John
{6:26} Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
{6:27} Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
{6:28} Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
{6:29} Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
{6:30} They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
{6:31} Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
{6:32} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
{6:33} For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
{6:34} Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
{6:35} And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
{6:36} But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
{6:37} All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
{6:38} For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
{6:39} And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
{6:40} And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:41} The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
{6:42} And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came
down from heaven?
{6:43} Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
{6:44} No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:45} It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the
Father, cometh unto me.
{6:46} Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
{6:47} Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
{6:48} I am that bread of life.
{6:49} Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
{6:50} This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
{6:51} I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
{6:52} The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?
{6:53} Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
{6:54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
{6:56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
{6:57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
{6:58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
{6:59} These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
{6:60} Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this,] said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
{6:61} When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
{6:62} [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
{6:63} It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
{6:64} But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should
betray him.
{6:65} And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father
**
Luke {4:4} And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Deut. {8:1} All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers.
{8:2} And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, [and] to prove thee, to know what [was] in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
{8:3} And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
God fed His people with a source of food unlike any other that ever existed, unlike any they'd ever known. Food that rained down from heaven- who ever heard of such a thing? And yet it was true. God fed His people. God wanted His people to realize that HE was their source of life. He and He alone saved them from a life of bondage and once He'd set them free He continued to keep them alive. Isn't that the way... we are set free when we accept Jesus as our Savior and then we need to be kept alive in Christ as we continue on in our lives. So that the children of God didn't forget who their source of life was, God fed them food from heaven. Daily, day in and day out they ate of the bread from heaven. Day in and day out they knew that it was only by the grace of God they were kept alive. It was God who supplied what they needed to live and it is God that provides us with what we need to live eternally.
In the end it is eternal life we live for. Jesus came to make that point real to us. Jesus came and made the point so well that only the spiritually blind can't see it. Jesus came to give life eternal, not life here and now, but life everlasting. Our minds are to be taken off life here and now except to realize that it is in this life that we accept that life eternal. Once we accept life eternal as ours through Jesus Christ we truly begin to live.
When Jesus talks of being the bread of life, of having the blood we must drink to live He even goes on to say this-- John {6:63} It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
The very flesh He said we must eat to live He goes on to explain- the flesh profiteth nothing... 'the WORDS THAT I SPEAK UNTO YOU THEY ARE SPIRIT AND THEY ARE LIFE'
God's lesson in the wilderness was given so that His people would realize that they were alive by His word. The manna was of God. They ate and they lived.
The flesh and blood of Jesus is Jesus giving us His life, telling us that HIS WORDS are spirit and life. We have to accept Jesus' death and His life for us, we have to believe on His words. We have to trust in Him and Him alone if we are to live. If we don't accept all of Jesus we won't have life, we won't live. Just like a person cannot live without food, they cannot live eternally without Jesus. If we think we can have eternal life without Jesus we are wrong and we'll die. Do we have to eat Jesus' actual flesh and drink His actual blood? No. That wasn't what He was saying in truth, but only those that truly love Him can truly understand the meanings of His words. We are to always and forever remember that our lives are sustained by the life and death of our Lord and Savior. We are to never forget, never. And by equating our eating and drinking with accepting the life and death of Jesus is something we can never forget. Each time we eat and drink we are doing so and it is keeping us alive. We are to be kept alive eternally by eating and drinking of all Jesus offers to us, His life, His love, His forgiveness, His death for us. He is our sustainer in all things eternal and by no other are we to live now or forever, only Him.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we forever live in the perpetual acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as our Savior. In His love!
Amen.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Travailing in Birth
Galations {4:19} My little
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you,
Interesing choice of words here. Paul speaking to the Galations saying... my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
Jesus told us we had to be born again. Born of water and Spirit.
We are told in Peter that we are born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible.
John {3:3}
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. {3:4} Nicodemus saith unto him, How can
a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother’s womb, and be born? {3:5} Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. {3:6} That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {3:7}
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
1 Pet. {1:23}
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
for ever. {1:24} 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: {1:25} But the word of the
Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
When Paul says he travails with them in birth, he's talking about how a Christian lives as Christ is being formed within them.
Colossians {1:27} To whom God would make known what [is]
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Christ being formed in us.
As a baby is formed in a mother's womb the mother of a normal, healthy pregnancy feels little pain. It's the birth that brings the travail. When Christ says we must be born again it is a travailing time.
Dictionary Def.
travail
travail (tre-vâl´, tràv´âl´) noun
1. Work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil. See synonyms at work.
2. Tribulation or agony; anguish.
3. The labor of childbirth.
verb, intransitive
travailed, travailing, travails
1. To work strenuously; toil.
2. To be in the labor of childbirth.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Being a Christian, accepting Christ into our lives is asking to be born again- asking to travail and be birthed until Christ is formed in us. It's not instantaneous. Christ is being formed in our lives, we are being born of Spirit, born of the Word of God and this is a process that isn't easy, but very painful in many ways. Painful to our natural self. The self we have to let die to have Christ in us. The pain is real and we live it every day. We travail as the old creatures in us are done away with and the new creatures are being formed. Day to day we travail and recognizing that our lives are but one more process of growth that we must go through to be Christs is something important. As babes in a womb we are not fully formed. As young children we are not fully formed. We like to think as adults we are fully formed and yet we are not and the only way to keep growing is to accept Christ's love into our lives, accept His grace and His wondrous forgiveness, His mercy. As we keep growing once we accept Christ the growth process isn't something that is accomplished instantly, but each of us has our own growth process as Christians just as we do as people. I may have been a delayed walker while you may have first walked at 9 months. We grow constantly at different rates in body and in Spirit. We have to accept our lives as the Spiritual growing process, the travail as we seek to be born of the Spirit. When Christ comes again then we will complete our birthing in Him, becoming the new creatures He's always meant us to be.
So, while we suffer now and rightly so- in many and varied ways- it will result in the birth of wonder in God transforming us.
May God bless and keep us in Him as we seek to have Christ formed in us. May the suffering we experience now be realized when Jesus comes again and we are finally, fully, completely birthed into the new creatures of the Spirit, His creatures. By His glory! All praise unto Him now and ever!
Amen.
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you,
Interesing choice of words here. Paul speaking to the Galations saying... my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
Jesus told us we had to be born again. Born of water and Spirit.
We are told in Peter that we are born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible.
John {3:3}
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. {3:4} Nicodemus saith unto him, How can
a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time
into his mother’s womb, and be born? {3:5} Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. {3:6} That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. {3:7}
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
1 Pet. {1:23}
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
for ever. {1:24} 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: {1:25} But the word of the
Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you.
When Paul says he travails with them in birth, he's talking about how a Christian lives as Christ is being formed within them.
Colossians {1:27} To whom God would make known what [is]
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory
Christ being formed in us.
As a baby is formed in a mother's womb the mother of a normal, healthy pregnancy feels little pain. It's the birth that brings the travail. When Christ says we must be born again it is a travailing time.
Dictionary Def.
travail
travail (tre-vâl´, tràv´âl´) noun
1. Work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil. See synonyms at work.
2. Tribulation or agony; anguish.
3. The labor of childbirth.
verb, intransitive
travailed, travailing, travails
1. To work strenuously; toil.
2. To be in the labor of childbirth.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
Being a Christian, accepting Christ into our lives is asking to be born again- asking to travail and be birthed until Christ is formed in us. It's not instantaneous. Christ is being formed in our lives, we are being born of Spirit, born of the Word of God and this is a process that isn't easy, but very painful in many ways. Painful to our natural self. The self we have to let die to have Christ in us. The pain is real and we live it every day. We travail as the old creatures in us are done away with and the new creatures are being formed. Day to day we travail and recognizing that our lives are but one more process of growth that we must go through to be Christs is something important. As babes in a womb we are not fully formed. As young children we are not fully formed. We like to think as adults we are fully formed and yet we are not and the only way to keep growing is to accept Christ's love into our lives, accept His grace and His wondrous forgiveness, His mercy. As we keep growing once we accept Christ the growth process isn't something that is accomplished instantly, but each of us has our own growth process as Christians just as we do as people. I may have been a delayed walker while you may have first walked at 9 months. We grow constantly at different rates in body and in Spirit. We have to accept our lives as the Spiritual growing process, the travail as we seek to be born of the Spirit. When Christ comes again then we will complete our birthing in Him, becoming the new creatures He's always meant us to be.
So, while we suffer now and rightly so- in many and varied ways- it will result in the birth of wonder in God transforming us.
May God bless and keep us in Him as we seek to have Christ formed in us. May the suffering we experience now be realized when Jesus comes again and we are finally, fully, completely birthed into the new creatures of the Spirit, His creatures. By His glory! All praise unto Him now and ever!
Amen.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found
Isaiah
{55:6} Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near
***
We need to seek the Lord.
We need to call upon the Lord.
We need to put ourselves out there so to speak. Many people don't put themselves out there. They don't seek, but rather expect to be sought.
We need God to live, God doesn't need us to live. Long before we were, He was. We are His creation and sometimes, often we forget that. And we are a wicked people if we can forget something so amazing. Our very breath comes from God. Our very heart beat comes from God. Maybe we're not always thrilled with our lives. Some people are born with defects that make them curse God and yet they have a chance to praise Him for His giving them life and knowing that one day, should they choose to worship and love Him, He will take away all their imperfections and give them glory they can't even realize. Easy to say, I know, I know-- very hard to do. We are so turned inward to ourselves that nothing else seems to matter but us and how we feel, what we think, what we want, what we know, we could careless about other things except as they affect our lives. Sure we can help others but how many people do so because they want the recognition, the glory for their helping? Selflessness is so important and until we realize that and make it a reality in our lives we'll forever be chained down to ourselves and not looking to God. God will help us become the selfless creatures that we need to become, but only if we seek Him- only if we call upon Him.
Isa. {55:7} Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
We need to forsake our wicked ways, we need to forsake our unrighteous thoughts- we need to return to the Lord and find mercy and pardon in Him.
{55:8} For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
God's thoughts and His ways are not our thoughts and ways. He is past our understanding and by faith we have to believe that He knows what is best for us beyond anything we could ever imagine.
{55:9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
{55:10} For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
{55:11} So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
{55:12} For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
{55:13} Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the
LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
{56:1} Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. {56:2} Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
We are giving blessings from God for following His ways. We have to do the following, that is our part. We have to do the seeking, the calling, it is our part to seek and follow, to call to God. We can't do nothing and hope it happens. We have a part to play. Is it a works? No. It's by the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever, only by Him that we will ever become one with Him, fully with Him and through Him with the Father. May the Holy Spirit guide us and as we seek may He take over and make our miniscule effort into something amazingly wonderful, something beyond our comprehension.
In Christ forever!
Amen.
{55:6} Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near
***
We need to seek the Lord.
We need to call upon the Lord.
We need to put ourselves out there so to speak. Many people don't put themselves out there. They don't seek, but rather expect to be sought.
We need God to live, God doesn't need us to live. Long before we were, He was. We are His creation and sometimes, often we forget that. And we are a wicked people if we can forget something so amazing. Our very breath comes from God. Our very heart beat comes from God. Maybe we're not always thrilled with our lives. Some people are born with defects that make them curse God and yet they have a chance to praise Him for His giving them life and knowing that one day, should they choose to worship and love Him, He will take away all their imperfections and give them glory they can't even realize. Easy to say, I know, I know-- very hard to do. We are so turned inward to ourselves that nothing else seems to matter but us and how we feel, what we think, what we want, what we know, we could careless about other things except as they affect our lives. Sure we can help others but how many people do so because they want the recognition, the glory for their helping? Selflessness is so important and until we realize that and make it a reality in our lives we'll forever be chained down to ourselves and not looking to God. God will help us become the selfless creatures that we need to become, but only if we seek Him- only if we call upon Him.
Isa. {55:7} Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
We need to forsake our wicked ways, we need to forsake our unrighteous thoughts- we need to return to the Lord and find mercy and pardon in Him.
{55:8} For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
God's thoughts and His ways are not our thoughts and ways. He is past our understanding and by faith we have to believe that He knows what is best for us beyond anything we could ever imagine.
{55:9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
{55:10} For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater
{55:11} So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
{55:12} For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
{55:13} Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the
LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
{56:1} Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. {56:2} Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
We are giving blessings from God for following His ways. We have to do the following, that is our part. We have to do the seeking, the calling, it is our part to seek and follow, to call to God. We can't do nothing and hope it happens. We have a part to play. Is it a works? No. It's by the Grace and Mercy of our Lord and Savior, now and forever, only by Him that we will ever become one with Him, fully with Him and through Him with the Father. May the Holy Spirit guide us and as we seek may He take over and make our miniscule effort into something amazingly wonderful, something beyond our comprehension.
In Christ forever!
Amen.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Perfect
PERFECT (pûr´fîkt) adjective
Abbr. perf.
1.Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind.
2.Being without defect or blemish: a PERFECT specimen.
3.Thoroughly skilled or talented in a certain field or area; proficient.
4.Completely suited for a particular purpose or situation: She was the PERFECT actress for the part.
5.a. Completely corresponding to a description, standard, or type: a PERFECT circle; a PERFECT gentleman. b. Accurately reproducing an original: a PERFECT copy of the painting.
6.Complete; thorough; utter: a PERFECT fool.
7.Pure; undiluted; unmixed: PERFECT red.
8.Excellent and delightful in all respects: a PERFECT day.
9.Botany. Having both stamens and pistils in the same flower; monoclinous.
10.Grammar. Of, relating to, or constituting a verb form expressing action completed prior to a fixed point of reference in time.
11.Music. a. Designating the three basic intervals of the octave, fourth, and fifth. b. Designating a cadence or chord progression from the dominant to the tonic at the end of a phrase or piece of music.
noun
Abbr. perf.
1.Grammar. The PERFECT tense.
2.A verb or verb form in the PERFECT tense.
verb, transitive
PERFECTed, PERFECTing, PERFECTs (per-fèkt´)
To bring to PERFECTion or completion.
[Middle English perfit, from Old French parfit, from Latin PERFECTus, past participle of perficere, to finish : per-, per- + facere, to do.]
- PERFECT´er noun
- per´fectness noun
Synonyms: PERFECT, consummate, faultless, flawless, impeccable. The central meaning shared by these adjectives is "being wholly without flaw": a PERFECT diamond; a consummate performer; faultless logic; a flawless instrumental technique; speaks impeccable French.
Antonyms: imPERFECT.
Usage Note: PERFECT has often been described as an absolute term like chief and prime, hence not allowing modification by more, quite, relatively, and other qualifiers of degree. But the qualification of PERFECT has numerous reputable precedents (most notably in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution in the phrase "in order to form a more PERFECT Union"). What is more, the stricture is philosophically dubious. There can be no mathematically PERFECT forms in nature; therefore to say that any actual circle is "PERFECT" can mean only that it approximates the geometric ideal of circularity, a quality that it can obviously have to a greater or lesser degree. By the same token, PERFECT freely allows comparison in examples such as There could be no more PERFECT spot for the picnic, where it is used to mean "ideal for the purposes." See Usage Note at complete, equal, parallel, unique.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
*******
Nave's Topcial Dict.
PERFECTION
-(Moral completeness) -Ascribed to .Noah #Ge 6:8,9| .Jacob #Nu 23:21| .David #1Ki 11:4,6| .Asa #1Ki 15:14| .Job #Job 1:1| .Zacharias and Elizabeth #Lu 1:6| .Nathanael #Joh 1:47|
.See GOD, PERFECTION OF .See HOLINESS .See SANTIFICATION
*******
R.A. Torrey's New Topical Textbook-
PERFECTION
- Is of God Ps 18:32; 138:8
- All saints have, in Christ 1Co 2:6; Php 3:15; Col 2:10
- God's PERFECTion the standard of Mt 5:48
- IMPLIES . Entire devotedness Mt 19:21 . Purity and holiness in speech Jas 3:2
- Saints commanded to aim at Ge 17:1; De 18:13
- Saints claim not Job 9:20; Php 3:12
- Saints follow after Pr 4:18; Php 3:12
- Ministers appointed to lead saints to Eph 4:12; Col 1:28
- Exhortation to 2Co 7:1; 13:11
- Impossibility of attaining to 2Ch 6:36; Ps 119:96
- THE WORD OF GOD IS . The rule of Jas 1:25 . Designed to lead us to 2Ti 3:16,17
- Charity is the bond of Col 3:14
- Patience leads to Jas 1:4
- Pray for Heb 13:20,21; 1Pe 5:10
- The Church shall attain to Joh 17:23; Eph 4:13
- Blessedness of Ps 37:37; Pr 2:21
*******
PERFECTION-IMPERFECTION
(A) PERFECTION
(1) Some Essential Elements of Benevolence Mt 19:21 Love Col 3:14 Good Works Jas 2:22 Control of the Tongue Jas 3:2 Obedience 1Jo 2:5; 4:12
(2) The Duty of Striving after Ge 17:1; De 18:13; 1Ki 8:61; Mt 5:48; 2Co 13:11 Eph 4:13; Php 3:15; Col 1:28; 2Ti 3:17; Heb 6:1; 13:21 Jas 1:4; 1Pe 5:10
--SEE Spiritual Growth, DEVELOPMENT
(B) PERFECTION DIVINE, of God De 32:4; 2Sa 22:31; Ps 18:30; Ec 3:14; Mt 5:48
--SEE God's Holiness, HOLINESS God's Righteousness, RIGHTEOUSNESS God of Truth, TRUTH Divine Excellencies, EXCELLENCIES, DIVINE
(C) CHRIST'S PERFECTION Joh 1:14; 19:4; Heb 2:10; 5:9; 7:28
--SEE Fulness of Christ, FULNESS
(D) CHRIST'S SINLESSNESS, general references to Isa 53:9; Lu 23:41; Joh 8:46; 2Co 5:21; Heb 1:9; 4:15 Heb 7:26; 9:14; 1Pe 1:19; 2:22; 1Jo 3:5
--SEE Righteousness
(2) RIGHTEOUSNESS
(E) IMPERFECTION, HUMAN
(1) General References to Job 9:20; Ec 7:20; Php 3:12; Jas 3:2; Re 3:2
--SEE Unbelief
(1), UNBELIEF Sin, SIN Half-heartedness, INDIFFERENCE
(2) Exemplified in the Lives of the Best Men Ge 20:2; Nu 20:12; 1Ki 3:3; 22:43; 2Ch 16:12; Jon 1:3 Lu 9:54; 22:24; Ga 2:13
--SEE Deception, FALSEHOOD Sin Universal, SIN
*******
Genesis 6:9
9 ¶ These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and PERFECT in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Genesis 17:1
1And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou PERFECT.
Leviticus 22:21
21And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be PERFECT to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
Deuteronomy 18:13
13Thou shalt be PERFECT with the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 25:15
15But thou shalt have a PERFECT and just weight, a PERFECT and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deuteronomy 32:4
4He is the Rock, his work is PERFECT: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
1 Samuel 14:41
41Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a PERFECT lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.
2 Samuel 22:31
31As for God, his way is PERFECT; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
2 Samuel 22:33
33God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way PERFECT.
1 Kings 8:61
61Let your heart therefore be PERFECT with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
1 Kings 11:4
4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not PERFECT with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 15:3
3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not PERFECT with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 15:14
14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was PERFECT with the LORD all his days.
2 Kings 20:3
3I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a PERFECT heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
1 Chronicles 12:38
38All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a PERFECT heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.
1 Chronicles 28:9
9 ¶ And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a PERFECT heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
1 Chronicles 29:9
9Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with PERFECT heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
1 Chronicles 29:19
19And give unto Solomon my son a PERFECT heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.
2 Chronicles 4:21
21And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that PERFECT gold
2 Chronicles 15:17
17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was PERFECT all his days.
2 Chronicles 16:9
9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is PERFECT toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
2 Chronicles 19:9
9And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a PERFECT heart.
2 Chronicles 25:2
2And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a PERFECT heart.
Ezra 7:12
12Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, PERFECT peace, and at such a time.
Job 1:1
1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was PERFECT and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Job 1:8
8And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a PERFECT and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 2:3
3And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a PERFECT and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Job 8:20
20Behold, God will not cast away a PERFECT man, neither will he help the evil doers
Job 9:20-22
20If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am PERFECT, it shall also prove me perverse. 21Though I were PERFECT, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life. 22This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the PERFECT and the wicked.
Job 22:3
3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways PERFECT?
Job 36:4
4For truly my words shall not be false: he that is PERFECT in knowledge is with thee.
Job 37:16
16Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is PERFECT in knowledge?
Psalms 18:30
30As for God, his way is PERFECT: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
Psalms 18:32
32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way PERFECT.
Psalms 19:7
7The law of the LORD is PERFECT, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalms 37:37
37Mark the PERFECT man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Psalms 64:4
4That they may shoot in secret at the PERFECT: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
Psalms 101:2
2I will behave myself wisely in a PERFECT way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a PERFECT heart.
Psalms 101:6
6Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a PERFECT way, he shall serve me.
Psalms 138:8
8The LORD will PERFECT that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Psalms 139:22
22I hate them with PERFECT hatred: I count them mine enemies.
Proverbs 2:21
21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the PERFECT shall remain in it.
Proverbs 4:18
18But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the PERFECT day.
Proverbs 11:5
5The righteousness of the PERFECT shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
Isaiah 18:5
5For afore the harvest, when the bud is PERFECT, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
Isaiah 26:3
3Thou wilt keep him in PERFECT peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 38:3
3And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a PERFECT heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Isaiah 42:19
19Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is PERFECT, and blind as the LORD'S servant?
Ezekiel 16:14
14And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was PERFECT through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 27:3
3And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of PERFECT beauty.
Ezekiel 27:11
11The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty PERFECT.
Ezekiel 28:12
12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and PERFECT in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:15
15Thou wast PERFECT in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Matthew 5:48
48Be ye therefore PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is PERFECT.
Matthew 19:21
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be PERFECT, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Luke 1:3
3It seemed good to me also, having had PERFECT understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
Luke 6:40
40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is PERFECT shall be as his master.
John 17:23
23I 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.
Acts 3:16
16And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this PERFECT soundness in the presence of you all.
Acts 22:3
3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the PERFECT manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
Acts 24:22
22 And when Felix heard these things, having more PERFECT knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
Romans 12:2
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.
1 Corinthians 2:6
6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are PERFECT: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought
1 Corinthians 13:10
10But when that which is PERFECT is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
2 Corinthians 12:9
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made PERFECT in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be PERFECT, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Galatians 3:3
3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made PERFECT by the flesh?
Ephesians 4:13
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a PERFECT man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Philippians 3:12
12Not as though I had already attained, either were already PERFECT: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:15
15Let us therefore, as many as be PERFECT, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Colossians 1:28
28Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man PERFECT in Christ Jesus:
Colossians 4:12
12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand PERFECT and complete in all the will of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:10
10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might PERFECT that which is lacking in your faith?
2 Timothy 3:17
17 That the man of God may be PERFECT, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Hebrews 2:10
10For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation PERFECT through sufferings.
Hebrews 5:9
9And being made PERFECT, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Hebrews 7:19
19For the law made nothing PERFECT, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
Hebrews 9:9
9Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service PERFECT, as pertaining to the conscience;
Hebrews 9:11
11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more PERFECT tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Hebrews 10:1
1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto PERFECT.
Hebrews 11:40
40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made PERFECT.
Hebrews 12:23
23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made PERFECT,
Hebrews 13:21
21Make you PERFECT in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
James 1:4
4 But let patience have her PERFECT work, that ye may be PERFECT and entire, wanting nothing.
James 1:17
17Every good gift and every PERFECT gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:25
25 But whoso looketh into the PERFECT law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
James 2:22
22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made PERFECT?
James 3:2
2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a PERFECT man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
1 Peter 5:10
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you PERFECT, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
1 John 4:17-18
17Herein is our love made PERFECT, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but PERFECT love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made PERFECT in love.
Revelation of John 3:2
2Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works PERFECT before God.
PERFECTION
Job 11:7
7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto PERFECTion?
Job 15:29
29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the PERFECTion thereof upon the earth.
Job 28:3
3He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all PERFECTion: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
Psalms 50:2
2Out of Zion, the PERFECTion of beauty, God hath shined.
Psalms 119:96
96I have seen an end of all PERFECTion: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Isaiah 47:9
9But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their PERFECTion for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
Lamentations 2:15
15All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The PERFECTion of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
Luke 8:14
14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to PERFECTion.
2 Corinthians 13:9
9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your PERFECTion.
Hebrews 6:1
1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto PERFECTion; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Hebrews 7:11
11If therefore PERFECTion were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
PERFECTED
2 Chronicles 8:16
16Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was PERFECTed.
2 Chronicles 24:13
13So the workmen wrought, and the work was PERFECTed by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
Ezekiel 27:4
4Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have PERFECTed thy beauty.
Matthew 21:16
16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast PERFECTed praise?
Luke 13:32
32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be PERFECTed.
Hebrews 10:14
14For by one offering he hath PERFECTed for ever them that are sanctified.
1 John 2:5
5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God PERFECTed: hereby know we that we are in him.
1 John 4:12
12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is PERFECTed in us.
PERFECTING
2 Corinthians 7:1
1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTing holiness in the fear of God.
Ephesians 4:12
12 For the PERFECTing of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
Abbr. perf.
1.Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind.
2.Being without defect or blemish: a PERFECT specimen.
3.Thoroughly skilled or talented in a certain field or area; proficient.
4.Completely suited for a particular purpose or situation: She was the PERFECT actress for the part.
5.a. Completely corresponding to a description, standard, or type: a PERFECT circle; a PERFECT gentleman. b. Accurately reproducing an original: a PERFECT copy of the painting.
6.Complete; thorough; utter: a PERFECT fool.
7.Pure; undiluted; unmixed: PERFECT red.
8.Excellent and delightful in all respects: a PERFECT day.
9.Botany. Having both stamens and pistils in the same flower; monoclinous.
10.Grammar. Of, relating to, or constituting a verb form expressing action completed prior to a fixed point of reference in time.
11.Music. a. Designating the three basic intervals of the octave, fourth, and fifth. b. Designating a cadence or chord progression from the dominant to the tonic at the end of a phrase or piece of music.
noun
Abbr. perf.
1.Grammar. The PERFECT tense.
2.A verb or verb form in the PERFECT tense.
verb, transitive
PERFECTed, PERFECTing, PERFECTs (per-fèkt´)
To bring to PERFECTion or completion.
[Middle English perfit, from Old French parfit, from Latin PERFECTus, past participle of perficere, to finish : per-, per- + facere, to do.]
- PERFECT´er noun
- per´fectness noun
Synonyms: PERFECT, consummate, faultless, flawless, impeccable. The central meaning shared by these adjectives is "being wholly without flaw": a PERFECT diamond; a consummate performer; faultless logic; a flawless instrumental technique; speaks impeccable French.
Antonyms: imPERFECT.
Usage Note: PERFECT has often been described as an absolute term like chief and prime, hence not allowing modification by more, quite, relatively, and other qualifiers of degree. But the qualification of PERFECT has numerous reputable precedents (most notably in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution in the phrase "in order to form a more PERFECT Union"). What is more, the stricture is philosophically dubious. There can be no mathematically PERFECT forms in nature; therefore to say that any actual circle is "PERFECT" can mean only that it approximates the geometric ideal of circularity, a quality that it can obviously have to a greater or lesser degree. By the same token, PERFECT freely allows comparison in examples such as There could be no more PERFECT spot for the picnic, where it is used to mean "ideal for the purposes." See Usage Note at complete, equal, parallel, unique.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
*******
Nave's Topcial Dict.
PERFECTION
-(Moral completeness) -Ascribed to .Noah #Ge 6:8,9| .Jacob #Nu 23:21| .David #1Ki 11:4,6| .Asa #1Ki 15:14| .Job #Job 1:1| .Zacharias and Elizabeth #Lu 1:6| .Nathanael #Joh 1:47|
.See GOD, PERFECTION OF .See HOLINESS .See SANTIFICATION
*******
R.A. Torrey's New Topical Textbook-
PERFECTION
- Is of God Ps 18:32; 138:8
- All saints have, in Christ 1Co 2:6; Php 3:15; Col 2:10
- God's PERFECTion the standard of Mt 5:48
- IMPLIES . Entire devotedness Mt 19:21 . Purity and holiness in speech Jas 3:2
- Saints commanded to aim at Ge 17:1; De 18:13
- Saints claim not Job 9:20; Php 3:12
- Saints follow after Pr 4:18; Php 3:12
- Ministers appointed to lead saints to Eph 4:12; Col 1:28
- Exhortation to 2Co 7:1; 13:11
- Impossibility of attaining to 2Ch 6:36; Ps 119:96
- THE WORD OF GOD IS . The rule of Jas 1:25 . Designed to lead us to 2Ti 3:16,17
- Charity is the bond of Col 3:14
- Patience leads to Jas 1:4
- Pray for Heb 13:20,21; 1Pe 5:10
- The Church shall attain to Joh 17:23; Eph 4:13
- Blessedness of Ps 37:37; Pr 2:21
*******
PERFECTION-IMPERFECTION
(A) PERFECTION
(1) Some Essential Elements of Benevolence Mt 19:21 Love Col 3:14 Good Works Jas 2:22 Control of the Tongue Jas 3:2 Obedience 1Jo 2:5; 4:12
(2) The Duty of Striving after Ge 17:1; De 18:13; 1Ki 8:61; Mt 5:48; 2Co 13:11 Eph 4:13; Php 3:15; Col 1:28; 2Ti 3:17; Heb 6:1; 13:21 Jas 1:4; 1Pe 5:10
--SEE Spiritual Growth, DEVELOPMENT
(B) PERFECTION DIVINE, of God De 32:4; 2Sa 22:31; Ps 18:30; Ec 3:14; Mt 5:48
--SEE God's Holiness, HOLINESS God's Righteousness, RIGHTEOUSNESS God of Truth, TRUTH Divine Excellencies, EXCELLENCIES, DIVINE
(C) CHRIST'S PERFECTION Joh 1:14; 19:4; Heb 2:10; 5:9; 7:28
--SEE Fulness of Christ, FULNESS
(D) CHRIST'S SINLESSNESS, general references to Isa 53:9; Lu 23:41; Joh 8:46; 2Co 5:21; Heb 1:9; 4:15 Heb 7:26; 9:14; 1Pe 1:19; 2:22; 1Jo 3:5
--SEE Righteousness
(2) RIGHTEOUSNESS
(E) IMPERFECTION, HUMAN
(1) General References to Job 9:20; Ec 7:20; Php 3:12; Jas 3:2; Re 3:2
--SEE Unbelief
(1), UNBELIEF Sin, SIN Half-heartedness, INDIFFERENCE
(2) Exemplified in the Lives of the Best Men Ge 20:2; Nu 20:12; 1Ki 3:3; 22:43; 2Ch 16:12; Jon 1:3 Lu 9:54; 22:24; Ga 2:13
--SEE Deception, FALSEHOOD Sin Universal, SIN
*******
Genesis 6:9
9 ¶ These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and PERFECT in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
Genesis 17:1
1And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou PERFECT.
Leviticus 22:21
21And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be PERFECT to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
Deuteronomy 18:13
13Thou shalt be PERFECT with the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 25:15
15But thou shalt have a PERFECT and just weight, a PERFECT and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deuteronomy 32:4
4He is the Rock, his work is PERFECT: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
1 Samuel 14:41
41Therefore Saul said unto the LORD God of Israel, Give a PERFECT lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.
2 Samuel 22:31
31As for God, his way is PERFECT; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
2 Samuel 22:33
33God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way PERFECT.
1 Kings 8:61
61Let your heart therefore be PERFECT with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
1 Kings 11:4
4For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not PERFECT with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 15:3
3And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not PERFECT with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.
1 Kings 15:14
14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was PERFECT with the LORD all his days.
2 Kings 20:3
3I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a PERFECT heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
1 Chronicles 12:38
38All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a PERFECT heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.
1 Chronicles 28:9
9 ¶ And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a PERFECT heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
1 Chronicles 29:9
9Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with PERFECT heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.
1 Chronicles 29:19
19And give unto Solomon my son a PERFECT heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.
2 Chronicles 4:21
21And the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, made he of gold, and that PERFECT gold
2 Chronicles 15:17
17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was PERFECT all his days.
2 Chronicles 16:9
9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is PERFECT toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
2 Chronicles 19:9
9And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a PERFECT heart.
2 Chronicles 25:2
2And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a PERFECT heart.
Ezra 7:12
12Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, PERFECT peace, and at such a time.
Job 1:1
1There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was PERFECT and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
Job 1:8
8And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a PERFECT and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Job 2:3
3And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a PERFECT and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
Job 8:20
20Behold, God will not cast away a PERFECT man, neither will he help the evil doers
Job 9:20-22
20If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am PERFECT, it shall also prove me perverse. 21Though I were PERFECT, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life. 22This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the PERFECT and the wicked.
Job 22:3
3Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways PERFECT?
Job 36:4
4For truly my words shall not be false: he that is PERFECT in knowledge is with thee.
Job 37:16
16Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is PERFECT in knowledge?
Psalms 18:30
30As for God, his way is PERFECT: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
Psalms 18:32
32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way PERFECT.
Psalms 19:7
7The law of the LORD is PERFECT, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalms 37:37
37Mark the PERFECT man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
Psalms 64:4
4That they may shoot in secret at the PERFECT: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
Psalms 101:2
2I will behave myself wisely in a PERFECT way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a PERFECT heart.
Psalms 101:6
6Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a PERFECT way, he shall serve me.
Psalms 138:8
8The LORD will PERFECT that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.
Psalms 139:22
22I hate them with PERFECT hatred: I count them mine enemies.
Proverbs 2:21
21For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the PERFECT shall remain in it.
Proverbs 4:18
18But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the PERFECT day.
Proverbs 11:5
5The righteousness of the PERFECT shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
Isaiah 18:5
5For afore the harvest, when the bud is PERFECT, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches.
Isaiah 26:3
3Thou wilt keep him in PERFECT peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 38:3
3And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a PERFECT heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Isaiah 42:19
19Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is PERFECT, and blind as the LORD'S servant?
Ezekiel 16:14
14And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was PERFECT through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Ezekiel 27:3
3And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of PERFECT beauty.
Ezekiel 27:11
11The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty PERFECT.
Ezekiel 28:12
12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and PERFECT in beauty.
Ezekiel 28:15
15Thou wast PERFECT in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Matthew 5:48
48Be ye therefore PERFECT, even as your Father which is in heaven is PERFECT.
Matthew 19:21
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be PERFECT, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Luke 1:3
3It seemed good to me also, having had PERFECT understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
Luke 6:40
40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is PERFECT shall be as his master.
John 17:23
23I 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.
Acts 3:16
16And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this PERFECT soundness in the presence of you all.
Acts 22:3
3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the PERFECT manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
Acts 24:22
22 And when Felix heard these things, having more PERFECT knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.
Romans 12:2
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.
1 Corinthians 2:6
6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are PERFECT: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought
1 Corinthians 13:10
10But when that which is PERFECT is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
2 Corinthians 12:9
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made PERFECT in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 13:11
11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be PERFECT, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
Galatians 3:3
3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made PERFECT by the flesh?
Ephesians 4:13
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a PERFECT man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Philippians 3:12
12Not as though I had already attained, either were already PERFECT: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:15
15Let us therefore, as many as be PERFECT, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Colossians 1:28
28Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man PERFECT in Christ Jesus:
Colossians 4:12
12Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand PERFECT and complete in all the will of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:10
10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might PERFECT that which is lacking in your faith?
2 Timothy 3:17
17 That the man of God may be PERFECT, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Hebrews 2:10
10For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation PERFECT through sufferings.
Hebrews 5:9
9And being made PERFECT, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
Hebrews 7:19
19For the law made nothing PERFECT, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
Hebrews 9:9
9Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service PERFECT, as pertaining to the conscience;
Hebrews 9:11
11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more PERFECT tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
Hebrews 10:1
1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto PERFECT.
Hebrews 11:40
40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made PERFECT.
Hebrews 12:23
23To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made PERFECT,
Hebrews 13:21
21Make you PERFECT in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
James 1:4
4 But let patience have her PERFECT work, that ye may be PERFECT and entire, wanting nothing.
James 1:17
17Every good gift and every PERFECT gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
James 1:25
25 But whoso looketh into the PERFECT law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.
James 2:22
22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made PERFECT?
James 3:2
2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a PERFECT man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
1 Peter 5:10
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you PERFECT, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
1 John 4:17-18
17Herein is our love made PERFECT, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love; but PERFECT love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made PERFECT in love.
Revelation of John 3:2
2Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works PERFECT before God.
PERFECTION
Job 11:7
7Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto PERFECTion?
Job 15:29
29He shall not be rich, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he prolong the PERFECTion thereof upon the earth.
Job 28:3
3He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all PERFECTion: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death.
Psalms 50:2
2Out of Zion, the PERFECTion of beauty, God hath shined.
Psalms 119:96
96I have seen an end of all PERFECTion: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
Isaiah 47:9
9But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their PERFECTion for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
Lamentations 2:15
15All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The PERFECTion of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?
Luke 8:14
14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to PERFECTion.
2 Corinthians 13:9
9 For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your PERFECTion.
Hebrews 6:1
1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto PERFECTion; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Hebrews 7:11
11If therefore PERFECTion were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?
PERFECTED
2 Chronicles 8:16
16Now all the work of Solomon was prepared unto the day of the foundation of the house of the LORD, and until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was PERFECTed.
2 Chronicles 24:13
13So the workmen wrought, and the work was PERFECTed by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
Ezekiel 27:4
4Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have PERFECTed thy beauty.
Matthew 21:16
16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast PERFECTed praise?
Luke 13:32
32 And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be PERFECTed.
Hebrews 10:14
14For by one offering he hath PERFECTed for ever them that are sanctified.
1 John 2:5
5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God PERFECTed: hereby know we that we are in him.
1 John 4:12
12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is PERFECTed in us.
PERFECTING
2 Corinthians 7:1
1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTing holiness in the fear of God.
Ephesians 4:12
12 For the PERFECTing of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ
Friday, July 17, 2009
Because they trust in God
Ps. {37:37} Mark the perfect [man,] and behold the upright: for the end of
[that] man [is] peace.
{37:38} But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of
the wicked shall be cut off.
{37:39} But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is]
their strength in the time of trouble.
{37:40} And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver
them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
The perfect man.
The upright man.
Peace.
Sinners destroyed.
Wicked cut off.
Salvation of the righteous of the Lord-
The Lord is their strength in the time of trouble.
The LORD shall help them
Deliver them
Delivered from the wicked.
Saved from the wicked.
Because they trust in God.
*
The Lord is their strength- not The Lord gives them strength. The LORD IS their strength. Having trust in God is the key. Without that trust nothing else matters.
Heb. {11:6} But
without faith [it is] impossible to please [him:] for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We shall be delivered, we shall be saved. The wicked may kill the flesh and blood in us but our Spirit - our breath of life returns to God. We are delivered. The Lords is our strength. The time of trouble is on its way and the only way to survive is by trusting in the Lord and His righteousness.
May God help us find our strength in Him, our trust in Him. May we diligently seek Christ, believing in Him now and forever.
By His mercy and grace.
Amen.
[that] man [is] peace.
{37:38} But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of
the wicked shall be cut off.
{37:39} But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is]
their strength in the time of trouble.
{37:40} And the LORD shall help them and deliver them: he shall deliver
them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
The perfect man.
The upright man.
Peace.
Sinners destroyed.
Wicked cut off.
Salvation of the righteous of the Lord-
The Lord is their strength in the time of trouble.
The LORD shall help them
Deliver them
Delivered from the wicked.
Saved from the wicked.
Because they trust in God.
*
The Lord is their strength- not The Lord gives them strength. The LORD IS their strength. Having trust in God is the key. Without that trust nothing else matters.
Heb. {11:6} But
without faith [it is] impossible to please [him:] for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
We shall be delivered, we shall be saved. The wicked may kill the flesh and blood in us but our Spirit - our breath of life returns to God. We are delivered. The Lords is our strength. The time of trouble is on its way and the only way to survive is by trusting in the Lord and His righteousness.
May God help us find our strength in Him, our trust in Him. May we diligently seek Christ, believing in Him now and forever.
By His mercy and grace.
Amen.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
With God all things are possible
Mark
{1:35} And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Jesus prayed.
Strange? No. Not strange and yet some people might think so because if Jesus, the Son of God, prayed that shows weakness and a need to commune with another and why would the Son of God show such weakness if He had power to do miracles and such? We often associate praying solely with the thought in mind of petitioning God for help in some way. We tell others to pray when they're in need. We tell them to pray for others that need help. Praying and need seem to go hand in hand and this isn't so far off because of our own selves we are nothing. Jesus said He does nothing of himself.
John
{8:28} Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he,] and [that] I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
{8:29} And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
'I do nothing of myself' Those are Jesus' own words! He does NOTHING of Himself, NOTHING. Jesus relied on God just as we need to rely on God. Jesus prayed, He communed with God all the time. He needed God, apart from God, Jesus had nothing. We need to pray. It's more important than we realize to have this communion with the Father. Why do we think we can get by without praying when Jesus Himself prayed all the time. Prayer gives us the strength of God. Not that we have any of the strength ourselves but we connect ourselves to God and through God all things are possible.
Mark {10:27} And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Jesus taught us this with His entire life holding true to this. Why we think we can do anything of ourselves is a trap that Satan wants us to hold fast to and not let go of. He wants us to flail and wail as life hands us hardship after hardship and we fail to meet the hardships and just let it overwhelm us. He wants us to look to ourselves and call ourselves failures and he also glories in our taking the credit for our successes. You hear people say- where was God when this or that happened. Basically where was God when I needed Him most. And yet throughout their lives as God has blessed them none of that matters, nothing. Satan will get us any way he can using everything he can and the bottom line is if he can break our faith in God to see us through no matter what comes our way, then he wins. Good or bad, worldly success or failure. The worse life, the best life through it all God is the same for all of us no matter what.
May God bless and keep us as we live. May our lives be realized ONLY in Him. May we pray to Him always. All by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior may we find all we need to survive all that life gives us - the good and the bad - and prepare us for life eternal in Jesus our Savior now and forever!
Amen.
{1:35} And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Jesus prayed.
Strange? No. Not strange and yet some people might think so because if Jesus, the Son of God, prayed that shows weakness and a need to commune with another and why would the Son of God show such weakness if He had power to do miracles and such? We often associate praying solely with the thought in mind of petitioning God for help in some way. We tell others to pray when they're in need. We tell them to pray for others that need help. Praying and need seem to go hand in hand and this isn't so far off because of our own selves we are nothing. Jesus said He does nothing of himself.
John
{8:28} Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am [he,] and [that] I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
{8:29} And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
'I do nothing of myself' Those are Jesus' own words! He does NOTHING of Himself, NOTHING. Jesus relied on God just as we need to rely on God. Jesus prayed, He communed with God all the time. He needed God, apart from God, Jesus had nothing. We need to pray. It's more important than we realize to have this communion with the Father. Why do we think we can get by without praying when Jesus Himself prayed all the time. Prayer gives us the strength of God. Not that we have any of the strength ourselves but we connect ourselves to God and through God all things are possible.
Mark {10:27} And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men [it is] impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Jesus taught us this with His entire life holding true to this. Why we think we can do anything of ourselves is a trap that Satan wants us to hold fast to and not let go of. He wants us to flail and wail as life hands us hardship after hardship and we fail to meet the hardships and just let it overwhelm us. He wants us to look to ourselves and call ourselves failures and he also glories in our taking the credit for our successes. You hear people say- where was God when this or that happened. Basically where was God when I needed Him most. And yet throughout their lives as God has blessed them none of that matters, nothing. Satan will get us any way he can using everything he can and the bottom line is if he can break our faith in God to see us through no matter what comes our way, then he wins. Good or bad, worldly success or failure. The worse life, the best life through it all God is the same for all of us no matter what.
May God bless and keep us as we live. May our lives be realized ONLY in Him. May we pray to Him always. All by the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior may we find all we need to survive all that life gives us - the good and the bad - and prepare us for life eternal in Jesus our Savior now and forever!
Amen.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew
{10:6} But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. {10:7} And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Apostles were charged to 'Go, preach.' Preach what? 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
The message is salvation through Jesus Christ, because only through salvation do we find the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven being ours is amazing! The promise of eternal life, amazing! The message being brought to the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel', at that time only the house of Israel was to be preached to- God's chosen was to get the message first. God's people who were entrenched in the rituals given to Moses so that they might have a way of being forgiven for their sins, a way to be reconciled to God. The outcome of being reconciled with God is to be made right with Him. To be His and His alone, nothing between the two, nothing separating us from God. The sacrificial system they'd been given represented daily the need to be reconciled with God, to have nothing, not a single sin standing between a person and God. The Israelites were blessed with this marvelous life, this chance and the out come of the reconciling was supposed to result in a permanently fixed relationship with God once the Messiah came to save the people from all their enemies, from all the hardships. The Messiah was to come and set the captive frees, heal the people, bring new life, new hope. They looked forward to the Messiah doing all this for them, raising them up to complete reconciliation with God, taking sin away.
We today live in a world where the Messiah came and did all that in the way of God's love- not man's love. Man's love is twisted and warped, it's full of getting not giving. Not that it isn't normal to desire to receive all the best from God, but God's love is about giving. The Messiah came and gave all that the people of Israel were promised but not in the way they expected.
Isn't that the trouble with a lot of things in life? We imagine things and expect things to happen in certain ways and we're unable to accept when they come to us in different ways. We want to make sense of things and we do that by keeping things in order. Chaos seems to come when we find things out of order to our natural way of thinking, with our expectations shot to pieces. So we try to reorder things, to put things back into order to make sense of them. Sometimes people can do that, other times they just want to do away with the reality of things and keep to their same plan of order wanting it to come in another way, in a future way where things make sense to them again.
Things not coming in the way we've imagined and expected in all truthfulness should be... expected. A paradox, yes, a paradox that leaves us going in circles if we're not careful. Expecting the unexpected. Some people are taught just that. They have it drilled into their heads to be prepared for anything, and yet as prepared as they become they are still surprised by situations. We can be prepared to a degree but only to a degree and then even the most prepare find the unexpected troublesome.
We'll continue to live a life of expectation, but we all really do need to be able to accept when the unexpected happens and to find the truth through any lies that might be present. Isn't that the most important thing of all? To accept that thing might not turn out how we imagine them, but have an open heart and mind to realize that whatever God's will may be that we'll find it through His love if we only seek to find Him and His way, always.
The kingdom of heaven is the gospel Jesus preached and wanted His disciples to preach. When Jesus died and rose from the grave He sent his Holy Spirit to us and He told His disciples to continue to preach His message - His message being that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and has been at hand and will be at hand until Christ comes again. We who believe in Him, believe in this and in believing we hope and wait and we're full of expectations.
May the Lord bless and keep us in Him now and forever, always His, by His mercy and grace prepared.
Amen.
{10:6} But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. {10:7} And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
The Apostles were charged to 'Go, preach.' Preach what? 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
The message is salvation through Jesus Christ, because only through salvation do we find the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven being ours is amazing! The promise of eternal life, amazing! The message being brought to the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel', at that time only the house of Israel was to be preached to- God's chosen was to get the message first. God's people who were entrenched in the rituals given to Moses so that they might have a way of being forgiven for their sins, a way to be reconciled to God. The outcome of being reconciled with God is to be made right with Him. To be His and His alone, nothing between the two, nothing separating us from God. The sacrificial system they'd been given represented daily the need to be reconciled with God, to have nothing, not a single sin standing between a person and God. The Israelites were blessed with this marvelous life, this chance and the out come of the reconciling was supposed to result in a permanently fixed relationship with God once the Messiah came to save the people from all their enemies, from all the hardships. The Messiah was to come and set the captive frees, heal the people, bring new life, new hope. They looked forward to the Messiah doing all this for them, raising them up to complete reconciliation with God, taking sin away.
We today live in a world where the Messiah came and did all that in the way of God's love- not man's love. Man's love is twisted and warped, it's full of getting not giving. Not that it isn't normal to desire to receive all the best from God, but God's love is about giving. The Messiah came and gave all that the people of Israel were promised but not in the way they expected.
Isn't that the trouble with a lot of things in life? We imagine things and expect things to happen in certain ways and we're unable to accept when they come to us in different ways. We want to make sense of things and we do that by keeping things in order. Chaos seems to come when we find things out of order to our natural way of thinking, with our expectations shot to pieces. So we try to reorder things, to put things back into order to make sense of them. Sometimes people can do that, other times they just want to do away with the reality of things and keep to their same plan of order wanting it to come in another way, in a future way where things make sense to them again.
Things not coming in the way we've imagined and expected in all truthfulness should be... expected. A paradox, yes, a paradox that leaves us going in circles if we're not careful. Expecting the unexpected. Some people are taught just that. They have it drilled into their heads to be prepared for anything, and yet as prepared as they become they are still surprised by situations. We can be prepared to a degree but only to a degree and then even the most prepare find the unexpected troublesome.
We'll continue to live a life of expectation, but we all really do need to be able to accept when the unexpected happens and to find the truth through any lies that might be present. Isn't that the most important thing of all? To accept that thing might not turn out how we imagine them, but have an open heart and mind to realize that whatever God's will may be that we'll find it through His love if we only seek to find Him and His way, always.
The kingdom of heaven is the gospel Jesus preached and wanted His disciples to preach. When Jesus died and rose from the grave He sent his Holy Spirit to us and He told His disciples to continue to preach His message - His message being that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven is at hand and has been at hand and will be at hand until Christ comes again. We who believe in Him, believe in this and in believing we hope and wait and we're full of expectations.
May the Lord bless and keep us in Him now and forever, always His, by His mercy and grace prepared.
Amen.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Upon them the light has sprung up
Matthew
{4:12} Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee
{4:13} And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
{4:14} That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying
{4:15} The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
{4:16} The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. {4:17} From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Isaiah
{9:2} The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath
the light shined.
People walked in darkness
People have seen a great light
Us who dwell in the land of the shadow of death
Upon them the light has sprung up.
Jesus began to preach-
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
When you've walked in darkness and see a great light it's a good thing. People as a rule seek the light, they see the daylight and are more at ease in the day than they are at night. People seek shelter at night, they settle down to sleep away the darkness so they can be awake during the day. Daylight is more productive. Light is equated with goodness, and darkness evil. Light is equated with knowledge, darkness the lack of knowledge. When we walk in the light we have enlightenment, our knowlege is increased and in this case, we who live forever under the shadow of a future death are offered life in the kingdom of Heaven. We are called to repentance. To acknowledge that in and of our own selves we are nothing and we cannot escape the shadow of death that lingers over us. Only through Christ, only through salvation through Christ are we given real life, life everlasting. Only through Christ are we given the hope, the light that springs out of the darkness. Repent, acknowledge we are sinners worthy of that death, sinners worthy of nothing more but darkness, sinners who know that the way to escape lies not within ourselves but through Christ. Repent, feel remorse for our sinful state, a state so far from that of Christ's.
By the grace of God, by the mercy of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ let us cling to Him begging His forgiveness through repentance may we find the kingdom of heaven He offers in Him and Him alone.
Amen.
{4:12} Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee
{4:13} And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
{4:14} That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying
{4:15} The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, [by] the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
{4:16} The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. {4:17} From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Isaiah
{9:2} The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath
the light shined.
People walked in darkness
People have seen a great light
Us who dwell in the land of the shadow of death
Upon them the light has sprung up.
Jesus began to preach-
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
When you've walked in darkness and see a great light it's a good thing. People as a rule seek the light, they see the daylight and are more at ease in the day than they are at night. People seek shelter at night, they settle down to sleep away the darkness so they can be awake during the day. Daylight is more productive. Light is equated with goodness, and darkness evil. Light is equated with knowledge, darkness the lack of knowledge. When we walk in the light we have enlightenment, our knowlege is increased and in this case, we who live forever under the shadow of a future death are offered life in the kingdom of Heaven. We are called to repentance. To acknowledge that in and of our own selves we are nothing and we cannot escape the shadow of death that lingers over us. Only through Christ, only through salvation through Christ are we given real life, life everlasting. Only through Christ are we given the hope, the light that springs out of the darkness. Repent, acknowledge we are sinners worthy of that death, sinners worthy of nothing more but darkness, sinners who know that the way to escape lies not within ourselves but through Christ. Repent, feel remorse for our sinful state, a state so far from that of Christ's.
By the grace of God, by the mercy of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ let us cling to Him begging His forgiveness through repentance may we find the kingdom of heaven He offers in Him and Him alone.
Amen.
Monday, July 13, 2009
For what is your life? It is even a vapour
James
{4:13} Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: {4:14} Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
{4:15} For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
{4:16} But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
{4:17} Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.
Planning our lives. We all make plans or I should say, most of us make plans for our future whether it is just our immediate future or possibly our far future. We might make plans to go to the store in an hour, or go to work the next day, or take a vacation in six months, retire in thirty years. We make our plans with the belief that we will be alive to fulfil those plans and why shouldn't we? There's no sense in planning on not being about to do so. Living day to day without any planning could leave you in very dire straits. It's not impossible to live that way, but it's not very wise either. Yet life, as it says in the verse above, 'It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.' We have very little control over when we die. You can be the healthiest person by all medical standards and you'll still die. Health is no preventor of the freak accident. Our lives are but vapours- wisps of air in the grand scheme that is called life. So, do we not plan because we might die? No. We do plan but we do so by the grace of God at His mercy, His will. 'If the Lord will we shall lie and do this or that.' If the Lord will may all our plans be realized. So, is it safe to say that if something doesn't go according to our planning that God doesn't will that it happen? I believe it's safe and comforting to know that if we live with God's will the most prominent thing in our lives that we can trust Him to see us through to the end no matter what happens. If our plans fall apart and we want to cry we need to take comfort that the Lord's will, will be done some how, some way even through the disappointments that we cannot comprehend.
If we boast that we are in control of our destinies, that we've attained this or that by our own will, by our own effort it is wrong and it is ungodly to do so. We cannot boast of our successes as if they were all our and due to our planning, and the realization of that planning. By the grace of God we can boast in HIM. Give glory to Him, give praise to Him that made it all possible. It's so wonderful to see a winning athelete down on their knees thanking God and not taking the credit for their victory even as people look on and want to say- but the athelete did all the hard work, why are they thanking God. Perhaps the athelete realizes that all the hard work in the world will not give a victory, a true victory. Perhaps they realize that their very strength to do all the work comes from God, their Creator. When people thank God it is an acknowledgement that God is in control, God reigns, and God wills. We can boast all we want and it will be evil because we don't hold the control over our life or our death. If we know to do good and we choose not to... we sin. If we know our lives are by the grace and mercy of our Lord and we lay claim to them ourselves as if God had nothing to do with them, we sin. If we know better and still do it...we sin. With the knowledge of right from wrong we have an obligation to choose the right over the wrong, or it is sin.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep us by His grace and His everlasting mercy and love for us. May we have discernment by that grace through the Holy Spirit living in us to know right from wrong and to choose the right over the wrong so that we may not willfully sin. May we boast only in Christ and not in ourselves at all. God is the giver of all life and it is in Him that we live and breath to accomplish His good will, not our own, whatever that will maybe.
All praise, honor, and glory to God!
In Christ,
Amen
{4:13} Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: {4:14} Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
{4:15} For that ye [ought] to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
{4:16} But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
{4:17} Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.
Planning our lives. We all make plans or I should say, most of us make plans for our future whether it is just our immediate future or possibly our far future. We might make plans to go to the store in an hour, or go to work the next day, or take a vacation in six months, retire in thirty years. We make our plans with the belief that we will be alive to fulfil those plans and why shouldn't we? There's no sense in planning on not being about to do so. Living day to day without any planning could leave you in very dire straits. It's not impossible to live that way, but it's not very wise either. Yet life, as it says in the verse above, 'It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away.' We have very little control over when we die. You can be the healthiest person by all medical standards and you'll still die. Health is no preventor of the freak accident. Our lives are but vapours- wisps of air in the grand scheme that is called life. So, do we not plan because we might die? No. We do plan but we do so by the grace of God at His mercy, His will. 'If the Lord will we shall lie and do this or that.' If the Lord will may all our plans be realized. So, is it safe to say that if something doesn't go according to our planning that God doesn't will that it happen? I believe it's safe and comforting to know that if we live with God's will the most prominent thing in our lives that we can trust Him to see us through to the end no matter what happens. If our plans fall apart and we want to cry we need to take comfort that the Lord's will, will be done some how, some way even through the disappointments that we cannot comprehend.
If we boast that we are in control of our destinies, that we've attained this or that by our own will, by our own effort it is wrong and it is ungodly to do so. We cannot boast of our successes as if they were all our and due to our planning, and the realization of that planning. By the grace of God we can boast in HIM. Give glory to Him, give praise to Him that made it all possible. It's so wonderful to see a winning athelete down on their knees thanking God and not taking the credit for their victory even as people look on and want to say- but the athelete did all the hard work, why are they thanking God. Perhaps the athelete realizes that all the hard work in the world will not give a victory, a true victory. Perhaps they realize that their very strength to do all the work comes from God, their Creator. When people thank God it is an acknowledgement that God is in control, God reigns, and God wills. We can boast all we want and it will be evil because we don't hold the control over our life or our death. If we know to do good and we choose not to... we sin. If we know our lives are by the grace and mercy of our Lord and we lay claim to them ourselves as if God had nothing to do with them, we sin. If we know better and still do it...we sin. With the knowledge of right from wrong we have an obligation to choose the right over the wrong, or it is sin.
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep us by His grace and His everlasting mercy and love for us. May we have discernment by that grace through the Holy Spirit living in us to know right from wrong and to choose the right over the wrong so that we may not willfully sin. May we boast only in Christ and not in ourselves at all. God is the giver of all life and it is in Him that we live and breath to accomplish His good will, not our own, whatever that will maybe.
All praise, honor, and glory to God!
In Christ,
Amen
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Jesus Sacrificed His Life So We Could Live Forever With Him
Rev. {14:14} And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud [one] sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
14:15} And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
{14:16} And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
{14:17} And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
{14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
{14:20} And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.
*******
We've said it before and we have to say it again, there are two sides to life.
Good and Evil.
We will number among one or the other.
The Good side is God's side and when the end of the world is come- when the harvest is ripe those that are God's will be harvested by Him, brought into Him, taken to Him as something special.
When we sow gardens we watch them and wait for the harvest of whatever we've planted. God has sown this harvest and He watches, He waits for the time of the harvest. When the harvest of humanity is ripe- when man has become all they can become and the time for the harvest arrives there will be a reaping. For every crop sown there is a harvest. Will every seed sprout? No. Will every seed reach full growth? No. Will the plot of land the harvest was sown upon stay free of weeds? Will bad seeds producing a weak, unacceptable fruit be kept from this harvest? If one comes to finally harvest what they've sown they look for any weak, sickly fruit and they don't accept them into the harvest- they reject the weeds that have grown alongside the good plants. It is at harvest time the result is fully known. All the plants are brought up so the ground is cleared, the good plants are kept all the bad plants and the unacceptable plants are tossed into the garbage, the fire, the wine press- they're destroyed.
This analogy is correct and given to us for a reason.
We are the plants to be harvested.
We are either good or bad, in this harvest there is nothing that will be considered so-so, no place at all for anything but the acceptable and unacceptable.
Jesus will come again and take His people home with Him. The rest will be destroyed. Those not with God, those not receiving the love of God that they might be saved will be lost. We know He's coming for us.
Jesus came and died on that cross for us so He could return and take us home with Him. He died to save us. He died to give us hope of a future in Him, with Him, for Him.
If I were going to make a sacrifice in my life so someone could reap the benefits of that sacrifice, I am not making that sacrifice without a reason. I hope and expect there to be those who will take advantage of the opportunity my sacrifice affords them.
You've sacrificed before haven't you? Perhaps you sacrificed a night out so you could help another, is your sacrifice worth it if the other refuses your help? It's worth it to your own integrity, but you would not have made that sacrifice if you didn't think it would result in something, right?
Sacrifices are made for reasons and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for a reason too. We cannot talk of Jesus' love without realizing that His love meant that He died to save us. Save us for what? For an eternity with Him. He promised when he walked the earth before He was sacrificed, that he would come again.
John {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
Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died so we could live forever with Him. In love with Him we seek to be ready for Him when He returns as countless people have done throughout the ages. Countless people looked for His return. It is prophesized that among those- the last of God's people- many will be lukewarm, that zeal for Christ will be gone. We've more than reached that age when God's people have come to a place where they no longer have a fire for the message Jesus brought with Him, the message He lived and died for. Christ is coming again! He is, and while many stay in a place where they are neither hot nor cold, we can't be among them! We must have a fire, a zeal for God. We must have a fiery heat that is alive for Christ and His returning.
May God help us to be among those harvested as Christ's. May we become on fire for Him, our zeal scorching hot as we await His return! Christ lived and died for us and He lives again forever for us. By His mercy, by His grace, may we live for Him and be acceptable to Him, through Him our Righteousness.
Amen.
14:15} And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
{14:16} And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
{14:17} And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
{14:18} And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
{14:19} And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
{14:20} And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space
of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.
*******
We've said it before and we have to say it again, there are two sides to life.
Good and Evil.
We will number among one or the other.
The Good side is God's side and when the end of the world is come- when the harvest is ripe those that are God's will be harvested by Him, brought into Him, taken to Him as something special.
When we sow gardens we watch them and wait for the harvest of whatever we've planted. God has sown this harvest and He watches, He waits for the time of the harvest. When the harvest of humanity is ripe- when man has become all they can become and the time for the harvest arrives there will be a reaping. For every crop sown there is a harvest. Will every seed sprout? No. Will every seed reach full growth? No. Will the plot of land the harvest was sown upon stay free of weeds? Will bad seeds producing a weak, unacceptable fruit be kept from this harvest? If one comes to finally harvest what they've sown they look for any weak, sickly fruit and they don't accept them into the harvest- they reject the weeds that have grown alongside the good plants. It is at harvest time the result is fully known. All the plants are brought up so the ground is cleared, the good plants are kept all the bad plants and the unacceptable plants are tossed into the garbage, the fire, the wine press- they're destroyed.
This analogy is correct and given to us for a reason.
We are the plants to be harvested.
We are either good or bad, in this harvest there is nothing that will be considered so-so, no place at all for anything but the acceptable and unacceptable.
Jesus will come again and take His people home with Him. The rest will be destroyed. Those not with God, those not receiving the love of God that they might be saved will be lost. We know He's coming for us.
Jesus came and died on that cross for us so He could return and take us home with Him. He died to save us. He died to give us hope of a future in Him, with Him, for Him.
If I were going to make a sacrifice in my life so someone could reap the benefits of that sacrifice, I am not making that sacrifice without a reason. I hope and expect there to be those who will take advantage of the opportunity my sacrifice affords them.
You've sacrificed before haven't you? Perhaps you sacrificed a night out so you could help another, is your sacrifice worth it if the other refuses your help? It's worth it to your own integrity, but you would not have made that sacrifice if you didn't think it would result in something, right?
Sacrifices are made for reasons and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for a reason too. We cannot talk of Jesus' love without realizing that His love meant that He died to save us. Save us for what? For an eternity with Him. He promised when he walked the earth before He was sacrificed, that he would come again.
John {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
Jesus died so we could live. Jesus died so we could live forever with Him. In love with Him we seek to be ready for Him when He returns as countless people have done throughout the ages. Countless people looked for His return. It is prophesized that among those- the last of God's people- many will be lukewarm, that zeal for Christ will be gone. We've more than reached that age when God's people have come to a place where they no longer have a fire for the message Jesus brought with Him, the message He lived and died for. Christ is coming again! He is, and while many stay in a place where they are neither hot nor cold, we can't be among them! We must have a fire, a zeal for God. We must have a fiery heat that is alive for Christ and His returning.
May God help us to be among those harvested as Christ's. May we become on fire for Him, our zeal scorching hot as we await His return! Christ lived and died for us and He lives again forever for us. By His mercy, by His grace, may we live for Him and be acceptable to Him, through Him our Righteousness.
Amen.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Kept from Evil
Today I've listened to a couple of Bible Studies taped by William Grotheer on Revelation 13 and 14. It's so much to try and comprehend and yet I think it's very important that we do try and understand. These prophecies concern US. We who are alive in the end times before Jesus' second coming! This is us! All the signs point to it and yet I can hear the moaning and groaning about every generation believing that way and how you don't want to be among the duped, silly fools who believe in such things. I have to ask you, what harm is there in believing? None. But...what harm is there in NOT believing? Plenty. Do you want to be numbered among Satan's or Christ's? There is only one or the other no other options, no other plans to look over and choose. There is A or B no C,D,E,F or G and there is NO way to create any more plans, none.
It is so important that we remember this, that we live this, that we understand, that people understand.
Back in the days of Jesus the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and yet they rejected Jesus, the Messiah... they had Him crucified, why?
We've all probably watched movies or shows, or even read books with characters blindly writing to each other developing a relationship that seems strong and yet then they meet each other and BAM! they aren't what each other expected. What? You've experienced this yourself in a blind date? Don't the people setting others up on their blind dates tell the person they're setting up what their blind date is like? As a rule they do. Blind dates are stigmatized because they're notorious for setting up an undesirable person with another person who doesn't consider themselves to be unworthy enough to be with the undesirable one. The ugly cousin from out of town. The fat friend who needs a pity date. We know the stories and yet sometimes we are told what? We are told that the person isn't undesirable but very beautiful, very smart and everything you might want in a date. Expectations are formed.
We get caught up in expectations don't we? We perceive how we want something or someone to be and we hold our hopes high that the expectation will be met. We set up pictures in our minds eye of how things will turn out.
The longed for Messiah, the Jewish people had their expectations of the Messiah, and they still do because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. The visions they had weren't met in Jesus so it was easy to reject Him. Yet history proves He was the Messiah they rejected. Their own Torah (their own Testament) said that Christ would be rejected. Yet they were blinded to it all because they only believed what they WANTED to believe no more, no less.
We fall into dangerous territory when we are dealing with the future and the hopes we have. People all over have drawn up different scenarios for how the end times will all take place.
Let me ask you something-
Are you waiting for something special before you'll believe anything about the Lord's Second Coming is true? Are you waiting for a billboard to go up about town giving you the day and hour? Are you waiting for some horrible monster in human form to come about and start taking over things so that everything is obvious? Are you waiting for a mark to be forced upon you so you can deny it and then give your life fully to Christ? Are you waiting for signs of Jesus' return to become more prominent to you? If you're waiting you're in for a shocking, eternal death producing surprise.
'Romans 13:11 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.'
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Titus 2:11 11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Hebrews 2:3 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 9:28 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 1:5 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9-10 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Salvation will be ours! It is promised to us. Jesus died to give us this promise through Him. We are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation. We can't escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The end of our faith is salvation.
We can't wait for signs of Christ's second coming before we give our lives, our love, our hearts to Christ, we can't! If we are waiting for anything at all we have to give up the expectation of things to come. We have to take hold of what we know, what we have here and now and by the Holy Spirit grasp hold of all that Jesus has to offer us, now. We have to live for Jesus NOW, not later, not when we see signs. The signs are to guide us and the signs should be watched for but not with concrete expectations of changing our lives when we see a supposed sign. Our lives have to be changed right NOW, and not changed by us, but by Christ. We have to give Christ our lives only then will we be changed by Him, for Him.
The Jewish people rejected Christ as they held fast to their preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like. Are we clinging to various things we think must come to pass before Christ comes? Do we have our notions all set up and are our eyes peeled looking for the signs to fit those notions? How rigid are we being?
Maybe we can't know for a fact that a sign has taken place. Maybe there isn't a website we can go to that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies of these last days are starting to fall into place. Maybe we have to trust in God to perform that which He's told us He will perform and trust that if we can see what we believe to be a sign that the ONE thing it does more than anything else is draws us closer to Christ, not anything else. If we are using signs to take steps in our lives to prepare then we're going to be lost, irrevocably lost. The end is coming and how should you be prepared for it? What does it mean?
What would you think it meant if you were to get that factual sign? What would you do then? Would you have to alter a way of life? Would you run off to hide somewhere away from where you perceive conflict will be had? Would you stock up on food? Would you build a shelter? Would you suddenly start delving into the Bible? Would your life be one constant prayer? Would you find it easier to fall to your knees?
Guess what? God doesn't give us that sort of scenario. Even with ALL His prophecies He doesn't give us the scenario that so many want to have. He doesn't say I'm going to tap you on the shoulder so get ready. He doesn't hold up a cue card giving us our lines. He doesn't send warnings more than His word itself is our warning.
From the time of the exodus when He took His people out of bondage and brought them to a place to make a covenant with them, from that moment on He's expected His people to know what kind of God He is, and what He expects of us. He didn't hide Himself. He didn't neglect to inform us of who He is and what His ideas are. He's made it plain, very plain. We have a book that is thousands of years old and in that book there is the message of Him. He's giving us a conscience, we are born with that conscience. God has allowed us access to Him. No, we don't get front row seats, because we'd perish if we were given them simply because of how unworthy we are of them. We are given seats in the back row but we are ALL invited to this concert called life and knowing God. Some can choose not to take a seat and head out the door, but that is their choice. We should all be desirous of this concert and head right on in to the auditorium which we access through prayer and worship, through study of God's word. He wants us to know Him. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could get to know Him and His unfathomable mercy and grace, His unimaginable, incomprehensible, amazing love that goes far beyond our sordid concept of the word. We fight to stay married to our husband or wife, and we call that love. We have children we put conditions upon and we call that love. We own pets and we call that love. We've no real understanding of love until we look to Jesus only then do we begin to glimpse that amazing love.
No. We aren't going to be given any special promotional email or postcard, or see a promotional sign in the supermarket or the local drugstore. We're not going to see poster boards up on lamp posts, or telephone poles. We're not going to see a person wearing a board, or holding a sign advertising the day of Jesus' return for those who have found and claimed salvation in Him.
In fact... many, many, many people... most people... the majority of people will be going about their day to day lives when He comes. What does that tell us?
You tout the seven last plagues as signs and ask how in the world can people go about their day to day lives when the plagues are falling down upon them?
It will be.
We don't know how it will all work, but we are told it will work- it will happen. Maybe the plagues will fall some here and some there. We don't know exactly, but we know it will happen. People will be living their lives just as they are now. I heard just the other day, '...but we have to live in this world.' Yes, we have to live in this world, but not OF this world. We can live, we can have our jobs, plan for our futures with the hope so mingled into all those plans and actions of Christ's soon return that we aren't living a life separate to what God would have us live. Yes, we have to live in this world, we do and Christ didn't pray that we would be taken out of it prior to His return for us, He prayed that we should be kept from EVIL. John {17:15} 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' Christ KNEW we'd be surrounded by the evil of this world, but He prayed to the Father that we would be kept from the evil while living surrounded by it. Do you doubt you can live in the world and be kept from evil? If so then you doubt the Word of God! You doubt Jesus! Where is your faith?! Where is your hope?!
We have to have hope! We have to have faith in Jesus and all His promises to save us. We can't expect to save ourselves. As long as we look to save ourselves then we will only feel the weight of the world pressing down on us telling us that we will never be saved. Christ is our hope. Yes, we need to afflict our souls in these last days of probation before time is up and our fates are forever decided. We need to afflict our souls. Afflict them. We need to question our lives, our actions, our very intentions! We need to know beyond a doubt that NOTHING we do will ever amount to anything, that we cannot save ourselves! We have to afflict our souls with this knowledge. We have to ask for forgiveness in that affliction, BEG for forgiveness for our sins against our Savior! Cling to Jesus and the hope He gives us that He will forgive us, He will if we ask. Yes, afflict our souls as we seek forgiveness, as we seek to be perfected by Him, this is what we need to do and YES, I shout it again YES!!!! We can afflict our souls while living our everyday lives. We can. We have to! Jesus left us in this world and prayed we'd be kept from evil, He didn't transport us to a place where we'd be able to live sin free. That place is in Heaven with Him after He comes to take us Home with Him! We will be transported then but right now, today, this very hour, this very minute we have to live here and now and yes, do so with Jesus in our hearts, afflicting our souls and clinging to our One and ONLY hope, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!
Amen.
It is so important that we remember this, that we live this, that we understand, that people understand.
Back in the days of Jesus the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah to come and yet they rejected Jesus, the Messiah... they had Him crucified, why?
We've all probably watched movies or shows, or even read books with characters blindly writing to each other developing a relationship that seems strong and yet then they meet each other and BAM! they aren't what each other expected. What? You've experienced this yourself in a blind date? Don't the people setting others up on their blind dates tell the person they're setting up what their blind date is like? As a rule they do. Blind dates are stigmatized because they're notorious for setting up an undesirable person with another person who doesn't consider themselves to be unworthy enough to be with the undesirable one. The ugly cousin from out of town. The fat friend who needs a pity date. We know the stories and yet sometimes we are told what? We are told that the person isn't undesirable but very beautiful, very smart and everything you might want in a date. Expectations are formed.
We get caught up in expectations don't we? We perceive how we want something or someone to be and we hold our hopes high that the expectation will be met. We set up pictures in our minds eye of how things will turn out.
The longed for Messiah, the Jewish people had their expectations of the Messiah, and they still do because they rejected Christ as their Messiah. The visions they had weren't met in Jesus so it was easy to reject Him. Yet history proves He was the Messiah they rejected. Their own Torah (their own Testament) said that Christ would be rejected. Yet they were blinded to it all because they only believed what they WANTED to believe no more, no less.
We fall into dangerous territory when we are dealing with the future and the hopes we have. People all over have drawn up different scenarios for how the end times will all take place.
Let me ask you something-
Are you waiting for something special before you'll believe anything about the Lord's Second Coming is true? Are you waiting for a billboard to go up about town giving you the day and hour? Are you waiting for some horrible monster in human form to come about and start taking over things so that everything is obvious? Are you waiting for a mark to be forced upon you so you can deny it and then give your life fully to Christ? Are you waiting for signs of Jesus' return to become more prominent to you? If you're waiting you're in for a shocking, eternal death producing surprise.
'Romans 13:11 11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.'
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Titus 2:11 11For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Hebrews 2:3 3How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Hebrews 9:28 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
1 Peter 1:5 5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:9-10 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Salvation will be ours! It is promised to us. Jesus died to give us this promise through Him. We are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation. We can't escape if we neglect so great a salvation. The grace of God bringeth salvation. Our salvation is nearer than we believed. The end of our faith is salvation.
We can't wait for signs of Christ's second coming before we give our lives, our love, our hearts to Christ, we can't! If we are waiting for anything at all we have to give up the expectation of things to come. We have to take hold of what we know, what we have here and now and by the Holy Spirit grasp hold of all that Jesus has to offer us, now. We have to live for Jesus NOW, not later, not when we see signs. The signs are to guide us and the signs should be watched for but not with concrete expectations of changing our lives when we see a supposed sign. Our lives have to be changed right NOW, and not changed by us, but by Christ. We have to give Christ our lives only then will we be changed by Him, for Him.
The Jewish people rejected Christ as they held fast to their preconceived ideas of what their Messiah should be like. Are we clinging to various things we think must come to pass before Christ comes? Do we have our notions all set up and are our eyes peeled looking for the signs to fit those notions? How rigid are we being?
Maybe we can't know for a fact that a sign has taken place. Maybe there isn't a website we can go to that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the prophecies of these last days are starting to fall into place. Maybe we have to trust in God to perform that which He's told us He will perform and trust that if we can see what we believe to be a sign that the ONE thing it does more than anything else is draws us closer to Christ, not anything else. If we are using signs to take steps in our lives to prepare then we're going to be lost, irrevocably lost. The end is coming and how should you be prepared for it? What does it mean?
What would you think it meant if you were to get that factual sign? What would you do then? Would you have to alter a way of life? Would you run off to hide somewhere away from where you perceive conflict will be had? Would you stock up on food? Would you build a shelter? Would you suddenly start delving into the Bible? Would your life be one constant prayer? Would you find it easier to fall to your knees?
Guess what? God doesn't give us that sort of scenario. Even with ALL His prophecies He doesn't give us the scenario that so many want to have. He doesn't say I'm going to tap you on the shoulder so get ready. He doesn't hold up a cue card giving us our lines. He doesn't send warnings more than His word itself is our warning.
From the time of the exodus when He took His people out of bondage and brought them to a place to make a covenant with them, from that moment on He's expected His people to know what kind of God He is, and what He expects of us. He didn't hide Himself. He didn't neglect to inform us of who He is and what His ideas are. He's made it plain, very plain. We have a book that is thousands of years old and in that book there is the message of Him. He's giving us a conscience, we are born with that conscience. God has allowed us access to Him. No, we don't get front row seats, because we'd perish if we were given them simply because of how unworthy we are of them. We are given seats in the back row but we are ALL invited to this concert called life and knowing God. Some can choose not to take a seat and head out the door, but that is their choice. We should all be desirous of this concert and head right on in to the auditorium which we access through prayer and worship, through study of God's word. He wants us to know Him. He sent His only Son to die for us so that we could get to know Him and His unfathomable mercy and grace, His unimaginable, incomprehensible, amazing love that goes far beyond our sordid concept of the word. We fight to stay married to our husband or wife, and we call that love. We have children we put conditions upon and we call that love. We own pets and we call that love. We've no real understanding of love until we look to Jesus only then do we begin to glimpse that amazing love.
No. We aren't going to be given any special promotional email or postcard, or see a promotional sign in the supermarket or the local drugstore. We're not going to see poster boards up on lamp posts, or telephone poles. We're not going to see a person wearing a board, or holding a sign advertising the day of Jesus' return for those who have found and claimed salvation in Him.
In fact... many, many, many people... most people... the majority of people will be going about their day to day lives when He comes. What does that tell us?
You tout the seven last plagues as signs and ask how in the world can people go about their day to day lives when the plagues are falling down upon them?
It will be.
We don't know how it will all work, but we are told it will work- it will happen. Maybe the plagues will fall some here and some there. We don't know exactly, but we know it will happen. People will be living their lives just as they are now. I heard just the other day, '...but we have to live in this world.' Yes, we have to live in this world, but not OF this world. We can live, we can have our jobs, plan for our futures with the hope so mingled into all those plans and actions of Christ's soon return that we aren't living a life separate to what God would have us live. Yes, we have to live in this world, we do and Christ didn't pray that we would be taken out of it prior to His return for us, He prayed that we should be kept from EVIL. John {17:15} 'I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.' Christ KNEW we'd be surrounded by the evil of this world, but He prayed to the Father that we would be kept from the evil while living surrounded by it. Do you doubt you can live in the world and be kept from evil? If so then you doubt the Word of God! You doubt Jesus! Where is your faith?! Where is your hope?!
We have to have hope! We have to have faith in Jesus and all His promises to save us. We can't expect to save ourselves. As long as we look to save ourselves then we will only feel the weight of the world pressing down on us telling us that we will never be saved. Christ is our hope. Yes, we need to afflict our souls in these last days of probation before time is up and our fates are forever decided. We need to afflict our souls. Afflict them. We need to question our lives, our actions, our very intentions! We need to know beyond a doubt that NOTHING we do will ever amount to anything, that we cannot save ourselves! We have to afflict our souls with this knowledge. We have to ask for forgiveness in that affliction, BEG for forgiveness for our sins against our Savior! Cling to Jesus and the hope He gives us that He will forgive us, He will if we ask. Yes, afflict our souls as we seek forgiveness, as we seek to be perfected by Him, this is what we need to do and YES, I shout it again YES!!!! We can afflict our souls while living our everyday lives. We can. We have to! Jesus left us in this world and prayed we'd be kept from evil, He didn't transport us to a place where we'd be able to live sin free. That place is in Heaven with Him after He comes to take us Home with Him! We will be transported then but right now, today, this very hour, this very minute we have to live here and now and yes, do so with Jesus in our hearts, afflicting our souls and clinging to our One and ONLY hope, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!
Amen.
Friday, July 10, 2009
God has chosen the poor of this world
James
{2:1} My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.
{2:2} For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; {2:3} And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool
{2:4} Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
{2:5} Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
{2:6} But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
*
How often do we graviate towards those that are clean, and upright, far from anything that reminds of those we call vagabonds, vagrants, bums, homeless street people, scary people. That's what they are to a lot of us- scary people. We fear them more than pity them. Though sometimes even fear turns to digust. Digust, fear, are some even angry at them? We imagine that at least if we aren't like the worst of the worst somehow we are *better* than they are. Being better than someone gives people a thrill of sorts, makes them feel better than they would if they didn't have someone to feel they're better than.
Reading this verse above it tells it like it is doesn't it?
We have respect to those who are dressed nice and have wealth and poise, and we want to please them while we shove those who don't meet those criterea out of the way, we are condescending to them for whatever reason we might come up with- fear, anger, or disgust, comtempt, you name it. Sure there are reasons why- we might assume these people are disease carriers- lice and whatnot, or unhealthy with contagious disease; surely one who looks like they should be sick has more of a chance of being sick. Logically the most well dressed, best looking person in all the world could still be a disease carrier but we don't assume that at all.
This part here- 'Are ye not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts?' That can be taken two ways- someone trying to judge evil thoughts or...having evil thoughts yourself because you judge others unjustly. We have become judges - having evil thoughts about others, putting on airs, being ungodly for sure because Jesus Christ would not act that way and we as his followers shouldn't act that way either. The poor, those who are considered the lowest of the low in our societies are the fartherst from the lowest. It is the world's chosen that underneath all their glitter and false beauty who possess the evil we like to associate solely with the lower society. This isn't to say that those who appear to be vile aren't, but there is a vileness of heart that God knows and we can only imagine.
'Hearken my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world - rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?'
God has CHOSEN the poor of this world-- RICH in FAITH!
Heirs of the kingdom which he hath PROMISED to them that LOVE HIM!
God help us all to realize just how poor we are without Him. It is only with Him that we are rich in faith. Heirs to the kingdom are given the promise, and the heirs are those that truly love him through that faith.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now and forver, may we be heirs to the kingdom and not those who take on airs looking at the worldly things as those concerned only with worldly things do.
Amen
{2:1} My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons.
{2:2} For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; {2:3} And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool
{2:4} Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
{2:5} Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
{2:6} But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
*
How often do we graviate towards those that are clean, and upright, far from anything that reminds of those we call vagabonds, vagrants, bums, homeless street people, scary people. That's what they are to a lot of us- scary people. We fear them more than pity them. Though sometimes even fear turns to digust. Digust, fear, are some even angry at them? We imagine that at least if we aren't like the worst of the worst somehow we are *better* than they are. Being better than someone gives people a thrill of sorts, makes them feel better than they would if they didn't have someone to feel they're better than.
Reading this verse above it tells it like it is doesn't it?
We have respect to those who are dressed nice and have wealth and poise, and we want to please them while we shove those who don't meet those criterea out of the way, we are condescending to them for whatever reason we might come up with- fear, anger, or disgust, comtempt, you name it. Sure there are reasons why- we might assume these people are disease carriers- lice and whatnot, or unhealthy with contagious disease; surely one who looks like they should be sick has more of a chance of being sick. Logically the most well dressed, best looking person in all the world could still be a disease carrier but we don't assume that at all.
This part here- 'Are ye not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts?' That can be taken two ways- someone trying to judge evil thoughts or...having evil thoughts yourself because you judge others unjustly. We have become judges - having evil thoughts about others, putting on airs, being ungodly for sure because Jesus Christ would not act that way and we as his followers shouldn't act that way either. The poor, those who are considered the lowest of the low in our societies are the fartherst from the lowest. It is the world's chosen that underneath all their glitter and false beauty who possess the evil we like to associate solely with the lower society. This isn't to say that those who appear to be vile aren't, but there is a vileness of heart that God knows and we can only imagine.
'Hearken my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world - rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?'
God has CHOSEN the poor of this world-- RICH in FAITH!
Heirs of the kingdom which he hath PROMISED to them that LOVE HIM!
God help us all to realize just how poor we are without Him. It is only with Him that we are rich in faith. Heirs to the kingdom are given the promise, and the heirs are those that truly love him through that faith.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now and forver, may we be heirs to the kingdom and not those who take on airs looking at the worldly things as those concerned only with worldly things do.
Amen
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Perfection
Gen. {6:9} These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a
just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah
walked with God.
Gen. {17:1} And when Abram was ninety years old and nine,
the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Walk before me and be thou perfect.
If Abram didn't walk before God could he have been perfect?
Was it the walk to stand before God, was it the action of walking, the action Abram took by walking to stand before God, that made him perfect?
Was he perfect in and of himself?
That sort of perfection is impossible isn't it?
God makes us perfect we *can't* make ourselves perfect.
Can something that isn't complete be perfect?
If you have 3 quarters of a circle is it perfect? It is a perfect 3/4 of a circle, but can it be considered a perfect circle? No. Because to be a perfect circle it would need to be completely round not just 3/4's round. If you say something is perfect you are indicating that there is nothing missing from it, right?
If someone does something for you and you tell them they've done a perfect job, you mean they've done all you expected of them, their work is completely satisfactory. You would not say that if in fact their work was not perfect, if it didn't satisfy and meet your requirements.
Stand before God and be perfect- standing anywhere else are you perfect? No.
It was because Abram walked, that he moved himself from one place to another that he became perfect. Had Abram not moved, had Abram not walked to stand before God he could not have found the perfection God desired of Him.
Lev. {22:21} And
whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the
LORD to accomplish [his] vow, or a freewill offering in
beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there
shall be no blemish therein.
Could you bring a sickly sin offering to God? No. You could not bring anything less than what would be considered perfect. What does this say? This tells us that God wants what is best and only what is best. God wants a sacrifice befitting Him. If God wants the sin offering to be perfect it stands to reason for us to be acceptable to Him we too would need to be perfect in Him. It's because we are not perfect that we needed to bring a sin offering in the first place. Is it no wonder our sin offering needed to be perfect without any obvious blemish. God cannot accept anything less than perfection.
Jesus is perfection for us.
But we need Jesus for His perfection to be considered ours.
If we don't have Jesus standing before God as our perfect sacrifice we cannot walk with God.
We can beat ourselves totally senseless striving for perfection in and of ourselves. But what we really need to be doing is striving to be closer and closer to Christ so He can work in us.
James {1:4} But let patience have [her]
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
The word perfect here in the margin is defined as completeness.
Deut. {18:13} Thou shalt be perfect with the
LORD thy God.
The word perfect in the margin here is defined as entirely obedient.
Remember talking about the completeness of perfection? The circle?
Well now we have the obedience of perfection. If someone is less than entirely obedient are they perfect?
If we reward a child for behaving we are rewarding the time frame for which they were expected to behave within, not for just being a little bit perfect. There is NO such thing as a little perfection is there? Perfect indicates a whole, a completeness, and being entirely obedient.
For us to be perfect before God we have to be entirely obedient to Him, we have to possess the willingness to be entriely obedient to God. Seriously do we want to be entirely obedient to God? Do we?
If we don't have at least the willingness to be entirely obedient to God can we walk before Him in His perfection?
No, we don't have to be perfect to come to God, we have to have the willingness to be made perfect by Him.
2 Sam. {22:33} God [is] my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
He- God- makes our ways perfect. We don't make our own ways perfect.
John {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.
Jesus in us.
God in Jesus.
We are made perfect in Jesus.
We are loved by Jesus as God loves Jesus.
God loves His son with a perfect love. Jesus loves us with a perfect love.
C.S. Lewis- From Mere Christianity Chapter- Counting the Cost
'I find a good many people have been bothered by what I said in the last
chapter about Our Lord's words, "Be ye perfect." Some people seem to think
this means "Unless you are perfect, I will not help you"; and as we cannot
be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not
think He did mean that. I think He meant "The only help I will give is help
to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing
less." '
It is not- Until you are perfect I will not help you.
But rather- The only help I will give you is help to become perfect.
If we were perfect in and of ourselves we would need no one to made us perfect and the truth is, we need Jesus and His perfection. We stand before God in the shadow of Jesus' perfection, He pleads our case for us. We have to be willing to be obedient to Him and even when we fall far short of that, we have to be will to cling to Him and constantly come to Him begging for forgiveness and seeking to be changed by Him, perfected by Him. He will perfect us in Him and only in Him, and that perfection will never have us able to boast of our perfection.
This makes sense doesn't it? Why would Jesus give us help for anything else?
If there will be trials and tribulations we are to go through it will be for our perfection in ways that are truly beyond our understanding, we just need to have FAITH IN GOD that all our upsets, all our anguish, all our pain and misunderstanding will work together for our good because we love Him and trust Him to get us through this perfecting process, because we yield ourselves to Him knowing that we can never be perfect on our own, never.
Only by faith will anything at all be accomplished in us. 'Without faith it is impossible to please Him.' Heb. 11:6
And no wonder, we have to believe that God WILL perfect us through our faith in Him to do so, not that we will perfect ourselves by faith in ourselves and our ability to obey, even that ability to obey comes from God and if we think it comes from anywhere else we are sadly mistaken.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever! It is my prayer- 'Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.'
Amen
just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah
walked with God.
Gen. {17:1} And when Abram was ninety years old and nine,
the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Walk before me and be thou perfect.
If Abram didn't walk before God could he have been perfect?
Was it the walk to stand before God, was it the action of walking, the action Abram took by walking to stand before God, that made him perfect?
Was he perfect in and of himself?
That sort of perfection is impossible isn't it?
God makes us perfect we *can't* make ourselves perfect.
Can something that isn't complete be perfect?
If you have 3 quarters of a circle is it perfect? It is a perfect 3/4 of a circle, but can it be considered a perfect circle? No. Because to be a perfect circle it would need to be completely round not just 3/4's round. If you say something is perfect you are indicating that there is nothing missing from it, right?
If someone does something for you and you tell them they've done a perfect job, you mean they've done all you expected of them, their work is completely satisfactory. You would not say that if in fact their work was not perfect, if it didn't satisfy and meet your requirements.
Stand before God and be perfect- standing anywhere else are you perfect? No.
It was because Abram walked, that he moved himself from one place to another that he became perfect. Had Abram not moved, had Abram not walked to stand before God he could not have found the perfection God desired of Him.
Lev. {22:21} And
whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the
LORD to accomplish [his] vow, or a freewill offering in
beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there
shall be no blemish therein.
Could you bring a sickly sin offering to God? No. You could not bring anything less than what would be considered perfect. What does this say? This tells us that God wants what is best and only what is best. God wants a sacrifice befitting Him. If God wants the sin offering to be perfect it stands to reason for us to be acceptable to Him we too would need to be perfect in Him. It's because we are not perfect that we needed to bring a sin offering in the first place. Is it no wonder our sin offering needed to be perfect without any obvious blemish. God cannot accept anything less than perfection.
Jesus is perfection for us.
But we need Jesus for His perfection to be considered ours.
If we don't have Jesus standing before God as our perfect sacrifice we cannot walk with God.
We can beat ourselves totally senseless striving for perfection in and of ourselves. But what we really need to be doing is striving to be closer and closer to Christ so He can work in us.
James {1:4} But let patience have [her]
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting
nothing.
The word perfect here in the margin is defined as completeness.
Deut. {18:13} Thou shalt be perfect with the
LORD thy God.
The word perfect in the margin here is defined as entirely obedient.
Remember talking about the completeness of perfection? The circle?
Well now we have the obedience of perfection. If someone is less than entirely obedient are they perfect?
If we reward a child for behaving we are rewarding the time frame for which they were expected to behave within, not for just being a little bit perfect. There is NO such thing as a little perfection is there? Perfect indicates a whole, a completeness, and being entirely obedient.
For us to be perfect before God we have to be entirely obedient to Him, we have to possess the willingness to be entriely obedient to God. Seriously do we want to be entirely obedient to God? Do we?
If we don't have at least the willingness to be entirely obedient to God can we walk before Him in His perfection?
No, we don't have to be perfect to come to God, we have to have the willingness to be made perfect by Him.
2 Sam. {22:33} God [is] my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
He- God- makes our ways perfect. We don't make our own ways perfect.
John {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.
Jesus in us.
God in Jesus.
We are made perfect in Jesus.
We are loved by Jesus as God loves Jesus.
God loves His son with a perfect love. Jesus loves us with a perfect love.
C.S. Lewis- From Mere Christianity Chapter- Counting the Cost
'I find a good many people have been bothered by what I said in the last
chapter about Our Lord's words, "Be ye perfect." Some people seem to think
this means "Unless you are perfect, I will not help you"; and as we cannot
be perfect, then, if He meant that, our position is hopeless. But I do not
think He did mean that. I think He meant "The only help I will give is help
to become perfect. You may want something less: but I will give you nothing
less." '
It is not- Until you are perfect I will not help you.
But rather- The only help I will give you is help to become perfect.
If we were perfect in and of ourselves we would need no one to made us perfect and the truth is, we need Jesus and His perfection. We stand before God in the shadow of Jesus' perfection, He pleads our case for us. We have to be willing to be obedient to Him and even when we fall far short of that, we have to be will to cling to Him and constantly come to Him begging for forgiveness and seeking to be changed by Him, perfected by Him. He will perfect us in Him and only in Him, and that perfection will never have us able to boast of our perfection.
This makes sense doesn't it? Why would Jesus give us help for anything else?
If there will be trials and tribulations we are to go through it will be for our perfection in ways that are truly beyond our understanding, we just need to have FAITH IN GOD that all our upsets, all our anguish, all our pain and misunderstanding will work together for our good because we love Him and trust Him to get us through this perfecting process, because we yield ourselves to Him knowing that we can never be perfect on our own, never.
Only by faith will anything at all be accomplished in us. 'Without faith it is impossible to please Him.' Heb. 11:6
And no wonder, we have to believe that God WILL perfect us through our faith in Him to do so, not that we will perfect ourselves by faith in ourselves and our ability to obey, even that ability to obey comes from God and if we think it comes from anywhere else we are sadly mistaken.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever! It is my prayer- 'Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.'
Amen
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
If we aren't happy being Christ's now, we can't be happy for eternity
Rev. {22:14} Blessed [are] they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We talk of being born with rights and yet are we? Seriously. You might shout yes we are, but how many have been born with no rights, right here, right now. You think we don't have slavery but we do in my ways. There are societies and plenty of them that have ranking systems. It'd almost be safe to say all societies have them. You have your elite those that are given better service than others and believe- truly believe that they deserve special treatment. Then we have the lower class who are told they deserve less and for the most part they believe it because they serve the elite in many ways, they stand in awe of the elite and as they stand in awe they contribute to the grand illusion that they are less in some ways than those they worship, those they set on the pedestals. Sure, in America at least- we have our icons- our movie stars, singers, famous politicians and yes they might have talents but do talents take what makes a human being and set them above other human beings integrily? Do they?
Do we have rights? Yes, and each of us individual have the right to choose to follow God or not.
This verse says, blessed are they that do his commandments.... (Why?) That they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. (The Holy City Heavenly Jeruslem, the tree of life gives us eternal life.)
We have this amazing right but it's conditioned upon following God's will, because His commandments are His will.
We all want the right to eternal life and it can be ours.
I read a passage from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and it struck me so that I want to include it here-
'If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilisation, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or civilisation, compared with his, is only a moment.' C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
How amazing a thought is that? And true. We live our lives now as if they do have an ending, how many of us live our lives as if they are going to be lived forever. You might argue that our eternal life will be MUCH different than this life but think about it. WE the part that makes us who we are will live forever. If we are promised life eternal and are stripped of all we are what good is that? None. If we are unrecognizable to ourselves there is little point, right? So we need to remember that it is best to follow God's will because eternal life in Christ is the only way. If we aren't happy being Christ's now, we can't be happy for eternity in Christ later.
It's a lot to think about, a lot to contemplate and we need to do that thinking right now, not later, later may be too late.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may we be His with all our hearts and minds now and forever...
Amen.
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.
We talk of being born with rights and yet are we? Seriously. You might shout yes we are, but how many have been born with no rights, right here, right now. You think we don't have slavery but we do in my ways. There are societies and plenty of them that have ranking systems. It'd almost be safe to say all societies have them. You have your elite those that are given better service than others and believe- truly believe that they deserve special treatment. Then we have the lower class who are told they deserve less and for the most part they believe it because they serve the elite in many ways, they stand in awe of the elite and as they stand in awe they contribute to the grand illusion that they are less in some ways than those they worship, those they set on the pedestals. Sure, in America at least- we have our icons- our movie stars, singers, famous politicians and yes they might have talents but do talents take what makes a human being and set them above other human beings integrily? Do they?
Do we have rights? Yes, and each of us individual have the right to choose to follow God or not.
This verse says, blessed are they that do his commandments.... (Why?) That they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. (The Holy City Heavenly Jeruslem, the tree of life gives us eternal life.)
We have this amazing right but it's conditioned upon following God's will, because His commandments are His will.
We all want the right to eternal life and it can be ours.
I read a passage from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and it struck me so that I want to include it here-
'If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilisation, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state or civilisation, compared with his, is only a moment.' C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
How amazing a thought is that? And true. We live our lives now as if they do have an ending, how many of us live our lives as if they are going to be lived forever. You might argue that our eternal life will be MUCH different than this life but think about it. WE the part that makes us who we are will live forever. If we are promised life eternal and are stripped of all we are what good is that? None. If we are unrecognizable to ourselves there is little point, right? So we need to remember that it is best to follow God's will because eternal life in Christ is the only way. If we aren't happy being Christ's now, we can't be happy for eternity in Christ later.
It's a lot to think about, a lot to contemplate and we need to do that thinking right now, not later, later may be too late.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, may we be His with all our hearts and minds now and forever...
Amen.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
A prophecy- 'I will come again.'
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.
A prophecy- 'I will come again.'
John
{3:14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up
{3:15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
{3:16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
A prophecy- 'Everlasting life.'
A prophecy- 'Eternal life.'
Mark
{10:28} Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
{10:29} And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s
{10:30} But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
{10:31} But many [that are] first shall be last; and the last first.
A prophecy- 'Many that are first shall be last, and last first.'
A prophecy- 'And in the world to come eternal life.'
Predictions!
John
{6:54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
{6:56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
{6:57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
{6:58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
A prophecy- 'I will raise him up at the last day.'
A prophecy- 'He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.'
*******
A prophecy predicts the future and eternal life is a life being lived forever. Do any of us have that reality? We are taught we only live for so long and that's that and everything else is supposition. The truth is we can have eternal life, our lives will be lived forever - we have an endless future.
It is predicted that once Jesus comes again that our eternal lives will begin without sin. We that are living will be raised up and changed, the dead in Christ- those who have died and are sleeping in the earth will be raised up and changed.
The prediction of the future is important. Some people spend a lot of money trying to get their future predicted. Some people are only concerned with this life here and now.
Prophecies in the Bible are renowned. History has verified that Biblical prophecy is undeniable. If we believe in one small bit of the proven prophecies it only holds to reason, it is only logical, that the rest will be true.
Eternal life is in our futures if we believe in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made to save us, if we are born again spiritually. If we remember Jesus died and lives for us, if we holdfast to that fact we will have a future, an eternal life with Him.
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. We must have the testimony of Jesus, and keep God's commandments, the two of them mingled together into perfection offered to us who are far from perfect. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Savior, may our lives be lived in Him now and forever.
Amen.
{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.
A prophecy- 'I will come again.'
John
{3:14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up
{3:15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
{3:16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
A prophecy- 'Everlasting life.'
A prophecy- 'Eternal life.'
Mark
{10:28} Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
{10:29} And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s
{10:30} But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
{10:31} But many [that are] first shall be last; and the last first.
A prophecy- 'Many that are first shall be last, and last first.'
A prophecy- 'And in the world to come eternal life.'
Predictions!
John
{6:54} Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
{6:55} For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
{6:56} He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
{6:57} As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
{6:58} This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
A prophecy- 'I will raise him up at the last day.'
A prophecy- 'He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.'
*******
A prophecy predicts the future and eternal life is a life being lived forever. Do any of us have that reality? We are taught we only live for so long and that's that and everything else is supposition. The truth is we can have eternal life, our lives will be lived forever - we have an endless future.
It is predicted that once Jesus comes again that our eternal lives will begin without sin. We that are living will be raised up and changed, the dead in Christ- those who have died and are sleeping in the earth will be raised up and changed.
The prediction of the future is important. Some people spend a lot of money trying to get their future predicted. Some people are only concerned with this life here and now.
Prophecies in the Bible are renowned. History has verified that Biblical prophecy is undeniable. If we believe in one small bit of the proven prophecies it only holds to reason, it is only logical, that the rest will be true.
Eternal life is in our futures if we believe in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made to save us, if we are born again spiritually. If we remember Jesus died and lives for us, if we holdfast to that fact we will have a future, an eternal life with Him.
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. We must have the testimony of Jesus, and keep God's commandments, the two of them mingled together into perfection offered to us who are far from perfect. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ our Savior, may our lives be lived in Him now and forever.
Amen.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Testimony of Jesus
The Testimony of Jesus
*
2 Tim {1:7} For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
{1:8} Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
*
Rev. {1:1} The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his
angel unto his servant John: {1:2} Who bare record of the
word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all
things that he saw.
*
Rev.{1:9} I John, who also am your brother, and companion in
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ
*
Rev.{6:9} And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held
*
Rev. {11:7} And when they shall
have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of
the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall
overcome them, and kill them.
*
Rev.{12:11} And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death.
*
Rev.{12:17} And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and
went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep
the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
*
Rev.{15:5} And after that I looked, and, behold,
the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was
opened:
*
Rev. {19:10} And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said
unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of
thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God:
for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
*
{2:1} And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the
testimony of God. {2:2} For I determined not to know any
thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
{2:3} And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling. {2:4} And my speech and my preaching
[was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power: {2:5} That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. {2:6} Howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world, that come to nought: {2:7} But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the
hidden [wisdom,] which God ordained before the world
unto our glory: {2:8} Which none of the princes of this
world knew: for had they known [it,] they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. {2:9} But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. {2:10} But God hath revealed [them] unto us
by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. {2:11} For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of
God. {2:12} Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God. {2:13} Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. {2:14} But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them,] because
they are spiritually discerned. {2:15} But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
{2:16} For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he
may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
*******
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. From the moment Jesus started preaching what was it He was preaching exactly? The gospel. What is the gospel? The good news. What is the good news? The good news is that we sinners have a was to be forgiven. Us wayward children of God now have a way to become reconciled with God. Our sins can be forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How is this the Spirit of prophecy which we are told is the testimony of Jesus? Prophecy is a prediction of a future event. The future event predicted by Christ Himself was total reconciliation with God encompassing us living and dead being made new in Him and being caught up to heaven with Him when He returns to take us with Him. Not once did He tell the disciples they were on their own, that there was no hope of a future with Him, that they had this life on earth now and that was that. Jesus preached hope! Jesus preached salvation! Jesus preached to us of a new world, a new life and the prophectic aspect of receiving the fulness of that hope in time. Jesus' testimony is most certainly prophectic. We accept Jesus Christ and a lot of times people fall back away from Him giving up hope in what? In the prophectic prediction of Jesus' that He will come again. It's like a reliable human being, someone you've always been able to count on in the past, telling you they'll be there to pick you up between a certain time, say 12 noon and 12 midnight. So you wait, and you wait and you wait until finally you grow tired of waiting and you focus on the fact they said 12 noon. Sure they also said 12 midnight, but surely they meant somewhere closer to 12 noon not the later time. So it comes to 6 pm, halfway through the time and you're pacing, and pacing. You begin to lose hope even though you KNOW that they could still be considered on time if they arrive at midnight. Finally it's 9 pm and you don't want to wait any longer. Taking that analogy to Jesus we need to substitute years and years and years for hours but it holds true. The fact remains Jesus predicted He would return and He WILL return. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy simply because He preached prophetically of salvation and life everlasting.
We must have the testimony of Jesus if we are to overcome this world by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. We must have the Spirit of prophecy in us, the willingness to believe and holdfast until Christ comes to redeem us unto Him as He promises.
May we all holdfast to that which is holy, good, and true. May we cling tightly to God and have the Testimony of Jesus.
By His amazing mercy and unending grace now and forever.
Amen.
*
2 Tim {1:7} For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
{1:8} Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
*
Rev. {1:1} The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified [it] by his
angel unto his servant John: {1:2} Who bare record of the
word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all
things that he saw.
*
Rev.{1:9} I John, who also am your brother, and companion in
tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ
*
Rev.{6:9} And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of
God, and for the testimony which they held
*
Rev. {11:7} And when they shall
have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of
the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall
overcome them, and kill them.
*
Rev.{12:11} And
they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the
word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death.
*
Rev.{12:17} And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and
went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep
the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
*
Rev.{15:5} And after that I looked, and, behold,
the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was
opened:
*
Rev. {19:10} And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said
unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of
thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God:
for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
*
{2:1} And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with
excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the
testimony of God. {2:2} For I determined not to know any
thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
{2:3} And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling. {2:4} And my speech and my preaching
[was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power: {2:5} That your
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. {2:6} Howbeit we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
of the princes of this world, that come to nought: {2:7} But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the
hidden [wisdom,] which God ordained before the world
unto our glory: {2:8} Which none of the princes of this
world knew: for had they known [it,] they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. {2:9} But as it is written, Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them
that love him. {2:10} But God hath revealed [them] unto us
by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. {2:11} For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of
God. {2:12} Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God. {2:13} Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. {2:14} But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them,] because
they are spiritually discerned. {2:15} But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
{2:16} For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he
may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
*******
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy. From the moment Jesus started preaching what was it He was preaching exactly? The gospel. What is the gospel? The good news. What is the good news? The good news is that we sinners have a was to be forgiven. Us wayward children of God now have a way to become reconciled with God. Our sins can be forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How is this the Spirit of prophecy which we are told is the testimony of Jesus? Prophecy is a prediction of a future event. The future event predicted by Christ Himself was total reconciliation with God encompassing us living and dead being made new in Him and being caught up to heaven with Him when He returns to take us with Him. Not once did He tell the disciples they were on their own, that there was no hope of a future with Him, that they had this life on earth now and that was that. Jesus preached hope! Jesus preached salvation! Jesus preached to us of a new world, a new life and the prophectic aspect of receiving the fulness of that hope in time. Jesus' testimony is most certainly prophectic. We accept Jesus Christ and a lot of times people fall back away from Him giving up hope in what? In the prophectic prediction of Jesus' that He will come again. It's like a reliable human being, someone you've always been able to count on in the past, telling you they'll be there to pick you up between a certain time, say 12 noon and 12 midnight. So you wait, and you wait and you wait until finally you grow tired of waiting and you focus on the fact they said 12 noon. Sure they also said 12 midnight, but surely they meant somewhere closer to 12 noon not the later time. So it comes to 6 pm, halfway through the time and you're pacing, and pacing. You begin to lose hope even though you KNOW that they could still be considered on time if they arrive at midnight. Finally it's 9 pm and you don't want to wait any longer. Taking that analogy to Jesus we need to substitute years and years and years for hours but it holds true. The fact remains Jesus predicted He would return and He WILL return. The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy simply because He preached prophetically of salvation and life everlasting.
We must have the testimony of Jesus if we are to overcome this world by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. We must have the Spirit of prophecy in us, the willingness to believe and holdfast until Christ comes to redeem us unto Him as He promises.
May we all holdfast to that which is holy, good, and true. May we cling tightly to God and have the Testimony of Jesus.
By His amazing mercy and unending grace now and forever.
Amen.
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