The truth isn't always easy to hear is it?
We say we want the truth and nothing but the truth and yet if you were a wife suspecting your husband is cheating on you, or a husband suspecting your wife is cheating on you part of you wouldn't want to know the truth. If you're a parent whose child is getting into drugs and other bad things, part of you doesn't want to know the truth.
Some of you maybe shouting, 'I'd want to know!' And that maybe be true for you. But a lot of times people don't want to hear things that force them to hard realizations.
A cheating spouse means the spouse no longer loves you, no longer finds that you satisfy their needs, a child caught up in drugs has some how turned from all you'd thought you'd taught them and maybe it means you're not the parent you thought you were, maybe there *was* something you could have done more, true or not these thoughts play through peoples minds, these thoughts and more.
Sometimes spouses will live in denial of an affair for years rather than face anything. People will sometimes choose to be blind because it's easier, it's less upsetting, it's hard to face facts when they hurt, or have the potential to hurt.
We talked about God's wrath yesterday, and we know it's alive and well, it didn't disappear into a soft fuzzy warm ball of pure cotton. God's wrath is exacting today as it was back when He destroyed almost everyone in the great flood. God's wrath is as real today as it was when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. People today don't live in fear of God's wrath, most don't believe it exists, we live in a world that pats us on the back and tells us sure our sins have consequences but nothing all that bad, just go to Jesus.
I'm not making light of going to Jesus for forgiveness, not at all. A great price was paid by Jesus so that we can go to Him and find forgiveness. That price wasn't paid however so we could make light of sin and use forgiveness as a person swipes a credit card in a machine. Four sins, alright, lets pay for those...
No, it doesn't work that way.
Some may shout but if you make this all too hard then you're *working* for it and you can't be saved by *working* for it.
I say if you're sinning without true remorse and continue in sins without any heart felt desire to be rid of them, then you're making the cross a joke.
Jesus didn't die to give permission to sin.
Jesus didn't die to make sin seem less sinful.
Jesus didn't die so that we could have our cake and eat it too.
Seriously, Jesus called sin sin, and told people to go and sin no more. Jesus' life as our example, well, Jesus was sinless.
The truth is sin is a live and well and it's still against all that is God and the forgiveness we need to seek has to be heartfelt not frivolous.
Sin warrants death, not a trip into a confessional booth and a slap on the wrist.
The only way to keep from having to pay that penalty for sin is to repent, seek forgiveness, to go and sin no more. Not sit there, ask for forgiveness and turn around and smile happily as you start the same sins all over again.
I'm not saying that sin is easy to get rid of, I know for a fact it's not.
It's so easy to get caught up in the hopelessness of being a sinner, and just give up and give in to sin because to not sin seems too hard, too impossible. It's a fight, it's a battle, it's a war we're in and they are always hard to be involved in.
Just as Paul said he was a wretched man, a sinner that seemed to do things he didn't want to do, and not do things he should do, so too are we all, but like Paul we have to keep on fighting this fight, not because our fighting gives us eternal life, the only way to get that is through Jesus. The fight is standing up for the truth, the fight is choosing to live in the truth, the fight is a constant reminder of our helplessness to save ourselves and the price paid for us to be saved. The fight is the reality of Satan at war with God.
Don't tell me the wrath of God is no longer real. Don't tell me that sin today is okay. Don't try to change the truth of God into a bunch of lies because it's easier to digest, easier to live with than to believe that sin has a real price, all sin and every single sin needs to be forgiven. There is no sin-free pass you can buy and wave about to get away with sinning. Sin kills, and it killed Jesus, the sinless.
Here is Paul talking about sinners and before anyone thinks this is my time to take a stance against homosexuality it's not. I'm against fornication, I'm against lust for lust sake. I'm against the selfishness involved in seeking pleasure for the sake of self gratification. Am I guilty of these sins? Can I be against them and be guilty of them? Yes, but my guilt is mine to deal with and because I'm guilty doesn't mean I'm going to try and make sin acceptable. As for homosexuality, my belief is that people can be born certain ways through no fault of their own. Just like heterosexuals can be perverts and filled with sin because sex is something used wrongly, so too can homosexuals.
I know a lot of people might not agree with me and that's fine, no one has to agree with me. But I've see people - girls born that look more like men than women. Boys born that are more effeminate than some girls. Born with things not quite right and I have to believe that it is the perversion of what is natural for anyone that is wrong, gay or straight, the perversion is what corrupts it all.
God knows the hearts and I'm not going to throw any stones, I'm not without sin. Yes, I'll stand up and shout that sexual perversion is wrong because in my heart that's what it means, but I won't stand up and shout that all homosexuality is wrong. A God that allows some people to be born with both male and female sexual parts has to mean the perversion of love is what is wrong, not that babe born innocent and guilty of no crime, of no sin. Yes, inheriting the propensity to sin as we all do, but accountability comes with knowledge and babies don't have that knowledge.
Anyway, please read on--
Romans
{1:24} Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
{1:25} Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
**
People changing the truth of God into a lie.
People worshipping the creature more than the Creator.
Do you see it?
When we worship ourselves and revel in our self-worship, when we put ourselves- the creature- before our Creator we are changing the truth of God into a lie. We are saying that we are above God. We are saying that Jesus' sacrifice can mean nothing because we are worthy of worship, not Him. When self comes first, when we put anything before God and worship anything before we worship God, we lose salvation because we are saying we have no Savior, no one greater than we are.
When we are caught up in self-worship there are consequences for our sins. We choose our path, it's not chosen for us.
Romans
{1:26} For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
{1:27} And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
{1:28} And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient
{1:29} Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
{1:30} Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
{1:31} Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
{1:32} Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
**
We're going to continue this study tomorrow, but for now we have to realize that as sinners we need to seek forgiveness and repent, to turn from our sins not try to justify them. No, we can't save ourselves, only Jesus can save us, but we have to choose to follow Him, to believe in Him and that's a daily walk we are on with daily choices to be made and those choices will have consequences- good with good consequences, evil with evil consequences.
May the love of Jesus Christ fill our hearts, our minds, our spirits. May the forgiveness obtained for us by the only begotten of the one true God, our heavenly Father be ours. May the Holy Spirit guide us now and forever. Come soon Lord Jesus, come soon.
Amen.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”- 1 Peter 5:8-9
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Accountability to the Truth
Have you ever heard someone say, 'Just tell the truth and you won't be in any trouble?' That if you 'lie' it will go worse for you. Parents say that a lot don't they? Just don't lie to me. I want the truth. The truth.
Sometimes the truth can get you in trouble and most assuredly it will if you're a Christian. I'm not saying it *always* will, but the truth isn't something people want to hear all the time, not when it comes to rocking their worlds and upsetting the old apple cart, they're just as happy to be left alone. The truth calls for reproving for sins, Jesus is the truth, and He came and reproved mankind of their sins. Being reproved isn't something most people take kindly to and there in trouble ensues.
The Apostle Paul knew this, yet he was compelled to tell the truth about Jesus wherever he went, often getting him into big trouble.
Here he is Caesarea, locked up and accused of dissension and the Romans realize the Jews are after him because of their laws and yet Paul being a Roman wasn't just turned over to the Jews to deal with but was to be taken to Rome. It's a very detailed story read the entire thing if you can. Here's but a small part and it pertains to the 'truth'.
Paul explaining himself before King Agrippa- why he was in custody, why he was appealing to Caesar.
Acts
{26:19} Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision
{26:20} But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
{26:21} For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill [me. ]
{26:22} Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
{26:23} That Christ should suffer, [and] that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
{26:24} And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
{26:25} But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
**
Not mad, but speaking words of truth and soberness.
Truth!
Paul is speaking words of truth and here King Agrippa is thinking him insane. Paul is a witness for the truth and as such his telling the truth is not boding well for him in a worldly way, is it. For the truth's sake it is gaining him notoriety, the truth is being published more and more to people by his captivity, by his troubles. He goes on to tell King Agrippa more...
Acts
{26:26} For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
{26:27} King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
{26:28} Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
**
Paul's word of truth were falling on ears that understood, not necessarily accepted what was being said but just to hear the king say- 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.' is amazing! Paul is speaking truth, and Agrippa not blinded by hatred as most of the Jews were, did know that the crucifixion of Jesus took place. He also was a learned man that had studied the prophets for Paul to say that he believes them.
Acts
{26:29} And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
{26:30} And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
{26:31} And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
{26:32} Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
**
They know that all that Paul has done was speak facts, that he'd done nothing to warrant being locked up or put to death. They would have let him go if he hadn't appealed to Caesar.
God had His own plan though, and that plan was for Paul to go to Rome, to go before Caesar. The truth was going far and wide.
No, the truth wasn't setting Paul free here on earth, but his spiritual life was free in Christ. We too are bound to this earth for as long as Jesus deems necessary to fulfill the grand plan of salvation to it completion. We aren't to be taken out of the world, but to be kept in the world even though we are children of God through the grace of His only Son's sacrifice. Witnesses one and all, witnesses to the truth.
It's not popular. It wasn't popular back at its conception and it won't be popular at it's completion.
The truth calls for a life in Jesus, not just a few hours in a church pew or a couple hours doing good deeds, or a half hour a day prayer, not even prayers ten times a day. A life spent in Jesus.
Truth that isn't hidden upon convenience.
Truth that will transform you with the renewing of your mind.
Romans
{12:1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
{12:2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When it comes to Jesus, so many people would much rather believe a lie than to embrace Him fully.
Go on and think, what does she know, she doesn't know anything, and you know... it's possible that I could have it all wrong. Jesus knows that I'm not perfect, that my life has so much in it that needs to be non-conformed to the world, by His grace and mercy, by His love and forgiveness, may the Father's will be done in me as it is in Him as He wills for all mankind. I'm not waving some 'I'm perfect' banner, far, far from it! The banner I want to wave is one that proclaims Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, the way to the Father is through the Son. By the grace of Jesus I am forgiven, by His truth I am sanctified in Him.
May God bless us all as we stand witness to the truth, even when a lie would untie the bindings - emotional and/or physical - that we are caught up in on earth here and now.
Amen
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”- Romans 12:1
Sometimes the truth can get you in trouble and most assuredly it will if you're a Christian. I'm not saying it *always* will, but the truth isn't something people want to hear all the time, not when it comes to rocking their worlds and upsetting the old apple cart, they're just as happy to be left alone. The truth calls for reproving for sins, Jesus is the truth, and He came and reproved mankind of their sins. Being reproved isn't something most people take kindly to and there in trouble ensues.
The Apostle Paul knew this, yet he was compelled to tell the truth about Jesus wherever he went, often getting him into big trouble.
Here he is Caesarea, locked up and accused of dissension and the Romans realize the Jews are after him because of their laws and yet Paul being a Roman wasn't just turned over to the Jews to deal with but was to be taken to Rome. It's a very detailed story read the entire thing if you can. Here's but a small part and it pertains to the 'truth'.
Paul explaining himself before King Agrippa- why he was in custody, why he was appealing to Caesar.
Acts
{26:19} Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision
{26:20} But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
{26:21} For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill [me. ]
{26:22} Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
{26:23} That Christ should suffer, [and] that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
{26:24} And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
{26:25} But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
**
Not mad, but speaking words of truth and soberness.
Truth!
Paul is speaking words of truth and here King Agrippa is thinking him insane. Paul is a witness for the truth and as such his telling the truth is not boding well for him in a worldly way, is it. For the truth's sake it is gaining him notoriety, the truth is being published more and more to people by his captivity, by his troubles. He goes on to tell King Agrippa more...
Acts
{26:26} For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
{26:27} King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
{26:28} Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
**
Paul's word of truth were falling on ears that understood, not necessarily accepted what was being said but just to hear the king say- 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.' is amazing! Paul is speaking truth, and Agrippa not blinded by hatred as most of the Jews were, did know that the crucifixion of Jesus took place. He also was a learned man that had studied the prophets for Paul to say that he believes them.
Acts
{26:29} And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
{26:30} And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
{26:31} And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
{26:32} Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
**
They know that all that Paul has done was speak facts, that he'd done nothing to warrant being locked up or put to death. They would have let him go if he hadn't appealed to Caesar.
God had His own plan though, and that plan was for Paul to go to Rome, to go before Caesar. The truth was going far and wide.
No, the truth wasn't setting Paul free here on earth, but his spiritual life was free in Christ. We too are bound to this earth for as long as Jesus deems necessary to fulfill the grand plan of salvation to it completion. We aren't to be taken out of the world, but to be kept in the world even though we are children of God through the grace of His only Son's sacrifice. Witnesses one and all, witnesses to the truth.
It's not popular. It wasn't popular back at its conception and it won't be popular at it's completion.
The truth calls for a life in Jesus, not just a few hours in a church pew or a couple hours doing good deeds, or a half hour a day prayer, not even prayers ten times a day. A life spent in Jesus.
Truth that isn't hidden upon convenience.
Truth that will transform you with the renewing of your mind.
Romans
{12:1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
{12:2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When it comes to Jesus, so many people would much rather believe a lie than to embrace Him fully.
Go on and think, what does she know, she doesn't know anything, and you know... it's possible that I could have it all wrong. Jesus knows that I'm not perfect, that my life has so much in it that needs to be non-conformed to the world, by His grace and mercy, by His love and forgiveness, may the Father's will be done in me as it is in Him as He wills for all mankind. I'm not waving some 'I'm perfect' banner, far, far from it! The banner I want to wave is one that proclaims Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, the way to the Father is through the Son. By the grace of Jesus I am forgiven, by His truth I am sanctified in Him.
May God bless us all as we stand witness to the truth, even when a lie would untie the bindings - emotional and/or physical - that we are caught up in on earth here and now.
Amen
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”- Romans 12:1
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Witness to the Truth
Have you ever heard someone say, 'Just tell the truth and you won't be in any trouble?' That if you 'lie' it will go worse for you. Parents say that a lot don't they? Just don't lie to me. I want the truth. The truth.
Sometimes the truth can get you in trouble and most assuredly it will if you're a Christian. I'm not saying it *always* will, but the truth isn't something people want to hear all the time, not when it comes to rocking their worlds and upsetting the old apple cart, they're just as happy to be left alone. The truth calls for reproving for sins, Jesus is the truth, and He came and reproved mankind of their sins. Being reproved isn't something most people take kindly to and there in trouble ensues.
The Apostle Paul knew this, yet he was compelled to tell the truth about Jesus wherever he went, often getting him into big trouble.
Here he is Caesarea, locked up and accused of dissension and the Romans realize the Jews are after him because of their laws and yet Paul being a Roman wasn't just turned over to the Jews to deal with but was to be taken to Rome. It's a very detailed story read the entire thing if you can. Here's but a small part and it pertains to the 'truth'.
Paul explaining himself before King Agrippa- why he was in custody, why he was appealing to Caesar.
Acts
{26:19} Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision
{26:20} But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
{26:21} For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill [me. ]
{26:22} Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
{26:23} That Christ should suffer, [and] that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
{26:24} And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
{26:25} But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
**
Not mad, but speaking words of truth and soberness.
Truth!
Paul is speaking words of truth and here King Agrippa is thinking him insane. Paul is a witness for the truth and as such his telling the truth is not boding well for him in a worldly way, is it. For the truth's sake it is gaining him notoriety, the truth is being published more and more to people by his captivity, by his troubles. He goes on to tell King Agrippa more...
Acts
{26:26} For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
{26:27} King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
{26:28} Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
**
Paul's word of truth were falling on ears that understood, not necessarily accepted what was being said but just to hear the king say- 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.' is amazing! Paul is speaking truth, and Agrippa not blinded by hatred as most of the Jews were, did know that the crucifixion of Jesus took place. He also was a learned man that had studied the prophets for Paul to say that he believes them.
Acts
{26:29} And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
{26:30} And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
{26:31} And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
{26:32} Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
**
They know that all that Paul has done was speak facts, that he'd done nothing to warrant being locked up or put to death. They would have let him go if he hadn't appealed to Caesar.
God had His own plan though, and that plan was for Paul to go to Rome, to go before Caesar. The truth was going far and wide.
No, the truth wasn't setting Paul free here on earth, but his spiritual life was free in Christ. We too are bound to this earth for as long as Jesus deems necessary to fulfill the grand plan of salvation to it completion. We aren't to be taken out of the world, but to be kept in the world even though we are children of God through the grace of His only Son's sacrifice. Witnesses one and all, witnesses to the truth.
It's not popular. It wasn't popular back at its conception and it won't be popular at it's completion.
The truth calls for a life in Jesus, not just a few hours in a church pew or a couple hours doing good deeds, or a half hour a day prayer, not even prayers ten times a day. A life spent in Jesus.
Truth that isn't hidden upon convenience.
Truth that will transform you with the renewing of your mind.
Romans
{12:1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
{12:2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When it comes to Jesus, so many people would much rather believe a lie than to embrace Him fully.
Go on and think, what does she know, she doesn't know anything, and you know... it's possible that I could have it all wrong. Jesus knows that I'm not perfect, that my life has so much in it that needs to be non-conformed to the world, by His grace and mercy, by His love and forgiveness, may the Father's will be done in me as it is in Him as He wills for all mankind. I'm not waving some 'I'm perfect' banner, far, far from it! The banner I want to wave is one that proclaims Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, the way to the Father is through the Son. By the grace of Jesus I am forgiven, by His truth I am sanctified in Him.
May God bless us all as we stand witness to the truth, even when a lie would untie the bindings - emotional and/or physical - that we are caught up in on earth here and now.
Amen
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”- Romans 12:1
Sometimes the truth can get you in trouble and most assuredly it will if you're a Christian. I'm not saying it *always* will, but the truth isn't something people want to hear all the time, not when it comes to rocking their worlds and upsetting the old apple cart, they're just as happy to be left alone. The truth calls for reproving for sins, Jesus is the truth, and He came and reproved mankind of their sins. Being reproved isn't something most people take kindly to and there in trouble ensues.
The Apostle Paul knew this, yet he was compelled to tell the truth about Jesus wherever he went, often getting him into big trouble.
Here he is Caesarea, locked up and accused of dissension and the Romans realize the Jews are after him because of their laws and yet Paul being a Roman wasn't just turned over to the Jews to deal with but was to be taken to Rome. It's a very detailed story read the entire thing if you can. Here's but a small part and it pertains to the 'truth'.
Paul explaining himself before King Agrippa- why he was in custody, why he was appealing to Caesar.
Acts
{26:19} Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision
{26:20} But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and [then] to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
{26:21} For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill [me. ]
{26:22} Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:
{26:23} That Christ should suffer, [and] that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
{26:24} And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
{26:25} But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
**
Not mad, but speaking words of truth and soberness.
Truth!
Paul is speaking words of truth and here King Agrippa is thinking him insane. Paul is a witness for the truth and as such his telling the truth is not boding well for him in a worldly way, is it. For the truth's sake it is gaining him notoriety, the truth is being published more and more to people by his captivity, by his troubles. He goes on to tell King Agrippa more...
Acts
{26:26} For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
{26:27} King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
{26:28} Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
**
Paul's word of truth were falling on ears that understood, not necessarily accepted what was being said but just to hear the king say- 'Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.' is amazing! Paul is speaking truth, and Agrippa not blinded by hatred as most of the Jews were, did know that the crucifixion of Jesus took place. He also was a learned man that had studied the prophets for Paul to say that he believes them.
Acts
{26:29} And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
{26:30} And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
{26:31} And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
{26:32} Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
**
They know that all that Paul has done was speak facts, that he'd done nothing to warrant being locked up or put to death. They would have let him go if he hadn't appealed to Caesar.
God had His own plan though, and that plan was for Paul to go to Rome, to go before Caesar. The truth was going far and wide.
No, the truth wasn't setting Paul free here on earth, but his spiritual life was free in Christ. We too are bound to this earth for as long as Jesus deems necessary to fulfill the grand plan of salvation to it completion. We aren't to be taken out of the world, but to be kept in the world even though we are children of God through the grace of His only Son's sacrifice. Witnesses one and all, witnesses to the truth.
It's not popular. It wasn't popular back at its conception and it won't be popular at it's completion.
The truth calls for a life in Jesus, not just a few hours in a church pew or a couple hours doing good deeds, or a half hour a day prayer, not even prayers ten times a day. A life spent in Jesus.
Truth that isn't hidden upon convenience.
Truth that will transform you with the renewing of your mind.
Romans
{12:1} I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
{12:2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
When it comes to Jesus, so many people would much rather believe a lie than to embrace Him fully.
Go on and think, what does she know, she doesn't know anything, and you know... it's possible that I could have it all wrong. Jesus knows that I'm not perfect, that my life has so much in it that needs to be non-conformed to the world, by His grace and mercy, by His love and forgiveness, may the Father's will be done in me as it is in Him as He wills for all mankind. I'm not waving some 'I'm perfect' banner, far, far from it! The banner I want to wave is one that proclaims Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, the way to the Father is through the Son. By the grace of Jesus I am forgiven, by His truth I am sanctified in Him.
May God bless us all as we stand witness to the truth, even when a lie would untie the bindings - emotional and/or physical - that we are caught up in on earth here and now.
Amen
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”- Romans 12:1
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Life here and now is the illusion, Jesus is the reality.
A man filled with confusion and power of authority asked Jesus, 'What is truth?'
But he didn't listen for an answer.
Can it be like most skeptics, when you speak the word of God, when you reveal the miraculous love of Jesus to them and they are still blinded by the worldliness they choose, and they say 'What is truth?' as if there is no such thing, or rather that there are different truths for all.
Your truth might not be my truth so who’s to say what truth really is. You've heard it, haven't you? People saying everyone believes in their own way and that's all that matters as long as they're good. I've said it before. I still believe that God alone knows the hearts and will judge each of us based on the opportunities we've had to know Him and live in Him.
There is no escaping judgment. Judgment will not pass over a single person. There is no place to hide from it, no place to run to. Even the dead are judged.
Rev. {20:12} And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. {20:13} And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. {20:14} And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {20:15} And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
**
'They were judged every man according to their works.' How is that, if we are saved by grace and not works, not of ourselves, how can our works be our judgment? I'll tell you how, we are saved by grace and sanctified by the truth, Jesus said so.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus we are forgiven and saved, and our lives from that moment on should be lives lived in truth and the truth is Jesus. As Jesus proclaimed during His life here on earth, and as God proclaimed through Him from the beginning, before the earth was even formed, we are to live. The two great commandments that should govern ALL we do are these- Love God, Love Man. If our lives are not being lived as Jesus taught, if they are not being lived in Him, trusting in Him to sanctify us, if we are not giving our works over to Him to guide us, then our works, everything we do after we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our redeemer, is done in vain.
No!
I'm not saying to be good and you'll be saved.
I'm not even saying you're damned if you fall away.
I'm saying as a natural outpouring of God in your life you become more and more like Jesus and as a natural recourse your works are wrought more and more in Him.
I'm saying if you fall away you can still ask for forgiveness and seek to follow Jesus again and again, you're only damned if you fall away and stay fallen down without seeking forgiveness.
'What is truth?' It's not some abstract mystery meant as a riddle for people to try and solve. It's not subject to many interpretations. It's not one thing for you and another for me.
The truth is Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, the Holy Son of our Father, the One and Only True God.
Who was the man of authority that asked Jesus what was the truth and then didn't wait for an answer? Read on...
John
{18:31} Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
{18:32} That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
{18:33} Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
{18:34} Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
{18:35} Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
{18:36} Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
{18:37} Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
{18:38} Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
{18:39} But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the Kingof the Jews?
{18:40} Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
{19:1} Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
{19:2} And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
{19:3} And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
{19:4} Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
{19:5} Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
{19:6} When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
{19:7} The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
{19:8} When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
{19:9} And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
{19:10} Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
{19:11} Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
{19:12} And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
{19:13} When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
{19:14} And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
{19:15} But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
{19:16} Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
{19:17} And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
{19:18} Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
{19:19} And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
{19:20} This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
{19:21} Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
{19:22} Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
**
A man sympathetic to Jesus, a man who wanted to free Him without causing an upset, a man who was convicted and yet driven by forces of government, caught up in a life knowing not the truth, he asked the question what is truth, but didn't want the answer.
We need to ask what is the truth and really want the answer. We need to spread the truth far and wide. We need to cling to the truth in Jesus because there is no other truth, no matter what the deceivers would have us to believe. Many will try to sway you from the truth, it'll be a daily battle with a daily choice made. Will we stand by the truth, will we holdfast to the truth, to life, to real life. This world isn't real life, it's merely a battleground covered in illusions of life. Jesus is life, He is the way and the truth and He tells us this is not our world, the world to come is for those who believe and trust and love Him.
People would have us believe Jesus is the illusion, but life here and now is the illusion, Jesus is the reality.
By His mercy and Grace, In Him.
Amen.
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”- 1 Peter 1:24-25
But he didn't listen for an answer.
Can it be like most skeptics, when you speak the word of God, when you reveal the miraculous love of Jesus to them and they are still blinded by the worldliness they choose, and they say 'What is truth?' as if there is no such thing, or rather that there are different truths for all.
Your truth might not be my truth so who’s to say what truth really is. You've heard it, haven't you? People saying everyone believes in their own way and that's all that matters as long as they're good. I've said it before. I still believe that God alone knows the hearts and will judge each of us based on the opportunities we've had to know Him and live in Him.
There is no escaping judgment. Judgment will not pass over a single person. There is no place to hide from it, no place to run to. Even the dead are judged.
Rev. {20:12} And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. {20:13} And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. {20:14} And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {20:15} And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
**
'They were judged every man according to their works.' How is that, if we are saved by grace and not works, not of ourselves, how can our works be our judgment? I'll tell you how, we are saved by grace and sanctified by the truth, Jesus said so.
By the grace and mercy of Jesus we are forgiven and saved, and our lives from that moment on should be lives lived in truth and the truth is Jesus. As Jesus proclaimed during His life here on earth, and as God proclaimed through Him from the beginning, before the earth was even formed, we are to live. The two great commandments that should govern ALL we do are these- Love God, Love Man. If our lives are not being lived as Jesus taught, if they are not being lived in Him, trusting in Him to sanctify us, if we are not giving our works over to Him to guide us, then our works, everything we do after we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our redeemer, is done in vain.
No!
I'm not saying to be good and you'll be saved.
I'm not even saying you're damned if you fall away.
I'm saying as a natural outpouring of God in your life you become more and more like Jesus and as a natural recourse your works are wrought more and more in Him.
I'm saying if you fall away you can still ask for forgiveness and seek to follow Jesus again and again, you're only damned if you fall away and stay fallen down without seeking forgiveness.
'What is truth?' It's not some abstract mystery meant as a riddle for people to try and solve. It's not subject to many interpretations. It's not one thing for you and another for me.
The truth is Jesus, our Savior, our Lord, the Holy Son of our Father, the One and Only True God.
Who was the man of authority that asked Jesus what was the truth and then didn't wait for an answer? Read on...
John
{18:31} Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death:
{18:32} That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.
{18:33} Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?
{18:34} Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me?
{18:35} Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?
{18:36} Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
{18:37} Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
{18:38} Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.
{18:39} But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the Kingof the Jews?
{18:40} Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
{19:1} Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
{19:2} And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
{19:3} And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
{19:4} Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
{19:5} Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
{19:6} When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
{19:7} The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.
{19:8} When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
{19:9} And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
{19:10} Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
{19:11} Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.
{19:12} And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
{19:13} When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
{19:14} And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
{19:15} But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
{19:16} Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
{19:17} And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
{19:18} Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
{19:19} And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
{19:20} This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.
{19:21} Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
{19:22} Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
**
A man sympathetic to Jesus, a man who wanted to free Him without causing an upset, a man who was convicted and yet driven by forces of government, caught up in a life knowing not the truth, he asked the question what is truth, but didn't want the answer.
We need to ask what is the truth and really want the answer. We need to spread the truth far and wide. We need to cling to the truth in Jesus because there is no other truth, no matter what the deceivers would have us to believe. Many will try to sway you from the truth, it'll be a daily battle with a daily choice made. Will we stand by the truth, will we holdfast to the truth, to life, to real life. This world isn't real life, it's merely a battleground covered in illusions of life. Jesus is life, He is the way and the truth and He tells us this is not our world, the world to come is for those who believe and trust and love Him.
People would have us believe Jesus is the illusion, but life here and now is the illusion, Jesus is the reality.
By His mercy and Grace, In Him.
Amen.
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”- 1 Peter 1:24-25
Monday, October 27, 2008
Do you think we can ever have enough truth?
Famous last words.
You've heard that saying haven't you? People say it literally, meaning Soandso had some last words that have become famous. They say it jokingly, as in, 'Any famous last words?' Something you might want to say to someone going into a tough situation to try and ease the tension. Or maybe seriously, as someone truly heads into danger and they're offered a chance to have a few famous last words, words people will remember, most likely loved ones who cling to every last word of those they love.
There have been death bed confessions and they hold up in court under the pretext that on a death bed a person is trying to square things up with God so they will go to heaven. Those confessions are treasured, or if you will, famous last words.
Jesus' last words were possibly-
Luke {23:46} 'And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.'
Or maybe--
John {19:30} 'When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost'
Possibly--
Mark {15:37} 'And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.'
However, sometimes it's not just the very last words that become famous. How about a famous last known prayer? What was Jesus' famous last known prayer? Do you think it's important? He knew He was going to be crucified. He knew that He'd been sent into the world to die so that He could offer salvation to all of mankind and here He is, the time is drawing near --
John
{17:1} These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee
Can any of us of our own selves be glorified in any way? Not even Jesus could be glorified of His own self. Time and time again He told those around Him that He was doing the will of His Father. Some might argue that their wills were one and the same, but truthfully that only was because Jesus was willing to be submissive unto the Father's will and they matched so completely as Father and Son.
Jesus goes on...
John
{17:2} As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
**
God gave Jesus the power over all flesh, the power to give them eternal life to as many as God wills.
John
{17:3} And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
**
What is life eternal? Knowing the one and only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ whom God sent to them.
John
{17:4} I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
**
Jesus glorified God on earth, Jesus came to reveal God as a reality to people, to strip away all the outer shell that covered their idea of God, layer by layer He peeled back the misconceptions and reveal God's love to mankind. Jesus had a job to do, a mission, and he completed it. His Father was glorified on earth.
John
{17:5} And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
**
Jesus longs for the glory He had with the Father before the world was. It was before the world was even made that the way to salvation was planned. If things didn't turn out like they hoped the plan would be put into action. Well, things didn't turn out like they hoped and so the plan of salvation went into action. Before the world was, before salvation was necessary, or even the idea of salvation was necessary, Jesus wanted to return to the glory with God, His Father. Who can blame Him.
John
{17:6} 'I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.'
**
God from whom all blessings flow gave Jesus those who would keep His word. Jesus did not come to save mankind only to find that none wished to be saved. Since the beginning there were always those among the evil that were good by the grace of God. Those of God's were never wiped out completely. When Jesus took on humanity and came to earth to reveal God's love to mankind, there were those who were ready to receive Him, but more that weren't.
John
{17:7} Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
**
Those following and believing in Jesus know that all things, that all that Jesus was, that He did was of the Father. Jesus never glorified Himself, but always pointed to the Father.
John
{17:8} For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them,] and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
**
Yes, to know the Son is to know the Father, to know the Father is to know the Son. God, the great I AM, the One and Only True God sent His Son to the world to reveal the love that He is so perfectly. You cannot truly love the Son without loving the Father they are one and the same in the principles they stand for. They are so completely one and the same there isn't a single instance where they disagree. Have you ever met someone who said, 'Oh wait till you meet Soandso's mother, they're just the same. You'll see.' Or heard, 'He's just like his father, you'll see.' We understand what is meant by that don't we? That they'll share mannerisms, they'll have traits in common both might be super loving and sweet, or they both might have the same temper, whatever it is there are similarities involved and it's understood what is meant. God and Jesus, Father and Son, truly if you know one you know the other. So those who would like to do away with God and just keep Jesus, for those who want to do away with the Father and just keep the Son, for people who build their religions based on the NEW love of Jesus and not the OLD love of God, I say it's impossible! Impossible! There is no such thing, no way to do such a thing. If you know Jesus, you know God there is no other way around it, none. We have to believe that our Loving Father sent His Son to us, not to do away with Him, the Father, but to manifest to us Him, the Father.
Jesus is praying for those who realize this, for those who believe this--
John
{17:9} I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
**
Jesus wasn't praying for the world. He says so right there. 'I pray not for the world', He's praying for those that God has given him- those that believe that God sent Him to the world and He came and revealed the Father to them. Does this make Him unloving? No! He's given the way, the truth and the life to those who believe on Him and the mission to reveal it to all the world, knowing that they would be reviled, ridiculed, beaten, tortured, killed. He was praying for those who would do the will of God, as He came to the world and did the will of God.
John
{17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
**
Do you see it?! Do you?! One and the same, glory be to God the Father through the mercy and grace of the Son we can honor Him and glorified Him. We are God's, we are Jesus', there is no separation. You cannot be God's without being Jesus' and you cannot be Jesus' without being God's, it's impossible.
John
{17:11} And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we [are.]
**
Jesus was leaving them and here He was praying to God to keep them, that all would be one. So amazing, so beautiful, so incredible beyond comprehension such love.
John
{17:12} While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
**
All that God gave to Jesus, all who opened their hearts to hear and believe in Jesus, Son of God, Jesus kept, all but Judas Iscariot and that was prophesized. And truly Judas Iscariot never gave himself fully to Jesus believing Him to truly be the Son of God, if he had, he never could have betrayed him. He doubted and eventually acted upon that doubt.
John
{17:13} And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. {17:14} I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
**
They are not of this world.
Do you ever feel like you're not of this world? No, not like you're an alien monster from outerspace, but as if things are just too wrong here, that things weren't supposed to be this way, that this world isn't quite right? You'd be right in feeling that way. 'The world HATED them, because they are NOT of the world... EVEN AS I AM NOT OF THE WORLD.' We can live in the world without being OF the world, just like Jesus and we know if we live that way we will be hated. You might think that you wouldn't be hated today in the civilized culture we exist in but you'd be surprised at all the persecution that goes on with those who claim Christ as the Son of God and believe in God the Father through Him. Even in so called civilized society there is a certain protocol and if you step beyond it you are called a 'Jesus Freak'. You become known as the ODD one out. Jesus knew that the world would hate those of His whom God gave Him, just as they hated Him, and He prayed for them.
John
{17:15} I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
**Big truth here!!!! Listen up everyone! Jesus wasn't praying for us to be taken out of the world. He wasn't asking His Father to take us all away from the world filled with sin that we are born into. He was asking His Father to KEEP US FROM EVIL. Not to take us out, but to keep us from the evil that would make us one with the world and not one with Him. For us to be in the world, but not of the world. Praise God, Praise Jesus, keep us from evil.
John
{17:16} They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
**
See? To be God's, to be Jesus' we can't be OF this world. This isn't our world. This isn't the world that was meant to be. Anyone that can see the ravages of sin knows this to be true, instead of blaming God for it...see who truly is to blame, Satan. God never intended it to be this way, never. But to keep free will in play and not have a world of robotic people controlled as puppets, every move dictated without a thought of their own, He could not prevent man from falling to Satan's wiles. Satan would have us blame God for all the wrong, to take our eyes off the truth, that it was him who caused all the pain and suffering, his arrogance, his plan to reveal God as nothing more than a cruel dictator. God is not a cruel dictator, He allows free will and this is the end result of free will when the choice to sin is chosen over the choice to obey God, to know that He is love and His way is all that is good and right.
No, we can't be of this world corrupt in sin. We can't.
Jesus asks God to sanctify us, those of us that believe in Jesus and that God sent Him, His Only Son to die for us, to bring grace and mercy to us. Sanctify means to make holy, and here Jesus is asking God to make us holy...
John
{17:17} Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
**
How are we made holy through God? Through HIS TRUTH! What is truth? GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH. Jesus in the truth. In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Jesus is the WORD.
John
{17:18} As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
**
Jesus was sent to glorify God, so to are all who believe in Him, we are sent into the world to glorify God.
John
{17:19} And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
**
Jesus is holy, the WORD is holy, the TRUTH is holy, we are made holy, we are sanctified through Jesus.
John
{17:20} Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
**
Jesus prayed for you and me. He did. Praise God. Jesus prayed for us!
John
{17:21} That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
**
Yes, Lord Jesus, Son of the Father, the One and Only True God.
John
{17:22} And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: {17:23} I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. {17:24} Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
**
What prayer! What request! Jesus would have us in a place spiritual that He is at. He wants us to behold His glory! The glory God gave to Him before the world was ever made. Glory to God! Glory to Jesus Son of God! Perfect in God, in Jesus, One in Him.
John
{17:25} O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. {17:26} And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it:] that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
**
The love of God in us. The love God loves His Only Son with, in us. Jesus' love, God's love in us. Yes! Please let us know this, let us know you Most Holy Father God, and Son. Glory to God!
And that was Jesus' last known prayer for us...for us. For me. For you. For all who would believe in Him and that the Father sent Him, we believe...we BELIEVE!
This is what happened after the prayer--
John
{18:1} When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. {18:2} And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. {18:3} Judas then, having received a band [of men] and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. {18:4} Jesus therefore,
knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? {18:5} They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am [he.]
**
And He was taken away barely tried, whipped horribly, and crucified all for us.
Do you think we can ever have enough truth? No, never. Jesus is the Truth!
Jesus is the Truth.
Amen.
You've heard that saying haven't you? People say it literally, meaning Soandso had some last words that have become famous. They say it jokingly, as in, 'Any famous last words?' Something you might want to say to someone going into a tough situation to try and ease the tension. Or maybe seriously, as someone truly heads into danger and they're offered a chance to have a few famous last words, words people will remember, most likely loved ones who cling to every last word of those they love.
There have been death bed confessions and they hold up in court under the pretext that on a death bed a person is trying to square things up with God so they will go to heaven. Those confessions are treasured, or if you will, famous last words.
Jesus' last words were possibly-
Luke {23:46} 'And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.'
Or maybe--
John {19:30} 'When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost'
Possibly--
Mark {15:37} 'And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.'
However, sometimes it's not just the very last words that become famous. How about a famous last known prayer? What was Jesus' famous last known prayer? Do you think it's important? He knew He was going to be crucified. He knew that He'd been sent into the world to die so that He could offer salvation to all of mankind and here He is, the time is drawing near --
John
{17:1} These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee
Can any of us of our own selves be glorified in any way? Not even Jesus could be glorified of His own self. Time and time again He told those around Him that He was doing the will of His Father. Some might argue that their wills were one and the same, but truthfully that only was because Jesus was willing to be submissive unto the Father's will and they matched so completely as Father and Son.
Jesus goes on...
John
{17:2} As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
**
God gave Jesus the power over all flesh, the power to give them eternal life to as many as God wills.
John
{17:3} And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
**
What is life eternal? Knowing the one and only true God and His Son, Jesus Christ whom God sent to them.
John
{17:4} I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
**
Jesus glorified God on earth, Jesus came to reveal God as a reality to people, to strip away all the outer shell that covered their idea of God, layer by layer He peeled back the misconceptions and reveal God's love to mankind. Jesus had a job to do, a mission, and he completed it. His Father was glorified on earth.
John
{17:5} And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
**
Jesus longs for the glory He had with the Father before the world was. It was before the world was even made that the way to salvation was planned. If things didn't turn out like they hoped the plan would be put into action. Well, things didn't turn out like they hoped and so the plan of salvation went into action. Before the world was, before salvation was necessary, or even the idea of salvation was necessary, Jesus wanted to return to the glory with God, His Father. Who can blame Him.
John
{17:6} 'I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.'
**
God from whom all blessings flow gave Jesus those who would keep His word. Jesus did not come to save mankind only to find that none wished to be saved. Since the beginning there were always those among the evil that were good by the grace of God. Those of God's were never wiped out completely. When Jesus took on humanity and came to earth to reveal God's love to mankind, there were those who were ready to receive Him, but more that weren't.
John
{17:7} Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
**
Those following and believing in Jesus know that all things, that all that Jesus was, that He did was of the Father. Jesus never glorified Himself, but always pointed to the Father.
John
{17:8} For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them,] and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
**
Yes, to know the Son is to know the Father, to know the Father is to know the Son. God, the great I AM, the One and Only True God sent His Son to the world to reveal the love that He is so perfectly. You cannot truly love the Son without loving the Father they are one and the same in the principles they stand for. They are so completely one and the same there isn't a single instance where they disagree. Have you ever met someone who said, 'Oh wait till you meet Soandso's mother, they're just the same. You'll see.' Or heard, 'He's just like his father, you'll see.' We understand what is meant by that don't we? That they'll share mannerisms, they'll have traits in common both might be super loving and sweet, or they both might have the same temper, whatever it is there are similarities involved and it's understood what is meant. God and Jesus, Father and Son, truly if you know one you know the other. So those who would like to do away with God and just keep Jesus, for those who want to do away with the Father and just keep the Son, for people who build their religions based on the NEW love of Jesus and not the OLD love of God, I say it's impossible! Impossible! There is no such thing, no way to do such a thing. If you know Jesus, you know God there is no other way around it, none. We have to believe that our Loving Father sent His Son to us, not to do away with Him, the Father, but to manifest to us Him, the Father.
Jesus is praying for those who realize this, for those who believe this--
John
{17:9} I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
**
Jesus wasn't praying for the world. He says so right there. 'I pray not for the world', He's praying for those that God has given him- those that believe that God sent Him to the world and He came and revealed the Father to them. Does this make Him unloving? No! He's given the way, the truth and the life to those who believe on Him and the mission to reveal it to all the world, knowing that they would be reviled, ridiculed, beaten, tortured, killed. He was praying for those who would do the will of God, as He came to the world and did the will of God.
John
{17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
**
Do you see it?! Do you?! One and the same, glory be to God the Father through the mercy and grace of the Son we can honor Him and glorified Him. We are God's, we are Jesus', there is no separation. You cannot be God's without being Jesus' and you cannot be Jesus' without being God's, it's impossible.
John
{17:11} And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we [are.]
**
Jesus was leaving them and here He was praying to God to keep them, that all would be one. So amazing, so beautiful, so incredible beyond comprehension such love.
John
{17:12} While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
**
All that God gave to Jesus, all who opened their hearts to hear and believe in Jesus, Son of God, Jesus kept, all but Judas Iscariot and that was prophesized. And truly Judas Iscariot never gave himself fully to Jesus believing Him to truly be the Son of God, if he had, he never could have betrayed him. He doubted and eventually acted upon that doubt.
John
{17:13} And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. {17:14} I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
**
They are not of this world.
Do you ever feel like you're not of this world? No, not like you're an alien monster from outerspace, but as if things are just too wrong here, that things weren't supposed to be this way, that this world isn't quite right? You'd be right in feeling that way. 'The world HATED them, because they are NOT of the world... EVEN AS I AM NOT OF THE WORLD.' We can live in the world without being OF the world, just like Jesus and we know if we live that way we will be hated. You might think that you wouldn't be hated today in the civilized culture we exist in but you'd be surprised at all the persecution that goes on with those who claim Christ as the Son of God and believe in God the Father through Him. Even in so called civilized society there is a certain protocol and if you step beyond it you are called a 'Jesus Freak'. You become known as the ODD one out. Jesus knew that the world would hate those of His whom God gave Him, just as they hated Him, and He prayed for them.
John
{17:15} I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
**Big truth here!!!! Listen up everyone! Jesus wasn't praying for us to be taken out of the world. He wasn't asking His Father to take us all away from the world filled with sin that we are born into. He was asking His Father to KEEP US FROM EVIL. Not to take us out, but to keep us from the evil that would make us one with the world and not one with Him. For us to be in the world, but not of the world. Praise God, Praise Jesus, keep us from evil.
John
{17:16} They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
**
See? To be God's, to be Jesus' we can't be OF this world. This isn't our world. This isn't the world that was meant to be. Anyone that can see the ravages of sin knows this to be true, instead of blaming God for it...see who truly is to blame, Satan. God never intended it to be this way, never. But to keep free will in play and not have a world of robotic people controlled as puppets, every move dictated without a thought of their own, He could not prevent man from falling to Satan's wiles. Satan would have us blame God for all the wrong, to take our eyes off the truth, that it was him who caused all the pain and suffering, his arrogance, his plan to reveal God as nothing more than a cruel dictator. God is not a cruel dictator, He allows free will and this is the end result of free will when the choice to sin is chosen over the choice to obey God, to know that He is love and His way is all that is good and right.
No, we can't be of this world corrupt in sin. We can't.
Jesus asks God to sanctify us, those of us that believe in Jesus and that God sent Him, His Only Son to die for us, to bring grace and mercy to us. Sanctify means to make holy, and here Jesus is asking God to make us holy...
John
{17:17} Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
**
How are we made holy through God? Through HIS TRUTH! What is truth? GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH. Jesus in the truth. In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Jesus is the WORD.
John
{17:18} As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
**
Jesus was sent to glorify God, so to are all who believe in Him, we are sent into the world to glorify God.
John
{17:19} And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
**
Jesus is holy, the WORD is holy, the TRUTH is holy, we are made holy, we are sanctified through Jesus.
John
{17:20} Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
**
Jesus prayed for you and me. He did. Praise God. Jesus prayed for us!
John
{17:21} That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
**
Yes, Lord Jesus, Son of the Father, the One and Only True God.
John
{17:22} And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: {17:23} I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. {17:24} Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
**
What prayer! What request! Jesus would have us in a place spiritual that He is at. He wants us to behold His glory! The glory God gave to Him before the world was ever made. Glory to God! Glory to Jesus Son of God! Perfect in God, in Jesus, One in Him.
John
{17:25} O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. {17:26} And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it:] that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
**
The love of God in us. The love God loves His Only Son with, in us. Jesus' love, God's love in us. Yes! Please let us know this, let us know you Most Holy Father God, and Son. Glory to God!
And that was Jesus' last known prayer for us...for us. For me. For you. For all who would believe in Him and that the Father sent Him, we believe...we BELIEVE!
This is what happened after the prayer--
John
{18:1} When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples. {18:2} And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither with his disciples. {18:3} Judas then, having received a band [of men] and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. {18:4} Jesus therefore,
knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? {18:5} They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am [he.]
**
And He was taken away barely tried, whipped horribly, and crucified all for us.
Do you think we can ever have enough truth? No, never. Jesus is the Truth!
Jesus is the Truth.
Amen.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
He’s made evil so tempting and our senses are so dulled
John
{15:26} But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me
{15:27} And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning
**
Spirit of truth.
God is truth.
Jesus is truth.
You think we can gloss over truth? We can't. Knowing the truth and living the truth in Christ is reality.
The truth is His love.
We've learned so much about the truth- Let me recap some of the titles of my blogs on truth:
God and Truth, Satan and Lies, You Choose.
We need the Truth, not falsehoods no matter how soothing
Worship in Spirit and Truth
Let Us Live In the Light, the Truth, In Jesus.
Speak the Truth
This is Truth
The Truth No Matter the Cost
Perished because they received NOT the love of the truth
Valiant for the Truth!
Truth Seekers
May We Choose Truth
Directed In Truth
We Can't Let Truth Fail
Seek His Truth While it Can Be Found
Keepers of the Truth.
Buy Truth and Sell It Not
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee
Happy are those who... keep truth for ever
The truth is God's love, now and forever.
They received not the love of the truth ....
Taught the way of Jesus
Mercy and truth are met together
There is no other truth out there
Thy TRUTH continually preserve me.
We have to grasp the truth beyond feeling.
Declaring His truth, His love for us.
Christ is our truth, He is our shield and buckler, our protection.
The '****TRUTH***' in Psalms.
As we seek the truth and to walk in it.
Serve him in truth with all your heart.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Jesus is the truth. Jesus is love. Jesus is God with us, sent to redeem us, sent to save us from our sins. Jesus, God becoming man and bringing with Him Grace and Truth.
We need Jesus, we need the truth.
Jesus said--
John
{16:7}Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
{16:8} And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
{16:9} Of sin, because they believe not on me;
{16:10} Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
{16:11} Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
{16:12} I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
{16:13} Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
[that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
{16:14} He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.
{16:15} All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.
{16:16} A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
**
Jesus is telling us the truth- He has to go away, if he didn't go the comforter couldn't come to us.
The comforter is the Spirit of truth.
The comforter will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment-
Reproved of sin why? Because they don't believe in Jesus. Jesus is truth.
Righteousness, because Jesus goes to his Father. Jesus is truth.
Judgment because the prince of this world is judged.
Jesus said, the spirit of truth will come and guide unto all truth. The spirit of truth will glorify Jesus. Jesus glorifies the Father. This is truth.
Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus sends the spirit of truth to us and the truth is found in the love of God in sending us His Son Jesus.
You say you accept Jesus Christ, enough all ready about the truth, you know the truth so give it a rest.
We can't give it a rest, there is never enough. When we stop trumpeting the truth, when we stop wanting to hear truth what are we suspectible to? Falsehoods.
When Christ comes again to take us with Him we will live with Him, the truth forever and ever, in the love of God. Our lives will be all truth, all love.
Right now we have such a warped idea of what love is.
Satan has corrupted us so much he's made love seem boring and his evil the exciting thing. He's made evil so tempting and our senses are so dulled that we believe that it is more exciting to entertain ourselves with horror, to delve into the dark sides of life, we can't get enough of the sordid why is that? Why?!
Satan is the prince of this world.
John {12:31} Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Satan rules this world and has twisted our senses so fully we call evil good and good evil. We can't imagine being happy in a world of good so we embrace our evil and forsake the truth.
May God help us all, may our twisted senses be straightened by the Holy Spirit of Truth, our Comforter through the grace of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, Son of God. Amen.
We need the truth now and always.
God help us all.
{15:26} But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me
{15:27} And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning
**
Spirit of truth.
God is truth.
Jesus is truth.
You think we can gloss over truth? We can't. Knowing the truth and living the truth in Christ is reality.
The truth is His love.
We've learned so much about the truth- Let me recap some of the titles of my blogs on truth:
God and Truth, Satan and Lies, You Choose.
We need the Truth, not falsehoods no matter how soothing
Worship in Spirit and Truth
Let Us Live In the Light, the Truth, In Jesus.
Speak the Truth
This is Truth
The Truth No Matter the Cost
Perished because they received NOT the love of the truth
Valiant for the Truth!
Truth Seekers
May We Choose Truth
Directed In Truth
We Can't Let Truth Fail
Seek His Truth While it Can Be Found
Keepers of the Truth.
Buy Truth and Sell It Not
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee
Happy are those who... keep truth for ever
The truth is God's love, now and forever.
They received not the love of the truth ....
Taught the way of Jesus
Mercy and truth are met together
There is no other truth out there
Thy TRUTH continually preserve me.
We have to grasp the truth beyond feeling.
Declaring His truth, His love for us.
Christ is our truth, He is our shield and buckler, our protection.
The '****TRUTH***' in Psalms.
As we seek the truth and to walk in it.
Serve him in truth with all your heart.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Jesus is the truth. Jesus is love. Jesus is God with us, sent to redeem us, sent to save us from our sins. Jesus, God becoming man and bringing with Him Grace and Truth.
We need Jesus, we need the truth.
Jesus said--
John
{16:7}Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
{16:8} And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
{16:9} Of sin, because they believe not on me;
{16:10} Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
{16:11} Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
{16:12} I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
{16:13} Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
[that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
{16:14} He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.
{16:15} All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.
{16:16} A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.
**
Jesus is telling us the truth- He has to go away, if he didn't go the comforter couldn't come to us.
The comforter is the Spirit of truth.
The comforter will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment-
Reproved of sin why? Because they don't believe in Jesus. Jesus is truth.
Righteousness, because Jesus goes to his Father. Jesus is truth.
Judgment because the prince of this world is judged.
Jesus said, the spirit of truth will come and guide unto all truth. The spirit of truth will glorify Jesus. Jesus glorifies the Father. This is truth.
Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Jesus sends the spirit of truth to us and the truth is found in the love of God in sending us His Son Jesus.
You say you accept Jesus Christ, enough all ready about the truth, you know the truth so give it a rest.
We can't give it a rest, there is never enough. When we stop trumpeting the truth, when we stop wanting to hear truth what are we suspectible to? Falsehoods.
When Christ comes again to take us with Him we will live with Him, the truth forever and ever, in the love of God. Our lives will be all truth, all love.
Right now we have such a warped idea of what love is.
Satan has corrupted us so much he's made love seem boring and his evil the exciting thing. He's made evil so tempting and our senses are so dulled that we believe that it is more exciting to entertain ourselves with horror, to delve into the dark sides of life, we can't get enough of the sordid why is that? Why?!
Satan is the prince of this world.
John {12:31} Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Satan rules this world and has twisted our senses so fully we call evil good and good evil. We can't imagine being happy in a world of good so we embrace our evil and forsake the truth.
May God help us all, may our twisted senses be straightened by the Holy Spirit of Truth, our Comforter through the grace of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, Son of God. Amen.
We need the truth now and always.
God help us all.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
May God help us all as we each suffer
There are many words of Jesus that offer comfort to people. We sit and wonder how He could do that, knowing that the suffering people would have to endure would be so great, and yet, how could He not?
He endured much Himself and He did it through trusting in His Father.
Worrying is a great past time for many. For some it's a way of life. You wouldn't think so but worrying can give a person a sense of *doing something* when there is little they can do. We trouble our hearts all the time don't we? We worry about everything from whether our next meal will be appreciated, cooked satisfactorily, to whether or not we'll have money to pay for the bills, to our health and the health of our loved ones. People will tell you worrying never accomplished a thing, and others will say they wish they didn't have to worry. And then there are those who look at you if you're not worrying and can't believe that you aren't, especially when a situation arises that has them worrying.
Do you believe in God?
If we believe in God we have to believe in Jesus. Yes, I said have to. People may argue if they like that many believe in God but not Jesus and all I have to say about that is they're going to be in for a rude awakening when they realize that God sent Jesus into the world, the Messiah, their Savior, and they rejected Him.
Jesus doesn't want our hearts to be troubled. He knows how desperately we want to be with Him. We live in a world that throws constant reminders at us of how horrible life is and we long for the life that is promised.
Do you have anyone in your life right now that if they said to you, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of it.' no matter the situation, that you'd believe them and trust them enough to not worry?
Maybe it's your husband, your wife, your mother, your father, a trusted friend, a relative, or maybe there isn't a single person alive that you trust with such faith. Maybe even if they say those words, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of it.' you'd still worry until it was all resolved. It takes a great faith to be able to stop worrying on the word of someone else, doesn't it? Great faith.
We learn through life not to trust others when we face disappointment after disappointment. We start out trusting when someone says 'Don't worry.' and we end up not trusting when they do nothing to alleviate that worry because they don't take care of the problem. We gripe and moan and ask them why they didn't do as they said and excuses come along, good ones as well as bad, and in the end we learn to not trust that person and our faith to trust any others is a little more broken.
On the same token, if we have experienced the opposite and have trusted in someone on their word and they always come through for us then our faith is built. We learn to trust them more and more and in general trust more in people.
Do I daresay that more people experience disappointment than not? I have no facts to base that on, but it seems to me that placing our trust in people is bound to disappoint often, whether through fault of their own or not.
Satan likes to use that with God all the time. He throws scripture out there about being able to trust in God and how God will never fail us and then he points at situation after situation where God has seemingly failed us. A lot of atheists insist that the world itself declares there can be no God, that no God would let a world be such an utter failure, no God would allow such horrors that are in the world to exist. Satan does his job well when he gets people to believe that way. He goes after those that have little faith and tries to convince them that God has failed them time and time again even though He says to trust Him and He'll take care of you.
Troubled hearts, worry over life and the situations we exist in, worry over where our next paycheck will come from, where the money for the electric bill will turn up, how long before our water is shut off, when will they come to evict us, these are all real worries and telling someone to trust in God as they watch their belongings tossed to the street, or as they turn the water tap on only to get no water, or they open a cupboard to find food for their children and its bare, telling them to trust in God might make them want to laugh in our faces. Easy for us to say, right? We have food, water, a roof over our heads, our children's bellies aren't aching with hunger.
Yes, Satan has done His job well and continues to do it marvelously because trust is something rare. Trust is something that people are afraid to do because they're afraid that if they trust they'll only be hurt again.
What do we have to trust in when we trust in God? Is it that he'll care for our every need? Then why are God fearing, God loving people starving right now? Why are Godly people watching their children suffer? What is God's promise to us? Jesus said ...
Luke
{12:22} And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
{12:23} The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment.
{12:24} Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
{12:25} And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
{12:26} If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
{12:27} Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
{12:28} If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will he clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
{12:29} And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
{12:30} For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Take no thought for your life. Uhn? If we don't, who will?
Take no thought about what you will eat. Hold on, a person has to eat, we have to think about it and be concerned, don't we?
Take no thought about what you'll wear. Now that's just...wrong. We have to have clothes on don't we, if not they give us a free set of clothes in nice prison orange.
Sure, sure we can look at the birds, and no we can't had height to our bodies, and sure the flowers are beautiful, and yes, God takes care of nature and yet how can I trust God when I haven't a clue where the next bit of food will come from, or if that torn and mended over and over shirt will simple give way today and be irreparable?
Little faith.
Of course I have little faith! Why shouldn't I have little faith? My belly is aching, my kids are starving there are rags for clothes on our backs and all the faith in God will not bring a bite of food to us or magically give us new clothes. I had faith, and nothing came...I trusted and I've been left to die. Don't tell me my faith isn't enough! God knows what I need and...and...and...none of my needs are met!
Luke
{12:31} But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
{12:32} Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Seek what?
How when my children are crying for lack of food?
Seek the kingdom of God.
Will it give me food for my children?
Seek God.
The realization, however horrific, that this life we live now is temporary when it feels like it's all there is because the grief, the heartache, the pain and suffering of ourselves and our loved ones is so intense, is necessary if we want to truly call ourselves God's.
All this is temporary.
The pain is real but it is temporary even if it lasts fifty years.
The heartache is real but it is only temporary even if you live with it until you die.
The pain of existence is only temporary. For those in the worst imaginable scenarios in life, and in this day and age we can think of some pretty horrific scenarios, life here is still only temporary.
Jesus says...
John
{14:1} Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
{14:2} In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
{14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
{14:4} And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Thomas says...
{14:5} Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Jesus says...
{14:6} Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man come unto the Father, but by me.
{14:7} If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Philip says...
{14:8} Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus says...
{14:9} Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
{14:10} Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
{14:11} Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
{14:12} Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I
go unto my Father.
{14:13} And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
{14:14} If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
{14:15} If ye love me, keep my commandments.
{14:16} And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
{14:17} Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
{14:18} I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
{14:19} Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
{14:20} At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
{14:21} He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Judas, not Isacriot, says...
{14:22} Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus says...
{14:23} Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
{14:24} He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
{14:25} These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
{14:26} But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
{14:27} Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
{14:28} Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
{14:29} And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
{14:30} Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
{14:31} But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, NOT as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be trouble, neither let it be afraid.
NOT as the world giveth.
Once we get over wanting this life of ours to be trouble free and peaceful in a worldly way, we can truly start to live for God.
Once we realize that we have no promise for a pain-free existence. We have no promise for a life of no heartache. We have no promise that we will be clothed with fancy raiment or fed until we can feed no more. The promise we have is that if we trust in God, if we Love God, that we will be in His kingdom one day and then and only then will be never have to worry, never have to be hungry, never have to watch a loved one suffer, never feel the pain of loneliness and heartache, never be ridiculed, belittled, abused, beaten, reviled. The world we live in now is pain-filled and trying to make it so that it's not, is hopeless. The only thing we can do is trust in God to see us through the pain of living here and now, and do that through the grace and mercy of our savior Jesus Christ our Lord, God's only Son. Hope in the kingdom to come and pray that God's will be done.
John
{16:33} These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world
Jesus is the way the truth and the life...only in Jesus is there peace. Only Jesus has overcome all the pain, suffering, and heartache through His Father.
John
{14:6} Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man come unto the Father, but by me.
In life we need a path, a destination and Jesus is that path. He is the way, He is the life.
May God help us all as we each suffer in our own ways, as we go through our tribulations and there will be many in this world, to look to God, to look to Jesus, to look beyond the temporary and to the eternal.
In the name of Jesus, by His Grace and Mercy forever!
Amen.
He endured much Himself and He did it through trusting in His Father.
Worrying is a great past time for many. For some it's a way of life. You wouldn't think so but worrying can give a person a sense of *doing something* when there is little they can do. We trouble our hearts all the time don't we? We worry about everything from whether our next meal will be appreciated, cooked satisfactorily, to whether or not we'll have money to pay for the bills, to our health and the health of our loved ones. People will tell you worrying never accomplished a thing, and others will say they wish they didn't have to worry. And then there are those who look at you if you're not worrying and can't believe that you aren't, especially when a situation arises that has them worrying.
Do you believe in God?
If we believe in God we have to believe in Jesus. Yes, I said have to. People may argue if they like that many believe in God but not Jesus and all I have to say about that is they're going to be in for a rude awakening when they realize that God sent Jesus into the world, the Messiah, their Savior, and they rejected Him.
Jesus doesn't want our hearts to be troubled. He knows how desperately we want to be with Him. We live in a world that throws constant reminders at us of how horrible life is and we long for the life that is promised.
Do you have anyone in your life right now that if they said to you, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of it.' no matter the situation, that you'd believe them and trust them enough to not worry?
Maybe it's your husband, your wife, your mother, your father, a trusted friend, a relative, or maybe there isn't a single person alive that you trust with such faith. Maybe even if they say those words, 'Don't worry, I'll take care of it.' you'd still worry until it was all resolved. It takes a great faith to be able to stop worrying on the word of someone else, doesn't it? Great faith.
We learn through life not to trust others when we face disappointment after disappointment. We start out trusting when someone says 'Don't worry.' and we end up not trusting when they do nothing to alleviate that worry because they don't take care of the problem. We gripe and moan and ask them why they didn't do as they said and excuses come along, good ones as well as bad, and in the end we learn to not trust that person and our faith to trust any others is a little more broken.
On the same token, if we have experienced the opposite and have trusted in someone on their word and they always come through for us then our faith is built. We learn to trust them more and more and in general trust more in people.
Do I daresay that more people experience disappointment than not? I have no facts to base that on, but it seems to me that placing our trust in people is bound to disappoint often, whether through fault of their own or not.
Satan likes to use that with God all the time. He throws scripture out there about being able to trust in God and how God will never fail us and then he points at situation after situation where God has seemingly failed us. A lot of atheists insist that the world itself declares there can be no God, that no God would let a world be such an utter failure, no God would allow such horrors that are in the world to exist. Satan does his job well when he gets people to believe that way. He goes after those that have little faith and tries to convince them that God has failed them time and time again even though He says to trust Him and He'll take care of you.
Troubled hearts, worry over life and the situations we exist in, worry over where our next paycheck will come from, where the money for the electric bill will turn up, how long before our water is shut off, when will they come to evict us, these are all real worries and telling someone to trust in God as they watch their belongings tossed to the street, or as they turn the water tap on only to get no water, or they open a cupboard to find food for their children and its bare, telling them to trust in God might make them want to laugh in our faces. Easy for us to say, right? We have food, water, a roof over our heads, our children's bellies aren't aching with hunger.
Yes, Satan has done His job well and continues to do it marvelously because trust is something rare. Trust is something that people are afraid to do because they're afraid that if they trust they'll only be hurt again.
What do we have to trust in when we trust in God? Is it that he'll care for our every need? Then why are God fearing, God loving people starving right now? Why are Godly people watching their children suffer? What is God's promise to us? Jesus said ...
Luke
{12:22} And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
{12:23} The life is more than meat, and the body [is more] than raiment.
{12:24} Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
{12:25} And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
{12:26} If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
{12:27} Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
{12:28} If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more [will he clothe] you, O ye of little faith?
{12:29} And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
{12:30} For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Take no thought for your life. Uhn? If we don't, who will?
Take no thought about what you will eat. Hold on, a person has to eat, we have to think about it and be concerned, don't we?
Take no thought about what you'll wear. Now that's just...wrong. We have to have clothes on don't we, if not they give us a free set of clothes in nice prison orange.
Sure, sure we can look at the birds, and no we can't had height to our bodies, and sure the flowers are beautiful, and yes, God takes care of nature and yet how can I trust God when I haven't a clue where the next bit of food will come from, or if that torn and mended over and over shirt will simple give way today and be irreparable?
Little faith.
Of course I have little faith! Why shouldn't I have little faith? My belly is aching, my kids are starving there are rags for clothes on our backs and all the faith in God will not bring a bite of food to us or magically give us new clothes. I had faith, and nothing came...I trusted and I've been left to die. Don't tell me my faith isn't enough! God knows what I need and...and...and...none of my needs are met!
Luke
{12:31} But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
{12:32} Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Seek what?
How when my children are crying for lack of food?
Seek the kingdom of God.
Will it give me food for my children?
Seek God.
The realization, however horrific, that this life we live now is temporary when it feels like it's all there is because the grief, the heartache, the pain and suffering of ourselves and our loved ones is so intense, is necessary if we want to truly call ourselves God's.
All this is temporary.
The pain is real but it is temporary even if it lasts fifty years.
The heartache is real but it is only temporary even if you live with it until you die.
The pain of existence is only temporary. For those in the worst imaginable scenarios in life, and in this day and age we can think of some pretty horrific scenarios, life here is still only temporary.
Jesus says...
John
{14:1} Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
{14:2} In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
{14:3} And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
{14:4} And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
Thomas says...
{14:5} Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
Jesus says...
{14:6} Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man come unto the Father, but by me.
{14:7} If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
Philip says...
{14:8} Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus says...
{14:9} Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
{14:10} Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
{14:11} Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
{14:12} Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I
go unto my Father.
{14:13} And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
{14:14} If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
{14:15} If ye love me, keep my commandments.
{14:16} And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
{14:17} Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
{14:18} I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
{14:19} Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
{14:20} At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
{14:21} He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Judas, not Isacriot, says...
{14:22} Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus says...
{14:23} Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
{14:24} He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
{14:25} These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
{14:26} But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
{14:27} Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
{14:28} Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
{14:29} And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
{14:30} Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
{14:31} But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, NOT as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be trouble, neither let it be afraid.
NOT as the world giveth.
Once we get over wanting this life of ours to be trouble free and peaceful in a worldly way, we can truly start to live for God.
Once we realize that we have no promise for a pain-free existence. We have no promise for a life of no heartache. We have no promise that we will be clothed with fancy raiment or fed until we can feed no more. The promise we have is that if we trust in God, if we Love God, that we will be in His kingdom one day and then and only then will be never have to worry, never have to be hungry, never have to watch a loved one suffer, never feel the pain of loneliness and heartache, never be ridiculed, belittled, abused, beaten, reviled. The world we live in now is pain-filled and trying to make it so that it's not, is hopeless. The only thing we can do is trust in God to see us through the pain of living here and now, and do that through the grace and mercy of our savior Jesus Christ our Lord, God's only Son. Hope in the kingdom to come and pray that God's will be done.
John
{16:33} These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world
Jesus is the way the truth and the life...only in Jesus is there peace. Only Jesus has overcome all the pain, suffering, and heartache through His Father.
John
{14:6} Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man come unto the Father, but by me.
In life we need a path, a destination and Jesus is that path. He is the way, He is the life.
May God help us all as we each suffer in our own ways, as we go through our tribulations and there will be many in this world, to look to God, to look to Jesus, to look beyond the temporary and to the eternal.
In the name of Jesus, by His Grace and Mercy forever!
Amen.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday Night Gospel Fest! :) Happy Sabbath All!
Sabbath is coming...
I've been saving dvr (recordings) of Front Row Live, a music show on the Gospel Music Channel, and tonight I'm going to enjoy a few of them. This is my praise in song to God.
Aaron Shust is the first one- singing, 'Open the Eyes of Our Hearts' - Lyrics at the bottom for those interested.
Ohh I love this song!! Matchless! If you haven't heard it you've got to hear it! It's so cool! Again lyrics at the bottom though I'd love to put them here and now to every song, but I don't think people want to read through a bunch of lyrics, I could be wrong.
:)
Happy Sabbath everyone!
The next song in my little praise songfest is... Like I Never Felt Before. Nice song. :)
The next song Watch Over Me made me cry :( so beautiful, so true! He watches over us all. We can go through horrible times, horrible, dark times, but He's there, He is and our eternal life is secure in Him.
Praise God!
His next song is Create Again. Yes, God is our wonderful Creator!
Give Me Words To Speak, was next and another tear jerker for me. Yes, I want words to speak, I don't want my spirit to sleep.
Next- Can't Hide From Your Love. I don't want to hide from God's love...no, no, no.
All praise to God!
Give It All Away was the next song. So beautiful. All that is ours is God's. We have to give God all we are and all we do. God is truly the only one who can bless us, who gave everything He was to us, for us. Such love! *sniffs* So beautiful.
Next- Stillness (Speak To Me). So wonderful! 'Speak to me and show me who you are rescue me with your unfailing love and mercy' Yes...yes and yes! There is God's Truth! His unfailing love and mercy. Speak to us God, show us, speak to us...we need your unfailing love and mercy.
My Savior My God was next.. a very popular song of his and wonderful! My Savior does live, He does Love, He will always be!
PRAISE HIM! All glory to God!
That was it, the end of Aaaron's Front Row Live. The next one is Wynonna! Hehe, I didn't know she sang gospel. :)
Her first song is.... What the World Needs Now. Not too bad :) Nice song :)
The Other Side- was next. Not sure I cared for it too much. I want more praise of God and didn't really well, this song seemed more about self, not God.
Heaven Help Me- was next. Again not sure it's for God, I mean you could point it that way but it's not God specific. Maybe I'm being picky, but ah well. :) It was a pretty song. Jesus is the light :) He is the one light so I'm going to choose to believe it's sung that way. We can never ever afford to lose God's love, never.
It's The Messiah - was the next song. I really, really liked this song!
She sang I Can Only Imagine Next... I love that song :)
She sang a few more songs and I didn't really think they were gospel sooo not putting them here, and I fast forward through a few of them.
Now she's singing- I Wanna Know What Love Is. I can sorta see it in here... we do wanna know what love is and love is God. We want God to show us and He did, He does. :)
Love Can Build A Bridge- another that we can sorta see God in, but it's not gospel. Nice though :)
Her last song was not gospel at all and I was disappointed. Ah well. :)
Snack time and then maybe more :)
Yup, more! Hehe.
Not going to watch up this next group - The Afters. They're a bit too rocky/punky for me, but I do like their first song. Never Going to Okay.
Some how another show was taped before Front Row Live- called Hot List.
This Hot List is hosted by Mike Ferris and he'll give us HIS hot list, the songs he likes.
The first one is 'So Long Self' by Mercyme. GOOD song!
Didn't care for the second, wasn't gospel, didn't even listen.
Third Day came next! I Got a Feeling. Very good so far... *listens* Was good, not their favorite of mine, but good. :)
Flood by Jars of Clay next. Good song! *sings* :) Lift me up!
Next came a non-gospel song I skipped.
Smokie Norful was next with 'God is Able' soooo cool! :)
Mindy Smith- Come to Jesus was next...*listens* Good song. :)
Next is... not one I'm listening to.
After that... another I'm not listening too ewwwwwww heavy metal.
Let's see the next one...to metal for me too.
Hope's the next is better. :)
Johnny Cash- God's Gonna Cut You Down. Woah! Some song!
Interesting- his last song....Mission Temple Fireworks Stand Sawyer Brown, kinda toe tapping :) hehe
Was very interesting :) Hehe I think that's close to being it for the night.
It's Front Row Live- Rebecca Saint James :)
I'm tired so not looking up lyrics, just listening :)
Come Alive! In Jesus :) Good song :)
Lamb of God is next :) *listens* Not too bad. I think I'm getting tired, I skipped over it, just too rocky.
Next... Wait for Me- a song about taking a purity stand and waiting for marriage to have sex, a very cool song. Purity for God.
Our Great God was next by her and Todd Agnew. *listens* Nice... very, very nice! Glory be to our Great God! Lovely song!
This is the Air I Breathe.... Beautiful Song!
His Love Endures Forever ... Great Song! :)
Probably the last song for the night, I'm tiredededed. :)
Praise God for music, for praise in music, in love, in song!
Happy Sabbath All!
**Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
To see You high and lifted upShinin' in the light of Your gloryPour out Your power and loveAs we sing holy, holy, holy
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
To see You high and lifted upShinin' in the light of Your gloryPour out Your power and loveAs we sing holy, holy, holy
(Repeat two more times)
Holy, holy, holyWe cry holy, holy, holyYou are holy, holy, holyI want to see you
Holy, holy, holyHoly, holy, holyYou are holy, holy, holyI want to see you(Repeat five more times)
**
Matchless
Son of a Man, Great I am, King of heaven,son of god, you hold the measure of my daysHoly Lamb, spotless Lamb, You are worthy, I am notBefore Your throne I stand amazed
Every tongue confess and every knee will bowTo Jesus Christ the Lord forever, hear our praises now
Your name is matchless, Your name is pricelessYour name means more than i could knowYou're so far above me, the way that you love megoes further than any love could go
Wonderful Counselor, Root of David, morning staryou are the way, the truth, the lifelion of the tribe of judah, Mighty god is who you areThe only perfect sacrifice
In your name you took the blind man and you gave him back his sightIn your name you took the dead man and you brought him back to lifeIn your name you took this prisoner and you opened up the doorsAnd I will sing before your throne forever more
**
Like I Never Felt Before
(Been) training all this timeI’m at the starting lineA marathon I’m gonna have to runIn such a way as if to win the prizeAnd I believeEven though I can’t seeAll the athletes from days gone byAre in the stadium surrounding meAnd in the daysbefore the final phaseI sacrificed the things that held me downAnd concentratedly I fixed my gaze.A shot resoundsMy heart begins to poundAnd I begin to know what it’s likeTo run as if I had nobody aroundAnd I feel like I never felt beforeI ran through the open doorAnd I feel like I never felt beforeAnd it seems You’re aware of so much moreThan I gave You credit forAnd I feel like I never felt before
Climbing highI can almost touch the skyBut every time I’m halfway thereI think I’ll never reach the top aliveBut I’m awareI’m safely in Your careAnd with Your help I’ll never face a dayThat I am unable to bearYou taught me to crawlYou taught be to standYou taught me run one step at a timeand watch out for the quicksandYou taught me to liveYou taught me to dieYou taught me to spread My wings and how to fly
**
Watch Over Me
I was lonelyYou came waltzing over to meAnd Your eyes they saw right through meAnd You heard each one of my cries for helpAnd You came to rescue meI was brokenEvery prayer that I had spokenReached Your ears and all my tears weren’t cried in vainYou carried all my painAnd put me back together againYou watch over me in the darkest valleysYou watch over me when the night seems longYou help me to see the way before meYou watch over me; You watch over meAlways faithfulTo be leading, at this momentInterceding for Your childrenThough I’ve wandered astray from Your infinite waysYou’ve never left me alone -[to chorus]Take my frozen heart; awaken meNever once have You forsaken meEven though I walk through this shadow of deathYou will guide and defend meYou’ll guard and protect meEven though I walk through this shadow of deathYou will lead me home
**
Create Again
Separated from nightYou spoke and then there was lightThey point to YouDivided water from landBowing to Your commandThey point to YouThe sun that’s blazing at noonAnd every phase of the moonThey point to You.A baby’s cry and the wayA sunset closes the dayThey point to You.For You’re the only One worth praisingMore radiant than earth and skyAnd everyday that I survey Your creationI see why I see whyGod of everything I see,Come create again in meYou were yesterdayand You will always beSo take each breath that I breatheAnd be the life that I bleedCreate again in meThe storm that’s raging at seaThe little child on her kneesThey point to YouYour grace that’s poured out on meThe sacrifice on a treeThey point to YouYour Word vaults across the skyFrom sunrise to sunsetMelting the ice, scorching the desertWarm our hearts to faith
**
Give Me Words To Speak
Calloused and bruiseddazed and confused My Spirit is left wanting something more Than my selfish hopesand my selfish dreams I'm lying with my face down to the floor I'm crying out for more (crying out for more)
Chorus: Give me Words to speak Don't let my Spirit sleep Cause I can't think of anything worth saying But I know that I owe You my life So give me Words to speak Don't let my Spirit sleep
Every night, every dayI find that I have nothing left to say So I stand here in silence awaiting Your guidance I'm wanting only Your voice to be heard Let them be Your Words Let them be Your words
(chorus)
I just don't understand this life that I've been livingI just don't understand (x2) I just don't understand these lies I've been believing I just don't understand (x2)
(chorus x2)
I know that I owe you my lifeOwe my lifeOwe my life(x2)
**
Can't Hide From Your Love
I was lost and I was blindI was begging for a signthat someoneSomewhere heard meAs You whispered in the windAnd You shouted in the wavesThat You heard meThat You loved meAnd I could finallyStop resistingYou’re Everything I ever wantedAnd never knew I neededYou’re Everywhere I ever goI can’t hide from Your Love anymoreI begin to drop my guardFaithful as the Morning StarYou show me tender mercyI’m surrounded by Your beautyI get lost in Heaven’sSymphonyIt never changesNever endingUnrelentingWhy would I want to?I don’t want to
**
Give It All Away
Search my heart, search my mind, search my soulMake me clean, make me new make me whole
All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before Your feetAll of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to Your design'Cause You are the one who can make my life completeYou are the one who can give light to my feetYou are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me
You are my strength, You are my God, you are my KingYou make me laugh, You make me dance, You make me sing
Everything inside, everything outside, I give it all awayYou never change, but You rearrange my heart more everyday
** Stillness (Speak To Me)
I come to you, oh god, in the stillness of my heartI need your healing and your voice in the stillness of my heart
Speak to me and show me who you arerescue me with your unfailing love and mercyspeak to me and show me who you areHold me tightly in your arms and never let me go
I hear you calling out my name in the stillness of my heartyour grace is given me again, now I open up my heart
I remember singing praises to your name every day with all my mightHow I long to sing to you again
**
My Savior My God
I am not skilled to understandWhat God has willed, what God has plannedI only know at His right handStands one who is my Savior
I take Him at His word and deedChrist died to save me; this I readAnd in my heart I find a needOf Him to be my savior
That He would leave His place on highAnd come for sinful man to dieYou count it strange, so once did IBefore I knew my Savior
Chorus (2x's) My Savior loves, My Savior livesMy Savior's always there for meMy God: He was, my God; He isMy God is always gonna be
Yes, living, dying, let me bringMy strength, my solace from this spring;That He who lives to be my KingOnce died to be my Savior
That He would leave His place on highAnd come for sinful man to dieYou count it strange, so once did IBefore I knew my Savior
Chorus (2x's)
(Instrumental)
Chorus: (2x's)
My Savior loves, My Savior livesMy Savior loves, My Savior lives
**What the World Needs Now
I look around at all the faces and I see All the lonely people looking back at me Rich,poor don't matter we're all the same Everybody's hungry in a different way We're clawing and climbing and kicking and screaming And fighting but really
What the world needs now is love Love and only love A little help from up above A way to make a better day Let's come together lay our difference down Spread it all around That's what the world needs now
La da la da da
Sometimes all it takes is just a smile To change somebody's weather chase the clouds out of the sky Sometimes you got to give and not receive Sometimes you got to live what you believe Open your arm's 'cause that's where it starts Right here with you and me
What the world needs now is love Love and only love A little help from up above A way to make a better day Let's come together lay our difference down Spread it all around That's what the world needs now
Nobody likes the cold We all need someone to hold No one wants to be alone
What the world needs now is love Love and only love A little help from up above A way to make a better day Let's come together lay our difference down Spread it all around (That's what the world needs now)
What the world needs now (What the world needs now is love) (Love and only love) Love and only love (A little help from up above) (A way to make a better day) Let's come together lay our prejudices down
**
The Other Side
So, you're at the end of your witsThe end of your ropeYou just can't fixEverything that's brokeGot to turn it loose, babeHey, just let it ride
Cause it ain't about pride nowWell, it ain't about guiltYou've just come to a bridgeThat you still ain't builtSit down here with meI'll tell you about the other side
[ Chorus ]
The other side of lonelinessThe other side of the bluesThere really is a place like thisWhere the sun is gonna shine for youYou'll feel that old restlessnessYour tears have all been criedYou'll find your way over thisAnd you'll make it to the other side
Life gets hardLife gets coldNo matter who you areGonna settle on your soulThere comes a timeWhen you go looking fora place to hide
But one of these daysYou're gonna lift up your headWhistle up those hell hounds of yoursAnd make them sit up and begThat's when you'll be readyReady for the other side
[ Repeat Chorus ]
**
Heaven Help Me
I could lose my vision, my eyes no longer see.I could lose my religion,in my struggle to believe.That would be a loss,that would be a cross,but somehow rise above.But, Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.I've traded innocence for the secrets of the night.Felt my callused conscience lose its grip on wrong and right.It cut me to the bone,Somehow I've held on,'cause I could feel your touch.But, Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.~Chorus~'Cause you are the one lightthat shines on meand without your loveGod knows where I'd be.Lost without a prayersomewhere way out there,my soul would turn to dust.And Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.~Chorus~'Cause you are the one lightthat shines on meand without your loveGod knows where I'd be.So hold me close again,tell me it won't end,and that will be enough.Heaven Help Meif I ever lose your love.And, Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.
**
It's The Messiah
It must have been somethingBeing born in a mangerWith the sheep from the fieldsAnd stars shining over your headIt must have been somethingSeeing three wise menOn their knees before a newbornWith their eyes all aglowAnd their hearts they know
It's the MessiahHe's come at lastIt's the MessiahHe's come at last
It must have been somethingSpeaking the word of your FatherWith the promise of lifeAnd peace forever
It must have been somethingWalking the streets of JerusalemWith the sins of the worldOn the innocence of a lambBut soon everyone will know
It's the MessiahHe's come at lastIt's the MessiahHe's come at last
It's the MessiahHe's come at lastIt's the MessiahHe's with us at last
It must have been something
**Love can build a bridge
I'd gladly walk across the desert with no shoes upon my feet To share with you the last bite of bread I had to eat
I would swim out to save you In your sea of broken dreams When all your hopes are sinking Let me show you what love means
Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine Love can build a bridge Don't you think it's time
I would whisper love so loudly Every heart would understand That love and only love Can join the tribes of man
I would give my heart's desires So that you might see The first step is to realize That it all begins with you and me
When we stand together It's our finest hour We can do anything, anything If we keep believing in the power
Love can build a bridge Between your heat and mine Love can build a bridge Don't you think it's time
Don't you think it's time
**
The Afters- Never Going Back To OK
It's not the endBut it feels like it isI'm waking upLike I'm back from the deadI'm stepping outAnd I feel so afraid But as long as I'm moving it's all right
I feel aliveAnd it hurts for a changeAnd looking back and it's hard to believeThat I was cool With the days that I wasted complacent and tasteless and bored butThat was yesterday
We're never going back to OKWe're never going back to easyWe're never going back to the way it wasWe're never going back to OK
This discontentLike a slap in the faceOf mediocreI've had enough of this placeThis party's overAnd I'm moving away from the frills of you Beverly Hills but that was yesterday
We're never going back to OKWe're never going back to easyWe're never going back to the way it wasWe're never going back to OK
We're here to stayThis is our timeOur only lifeOur chance to live
We're never going back to OKWe're never going back to easyWe're never going back to the way it wasWe're never going back to OK
**
"So Long Self"
Well if I come across a little bit distantIt's just because I amThings just seem to feel a little bit differentYou understandBelieve it or not but life is not apparentlyAbout me anywaysBut I have met the One who really is worthySo let me say
So long, selfWell, it's been fun, but I have found somebody elseSo long, selfThere's just no room for twoSo you are gonna have to moveSo long, selfDon't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewellOh well, goodbye, don't crySo long, self
Stop right there because I know what you're thinkingBut no we can't be friendsAnd even though I know your heart is breakingThis has to endAnd come to think of it the blame for all of thisSimply falls on meFor wanting something more in life than all of thisCan't you see
Don't feel so bad (don't feel so bad)There'll be better days (there'll be better days)Don't go away mad (but by all means)Just go away, go away
**
I Got A Feeling
I got a messageI got a songCan I get a witnessTell me what's going on
I'll show the peopleA better wayMaybe I will tomorrowMaybe I will today
'Cause I got a feeling it won't be longMaybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrongBut I know one thing for sureOnly time will tell itI got a feeling coming over meNothing else here can set me freeBut I know one thing for sureWell, I've got to show it
I got a missionI got a signIs anybody listeningI gotta make sure this timeI'll tell the peopleWhat's on my mindMaybe I will tomorrowMaybe I will tonight
I got a messageI got a songEverybody help me sing along
**
Flood
Rain, rain on my faceIt hasnt stopped raining for daysMy world is a floodSlowly I become one with the mud
Chorus:
But if I cant swim after forty daysAnd my mind is crushed by the thrashing wavesLift me up so high that I cannot fallLift me upLift me up - when Im fallingLift me up - Im weak and Im dyingLift me up - I need you to hold meLift me up - keep me from drowning again
Downpour on my soulSplashing in the ocean, Im losing controlDark sky all aroundI cant feel my feet touching the ground
[chorus]
Calm the storms that drench my eyesDry the streams still flowingCast down all the waves of sinAnd guilt that overthrow me
[chorus]
Lift me up - when Im fallingLift me up - Im weak and Im dyingLift me up - I need you to hold meLift me up - keep me from drowning again
**God is Able
God is able,God is ableGod is able and He won't failGod is able,God is ableGod is able and He won't fail
Tell me who can make a mountainMove out of my wayAnd who can make a miracle Because of my faithAnd when the doctor says noWho can still say yesAnd when I'm in troubleWho's right there to help me pass every test
God is able,God is able God is able and He won't, won't fail
Tell me who can make a river Out of a little streamAnd who can tell the clouds To roll back so that the sun can look at meAnd who can tell the wind to whistle through the treesAnd when I'm in trouble who is the same God That will come down and rescue me
God is able,God is ableGod is able and He won't fail
He won't fail He won't fail Don't you dare give upDon't you dare give inGod wont fail
God is able,God is ableTelling you God is able and He won't no...God won't,He won't fail God won't,He'll never leaveNever forsake youNo He won't failHe'll be there till the endGod won't fail,He won't fail
**
"Come To Jesus"
Oh, my baby, when you're olderMaybe then you'll understandYou have angels to dance around your shoulders'Cause at times in life you need a helping hand
Oh, my baby, when you're prayin'Leave your burden by my doorYou have Jesus standing at your bedsideTo keep you calm, keep you safe,Away from harm
Worry not my daughters,Worry not my sonsChild, when life don't seem worth livin'Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
Oh, my baby, when you're cryin'Never hide your face from me'cause I have conquered hell and driven out the demonsI have come with a light to set you free
Worry not my daughters,Worry not my sonsChild, when life don't seem worth livin'Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
Oh, ohOh, ohYeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, my baby, when you're dyingBelieve the healing of His handHere in Heaven we will wait for your arrivalHere in Heaven you will finally understandHere in Heaven we will wait for your arrivalHere in Heaven you will finally understand
Worry not my daughters,Worry not my sonsChild, when life don't seem worth livin'Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
**
"God's Gonna Cut You Down"
You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you downSooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liarGo and tell that midnight riderTell the rambler, the gambler, the back biterTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em downTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the newsMy head's been wet with the midnight dewI've been down on bended knee talkin' to the man from GalileeHe spoke to me in the voice so sweetI thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feetHe called my name and my heart stood stillWhen he said, "John go do My will!"
Go tell that long tongue liarGo and tell that midnight riderTell the rambler, the gambler, the back biterTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em downTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you downSooner or later God'll cut you down
Well you may throw your rock and hide your handWorkin' in the dark against your fellow manBut as sure as God made black and whiteWhat's down in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you downSooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liarGo and tell that midnight riderTell the rambler, the gambler, the back biterTell 'em that God's gonna cut you downTell 'em that God's gonna cut you downTell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
**
Mission Temple Fireworks Stand Sawyer Brown.
I saw a black man with a bible and a sparkler in his hand.He was holding a tent revival and running a firework stand.He said the end of the world is coming so you better get on your knees.Today bottle rockets are two for one but salvation's free.He said, ''I quit my job at a big church where the milk and honey flowed,To sell cherry bombs for Jesus in a tent beside the road.''''I ain't in it for the money, most cars they pass on by,''''But I pay the rent on New Years and the fourth of July.''''Here at the,Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.He said fireworks are dangerous. They can blow up in your face.You better read the instructions, light the fuse and get away.These things are made in China, so it's easy to see,Why a man who worships Buddha ain't got no guarantee.This is the,Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.Everything Im selling is all going up in smoke. Its like taking twenty dollars yall and watching it explode. When the trumpet sounds and the lord comes back, I promise you one thing. Ill be a human bottle rocket and Ill go out with a bang. Ill leave this:Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand...
I've been saving dvr (recordings) of Front Row Live, a music show on the Gospel Music Channel, and tonight I'm going to enjoy a few of them. This is my praise in song to God.
Aaron Shust is the first one- singing, 'Open the Eyes of Our Hearts' - Lyrics at the bottom for those interested.
Ohh I love this song!! Matchless! If you haven't heard it you've got to hear it! It's so cool! Again lyrics at the bottom though I'd love to put them here and now to every song, but I don't think people want to read through a bunch of lyrics, I could be wrong.
:)
Happy Sabbath everyone!
The next song in my little praise songfest is... Like I Never Felt Before. Nice song. :)
The next song Watch Over Me made me cry :( so beautiful, so true! He watches over us all. We can go through horrible times, horrible, dark times, but He's there, He is and our eternal life is secure in Him.
Praise God!
His next song is Create Again. Yes, God is our wonderful Creator!
Give Me Words To Speak, was next and another tear jerker for me. Yes, I want words to speak, I don't want my spirit to sleep.
Next- Can't Hide From Your Love. I don't want to hide from God's love...no, no, no.
All praise to God!
Give It All Away was the next song. So beautiful. All that is ours is God's. We have to give God all we are and all we do. God is truly the only one who can bless us, who gave everything He was to us, for us. Such love! *sniffs* So beautiful.
Next- Stillness (Speak To Me). So wonderful! 'Speak to me and show me who you are rescue me with your unfailing love and mercy' Yes...yes and yes! There is God's Truth! His unfailing love and mercy. Speak to us God, show us, speak to us...we need your unfailing love and mercy.
My Savior My God was next.. a very popular song of his and wonderful! My Savior does live, He does Love, He will always be!
PRAISE HIM! All glory to God!
That was it, the end of Aaaron's Front Row Live. The next one is Wynonna! Hehe, I didn't know she sang gospel. :)
Her first song is.... What the World Needs Now. Not too bad :) Nice song :)
The Other Side- was next. Not sure I cared for it too much. I want more praise of God and didn't really well, this song seemed more about self, not God.
Heaven Help Me- was next. Again not sure it's for God, I mean you could point it that way but it's not God specific. Maybe I'm being picky, but ah well. :) It was a pretty song. Jesus is the light :) He is the one light so I'm going to choose to believe it's sung that way. We can never ever afford to lose God's love, never.
It's The Messiah - was the next song. I really, really liked this song!
She sang I Can Only Imagine Next... I love that song :)
She sang a few more songs and I didn't really think they were gospel sooo not putting them here, and I fast forward through a few of them.
Now she's singing- I Wanna Know What Love Is. I can sorta see it in here... we do wanna know what love is and love is God. We want God to show us and He did, He does. :)
Love Can Build A Bridge- another that we can sorta see God in, but it's not gospel. Nice though :)
Her last song was not gospel at all and I was disappointed. Ah well. :)
Snack time and then maybe more :)
Yup, more! Hehe.
Not going to watch up this next group - The Afters. They're a bit too rocky/punky for me, but I do like their first song. Never Going to Okay.
Some how another show was taped before Front Row Live- called Hot List.
This Hot List is hosted by Mike Ferris and he'll give us HIS hot list, the songs he likes.
The first one is 'So Long Self' by Mercyme. GOOD song!
Didn't care for the second, wasn't gospel, didn't even listen.
Third Day came next! I Got a Feeling. Very good so far... *listens* Was good, not their favorite of mine, but good. :)
Flood by Jars of Clay next. Good song! *sings* :) Lift me up!
Next came a non-gospel song I skipped.
Smokie Norful was next with 'God is Able' soooo cool! :)
Mindy Smith- Come to Jesus was next...*listens* Good song. :)
Next is... not one I'm listening to.
After that... another I'm not listening too ewwwwwww heavy metal.
Let's see the next one...to metal for me too.
Hope's the next is better. :)
Johnny Cash- God's Gonna Cut You Down. Woah! Some song!
Interesting- his last song....Mission Temple Fireworks Stand Sawyer Brown, kinda toe tapping :) hehe
Was very interesting :) Hehe I think that's close to being it for the night.
It's Front Row Live- Rebecca Saint James :)
I'm tired so not looking up lyrics, just listening :)
Come Alive! In Jesus :) Good song :)
Lamb of God is next :) *listens* Not too bad. I think I'm getting tired, I skipped over it, just too rocky.
Next... Wait for Me- a song about taking a purity stand and waiting for marriage to have sex, a very cool song. Purity for God.
Our Great God was next by her and Todd Agnew. *listens* Nice... very, very nice! Glory be to our Great God! Lovely song!
This is the Air I Breathe.... Beautiful Song!
His Love Endures Forever ... Great Song! :)
Probably the last song for the night, I'm tiredededed. :)
Praise God for music, for praise in music, in love, in song!
Happy Sabbath All!
**Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
To see You high and lifted upShinin' in the light of Your gloryPour out Your power and loveAs we sing holy, holy, holy
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
Open the eyes of my heart, LordOpen the eyes of my heartI want to see YouI want to see You
To see You high and lifted upShinin' in the light of Your gloryPour out Your power and loveAs we sing holy, holy, holy
(Repeat two more times)
Holy, holy, holyWe cry holy, holy, holyYou are holy, holy, holyI want to see you
Holy, holy, holyHoly, holy, holyYou are holy, holy, holyI want to see you(Repeat five more times)
**
Matchless
Son of a Man, Great I am, King of heaven,son of god, you hold the measure of my daysHoly Lamb, spotless Lamb, You are worthy, I am notBefore Your throne I stand amazed
Every tongue confess and every knee will bowTo Jesus Christ the Lord forever, hear our praises now
Your name is matchless, Your name is pricelessYour name means more than i could knowYou're so far above me, the way that you love megoes further than any love could go
Wonderful Counselor, Root of David, morning staryou are the way, the truth, the lifelion of the tribe of judah, Mighty god is who you areThe only perfect sacrifice
In your name you took the blind man and you gave him back his sightIn your name you took the dead man and you brought him back to lifeIn your name you took this prisoner and you opened up the doorsAnd I will sing before your throne forever more
**
Like I Never Felt Before
(Been) training all this timeI’m at the starting lineA marathon I’m gonna have to runIn such a way as if to win the prizeAnd I believeEven though I can’t seeAll the athletes from days gone byAre in the stadium surrounding meAnd in the daysbefore the final phaseI sacrificed the things that held me downAnd concentratedly I fixed my gaze.A shot resoundsMy heart begins to poundAnd I begin to know what it’s likeTo run as if I had nobody aroundAnd I feel like I never felt beforeI ran through the open doorAnd I feel like I never felt beforeAnd it seems You’re aware of so much moreThan I gave You credit forAnd I feel like I never felt before
Climbing highI can almost touch the skyBut every time I’m halfway thereI think I’ll never reach the top aliveBut I’m awareI’m safely in Your careAnd with Your help I’ll never face a dayThat I am unable to bearYou taught me to crawlYou taught be to standYou taught me run one step at a timeand watch out for the quicksandYou taught me to liveYou taught me to dieYou taught me to spread My wings and how to fly
**
Watch Over Me
I was lonelyYou came waltzing over to meAnd Your eyes they saw right through meAnd You heard each one of my cries for helpAnd You came to rescue meI was brokenEvery prayer that I had spokenReached Your ears and all my tears weren’t cried in vainYou carried all my painAnd put me back together againYou watch over me in the darkest valleysYou watch over me when the night seems longYou help me to see the way before meYou watch over me; You watch over meAlways faithfulTo be leading, at this momentInterceding for Your childrenThough I’ve wandered astray from Your infinite waysYou’ve never left me alone -[to chorus]Take my frozen heart; awaken meNever once have You forsaken meEven though I walk through this shadow of deathYou will guide and defend meYou’ll guard and protect meEven though I walk through this shadow of deathYou will lead me home
**
Create Again
Separated from nightYou spoke and then there was lightThey point to YouDivided water from landBowing to Your commandThey point to YouThe sun that’s blazing at noonAnd every phase of the moonThey point to You.A baby’s cry and the wayA sunset closes the dayThey point to You.For You’re the only One worth praisingMore radiant than earth and skyAnd everyday that I survey Your creationI see why I see whyGod of everything I see,Come create again in meYou were yesterdayand You will always beSo take each breath that I breatheAnd be the life that I bleedCreate again in meThe storm that’s raging at seaThe little child on her kneesThey point to YouYour grace that’s poured out on meThe sacrifice on a treeThey point to YouYour Word vaults across the skyFrom sunrise to sunsetMelting the ice, scorching the desertWarm our hearts to faith
**
Give Me Words To Speak
Calloused and bruiseddazed and confused My Spirit is left wanting something more Than my selfish hopesand my selfish dreams I'm lying with my face down to the floor I'm crying out for more (crying out for more)
Chorus: Give me Words to speak Don't let my Spirit sleep Cause I can't think of anything worth saying But I know that I owe You my life So give me Words to speak Don't let my Spirit sleep
Every night, every dayI find that I have nothing left to say So I stand here in silence awaiting Your guidance I'm wanting only Your voice to be heard Let them be Your Words Let them be Your words
(chorus)
I just don't understand this life that I've been livingI just don't understand (x2) I just don't understand these lies I've been believing I just don't understand (x2)
(chorus x2)
I know that I owe you my lifeOwe my lifeOwe my life(x2)
**
Can't Hide From Your Love
I was lost and I was blindI was begging for a signthat someoneSomewhere heard meAs You whispered in the windAnd You shouted in the wavesThat You heard meThat You loved meAnd I could finallyStop resistingYou’re Everything I ever wantedAnd never knew I neededYou’re Everywhere I ever goI can’t hide from Your Love anymoreI begin to drop my guardFaithful as the Morning StarYou show me tender mercyI’m surrounded by Your beautyI get lost in Heaven’sSymphonyIt never changesNever endingUnrelentingWhy would I want to?I don’t want to
**
Give It All Away
Search my heart, search my mind, search my soulMake me clean, make me new make me whole
All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before Your feetAll of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to Your design'Cause You are the one who can make my life completeYou are the one who can give light to my feetYou are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me
You are my strength, You are my God, you are my KingYou make me laugh, You make me dance, You make me sing
Everything inside, everything outside, I give it all awayYou never change, but You rearrange my heart more everyday
** Stillness (Speak To Me)
I come to you, oh god, in the stillness of my heartI need your healing and your voice in the stillness of my heart
Speak to me and show me who you arerescue me with your unfailing love and mercyspeak to me and show me who you areHold me tightly in your arms and never let me go
I hear you calling out my name in the stillness of my heartyour grace is given me again, now I open up my heart
I remember singing praises to your name every day with all my mightHow I long to sing to you again
**
My Savior My God
I am not skilled to understandWhat God has willed, what God has plannedI only know at His right handStands one who is my Savior
I take Him at His word and deedChrist died to save me; this I readAnd in my heart I find a needOf Him to be my savior
That He would leave His place on highAnd come for sinful man to dieYou count it strange, so once did IBefore I knew my Savior
Chorus (2x's) My Savior loves, My Savior livesMy Savior's always there for meMy God: He was, my God; He isMy God is always gonna be
Yes, living, dying, let me bringMy strength, my solace from this spring;That He who lives to be my KingOnce died to be my Savior
That He would leave His place on highAnd come for sinful man to dieYou count it strange, so once did IBefore I knew my Savior
Chorus (2x's)
(Instrumental)
Chorus: (2x's)
My Savior loves, My Savior livesMy Savior loves, My Savior lives
**What the World Needs Now
I look around at all the faces and I see All the lonely people looking back at me Rich,poor don't matter we're all the same Everybody's hungry in a different way We're clawing and climbing and kicking and screaming And fighting but really
What the world needs now is love Love and only love A little help from up above A way to make a better day Let's come together lay our difference down Spread it all around That's what the world needs now
La da la da da
Sometimes all it takes is just a smile To change somebody's weather chase the clouds out of the sky Sometimes you got to give and not receive Sometimes you got to live what you believe Open your arm's 'cause that's where it starts Right here with you and me
What the world needs now is love Love and only love A little help from up above A way to make a better day Let's come together lay our difference down Spread it all around That's what the world needs now
Nobody likes the cold We all need someone to hold No one wants to be alone
What the world needs now is love Love and only love A little help from up above A way to make a better day Let's come together lay our difference down Spread it all around (That's what the world needs now)
What the world needs now (What the world needs now is love) (Love and only love) Love and only love (A little help from up above) (A way to make a better day) Let's come together lay our prejudices down
**
The Other Side
So, you're at the end of your witsThe end of your ropeYou just can't fixEverything that's brokeGot to turn it loose, babeHey, just let it ride
Cause it ain't about pride nowWell, it ain't about guiltYou've just come to a bridgeThat you still ain't builtSit down here with meI'll tell you about the other side
[ Chorus ]
The other side of lonelinessThe other side of the bluesThere really is a place like thisWhere the sun is gonna shine for youYou'll feel that old restlessnessYour tears have all been criedYou'll find your way over thisAnd you'll make it to the other side
Life gets hardLife gets coldNo matter who you areGonna settle on your soulThere comes a timeWhen you go looking fora place to hide
But one of these daysYou're gonna lift up your headWhistle up those hell hounds of yoursAnd make them sit up and begThat's when you'll be readyReady for the other side
[ Repeat Chorus ]
**
Heaven Help Me
I could lose my vision, my eyes no longer see.I could lose my religion,in my struggle to believe.That would be a loss,that would be a cross,but somehow rise above.But, Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.I've traded innocence for the secrets of the night.Felt my callused conscience lose its grip on wrong and right.It cut me to the bone,Somehow I've held on,'cause I could feel your touch.But, Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.~Chorus~'Cause you are the one lightthat shines on meand without your loveGod knows where I'd be.Lost without a prayersomewhere way out there,my soul would turn to dust.And Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.~Chorus~'Cause you are the one lightthat shines on meand without your loveGod knows where I'd be.So hold me close again,tell me it won't end,and that will be enough.Heaven Help Meif I ever lose your love.And, Heaven Help Me if I ever lose your love.
**
It's The Messiah
It must have been somethingBeing born in a mangerWith the sheep from the fieldsAnd stars shining over your headIt must have been somethingSeeing three wise menOn their knees before a newbornWith their eyes all aglowAnd their hearts they know
It's the MessiahHe's come at lastIt's the MessiahHe's come at last
It must have been somethingSpeaking the word of your FatherWith the promise of lifeAnd peace forever
It must have been somethingWalking the streets of JerusalemWith the sins of the worldOn the innocence of a lambBut soon everyone will know
It's the MessiahHe's come at lastIt's the MessiahHe's come at last
It's the MessiahHe's come at lastIt's the MessiahHe's with us at last
It must have been something
**Love can build a bridge
I'd gladly walk across the desert with no shoes upon my feet To share with you the last bite of bread I had to eat
I would swim out to save you In your sea of broken dreams When all your hopes are sinking Let me show you what love means
Love can build a bridge Between your heart and mine Love can build a bridge Don't you think it's time
I would whisper love so loudly Every heart would understand That love and only love Can join the tribes of man
I would give my heart's desires So that you might see The first step is to realize That it all begins with you and me
When we stand together It's our finest hour We can do anything, anything If we keep believing in the power
Love can build a bridge Between your heat and mine Love can build a bridge Don't you think it's time
Don't you think it's time
**
The Afters- Never Going Back To OK
It's not the endBut it feels like it isI'm waking upLike I'm back from the deadI'm stepping outAnd I feel so afraid But as long as I'm moving it's all right
I feel aliveAnd it hurts for a changeAnd looking back and it's hard to believeThat I was cool With the days that I wasted complacent and tasteless and bored butThat was yesterday
We're never going back to OKWe're never going back to easyWe're never going back to the way it wasWe're never going back to OK
This discontentLike a slap in the faceOf mediocreI've had enough of this placeThis party's overAnd I'm moving away from the frills of you Beverly Hills but that was yesterday
We're never going back to OKWe're never going back to easyWe're never going back to the way it wasWe're never going back to OK
We're here to stayThis is our timeOur only lifeOur chance to live
We're never going back to OKWe're never going back to easyWe're never going back to the way it wasWe're never going back to OK
**
"So Long Self"
Well if I come across a little bit distantIt's just because I amThings just seem to feel a little bit differentYou understandBelieve it or not but life is not apparentlyAbout me anywaysBut I have met the One who really is worthySo let me say
So long, selfWell, it's been fun, but I have found somebody elseSo long, selfThere's just no room for twoSo you are gonna have to moveSo long, selfDon't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewellOh well, goodbye, don't crySo long, self
Stop right there because I know what you're thinkingBut no we can't be friendsAnd even though I know your heart is breakingThis has to endAnd come to think of it the blame for all of thisSimply falls on meFor wanting something more in life than all of thisCan't you see
Don't feel so bad (don't feel so bad)There'll be better days (there'll be better days)Don't go away mad (but by all means)Just go away, go away
**
I Got A Feeling
I got a messageI got a songCan I get a witnessTell me what's going on
I'll show the peopleA better wayMaybe I will tomorrowMaybe I will today
'Cause I got a feeling it won't be longMaybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrongBut I know one thing for sureOnly time will tell itI got a feeling coming over meNothing else here can set me freeBut I know one thing for sureWell, I've got to show it
I got a missionI got a signIs anybody listeningI gotta make sure this timeI'll tell the peopleWhat's on my mindMaybe I will tomorrowMaybe I will tonight
I got a messageI got a songEverybody help me sing along
**
Flood
Rain, rain on my faceIt hasnt stopped raining for daysMy world is a floodSlowly I become one with the mud
Chorus:
But if I cant swim after forty daysAnd my mind is crushed by the thrashing wavesLift me up so high that I cannot fallLift me upLift me up - when Im fallingLift me up - Im weak and Im dyingLift me up - I need you to hold meLift me up - keep me from drowning again
Downpour on my soulSplashing in the ocean, Im losing controlDark sky all aroundI cant feel my feet touching the ground
[chorus]
Calm the storms that drench my eyesDry the streams still flowingCast down all the waves of sinAnd guilt that overthrow me
[chorus]
Lift me up - when Im fallingLift me up - Im weak and Im dyingLift me up - I need you to hold meLift me up - keep me from drowning again
**God is Able
God is able,God is ableGod is able and He won't failGod is able,God is ableGod is able and He won't fail
Tell me who can make a mountainMove out of my wayAnd who can make a miracle Because of my faithAnd when the doctor says noWho can still say yesAnd when I'm in troubleWho's right there to help me pass every test
God is able,God is able God is able and He won't, won't fail
Tell me who can make a river Out of a little streamAnd who can tell the clouds To roll back so that the sun can look at meAnd who can tell the wind to whistle through the treesAnd when I'm in trouble who is the same God That will come down and rescue me
God is able,God is ableGod is able and He won't fail
He won't fail He won't fail Don't you dare give upDon't you dare give inGod wont fail
God is able,God is ableTelling you God is able and He won't no...God won't,He won't fail God won't,He'll never leaveNever forsake youNo He won't failHe'll be there till the endGod won't fail,He won't fail
**
"Come To Jesus"
Oh, my baby, when you're olderMaybe then you'll understandYou have angels to dance around your shoulders'Cause at times in life you need a helping hand
Oh, my baby, when you're prayin'Leave your burden by my doorYou have Jesus standing at your bedsideTo keep you calm, keep you safe,Away from harm
Worry not my daughters,Worry not my sonsChild, when life don't seem worth livin'Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
Oh, my baby, when you're cryin'Never hide your face from me'cause I have conquered hell and driven out the demonsI have come with a light to set you free
Worry not my daughters,Worry not my sonsChild, when life don't seem worth livin'Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
Oh, ohOh, ohYeah, yeah, yeah
Oh, my baby, when you're dyingBelieve the healing of His handHere in Heaven we will wait for your arrivalHere in Heaven you will finally understandHere in Heaven we will wait for your arrivalHere in Heaven you will finally understand
Worry not my daughters,Worry not my sonsChild, when life don't seem worth livin'Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms
**
"God's Gonna Cut You Down"
You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you downSooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liarGo and tell that midnight riderTell the rambler, the gambler, the back biterTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em downTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the newsMy head's been wet with the midnight dewI've been down on bended knee talkin' to the man from GalileeHe spoke to me in the voice so sweetI thought I heard the shuffle of the angel's feetHe called my name and my heart stood stillWhen he said, "John go do My will!"
Go tell that long tongue liarGo and tell that midnight riderTell the rambler, the gambler, the back biterTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em downTell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down
You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you downSooner or later God'll cut you down
Well you may throw your rock and hide your handWorkin' in the dark against your fellow manBut as sure as God made black and whiteWhat's down in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long timeRun on for a long timeRun on for a long timeSooner or later God'll cut you downSooner or later God'll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liarGo and tell that midnight riderTell the rambler, the gambler, the back biterTell 'em that God's gonna cut you downTell 'em that God's gonna cut you downTell 'em that God's gonna cut you down
**
Mission Temple Fireworks Stand Sawyer Brown.
I saw a black man with a bible and a sparkler in his hand.He was holding a tent revival and running a firework stand.He said the end of the world is coming so you better get on your knees.Today bottle rockets are two for one but salvation's free.He said, ''I quit my job at a big church where the milk and honey flowed,To sell cherry bombs for Jesus in a tent beside the road.''''I ain't in it for the money, most cars they pass on by,''''But I pay the rent on New Years and the fourth of July.''''Here at the,Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.He said fireworks are dangerous. They can blow up in your face.You better read the instructions, light the fuse and get away.These things are made in China, so it's easy to see,Why a man who worships Buddha ain't got no guarantee.This is the,Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.Everything Im selling is all going up in smoke. Its like taking twenty dollars yall and watching it explode. When the trumpet sounds and the lord comes back, I promise you one thing. Ill be a human bottle rocket and Ill go out with a bang. Ill leave this:Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand.Holy Ghost, (Holy Ghost)Big bang theory, (Big bang theory)Pentecostal, (Pentecostal)Fire and brimstone, (Fire and brimstone)Mission Temple Firework Stand...
God and Truth, Satan and Lies, You Choose.
Many considered Jesus a crazy man in His time. And Jesus said...
John {4:44} For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
It's safe to say that many felt about Jesus the way many feel about anyone today claiming to be Jesus. Totally different you say? How so?
They're not Jesus. Right, I agree, and yet many thought the same of the real thing, of the real Jesus. You see, God doesn't use magic to sway people. God did give Jesus this mystical ability to wave his hands and everyone believe in him. As it was then it is now, God never forces anyone to believe, He doesn't use trickery.
While the Jewish people back then longed for the Messiah, the majority longed for Him in their perceived way. They wanted Him to come and raise himself up a king and set them all free from their earthy tyranny. They didn't perceive Jesus as one coming and being lowly, seemingly without much power. Sure he could do a few things but the messiah they had in mind could do things amazing and showy, that messiah could draw crowds of people and with great power over throw the enemy.
Did any Jewish people believe in Jesus? Of course they did. Jesus was a Jewish person and so were His disciples.
Were there others? Yes...
John
{8:31} Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
{8:32} And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
**
There it is again- knowing the truth and being free by knowing the truth. If the truth is that Salvation is found in Jesus, then it does set you free from sin.
John
{8:33} They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
**
Heh, today a lot of people feel the same don't they? They are their OWN person. They control their OWN destiny. They don't need freedom, they're not captive. We hear it all the time, 'I'm my own person. Not one tells me what to do. I'm in charge of my own life.' We have seminars and retreats all geared towards empowering oneself, teaching self-reliance, self-awareness...self, self, self. Not the reality of how we are all captives, even if our captors lets us keep the illusion we are not. It's a sweet illusion of Satan's deceiving so many. All are in bondage because all are sinners and there is only one way to be free and that's through Jesus Christ.
John
{8:34} Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
{8:35} And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
{8:36} If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
{8:37} I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
{8:38} I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
**
Jesus wasn't mincing words here. Jesus sent by God His Father was speaking only truth. Those who speak lies, those who won't embrace the truth, those who shun the truth in Him have a Father too, but it's not God.
John
{8:39} They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. {8:40} But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
{8:41} Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
{8:42} Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. {8:43} Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
{8:44} Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
{8:45} And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
{8:46} Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
{8:47} He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
**
Wow!
He's telling it like it is.
The Jewish people there claiming their proven genealogically line through Abraham were being told what? That their father was the devil! They weren't of Abraham! And yet physically they were and it mattered not to Jesus why? Because they didn't want the truth.
Have we exhausted the importance of truth? I don't think that's ever going to be possible.
Jesus said- 'because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.'
He was speaking the truth!
Have you ever tried to tell the truth to someone who refused to believe what you said was true? I know I have and it's so frustrating! You can't convince people to believe you, they have to choose to believe you. You want to think that the truth stands on its own merit, but sometimes it doesn't. Imagine the wrongfully convicted criminal who tells the truth and is put in prison or worse, put to death for crimes he never committed. We want the truth to come out to be believed, you can imagine how badly those people want it to be believed and yet people don't always believe the truth, sometimes the truth sounds to fantastical to be believed and yet it's the truth.
Jesus was telling it plainly but He also knew that there were people who would never see or believe in the truth because they weren't of God at all, they were under another's rule and that other had them totally blinded to the truth.
Just like in a courtroom where a broken, battered victim takes the stand and points a finger at the falsely accused swearing they're the one that hurt them. The witness is believed, the witness even unwittingly is blinding the jurors to the truth. Understandable you say? Anyone would be fooled? It's possible in that scenario but with Jesus the truth is there for all to see if they would just desire to be with God, really desire to be Gods.
John
{8:48} Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
The people he was talking to were quick to turn it around on him, calling him a Samaritan, telling him he had a devil. Oh if only they really knew what they were doing. If only we really understood that even today we fuss over rules and regulations, we fuss over so much, rituals, ordinances, church statement of beliefs, sacraments, we get so caught up in so much that has very little to do with the truth. Not that those things are good in their place but they should never be the end all, Jesus is the beginning and the end of it all, He is the truth.
What did Jesus say to those accusing him of having a devil?
John
{8:49} Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.
{8:50} And I seek not mine own glory there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
{8:51} Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
**
Never see death and what death is He talking of? The death that there is no returning from. Even Jesus died. All men die. Never seeing death means that Jesus defeated death at the cross. Death will not be a permanent sleep for those that die in Him, for those who keep His sayings. Death as the ultimate punishment is non-existence, and that death Jesus won the battle over. There is a death that all men face which is a sleep until judgment and then there is a permanent death which isn't something any will ever be woken from, it's being destroyed forever. Realizing these truths are so important. Jesus knew what he was saying then... read on...
John
{8:52} Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
{8:53} Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
**
They were amazed and you know the scriptures pointed to a Messiah, to one greater than Abraham and the prophets but there they were not believing any could be greater, and yet those they spoke of as great pointed to one greater. Amazing how blind they were. How blind we can become when we refuse to believe in the truth, to believe in God.
John
{8:54} Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
{8:55} Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
{8:56} Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
**
All glory to God! Jesus wasn't tooting his own horn trying to gain attention for himself in honor, not at all. He wasn't shouting and screaming and demanding glory from others, not at all. God honored Jesus, God honored His Son.
John
{8:57} Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
**
More confusion. You'd think they'd realize the Messiah would be of such that every word spoken was truth. That the Messiah they longed to come and save them would have to be from God, would have to have such oneness with God.
{8:58} Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
**
They couldn't understand. He was a lunatic to them, his words blasphemous, he was crazy to spout such things. They couldn't understand, it was as Jesus said, they didn't want God, not really. They wanted a form of religion that was more selfish than Godly. They followed their true father- the father of lies because the lies suited them so much better than the truth. They could understand lies, but they couldn't understand the truth.
John
{8:59} Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
**
How many people today would rather believe lies that Jesus? How many think they follow God but really serve Satan? Too many, way too many.
May God protect us from the lies of Satan, may we seek the truth, find the truth, follow the truth as it is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by His Grace and Mercy forever!
Amen.
John {4:44} For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.
It's safe to say that many felt about Jesus the way many feel about anyone today claiming to be Jesus. Totally different you say? How so?
They're not Jesus. Right, I agree, and yet many thought the same of the real thing, of the real Jesus. You see, God doesn't use magic to sway people. God did give Jesus this mystical ability to wave his hands and everyone believe in him. As it was then it is now, God never forces anyone to believe, He doesn't use trickery.
While the Jewish people back then longed for the Messiah, the majority longed for Him in their perceived way. They wanted Him to come and raise himself up a king and set them all free from their earthy tyranny. They didn't perceive Jesus as one coming and being lowly, seemingly without much power. Sure he could do a few things but the messiah they had in mind could do things amazing and showy, that messiah could draw crowds of people and with great power over throw the enemy.
Did any Jewish people believe in Jesus? Of course they did. Jesus was a Jewish person and so were His disciples.
Were there others? Yes...
John
{8:31} Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
{8:32} And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
**
There it is again- knowing the truth and being free by knowing the truth. If the truth is that Salvation is found in Jesus, then it does set you free from sin.
John
{8:33} They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
**
Heh, today a lot of people feel the same don't they? They are their OWN person. They control their OWN destiny. They don't need freedom, they're not captive. We hear it all the time, 'I'm my own person. Not one tells me what to do. I'm in charge of my own life.' We have seminars and retreats all geared towards empowering oneself, teaching self-reliance, self-awareness...self, self, self. Not the reality of how we are all captives, even if our captors lets us keep the illusion we are not. It's a sweet illusion of Satan's deceiving so many. All are in bondage because all are sinners and there is only one way to be free and that's through Jesus Christ.
John
{8:34} Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
{8:35} And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
{8:36} If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
{8:37} I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
{8:38} I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
**
Jesus wasn't mincing words here. Jesus sent by God His Father was speaking only truth. Those who speak lies, those who won't embrace the truth, those who shun the truth in Him have a Father too, but it's not God.
John
{8:39} They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. {8:40} But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
{8:41} Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
{8:42} Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. {8:43} Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
{8:44} Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
{8:45} And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
{8:46} Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
{8:47} He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
**
Wow!
He's telling it like it is.
The Jewish people there claiming their proven genealogically line through Abraham were being told what? That their father was the devil! They weren't of Abraham! And yet physically they were and it mattered not to Jesus why? Because they didn't want the truth.
Have we exhausted the importance of truth? I don't think that's ever going to be possible.
Jesus said- 'because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.'
He was speaking the truth!
Have you ever tried to tell the truth to someone who refused to believe what you said was true? I know I have and it's so frustrating! You can't convince people to believe you, they have to choose to believe you. You want to think that the truth stands on its own merit, but sometimes it doesn't. Imagine the wrongfully convicted criminal who tells the truth and is put in prison or worse, put to death for crimes he never committed. We want the truth to come out to be believed, you can imagine how badly those people want it to be believed and yet people don't always believe the truth, sometimes the truth sounds to fantastical to be believed and yet it's the truth.
Jesus was telling it plainly but He also knew that there were people who would never see or believe in the truth because they weren't of God at all, they were under another's rule and that other had them totally blinded to the truth.
Just like in a courtroom where a broken, battered victim takes the stand and points a finger at the falsely accused swearing they're the one that hurt them. The witness is believed, the witness even unwittingly is blinding the jurors to the truth. Understandable you say? Anyone would be fooled? It's possible in that scenario but with Jesus the truth is there for all to see if they would just desire to be with God, really desire to be Gods.
John
{8:48} Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
The people he was talking to were quick to turn it around on him, calling him a Samaritan, telling him he had a devil. Oh if only they really knew what they were doing. If only we really understood that even today we fuss over rules and regulations, we fuss over so much, rituals, ordinances, church statement of beliefs, sacraments, we get so caught up in so much that has very little to do with the truth. Not that those things are good in their place but they should never be the end all, Jesus is the beginning and the end of it all, He is the truth.
What did Jesus say to those accusing him of having a devil?
John
{8:49} Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me.
{8:50} And I seek not mine own glory there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
{8:51} Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
**
Never see death and what death is He talking of? The death that there is no returning from. Even Jesus died. All men die. Never seeing death means that Jesus defeated death at the cross. Death will not be a permanent sleep for those that die in Him, for those who keep His sayings. Death as the ultimate punishment is non-existence, and that death Jesus won the battle over. There is a death that all men face which is a sleep until judgment and then there is a permanent death which isn't something any will ever be woken from, it's being destroyed forever. Realizing these truths are so important. Jesus knew what he was saying then... read on...
John
{8:52} Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
{8:53} Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
**
They were amazed and you know the scriptures pointed to a Messiah, to one greater than Abraham and the prophets but there they were not believing any could be greater, and yet those they spoke of as great pointed to one greater. Amazing how blind they were. How blind we can become when we refuse to believe in the truth, to believe in God.
John
{8:54} Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
{8:55} Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
{8:56} Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
**
All glory to God! Jesus wasn't tooting his own horn trying to gain attention for himself in honor, not at all. He wasn't shouting and screaming and demanding glory from others, not at all. God honored Jesus, God honored His Son.
John
{8:57} Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
**
More confusion. You'd think they'd realize the Messiah would be of such that every word spoken was truth. That the Messiah they longed to come and save them would have to be from God, would have to have such oneness with God.
{8:58} Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
**
They couldn't understand. He was a lunatic to them, his words blasphemous, he was crazy to spout such things. They couldn't understand, it was as Jesus said, they didn't want God, not really. They wanted a form of religion that was more selfish than Godly. They followed their true father- the father of lies because the lies suited them so much better than the truth. They could understand lies, but they couldn't understand the truth.
John
{8:59} Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
**
How many people today would rather believe lies that Jesus? How many think they follow God but really serve Satan? Too many, way too many.
May God protect us from the lies of Satan, may we seek the truth, find the truth, follow the truth as it is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, by His Grace and Mercy forever!
Amen.
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