Isaiah 53: 6
All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.
Just like sheep follow each other, even over a cliff, or stray from the flock getting lost; we will decide that we know better than God, and follow other people's ideas and ways, or otherwise turn away from God. We are our own gods.
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.
Jesus came to be our sacrificial Lamb, fulfilling the personal sacrifice each person was to bring first, as described in the first chapter in the book of Leviticus. He died for each of us individually to save us, one by one.
He also fulfilled the other sacrifices, including the corporate sacrifice, for the whole Nation. This purchased for Him all of the Universe, as He shed God's own Blood, that has unlimited value and power. So we are all His property, making Him our Judge.
God has always saved people one by one. He chose one Nation to give them His Law, so that when they obeyed Him and lived according to His ways, they would prosper, and other Nations would see and want to know this Lord God, also.
And when they brought their own lamb or goat or calf to the priest for themselves, they laid their hand on the head of the animal, identifying with it. Then the priest slaughtered it, dying instead of the person, and sacrificed it on the altar, splashing its blood on the sides of the altar to cover his sins.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, Who is our personal sacrifice, taking our place in death, one by one, and His Blood splashed on the sides of His altar, the Cross, does not just cover, but actually takes away our sins. The Blood of God washes away the crimson and scarlet stains of sin, cleansing us completely to make us as white as snow, as white as wool (Isaiah 1:18). That's why He came.
That's how much God loves us. God is Love (I John 4:8), and He puts His Love into us when we let Jesus be our Lamb to die for us, as our substitute in death; then He puts His Life in us, His Holy Spirit, to make us alive spiritually.
Jesus came to be with us where we live, so that He could make us suitable and fit to be able to live with Him where He is (John 17:24). This has been God's plan from the beginning, from before He created Mankind.
And God is rolling out everything He planned, as He planned it to go, through the march of Time. He has told us in His Word the complete story of the Epoch of Mankind, from before the beginning to after the end (from Genesis to Revelation). The whole Bible is this one Story, His Story (history).
Open our eyes, O Lord, to see Your message to us, Your Love-Letter to us, so that we will know You and follow Your ways to cooperate with how You designed all Creation to operate in obeying Your rules.
And open our hearts, O Lord, to receive this wonderful Love You have for us. Help us to love You back and to love others with this Love of Yours.
Help Your people, Lord, to love one another with Your Love, so that the World will know that Jesus came; and find all the lost sheep that have strayed from His fold, that there will be one fold and one Shepherd. Unite us as one, Father, so that we will be one in the fundamentals of the faith, and all of our differences would be secondary.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
(Tune in tomorrow to read about this Love--it may not be what you think.)
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
God's Goodness
II Samuel 7: 18
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and he said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?"
David was his father's baby, the youngest of all his brothers. And he was the shepherd of his dad's sheep, a very lowly position.
But God had taken him from the sheep, made him a valiant warrior, and anointed him to be the king.
Now God just told him that his dynasty, his family line, would continue forever!
David is astounded that God would bless him so much, even into the far distant future!
And I am also astounded with His goodness to me, too, who is also nothing. I was a liar, a thief, an adulteress, an idolater, I was self-righteous, proud, and a host of other negative traits. Why God would choose me to be in His own Family, I will never know in this life.
That's why I am so thankful! I have been forgiven so much!
Thank You, Father, so much for choosing me to be born into Your Family! Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit into my spirit to give it life. Thank You for loving me and leading me in studying Your Word, to connect so many dots.
Your Word is the whole story of our epoch in time, from the very beginning to the very end, and hints of what will come after. History is Your story of Mankind's time. Thank You for telling us all about it.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and he said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?"
David was his father's baby, the youngest of all his brothers. And he was the shepherd of his dad's sheep, a very lowly position.
But God had taken him from the sheep, made him a valiant warrior, and anointed him to be the king.
Now God just told him that his dynasty, his family line, would continue forever!
David is astounded that God would bless him so much, even into the far distant future!
And I am also astounded with His goodness to me, too, who is also nothing. I was a liar, a thief, an adulteress, an idolater, I was self-righteous, proud, and a host of other negative traits. Why God would choose me to be in His own Family, I will never know in this life.
That's why I am so thankful! I have been forgiven so much!
Thank You, Father, so much for choosing me to be born into Your Family! Thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit into my spirit to give it life. Thank You for loving me and leading me in studying Your Word, to connect so many dots.
Your Word is the whole story of our epoch in time, from the very beginning to the very end, and hints of what will come after. History is Your story of Mankind's time. Thank You for telling us all about it.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, July 9, 2018
Don't Give Up!
Isaiah 40: 27-31 (GWT)
Jacob, why do you complain, "My way is hidden from the Lord," ("God doesn't see what is happening to me")?
Israel, why do you say, "My rights are ignored by my God"?
Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Eternal God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the Earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond our reach.
He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak.
Even young people grow tired and become weary, and young men will stumble and fall.
Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the Lord will be renewed.
They will soar on wings like eagles.
They will run and won't become weary.
They will walk and won't grow tired.
Isaiah is telling God's people to not give up.
And he is telling us, too, as God's people to not give up.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jacob, why do you complain, "My way is hidden from the Lord," ("God doesn't see what is happening to me")?
Israel, why do you say, "My rights are ignored by my God"?
Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The Eternal God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the Earth, doesn't grow tired or become weary. His understanding is beyond our reach.
He gives strength to those who grow tired and increases the strength of those who are weak.
Even young people grow tired and become weary, and young men will stumble and fall.
Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the Lord will be renewed.
They will soar on wings like eagles.
They will run and won't become weary.
They will walk and won't grow tired.
Isaiah is telling God's people to not give up.
And he is telling us, too, as God's people to not give up.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, July 8, 2018
United In Christ
Romans 15: 5-6
Now may the God Who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus prayed for us in His "High Priestly Prayer" in John 17, that we would "be one, even as We are" (v. 11). That we would be united together as the Father and the Son are.
Because when we get together with the same mind, in one accord, and all speak with one voice, then, "nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible to them" (Genesis 11:6).
Jesus prayed for you and me. He prayed that we would have the same oneness of mind and purpose that He has with His Father, so that, in His power and strength we would do the work of preparing for His Kingdom: to go out and find and gather all the lost sheep into the one fold Jesus talked about in John 10:16 when He was presenting Himself as the Good Shepherd.
Whenever people get together with one mind and one purpose, we have made great leaps in science and medicine and philosophy and in business, and in every endeavor to which we've applied our intelligence and imagination.
How wonderful it will be when His Church decides to get together with one mind, one accord, and the same purpose. This is what Jesus prayed for concerning us.
Imagine the result when we all decide to put aside all of our denominational differences to focus on the central Truth that Jesus wants us to agree on. Then we will be able to go forward as His soldiers in His army, His missionaries, to begin by sharing with our neighbors wherever we happen to be. Then we will go out into our communities, our Nations, and the whole World, sowing the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of every living person.
The fields are already ripe and ready for harvest. Those who have gone before us have prepared the ground, planted the seed, and watered the garden. God is giving the growth, and we are to go and reap the bounty of souls He is growing. And everyone who has had any part in God's fields, His flocks, His building, will be rewarded for doing what Jesus is accomplishing through us.
Just imagine! God is working today in the World all around us. Open your eyes to see what He is doing, and roll up your sleeves to take part in the wonderful works of God. And all the honor, all the credit, all the glory will go to the One Who first imagined it all before the beginning.
And what He has planned will be finished and complete.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Now may the God Who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus prayed for us in His "High Priestly Prayer" in John 17, that we would "be one, even as We are" (v. 11). That we would be united together as the Father and the Son are.
Because when we get together with the same mind, in one accord, and all speak with one voice, then, "nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible to them" (Genesis 11:6).
Jesus prayed for you and me. He prayed that we would have the same oneness of mind and purpose that He has with His Father, so that, in His power and strength we would do the work of preparing for His Kingdom: to go out and find and gather all the lost sheep into the one fold Jesus talked about in John 10:16 when He was presenting Himself as the Good Shepherd.
Whenever people get together with one mind and one purpose, we have made great leaps in science and medicine and philosophy and in business, and in every endeavor to which we've applied our intelligence and imagination.
How wonderful it will be when His Church decides to get together with one mind, one accord, and the same purpose. This is what Jesus prayed for concerning us.
Imagine the result when we all decide to put aside all of our denominational differences to focus on the central Truth that Jesus wants us to agree on. Then we will be able to go forward as His soldiers in His army, His missionaries, to begin by sharing with our neighbors wherever we happen to be. Then we will go out into our communities, our Nations, and the whole World, sowing the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of every living person.
The fields are already ripe and ready for harvest. Those who have gone before us have prepared the ground, planted the seed, and watered the garden. God is giving the growth, and we are to go and reap the bounty of souls He is growing. And everyone who has had any part in God's fields, His flocks, His building, will be rewarded for doing what Jesus is accomplishing through us.
Just imagine! God is working today in the World all around us. Open your eyes to see what He is doing, and roll up your sleeves to take part in the wonderful works of God. And all the honor, all the credit, all the glory will go to the One Who first imagined it all before the beginning.
And what He has planned will be finished and complete.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, July 7, 2018
"My Lord And My God!"
John 20: 28
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
"My Lord" is Kyrios--Lord, Master, Controller, Boss.
"My God" is Theos--God.
When Thomas' faith was seriously and severely shaken by the Crucifixion of Jesus, he found it incredulous that the others could say He was alive, after seeing Him killed and buried. It just didn't make sense.
But when Jesus invited him to see for himself that He really was alive after that horrendous death, Thomas' exclamation could not be more emphatic--he was shocked into the "impossible" reality of Jesus' Resurrection.
Sometimes God uses a very dramatic episode of experience as He did here with Thomas, and with Saul of Tarsis on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6).
And as He did with me, as He showed me Jesus on the Cross, and I knew He took my place in death because He didn't deserve it and I did. That's when He performed the miracle of New Birth in me, and my whole life turned around; as Saul's did in becoming Paul, and as He does for everyone who is born into God's family.
So whether you had a dramatic moment of conversion, or if your faith in believing that Jesus was your personal Sacrifice grew gently over time, your relationship with your Father in Heaven is just as personal and individual as you are.
Jesus didn't approach everyone the same way, He knew who each person was and where they were coming from, so He varied His approach with each one. Consider the round-about way He talked to the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:6-26) as compared with the direct approach He used with Nicodemus (John 3:1-3).
God knows us. He knows all the differences He built into each of us, and He knows our common needs. He knows we are all broken, that's why He sent His Son. And Jesus showed us what God is like: gentle and firm, compassionate and just, fair and treating us all individually.
And He calls all of us to recognize Who He is, what He has done, and how much He loves us.
But most do not want to know Him. They would rather consider themselves their own persons, their own judges, their own gods to decide for themselves. Because God gave them His intelligence and creativity, they have allowed the enemy to convince them that they don't have to listen to anyone else, they can make their own decisions. And these people end up fighting against the very Good they are looking for in life, and will have destroyed themselves in the process.
Yet our Creator still loves everything and everyone He made. He makes possible the way to escape destruction, in opening the door to everyone to come to Him.
I was one who fought against Him. I thought I had been "good enough" to save myself. Then I got off that road and began to try to satisfy my own desires in very unrighteous ways. I see that now as God allowing me to see that I couldn't save myself.
Because God chose to draw me to Himself this way convinces me that He can draw anyone He wants to draw. I was searching for Truth, though. I didn't know that Jesus is the Truth.
Are you looking for something in life, and not realizing that it is God you're looking for?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!"
"My Lord" is Kyrios--Lord, Master, Controller, Boss.
"My God" is Theos--God.
When Thomas' faith was seriously and severely shaken by the Crucifixion of Jesus, he found it incredulous that the others could say He was alive, after seeing Him killed and buried. It just didn't make sense.
But when Jesus invited him to see for himself that He really was alive after that horrendous death, Thomas' exclamation could not be more emphatic--he was shocked into the "impossible" reality of Jesus' Resurrection.
Sometimes God uses a very dramatic episode of experience as He did here with Thomas, and with Saul of Tarsis on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-6).
And as He did with me, as He showed me Jesus on the Cross, and I knew He took my place in death because He didn't deserve it and I did. That's when He performed the miracle of New Birth in me, and my whole life turned around; as Saul's did in becoming Paul, and as He does for everyone who is born into God's family.
So whether you had a dramatic moment of conversion, or if your faith in believing that Jesus was your personal Sacrifice grew gently over time, your relationship with your Father in Heaven is just as personal and individual as you are.
Jesus didn't approach everyone the same way, He knew who each person was and where they were coming from, so He varied His approach with each one. Consider the round-about way He talked to the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:6-26) as compared with the direct approach He used with Nicodemus (John 3:1-3).
God knows us. He knows all the differences He built into each of us, and He knows our common needs. He knows we are all broken, that's why He sent His Son. And Jesus showed us what God is like: gentle and firm, compassionate and just, fair and treating us all individually.
And He calls all of us to recognize Who He is, what He has done, and how much He loves us.
But most do not want to know Him. They would rather consider themselves their own persons, their own judges, their own gods to decide for themselves. Because God gave them His intelligence and creativity, they have allowed the enemy to convince them that they don't have to listen to anyone else, they can make their own decisions. And these people end up fighting against the very Good they are looking for in life, and will have destroyed themselves in the process.
Yet our Creator still loves everything and everyone He made. He makes possible the way to escape destruction, in opening the door to everyone to come to Him.
I was one who fought against Him. I thought I had been "good enough" to save myself. Then I got off that road and began to try to satisfy my own desires in very unrighteous ways. I see that now as God allowing me to see that I couldn't save myself.
Because God chose to draw me to Himself this way convinces me that He can draw anyone He wants to draw. I was searching for Truth, though. I didn't know that Jesus is the Truth.
Are you looking for something in life, and not realizing that it is God you're looking for?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, July 6, 2018
Our Adoption As Sons
Romans 8: 23
... Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
We are already born into the Family as sons and daughters, but we are still children, in school in this World.
When we "graduate," and are pronounced fully mature enough as adults to take on the responsibilities of running the "Family business," the Kingdom of God, and to inherit all the wealth and riches of the Family; that is the idea of the word translated, "adoption."
Today in our modern societies, we don't practice this concept of "confirmation" as the Romans did, so our understanding is not the same as theirs.
Our idea of "adoption" is taking a child who has been born into one family and making that child a legal son or daughter in a different family. This is what God has done with us, in taking us out of the Earthly realm and bringing us into His Heavenly realm; but when God does this it is not only legal, it is also actual, in causing us to be born spiritually, with His Spirit.
So we have not yet been "adopted" in this Biblical sense. This will happen when Jesus returns.
I Corinthians 15: 53-55
For this perishable must put on the imperishible, and this mortal must put on immortality (see vs. 35-58).
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written (in Isaiah 25:8), "Death is swallowed up in victory,"
(and in Hosea 13:14) "O death, where is your victory, O Sheol, where is your sting?"
These scriptures from Isaiah and Hosea are talking about the Day of the Lord, the coming of the King, when He will come to the Earth to conquer the whole World and rule the whole Earth as His Kingdom.
The whole Bible is one story, the story of Time, from the beginning to the end of Time as we know it. The beginning of God's Kingdom. And we are given a glimpse of the next epoch of Time, with the New Heaven and New Earth.
God has told us what will happen, He's laid it all out for us to study and learn to understand.
But it's like He wrote it in a code, so it can be very confusing. But He's given us the key, His Holy Spirit, to unlock it.
Those who have this Key can de-code this missive, and connect the dots to see the bigger picture.
It takes time and effort, and much prayer, and consistency and determination. It takes seeking the God Who founded what exists, and designed how it would work. It takes searching out the Lord Who rules everything that is, and is the Boss over it all to see to it that it all works out according to Plan. And it takes yielding our thinking processes to His ways instead of our own logic, through His Holy Spirit.
I encourage those who have God's Holy Spirit living in their spirits to make their own studies of everything I write here. Even Paul said that the Bereans were "more noble" because they didn't just take even Paul's word, but "searched the Scriptures to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11).
So I encourage you, my dear reader, to see for yourself whether everything I say in this blog is really God's Truth. I know I'm not perfect, but I do know that God's Holy Spirit leads and guides me in my studies, and teaches me; and I have gained over the years an understanding of God's Word so that I've been able to see much of what God has revealed.
If what you read here is not clear to you, or if I have mis-spoken anything, please let me know. I will answer whatever questions you have, and I will research your idea that differs from mine.
My prayer for you is that God would use this resource to draw you closer to Himself, teach You His ways, and help you in all of your steps as you walk this life hand-in-hand with our Friend.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
We are already born into the Family as sons and daughters, but we are still children, in school in this World.
When we "graduate," and are pronounced fully mature enough as adults to take on the responsibilities of running the "Family business," the Kingdom of God, and to inherit all the wealth and riches of the Family; that is the idea of the word translated, "adoption."
Today in our modern societies, we don't practice this concept of "confirmation" as the Romans did, so our understanding is not the same as theirs.
Our idea of "adoption" is taking a child who has been born into one family and making that child a legal son or daughter in a different family. This is what God has done with us, in taking us out of the Earthly realm and bringing us into His Heavenly realm; but when God does this it is not only legal, it is also actual, in causing us to be born spiritually, with His Spirit.
So we have not yet been "adopted" in this Biblical sense. This will happen when Jesus returns.
I Corinthians 15: 53-55
For this perishable must put on the imperishible, and this mortal must put on immortality (see vs. 35-58).
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written (in Isaiah 25:8), "Death is swallowed up in victory,"
(and in Hosea 13:14) "O death, where is your victory, O Sheol, where is your sting?"
These scriptures from Isaiah and Hosea are talking about the Day of the Lord, the coming of the King, when He will come to the Earth to conquer the whole World and rule the whole Earth as His Kingdom.
The whole Bible is one story, the story of Time, from the beginning to the end of Time as we know it. The beginning of God's Kingdom. And we are given a glimpse of the next epoch of Time, with the New Heaven and New Earth.
God has told us what will happen, He's laid it all out for us to study and learn to understand.
But it's like He wrote it in a code, so it can be very confusing. But He's given us the key, His Holy Spirit, to unlock it.
Those who have this Key can de-code this missive, and connect the dots to see the bigger picture.
It takes time and effort, and much prayer, and consistency and determination. It takes seeking the God Who founded what exists, and designed how it would work. It takes searching out the Lord Who rules everything that is, and is the Boss over it all to see to it that it all works out according to Plan. And it takes yielding our thinking processes to His ways instead of our own logic, through His Holy Spirit.
I encourage those who have God's Holy Spirit living in their spirits to make their own studies of everything I write here. Even Paul said that the Bereans were "more noble" because they didn't just take even Paul's word, but "searched the Scriptures to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11).
So I encourage you, my dear reader, to see for yourself whether everything I say in this blog is really God's Truth. I know I'm not perfect, but I do know that God's Holy Spirit leads and guides me in my studies, and teaches me; and I have gained over the years an understanding of God's Word so that I've been able to see much of what God has revealed.
If what you read here is not clear to you, or if I have mis-spoken anything, please let me know. I will answer whatever questions you have, and I will research your idea that differs from mine.
My prayer for you is that God would use this resource to draw you closer to Himself, teach You His ways, and help you in all of your steps as you walk this life hand-in-hand with our Friend.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Our Clothes
Colossians 3: 12-15
And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on [clothe yourself with] a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you forgive.
And beyond [above, on top of] all these things put on Love [Agape, unconditional Love], which is the bond of unity.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you have been called in one body; and be thankful.
What are you wearing today?
This is to be our clothes, the outfit we get dressed in every day. Our "uniform" as Christians.
Like underwear, our heart of compassion gives the foundation to all the rest of the outfit. Then we put on all the pieces of clothing that make up our outfit: the kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and forgiveness are our; blouse/shirt, pants/skirt, belt, socks, shoes, vest, sweater, wrap; all the pieces that make up the outfit we're wearing today.
Then on top of it all, we put on the overcoat, that ties everything together and completes our outfit for going out: unconditional Love, the Love God loves us with.
And living out all these virtues will also produce the peace of Christ, that releases us of all the cares and worries of the World.
Dress for success, in the wardrobe God provides.
And let's not forget to thank Him for every detail of every blessing He continually blesses us with every day, from the riches of His glory and the bounty He put into this Earth.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on [clothe yourself with] a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you forgive.
And beyond [above, on top of] all these things put on Love [Agape, unconditional Love], which is the bond of unity.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you have been called in one body; and be thankful.
What are you wearing today?
This is to be our clothes, the outfit we get dressed in every day. Our "uniform" as Christians.
Like underwear, our heart of compassion gives the foundation to all the rest of the outfit. Then we put on all the pieces of clothing that make up our outfit: the kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance and forgiveness are our; blouse/shirt, pants/skirt, belt, socks, shoes, vest, sweater, wrap; all the pieces that make up the outfit we're wearing today.
Then on top of it all, we put on the overcoat, that ties everything together and completes our outfit for going out: unconditional Love, the Love God loves us with.
And living out all these virtues will also produce the peace of Christ, that releases us of all the cares and worries of the World.
Dress for success, in the wardrobe God provides.
And let's not forget to thank Him for every detail of every blessing He continually blesses us with every day, from the riches of His glory and the bounty He put into this Earth.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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