John 3: 1-21
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
This man was one of the high-ranking VIPs in the Jewish system of religious government.
The same came to Jesus by night,
He would not come in the daylight, because he didn't want it known that he had sought Him out, to take Him seriously. Nicodemus was sneaking out to see Him.
and said to Him, Rabbi,
This is a title of respect, given to teachers of the Scriptures.
We know that You are a Teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that You do except God be with him.
Now Nicodemus is professing faith in Jesus, and seeking Truth.
Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you [He's teaching here], Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Here Jesus is teaching him a basic Truth.
Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?
Nicodemus took Jesus literally, in an earthy way.
Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you [He's teaching again], Except a man be born of water [material] and of the Spirit [spiritual], he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God [also spiritual and material].
God is Spirit, and Life is spirit, so God's Kingdom is spiritual; and when it comes here to be actualized on the Earth, it will also be material.
So Jesus explains this to Nicodemus:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the water breaks and the child is born], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [the Holy Spirit comes into our human spirit and makes it alive].
Marvel not that I said to you that you must be born again [Don't be surprised at this].
The wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound of it but you cannot discern where it comes from or where it goes; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that just as you can't see the wind, but you can feel it and see what it does; that's how the Spirit works in our spirit, you don't see the spiritual with your carnal eyes, but you do see its affects, what He does through us.
Nicodemus answered and said to Him, How can these things be?
He's asking Him how all this works out, similar to when Mary asked Gabriel how she was going to conceive without a man. Not doubting the Truth of it, but asking about the mechanics of it, how it works out.
Jesus answered and said to him, Are you a master in Israel, and you don't know these things?
Jesus is chiding him, as Nicodemus has studied the Scriptures all his life and is considered an expert, but he hasn't grasped this basic Truth that undergirds all the rest. You have to have spiritual life to communicate with God Who is Spirit.
Truly, truly, I say to you [Teaching again], We speak what we know, and we testify to what we have eyewitnessed; and you have not received our witness.
The Jewish leadership was not open to hearing His Truth; they were expecting something else, and afraid of the Romans who had conquered them.
If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how can you believe if I tell you about Heavenly things?
We must choose to believe the foundational things, then we will be able to build on them and trust the higher concepts. The material comes first, then the spiritual (I Corinthians 15:45-46).
And no man has ascended up to Heaven but He who has come down from Heaven, even the Son of Man who is in Heaven.
Jesus is talking about Himself here, He is the Son who was given, by being born as a human child (Isaiah 9:6, the [new] child is born, but the Son [from Eternity past] is given).
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up:
That whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus is referring to when poisonous serpents were biting the people, and God had Moses make a serpent of brass and set it up high on a pole, and whoever had been bitten by a snake, if he looked up at that brass serpent & believed that God would work through it for healing, then he lived (Numbers 21:8-9).
Jesus will also be lifted up on a pole, the Cross, as the Lamb of God, dying in our place to rescue us from death.
For God so loved the World, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Here's the verse that is memorized by every Christian child. This is Jesus' purpose for coming to Earth. His whole reason. He doesn't want us to perish, but to live with Him where He lives, forever. That's why He came.
For God did not send His Son into the World to condemn the World: but that the World through Him might be saved.
Jesus' Blood has unlimited value, its worth is more than enough to pay for the sinfulness of every person who ever lived. His invitation is open to every living creature, in every Nation, every language; to every sinner who faces the truth of his own sinfulness and turns to Him for cleansing.
He didn't say that the World will be saved, but that it might be saved. He won't force Himself on anyone. We each must choose to accept His authority over us, and admit our culpability. Then His Blood will wash us white as snow (Isaiah 1:18), fit to live with Him in His perfect Heaven.
He that believes in Him is not condemned: but he that does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten Son of God.
He says they are condemned already, we are all born in sin, the sin-nature that we inherit as humans from Adam. So we're all born deserving death.
And this is the condemnation, that Light has come into the World, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, neither comes to the Light, lest his deeds should be discovered.
They want to hide what they're doing because they know it's not right, and they want to avoid punishment or any consequences.
But he that does Truth comes to the Light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
The one who lives with integrity is not hiding, and is willing for others to know what he is doing, because it's all right and beneficial. It's what God planned for us to accomplish to promote His Kingdom by doing what is right.
Nicodemus did believe Jesus, and he spoke up for Him to the other Pharisees in John 7:50-51, when they wanted to arrest Him. And when Joseph of Arimathea claimed Jesus' body when He was dead, Nicodemus was with him with spices to wrap His body with in the linen sheets for burial (John 19:38-42).
O my Father, You had John write about this Pharisee, Nicodemus, so that we could also hear what Jesus was teaching him.
Thank You, Father, for loving us so much, to send Your very best for us.
Father, I pray for all those who are seeking You, that they would find You. And I pray for Your children, that they all might acquire the skill in testifying of what You are doing in and for each one of us. That we would use the right words to convey Your Truth with understanding, and be able to discern the times we are living in.
Father, I know it won't be long before all the End-Time events will be upon us, with all the chaos and confusion that it will bring, and then the Glorious Appearing of our majestic King!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
When Do We Expect?
Luke 12: 39-40
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
You, too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.
This means that anyone who sets a date for the Lord's return is wrong; we cannot know the day or the hour.
Vs. 54-56
And He was also saying to the crowds, When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, A shower is coming, and so it turns out.
And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, It will be a hot day, and it turns out that way.
You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the Earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?
Maybe not the day and hour, but should we be able to discern the year? Maybe the very season?
We need to be aware of the times we live in, to discern right from wrong. Especially now that the World is calling darkness, light; and confusing God-given gender; and insisting that twisted evil is good and right.
We are like the steward who convinces himself that he has plenty of time, and neglects his duties, when his master is nearly at the door.
Is our Master nearly at our door? Can you analyze the times to determine if it's almost time for Him to return?
V. 48
From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
We are responsible for all that the Lord has entrusted to us.
I need to pay attention to all that is going on around me, and take account of all that God has given to me.
I need to be able to "judge what is right," to give and do and be one who is faithful to my Lord in all the things and all the ways all the time I can.
O my Father, You have known us, and You have loved us, and You have done everything possible and impossible to tell us Who You are and what You are doing and how we can cooperate with You in Your great Plan.
Please open our eyes to see, open our minds to understand, and open our hearts to receive and agree with Your good for us; that we will have the confidence to speak out for the silent and to do for the unable.
Help us as Your children, to curl up in our Daddy (Abba)'s lap to love You and let You love on us, and learn from You.
Help us all to be ready to welcome our Master and Lord; having asked, sought, and knocked in faith, expecting all the abundance You have placed here for us, and having received all the spiritual and material blessings You have desired to shower upon us, to use in the furtherance of Your Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
You, too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.
This means that anyone who sets a date for the Lord's return is wrong; we cannot know the day or the hour.
Vs. 54-56
And He was also saying to the crowds, When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, A shower is coming, and so it turns out.
And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, It will be a hot day, and it turns out that way.
You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the Earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?
Maybe not the day and hour, but should we be able to discern the year? Maybe the very season?
We need to be aware of the times we live in, to discern right from wrong. Especially now that the World is calling darkness, light; and confusing God-given gender; and insisting that twisted evil is good and right.
We are like the steward who convinces himself that he has plenty of time, and neglects his duties, when his master is nearly at the door.
Is our Master nearly at our door? Can you analyze the times to determine if it's almost time for Him to return?
V. 48
From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.
We are responsible for all that the Lord has entrusted to us.
I need to pay attention to all that is going on around me, and take account of all that God has given to me.
I need to be able to "judge what is right," to give and do and be one who is faithful to my Lord in all the things and all the ways all the time I can.
O my Father, You have known us, and You have loved us, and You have done everything possible and impossible to tell us Who You are and what You are doing and how we can cooperate with You in Your great Plan.
Please open our eyes to see, open our minds to understand, and open our hearts to receive and agree with Your good for us; that we will have the confidence to speak out for the silent and to do for the unable.
Help us as Your children, to curl up in our Daddy (Abba)'s lap to love You and let You love on us, and learn from You.
Help us all to be ready to welcome our Master and Lord; having asked, sought, and knocked in faith, expecting all the abundance You have placed here for us, and having received all the spiritual and material blessings You have desired to shower upon us, to use in the furtherance of Your Kingdom.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Lead By Serving
Matthew 20: 25-28
Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Mark 10: 42-45
... For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Luke 22: 25-27
And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called "Benefactors."
But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.
For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the One who serves.
We are not to lord over others our authority over them, but to humble ourselves in serving those we are responsible for.
Jesus' life is our example that we are to model our attitudes and character after. We are to grow spiritually into the very image of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we must act like He acted. The WWJD craze that was all the rage a few years ago was on the right track. We really do need to think about what Jesus would do, how He would respond, to the stimulus that is affecting us right now.
Our response to others is to be one of humility, of recognizing that the other's worth is as valuable as mine, and is due the respect that can elevate them and lift them up in the Lord. We are to build one another up in the Lord, to edify (Romans 14:19; I Thessalonians 5:11). That is how we are to lead--by serving.
O my Father, please help us to get this. Help us to understand how Your ways can be the complete opposite of what the World says. Father, it seems that we as Your church, are still steeped in the ways of the World, instead of Your ways.
Teach me, Father, how to serve and honor those I would like to lead to You. I don't want followers of me, but only followers of my Lord. If their following me is leading them to You, Lord, then lead me steadily and consistently in Your path. Don't let me turn to the right or to the left, don't let me run ahead or lag behind You, don't let me pull away or wander off. Lead me to lead them into Your righteousness and holiness.
And You will receive all the accolaides, all the praise, all the applause. You will receive all the honor, all the glory, all the blessings and riches and wisdom of the ages. Because only You deserve it all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Mark 10: 42-45
... For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Luke 22: 25-27
And He said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called "Benefactors."
But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.
For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the One who serves.
We are not to lord over others our authority over them, but to humble ourselves in serving those we are responsible for.
Jesus' life is our example that we are to model our attitudes and character after. We are to grow spiritually into the very image of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we must act like He acted. The WWJD craze that was all the rage a few years ago was on the right track. We really do need to think about what Jesus would do, how He would respond, to the stimulus that is affecting us right now.
Our response to others is to be one of humility, of recognizing that the other's worth is as valuable as mine, and is due the respect that can elevate them and lift them up in the Lord. We are to build one another up in the Lord, to edify (Romans 14:19; I Thessalonians 5:11). That is how we are to lead--by serving.
O my Father, please help us to get this. Help us to understand how Your ways can be the complete opposite of what the World says. Father, it seems that we as Your church, are still steeped in the ways of the World, instead of Your ways.
Teach me, Father, how to serve and honor those I would like to lead to You. I don't want followers of me, but only followers of my Lord. If their following me is leading them to You, Lord, then lead me steadily and consistently in Your path. Don't let me turn to the right or to the left, don't let me run ahead or lag behind You, don't let me pull away or wander off. Lead me to lead them into Your righteousness and holiness.
And You will receive all the accolaides, all the praise, all the applause. You will receive all the honor, all the glory, all the blessings and riches and wisdom of the ages. Because only You deserve it all.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, March 18, 2019
Our Attitude: Faith
Mark 9: 23 ... All things are possible for him who believes.
10: 52 ... Your faith has made you well ...
10: 27 ... With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.
God designed this World to work on faith. To believe allows the good into our lives. Our attitudes must be trusting God with no doubts as to His ability or desire to do it for us. All things are possible for Him because He is God over all. Fully relying on Him will open the way for Him to respond, in the way that is right for us, in His time.
That's why it's based on faith. If we don't believe, then we aren't allowing it into our reality. It's our choice. Whatever we choose to believe, we will be expecting and looking for. And whatever we are looking for, we will find; whether it be good or not.
That's why Proverbs says:
O my Father, You are so good. You want to give us so much good, so many good things to prosper us so we can enjoy Your goodness. Help us, Father, to believe You, to believe in Your goodness and Your desire to bless us. Teach us how to rely on You instead of our own inventiveness to make our lives pleasant and enjoyable and fun.
As our Father, You enjoy watching our enjoyment, just as I as a parent enjoy seeing my children enjoying life. And You have given us so much abundance in this Earth for us to enjoy.
But You have also given us Yourself! And I want to enjoy You above my enjoyment of Your gifts. You are my prize. You Yourself are far more than anything and everything You give to me.
I find it incredible that You would love me so much, even knowing how I am but dust. Why You would send Your own most precious, Your Son, to be my personal Sacrifice, to wash me white as snow, perfect, as though I'd never sinned, so I could live with You where You live--this is beyond my capacity to understand. That You would want to be with me, and me with You. Totally amazing!
When I think about all this, I just want to worship You with everything that is in me. I want to shout, and dance, and sing, and do all the overt, in-your-face stuff that is too much for anyone else but You!
And I will spend eternity giving You all the praise, all the worship, all the honor, all the blessing and worthiness and riches that all belong to You, and You alone.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
10: 52 ... Your faith has made you well ...
10: 27 ... With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.
God designed this World to work on faith. To believe allows the good into our lives. Our attitudes must be trusting God with no doubts as to His ability or desire to do it for us. All things are possible for Him because He is God over all. Fully relying on Him will open the way for Him to respond, in the way that is right for us, in His time.
That's why it's based on faith. If we don't believe, then we aren't allowing it into our reality. It's our choice. Whatever we choose to believe, we will be expecting and looking for. And whatever we are looking for, we will find; whether it be good or not.
That's why Proverbs says:
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast (Proverbs 15:15).This is our attitude. A positive attitude opens us up to receiving good things, a constant party; but a negative attitude that only looks for what's wrong to criticize will have a miserable time every day.
O my Father, You are so good. You want to give us so much good, so many good things to prosper us so we can enjoy Your goodness. Help us, Father, to believe You, to believe in Your goodness and Your desire to bless us. Teach us how to rely on You instead of our own inventiveness to make our lives pleasant and enjoyable and fun.
As our Father, You enjoy watching our enjoyment, just as I as a parent enjoy seeing my children enjoying life. And You have given us so much abundance in this Earth for us to enjoy.
But You have also given us Yourself! And I want to enjoy You above my enjoyment of Your gifts. You are my prize. You Yourself are far more than anything and everything You give to me.
I find it incredible that You would love me so much, even knowing how I am but dust. Why You would send Your own most precious, Your Son, to be my personal Sacrifice, to wash me white as snow, perfect, as though I'd never sinned, so I could live with You where You live--this is beyond my capacity to understand. That You would want to be with me, and me with You. Totally amazing!
When I think about all this, I just want to worship You with everything that is in me. I want to shout, and dance, and sing, and do all the overt, in-your-face stuff that is too much for anyone else but You!
And I will spend eternity giving You all the praise, all the worship, all the honor, all the blessing and worthiness and riches that all belong to You, and You alone.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, March 17, 2019
To Lose Or Save Your Life
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!
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!
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!
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