But We See Jesus

Hebrews 2: 9-18

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the Angels in order that He would suffer death, then be crowned with glory and honor, so that He might taste death for every one. 

Jesus is our example, our model. He was made like us, a little lower than the Angels for a little while, so that He could suffer our death for us to Redeem us. Then He was crowned with glory and honor. 

This is the order that must be followed. Suffering first, then exaltation.  

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Author of their Salvation perfect through sufferings. 

Jesus is the Creator, who made us for Himself, and through Him God has revealed what He is like. He had to become like us, so that He would be able to suffer and die, in order to be made perfect; so that He could regenerate many people to be His brothers and sisters. 

For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which He is not ashamed to call them His brothers,

God the Father is the Father of our Lord Jesus, and when we are born into His family He also becomes our Father. So Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters.

saying,

I will proclaim Your Name to my brothers, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise (Psalm 22:22).

 Jesus will proclaim the Name of God to us, His brothers and sisters, and in the congregation of saints and Angels He will sing the Father's praise. 

And again,

I will put my trust in Him (Psalm 18:2; Isaiah 12:2).

Jesus knows He can trust the Father implicitly, and we can trust Jesus implicitly, with no reservation or hesitation.

And again,

Behold, I and the children whom God has given to me (Isaiah 8:18).

The Lord God told Isaiah that we would be His children, His family members.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, 

Since we human beings, who are born into God's family as His children, are flesh and subject to death, so when the Son came to be our Savior, He also took upon Himself the same flesh and blood life that we have, being born of a human woman, Mary. So He would also be able to die.

that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 

Jesus went through death in order to conquer death, and win the victory over the devil, who has the authority, the power, over death. So death has been conquered, but it has not yet been destroyed. It will be the last enemy to be destroyed (I Corinthians 15:26).

And might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 

The fear of death is a primal fear that spurs us on to try to avoid it or deny it or ignore it. But as long as we're afraid to die, we are in the bondage of slavery to that fear. Jesus has conquered the god of death, the devil, and broken that stranglehold of fear that was on all of us. When we know that He took our death for us on the Cross, then we don't have to be afraid to die any more. Then we know that we are God's family, and He will take us into a Paradise or Heaven when this mortal life is finished. Nothing to fear there. His perfect Love dispels all the fear that used to scare us (I John 4:18).

For assuredly He did not take take upon Himself the nature of Angels, but He took on Himself the seed of Abraham. 

When Jesus was born as Mary's Son, He had made sure that the bloodline was true. We have Mary's ancestral line all the way back to King David through his son Nathan, Solomon's brother. And David was twelve generations from Abraham. 

And Mary's husband Joseph traced his line back to David, also, through Solomon and all the other kings of Judah, through the royal line. 

But the last king of Judah, Jehoiakim, was so evil that God had Jeremiah pronounce that he would never have any blood descendants to sit on the throne of David (Jeremiah 36:30), so Joseph could not have been king. 

However, Joseph was the legal father of Jesus, so Jesus had the blood-line through His mother, from whom He received the human nature, and was the legal Son of Joseph, of the royal line of kings of Judah.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 

So Jesus had to have a genuine human nature, to be able to die the human death that we all deserve, in order to be the Sacrifice to take away our sins as the Lamb of God (the Personal Sacrifice, Leviticus 1:1-13). Propitiation means the complete satisfaction, He paid the full price of the debt we owe for sin. 

The High Priest brought the blood of the sacrifice into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled it on the Ark of the Covenant on the Day of Atonement, the most solemn of the six Feasts the Israelites were to celebrate each year (Leviticus 16:2-34).

So Jesus, as our High Priest, took His own precious Blood into the Heavenly Temple and sprinkled it on the Holiest of Holies itself.

For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. 

Jesus faced tremendous temptations. In His flesh, He was just as vulnerable to temptation as all the rest of us are. The difference is, He never sinned. I have found several places in the Gospels where Jesus was tempted so strongly that He responded passionately in response, in forcibly rejecting the temptation. 

So He knows how hard it is for us, too, and He is fully able to help us through even the strongest temptations we also face. 

O my Father, thank You so much for sending Your own Son to us. Thank You that He lived His life here as our example, to model our lives after. We all don't live the itinerant preacher life-style, but He did show us what our attitudes need to be toward whatever circumstance we face. 

We can learn from Him how our thinking processes need to flow around every situation that comes up. Then our attitudes will align with His, and what we say and do will proceed from those right thinking and attitudes. And we will promote Your righteousness and Your Kingdom here in this World right now against the evil our enemy is surrounding us with. 

O Father, You are so good to us. To every one of us, showering Your blessings upon each one of us every day. Father, remind Your children that You are Loving us every day. Open our eyes to see and recognize Your blessings each day, to praise Your graciousness and goodness and compassion that You lavish on us every day.

And Your Name will be praised, and Your character will be admired, and Your Person will be worshiped and adored. 

And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Christ and Messiah, the Lord God Almighty, our Sovereign King; to the glory of God the Father. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus Made Lower, Then Crowned

Hebrews 2: 5-9

For He did not subject to Angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. 

God did not give Angels authority over this World we live in, or over the New Heaven and New Earth that will come.

But one has testified somewhere (in Psalm 8:4),

What is Man, that You remember him? Or the son of Man, that You are concerned about him?

You made him for a little while lower than the Angels; 

You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; 

You have put all things in subjection under his feet. 

God has noticed us. God has considered Mankind and chosen to Love him, each one of us. 

He created us to spend a little while lower, or inferior to, the Angels, while we live on this Earth now; but we will have the authority over all Creation to rule and govern, including the Angels.

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. 

So God's Plan is to have us to be His kings and queens, exercising authority and rule over all the created Universe. But we're not there yet. We don't have control over the whole World, even though some people think we do. 

We have great power to work together and accomplish anything we can imagine, but we are still little children in school while we live our lives here now. We're only learning and practicing for when we will take our thrones.

But we see Jesus ... 

Our right and authority to rule is under the headship of our Lord and King, Christ Jesus. We will sit on His throne with Him, as He sits on the Father's throne and rules with Him. 

O my Father, thank You for sending Your only-begotten Son to be our Lord God Almighty. Thank You for giving us Your Law and for telling your Prophets what to write. Thank You that our Lord was willing to come to be with us for a little while, to make us fit to live with You and rule over the works of Your hands. 

Father, Your great Plan of the Ages has been unfolding before our eyes here on Your Earth, in this World we have built on it. You have given us to be able to accomplish so much here that some think that we are gods, and have become puffed up with pride. 

But You are teaching us that the rulers that are fit to govern are those who have learned humility and kindness and compassion. 

You have given us Christ Jesus to be our example, and You are molding us and making our characters like His. He humbled Himself for our benefit, and we are to humble ourselves for others' benefit, also. 

O Father, continue to work in us, and on us, and with us, and through us, to benefit one another; as You have shown us. And when we are able to succeed in our humility and obedience and compassion, then You will get the credit, the glory, because we cannot do any of this in our flesh, of ourselves. 

We must have the power of Your Holy Spirit in us to do any of it at all. That's why You have given Him to us to live in us.  

Father, everything You do is perfect and beautiful and lovely. Everything You want to do for us is for our benefit. 

My Daddy, my Father, please use me to find Your precious little lambs who are still lost in thickets and on mountain crags. Use me to haul them out of the pits they have fallen into, and to carry them wounded back to the safety and nurturing of Your fold. Gather all of Your sheep, Father, that there will be One Fold with One Shepherd. 

And Your House will be full. And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord God Almighty over us all, to the glory of God the Father who planned it so.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Today!

Hebrews 3: 7-8, 12-16

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me.

Here he's talking about when Moses led the people out of Egypt, and for forty years they wandered in the Wilderness because they refused to take Him seriously and kept complaining.
 
Take care, brothers, that there not be in anyone of you an evil heart of unbelief that falls away from the living God. 

He says that a heart that turns away from God because they don't believe Him is evil. This is a strong word. 

We like to see the variations of grey, but God sees good-and-evil in monochrome, white and black. What is good pleases Him and what is not good is evil, with no shades of grey. 

But encourage one another day by day, while it is still called "Today," 

We are to be positive, in encouraging each other whenever we have the opportunity, while it is still "Today." Don't put it off until tomorrow. 

so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

"Sin" is an archery term that refers to "missing the bulls-eye," and it refers to missing the mark of what God intends for us to understand. 

When we try to reason it out in our own minds, we tend to go by our feelings. This gets us in trouble, because our own hearts, our feelings, are not reliable to be true. 

I can feel bad when my child disobeys me, and these feelings could cause me to excuse the bad behavior and spoil the child. But my love for my children prompted me to discipline them to teach them to do right. Discipline is redemptive, and looks ahead, while punishment looks back. 

God's discipline of us always wants us to learn to trust Him and take Him seriously; to do what is right for the betterment of us all.

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 

Our assurance here is being sure that God is worthy of our trust and will do what He said He will do.  

While it is said,

Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.

Today is the only time we really have. Yesterday is gone, and Tomorrow may never come. Today, right now, is when we must decide if we will trust God or not. If we will trust Him implicitly, without reservation. If there's any doubt at all, then face it and decide to believe anyway. 

When Billy Graham was a young man, he didn't feel that he could trust everything in the Bible to really be true. He wrestled with this doubt, and finally while he was in a wooded area praying, he set his Bible on a stump and declared to God that he would believe every word, every story, every lesson in it. He settled it in his own mind, and that was the beginning of his ministry of preaching. 

If you have any doubts, please get them settled in your own mind; decide you will believe God, no matter what the World says. The mind must lead the heart, and when the decision is made, then the feelings will come along, too. 

For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?  

Now the writer goes back to the children of Israel in the Desert. By seeing the power of God against the Egyptians, and the parting of the Red Sea, and the quails and the manna, God intended for them to trust that He would meet all their needs if they would only rely on Him, not themselves, and not even Moses. 

Moses trusted God because he knew God and respected His power and authority. 

By refusing to believe God, the people were "poking Him in the eye!" After all the miracles and good things He did for them and gave them, they still wouldn't trust Him. So they all died while they were still in the Wilderness, and none of them lived to enter into the Promised Land except for Caleb and Joshua. Two men out of six hundred thousand. Not very good odds. 

God doesn't depend on "odds," though. He is ready to rescue and redeem every person who wants to come to Him, regardless of their "Yesterdays." 

Today is a brand-new Day! Today is when I can do something. Today is when I can decide to trust God and believe what He says, and let Him guide me every step I take today. 

O my Father, thank You for giving me Today! Thank You for giving me every moment that I can be alive. Thank You so much for revealing Yourself to me, and for carrying me through all these decades of time, prompting me to trust You at every turn. 

Thank You for being such a great, trustworthy, Truthful God! Thank You for Your great patience with us, knowing how weak our flesh is. Thank You for calling Your sheep to faith, drawing us into Your Fold. 

Thank You for sending Your Son to fulfill what He said to the Prophets and in the Law so that we can know He is Who He said He is. 

Thank You for all the proofs You have given us. Father, I pray for all Your little lambs who are still lost, to find their way; send Your under-shepherds to find them and lead them back to the Fold. 

Send Your workers out into the fields so white for harvest. Protect them as they do Your work of sharing Your Good News of Redemption to gather all of Your children into the safety and protection of Your Church. 

And may all the goats in sheep's clothing be revealed for who they are; protect Your children in Your Truth, that they not be led into the deception of doubt or explaining away the Truth of your written Word. 

Help us, Father, to not trust our own feelings or reasonings, but to trust You in what You have told us. Mold our minds to think Your thoughts, to form Your attitudes, and to accept Your gifts and blessings. And prosper us, Father, to be able to share with one another to meet physical needs as well as emotional and spiritual needs. 

Draw all Your children together, Father, and may Your House be full! May every place at Your Banquet Table be filled, and Your Joy be shared all around! 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim in every language, that Jesus is Christ and Messiah, our Lord God Almighty, to the glory of God the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 




 

In God's Eyes

Exodus 15:26

Then God said, "If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, Who heals you."

Here I am focusing on, "do what is right in His eyes." We are to formulate our days and value our own lives by God, what He says about us, what we are to do, how we are to think; not any other human being. When we consider our worth by another person, that is called co-dependence, which is dysfunctional. We each stand before our Master, not before one another. We are not to put another human being above us as the determiner of our worth--that's God's place. 

I don't know how many times I've read in the Bible that we are to "be careful," "listen carefully." "pay attention." To really listen to what God says takes a concerted effort. I can't just read carelessly and expect to absorb God's ways by osmosis; I have to narrow my focus onto what God is actually saying to me. I need to remember what I read and think about it as I go about my day. I need to slow down and really ponder what it means, and how I am to incorporate it into my thinking and my attitudes. I need to constantly muse on how all the principles fit together into a comprehensive program that affects all of my life. 

This is what all the laws, rules, commandments, regulations and decrees were to teach the Hebrews. This whole Law was to direct God's people into living their lives God's way. Then God would bless them with great worldly prosperity and healthy relationships with one another, and they would enjoy exceptional physical health, also. And other Nations would see, and they want to worship the Lord God, also, instead.

Today we can read all these pages and discern the basic principles that underlie the laws. Jesus fulfilled all the letter of these laws; now He has written these principles on our hearts, to understand why He had the Israelis do the things they were to do. So we are to "obey" at a much deeper level: we can align our thinking and attitudes with the ideas behind the statutes, and not just consider our actions. Actions are the final result of what we have already thought about, considered and decided. 

People look at the outward, what we do. But God looks into our hearts and souls, to see our inward motivations and reasons for why we do what we do, and He is the One to Whom we will give account.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

How Will We Escape?

Hebrews 2: 2-4 

For if the Word spoken through Angels proved unalterable, 

This Word is all the instructions and directions and pronouncements of all the Angels that appeared to men and women, even the Angel of the Lord. 

and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, 

Anyone who disobeyed any of these rules suffered the consequences. 

how will we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation? 

What kind of excuse would we be able to give, to turn away from the Words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and not expect to encounter even greater consequences?  

After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 

Since Jesus taught the Truth of His death and Resurrection, then went through these events; then those who walked with Him were filled with the Spirit and preached powerfully the same Truth Jesus had taught.  

God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles 

God confirmed the Truth of what the disciples were teaching by having them perform miracles of healing and other signs and wonders that could not be humanly done, only by God's power. 

and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.

God also gave members of His Church spiritual gifts, some of which are listed in I Corinthians 12:28-30; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11; and I Peter 4:8-11, all of which talk about how we are to use these gifts. All according to His will, not to use as we would want.

God has given us His Word, His directions and rules and commandments and statutes and laws. If His message as given by Angels was to be obeyed, how much more is the message taught by the Lord Himself to be obeyed. And if the Word as given by Angels carried punishment for transgressions, how much more serious the consequences for disobeying the Lord's own Words!

O my Father, I know that Your Word, whether given through the ministry of Angels or from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Himself, it is still Your Word, still Your directions, how we are to follow Your ways, how You designed this Universe to work, and our World we have built on Your Earth. 

And when we decide we want to do things differently, then the results in our experience will still be chaos, problems, illness, poor relationships, and unrest. And eventually death. 

Father, You have destroyed whole Nations who have done so much damage to Your Earth and the people You placed here, that You saw fit to take them out of the picture. And You will do that again. 

When our King Jesus returns to establish His political Reign, He will remove all the evil Nations and start fresh with a cleansed Earth and Your own children.

To be one who will enter into and flourish and prosper in that Kingdom, we will need to take Your Word seriously, and obey Your directions to put our faith in our Savior and Redeemer to save us, and live our lives as members of Your family, seeing as You see, thinking as You think. 

O Father, teach Your children how to live each moment of each day in Your Presence, because You are here with us. Keep us mindful of being with You every day, and love You back, and our neighbors as You love us. 

Strengthen us and help us up when we slip, that we not fall. Hold us in Your hand, Lord, so we will not pull away, or wander off, or go to the right hand or to the left, or run ahead or lag behind. Keep our steps in Your footsteps, and lead us along that Narrow Path into Your Great Light. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Pay Close Attention

Hebrews 2: 1

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 

What is the reason? Because Jesus is so much higher than Angels (yesterday's blog entry, Hebrews chapter 1). 

I've never counted the times I've seen in Scripture to "pay attention" to what was written, but I seem to come across it in every other chapter, if not more frequently. All through the whole Bible we are advised and warned to take seriously what God is saying. No matter where I am reading in this Book, I keep being reminded to "take heed" of what God is telling me.

God is not making suggestions, He's giving us the Laws that He has established as the Lawgiver to govern and give order to the Universe, including this World we have built on His Earth. 

We like to separate the Natural Law from the Moral Law, but they are still both Law. We cannot "break" any of God's Laws He gave us, whether they be Natural or Moral; we only break ourselves on them when we transgress. 

For instance, if we try to break the Law of Gravity, we will experience the immediate consequence of a nasty fall. So we tend to take those Laws more seriously. 

Airplanes do not "break" the Law of Gravity, they are following a higher Law, of Aerodynamics. 

When Jesus "broke" the Pharisees' law concerning the Sabbath, He was obeying a higher Law, too: the Law of Love. 

People have always thought they did not need to pay attention to God's Moral Law, being deceived into thinking that "freedom" was license to disobey without consequences. But the consequences can't be denied: Rome rotted out from within, and America has been going that same route. Just because the consequences are not immediate, they are no less real. 

O my Father, please impress upon us the importance of knowing and obeying Your Laws, the rules by which You govern, in order to have order instead of chaos. Please show Your children how to demonstrate to the World the benefits of following Your ways, in bringing peace in the midst of turmoil, and confidence in the face of trials. 

Help each of us to show our little worlds how good You are by Loving one another as You have Loved us. Help us to be courteous in response to rudeness, gentleness in the presence of harshness, and compassion in the face of bondage to sin. 

Teach us how to see others as You see them, Father: even when what they are doing makes You "sick to your stomach," You still draw them into relationship with You when Your children show them Your Love. 

Protect those who are going into battle at the very gates of Hell, in prisons and in hospitals and in political areas that are opposed to You.

And, Father, even when our own neighbors and family members are hurting so much that they lash out at us, please protect us from reacting; slow us down to consider why they're doing what they're doing. Then respond in Love. 

We cannot do that in our flesh, so You have given us Your Spirit to strengthen us. O Father, help us to pay attention to all the nuances of the rules that are laid out in Your Law, so that we will be able to apply them to our thinking processes and our daily interactions with those in our lives and neighborhoods in a continuous and ongoing way, as our lifestyle.

Let the sweet fragrance of Christ emanate from our lives to others, to draw them to Yourself, Father; and give us Your words to speak Your Truth to them in Love, in the power of Your Holy Spirit. 

Send out Your workers, Father--send even me! Let me go into Your fields, white for harvest, and help You in Your work of redeeming precious people out of the slave-market of sin. Let all Your little lost lambs be found, and carried into the safety of Your fold, so that there will be One Fold with One Shepherd. 

And may Your House be full, and every place at Your Banquet Table be taken. 

And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Jesus Versus Angels

Hebrews 1: 1-14 

The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrew Christians needed to explain how Jesus is not an Angel. So he begins this letter by diving right in.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways [at sundry times and in divers manners, KJV], 

God spoke to His prophets in the Old Testament days in many ways and in several different countries of the World.

in these last days 

He is saying that the "last days" period of time had already begun.

has spoken to us in His Son, 

Jesus is the one we need to listen to now.

whom He appointed heir of all things, 

Jesus will inherit all of Creation, as having purchased it all with His Blood, He is the Owner.

through whom also He made the World. 

God the Father spoke matter into existence, and the Word He uttered is Jesus (John 1:1-3). So Jesus is the Creator, along with the Father and the Spirit.  

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His Nature, 

In John 14:8-11 at the Last Supper, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus replied that He who has seen Me has seen the Father, because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and everything He does is what he is seeing the Father doing. So Jesus is the exact picture of God the Father's character.  

and upholds all things by the Word of His power. 

Jesus holds up everything in the Power of His Intention. He holds all Creation together. Colossians 1:17 tells us that By Him all things consist, or are constituted. He is the force of energy that gives substance to material things.

When He had made purification of sins, 

When Jesus finished the work He was given to do, to be our, "Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the World." His Blood had unlimited value to be able to cleanse away all sin everywhere in the Universe, including every person who ever lived. But not every person wants to come to God--but that is another study. 

He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 

He could only sit down when His work was finished. The Tabernacle and the Temple had no provision for any of the priests to be able to sit down, because their work was never finished. They were required to continue to bring more sacrifices continually, every day, with no end. The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, only cover it (Hebrews 10:4). Only the precious Blood of Christ can wash it away.

having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent Name than they. 

His rank of authority is as far above that of the Angels as His position is.

For to which of the angels did He ever say, 

"You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? (Psalm 2:7) 

And again, 

"I will be a Father to Him and He shall be a Son to Me"? (Psalm 89: 26-27)

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of the Father. No one else has that distinction. No Angel has ever had the opportunity to be born into God's own family. 

And when He again brings the Firstborn into the World, He says, 

"And let all the Angels of God worship Him." (Psalm 97:7)

Jesus is the Lord God Almighty, and all the Holy Angels worship Him as God, as they worship the Father. 

And of the Angels He says, 

"Who makes His Angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire." (Psalm 104:4)

Angels are part of the Creation of God, He made them, and He made them spirit (wind, breath), and able to consume like fire.

But of the Son He says,

"Your Throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His Kingdom. 

 The Father God calls the Son God, and has given Him a Throne (authority to rule as sovereign King) that will last forever and be based on right-ness, Truth.

"You have loved Righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the Oil of Gladness above Your companions."(Psalm 45:6-7)

Because of the sterling qualities of His character, God has given Him more joy and gladness and happiness than any of His creation. His Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of Joy.

And, 

"You, Lord, in the Beginning laid the foundation of the Earth, and the Heavens are the works of Your hands; they will perish, but You remain; and they will all become old like a garment, and like a mantle You will roll them up; like a garment they will also be changed. (Psalm 102:25-27)

 Jesus is the Creator God who made everything that exists. This is the First Law of Thermodynamics, that all of our Science is based on. The Conservation of Matter; to be able to change form but not become any more or less.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics is Entropy; that everything goes from order to chaos. This is why everything wears down and wears out. This is the Curse that Man's sin placed on our whole Universe. Death.

"But You are the same, and Your years will not come to an end." (Isaiah 34:4)

But Jesus is not part of the Creation, so is not subject to our Science or sin's curse. He is God, and will continue to be God forever.

But to which of the Angels has He ever said,

"Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet"? (Psalm 110:1)

Only the Son of God and Son of Man has earned the right to hold ownership over the World by both Creation and Purchase. 

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit Salvation? 

Angels are servants, obeying God by ministering to us human beings who are being called into God's family through His Son. They are assigned to us, to protect us from dangers we don't even see. They have also brought God's message to the prophet for the Holy Spirit to guide them to write God's Word accurately. 

The Angels make sure that our enemy cannot destroy any of us who God knows will turn to Him, before we are saved. I know that an angel or two or three must have kept me safe from dying prematurely by driving off of a mountain before I became a Christian. That occasion I can point to, but I don't know how many other times God sent His messenger to protect me. 

The writer of this Epistle wanted to make sure we knew that Jesus our Redeemer and Lord is so much more than just an Angel. That was a heresy that was going around then, as it still does today. This first chapter refutes that. 

O my Father, I pray for those who are being deceived into not recognizing who Jesus really is. This is so foundational. We must know who He is before we can recognize what He has done for us. 

Father, I pray for all those who will inherit that great Salvation You have provided. I pray that You would draw them to Yourself with Your irresistible power, teaching them Your Truth, and cleansing them in the precious Blood of the Sacrificial Lamb of God, given for us. 

I pray for our loved ones, Father, who are in our own families and circles, who don't know You yet. I pray for them by name, as You know who they are. Call them to Yourself, Father; dispel all the lies that have sucked them in, release them from the bonds of sin that have ensnared them. 

Father, choose my loved ones, as I know You love them even more than I do, and You are not willing that any perish. Pull them away from what has seduced them, into the freedom of Your grace.

And every knee will bow, every tongue will confess in every language, that Jesus Christ is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Work Of God

Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father Who is in Heaven. Many will say to me on that Day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name and in Your Name drive out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?" Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"

Wow! All these church leaders, these missionaries, these Bible College professors, all the good people who thought that they were serving God and doing His work, called "evildoers" by the Lord? So who is "the one who does the will of my Father," if not these?

John tells us very specifically, in 6:28-29, Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent."

So what does that mean? How could so many miss this? John used the Greek word, pisteuo for "believe," which comes from the word for "trustworthy." So we are to "entrust" ourselves to Jesus, to trust Him totally, implicitly, without reservation. 

Trust Him to do what? To be our "sacrificial Lamb," to die for us individually in payment for our debt of sin. When the penitent brought the lamb according to the Old Testament sacrificial system, in payment for the sin he was confessing, he would put his hand on the lamb's head, conferring his sin onto the lamb, then the lamb died in his place (Leviticus 1:1-13). 

That is what Jesus came to do, He is the "Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world." The Lamb God provided, to pay off the whole principle of our debt, not just the interest due on it year-by-year. 

Now, when each of us realizes that we deserve death for all our sins, and that Jesus died for us as though we're the only one, to pay off our whole debt; that is putting our trust in Him to accomplish in time for us what would take us forever to do. 

We are all "born in sin," with that Original Sin that Adam passes on in his DNA to all his children, all of mankind; the sin-nature that prompts us to make all those poor choices that "miss the mark" (sin) of what is best for us. 

Romans 6:23 tells us that, The wages of sin is death, and our "sin" is our sin-nature, that is the source and fountainhead of all our "sins." So if you ever made any decision to do what you knew was wrong and did it anyway, that proves that you have that sin-nature that Jesus bore on the cross when He came "to be sin," "for us," in our place (II Corinthians 5:21). 

So even "good people" still have that sin-nature, and need a Savior to rescue them from having to spend eternity paying that eternal debt to God. Only the Eternal Person could pay our eternal debt in time. That is why He came, why He "became flesh," to qualify as human to die the human death we each deserve, yet still be the Eternal God, the Son that Isaiah said was "given" (9:6), Who was the Son from eternity past.

O my Father, thank You so much for showing me Jesus there on His Cross, letting me know that He took my place, my death, so that I could live forever with You. Thank You so much for loving me that much, to sacrifice Your own Son for me. Praise You, Almighty, Loving God, Omnipotent King of the Universe.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

All Things

Philippians 4: 11-13 

I am not speaking in respect to want, for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 

I've learned to be content in humble circumstances, as well as not be self-conscious with an abundance. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

I am able to do everything God calls me to do, no matter how things are swirling or settling around me. Whether I'm counting my pennies or writing the check. Whether I have boundless energy or feel under the weather. 

No matter the situation I face today, God is with me, and I know He will provide whatever I need for today, whether that is social, or physical, or financial. Or in any other realm of living. 

I don't need to worry about anything. I don't need to fret about the ants or the downed tree limb. God makes me able to deal with everything He allows into my life, and provides me the means to deal with it. 

O my Father, please continue to teach me to make all this real in my life. Help me to set my focus on what I need to focus on from moment to moment, and not be distracted by peripheral stuff. 

Teach me to use each moment and not waste any. Help me to accomplish each day what You want me to do, to take another step or two in the path You have set my feet on. Keep my hand in Yours, my Father, to not let me pull away; or to not wander off; or not to sidetrack to the left or to the right; to walk in Your pace, Father, not running ahead of You, or lagging behind.

Show me everything You want to teach me, Father, in Your time, in Your way, for Your purposes for me, to bring all the glory and honor to You. 

O Father, You have planned out all of my whole life for me, to work out Your project in me, to accomplish all the purposes You have decided to do. You have planned out that my tiny thread in Your Great Tapestry of Time would shine out against the dark background where You have placed me. 

You are Great. You are Good. You are Light. You are Life. You are the Source of everything that exists, and You are my Source for everything I will ever need.

Teach Your children, Father, so we all will learn to trust You implicitly, no matter what each of us will face each day. Teach us all to look to You and Your ways to structure our lives each day.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Follow Good Examples

Philippians 3: 17-21

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 

We are to watch and observe to see how Paul and others we know live their daily lives. What is their highest priority in life? Are they seeking the Lord daily? 

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the Cross of Christ, 

Most people today, especially in the US, who consider themselves to be Christians, do not have that relationship with God that He wants with them. They have never let Jesus take their death for them, so He's not washed them in His Blood. 

And a lot of these people are pastors and teachers. 

whose end is destruction, 

If they're not saved by the Blood, then there's no hope for them.

whose god is their appetite, 

Their first priority in life is the satisfaction of their physical needs.

and whose glory is in their shame, 

These people are depending on what they can do, which is not acceptable to God because it is tainted by our sinful flesh. Only what is done in the Spirit is acceptable to Him. And they don't have His Spirit.

who set their minds on earthly things. 

All their goals are in this World.  

For our citizenship is in heaven, 

We fix our eyes on that Heavenly country, as Abraham did, we're told in Hebrews 11:10 and 13-16.

from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 

Jesus is coming back, and I believe, very soon now. He will call us out by name, and we will come with Him through the clouds to set up His Kingdom.

who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, 

This is when He will change our fleshly bodies into shining spiritual bodies, like His Resurrection body.

by the exertion of the Power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.  

This is the Power of the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and the same Power by which He holds authority over all Creation. 

This is the Power of Absolute Authority over all that He has made, as Creator and Purchaser of everything that exists. Owner of every person.

This is the Power that He has given us, to live inside our bodies, in our spirits, giving us Life and Power to defeat all our foes, including our own flesh.  

O my Father, only Your Power is absolute! Only Your Power has the Strength to overpower every evil and every weakness and every particle that is not perfect. 

Father, You are cleansing and purifying and refining Your creation from the Galaxies of Stars down to the molecules of our bodies. Everything will be made clean and pure and whole and perfect. 

Father, teach us how to live our lives every moment of every day as Your Royal children, remembering who our Father is, and becoming every day more the sons and daughters You intend for us to be. 

And every knee will bow, every tongue confess, that Christ Jesus is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of God the Father. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!




 

Gain And Loss

Philippians 3: 7-17

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 

Paul has just gone through his resume of all the high accomplishments he had earned; but now he's saying that all these things he had counted on to give him standing, was just standing in the way between him and Christ. 

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,  

Even beyond that, he considered everything in this World as being a stumbling stone in the way of knowing, not just knowing about, Christ Jesus Himself. 

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, 

Paul really has lost the value of all the items on the list of his accomplishments, because he doesn't need them any more. 

and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 

Now they're just trash compared to the extremely high value of having Christ Jesus.

and may be found in Him, 

And not just having Jesus, but Jesus having him, living inside of him by His Spirit. 

not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, 

This is what he had on his resume, all the legalistic rule-based living. 

but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 

The faith in Christ, trusting Him to have done it all for us. Righteousness comes from God, not from anything we can do, only what He has done for us. And this comes to us as a gift from God on the basis of our trusting Him and relying on Him alone.

that I may know Him and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 

Paul wants intimate communion with Him, and this would mean going with Jesus into Resurrection through His sufferings and dying with Him, as though it all happened to Paul while Jesus suffered and died. They went through it together. 

in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 

This is what it takes to get to Resurrection. Nothing less will do. But Resurrection is the end of this road. No other road will get us there.

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on

Paul admits that he's not finished yet, he's still on the road, trudging along.

so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 

Here is the back and forth again: Paul wants what Jesus wants to give him. Jesus laid hold of Paul, now Paul is hanging on to Jesus.

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; 

Paul knew he still had a ways to go before he would be ready to become all God had planned for him to be; he wasn't there yet.

but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 

He's taken his focus off of all the stuff he left behind, and is reaching, stretching forward, toward what is ahead of him. 

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

He is pressuring himself to keep on keeping on, to push through, keeping his eyes on the prize, that he knows is ahead, because that's what God has promised him in Christ Jesus. He's not letting anything get in his way, not being distracted by anything.

Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; 

He just said that he wasn't "perfect" yet, so here he means "mature." As many of us who consider ourselves mature in the faith, we will have this kind of thinking process going on in our heads, to produce this attitude of seeking Christ with single-mindedness. 

and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 

And if anyone thinks differently, then they must take that up with God our Father who will help them sort it out. It's a personal issue. 

however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. 

However far each of us has gone in living our lives righteously according to God's standards for us, let's keep on getting better, not letting anything slide. 
 
Brethren, join in following my example.

Paul says to follow him as he follows Christ. He's setting himself up as an example to follow. 

I find this a rather dangerous position to be in. If someone is going to follow me, I would not want them to repeat any of the mistakes I still make. Paul sounded very confident here, much more confident than I am. 

When I had my children, I knew that they would see all my imperfections, and would magnify those in their lives. So I let them know what to watch out for, and prayed for them (which I still do every day), and left them in God's hand.

Now that they are grown, they do have some of my better character qualities, but they also have their own weaknesses. So I still keep them in my Father's hand, who Loves them even more than I do. 

Meanwhile, I endeavor to live a lifestyle of responsibility for myself and others, which includes a high moral standard of purity and compassion, with social and financial responsibility. 

And I must keep on top of my own weaknesses so that they won't interfere with my goal of the high calling in Christ Jesus. So pray for me, too. 

O my Father, You are so good to me, and to all of us. Please continue to help us all grow up as Your children, to keep our families in Your hand to call them also to repentance and faith in Your time. 

Send out Your teachers and workers into Your fields to find all Your little lambs who are still lost out there, to bring them in to the safety of Your fold. 

And may Your house be full, every place at Your banquet table taken. 

And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess in every language, of every creature above, on the Earth, and below, Your glory and honor and authority. That the Lord Jesus Christ is Sovereign King and Almighty God over all Creation, to the glory of God the Father.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

How To Rejoice In Adversity

Philippians 1: 12-18

Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, 
So that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else, 

The news of Paul's imprisonment in Rome has allowed him to reach the personal Body Guards of the Roman Governor with the Gospel, as well as everyone else in the whole district. 

And that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. 

And most of the other Christians who lived in Rome at that time, knowing that Paul was there in the prison, had much more courage to speak out, preaching to others boldly.  

Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife but some also from good will; 

He knew that they were preaching with different motives.  

The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel; 

Those preaching out of Love for God and love for Paul, were helping him get the word out, working with him. 

The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. 

He also knew that others of them were preaching with selfish motives, because they wanted some of Paul's fame and were envious of his popularity.  

What then? 

So what? 

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in Truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.

Paul was glad that Christ was being preached, regardless of the motives of the preachers. He knew that God doesn't demand perfection in His preachers, only faithfulness to the Truth. And if the Truth of Christ was being proclaimed, then he would rejoice. 

And he would continue to rejoice, and not take any of it personally. He was just focused on Christ, not himself. So he could rejoice. 

I wonder how often Christian workers are envious of other Christian workers, and do their jobs just trying to be better than someone else. Well, if the jobs are getting done, then the Kingdom is being promoted; but those workers will lose their rewards for doing it. 

O my Father, I pray for those who think they are your children, but do not have that relationship with You that You want to have with them, they just practice a religion. Father, I think those are the ones most likely to be envious of someone else's following. Please get a hold of them and show them how much You Love them. 

And I pray for all Your lambs, Father, who have not found their way to You yet. They have lost their way. Please send Your workers into Your missionary fields, to share Your great Love for them with them. 

I pray also for all Christians to be prepared for what You have told us what to expect. Please teach us all, Father, to be strong in Your Spirit; to carry out our responsibilities in our families, and in our neighborhoods and in our places of employment. And to be ready to face our enemies with a positive attitude of compassion and boldness, wearing the Armor of God; so that we will be able to stand against them, and when everything is done, to remain standing.

We are Your children, Father. We are Your princes and princesses. And we are also the living stones of Your Temple, and the soldiers in Your Military. Train us and shape us up to be good soldiers to face the battles, so we will learn to be good sons and daughters of the Great King. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

God Will Finish What He Started

Philippians 1: 6

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the Day of Christ Jesus.

This verse is and has been so precious to me. 

God is the one who started to work on me when He put into my heart to seek the Truth, even though I didn't know that He is Truth. 

And He worked His Redemption in me on that day He showed me Jesus on the Cross, and I knew He took my place there. 

And He has continued to work in my life, my attitudes, my circumstances; through all the decades--every year, every month, every day, even every moment of every day. He never rests. 

He has been working in me, on me, with me, and even through me, all this time. He has never left me, for even a moment, He's kept His promise. 

Philippians 2: 13

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 

God is the One who works in each one of His children, in the Person of His Holy Spirit. He is the One who woos us to want to do His works, and He gives us the ability to work toward His purposes for us. 

He is the One who has Loved us first (I John 4:19), and has chosen us before He even started to create (Ephesians 1:4). We're in His Plan. 

He planned out everything He would do, before He even started. Like my son, whose second grade teacher thought he was daydreaming, when he was thinking through the whole project before starting to write it down. 

[Our little children teach us so much about God!]

God is in control, but He has still given us a free will. We can choose to do things His way, even when it's hard for us or costs us, and reap the rewards for doing so, furthering His program.

Or if we refuse to cooperate with Him, His plan will still be carried out, but we will suffer loss (Esther 4:13-14). 

How much better for us to align ourselves with the Lord of the Universe, and think the way He thinks, and live our lives according to His attitudes and reasonings. 

When we understand how He has fashioned this Earth for us to build our World upon it, and we cooperate with His Laws (natural and moral) to form our societies; then we all will reap all the benefits He put here for us to find. 

But when we decide that we "know better" and want to do things some kind of newfangled way, then we find that it doesn't work like the "old-fashioned" way. It may benefit some people in some ways, but it will tend to pull down the rest of the population. 

God wants all of us to prosper. And He wants all of us to know Him and His ways, so we can prosper.

It's our enemy who wants to kill, steal and destroy. And he has killed millions of people before they could even be born. And he has stolen the bounty of this Earth from many millions (billions?) of people all over the World. And he is still at work destroying our relationships in our families, so that our society and civilization will crumble. 

This enemy will continue to kill more and more, and steal more and more, and destroy more and more, and he knows his time is short, so he is more furious than ever at his dastardly schemes. 

O my Father, I pray that You would continue to work in all of Your children to want to seek Your Face, to curl up in Your lap and listen to Your bedtime stories. 

You are our good Father, Father, and You Love us more than we could ever imagine! The good You want for us is better than we would ever want, because this World has surrounded us all our lives. And You know how strong is the pull of our own flesh we live in. 

Father, strengthen us in Your Spirit. Help us to gain the victory over our own fleshly desires, to want only what You have determined is the best for us. 

Don't let any of Your children fall prey to any of the lies of our enemy, Father. You are so much greater than he is, and Your strength overpowers him at every turn. 

O Father, teach each one of Your children to turn to You for their every need, for the answer to every problem; and to imbibe, to drink in, the milk of Your Word, that they may grow thereby. And then to chew on the steak of Your Word, to grow up in the Spirit, and learn to be Your princes and princesses.

Father, Your plans for us are so much better than whatever plans we may devise for ourselves. We live in Time, Your view is Eternity. Time is just a moment, in view if Eternity. We tend to be so short-sighted, Father; let us put on Your "glasses" to see Your ways distinctly, and not be so myopic, or have deceptive rose-colored glasses. Teach us to see the reality, the Truth of what comes into our little worlds. 

Then we will choose Your ways, Father, and we will grow up, learning all the lessons in this school of life You placed us in. And we will mature into Your kings and queens to sit with King Jesus on His Throne, ruling all the Kingdom of God in all the Universes You will create throughout all Eternity Future. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!