Tag: Recognizing Jesus as our King

Valuing Self, Others, More Like Jesus: Are We Recognizing The Truest Value We All Have To the Kingdom of God? Mark 6:7-13

Mark 6:7-13 English Standard Version

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.[a] 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Community Is Our Doing Difficult Things Together

When Jesus sent out his disciples, he had very specific thoughts in mind.

He sent them out together to do difficult things.

He sent them out together.

He gave them authority over unclean spirits.

He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff.

He charged them to take no bread, no bag, no money in their belts.

He charged them to wear only one tunic at a time and wear only sandals.

He charged them to knock on doors they did not know and ask for hospitality.

He sent them out into the villages ahead of them to preach and to heal.

He charged them to give their testimony wherever they went and stayed.

That meant each of the six pairs of Apostles went to six different villages.

To proclaim a message of repentance and of the coming of God’s Kingdom.

Even though it was incredibly unlikely they had a very clear grasp of exactly what they were being commanded to preach and give their testimony about.

And it is highly doubtful that any one of the twelve Apostles had spent any amount of time or expended any measure of effort towards believing they had the ability, could exercise any authority or power over any unclean spirits.

I’m sure they were apprehensive at first.

I am not so sure they seriously believed they could actually accomplish the task before them, to act directly, decisively in the astounding measure of confidence they were told, nay commanded by Jesus, to display before all of those people.

One does not get the very clear idea that any one of those twelve believed that much in themselves, believed that they had that even minimal value to others.

But, one thing is abundantly clear about this whole scene and that is Jesus said nothing to them about of any rescinding his direct command of their mission.

He commanded them to “Go!”

Told them how and when to “Go!”

And such was his command of the moment and his authority over the twelve:

So, in obedience, Go they did out into those random villages ahead of them.

What were they told to expect of their efforts – nothing specific.

What did Jesus hope and pray they learned from whatever levels of success or failure each of them would report back to him with?

Again, we note there were no specific expectations of success or failure.

No standards of measure for either success or failure are given to anyone.

No graphs or charts, no percentages, no lectures from any in management.

“Go! and do as I have commanded exactly as I have commanded you!”

“Learn your unspecified lessons from your efforts and report back to me.”

Unspecified Lessons being perhaps:

“Learning of God.”

“Trusting in God”

“Testifying and Witnessing of and to God”

“Your immeasurable inestimable undeniable VALUE to the Kingdom of God”

But when they came back, with no specific expectations having been placed upon them they each had amazing stories to tell of God’s power displayed in their world and perhaps hidden even from their own perception – Value to God!

They returned to Jesus with a new found confidence.

They returned to Jesus with a new found sense of self esteem, value to others.

They learned to believe in themselves.

They learned to believe in themselves and to value themselves.

They learned to have confidence in God.

They learn to trust and believe in God.

They learn to highly value God in the undeniable role God plays in their lives.

They learned to have confidence, to trust in, place high, higher, highest value on the words and the plans and the intentions and the works of their Rabbi.

God, together with us in faith Community brings all of that ‘wonder’ together.

How many of those villagers lives were touched and transformed, now found themselves with a renewed, fresh and refreshed and refreshing belief in God?

How many of those villagers found themselves and their curiosity peaked to start wondering about and following this Itinerant master Rabbi named Jesus?

It goes and does difficult things together—all the time witnessing the amazing work of God in the world around us, all the time assigning inestimable value to each, every one of us, what we have to bring “just as we are” unto His Kingdom.

Are We Recognizing Our Value to God’s Kingdom?

John 15:12-17 English Standard Version

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14  You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

When we think of these original apostles, we perhaps think of holy men of God.

And though they were gifted and dedicated, they also were all rather ordinary. 

Jesus did not call these men because they were great; their greatness was the result of the call upon their lives through Jesus being obedient to His Father.

A great writer can take an ordinary unvalued piece of paper, and with the addition of his or her words, and God it suddenly becomes extremely valuable.

It wasn’t the blank piece of paper that was valuable; it was what the inspired thoughts which the writer, for whatever reason, just put down on that paper.

History has repeatedly taught us that a great artist can take a canvas and paint, and suddenly it becomes $$$$ costly work of art because of what the artist did.

It wasn’t the canvas that was valuable; it is what the inspired artist painted on the canvas.

As believers, we recognize in ourselves that we are sinners separated from God.

But let’s also recognize that when Christ came into our lives, He gave us value.

He put His treasure in earthen vessels, or in jars of clay, which are our lives.

As 2 Corinthians 4:7 tells us, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”

As Ephesians 2:8-10 Amplified so eloquently reminds each and every one of us;

8 For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. 10 For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

With a new confidence and boldness, we have something to offer.

It is not self-confidence; it is God-confidence.

It is not self-esteem; it’s God-esteem.

God graciously forgave us and took us into His kingdom, and now He has made us someone of inestimable value to the work which God began at the beginning.

In the same way,

the original twelve apostles, called by their Master Rabbi Jesus were valuable because of what Jesus did in their lives, by summoning and sending them too.

Valued of Mankind versus Valued of God

“Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love and purity.”

Sinful man who goes to indescribable, unnecessary lengths to devalue itself in the eyes of self and of each other, devalue others through indescribable means,

Indescribably, stereotypically “crucify,” unimaginably devalue and degrade, disenchant, disenfranchise, dehumanize and to fully and utterly humiliate,

Sinful man whose eyes no longer are focused upon the inestimable value of life which God has assigned to each, every single cell of one of His own creations,

From the very beginning of all created things, and through the very end of all created things, God has always had one very specific, undervalued message;

God’s never changing message to everyone is exactly and exactingly this:

Genesis 1:26-27 Authorized (King James) Version

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

“I, and I alone assign all the value you will ever need or require in your life!”

God wrote His name on your heart when you gave your life to Jesus Christ.

He has given you incomparable value, valuable gifts and invaluable abilities.

He has fully, utterly and completely invested everything of Himself in you.

That is where your absolute value to God and His Kingdom comes from.

And that’s why you can make an absolutely miraculous, wondrous difference.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 139:1-18 Complete Jewish Bible

139 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:

(1) Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand up,
you discern my inclinations from afar,
3 you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
4 that before I speak even a word, Adonai,
you know all about it already.
5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front
and laid your hand on me.
6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,
far too high for me to reach.

7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn
and land beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Let darkness surround me,
let the light around me be night,”
12 even darkness like this
is not too dark for you;
rather, night is as clear as day,
darkness and light are the same.

13 For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
17 God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.

Psalm 139:23-24 Complete Jewish Bible

23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;
test me, and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is in me any hurtful way,
and lead me along the eternal way.

Invaluable Father, Invaluable Son, Invaluable Holy Spirit, send us into the world together, in your inestimable name, to immeasurably love and value all thy children and to ceaselessly witness to your power at work through changing lives. Let us each bring to you only ceaseless, incalculable, indescribable, immeasurable, inestimable, invaluable, unrelenting glory unto your name and into your name alone. Amen.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Are we Looking Through Heaven’s Open Door? 10 Reasons We Should Believe in Heaven. Revelation 4:1-4

Revelation 4:1-4Amplified Bible

Scene in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, [a]a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 At once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. 3 And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] [b]a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald. 4 Twenty-four [other] thrones surrounded the throne; and seated on these thrones were [c]twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, with crowns of gold on their heads.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Once John was charged to write the book of Revelation, when he met with the resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus in chapter 1, and having received Christ’s 7 letters to the 7 churches in chapters 2-3, he is given a vision of the throne room of God and commanded to, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”

Not only was John given important information for the Churches, but he was also commanded to ‘see’ and to ‘hear’ what was going to happen beyond the current Church age, “after these things.”

After acting as God’s heavenly, High Priest to the Church-age saints and interceding as heaven’s Mediator between God and man, John is shown how Christ will begin to take on His role of Judge, before returning to earth to claim His position as King of kings and Lord of lords.

“I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven,” John writes, “and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.”

The angel who met John in the prologue was the same angel who accompanied him throughout the entire revelation of Jesus Christ – which the Father gave to His Son… to give to John through His angel.

The apostle John was about to receive a preview of the future, which began with a vision of heaven in chapter 4 and moved to the worship of the Lamb of God in chapter 5.

He saw One seated on the throne which had the appearance of crystal-clear jasper and a blood-red Sardis stone, and John recorded that there was a rainbow surrounding the throne that reminded him of a brilliant green emerald. 

Twice he was summoned to, “come up here.”

The same voice which sounded like that of a trumpet in chapter 1, commanded him to join the heavenly host of angelic beings that surrounded the throne of God, by means of a door which was standing open in heaven.

And being, “in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” John was given an amazing insight into the future.. and greater revelation of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God and Lion of the tribe of Judah.

After Christ’s revelation to the Churches ended, John’s vison changed, and he was ushered into heaven – in spirit and in truth.

He discovered that the heavenly scene into which he had been brought, was preparing to unseal a special scroll which had been securely sealed by God Himself with seven seals.

As the heavenly scene unfolded, John discovered that he was witnessing to the precursor of the prophesied judgement on earth – the Day of the Lord which he recorded in chapters 6-19 when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. 

The sight that John saw during chapters 4-5, were the heavenly preparation for that future time of Great Tribulation, recorded in chapters 6-19, which is to fall on a Christ-rejecting sinful world and which will bring Israel to national repentance and punishment to the God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world.

While John’s body remained on earth, his spirit was translated into heaven where he witnessed a vision of the angelic host that surround the throne of Almighty God – the Ancient of Days.

As he looked, John was introduced to four living creatures who worship God day and night and 24 elders who were clothed in white raiment with crowns of gold on their heads. 

The vison of the throne-room of God, the worship of the Lamb Who was slain, and the presentation of a seven-sealed scroll, which no-one but Lamb could break, are all part-and-parcel of the heavenly vision John saw in chapters 4 and 5.

It was after he had received Christ’s revelation to the Church (chapters 1-3) but before the revelation of Christ to the world in His role as Judge (chapters 6-19) when the wrath of God is poured out upon the children of disobedience, that the aged apostle John looked,

“and behold, a door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said to him, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'”

In chapters 4 and 5 of Reve­la­tion, the focus shifts to a new and powerful story of God’s ongoing mission.

This new section begins with John seeing “a door standing open in heaven.”

This picture surprises us because we know that an open door often extends an invitation to come in.

This is an enticing opportunity to believe because heaven is often considered a place of mysteries that we do not have access to.

For the most part, it is God’s secret—at least from our day-to-day living in this life.

But here Jesus opens heaven’s door.

And in a voice like a trumpet, he welcomes us, saying, “Come up here.”

The invitation promises to reveal “what must take place after this.”

But as John tells the story of walking through heaven’s open door, the future is not the first thing that catches his attention.

Instead, he sees “a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”

Heaven’s open door has us standing before the throne of all thrones, from which everything in heaven and on earth is loved and cared for.

Still today, the Holy Spirit opens heaven’s door wide so that we can visualize, believe, this scene and let its story encourage us to live by faith in Jesus today.

Considering Reasons to Believe in Heaven

Let us strive to remember that the one who reads, hears, and takes to heart this amazing revelation is blessed.

“Blessed is he that reads, and those that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand.”

Believing in Heaven …

“Heaven is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” –Stephen Hawking

I’m afraid of the dark.

If we are talking about the endless kind of darkness which offers us no light anywhere, no hope ever, and nothing but nothingness, who among us would not panic at the thought of that?

I expect people like Mr. Hawking simply find the idea of Heaven too good to be true, and thus conclude that it must be a product of man’s delusional yearning for “pie in the sky by and by.”

And yet, there are solid reasons for reasonable people to believe in the concept of a Heavenly home after this earthly life.

Here are some that mean a lot to me.

By no means is this list exhaustive.

It’s simply my laymen’s thinking on the subject.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less. {Ecclesiastes 3:1-22}

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then.

“I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

If it were not so, I would have told you.

Jesus said that.

I believe Him.

I choose to believe.

1. Jesus Believed in Heaven

In fact, He claimed to be a native.

The Lord said to Nicodemus, “No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13). No one knows a place like a native.

Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).

So, wherever we go when we die, it’s a paradise.

True, He left us a thousand unanswered questions on the subject, but what He told us is pure gold.

For instance, when He returns, the dead in Christ accompany Him (I Thessalonians 4:14).

It appears that our eventual destination is somewhere different from the initial, intermediate place called “Paradise,” but we should have no trouble leaving the details to Him – after all, we can trust the One who died for us.

2. Scripture consistently teaches the existence of Heaven.

We must not let people get by with saying the Old Testament knew nothing of Heaven. 

“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” said David in everyone’s favorite psalm.

Or this one: “As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

Job said, “My Redeemer liveth and at last shall stand upon the earth; yet even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another” (Job 19:25-27).

Neither must we cave to those who say the only way to understand such verses is to get inside the mind of the one who said those words originally, as if what they said is determinative and authoritative.

Peter said the prophets said more than they understood and even angels could not fathom some of these things. (I Peter 1:12).

3. I believe in Heaven because I believe in earth.

It’s so wonderful.

There is nothing else like it in the universe.

Suppose we lived in some distant world and all we knew was the planets we have seen–the barren, rocky planets that are molten in the day and frigid at night, those covered with acidic clouds or endless hurricanes–

and if someone told us about earth, with its steadiness, its atmosphere, its lovely scenery and its plant life and the richness of its minerals and a thousand other delights, we would find it hard to believe.

And yet here it is.

We are residents of this amazing planet.

We take the earth in stride because it’s all we know.

4. There has to be a heaven to even up the earthly hell God’s most faithful sometimes endure for Jesus’ sake.

Those of us who are “carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease,” to use Isaac Watts’ unforgettable image, have little idea of the price some have paid for their loyalty to Jesus Christ through the centuries.

Many live under oppressive regimes in our day, punished for doing nothing more than meeting in someone’s living room to worship or giving a friend a Bible.

I’m tempted to say “God owes them, big time,” but I don’t believe I want to be presumptuous or blasphemous.

“God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you have shown toward His name in having ministered to the saints, and in still ministering” is how Hebrews 6:10 puts it.

If God were not to reward the faithfulness of the most loyal, it would be sin on His part.

After all, “this momentary light affliction is working for us an exceeding weight of glory far beyond all comparison” says 2 Corinthians 4:17.

5. Every caterpillar/butterfly testifies to our heavenly future.

Suppose we could inform that caterpillar crawling across a leaf of the glorious future just ahead of him (it?).

Would that humble creature believe he (it) would someday have gorgeous wings and flit through the sky?

So, why do we have such difficulty believing in the destiny God has planned for and promised to His own?

6. I believe in Heaven because the alternative belief is in despair.

“I would have despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).

This world, by the way, is not the land of the living, but is the land of the dying.

The “land of the living” is just over the next ridge, immediately following our final breath here.

Jesus said, “Because I live, you too shall live.”

Who among us has not grieved at the thought of never seeing a precious loved one again, as we have left the cemetery.  

The alternative to faith is despair.

7. I believe in Heaven because some of the best people who ever lived believed in Heaven.

Pick up a Bible and read it ….

A whole lot of formerly ordinary people from literally all walks of life had come to faith in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit long before I was ever even told there was a God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12:1-2.]

8. I believe in Heaven because I believe in hell.

Luke 16:27-28Amplified Bible

27 So the rich man said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’

There has to be a hell.

I don’t like to think much about hell.

But I have to because God’s Word teaches about it.

The plain truth is that hell is real, and real people go there forever.

Several times in the Gospels we read Jesus was grieved when people turned away from him–grieved because he knew they were walking down the road that eventually would lead to hell.

The message Jesus brought is simple: Unless you turn and put your trust in me, you will die in your sins and face an eternity without me.

In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we see the rich man begging for a little relief from his suffering.

Father Abraham explains that this kind of relief is not possible.

The rich man then turns his attention toward his brothers who are still living.

“Then I beg you … send Lazarus… Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”

Notice a short time in hell turned this unbeliever into a motivated evangelist.

In a sense the rich man is saying,

“Someone has got to warn people that hell is real and that real people go there.”

How tragic that the man in this story found out too late.

What’s it going to take for you to become motivated?

Pray God’s grace, not his wrath, will fill your heart with a passion to save the lost.

9. I believe in Heaven because it’s a great incentive to responsible living and compassionate everything.

Skeptics will point to the shallow sayings of some believers that for the Heaven-bound this world does not matter, and that improving life on Earth is just so much arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Those who say such are wrong, their thinking unbiblical, their teachings are misleading.  

We have great responsibilities here in this life, and it’s not just to get people to (ahem) “pray the sinner’s prayer” so they can go to heaven.

We were commissioned to make disciples, a far bigger thing.

“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,” says Psalm 115:16, “but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” 

We are stewards of this planet, and thus answerable to Him.

I’ll go so far as to say those who are working to give the planet clean air and pure water, safe streets, are also doing the work of the Lord in their own way.

10. I believe in Heaven because of reasons I’m yet to discover.

There is so much more.

As some have said, we are “hard-wired” to believe in God and likewise in Heaven.

I willingly accept that and see it as residue of the creation.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less.

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then. “I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

“If it were not so, I would have told you.”

Jesus said that. I believe Him.

I simply choose to believe.

God, the Father …

God, the Son …

God, the Holy Spirit …

The Revealed Word of God …

The Resurrection ….

In Heaven …

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for the book of Revelation and for the greater insight and understanding it gives us into the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus, of what is to take place after He comes to take the members of His mystic Body to be with Himself, and how we should live in this present age. I pray that You would bless me as I read and take to heart all that is written in this final book of Scripture. Thank You that You are the eternal and immutable God Whose plans and purposes can never fail. Thank You for the Cross of Christ and His glorious Resurrection, which secured for us an eternal inheritance, by faith. I pray that all I say and do would give glory to You and that one day I may cast my crown before His feet. Thank you for all Your goodness and grace to me and to all men. This I pray in Jesus’ wonderful name.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

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Are we Pondering Our Compassionate Shepherd? Considering or Recognizing the ‘Reasonable’ Christian? Luke 7:13-14

Luke 7:11-17Amplified Bible

11 Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain [near Nazareth], and His disciples and a large crowd accompanied Him. 12 Now as He approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her [in the funeral procession]. 13 When the Lord saw her, He felt [great] compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14 And He came up and touched the bier [on which the body rested], and the pallbearers stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise [from death]!” 15 The man who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 Fear and profound awe gripped them all, and they began glorifying and honoring and praising God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people [to help and care for and provide for them]!” 17 This news about Him spread through all of Judea and in all the surrounding countryside.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The divine image, which every single human being bears as a result of God’s indescribable and undeniable benevolence at creation, attracts us to the Divine.

Human beings are religious by nature and in order to fully realize themselves as human beings they have to be and live out the divine qualities instilled in each of them by the Creator of their Life, Author of their Life, Redeemer of their Life.

The opposite is often the case when human actions are critically evaluated.

One of the divine qualities, which we ought to acquire and practice in order to enhance good human relationship, is compassion.

This singular divine feature characterized Jesus earthly ministry in words and deeds.

In this Narrative text, the writer Luke, focuses on an episode in the life of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel according to Luke 7: 11-17.

The man Rabbi Jesus walked into a dire situation, he had compassion on the widow who lost her only son; he consoled and restored her son back to her.

In following upon Jesus’ footsteps, demonstrating His radical counter-cultural compassion we can make our world better, be able to bear and live with others.

Instantly upon walking into this situation, Jesus made an instant assessment of all the other’s needs, Jesus’ heart went out to this woman who was left all alone.

While many rightfully, righteously grieved and mourned with her upon the loss of her only son, the man, Rabbi Jesus’ heart was touched, longed to comfort her.

His heart was full of indescribable and undeniable compassion.

He could say what no one else could say: “Don’t cry!” 

Most of us can only cry with those who have lost loved ones.

Only Jesus can wipe away our tears.

Jesus is touched by our loss, moved to compassion by our mortal limitations.

That’s why he came to earth.

We can be blessed and we can be assured He feels our losses in the same way.

Psalm 103:11-14English Standard Version

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;[a]
    he remembers that we are dust.

When we cry in grief, we do not cry alone.

The coming of the kingdom of God was not heralded by spectacular and dramatic victories over the powers and authorities of the world but through something much more transformative: the great compassion of its King.

Throughout their accounts of Jesus, the Gospel writers present us with encounter after encounter demonstrating Christ’s unparalleled compassion.

In these incidents, Christ’s power is revealed as His compassion is extended.

In chapter 7 of his Gospel, for instance,

Dr. Luke highlights Jesus’ compassionate response to a sorrowful widow—a response which hopefully, prayerfully, clears any doubts about His greatness.

The woman in this part of Luke’s narrative was in true need. Her husband was already gone, and now her son had just died.

In an ancient Middle-Eastern society, this meant that she had no means of protection or provision.

She faced a life of sadness, loneliness, and precariousness—and then the end of the family line.

But then Jesus entered into the extremity of this woman’s life, and “when the Lord saw her, instantly had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep.’”

All it took to arouse the compassion of our tender Shepherd was seeing this grieving woman.

Literally, that word “compassion” means “His bowels moved”—our equivalent would be “His stomach churned.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/luk/7/13/t_conc_980013

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When Jesus, through whom and for whom all things were created, sees sadness and grief in this broken world, He feels it and He feels it DEEPLY!.

Here is a King who cares deeply.

Even more beautiful is that Jesus had the power to meet this widow’s need, and so He chose to do something only He could do: to bring the dead back to life.

He didn’t just restore a deceased son alive again to a mourning mother and thereby meet her need and obliterate her grief, though.

More importantly, Jesus revealed Himself to the crowd (and to us!) in all of His power, grace, mercy, lovingkindness, authority—even authority over death.

Scenes such as this show us that Jesus doesn’t simply comment on or cry over sickness and death, those great enemies of mankind.

He overcomes them.

He hears the cries of the sorrowful, He comforts them, not only in an earthly, temporal sense but also in a final, perfect, and eternal way, by offering Himself as the only true and genuine means of salvation to all who confess and believe.

Your King is not merely infinitely powerful; He is infinitely compassionate.

And note the combination of those two qualities in Him is sufficient to bring you through every single sadness and every single grief of this world, until you and I stand in His amazed presence and He wipes every last tear from our eyes.

Now, what should we say and how should be address, what should be connect others with about a “reasonable” human response to such a magnitude of love?

Philippians 4:4-7Amplified Bible

4 Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

Philippians 4:5 English Standard Version– THE REASONABLE CHRISTIAN

5 Let your reasonableness[a] be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

“They will know you by your love.”

This saying is often used in the church as we talk of reaching others for Jesus.

This is taken from the famous verses in John 13:34-35.

A question we need to ask ourselves though is, “What does this love look like?”

It is reasonable for us to surmise that it can be helping those around us, giving of ourselves, our time, resources to the needy, or just lending an ear or lending our quieting presence to someone as they just “desire someone to be near by.”

But, what if showing love meant being a reasonable person?

The Greek word for “reasonable” can also be translated to the word “gentle” with its definition: seemly, equitable, yielding.

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Does this sound like someone you have come to know an deeply trust?

Is this one person you claim to know and trust so thoroughly – actually YOU?

Aren’t we called to be strong in our stances and to not bend in what we believe?

The answer is yes!!

But we can do it in a reasonable manner.

Too many times Christians can be looked at as a hard headed, divisive group of bickering snarky people who want argue with everyone they don’t agree with.

You know, that guy or gal who wants to always argue, never compromising and is never wrong and who has about as much compassion, mercy and forgiveness as the specks of dust on top of their bookshelves loaded down with 1000 Bibles.

I know I am definitely guilty of being one of those people at times.

We are never going to change people by belittling their views and putting them down, never seeking to find, till, seed, that reasonable piece of common ground.

We are, however, definitely going to win them over with the same measure of love, uncompromising compassion Jesus revealed to everyone at that funeral when we reasonably meet their grief, and lovingly show them Christ’s mercy.

Our reasonable, unreasonable arguments don’t and won’t change reasonable or unreasonable people, the infinitely reasonable Jesus reasonably changes people.

Beloved Child of God, God has absolutely seen your tears.

He has absolute compassion on you.

He will absolutely and reasonably respond to your needs,

He will absolutely and reasonably help you,

He will absolutely and reasonably strengthen you.

He will absolutely change your dead situation to life and celebration!

Today ….

In this point of uncompromising fact, in this exact and exacting moment ….

In these coming days and weeks ahead, challenge yourself and someone else …

How has God, in Savior Christ Jesus, been reasonably compassionate with you?

How have you been a reasonably ‘reasonable’ compassionate Christian today?

Where have you been a reasonably ‘reasonable’ compassionate Christian today?

Were you a reasonably ‘reasonable’ compassionate Christian yesterday? Why Not?

Why were you a reasonably ‘reasonable’ compassionate Christian today?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us gather as reasonable Christians and Let us together Pray ….

God of the Helpless, I know that You want Your children to show compassion for those less fortunate. I know this, but I have failed to help others as You would like me to. I know there are so many in need of kindness, Lord. Please open my heart and fill it with Your compassion for Your creation. Please guide me on how I should reach out to each of my neighbors, as Jesus did for the widow and that grieving and mourning community at that funeral and live love for the less fortunate for Your glory. Amen.

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Do We Ponder or even Recognize our own Desire for HIS Vastly Better Life? Genesis 50:22-25.

Genesis 50:22-25Amplified Bible

Death of Joseph

22 Now Joseph lived [remained] in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children; also the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born and raised on Joseph’s knees. 24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up out of this land to the land which He promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob [to give you].” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) swear [an oath], saying, “God will surely visit you and take care of you [returning you to Canaan], and [when that happens] you shall carry my bones up from here.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

As near as I can calculate, roughly 65 years of Joseph’s later life are summarized by Genesis 50 verse 22: “Joseph lived [remained] in Egypt…..”

Presumably, these were quieter times than the recorded drama of his early days.

But these 65 “remaining” years are definitely not to be considered pointless.

Considering these “remaining” years in the life of Joseph causes us to reflect:

Whatever age we are in this exact moment, we must ask ourselves; “What, Who, are we living for? What are we planning to do with the time God has given us?”

It’s far too easy to spend our lives chasing earthbound horizons such as career success, financial stability, or comfortable luxuries.

The myths of these things is seductive: life is about slaving at your job as long as you can in order to build, edify, add on to the nest in which you plan to settle down—that the most essential purpose of life is to prepare for our retirements.

Just at the point when believers are often in a position—financially, physically, emotionally, socially—to free up that incredibly elusive amount of time to serve God’s kingdom, they start to talk “just wanting a period of rest, hibernation.”

As devoted, obedient and steadfast followers of our Lord, Savior and King Jesus, we must ‘minimize our footprint’, to not live as though this world is all there is.

John 3:28-30 admonishes and teaches us we have a humble, limited role in life.

“28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I stated, ‘I am not the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ but, ‘I have [only] been sent ahead of Him [as His appointed forerunner and messenger to announce and proclaim His coming].’  29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this pleasure and joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease.“

Yet some of us cannot, will not say with integrity, “There is more than just this life,” because everything we are doing with our time, talents, and money seems to be saying, “This is it! Done! That’s why I am working up to 60 hours a week.”

“That’s why I don’t come home or take a vacation.”

“That’s why I missed church again last Sunday.”

“That’s why I don’t make time and take risks to serve and to share the gospel with my neighbors.”

“Because this is it.”

Being “my working myself into the grave for a lifetime of rust worthy material things which I can never hope to ‘stuff into my coffin’ to take with me anyway.”

It is wonderful thing to have a dynamic, hard core, faith-filled, vibrant and unwavering faith when we are in the center of a whirlwind of a battle; it’s a whole new challenge to live a life of steady obedience through daily routine.

For a life to be well spent—especially as it relates to our resources and legacy—we must consider not just what we want in life but what we ought to do with life.

We need a vision of the heavenly horizon.

Joseph had a purpose for his life and for those final, quieter years.

His vision was set for a time and place and ‘life’ beyond the borders of Egypt.

He was neither centered or focused on himself; he was responsible for ensuring his children and his children’s children did not settle down too comfortably in Egypt but instead remained unsettled enough so they would be more desirous of a significantly better life and might truly settle one day in the promised land.

24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up out of this land to the land which He promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob [to give you].” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) swear [an oath], saying, “God will surely visit you and take care of you [returning you to Canaan], and [when that happens] you shall carry my bones up from here.”

Joseph said to his brothers:

“but God will surely take care of you and bring you up out of this land which He promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob [to give you.]”

then Joseph made the sons of Israel (Jacob) to swear [an oath] saying to future generations – God will surely visit you and God will surely take care of you and surely be returning you to Canaan – the promised land – God WILL do all this!

God turned an early life of great life threatening negativity, given him peace, prestige, and prosperity in Egypt—everything that so many of us chase today.

Yet he had always kept his eyes and his soul and heart, looking beyond Egypt.

He truly knew Egypt was not where he, or any of God’s people, truly belonged.

The man, Master Rabbi Jesus, communicated this, his “last will and testament” to His disciples in the Upper Room during those fateful final hours of his life:

John 14:1-3Amplified Bible

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

14 “Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.

Apostle Paul would, just several years later, would echo the very same thought:

Philippians 3:12-14Amplified Bible

12 Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on [a]so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. 13 [b]Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Joseph knew by his steadfast and immovable faith that he was not yet home!

The man, Master Rabbi Jesus knew we were not yet home – Just believe on Him!

Apostle Paul knew, communicated – we can live with eternity deep in our souls.

We too must live in such a prophetic way that we help our loved ones and our own hearts to “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16).

Whatever you have or do not have ‘rusting away’ today, you are not yet home.

John 10:9-10Amplified Bible

9 I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). 10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].

There is absolutely abundantly more, absolutely, abundantly better, than this.

Be sure that your abundance of time, talents, and money reflect that knowledge.

This place called planet earth is not, was never meant to be, our forever home!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, my teacher, I’m often confused when I need to make important decisions about my work, my relationships, my health, or finances. Show me the way I should go when I don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own. Guide me along the best pathway for my life. Advise me and watch over me. Help me to listen to your guidance and not resist it. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. Amen

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Do We Recognize Jesus Christ as Our One, Only true King? Revelation 5:13

Revelation 5:11-14Amplified Bible

Angels Exalt the Lamb

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and [the voice] of the living creatures and the elders; and they numbered myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands (innumerable), 12 saying in a loud voice,

“Worthy and deserving is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

13 And I heard every created thing that is in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in Hades, the realm of the dead] or on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying [together],

“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Christ), be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped [Him who lives forever and ever].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The Bible makes it crystal clear that history is moving purposefully towards a definite conclusion.

That reality is one of the distinctive features of the biblical worldview.

One way that Christianity distinguishes itself, in other words, is in the matter of how all things come to a close.

Sometimes, in looking at old historical photographs we may just find ourselves asking,

“Where am I in this picture?”—or, “Am I even in this picture?”

“Do I recognize the person, the people or the place or the moment?”

“Is it a random small piece of history or a very specific and significant one?

“I wonder what is really happening in the picture – what is its real story?”

Is there enough personal interest in the story for me to do more research, to want to know every single detail of the time, the people, the place, the events?

When it comes to our envisioning or picturing God’s plan, though, every single person, people and place on earth is included in Revelation’s picture of history.

No one is missing from the story.

Everyone who believed or did not believe on Jesus as their Savior are included.

And when history comes to a close, it will surely end in division and separation.

Jesus spoke about this separation when He said that the sheep and goats will be divided (Matthew 25:31-46): light and darkness will be delineated, and those who believed on Jesus as their Savior will be set apart from those who do not.

No one will be left out, though tragically some will have chosen to be shut out.

Therefore, our position in this big picture matters.

All of history’s ebb and flow is to be viewed in light of the fact that there is a throne in heaven and that throne is not empty; rather, it is occupied by God, who is in control. Jesus is King, and He is seated at the right hand of the throne.

Although many do not yet recognize His kingdom, many refuse to recognize His Kingdom, or have not been introduced, it doesn’t alter the reality He yet reigns.

From humanity’s fall to the end of time there exist, as the great fourth-century theologian Augustine of Hippo put it, two rival cities—two rival loves.

By our sinful human nature, we are involved in the city of man, and only by God’s grace will we ever be involved in and ever be devoted to the city of God.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5Amplified Bible

The Temporal and Eternal

5 For we know that if the earthly tent [our physical body] which is our house is torn down [through death], we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our [immortal, eternal] celestial dwelling, 3 so that by putting it on we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened [often weighed down, oppressed], not that we want to be unclothed [separated by death from the body], but to be clothed, so that what is mortal [the body] will be swallowed up by life [after the resurrection]. 5 Now He who has made us and prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the [Holy] Spirit as a pledge [a guarantee, a down payment on the fulfillment of His promise].

The Word of God says The earthly city, the city of man, our earthly tent, our physical body is destined to be torn down by time, pass away through death.

But the heavenly city, God’s kingdom, will absolutely go on forever and ever!

Reading our text from Revelation 5:11-14, the many Angels around the throne and the voice of the living creature and the Elders, who numbered “myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands – innumerable (verse 11) recognized Him.

Saying in a loud voice –

“Worthy and deserving is the Lamb that was sacrificed to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (verse 12)

From within the context of our own 21st jumble of our own “Christian-ality”

Our own personal expressions of devotion, personal expressions of obedience, adherence to the precepts and commandments and covenants set by our God,

In our ministries and missions, our forays into all the streets and back alley ways, all the highways and byways and boulevards of God’s Neighborhood, Luke 10:1-3, Acts 2:43-47, 1 Corinthians 12:14-26, and Galatians 3:27-29)

Enemies or Friends, Faults, Failures, Fears, Flaws, Sins not withstanding …

In the eyes of God, we are ALL Children of God …. Without any Exceptions,

From the fears, failures and faults of mankind, however, exceptions okayed,

Do ALL Lives absolutely, unequivocally, without exception, equally Matter?

Do we recognize with our whole hearts our souls, our voices – Jesus as King?

How each of us give God in Christ an answer is a matter of eternal significance.

And how we give an answer to God is also a matter of present consequence. (Matthew 5:13-16, Matthew 23:23-33, Mark 3:31-35, Mark 4:21-29, Mark 7:1-16, Luke 10:25-37, Luke 11:33-36, Luke 19:1-10, John 5:1-15, and Acts 3:1-10)

If Jesus is your One and Only true King, then you will live as His subject, seeking to obey Him even when His command cuts against all your biases, preferences.

If Jesus is your King, you will be loyal and obedient to Him above all others, for this world is not yours or mine home and you and I are just passing through.

As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

Be sure to live as a citizen of a better country and a subject of a greater King.

When our earthly tents take their last breaths, will we spend eternity joining with Angels and Elders in bringing Him honor and glory, praise and worship?

I pray we may give a good answer to God, do so in our words and conduct today.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of ALL truth, sometimes I not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own thoughts or even another spirit. Sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me. Help me know it’s really, only you, with no doubt or second-guessing. When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, give me your peace that surpasses understanding with your answer alone. Help me remember that your words to me will never go against your written word in the Bible. Give me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, My King and My Savior and Best Friend Amen.

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