Tag Archives: Sins

Why don’t people consider cleaning their insides? We clean the outside don’t we?

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

We know how to clean our bodies by showering or bathing, but do we understand that we also need to have our insides cleaned? Our hearts, our minds, our souls? How do I know this? Because I have been confronted with this myself. What in the world do I mean? Bear with me and read these words.

Luke 11:37-44, ‘And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him; and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him,’ “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgement and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” Psalm 5:9 states, ‘For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.’ …They gave no thought to the condition inside themselves and how spiritually distant they really were from God. They were passing over God’s love for them and passing over what God really thinks of them in their condition. The most important thing to Jesus, to God, about each one of us is our spiritual side, and what we are truly like on the inside.

We need to ask Jesus to help us, and we need to take action about how our insides are to be kept by reading his words. He wants all our corners cleaned out. He would like us to desire holiness and his righteousness and to be like him. We as people can spend an exorbitant amount of time on our outside appearance and status and the like can’t we? But what about the inside and what about our conscience? Jesus desires for us to see our insides as the most important, not the outside. Our thoughts are most important to him. It’s opposite of how the world thinks isn’t it? If we don’t start looking at Jesus, the one who made us, reading his word to help us understand what he thinks, we will never learn all there is he wants us to know about him, ourselves, our insides, and this world. Jesus was saying to the Pharisees, look inside yourselves and at your sins and what you are doing… you are living not from me but from yourselves. The Pharisees desired only to lift themselves up in their own eyes and other people’s eyes, to be seen, to be recognized, be pointed to, and revered. They cared so much for the outside and their power, but never took the time to look deep inside within and see the lack thereof. The Old Testament had laws that said if a person touched a grave he was unclean. Jesus said because of the Pharisees corruptness they were guilty of making everyone else who came into contact with them unclean also. Innocent people became contaminated themselves with sin and got caught up in uncleanness too, because of not staying close enough to God, and staying away from these truly ungodly leaders. Sin keeps a person separated from God. But Jesus has provided a way for us.

Please read more. In Luke 11:45-54: ‘Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master; thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said,’ “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” ‘And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.’

How blind can a person be right?! The Pharisees wanted to be known for building tombs for the prophets but didn’t look at how their forefathers could possibly be wrong in killing the prophets? This is because they refused to even consider Jesus. Jesus talked about the load people had to carry on the inside because of all the Pharisees’ rules, and how the ‘experts in the law’ didn’t do anything about it… uncaring, selfish and truly blind that they were because of no empathy here in their lives. And even after Jesus leaves, the Pharisees continue to conspire against Jesus instead of having a look inside themselves and trying to understand even a little of what Jesus was talking to them about. Attack and do not look inside to see if there might be even a grain of truth inside! And in reality if they had they would have seen that Jesus was telling them the whole truth. He was their long awaited Messiah! We must take time for our inside, our conscience, to be thought about. God wants us to compare ourselves to what we see and hear about in his word. Why? Because our thoughts and feelings can be wrong unless we compare them against the truth of God’s word. He gives us the straight story about ourselves. Just ask him to help you. You can change and be better for it!

Jesus tells us we cannot change from the inside out without his help and grace. We are dependent upon him, and he wants us to depend on him for this and ask for his help. No one can truly understand about God and that they need him, without him, and him drawing you to him. So if you are reading this, this is a sign, that he is drawing you as you read this. It is very exciting! His grace is truly a free gift given for each of us and that only, Jesus Christ himself, can give to someone. It is personal and it is from Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’ We may try to change ourselves on our own but we will always fall short because it is beyond our ability. Coming to Christ for salvation is not a work. You can do nothing without him. For you must become born again to be changed and cleaned on the inside, as God’s word says in John 3:1-8. Read it for yourself. We need Jesus Christ. And he created us for relationship with himself. Only Jesus can cleanse us from our sin from the inside out. Jesus gives us this hope in the true story of his gospel; coming into the world born of the virgin Mary, death on the cross, shedding his blood for each of us, and rising from the dead on the third day thereby destroying sin’s power over death and us being able to live with Jesus while on this earth and for eternity in heaven. Jesus Christ is the free gift in what he did for you and is given to any who sincerely desire to have a new and changed life in him, for those who desire with whole hearts to repent fully of their sins and believe in him and what he’s done for them. Come just as you are if you desire to have this new life and believe he did this for you. No need to ‘clean up’ before you come, because Jesus loves you right where you are at right now. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Glory be to God for providing a way for us!

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Jewish people, sent but not forgotten.

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

God’s chosen people were the Jews. God’s original intention was for the Jews to go out into the world and tell others about him. In Matthew 10:5-7 it states, ‘These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,’ “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Paul, on his missionary journeys in the new testament, preached first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles.

Romans 9:29 with Paul speaking to the Jewish people states, ‘And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.’ Romans 9:27 says, ‘Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.’ Romans 10:3-4 explains this, ‘For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God (what God tells us in his word). For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.’ Verse 3 is clear, the Jews thought that by their works they would be able to obtain righteousness. But just as the Gentiles must know if they are ever to understand Christ, it is that their righteousness is not from anything we can do, for that is considered ‘a work.’ Salvation is not from anyone’s work but Jesus Christ’s. We as mere human beings cannot do a single thing to satisfy the requirement God needed to bring us into a right relationship with him. For none of us ever are good enough to bridge that gap on our own. God required a holy and righteous sacrifice. One perfect in his eyes that would be able to take on all the sins of the world. One that could not be fully human only for none are righteous in his eyes. So Jesus Christ came fully as a human but also as God fully divine, without a spot of sin or wrinkle.

A shedding of blood is required to cover and atone for sins. Hebrews 9:22 states, ‘And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.’ It goes on in Hebrews 9:26, ‘For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by sacrifice of himself.’ Jesus Christ was and is the great sacrifice, coming once and for all in these last days, Jew and Gentile alike. His birth, death on the cross, and his resurrection three days later made a way for us to be able to enter by God’s grace into his presence, …to be able to have a relationship with him. That is why in John 19:30 Jesus says, “It is finished.” It is over and paid for in full for the forgiveness of the people’s sins. Jesus’s love for us was sacrificial and perfect, done for you, done for me. Jesus is the bridge that fills the gap between us and God, the Father. Jesus rising three days later proving to us that there is life after death and that we will one day, rise to meet him and live eternally with him if we are born again (saved). It is only by grace we are saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ Romans 9:16 says, ‘So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.’ It is a gift offered freely for any who desire to accept by faith the good news of what Jesus has done. Do you desire with all your heart to repent of all your sins, desiring to change your ways, and come to Jesus asking for his forgiveness? Do you desire a ‘new life’ in him? Come as you are and accept the free gift Jesus has for you. Tell him so.

Romans 11:25-27 states, ‘For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.’ Israel will finally recognize Jesus as their Messiah. Ezekiel 11:17 says, ‘Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’

John 14:6-7 states, ‘Jesus saith unto him,’ “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If you had known me, you should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

What is your role as a Jewish person in this ‘Age of the Gentiles?’ Are you meant to be reading this? Is there a purpose specifically designed for you by God? I believe you are meant to read this and yes, there is a purpose God has made you for! Even in Romans 1:16 it states, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Coming to Christ.

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

As a young child once, I held a bible and a particular verse had caught my eye. It was from the book of Timothy in the new testament, 1 Timothy 2:5 to be exact. It said, ‘For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’ I went to my mother and said, “mom, look at these words!” Growing up a Catholic, they were stunning words, but these words rang true to my heart! I said, “This means that I really don’t have to go to the priest to tell him my sins then, right?!” My mother read them and didn’t have an answer to them for me. I absolutely hated the idea of having to confess my sins to a priest. It seemed unnatural. It seemed impossible! But here were these words that gave me new breathing space. Little did I realize that they were then given to me with a purpose in mind for farther down the road.

Those words stayed with me, sort of, in the back of my mind just nesting there.

Fast forward to being a young and not so long ago married woman. We had one little son at the time and very periodically when my husband needed help with his restaurant I would go to help him out. Since I had no immediate parents around to help take care of my son when I needed to help my husband I employed an elderly widowed woman, named Mildred, from our small community to help take care of him. It was around this time that I started having these different feelings. Feelings of vagueness, and not being able to pinpoint what it was exactly that I was feeling. I wasn’t depressed or anxious or anything. I wasn’t down or really unhappy. But I walked around quite a bit during this time having a feeling like I was missing something. It would come and then it would go. Gradually I started feeling little by little that there was something I was definitely missing. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I was puzzled. It wasn’t an awful feeling, it was more like drifting thoughts passing by me of missing something in my life.

The elderly woman, now named Grandma Mildred, came over again to babysit one day. I was still having this ongoing, unavoidable feeling off and on so I kind of hesitatingly mentioned to her how I’d been feeling. She didn’t say much about it but she listened. The next time she babysat she brought me a two-paperback book set of the old and new testaments written by Pearl S. Buck. She said, “Here, I brought you something I want you to have.” I gratefully accepted them. One evening alone in bed, I started to read them. I was excited. What a beautiful rendering of the story of creation and the world that God had made us! I read the many historical stories. Then I came upon the story of Nicodemus that is from the new  testament in John chapter 3. Nicodemus visits Jesus at night. He is a member of the opposition, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council. But he desires to go and speak to Jesus alone because he has some important questions he has been wondering about. He wants to see what Jesus would say to him. Starting in verse 2 and going through verse 8, ‘The same came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 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.” ‘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? 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” I sat and thought. I was stunned. And then I knew what I had been missing… I had been searching for… wondering on… and looking for. It was Jesus that I had been missing and needed in my life and I knew it! All of a sudden I understood. Jesus helped me to see it was him whom I was truly missing. I realized what Jesus had done for me and I came to him trusting and believing in him and repented of all my sins gladly. Now I am born again too and have been many decades.

Jesus helped me realize what he had done for me and I believed it. Jesus’s words had told me that he is the only one that I need to go to for forgiveness of sins. And Jesus will do the same for you too. Just as he drew me, he draws you too. You are reading this, right?! Jesus was prophesied to come into this world, to be born of a virgin, Mary his mother. Read the account in the new testament. At the appointed time He died on the cross for our sins and rose again three days later. This is the gospel. He gives you (and all of us) this gift – for free. He died for our sins so we wouldn’t have to. And he mends the relationship between God and man so it can be restored with him. And this is done only through our Lord Jesus Christ. I’m still amazed by God’s great love, sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins so I wouldn’t have to be separated in relationship from him anymore and this for all eternity too! A most wondrous and amazing gift for you to have. Jesus Christ did it all for all of us. This gift is the ‘new life’ and ‘living water’ for your soul. For he is the true bread of life. Come and find peace and rest. There is nothing you can do for it, because it isn’t by works or anything you do to become right with God and receive him. Because Jesus did it all for us! Come read and believe in him. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ Hebrews 11:6 states, ‘ 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.’ You can just come humbly as you are and talk to him. Tell him all of your sins. Hold nothing back. And no sin is too great to wipe clean. Just look at Paul in the new testament. Paul, before becoming a Christian after he met the living God, he was called Saul of Tarsus, who persecuted and killed innocent Christians, and also witnessed and had approved of Stephen’s stoning, a true believer and Christian, before God got to him. But yet God chose Paul to be a great man of God and to write many books of the new testament. Christ’s gift is free for all who will come, with true lowliness of mind, repentant, and sincere hearts. Don’t you want to have a new life in him today? John 14:6 says, ‘Jesus saith unto him,’ “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Don’t wait, he is the answer for our life.

Read the bible. Continue in his word so you can understand all the truth he wants you to know about. This will help you to learn so much more and to grow in him. We need to go by God’s words and not words from any man if they would differ. Acts 5:29 states, ‘Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.’ Read the story behind this verse to fully understand the story. But use a KJV bible which is a true biblical translation. (There are many translations that are not biblical these days, stay away from these!) In Hebrews 4:12 it says, ‘For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ Read the bible and you will see.

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Israel’s Unbelief.

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

The Jews expected Jesus Christ to be a different sort of king than he was. They figured Jesus would be a regular type of king that would be of this world, so that he would rescue them from Roman rule, and then they would be independent as a nation with Jesus as their true king and messiah. And because of this most Jewish people don’t believe who Jesus Christ truly is. But Jesus came as a servant to the whole world, to physically show his love to you and me by actually dying for each and every one of us on that cross. Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh to us, so he would not be thinking as the Jewish people expected. Jesus Christ was to come into this world to save all people from their sins, which he has done by physically coming into this world, dying on the cross, and rising three days later. He’s defeated sin and death for each of us. He’s provided a way for this whole world, every person/sinner to come in repentance to him to have the relationship with God himself restored to us now. In Hebrews 3:19 states, ‘So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.’ Israel lost their total dependence on God that it had had before sadly. We all need Jesus and he wants us to be dependent on him. We all need to keep our eyes and thoughts on Jesus Christ and his word to decipher what he is thinking and telling us to know. Over 300 prophecies told the Jewish people about their Messiah and some of those stated that he also would be persecuted and killed. It was foretold. Paul writes in Romans 9:4-5, ‘Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.’ Their heritage was the most blessed of any in the world.

To have been chosen to just be in the Jewish lineage… what a privilege it was and still is!

Let’s look quickly at just a few of those 300+ prophecies that have verses corresponding  both from the old and new testaments. The Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin: Isaiah 53:5-12 & Romans 5:6-8. The Messiah rejected by his own people: Psalm 69:8 & John 1:11. The Messiah silent before his accusers: Isaiah 53:7 & Mark 15:4-5. The Messiah buried with the rich: Isaiah 53:9 & Matthew 27:57-60. The Messiah resurrected from the dead: Psalm 16:10 & Matthew 28:2-7; also Psalm 49:15 & Acts 2:22-32.

In Isaiah 41:14 the LORD refers to himself as ‘thy redeemer.’ Redeemer means rescuer. Jeremiah 31:31-34 states, ‘Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was and husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.’ This can only happen by the power of the God and from his free gift of grace to you through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the new covenant. Jesus came to save you from your sins. Ephesians 2: 8-9 states: ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not by works, lest any man should boast.’ Humbly and truthfully confessing all of our sins before him, desiring to change with true repentance, and acknowledging Jesus’s death on the cross and his resurrection for you are included. This is a new covenant that is made with Israel and with all mankind. He desires you to be born again spiritually so you are able to see things as he sees them, from God’s worldview and not only from your human standpoint. Hebrews 11:6 states, ‘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.’

Matthew 5:17-20 talks of how Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; but to fulfill them. In Verse 20 Jesus states, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” And how can this be done? Only through Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Read God’s word. It cannot be from ourselves, good works of any kind, or anything we think we should do to get us into heaven because why would Jesus had to of died on the cross for us then? Here again we see God’s words pointing only to Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. We must keep our eyes and our heart on him and be in his word if we are to understand. The Pharisees were studious in the Law, and pious on the outside. They believed strict obedience to the Law would get them into heaven. But their hearts were far from God and his kingdom. The Pharisees allegiances were on themselves. God wants our dependence on him, not ourselves. We are not the key, Jesus is himself. Read the word, you will find out for yourself. As Jews and Gentiles we can’t do anything to make ourselves right with God. And there is only one way. In John 14:6-7 says, ‘Jesus saith unto him,’ “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Romans 9:30-32 talks of how the Jews pursued a law of righteousness and were not able to attain it, but how the Gentiles obtained righteousness because of their faith. It states how the Jews thought they’d be able to attain it for themselves by their works. Again, why would we need Jesus Christ if we could get to heaven by something we ourselves could do? Romans chapter 11 talks of the remnant of Israel. Verses 5-7 states, ‘Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for: but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.’

Galatians 3:23-26 says, ‘But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.’ Galatians 3:29 states, ‘And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.’

Jesus Christ is the new covenant. Given to us as a free gift from God the Father above. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Only by God’s grace through faith can you receive him if you want to be born again from above. Repent and trust in him. Ask him to help you to understand.

You will know if you have truly received Jesus Christ as your savior as he gives you the Holy Spirit to guide and give you direction in this new life. Stay in the word of God to be continually fed, you will need this! And you will have a new purpose along with new eyes to see, new ears to hear, and a deep faith that pleases God! Praise Jesus! His word is true life. Praise God!

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus Christ is coming back one day!

A relationship with a King?!

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

Psalm 47:7 states, ‘For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.’ The King of the universe is unfettered, principled, and unable to be pinned down. His ways are unchanging and they leave no room for error for he is a perfect, holy, majestic, and all-encompassing God.

Jesus Christ is ‘the one’ in authority over all, who knows best and only does things that are right for everyone. Read his word and you will see. He made this world and you and your loved ones. He is everlasting and you can never exhaust him of his wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. He knows how to and does steer the world! His faith, loyalty, and righteousness are perfect. And if he is perfect you know he has to be a God of love and devotion. 1 John 4:16 says, ‘And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.’ And he comes to save the whole world from the enemy of sin and death. Wow, what a King!

God’s love for you and your family is the best. It’s like looking at the best piece of art or masterpiece you could ever imagine, and then surpassing it! His love is true and real. With him we can have our best life here and now through Jesus. And because God has opened up this relationship with him through what Jesus Christ did on that cross, you have the opportunity to come be in a relationship with him. Read in the new testament in John and Romans of what Jesus wants us to know. He will help keep you learning and growing in him and his word, and becoming more like him as the years go by! And hopefully you will become more and more like this pure, heavenly, perfect Lord of ours full of beauty, truth, and love.

Who wouldn’t want to listen to the King of Kings who does these things for you that are written about in his word? This king who rules the world and is personally interested in you at the same time!

God, our Lord and King, wants to help keep people safe from harm, keep them nourished and fed, and teach them about his kingdom that includes you. He wants to teach all people about his kingdom and how to live until he comes back. He is coming back! Revelation 22:20 states, ‘He which testifieth these things saith, “Surely I come quickly.” ‘Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’ He is coming to get the record straight for all people everywhere. And the enemy is powerless before God.

Jesus, the King, wants us to know that he is warning us to remain watchful for his return and how you should be ready for it. Again he wants to keep people safe from harm, hence why he has gotten The Word (the Bible) into our hands. Listen to Jesus’s words in Matthew 24:38-42, “For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.’ To those people who denied Jesus Christ in their own hearts and would not believe that he had truly come and died for our sins to open up a relationship they could of had between them and God, it will be a tragic scene telling of their wasted time, defiance, and pride. All because they wouldn’t take the time and read the bible(KJV) for themselves to see it’s reality, or they were stubborn/hardhearted and/or selfish with ‘their’ time. They will not get to be one of his chosen children since they had had chances. We must come by childlike faith and belief in Jesus Christ alone. The bible tells us he is the way, the truth, and the life. Please read the bible for yourself and if you love your children and others!

Kings can be merciful  or unforgiving. Some are ruthless and can chop heads off. They can be selfish and think only of themselves and what they want from this world. Their hearts are as hard as stone. They think and believe their minds are the sharpest. I’m so thankful and glad that the real King and ruler of this world is not of that type. The real King of this world is one of great mercy, one who cares very much for you, and is a God of second chances ( for forgiveness). I shudder to think who wants to listen to a ruthless, uncaring King? Isaiah 30:18 states, ‘And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgement: blessed are all they that wait for him.’

What person gets to see the King let alone speak to the King? How likely would a King take the time personally for you? At the very least you’d need an appointment far ahead and even when granted how much time would you get? And most importantly did you get down to the truth or get helped?

There is a King that has time, the truth, and any answer you could ever want to know. Again it is in The Word if you desire to know. I hope and pray you will have access to one and read it. His word will be a light unto your feet.

Would the King treat you like you should be treated? Who pursues you because he’s that interested in you? Who loves you so much that you can approach him as a little child with all your concerns and hurts? In Matthew 11:30 Jesus states, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” You can approach him as a child open to an all-knowing father. The bible teaches us the Lord’s prayer, “Our father, who art in heaven…” God tells us that he is our father and wants us to be able to visit with him as such. Approach him in every sense that a father should be; with total respect, that he is hearing you, listening to you, being patient with great love for you as you bear all to him. You can with full honesty of heart tell him all of your sins. He wants us to be seriously repentant of all our sins, and ask him for his forgiveness. The cross of Jesus Christ is a gift of great love he gave you because that is how much he thought of you. Jesus took our sins upon the cross and died for us. He rose again three days later. And he did this so we might have eternal life with him one day. He is the bridge that fills the gap between God and man. Read God’s word and you will see.

1Tim. 6:15 states, ‘Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords…’ Some of the other names Jesus is addressed by in the Word are: the Truth, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Light of the World, the Word, Deliverer, Prince of Peace, Rock, Mediator, Head of the Church, and Everlasting Father. There are many more!

We are in this story that is currently being played out. Those who have lived in the past have already had their part played out. Our life plays a significant, definite, and all-encompassing part. Our story is told in one place only, the bible. The story is a continuing one that started with the creation of the world recorded in Genesis and is continuing with each one of us playing out our part until our time here on earth is done. Go there and see for yourself the significance you play and can play! And to read and find out what our true King has done and will do!

This King, who is not of this world will one day come back and make this world whole again as it should be. Revelation 1:8 states, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,” ‘saith the Lord, “which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.’ In Revelation 19 it talks about the rider on the white horse who is Jesus coming and verse 16 states, ‘And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’

I pray he guide your heart and mind by his word today. Amen!

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have and I will be happy to help you.

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

What say you about ‘judging?’

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

Romans 2:1 states, ‘Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.’

Often sins most clearly noticed in others are ones that have taken root in us they say. Are we maybe committing the same sins only in more socially acceptable forms? Are we saying one thing to someone hypocritically and then doing it in a way we don’t think is the same? Do we not like that ‘something’ we know about someone else, but refuse to see that ‘different form’ in us? For instance, do you wonder ‘what people are thinking’ when they hear about ‘another’s adultery,’ but you fail at holding yourself accountable for mentally thinking about or daydreaming about someone other than your own spouse during the day and think nothing has been done wrong? Your thoughts do count. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus himself says, “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery in his heart.” We need Jesus’s help in cleaning out all the corners of our lives. Come to his word and read and learn.

In the bible there is a parable about a woman committing adultery and the casting of the first stone. The people with the stones had judged her and wanted to give her what she deserved. The law stated if a woman was found in adultery she was to be stoned to death. She had went against the law. But what is better? Truly put yourself in her place. If that was you and your particular sin, would you want justice or mercy? Shouldn’t we treat others the way we want to be treated? The bible says love covers a multitude of sins. But what about the sin? Jesus says to the woman in John 8:10… “Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?” Verse 11 states, ‘She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her,’ “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” He didn’t condemn or ignore the woman’s sin. The woman has been spared her life even though sinning against God. But Jesus’s words ‘go and sin no more’ would tell her that Jesus expected her to change and to stop sinning, that he loved her and he didn’t approve of her doing this. Jesus can not dwell with sin for he is holy. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is God and he is our authority. He loved this woman but not her sin. Jesus knew she needed help and desired a change of heart through all this and that she would need Jesus’s help. Why? Just being in the Lord’s presence she would have instantly felt and knew more intensely than before that she’d been doing wrong and realized she desired to change things and didn’t want this way of life anymore. She had met the living Lord. She knew she had to do something about this wrong in her life. She knew that she had been sinning and now knew she needed his help and desired to repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness and to be cleansed of it all. Jesus Christ is the only way to obtain forgiveness and to be cleansed of all our sins too. This woman was being given a new chance for a brand new life and wanted to deal with her sin. She didn’t want it anymore. Jesus is the only way sin can be dealt with in this life. He came for us all and died on the cross, to provide the sacrifice needed for our sin. God’s word tells us narrow is the road and not many find it. Jesus is this narrow road. The woman is totally dependent upon Jesus to provide her with his saving grace through faith, and all that she needs to change to be able to live this new life in him that she now thirsts for.

How about judging by ‘the worlds’ standards; power, wealth, status, pleasure, and beauty? These false values are not from Christ, but they are from this world. They are worldly values and thus not God’s values. Jesus and his Word are not of this world. But because of his great love for us he sent us his word so we can understand things. God tells us worldly standards are only distractions that will lead you to a distructive end if you don’t realize it. They will only serve to entangle you and waste your time and energy, and hurt you in the end. These are not lasting Christ-like values that God says we should focus on. In fact we need to do the opposite and walk away from thinking, speaking, and acting like these are what we are running after in life. If Jesus Christ doesn’t focus on them should you even care or spend time on such things? James 4:4 states, ‘Ye adulterers and adultresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.’ Strong words telling us that whatever wrong things we may choose to do, go against God, and go against his all encompassing love for you and for your well-being. Those false values and strivings of this world will not be a part of eternity and so have absolutely nothing in common with God and what he values. It is about yourself and not about thinking correctly from God’s viewpoint of what’s right and what’s wrong for yourself. Your eyes need to get off yourself and to get and stay on Jesus Christ my friend. Friendship with the world is the opposite of what God says to have. It goes against God’s great love for you and what he knows you need most. Which is him, his forgiveness, and his values so his word (the bible).

Here’s an example of what Jesus wants us to focus on… Let’s just look at four women that happen to be listed in Christ’s genealogy from Matthew 1. From verse 3: #1) Thamar (Tamar) – she prostituted herself  with her father-in-law to gain an heir for her deceased husband’s lineage. The story is found in Genesis 38 if you care to read the whole story. Verse 5: #2) Rachab (Rahab) – she was a prostitute who hid Israelite spies. Verse 5: #3) Ruth – a Moabite woman who came from pagan roots. She married Boaz. Verse 6: #4) ‘of her that had been the wife of Urias’ (Bathsheeba) – committed adultery with King David. All of these women had ordinary lives and none were pillars of society. And some we are told of their shady reputations. But God chose to show us his love in this writing and that he can choose anyone in life and show them his love, no matter their story. God had his own reasons for including these women in Matthew 1. Maybe God wants to show people his heart of love and concern for everyone and hopes that they desire a new life in him, and that he has something real to offer them for the rest of their lives and for eternity. This too shows us that we should come and repent of our sins to Jesus too. If you’re reading this don’t you think he could have planned on you reading this? He tells us to come just as we are even now. He tells us we can be forgiven and have a new life in him and become new creatures. Jesus is telling us through these women’s lives how he accepts anyone who comes believing in him, through his grace by faith. We aren’t our sin if we come to Jesus and repent. We can be rid of the weight of sin that burdens us. Read the KJV bible for yourself and see. Start in the new testament like with the book of John, then try Romans.

If Jesus can look beyond a person’s bad reputation, outside appearance, wealth, poverty, station in life, and all the rest, so can we. In fact we should and need to. If Jesus looks at a person’s heart, so should we. We need to practice this until we get it straight and of course we’ll need his help for we cannot do it by ourselves. Look to these four women as examples of how God looks at people. Women he chose to have written about in the bible, noting them because he loved them and shows us as it says in Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’

Christ didn’t come to condemn. He came to save. In John 3:17 Jesus says, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Did you ever read about Jesus in a story where he didn’t ‘come with love’ to talk to a person about their sin? There was no loud voice, no oppressing against their will, no putting down, no intolerance, and no side-lining the issue. Only humbleness, lowliness, love, and grace. Isn’t he the best example of how to be and live? Just the best example of how to treat and love the other person, and ourselves too.

One more thing. Jesus does want us to be able to ‘judge’ right from wrong, or what is sin. His word, the bible, will give you the truth and discernment you will need to know the difference between them. The biggest issues of the day are in the bible too. Make sure you take the time for yourself each day and educate yourself from his perspective. A biblically doctrinal church is also a good place for fellowship and hearing the word. Start with looking online at a church’s statement of beliefs and what their doctrine is. It should all follow what’s in the bible for it to be doctrinal. And the bible itself has to be not written by any one man or by any group that is ungodly. This is why I just stay with the KJV bible, one that has Jesus’s words in red print and also has the chapters of the bible indexed for you, making it easier to find passages you might be looking for. Selfishness, haughtiness, pride, and hypocrisy are all just a few examples of sin. All are ‘heart’ issues, that need help cleaning it up. And Jesus is just the person to help you, and all of us, do it. Proverbs 4:23 states, ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues of life.’ So true my friend. May God bless you.

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Israel and it’s past, present, and future.

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

The Jews are God’s chosen people told to us from God’s Word. Deuteronomy 14:2 states, ‘For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.’ There is a purpose in this. In the book of Genesis Seth is Adam and Eve’s third son, with most of the other descendants of Adam and Eve not being written about. This is because Jesus Christ can be traced from the line of Seth. Jesus Christ is what the whole bible talks to us about as people. The Bible is progressive which means as you read God’s Word it reveals over time what God is planning and how things will be changing in the future. From Seth down to Noah (think the flood), Noah to Abraham, to the twelve sons of Jacob (Jacob was Abraham’s grandson), to the kings of Judah and then to King David, until when we come to the world’s savior, Jesus Christ, the world’s Messiah; God had chosen and planned for the Jewish people to understand where Jesus, the Anointed One, was to be born into and what race he would be from. 1 Kings 8:53 states, “For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.” Israel was to be the honored nation of priests, prophets, teachers, and preachers sent out to the Gentiles from God. Israel was to be the nation who pointed the world towards God, the Word, and the world’s prophesied about Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 53 clearly prophesies about the Messiah coming to suffer for the whole human race. Isaiah 53:10-12 states, ‘Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he had put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.’ The Jews instead of thinking of how Jesus, their sent Messiah, would suffer for them, only loose themselves in their thinking how soon ‘the Anointed One’ would bring them victory. Wasn’t he their prophesied king, one who was to set up his kingdom and rule? This of course was true but only wasn’t to happen then at that time. He will come to be King one day soon but he first came to die for the world and so came as the suffering servant for them. So when Jesus Christ comes into the world to live among those he created, to die on the cross and be resurrected three days later, they continue to reject him. Jesus had come to die for the Jewish people’s sins and the Gentiles’ sins. Israel’s heart was hardened; but surprisingly and ultimately this actually ends up leading to a way for both Jews and Gentiles alike to be able to get to know God in relationship through Jesus Christ who had come. This was in God’s progressive plan, to have Jesus his dearest one and only begotten son crucified, being made a ransom for all in the world, as his great gift given to us to restore our relationship with God the Father. Paul states in Romans 11:25, ‘For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.’

In Romans 9:23,24 Paul says, ‘And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?’ Romans 9:27 states, ‘Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved.’ Romans 9:30-33 says, “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.’ Paul goes on in Romans 10:1-4, ‘Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.’ Romans 11:1-6 states, ‘I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.’ After this Jesus teaches about the vine and the branches: the tree’s natural but broken branches (any Jewish people) and the wild olive shoots (any Gentiles); that share from the olive root (Jesus Christ), the nourishing sap needed to grow healthy and stay strong. In John 15:1-2 Jesus Christ states, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Jesus is the living vine today for all who want to/should come to him. Be not afraid. Come read his Word. (I use the authorized KJV.) His words tell us there, without faith it is impossible to please him. We can not understand God or bear any bear fruit that counts in God’s eyes, or become more Christ-like, without knowing Jesus and becoming born again/saved. For he alone is the way, the truth, and the life.

God desires each of us and all to come to know him personally, Jewish people and Gentiles alike. This whole biblical account is for all of us, what he did and over time and through the ages. Dying as the Passover Lamb, being the true ‘Lamb of God’ who takes away the sins of the world… back then and today right now, and in the future, all the sins of those whom he calls and who will believe on him. What the Word says he did. What a gift! And what a mystery, and what love, light, and truth! He offers new life only by his grace, to any who in true sincerity will come repenting of (turning from) their sins to him, confessing them to him, asking for his forgiveness, and believing in Jesus Christ and that he died and rose again three days later for their sins and to forgive them. In Matthew 4:17 it states, ‘From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,’ “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For Jesus was there in the flesh with them being fully man and fully God right in front of them at that time.

Israel will be restored one day. Isaiah 11:11-12 says, ‘And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.’ Praise God!

The book of John in the new testament is a wonderful place to start reading the Bible in coming to know who our Lord Jesus Christ is and what he says to us. I really love reading the book of John. God’s holy Word is divine and inspired from God. Did you know Jesus Christ is called the Word? Look with me at John 1:14. It states, ‘And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.’ John 1:1 says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ Isn’t this fascinating and all encompassing? Read it for yourself and see.

Are you ready? Jesus urges us to be ready. Jesus’s words in Luke 12:40 state, “Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Have you ever felt like you’re missing something?

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

We are missing something in our life aren’t we? Have you ever felt that way? When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, sin for the very first time entered into the world because of it. And because of their disobedience to a faithful and loving God, a ‘spiritual death’ had come upon them. Sin is equated with spiritual death. Sin is what separates us from God the Father because God cannot be in the presence of sin for he is holy. This spiritual death is a void in us, and a broken relationship between God and us, because of this innate sin nature all of us have since the time of Adam. THAT is the very thing that you’re missing that you may not have even thought of before and not thoroughly understanding of it and what this means.

Adam and Eve walking with God before sinning you must realize had the perfect life! They would not know any sorrow, pain, or even death before they chose to sin against God. Let’s see, great relationships – check, a beautiful home – check, great food – check, great scenery – check, no rushing, no hassles, and best of all – getting to talk with and walk with God, the creator of this world who made you and the universe – check! Hmm perfection in this world, who wouldn’t take that!?

Really? No fighting, killing, hurtful words, senseless actions, no wars, drugs or dentists, no concern about money, no illness, no abuse, no crazy people running things, no chaos, or confusion? Sounds sublime, so peaceful… a utopian state. I could get into that. Who doesn’t want peace, love, joy, patience, less burdens, more direction and guidance, and most of all feeling whole and complete, and being able to get rid of all our load… our sins! Jesus tells us his burdens are light and his yolk is easy! In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus states, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” That my friend is a promise to all who will come to know him!

Now there is no way that Adam and Eve could have understood all the implications/consequences of what their disobedience would cost them and all those who came after them, or maybe they would of thought twice don’t you think?! They should have kept their eyes on Jesus Christ. We are so like them aren’t we? But Jesus beckons us to come for he is the answer for all of this.

So… because of sin and how this separates us from God, we each walk around this earth with something we are truly missing… which you may already realize, or maybe not. We are each missing our ‘spiritual side’ because of Adam and Eve’s story in the garden. God had punished Adam and Eve for sinning, and he then put a separation between him and them. No more a perfect world for them. God cannot be in the presence of any sin because he is perfect and he is holy. So God, because of his great love for us, fixed this problem by sending Jesus (his son and God incarnate) to die instead of us. Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later. He became our ransom. And he rose again defeating Satan proving he was and is alive and well. For us now we can know he is alive and well right now, right where you are, and forever more will be. And He’s arranged for you to have this gift of his son Jesus Christ, free and for the believing, just as you are right now. You can do nothing to earn this. Part of Ephesians 2:8,9 states, …’For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.’ So you’re to come just as you are, no fixing yourself up first. An eternal, infinite sacrifice was needed to cleanse us and make us right before him. And by God’s grace alone, when we genuinely take and receive this free gift, believing in Jesus Christ by faith and realizing in this that we fullheartedly desire and do repent and desire a full turn from our sins – he in turn comes, forgives us, and gives us his holy spirit and we become born again. Read John 3:1-8. He gives you his holy spirit and God’s holy word to help you, to teach you and guide you here. And you will become more and more like him as the time goes by. He gives you peace and love, and a joy that transcends through every sorrow. Jesus says your burdens can be light with him. He and his Word (the Bible, I use the KJV) gives you his direction and guidance and how he wants us to live our best life in this world. And the best of all he makes you feel complete because you are now whole/complete in him and are born again! The spiritual void will be gone. Look and read the book of John in the new testament to find out more. I could not in my own words simply express all I was feeling when this happened to me so many years ago. What love and what a mystery it still is for me! You will have your ‘spiritual’ side back now! In John 10:10 Jesus says, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” You see, there is no real life without him.

Don’t get me wrong here… life will not be perfect because this world is a fallen world without Jesus Christ in everyones lives. But the main thing is when we become born again we will know the truth. We will be as pilgrims on this road with him. And we will have Jesus forever and for always! He is our life, our truth, and our way. In John 14:6 Jesus states, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” With him we have the life, we have the truth, we have the way! When we pass away we have his promises that we will be living eternally with him… where all will be made right and there will be no more crying, pain, or death. In John 14:3 Jesus states, “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.”

Each of us is missing something in our life. God gives us this ‘void’ to help us to think, search, and find what we are missing. This ‘void is God-shaped’ which means only being able to be filled by Jesus Christ. Other things will never satisfy this part of yourself because what you need is something specially made by him for you, to complete you and make you whole. He wants a relationship with you. No one can make you whole but Jesus Christ. No other person, place, or thing (ie… money, power, any religious tradition, etc.) will ever get you there and make you whole. And we all need him alone plus nothing else. For he is sufficient. You, as a Jew or Gentile, have the truth now. So what are you going to do about it? I urge you earnestly to read God’s Word as well so we can learn and grow about him, our Savior. Because we don’t know when his return will be, Matthew 24:44 Jesus states, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Are you prepared to meet him? He is giving us time.

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Who is Jesus Christ?

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

Jesus Christ is the one, appointed from God the Father, who came to this earth to save all the people from their sins. This was prophesied long ago by the prophets in the bible’s old testament, of one who would be coming into this world to suffer and die for us, and to be resurrected three days later. Isaiah 7:14 states, ‘Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’ Jesus came into the world. Luke 9:56 tells us, “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Jesus Christ came for us because without him people would not be saved/born again and would spend eternity in hell without him because of the broken relationship created between man and God the Father, because of Adam and Eve. More than seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah 53 was written, and this book prophesied about Jesus and his suffering. He came to die and then rise again to defeat death and sin for each one of us. He desires to give each one of us a brand new life here on earth and to spend eternity with him after our death. A life for all eternity being with God!

God the Father sent his son Jesus Christ, God incarnate (embodied in flesh in human form), to come into the world for us. God has given us his holy and perfect Word (the Bible) because of his great love for us and so we would have his direction plan for our lives in this gravely fallen world. John 1:1 says, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ John 1:4 states, ‘In him was life; and the life was the light of men.’ God and his word are inseparable. The bible is powerful and full of truth!

Jesus’s resurrection is proof that Christ is who he said he was… the Son of God. Who else could die and rise again for us? In John 2:19 Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus was speaking of his death and resurrection three days later. The resurrection tells us that we too, can have that hope that we will rise again after our death and be with him if we are born again/saved believers. In John 3:3 Jesus states, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Our souls are immortal, our bodies are not. 1 Cor. 15:22 says, ‘For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.’ 1 Cor. 15:44 in part states, ‘…it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.’ The Apostles being eyewitnesses, hid after Christ’s death, fearing for their lives. But after Jesus’s resurrection, he appears to them, and they boldly start proclaiming God’s Word. In Luke 24:39 Jesus states, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” After Christ’s resurrection and his appearance to Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul has a conversion experience and does a total 180 degree turn around. Instead of killing Christians as he had been doing (he was then called Saul of Tarsus before Jesus got ahold of him and Jesus renames him Paul), he starts defending the very Gospel of Jesus Christ. The bible tells us of Jesus’s resurrection and his appearance to many after he is resurrected. He shows himself to Mary Magdalene, various other women, Peter, the Apostles (once without Thomas and later to them all), to over five hundred believers at once, James, and Paul (Saul of Tarsus).

Jesus Christ is the bridge between God and man given to all people from God the Father. What bridge? Listen, without him alone we as man have no opportunity to be connected to God again in a restored relationship. Sin in the world cut that off to us and sin must be atoned for. Jesus gives us this amazing and free gift, which is himself, so we can be reconnected in a real relationship with God. He gives us this free gift, that is alone your gift from him to you, absolutely free for the taking if you will believe all that he’s said he’s done for you. His birth, death, and resurrection all done for you.

Can you believe it, that Jesus gives us this gift of himself?! I am still amazed by all of this just as I was at the beginning of when I became a born again believer myself. Even after forty-five years of walking with him, it’s truly still as fresh and new as it was when I first believed. We can be truly thankful for him and his word. What happiness and what joy, knowing he did this for us. Since Jesus did this for you why don’t you come just as you are right now and believe/trust in what he did for you? Dying on the cross and rising again three days later, don’t you desire fullheartedly to repent (turn from) of all your sins, asking him to give you a brand new life and tell him how you feel?

It says in John 14:6 ‘Jesus saith unto him,’ “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

In John 15:13 Jesus tells us, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

Jesus Christ is the new covenant where all people are given the opportunity to receive him. The new covenant was originally given to only Israel but after Christ’s death and resurrection God by his grace alone allows Gentiles (anyone not a Jew) to be able to have the new covenant as well. His sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection given for every single person’s sins in this world: past, present, and future, has replaced the old covenant. The old covenant was a sacrifial system that required strict obedience to the Mosaic Law, but only temporaily removed sins and the people continually broke it. Thus the continual blood sacrifices of animals had to be made. There could be no coming into God’s presence themselves in that time unless you were the high priest for the Jewish people or one that God chose to speak to and that we read about in the Bible like Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Abraham, etc. By his coming into the world, and by his death and resurrection, he provides grace for those who desire and will come to Christ. And he provides the purification and cleansing for their sins. Thus this new covenant spoken of in the old testament by different prophets tells us there will be true believers from the Gentiles along with some Jewish people now who will receive this new covenant, but at a future unknown time from now, Israel then will have the opportunity at Jesus’s coming in the future to receive him if they haven’t. But we who are living now need him before this life is done folks! Don’t wait for no one knows what tomorrow will bring. …Sins turned as white as snow from his forgiveness, and cleansed from guilt to have freedom and true life in Christ. And knowledge of an everlasting life with him? Nothing is better!

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!

Sins cut us off from God.

Posted on by under Christianity, Faith, Jesus Christ, Jews & Gentiles, The Word

Isaiah 1:18 states, ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.’

The stain of sin is permanent, that is permanent without Jesus Christ. This means our sins cut us off from a relationship with God. How did this happen? Remember the story of ‘Adam and Eve’, the first man and woman to be made by God, that was written about in the bible? Sometime after the angels had been created by God and before Eve was tempted, Satan was cast out of heaven because of his pride. He was an angel, but his thinking got oversized and ungodly and he ended up desiring and trying to usurp God himself! Satan tempted Eve and she ate the apple from the forbidden tree (rule from God) and then Eve got Adam to eat as well and thereby he sinned as well. So sin began in the world and this sin nature is then passed onto all people when born and was passed onto us from Adam. God never intended for us to be separated from him in any way, but in the Bible God tells us how the serpent, Satan, got Eve to leave God out of her thinking by taking her eyes off of God and what he had told her, and that was when sin was conceived and happened.

But there is an answer for our sin and it is written about in the bible in the old and new testaments. His name is Jesus Christ. The bible says because God the Father loves us so much he made a plan that provided a way for our sins, like permanent stains, to be forgiven and atoned for. Hebrews 9:22 states, ‘And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.’ In the old testament various animal sacrifices were made, only on a temporary basis, according to certain procedures stated plainly and explicitly from God. But in the new testament John 1:29 says, ‘The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’ 1 Timothy 2:5 states, ‘For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.’ We all sin and need his forgiveness. God the Father sent his son, Jesus Christ, because he loves us so much and so sent him to die for each and every one of us on the cross. He then rose again from the dead three days later to show you and I that death and sin are defeated. And if we will believe that Jesus did this for us, truly repent and desire earnestly with all our heart to turn from our sins, he will then come into us and abide with us forever, sealed by his Holy Spirit. Jesus alone is the only one who can cover our sin debt, forgive us, renew us and give us a brand new life in/with him. With Jesus our relationship is restored with God the Father.

Only an infinite sacrifice, one holy and made of blood, would suffice for the sins of the world (past, present, and future). One from a truly loving father to each one of us, by God allowing his son’s life to be lain down, to make a way for the separation to be removed between every man and God. John 3:16,17 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” Jesus Christ died, rose again, and thereby restored that broken relationship between God and man that came, because of Adam’s sin and now is ours from so long ago. Are you ready for a new life in Jesus? Repent with your whole heart of all your sins to him and ask him to help you and come into your life now and to save you. Will you truly believe that he did all of this for you, repent and desire fully to turn from your sins and ask him to help you right now? It is only by his grace that we are saved/born again and that faith is given to you to live a new life for him!

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!