Jesus Christ

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Starting Over – A Reset

We have all experienced the need for “starting over”.  It can be a painful prospect, but in many cases, a reset is the only solution.

Setting a new course can be just the thing necessary to set us free from heartache, guilt, doubt, addiction, unfruitfulness; or in the case of spiritual warfare, a total rebirth:

“7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’. 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ~ John 3:7-8 (NIV)

God chose a flood to wipe out the wickedness that man had caused on the earth (Genesis 6). Rather than destroy man completely, God provided a way of escape for Noah and his family by calling upon Noah to build an ark.  Through faith, Noah was allowed a means of starting over – a reset, if you will.  The victorious reset in history over mankind’s separation from God is the resurrection of Jesus Christ three days after His crucifixion.  Praise God, we serve a Living Christ!  Another major reset for mankind will take place in the future when our Messiah returns and sets up His kingdom on earth – the Millennial Age.  These examples of God’s resets show that God’s love for us is not to be defeated.  He has not given up on us, but His plan requires starting over.

I chose this feature photo because the rainbow reminds me of God’s faithful promise to never again consume the earth with a flood.  He placed the rainbow in the skies as evidence of His promise.  After the rains, the flooding will pass.

Starting over is like that for me.  The world consumed me like a flood, but the flooding has passed.  God’s magnificent rainbow of promise lies before me, and I rejoice in starting over in Him.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” ~ James 4:8a (ESV)
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” ~ Galations 6:9 (KJV)
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide you a way out so that you can endure it.” ~ I Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

Great is the Lord, and Greatly to be Praised!

God bless you.

Photo credit: unknown

 

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The Great Mystery

“A mystery in the Bible is a previously unrevealed truth that was not fully revealed until the New Testament. The mystery that is revealed in 1 Timothy 3:16 is that Jesus Christ was wholly man, and wholly God, or God of very God.” ~ Cooper Abrams

 

Link to “The Mystery of Godliness/Jesus Christ is God/I Timothy 3:16” by Cooper Abrams at http://www.bible-truth.org/myst-6.htm

 

Encouragement – “see pg 381”

The Word of God is living and active.  It pries, prods, kicks and squirms;twists, shoves, rips and tears its way into every crook and cranny of the minds and hearts of men until all is “open and laid bare”.  Then – redemption.

The Apostle Paul sums up Dad’s message in the most compelling statement:

12″For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And before Him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” ~ Hebrews 4:12-13 (Dad’s NT Bible)

 

Paul points out that God’s works were finished from the foundation of the world.  Then He rested on the seventh day (Sabbath).  God intended for man to enter into that rest with Him, but man rebelled (Heb. 4:1-5).  Without accepting God’s plan of redemption through faith in Jesus , man may never enter God’s rest.  Without acknowledging his sin, and accepting Jesus as Messiah, man is eternally barred from entering into an everlasting relationship with his Creator.

BUT GOD!  In His infinite mercy and grace, God provided His living Word as a testament to His abiding love for all men.  He made a plan for redemption. His Son fulfilled the Father’s plan on the cross. Christ defeated death, and God gave His Living Word to proclaim the Good News to let men know about it.

again He sets a certain day, “Today”, saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” ~ Hebrews 4:7 (Dad’s NT Bible)

I thank and praise God for laying my sins bare.  His living Word pursued me like a Lion. It found my hidden parts; then pierced my mind and heart, dividing me asunder. I give Him glory everlasting and thank Him for allowing me to strive for rest in Him.  When I get discouraged it’s usually because I have spent too much time caught up in the “cares of this world” with less time in God’s Word.  Those distractions cause me to be fruitless, while choking God’s Word (Mark 4:18-19).

So here is the last part of the message of encouragement that Dad marked at the bottom of page 381:

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I think it means perseverance.  What do you think?

 

Encouragement – “see pg 49”

Page 49 of Dad’s New Testament Bible has a faint penciled box around verses 37-40 of Matthew 25.  It is as if Dad could not boldly circle these verses in ink; just humbly and gently scribe the page with a blunt pencil; as a servant awed by the sheer power and majesty of his Almighty King.  When I first read the noted verses 37-40, I was not seeing a message of encouragement.  In the words of Jesus Himself:

“37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? 38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? 39And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’ 40And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’“ ~ Matthew 25:37-40

Matthew scripture chapter 25, verses 31-46 is known in modern times as “The Parable of the Sheep and Goats”.  It is the last parable that Jesus spoke to His disciples privately at the location of the Mount of Olives just two days before his betrayal and arrest during Passover in Jerusalem.  Jesus is speaking of the judgment of the nations in this passage which will take place at His Second Coming.  I encourage you to read the entire passage if you have not already.  A link is provided at the end of this post.  The parable’s meaning is very controversial; even to the point that there is no agreement as to whether it is a parable or not!  I have avoided links to opposing views on this parable, but feel that we can surely ascertain that the verses speak of King Jesus separating the goat nations to His left for everlasting punishment, and the righteous sheep nations to His right hand for eternal life, based upon their treatment of “the least of these My brethren”.

But what does this mean?  Who are the least? Scripture supports, explains, or backs up scripture, so let’s look at a passage in Exodus:

“21Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. 23If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry, 24And My wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. 25If thou lend money to any of My people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. 26If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: 27For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he sleep? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.” ~ Exodus 22:21-27 (KJV)

Consider: Here in Alaska it would be thought inhumane in extremely cold weather to accept the coat of another unless the circumstances were dire (survival related) or the recipient of the coat knew it was a spare coat of the giver.  Yes, and return it by nightfall!  But I can also witness that some Alaskans will go out of their way to cover a freezing homeless person with their own coats in sub-zero weather.  Whether believers or not, I cannot say, but the gesture of mercy for the poor and naked is not lost on this writer, nor with Jesus, I am confident.

Don’t forget “My brethren” are fellow believers, the Jews (Yeshua was definitely a Jew).  Show kindness to one another.  Help one another.  Pray for and lift up all men, as only God knows who is of the sheep nations or who is of the goat nations.  We are not to discriminate or judge anyone.

I hear all the time that there is no salvation in good works.  Baloney!  True, Jesus is our Messiah, and He is our Redeemer.  There is no other way to salvation but through belief in Him.  Yet His ministry on earth was a life of good works.  He fed the hungry.  He healed the sick.  Let His example be our guide, in order to be more like Him.

I think James, the Lord’s brother, clarifies the question of good works :

“14What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? 15If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” ~ James 2:14-18 (KJV)

So where is the message of encouragement on page 49 of Dad’s Bible?  For me, it is “THE PROMISE” of great reward that Jesus taught us: He knows His sheep, and is known by them. King Jesus is The Great Shepherd who carefully tends His flock (sheep nations) and keeps it safe from God’s wrath.  He refers to His sheep as being “righteous”.   But Jesus warned, in His own words, that there is a terrible and final consequence for the goat nations who are not charitable; who do not feed the poor, but rob the poor; who do not help orphans or widows, but abuse and sell them into slavery; who love themselves more than their neighbors; who judge the sins of others as being worse than their own.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ is to love one another, as the King loved us.  As we walk that out, take encouragement from pg. 49 of Dad’s Bible.  Jesus rewards the faithful and obedient servants of His Word with everlasting life.  How much more encouragement do we need?

The cost:

There is nothing on pg. 49 of Dad’s Bible that will make us prosperous by the world’s standards.  The Gospel is totally free as our gift from our Father in heaven.  He sacrificed His Son for us.  There is no way to take up our cross and follow Him except to humbly serve others less fortunate and without expecting personal gain or earthly honor.  Our true reward is His spiritual blessing of life everlasting with Him; which is treasure immeasurable.

“20Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the Sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ~ Hebrews 13:20-21 (KJV)

God bless!

Note:  I apologize to the readers of these “encouragement posts” for lack of citing Bible translation versions of the scriptures that Dad circled or otherwise referenced in his New Testament.  The reason I cannot cite is because I am transcribing the featured scripture text verbatim from his Bible (other than taking liberty to capitalize His Holy Name out of reverence).  The first 12 numbered pages of his Bible, which would have included Matthew chapter 1-7 are entirely gone; including the title, publishing and copyright pages.  The Bible text begins simply on page 13 with verse 12b of Matthew chapter 8.  I could guess at the version, but will forbear.  Fortunately, there is nothing noted at the bottom of each page by Dad which references those missing pages, so we at least have Dad’s complete message.  Thank you for following the “encouragement posts” in spite of this issue.  YOU are giving ME great encouragement!

Thanks also, to those following importantstuff.live.  The next post Encouragement – “see pg 130” will be posted soon, Lord willing.

Here is a link to the entire scriptural passage on the Parable of the Sheep and Goats for those interested at biblegateway.com.

Encouragement – “see pg 289”

Encouragement – “see pg 289” could also be titled, Oh!  By the Way…

There is no one church leader, prophet, apostle, pastor, teacher, marriage counselor, group, or Christian friend who has the power to solve a spiritual problem.  There is only one Truth – the Master Jesus whom we serve.   But in what manner are we to serve?  Let it be willingly and humbly – with no one believer greater than the rest and none to be idolized.

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Chapter 3 of I Corinthians is part of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. Dad actually circled four verses from chapter 3 on pages 288 and 289 of his New Testament Bible.  I am not even going to try to unravel the mystery of it, and appreciate the context of the scriptures by commenting on the passage of verses 3-9.  Chapter 3 was Paul’s way of dealing with a bunch of weak believers who Paul referred to as “babes in Christ”.  He was exasperated with them.  Evidently they were more focused on glorifying the missionaries than they were on growing their relationship with Jesus – a fleshly pursuit.  The result was disunity – division and strife in the body of Christ.  There have been multitudes of believers in history that have been sucked up into the same bowl of beans.

I am not at all categorizing anyone experiencing discouragement as a “weak believer”.  Far from it!  Paul wrote at length about his own discouragements and I would not consider him to be weak in the faith.  Yet his strength came from faith in Jesus – not men.

I am also not saying that fellow believers are unworthy of your time when you need encouragement.  They most certainly should be of help in pointing you to God’s Word for answers.  There is power in the brethren praying for one another, no doubt.  Seek their guidance, respect their calling, but listen to what Paul had to say:

“3For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? 4For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” Are you not merely men? 5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. 9For we are fellow workers for God: you are God’s field, God’s building.” ~ I Corinthians 3:3-9

And by the way: When it comes to encouragement, God’s Word is The Authority.  There is no one – NO ONE – more trustworthy than our Messiah, Jesus the Christ, the Living God. No matter what is going on in your life that is causing you to feel defeated, you can take it to Him in prayer for peace, resolution, and victory.  Believe in His love, grace, and compassion; which is sufficient and matchless.

Another “By the way”: Although each believer is called, we are called to different purposes, according to God’s plan.  So be encouraged not to try to be God’s yardstick. We stumble when we compare ourselves to fellow believers – be they great or small in our eyes. Apollos and Paul were merely “servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each” (emphasis added).

More “By the way”: Be encouraged by this: “but God gave the growth”.  A famer plants the seed, and waters it, but only God produces the crop.  That is supernatural power.  The farmer does not own the crop, or other laborers in the field.  God does.  The farmer has no ability whatsoever to make the seed miraculously turn into a mature plant: “you are God’s field, God’s building.”   The farmer is not to be glorified for just planting and watering.  The farmer is doing that for his own benefit – nothing to idolize there!  God owns the dirt.  Man is dust.  Don’t idolize dust!  Seek encouragement in your daily walk from the Creator of dust through His Word.  He will take care of you if you just believe, ask, and trust Him.

“21So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours, 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; 23and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” ~ I Corinthians 3:21-23

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” ~ I Corinthians 4:1

Oh! By the way: Remember that “you are Christ’s” and He is all powerful.  Be encouraged that He is Wisdom and is our Counsellor, our Friend, our High Tower, our Healer, our Redeemer, and is Mighty to Save.  No problem is bigger than Jesus.  He takes our ugly and wraps it in His Beauty.

Final “By the way”:  The world is watching.  We are to be “stewards of the mysteries of God” instead of “behaving as ordinary men”.  Pray for one another always.

If you are looking forward to discovering with me another segment of Dad’s message about encouragement, follow www.importantstuff.live and check out the next blog titled “Encouragement – “see pg 49”. God Bless.

Note: For another viewpoint on divisions in the early church of Corinth, here is a link to an article written by John Reed:  “1COR3v18to23: THE CURE FOR CHRISTIAN DISUNITY”

 

 

 

 

Encouragement – “See pg 343”

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” ~Philippians 3:12.

We are to press on.  We are not perfect, and we won’t do a perfect job for Jesus; but we belong to Him.  Jesus continually makes intercession for us in heaven because we are His!  PRAISE GOD!!  Our victory is secured in Him through faith – not of ourselves, should any boast.

“Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ.”  ~ Philippians 3:8.

Very few of us living in America have “suffered the loss of all things” for Christ; but crushing persecution was part of everyday life for believers in the early church (as it is for believers in many areas of the world today):

“35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36As it is written, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” ~ Romans 8:35-37

The greatest encouragement for the believer is that troubles do not separate us from the love of Jesus.  Quite the opposite is true:

“38For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 8: 38-39

No, we are not perfect, but we are to press on, because nothing we do (or don’t do) can separate us from our Messiah.   He is holding us up.  We are not holding Him up!

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The next posting of Encouragement – “see pg 289” could also be titled, Oh! By the Way…

Living in the Last Days

17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ~The Acts 2:17-21 (KJV)

When God Almighty makes a statement, it is unequivocally and irreversibly true.  You can forget about debate on the subject, because the words “And it shall come to pass” means just exactly that; something WILL surely happen “in the last days”.  Forget about mystical predictions of people such as Nostradamus, gurus, shamans or other fortune tellers.  If you want to know the truth about past, present, or future, seek for it in God’s Word.

The Book of Acts was written by the beloved physician, Luke.  In chapter 2, Luke is recording a sermon given by the Apostle Peter to a large crowd after the first Pentecost.  The crowd had assembled after hearing that the apostles could suddenly speak in foreign tongues.  There were thousands making fun of the apostles, and accused them of being drunk on wine.  Peter denied that any apostles were drunk, and claimed that Old Testament prophesy by the prophet Joel had just been fulfilled:

28 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. ~Joel 2:28-32 NIV

So we have a prophecy in the Old Testament Book of Joel that is fulfilled in the New Testament Book of Acts at Pentecost.  Thank you Lord!  You never change and your Word is true.  But what are the “last days”?  Scripture explains scripture, so let’s look at 2Timothy chapter 3, where the Apostle Timothy describes the last days not as a period of time, such as “beginning on this or that date and ending on another specific date”, but as an artist wielding a broad brush.  He paints us a picture of what the last days will be like:

1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. ~2Timothy 3:1-5 NIV

Sound familiar?  We see the evidence of this scripture play out every day in the news, in our schools, neighborhoods, churches, media, government, courts; sadly, our own homes, and virtually everywhere in our world today.

6They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. ~2Timothy 3:6-9 NIV

Verse 6 reminds me of the large percentage of women who are abused by an even larger percentage of predators that take cruel advantage of the broken hearted, the vulnerable divorcee; women who are deceived by such men to the point that they allow even their own children to be abused.

Verse 7 talks about education for its own sake.  Our technology is so advanced beyond 30 years ago that many humans feel disconnected or out of sync with the reality of the present age.  Perhaps that is part of the reason so many of us carry cell phones as a desperate attempt to “fit in”.  We may not understand what makes it work, but at least we can reclaim some personal power by owning and using one.  But does education or advanced learning in and of itself lead to a better understanding of truth?

Evidently not; verse 8 predicts teachers will oppose truth, have depraved minds, and reject faith in God.  Please believe me when I state that I am not against teachers in general and have respect for most teachers.  Yet I believe God’s Word as truth and make no apologies for it.

I believe the last days are here and now.

Peter’s sermon continues in Acts chapter 2 giving testimony to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to earth, His crucifixion, resurrection, and therefore fulfillment of Bible prophesy relating to God’s Plan of Salvation for mankind.  He makes the case, I believe, that the last days are indeed the time from Pentecost until Jesus returns for His church at the end of days.  The last days are the time period for the spreading of the Good News Gospel to all humans until Jesus returns to set up His everlasting kingdom on earth.

Peter exhorts the crowd in verse 38 to, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

About 3,000 souls who heard Peter’s sermon “gladly” received the gospel and were baptized, according to Luke.  Since the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit has been poured out into the earth; the Gospel has been shared; prophecy has been received and proclaimed by believers; there are many books and documentaries about real cases of near death experiences that testify to a real heaven and a real hell; we have seen signs and wonders; war with blood, fire, smoke; heavenly signs of eclipses, blood moons, and yet the end is not yet.  Every living person still has time to accept Jesus as Lord and spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

4Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginnings of sorrows. ~Matthew 24:4-8 KJVActs2-21copy

Do not fear or lose hope just because we are living in the last days.  People have been living in the last days since Jesus rose from the grave two millennia ago!  Yes, there will be a time of tribulation more terrible than the world has ever seen.  Yes, there will be a great battle of Armageddon.  Yes, this world as we know it will end someday; but this is still the best time to ever have lived on planet earth and the best opportunity to live a victorious life as a believer in Jesus.  He IS the one true promised Messiah.  He has admonished us to “Fear Not.”  He will never leave or forsake His followers.  He has a plan for each and every true believer that is tailor-made for success.  HE LOVES AND ACCEPTS YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!  You do not have to “clean up your act” before you ask forgiveness.  He will help you do that later.  Just admit to Him that you need His gift of grace and redemption and trust Him now.  This is called “God’s Plan of Salvation”.  It is so simple, yet so crucial to your eternal destiny – and it’s TOTALLY FREE!

If you need prayer, just reach out in the comments and I will be honored to pray with you; or ask God to help you find your way to Him.  Read the Bible!  It contains all the answers.  God has promised that all who seek Him shall find Him.  God bless.

 

Featured image photo credit: @Can Stock Photo Inc/LeoBlanchette