Luke 9: 23-26
And He was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Jesus is saying here that to hold onto your life will lose it, it will slip through your fingers. But to give it up for Christ will gain it forever.
So His reference to gain[ing] the whole world would be to seek this life and hold onto this life and the things of this life in denial or rejection of Christ and taking up a cross, being willing to suffer and die, for His sake.
Whatever we gain in this life will be moot in the next. It won't do us any good there. Following the Biblical principles of faith in asking, seeking, and knocking may pile up Earthly treasures, but to do it without or in defiance of Christ will ensure that all the gain will be burned up.
How much better to not put the priority on gaining Worldly riches, but in serving Christ with our lives, and using what wealth we are able to gain here in promotion of His Kingdom. Using whatever material goods we have to broadcast (cast broadly) the Good News (Gospel) of how much God loves us, to send His own, most precious, to die in our place to wash us totally pristine, perfectly white, and fit to live with God in His perfect Heaven.
O my Father, You are so great and gracious and compassionate with us! Your power and authority over all is stupendous! Your love for us is unimaginable! Father, I don't know why You chose to rescue us from all the darkness and chaos and pay such a high price for us! But You did. Thank you!
You have planned such a wonderful forever for us who You have chosen. And when we choose to seek Your Kingdom ways over our Earthly ways, then our position and work we will be able to perform and enjoy in the New Earth will be so much more than we are capable of achieving here now.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim in every language that Jesus is Lord of all creation, to the glory of the Father!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Saturday, March 16, 2019
He Carried Away Our Diseases
Matthew 8: 14-17
When Jesus came into Peter's home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on them.
Impulsive Peter invites Jesus for dinner, and the cook is sick in bed!
What is noteworthy here is that Peter had a wife. It was his wife's mother who was the matriarch in his home, so she was in charge of meal preparation.
And Peter still had a wife when Paul was writing to the Corinthian saints (see I Corinthians 9:5). So those who consider Peter to be the first "Pope" yet forbid marriage to priests are inconsistent in their dogma.
When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.
This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases (Isaiah 53:4).
When Jesus healed people of their diseases and infirmities, He didn't take them into Himself, He cast them away. I think of movies like The Green Mile, where the gentle giant of a man would take into himself the sicknesses and wounds of the people he had compassion on. Jesus didn't do that, He threw them away.
What Jesus took on Himself is the consequence, the debt, of our very sin-nature, when He became our personal Sacrifice as the Lamb of God. That is what caused the greatest part of His suffering, having to be cut-off from His Father. He prayed three times in the Garden for any other way for us to be able to live with Him, but there was none. He had to do it. That's how much He loves each one of us!
O my Father, You are Love! You are the standard for what we can call love. You, Father God, are the standard for everything good and positive: for beauty, for Truth, for right, for light, for justice. You are our Source of everything we need to exist, to live, to prosper. You are our everything!
Father, I lean on You; I depend on You for eveything I need. I don't want to depend on myself any more at all--only on You. Only You can make me successful, even in being faithful to post this blog every day! Only in You do I have good physical and mental and psychlogical health.
You are my Provider of the shelter, clothing, and nourishment I need. You are my means of understanding this World and life in it, and in interacting with others here. Your written Word, as taught to me by Your Spirit, has opened my mind and thinking processes to connect so many dots to see a much bigger picture of what You are doing, and my part in Your Plan.
Your wisdom has planned out and is working out Your great Plan of the Ages, to build Yourself a family to rule and reign over all creation. And Your government will continually grow and increase throughout all eternity!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
When Jesus came into Peter's home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on them.
Impulsive Peter invites Jesus for dinner, and the cook is sick in bed!
What is noteworthy here is that Peter had a wife. It was his wife's mother who was the matriarch in his home, so she was in charge of meal preparation.
And Peter still had a wife when Paul was writing to the Corinthian saints (see I Corinthians 9:5). So those who consider Peter to be the first "Pope" yet forbid marriage to priests are inconsistent in their dogma.
When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.
This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases (Isaiah 53:4).
When Jesus healed people of their diseases and infirmities, He didn't take them into Himself, He cast them away. I think of movies like The Green Mile, where the gentle giant of a man would take into himself the sicknesses and wounds of the people he had compassion on. Jesus didn't do that, He threw them away.
What Jesus took on Himself is the consequence, the debt, of our very sin-nature, when He became our personal Sacrifice as the Lamb of God. That is what caused the greatest part of His suffering, having to be cut-off from His Father. He prayed three times in the Garden for any other way for us to be able to live with Him, but there was none. He had to do it. That's how much He loves each one of us!
O my Father, You are Love! You are the standard for what we can call love. You, Father God, are the standard for everything good and positive: for beauty, for Truth, for right, for light, for justice. You are our Source of everything we need to exist, to live, to prosper. You are our everything!
Father, I lean on You; I depend on You for eveything I need. I don't want to depend on myself any more at all--only on You. Only You can make me successful, even in being faithful to post this blog every day! Only in You do I have good physical and mental and psychlogical health.
You are my Provider of the shelter, clothing, and nourishment I need. You are my means of understanding this World and life in it, and in interacting with others here. Your written Word, as taught to me by Your Spirit, has opened my mind and thinking processes to connect so many dots to see a much bigger picture of what You are doing, and my part in Your Plan.
Your wisdom has planned out and is working out Your great Plan of the Ages, to build Yourself a family to rule and reign over all creation. And Your government will continually grow and increase throughout all eternity!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, March 15, 2019
The Centurion's Faith
Matthew 8: 5-13
And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.
Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him.
But the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, Go! and he goes, and to another Come! and he comes, and to my slave, Do this! and he does it.
Now when Jesus heard this, He marvelled and said to those who were following, Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
I say to you that many will come from East and West, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven;
but the sons of the Kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said to the centurion, Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.
And the servant was healed that very moment.
Jesus was impressed with this soldier's faith. So what was this faith? It was an understanding of how authority works: he was accountable to authority higher than his, and others under his authority obeyed whatever he said, because of his authority over them.
He understood how Jesus had authority over all. He knew that, having authority over paralysis and tormenting, that He would only need to command them, and the servant would be released from their hold.
Jesus told him that what he believed to be true was true, and according to the truth he believed, it would be done for him. What he expected to happen, would happen. He expected for Jesus to issue the command, and his servant would be healed, and it happened just as he expected it to.
Often Jesus told people that what they believed and expected to happen, is what would happen for them. So if you think you can't or if you think you can, you're right; what you expect to happen will happen for you.
People who don't even believe in God subscribe to this actuality. It's one of the ways God designed this World to work for us. We must believe.
This centurion believed in Jesus, and Jesus honored that faith and complimented him for his understanding of how this works.
Just as his authority over his soldiers and servants compelled them to obey his commands, he knew that the authority Jesus had over what He had made would also obey His commands.
Jesus said that there would be many Gentiles who would have the faith to enter the Kingdom of God, and there would be chosen Israelites who would miss it.
It all depends on our faith. God has always wanted us to believe what He says; in every story, with every person, in every time, at every level of His revealing Himself and His program for us. At every step, He just wants us to believe Him, and trust Him to be true to what He said.
But one Day He will return to this Earth to sit upon His throne that He gave David to rule from (I Chronicles 29:23), and His government will be righteous and just; it will look like what He described in the Sermon on the Mount.
O my Father, You are so good to us all. You know that we are but dust, yet You love us with a Love that we can't comprehend. You made us so that we could live forever with you; but You also made us to be able to die, so that a Savior could die for us, to cleanse us and make us perfect, fit to live with You where You live.
Father, there are so many who don't realize what You have done for them. They don't know that they deserve death, and that Your Son has already come to take their death, paying that eternal debt we all owe for sin. They've not yet felt the need to seek You, because when they seek You they will find You. And You have not been found of them yet.
My Father, I pray for all Your lost sheep who have not been found yet. I pray for my own loved ones, my family and my friends, who don't know You yet. Please show Yourself to each of them, draw them to Yourself, and teach them Your ways.
O Father God, continue to send workers into the mission fields to find them all.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue in every language will proclaim Your glory and honor and power and authority and blessing, through all eternity; for You alone deserve all praise and credit for all You have done.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.
Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him.
But the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, Go! and he goes, and to another Come! and he comes, and to my slave, Do this! and he does it.
Now when Jesus heard this, He marvelled and said to those who were following, Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
I say to you that many will come from East and West, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven;
but the sons of the Kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said to the centurion, Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.
And the servant was healed that very moment.
Jesus was impressed with this soldier's faith. So what was this faith? It was an understanding of how authority works: he was accountable to authority higher than his, and others under his authority obeyed whatever he said, because of his authority over them.
He understood how Jesus had authority over all. He knew that, having authority over paralysis and tormenting, that He would only need to command them, and the servant would be released from their hold.
Jesus told him that what he believed to be true was true, and according to the truth he believed, it would be done for him. What he expected to happen, would happen. He expected for Jesus to issue the command, and his servant would be healed, and it happened just as he expected it to.
Often Jesus told people that what they believed and expected to happen, is what would happen for them. So if you think you can't or if you think you can, you're right; what you expect to happen will happen for you.
People who don't even believe in God subscribe to this actuality. It's one of the ways God designed this World to work for us. We must believe.
This centurion believed in Jesus, and Jesus honored that faith and complimented him for his understanding of how this works.
Just as his authority over his soldiers and servants compelled them to obey his commands, he knew that the authority Jesus had over what He had made would also obey His commands.
Jesus said that there would be many Gentiles who would have the faith to enter the Kingdom of God, and there would be chosen Israelites who would miss it.
It all depends on our faith. God has always wanted us to believe what He says; in every story, with every person, in every time, at every level of His revealing Himself and His program for us. At every step, He just wants us to believe Him, and trust Him to be true to what He said.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son ... (Hebrews 1:1-2)Now that Jesus has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 5:7), our faith must be in Him, to trust Him to be our personal sacrifice as the Lamb of God. Then we will be given His Spirit, to teach us, and strengthen us to do what we know to do in His power. Then His Kingdom will live in us (Luke 17:21) as we give our allegiance to Him as our King.
But one Day He will return to this Earth to sit upon His throne that He gave David to rule from (I Chronicles 29:23), and His government will be righteous and just; it will look like what He described in the Sermon on the Mount.
O my Father, You are so good to us all. You know that we are but dust, yet You love us with a Love that we can't comprehend. You made us so that we could live forever with you; but You also made us to be able to die, so that a Savior could die for us, to cleanse us and make us perfect, fit to live with You where You live.
Father, there are so many who don't realize what You have done for them. They don't know that they deserve death, and that Your Son has already come to take their death, paying that eternal debt we all owe for sin. They've not yet felt the need to seek You, because when they seek You they will find You. And You have not been found of them yet.
My Father, I pray for all Your lost sheep who have not been found yet. I pray for my own loved ones, my family and my friends, who don't know You yet. Please show Yourself to each of them, draw them to Yourself, and teach them Your ways.
O Father God, continue to send workers into the mission fields to find them all.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue in every language will proclaim Your glory and honor and power and authority and blessing, through all eternity; for You alone deserve all praise and credit for all You have done.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Healing A Leper
Matthew 8: 1-4
When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.
And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.
Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.
After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus healed this man from leprosy. The man believed He could heal him, but said, If you are willing. He left the choice to Jesus. And Jesus was willing, so He cleansed him.
The Law of Moses, that God gave on Mount Sinai, was the basis of all the laws the Jews of Jesus' day observed. Jesus told this man to do just what the Law of Moses said to do: to have the priest examine him to see that he was healed, and then offer the sacrifice, according to Leviticus 14:1-32, The law of the Leper in the Day of his Cleansing. This was a whole process, over a week of time, to assure that the leprosy was gone.
The leaders of that day may have been observing other rites in addition to this specific routine, so Jesus told him to just follow what Moses had written.
But not to advertise Jesus' healing him.
Jesus seemed to have dealt with this kind of situation on a case-by-case basis; as He wanted the demoniac to stay and tell his friends what God had done for him (Mark 5:19) instead of going with Him; and He never did let any of the demons He cast out testify of His divinity.
He told this man not to tell, but he went out and told everyone, anyway; and the result was that Jesus was mobbed, and couldn't even enter a town, but had to stay out in the fields where the people came out to Him (Mark 1:45).
Jesus was the Lord God, the Creator, and had authority over disease, sickness, paralysis, demons, mental illness, physical illness, and emotional bondage. As well as Nature; the wind, the waves, the storm at sea.
But He was also human; and as such He needed to eat and rest as we all do. And when this healed leper went out telling everyone that Jesus healed him, they came out in droves, and severely hampered Jesus' movements.
O my Father, thank You for telling us all the stories, all the personalities of the Heroes of the Faith.
Thank You for sending Your own Son, that He could be God to be the eternal Person Who could pay our eternal debt in Time; and also be human to qualify to die our human death for each one of us to save us, freeing us from the power sin has over us to enslave us. His power, the power of Almighty God, wins the victory over all our enemies: sickness, weakness, disability, poverty, addiction; and death itself.
The power of Your might wins every battle, enables every inability, finances every need in our poverty, and satisfies our every yearning in every area of living in this World.
And when we delight ourselves in You, O Lord, You put Your desires in our hearts, to yearn for what You delight in giving to us to enjoy. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and You enjoy seeing our good and benefit.
Father, I know how much I enjoy seeing my own children doing what is right and prospering and enjoying life; so I know that, as our Father, You also want us to enjoy all the benefits You lavished upon us in this Earth You designed for us.
Help us to know Your ways, Father, to delight ourselves in You, and to expect You to lavish upon us all the blessings You know we will enjoy. And strengthen us to stand before the enemy and his minions in the time of battle, to win Your victory over evil and want and weakness.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess Your majesty and authority and strength and riches and glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.
And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.
Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.
After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus healed this man from leprosy. The man believed He could heal him, but said, If you are willing. He left the choice to Jesus. And Jesus was willing, so He cleansed him.
The Law of Moses, that God gave on Mount Sinai, was the basis of all the laws the Jews of Jesus' day observed. Jesus told this man to do just what the Law of Moses said to do: to have the priest examine him to see that he was healed, and then offer the sacrifice, according to Leviticus 14:1-32, The law of the Leper in the Day of his Cleansing. This was a whole process, over a week of time, to assure that the leprosy was gone.
The leaders of that day may have been observing other rites in addition to this specific routine, so Jesus told him to just follow what Moses had written.
But not to advertise Jesus' healing him.
Jesus seemed to have dealt with this kind of situation on a case-by-case basis; as He wanted the demoniac to stay and tell his friends what God had done for him (Mark 5:19) instead of going with Him; and He never did let any of the demons He cast out testify of His divinity.
He told this man not to tell, but he went out and told everyone, anyway; and the result was that Jesus was mobbed, and couldn't even enter a town, but had to stay out in the fields where the people came out to Him (Mark 1:45).
Jesus was the Lord God, the Creator, and had authority over disease, sickness, paralysis, demons, mental illness, physical illness, and emotional bondage. As well as Nature; the wind, the waves, the storm at sea.
But He was also human; and as such He needed to eat and rest as we all do. And when this healed leper went out telling everyone that Jesus healed him, they came out in droves, and severely hampered Jesus' movements.
O my Father, thank You for telling us all the stories, all the personalities of the Heroes of the Faith.
Thank You for sending Your own Son, that He could be God to be the eternal Person Who could pay our eternal debt in Time; and also be human to qualify to die our human death for each one of us to save us, freeing us from the power sin has over us to enslave us. His power, the power of Almighty God, wins the victory over all our enemies: sickness, weakness, disability, poverty, addiction; and death itself.
The power of Your might wins every battle, enables every inability, finances every need in our poverty, and satisfies our every yearning in every area of living in this World.
And when we delight ourselves in You, O Lord, You put Your desires in our hearts, to yearn for what You delight in giving to us to enjoy. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and You enjoy seeing our good and benefit.
Father, I know how much I enjoy seeing my own children doing what is right and prospering and enjoying life; so I know that, as our Father, You also want us to enjoy all the benefits You lavished upon us in this Earth You designed for us.
Help us to know Your ways, Father, to delight ourselves in You, and to expect You to lavish upon us all the blessings You know we will enjoy. And strengthen us to stand before the enemy and his minions in the time of battle, to win Your victory over evil and want and weakness.
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess Your majesty and authority and strength and riches and glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Astonishing!
Matthew 7
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 28-29
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;
for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
The conclusion of this Sermon is that the people were astonished and amazed with how Jesus was instructing them. He had the authority to tell them without refering back to any other teachers. His references were to how they had understood the Law in the past, but He was presenting to them a new view.
It was so astonishing to them, because only the Lawgiver Himself could revise and correct their understanding of how the Law actually affected them. Jesus was that Lawgiver Who had given the tablets to Moses in the first place. So He did have the authority to revise how they were to consider how the Law works.
Being amazed and astonished is natural, but did their astonishment keep them from hearing the import of what He was saying? Did they actually listen to Him? Did they hear what they needed to do, how they were to live their lives? Jesus had told them that to hear but not do would be disastrous (v. 27).
From then on, there were great crowds that followed Him.
He has now laid out the program for the Kingdom of God, how it will look on this Earth when He sits on the "throne of David" and rules as the King of the World. And He attracted multitudes of people to hear Him teach. They were hungry to hear God's words, since there had been no Word from God for over 400 years.
This Sermon has jump-started His public ministry, and He will now go about doing what the Prophets had prophesied what Messiah would do. He would spend only three years doing this as an itinerant preacher, then He will fulfill the sacrificial laws in His death.
Since He is the One Who is the Lord God of the Old Testament, and He knew what He would do when He came to redeem us, He was able to tell the Prophets what to write, so that when He came He could prove Who He is to us.
And He gave the Law to Moses to prepare His people to recognize the Lamb of God, and what He would accomplish as our personal Sacrifice, and as the Bread of Life, and as the Owner and Judge of us all.
And His life and death and Resurrection proves to us that He is the One to follow, to believe, to trust, and to love. He has also revealed to us the Father and the Spirit.
O my Father, thank You so much for loving us so much that You gave Your most Precious--Your own Son. You gave Him even before You created, knowing that we would need a Savior in order to live with You. You had it all planned out, Father; You designed it all and had all creation operate according to Your Laws.
You decided to give us a free choice so that we could freely choose to love you back. But not all of us choose to do so. You knew this, too. But knowing this does not lesson Your great Love for us all. Your offer is still extended to every person alive.
O Father, please continue to send out workers into Your missionary fields, to find all the lost sheep who are seeking You. You knew that I was seeking You, even though I didn't know it was You I was looking for. Now help me to be Your hands and feet to share with others Who You are and what You want to do for them, too.
Jesus prayed three times, when He came down to actually doing it, that if it was possible for us to live with you without His suffering, to not make Him go through with it. But He knew there was no other way. He knew that this was the Plan from the get go. So He did it. He suffered for me, and for all Mankind, and for all creation.
Jesus, You are mine and I am yours in a three-fold hold: You made me; You bought me; and You redeemed me from sin. You will do with me whatever You will, and I want You to. Because I trust You; I trust Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your authority over me. I trust that You have only my best in mind, and that You are leading me in the right way, the Righteous path, that leads to Light and Life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 28-29
When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;
for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
The conclusion of this Sermon is that the people were astonished and amazed with how Jesus was instructing them. He had the authority to tell them without refering back to any other teachers. His references were to how they had understood the Law in the past, but He was presenting to them a new view.
It was so astonishing to them, because only the Lawgiver Himself could revise and correct their understanding of how the Law actually affected them. Jesus was that Lawgiver Who had given the tablets to Moses in the first place. So He did have the authority to revise how they were to consider how the Law works.
Being amazed and astonished is natural, but did their astonishment keep them from hearing the import of what He was saying? Did they actually listen to Him? Did they hear what they needed to do, how they were to live their lives? Jesus had told them that to hear but not do would be disastrous (v. 27).
From then on, there were great crowds that followed Him.
He has now laid out the program for the Kingdom of God, how it will look on this Earth when He sits on the "throne of David" and rules as the King of the World. And He attracted multitudes of people to hear Him teach. They were hungry to hear God's words, since there had been no Word from God for over 400 years.
This Sermon has jump-started His public ministry, and He will now go about doing what the Prophets had prophesied what Messiah would do. He would spend only three years doing this as an itinerant preacher, then He will fulfill the sacrificial laws in His death.
Since He is the One Who is the Lord God of the Old Testament, and He knew what He would do when He came to redeem us, He was able to tell the Prophets what to write, so that when He came He could prove Who He is to us.
And He gave the Law to Moses to prepare His people to recognize the Lamb of God, and what He would accomplish as our personal Sacrifice, and as the Bread of Life, and as the Owner and Judge of us all.
And His life and death and Resurrection proves to us that He is the One to follow, to believe, to trust, and to love. He has also revealed to us the Father and the Spirit.
O my Father, thank You so much for loving us so much that You gave Your most Precious--Your own Son. You gave Him even before You created, knowing that we would need a Savior in order to live with You. You had it all planned out, Father; You designed it all and had all creation operate according to Your Laws.
You decided to give us a free choice so that we could freely choose to love you back. But not all of us choose to do so. You knew this, too. But knowing this does not lesson Your great Love for us all. Your offer is still extended to every person alive.
O Father, please continue to send out workers into Your missionary fields, to find all the lost sheep who are seeking You. You knew that I was seeking You, even though I didn't know it was You I was looking for. Now help me to be Your hands and feet to share with others Who You are and what You want to do for them, too.
Jesus prayed three times, when He came down to actually doing it, that if it was possible for us to live with you without His suffering, to not make Him go through with it. But He knew there was no other way. He knew that this was the Plan from the get go. So He did it. He suffered for me, and for all Mankind, and for all creation.
Jesus, You are mine and I am yours in a three-fold hold: You made me; You bought me; and You redeemed me from sin. You will do with me whatever You will, and I want You to. Because I trust You; I trust Your goodness, Your wisdom, Your authority over me. I trust that You have only my best in mind, and that You are leading me in the right way, the Righteous path, that leads to Light and Life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
What Is Your Foundation?
Matthew 7
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 24-27, Foundation for life
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall.
This story is very interesting, in that these two men both built their dream houses to live in with their families, and probably furnished them nicely, and were both comfortably living in them.
Then the same storms came to both of them alike; the same rains, the same floods, the same hurricane winds to batter them both alike. The only difference was in the foundations they chose to build their houses on.
The wise man chose to formulate his lifestyle on the basis of The Rock (see I Corinthians 10:4), God's Word. The foolish man chose to trust the World's theories and theses. They both lived lives that were respectable.
But when the storms of life hit them both, the wise man continued to stand (Ephesians 6:13), while the foolish man was knocked for a loop and completely destroyed (and great was its fall).
God's Truth is a Rock that we can firmly base our lives on, not like the shifting sands of this World's philosophies and sciences.
So what is your life's foundation? If you start with error (not Truth), then the longer you go the farther you get from the Truth. But if you are on the narrow, confined footpath with your hand firmly in your Father's, then He will lead you straight on, and He will be your strength in fighting the battles of life.
I study God's Scriptures, and I have chosen to believe that every word is accurate and every story and teaching is True. So I trust in them; they are my answer for every question, they give me the solution to every problem, and they furnish me purpose and worth to give me confidence when the World around me is storming and attacking. I stand firm on Christ, my Redeemer and Lord.
O my Father, thank You for Your wonderful written Word, and Your amazing grace to grant me Your own Spirit to dwell in my spirit permanently. You have promised me that You would never leave me, and You have kept Your promise: through all the turmoil, all the sorrow and mourning, through all the waiting; through all the testings of this school of life, this vale of tears.
I know that the pressures You allow in this World are making me into Your diamond. All the lessons You are teaching me will stand me in good stead when I "graduate" and receive the "adoption" (Romans 8:23), which will be the new, spiritual body that will swallow up my mortal, corporeal body I'm living in now (see I Corinthians 15:35-58, especially vs. 50, 52-54).
Father, Your goodness to me is so gracious, You are so gentle and compassionate; teach me to also show Your grace and gentleness and compassion to others--that I may be Christ to those who need to see Him.
And every eye will see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that You alone are God. And You will receive all the blessing, all the honor, all the glory, all the power, all the riches, all the wisdom, and all the strength.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 24-27, Foundation for life
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall.
This story is very interesting, in that these two men both built their dream houses to live in with their families, and probably furnished them nicely, and were both comfortably living in them.
Then the same storms came to both of them alike; the same rains, the same floods, the same hurricane winds to batter them both alike. The only difference was in the foundations they chose to build their houses on.
The wise man chose to formulate his lifestyle on the basis of The Rock (see I Corinthians 10:4), God's Word. The foolish man chose to trust the World's theories and theses. They both lived lives that were respectable.
But when the storms of life hit them both, the wise man continued to stand (Ephesians 6:13), while the foolish man was knocked for a loop and completely destroyed (and great was its fall).
God's Truth is a Rock that we can firmly base our lives on, not like the shifting sands of this World's philosophies and sciences.
So what is your life's foundation? If you start with error (not Truth), then the longer you go the farther you get from the Truth. But if you are on the narrow, confined footpath with your hand firmly in your Father's, then He will lead you straight on, and He will be your strength in fighting the battles of life.
I study God's Scriptures, and I have chosen to believe that every word is accurate and every story and teaching is True. So I trust in them; they are my answer for every question, they give me the solution to every problem, and they furnish me purpose and worth to give me confidence when the World around me is storming and attacking. I stand firm on Christ, my Redeemer and Lord.
O my Father, thank You for Your wonderful written Word, and Your amazing grace to grant me Your own Spirit to dwell in my spirit permanently. You have promised me that You would never leave me, and You have kept Your promise: through all the turmoil, all the sorrow and mourning, through all the waiting; through all the testings of this school of life, this vale of tears.
I know that the pressures You allow in this World are making me into Your diamond. All the lessons You are teaching me will stand me in good stead when I "graduate" and receive the "adoption" (Romans 8:23), which will be the new, spiritual body that will swallow up my mortal, corporeal body I'm living in now (see I Corinthians 15:35-58, especially vs. 50, 52-54).
Father, Your goodness to me is so gracious, You are so gentle and compassionate; teach me to also show Your grace and gentleness and compassion to others--that I may be Christ to those who need to see Him.
And every eye will see, and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that You alone are God. And You will receive all the blessing, all the honor, all the glory, all the power, all the riches, all the wisdom, and all the strength.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, March 11, 2019
Lord, Lord ...
Matthew 7
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 21-23, Lord, Lord ...
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that Day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
There are many who think they are Christians, who are doing all kinds of ministry-type things that they think should please God. But they never did actually avail themselves of the Salvation He offers through His Son.
Jesus came to be the Lamb of God to fulfill the Old Testament. The first thing God wanted the Levites (the Teachers of Israel) to teach them was the Personal Sacrifice (Leviticus chapter 1). When Jesus' Blood splattered the sides of His altar, the Cross, He fulfilled this Sacrifice. So He must be Your personal Sacrifice, dying in your stead; for His Blood to cleanse you, the Father to forgive you, and to receive the Holy Spirit permanently in your spirit. That is being "born again," receiving Life, similar to having received human life by being born of your mother.
This is the first thing that must be accomplished in order to have communication with God, and know what His will is for you to do.
Many preachers, pastors, priests, and religious leaders today have never realized that Jesus would have taken their place in death, so have never been "born" spiritually, and are doing things to try to earn their way to Heaven.
That's why Jesus will tell them that He never knew them, because they never knew Him, just of Him. And all the stuff they were doing were in their own, human power, and not acceptable to God, having never been cleansed from sin.
Jesus was asked:
Before we are alive we cannot do anything at all for God. Everything we do is for ourselves, or for our benefit, to earn something.
O my Father, please open the eyes, minds, and hearts of those who think they are Christians to realize their culpability before You and allow Your Son to be their Savior. I pray especially for my own loved ones, my family members and friends. And I also pray for all Your lost sheep who haven't been found yet.
Please send more workers into Your fields, the mission fields of the World, to reach all those who are seeking You; as I once sought You, not knowing that it was You I was seeking.
And help Your children to joyfully follow You in the narrow path You are leading us along. Continue to hold my hand firmly, never letting me pull away, or wander off; or turn to the right or left.
And Your Name will be praised and glorified for all You have done, my dear, wonderful, powerful, deserving God and King and Lord.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
The Sermon on the Mount
Vs. 21-23, Lord, Lord ...
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that Day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name cast out demons, and in Your Name perform many miracles?
And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
There are many who think they are Christians, who are doing all kinds of ministry-type things that they think should please God. But they never did actually avail themselves of the Salvation He offers through His Son.
Jesus came to be the Lamb of God to fulfill the Old Testament. The first thing God wanted the Levites (the Teachers of Israel) to teach them was the Personal Sacrifice (Leviticus chapter 1). When Jesus' Blood splattered the sides of His altar, the Cross, He fulfilled this Sacrifice. So He must be Your personal Sacrifice, dying in your stead; for His Blood to cleanse you, the Father to forgive you, and to receive the Holy Spirit permanently in your spirit. That is being "born again," receiving Life, similar to having received human life by being born of your mother.
This is the first thing that must be accomplished in order to have communication with God, and know what His will is for you to do.
Many preachers, pastors, priests, and religious leaders today have never realized that Jesus would have taken their place in death, so have never been "born" spiritually, and are doing things to try to earn their way to Heaven.
That's why Jesus will tell them that He never knew them, because they never knew Him, just of Him. And all the stuff they were doing were in their own, human power, and not acceptable to God, having never been cleansed from sin.
Jesus was asked:
What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.To believe is to trust Jesus to have taken your death for you individually (because God saves people one-by-one). That's the first "work of God" He wants us to do. Then we will be alive spiritually, and able to do everything else He wants us to do.
Before we are alive we cannot do anything at all for God. Everything we do is for ourselves, or for our benefit, to earn something.
O my Father, please open the eyes, minds, and hearts of those who think they are Christians to realize their culpability before You and allow Your Son to be their Savior. I pray especially for my own loved ones, my family members and friends. And I also pray for all Your lost sheep who haven't been found yet.
Please send more workers into Your fields, the mission fields of the World, to reach all those who are seeking You; as I once sought You, not knowing that it was You I was seeking.
And help Your children to joyfully follow You in the narrow path You are leading us along. Continue to hold my hand firmly, never letting me pull away, or wander off; or turn to the right or left.
And Your Name will be praised and glorified for all You have done, my dear, wonderful, powerful, deserving God and King and Lord.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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