Seek salvation in Christ
John
{3:16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. {3:17} For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
*******
Matthew
{21:12} And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves, {21:13} And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye
have made it a den of thieves.
*******
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but thta the world through him might be saved...
Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and seats of them that sold doves.
We want Jesus to condemn don't we? Seriously. When He overthrew tables and chairs and cast out the wrongdoers in the temple the imagery of it all is amazing. Jesus filled with a righteous wrath because overthrowing and casting out isn't done with smiles. We want evil to be condemned and we feel inside ourselves this righteous wrath when we are injured, when we are despitefully used, when we are treated with disrespect, we feel this anger inside of us and is it righteous? Is the anger we feel justified? Is the anger akin to Jesus' wrath as He over turned furniture and kicked people out of the temple? We want to believe it is, but truly can it be?
Jesus was sinless in His wrath. There was no personal injury on His behalf that He was trying to champion, no personal wrong that He was trying to avenge. He said unto those in the temple- It is written My house shall be called the house of prayer - but ye have made it a den of thieves.
It is written.
God's house shall be called a house of prayer.
Buying and selling, exchaning money even for animal sacrifices to be made in the temple wasn't in accord with God's will. It wasn't written you shall buy and sell in my house, that you should cheat people and sell for gain, that you shall barter a price on a sacrifice, that you should make my house a place of haggling and forget all about it being a place of prayer. There was a sacredness in the temple and people had lost sight of that. Jesus saw the totally disregard for His father's house and righteously revealed the evil going on right in the temple.
Our anger isn't sinless, it isn't righteous because more often than not our supposed righteous indignation comes from selfish origins. You want to protest not always and maybe you're right, I can't condemn you for anything it's not my place. Jesus came into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world. If we want condemnation we aren't looking to Jesus.
Jesus came to save. Yes, Jesus felt a righteous indignation as His father's house was descrated but it wasn't a selfish indignation. He didn't condemn the world in that act, He condemned actions. Jesus can condemn and has to condemn sin, but the sinner He longs to save.
May God help us to recognize the actions in our lives that are worthy of condemnation and may we beg for forgiveness for those actions and seek salvation in Christ, by His everlasting mercy and grace.
Amen.
5/29/10
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Peace and safety. Is there any peace or any safety outside the protection of Christ's love? No.
This world is doomed.
This world as we know it has a death sentence hanging over its head.
This world is literally living on death row.
Do people bask in this world and it's worldly ways, it's worldly pleasures?
Is the world blinded to the imminent destruction to come?
The answers are yes to those questions.
Only fools would live as if the Lord could come at any moment especially when thousands of years have passed since that promised return. Why live believing that the end of all things as we know it could occur at any time? Why live prepared for Christ's return? Why? It's like a bride left at the altar never removing her gown but waiting day after day for a groom who shows no sign of returning, yet she lives in hope. People would call her delusional. People don't want to be called delusional and they don't want to be delusional so they'd rather live as if the bridegroom will never return. Peace and safety. There is no danger here, there is no upset, no reason for any alarm, no reason to believe your eternal life hangs in the balance.
Peace and safety.
Everything is fine.
Eat, drink, be merry and don't worry about the future let it worry about itself, do as you please now, logic dictates that believing in Jesus and believing in His return is all a fable, all foolhardy behavior, you can't live and believe like that. Remember God doesn't want us to worry about what we'll eat or drink or wear so why would He want us to worry about eternal life?
Peace and safety.
The majority of people, society with its established mores tells us beyond a doubt that only crazy people, only religious fanatics live believing that each day could be their last and they need to be ready for Christ's return at any moment. Only those troublesome people believe that way. You know, look at all those crazy cults where people end up dead. Look at the over zealous Muslim people who believe in suicide bombs and all that- religous fanatics that's what all the crazies are and you don't want to be a religious crazy. You don't want to stand out. You don't want to be labeled. You don't want to embarrass yourself do you? You want to fit in, we all want to fit in.
Peace and safety.
Peace and safety.
Are you among those saying- peace and safety?
Are you among those hearing- peace and safety, and believe it to be true?
Sudden destruction will come upon them.
Sudden
Destruction
There will be no grand calamity to call people to Christ. All the calamities, all the preparation will be over and we will live in a world with people saying-- PEACE and SAFETY, but it will be too late because there will be SUDDEN DESTRUCTION.
AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
THE DAY OF THE LORD COMES.
We've been warned.
We've been told.
We know the Lord will come. To stop believing in the Lord's return is certain death. We must believe and we must be ready. We must be the bride awaiting her Groom no matter how long it takes.
By the grace, by the mercy, by the love, through the righteousness of our Savior, through His sacrifice, through His forgiveness, all in Him now and forever.
Amen.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
They shall say-
Peace
and
Safety
They- 1Th 5:5, 6; 1Th 4:13
Children of the dark
Others that sleep
Them which are asleep
Others which have no hope
Jeremiah 6:14 "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.
Jeremiah 8:11 "They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.
Ezekiel 13:10 "It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;
John 16:21 "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (NASB ©1995)
*******
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
5/29/10
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
How many of us feel that being a Christian is a call to another kind of bondage? Exchanging the bondage to the law for a bondage to Christ. When we think of serving God as a call to bondage we don't know God at all whatsoever. God offers freedom. God offers true freedom. It is the carnal nature in us that believes there is bondage in being a Christian. The carnal nature wants so-called freedom to do as it pleases, to sin as it wants to sin, to indulge in lusts without any thought of anything else at all.
When we accept Christ we aren't receiving the spirit of bondage, we should have NO fear of being put into bondage with God, none! We are adopted into a loving family by a loving Father.
The words... WE CRY ABBA FATHER tell us so much. The love there is amazing, the love of a father that will never ever disappear. We need the love of God, we need to realize our adopted status. Adopted by God. By the grace...by the mercy of our Lord, our FATHER, Abba! May we feel this love fully in Christ our Lord, our Savior now and forever!
Amen.
5/29/11
Mat 8:14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
Mat 8:15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
A Healer. Undeniably we know that Jesus was a Healer. A touch of the hand, His fingers upon the flesh of this unnamed woman's hand that's all it took. A touch. How often do we give simple touches to people? Seriously, how often do we offer the simplest of touches? A brush of fingers against flesh, it happens a lot doesn't it? A handshake, a hug, a caress, a little push, a tiny poke. Jesus touched this woman's hand and the sickness in her that was producing a fever was gone.
You've had a fever, right? Not many people haven't had a fever once or twice in their lives if not more. You know what it's like to be sick with a fever, things just don't feel right, you feel run down, tired. A fever can take a lot out of person. A fever can lay you up and keep you from doing your normal work, going about your normal day to day life. You know what it's like to be ill. All you want when you are ill is to get better. You forget how wonderful it is to not be sick until you are sick and then you can't wait to get better. How wonderful it truly is when we begin to heal- seldom is it instantaneously though. Gradually we begin to feel better, stronger, less ill. Yet here was Jesus and with a simple touch of his hand to the woman's her illness was completely gone and she was able to get right up from the bed and tend to the men. Just imagine her wonder at what had been done for her! You could imagine your own couldn't you? There you are lying sick on your bed feverish and your hand is touched and instantly you're healed. Just imagine the wonder and thoughts going through your mind in that moment. The wonder, the gratefulness, the awe. Tending to the One who healed you so miraculously would be a joy!
Jesus our great Healer said...
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus. Jesus was anointed to do the work of His Father. Jesus was anointed to do these miracles. These miracles many have tried to imitate as they proclaim their own divinity - but are really false prophets. Quickly as the years passed the miracles became few and far between- this had to be. For the same reason there weren't scores of miracles before Christ was born. Were there any miracles? Yes. We know all about Moses' miracles and we know about the various miracles wrought by God through His prophets but none were like Jesus- NONE. None were like Jesus before and none after. Jesus healed to enlighten the minds and hearts of people. Jesus spoke these words...
Joh 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
Joh 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Believe the works. How could ANY deny Christ was of God, how, when they witnessed and experienced first hand the wonders He did, the miracles He performed? Yet they refused to believe. They refused to accept.
I'm not saying miracles aren't performed in many ways because they are. I'm saying that Jesus' millions of miracles - miracles performed day after day, many, many miracles so numerous we probably could not count them if we tried- were the GREAT exception to the rule of miracles.
There does not exist today any person who heals others on the scale of our Savior, they can't and will never exist, there is only ONE Savior who could and did heal as He did.
Our Savior today continues to heal us through the Holy Spirit a SPIRITUAL healing that we so desperately need. Our sin sickness is so horrific - many don't even believe they are in need of any healing- that is how awful the sickness is. To not even recognize our need of a Savior leaves us without healing. The one who thinks they are completely healthy does not believe they have need of a physician.
We are all in need of healing, all in need of our Savior's touch. We can never forget this, must never forget.
As we are healed we must minister to our Savior in all we do. Of ourselves we can do nothing--
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
By His mercy and grace may we do all things in Him!
In His love!
Amen.
{3:16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. {3:17} For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
*******
Matthew
{21:12} And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of
them that sold doves, {21:13} And said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye
have made it a den of thieves.
*******
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but thta the world through him might be saved...
Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers and seats of them that sold doves.
We want Jesus to condemn don't we? Seriously. When He overthrew tables and chairs and cast out the wrongdoers in the temple the imagery of it all is amazing. Jesus filled with a righteous wrath because overthrowing and casting out isn't done with smiles. We want evil to be condemned and we feel inside ourselves this righteous wrath when we are injured, when we are despitefully used, when we are treated with disrespect, we feel this anger inside of us and is it righteous? Is the anger we feel justified? Is the anger akin to Jesus' wrath as He over turned furniture and kicked people out of the temple? We want to believe it is, but truly can it be?
Jesus was sinless in His wrath. There was no personal injury on His behalf that He was trying to champion, no personal wrong that He was trying to avenge. He said unto those in the temple- It is written My house shall be called the house of prayer - but ye have made it a den of thieves.
It is written.
God's house shall be called a house of prayer.
Buying and selling, exchaning money even for animal sacrifices to be made in the temple wasn't in accord with God's will. It wasn't written you shall buy and sell in my house, that you should cheat people and sell for gain, that you shall barter a price on a sacrifice, that you should make my house a place of haggling and forget all about it being a place of prayer. There was a sacredness in the temple and people had lost sight of that. Jesus saw the totally disregard for His father's house and righteously revealed the evil going on right in the temple.
Our anger isn't sinless, it isn't righteous because more often than not our supposed righteous indignation comes from selfish origins. You want to protest not always and maybe you're right, I can't condemn you for anything it's not my place. Jesus came into the world to save the world, not to condemn the world. If we want condemnation we aren't looking to Jesus.
Jesus came to save. Yes, Jesus felt a righteous indignation as His father's house was descrated but it wasn't a selfish indignation. He didn't condemn the world in that act, He condemned actions. Jesus can condemn and has to condemn sin, but the sinner He longs to save.
May God help us to recognize the actions in our lives that are worthy of condemnation and may we beg for forgiveness for those actions and seek salvation in Christ, by His everlasting mercy and grace.
Amen.
5/29/10
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Peace and safety. Is there any peace or any safety outside the protection of Christ's love? No.
This world is doomed.
This world as we know it has a death sentence hanging over its head.
This world is literally living on death row.
Do people bask in this world and it's worldly ways, it's worldly pleasures?
Is the world blinded to the imminent destruction to come?
The answers are yes to those questions.
Only fools would live as if the Lord could come at any moment especially when thousands of years have passed since that promised return. Why live believing that the end of all things as we know it could occur at any time? Why live prepared for Christ's return? Why? It's like a bride left at the altar never removing her gown but waiting day after day for a groom who shows no sign of returning, yet she lives in hope. People would call her delusional. People don't want to be called delusional and they don't want to be delusional so they'd rather live as if the bridegroom will never return. Peace and safety. There is no danger here, there is no upset, no reason for any alarm, no reason to believe your eternal life hangs in the balance.
Peace and safety.
Everything is fine.
Eat, drink, be merry and don't worry about the future let it worry about itself, do as you please now, logic dictates that believing in Jesus and believing in His return is all a fable, all foolhardy behavior, you can't live and believe like that. Remember God doesn't want us to worry about what we'll eat or drink or wear so why would He want us to worry about eternal life?
Peace and safety.
The majority of people, society with its established mores tells us beyond a doubt that only crazy people, only religious fanatics live believing that each day could be their last and they need to be ready for Christ's return at any moment. Only those troublesome people believe that way. You know, look at all those crazy cults where people end up dead. Look at the over zealous Muslim people who believe in suicide bombs and all that- religous fanatics that's what all the crazies are and you don't want to be a religious crazy. You don't want to stand out. You don't want to be labeled. You don't want to embarrass yourself do you? You want to fit in, we all want to fit in.
Peace and safety.
Peace and safety.
Are you among those saying- peace and safety?
Are you among those hearing- peace and safety, and believe it to be true?
Sudden destruction will come upon them.
Sudden
Destruction
There will be no grand calamity to call people to Christ. All the calamities, all the preparation will be over and we will live in a world with people saying-- PEACE and SAFETY, but it will be too late because there will be SUDDEN DESTRUCTION.
AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
THE DAY OF THE LORD COMES.
We've been warned.
We've been told.
We know the Lord will come. To stop believing in the Lord's return is certain death. We must believe and we must be ready. We must be the bride awaiting her Groom no matter how long it takes.
By the grace, by the mercy, by the love, through the righteousness of our Savior, through His sacrifice, through His forgiveness, all in Him now and forever.
Amen.
1Th 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
They shall say-
Peace
and
Safety
They- 1Th 5:5, 6; 1Th 4:13
Children of the dark
Others that sleep
Them which are asleep
Others which have no hope
Jeremiah 6:14 "They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.
Jeremiah 8:11 "They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.
Ezekiel 13:10 "It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;
John 16:21 "Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
2 Thessalonians 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (NASB ©1995)
*******
1Th 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
5/29/10
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
How many of us feel that being a Christian is a call to another kind of bondage? Exchanging the bondage to the law for a bondage to Christ. When we think of serving God as a call to bondage we don't know God at all whatsoever. God offers freedom. God offers true freedom. It is the carnal nature in us that believes there is bondage in being a Christian. The carnal nature wants so-called freedom to do as it pleases, to sin as it wants to sin, to indulge in lusts without any thought of anything else at all.
When we accept Christ we aren't receiving the spirit of bondage, we should have NO fear of being put into bondage with God, none! We are adopted into a loving family by a loving Father.
The words... WE CRY ABBA FATHER tell us so much. The love there is amazing, the love of a father that will never ever disappear. We need the love of God, we need to realize our adopted status. Adopted by God. By the grace...by the mercy of our Lord, our FATHER, Abba! May we feel this love fully in Christ our Lord, our Savior now and forever!
Amen.
5/29/11
Mat 8:14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
Mat 8:15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
A Healer. Undeniably we know that Jesus was a Healer. A touch of the hand, His fingers upon the flesh of this unnamed woman's hand that's all it took. A touch. How often do we give simple touches to people? Seriously, how often do we offer the simplest of touches? A brush of fingers against flesh, it happens a lot doesn't it? A handshake, a hug, a caress, a little push, a tiny poke. Jesus touched this woman's hand and the sickness in her that was producing a fever was gone.
You've had a fever, right? Not many people haven't had a fever once or twice in their lives if not more. You know what it's like to be sick with a fever, things just don't feel right, you feel run down, tired. A fever can take a lot out of person. A fever can lay you up and keep you from doing your normal work, going about your normal day to day life. You know what it's like to be ill. All you want when you are ill is to get better. You forget how wonderful it is to not be sick until you are sick and then you can't wait to get better. How wonderful it truly is when we begin to heal- seldom is it instantaneously though. Gradually we begin to feel better, stronger, less ill. Yet here was Jesus and with a simple touch of his hand to the woman's her illness was completely gone and she was able to get right up from the bed and tend to the men. Just imagine her wonder at what had been done for her! You could imagine your own couldn't you? There you are lying sick on your bed feverish and your hand is touched and instantly you're healed. Just imagine the wonder and thoughts going through your mind in that moment. The wonder, the gratefulness, the awe. Tending to the One who healed you so miraculously would be a joy!
Jesus our great Healer said...
Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord was upon Jesus. Jesus was anointed to do the work of His Father. Jesus was anointed to do these miracles. These miracles many have tried to imitate as they proclaim their own divinity - but are really false prophets. Quickly as the years passed the miracles became few and far between- this had to be. For the same reason there weren't scores of miracles before Christ was born. Were there any miracles? Yes. We know all about Moses' miracles and we know about the various miracles wrought by God through His prophets but none were like Jesus- NONE. None were like Jesus before and none after. Jesus healed to enlighten the minds and hearts of people. Jesus spoke these words...
Joh 4:48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
Joh 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Joh 10:38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
Believe the works. How could ANY deny Christ was of God, how, when they witnessed and experienced first hand the wonders He did, the miracles He performed? Yet they refused to believe. They refused to accept.
I'm not saying miracles aren't performed in many ways because they are. I'm saying that Jesus' millions of miracles - miracles performed day after day, many, many miracles so numerous we probably could not count them if we tried- were the GREAT exception to the rule of miracles.
There does not exist today any person who heals others on the scale of our Savior, they can't and will never exist, there is only ONE Savior who could and did heal as He did.
Our Savior today continues to heal us through the Holy Spirit a SPIRITUAL healing that we so desperately need. Our sin sickness is so horrific - many don't even believe they are in need of any healing- that is how awful the sickness is. To not even recognize our need of a Savior leaves us without healing. The one who thinks they are completely healthy does not believe they have need of a physician.
We are all in need of healing, all in need of our Savior's touch. We can never forget this, must never forget.
As we are healed we must minister to our Savior in all we do. Of ourselves we can do nothing--
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
By His mercy and grace may we do all things in Him!
In His love!
Amen.