Keeping Yourselves in the Love of God.

Jud 1:20  But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 

Jud 1:21  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 

Did you think of eternal life today?

If not, why not?

Maybe you said a morning prayer, and perhaps you recited the Lord's Prayer, and in that prayer are the words-  'Thy kingdom come', but did you stop and think about those words or were they said automatically without much thought at all? I ask because we ALL (ME INCLUDED) need to think much more about eternal life than we do.  Okay, if you're someone who does think of eternal life a lot, then clearly you don't have to think more about it, but I know personally I need to think more and more about it.  I get so caught up in THIS life I neglect to have serious and extensive thoughts about eternal life- the life I'm truly living for- not this world.

I need KEEP myself in the LOVE of GOD- LOOKING for the MERCY of our LORD JESUS CHRIST- all to ETERNAL LIFE.

Am I looking for the mercy? Am I keeping myself in the love of God? Is eternal life on my mind?

Back when the first century Christ followers lived, they had their "normal" everyday lives to live just like we do today. Yes, millions of things have changed since that time but one thing that hasn't changed is our need of a Savior.

They learned of Christ back then and some were just children when the wonderful news was shared with them and those children may have lived to be in their seventies, eighties, or nineties. The point I'm trying to make is they had to live out their years in their everyday life just like we do, they didn’t have it easier. In fact a lot of them had it much harder than we do- they were being persecuted there wasn’t a safe country for them to practice their beliefs. We have to believe with all our hearts and Jesus has to be a very real part of our lives, every single day!

Are we keeping ourselves in the love of God?

How many people today are being tortured for keeping themselves in the love of God? Right now, right this moment, how many are feeling pain because they refuse to give up their love of God through Jesus Christ? They REFUSE to give up the love of God.  God is so important to them they would rather DIE than give up their love of Him. Yet we are so petty we get mad at God when things don't go our way, when we feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders and God is allowing it so we get mad, and we aren't being TORTURED for our FAITH! Or maybe we don't get mad at God, maybe we are counting our tribulations joy. Maybe we are living with heaven on our minds daily. It's just so easy to be a fair-weather Christian, just as easy as it is to be a crisis Christian. A crisis Christian calls upon God a lot more when they face trouble and they barely think of Him when things are going good- the opposite of a fair-weather Christian.  The truth is, we need God in the wonderful times as well as the awful times. We never STOP needing God no matter what is happening in our lives!  We have to KEEP ourselves in the love of God! Because if we don't actively KEEP ourselves in the love of God, Satan will introduce all sorts of things to keep us away from Him.  

Let's keep the love of God with us as we have ordinary days, uniquely wonderful days, horrifically awful days, let there not be a single day no matter our circumstances that the love God isn't there with us. All through the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!

God, Who Created All Things By Jesus Christ.

Eph 3:9  And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ

The Fellowship of the Mystery--

--from the beginning of the world has been hid in God-- who created ALL things by Jesus Christ.

Yesterday we talked a bit about our Savior being with God from the beginning, and about our Savior being with God throughout the entire Old Testament.  We talked about our Savior being a part of every decision made by God the Father. We recognize that when our Savior took on flesh and was the living embodiment of God on earth He was representing His Father, doing the will of the Father, a will HE agreed with in every way. We know that Jesus' death did away with the ceremonial laws and such that were put in place prior to His death which took away all that was there pointing to the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus expounded on the moral law that HE and HIS FATHER enacted on Mount Sinai. Jesus brought to the surface the LOVE in the LAW that had been stripped away for traditions of men. Keeping the law in every point wasn't enough- unless there is LOVE in the law you keep.  Jesus said this--

Mat 19:16  And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 

Mat 19:17  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 

Mat 19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 

Mat 19:19  Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 19:20  The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 

Mat 19:21  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. 

The one who came to Jesus wanting eternal life asked what he could do and was told to keep the commandments- the MORAL LAW. The man asked which commandment and Jesus clearly told him the moral commandments. And the man replied that he'd kept that moral law from his youth until now, and he wanted to know what he lacked.  Jesus answered telling him to sell what he has and give to the poor, so the man's treasure would be in heaven, not on earth. And Jesus added- "come and follow me."

The love of the law- the first four are about loving God, the last six about loving our fellow man.  Loving our fellow man goes beyond not harming him and Jesus taught this because the people didn't realize how important it was to love each other and God. 

I could tell you all about my mother and her loving nature, but my words aren't guarantees you would understand the depths of her love, feel her love, comprehend her love wholly.  However, if you could have known my mother when she was still alive you would have been able to meet her, to know her, and understand her loving nature.  When Jesus came to us in flesh He allowed us to KNOW Him and His loving nature.  Jesus was with God in the BEGINNING - creating all things, Jesus with God always.

Knowing that Jesus was with God during each command to rise up and kill - has to make us realize that our God truly acted out of love, a love we can't comprehend in a mystery.

As I mentioned yesterday I believe that God will give eternal life to all innocent people- from the youngest to the oldest. God knows the hearts of all who die. If a pagan worshipping idols ignorant of the One True God and His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, God knows. We look upon the lives lost as if the tragedy of death is horrific, and it can be. We hear of all sorts of tragic deaths, more and more lives taken in awful ways, and yet no matter how awful the death is, no matter how many mothers, fathers, children, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers are left behind after one of those tragic deaths, what remains is the truth. The truth of our Savior's love. The truth that death is but a sleep for those who are His. And we can have the HOPE that all of those who die- our loved ones, and strangers, as well as all in-between are God's because it is NOT our right to decide who belongs to Him and who doesn't. We can have HOPE, and our HOPE is in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, and eternal life through HIM who has been from everlasting to everlasting.

Jesus, From the Beginning.

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

The spiritual Rock FOLLOWED the people Moses led out of Egypt. Our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST followed the people through the parted sea and into the wilderness. Jesus followed them forty years as they wandered. People want to leave Christ OUT of the Old Testament, but they can't!  Jesus was there at the very beginning.

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 

So why do people take Jesus out of the Old Testament as if He didn't exist until the New Testament and His birth into humanity?  Jesus was there with the Heavenly Father all through the Old Testament, He wasn't hid in some heavenly room while the Father did all the work. He was right by His side! He knew everything being done, there wasn't a single thing at all whatsoever that Jesus didn't know. So, when we separate Jesus from the Old Testament happenings, we are doing Him and ourselves a grave disservice. Jesus took on flesh and eventually began His ministry. Jesus revealed in the flesh the LOVE that He and His Father forever had from the beginning. Jesus didn't condemn His Father's ways. Throughout all time Jesus and the Father's love was present. In what we perceive as horrific acts, the purpose was through love. We have NO way of knowing WHO will be in eternity. Of the thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands slain of women, children and men- we don't know who of them all would be with Christ in eternity when our Savior returns and that last trump is sounded and the dead in Christ rise.  Just because they were allowed to die for purposes beyond our full comprehension, doesn't mean they weren't God's. We are all allowed to die, every human being who has ever died, was allowed that death by God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. This life is a very temporary life.  And whether we are allowed one minute of life before death, or hundred years of life it is still temporary, and only God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, know who will live again in eternity.

Our Savior has been since always, just as the Father and the Holy Spirit. 

More tomorrow on this, all by the grace of our LORD, now and forever!

We Say We Know Him.

1Jn 2:1  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 

1Jn 2:3  And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 

1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 

1Jn 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 

People love to say they know Jesus Christ, the propitiation for the sins of the world.  They do, they will say it loudly and proudly. They'll proclaim His holy name to all who will hear them. They'll hold their Bibles up and raise their hands in the air. They’ll sing praises to His name and worship Him happily. Yet, people will say they know Him and yet not keep His commandments at all. Their love for others stops at the mirror, and the reflection they see is one glorying in themselves for all their good will. Yes, they'll help others but they do so in order to have it look good on them, they wear their good deeds like an expensive garment proudly for the world to see, and they don't take it off in private. In private they wear this clothing pleased with themselves for all they do. Loving others…loving others… this is one of Jesus' commandments that encompasses six of the ten commandments. Jesus was THERE with Moses and the people led from the wilderness, we can't forget this!

Neh 9:12  Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go. 

Neh 9:13  Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments

Neh 9:14  And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant: 

Neh 9:15  And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them. 

1Co 10:1  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior was there as the Ten Commandments were given, He and His Father are one in agreement, so HOW can anyone think the Lord Jesus doesn't want us to keep the Ten Moral Laws that were separated from ceremonial laws, and the many laws of the land? Jesus reaffirmed the moral law during His ministry more than once, yet people want to believe that He did away with the moral law as if it weren't approved by Him, as if it wasn't Him there with the people at Sinai. Jesus' new commandment was an expansion on the moral law expounded upon the LOVE in the law- the love for God and the love for our fellow man.

Love.

We who say we know Christ, do we really? Do we keep His commandments- all of them?!

All by HIS AMAZING GRACE, HIS MERCY, HIS LOVE, always!!!!!!!

Ministers of Reconciliation.

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 
2Co 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.


The ministry of reconciliation.


To be reconciled-


rec·on·cile
verb
past tense: reconciled; past participle: reconciled RESTORE FRIENDLY RELATIONS BETWEEN. "she wanted to be reconciled with her father"
• CAUSE TO COEXIST IN HARMONY; MAKE OR SHOW TO BE COMPATIBLE.
  "a landscape in which inner and outer vision were reconciled"


From <https://www.google.com/search?q=reconciled+definition&oq=reconciled+definition&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.12797j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8>



We are to be MINISTERS of reconciliation.


God has reconciled US to Himself through our Savior and we need to be ministers of this reconciliation. We need to offer this reconciliation to others.


God IN Christ reconciled the WORLD to HIMSELF.
Our sins will NOT kill us!


Sin kills. Sin separates us from God, and God is life, eternal life. Without God there is NO eternal life. The only way our sins will not kill us is if they are forgiven. Reconciliation has to be made through our Savior. Every single sin needs to be forgiven and we have a Savior who DIED so He could forgive ALL our sins.

Without RECONCILIATION we will not have life.


No one will have eternal life without reconciliation. If we are reconciled to God through Christ, we must let others know they too have a chance for eternal life, they too can be reconciled to God through the Savior. 

Please, Lord, please help us to be reconciled to YOU and to be ministers of reconciliation as YOU will!!!!!!!!!

Joy In God.

Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 

Rom 5:11  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. 

When we were enemies.  Enemies of God.  What constitute being an enemy of God? We are all enemies of God until we are redeemed by Him because sin rules us and sin separates us from God, and that separation makes us enemies of God.  Redemption reconciles us with God. Redemption through the death of God's only begotten Son. We are SAVED by the life of our Savior- the fact He was born into humanity, raised to give His message to the world, and subjected Himself to dying on the cross so His Father could raise Him from the dead. Raised from the dead our Savior longs to redeem us from our sins, He longs to save us! Our Savior wants us to JOY IN GOD through HIM. Joy because we've received atonement, we are at one with God, no longer separated by sin, no longer enemies!

We must JOY IN GOD through our SAVIOR!

Redemption, salvation, reconciliation, and atonement ...all through Jesus Christ our Lord and we can JOY IN GOD through Him. 

We don’t joy in our lives except how we are saved, first and foremost. As we joy in the moment of the perfect sunset we can have that joy because we have a Savior. I know there are those who will quickly say that those who deny Christ will still find joy in a beautiful sunset, and they're right- they will have a joy but it is a joy grounded in the present not in eternity. Their joy is fleeting ours is the knowledge that the sunset we are finding joy in is amazing yet nothing compared to the joy of eternity with Jesus Christ.  Our joy is found in the wonder of our Heavenly Father!

All glory, praise and honor unto our LORD and SAVIOR, now and forever!!!!!!!

Precious Blood.

1Pe 1:18  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 

1Pe 1:19  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot

Redeemed.

I think we're all familiar with the idea of redeeming coupons, yes? You clip a coupon from a paper, or you download the coupon on your phone and when you go to the checkout you give the coupon or input your phone info to get your savings. You give something and get something in return, that's how redeeming coupons work.

With our Savior, He gave His life and in return we get eternal life, we are redeemed.

A 25 cents off coupon saves me 25 cents, NOTHING compared to my Savior giving His life for my life.

A life for a life.

The precious blood of Christ was shed- a whipping tore apart His flesh and blood flowed. The crown of thorns was placed on His head and the thorns dug into His flesh and his blood flowed. Nails pierced his feet and hands, blood poured forth.  Our Savior's blood was spilled as He hung upon that cross bleeding down the wood that held Him up. That precious blood was shed to redeem us. How exceedingly precious was that blood of our Savior, that blood of Christ. Innocent blood, pure blood without any corruption at all whatsoever. Godly blood, the blood of God and mankind. Christ took on human form, a form filled with life blood. That blood was royal blood, the blood of God. The blood of the power of God.

Rom 5:9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

The power of our Savior's blood JUSTIFIES us!  We are SAVED through the blood of Jesus Christ! Such power! 

We are REDEEMED by the PRECIOUS BLOOD of CHRIST.

Nothing else redeems us, not a single thing!

You cannot be saved by anything else, nothing else exists that offers us eternal life, nothing.

Mat_26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Rom_3:25  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God

Eph_1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace

Eph_2:13  But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ

Col_1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven