Song 9 -- Tomb into Temple

This song came about wanting to communicate the fact that for a believer, when they are transformed by Jesus, their bodies go from being a tomb into being a temple.  Everyone ever born, except Jesus, was born a tomb, without life in their soul.  The only way a soul can have life is if Jesus is allowed to come into it and give it Life.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  We are all created tombs for that purpose, because in that tomb, if you let Him, Jesus will create a New Creation that has Eternal Life. Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians Chapter 2, verse 5, " Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ....." Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians in Chapter 6, verse 19, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,....."  Anyone who receives Jesus, is transformed from death into Life.  One of the main reason that people don't receive Jesus is out of fear.  Fear of how they will look to their so called friends.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of change.  In John's first letter Chapter 4, verse 18, he wrote that perfect Love cast out all fear.  Jesus is that perfect Love.  Jesus said that He came to destroy the fear of death.  In the book of Hebrews, Chapter 2, verses 14 and 15, it states, Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through His death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." When someone receives Jesus, they no longer fear death, because they then know that they have Eternal Life.  In Revelations Chapter 3, verse 20, Jesus says, " Behold I stand outside the door and knock; if ANYONE hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and him with me."  To hear the song, google search Yeshuasfriend1 Youtube.

Revelations Chapter 2 (Thyatira)

Thyatira has the important qualities for a church, but the thing that is hard to understand is why they tolerate Jezebel.  Jesus is very firm about the consequences of not dealing with the issue, and the consequence is pretty severe.

Jesus is:
The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze.
            The fire reveals the purification characteristic of Jesus.  Thyatira has gold mixed with dirt.  To get rid of the dirt and retain the gold, Thyratira has to be refined with fire, or respond and brush off the dirt.

Praise:
They have love and faith and perseverance, and their deeds are greater than they were at first.
             This is a church with all the right qualities, but they need to realize that love also means not allowing deception and protecting the spiritual welfare of the believers.

Warning:
You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
             It's obvious that this was a common practice of that day, becaue the issue was addressed to the early church.  It seems that the problem with the early churches, as well as even today, is that what some churches attempt to do is add the truth of Jesus to the spiritual practices of the day.  This practice is reffered to as adulterating the Word of God.  In the Book of Acts Chapter 15, verses 28 and 29, it states referring to Gentile believers,

 " For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep youselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell." 

So Jesus was putting on Gentile believers no greater burden than just obeying these few essential  commands.  So why would they even tolorate  the only thing that they were told to abstain from?  They, like a lot of churches today, tolerate many different kinds of deceptions for many different reasons.  One reason is because they don't understand that love does not mean that you tolerate anything someone does.  God's word teaches that if anyone in a fellowship is discovered to be involved in acts of immorality or deception (doctrine of demons), or (idolitry)worship of anything or anyone other than Jesus, that in love, they should be addressed one on one, and if there is no repentance(turning away from your era) on their part, then two believers confront the issue.  Then if there is no correction, you expose it to the whole fellowship.  After this, if there is no turning away from their practices, then you you ask them to leave the fellowship.  Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians Chapter 5, verse 5, wrote,

 "I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

 This sounds harsh, but it is love, because Paul is concerned about this persons eternal destiny.

       Another reason why churches might tolerate a person such as Jezebel is because of her financial support to the church.  I hate to say that, but I have seen this happen.  Jesus brother James wrote in his letter in Chapter 2 about the sin of partiality.  This would be when you give more preference to someone with money over someone who seems to be without means.  He said in doing so you become judges with evil motives.  To tolerate a Jezebel over the welfare of the body(church) because of her monitery influence, is evil.

Jezebel's consequences:
          Because Jesus gave her time to repent and she did not want to, she will be cast upon a bed of sickness, and everyone who has commited adultery with her, if they don't repent, will go though great tribulation with her.  Jesus will  kill her children with pestilence.  This sounds pretty harsh, but Jesus is showing the seriousness of allowing His church to be infiltrated and decieved by things that are not Holy and according to His will.   He did this to let the churches know that He is the One who searches the minds and hearts; and that He will give to each one according to their deeds.

Jesus said that those who did not participate in her immorality and teachings and have not known the deep things of Satan, He places no other burden.  Just hold fast until He comes.

Overcomers Reward:
         Those who keep His deeds until the end, to them will be given authority over the nations, and they shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give them the morning star.  The Saints dwelling will be the Kingdom that Jesus is preparing for them.  From there they will help rule over the nations during the millenial rule of Jesus.

Revelations Chapter 2 ( Pergamum )

Pergamum had a lot of issues.  They were one messed up church.  This was a result of being in the place where Jesus says that Satan's throne was.  There was definitely a lot of demonic warfare going  on in the area and thus influencing the church there.  We see this even today in many places around the world, where churches are influenced by by the fleshliness around them.  We are all born with a fleshly nature.  We have the sin nature of fallen Adam.  The flesh nature is selfish by nature.  Like I had written before, with the empty soul, apart from Jesus, people look for anything to fill up the emptiness they feel.  Remember, the empty soul was intended to be the place where Jesus would create a New Creation.  If they don't know or have never heard this, then they are always seeking for anything to comfort the void they feel in their lives.  Pergamum have a variety of all these negatives influences.  With Satan's throne being there, this influence had to be very invassive.  This is why it is important for all believers to realize that they are in a spiritual battle.  There are two opposing forces in the spiritual realm.  There is the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light.  The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians in Chaper 5, verses 8,

 " For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of the light( for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth ), trying to learn what pleases the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitfull deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them".

 We are all born under the power of the kingdom of darkness and apart from Jesus that is where we dwell. When a person comes to Jesus, they are delivered from the kindom of darkness and transferred into the Kingdom of God ( Light ).  All believers had once dwelled in the kingdom of darkness and therefore satan knows all their weaknesses.  He is aware of all the things that that person use to use to try and fill the void.  Satan uses these things against a believer to tempt them into doing things that would not be aligned will how a Saint should conduct their lives.  Then he floods them with guilt.  Jesus will only convict a believer with a soft word in their spirit.  This is why the Apostle John wrote in his first letter in Chapter 1, verse 9,

" If we confess our sins then He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to clense us from all unrighteousness." 

So there is no reason for a believer to get rapped up in guilt, or even waiste their time with it.  One important thing to understand is this, there is a fundamental difference between religion and truth.  Religion is mans attempt to be worthy to God, so they do all the things that they think God wants them to do.  They polish up the outer man to look good on the outside, but their soul is still dead.  The Truth is totally opposite.  When you allow Jesus to come into your heart, He becomes your Righteousness and therefore you are worthy before God, apart from anything else you may do.  The New Creation starts out as a baby , you might say, as it grows it pushes to the surface sins ( things of the fleshly man ) that we didn't even know we had. You might even act on it, or it might just be an improper thought.  This is why as you recognize it, all you have to do is confess it and you are clensed of it.  For a believer, at first the outer actions are usually the first things that are brought under control, but as the fleshly man is being pushed outward by the spiritual man, it is usually the deeper things of the heart and mind that come up.  The solutions is still the same, just confess it.

Getting back to the letter Pergamum,

Jesus is:
The One who has the Sharp two- edged sword.
         This is very fitting for Pergamum's condition.  Jesus is the Word of God, and that Word gives life.  Also, a good thing to note is that all scripture is the God inspired Word.  This is why the writter of Hebrews wrote in his 4th Chapter, verses 12 and 13,

 " For the word of God is living and breathing and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division between soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is NO creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him of whom we have to do".

Jesus is letting Pergamum and any future fellowship of Saints know that nothing is hidden from Him.  So don't get complaisant in your walk to where you are not aware that Jesus is there to lead you into all Truth.  With the Word  you can resist the darkness and it's deceptions.

Praise:
        Jesus let them know that He was aware that the place where they have their church is a challenge because satan's throne was there.  The apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians in Chapter 6, verses 10-13,

"Finally, be srong in the lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood ( Man ), but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm".

 With Ephesus knowing these things, you notice in the letter sent to them that they didn't have the issues that Pergamum had.  It was vital to Pergamums success as a church to be able and willing to confront deception and exspose the darkness and lies.  They were probably more concerned with loving people, but part of loving people is not wanting them to live in ways that are harmful to their spiritual existence.  Even though Ephesus was able to deal better with fighting the darkness, they had been loosing their focus on what was really important, and that would be their first love, Jesus.  We need both, the willingness to fight against darkness and the love for Jesus and people.
Peramum held fast to His name.  Which means that they are not ashamed or afraid to confess the name of Jesus.  Also they did not deny the faith, even though one of the apostle was killed there because of his witnessing about Jesus.

Warning:
They had some who were holding to the teachings of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak.

          This was a teaching that continued from before the cross, but with a new twist.  Before the cross Balaam was an enemy of Israel and he was always cursing Israel, tempting them to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality.  Now satan was using the same hatred towards the Christian churches as against Israel.  Satan also tried to get believers to hate Israel for putting Jesus to death.  Israel did not put Jesus to death.  They could not have stopped it if they wanted to.  Jesus came to earth to lay down His own life as a sacrificial Lamb.  Any Christian church, even today, that holds to such a thing, should be held in question.

They also had some who  held to the teachings of the Nicolaitians.
           This was the practice of having a hiararcy, where some are held in higher esteem than others, because they have a higher position.  This is opposite of Jesus way, since the greatest is the least among you.  The greatest is the servent of all.  Jesus did not come to be esteemed by men, but laid down His life.

Action Needed:
Repent or Jesus will come quickly to make war against them with His mouth. 

Overcomers Reward:
They will be given some of the hidden manna, and Jesus will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who recieves it.

Song 8 -- Alpha and Omega

In the Book of Revelations, Jesus reveals Himself as being, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, and the Beginning and the End.  Like I stated in other Bloggs, besides Jesus revealing to John things about the end times, in the Book of Revelations, Jesus also revealed who He is.  In the Book of Isaiah Chapter 44, verse 6, it reads, " Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ' I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me."  In verse 24, "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the One who formed you from the womb, I the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out thet heavens by myself, and sprending out the earth all alone."  The first and the last is a King, the Lord, God , Creator and Redeemer.  A redeemer is someone who pays the price to gain pocession of something.  This is exactly what Jesus did by dying on the cross.  He died in our place, and as a result, he purchased for us, what we were not able to purchase for ourselves, and that is salvation.  Thus the name Jesus (Yeshua), which means, the Lord our Salvation.  If someone comes to Jesus and receives what He did for them, then Jesus' Spirit will dwell in them.  This is why Paul said in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, verse 5, " Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you ----."  Jesus dwells in believers by the presence of His Holy Spirit.  His Spirit is what allows someone to be born of the Spirit, which Jesus also referred to as being born of above and born again.  This is how the New Creation comes into existance.  In the same letter chapter 5,verse17, Paul wrote,"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away: behold new things have come."  Jesus said that he removed our sin as far as the east is from the west and that they would be remembered no more.

Revelations Chapter 2 ( Smyrna )

The short letter to Smyrna is an interesting one.  Remember that all these letters to the seven churches were also intended for the churches throughout the world , in the last days.  All the praises,warnings, resolutions and rewards are also intended for all who believe in Jesus unto salvation.  So there is alot to learn in these letters.

To the Church in Smyrna,

Jesus is:
1) The first and the last, who became dead, and has come to life.

Praises:
1) I know your tribulations and your poverty (but you are rich)
                  Does that sound like rich to you?  In the visible realm, it does not look that way.  In the Spiritual realm it looks totally different.  The apostle Peter wrote in his first letter Chapter 1, verse 6 and 7,

" In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

 Jesus is letting believers know that He is aware of the trials that the believers go through. One of the reasons He allows it,  is because it shows evidence of a persons faith in Jesus.  To me faith is defined as, trusting Jesus.  Trials show more evidence of that trust, when you are still able to acknowledge and confess Jesus in the mist of them.  If a persons life is going perfectly fine and all is good, it does not require as much trust as it would someone who is in tribulation and poverty.  Also, the trials are more presious than gold, so the more trials a believer has to go through in their lives, the wealthier they are.  In the apostle Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians, in Chapter 4, verse 17,Paul wrote,

 " For momentary, light affliction is producing in us an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison."

 Believers are change from glory to glory. If you compare it to someone who is trying to build muscle, to build muscle you have to keep adding resistance (weight).  The trials we go through are the resistance (weights) for the spiritual man, the New Creation.  This is why it says that all this will result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  When Jesus is revealed, the New Creations will be revealed with Him.  Hebrews Chapter 12, verse 2, says

"That for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross."

  With or without the cross, Jesus would have joy.  So what does this mean?  Jesus saw the joy of what He would create by His sacrifice on the cross and that would be the New Creations.

2) Jesus lets them know that the blasphemy is coming from an oppisition that calls themselves Jews but are not.  Instead they are a synagogue of Satan.
Warning:

Jesus' warning is not a warning to the church at Smyrna because they were doing something wrong.  Instead,

1) Jesus was warning them not to fear what they were about to suffer.  As if things weren't bad enough.  I'll tell you what, these are very special believers.  I can not wait to see what they look like when we meet together in the air.  All I have to do is look for giants.

2) Jesus tells them that  the devil is about to cast some of them into prison, that they might be tested, and they will have tribulation ten days. This group just keeps getting richer and richer.

       Jesus is reminding them that even though they may be put in prison by men, that they are actually being put there by satan.  So therefore they are reminded the writting of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians Chapter6, that says that we do not war against flesh and blood (man), but against principalities, powers and demonic forces in the heavenly realm.

Overcomers Reward:

1) Be faithful (trust Jesus) until death, and Jesus will give you the crown of life.
2) You shall not be hurt by the second death.
The first death is the death of the body.  The second death is the death of the spirit.  The second death will come about after Jesus thousand year reign over the earth.  Then there will be judgement made from the great white throne that Jesus will sit on. Everyone who ever existed will be before the throne and whoevers name is not found written in the Book of Life will suffer the second death in the lake of fire.  This lake was only intended for Satan and his demons (fallen angels).  Everyone was intended to have eternal life and be written in the Lambs Book of Life, but not everyone wanted it.  Those who refused the Truth as to be saved. So there spirits had to go were spirits are put to death, an eternal death.  Satans has always tried to decieve as many people as he could, so that he could drag as many as he could into this second death..  Jesus is the Book of Life.  Just make sure you get in Him.

Peace to you.

Revelations Chapter 2 ( Ephesus )

Both the 2nd and 3rd chapters of the Book of Revelations are about the letters that are written to the seven churches in Asia.  There are four aspects to each letter.  In the beginning of each letter, Jesus reveals something about Himself to that church.  He then gives some praise for the good, reveals a warning to their eras and then reveals what is in store for the overcomers.  I will break each church down to these categories, Jesus is, Praise, Warnings, Action Needed,  Consequences and Overcomers Reward.

To the church in Ephesus,

Jesus is:
The One who holds the seven stars (Angels of the Churches) in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (The Churches).

Praise:
1) Jesus knows their deeds, toil and perseverance.
2) They don't endure evil men.
3) They test self proclaimed apostles and have found them to be false.
4) They have persevered and endured for His name's sake, without growing weary.
5) They hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans as He does.  ( The Nicolaitans had hierarchy of superiority, where some were looked at as more important than others.  This is opposite of what Jesus wants, because Jesus said that the least among you shall be the greatest, and the greatest shall be the servant of all.)

Correction:

1) They have left their first love. ( Their first love would be a love for Jesus and others.)
                            How can a church that has deeds, toils and perseverance and keeps and eye on
that     
                            which is not true be seen as doing something wrong ?  The doing means nothing if you
                            loose focus on the most important thing about being a believer in Jesus, and that is LOVE,
                            Foremost a love for Jesus and then overflowing to a love for your neighbor.  They
                            had gotten all caught up on formalities and going through religious motions that they forgot
                            what was really important.  Jesus had said, in Mathew Chapter 25, verses 35-40, " For I
                            was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something
                            to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick
                            and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.........Truly I say to you, to the
                            extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it 
                            to Me".  Just like today we have many churches with the same flaws.  They get so caught
                            in playing church, that they miss what is important.  The function of the church becomes
                            more important than the welfare on the people in the church.  Those people are actually
                            the church.  The main purpose of a church is to first proclaim the Gospel to let people
                            know the way to eternal life, then second to love them.  If you really love them, then you
                            will care for them as yourself.  When one suffers, we all suffer.  How we love others is
                            how we are loving Jesus.

Action Needed:
1) They are told to remember from where they have fallen.
2) Do the deeds you did at first.

Consequence of not:
1) Jesus will remove their lampstand right out of it's place.  Which means that their organization won't last.

Overcomers Reward:
1) Jesus will grant you to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
At the end of every letter it says, "He who  has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  When John had written all that he had been given in Jesus' revelation to him, it included all the letters to all the churches, just like we have today.  That is why what is said to one church was also to be heeded by all the others also, as we should do today.

 Peace to you.

                

Song 6 -- Life Giver

Life Giver came about by the thought that what do you communicate to two different spectums of life that they both need life.  You have people in this world that really stuggle.  Life is hard and there seems that there is no way out of their life situation.  On the other hand you have people that seem to have everything and their life seems to be very smooth.  The fact is that apart from Jesus, they feel the exact same.  Without Jesus, there is an emptiness that everyone feels.  We all try to mask it, or try to fill the hole in our hearts with such things as drugs, over drinking, sex, cars, clothes, image, religion and just a lot of things in general.  That hole only fits One thing and that is Jesus.  Everything else is just a temporary fix and when it wears off, the emptiness seems even bigger.  That is why a lot of people destroy their lives by over trying to fill the emptiness.  We say that these type of people are addicted.  Without Jesus, everyone is addicted to something to mask over the emptiness.  When Jesus is permitted to fill that hole that He intended to create a New Life in, that is just what happens.  He gives that person a new existence, one that actually has the life that they were purposed to have.  There is no longer the sense of hopelessness or emptiness.  You now have real life and that life is eternal, because Jesus is Eternal and He becomes your life giver.  Therefore, the person who has the stuggles in this life, can now have hope and joy.  Not because their life circumstances might get better, but because even if it does't, they will have Jesus peace in the mist of storms and know that this life on earth is all temporary and that there is a greater place waiting for them.  For the person who seems to have it all, but probably feels even emptier,  possesions will no longer seem as important or needed by them.  They will be freed from striving after wind and they to will realize what is really life.  Again, peace to you and if you have access to Youtube just key in Yeshuafriend1.

Song 5 -- Glory Glory Jesus Is Lord

This song came as a simple tune to the words, Glory Glory Jesus Is Lord.  I then felt that I had to add to it, of course.  So it came to me, Jesus is Lord, why?  Thus the song.  It points out almost every aspect of the four gospels that would declare Jesus as being Lord.  So you might say that it is the Gospel Song.  It is a summation of the Gospel, from start to finish.  It is a good song to meditate on.  Especially as the Christmas season approaches.  The Truth of the Gospel is about the ultimate Gift from God to man and the purpose for your existence.  I hope you enjoy it. To view this song, just do a Google search for Yeshuasfriend1 Youtube.  Peace to you.

The Christmas Story -- Song 7 -- The Star in the Sky

As we enter the Christmas season, that is celebrated this time of year by many throughout the world, it is a good time to reflect on the Christmas story and what this means for you.  The prophecy of the Christmas story actually begins in the Book of Genesis, which is the first book in the Bible.  In Genesis Chapter 3, vesres 14 and 15, right after Satan the serpent had deceived Adam and Eve into breaking the only command that God had given them, God told Satan," Because you have done this, ......... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heal."  Enmity is defined as a deep seated hatred or hostility, as between enemies or opponents.  In Psalm 101, verse 1, David wrote," the Lord said to my Lord sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for thy feet".  In Mathew Chapter 26, verse 64, Jesus, after being questioned by the high priest as to if He was the Christ, the Son of God, said this, " You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see The Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."  So what we see in this, is that Jesus is the One who is being referred to as being at the right hand (power) of God, and that Jesus' enemies will become a footstool for His feet. Therefore, Jesus will bruise satan and all who choose him on the head, and Jesus heal will be bruised. So what we can conclude, is that Jesus is the enmity that will come between satan seed and  the seed of woman, who choose to be Born of Above in Jesus.  So what does all this have to do with Christmas?  Well, it shows that from the beginning, God had planned to send an enmity (Jesus) into the world with a very special purpose.  Jesus would be special.  In Isaiah Chapter 9, verse 6, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."  Note: this verse is quoted many times during the Christmas season, but the one part of it that seems to be overlooked is that this child is referred to as the Eternal Father. 

The details of Jesus birth is best found in Luke's Gospel, starting in Chapter 1, verses 26 -38," Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.  And coming in, he said to her," Hail, favoured one!  The Lord is with you."  But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.  And the angel said to her, " Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus." ( Note: His name in Hebrew was Yeshua, which means, the Lord our Salvation.)  " He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end." ( Note: this was because Mary and Joseph were from the lineage of David.  They were also descendants of Jacob (Israel).  No matter how much Satan tried to destroy the descendants of Jacob, God would always intervene to protect them, because it was from this lineage that He would come into the world.)  "And  Mary said to the angel, " How can this be, since I am a virgin?"  And the angel answered and said to her," The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring will shall be called the Son of God......And Mary said, " Behold the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word."  And the angel departed from her."

In Mathews Gospel, Mathew details how this was communicated to Joseph in the first Chapter, verses 18 -25.  He writes, " Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows.  When His Mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.  (Note; if Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit, then that would make the Holy Spirit also His Father.)  And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.  (Note: this would protect her from being stoned to death.)  But when he had considered this, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, " Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, For it is He who will save His people from their sin.  ( Note: He will save His people, therefore Jesus (Yeshua), The Lord Our Salvation.)  Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fullfilled, saying, " Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, " God with us."  (Note: this was phophesied by the prophet Isaiah in his 7th Chapter, verse 14.)  And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus. 

Now about the time that Jesus was to be born, Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem, which is the city of David, because Caesar Augustus had made a decree requiring everyone on the earth to register for the census in their own city.  They had to go to Bethlehem because Joseph was of the house and family of David.  When they got there the Inn was full so the only place inside that they could go was in a stable.  How fitting, although many would ask, "Why would God choose to have Jesus born in a stable?" Jesus is also the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  This was His whole purpose for coming to the earth.  Where else should a lamb be born, but in a stable.  When Mary had giving birth to Jesus in the stable, she wrapped Him in cloth and laid Him in a manger.  At the same time that Jesus was born, there were shepherds in the same region, that were in the fields that night watching over their flock.  All this is written in the Gospel according to Luke in his 2nd Chapter, and starting in verse 9, Luke writes, " And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the Glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.  And the angel said to them, " Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the City of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  (Note:  Good News for all the people.  The house of Israel was choosen to be the lineage in which Jesus would come into the world and He still is going to do a special thing with the house of Jacob in the world to show that He is God.  But His main  reason for coming was to bring joy and do something for all people.  He came to be the Lamb of God, who would die for all sins, so that anyone who would believe would have eternal life and become a New Creation. Thus we have a Savior, Yeshua, the Lord our Salvation.)  The angel continued in verse 12, " And this shall be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying," Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." (Note: this is the most misquoted passage of scripture in the Bible.  What you will hear is, "Peace on earth and good will towards men."  The actual scripture says that there will be peace among men with whom He is pleased.  The only way to please God is to recieve the gift that Jesus came to give.  The peace is an internal peace in the soul.  He did not come to bring peace to the earth, for apart from Him there is no peace.) The shepherds made their way to the stable and found Jesus in the manger just as they had been told.  They also told Joseph and Mary all that had been revealed to them about Jesus.  And all who heard it wondered at the things that had been told them by the shepherds.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as they were told.

We finish the Christmas story back in Mathew Chapter 2, when the three wise men come traveling from the east to find, " He who has been born the King of the Jews."  That was their word.  Imagine, here are three men, not of Israel but from the east.  They know of the coming of the Messiah, and were looking for it.  (Note:The house of Israel, who were told by their prophets about His coming, were caught off guard because they were not looking for the Messiah that would come as the Lamb. Rather, they were looking for the Messiah that would use Israel to show His Power to the world.  This is still the case for a lot of Jewish people, they are waiting for The Messiah's second coming, but to be the recpient of His power, you need to acknowledge the Lamb, His first coming.)  The three wise men had seen a star in the sky on the night that Jesus was born and followed in the direction that they saw the star.  They were coming to worship Him.  I believe what they saw is what the shepherds saw, the multitude of heavenly host.  I believe that above Bethlehem that night, the sky opened up between heaven and the earth  and the light of heaven was coming through.  They eventually found where Jesus was and fell down and worshiped Him; and opening up their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.  These were all very costly idems.  Today, what can we bring Him to worship Him?  We all have what he would like as a gift.  He would like us all to offer our hearts to Him, so that he could fullfill His purpose for coming to you personally.  That would be creating in you a New Eternal Creation.  Invite Him into your heart and He will give you the greatest Gift ever possible.  The ultimate Christmas Gift.  Peace to you.

If you would like to know more about this New Creation, you can read read one of my previous bloggs intitled: How can one man death forgive sin and give Eternal Life?, The New Creation, and Why all this for a New Creation?

Revelation Chapter 1 (Part Three)

In completing Chapter 1, we find John on the Island of Patmos, where he was sent because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  Patmos was like a detention Island were people were sent for crimes.  John's crime was the refusal to stop teaching about Jesus.  How could he have stopped? Like I said in an earlier blogg, he saw and heard and felt so much of the power of God, that it was impossible for him not to want to share what he knew to be true.  John considered himself a fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus.  Notice how John describes how he was partaking.  For the sake of the kingdom, John was persevering in his tribulations.  He was willing to go to prison for his testimony of Jesus.  Jesus used this for good by having John's full attention and declaring to him the most important writtings of scripture for the believers, pertaining to the end times.  John is told to write down the vision and make sure that each of the seven churches in Asia, an area which is today Turkey, get the vision along with a specific message to each church.  John heard the voice of the one who was giving him the instructions and when John turned to see who was talking to him, he saw Seven Golden Lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands was one like the son of man, with a robe down to His feet, and across His chest was a golden girddle.  Also, His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet were like glowing bronze in a furnance. The prophet Daniel was giving a vision of the end times by the same One, in Daniel chapter 10, verses 5 and 6.  The difference is, Daniel saw a vision of the end times, where he saw the future glorified body of the Living God, the Lord Jesus, whereas John, in the present, was seeing the gloified Lord Jesus.  John said that His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow.  This is how Daniel, in Chapter 7, verse 9, describe the One that he refered to as The Ancient of Days who took His seat on the Throne.  This is the One that the anti-christ, that Daniel talks about, will make his pround boast against.  John said that His voice was like the sound of many waters.  When Jesus was here, before the cross, He had once spoken to a Samaritan woman, who was worshiping as Jacob's well.  He told her, in John Chapter 4, verses13 and 14,

           "Evereyone who drinks of this water, refering to the well, will thirst again; but
           whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thrist; but the water   
           that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

Jesus voice probably sounded like many waters, because His words are like water that gives life.  The Word of God is Living and breathing and is food for the spirit.  John continues to say that he saw in His Right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth came a shape two edged-sword; and His face was like the son shinning in all it's strength.  As to the two-edged sword that came out of His mouth, in Hebrews Chapter 4, verse 12, it talks about God's word again.  It says,

           "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged, and piercing
           as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the 
           thoughts and intentions of the heart."

 After seeing all this, John fell at Jesus feet as dead, he was told not to be afraid.  Jesus put His right hand on John told him this,

             " Do not be afraid; I am the firsrt and last, and the Living One; and I was dead,
             and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys to Death and Hades.  Write
             therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things
             which shall take place after these things.  As for the mistery of the seven stars which
             you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands; the seven stars are the
             angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."