NEW LIFE: A MONTH OF VERSES: JANUARY 29, 2017

VERSE: "Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15b-16).

EQUATION: Teachings of the New Testament from Apostle Paul = Authentic Scriptures from God.

ACTION: For the first time in the Bible, the great Apostle Peter, tells us as plain as day, that the letters from the brilliant Apostle Paul are not only full of truth but are as much Scriptures as the Words of the Torah (first five books of the Bible) or the Prophets. Jesus Himself revealed them to His servant Paul when He trained him for three years in the Arabian desert. The required action for those who have not yet done so, is to start with reading the Book of Romans, this year and then read all the way through the Book of James - very slowly, very methodically, while praying for the Holy Spirit to make the embedded truths here, easy to comprehend. Scripture immersion is required, at in this current age.

PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father and great God of Heaven Who has revealed Himself to sinful mankind, first through Moses and the Prophets and in these last days, through Your great Son the Savior Jesus, we praise Thee, worship Thee and bless Your Holy Name for giving us the Word of Truth - the Bible. Through this, Father, we cannot be deceived by those on earth who twist Your words to suit their own personal ends and misrepresent You, misleading others and making them just as much a candidate for destruction as they are. Father, give us, through Your revealed word- the Rhema of God and the Powerful Spirit of the Living God, the discernment to immediately recognize false teaching and error so that we may alert the unsuspecting and teach those who need to know You better. Grant us the courage to stand for revealed Truth so that we may proclaim it righteously, with humility and love, but with uncompromising accuracy, so that we may stand before You, holy and blameless, in the Presence of the Angels and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to whom all praise is due, in His Name, the Name above ALL the other names, we ask all these things, amen and amen.

(Clip Art Credit Here)

LORD, I AM AMAZED BY YOU - SCRIPTURE

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet, Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! (Psalm 119:1 ESV)
This torn and tattered book ran with me for my early years as a truly converted and regenerated believer and disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. This old King James Bible is now on my shelf to remind me of those days - so I will never forget what the Lord has done for me. I have since worn out other Bibles...dirty pages which are sanctifying and cleansing my soul, in Spirit and in Truth.

For me, the words of this book and all the others, are not just for comfort and direction. For me, these words are LIFE! They LIVE in me. They SPEAK to me. They FUEL me in everything I say, think and do. They are more than LIFE to me! They are the Eternal Oracles of God. My love for this Word will never die. On the contrary, my love for these Words, which are the LOGOS of God, the Rhema of God and the Ruach Elohim - inspire me to give more of it away in book form, in love and in action.

Lord, Oh, Lord, I am amazed by You and Your Word, which goeth forth from the timeless Halls of Heaven to such a lowly sinner, saved by Grace, such as I.

PSALM 19: 7-10
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
PSALM 119:33-40
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared. Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good. Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!
Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet

SHEPHERDS OF BETHLEHEM - THE FIRST EVANGELISTS

WHERE THE ANGELS LANDED IN BETHLEHEM!

We are all familiar with the story of that amazing birth night in Bethlehem! It was when God sent His holy angels to preach the first Gospel sermon. The landing of this Angelic Host on Shepherds Field (which is still around as you can see) is significant for many reasons!

These messengers from Heaven, could have announced the Birth of Jesus to kings and satraps and governors. They could have announced it to the priests in the temple, the teachers of the law and Pharisees and the righteous (in their own eyes) religious folks in Jerusalem. But they didn't! Why?

Why did the Holy God of Heaven select dirty, poor and outcast men, who worked from March to November in hard scrabble (as you can see again, from this photo) land among animals, animal waste and more. These men were kept out of Jerusalem almost exclusively! They were banned from entering any Temple of God to worship, because they were ceremonially unclean, under the 613 Laws of Moses in the Torah/Pentateuch! They were around dead sheep at times and animal waste, all the time. So the priests and religious authorities banned them!

These are whom God chose! It is a symbol for what He would do in the Life of Christ, not just in the short three year ministry He had on earth, but ever since He died and rose again!

The first sermon of Christ started like this "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed...(Luke 4:18)....and you can add to that "the outcast, unwanted and those left behind by the world!!

The Lord also chose the Shepherds for a simple yet VERY CRUCIAL mission, even though these men were unaware of the reason! The word shepherd here in the Christmas passage from Luke 2, is "poimenes" or...get this - "Pastor" in the English!

In one fell swoop, God revealed Himself, the Gospel and the Heavens to lowly outcasts and then anointed them the Pastors of the First Worship service - right on the harsh Shepherd's field in Bethlehem.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING PASSAGES AND THE WORDS IN BOLD BLUE:

LUKE 2:   

⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will bethe sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” 
¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 
       ¹⁴ “ Glory to God in the highest, 
      And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

¹⁵ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.²⁰ Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

IMPORTANT POINTS TO NOTE:

Verse 15 b (the shepherds said to each other, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, WHICH THE LORD HAS MADE KNOWN TO US!!!"

Note here how obedient these newly minted 'pastors' became once they realized what God had just done for them! These men did not need to go to seminary to comprehend revelation and the revealed "RHEMA" word! They did not need a professor to tell them about hermaneutics and soteriology because they could not, like most shepherds, read a word of Hebrew! Yet they obeyed!

Secondly, look at verse 17 - "Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child". Now these men are supposed to be looking after their own flocks of sheep....so who did they tell??!! Joseph and Mary appeared 8 days later, after the birth, in the Temple for Jesus' circumcision where they met Simeon and the prophetess Anna.

They had to walk many miles south (of Jerusalem) to get there and that would be a long walk with a newborn on dangerous roads. So the shepherds had not only to do some fast talking to villagers along the way, but to relay the word throughout their large herding community to those in both Bethlehem and Jerusalem! Remember these men were raising thousands of sheep for the annual Passover, so there was a large group of shepherds out there. Once the message was spread first throughout these men, it filtered out QUICKLY. These 'pastors' were literally proclaiming the "GOOD NEWS" - the true meaning of the Gospel!

Third, notice how stunned the people were at this Gospel truth! Verse 18 said "all who heard it MARVELED"!!! They were in completely blown away at what God had done - both in the Birth of the Savior to the most humble of parents in a dirty, cold smelly cave AND to whom He revealed the Event.

Finally, notice what happened in Verse 20 where it says "the shepherds (pastors) returned glorifying and praising God...."! That literally was the first Worship service after the Birth of Christ! The original language and meaning of "glorifying and praising" is singing worship songs (psalms etc) to each other, in a responsive manner! This means one group of men would sing the praise, and the other half would the sing the same praise phrase (or portion of the song), back to them! This would go on for hours as they walked back from their Proclaiming the Gospel to the entire region!

All I can say is WOW!

God is NO respecter of persons! God will choose whom He will chose. In this short passage of the Christmas story, we see so many things as the Shepherds ordained the "first pastors" (so to speak), therefore:

Ordination.

Proclamation. 

Evangelism. 

Wonder.

Worship!

Well, this sounds like church to me! How about that!

Many Christmas seasons will come and go, but the Church age goes on - for now! The goal in this message today, however, is to show what occurred after the Birth and how it applies directly not just to our daily lives as believers, but how it teaches us all these actions of God. It also shows us how finely detailed He is in the methodical way He first laid out the Standard Operating Procedure, of those whom He calls - us.

We are to proclaim and preach the word.
We are to evangelize and tell everyone who will listen about it.

We are to constantly live in Wonder and Awe of Him.

We are to constantly live in a state of Worship of and to Him.....you know....just like those shepherds of Shepherds Field in Bethlehem, almost 2000 years ago....the same shepherds who became the first pastors!

Amen!

UPDATE:
Please note this: as we marvel at the choice of these wonderful shepherds, let us not miss the symbolism of all of this. Remember I mentioned that these men raised the sheep for the Temple sacrifice in Jerusalem. Well, here are two things The Lord has impressed on me about this:
1. The Man Whom Micah 4:8 called the Tower of Flock, spoken off by these first preachers, became the ultimate Sacrificial Lamb- from the fields of Bethlehem to the Hills outside Jerusalem (where He gave His Life for us!)
2. All of us like sheep have gone astray and are in need of the Good Shepherd, the Shepherd of shepherds, that same Tower of Flock! Is He YOUR Shepherd too??!!!

THINK ON THESE THINGS - SUNDAY MESSAGE

DO NOT BUY THE BREAD OF THIS WORLD!

But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" Matthew 4:4 NASB

This powerful verse quoted by Jesus, right back in the devil's face, was given during the "temptation of Christ" in the wilderness after Jesus had fasted for 40 days. Now a fast by both Jesus and Moses and others, during Bible days, meant - NO FOOD!

Here is what Jesus is really saying to this evil scoundrel, in bullet point to drive it home:
* This is NOT about you.
* This is about My Father God's REVEALED Word - RHEMA.
* This Rhema is His revealed Truth for mankind to live by.
* This Rhema carried the repository of all which SUSTAINS.
* That which sustains is not found in physical food only.
* Physical food perishes and is expelled.
* If that food was good, it nourishes, if it was not, it causes heartburn.
* Therefore, man's lifetime should not be wasted chasing these things.
* The life of a man or woman is more than just seeking that which fills us daily.
* But combined with the riches of God through the Truthful Revealed Word of God - we have found the true meaning and fountain of Live!

All of this and more are packed into this one simple phrase! Also if you study the original language, we find out Jesus was only talking to those who believed! This Truth is not for those who have rejected Christ or even those who are YET to know Him, my friends.

In going right back at the god of this world - Satan - with the Word, Jesus proved Himself, once again, to be the Word Who became flesh...and dwelt among us. Even more revealing is this - He is teaching us NOT TO BUY THE WORLD'S BREAD!

He is not talking about banning Wonder Bread or the latest delight from the local bakery in our homes. In another place, Jesus warned His disciples to beware of the YEAST of the pharisees (Matthew 16:12 NASB)- Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Again, the Lord is NOT talking about physical bread...but the Yeast that puffs up or proofs the dough. This is the dough which Abba Father uses to mould us into His children. When we get puffed up with pride, because we bought the lies of this world, we then begin to eat the "Bread of this World".

The bread of this world is a basket full of lies, deception and misdirection. It is sin, sex and satan. It is Rihanna, Lady Gaga, iCarly, Miley Cyrus, the Twilight movies, Harry Potter..It is not just Hollyweird....but ANYTHING, even a so-called Christian activity or book or cd...ANYTHING which takes us away from God or from Living for Christ...it is ANYTHING which causes us to grieve His Holy Spirit Who lives in us...
THAT IS THE BREAD OF THE WORLD..AND DON'T BUY IT!
DON'T FALL FOR THE LIE!
DON'T FALL FOR THE CHEAP IMITATION!
DON'T FALL FOR THE LIPSTICK ON THE PIGS OF THIS WORLD...but savor, immerse yourself in and just BE the TRUE IMITATION AND FRAGRANCE OF THE LORD JESUS!

This is the TRUE BREAD which gives, sustains and leads to - ETERNAL LIFE!