Saturday, March 31, 2018

RESURRECTION POWER -EASTER VERSES THAT CELEBRATE JESUS

Martina McBride had a big hit years ago called "INDEPENDENCE DAY" and the kicker line was "Let Freedom Ring". Nothing says that better than Galatians 5:1 where the LORD says "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery".

All of this Freedom and Independence and standing firm etc. are only possible because of one thing - The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the abode of the physically dead. He was NOT spiritually dead. He is God. The Resurrection, on the Third Day from His willing death on the Cross to remove the sting of death from us, is what makes it possible for us to live with Hope and Joy on this side of Eternity.

Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, is more significant than even Christmas because this is the one which immediately affects our own personal destination. Easter Sunday is celebrated almost the same in homes across the Western World, with minor cultural food or music differences. However the message remains the same - Jesus is alive, just as He said He will be!! There is never any doubt. God speaks, we listen.

As we have been doing over this past days, we present the Word of God in pure straight form, without comment, to show how the Bible not only speaks for itself but predicts with precision...even thousands of years in advance. With that in mind, here are some verses for us to be grateful, at this time when Jesus guaranteed our waking up into Heaven when we pass from this world to the next! Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me!


VERSES ON THE RESURRECTION - "EASTER IN THE BIBLE"
OLD TESTAMENT:
JOB 19
“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. “Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh, I shall see God (verses 25-26).

ISAIAH 26
Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits (verse 18).

DANIEL 12
Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. (verse 2)

NEW TESTAMENT: 

LUKE 24
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! (verses 1-5)

JOHN 20
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” (verses 25-26)

ACTS 1
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God (verse 3).

ACTS 4
And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.  And with great power, the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales (verses 32-34).

1 CORINTHIANS 15
After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles (verses 6-7).

There are many other verses, to which we should devote ourselves in Bible study, but suffice it to know that Jesus was not just seen by His disciples and the women who followed and ministered to His food and clothing needs, but 500 people in Jerusalem saw His physical body. Later, on Scripture tells us that even some of the Pharisees believed in Him. These were the same men who voted to executed Him!

The Apostle Paul, the great persecutor, and hater of the early Christian church had the most dramatic conversion to Christ. It is because of this stunning event in early church history when he was called Saul of Tarsus, that we have half of the entire New Testament.

The Resurrection changes EVERYTHING. Because Christ rose from the grave, and the Angel blew the stone away, then sat on it, as if to say "get a load of this", we are all set to be at the great "getting up morning in the sky". Glory to His Name! However, this can only happen if we are born-again and converted from the spirit of death and destruction to the instant we are suddenly indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God - the very same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead. It was for THIS Freedom, Jesus Christ set us free. Amen.
ROMANS 10:
if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth, he confesses, resulting in salvation (verses 9-10).

Friday, March 30, 2018

GOOD FRIDAY: PSALM 22 (PROPHESIED)...MATTHEW 27 (FULFILLED)

The Cross is the most popular jewelry item in the world. In the west, even secular people use them, for some reason or another.  Even bad biker gangs have insignia in the form of a cross celebrating- God knows what. To those living in the Roman Empire, 2000 years ago, the Cross was NO ‘fasthion statement”. It was a brutal instrument of torture, mayhem, and death which the Romans inflicted on their enemies, far and wide.

The most famous Person to be executed on the Cross was, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Were it not for Him, no one would know what crucifixion was, outside of a history class. Also, no one would know that it was the Sin of ALL mankind there – Jewish and Roman (or Gentile) which precipitated the Sacrifice of the God’s Son as the Propitiation (Satisfactory) payment for our sins

Almost 1000 years before Christ (BC) was nailed to the Cross by evil men on Good Friday, the very same words He would utter on there were prophesied and written down by King David, the poet/prophet/king of Israel.  It was not just the immortal statements uttered by Christ which came from Psalm 22,  but what actually took place from the point of view of God Who became a man – the Lord Jesus! It is a vantage point which believers, who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God Who moved the pen of David to write this, will immediately recognize. Jesus is literally describing what He physically experiences in this psalm, in graphic detail! it should make us cringe. It was our vile sin which caused this to occur.

Therefore, the vivid, heartbreaking, painful and incredibly horrific events are now presented, as remembrance – without comment – from prophetic Messianic Psalm 22 (written around 940 BC) in BLUE along with the actual fulfillment of these prophesies, from Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke in RED (of events from 33 AD).


PSALM 22:
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? - verse 1a

MATTHEW 27
About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? - verse 46

PSALM 22:
6 But I am a worm and not a man,  a reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me sneer at me;  they separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
8 “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him because He delights in him.”

MATTHEW 27:
41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God; let God deliver him now if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

JESUS DESCRIBES WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FROM THE CROSS HERE:
PSALM 22:
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me; a band of evildoers has encompassed me; they pierced my hands and my feet.***
17 I can count all my bones. they look, they stare at me; 
18 They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

MATTHEW 27:
35 When they had crucified him,*** they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

MARK 15
24  And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

LUKE 24:
34  Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Jesus then completed the Work which the Father had given Him to do: It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30b)

Thursday, March 29, 2018

HOLY WEEK: - THURSDAY ....."PROPHESY REVEALED, REALITY UNVEILED"

The Ultimate Sacrificial Death on the Cross, of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was both predicted in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New Testament, sometimes almost word for word!  About 740 years before Jesus gave His Life as a ransom for many, that all the world could be saved, the Prophet Isaiah wrote and prophesied in one of the greatest Chapters of the entire bible – Isaiah 53.

Jesus was the propitiation – the acceptable to God the Father sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, for all time.  Jesus, the Perfect Lamb of God, came meek and humble, yet knew what He taught and the reason for it. While He spoke a few words in front of His corrupt religious accusers and Pilate, He said not a word to the heathen King Herod.  As for Herod, Jesus will have a lot to say to Him on Judgment Day.

Here, we present the Word of God, from selected verses from Isaiah 53 (blue),Matthew Chapter 27 (red),Matthew 28 and 1 Corinthians 15:3, without comment:

ISAIAH 53:
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.

Matthew 27:
11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer.  13 Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” 14 And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.



ISAIAH 53:
8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet He was with a rich man in His death, because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:3
"Christ died for our sins".



ISAIAH 53:.
10 But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspringHe will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.

Matthew 28:
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risenjust as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24: 8 - "JESUS - THE KING OF GLORY!!!"

Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle (Psalm 24:8)

THOUGHT:
Our point of reference of historical times for Kings and Rulers of bygone eras, are from books and movies. For most of human history, all major towns and cities had some sort of fortification or system to keep evil out and protect the townspeople.  This was necessary because mankind has always been sinful and evil, since the Fall of Man, recorded in Genesis Chapter 3.

The more significant the town or city, the stronger the fortress, turrets and wider the walls so that you could ride a chariot around it. Then when the ruler of king of that town would return from a campaign, or even hunting out in the countryside, the armorbearer would always have to call out to the Gatekeepers to “Open the Gates”. After the gatekeepers inquired as to the purpose of the visit, the armorbearer would say “It is the King, Let the King come in” (or something to that effect).

In this instance – Psalm 24:8, this is no ordinary King and He doesn’t need permission to come into any part of His Creation. This is the King, Commander and Creator of the Universe.  This is the Lord Jesus Christ. In this current Age, until the church/believers/Christians are called Home at once, in the final raising up, He still announces Who He is to the hearts and lives of all peoples, from all corners of this blessed earth.

The Majestic Lord, Who is currently occupying the Throne on the Right Hand of God the Father, still offers a Royal invitation to join Him in Eternity in Heaven – FOR FREE. There is an equation to fulfilling the requirements to being a resident of the Eternal Kingdom. He had it written down for us – confess (ask forgiveness wholeheartedly – after realizing you’re going down the wrong road); then believe in your heart (with every fiber in your being) that Jesus is Lord, then you SHALL be saved!  Did it cost you money in a church collection plate? No. Did it cost you obeying a bunch of rules and tenets of some man-written religious rule book? No. Did you have to go do something for it? No! Why not? Why would the King, Whom we assume will be a high-taxing, hard-driving, high-living monarch like all the other kings and rulers of the earth, give something away for free?

The free gift from the Royal Throne of Heaven is only free for one reason – the King paid the freight.  He did not send some lesser subject to do it, He came off His Majestic Throne, after creating ALL we see around us, and lowered Himself to be just like us in the flesh. The one major and most significant difference between This Eternal King and the human He became like, for only 33 years is this – He never sinned.  The King only never sinned, He came to explain everything  written about Him from Genesis to John the Baptist as well as the Law of Moses, which He told to Moses.

There is no mind like His. There is no work like His. There is no one comparable. He is not only the beginning and the end, He is in the middle of all history. History will boil down to only His story.

ACTION:
Knowing Jesus as Savior of all mankind is excellent. Knowing Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior is even more important to your final destination. At death, people go one of two places. There is no such thing as purgatory.  In order to KNOW the King as He really is, He must be completely the LORD of your life, as well as Savior. This means everything.  Here is how we proceed:
-     Take your foot off the gas pedal of your life. He owns the vehicle of your life, let Him drive from now on. It also reduces your stress level
-     Leave no corner of your life unswept by the Blood of the Lamb, the Washing of the Word and the Conviction of the Holy Spirit.
-      Allow the Holy Spirit, Who is the Ultimate Gentleman, to turn on the search light and recover every hidden cobweb and buried sin action from even from when we were 5 years old. Then repent of it and move on.
-     If your church does not teach on the Holy Spirit because “that is a Charismatic thing”, forget that – the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and does not follow church or men’s doctrines. He interprets our prayers and the thoughts of our spirit and communicates them with the Lord Jesus Who intercedes with the Father.  If you think your prayers are not answered, consider this – are you fully committed as a Christian to Jesus and if so, repent, surrender to Christ and ask the Holy Spirit to take full control. Do not grieve Him. He goes to the background when that happens. So keep it real, real clean and ask for His intervention. You will not regret it.

Psalm 24 has 10 verses. Verses 9 and 10 are the same as verses 7 and 8, so this is the end of this majestic ode to our great God and King – the Lord Jesus. There is a twofold purpose here. The first one is for the church of the Jesus to wake up from culturally induced slumber and realize just Who He really is! This makes a huge difference as we see less and less reverence for the power and holiness of God in most of our western churches these days, as well as less focus on making disciples.

Secondly, on an individual level, opening the gates to the King of ALL Glory, means the extreme vetting of our hearts and souls to ascertain, in the affirmative, if Jesus Christ TRULY is the Lord of our lives. Anything else is vanity.
Amen.

"Before we can have any right idea of the love of Jesus, we must understand His previous glory in its height of majesty, and His incarnation upon the earth in all its depths of shame. But who can tell us the majesty of Christ? When He was enthroned in the highest heavens He was very God of very God; by Him were the heavens made, and all the hosts thereof. His own almighty arm upheld the spheres; the praises of cherubim and seraphim perpetually surrounded Him; the full chorus of the hallelujahs of the universe unceasingly flowed to the foot of his throne: He reigned supreme above all His creatures, God over all, blessed for ever. Quote from Charles H. Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening Devotional" - March 28, 2018

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24:7 - "OPEN UP THE GATES...OF YOUR HEART"

Photo Credit: Gray-Grant Communications
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in....(Psalm 24:7)
THOUGHT:
In ancient times, up to the Middle Ages, these huge things called “portcullis” hung over the entrances to towns, castles and other such fortifications. This word is hardly used now and neither are the "gates" they were, except in some medieval type movie. It is derived from a combination of French words "porte" (gate) and “coleice” (sliding, flowing etc…source: Dictionary.com).  The portcullis is basically a vertical sliding gate, made of metal and/or wood, latticed and run on metal tracks which allow for lowering and raising, as the case may be. These portcullises provided a second layer of protection for cities or towns or castles, many hundreds of years ago. You may have seen them in some movie about King Arthur, or the Knights Templar or something like this.

While some castles and fortifications had double portcullis, for double protection as well, some also had massive wooden gates. In ancient bible times of 3000 years ago, this would be the case in the old cities of Israel around 1000 BC, when King David ruled during the best days of the Holy Land.

David, God’s instrument used to pass on the inspired words of the Psalms, was responsible for the Ark of the Covenant of God. The Ark represented the very Presence of God. The Ark is a copy of the one that is in Heaven as we know from Revelation 11:19. But this copy is still filled with the Spirit of God and He was literally present wherever the Ark was, just like Jesus was present in the Pillar of Fire by night and the Cloud by Day, that led Moses and the Israelites during the Exodus.

Psalm 24:7 tells the gatekeepers in Israel to be on the alert as the Ark is coming through!  David shouts ahead “throw open the gates of the city…..raise the other one….the portcullis…because THE LORD, THE KING, THE ALMIGHTY (via His Ark) is coming into the city!”

ACTION:
Many people, especially including those calling themselves Christians, wall themselves off from the comforting and transforming Holy Spirit of God. Some may actually be saved, but keep telling the Spirit of Jesus that He can’t go here, or “I will handle this one myself” or “I was too hurt by XYZ situation and don’t want to hear ‘what the Bible says’”. There are church-going people who actually talk this way. If you or someone you know – a “friend of a friend” – is in this situation, where the comfort of Scriptures is ignored, it is time for some soul-searching. Do this three-step heart check:
  • Does Jesus have access to every corner of my life?
  • If not, where have I closed off to Him and why?
  • Then, I must look in the mirror of my soul, pray Psalm 51, repent and open the gates to let the King in!

Sunday, March 25, 2018

REVIEW: "PAUL - APOSTLE OF CHRIST" - HOW PERSECUTION OF THE EARLY CHURCH GIVES US HOPE TODAY"

OBSERVATIONS OF A MOVIEGOER
Before William Wallace said in the movie BRAVEHEART that "every man dies, but not every man really lives", Paul, the Apostle of Christ, notably said, "to live is Christ, to die is gain". Paul lived exactly that way all the way to the end of his life. Just released by AFFIRM FILMS on March 23, 2018, Jim Caviezel (the Co-Executive Producer) and his team offered a stunning movie full of grit, stark reality, and truth which left every one of us in the theater speechless and stunned.

The cinematography, set construction and acting drove the viewer (us) to actually become part of the narrative of the New Testament Books of Acts and 2 Timothy. While the events of Paul's incredible life happened at a certain point in time (67 AD), ALL Scriptures were written for ".....and inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). If one of the goals of the producers was to draw the bible believing Christian into the movie, they mightily succeeded.

The choice of Malta as the movie location is perfect as the landscape lends unique authenticity to the grit, grime, and gut-wrenching persecution our Christian brothers and sisters suffered at the brutal hands of the Romans for over 250 years before their Roman Emperor Constantine put an end to it. A historian named Tertullian once said that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church". It was the innocent blood of Paul and all the Christians who brought the Gospel of Christ and Christianity to the West on which we stand. Unfortunately, we, whose Salvation was bought at the highest price at Calvary on a Cross at Golgotha, have forgotten or ignored the modern-day persecution of God's people all across the Middle East, North Korea and basically, worldwide.

Paul, Apostle of Christ begins with the Apostle in sad physical condition, having been framed by the mad pervert Roman Emperor Nero, as the arsonist who burned down half of Rome. (Historically accurate). Paul and the Christians were convenient scapegoats due to their non-violent lifestyles, love, and care for the poor, discarded and abused in the godless city of Rome. The prison is run by the Roman Prefect Mauritius, who with his guards are just as brutal as the centurions who brutalized the Lord Jesus over 34 years at this moment. Dr. Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke, and a Greek Physician, initially had favor until he started writing the Book of Acts from the spectacular memory of Paul. Luke (Jim Caviezel) becomes a really important part of this powerfully transformative film as unlikely things begin to happen, both in the hidden Christian community led by the famous Priscilla and Aquilla, as well as with Prefect Mauritius and his family.


So many things are noteworthy about this movie, but the heart-wrenching flashbacks of the Apostle Paul early days, as the brutal hitman for the priests of the Temple in Jerusalem set a powerful backdrop for HIS redemption as well as anyone who has come to Christ from a life of horrid sin. Those flashbacks, while they were part of the narration of the Book of Acts to Dr. Luke, brought back memories which would sadden any human being. NOTE HERE: these flashback events took place BEFORE the Road to Damascus conversion of Saul of Tarsus, when he had an encounter with the living Christ and thus, because the Apostle Paul.

The great Reformer Martin Luther faced the same thing when the devil kept accusing him of being a sinner and not worthy until Christ showed up and put an end to it. Each human being, at the point of death or even conversion, will face the same from the Accuser of the Brethren.  The powerful scene of Paul's execution led to something which brought Heaven so real to my soul. It took away the sadness of the temporary sting of death. It was then, the words which Apostle Paul used so powerfully, came to life. It was then that "to live is Christ, to die is gain" became real. The end of this movie will most definitely encourage any Christian who is discouraged by what is going on around us and the world. 

What a movie! It has the same potential for staying power as Passion of The Christ, which made Jim Caviezel the man he is today. Passion 2 is in the works. Paul, the Apostle of Christ is here and worth seeing many times over - with small groups and church members and unsaved friends in tow. Paul, the Apostle of Christ is also for them since it shows the Love of Christ by a people who gave everything for the hope and truth of a better day. 

Image result for five stars
MOVIE WEBSITE HERE (CLICK)

IMDB HERE (CLICK)

Saturday, March 24, 2018

PALM SUNDAY - A STUDY IN TWO SIGNIFICANT CONTRASTS

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8 Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:6-9)
The Events of the Final Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, in earthly form, during Passover week of 33 AD is a huge comparison in contrasts. There could not be a bigger display of the thinking of man versus the Incredible Mind of God.

CONTRAST 1:

The people were looking for freedom from the brutal Romans and a king, or strongman leader, who would free them from this evil oppression from the Caesars; his criminal governors and their soldiers.

Jesus WAS that leader and King, however, His Kingdom was not one of flesh and blood run by sinful men. He came with the message of personal deliverance and freedom from bondage, but they would not listen. His "Freedom Agenda" was freedom from sin, death, and hell. Many saw His miracles of healing and even ate His loaves and fishes. BUT even though they followed Him and believe in WHAT He was doing, they ignored their own Scriptures and turned from Him.

66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” 68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 
These words of John 6:66-68 tells the story many then and especially today. Jesus had just finished laying down the "rules of the road" in John 6 and the crowds, realizing that a personal decision had to be made, turned away like many have and will, today and in the future. 

Every Easter, more so than Christmas, many like those who turned away when the rubber hit the road, will pack our churches; dressed to the nines and tens with spectacular Easter clothing.....only to go back to their lifestyles and lives, the Monday after Resurrection (Easter) Sunday. Nothing has really changed.

CONTRAST 2:
Unlike those whose contrasting shouts of joy went from "Hosanna, blessed is He Who cometh in the Name of the Lord" (which actually means "please save and deliver us"....in the Name of the Lord) to "CRUCIFY HIM" four days later, Jesus had the long view of His Purpose and time briefly on the Earth.  Like our Heavenly Father, Jesus sees the end from the beginning. The adoring crowds with palms waving as Jesus rode the fresh colt into Jerusalem, (in fulfillment of Zechariah's prophesy) had no idea He was heading to His Death on the Cross, for that same deliverance and salvation they were chanting about. 

The main difference is that Jesus' purpose was divinely ordained by God, while the temporal needs of the flesh called out for something else. This is so significant, as witnessed by so many in the "Christian world" not living in victory or even sure of their position in Christ. 

We are called, in these critical times, to highlight the contrast between those who profess with their mouths and lifestyles to be of the Lord and those whose hearts are actually changed by Him, to the point of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are called to highlight this NOT to criticize and tell people they are going to hell, but to show them the REAL way - the Way of Truth. Love without Truth is deception. The Genuine Love of the Christian towards a lost and dying world is contrasting fake belief with the knowledge of our sinful condition and God's transforming power in Christ. This Genuine Love should then spur us to love like never before, by asking the misguided to search their hearts, acknowledge their sins and turned to the Savior Who will still respond, with your palms upraised to Hosanna!! 

On Palm Sunday, Jesus came gently and peaceful riding on a young donkey to show the humble, loving Savior He still is, 2000 years later. One day, Jesus, Who has always existed from Eternity Past, and will always exist as God, will return as He truly is - fearsome and majestic - riding as the Warrior Commander in Chief of Heaven's Armies on a white horse. There will be no palms or joyful chanting welcoming the Fury and Fire of the Lord Jesus. There will just be the Final Battle.  Let us do our best to make sure that we reach many with the saving Gospel of the Christ, so that many will come to repentance and Faith in Him. It is to their eternal benefit to make this right now, rather than being in line for destruction by the Armies of Heaven. This is something we should run with, this and every Palm Sunday. Amen.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24:6 - "TWO STEPS, IN PURSUIT OF....."

This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face—even Jacob....(Psalm 24:6)
In Bible terms, the word “generation” is the people who are alive at a point in time. God uses the word, which comes from the original word “dor”. God says in Judges 2:10 (All that generation also were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel).

Jesus Himself came down hard on the lost people at that time, who was only half as bad as the sick culture today in Matthew 12:39 (But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet). He did so because while their mouths and fake religious “beliefs” said they were looking for a Messiah, their conduct was just like the pagans all around them. Nothing has changed in the 21st century.

Most people alive, since time began, were wicked and perverse “generations”. However, there were those who came to know the Lord, love Him for Who He is, and then passionately desire to know Him. Joshua, God’s great General, who was Moses’ understudy led the young Israelites into the Promised Land after God dispatched with all their rebellious elders. This group served the Lord. Josiah brought revival years later when they found the book of the Law of God and read it out loud.

Modern man does not seek or look for God. Most people who because true Christians claim to “find” God but from personal experience and the Bible, we know this is not so. No one seeketh after God, no one (declares the Lord).  God rescues us when we finally come to the end of ourselves, cry out to Him and repent. It is only when the Great Pursuit begins!

The English translation of the word the Holy Spirit used in this psalm – “darash” – is not very accurate. It sounds great, as poetry, but the Great Pursuit is not about “seek” but Studying! So now, we see what God is leading us towards. Everywhere these days we have 40 days of this, 31 days of that, 15-day program or 48 hours on CBS. What the Lord presents here are two simple steps.
     1. “Those who seek Him”: as shown in the paragraph above, this actually means “Study” Him. Bible study is what it means. How can you and I know about God if we do not know Who He is; How He operates;  Why He does what He does and What we should expect….unless we get to know Him. Like any other relationship, we must know the God Who saved us. What the English translation translates as "seek", should actually be "study"(the Scriptures) to learn the very Attributes (or Characteristics) and Ways of God, with Whom we will be spending eternity! Bible study, praying the Scriptures as well as daily prayer to Heaven are the keys.
     2. Once we study the Word and the Word Who became flesh – Jesus, as well as our Heavenly Father,  Psalm 24:6 says there is the second step or “who seek His Face”. This is another incomplete translation because we literally cannot see the Face of God, as He is until we get to Heaven. What we can do is what the actual word use says, which is, being in the very Presence of God – His Manifest Presence.  The general presence of God is the fact that He is EVERYWHERE- Omnipresent, to the saved and the unsaved. His Manifest Presence though is exclusive. His Manifest Presence was in the Garden of Eden when He walked in the cool of the day. His Manifest Presence was in the Tabernacle with Moses, Aaron in the desert. His Manifest Presence was at Calvary when God gave His life and opened up Heaven for all mankind. So now, we seek “His Face” or “His Manifest Presence” in one way only – Worship, prayer, and supplication. The Holy Spirit clears the path for us to be in His Presence when we respond, clearly and with righteousness, to come humbly to the Throne of Grace.

Seeking God and Seeking His Face = studying Him through His Word in addition to praise, pressing in and proclaiming His Holy Name.

Sunday, March 18, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24:5 - "BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED"

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation...Psalm 24:5

THOUGHT:
Being born-again and accepting the Truth of Jesus Christ, as one's Lord and Savior, is the only way to be an authentic Christian. God has no grandchildren and we cannot piggyback on the Faith of our parents or relatives. Each human being will rise or fall, before God, on the basis of this belief. 

While it may seem simple, it is really an incredible supernatural process. When the God of our Salvation (as in part B of the verse above) finally sees we are at the point of knowing the Gospel and making the most crucial decision towards our eternal home (heaven or hell) - He saves us from the latter.

Being born-again happens in an instant and we are immediately pulled from the future flames and set upon the rock, by the Rock of Ages. How this Truth works will be clearer in the Eternal Kingdom. However, God is revealing to us in this verse from Psalm 24:5 the following two very clear divine truths:
1.  We receive a blessing from the Lord. That is, God is so generous, kind, loving and compassion towards us that He has basically given us a present. It is a present which must and will be opened, as we are now sons and daughters of Jesus our Lord.  This is also the meaning of the original Hebrew word for "blessing" from  Psalm 24:5, which is "barak".
2.  The Blessing spoken of is the result of one thing....and one major thing alone- SALVATION. Righteousness from the God of his salvation is indicative of person - you and I - being made right (or justified) or "in right standing" before God....because of Christ.

Because we have confessed our sins and turned from following the ways of this world, and believed in the Work on the Cross, we are made right.
Because we have accepted Jesus Christ as the Only Way to Heaven, that He is the True Son of God Who died for our sins, so we can be forgiven and seen as righteous in front of the Father God, we are saved. 
Because we confessed with our mouth and believe in our hearts that He is Lord and God raised Him from the dead, we are rescued from the flames and blessed with Eternal Life. 
Because of all of this, when God looks at us, He does not see the unredeemed of the world but sees us through the Righteous Eyes of Christ, we are blessed, truly blessed.

ACTION:
Through prayer and bible study, research the word "Righteousness" and seek to comprehend the full meaning of it, to our position in Christ. Also, research the words "justification" and "sanctification" in the original Greek language. This will give a fuller understanding of Salvation.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24:4 - "CLEAN HANDS ..... THE MIND OF CHRIST"

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:4)

THOUGHT:
Eternal life is not something to be trivialized whatsoever. Every person ever alive -from Adam until the end of time, will spend eternity SOMEWHERE. There is no mulligan (do-over); no purgatory or annihilation. Each person who ever lived was assigned a fixed amount of time of life here on planet earth, then departure to the after-life, immediately followed by the Judgment.  Just before we die, and there is ample first-hand evidence of this, the person knows his/her eternal destination.

When an atheist dies,  that in which he did not believe and spread lies about “big bangs” and “evolution” immediately becomes very clear, but too late to do any correction in thinking. When a child of God leaves this world behind, Hope becomes sight. Then, Faith is rewarded.

This is the essence of Psalm 24 verse 4. Verse 3 basically asked a rhetorical question about who gets to be in Heaven, and therefore, allowed to be in the very Presence of God. The answer is 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come". How does a person become a new Creation, while in the same body, same home, same job or financial condition?  This only occurs via the process of regeneration….being born-again….saved.

A person made new by Christ, while living among everyone else in this world, is by definition made and washed clean by the Precious Blood of the Son of God. The Supernatural Blood of the Savior washes us as white as snow, so that we can appear, through and in Christ, before the Father on that Great Day of the Lord.

But there is more. We not only have to be made clean by the Blood of the Lamb but must believe the right things about God.  It is a known fact that, basically,  people do not go to hell for what they do, but for what they believe.  Believing in the unbiblical prosperity gospel if you are truly born-again is error and heresy, but the person is still saved. This sort of belief will suffer loss before the Bema of Christ.

However, believing one is heaven-bound because your grandmother or your dad was a true believer, and all you have to do is get baptized and give $20 in church now and then etc., will not lead a person into a personal relationship with Christ. Another thing that will lead millions of most of the last few generations etc. into eternal separation from God is the increasing amount of evidence (from Barna and others) that these people believe ALL religions are the same and lead to Heaven. This is rank heresy. These will never ascend to the Mountain and Throne of the Lord.

Falsehood in belief will send a person away from God the second they leave this earth. That includes believing the Amazing Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is similar to a religion with 300 million gods or some overweight guy with a bald head sitting cross-legged or the other one with over a billion followers. Mixing the Power, Passion, and Purity of Jesus Christ with that is heresy as is swearing in His Name or the Name of the Father.  Most adults have to swear or agree to procedures at their place of work, depending on the level of security or in the military or court etc. This is not the kind of swearing of which the Bible speaks, but the use of the Lord’s Name to lie, mislead and other such conduct. Jesus warned about oaths and believing the correct things about the Kingdom of God.

ACTION:

We need to reexamine our theology. We need to develop our thinking to more like the Mind of Christ. People say that “doctrine” goes not matter….well, it matters to God. Read the book of Job, especially Chapters 38-41 and see if “doctrine doesn’t matter to God. Secondly, do not swear on anything -not on the hair of your head, your children and definitely, not on Heaven or Earth.