Mountain Ridge Bible Chapel, 763 Mountain Avenue, Berkeley Heights, NJ (2026)

06/03/2026

Turning Back Devotion 060326 “Strangers As They Are”

The Bible has a different perspective on strangers. Do you remember being warned, “Don’t talk to strangers!” I think over the years the idea that strangers might be dangerous has impacted our souls. What do the scriptures teach concerning showing hospitality to strangers?

Apparently, Gaius, the brother and friend of John the apostle, had no such qualms. John could write to him, “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.” 3 John 1:5-6. Gaius was commended for his faithful hospitality to the brothers.

Years ago, a Christian friend and I went to the deep south to participate in special music at a conference and give our testimonies. There we were introduced as “two Yankees who weren’t ashamed to admit it.” LOL. We were hosted and cared for over the weekend as complete strangers. Isn’t it good to know that as brothers and sisters in Christ we have a “family” wherever we go?

The writer of Hebrews exhorted the believers to “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:1-2. Have you ever considered that you may be entertaining an angel? Of course, an angel is a messenger of God. If you have hosted a preacher, then you have shown hospitality to an “angel” of God!

Sometimes the hospitality of the unsaved puts that of the Christian to shame! Paul wrote about his shipwreck on Malta and the unusual kindness of the people living on the islands. “Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us (276 people) and entertained us hospitably for three days.” Acts 28:7. Subsequently, God provided an open door for the gospel through the healing of Publius’ father, as well as many others of the natives.

Bottom line, our Lord Jesus Christ says that when we do not welcome a brother who is a stranger, we do not welcome Him. “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me...Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ Matthew 25:43, 45.

Dear fellow Christian, please let us become active in using our homes for the Lord’s work. Both visiting missionaries and preachers, as well as the poor and needy will receive a blessing and we ourselves will know the joy of the Lord. We minister to them all, “Strangers as they are!”

For the glory of the Lord,

Doug Tremper

06/02/2026

Turning Back Devotion 060226 “Watch Yourselves!”

I asked a dear elderly saint at the end of our visit, “How can I pray for you?” He replied, “Pray that I finish well!” This agrees with the teaching of scripture that we should always aim for a full reward and not risk loss at the judgment seat of Christ. We should “Watch ourselves!”

In today’s passage, John was concerned for the believers that they would be very careful to hold fast to the maturity in Christ to which they had attained by his help. “Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.” 2 John 1:8.

Moses said something similar to the generation about to enter the promised land. “And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess. “Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves...” Deuteronomy 4:14-16. God had revealed himself to them and their parents forty years earlier. How had their parents responded? They had worshiped a golden calf! Moses commanded their children to “Watch yourselves…”

Jesus warned his followers of being weighed down with the cares of this life and neglecting their spiritual lives. He wanted them to appear before Him at the judgment and be people that He could bless. He proclaimed, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:34-36.

Paul taught about the judgment to the Corinthian church. They had begun building on the foundation of Jesus Christ. They needed to be careful to finish well. One day their work would be tried by fire. How would it stand against the fire? “Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.” 1 Corinthians 3:12-14.

Dear believer, let us use the days we have to do work that will receive a full reward. It is possible to be saved and have little to show for how we have spent our lives. The church of Sardis received a stern wake-up call directly from Christ. “Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” Revelation 3:2-3. He would say to us as well, “Watch yourselves!”

Doug Tremper

06/01/2026

Turning Back Devotion 060126 “Seven Things That We Know”

What a person knows spiritually will change their life forever. Here are seven gems that God has revealed to us in today’s chapter through the apostle John’s letter to “his dear little children.”

We know that we love all believers in Jesus. “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” 1 John 5:1-2. If we have uncertainty in our faith, possibly it is because we are at odds with a brother or sister in Christ.

“We know that we have eternal life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” 1 John 5:13. What a calm assurance! When I wonder if these things are really true, His Spirit whispers to me, “You are My child.” His Spirit bears witness to my spirit that I am a child of God. Praise the Lord!

“We know that we have the answers to our prayers. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15. There are conditions for prayers to be answered, but bottom line, if He hears us, according to His will, we will have what we requested.

We know that we are victorious over the power of sin. “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning...” 1 John 5:18. Some days it may seem like the enemy is coming in like a flood, but sin no longer dominates our lives. We are truly able to say ‘No’ to sin and ‘Yes’ to God.

We know whose side we are on in the battle. “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” 1 John 5:19. The lines are clearly drawn every time we go out the door.

We know that Jesus has enlightened us. “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding,” 1 John 5:20. The world can never give us this knowledge. Only the Spirit of Christ within a person can reveal the deep things of God to us.

We know God. “...so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” Also 1 John 5:20. We will spend eternity ‘knowing’ God. He is such a delightful, personal, and intimate God to know!

Dear one, are we comforted by these seven truths that we know? Today may we know them experientially. Let’s rehearse them in our minds throughout the day!

Doug Tremper

05/31/2026

Turning Back Devotion 053126 “God Is Love.”

We have already seen in 1 John that one of God’s attributes is that He is light. Today we see another attribute, that He is love! The fact that love is essentially from God is displayed in many ways as we experience His love. First, we experience God’s love when we love the brethren. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8.

Second, the Lord has drawn us out of the world to Himself by love. “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3.

Furthermore, the Lord revealed His eternal love to anyone who would receive His love - including Gentiles. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

Next, Paul expressed to the church in Rome that nothing could separate them from God’s love as seen in our Lord Jesus Christ. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39. Note that this promise was given to Jewish AND Gentile believers.

In fact, each person of the Trinity has been bound to the believers in grace, love, and fellowship. Paul closed his second letter to the Corinthians with this benediction. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Dear believer, it is a good thing that God is love. We could never have been saved from our trespasses and made alive in Christ unless He lavished us with His great love. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Ephesians 2:4-5. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God. And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1. Today let’s remember where our salvation came from. We have been delivered from the slave market of sin into the glorious liberty of the children of God…because “God is Love!”

Glory to God!

Doug Tremper

05/30/2026

Turning Back Devotion 053026 “What We Will Be Has Not Yet Appeared.”

Do you ever wonder what Heaven will be like? As I get older, I confess, I think about it more and more. The New Testament writers give us some insights about the future. John wrote, “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. Just seeing Him in glory will set our hearts afire with a holy likeness to Him!

I don’t think we will ever know Jesus fully, but our knowledge of ourselves and the truth about our lives will be fully revealed to us. He sees everything about us now, but on that day, we will see it too. Some people say there are no tears in heaven. I rather think the judgment seat of Christ will draw our tears, but then He will wipe them away forever! “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12.

Athletes will tell you that they feel really good after a workout and recovery. They haven’t seen anything yet! We will receive glorified bodies when our Savior comes. They will be like the body He has, since He rose from the dead. Maybe like Isaiah prophesied, we will run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint. “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” Philippians 3:20-21.

Sin will be gone once and for all. The gathering of all believers of all time will be perfect. The bride of Christ will be presented faultless to stand before God’s throne! “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27

Dear believer, the promise that I like the best is that in addition to all these marvels, from that time forth and forevermore, we will ALWAYS be with our Lord Jesus. Praise God!!! “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Doesn’t that just make us want to shout, “Hallelujah”?

To God be the glory!

Doug Tremper

05/29/2026

Turning Back Devotion 052926 “I Am Writing… So That You May Not Sin.”

What a blessing that the Lord does not leave us wondering if we are sinning. In His word He tells us what to do and what not to do. John wrote, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” 1 John 2:1.

If we can just remember that more than anything God wants us to love Him by loving His children, we will avoid much sin in life. “Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning…Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” 1 John 2:7, 10. There is no reason to fall when we love God’s children!

Notice the relationships among the brethren. There are children, fathers, and young men that John is writing to. He counsels them, “I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him…” 1 John 2:13-15,17. All of them, wherever they are in their relationship to God, need to love God and not love the world. John is writing so that they will not sin in compromising with the world.

There are people that are against Christ and the word of God in the world. They are deceivers. John writes to warn his little children about these antichrists. “I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth…I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you…But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” 1 John 2:21, 26-27. Those who have been indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit have the source of truth that they need within themselves. They only need to continue to abide in the truth.

Finally, John writes to exhort his little children to practice righteousness. He is writing this so that no one will be ashamed before Christ at his coming. “No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you…And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.” 1 John 2:23-24, 2-29.

Dear brother and sister in Christ, all that John wrote to his little children applies to us as well. Thank the Lord for His warnings to help us walk in truth and abide in Christ!

For the glory of the Lord,

Doug Tremper

05/28/2026

Turning Back Devotion 052826 “God Is Light”

What is light? A preacher once pointed out that light is particles moving in a wave and bringing into visibility obstacles that are in its path. It is also characterized by heat. That seems to be as good a description of physical light as any. But what is spiritual light? The Bible has some very interesting things to say about that.

“This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5. Of first importance God is light. Spiritual light is part of God’s essence. Light is the absence of spiritual darkness. Correspondingly, there is no darkness in God. How fascinating then that God created both physical light and physical darkness!

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” Genesis 1:3-5. Notice that God spoke the light into existence. The Hebrew command that He gave was, ‘Light exist!’ Spiritually this is true also. “The entrance of Your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:130. God speaks light into our darkness by His word.

John the apostle tells us, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” God sent His Son into the world to enlighten the world spiritually with His words. He sent John the Baptist to be a forerunner to introduce the Light. We read, “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.” John 1:6-9.

Jesus Himself spoke of the fact that He not only brought light to the world, but that He, like God, was Himself the Light of the world. “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12.

All who are followers of Christ have that light inside them. They are the ones who were enlightened when they received His life. The apostle Paul taught many times that we are light in the Lord. For example, to the church at Ephesus he proclaimed, “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” Ephesians 5:8.

Dear brother and sister in Christ, if He is Light and His Spirit dwells in us we should not be surprised that we are to walk in the light. Today, is the God who is Light shining from our lives? He ought to be!

May it be so for His glory!

Doug Tremper

05/27/2026

Turning Back Devotion 052726 “Heaven is My Throne and the Earth is My Footstool”

Can you imagine trying to build a temple that would be worthy of the God of the universe? The Lord pointed out this incongruity. “Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? Isaiah 66:1.

God reigns in heaven with the most amazing creatures pouring out worship, continuously exclaiming, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty…” If we could see them we would be in absolute awe before His throne. The Psalmist captures the thought, “The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! … Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!” Psalm 99:1-5.

David wanted to do something for the Lord for all the great things which He had done for David and His people. Stephen, the first martyr of the church, rehearsed how David had sought the Lord’s favor to do so. He proclaimed, “So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’” Acts 7:45-50.

The apostle John actually saw the throne of God in heaven. He tells us what he saw. The throne was surrounded by myriad angels, hundreds of millions of them. The believers of all ages were present also. Up front, closest to the throne, were four living creatures, seven burning torches which are the seven spirits of God, twenty-four elders, and in the midst a Lamb, The Lamb…The Lord Jesus Christ!

John wrote, “At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne... And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Revelation 4:4, 9-11.

Dear believer, the Lord would have us know that He is great and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. Praise the Lord, someday we are going to be present before the throne of God in Heaven! God says, “Heaven is My throne and earth is My footstool.” Oh, what wonders await us!

To God be the glory!

Doug Tremper

05/26/2026

Turning Back Devotion 052626 “Behold My Servants Shall… But You Shall…”

Perhaps nowhere in holy scripture is the comparison of the reward of the righteous against the punishment of the unholy so starkly laid out as in Isaiah chapter 65. “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame; behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart and shall wail for breaking of spirit.]” Isaiah 65:13-14. The whole chapter is filled with verses like this, distinguishing between the blessedness of the upright and the wretchedness of sinners.

At diverse times in the word of God, we find similar descriptions. On the night that the firstborn of Egypt were slain there was a loud cry of grief in every home. Compare this with the complete quiet as Israel exited Egypt. “But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.” Exodus 11:7.

Malachi looked forward to the Millennial reign of Christ. The kingdom will be sorted out of all things that are offended by a rod of iron. On that day, the Lord says of his own, “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” Malachi 3:17-18.

Jesus prophesied the same in his discourse in the judgment of the sheep and the goats. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:31-34, 41.

Dear reader, do we believe that these things will happen? Or do we have doubts about the second coming of Jesus Christ and His rule over all the world as King of kings and Lord of lords? We cannot afford to be wrong on this issue. God is absolutely holy. He will demand recompense from those who refuse to trust in His divine provision for our salvation. He does not want us to perish in our sins. But He must judge unconfessed sins. Behold His servants shall see life, but those who refuse to serve Him shall hunger, thirst, be in pain, and wail with a broken spirit!

Maranatha! The Lord is coming!

Doug Tremper

05/25/2026

Turning Back Devotion 052526 “Oh That You Would Rend the Heavens And Come Down”

Have you ever cried out with longing, “O Lord, come soon?” That is the heart cry of the prophet Isaiah. “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence!” Isaiah 64:1-2. He fears the Lord, but he longs for Him to return. The faithful Christian does likewise.

Israel experienced His presence at Sinai in the early days after He brought them by Moses out of Egypt. They reverenced the Lord, but they also were terrified to be in His presence. “On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.” Exodus 19:16-20. When God rent the heavens and came down, they wanted Moses to speak with God, lest they die.

David remembered when Jehovah came down. He called upon the Lord to please do it again and this time destroy all His enemies. “Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke! Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them!” Psalm 144:5-6.

Nahum the prophet captured the anger, wrath, and power of the Lord’s coming against His enemies. “The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.” Nahum 1:5-6.

Dear believer, how blessed then are those who long for Him to rend the heavens and come down to take them home to heaven to be with Him. He longs for them and they for Him. “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book…The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” ... He replies to them, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:7, 17-20. Are we prepared for our all-powerful and holy God to come for us? Oh Lord Jesus, rend the heavens and come down!

Thank You Lord!

Doug Tremper

Mountain Ridge Bible Chapel

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