So What Shall We Do Now?

Acts 2: 42

And they were continually devoting themselves to the Apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. 

These four things were what the infant church was focused on: 

1. Learning more about Jesus;
2. Befriending one another;
3. Having their meals together (a continual party!); and
4. Praying, communing with God

We don't see evangelism here. Or preaching. Though we do see them sharing the Gospel with the people they encounter as they live their lives. 

They devoted themselves to the internal priorities, to grow strong in the Lord and in their relationships with one another.

Then reaching out to others came as a natural consequence. 

We would do well to follow this pattern in our new birth: as a new Christian we need to continue to learn God's ways by reading and studying Scripture, as well as strengthening our friendships with our new brothers and sisters in the Lord by spending time and meals together, as well as praying together for one another. 

And as we grow in Christ in these practises, we will begin to reach out to others to share our witness and the Good News. 

And as our responsibilities in the church grow, we must not neglect the fundamental practises. We certainly do not want to lose our "first love," as Revelation 2:4-5 says that the first church, in Ephesus, had, and was told to remember where they have fallen from, and repent, turn around, to love the Lord like they had at the first. It looks like they got caught up into "doing church" instead of being the church.

That happens so often, so we really need to pay attention to our personal relationship with our Father and our Lord as first priority; then our own families must come next, to nurture our children and honor our spouse. Then the third priority is our work for the Lord and the church. 

If we get our priorities wrong, we will lose that "first love"--or lose our families, who we are responsible for before the Lord (I Timothy 5:8). 

O my Father, You are so kind to us, to be so patient with us, giving us second chances, and third and fourth! You know that we are but dust, our flesh is weak, and we need Your strength and perseverance to be who You intend us to be. 

Father, You have even given us Your own Holy Spirit, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, to live inside our human spirits; so we always have access to His knowledge and strength and wisdom and courage to face every trial and maneuver over every stumbling stone and around every pothole in our path. 

And Father, as we do the good works that You planned ahead of time for us to do, help us to lean on you when the enemy's minions slander us, and fight against us, and attack us. He knows that his time is short, and he is furious. 

Protect Your children, Father; may those who are facing extreme persecution know that they can curl up in Your lap, wrapped in Your strong and gentle arms. Let them know that their families are being cared for, not starving. 

And watch over Your people Israel, all the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, scattered over the whole World in every Nation. Continue to carry them, protect them, and preserve them, drawing them to Yourself. 

And, Father, send Your workers into Your mission fields, to find every lost sheep, in every Nation, every people group, every language; to carry them into the safety of the One Fold with One Shepherd. 

And may every seat around Your great Table be filled with all the subjects in Your Kingdom; all Your children, all Your friends, all Your guests, from whatever places and realms they will be found; that Your House will be full!

And every knee will bow, every tongue in every language will confess and admit, that Jesus of Nazareth is our Almighty Lord God of the Universe, to the glory of God the Father, in the power of God the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, through all Eternity! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

His Commission To Us

Matthew 28: 18-20

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on Earth.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the Nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the Age.

Acts 1: 8 

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and evern to the remotest part of the Earth.

This has been called The Great Commission, and many think that it only applies to His Apostles and disciples who followed Him then, and pastors and missionaries today. 

But we need to understand that all Christians in every time since then have been His students, His disciples. Every believer is a disciple. And every believer has been given this commission. 

We are all "called." When the Apostles wrote their Epistles, they were letters to all the believers in each location, not just the leaders. (See Romans 1:6; I Corinthians 1:2; Galatians 1:6; Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 3:15; I Thessalonians 2:12; Hebrews 9:15; I Peter 1:15; II Peter 1:3; and I John 3:1, for example.) 

So each one of us is called to faith, called to be His children, called to be Christians. And we are all commissioned to be His witnesses, to testify of our own personal knowledge and experiences in our relationship with Him. 

Each of us needs to be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks us why we are different, or why we respond to something instead of reacting. 

Has Jesus changed your life and attitudes about anything? That's your experience, your testimony. Be ready to share it when called upon. 

O my Father, thank You so much for knowing me and loving me. Thank You for choosing me to be Your own daughter. Thank You for sending Your own Son to be my personal Sacrificial Lamb to take my death and wash me clean by His precious Blood. Thank You for plannng out my life for my good and Your glory. 

Father, You are amazing! You are incredible! You are so much more than I could ever imagine! (And You have given me a really good imagination!) You are my Source of Everything! Source of existence, Source of environment, Source of sustenance, Source of being, Source of every material need in this World. Also Source of every fun and pleasurable thing for me to enjoy. 

O Father, I am looking forward with great anticipation to that Day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is our Lord God, to the glory of God the Father, throughout all eternity.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

My Apology

My Apologies

I must apologize for my rush to pronounce a fact something that may not be. 

I have been taught by highly respected Bible scholars, and I sometimes disagree with them, and I sometimes just swallow whole what they have said, without a lot of personal research to determine if what they said is really True. 

I suppose it is my pride that will do this, thinking that I am somebody when I am a nobody in the World. Only God considers me a V.I.P.--in His family and in His Family Business, His Kingdom. 

So I must confess that I shared that the Mary who was the mother of James and Joseph could be Jesus' own mother, without also showing that she could be another Mary who was the wife of Cleophas and the mother of James the Less and Joseph. 

I've done some research and am impressed that "James the Less" is one of the Twelve Apostles, and is the brother of the Apostle Jude, the son of Alphaeus. 

So "James the Just" would be the brother of Jesus, who didn't believe in Him until after His Resurrection, but who then became the leader of the church at Jerusalem, and who probably wrote the Epistle of James. 

And I'm sorry I didactically proclaimed that the Epistle of Jude was written by the brother of Jesus. I don't know that for a certainty, but I suspect it is so. He calls himself "the brother of James" who is understood as being James the Just, the leader of the Jerusalem church. So if James the Just is the brother of Jesus, then Jude is also the brother of Jesus. But, like I said, there is not total certainty of that.

Please forgive me for my indiscretions and my eagerness to promote my own knowledge, even before I did my own sufficient research. 

I call on all of you, my readers, to not just take what I say as Gospel, but to do your own research to make sure that what I say really is according to Scripture, before you swallow it whole, as I did. 

I am always open to other views on what God is really saying to us, and I appreciate that He is so gracious with me in the weakness of my flesh. 

Thank you for reading my blog, and for your faithfulness if you read it every day. You are free to share it with others, if you think it will help them grow closer to our Father, which is my purpose in sharing. You may freely print out any of my entries to share with your Bible study group or Sunday School class, at your pleasure and discretion. 

You may comment on any page, with questions or comments or to let me know what effect these entries are having on you and your friends. 

And may God receive all the credit and glory for all of our readings and studyings and researchings and seekings and prayers. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Intro To The Church

Acts 1

Doctor Luke was a scientist, so he made very careful research into everything Jesus said and did, interviewing all the people who knew and interacted with Him, in order to make sure that all the stories that were going around were really accurate according to the Truth of what really happened. That's why he wrote the Gospel According to Luke. 

And that is also why he wrote this treatise of The Acts of the Apostles, to continue the story God was folding out, especially since he himself is part of this continuing saga as he travelled with Paul as his doctor (Acts 16:7, they; v. 10, we, when he joined the party).

This first chapter records how Jesus commissioned His disciples to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the Earth. 
And when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up into a cloud that received Him out of their sight.
And while they were still looking earnestly toward Heaven, suddenly two men stood by them in white apparel; 
And said, Why are you men of Galilee standing here gazing up into Heaven? 
This same Jesus, that has been taken from you into Heaven, shall come again in the same way that you saw Him go into Heaven. (Vs. 8-11.)

So here is another promise that Jesus will come back, coming through the clouds to the Mount of Olives, just as He went up into the clouds from the Mount of Olives. (As Zechariah describes in chapter 14.)

Then they walked the Sabbath's day journey, about 3/5ths of a mile, to Jerusalem, to the upper room where Peter and James were staying, and all the other Apostles and disciples were with them, about 120 people in all, including Jesus' mother and His brothers, too. (Vs. 12-14.)

Since the Apostles' number went from 12 to 11 with the abdication of Judas, who had hanged himself in despair; Peter held a vote, and two were appointed to take his place; so they cast lots, probably like dice, and it fell on Matthias to take Judas' place as the 12th Apostle. (Vs. 15-26.)

We never hear any more about Matthias, this is the only place in the whole Bible where his name is mentioned. 

But when Saul of Tarsis has his crisis of faith (Acts 9) and becomes Paul the Evangelist (Acts 13), he considers himself to be the twelfth Apostle (Romans 1:1; I Corinthians 1:1; II Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; I Timothy 1:1; II Timothy 1:1; and Titus 1:1), so maybe Peter was jumping the gun here, in rushing to fill that position. 

O my Father, Your written Word is so rich in knowledge and wisdom and information and depth of understanding! It's like You wrote it in a code that takes Your Holy Spirit in us to decrypt and decypher it. 

Father, please continue to reveal Your Truth to me, so that I will have an accurate understanding of what You are saying to us. Help me to use the words that will convey a clear picture of Your Truth, in whichever facet I am focused on to share. Keep me from any kind of minor or major error in my telling, and use my efforts in Your strength to draw others ever closer to Yourself, to love You and love others as You have Loved us. 

O Father, keep us all firmly in Your Truth; in every story, in every point of doctrine to believe, in every detail of what we need to know. So that we will be confident in Your trustworthyness and bold in our proclamations that we broadcast throughout all the World. 

And we know that Your Word is True and Steadfast, and will remain in effect until everything, every detail, every promise, every prophecy, is fulfilled and finished, exactly as You said it. 

And You will receive all the Glory and Honor and Praise, when every knee will bow and every tongue will admit, in every created realm, that Jesus is our Lord God and Sovereign King, forever and ever throughout all Eternity! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

His Disciples And His Brothers

Matthew 28

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary to see the sepulchure. ...
And the angel answered and said unto the women, ... He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and behold He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him. Now I have told you.

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold Jesus met them ... then said to them, Be not afraid; go tell my brothers that they go into Galilee, and they shall see Me there.

Jesus had made an appointment with His disciples before He died to meet with Him at a specific place and time, after He died, as He knew He would rise again.

The angel told the two Marys to tell the disciples to keep that appointment. Then when Jesus appeared to them on the way, He told them to also tell His brothers to go there, too, and they would see Him there. 

This is not surprising to me, because I think that it is possible that the "other Mary" could be none other than the Lord's own mother, the mother of James and Joseph (Mark 15:40), Jesus' brothers, along with Simon and Jude. (Matthew records His neighbors as complaining about who He thought He was, because they knew His family, The carpenter's son, and His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon, and Jude? (13:55). 

Can you imagine having a big brother who never did anything wrong? How frustrating it would be to constantly bait Him and He never fell for it! 

Jesus wanted His own brothers to believe Him. So He would tell His mother to tell them to come to the meeting also. He wanted to keep His family together. 

And His brother James became the head pastor of the church in Jerusalem. (Paul, in defending his apostleship, says that, Other of the Apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother, Galatians 1:19.) And His brother Jude wrote the Epistle of Jude (V. 1, he calls himself, the brother of James). 

O my Father, You have made Your written Word so clear, in giving understanding through Your Spirit of Truth that lives in us. Thank You for telling us plainly the historical Truth in all the stories You had Your prophets and evangelists to write. Thank You that we don't need to depend on mere oral Tradition, that changes in the telling, like the child's party game of "Telephone." 

It has been said that writing is, "words that stay" (the movie, The Dark Crystal).

Having Your message written down with words on parchment, and the diligence Your Scribes used in transcribing these words, so that they would not disappear, insured that every generation would have access to what we need to learn and know and apply in our daily living. 

And to be able to trust that You have the power and authority to preserve Your written Word, so that no mere man can change or alter it in any way. And You have cursed anyone who would teach someone to add anything to it, or take away any part of it. It is all Your Words, and all important for us to know. 

It all fits together so perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle, like connecting all the dots into a beautiful picture, an exquisite Tapestry of Time. 

Thank You, Father, for allowing us to each have a part in the weaving of Your Tapestry; that our stories are recorded, and will be told throughout all Time and Eternity, to the glory of Your Name. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

His Resurrection Body

John 20

The first day of the week, Mary Magdalen came early, while it was still dark ...

When Jesus rose from the dead, the first person He appeared to was a woman, Mary from Magdala. This is very out-of-the-box, as in that culture a woman's testimony was not considered valid in a court of law. 

So when Mary told the disciples, they had to come see for themselves, and Peter and John ran both together, [John] outran Peter and came to the sepulchure first. And stooping down, looking in, saw the linen wrappings lying there, yet did not go in. 
Then came Simon Peter, following him, and ran into the sepulchure, and saw the linen cloth lying there. 
And the napkin that was over His face, not lying with the wrapping, but folded, and set aside.
For they did not realize that the Scriptures said that He must rise from the dead.

How like Peter, the impulsive one, to run right into the cave before stopping. 

It had to have been strange to see the linin sheet His body had been wrapped in, just lying there, empty. And then seeing the face-napkin, set aside by itself, neatly folded. 

In that day, when the master got up from the meal, the servant would look at the napkin: if it was crumpled beside the plate, that meant that he was finished eating and the dishes could be cleared away; but if it was folded, that meant that he was returning to finish the meal.

So Jesus folded His napkin, because He's coming back!

That same day at evening, the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, Peace be unto you!

Now that afternoon the same day, the disciples are huddled together in a locked room in fear, Jesus just appears there with them. His Resurrection body wasn't hampered by bolts and locks. 

And they were so glad to see Him! What a surprise! But Thomas wasn't with them, and it was just too much for him to take in. 

So eight days later Jesus comes again, and Thomas is there, too. So Jesus speaks directly with Thomas, saying, reach here your finger and see My hands, and reach here your hand, and put it in my side; and be not faithless, but believing. 
And Thomas answered and said, My Lord and my God!
And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen, you believe; blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.

Thomas was called a twin (Didymus), but we call him Doubting Thomas, because he had to see to believe. But they all had to see Him to realize He had risen, to understand the Old Testament prophesies that He had to die and rise again. 

It was incredible that a Man who had been beaten and crucified and pierced and buried could, days later, be alive again! No wonder they had to see. 

But we receive His blessing today for not having seen His Resurrection body personally, but we still believe. 

He showed His Resurrection Life as so far superior to our natural life, passing through a locked door, and just appearing, but still Himself.

So our resurrected bodies will also be ourselves that we know, but so far superior to how we know ourselves now. 

Because He is the First-Fruits of the Resurrection: Every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming (I Corinthians 15:23). Paul wrote this whole chapter laying out the reasonable logic of how we will also be resurrected. 

O my Father, You are Great! You are Good! You are Love! You are Light! You are Life! You are our Source of everything we are and everything we need. You have imagined us, and made us so. In You we live and breathe and move and have our being, in Your imagination. If You were not thinking about me right now, I would not exist. 

O Father, Your plans for me surpass everything I can think of or imagine, far beyond all my high hopes and aspirations. 

You have called me out upon the waters; keep my eyes on You, above the waves! Keep me focused on Your Love, that chases away every fear, and gives me courage to carry on. 

And You are the One who deserves all the glory, all the credit, all the honor, all the praise--for it is all You! All Your idea, Your will being done, Your plans being carried out to completion. And You have granted me a small part in it all! So gracious! 

Who am I that I should be called a daughter of the Great King?

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Himself In All The Scriptures

Luke 24: 27, 32, 45

And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them all the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

And they said to one another, Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

How wonderful it had to have been to have the Lord, Himself, walk with them, explaining all the Scriptures, and show how they all tell one story. Their hearts were burning within them to understand the magnificent ways of God.

Now Jesus has given each of us -- even me -- His own Holy Spirit of Truth to open our minds to understand the Scriptures. And sometimes I almost feel overwhelmed with the enormity and expanse of all the knowledge God has put into His written Word!

Just these 66 Books we have cover Time from before Creation until this Universe has run it's course, and a hint of the next one to come after it.

His unfathomable Love is the engine, the driving force, behind everything He has planned and is doing. And He will never be done! 

Even when this Earth is done and gone along with the World we have built on it, there will be a New Earth with a New Heaven for it to exist in. And after that, some other, then another, and more after that, and again, and again, forever and ever! Wow! With every Universe different from every other before and after it. Our God loves a variety! And He is infinitely creative.

And at every step, at every sunrise, and at every sunset, His Name is praised! Because it is all His: His idea, His Plan, His power, His authority, and His work. No one else anywhere at any Time can call Him to account or question anything He has done. He is God, there is no other. 

And we are all accountable to Him. He made us, He owns us, He rules over us and determines our days. And He has told us and shown us everything we need to know and do to live, to prosper, and to please Him. He will even reward us for doing what He empowers us to do, because of His unexplainable Love. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

"Lost" Verses?

Mark 16

This is the last chapter in the Gospel according to Mark. More than half of this chapter is not in two of the "most trustworthy" manuscripts, although they do appear in many other writings. 

If they are not genuinely part of what Mark wrote (which I believe they are), then the abrupt ending with verse 8 would suggest that the "original" closing verses were "lost." 

But Jesus said that none of His Word would be "lost," but will continue until all is finished. 

Both Matthew (5:18) and Luke (16:17) tell us that Jesus declared that not even the tiniest stroke of the pen of the Scriptures would pass away. So how could Mark's ending verses not be what has survived in our Bible today? 

It upsets me that respected Bible scholars are teaching that certain verses are not to be trusted. This undermines confidence in God's Word. 

I trust every word, every sentence, every story, every chapter, as my Father's love-letter to me. I know not to base any "doctrine" on any one passage, anywhere in Scripture, because I know how to find confirmation elsewhere in the tome. The Bible interprets itself. It's all one story, and one part clarifies and explains another. All the dots will connect, and one Day we will see the whole picture. 

Until that Day, I will continue to revel in the magnificence of how everything fits together, even events that seem to have no relevance to one another. 

God is working His Plan, and He has told us what to expect, as He always has throughout Man's time on this Earth. He says what He means, and He means what He has said. Those who are wise will see the path, and will reap the benefits of the harvest, in every time and era. 

And God will receive all the glory. Those who are wise will rejoice with Him, and those who are foolish will regret their foolishness forever. And those who have the knowledge, but lead others astray, will be required to give account.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Torn Veil

Matthew 27: 51

And behold, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom ...

God reached down from Heaven and took hold at the top of that veil that stood between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, and ripped it apart. 

The Holy Place was where only the priests could go, and only to do their priestly duties. The Most Holy Place was where the Presence of the Lord God would dwell upon the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim, where only the High Priest could enter, and only once a year with the blood of the sacrifice of atonement. 

No one else could ever enter these holy places, as it was too close to where God sat, and was too dangerous. He had specially protected the priests and Levites to be able to approach Him, but others would suffer adverse physical affects. 

Our God is dangerous. We must fear Him with a tremendous respect for His power and authority.

But when Jesus, the Lamb of God, died as our atoning Sacrifice, His Blood splattered on the sides and poured out at the foot of His altar, the Cross; He opened the way for all of us to approach God, and we need no more priests or Levites or ceremonies. 

God is still just as dangerous to be too near to as He has always been on our own, but Jesus is now our Mediator, who opened the way to Him. Only in Christ can we boldly and confidently approach His Throne. 

O my Father, thank You for loving us with such an unconditional Love, to have Your own Son to become one of us, so He could be our personal Sacrifice, to cleanse us white as snow, perfectly clean, and fit to live with You forever where You live, in Heaven and in the New Heaven and New Earth. 

Father, You have made us, knowing how we would rebel against You, and You went ahead and did it anyway. I may never understand why You would go through so much for me, but I know You did. Thank You.

O Father, I so appreciate being able to curl up in Your lap, wrapped in Your arms around me! Please continue to help me: strengthen me, calm my fears, make me bold in seeking Your ways in all that I do. Keep my hand in Yours as I step out onto the waves of uncertainty in this path Your are leading me in--keep my eyes above the turmoil and the unknowns. Lead me on and grant me good success in promoting Your Kingdom, my Lord. 

And may the crown I cast at Your feet be laden with many valuable and precious jewels to adorn Your beautiful Head! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Resurrection Day

John 11: 25-26

Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Today is Resurrection Day. Easter. The day we remember the very basis of our faith. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, there would be no Christianity at all. 

Jesus was telling Martha Who He was and what He would accomplish on our behalf. Martha did believe, but her understanding was not complete. She knew that her brother Lazarus would be resurrected in that Day the prophets foretold; but, until it happened, she didn't know that Jesus would die and come back to life again in just a few days. 

Today we have the advantage of looking back to know that this did actually happen, and our faith is more complete than hers was then.

Because Jesus conquered death by rising in victory over it with Resurrection Life, now we know that we, too, will rise with that same Resurrection Life that He gives all who have died with Him in allowing Him to die in our place, individually, on the Cross. That is what is meant when people say He is their "personal Savior." 

He fulfilled that first sacrifice given at the beginning of the Book of Leviticus, the personal, individual offering. Just as that animal took the person's place in death on the altar, and its blood was splattered on the sides of the altar to cover his sins; so Jesus as the Lamb of God individually took each of our place in death, His Precious Blood splattering on the sides of His altar the Cross, to not just cover but wash away all the sin.

And to prove that God accepted His Sacrifice on our behalf, God raised Him from the dead. There is more historical evidence of His Resurrection than there is for the existence of Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte. It is a Truth we can confidently believe.

And if He had not risen from the dead, Peter would have gone back to fishing and there would have been no New Testament at all.

We would still be waiting for the Messiah, depending on animals' blood to gain forgiveness.

Thank God He sent His only Son to be our Savior! Thank God for His incredible Love for us, that He was willing to sacrifice Him in our place, so that He could give us His amazing Grace and Mercy. Thank God that Jesus was willing to go ahead and do it, and submit His will to the Father's. 

O my Father, thank You so much! O my Lord Jesus, my King, my Bridegroom, thank You so much! O Holy Spirit, my Companion and Teacher and Strength, thank You! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Epochal Saturday

Holy Saturday, the "forgotten day," the day of waiting between the completed work of Salvation, the Crucifixion, on Friday; and the Day of Resurrection, the Final Victory over Death and the Grave. 

(To see what Jesus was doing while His body lay buried, see my blog entry of April 15, 2017, "What Was Jesus Doing?")

 So this Age, the "Church Age," the gap in the Prophesies, the "Valley between the Mountaintops of Prophesy," is the epochal Saturday between Friday past and Sunday to come. 

Will Jesus really return to this Earth to rule? He said He would. It's been over two thousand years since He ascended back to Heaven with the Promise to come back. So that Day is closer now than it ever has been before. 

I am waiting, eagerly anticipating that Glorious Appearing that has been so long in coming. 

I see God moving in hearts, moving in the decisions of kings and presidents, and in Nations. He is moving everyone and everything into perfect place for the events of the last of the Last Days of the End Times, to transpire exactly as He told us in Ezekiel and Daniel and the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John. 

So just a few more days (years?) and Christ will return!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Good Friday

Luke 23: 46

And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit. And having said this, He breathed His last.

Jesus quoted Psalm 31:5, written by David so long ago. 

To think that God planned all this in His Triune Councils before He even created, and He made us, anyway! 

God's ways are so far above our ways. His Love for us, for me, is the reason Jesus agreed to this course, knowing how frail and sinful and rebellious we are. 

Yet the Father still sent His Son; Jesus did come; He showed us what God is like, Who He is; then willingly laid down His life as the Sacrificial Lamb, to actually take away our sins! 

To free us from the bondage of sinful addictions and bad habits; to cleanse us and mold and shape us into the very image of His Son, as He originally intended at our Creation. 

And the worst thing that ever happened in the whole history of Time--the killing of God by His creature--God intended for the greatest good we could ever imagine, to the glory of His Name!

And His Resurrection is our proof of the Truth and efficacy of His death accepted by the Father.

O my Father, Thank You!

It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Humility And Boldness

Matthew 26: 59-64 

At Jesus' trials. 

Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put Him to death.
They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward, and said, This man stated, I am able to destroy the Temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. 
The High Priest stood up and said to Him, Do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?
But Jesus kept silent.
And the High Priest said to Him, I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God!
Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of Heaven. 

27: 1-2, 11-14

Now when morning came, ... they delivered Him to Pilate the governor.
Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, Are You the King of the Jews?
And Jesus said to Him, It is as you say. 
And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.
Then Pilate said to Him, Do you not hear how many things they testify against You? 
And He did not answer him with regard to a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.

Jesus never said one word in His own defense. He remained silent through all the accusations. They were not worth comment. As Isaiah 53:7 says, As a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. 

But when asked directly of His identity, He did testify to the Truth. When the High Priest asked Him if He really was God's Son, the Messiah, He answered with Psalm 101:1.

And when Pilate asked Him if He was a King, He admits it, and John gives us more of Jesus' answer to him. In John 18:36-37 He says, 

My Kingdom is not of this World. If My Kingdom were of this World, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jewish leaders. But now is My Kingdom not from here. 

 Therefore Pilate said to him, So You are a King? Jesus answered, You say correctly that I am a King. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the World, to testify to the Truth. Everyone who is of the Truth hears my voice.

Here's where Pilate asks rhetorically, "What is Truth?" because he didn't expect any answer. 

Jesus had no need to argue with His accusers, so He just kept quiet. This infuriated them, so when He admitted to them who He is, they lost it and dragged Him over to the Roman authority who could authorize His death. 

Then even Pilate was amazed that He wouldn't even try to defend Himself. 

I need to remember this when I get defensive; to just keep my mouth shut, like He did. It never improves the situation to argue. 

But when Pilate asked of His identity, He also admitted to him the reality of His Kingdom not being a part of this World system at all. 

The god of this World is our enemy, who has blinded the minds of the lost so that they cannot perceive the Light of the Gospel of Christ (II Corinthians 4:3-4). So the Kingdom of God can have nothing to do with the kingdom of Satan. That's why Jesus answered Pilate the way He did. 

When He returns to this Earth, He will completely destroy everything pertaining to this demonic kingdom of the World, and establish His Kingdom in righteousness and judgment. 

Before He does that, He had to do the work of making us fit to take part in it. He first had to suffer and die. There's no other way to make us perfect and able to live with Him where He lives. 

Next week we will remember His Passion, the passionate Love He showed us. And then we will celebrate Easter, the Resurrection Day! After the sorrow, we will rejoice. 

After all the sorrow of this World, we will rejoice in the marvelous Kingdom of our Savior and Redeemer and King and Lord, and our Bridegroom. 

He really does Love us passionately, as a newlywed groom is enamoured with his new bride, as He has called us His Bride. And the newness of the Honeymoon Period will last forever! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Betrayal

Luke 22: 1-6

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called The Passover, was approaching. 
The Chief Priests and the Scribes were looking for ways they might put Him to death, because they were aftraid of the people.
And Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the Twelve.
And he went away and discussed with the Chief Priests and officers how he might betray Him to them.
They were glad and agreed to give him money.
So he consented, and began to seek a good opportunity to betray Him away from the crowd.

The Jewish leaders were really fuming at how Jesus was becoming more popular with His miracles and teaching the people, and doing all the things the Messiah, the King of Israel would be doing. They envied Him and hated Him so much that they wanted to murder Him, but were afraid that the people would riot if they tried anything. 

Then when Judas approached them, this was their opportunity. He was an insider, who could turn Him over to them secretly, away from the crowds. So they negotiated and agreed to pay him the price of a slave, thirty pieces of silver (Exodus 21:32). 

That's when Judas started to look for the right time and place to give Him up to the Jewish leaders. 

(For a summary of the events of His last week, look at my blog entry, "From Supper To The Garden" on October 9, 2016.) 

Jesus knew that Judas was planning to betray Him, and He even told Him the right time to do it, during the Supper when He told him, What you are doing, do it now, quickly (John 13:27), as soon as He gave him the morsel of food. 

The other disciples didn't know what He was telling him to do, but he left them then, and wasn't with them when He made the appointment to meet with them in Galilee after He was risen (Matthew 26:32 and Mark 14:28), and for all the teaching He would give them on their way to the Garden (John 13:31-16:33), and His High Priestly Prayer (chapter 17).  

Then He went into the Garden, and was arrested there. In that private, protected space where He liked to go to pray. That only an insider would know about. 

O my Father, Jesus must have suffered so greatly with His betrayal by His friend, and the prospect of having to carry sin that was so repulsive to Him, and be separated from You, Father, for the first and only time in all Time, from Eternity Past though to Eternity Future. That must have wrenched His tender heart!

O Father, break our hearts for what breaks Yours! Draw us close into Your embrace; and strengthen us for the extreme hatred of the enemy against us because we are Yours. 

And help us to remember that Sunday is coming! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Just Know

Luke 20: 9- 21: 38

Jesus is spending this last week teaching the people in the Temple.

Chapter 20 has Him sparring with the Chief Priests and Scribes and Saducees, and Chapter 21 is on Last Things we are to expect before the Kingdom comes. 

21: 10-15

Then He said to them, Nation shall rise up against Nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall be in the Heavens.

But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My Name's sake. 

And it will give you opportunity for your testimony. Settle it, therefore, in your hearts not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. 

So before the wars and skirmishes, before the great earthquakes and plagues and famines, before the terrors and great signs in the Heavens; we should expect persecution. 

We need to prepare ourselves now for what He says is coming, and is here already, so we'll not need to be concerned about the speeches we'll be compelled to give when we're called before kings and presidents to testify. The Truth is all we'll need. 

So we need to be solidly grounded in the Truth before we're dragged away. And we don't know when that will be, it will be before all the signs given: any time!

If you have been following along with me on this blog, and taking to heart what I've been sharing, then you will have a firm grasp of God's character, His authority, and His Plan. And you will be able to trust His Holy Spirit in you to give you the words you'll need when you are the one they're hauling into court for what you believe. 

O my Father, Thank You for Your written Word, and for Your Spirit in us to give us understanding of what You are telling us, and to apply Your lessons to our lives every day. Father, draw us ever closer to Yourself, building into each of us Your sterling character, as demonstrated by Your Son Jesus. 

Thank You so much, Father, for showing me how to connect so many dots, to understand how this whole library of 66 books all tell one story: of all You have done to show us Yourself and who we are, and what You have done for us; how much You have loved us; and You made us to live with You, as Your favorites! 

O Father, You will receive all the glory, all the honor, all the credit and blessing and riches; because You alone deserve it all!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Sparring With Adversaries

Luke 19: 45-48

And He entered the Temple and began to drive out those who were selling, saying to them, It is written, My House shall be a House of Prayer (Isaiah 56:7), but you have made it a robbers' den.
And He was teaching every day in the Temple; but the chief priests and the scribes and the Jewish leaders were trying to destroy Him, 
But they could not find anything that they could do against Him, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said. 

This is the second time Jesus threw out all the dishonest businessmen from the Temple. And with having raised Lazarus from the dead and then His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, the Jewish leaders were doing their best to try to take Him down any way they could, but they had to be careful, because all the common people were believing in Him; and they wanted to maintain their control. 

So one day (Luke 20:1-8) when He was teaching in the Temple, the Jewish leaders, confronted Him, and they asked Him where did He get the authority to teach and do all these things--who gave Him all this ability?

And Jesus answered them with a question: Was the baptism of John from Heaven or from men? 

He knew they couldn't answer that, because they didn't believe him, but the people did. 

So they said, they didn't know!

Because they refused to answer, He did, too; He knew they wouldn't believe Him, anyway. 

This was His last week to teach and share God's ways with the people He loved, and He wasn't going to take any guff from them. But He maintained courtesy and wouldn't put them down; He let them do it to themselves. 

O my Father, please help me remember Jesus' perfect gentlemanliness in sparring with His adversaries. Keep me aware of Your presence and power to control my own tone of voice and words when adversaries confront me. Help me to always be Your lady with respect for myself and others, and let the base abase themselves. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Palm Sunday

John 12: 12-44 

Palm Sunday

On the next day (the day after Mary annoints His feet with the costly ointment of spikenard, for His burial) the large crowd that had come to the Feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 
Took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! (Psalm 118:26). 
Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. (Zechariah 9:9). 

This was a very dramatic, almost theatrical, entrance to the city of Jerusalem, by the King of Israel, as the people understood, which is why they proclaimed Him so! 

When some Pharisees who were there heard them, they complained, as Luke tells us, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. But Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent, the very stones will cry out! (19:39-40). 

And as He approached the city gate, He saw the city and wept over it (Luke 19:41), because He saw how the Romans will come in in A.D. 70 and raze the whole city to the ground, not leaving one stone upon another (19:42-44). 

And all the people who had witnessed His raising Lazarus from the dead were telling everyone else all about what Jesus had done (John 12:17-18). 

This was the last straw for the Jewish leaders. They didn't want Him to upset their little apple cart, they wanted to maintain their status quo; because their conquerers, the Romans, let them have their little fiefdom, and they liked lording their authority over the people. 

If Jesus pressed His authority to be King over Israel, then the Romans would come down on them hard, take away all their authority, and destroy the city. Which is what happened, anyway, a few years later. 

So all their scheming only bought them a little time. And the Gospel of the Kingdom got its start to spread over the whole World. God's Plan will not be thwarted by any mere men. 

Palm Sunday starts Holy Week. We remember this week, all the sorrow and pain and suffering our Savior came to endure on our behalf. This week shows us how much God really Loves us. 

John considered himself the "one Jesus loved." He is the one who was most conscious of how much God loves all of us, and he wrote that, This is what Love is: not that we loved God, but that He Loved us first, and sent His own Son to be the propitiation [the complete satisfaction] for our sins (I John 4:10), and that Jesus said, Greater Love has no one than this, that one lay down His life for His friends. You are My friends ... (John 15:13-14). 

O my Father, as we consider the things that happened in history this week, that changed the course of the whole World; help us to be aware of Your great Love werewith You have Loved us! 

Show us Your ways, that we will want to cooperate with You in how You designed the Universe to operate: to love You back, and to love others as You have Loved us. And to do all the things in obedience to Your rules of living, so that all our thoughts and attitudes and words and deeds would bring glory and honor to You, and show the World that You have sent Your Son to rescue them. 

And we look for His return to rule in total Righteousness and Justice and blessings.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

With Him Where He Is

John 17: 24

As our High Priest, this chapter records Jesus' High Priestly prayer. 

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have give Me, be with Me where I am ...

Jesus came to this Earth as a Man to with us where we are, here. Now He wants us to be with Him where He is. This is why He came. 

Heaven where God lives is Perfect. If He could let anything live there that has the least shadow of a stain of sin, then eventually it would get as bad as it is here. That's why He sent His Son. 

So we need to be perfect to live with God in Heaven. The only way we can be perfect is to let the Blood of Christ splashed on His altar, the Cross, to wash us clean, pristine, as though we'd never sinned. To do that, He must be our personal Sacrifice, individually; to let Him take our place in death. Then He will give us Life. 

He will wash us clean, and place His own Holy Spirit in our spirit to make it alive, as the deposit on the eventual Redemption that is now paid for. That Redemption will change our corporeal bodies into spiritual bodies, and we will be perfect, inside and out. (See I Corinthians 15:35-58.)

Then we will be fit to live with Him everywhere He is; in Heaven, on this Earth while He reigns, and in the New Heaven and New Earth where we'll reign with Him forever. This is just incredible to me!

O my Father, Your Love for me and for all of Your Creation has had You send Your own Son to be our Savior and Redeemer. So that Your own Blood, the Blood of God, was shed to purchase us and all You have made, to make us new; the old is passed away and all things have become new! 

You are God, and everything You do is with a purpose. Nothing You do is vanity, it is all good and is part of Your great Plan of the Ages, that You planned out before You even started to create. You had us all in mind from the beginning, and You are sovereign in Your authority over us all. There is nothing I can do to have You love me less, or more. You are Love, our standard for recognizing what is love. You are Beauty, and You have put Your beauty everywhere, in everything and in everyone You made. 

Father, teach me to worship You every day with everything I do. I don't want to wait until I am in Your presence to continually worship; You are here with me all the time already. Keep me focused on Your goodness and beauty all around me, giving You all the credit and honor and glory for it all.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Last Times Signals

Matthew 24

... As He was sitting on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, (#1) when will these things happen, (#2) and what will be the sign of Your coming, (#3) and of the end of the Age? 

These are three distinct questions they asked Him, and He launches into His "Olivet discourse" of the future. 

All of the signs Jesus said to observe are present in the World today: 

• Various and sundry "Messiahs" who gather devoted followers;
• News of wars and rumors of wars;
• Nation against Nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 
• Famines and Earthquakes;

But all these are only the beginning, the early contractions before heavy labor sets in. Then:

• Christians being betrayed, tortured, and killed;
• And hated, being called hateful by all Nations;
• False prophets rising up to gather followers;
• Lawlessness increased to where people grow cold to violence;

But the one who remains faithful and hangs on, he will be rewarded. 

All these signs have been part of our societies and cultures, but there's only one more sign to be fulfilled: 

This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole World as a testimony to all the Nations,
And then the End shall come. 

The Good News of God's Love for us all will be shared with every creature, in all the Nations, to those of every people group and each spoken language. 

Meanwhile, we are to expect to see the Abomination of Desolation that Daniel wrote about, the "man of sin," setting humself up as a god to be worshipped; and we are not to resist, but to run away, not turning back for anything. That's when the really harsh hard times will come, and it's a good thing that God the Father has cut that time short, to only three and a half years, or there wouldn't be any survivors at all. 

So anyone who tries to tell you that Jesus has returned secretly is misinformed. There will be "holy men" who do miracles and wonders, and they will draw away many followers. But Jesus has told us ahead of time, so we will be on the lookout for these deceptions. So don't go with them even to just check them out, because they will be very seductive to trap even God's own people, if possible. So be fore-warned. 

Know that when Jesus really does come, everybody will see Him, all over the World; there will be no mistaking His power and majesty and authority. 

That's when the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars in the sky will be doing strange things, things they've never done before. It will be a Day like no other day that ever was, a Day unto itself (Zechariah 14:7). 

That's when He shall burst through the clouds, His feet shall come down on that Mount of Olives, and it will split apart, making a great valley for the people of Jerusalem to escape through, away from all the Nations of the World trying to push them into the Mediterranean Sea. Their battle against the Israelis will shift to be fighting against Christ, Himself; and the Battle of Armegeddon will take place. 

Then Jesus tells His disciples to, learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near; so too, when you see all these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, that this generation (those who are living through all these signs) will not pass away until all these things take place.
Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away.

So He's saying that the generation of people who are alive when all these things are happening will live to see the End! Will see His Glorious Appearing! 

Although no one can predict the day and hour when this will happen, we who know what He said to look for and are aware of what is going on in the World around us should be able to expect Him in the year and even the season that all the signs point to. 

Daniel wrote a pretty precise time-line in the prophesies God gave him. 

We have today a society of people who are eating and drinking, partying; and marrying and having weddings, planning for the future; just like they were doing when Noah entered the Ark and the flood took them away. 

So will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken (in judgment) and the other left (to enter the Kingdom). 
Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 

Those of the World who aren't in the armies will be living their lives as though life will go on forever, just like it always has. 

So we must keep our eyes open to what is happening, fulfilling everything He said, today. 

And recognizing that, as soon as the last sheep is found, the last person to understand what God offers and reject it; then that last trumpet will sound, and resound across the Earth, heralding the coming of our King. 

And every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus is our Lord and Christ, to the glory of God the Father!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!