2nd Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5
"Test yourselves to see if you are of the fail; examine yourselves! Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves, that JESUS CHRIST is in you--unless
you FAIL THE TEST?"
Again I say notice, EXAMINE YOURSELVES! With Paul writing a sentence containing one of the few explanation points in the bible, it is something we must take notice of. Paul wrote this so that you would know who Jesus is and who this Holy Spirit is that you have been baptized with, born again with, and filled with. The God of the universe, who is the Holy Spirit, desired to be referred to as Yeshua (Jesus) The Lord Our Salvation. The Profit Isaiah wrote this in his 45th Chapter, verses 21-23;
"...And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a SAVIOR;
There is none except Me. Turn to Me, and be SAVED, all the ends of the earth;
For I AM God and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has
gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to
Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance."
Philippians Chapter 2, verses 10-11, Paul wrote;
"...that at the name of JESUS every knee shall bow, of those who are in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess the JESUS CHRIST is LORD, to the glory of God the Father."
Isaiah Chapter 44, verse 6.... GOD who is the HOLY SPIRIT said;
"Thus says the LORD, the KING of Israel, And his REDEEMER, the LORD
of hosts; I AM the FIRST and I AM the LAST, and there is no GOD besides
Me.
Revelations Chapter 1, verses 17-18.....Jesus said;
...."Do not be afraid; I AM the FIRST and the LAST, and the LIVING ONE,
and I was dead, and behold, I AM alive forever more, and I have the keys to
to death and Hades."
And in Revelations Chapter 2, verse 8.... Jesus said to the church in Smyna referring to Himself;
"The FIRST and the LAST, who was dead, and has come to LIFE, says this:"
Ephesians 4, verses 4-6, Paul wrote;
"There is one body and ONE SPIRIT, just as also you were called in one hope
of your calling; ONE LORD, one faith, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD and
FATHER of all who is over all and through all and IN all."
Remember the first commandment;
"I am the LORD your GOD, you shall have no other gods before you."
If there is ONE SPIRIT, and GOD is SPIRIT, then GOD is the HOLY SPIRIT
If GOD is LORD, then the LORD is the HOLY SPIRIT
If there is ONE LORD who is GOD
And JESUS is LORD, then JESUS is GOD
If the ONLY GOD is the ONLY SAVIOR and JESUS is the SAVIOR, then JESUS is GOD
If God is the HOLY SPIRIT, and the HOLY SPIRIT Fathered JESUS, then the HOLY SPIRIT is the FATHER
If there is ONE SPIRIT, the HOLY SPIRIT, that we have been born of and baptized with through the death and resurrection of JESUS and ONE GOD and FATHER who is in all, and GOD is the LORD, and the LORD is the HOLY SPIRIT, and the LORD your GOD and Father is the HOLY SPIRIT, then JESUS IS LORD and the HOLY SPIRIT.
Understanding who Jesus is, is how these 4 verses would make sense.
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 shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, ETERNAL FATHER, Prince
of Peace."
John Chapter 14, verse 6-9;
"I AM the Way, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no one comes to the FATHER,
but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known my
Father also, from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said
to Him, 'Lord show\ us the Father, and it is enough for us'. Jesus said to him,
Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me Philip.
HE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER.; How do you say,
'Show us the Father'?"
John Chapter 10, verse 30;
"I and the FATHER are ONE."
In Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, verse 4.... Moses said;
"Hear, O Israel! LORD our GOD, the LORD is ONE!
If you notice, these are two more of the few statements in scripture that contain explanation points. If the LORD our GOD is ONE, and JESUS and the FATHER are ONE, then they together are GOD. If GOD is the HOLY SPIRIT, then they together are the HOLY SPIRIT. Jesus explains this as He continues His conversation with the disciples in John's gospel.
In John 14, verse 18, Jesus tells His disciples;
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
If Jesus is not going to leave them as orphans, then Jesus is their parent, a FATHER who will come back to them.
In John 14, verses 19- 20, Jesus tells them;
"After a little while the world will behold Me no more, but you will behold
Me; because I live, you shall live also. In that day you shall know that I AM
in My FATHER, and you in Me, and I in you."
Jesus is telling them that He would not be here on the earth too much longer and the world will not see Him anymore. He was telling them that because He will overcome death and live, they will live also. They are already alive, so what is this new "live"? They will receive this new "live" when they receive the sacrifice He is about to make on their behalf, to give them eternal life. He will put a New Life in their souls. They will have a second "live" that has been born of the HOLY SPIRIT. Thus the phrases, born again, born of above and born of the SPIRIT. When Jesus returns as the HOLY SPIRIT and a FATHER, He will put a piece of His Spirit, the very LIGHT of GOD Himself in the soul of ANYONE who will acknowledge Him as LORD, accept the sacrifice He made, and invite Him into their souls. This is why the soul was created. The soul is an egg that when being fertilized by the light of the HOLY SPIRIT, for HE is LIGHT, will become a NEW CREATION born of the Spirit. When this occurs a new believer(saint) will then know that JESUS is in the FATHER and the believer(saint) is in JESUS, and JESUS in them.
Jesus said this in John Chapter 14, verse 10;
"Do you not know that I AM in the FATHER and that the FATHER is in Me?
In John 14,verse 23 Jesus goes on to tell them;
"If ANYONE loves Me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him,
and WE will come to him and make OUR abode with him."
The WE is the FATHER and JESUS. The OUR are the FATHER and JESUS. The abode is where they will live and that will be in the soul of the believer(saints).
Remember, in verses 16 and 17 Jesus said you will receive a Helper, the SPIRIT of TRUTH, that will be IN YOU. We just learned that this will be the FATHER and JESUS.
In John Chapter 14, verse 26, Jesus says who this Helper is:
"But the HELPER, the HOLY SPIRIT, whom the FATHER will send in
My name, (JESUS), He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all that I (JESUS) said to you"
So if you notice that the HOLY SPIRIT comes having the name JESUS and that the HOLY SPIRIT is referred to as HE, singular, then this is in agreement that JESUS and the FATHER are ONE. Both of them together are JESUS(YESHUA) meaning THE LORD OUR SALVATION in Hebrew.
I am about to put this all together in a summation that I hope will make all this make sense. It starts off with what Jesus told His disciples in John Chapter 16, verse 7;
"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do
not go away, the HELPER shall not come to you, but if I go, I will send
HIM to you."
If JESUS is not the HELPER, who is the HOLY SPIRIT, then why would JESUS have to go away before He could send the HELPER. It only makes sense that Jesus had to loose the fleshly part of Himself, His earthly body, because Jesus said that flesh and blood can not enter the Kingdom of God, the spiritual realm. For JESUS to be able to send the HELPER, who He is part of Himself, He would have to die, rise from the dead, in the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, ascend in to heaven, shedding His earthly body, like we will also at the resurrection. Why didn't the Father, who is the HOLY SPIRIT, just come HIMSELF? The reason is because the part of the HOLY SPIRIT that understood the suffering, the pain, the sorrow, the struggles of humanity, was the part of the HOLY SPIRIT that was JESUS. Before the HOLY SPIRIT came into this physical realm, He existed in the heavenly realm where there has never been any pain, sorrow, suffering, struggles, and no tears. How could the HOLY SPIRIT be a comforter unless He had experienced humanity? That is one of the reasons He came here Himself and why that part of Him, JESUS, had to return with that experience to really be able to be a HELPER and a the COMFORTER.
Jesus told His disciples this in John Chapter 15, verse 26;
"When the HELPER comes, whom I will send to you from the FATHER,
that is the SPIRIT of TRUTH, who proceeds from the FATHER, He will bear
witness of ME."
He is saying that when a believer (saint) is indwelt by this HELPER, HOLY SPIRIT, that this HELPER will reveal to the believer (saint) who JESUS is. So who is JESUS?
This is the order of what happened from before the earth to the present.
The LORD our GOD existed as the HOLY SPIRIT, before the earth existed.
The LORD being a Spirit had no visible existence.
The LORD GOD created Angels who had a visible existence.
One third of the Angels rebelled and followed after the most beautiful angels, Lucifer, who they could see.
The Angels who rebelled were cast as fallen and rename demons.
The LORD formed a plan before the earth was formed, "The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world" Revelations Chapter 13, verse 8
The LORD GOD had a two fold purpose and maybe a third.
1st) To make a visible Spiritual Body for Himself, so that the angels could behold Him in all His Glory.
2nd) He wants to create a NEW CREATION, in His glorified likeness. Colossians Chapter 3, verse 4;
"When Christ Jesus, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be
revealed with Him in glory."
This NEW CREATION will be different than the angels and above the angels, because they chose to be create anew when they accepted the sacrifice that JESUS made for them on the cross. Unlike the angels who were just spoken into existence by the word of GOD. I don't think they understood the nature of God, or one third of them would probably never have rebelled. In the plan that the LORD your GOD came up with, He would show His true nature, by doing Himself the most remarkable act of LOVE imaginable. God, who is LOVE, will prove He is LOVE and WHOSOEVER will chose Him for that act of LOVE, He will make a NEW CREATION that will have everlasting life. They will be a CREATION, made from HIS LOVE, that will NEVER rebel against such a LORD and SAVIOR.
3rd possible reason) The LORD your GOD wanted to know that the two thirds of the angels, that had not rebelled, didn't do so out of fear of the consequence of, receiving the same fate as the fallen angels. By what He was planning to do would show them His nature and LOVE and assure them that they had made the right decision.
The LORD your GOD therefore created the Earth and put Adam and Eve on it with an eternal life existence. They were given one command, " Do not eat from the tree of good and evil, on the day that you do, you will surely die." They both did eat and on that day they continued to live, or did they? Something about them died. It was the part of them that had eternal life. The eternal life that was in their souls was now dead. They now had empty, dark souls. Their souls were now void of the life of God. Because of their disobedience, the Lord your God now had the mechanism in place by which there could now come into existence human beings with empty souls, void of life, that could now have the ability to get that ETENAL LIFE back by choosing what He will do for them on the cross. People that would choose Him for His act of LOVE, dying that they might live. It was not just a man dying for them, it was the LORD your GOD dying for you.
So:
The Lord GOD, the LIGHT of the Universe, the HOLY SPIRIT, put a piece of His SPIRIT, LIGHT, in the virgin Mary, by which she conceived a child that would be call YESHUA, JESUS, because He would be a SAVIOR. JESUS was not conceived by the seed of a fallen man, but by the seed, LIGHT, very essence of the LIVING GOD Himself. John wrote this in his gospel, Chapter 1, verses 9-13;
"There was the true light, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
he was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world
did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did
not receive Him. But as many as would receive Him, to them He gave the
right to become the children of God, even to those who believe IN HIS
NAME, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of GOD."
The HOLY SPIRITS body, JESUS, is filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, FATHER.. In Luke's gospel, Chapter 3, verses 21-22, he wrote;
"Now it came about when all the people were baptized, that Jesus also was
baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit
descended upon Him like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "Thou art
My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased."
JESUS, the body of the HOLY SPIRIT, filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, the FATHER, would perform so many remarkable, supernatural miracles, that John ended his gospel with this in his 21st Chapter, verse 25;
"And there are also so many other things that Jesus did, which if they were
written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the
the books that were written."
The LORD GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT, was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself, as described by Paul in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 5, verses 17-21;
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION; the old things
have passed away; behold new things have come. Now all things are from
God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry
of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world
to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed
to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ
Jesus, as through God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of
Christ Jesus, be reconciled to God. He made Him, JESUS, who knew no sin
to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"
JESUS, the LAMB of GOD, goes to the cross, to become sin, so sin would die with Him on the cross.
JESUS goes into the grave and while He is there buries the sin that He became, taking victory over sin and death. Leaving the sin buried, Jesus then raises from the dead with the resurrection power of the HOLY SPIRIT. Now having a resurrected body, JESUS, was another forty days on the earth and then ascended into heaven.
JESUS goes into Heaven, and now having a spiritual glorified body, can now join back up with the HOLY SPIRIT, FATHER. Doing so, JESUS brings into the HOLY SPIRIT the experience of humanity in which the HOLY SPIRIT could now be the Comforter and HELPER to all those who will choose Him for what He did on the cross, allowing them to become a NEW CREATION.
Look at it this way.
The LORD our GOD, the LIGHT, put a drop of HIS LIGHT in Mary, that drop of LIGHT became a man. At this Man's death, burial and resurrection, He became a drop of Light again. The drop of Light goes back up with a programed hard drive, and joins together as ONE with the LIGHT, bringing the knowledge of interacting with humans and their weaknesses and how to draw them to the LIGHT, TRUTH. Then the LIGHT, the ONE LORD GOD, the HOLY SPIRIT, who ARE YESHUA, JESUS, returns back to indwell ALL those who would believe, becoming their HELPER in teaching them the TRUTH of who JESUS is and how to live as a NEW CREATION.
In completing this teaching, I want to leave you with one of the most hidden nuggets in scripture. I have been walking with YESHUA for 42 years on October 20th, my second birthday. I have read the book of Acts many times and just found this nugget around three years ago. It could easily go unnoticed, but I thank JESUS for allowing me to see this. I think Jesus has been faithful in showing me things that help to teach my fellow believers(saints) exactly who He is and helping them to grow in knowing more about Him and His true nature, because He knows this is my passion and desire. This way they would have no confusion in who the Spirit is that is indwelling them, so that when they "Examine themselves!", they will not fail the test, knowing that they are indwelt with JESUS being IN THEM, their hope of Glory.
To have had the chance to find this nugget, you would have had to persevere through the book of Acts and made it to Chapter 20, verse 28, where Paul writes this;
"Be on you guard for yourselves and for ALL the flock, among which
the HOLY SPIRIT has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of
God which He purchased with HIS OWN BLOOD."
We have been purchased with the HOLY SPIRIT'S very own blood.
Thank you Jesus!
I hope this helped you to grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD, JESUS.
May the Prince of Peace guard your minds and soul. Peace to you.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Monday, August 12, 2019
Who Is This Spirit In Us? (Part 1)
In my last blog, I spoke about the need to be born of above to be able to enter the kingdom of God. This was defined as being born again of the Spirit. This happens when you receive what Jesus did for everyone, who chooses Him for what He did, on the cross, in His burial, and by His resurrection. When you accept His sacrifice, your soul is filled with the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead. In this, Jesus baptizes you with the Holy Spirit. Now the Question, "Who is this Spirit?" Who is this Holy Spirit that indwells a person who acknowledges acceptance of the truth and believes.
The First Commandment says;
I am the Lord your God, you should have no other God's before Me.
Understanding who this Lord is, is the key to knowing who the Spirit is that is now dwelling in your soul. When Moses asked God, at the time he was given the ten commandments, "Whom shall I tell them you are?", the Lord replied, "Tell Them that I Am." Not a lot of information there. That is why He gave us the scriptures, so that we could come to know who He is. I am going to break it down this way so you can see the different ways that He has described Himself.
The Holy Spirit in the Spiritual realm.
I am the Lord........ who He is.
Your God ......... His position.
What the Holy Spirit did in the physical realm.
Father ..... what He did.
His Son (Body)Yeshua (Jesus) "The Lord Our Salvation"....... His name.
Before the Holy Spirit became a Father and a Son, He existed as a Spirit. Since God is Holy, then He is a Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit, somewhere in eternity, came up with an eternal plan. In this plan, He would become a Father. In doing so, He made a body for Himself. With this body, He, through His sacrificing Himself as, "the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world", would make for Himself an eternal glorified body by rising from the dead. By what He did, EVERYONE who wants to, can be made in His likeness of His resurrected body. Being born of above a person can now be made in the likeness of His eternal glorified body at the resurrection. Until the resurrection a believer walks in the newness of life, becoming a New Creation, having the Spirit of God living in them.
How do we acknowledge this Spirit? What do we call Him?
One of the most telling passages of scripture, that explains to us who this Spirit is that dwells in a believer(saint), is in the gospel of John Chapter 14, verses 16-26;
16"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that
He may be with you forever, 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world
can not receive, because it does not behold Him, but you know Him
because He abides with you, and will be in you."
Key points right here. I call them gold nuggets. Jesus said, "seek and you will find." As a New Creation, born again of the Spirit of God, most saints never take the time to read the precious Word of God. We must read the Word of God to learn who He is and find the things hidden in the sides of the river beds, the Gold, that explain to us His true nature and who He is. If you don't, then you may be listening to doctrines of demons that attempt conceal His true identity.
The apostle Paul stated in Ephesians Chapter 1, verse 17, that he prayed this for the saints;
"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you
a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the true knowledge of Him."
And again in Ephesians 4:13;
"until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the true knowledge of the
Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ".
When Paul says he prays that we grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, he is praying that we grow in knowing and understanding who He Is. It is not saying in these passages to grow in all He knows, although in other scripture we do learn a lot of what He knows, but only in part.
So how was Jesus describing Himself in verses 16 and 17 ? The Father will send a Helper, who is the Spirit of truth. We know from scripture that Jesus is the Truth. Jesus was revealing to the disciples, that they know Him because He (Jesus) is with you and will be IN YOU. Can this be backed up in other scripture? Of course it can or I wouldn't say it.
The First Commandment says;
I am the Lord your God, you should have no other God's before Me.
Understanding who this Lord is, is the key to knowing who the Spirit is that is now dwelling in your soul. When Moses asked God, at the time he was given the ten commandments, "Whom shall I tell them you are?", the Lord replied, "Tell Them that I Am." Not a lot of information there. That is why He gave us the scriptures, so that we could come to know who He is. I am going to break it down this way so you can see the different ways that He has described Himself.
The Holy Spirit in the Spiritual realm.
I am the Lord........ who He is.
Your God ......... His position.
What the Holy Spirit did in the physical realm.
Father ..... what He did.
His Son (Body)Yeshua (Jesus) "The Lord Our Salvation"....... His name.
Before the Holy Spirit became a Father and a Son, He existed as a Spirit. Since God is Holy, then He is a Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit, somewhere in eternity, came up with an eternal plan. In this plan, He would become a Father. In doing so, He made a body for Himself. With this body, He, through His sacrificing Himself as, "the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world", would make for Himself an eternal glorified body by rising from the dead. By what He did, EVERYONE who wants to, can be made in His likeness of His resurrected body. Being born of above a person can now be made in the likeness of His eternal glorified body at the resurrection. Until the resurrection a believer walks in the newness of life, becoming a New Creation, having the Spirit of God living in them.
How do we acknowledge this Spirit? What do we call Him?
One of the most telling passages of scripture, that explains to us who this Spirit is that dwells in a believer(saint), is in the gospel of John Chapter 14, verses 16-26;
16"And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that
He may be with you forever, 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world
can not receive, because it does not behold Him, but you know Him
because He abides with you, and will be in you."
Key points right here. I call them gold nuggets. Jesus said, "seek and you will find." As a New Creation, born again of the Spirit of God, most saints never take the time to read the precious Word of God. We must read the Word of God to learn who He is and find the things hidden in the sides of the river beds, the Gold, that explain to us His true nature and who He is. If you don't, then you may be listening to doctrines of demons that attempt conceal His true identity.
The apostle Paul stated in Ephesians Chapter 1, verse 17, that he prayed this for the saints;
"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you
a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the true knowledge of Him."
And again in Ephesians 4:13;
"until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the true knowledge of the
Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ".
When Paul says he prays that we grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, he is praying that we grow in knowing and understanding who He Is. It is not saying in these passages to grow in all He knows, although in other scripture we do learn a lot of what He knows, but only in part.
So how was Jesus describing Himself in verses 16 and 17 ? The Father will send a Helper, who is the Spirit of truth. We know from scripture that Jesus is the Truth. Jesus was revealing to the disciples, that they know Him because He (Jesus) is with you and will be IN YOU. Can this be backed up in other scripture? Of course it can or I wouldn't say it.
Paul gave us this gold nugget in his letter to the Galatians, when he wrote this in Chapter 4, verse 6;
"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our
hearts, crying Abba! Father!"
Paul wrote another gold nugget in the 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5;
"Test yourselves to see if you are of the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you fail
the test?"
When Paul wrote "examine yourselves!", this is one of the few places in all of scripture where an explanation point is used. So do you think that this is an important thing to know? Of course it is.
I see a lot of confusion among the saints on how they should worship the Lord our God. I see a lot of Holy Spirit worship, which is not bad in itself, but it is very important to acknowledge that this Holy Spirit that you are worshiping is Himself the Lord our God, The Lord Jesus (Yeshua), The Lord our Salvation..
Jesus said, in Mathew, Chapter 18, verse 20,
" For where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in their mist."
It is important to invite the Holy Spirit (Yeshua) into your mist by gathering in Jesus name, so that everyone, and even yourself, understands who you are worshiping. God (the Holy Spirit) was very particular about the name that He would be called when He Himself came into this physical realm in the person of Jesus. He had told both Mary and Joseph to name the child Jesus, Yeshua, The Lord Our Salvation, because He would be The Savior to the world.
We also know from Acts Chapter 4, verse 12;
"And there is no other name under that has been given among men, by which
we must be saved."
So if you are really concerned about someone getting saved and becoming born of above, becoming a New Creation, we better invoke the name of Jesus.
My next blog will be the second part of "Who Is This Spirit? This is a lot to absorb.
May you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Paul wrote another gold nugget in the 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5;
"Test yourselves to see if you are of the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you fail
the test?"
When Paul wrote "examine yourselves!", this is one of the few places in all of scripture where an explanation point is used. So do you think that this is an important thing to know? Of course it is.
I see a lot of confusion among the saints on how they should worship the Lord our God. I see a lot of Holy Spirit worship, which is not bad in itself, but it is very important to acknowledge that this Holy Spirit that you are worshiping is Himself the Lord our God, The Lord Jesus (Yeshua), The Lord our Salvation..
Jesus said, in Mathew, Chapter 18, verse 20,
" For where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in their mist."
It is important to invite the Holy Spirit (Yeshua) into your mist by gathering in Jesus name, so that everyone, and even yourself, understands who you are worshiping. God (the Holy Spirit) was very particular about the name that He would be called when He Himself came into this physical realm in the person of Jesus. He had told both Mary and Joseph to name the child Jesus, Yeshua, The Lord Our Salvation, because He would be The Savior to the world.
We also know from Acts Chapter 4, verse 12;
"And there is no other name under that has been given among men, by which
we must be saved."
So if you are really concerned about someone getting saved and becoming born of above, becoming a New Creation, we better invoke the name of Jesus.
My next blog will be the second part of "Who Is This Spirit? This is a lot to absorb.
May you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Be Free....Stand Firm In Your Faith
What is our faith? Whom do you trust, God or man? What defines you as a believer(saint), what a man says your are or what God says you are? Do you let a man determine whether or not you are saved or do you believe the Word of God and let Jesus settle that in your heart, by the Truth He has given us in His Word. My desire is that you get free, be free and stay free.
Religion has a way of getting believers to wonder whether or not they are really saved or not. It also sometimes attempts to get people to abide by man made doctrines whose only result is to put believers in a type of bondage or even doubting what their faith. Anything that attempts to put a believer back into bondage or doubt their faith is a doctrine of demons. Jesus wants you to be free and know that He is your Savior. Not free to sin, but free from untruths that would put you back into the bondage He set you free from.
Jesus said this in the Gospel of John, Chapter 8, verses 31 and 32:
"If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of mine;
and your shall know the Truth and the Truth shall SET YOU FREE"
So what is the Truth that sets you free? The Gospel is the Truth. Well what is the Gospel?
The Apostle Paul wrote this in his epistle to the Romans, Chapter 1, verses 16-17:
"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God
for salvation to EVERYONE who believes, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek(meaning non-Jew), For in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous
shall live by faith'."
Note the EVERYONE in that passage. I will be talking about that in detail throughout this blog and maybe into the next. EVERYONE is one of the things that will allow people to get saved and know they are saved when they believe the Gospel.
The Gospel is the Power of God for Salvation. So what is the Gospel (Truth That Sets Us Free)?
The Gospel leads to Salvation. The Gospel sets us free. So Salvation is freedom. So what is the Gospel? So to believe the Gospel, it only makes sense that we know what the Gospel is, in which we need to believe.
The Gospel (Truth)
1. A virgin, named Mary, conceived a Son by the Holy Spirit Himself. Matthew 1:18-21
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his Mother Mary
was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with
child by the HOLY SPIRIT. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous
man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.
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 (YESHUA:THE LORD OUR SALVATION), for it is He who
will save His people from their sins'."
You can also read in Luke 1:26-38. If you don't have a Bible you can go to my 4 part blogs on the Christmas story. It will be in part 2.
2. This child, Jesus, will grow up and be the sacrificial Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verse 29:
"The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming to him and said,
'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the SIN of the world'."
3. The Lamb of God will be crucified on the cross to bare our sin. Jesus actually became sin so that sin could be put to death and He then buried sin when Jesus, being sin, was buried. Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 6, verse 21;
"He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Jesus."
If you believe this Gospel, this is how you are born of above and born again of the Spirit of God that Jesus said was the requirement to be able to enter the kingdom of God. John's Gospel 3:3-8:
"Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one
is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to
Jesus, ' How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a
second time into his mothers womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (flesh) and the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that
I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The blows where it wishes and
you here the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where
it is going; so is everyone born of the Spirit."
So how are we born again? Since it is a requirement to be able to enter the kingdom of God, I am sure that you would agree that it is important to know how this happens. It happens through a baptism that only Jesus can give. Luke wrote this in his Gospel, Chapter 3, verse 3:16.
"John, the Baptist, answered and said to them all, "as for me, I baptize
you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not
fit to untie the thong of His sandal; He will baptize with the Holy Spirit
and fire."
Baptized with the Holy Spirit. Born again of the Spirit. You can see the correlation. So what do we do to be baptized by Jesus? Jesus chose you for Eternal Life when He gave up His own Life to be the Sacrificial Lamb that would become sin, bare your sin, and died on the cross for you, to free you from sin. The Apostle John wrote this in his gospel Chapter 3, verse16;
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have Eternal Life."
Notice WHOEVER, that means anyone and everyone who wants it. If you choose Jesus and what Jesus did for you on the cross, this is what will happen to you as written by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans in Chapter 6, verses 3-4;
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been
buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ
was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father. so we too might
walk in newness of life.(Born Again)"
4. Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. When you choose Jesus and what He did for you on the cross, you actually put yourself on the cross with Him. You die with Jesus on the cross, you are buried with Him in the grave, you are raised with Him in the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. You have now been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Do you see what has taken place? You, by being submerged into death and the grave, when you have been raised from the dead in Jesus, your soul is now filled with the Holy Spirit, and you have now been born again of the Spirit. Paul continued in Romans Chapter 6, verses 5-11;
"For if you have become united with him in the likeness of His death,
certainly you shall be like Him in the likeness of His resurrection,
knowing this that our old self crucified with Him, that our body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
for he who has died is free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ,
having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death is no longer
master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once and for
all; but the life that he lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourself
to be dead to sin , but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
We have now become part of the body of Jesus. Since Jesus, who knew no sin, was the only person born on the earth that was guiltless according to the law, He is the only person qualified to enter the kingdom of God. With Jesus now becoming our righteousness, and with us being part of His body, He becomes our Arch that will allow us to be transferred from this physical realm into the Eternal Spiritual realm. " Unless you are born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God"
This is how it happens. This is the Truth that sets you free. This is what God's plan was. This is why He made the earth. To make an Eternal Spiritual body for Himself and make a New Eternal Creation, in His likeness, for WHOEVER would choose to believe the Gospel, the power of God unto salvation and Eternal Life.
This is what the early believers referred to as "The Way", because Jesus said, " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."
Everything that is added to this, that a man requires for salvation, is just religion. Jesus set you free. Religion is what Satan has always used to keep people in bondage. Don't go back to Egypt. To many believers (Saints ) do not walk in the freedom and joy they were called to. They are held in bondage by the doctrines of demons. So consider this in Galatians 5:1
"It was for freedom that Christ set you free; therefore keep standing firm
and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery."
In my upcoming blogs I am going to continue to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus and help you to continue to walk in the freedom of our Lord.
Religion has a way of getting believers to wonder whether or not they are really saved or not. It also sometimes attempts to get people to abide by man made doctrines whose only result is to put believers in a type of bondage or even doubting what their faith. Anything that attempts to put a believer back into bondage or doubt their faith is a doctrine of demons. Jesus wants you to be free and know that He is your Savior. Not free to sin, but free from untruths that would put you back into the bondage He set you free from.
Jesus said this in the Gospel of John, Chapter 8, verses 31 and 32:
"If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of mine;
and your shall know the Truth and the Truth shall SET YOU FREE"
So what is the Truth that sets you free? The Gospel is the Truth. Well what is the Gospel?
The Apostle Paul wrote this in his epistle to the Romans, Chapter 1, verses 16-17:
"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God
for salvation to EVERYONE who believes, to the Jew first and also
to the Greek(meaning non-Jew), For in it the righteousness of God
is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous
shall live by faith'."
Note the EVERYONE in that passage. I will be talking about that in detail throughout this blog and maybe into the next. EVERYONE is one of the things that will allow people to get saved and know they are saved when they believe the Gospel.
The Gospel is the Power of God for Salvation. So what is the Gospel (Truth That Sets Us Free)?
The Gospel leads to Salvation. The Gospel sets us free. So Salvation is freedom. So what is the Gospel? So to believe the Gospel, it only makes sense that we know what the Gospel is, in which we need to believe.
The Gospel (Truth)
1. A virgin, named Mary, conceived a Son by the Holy Spirit Himself. Matthew 1:18-21
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his Mother Mary
was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found with
child by the HOLY SPIRIT. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous
man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.
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 (YESHUA:THE LORD OUR SALVATION), for it is He who
will save His people from their sins'."
You can also read in Luke 1:26-38. If you don't have a Bible you can go to my 4 part blogs on the Christmas story. It will be in part 2.
2. This child, Jesus, will grow up and be the sacrificial Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, verse 29:
"The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming to him and said,
'Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the SIN of the world'."
3. The Lamb of God will be crucified on the cross to bare our sin. Jesus actually became sin so that sin could be put to death and He then buried sin when Jesus, being sin, was buried. Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 6, verse 21;
"He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
that we might become the righteousness of God in Jesus."
If you believe this Gospel, this is how you are born of above and born again of the Spirit of God that Jesus said was the requirement to be able to enter the kingdom of God. John's Gospel 3:3-8:
"Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one
is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to
Jesus, ' How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a
second time into his mothers womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (flesh) and the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that
I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The blows where it wishes and
you here the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where
it is going; so is everyone born of the Spirit."
So how are we born again? Since it is a requirement to be able to enter the kingdom of God, I am sure that you would agree that it is important to know how this happens. It happens through a baptism that only Jesus can give. Luke wrote this in his Gospel, Chapter 3, verse 3:16.
"John, the Baptist, answered and said to them all, "as for me, I baptize
you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not
fit to untie the thong of His sandal; He will baptize with the Holy Spirit
and fire."
Baptized with the Holy Spirit. Born again of the Spirit. You can see the correlation. So what do we do to be baptized by Jesus? Jesus chose you for Eternal Life when He gave up His own Life to be the Sacrificial Lamb that would become sin, bare your sin, and died on the cross for you, to free you from sin. The Apostle John wrote this in his gospel Chapter 3, verse16;
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have Eternal Life."
Notice WHOEVER, that means anyone and everyone who wants it. If you choose Jesus and what Jesus did for you on the cross, this is what will happen to you as written by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans in Chapter 6, verses 3-4;
"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been
buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ
was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father. so we too might
walk in newness of life.(Born Again)"
4. Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. When you choose Jesus and what He did for you on the cross, you actually put yourself on the cross with Him. You die with Jesus on the cross, you are buried with Him in the grave, you are raised with Him in the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. You have now been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Do you see what has taken place? You, by being submerged into death and the grave, when you have been raised from the dead in Jesus, your soul is now filled with the Holy Spirit, and you have now been born again of the Spirit. Paul continued in Romans Chapter 6, verses 5-11;
"For if you have become united with him in the likeness of His death,
certainly you shall be like Him in the likeness of His resurrection,
knowing this that our old self crucified with Him, that our body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
for he who has died is free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ,
having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death is no longer
master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once and for
all; but the life that he lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourself
to be dead to sin , but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
We have now become part of the body of Jesus. Since Jesus, who knew no sin, was the only person born on the earth that was guiltless according to the law, He is the only person qualified to enter the kingdom of God. With Jesus now becoming our righteousness, and with us being part of His body, He becomes our Arch that will allow us to be transferred from this physical realm into the Eternal Spiritual realm. " Unless you are born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God"
This is how it happens. This is the Truth that sets you free. This is what God's plan was. This is why He made the earth. To make an Eternal Spiritual body for Himself and make a New Eternal Creation, in His likeness, for WHOEVER would choose to believe the Gospel, the power of God unto salvation and Eternal Life.
This is what the early believers referred to as "The Way", because Jesus said, " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."
Everything that is added to this, that a man requires for salvation, is just religion. Jesus set you free. Religion is what Satan has always used to keep people in bondage. Don't go back to Egypt. To many believers (Saints ) do not walk in the freedom and joy they were called to. They are held in bondage by the doctrines of demons. So consider this in Galatians 5:1
"It was for freedom that Christ set you free; therefore keep standing firm
and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery."
In my upcoming blogs I am going to continue to help you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus and help you to continue to walk in the freedom of our Lord.
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Be Free......."Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled"
These are not my words, "Let not your hearts be troubled". Jesus spoke these words to His disciples when they had inquired about the signs of the end times. Mathew Chapter 23. Do we understand that worrying is a sin. "That which is not of faith is sin." Romans 14:23. Faith is trusting Jesus, trusting in Him and what he said. I titled this post, "Be Free". Even though the, "Let not your hearts be troubled", referred to the end of days, it also is also meant for all believers today in their lives.
Do we understand that , "He who the Son sets free, is free indeed". John 8:36. Or how about, "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." John 8:32. To understand this, you have to understand what you have been freed from. We have been freed from the bondage of sin, although we still sin, we have power over the sin. We have been freed from death and given life, the Life that is in Christ Jesus. We have been freed from darkness. "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son". Colossians 1:13. Jesus spoke, "I am the Light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the Light of Life." John 8:12. We have been freed by Truth, from the lies of the devil. Jesus spoke this to the Pharisees, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks it is a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies." John 8:44.
The purpose of this post is to help keep you walking in your freeness. I have been hearing things and am concerned that Satan is upping his efforts to discourage the saints and putting stumbling blocks in the way of those who are yet to come to Jesus, by confusing the Truth with his lies. Theses are also known as doctrines of demons. The Apostle Paul warned in 1st Timothy Chapter 4:1-6
"But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from
the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrine of demons, by
means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a
branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods,
which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who know and
believe the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be
rejected, if it is received in gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word
of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a
good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith
and of the sound doctrine which you have been following."
So to be a good servant and faithful to Jesus, it is with a happy heart that I help keep us Free and walking in the Joy that Jesus has called us to walk in, no matter.
To do this we must believe the truth that the devil is real and that he is a liar and that he is an adversary whose desire is only to steal, and kill , and destroy. A kingdom divided against itself can not stand, so Satan works to divide. He labors to do this by twisting the Truth that sets us free. Satan doing this for two thousand years has been successful at causing confusion within the saints so that the simple message of Salvation is made hard to comprehend. This makes it very successful in closing up the Kingdom of God to many who might have believed if the truth was presented in all the simplicity it was meant to be. This is what we are really up against and how to combat it, as written by Paul in Ephesians Chapter 6, verses 10-18. This is vital for all believers (Saints) to understand so that they can live free and help others to live free.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength 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, 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...........
I have to interject here that none of this is anything to fear. Demons are subject to us when we invoke the name Jesus. Luke 10:17 We overcome the devil by the blood of Jesus and because of the word of our testimony. Revelation 12:11. If we resist the devil, then he will flee. James 4:7 We resist him by standing on what is true when he comes with lies.
........Stand firm therefore, having girding your loins with (truth), and having
put on the breastplate of (righteousness), and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of (peace); in addition to all, taking up the
shield of (faith) with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming
missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of (salvation), and the (sword)
of the Spirit, which is the (word) of God. With all prayer and petition pray at
all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all
perseverance and petition for all the saints."
If you look at everything that I put in parenthesis, they all have one thing in common, and that would be Jesus.
(Truth) Jesus is the Truth. John 14:6
(Righteousness) Jesus became our Righteousness. 1st Corinthians 1:30
(Peace) Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
(Faith) Trusting Jesus
(Salvation) Jesus name (Yeshua) means, The Lord our Salvation. He will save His people from their sin. Mathew 1:21
(Sword) which is the(Word)of God. Jesus is the Word of God. John 1:1
Why is this important to point out? The word tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.. Hebrews 12:2 Actually putting on the full armor of God means to clothe ourselves in Jesus and all who he is. It's not about us, it is about Jesus and what we allow Him to do in us when we call on Him to be our protector. "The name of the Lord (Jesus) is a strong tower, The righteous runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10
I have written before that Jesus has nothing to do with religion. Religion is mans attempt to define Jesus. All religions worship some form of God. Many different cultures have incorporated their type of worship for this god they know exist just by instinct or looking at nature. Until God came here, in the person of Jesus, there really wasn't any way for them to know God's real purpose for creating the earth and man. Now they can know the God they worshiped by coming to know Jesus. They can come to understand the purpose and the eternal life He came to give. The problem is that this knowledge has become confusing because of the many different factions among the churches that attempt to represent Jesus. Satan has attempted to infiltrate these different factions. Since Jesus died on the cross and rose again, Satan has been working hard to distort the simplicity of what God did and what Jesus was all about. The more that Satan can confuse the message of the Truth (Gospel), the more people he will keep away from receiving the free gift of Eternal Life.
My reason for writing this post is because I have seen a revival taking place today and Satan is now putting a lot of effort forward to squash it. He is using the different factions to confuse the truth. The biggest harm of this will come to new believers as they are seeking to find a "church" to identify with. That is the problem, we don't identify with a "church, they need to be instructed to identify with Jesus. Problem, most "churches" have left their first love, Jesus. They all have their own quirk to be different for different reasons. Jesus is not about religion. There has never been religion in Heaven and there never will be. None of the denominations will be represent in Heaven. Religion conforms God to their truth instead of them conforming themselves to God's truth. All Jesus asked, is that you receive the sacrifice He made on the cross to make available, the free gift to any person, the promise of eternal life. The early believers referred to themselves as "the Way". Their message was true and simple and it resulted in many people coming to Jesus. Satan wasn't having it. At least not without a fight.
In my next post I am going to delve into what my concerns are and what I can do to help current believers and future believers to............BE FREE.
Ask Jesus to come into your soul and He will come in and dwell. He is what the soul is for.You won't need my words.
May Jesus Peace be with you and guard you mind and souls.
Do we understand that , "He who the Son sets free, is free indeed". John 8:36. Or how about, "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." John 8:32. To understand this, you have to understand what you have been freed from. We have been freed from the bondage of sin, although we still sin, we have power over the sin. We have been freed from death and given life, the Life that is in Christ Jesus. We have been freed from darkness. "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son". Colossians 1:13. Jesus spoke, "I am the Light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the Light of Life." John 8:12. We have been freed by Truth, from the lies of the devil. Jesus spoke this to the Pharisees, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks it is a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies." John 8:44.
The purpose of this post is to help keep you walking in your freeness. I have been hearing things and am concerned that Satan is upping his efforts to discourage the saints and putting stumbling blocks in the way of those who are yet to come to Jesus, by confusing the Truth with his lies. Theses are also known as doctrines of demons. The Apostle Paul warned in 1st Timothy Chapter 4:1-6
"But the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will fall away from
the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrine of demons, by
means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a
branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods,
which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who know and
believe the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be
rejected, if it is received in gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word
of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a
good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith
and of the sound doctrine which you have been following."
So to be a good servant and faithful to Jesus, it is with a happy heart that I help keep us Free and walking in the Joy that Jesus has called us to walk in, no matter.
To do this we must believe the truth that the devil is real and that he is a liar and that he is an adversary whose desire is only to steal, and kill , and destroy. A kingdom divided against itself can not stand, so Satan works to divide. He labors to do this by twisting the Truth that sets us free. Satan doing this for two thousand years has been successful at causing confusion within the saints so that the simple message of Salvation is made hard to comprehend. This makes it very successful in closing up the Kingdom of God to many who might have believed if the truth was presented in all the simplicity it was meant to be. This is what we are really up against and how to combat it, as written by Paul in Ephesians Chapter 6, verses 10-18. This is vital for all believers (Saints) to understand so that they can live free and help others to live free.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength 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, 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...........
I have to interject here that none of this is anything to fear. Demons are subject to us when we invoke the name Jesus. Luke 10:17 We overcome the devil by the blood of Jesus and because of the word of our testimony. Revelation 12:11. If we resist the devil, then he will flee. James 4:7 We resist him by standing on what is true when he comes with lies.
........Stand firm therefore, having girding your loins with (truth), and having
put on the breastplate of (righteousness), and having shod your feet with the
preparation of the gospel of (peace); in addition to all, taking up the
shield of (faith) with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming
missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of (salvation), and the (sword)
of the Spirit, which is the (word) of God. With all prayer and petition pray at
all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all
perseverance and petition for all the saints."
If you look at everything that I put in parenthesis, they all have one thing in common, and that would be Jesus.
(Truth) Jesus is the Truth. John 14:6
(Righteousness) Jesus became our Righteousness. 1st Corinthians 1:30
(Peace) Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
(Faith) Trusting Jesus
(Salvation) Jesus name (Yeshua) means, The Lord our Salvation. He will save His people from their sin. Mathew 1:21
(Sword) which is the(Word)of God. Jesus is the Word of God. John 1:1
Why is this important to point out? The word tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.. Hebrews 12:2 Actually putting on the full armor of God means to clothe ourselves in Jesus and all who he is. It's not about us, it is about Jesus and what we allow Him to do in us when we call on Him to be our protector. "The name of the Lord (Jesus) is a strong tower, The righteous runs into it and is safe. Proverbs 18:10
I have written before that Jesus has nothing to do with religion. Religion is mans attempt to define Jesus. All religions worship some form of God. Many different cultures have incorporated their type of worship for this god they know exist just by instinct or looking at nature. Until God came here, in the person of Jesus, there really wasn't any way for them to know God's real purpose for creating the earth and man. Now they can know the God they worshiped by coming to know Jesus. They can come to understand the purpose and the eternal life He came to give. The problem is that this knowledge has become confusing because of the many different factions among the churches that attempt to represent Jesus. Satan has attempted to infiltrate these different factions. Since Jesus died on the cross and rose again, Satan has been working hard to distort the simplicity of what God did and what Jesus was all about. The more that Satan can confuse the message of the Truth (Gospel), the more people he will keep away from receiving the free gift of Eternal Life.
My reason for writing this post is because I have seen a revival taking place today and Satan is now putting a lot of effort forward to squash it. He is using the different factions to confuse the truth. The biggest harm of this will come to new believers as they are seeking to find a "church" to identify with. That is the problem, we don't identify with a "church, they need to be instructed to identify with Jesus. Problem, most "churches" have left their first love, Jesus. They all have their own quirk to be different for different reasons. Jesus is not about religion. There has never been religion in Heaven and there never will be. None of the denominations will be represent in Heaven. Religion conforms God to their truth instead of them conforming themselves to God's truth. All Jesus asked, is that you receive the sacrifice He made on the cross to make available, the free gift to any person, the promise of eternal life. The early believers referred to themselves as "the Way". Their message was true and simple and it resulted in many people coming to Jesus. Satan wasn't having it. At least not without a fight.
In my next post I am going to delve into what my concerns are and what I can do to help current believers and future believers to............BE FREE.
Ask Jesus to come into your soul and He will come in and dwell. He is what the soul is for.You won't need my words.
May Jesus Peace be with you and guard you mind and souls.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Jesus and Christmas-- This Gospel Is The Power Of God Unto Salvation and Eternal Life.
Another year has gone by. Again, like last year, this post is just to update and call attention again to the 4 Part blogs I wrote concerning Jesus and Christmas and what it is all about. I can not top what I wrote in those 4 post. They are the essence and purpose for my BlogSpot. In them is the Gospel Truth of the Good News that was proclaimed in Jesus conception and birth story. In this Gospel is the Power of God unto Salvation and Eternal Life. It is the True Gift of Christmas. It is the Free Gift of Eternal Life for all those who receive the Love of the Truth(Gospel) as to be saved. If you save someone, it means you rescued their life. Jesus (Yeshua) means [The Lord (Jehovah) our Salvation]. In this Gospel, is revealed how God rescues the soul of man. In doing that He creates a New Eternal Creation. This is the very purpose for your existence.
Be transformed by Jesus in your reading is my prayer. Jesus peace be with you.
Be transformed by Jesus in your reading is my prayer. Jesus peace be with you.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Jesus and Christmas---What's It All About?
With Christmas coming around, I hope that there are many out there who are interested in knowing exactly what it is all about. What is Jesus about? What is the significance in His birth? Who is the real Jesus? Why Jesus? I wrote a four part blog a year ago right before Christmas. I have not written a blog since. I thought that, for what I do, this four part blog on Jesus and Christmas explains what my blog is all about and simplifies the understanding of what is so significant about Jesus and Christmas. I hope you read my last 4 blogs about Jesus and Christmas and come away with a true understanding of the great "Gift" of Christmas.
May the peace of Jesus (Yeshua) be with you.
May the peace of Jesus (Yeshua) be with you.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Jesus and Christmas -- What's It All About (Part 4)
We have been looking into Jesus and what He is all about. I have been trying to give a little insight into the age old question, "What is life all about?" To really understand the meaning of life and why we humans have come to exist, you will never find the answer without looking at Jesus. Man was put on this earth for one purpose and that was to become an eternal living being. Every person, but Adam and Eve, came into this world through a womb. Every person, but One, who has come into the world through a womb, has entered this world with a soul that is empty and without life. Adam and Eve came into the world by God creating them with His word. They came into this world with souls that were filled with the life of God. They lost that life when they broke the one command that God gave them, "On the day that you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will surely die." When they ate from the tree, their body did not die, so what did? It was the more important body. It was the living spiritual body the was dwelling in their souls.
To understand what life is all about, we have to look past what we can see. We have look into the things that are not seen, because that is where reality is and eternity dwells. It sounds a little silly that God would tell them to not eat from a tree and if they did they would die. He is God and of course He knew that they would eat from the tree, right? If that is the case then it has to be part of God's plan. God needed human beings who would bring forth other human beings that had souls that were empty. God could not create such a being, so He developed this plan to make it happen. From that point men and women have been producing human beings with empty souls and a sin nature. That means a life that is separated from God. The empty soul would be the very place where God would create a new Eternal Creation. This new Creation will, at the Resurrection, be in the likeness of the new body that God has made for Himself. God will have a visible spiritual body like the New Creation, that He has created, and will be One with them.
You are probably saying to yourselves right about now, "What does this have to do with Christmas"?
It has everything to do with Christmas. The whole purpose of creation is summed up in the Christmas(birth of Jesus) story. If you have read the first three parts of this Blog on, What's it all about, you will be able to see how reflective the birth story is on what God's plan from the beginning was. Let's look at the Christmas story as recorded in the Gospel of Luke in his 2nd Chapter, verses 1-20;
(1) "Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus,
that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.(2) This was the first census taken
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.(3) And all were proceeding to register for
census, everyone to there own city.(4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from
the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,(5) in order to register , along with
Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child."
Let's stop and look at these verses and look at the significance of what is happening. In verse1-4 we see that because of a required census made by Caesar Augustus, Joseph and Mary have to go to the city of their birth to be counted. The city is Bethlehem, called the city of David because it was the city were David had lived. Matthew recorded in his gospel the event of the magi from the east and their encounter with king Herod. In Chapter 2, verses 1-5;
(1) "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
behold. magi from the east arrived n Jerusalem, saying,(2) "Where is He who is born
King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.
(3) And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
(4) And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began
to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.(5) And they said to him, in
Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet."
An interesting thing here to notice, is that the religious leaders of that day knew what was written by one of their prophets pertaining to where their Messiah was to be born. They end up being the people who resisted the most that Jesus was the Christ. Did it even interest them at all that there might be the possibility that this prophecy was being fulfilled in their time. They were even able to quote the prophecy of this event that was spoken by the prophet Micah in his 5th Chapter, verse 2. The same thing that Matthew said they quoted in verse 6;
(6) "And you Bethlehem, Land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders
of Judah; for out of you should come forth a Ruler, Who will shepherd My people
Israel."
Even as today, there are many things that are misquoted from scripture. They were pretty close, but Micah actually said this,
(2) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler of Israel, His goings forth are from
long ago, From the days of eternity."
They could have easily sought to find out if this event had actually occurred. Some may have, but events leading to the cross appeared to be that not enough believed. They could not have been able to say that this was just Joseph and Mary wanting to go to Bethlehem to have the baby in Bethlehem to make a self fulfilling prophecy. Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to participate in the census as decreed by Caesar Augustus, so they had no choice but to go. While they were there Mary had to give birth. I believe that the census was put on Caesar's mind by God. This way no one could argue the point or try to cast doubt that Joseph and Mary just tried to create the event. The prophecy was fulfilled and this baby Yeshua (Jesus) was the Messiah (Christ).
Bethlehem was called, the city of David. This is significant, also, because when Mary was told by the angel to call her child Jesus, the angel followed with this in Lukes' 1st Chapter, verse 32;
"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."
We know from Matthews' 1st Chapter, verse 8. that.....Mary....was found with child by the Holy Spirit. So we have to look at what is meant when it says that, "The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. David is not His father, obviously. David was His forefather. Jesus came from the lineage of David. Joseph and Mary came from the lineage of David. That if why they had to go to Bethlehem, the city where David came from, for the census. This is why God had to preserve the people of Israel, especially those of the lineage of David, because it was through the lineage of David that He would come into this world. People tend to point out all the violence that was done against the enemies of Israel that was written about in the Old Testament. Satan was always trying to destroy the people of Israel. God had to intervene to defend them or they would have been destroyed and their would not have been the lineage of David and especial Mary through which He would come into this world.
The whole story of Jesus'(Yeshuas') birth and the events of that day reveal this one thing that explains the meaning and answers to the questions, What's it all about? and Why are we here? and What is life all about? It can be summed up in one sentence.
God stepped out of eternity so we could step into it, through Jesus(Yeshua) the Lord.
Luke continues writing on the events of Jesus birth in his 2nd Chapter, verse 6-20;
(6) "And it came about that while they were there, the days were complete for Mary
to give birth.(7) And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in
swaddling cloth, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in
the inn.
There are three revelations in these two verses that reveal God's plan. Jesus was God who came into this world and was born in a stable. People would wonder why would God choose to be born in a stable. Jesus was the Lamb of God who came into this world to sacrifice Himself to shed His own blood to take away the sin of the world. Where else should a lamb be born, but in a stable. As soon as Jesus is born, Mary wraps Him in swaddling cloth. Swaddling cloth is the material that was used when you are wrapping someone preparing them for burial. This is revealing that Jesus came here to die. The apostle John wrote this in his gospel in the1st Chapter, verse 29, quoting John the Baptist;
"The next day he(John)saw Jesus coming to him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!'"
As soon as Mary wrapped Jesus in the swaddling cloth, she laid Him in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough that the animals would eat out of. Jesus said this in Lukes' gospel Chapter 4, verses 3 and 4, when Jesus was fasting forty days, He became hungry and Satan tempted Him and Jesus responded with this;
(3) "And the devil said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become
bread.'(4) And Jesus answered him, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'".
Jesus was quoting this passage out of Deuteronomy Chapter 8, verse 3;
"And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you
did not know, nor did your father know, that He might make you understand that
man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of
the mouth of God."
The things that come out of the mouth of God are words. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus and His words are our food. His words are food that feed our soul. The Apostle John wrote this in the 1st Chapter of his gospel, verses 1 and 14;
(1) 'In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God , and the Word was
God,........(14) And the Word Became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Jesus said this in Chapter 7 of John's gospel verses 47-58;
(47) "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.(48) I am the bread
of life.(49) Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.(50) This is
the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.(51)
I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he
shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is
my flesh."(52) The Jews began to argue with one another, saying, " How can this
man give us His flesh to eat?"(53) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.(54) He who
eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the
last day.(55) For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.(56) He who eats
My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in Him.(57) As the living Father
sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so He who eats Me, he also shall live
because of Me.(58) This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the
fathers ate, and did die, he who eats this bread shall live forever."
Jesus disciples were having difficulty understanding what He was saying and meant, so Jesus told His disciples this in verse 63;
'It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh prophets nothing; the words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and are life.'
Jesus is saying that the words that he speaks are the food for the spirit that gives life. At the last super Jesus revealed what the significance of His flesh and blood are, when He said this as revealed by Luke in the 22nd Chapter of his gospel in verses 19 and 20:
(19) "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave
it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance
of Me.'(20) And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This
cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.'"
So Jesus is the food that came forth from heaven that gives eternal life and this was revealed in Mary laying Him in a manger in the stable. Then the story of the birth of Jesus continues in Luke's 2nd Chapter, verses 8-20;
(8) "And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields,
and keeping watch over their flock by night.(9) and an angel of the Lord suddenly
stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were
terribly frightened.(10) 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 people;(11) for today in
the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
It is interesting that the angel chose to reveal this message to the shepherds. You would think that the angel might want to reveal this event to the religious leaders or the prominent of the community. Mans ways are not God's ways. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. It is only fitting and figurative for Him to reveal His coming to these lowly shepherds. David, whose linage Jesus came into the world through, was the little shepherd boy who would slay the giant Galiath and later become king. Jesus will slay the giant, Death and Hades, and become the King of King's. Jesus tells us this in the gospel of John, in his 10th chapter, verses 11;
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
The title of Savior and Lord belongs to God alone. So what is being proclaimed here, by the angel, is that God Himself has been born here in the city of David. Of course God has already been existing for eternity as God the Spirit. This is the God who has put a piece of His very essence in Mary and conceived this child who has just been born as the visible representation of the invisible God. This is the only One, who has been born through a womb, that was not of the seed of Adam, but of the essence of God. He is therefore the only man born without the sin nature from Adam. He is the sinless Lamb of God who will be able to take away the sin of the world. God is now existing as both God the Spirit and God the Man. There is only One Lord(Jehovah), so they must be One and the same. Again we refer to Isaiah's writings in revealing this fact.
Isaiah 43:3 "I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
Isaiah 43:11and12 (11)"I, even I am the Lord; and there is no savior besides Me.(12) It is I
who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god
among you; So you are my witnesses," declares the Lord, and I am God
Isaiah 44:6 "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his(Israel's) Redeemer, the Lord
of hosts; I am the first and the last, And there is no God besides Me."
Jesus is the first and the last as revealed in the Book of Revelations Chapter 1, verses 17and18 and Chapter 2, verse 8;
Chapter 1 (17)............."Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last,(18) and the living one;
and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death
and Hades."
Chapter 2 (8) "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; The first and the last, who
was dead and has come to life, says this;"
Isaiah 45:5 "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides me there is no God."
Isaiah 46:21-23 (21)............."Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me."
A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.(22) Turn to Me,
and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God and there is no other.
(23) I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in
righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me EVERY KNEE WILL
BOW, every TONGUE will swear allegiance."
The apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the Philippians, in his 2nd Chapter, verse 9-11;
(9) "Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name,(10) that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHALL
BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that
(11) and that every TONGUE should confess(swear allegiance) that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Any one of the shepherds who knew of these passages in Isaiah, who heard the angel refer to this newborn as Savior and Lord knew what they were insinuating. I am sure that they were wondering how this could be possible. The story continues in Luke Chapter 2, verse 12;
(12) "And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling
cloths, and lying in a manger.(13) and suddenly there appeared with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, and saying,(14) 'Gory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.
This is one of the most misquoted passages of the Bible. You probably have heard it quoted this way; " Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will towards men. There is a big difference here. The angel did not say, "Peace on Earth". The angel said, "peace among men with whom God is pleased. This is a peace in the soul, that can only be received by receiving the Prince of Peace, this baby that was born the Lamb of God that will shed His blood to forgive sin and give eternal life. This is the only way we can please God. Remember, Isaiah wrote this in his 9th Chapter, 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 shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father, PRINCE OF PEACE."
The Christmas story ends with this in Luke's 2nd Chapter, verses 15-20;
(15) "And it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven,
that the shepherds began saying to one another, 'Let us go straight to Bethlehem
then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.'
(16) And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the
baby as He lay in the manger.(17) And when they had seen this, they made know
the statement which had been told them about this Child.(18) And all who heard
it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.(19) But Mary
treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.(20) And the shepherds
went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just
as had been told them."
The shepherds told Mary and Joseph what the angel had told them as recorded in Luke Chapter 2, verses 10 and 11;
"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be
for all people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior,
who is Christ(Messiah) the Lord(Jehovah)."
This bears witness to what the angel told Mary and Joseph both in separate incidences, when they were both instructed to call His name Jesus(Yeshua). They both knew the meaning of this name was, the Lord(Jehovah) our Salvation. The Savior who is the Lord(Jehovah).
May you receive in your heart this Prince of Peace, the Lord of the universe. Feed on His words and grow in the Spirit and in your spirit. This Lamb of God , was God Himself. He stepped out of eternity to forgive your sin through His death and give you eternal life through His resurrection. He stepped back into eternity as the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus. He did all this so you also could step into eternity. He would now have a visible spiritual body in the heavens and we also would be able to have a body that is made in His likeness.
May His peace that surpasses all understanding guard you mind and soul, now and forever.
To understand what life is all about, we have to look past what we can see. We have look into the things that are not seen, because that is where reality is and eternity dwells. It sounds a little silly that God would tell them to not eat from a tree and if they did they would die. He is God and of course He knew that they would eat from the tree, right? If that is the case then it has to be part of God's plan. God needed human beings who would bring forth other human beings that had souls that were empty. God could not create such a being, so He developed this plan to make it happen. From that point men and women have been producing human beings with empty souls and a sin nature. That means a life that is separated from God. The empty soul would be the very place where God would create a new Eternal Creation. This new Creation will, at the Resurrection, be in the likeness of the new body that God has made for Himself. God will have a visible spiritual body like the New Creation, that He has created, and will be One with them.
You are probably saying to yourselves right about now, "What does this have to do with Christmas"?
It has everything to do with Christmas. The whole purpose of creation is summed up in the Christmas(birth of Jesus) story. If you have read the first three parts of this Blog on, What's it all about, you will be able to see how reflective the birth story is on what God's plan from the beginning was. Let's look at the Christmas story as recorded in the Gospel of Luke in his 2nd Chapter, verses 1-20;
(1) "Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus,
that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.(2) This was the first census taken
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.(3) And all were proceeding to register for
census, everyone to there own city.(4) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from
the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,(5) in order to register , along with
Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child."
Let's stop and look at these verses and look at the significance of what is happening. In verse1-4 we see that because of a required census made by Caesar Augustus, Joseph and Mary have to go to the city of their birth to be counted. The city is Bethlehem, called the city of David because it was the city were David had lived. Matthew recorded in his gospel the event of the magi from the east and their encounter with king Herod. In Chapter 2, verses 1-5;
(1) "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king,
behold. magi from the east arrived n Jerusalem, saying,(2) "Where is He who is born
King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.
(3) And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
(4) And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he began
to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born.(5) And they said to him, in
Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet."
An interesting thing here to notice, is that the religious leaders of that day knew what was written by one of their prophets pertaining to where their Messiah was to be born. They end up being the people who resisted the most that Jesus was the Christ. Did it even interest them at all that there might be the possibility that this prophecy was being fulfilled in their time. They were even able to quote the prophecy of this event that was spoken by the prophet Micah in his 5th Chapter, verse 2. The same thing that Matthew said they quoted in verse 6;
(6) "And you Bethlehem, Land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders
of Judah; for out of you should come forth a Ruler, Who will shepherd My people
Israel."
Even as today, there are many things that are misquoted from scripture. They were pretty close, but Micah actually said this,
(2) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler of Israel, His goings forth are from
long ago, From the days of eternity."
They could have easily sought to find out if this event had actually occurred. Some may have, but events leading to the cross appeared to be that not enough believed. They could not have been able to say that this was just Joseph and Mary wanting to go to Bethlehem to have the baby in Bethlehem to make a self fulfilling prophecy. Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem to participate in the census as decreed by Caesar Augustus, so they had no choice but to go. While they were there Mary had to give birth. I believe that the census was put on Caesar's mind by God. This way no one could argue the point or try to cast doubt that Joseph and Mary just tried to create the event. The prophecy was fulfilled and this baby Yeshua (Jesus) was the Messiah (Christ).
Bethlehem was called, the city of David. This is significant, also, because when Mary was told by the angel to call her child Jesus, the angel followed with this in Lukes' 1st Chapter, verse 32;
"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."
We know from Matthews' 1st Chapter, verse 8. that.....Mary....was found with child by the Holy Spirit. So we have to look at what is meant when it says that, "The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. David is not His father, obviously. David was His forefather. Jesus came from the lineage of David. Joseph and Mary came from the lineage of David. That if why they had to go to Bethlehem, the city where David came from, for the census. This is why God had to preserve the people of Israel, especially those of the lineage of David, because it was through the lineage of David that He would come into this world. People tend to point out all the violence that was done against the enemies of Israel that was written about in the Old Testament. Satan was always trying to destroy the people of Israel. God had to intervene to defend them or they would have been destroyed and their would not have been the lineage of David and especial Mary through which He would come into this world.
The whole story of Jesus'(Yeshuas') birth and the events of that day reveal this one thing that explains the meaning and answers to the questions, What's it all about? and Why are we here? and What is life all about? It can be summed up in one sentence.
God stepped out of eternity so we could step into it, through Jesus(Yeshua) the Lord.
Luke continues writing on the events of Jesus birth in his 2nd Chapter, verse 6-20;
(6) "And it came about that while they were there, the days were complete for Mary
to give birth.(7) And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in
swaddling cloth, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in
the inn.
There are three revelations in these two verses that reveal God's plan. Jesus was God who came into this world and was born in a stable. People would wonder why would God choose to be born in a stable. Jesus was the Lamb of God who came into this world to sacrifice Himself to shed His own blood to take away the sin of the world. Where else should a lamb be born, but in a stable. As soon as Jesus is born, Mary wraps Him in swaddling cloth. Swaddling cloth is the material that was used when you are wrapping someone preparing them for burial. This is revealing that Jesus came here to die. The apostle John wrote this in his gospel in the1st Chapter, verse 29, quoting John the Baptist;
"The next day he(John)saw Jesus coming to him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world!'"
As soon as Mary wrapped Jesus in the swaddling cloth, she laid Him in a manger. A manger is a feeding trough that the animals would eat out of. Jesus said this in Lukes' gospel Chapter 4, verses 3 and 4, when Jesus was fasting forty days, He became hungry and Satan tempted Him and Jesus responded with this;
(3) "And the devil said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become
bread.'(4) And Jesus answered him, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'".
Jesus was quoting this passage out of Deuteronomy Chapter 8, verse 3;
"And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you
did not know, nor did your father know, that He might make you understand that
man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of
the mouth of God."
The things that come out of the mouth of God are words. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus and His words are our food. His words are food that feed our soul. The Apostle John wrote this in the 1st Chapter of his gospel, verses 1 and 14;
(1) 'In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God , and the Word was
God,........(14) And the Word Became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His
glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
Jesus said this in Chapter 7 of John's gospel verses 47-58;
(47) "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.(48) I am the bread
of life.(49) Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.(50) This is
the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.(51)
I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he
shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is
my flesh."(52) The Jews began to argue with one another, saying, " How can this
man give us His flesh to eat?"(53) Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh
of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.(54) He who
eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the
last day.(55) For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.(56) He who eats
My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in Him.(57) As the living Father
sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so He who eats Me, he also shall live
because of Me.(58) This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the
fathers ate, and did die, he who eats this bread shall live forever."
Jesus disciples were having difficulty understanding what He was saying and meant, so Jesus told His disciples this in verse 63;
'It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh prophets nothing; the words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and are life.'
Jesus is saying that the words that he speaks are the food for the spirit that gives life. At the last super Jesus revealed what the significance of His flesh and blood are, when He said this as revealed by Luke in the 22nd Chapter of his gospel in verses 19 and 20:
(19) "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave
it to them, saying, 'This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance
of Me.'(20) And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This
cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.'"
So Jesus is the food that came forth from heaven that gives eternal life and this was revealed in Mary laying Him in a manger in the stable. Then the story of the birth of Jesus continues in Luke's 2nd Chapter, verses 8-20;
(8) "And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields,
and keeping watch over their flock by night.(9) and an angel of the Lord suddenly
stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were
terribly frightened.(10) 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 people;(11) for today in
the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
It is interesting that the angel chose to reveal this message to the shepherds. You would think that the angel might want to reveal this event to the religious leaders or the prominent of the community. Mans ways are not God's ways. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. It is only fitting and figurative for Him to reveal His coming to these lowly shepherds. David, whose linage Jesus came into the world through, was the little shepherd boy who would slay the giant Galiath and later become king. Jesus will slay the giant, Death and Hades, and become the King of King's. Jesus tells us this in the gospel of John, in his 10th chapter, verses 11;
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
The title of Savior and Lord belongs to God alone. So what is being proclaimed here, by the angel, is that God Himself has been born here in the city of David. Of course God has already been existing for eternity as God the Spirit. This is the God who has put a piece of His very essence in Mary and conceived this child who has just been born as the visible representation of the invisible God. This is the only One, who has been born through a womb, that was not of the seed of Adam, but of the essence of God. He is therefore the only man born without the sin nature from Adam. He is the sinless Lamb of God who will be able to take away the sin of the world. God is now existing as both God the Spirit and God the Man. There is only One Lord(Jehovah), so they must be One and the same. Again we refer to Isaiah's writings in revealing this fact.
Isaiah 43:3 "I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
Isaiah 43:11and12 (11)"I, even I am the Lord; and there is no savior besides Me.(12) It is I
who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god
among you; So you are my witnesses," declares the Lord, and I am God
Isaiah 44:6 "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his(Israel's) Redeemer, the Lord
of hosts; I am the first and the last, And there is no God besides Me."
Jesus is the first and the last as revealed in the Book of Revelations Chapter 1, verses 17and18 and Chapter 2, verse 8;
Chapter 1 (17)............."Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last,(18) and the living one;
and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death
and Hades."
Chapter 2 (8) "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write; The first and the last, who
was dead and has come to life, says this;"
Isaiah 45:5 "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides me there is no God."
Isaiah 46:21-23 (21)............."Is it not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me."
A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.(22) Turn to Me,
and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God and there is no other.
(23) I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in
righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me EVERY KNEE WILL
BOW, every TONGUE will swear allegiance."
The apostle Paul wrote this in his letter to the Philippians, in his 2nd Chapter, verse 9-11;
(9) "Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name,(10) that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHALL
BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that
(11) and that every TONGUE should confess(swear allegiance) that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Any one of the shepherds who knew of these passages in Isaiah, who heard the angel refer to this newborn as Savior and Lord knew what they were insinuating. I am sure that they were wondering how this could be possible. The story continues in Luke Chapter 2, verse 12;
(12) "And this will be a sign for you; you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling
cloths, and lying in a manger.(13) and suddenly there appeared with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, and saying,(14) 'Gory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.
This is one of the most misquoted passages of the Bible. You probably have heard it quoted this way; " Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will towards men. There is a big difference here. The angel did not say, "Peace on Earth". The angel said, "peace among men with whom God is pleased. This is a peace in the soul, that can only be received by receiving the Prince of Peace, this baby that was born the Lamb of God that will shed His blood to forgive sin and give eternal life. This is the only way we can please God. Remember, Isaiah wrote this in his 9th Chapter, 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 shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father, PRINCE OF PEACE."
The Christmas story ends with this in Luke's 2nd Chapter, verses 15-20;
(15) "And it came about when the angels had gone away from them into heaven,
that the shepherds began saying to one another, 'Let us go straight to Bethlehem
then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.'
(16) And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the
baby as He lay in the manger.(17) And when they had seen this, they made know
the statement which had been told them about this Child.(18) And all who heard
it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.(19) But Mary
treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.(20) And the shepherds
went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just
as had been told them."
The shepherds told Mary and Joseph what the angel had told them as recorded in Luke Chapter 2, verses 10 and 11;
"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be
for all people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior,
who is Christ(Messiah) the Lord(Jehovah)."
This bears witness to what the angel told Mary and Joseph both in separate incidences, when they were both instructed to call His name Jesus(Yeshua). They both knew the meaning of this name was, the Lord(Jehovah) our Salvation. The Savior who is the Lord(Jehovah).
May you receive in your heart this Prince of Peace, the Lord of the universe. Feed on His words and grow in the Spirit and in your spirit. This Lamb of God , was God Himself. He stepped out of eternity to forgive your sin through His death and give you eternal life through His resurrection. He stepped back into eternity as the risen and ascended Lord, Jesus. He did all this so you also could step into eternity. He would now have a visible spiritual body in the heavens and we also would be able to have a body that is made in His likeness.
May His peace that surpasses all understanding guard you mind and soul, now and forever.
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