Somali Muslim Woman Gets Saved through a Dream with Jesus
John 1:12: "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Monday, August 4, 2025
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
The First Word in the Bible says Jesus Will Die on the Cross
The AlephTav (the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Word of God: JESUS) is embedded in the Hebrew word Bereshith ("in the beginning"), the first word in the Bible. The AlephTav is also embedded in the first verse of the Bible.
Bereshith
Bereshith
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Broken . . .Crushed . . .Qualified?
This is from Bringing Back Brotherhood Ministries:
Broken..Crushed…and now we are Qualified?
Has the world fallen down around you?
Is the pressure of the world becoming too much to bear?
Does every move that you make forward seem to be canceled out by adversity and obstacles?
Have you come to the place of brokenness?
“The breaking of the outward man is the basic experience of all those who serve God. This must be accomplished before He can use us in an effectual way” (Watchman Nee).
The painful and hard moments that push us past our limits are not destroying us. If we choose to look upon these experience through a different perspective we may see that the tool of trouble is not destroying us but shaping us. Each moment of adversity that we overcome builds a new found strength. Each trial that we overcome develops our character. Each experience equips us with a resource of wisdom earned through tribulation.
Only then after suffering great loss does one have the heart to come along side another who suffers the same. Only one who has been through pain will be welcomed into the painful moments of another’s crisis. Only after experiencing all of these things can we truly see our need for God as our true source of strength and hope.
We, the broken, stand firm upon a foundation that is unshakable and unbreakable because it is not made by human hands. We the sinners, can reach out to others not because we are worthy but because we have been forgiven.
We the scarred post traumatic souls can share our burdens with others thereby lifting their spirits. We, who were once lost, can help seek out our brothers and sisters in solitude and truly identify with their hearts.
We, through pain and brokenness, have become qualified in such a way that no one else with degrees or certifications can compare. For we can learn more from those who have faced calamity, suffered great loss, battled addictions, and dealt with difficulties than pious who have never walked a mile in our shoes.
We can truly “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)
For we have been there, in brokenness, but we reside there no longer and we are equipped to journey into another’s pain without being destroyed by it. We have the peace of God that passes all understanding. So when others don’t understand your pain, seek out those have been there and who have the peace that passes all understanding.
We have a comforter like no other, for God has brought us through our trials with His comfort, and providing those who comforted us during our pain. Now our trial, our pain, and our difficulty have made us qualified to help others in a way that no one else can. For when we look in their eyes and say “I know how you feel”; you can honestly say that you do…
God bless the broken heart spirits who take the time to lift up others who are going through the same struggle.
Andy Starnes
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Relationships That Will End in Disaster
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| Oswald Chambers, 1874-1917 |
This is from the blog Craig T. Owens:
Relationships That Will End In Disaster
"Most of the
suffering in human life comes because we refuse to be disillusioned. For
instance, if I love a human being, and do not love God, I demand of
that man or woman an infinite satisfaction which they cannot give. I
demand of them every perfection and every rectitude, and when I do not
get it, I become cruel and vindictive and jealous.
"Think of the
average married life after, say, five or ten years; too often it sinks
down into the most commonplace drudgery. The reason is that the husband
and wife have not known God rightly, they have not gone through the
transfiguration of love, nor endured through the discipline of
disillusionment into satisfaction in God, and consequently they have
begun to endure one another instead of having one another for enjoyment
in God.
"The human
heart must have satisfaction, but there is only one Being Who can
satisfy the last aching of this of the human heart, and that is our Lord
Jesus Christ. That is why He is apparently so severe in regard to every
human relationship. He says if we are going to be His disciples,
occasion may arise when we must hate both father and mother, and every
closest tie there is. Our Lord has no illusions about men, and He knows
that every relationship in life that is not based on loyalty to Him will
end in disaster."
You cannot change another person; only God can. You cannot find ultimate satisfaction in another person, because you were designed to find your ultimate satisfaction in God alone. Intimate human relationships do have some value—
- They are meant to be nourished by God love.
- They are meant to reflect God’s love.
- They are meant to draw others into God’s love.
Contrary to Common Sense
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
To the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
By Tim Shey
Death and Resurrection
Alpha and Omega
You shall know the truth
Offering for our sin
Friend of thieves and outcasts
Adam's curse is broken
The truth shall set you free
One death for so many
Not a single bone was broken
Enemy is vanquished
Manifold temptations
Early you shall seek Me
No more tears and weeping
Today is now eternal
Leviticus 17: 11: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."
Isaiah 53: 5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Revelation 1: 5: "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
Altar
Shiloh
Yom Kippur--Day of Atonement
Monday, July 21, 2014
The Unpopularity of Jesus and His Doctrines
This is from the blog Christian Praise and Worship in Sermons and Songs:
A. W. Tozer Sermon – The Unpopularity of Jesus and His Doctrines
A.W. Tozer playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=66987CD6E419E258
Because A.W. Tozer lived in the presence of God he saw clearly and he spoke as a prophet to the church. He sought for God’s honor with the zeal of Elijah and mourned with Jeremiah at the apostasy of God’s people. But he was not a prophet of despair. His writings are messages of concern. They expose the weaknesses of the church and denounce compromise. They warn and exhort. But they are messages of hope as well, for God is always there, ever faithful to restore and to fulfill His Word to those who hear and obey.
Shortly before his death, Tozer wrote: “Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne.” I am convinced that Aiden Wilson Tozer himself was such a man.
In his 1948 classic The Pursuit of God, Tozer challenged the stiff and wooden quality of many Christian lives. He noted: “Complacency is the deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people.” Indeed, Tozer believed that thirst for God was the sign of coming revival.
Tozer’s passion for a deeper knowledge of God led him to study the great devotional writers of the past. “These people know God, and I want to know what they know about God and how they came to know it,” he observed. Prayer and worship were the hallmarks of his life. One biographer states that his preaching as well as his writings were simply an extension of his prayer life. Another noted that Tozer spent more time on his knees than at his desk.
He called for a return to astonishment and wonder at the majesty of God. Then he added: “The God of the modern evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much within the constitution;very well-behaved, very denominational and very much one of us.”
In modern evangelicalism, contended Tozer, we work, we have our agendas–in fact, we have almost everything except the spirit of true worship. He defined worship as a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe, astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of the unspeakable Majesty. He reminded the pastors, “We’re here to be worshippers first and workers only second; Out of enraptured, admiring, adoring souls God does His work. The work done by a worshipper will have eternity in it.”
Tozer believed that worship rises and falls with our concept of God and that if there was one terrible disease in the modern church, it was that we do not see God as great as He is: “We’re too familiar with God. …that is why I do not believe in these half-converted cowboys who call God `the Man Upstairs’.”
In the Preface to The Knowledge of the Holy, his last book, Tozer stated how important our view of God is: “The church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshipping men. .. A whole new philosophy of the Christian life has resulted from this one basic error.”
Tozer addressed the state of the evangelical church even more bluntly in Keys to the Deeper Life. In a chapter entitled “No Revival Without Reformation”, he stated: “A widespread revival of the kind of Christianity we know today in America might prove to be a moral tragedy from which we would not recover in a hundred years.” The imperative need of the day, he affirmed, was not simply revival but a radical reformation that went to the root of our moral and spiritual maladies: “Prayer for revival will prevail when it is accompanied by radical amendment of life; not before.”
With revival, said Tozer, would come a renewed spirit of worship which was not the result of engineering or manipulation. It would come out of a high and holy view of God as portrayed in Scripture, not the God who has been “abridged, reduced, modified, edited, changed and amended until He is no longer the God whom Isaiah saw, high and lifted up”.
Tozer called the doctrine of the Holy Spirit “buried dynamite”. Yet he always insisted that the Spirit and the Word operate in harmony. He exhorted the overzealous to a warm heart and a cool head: “The history of revivals in the Church reveals how harmful the hot head can be….These are days of great religious turmoil. Let love burn on with increasing fervour, but bring every act to the quiet test of wisdom. Keep the fire in the furnace where it belongs. An overheated chimney will create more excitement than a well-controlled furnace, but it is likely to burn the house down. Let the rule be: a hot furnace but a cool chimney.”
--Walter Unger
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
The Wood, the Fire and the Knife: between Isaac and Jesus
This is from the blog Daily Meditation:
Genesis 22:6: And Abraham took the wood of the burnt-offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. And they went both of them together.
Abraham sacrificed his son in a prophetic act (which he may not be aware of) for what God would do with his own Son, Jesus.
While the two of them (Abraham and Isaac) were going along the way (Abraham going to sacrifice Isaacin obedience to God and Isaac with the wrong notion); they had three things with them: wood, fire and knife (Genesis 22:1-19).
Wood
Abraham took the wood and laid it on Isaac. That was exactly what happened with Jesus. He had the wooden cross on which he was going to be crucified laid on him (Luke 22-23). (Isaac was also laid on the wood, but Abraham was prevented from going through with cutting up his throat by God.)
I imagine that Jesus going along the road to the place of the crucifixion with the wood of the cross is to construct the bridge that links heaven to earth.
I’ll explain.
While Jesus Christ was talking with Nathaniel the first chapter of the book of John, he told him that he would see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man (John 1:44-51), referring to himself.
That was a direct reference to what Jacob saw in his dream, while on the run from his brother, Esau (Genesis 28). He stopped at a place, placed his head on a stone and dreamt of heaven opening and the angel of God ascending and descending on a ladder set up to heaven. And Jesus’ effort on the cross, reached heaven and linked it to earth.
From his words to Nathaniel, Jesus was communicating that he is the ladder that links heaven to earth. That wood of the cross, that Jesus carried to Golgotha stands for Jesus linking heaven to earth. The cross stands for his death and in his death, he bridged the gap between God and man, and reconciliation with God is now preached in his name (2 Corinthians 5:14-21) to all nations.
That wood/cross touched the earth and was the channel of his blood flowing to the earth. He is the one from heaven and His blood flowed from that wood and was released to the earth.
That wood also stands for a tree- Jesus is the tree of life. He is the source of life. That is his spiritual description (James 1:1-5, 1John 5:10-13). We read that the life of a person is represented by the blood (Deuteronomy 12:23), as the blood of Jesus flows, his life flows. As the tree of life, the blood that flows from him releases his life to us, as we embrace that reality by faith.
That is why when Paul said he does not want to know anything among the Corinthians except Christ and him crucified (2Corinthians 2:1-9, Galatians 6:14-18, 1Corinthians 1:18-31).
He also said that through the cross the world is crucified to him and he to the world i.e. he is dead to the world and the world is dead to him. That is a separation; the world is separated from him and him from the world. He becomes a man set apart. And the sacrifice of Jesus impacts us that deeply.
The cross sent Jesus out of the world, making him otherworldly; the same with us in our identification with the cross of Jesus.
Paul said that his preaching of the cross is the dividing line (separation point akin to death) because until you see your sin in the light of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ had to pay to redeemed you from its consequences and influence, it is then you will respond in full devotion and appreciation to him.
Not seeing the cross accurately is the making of lukewarm Christians, with mixed up identity, mixed with the world. They are not dead to the world, neither the world to them? We need the restoration of the preaching of the cross: the implication of it and its demand, which is that each one of us is called to carry her cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).
Fire
Fire is a natural phenomenon and it is a necessity when the focus is a burnt offering.
Fire also stands as a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4), both for judgment and for empowerment. It is written that God makes his ministers flames of fire (Hebrews 1:7), empowers then with the fire from the presence of God.
We read that Jesus Christ offered himself to God by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 9:14) to God. The offering of Jesus was through the Holy Spirit.
And it is the fire that same he releases to us, to bring us the reality of the truth that is in him: the presence of the Holy Spirit applies the work of Jesus on the cross into our life, saving us; as it is written that if any does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Romans 8:9).
The fire is a necessary part of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, as a symbol of total commitment and devotion. When God gave Jericho into the hands of the children of Israel, he warned that the whole of it should be dedicated to him (Joshua 6:1-26); no one should keep any part of it (gold silver and bronze metal should be put in the treasury of the Lord). The whole place is to be burnt with fire, in total concentration to God.
Paul has as his aim in ministry that he would offer to God the offering of the gentiles sanctified by the Holy Spirit (he wrote that to the Roman Christian). What he meant, at least partly, was that the impact of his ministry among the gentiles should result in those under his ministry to have absolute devotion to God (Romans 15:15-16).
Earlier, he had written to the same group of Christians, pleading with them to present their bodies, living sacrifices (perpetually on fire), holy and acceptable to God being their reasonable service (Romans 12:1-2). Being a living sacrifice means a total devotion of the will, mind and body to God, totally committed to his will. They would not be conformed to this world but be transformed through the fire of devotion to always be sensitive to the will of God.
Because of the total commitment that being hung on the tree was for Jesus, the same is demanded in those who come to God through him, enjoying the benefit of his sacrifice having their sins forgiven. As it is written, he that is forgiven much loves much, i.e. she is devoted more (Luke 7:44-50).
The bible admonished that we should share the mind that Christ has (Philippians 2: 4-11), in total commitment to the will for God. He is our examples and we are meant to follow in his steps.
Knife
Before the fire is applied, there has to be the knife applied to the neck of the sacrificial lamb?
The knife to the neck is the act of men through whom the pain of death comes.
For Jesus, it starts with Judas. Jesus Christ has said that though he is going to die, woe to the person through whom it would happen (Matthew 26:24). Also, there is the religious hierarchy who actually seized him and handed him over to the Roman authority; and lastly Pilate.
The wife of Pilate had a dream on the night before the sentencing of Jesus from which she told her husband not to have anything to do with Jesus.
The innocence of Jesus had been confirmed over and over. But eventually the people said they wanted the criminal Barabbas freed and Jesus to be crucified. He was crucified by popular demand of the crowd whipped into a state of frenzy by the Pharisees.
While Jesus hung on the cross, he said that God should release forgiveness, as his last wish before his death, to everyone responsible for his death. He holds no grudge against those who put the knife to his neck, figuratively.
Also in our lives many people would do things to us, we would go through the fiery furnace of affliction an as a direct effect of people’s action to us (or inaction).
That happened to the apostles. When two of them were flogged, they rejoiced that they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ (Acts 5:40-42). James says that we should count it all joy when we fall into various trials (James 1:1-7).
Virtually all trials are like the knives put on the flesh of our neck through the hand of men. It is therefore an opportunity to die to the flesh. Paul says I die daily (1Corinthians 15:30-34). That is not a tea party at all. He said he fought with beasts in Ephesus and his life is constantly in danger.
Conclusion
In my analysis of the components of the sacrifice of Jesus (taking a cue from Abraham’s intended sacrifice of Isaac), I have sought to relate it to our individual lives.
In the wood, we receive the lesson of carrying our cross daily, in the fire we are to offer ourselves to God in total devotion and in the knife we are to face difficulties from the hand of men with equanimity declaring your faith even in God who raise Jesus from the dead (Colossians 2:11-12). This is so that we might experience in our life his resurrection just like Paul wanted: to attain to the resurrection from the death.
Sometimes we are to apply the knife to our own neck, in self denial and discipline. In the book of Proverbs we are told that when we are before a ruler we should put the knife to one’s own throat in a symbolic sense, representing self-restraint.
Self-restrain and denial is the gate to experiencing the resurrection life of God.
The fire also has something to do with you as a symbol of the consecrated life; our life must be run on the dictate and agenda of God, down to the minutest details: everything on fire.
And the cross is another symbol of devotion but the focus is on what you deny yourself of, devolve yourself from, while the fire is also a symbol of devotion, it is however focused on what you commit yourself in to as in God, in devotion, the thing you are doing, where you are going.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Sunday, May 1, 2011
The Last Supper
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| The Last Supper |
Luke 22: 19-20: "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."
John 2: 18-22: "Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said."
John 6: 48-63: "I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
I Corinthians 10: 14-17: "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread."
The Roman Catholic Church (and probably most Catholics) think that celebrating the Lord's Supper in the Mass means something. The Catholic Church says that the bread and wine are literally the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is absolutely ridiculous and it is idolatry. The Catholic Church will use the term transubstantiation to explain why the bread and wine are the body and blood of Jesus Christ: this is philosophical and theological gobbledeegook.
If you look at the above Scriptures, Jesus says that He is the bread of life; He is very clear. When He broke bread and drank wine with his disciples at the last supper, He was pointing towards His death on the Cross at Calvary. Jesus' body was broken and His blood shed for those who are called to eternal life. If we abide in Him spiritually, our lives will be living sacrifices--broken bread and poured-out wine--for others. We abide in Him spiritually--in faith--not by eating physical bread and physical wine. Scripture is very clear: Jesus is NOT in the bread and wine; He said "Do this in REMEMBRANCE of Me."
When Jesus spoke of His temple, He wasn't talking about a stone and mortar temple in Jerusalem built with human hands. He is speaking figuratively. When He speaks of the bread and wine at the last supper, He is speaking figuratively of His death on the Cross.
The carnal mind does not receive the things of the Spirit, so the carnal mind has to invent religious rituals and liturgies to make the sinful, carnal mind (pride) feel good about itself; look at all the man-made rituals and liturgies in Protestant and Catholic churches. The carnal mind is ridiculous and idolatrous. John 6: 60-63: "This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
In I Corinthians 10: 14-17, the inspired writer is warning Christians to FLEE from idolatry. He probably knew that the carnal mind would turn the last supper into some man-made idolatrous ritual. How do we have communion with bread and wine? We don't: we eat it and drink it---it is a physical, bodily function. Communion is spiritual; communion with the Father is accessed through faith in the Finished Work of the Cross. "For we being many are one bread, and one body." Does this mean that we are one big loaf of multigrain bread? No, the writer is talking about a spiritual Body of Christ, bread from Heaven.
If we abide in Christ (die to self), we are broken bread and poured-out wine--a living sacrifice--for others to feed upon. We are spiritual food for a sin-sick world hungry for Jesus, Bread from Heaven.
_____
George Fox--An Autobiography
By Rufus M. Jones
Chapter XVII
"At the Work of Organizing"
1667-1670
"When we came before Dublin [Ireland], we took boat and went ashore; and the earth and air smelt, methought, of the corruption of the nation, so that it yielded another smell to me than England did; which I imputed to the Popish massacres that had been committed, and the blood that had been spilt in it, from which a foulness ascended."
"Passing thence about four and twenty miles, we came to another place, where we had a very good, refreshing meeting; but after it some Papists that were there were angry, and raged very much. When I heard of it, I sent for one of them, who was a schoolmaster; but he would not come.
"Thereupon I sent a challenge to him, with all the friars and monks, priests and Jesuits, to come forth, and 'try their God and their Christ, which they had made of bread and wine,' but no answer could I get from them. I told them they were worse than the priests of Baal; for Baal's priests tried their wooden god, but these durst not try their god of bread and wine; and Baal's priests and people did not eat their god as these did, and then make another."
Jesus IS the Word of God
The Hidden Streets of Babylon
John Milton: Writer and Revolutionary
The Miraculous Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 1588
A Great Multitude Followed Him
The Second Coming
Mother Teresa of Calcutta: False Christian
How Christendom Became Babylon
_____
Shiloh
By Tim Shey
Brutal deathdance;
My eyes weep blood.
Pharisees smile like vipers,
They laugh and mock their venom:
Blind snakes leading
The deaf and dumb multitude.
Where are my friends?
The landscape is dry and desolate.
They have stretched my shredded body
On this humiliating tree.
The hands that healed
And the feet that brought good news
They have pierced
With their fierce hatred.
The man-made whip
That opened up my back
Preaches from a proper pulpit.
They sit in comfort:
That vacant-eyed congregation.
The respected, demon-possessed reverend
Forks his tongue
Scratching itchy ears
While Cain bludgeons
Abel into silence.
My flesh in tattered pieces
Clots red and cold and sticks
To the rough-hewn timber
That props up my limp, vertical carcase
Between heaven and earth.
My life drips and puddles
Below my feet,
As I gaze down dizzily
On merciless eyes and dagger teeth.
The chapter-and-versed wolves
Jeer and taunt me.
Their sheepwool clothing
Is stained black with the furious violence
Of their heart of stone.
They worship me in lip service,
But I confess,
I never knew them
(Though they are my creation).
My tongue tastes like ashes:
It sticks to the roof of my mouth.
I am so thirsty.
This famine is too much for me.
The bulls of Bashan have bled me white.
Papa, into your hands
I commend my Spirit.
Ethos
February/March 1997
Iowa State University
Genesis 49: 10: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
Saturday, January 22, 2011
A Ransom for Many
Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
11 April 2005
Mark 10: 42-45: "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be the servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
If Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many people, shouldn't we do the same? Time and again I think that walking all over the place with a backpack and hitchhiking and never staying in one place for very long seems so foolish. How long do I have to do this? When can I settle down and have a basic job and have a place to live? If being a ransom for many means that the Lord wants me to travel the highways and the byways and follow Him, then there is nothing I can do about it. I have been bought with a price: salvation is not cheap, grace is not cheap: it was the price of the Son of God when He was flogged half to death and then died on the Cross--with nails pounded through his hands and feet. We don't have to understand all that the Lord tells us. Yes, the Lord gives me understanding in some things, not all things. If we understood all things, then where would be the humility, the living by faith and revelation? Prideful people don't need to live by faith--they live by self-reliance, not God-reliance. The humble man has a broken and contrite heart and is seeking God daily: he obeys the Lord even though he does not understand what the outcome will be: he is living by faith and not by sight.
It looks like the Lord wants me to hitchhike west towards Bozeman and then back to Jackson. In my flesh I ask, why does the Lord want me to hitchhike so much through Bozeman and Jackson? I really get sick of it. It is so repetitious. At least I have a healthy hatred for sin and for the world system. Maybe that is God's ulterior motive: I really do hate the world with a perfect hatred. The love of the world is enmity with the Father.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
A Great Mulititude Followed Him
Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006
23 March 2005
Mark 3: 7-8: “But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.” These two verses are very interesting. It says a great multitude followed Him—from Israel and outside of Israel. How many Scribes and Pharisees were among this multitude? How many theologians? How many of those who indulge in the knowledge of good and evil? The common man could see that Jesus was special. Some came to the conclusion right away that He was the Messiah. Some were curious and eventually called Him a teacher or a prophet.
Where were the temple types, the box makers, and the people in authority who told people what to do but did not do it themselves? I believe the word “hypocrite” means actor. Don’t act it; be it, live it. But as we know, the carnal, unsaved mind loves a power trip. The people in power—the temple priests—absolutely resented the life and work of Jesus. He was the real deal. He preached and taught with authority. He did not have a Ph.D. from Hebrew University. He lived by faith and revelation: His university was constant communion with His heavenly Father. Don’t get me wrong: there are a lot of inspired books that will feed your spirit, but we must be connected to the Source of all wisdom first and then indulge in the great books second. First things first. No doubt Hebrew University and Moody Bible Institute and Iowa State University have some very learned people who are totally dedicated to God. But without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no wisdom—just dead knowledge, information, hot air and glorified nonsense. With the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
This multitude that followed Jesus were hungry for something—bread from heaven. Jesus’ words were spirit and they were life. Jesus Himself was bread that fed men’s souls. Why is it that from the age of fifteen through the age of eighteen I wanted to commit suicide? I had plenty of food, shelter and clothing. I was an atheist at that time and my life was exceedingly miserable because my spiritual life was dead. I needed the bread from heaven to sustain me. I began to pray to God when I was eighteen and I could feel grace come into my life. I was twenty-two when I became born-again and then I became engrafted into the Tree of Life. Even though I struggled with various sins in my early Christian walk, I at least knew where my food came from and, if I prayed for wisdom, He would give it to me.
Jesus withdrew himself to the sea, yet the multitude still followed Him. I would rather be a poor man in America than a rich man anywhere else. Why? Because a poor man in Christ still has the freedom to worship God in America than a rich man in China or Europe. Technically, I am poor, but in Christ, I am very rich. In America I still have the freedom to follow Jesus. Why are so many people still trying to emigrate or illegally immigrate to America? Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the powerful influence of the Gospel in this nation, America would be just another third-world country. The economy, the social mores, the structure of our government is built on the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. An unbeliever who immigrates to this country may say that he came here for a good-paying job. How did that good-paying job come about? From thin air? No. There is a freedom in this country that lets believers and unbelievers be very creative and inventive—which help to create jobs. As a hitchhiker that lives by faith, I bet I live better than 90% of the people on this planet. Why? Because I am with the multitude that follow Jesus. The Lord feeds me, He heals me, He casts demons out of my body, He gives me wisdom—He is my economy, my social mores and my government.
And from beyond Jordan. Looks like some of John the Baptist’s buddies are following Jesus—you know, the drug addicts and prostitutes and prophets and hitchhikers who really don’t fit into the satanic-temple-priest-boxmaker-go-to-church-on-Sunday-lip-service-Christian construct. These people that come from beyond the Jordan want life and life in abundance. This life—this Tree of Life—does not come from the study of theology (theology means the study of God—God doesn’t wants us to study and analyze Him, He wants us to abide in Him in faith—not through dead reason) or by jumping through man-made hoops spawned by the traditions and rituals of men. This life can come only through a childlike heart that yearns and wants to follow the Master wherever He leads us. Come and follow Me--not come and think about Me or come and analyze Me. I know that there are strong Christians who are considered theologians, but I must speak bluntly: theology by its very nature and definition is Satanic: it is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Leo Tolstoy once said that theology is the Satanism of religion. This tree has a little bit of good, a lot of evil and leads to spiritual death. It is a stench that rises up to heaven; it is a tree that bears only dead fruit. Before you can study a frog, you have to kill it first.
When they heard what great things he did. Look at their reaction to the work of Jesus. They ran after Him. Look at the reaction of the Pharisees: they wanted to kill Him. They eventually did kill Him and they are still trying to kill Him. A Christian Pharisee is probably the most wicked man on this earth. They are so sure of their doctrine, they are very self-righteous and they prevent others from entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. “You call yourself a prayer walker? You hitchhike because the Lord told you to hitchhike? You don’t preach salvation? Where in Scripture does it say that?” The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Scripture interpreted by dead, Pharisaical, spiritless reason can only kill; Scripture interpreted by a childlike, Spirit-led heart can only give life. Some people miss Christ for the Bible verses: John 5: 39-40: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
Do we follow Jesus, or do we follow man? Do we follow revelation or uninspired reason?
And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him. A great multitude. Followed Him. They did not study or analyze Him--they followed Him.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
So there was a Division among the People because of Him
Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
31 January 2007
Matthew 5: 11-12: "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
__________
John 7: 1: "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him."
John 7: 7: "The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil."
John 7: 25: "Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?"
John 7: 40: "Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet."
John 7: 43: "So there was a division among the people because of him."
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