry multitude.

The world could be evangelized in this generation if Christians would surrender to Christ all that they are and have. That is the enduring lesson of feeding of the five thousand.
The Great Commission

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Monday, May 14, 2012

"In the last days.."