The joy that was set before Him

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The JOY that was set before him.

What joy was set before our Savior before He endured the cross?

Mat_13:44  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

For joy the man sells ALL that he has to buy the field full of hidden treasure.

Our Savior gave ALL that He had - to buy for us the kingdom of heaven!

The Joy before our Savior is the kingdom of heaven made possible to us, His creations!

Our Savior could endure the cross, despising the shame all for US to be allowed to be with Him in His kingdom!  There was JOY set before our LORD. Our LORD held fast to that JOY. It was that JOY that made it possible for Him to stay on that cross, to suffer all that immense pain, to allow Himself to be separated from His Father, all for the kingdom of heaven!  The WAY was created for us! This was the JOY of CHRIST our SAVIOR!

He suffered because He knew what He would do would determine whether or not He could save His creations, man made in His image.

Our Savior had a goal, our Savior had a hope, our Savior looked forward to the day all the pain would be past, all the agony would end.

We TOO need to look beyond the agonies of living now, enduring the incredible hardships- mentally, emotionally, and yes, physically.  Our hope has to be in CHRIST who made the WAY to HIM possible!

Luk_6:23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Joh_17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

Christ's joy is us with Him!

Our joy must be us with Him!

By HIS GRACE!

The Author and Finisher of our Faith

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…


Lay aside every weight and the sins that we so easily commit.
And let us run with patience the race of life.

As any runner will tell you if they carry extra weight it's going to make the run all that much harder. Some runners purposely add extra weight to burn calories and add more muscle to their bodies. Other runners are burdened with extra weight by others to slow them down.  Carrying the extra weight of sin does NOT build muscles or help our appearance in any way. Carrying the extra weight of sin burdens us we have to LAY aside EVERY weight. We have to lay aside EVERY sin and then run!

To do this we MUST look to JESUS!

Jesus is the AUTHOR and the FINISHER of our FAITH.

The AUTHOR or our FAITH.

If you're an author you are a creator. An author creates, yes? 

If I'm an author then I've created a story, fiction or non-fiction, if I create that book I've authored it.  Jesus has authored OUR faith!

Jesus has created our faith.

Not only has He begun our faith He will also finish our faith, He IS our faith!

We hope to lay aside the weight of our sins that would keep us from running the race before us with patience, but the only way that is possible is through JESUS.  We must trust this-

Php 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ

Satan wants us to get caught up in whether or not we've been able to rid ourselves or all our sins. He'll point out every sin that we haven't been able to lay aside for very long. I say 'for very long' because when we ask our Savior to forgive us and seek to go and sin no more, with a sincere heart within us we are LAYING aside every weight, every sin. We don't pray that prayer and expect to sin the very next moment.  (And if you do, right away pray again, and again, and again!)   As a rule most people after asking for forgiveness and sincerely seeking repentance, not desiring ever again to sin, do not expect to sin in the next moment. We are laying aside the weight. We are asking for the faith NOT to sin and that power of faith can only come from our SAVIOR.

We have to ask always! We can never get to a place where we are not seeking our Savior to save us. 

Please LORD, the Author and the Finisher of our FAITH, please keep us in YOU. Keep us realizing that You and You alone can save us from our sin, the sins that so easily beset us. We choose to give You our lives, please Lord, do with us as You will! Save us from ourselves. Do all for us that we cannot do for ourselves, and help us do for ourselves what You ask us to do.  You are our everything!

Love us LORD, know us, save us, keep us, be the author and the finisher of our faith.

All by YOUR GRACE!

Lay aside every weight...

Lay aside every weight.   Every weight. What weighs you down? What gives you that spiritual heaviness that threatens to crush you with its weight? You know what I'm talking about, I know you do. Something that weighs you down keeps you from being lifted up. What sort of things weigh you down? Maybe it's your thoughts? Maybe it's your cherished sins.  You might feel the heavy weight of conviction given to you by the grace of our Lord, intending that you repent and seek forgiveness for the sins. Laying aside the weight means...

Lay aside every sin.  Every sin.  Laying aside every weight means laying aside every sin. If you're laying things aside, you are letting go of them aren't you? You are getting them away from you. You can't hold onto something you've laid aside, not unless you choose to pick up that something again.  We are to lay aside our sins.  Is it possible?  Only through Jesus Christ! We are wretched men caught up in our flesh nature, minding things of the flesh and as such we have to look outside of ourselves for the victory - from the smallest of victories to the greatest. When we recognize a sin in our lives we have to choose not to cling to it. We have to choose to despise it. We have to choose to seek repentance and forgiveness. We have to choose to be rid of that sin in our lives by not clinging to it, by not encouraging ourselves to hold onto it. We can't tuck away our cherished sins, we have to lay them aside, let go of them. Sins we cherish are the hardest to be rid of. These are sins that we enjoy, sins that give us pleasures, sins that are easier to commit than fight against.

We do that don't we? We commit sin because it's easier than the fight against it. And we are all for indulging ourselves, making our lives easier.  We confuse ourselves by believing God wants us to have an easy life, He expects us to strive for a life of ease, the path of the least resistance to our contentment.  The trouble with that, it isn't want God wants for us at all!  God wants us to love Him, and in loving Him we choose not to sin no matter the cost to our ease, to our comfort, to our life. Because sinning SEPARATES US FROM GOD! God never wants us to be separated from Him.

Sin's evil is its ability to separate us from God!
Sin separates us from LOVE!

More tomorrow by the grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST!



Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us

Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Jesus walked the earth for forty days after He died and returned to life, and as we discussed yesterday, He spent that time speaking of things pertaining the kingdom of God. This is what His disciples asked Him before He left this earth and went to Heaven as High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary.

Act 1:6  When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

They wanted to know if the kingdom would be restored to Israel at that time. The kingdom restored on earth to Israel. As if Jesus hadn't said this--

Joh_18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence

They comprehended that Christ their Savior had died, they knew for a fact He'd died, some if not all of them witnessed His crucifixion. He was declared and proven dead beyond any doubt. Then three days later He returned to life!  So here they are realizing upon His death that Jesus wasn't making this world His kingdom. Now, upon His resurrection they had a renewed hope that NOW was a good time for the kingdom to come. Sure, Jesus' kingdom wasn't this world before His death, but now, maybe now it would be His kingdom. Didn't He teach them to pray... 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done?'  Still they didn't realize that the Savior had brought the kingdom to them, the Savior made it all possible, He was the Key to the kingdom. They clearly wanted and expected that Israel would become a kingdom once more in power over all others, but that wasn't what Jesus taught. Jesus taught loving your enemy not lording yourself over them. Jesus taught setting captives free, not making all others your captives.

The answer Jesus gave to that question- 'wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?'  was this...

Act 1:7  And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

It's not for you to know when.
The Father alone has those answers.

Mar 13:32  But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Mar 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

The disciples had wanted to know the signs of the end of the world and Jesus went to great lengths to reveal many prophecies that had yet to take place. Those prophecies did not come to pass between the time Jesus died and was resurrected three days later, yet the disciples were still asking if it were time for the kingdom to come. They didn't comprehend fully all that Jesus had tried to teach them. They were trying to make sense of everything, putting the pieces together in their minds. They'd lived with the idea that the Messiah would come and usher in a new reign for the kingdom of Israel which was under great oppression.  Then they had to wrap their heads around the truth that the Messiah wasn't there to do that, He wasn't there to bring the kingdom of Israel a new king, a new ruler-ship that would bring down all their oppressors.  He was there to teach them a NEW WAY, a WAY beyond the sacrificial system they'd been given. A WAY that would have them servants not masters. A WAY that would depend fully upon their Savior for salvation and not upon their ability to seek forgiveness through a lamb or any other sin offering that might be made. The Lamb of God, the ultimate Sacrifice was made and it was that Sacrifice all forgiveness depended. This was the WAY to the kingdom, the WAY Jesus taught.

Jesus did not return after three days to bring a new kingdom to Israel on Earth. He brought the WAY to a new kingdom of God in Heaven.

Jesus went on to tell them this--

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Act 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

Power.  They would receive power. Power to do what? To witness of JESUS-the KINGDOM to all!

The power the Holy Spirit would give to them would enable them to witness of Jesus Christ Lord and Savior, and HE lived His entire ministry preaching on the kingdom of heaven.

Any mention of Christ is a mention of the kingdom.

Jesus wanted the gospel, the good news of Him, and How He made the kingdom of heaven available to all to be spread over the entire earth, and the Holy Spirit would give power to those chosen to preach this good news.

How wondrous is our Savior, the Savior of the world! The bringer of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Please Lord, we would be YOURS, wholly YOURS.

All by YOUR AMAZING GRACE!

All through LOVE, and YOU ARE LOVE!

Things pertaing to the kingdom of God

Act 1:1  The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Act 1:2  Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
Act 1:3  To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God

He died.
Jesus died.
His disciples were devastated.  You can imagine it, the awful sadness, the despair.  You try to make sense of it all and then you realize just a few days later- He's no longer dead, He's back from the dead!

How glorious! How amazingly, unbelievably glorious!

He showed himself ALIVE after He died and He did so through many INFALLIBLE PROOFS. He was seen for forty days and during that time He spoke of what?

'THINGS PERTAINING TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD'!

Our Savior returned to life, brought back from eternal death, and He spoke of THING PERTAINING TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

The kingdom of God!

We've been studying the Kingdom of God and you know what the truth of it all is…

Whenever we study our Bibles, whenever we study about our Savior Jesus Christ, whenever we seek to learn about God- we are studying the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, we are studying the KINGDOM OF GOD, every single time!

This is the whole message of our Savior! He came to preach the gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven!

We truly cannot study the Bible without studying about the Kingdom.

Is it any wonder that Jesus returned to life and walked the earth for forty more days and spoke on things pertaining to the kingdom of God?  He could do nothing else. He is the kingdom!

Bless us LORD, bless us with You, bless us with the Kingdom!

Teach us the kingdom!

Let us live in YOUR TRUTH!

Speak of the Kingdom of heaven to us!

Let us live with You in the Kingdom of God!

Please, all by YOUR righteousness, YOUR love, YOUR forgiveness, YOUR mercy, YOUR love, always and forever without end!

Bless us!

Counterfeit Love

Joh_18:36  Jesus answered, MY KINGDOM is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is MY KINGDOM not from hence.

Amazing words, words we need to comprehend.

Jesus came to preach His kingdom to us, the way to His kingdom and that kingdom is NOT this world.

So many believe this world is everything, they make this world their everything. But it isn't the Kingdom that Jesus came to preach.  Our Savior came to SAVE us from this world!

Jesus wants us to preach His kingdom, and His kingdom is NOT of this world! 

So, if we are preaching this world, then we aren't preaching the kingdom.

It's not ludicrous to believe that we should be preaching life eternal in the face of life now.

None of us know when we will die, not a single one of us! Even suicides aren't guaranteed death, ask all of those who thought they were taking their lives but lived to tell about it, there are quite a few of them.

We do not know how long we have to spend on this world. Yet so many of us act as if it is all that matters.

What matters on this world is how we live for the kingdom of our Savior.
Our Savior wants us to love Him so we CAN love others!

We can't love others without loving Him, not really, not truly, not with the love that only comes from our Creator, our Redeemer. We can manufacture an idea of love but it has no truth in it if it is not of God, none. It's a lie that feels good, looks good, seems good, in fact it could be a lie that is wonderful and seems to be very genuine. The counterfeit is always amazingly, unbelievably close to the original, that's how it deceives people.

Counterfeit love.

We don't like to imagine there is such a thing, but it exists. In every loving atheist who swears there is no God, it exists. In every person who claims a false religion, it exists.

The truth is out there for us, our Savior made the whole truth available to us, He didn't hide it!

We will NOT be able to claim that the truth was hidden from us, He'll be able to show us every single opportunity we passed up to know the truth. We cannot LIE to GOD! He knows! HE KNOWS!

Any love that is NOT of GOD is NOT LOVE!

Hard for us to believe when we realize that there are so many people who are incredibly loving in their actions, their words, their lives that they are using counterfeit love.

Is it our job to expose them, NO.

We cannot JUDGE anyone!

It is our job to expose only the TRUTH!  And when that truth is exposed the Holy Spirit alone will convict the hearts that seek the Lord our Savior and TRUE LOVE.

Please LORD, bless us!
Keep us in YOU, keep us in YOUR TRUTH!
Keep us in YOUR LOVE!

By YOUR GRACE!

We live in the flesh, but we do not war after the flesh

We walk in the flesh.
We do not war after the flesh.
Our weapons are not carnal.
Our weapons are mighty through God.
Our weapons through GOD cast down imaginations.
Our weapons through God cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
Our weapons through GOD bring into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the OBEDIENCE of CHRIST.
Our weapons through GOD are ready to revenge all disobedience- when our obedience is FULFILLED.

Do you look on THINGS after the OUTWARD appearance?

If we are CHRIST'S we must think that Christ has a people that are HIS-and we are among those people.

2Co 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
2Co 10:7  Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's.

This is truth.

We have to realize that even though we must walk in flesh- we most certainly cannot step out of our flesh and live on- it's impossible.  We walk in flesh. But we DO NOT WAR after the flesh.

I know, you're probably thinking that you war after the flesh all the time, we fight with each other often don't we? We have wars of flesh where people die from this sort of warring, but that's not what we are focusing on here because we have a different sort of war, a spiritual war. If we die in the battle of the flesh, it doesn't mean we've lost eternal life. If we die spiritually, we have lost eternal life. So which war is more important? Seriously?

Every single day it seems we are put to the test. Just how important is eternal life to us? Is it more important than family? Friends? Government? Is it?

Keeping peace in the flesh, or peace in the spirit, which is more important?

Keeping peace among each other, among family and friends, and even strangers is this more important than peace in the spirit?

Flesh or God?

Yes, God wants us to love one another, but we are not to sacrifice God for others.  The two great commandments that encompass all ten moral laws are these--

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Love God.
Love mankind.

Without the love of God we CANNOT love mankind, it's IMPOSSIBLE.  We can pass something off as love, but it won't be true love.

Flesh or God?

God.

Spirit first, flesh second.

God first!

We are Christ's!  As being Christ's we must know that the spirit comes first.

Our warfare is a spiritual one.

We walk in the flesh.
We do not war after the flesh.
Our weapons are not carnal.
Our weapons are mighty through God.
Our weapons through GOD cast down imaginations.
Our weapons through God cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
Our weapons through GOD bring into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the OBEDIENCE of CHRIST.
Our weapons through GOD are ready to revenge all disobedience- when our obedience is FULFILLED.

Amazing!

Read this--

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

The POWER OF HIS MIGHT! CHRIST'S MIGHT! ALL THROUGH GOD!

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

More tomorrow by the grace of God, our LORD, our SAVIOR!

Please let us know we are YOURS, let us think on YOU, CHRIST JESUS. Let us live in the SPIRIT that we are born again into all through YOU.  Though we walk in the flesh, let us live to YOU!

Please!