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Archive for the ‘Jesus’ Category

How will you live: by the kiss, by the sword or by the cup?

Posted in Bible, Exhortation, God, Jesus, New Testament, Walking with God, tagged , , , on September 8, 2011|

Will you be like Judas and serve Christ with a kiss of betrayal?

Do you come and “kiss the ring” on Sunday morning, serving God, worshiping with the people of God, nodding at the finer points of the  Pastor’s sermon and then live like a heathen the rest of the week?  Isn’t that exactly what Judas did?  Didn’t he walk daily with Jesus, watch the miracles, hang with the disciples and do the “spiritual” things like saying the previous oil in the alabaster box should be sold to generate money for the poor, and then didn’t he sell Jesus out to his enemies for 30 pieces of silver?  Is that you?  Pious with the church folks and down and dirty with the unsaved, passing off your church attendance as mere amusement, something you do for your parents, kids or spouse?  Be careful you don’t live like Judas, by the kiss.

Will you be like Peter and seek to serve the LORD by the flesh and the sword?

Maybe you are more like Peter.  God speaks to you and shows you His truth, but rather than wait on the LORD, you rush ahead in your flesh and cut off the ears of those who don’t yet know God.  Maybe you rely on your own wisdom to argue with the unsaved, driving them farther from Jesus.  Maybe when God draws you into the company of Godly men or women, all you can speak of is building a tent for them, forgetting about the close presence of God in your zeal to show partiality to men.  Be careful you don’t seek to serve Jesus by the flesh and the sword.  It will only leave you and those around you wounded.

Or will you be like Jesus, who when called to serve God, obeyed drinking the cup

The cup that Jesus drank from was no simple thing.  Three times He begged God to take it from Him always asking for God’s will first.  Will you be like Jesus?  Will you seek first God’s plan, God’s way, God’s purpose and despite the pain, discomfort or sheer terror you feel in the face of it, will you, like Jesus, drink the cup God offers you?  Will you be like Jesus, obedient to death, a death on the cross?  A death of torture and humiliation?  Will you then, in the midst of your torture and humiliation, count those for whom you suffer “joy”?  Serve God by drinking the cup.  Serve God by obeying Him with every fiber of your being, even your last breath.

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John 8 – Woman Caught in Adultery

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Gospels, Jesus, John, New Testament, Repentance, the Father, tagged , , , , , , on August 30, 2011|

Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.

 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.  And when they had set her in the midst, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”  This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.

But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.   So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”

 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”  

John 8:2-11

OBSERVATIONS:

Where is it taking place?

  • In the temple, the center of religious teaching, the (only) place where the presence of God dwelt on earth

Who is involved in the story?

  • Scribes and Pharisees – religious leaders and experts in the law
  • Adulterous woman – found in the “very act of adultery” and so has violated God’s law  (Exodus 20:14)

Why do they bring her to Jesus?

  • Pharisees and scribes thought they could trap Jesus.  Either He was the Messiah, sent from God, or he was a fraud.  If He was soft on the law, it was proof He was not Messiah.  Jesus had been meeting with sinners, eating with tax collectors and thereby showing a very lax view of God’s law and those who violate it.
  • They were trying to discredit Him.

Who’s missing?

  • Adultery is a 2-person crime – Where’s the man?

Old Testament imagery?

  • Jesus writes with His finger (same way God wrote on the tablets at Mount Sinai)
  • Maybe He was writing out the 10 Commandments
  • Maybe He is writing their names next to the various commandments – the scripture says that they are convicted
  • Jesus proves that He is God by knowing secret sins of people whose sin is not well known
APPLICATION

Remarkably, Jesus could have, with His obvious knowledge of things, condemned her, but He chooses not to be a witness against her.

Similarly, God is not in the business of, nor does He desire to be a witness against you.  Rather, God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5:8)

This is not to say that Jesus (God incarnate) is soft on sin.  He knows the law.  He wrote the law.  Don’t be confused or misled, one day (maybe sooner than you planned) He is coming to judge.  Come to Him now, when His purposes towards you are forgiveness and restoration.  Later His purposes will be only judgment

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  John 5:24


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Do-over!

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Bible, God, Hope, Jesus, New Testament, Relationship with God, salvation, tagged , , , , on June 20, 2011|

How many times in the day or week do you long for a do-over?  You just want to turn back in time and make a different choice, say something or just stay silent?

God offers the ultimate do-over in 2 Corinthians 5:17.    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

The great thing about this verse is that it is without limitation.  Christ has given the ultimate do-over.

  • Gone are my mistakes and failures (they no longer define and limit me)
  • Gone is the deadness in my heart and conscience (He has given a heart of flesh to replace my heart of stone)
  • Gone is the hopelessness of being unable to change despite the harm to myself and others (now I have Holy Spirit power to overcome sin)
  • Gone is the futility of thinking (now I have the mind of Christ, wisdom of the ages)
  • Now I can have a fresh start (All things are made new)
  • Now I have hope for the future (He has gone to prepare a place for me and has promised to return for me)
The time for your do-over is now.  Today is the day of salvation.  Tomorrow is promised to no man.

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Here comes the Bride!

Posted in Bible, Jesus, tagged , , on June 18, 2011|

Most young girls dream of their wedding day, the dress, the flowers, the location.  Of course, they also dream of the groom, the beloved.

So it is with the church, looking forward to the wedding feast, the marriage supper of the lamb (Revelation 19:9).  The church is the bride of Christ.  As the time winds down, individually and globally, be sure to make plans for the wedding of eternity.

I am my beloved’s, And my beloved is mine.

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WHAT IS SALVATION?

Posted in Bible, Born of the Spirit, Deliverer, Forgiveness, God, Hope, In times of difficulty, Jesus, Knowing God, New Testament, Relationship with God, salvation, the LORD, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on June 11, 2011|

Sometimes as believers, we use terms that only we understand.  What some might call “Christianese”  Understanding these terms and being able to “translate” them to those who don’t speak our “language” is essential to effectively sharing the gospel.  What does it mean to be saved?  What happens when we are born again?

The Basics

  •  Salvation is a gift    (John 3:16)
  • The only Requirement is belief (John 3:16)
  • Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, satisfying all the righteousness requirements of the law (2 Corinthians 5:21)

What happens?

  • We’re made alive spiritually  (Colossians 2:13; Ephesians 2:1)
  • The charges against us are dropped (Colossians 2:14)
  • We’re forgiven of  all our sins (Ephesians 1:7)
  • We’re purified for God to be His own (Titus 2:14)
  • We’re made new – a new creation in Christ  (2 Corinthians 5:17)
  • Old things are gone; all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:17)
  • We’re reconciled to God (restored to right relationship) (2 Corinthians 5:18; Colossians 1:21)
  • We’re presented to God holy and blameless (Colossians 1:21-23)
  • We receive the Kingdom of God (Luke 12:32)
  • We receive lasting inheritance (1 Peter 1:4)
  • We have abundant life now (John 10:10)
  • We receive everything needed for life and godly living (2 Peter 1:2-11)
  • We receive the power of  the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8)
  • We receive weapons for warfare (Ephesians 6:10-18)
A Word Picture to Illustrate
     If they still don’t get the idea, give them a picture:  “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.  Isaiah 1:18

May the One who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy keep you from stumbling  and present you to God as without fault (and only God can do that).

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Whiter than Snow

Posted in Blood, Forgiveness, Jesus, tagged , , on May 31, 2011|

Whiter than snow, whiter than snow
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
Whiter than snow, whiter than the whitest snow,
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
 
I came like a lamb to the slaughter,
then He made me His daughter
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
 
Whiter than snow, whiter than snow
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
Whiter than snow, whiter than the whitest snow,
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
 
When I came, I was suffering
Now the world to me is nothing
Cause my Savior washes me whiter than snow
 
Whiter than snow, whiter than snow
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
Whiter than snow, whiter than the whitest snow,
My Savior washes me with blood spilled at Calvary
My Savior washes me whiter than snow
 
Copyright (c) 2000 M.E.Mullin

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Standing . . .

Posted in Bible, God, In times of difficulty, Jesus, Relationship with God, Walking with God, tagged , , , , on May 16, 2011|

One of the most anticipated and exciting times in a new parent’s life is when his or her child hints at walking.  Even before it is close to being a reality, the parent will stand the baby up on his wobbly legs and encourage him to take a step.

So it is with God.  Like the parent of the child learning to walk who doesn’t condemn the child when he fails to walk the first time up or falls after only a few steps, God is focused on our standing and not our falling.  He is most concerned with our progress and not bogged down with our failures, our fits and starts, our do-overs.

For our failures, which will surely come and perhaps more often than we’d like, God has provided the blood of Jesus.

God has also given us tools, weapons to help us stand.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Ephesians 6:13.

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No Scar?

Posted in Amy Carmichael, Bible, God, Jesus, tagged , , , , , on April 15, 2011|

[from Toward Jerusalem by Amy Carmichael]

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side or hand?
I hear thee sung as might in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?
 
Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beast that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound.
 
No wound?  No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?
 

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Gospel of John (John 1:2)

Posted in Bible, Gospels, Jesus, John, New Testament, tagged , , , , , on March 12, 2011|

He was in the beginning with God.

  • Why does God repeat Himself here? – For emphasis, to make sure we get it.  As a mother, I am prone to repeat the things that I fear may result in injury or trouble for my child if she forgets them.  So it is with God.  He knows that we have this propensity to want to deny Him, His role in creation, Him as the point of origin for our lives, our very breath.  To help us get it, He repeats Himself.
  • What does this verse tell us about the relationship between Jesus and God? – It tells us that they are co-equals.  Jesus was not created.  He pre-existed creation as God, the Father, did.
  • What did Jesus say about this? – “O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”  (John 17:5)
  • Why is this important? – Most cults include as part of their teaching that Jesus was not a co-equal with God, that He is something less than God.  This is a heresy.  Knowing what God has said in His word will allow us to answer those who lie about the deity of Christ.

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Gospel of John (John 1:1)

Posted in Bible, God, Gospels, Jesus, John, Names of God, New Testament, the Word, tagged , , , , on March 11, 2011|

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

  • When is the “beginning?” –  Was it creation?  Was it the “bang?”  Was it you in the goo?  It doesn’t matter where you place the time marker, God was there.  He was in the beginning.
  • Who is the Word? – JESUS!  We know this because of Rev. 19:11-13.  It would be entirely within the meaning of this verse to read it as follows:  “In the beginning was Jesus, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God.”   Jesus = God.    The ‘Word” or “logos” is a name given to God, to Jesus the 3rd person of the Godhead.
  • Why is this important? – As we discussed in the last post, one of the main purposes that John has in his gospel is to establish the deity of Christ.  If Jesus Christ was not God, then He has no power to save or redeem.  If, however, He was God, as He claimed with words and proclaimed through His actions, then every man and woman must choose whom they will serve, the gods/idols of this age or the one true and living God who came, suffered bearing the sin of the whole world, died, was buried in a tomb and on the third day, rose again (the tomb is still empty today).

I have set before you life and death,  blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.

—- Moses (Deut. 30:19-20)

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