Podcasts about him father

Return of the Man-Child (3) (audio) David Eells – 3/19/25  Taking up where we left off, we read, And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, Art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: For out of thee shall come forth a governor, Who shall be shepherd of my people Israel (Mat.2:6). We know that Jesus is always going to be the Shepherd; He's always going to be the King David over Israel. God is never going to change that, but there are some things that He might change, as we'll see. Previously, we learned that the Lord said, A body didst thou prepare for me (Heb.10:5). The Lord, Son of God, came in a body that was prepared for Him through Mary, a body of the Son of Man. We know that God's plan was for Jesus to leave an individual body and return in a corporate body so that He could minister all over the world. Today we are going to see the first-fruits of those who have fully entered into this by the grace of God. In other words, the first-fruits will be a body like the body of His temple that He spoke about when He said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (Joh.2:19). (21) But he spake of the temple of his body. And we've discovered that's referring to His corporate body.   We know that the Lord comes in every one of us. For instance, He says, Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be reprobate (2Co.13:5). (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ is in you! All through the Old Testament, Jesus was coming in vessels of honor through whom He ministered. For example, it says this: (1Pe.1:10) Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that [should come] unto you: (11) searching what [time] or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. The Spirit of Christ was in great men of the Old Testament and that's what made them great men. He is the Shepherd; He is the Ruler; He is the King David and always will be, but He's going to repeat history because That which hath been is that which shall be (Ecc.1:9).   I'm reminded of a very famous text that speaks of Who Jesus is: (Isa.9:6) For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father (or “Father of eternity,” literally), Prince of Peace. (7) Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. God called Jesus to repeat history Himself. He was a King David in His day, Who was given, once again, the reins of government, which is in total agreement with what the Bible says about Him.   (Luk.1:31) And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. So He would receive the throne of David forever, just as the Bible speaks about when it states, David shall never want (“lack”) a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17).   For example, the Bible says this: (Jer.33:14) Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah. (15) In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David (now, this was a long time after David); and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. (16) In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] whereby she shall be called … That's a very strange text, but if nobody had changed what word was actually there in the Hebrew, that's what they would have had to translate; the word is “she.” It's strange because in Chapter 23 the word is “he,” but here it is “she.” Some people think, “Well, he made a mistake and they replaced it with ‘he.'” They didn't translate what was really there.   The word, “she” is used quite often in the Bible when referring to a corporate body of people and that's what this is. This is a corporate body, which God calls the “branch,” that is raised up as the seed of David. We know that Jesus Christ is our David on His throne all the way up through eternity, but as we saw earlier, the Spirit of Christ comes into many men and we have seen many from the beginning of Scripture to the end who are types of the Man-child. The Spirit of Christ comes into them and uses them, like a body of the son of David. (Jer.33:16) In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is [the name] whereby she shall be called: the Lord our righteousness. Notice that this is a corporate body of people, “our righteousness.” (Jer.33:17) For thus saith the Lord: David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.   Now we know that Jesus the Son of God has been given the authority of David's throne for eternity, but the question is, what is the “man” that He abides in who does this work? This is what the branch is; it's a corporate body of men in whom the Spirit of Christ rules and reigns. (Jer.33:18) Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt-offerings, and to burn meal-offerings, and to do sacrifice continually. (19) And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, (20) Thus saith the Lord: If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season; (21) then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers. In other words, this is from the time of David up until the time of Christ and until our time; so it appears that He never broke His covenant with David. There was always a David upon the throne. Isn't that amazing?   I would suspect that you could not recognize this corporate body according to the flesh. (Luk.17:20) … The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. We're talking about a spiritual Israel, a spiritual Jerusalem, and a spiritual David. Many people recognize, that Jesus was the Son of David and that He was born of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom.1:3), but He was declared [to be] the Son of God with power, according to the spirit (4). What body could the Lord be choosing in our day to fulfill this covenant of a man in whom Jesus Christ lives to occupy the throne? Well, it's the body of the Man-child (Revelation 12:5), which we've spoken of. (Jer.33:22) As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.   I am sure you could look at that in a certain way, meaning multiplied throughout history, but I suspect it also means (and the Lord likes to hide things like that) that in these days there will be a great number of Davids and that this, “the Lord our righteousness,” is a very large group of people. (Jer.33:25) Thus saith the Lord: If my covenant of day and night [stand] not (Is it still in effect? I would say so.), if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; (26) then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (The seed of David is to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.): for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them. In these days, we know that even with the natural seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a remnant of them is once again going to turn to the Lord God of Israel.   We read in the last study that in Revelation 12, the son of David, this Man-child is caught up to the throne of God. And here we see the Bible says, Blessed be the Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God (2Ch.9:8). Many people see the Man-child caught up to the throne of God in heaven, but the Lord God is calling David's throne on Earth His throne. This is the throne of God. In fact, it says here, At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord (Jer.3:17). Jeremiah is talking about the New Jerusalem on Earth. There is still a throne of David. Not in natural Israel, but you can find it in spiritual Israel because we know that Jesus Christ is the Son of David, the eternal Lord of His Kingdom. And He's also coming in a body, A body didst thou prepare for me (Heb.10:5).   You may say, “That was referring to the body of the individual Jesus.” That's true, but everything repeats and it always repeats on a larger scale. We have the Word of God for that, which cannot be broken (Joh.10:35). So we have to believe that it will be the same thing once again. The Lord told me many years ago, “Everything that has happened in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts will happen again, except the cast of characters will be multiplied many times over.” The Lord thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne, to be king for the Lord thy God (2Ch.9:8) is true of Jesus. It's true of the body of Jesus and we've already spoken of the manifestation of the body of Christ, that we all claim to be by faith, and rightly so. But we've discovered that there is also a manifestation of the body of Christ, that is, those in whom Christ lives. If Christ lives in you, then you manifestly are the body of Christ. We've taught that we grow into this wonderful position 30-, 60- and 100-fold, according to Jesus Himself, so God is fulfilling it in that way.   Let me share something else with you. Remember that the Lord told me that the Gospels were a type of the first 3½ years of the Tribulation period and the Book of Acts was a type of the second 3½ years. Now we know that other types of the end-time Man-child show different similarities. For instance, Joseph brought God's people through the seven years of famine, which is a type of the seven-year Tribulation. We also know that Moses took God's people geographically halfway through the wilderness and we know that Revelation chapters 12 and 17 speak of the first and second 3½ years, respectively, and call the “wilderness” the “Tribulation.” Moses went halfway through the wilderness and then was glorified. When I say halfway, I'm not talking about time-wise, but in geographical distance. Some people, myself included, believe that the Lord brought His people across what we now call the Gulf of Suez, high up near where Succoth was, where the Gulf narrowed down quite a bit. Then He carried them across the Sinai Peninsula, where they crossed the Gulf of Aqaba, which they called the “Red Sea.”   Apostle Paul said, Mount Sinai in Arabia (Gal.4:25), not in Sinai. Arabia is east of the Gulf of Aqaba. I had heard years ago that the explorer Ron Wyatt had come across the pillar that the Israelites had erected to identify the place where the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea and it was on the eastern shore of Aqaba. They also discovered out there the mountain that Exodus 19 speaks of being burnt and charred on the top because God's presence came down on it, which was Mt. Sinai, and found it as a place called Jabal al-Lawz, which means “the Mount of the Law.” That's interesting because that's where Moses received the Law. If you look, which I have, on several maps, you can see where the Israelites left Egypt and crossed the Gulf of Suez. And if you follow that on down to Jabal al-Lawz and then follow that point and return back up to where they crossed into the Promised Land, you find that it is like an isosceles triangle (where the two legs are approximately even).   I thought the Lord was pointing out to me at that time that Moses went halfway through the wilderness (meaning 3½ years) and at that point he was glorified. Like Moses, Jesus went 3½ years through His ministry before He was glorified. I believe that Mount Sinai is Jabal al-Lawz in Arabia. Many signs seem to confirm that, even though the Saudi Arabians have fenced the mount off. They do not want Christians going in there.   By the way, at the foot of Jabal al-Lawz is the altar where the golden calf was set. Of course, the golden calf isn't there anymore, but the altar is. There are quite a few other artifacts there, including several hieroglyphics depicting the golden calf scratched into the rocks in the area of the altar. These finds make it very plain that this is the correct spot and I believe Ron Wyatt even took pictures of chariot wheels submerged in the Gulf of Aqaba, which further makes the case that it was the real Red Sea, not the Gulf of Suez. It would have taken the Israelites three months to travel from Egypt to Jabal al-Lawz. It took them a lot longer to get to the Promised Land because they were disobedient by worshipping the golden calf, but it was geographically halfway. I believe the Lord was showing me the two 3½-year periods of the wilderness Tribulation.   At any rate, we have a pretty good confirmation right here: (Exo.34:29) And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand … The two tables of the Testimony are the same thing as the Tables of Witness, the Two Witnesses. The Man-child is going to give to God's people the Two Witnesses, upon whose heart the Word of God is written, not upon tables of stone. There's a fulfillment here of that. (Exo.34:29) And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of the testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. In other words, Moses had come face-to-face with God. We know that we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory (2Co.3:18). This is the type and the shadow here of God's people, at least the first-fruits, coming into the Image of God. It even says, The first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God (Exo.34:26). There is a type of the first-fruits here and it is Moses. It would have been Jesus in His time, but here it's Moses.   So after Moses came face-to-face with God, Moses manifested His glory. I believe what's being said here is that this is a glorified soul, not a glorified body. The Man-child goes through three stages of perfection. I believe that when Jesus started His ministry, He was perfected in Spirit by the Holy Spirit because He was anointed with the Holy Spirit. And when He was crucified, that's a parable about our being crucified, too, in a crucifixion of self 3½ years into the Tribulation. When a parable is first shown (and the Bible does say that Jesus was a sign (Isaiah 7:14), or in Hebrew, an uwth of something to come), it's literal, and the next time it's spiritual.   So we see that the first-fruits, who are only spiritually the Man-child and not physically, as Jesus was, are the spiritual fulfillment of this parable. In the midst of the Tribulation period, the Man-child is going to be glorified in soul because “self” has been crucified. At the end of the Tribulation period, he will be glorified in body. The progression is first spirit, then soul in the middle, and then body. These are the three stages of perfection that God is bringing Himself to in His people. In fact, When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day (2Th.1:10). And also, But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth (2Th.2:13).   Let's continue in Exodus. (Exo.34:30) And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. (31) And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses spake to them. They must have run on down the road because they had to turn around and return to him. (Exo.34:32) And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in mount Sinai. (33) And when Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. (34) But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off (because he wanted to see the Lord clearly, face-to-face), until he came out; and he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. So, Moses was in communication with God face-to-face, but with the children of Israel behind a veil.   This will also be so with the ministry of the Man-child. Jesus said, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner (Joh.5:19). Jesus was in close fellowship with the Father; He walked in the Spirit; He saw the Father and He saw the people. Yet Jesus walked also behind a veil, as the Scripture clearly shows us, and we'll see that shortly. (Exo.34:35) And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone; and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him. We're told the same thing about the first-fruits. (Heb.10:19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, (20) by the way which He dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.   So we enter into the presence of God through the veil, which is to say, through His flesh. Jesus' flesh was a veil. The people did not see the real Jesus. They didn't see the glorified man underneath that veil of flesh; they saw the veil. However, when the Lord went into the presence of God, He was in Spirit where there was no veil, speaking with the Father. This is the same thing we see here with Moses. Moses was a type of Jesus and a type of the Man-child. We're getting a description here of the kind of ministry that the Man-child is going to have and it's just like Jesus' ministry.   Seeing God face-to-face makes us capable of manifesting God before His people. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. From behind that body of flesh, called a veil, there was a glorified soul, ready to walk through the other half of the wilderness.   Now we know that Moses went all the way through the wilderness, but that's only part of the picture. If we look at other different types of the Man-child, they'll show other parts of the whole picture. For example, we can also see Jesus in Acts where it says, And when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not (Act.16:7). So Jesus was a type of the second 3½ years of the Man-child during the Tribulation. We know that because the second part of the Tribulation started at the end of Jesus' ministry when He was crucified and it ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, which was the destruction of the Harlot by the Beast. We see that the second 3½ years starts at the end of the first 3½ years and extends to the point of destruction of the Harlot by the Beast. The Book of Acts represents the 40 years between Jesus' ministry and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Forty is the number of tribulation.   We're seeing here a perfect parallel between Moses and Jesus. Some have thought that Jesus did not have a ministry after His 3½ years, but He did have a ministry of guiding His people for 3½ years, just like Moses went the other half of the distance through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Moses brought the people all the way and, in type, Jesus did that, too. His glorification in the second 3½ years represents what Moses was when “his face shone.” What we're really referring to in the end times is a glorified soul underneath a body, with the body being the veil that permitted men to look upon that which is glorified and have fellowship without being frightened. We would call it bearing fruit “100-fold.” When the Lord sows the seed of the Word in our hearts, it's to bring forth Himself in us, 30-, 60- and 100-fold (Matthew 13). That's not referring to the body; that's referring to the fruit of Christ in the soul, or in the heart, and that is what we are here for. What makes the first-fruits the first-fruits, is that they have come into this glorified soul and they have come into the crucifixion of self, which is the type that Jesus showed us.   If we look at the timing of Exodus 34, we find that it falls in the middle of the Tribulation period. How do we know that? Well, for instance, in Chapter 32, we see what happened there was, they made the image of the beast and worshipped it. That's a pretty clear sign of being the middle of the Tribulation period. What came along with worshiping the image of the Beast, according to Revelation 14, was the mark of the Beast. So we see them there in Chapter 32 bowing down to this image of the beast and we see God's rebuke of them, and we see the Tables of the Testimony were cast down and broken.   (Exo.32:19) And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. We know the two Tables of the Testimony represent the Two Witnesses corporate body because “witness” and “testimony” are the same word. So Moses the Man-child, as a type of Jesus Christ, brings the two witnesses with the Word of God written upon their heart to the people of God, which is what Jesus did with His disciples when He sent them out two-by-two. They were a corporate body of two witnesses to go to God's people and bring the Law, that was written upon their hearts, to them. It's an exact type and shadow of what we see here.   However, it says here, he saw the calf and the dancing (in other words, the people were worshiping the image of the beast): and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount (Exo.32:19). So not only did Jesus bring the Two Witnesses, but the people in their sins “broke” them. I believe that the Apostle John was the only one who died a natural death of old age. The rest of the apostles were all killed. The apostates “broke” their Two Witnesses. We see what God says about this situation a few verses later: (Exo.32:26) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoso is on the Lord's side, [let him come] unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. These are the only people who did not worship the image of the beast from among the camp of God's people.   We're told that God has chosen us to be a kingdom of priests. (Exo.19:5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: (6) and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation … In other words, all of God's people were called to be priests because we all offer sacrifices unto God and we especially offer up this body as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. On the altar of the fiery trial, the old flesh is burned up, which is what our sacrificial life is supposed to be.   The people who did sacrifice, the Levites, did not join in with the rest in worshiping the image of the beast. The true Levites, the tribe that followed God, were God's inheritance. It was the firstborn from among all of Israel who were His inheritance and then God changed that to be the Levites. Those priests were His inheritance, He said, and God was their inheritance. Those Levites were the ones who were on the Lord's side. (Exo.32:27) And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Put ye every man his sword upon his thigh, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. Well, as you know, those who worship the image of the Beast are slain because they no longer belong to the body of Christ; they belong to the Beast. The mark of the Beast is the sign of his ownership and those on whom have the mark, belong to him. They are dead; they're no longer living.   The Levites will have the authority to bring great judgment on the earth and, again, we're talking about the middle of the Tribulation period because we're referring to the mark and image of the Beast being manifested. This was the time that Moses was glorified; this was the time when the Two Witnesses were beginning to be killed. (Rev.11:8) And their dead bodies [lie] in the street of the great city (that's Babylon, not Jerusalem), which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. (9) And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do [men] look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. “Three days and a half” is half of the seven “days” of the 70th week of Daniel 9, which makes it 3½ years that the Two Witnesses will be killed. From the time of the middle of the Tribulation to the end of the Tribulation, they are being killed.   When they finish their testimony, this great group of witnesses (prophets) will be allowed by God to be killed and they're resurrected in the last trump of Revelation 11:15. But in response it is Moses, it is the Manchild, who sends the Levites forth to slay the members of the body of the Beast. (Exo.32:28) And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. (29) And Moses said, Consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, yea, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. (30) And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin. (31) And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. (32) Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.   Moses wanted to take the place of the people, which is also what Jesus did, but how many of you know that Jesus' sacrifice will not apply to everybody in the end? (Heb.10:26) For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. People who live a life of willful sin and indulgence in the world will die. As the Bible says, If ye live after the flesh, ye must die (Rom.8:13). Walking after the flesh is to take the mark of the Beast because the mind of the flesh and the works of the flesh is to take the mark. Those people who are walking in sin willfully and do so up until death will have no sacrifice.   (Exo.32:33) And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. In other words, God would not take the sacrifice of Moses for those people who worshipped the image of the Beast and took the mark. In fact, in Revelation 14:9-11, He says that there is no sacrifice for them. This is a way of separating those people who are Christian in name only from those who are Levites, the kingdom of priests that God said would come. “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.” That sounds like reprobation to me.   (Exo.32:34) And now go, lead the people unto [the place] of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. (35) And the Lord smote the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made. This is clearly referring to the time of the middle of the Tribulation period, when Moses in type as the Man-child is glorified, at least in soul underneath that body of flesh, in order to carry them all the way to the Promised Land, which in one parable we would call the “Kingdom of Heaven.” At the end of the seven years, that's exactly where God's people go. Just like Noah, they'll be in the Ark; it lifts off and they're in the Kingdom of Heaven.   I think it would make a very good study to do an Internet search for “Jabal al-Lawz” and learn about some of the things that have been discovered about this particular mountain. Again, it's not located in the middle of the wilderness by time; it's only the middle of the wilderness by geography, by distance. But that's where the altar of the golden calf was and that's where the fire burned the top of the mountain and where Moses was given the Law to give to the people. It's very interesting. Actually, the first time Moses was on the mountain was way back in Exodus 19 and this is the second time he's on the mountain because this had to fulfill the type. So we have Joseph going, as a type of the Man-child, seven years, and we have Moses, as a type of the Man-child, going through the first and the second half of the Tribulation, which were both called “the wilderness.” Now we have Jesus also going through the two halves, in the Gospels and the Book of Acts, as well.   As we said earlier, the Spirit of Jesus was surely in those disciples. Jesus said, It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life (Joh.6:63). His words went into those disciples and recreated Himself in them. The spirit in them was the Spirit of Christ. He had taken on a new body, but it was still the Spirit of Christ. When the first-fruits show up, I believe very shortly, in our day, this is what we're going to find. They are the body of the Son of David which sits upon God's throne. It's not a throne somewhere up there in the sky, but it's the throne here on the earth that spiritually is the leadership of God's people. The throne is the place of leadership.   I had quoted Jeremiah earlier, but only a part of it. It says, At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it (So you know it's not natural Jerusalem because the Gentiles are coming to it.), to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart (Jer.3:17). This is the end time, obviously, because this has not been true at any time in history. It has to be the “latter days” because, truly, when these people come to the throne, God has perfected them, matured them, and made them ready for the Kingdom of Heaven.   (Jer.3:18) In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north (which was captivity) to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers. Our early church fathers were given all of the land for an inheritance, but for 2000 years we have not entered into it. It was the same with Israel. In the beginning, God gave them the whole land, which represented the Land of Promise, but I don't think they ever set foot on any more than about a third of it and actually take possession of it.   Well, in these last days, we are going to take possession of all of the land that was given to our fathers; we're going to take possession of all of the Land of Promise, representing all of the promises of God that we're going to walk in. We are going to enter into the land of rest. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest … We're actually going to keep the real Sabbath, not the shadow, and it is to walk in all of the Land of Promise that the Lord gave unto us. Once again, God's people will be walking as the early disciples walked. They'll be walking in the power of God, in the anointing of God and in the knowledge of the truth, only this time it will be the latter rain.   When he began to walk with God, Moses was the one who had the former rain (or the latter rain, in type) because God took of the anointing that was upon Moses and put it upon the 70 elders. If you remember, that's the same thing that happened to Jesus. Jesus was the One Who came with the former rain and He was the only One Who had it, but the people whom He raised up as disciples were later given this anointing. When Jesus first sent His disciples out during the first 3½ years, they didn't have that anointing. What they had was authority given by the Lord. He said, “You go and do this,” and they went out and healed the sick and cast out devils and raised the dead (Matthew 10). Jesus was their authority. But then He said that God was also going to send “another Comforter” (John 14:16) and we know that was the Holy Spirit Who came in the middle of the Tribulation, on Pentecost, in the middle of the seven years and at the end of the 3½ years of Jesus' ministry. The disciples received the former rain and went out with that anointing to do the works of Jesus.   Jesus said the Spirit of God shall take of mine, and shall declare [it] unto you (Joh.16:14). One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to recreate in us, through the anointing (because “Christ” means “anointed”), the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to do that without the anointing, which breaks the yoke (Isaiah 10:27). It is Not by might, nor by power (meaning man's might and power), but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zec.4:6). The Lord is about to make this possible. The anointing that was upon Moses, the Lord later took and put upon those 70 elders. Jesus also had 70 whom He sent out and the anointing came upon them.   I especially like what it says a little further down in the text. (Jer.3:19) But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. He had already said, “Neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” Wow! This is awesome! I dare say, that most of the people of God do not know Him as Father. They know Him as “God,” a very distant name. But know Him as Father? This is the relationship the Lord is going to establish by bringing us into the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). Jesus was the Son of God and always called Him “Father.” Get out your concordance and look it up. He did not call Him all the names that the Jewish Christians or the Judaized Christians wanted to call Him. Jesus called Him “Father” and this is what He says we will call Him. This is what we'll know Him as – as “Father,” like Jesus knew Him. He used the term over and over, all the way through the Gospels.   These people are going to be coming back out of the land of the north (as we see from Jeremiah 3:14 on down), out of bondage, back to Zion. Zion is the place where King David ruled and Zion is the place where Jesus ruled, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Jesus was ruling in a new city of Jerusalem and the Apostle Paul told the disciples that they are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb.12:22) while they were on the earth. So, once again, God is restoring the Kingdom.   As Jesus came to restore the Kingdom, the Man-child is coming to restore, to rebuild spiritual, heavenly Jerusalem on this earth and to sit as the body in whom the King Jesus Christ lives. God has said, David shall never want (“lack”) a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel (Jer.33:17). Inside that “man” is going to be the King of kings and He is going to get all the credit. The King of kings is coming inside the body of the Son of David. Glory be to God! Isn't it neat the way God has put this parable together over and over, so we would understand sooner or later?   Father, in the Name of Jesus, we thank You so much, Lord, for helping us to see these wondrous things and we enjoy seeing the New Testament in our time, Lord, the Gospel time period. You are going to repeat this again. Oh, what a wondrous time we are coming to! A time of great glory, a time when the Lord Himself is coming to fellowship with us and live in our midst, as He lived in the midst of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, Lord. He came in the midst of His people. Jesus is Immanuel, “God with us,” and we thank You, Lord. We want so much for You to live in our midst. Those people who bowed to the golden calf, You were angered with and said You would no longer go in the midst of those people because they were a stiff-necked people. Lord, we know that's true of those who worship the image of the Beast, but it's not true of Your true people, who are Your true Levites, Your chosen ministers. Lord, we praise You and we thank You for the privilege of having You walking in our midst. We ask You, Lord, to finish the promise that You gave us, the promise that You gave to the fathers. Cause us to walk on all of the land that You gave to them, Lord, which our forefathers lost out on during the Dark Ages all the way up until the time we are in now. Thank You for being our Father and our Savior, in Jesus' name. Amen.  

Who is God the Father? What can we know about Him? Why does He invite us to call Him Father? Join us, as we continue to journey through the Apostle's Creed. Part 3 2.2.25

The Lord's Prayer - Delighting in God's Person As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the incredible privilege of coming boldly to God in prayer. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and Jesus gave them a beautiful pattern for prayer... that we call The Lord's Prayer. The first priority in prayer is delighting in God's person. There is the intimacy of calling Him "Father" and there is the majesty of knowing He is the Almighty God. Our prayers should be impacted by both of these truths! Join me as we investigate this marvelous pattern for prayer.

Ephesians 1:7 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Our confession of sin—one time—triggers God's faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. What an amazing deal for us once we simply get honest with God about what we have done. If you struggle with forgiving yourself for any past mistakes and sins, maybe it's time to visualize a funeral for them. Confess, place them under the blood of Christ, and ask for forgiveness one final time. Commit to this being the last time you will bring it up. Just like when a funeral is over, you need to walk away once you've said your goodbyes. But now instead of mourning and grief, you say hello to freedom and forgiveness. What is a specific sin you are willing to confess and bury today? Listen once again to God's promises and the finality of what happens once we confess: But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. —Psalm 103:12 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT) It is time to say a final goodbye to something God wants to see you let go of… that you know you need to let go of. As you can see, He has made your forgiveness and freedom available to you right now. How does it feel to know that God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets they even happened. What does it look like to accept you are living with a new reality, a clean slate. Let's commit this to Him: “Father, I want today to say a final goodbye to the things that have held me back from receiving all You have for me. Today, I hand these things over You. Thank You now for Your faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. As above, so below.”

Send me a Text Message!If I could sum up in a single phrase what I want to leave you this episode; what I long for us to walk away certain of today, it's this: "God is a Father who loves you like only a father can love you." That's the most compelling point of what we know as "The Lord's Prayer." Jesus was born into a religious culture based on stories and images of the God who came to Moses in fire and smoke; the God who delivered them from Egypt with plagues and miracles; a God who was unapproachably mysterious and fearsomely holy. God was not the big buddy in the sky. God was  holy. He was not their buddy, He was their creator-king. Then Jesus comes along and calls God Father...and invites us to do the same. This is the foundational truth of prayer. When you pray...call Him Father!

LESSON 196It Can Be But Myself I Crucify.When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed.Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have.Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today's idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life.Today's idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God.The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart?Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it.To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not perceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you.Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left.Salvation's song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them.There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear.Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon, today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love.There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Blessings Follow Sanctification (3)  (audio) David Eells 6/9/24  I'm going to continue to share the great blessings we have to look forward to that follow our sanctification.   I'm going to pick up where we left off in (Isa.14:4) That thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon (DS Babylon is being destroyed.), and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! (5) The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers (This is true in the natural and spiritual.); (6) that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke (He's broken the power of the rulers to rule over their slaves. He's broken the power of the old man over the spiritual man.), that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.   Now I'd like to look at Psalm 125 because it speaks of this scepter. (Psa.125:3) For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous.... In other words, the old man is not going to rule over the spiritual man in the righteous people. And who are they? Well, it says, (1) They that trust in the Lord Are as mount Zion.... This is the Bride! The Bride trusts in the Lord. The people who walk by faith receive power from God to walk after the Lord. (1) They that trust in the Lord Are as mount Zion....   That's the Heavenly Jerusalem Paul spoke about in (Heb.12:22) But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels.. That's the Jerusalem to which the early apostles came to and we are coming back to as we escape Babylon at its destruction which we are watching in the natural.   (Psa.125:1) They that trust in the Lord Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved.... Zion cannot be moved! (Heb.12:26) Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. …(28) Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe. What was the kingdom that cannot be shaken? It was the Heavenly Jerusalem, Zion! It cannot be moved as those who are “well pleasing to God.” These are people who have manifested eternal life. (1Jn.5:11) And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. When we come into the Kingdom, we all have eternal life by faith, but the Bible tells us that eternal life is in the Son. He didn't say He gave it to you and put it in your hand; He said that eternal life is in the Son. So where can you get eternal life? You get it by abiding in the Son! When you abide in the Son, you take on His nature, character and authority. In other words, His name is in your forehead and in your hand. He is doing His works through you and your mind is the mind of the Holy Spirit. This is eternal life! Having the nature of Jesus is eternal life manifested; having the old man under your feet is eternal life manifested. Again, we have eternal life by faith, but manifesting it is bearing the fruit.   (Psa.125:2) As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, So the Lord is round about his people (God claims these righteous people; they are manifestly His.) From this time forth and for evermore. (3) For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; That the righteous put not forth their hands unto iniquity. Yes! If the dominion of wickedness is over the righteous, they will sin. The scepter represents dominion. In other words, if the spiritual man is serving the old man, then that's sin.   (Psa.125:4) Do good, O Lord, unto those that are good.... This is a simple but profound statement here, saints. God will do good to those who are good, those who have manifested His righteousness and His holiness. That's something only God can do in you, but He will do it because of your faith. (Psa.125:4) Do good, O Lord, unto those that are good, And to them that are upright in their hearts. (5) But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. These people will be under the judgment of the Beast.   So the “strangers” and the “foreigners” who serve the spiritual man represent the old man, who once kept the spiritual man in bondage but now is in bondage himself in their land. Also, as we read earlier, (Isa.60:10) And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. God's favor is going to deliver us from being ruled over by the kings of this world and from being ruled over by these “foreigners” who represent the old man who serves the kings of this world. (Isa.60:11) Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night (He's talking about the Bride, Zion. He's calling His people to come within the gates of Zion, to come within salvation.); that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations....   Now we've discovered that this “wealth of the nations” is the gold, silver and precious stones, as opposed to the wood, hay and stubble of the old life. The spiritual man is what is valuable in the Kingdom; nothing physical is valuable in the Kingdom of God. The gold, silver and precious stones represent that new life, which is something that is very valuable. (Isa.60:11) Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations, and their kings led captive. (12) For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The kingdoms of the world are going to be destroyed because they are going to bring to the cross God's people.   No, they won't be able to persecute the Bride, but they will be able to persecute those who haven't made it behind the broad walls of Zion. But notice this in verse 10, And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee. The foreigners who are going to build the walls of Zion is that carnal man who are slaves to the spiritual man in order to do his work. (Isa.60:4) Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. Spiritually-speaking, these foreigners who will bring God's sons and daughters to Zion are the carnal man. In fact, it says the foreigners will carry them. This carnal man carries the spiritual man everywhere he goes!   Now I want to point out Cyrus to you by way of an example. Even though he was a pagan king, he was used by God as a type of Himself coming as a Messiah in a worldly vessel. (Isa.44:28) That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. (Isa.45:1) Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus (“Anointed” here is the same word for “Messiah,” or Christos in the New Testament.), whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him.... Notice God is using an anointed Messiah inside this vessel of a lost man because (1Co.15:50) ... flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God....   Even Jesus has a new body, folks. It's not the old body that He inherited through David; it's that new “born from above” body. But when Jesus walked on this earth, He was the son of David according to the flesh. Rom 1:3  concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh. But His spiritual man was the Son of God.  4  who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness. So the Son of man served the Son of God as it is with all sons of God. And in this instance, Cyrus was His shepherd and His anointed or Messiah. (Isa.45:13) I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts. In fact, the Scripture goes on to say in, (Isa.45:15) Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. God was hiding in this type and shadow of Cyrus. Cyrus, of course, represented the outer man, who was basically unregenerate, and yet Jesus was on the inside in type as the Messiah.   And what did Cyrus do? (Ezr.1:1) Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, (2) Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord, the God of heaven, given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (3) Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem.... This is our path; we go from Babylon to Jerusalem, the Bride. And let's not stop in the cities of Judah on the way because they were conquered by the Beast, as were the cities of Israel.   The northern 10 tribes were conquered by the Beast every time.  But not Jerusalem when the Assyrians came through, for the Lord protected Jerusalem. (Ezr.1:3) Whosoever there is among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem. (4) And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods.... When the Israelites were leaving their “Babylonish” captivity to go through the wilderness to their Promised Land, such a fear of the Israelites fell upon the Egyptians that they actually were plundered by the Israelites.  Now we see Cyrus plundering the beast under him to build the House of God. A foreigner was building the walls. (Exo.12:33) And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, to send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We are all dead men. (35) And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. (36) And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. And they despoiled the Egyptians. Even today, the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the righteous (Pro 13:22). Here we see the natural man serving the spiritual man, which is the only way to go to Zion. The wicked's wealth will prepare the righteous for the coming wilderness too. Praise be to God! God is using the old man to help the new man.   Back to (Ezr.1:4) And whosoever is left, in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill-offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. (5) Then rose up the heads of fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin (Jesus, the Messiah, came and raised up the apostles to be heads of fathers' houses. Praise God! And the Man-child is going to do the same thing: the Man-child is going to raise up the heads of fathers' houses.), and the priests, and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem.   (Ezr.1:6) And all they that were round about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. (7) Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put in the house of his gods.   Yes, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon “took captive” God's people and now God's raising up a Messiah in the likeness of sinful flesh to set God's people free. (Rom.8:3) …God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (4) that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Who is ruling when you walk after the flesh? How about after the Spirit? (Ezr.1:8) Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. Well, that's a type and shadow of how God can use kings, who once ruled over the people of God, to instead serve the people. And just as your flesh, your worldly, unregenerate self once ruled over you, now that same flesh serves you, carries you, brings you where you want to go, keeps the sheep, plows the field, etc. Now that same flesh serves the spiritual man. From the beginning, this outer man was meant to serve the inner man, which is the right relationship to God. The righteous are priests. The flesh serves them and the flesh is their offering. (Isa.61:7) Instead of your shame ye shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion....   Do you know that God is going to supply their every need for the people who don't walk after the flesh, but walk after the spirit? Those who are in the Bride are going to be blessed, like Esther was in the king's house or like the Shulammite in the Song of Solomon, but notice the only place where they can be blessed is in their land, not in the land of bondage. What's the difference between the land of bondage and their Promised Land? Well, in the land of bondage, the flesh ruled over the spirit man, the Egyptian ruled over the Israelite. In their Promised Land, it's the other way around: the spiritual man rules over the carnal man. That's where the blessings are and that's why it's called the Promised Land, the “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 33:3; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 14:8; Deuteronomy 26:9; etc.)   So it doesn't matter if you're going through the tribulation period; what matters is who's ruling whom! (Isa.61:7) Instead of your shame ye shall have double; and instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess double (Praise the Lord! There are great benefits for sanctification.); everlasting joy shall be unto them. (Isa.61:8) For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth.... You know, you don't have to wait to go to Heaven to receive your recompense. We walk in the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth and God is going to give you all the blessings of Deuteronomy 28, if you will obey His commandments, which you can do by faith.   (Isa.61:8) For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And God has made that Covenant, but that Covenant has been broken by the people who are serving the old man. Sin broke the Covenant, so then who is it who can have this Covenant with God? Only those people in whom the old man is serving the spiritual man, they are going to have this everlasting Covenant with God.   (Isa.61:9) And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. Yes! God's people are going to have awesome testimonies of the benefits of the Kingdom! The lost world is going to see great healings, deliverances, miracles of provisions and so on for God's people because God's people are not going to be under the dominion of the Beast.   (Rev.13:10) If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. In other words, if you need to go into captivity to come to crucifixion, then that's what will happen. The Lord loves us and He's going to do what's necessary to crucify this old man. Jesus made it very, very plain: (Mat.10:39) He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. That's not unconditional eternal security; that is conditional eternal security.   Going back again to (Isa.61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.... This is the manifestation of eternal life, the manifestation of salvation. We have been planted in this earth for a purpose: we are to bear the fruit of Jesus Christ. Some people think there's no purpose. They think you just “accept” Jesus and you wait for Him to come take you away so you don't go through any trouble whatsoever, you just fly away. These are people who don't read the Bible, so they don't know what it says. We are here to manifest the salvation that He gave us by faith in the beginning. We are here to manifest, (Col.1:27) ... Christ in you, the hope of glory.   The manifestation of salvation is Jesus manifested in you 30-, 60- and 100-fold. That can't be anything other than Jesus because He said the seed is the Word of God sown by Jesus Himself. When we submit to the Word of God, the Word manifests Him in us. And we know from the New Testament that the “garments of salvation” are your works. (Rev.19:8) And it was given unto her (the Bride) that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Putting on evil works will not get you in the wedding. (Isa.61:10)…for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.... Their righteous works are their clothing! (Rom.13:14) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ (Paul refers to Jesus as a garment), and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof]. The Bible says to put off the old man. (Eph.4:22) That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; (23) and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, (24) and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. In other words, don't serve the old man because, if you do, you're putting on something that will not entitle you to the Kingdom.   (Isa.61:10) …, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. And what do the jewels represent? They represent the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ in you! (Isa.61:11) For as the earth bringeth forth its bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. Praise be to God!   We've been sown in the earth in order to bear fruit, but the first thing this corrupt flesh does is try to put to death that seed of the Kingdom. (Gen.1:11) And God said, Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so. Just as each seed brings forth after its own kind, so the Word of God brings forth Jesus Christ; He is the Word of God. The only seed you really want to plant in your heart is the Word of God because only that can bring forth Jesus Christ. And we want to manifest Jesus Christ because (Joh.3:13) ... no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, who is in heaven.   So Christ in you, that spiritual man Who's been recreated in His image, is the only hope of glory. People want to know, “Why do Christians go through so much?” Well, Jesus said, (Joh.12:24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. And glory to God! The Lord has sown the right seed in the earth to bring forth His Son and that seed is His Word. Nothing else can bring forth the Son; anything else would be antichrist. You know, “anti” has two meanings: it has the meaning of “against” and it has the meaning of “in the place of.” There are some things that look to the world to be similar to the Son, yet they're not the Son, and religions do that. They like to have something very similar but that is not so crucifying to their flesh. They like leaven in their bread.  Religion that is made after man's design, religion that doesn't involve obedience to Scripture, that is antichrist. It has taken the place of Christ. (Eze.33:7) So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. (8) When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. (9) Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. Apostate religion is guilty of the blood of the saints because it doesn't tell the truth which sets free.  Now let's go back to Isaiah 61:10 again and look at it more closely. (Isa.61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.... What are these garments and this robe? I briefly mentioned previously that I believe this speaks about the manifestation of salvation. You know, we all have salvation by faith, but (Heb.11:1 KJV) Faith is the substance of the thing hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is believing for things you don't yet manifest, you don't yet see with your eyes, etc.   One of the best texts about putting on the “garments of salvation” is in Romans. As you read it, notice how the word “salvation” is used. Many people refer to salvation as only something in the past. They don't understand it's in the past because we accept by faith what was accomplished at the cross, but what was accomplished at the cross is being manifested as we walk out that faith. If you're not walking by faith, then salvation is not being manifested; you are not changing day-by-day. If you're not walking by faith, you are not coming into His image. You're not manifesting your salvation 30-, 60- and 100-fold.   (Rom.13:11) And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep (Oh, if it was true then, it's certainly true today!): for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. These are Christians here who already have salvation and he's telling them, “Now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.” So what does he mean by that? He's talking about the fulfillment of salvation, the manifestation of salvation. When we first believed, most of our salvation was by faith and not by manifestation. But the further we go down the road of walking by faith and the more we “put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ,” the less our salvation is by faith and the more of it is by manifestation.   Most of the Church doesn't understand that the Lord has put us here to lose our life in order to gain our life. As Scripture tells us, we are to be (1Pe.2:1) Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, (2) as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation. That's what we call “bearing fruit.” (Rom.13:12) The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness (These works of darkness are garments, too, but they're not the garments of salvation.), and let us put on the armor of light. This is the “garment of salvation.”   (Rom.13:13) Let us walk becomingly (So many people reject works, but the Christian who walks by faith will have the works of God. God puts His ability in them.), as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. (14) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ (So you cast off the “works of darkness” and you “put on the armor of light,” and now he tells you that the “armor of light” is the Lord Jesus Christ.), and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. There you see two garments: the garment of the works of the flesh and a garment of the works of Christ. This “garment of salvation” is very clearly putting on Christ.   I also especially like (1Ti.6:11) But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. (12) Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal.... You have to fight! Yes, you have life eternal by faith, but then you have to continue to exercise that faith. You know, life eternal can be found only in the life of Jesus Christ; there's no other eternal life out there. (1Jn.5:11) And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. See, you can't claim the life of Christ without abiding in the Son.   Jesus Himself said, (Joh.15:1) I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit. (Mat.7:16) By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (17) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. (18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (19) Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (20) Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Abiding in the Son is where this life is and you abide in Christ as you follow after these attributes of Christ.   (1Ti.6:12) Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal (You fight by using your faith to lay hold of these attributes of Christ!), whereunto thou wast called.... The word “called” is kaleo and it means “invited.” We've been invited to partake of the nature of Jesus Christ. You were called to lay hold on eternal life, but how do you do that? The first thing you have to do is accept it as a free gift by faith which (Rom.4:17) ... calleth the things that are not, as though they were. Faith is what Jesus said in, (Mar.11:24) ... All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (Greek) them, and ye shall have them. (Heb.11:1) Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.   When you claim salvation by faith, you're giving God the substance, but you don't have the evidence yet. There's no complete manifestation of it yet. Your faith is accounted as righteousness, but you have to keep walking in that faith to be accounted as righteous. And as you walk this faith out, you manifest more and more of what you're believing for, until you don't need the faith anymore because you have the full manifestation. Faith is a means to an end and the end is Jesus Christ. He is eternal life!   (1Ti.6:12) Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. What is the “good confession”? Well, you confess that you are saved! The Greek word for “salvation” is soteria and it means “all my needs supplied, ‘like a little baby.'” Soteria is salvation for your spirit, soul, body and circumstances; it covers everything. And the word for “confession” there is homologeo, which means “to speak the same thing”; in other words, to agree with what the Word says about you and what God has done for you. In the midst of the trial, you must speak in agreement with what the Word says about you. If you don't, you're not going to receive salvation in that trial.   For example, if you need a healing and you don't agree that (Isa.53:5) ... with his stripes, we are healed, then you're not going to get that healing. If you need salvation for your soul, if you need deliverance from demons, whatever your need may be, you are not going to get that part of salvation unless you come into agreement with what the Word says. Jesus is the Word and Jesus is our high priest. (Heb.4:14) Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. We need to confess Him before men so that He can present that confession as an offering before the Father; the Bible is very clear about this.  (1Ti.6:13) I charge thee in the sight of God, who giveth life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession.... And what was His confession? (Joh.18:36) Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (1Ti.6:13) … and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession; (14) that thou keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe it or not, this has nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus coming in the clouds. It has to do with the coming of Jesus in you! Notice: You keep the commandment until Jesus is manifested in you.   The word “appearing” here is the word Epiphaneia and it means “to shine forth from,” so this is talking about the Lord shining forth from you. You keep the commandment without spot and without reproach until the “appearing,” the Epiphaneia, of the Lord Jesus Christ in you. Jesus had the Epiphaneia. That means the One Who shined out of the son of David was the Son of God. We're going to look at this a little later, but right now I want to point out to you the Epiphaneia, this “shining forth from.” What is it that shines forth from us? Well, we have this blessing of Jesus Christ Who lives in us, but He's not manifested to the world. (2Co.4:7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. This light that is shining out of darkness is the manifestation of Christ in you, the manifestation of your sanctification, if you will.   (2Co.4:6) Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And the Scripture says about Jesus, (2Ti.1:9) Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal, (10) but hath now been manifested (“Manifested” here is the word phaneroo from the root phaneros, and it means “to render apparent ... as opposed to what is concealed and invisible.”) by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus.... It's as if the light of Jesus Christ that's in you is shining brighter and brighter, as the Bible says. (Pro.4:18) But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.   You know, this light is actually visible in the spirit realm and, even in the physical realm, some people have seen it with their eyes. They don't realize that this glow around people is something that the Spirit is enabling them to see. And this shining becomes brighter as more and more of Jesus is manifested. (2Ti.1:10) But hath now been manifested (In other words, this “shining forth” is becoming visible.) by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus.... The word “appearing” is that same word, Epiphaneia, meaning “to shine forth from.” So Jesus had an Epiphaneia, a “shining forth” from Him when He was on the earth, and we are to keep the commandments without spot and without reproach until our Lord Jesus Christ shines out of us! Awesome! This is sanctification; this is the manifestation of our salvation.  (1Ti.6:18) That they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to communicate (In the Greek, this word means “share.”); (1Ti.6:19) laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed. See, you don't have the manifestation of everything you're going to receive when you first come to Jesus. The manifestation of your salvation is progressive and you “lay hold on the life which is life indeed” as you come into agreement with the Word. The only people who can prove they've walked by faith are those people who have power in their life to walk away from sin. There are people who claim they have faith, but they don't have any works.   Well, James said, (Jas.2:18) Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show thee my faith. A person who has the works of the Lord Jesus Christ, a person who can keep the commandments as He commanded, the one whom He said loves Him, this person has grace from God to do what they're doing. And you don't receive grace without faith, so the person who has faith is the person who is walking in the steps of Jesus Christ. They are progressing, they are manifesting their salvation, they are growing in the ways of the Lord. Amen!   Before we go on, let me point out that Isaiah was speaking in the first person when he said in (Isa.61:1) The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me... And you may be thinking, “Well, he was talking about the coming of Jesus.” That's true, but Who was Jesus? (Rom.1:3) Concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, (4) who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness.... Jesus was the Son of God come in a body of the son of David; that's Who Jesus was. Is Jesus coming today in His people? Of course! That's what salvation is: (Col.1:27) ... Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is Immanuel, meaning God with us. He is coming as the Word is manifested in you as you abide in Him, so Christ is being manifested in you because He is the Word!   I believe Isaiah is a type of the Man-child here because the One Who was speaking out of Isaiah is Jesus Christ, the same One Who fulfilled the first half of this prophecy 2000 years ago. (Luk.4:18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (20) And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him. (21)  And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears.  You know, Isaiah preached just before and during the time when the Assyrian Beast was coming to take God's people into captivity. He preached at a time just like today when, once again, the Beast is coming to bring God's people into captivity.   And probably some of you out there are saying, “But I'm going to escape that!” Well, I pray that you do! But I can tell you it's not going to be the way that's been taught traditionally; we're not going to fly away. What Jesus did say, however, was (Luk.21:36) But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.  Now let's read on in (Isa.61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom.... In what way was Isaiah, or the Man-child, like a bridegroom? We know that Jesus was the Bridegroom, was He not? When John saw the disciples following after Jesus, he said in (Joh.3:29) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.... The Son of God was manifested in the son of David. He came to minister to the people the Word of God and to raise up the Bride to walk in His steps. This is the same thing that is about to happen today. The Man-child ministry is being raised up as a fulfillment of Revelation 12. They will be the first-fruits of those in whom Jesus lives.   Jesus is going to manifest Himself in all of His holy people, but the first-fruits are going to be the first ones to fully enter into this by the grace of God. (Isa.61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland.... When the Man-child comes, the One living inside of the Man-child, the One Who is here to fellowship with the Bride, is the Bridegroom! There's going to be an exact fulfillment of what happened in Jesus' day. Jesus was Who? He was the Son of God in the Spirit, Who was in the son of David in the flesh. He is coming this time in the same way! He's coming in His people. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.   As you look into the mirror and see Jesus by faith, you'll be transformed from glory to glory into the same image. Paul said, (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. Those are words of faith and words of faith bring to pass the manifestation of that faith. Jesus is coming in His people. The Bridegroom is going to come in the Man-child and, as the Man-child speaks the Word of the Lord which is living in them, the Word of the Lord will raise up the Bride. So what the Scripture is saying here had a fulfillment in Isaiah's day, it had a fulfillment in Jesus' day and it will have a fulfillment in our day.   Let's read it again. (Isa.61:10) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Now in what way could Isaiah, or Jesus, or the Man-child, also be the Bride? Well, according to the Word of the Lord, we're told that the Bride is the Heavenly Jerusalem. (Rev.21:9) And there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were laden with the seven last plagues; and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. (10) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, (11) having the glory of God: her light was like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal.... See the glory; the light was shining out of her.  And Paul said, (Heb.12:18) For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest ... (22) but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. The “heavenly Jerusalem” is those people who are obediently walking as disciples of Christ, walking in sanctification and the power of God -- things that most of Christianity has totally forgotten today.   The people who lived in Jerusalem after it was taken from the Jebusites were under the dominion of King David. 2000 years ago, the “King David” of the Heavenly Jerusalem was Jesus. And today “King David” is coming again, manifested in His first-fruits leadership. This first-fruits leadership is also the “Bride” because, if the Bride is Jerusalem, and David sat on the Lord's throne in Jerusalem to rule for Him, as did David's son Solomon (1 Chronicles 29:23; 2 Chronicles 1:11; 2:11; 9:8), then David being in Jerusalem would make him a part of the Bride. Actually, David would be the head of the Bride. However, the Bible speaks of another prophet coming (Acts 3:22; 7:37).   You say, “But that was Jesus!” That's true, Jesus was the Man-child, but there's also another prophet coming to fulfill the exact same prophecy in our day and that prophet is going to be Jesus in His Man-child. Jesus was a part of the Bride; He was the head of the Bride. He's the head of the body, is He not? The Bride is the body who is manifesting Christ because Christ lives in his body and Christ lives in His Bride. Christ lives in anyone in whom the Word of God is manifested and being obeyed. He lives in that person and in that way there is a fulfillment of this.   Continuing on in (Isa.61:11) For as the earth bringeth forth its bud (Now we're talking about the benefits of this sanctification of Christ in you.), and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. In this day, God's people are going to be manifested before the eyes of all the nations. Jesus Christ is coming to walk in all the nations! He's going to do it in His people, beginning with His first-fruits.   They are going to do the works of Jesus Christ of 2000 years ago and they're going to pass this on to apostles, who are going to raise up the five-fold ministry. (Who are apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists.) Jesus Christ is going to walk in those apostles and then He's going to abide in that five-fold ministry, and then in all the people who receive the Word of that ministry. He is coming to manifest Himself in His body. Remember, the One Who lives in the true body of Christ is Jesus Christ! It's His body and He lives in it!   What we call the body of Christ nowadays, we have to call it by faith because we certainly can't call it by manifestation, but the Lord is going to prove the power of His salvation. Before the Tribulation is over, all the nations are going to have seen the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, (Mat.10:40) He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. The nations are going to see Jesus in the body of Christ on this earth again, but they are not necessarily going to like Him; they never liked Him before. Only those who had been given eyes to see and ears to hear liked Jesus in His body. There are many people who claim to be “Christians,” yet they mistreat Christ in His body. They persecute and they crucify Christ in His body, but still they call themselves “Christians.” And what did Jesus have to say about that? (Mat.25:40) … Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.   So now in (Isa.62:1) For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness.... This is that “shining forth from,” this Epiphaneia, this phaneroo, that we were talking about. (Isa.62:1) For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth.... Folks, we're not going to have “Christians” in name only. These are going to be Christians whom God is going to raise up! You are either going to come into the Kingdom or you're going to get out and He's not going to rest until it happens. It's going to happen before all the nations, not just up in Heaven somewhere!   There wasn't any chapter break there in the original; it just went right on, so He's talking about doing this before all the nations. People are lying when they tell you you're never going to manifest righteousness until you get to Heaven. If you wait until then, you have waited too late! We are sown in this earth to bear the fruit while we're on this earth. These plants are growing up out of this dirt right here, folks. If all you're doing is just waiting around because you're listening to that apostate doctrine of “accept Jesus and you'll fly away one day,” you've been lied to! Read the Word of God for yourself!   (Isa.62:1) For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. (Glory to God!) (2) And the nations shall see thy righteousness (That doesn't sound like God's going to wait until you fly away to Heaven to save you, for goodness' sake!), and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. He said that this righteousness would “go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth.” What is this “glory,” this “brightness,” this “lamp that burneth”? He said that kings would see “thy glory.” What is this talking about? Well, it's right here: (Col.3:4) When Christ, who is our life.... The life of the Christian is Christ Himself because we're just His body. The life inside of us has to be His life and, if you don't believe you're supposed to have the life of Christ, the very life that we read about in the Scriptures, then you're living in apostate Christianity.   (Col.3:4) When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested (The word here is phaneroo and remember it means “to render apparent ... as opposed to what is concealed and invisible.” This is talking about Christ becoming more and more visible and shining out of you; He is the glory that “all kings” are going to see.), then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. So when Christ is manifested in you, you're going to be manifested in glory! What's shining out of the saints that “all kings” are going to see is the glory of Christ! It is the life of Christ!   Peter also spoke about this “caused to shine” and “made visible.” (2Pe.1:19) And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp (There it is, the “lamp that burneth”.) shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts. “Day-star” is an archaic term for the sun, which is also a parable of the Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is the lamp, Christ is the Day-star shining brighter and brighter in the dark places of your heart! (Pro.4:18) But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light.... The dawning light comes up higher and higher until it's straight overhead, until all the shadows have been destroyed and there's nothing but brightness everywhere, and that's what he says happens in your heart.   This is the “shining forth” that Paul's speaking about when he says, (Col.1:27) To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. There's no other “hope of glory”; Christ in you is the glory. (Col.3:4) When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye (He's talking about you.) also with him be manifested in glory.   (2Co.4:6) Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. “In the face of Jesus Christ” is the only way you can receive it because it's by faith that you behold “in a mirror the glory of the Lord.” (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. You see that by faith with the imagination of your renewed mind (Ephesians 4:23) and, as you do that, you are transformed into that same image! In other words, what you see by faith is going to come to pass “from glory to glory.”   And Paul goes on to say, (2Co.4:7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. (11) For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested (That's the word Phaneroo again.) in our mortal flesh. Notice: That is this body, not the new body. Those apostate preachers are lying when they say that you won't be perfected until you get to Heaven. We are bearing the fruit 30-, 60- and 100-fold here, and that's what Jesus said in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8).   So, the manifestation of the life of Christ in our mortal flesh is that light of the Son shining forth out of us, brighter and brighter, until the perfect day! (Pro.4:18) But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. This is God's plan, even though it's been short-circuited by apostate religion teaching doctrines of demons that are not in the Bible. We've been lied to and robbed of God's glory. Many people who think that they're Christians are not growing up in Christ and bringing forth His fruit. But God says He's not going to rest until all of the nation's see Christ manifested in His people. Don't be left out.  Again in (Isa.62:1) For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness go forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. (2) And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory.... Wow! This happened in Jesus' day on a lesser scale, when Jesus was the body of Christ, and He was also a type and shadow for the body of Christ in our day, as we come out of the dark ages of Christianity. The whole world is going to see the power of His salvation in His people and it may make the Pharisees just as angry as when they saw Jesus the first time.  (Isa.62:2) And the nations shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. By what name is this glorious people, in whom Jesus lives, going to be called? It couldn't be anything other than the name of His Son! (Col.3:17) And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Does that mean we just say the name? No. Whatsoever we do, in word or in deed, we are to do it in the nature, character and authority of Christ. The word for “name” is onoma in the New Testament and shem in the Old Testament, but they both have the same meaning, which is the “nature, character and authority” of a person or thing. The people of Shem, the Shemites, were the people of God; they were the people of the name.   Different languages have different names for Jesus, but are you being filled with His name? Is His name being manifested in you? (Rev.2:17) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh (You have to be an overcomer.), to him will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it. The word for “knoweth” there is ginosko and it means “to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize … or to understand completely.” Ginosko “frequently indicates a relation between the person ‘knowing' and the object known ... hence the establishment of a relationship.” Who knows the name of the Lord? The people who have the name of the Lord, the people who live in the name of the Lord, these are the people who know the name of the Lord.   Jesus knew righteousness. He knew the name of the Lord, but the Pharisees and the Sadducees didn't know the name of the Lord. They could only speak the title given to their Old Testament God because they didn't know His nature, character and authority. They didn't know Him. (Act.13:27) For they that dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath, fulfilled [them] by condemning [him]. Only someone who is living in the name of the Lord, only someone in whom the name of the Lord is being manifested, can know the name of the Lord. In other words, only the “overcomers” can know the name.   (Rev.3:10) Because thou didst keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. We've already seen how God will keep those in the holy city Zion, in Jerusalem, from the “hour of trial,” just as in Esther. In the book of Esther, the bride was safe in the king's house while the rest of God's people were going through great tribulation. (Rev.3:11) I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. (12) He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more.... I'm afraid a lot of Christian activity is in and out, and in and out. One day you're abiding in Christ, you're abiding in the Temple, and then the next day you're out there in the world, living in the flesh.   But the person who overcomes will live in the Temple of God in God's presence all the time. (Rev.3:12) He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name. Now is this someone who has names written all over them? No, it's not meant to be taken literally. This is talking about the Bride taking on the name: the nature, character and authority of the Bridegroom! This is talking about God manifesting the name in them.   Jesus said, (Joh.17:6) I manifested thy name unto the men whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word. When did Jesus ever mention the Old Testament name or title of God? He never did. He called Him “Father.” His people will call Him “Father.” (Jer.3:4) Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth? Jesus revealed the name in His actions. (Joh.14:9) Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father? The name that He revealed to people was the nature, character and authority of the Father.   And so it is today! We are ambassadors for Christ. We are to represent Him to the world. Revelation speaks about the name of the Beast in (Rev.13:16) And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; (17) and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.  And then, right after that, Revelation speaks about the name of the Lord. (Rev.14:1) And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand. (This is the first-fruits Man-child ministry.), having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. He just got through talking about the name of the Beast being written on the foreheads of the Beast people. I don't think you're ever going to see either mark physically, so you have to take this spiritually. Revelation is not talking about the name of Jesus and the name of His Father written on the forehead, but about the nature, character and authority of the mind and works of Christ being manifested in the mind of God's people.   As a matter of fact, Jesus tells us, (Mat.28:19) Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name.... The numeric pattern and the ancient manuscripts all say “into,” “baptizing them into the name,” although most translations read “baptizing them in the name.” But you see, it's not about speaking a name over somebody. It's not saying any magic words over somebody. (Mat.28:19) Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Did you notice the way the word “name” is being used here? Any English teacher would tell you that this is talking about one name for all three! This has nothing to do with the oneness or twoness or trinity doctrines, but it does have to do with unity. Since the Greek word onoma means “nature, character and authority,” this is the nature, character and authority of “the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”   Jesus said He came in His Father's name and onoma means “nature, character and authority,” not “title”! Therefore, when you're baptized into the name, you're putting on the name: the nature, character and authority of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. This is also the Name or nature, character, and authority of Jesus. Both of these babtisms are mentioned in the word because it's the same name or nature. (Rom.13:14) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. The baptism is for the death of the old man and the resurrection of the new man. When you are baptized, Paul's confession should be your confession: (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.   God gave Himself for us. When you're baptized, you don't live anymore; Christ lives in you, so you have His name by faith! You are baptized into His nature, character and authority, which is why Paul tells us that when we look in a mirror, we see Jesus: (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. That's the Gospel! We don't live anymore; Christ lives in us. We accept by faith that His name is manifested in us.   We are warned, (Exo.20:7) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Why did He say that to His people? Was He talking about cursing? No, that has nothing whatsoever to do with using His name in profanity. It has to do with a person taking on His name for nothing, for naught. It has to do with a person taking on His name but not manifesting His name. We, as Christians, take on His name when we're baptized because the old man's dead and the new man lives. And the new man is (Col.1:27) … Christ in you, the hope of glory. Therefore, you are taking on His name, but the Christian who doesn't bear any fruit is taking the name of the Lord in vain. It's talking about you not living up to the name!   What does the Lord say about those who take His name in vain? (Rev.3:1) … I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and thou art dead. This is a person who has taken the name for nothing. His name is not going to be manifested in them because they have no faith. Remember what James said: (Jas.2:18) Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show thee my faith. Everyone who has faith is going to be manifesting Jesus Christ the further they walk down that road. Everyone! Those who merely say they believe, but who are not manifesting Jesus Christ, are not putting the old man to death so that the new man can come to life. What they have is not faith! They're not beholding in a mirror the glory of the Lord.   They choose to think that they manifested salvation when they stepped into the Kingdom and were given a new spirit. They're not concerned about manifesting that spirit in their soul, which is their mind, will and emotions. God demands that we don't take His name in vain. We have to bear the fruit of Christ. “Christian” means “Christ-like.”   God expects us to walk by faith in Him to manifest Jesus Christ in us, but dead religion and dead preachers of dead religion have been short-circuiting this wonderful thing God wants to do. What does the Lord say He's going to do? It's awesome! In front of all the nations (Isaiah 62:1-2), He's going to manifest the glory of Jesus Christ in His people. All the nations are going to see Jesus walk this earth again in corporate body of flesh. (Rom.8:3) For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. And God has a people who are doing the same thing; they are condemning sin in the flesh. They are walking in the likeness of sinful flesh, but the One Who's coming to life in them is Jesus Christ. He's shining forth from them brighter and brighter!   These are the people who have faith. They are the ones we call “believers”! Remember, it was the pagans who first called the followers of Christ “Christians” because they did the works of and had the fruit of Jesus Christ. “Christian” was a compliment that they gave to people whom God called “disciples” and “believers.” Believers have fruit! All believers have fruit! Disciples have fruit! All disciples have fruit! But not everybody called “Christian” is a Christian, nor has everybody called “Christian” borne any fruit. A “disciple” is “a learner and a follower,” a mathetes; they follow in the steps of Jesus. And a “believer” is somebody who is going to receive grace because of their faith.   (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. So we are being created to do the works of Jesus Christ. (Joh.14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. That's what Jesus said; therefore, the people who really believe will be seen to be the people who do His works, keep His commandments and so on. Is it by their power? Not at all. It's by His power because God gives grace to those who believe. Grace is God's favor to walk above sin, to be overcomers. All of the promises in the Book of Revelation are only to the overcomers. And how were they able to overcome? They were able to overcome because God gave them grace and faith to believe. 

“I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.” John 15:15–17Just prior to the passage quoted above, Jesus says, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Is that the measure of true friendship? That we do what our friend commands us to do? That depends upon which friend we are speaking about.There are many images we use for God. We call Him Father, Savior, Master, Lord, King, Redeemer, Spirit and Friend. When it comes to God as our divine Friend, it is important to understand the nature of that friendship properly. Jesus' friendship is not one that simply makes us “buddies.” Friendship with our Lord is not the same as a friendship between two equals. He is God. And because He is God, our friendship with Him takes on unique characteristics that are not present in other friendships. With that said, there could be no greater friend than the Lord Himself.Among humans, our friendships have various foundations. It could be that two people have mutual interests and they enjoy engaging in those interests together. It could be that two people have spent much pleasant time together since childhood. Or it could be that two people have endured some difficulty together and that experience has bonded them together. But according to Saint Thomas Aquinas, friendship in its purest form is based on just one thing: mutual charity.Charity is the form of love that is purely selfless. It's a way of relating to another in which a person's sole focus is the good of the other. It is not based on one's own self interests. It's not a matter of “what do I get out of it?” In 1 Corinthians 13:4–8, St. Paul defines the love of charity this way: “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” This is not only the definition of charity, it is also the only foundation for true friendship.When you consider all of these qualities of charity, you will find that God relates to us in each of these ways. For that reason, God offers us the purest friendship possible. Whether or not we reciprocate these qualities to God will determine the depth of the bond of friendship that we establish with Him. But there is more. When we love God, we must love Him in a way that is proper and proportionate to Who God is. For example, if we offer charity to God, we seek to fulfill only God's interests and rejoice in the Truth of Who He is. Thus, the charity we offer to God comes in the form of worship. He is God and is worthy of worship, adoration, surrender, trust and perfect obedience. When it is God we are loving, the very essence of the Person we love requires these responses.One beautiful and consoling thing to recognize with this form of charity given to God is that it also establishes a true friendship with God. When we offer our worship to God, we are in a position to receive the very life of God in return. And the giving of ourselves, coupled with the reception of the life of God, establishes a bond of holy friendship that will transform us, unite us with Him and fulfill us to perfection. Friendship with God makes us one with Him and opens us to receive everything that He shares with us—namely, His very Self. Reflect, today, upon the invitation Jesus has offered you to enter into a true friendship with Him. This means that God becomes the center of your life. It means that you seek to give yourself, selflessly and without reserve, to Him Who is deserving of all your love. It means you choose worship and obedience to perfection. The reward of such love is that you are able to enter into a bond that is so holy, so pure and so fulfilling that it completes you, enabling you to become who you were meant to be.My God and true Friend, You offer me everything in life. You offer me Your perfect love, given fully and without reserve. I pray that I will reciprocate that depth of love and offer to You all that You deserve. I offer You my love, worship and obedience, dear Lord. May this mutual love form a bond that will never end. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured images above: Jesus teaches By Jaroslav, via Adobe

Truths For Life - Lesson 03 - Godhead   Questions 1. Who are the 3 people of the trinity? 2. List some ways the Bible describes God. 3. List 2 errors associated with the doctrine of the Trinity. 4. What 2 illustrations are often used to describe the Trinity? 5. What did the Spirit and the Father do at Jesus' baptism? (Mk. 1:10-11) 6. Immediately the Holy Spirit _______ Jesus into the wilderness. (Mk 1:12) 7. What claim does Jesus make for Himself? What does this indicate about His divine nature? (Mt. 28:18) 8. What name did Jesus authorize His disciples to baptize people in? (Mt. 28:19) 9. What promise did Jesus make to His disciples? What does this tell us about His nature? (Mt. 28:20)       Answers 1. Father / Son / Holy Spirit 2. Eternal - no beginning or ending / Spirit / Omniscient / Omnipotent / Omnipresent / Holy / Good / Righteous / Faithful / Love 3. polytheism / Sabellianism 4. three forms of water (solid, liquid, gas) / three parts of an egg (yolk, white, shell) 5. Spirit descended like a dove upon Him / Father said, This is My Son in whom I am well pleased 6. drove 7. That He has been given all authority in heaven and earth. He is God. 8. Father, Son, & Holy Spirit 9. I will be with you always. He is omnipresent, also eternal.

Sanctified From Wickedness (2) (audio) Valuable Sanctified Vessels David Eells – 4/3/24   I want to share with you about the blessings that follow sanctification. We are entering into a new time right now! A time in which we're going to receive blessings like the Bride has never seen before.   Isaiah 59 speaks about the terrible shape that Israel was in then and the terrible shape that the Church is in now because Israel is a type for the Church. At the end of chapter 59, God shows you what He's going to do about it and in chapter 60 He begins to raise up His Bride and bring her out of the nations. The Bride is built through sanctification, through separation from the nations, and the wicked among us.   (Isa.59:14) And justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. (15) Yea, truth is lacking; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. (People who stand up for truth like the Bride does receive ridicule and worse from those who claim to be the Church.) And the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. (16) And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it upheld him. (17) And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing.... This is the Lord coming with the armor of Ephesians.   This is the Lord coming and taking on a body. Jesus said, (Heb.10:5) ... a body didst thou prepare for me. He was speaking about a body of the son of David in which He, as the Son of God, came. And we know that, as we repent, the Lord is coming in all of us as His body. (2Co.3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. He's coming to be glorified in His people as the Word, Jesus manifested in us. He's bringing a reformer to start a revival. The reformer is His firstfruits body that He has brought to maturity and will anoint with the latter rain, just as He anointed Jesus with the former rain. Jesus was the first firstfruits body in the New Testament.   So history is about to repeat and, this happens on the morning of the third day the latter rain comes. (Hos.6:2) After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. (3) And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth. We're now at the morning of the third day from the last Adam and this latter rain is about to fall. It's going to first anoint the Man-child. That's God's way of saying, (Mat.17:5) ... This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. Then it's going to be poured out after 3-1/2 years upon the Church. The latter rain anointing will cause people to pay attention to the Man-child reformers.   There's going to be a training period, during which He's going to restore Scriptural order among His people. We know it's a corporate body that's coming, but it says in Isaiah that the Lord Himself is coming. He's the One putting on the garments of vengeance for clothing. He did this in Jesus' time and now He's going to do it again in our time because (Ecc.1:9) That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. All prophecies usually have more than one fulfillment and the last fulfillment is the greatest fulfillment.   This prophecy is going to be fulfilled in our day: (Isa.59:17) And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation (Does the Lord need the knowledge of salvation; No, His body does.) upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle. (18) According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies (We are seeing this beginning.); to the islands he will repay recompense. (19) So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath (The same word for “spirit.”) of the Lord driveth.   The Lord is coming very quickly. (Hab.2:3) For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. (Rev.3:11) I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. (As the Lord says some will lose their crown.)(Rev.22:7) And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. (20) He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus. He's coming like He came in that first body, this time “as the rain, as the latter rain.” That former rain anointing from Heaven is the mantle that was upon Jesus and He's bringing the latter rain anointing now.   The former rain anointing fell upon Jesus to empower Him to do that special work of bringing revival to a people He separated out of apostate Judaism. An anointing is coming once again, only this time it's the latter rain upon His firstfruits. The firstfruits is a relatively small corporate body for a much larger corporate body of people who will be separated out of apostate Christianity. God's going to repeat history on a larger scale, which is the way history always repeats.   (Isa.59:19) So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the breath of the Lord driveth. (20) And a Redeemer will come to Zion.... The One Who lives in the body is Jesus bringing the power and the authority, and it is Jesus doing the works! A Redeemer will come to Zion, the Bride! (Rev.21:9) …and he spake with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. (10) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  John was shown Jerusalem (Zion), coming down out of Heaven, born from above. There is still a Zion in the earth; there is still a King who is the son of David and there's still a New Testament Kingdom of God, except they are in the spirit and not in the flesh. (Isa.59:20) And a Redeemer will come to Zion (the Bride), and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob (the Church), saith the Lord. Those who turn from transgression are those people who are sanctified, separated from sin, from the world, and separated from their flesh. He's coming to these people and to build Zion, the Bride! Remember John the Baptist said, (Joh.3:29) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, speaking of Jesus and those disciples who were following Him.   Back to (Isa.59:21) And as for me, this is my covenant with them (“Them” here represents Zion, the Bride!), saith the Lord: my Spirit that is upon thee…  When the Lord spoke this through Isaiah, He was referring to Jesus, but now this is referring to Jesus in the Man-child of our day. And as you read Revelation 12, you can see it's a repetition of history, but it's actually in the future when the Man-child raises up the Woman Church. (Rev.4:1) After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, a voice as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter. It was a long time after Jesus that John spoke of this as still being in the future, still being something to come. Revelation 12 is for our time.   Back to (Isa.59:21) And as for me, this is my covenant with them (the Man-child of our day), saith the Lord: my Spirit (the latter rain) that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever. So Jesus was the Sower and He sowed the seed in the Bride of His day, those first-fruits disciples, and that seed didn't depart from out of their mouth. When they spoke, it was just like Jesus speaking.   They had received authority to speak in His name and He sent them out to do His works. (Joh.14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. This same authority has not passed away. It will be in the mouth of the Man-child and the seed of the Man-child and will be passed on.   Isaiah 60 begins to speak of the great blessings, which come from this sanctification of the Word that the reformers are going to bring. (Isa.60:1) Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Zion) (Isa.60:2) For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon thee (The peoples are in gross darkness right now and it's getting darker all the time and God says His light is going to arise on His Bride, His Zion.), and his glory shall be seen upon thee. (Isa.60:3) And nations shall come to thy light (He's talking about the peoples of the nations who are chosen of God, those who are drawn of Him and who are given a gift of repentance and faith. They will come into the light of the Bride of Zion.), and kings to the brightness of thy rising. (Isa.60:4) Lift up thine eyes   (He's still speaking to Zion.) round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far.... Yes because, according to type, God's people are taken captive to the nations every time that they fall into apostasy. The Beast conquers them and scatters them among the nations. God's people are members of the nations in which they live and to which they pledge allegiance to, rather than His one holy nation of spiritual Israel.   (1Pe.2:9) But ye are an elect (“chosen”) race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. We've been called out of the darkness of the nations to become a part of a different Kingdom, a “peculiar” (KJV) Kingdom. Our Kingdom is the Kingdom of God and Jesus said in (Joh.18:36) ... My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.   Back to (Isa.60:4) Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: they all gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. (5) Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged.... The Bride will be excited and ecstatic because God is going to do a wonderful thing in our day. People will be coming out of gross darkness and into the light of the Bride because of the gift of God.   Again, (Isa.60:5) Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance (“crowds” or “multitudes”) of the sea shall be turned unto thee.... In Scripture, the “sea” represents the peoples, nations, tribes and tongues. (Rev.17:15) And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. We are coming out of the world, out of Babylon, and we're returning to Zion in these days. We've all been taken captive to Babylon. The word “babel” means “a confused noise, typically by a number of voices.” So we're coming out of a confusion in the world and in religion, and we're coming back to the Lord.   Again (Isa.60:5) Then thou shalt see and be radiant, and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned unto thee, the wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. What “wealth” is this He's talking about? Are we all going to be rich? In a way, yes, but these parables are not meant to be taken in the letter. It is the spirit. So this “wealth” we see here, is something we're really going to need, especially the Bride to get the Gospel out quickly to the peoples.   (6) The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense.... Do you remember this from something that's already happened? The same people, as a matter of fact, came to bring gifts to the young Jesus. (Mat.2:11) And they came into the house and saw the young child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and worshipped him; and opening their treasures they offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.   Again (6) The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. (7) All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee.... I believe Father is talking about the “flocks” of His people who are going to be gathered together unto the Bride. Esther was raised up by her uncle Mordecai, meaning little man, representing the Man-child, to be the beautiful Bride who was chosen from among all the fair virgins of the kingdom.   Then she was also used by the Lord to bring preservation and salvation to the rest of the people of God, who were being threatened by Haman, representing the heads of the Beast. God's people today will be rescued from bondage to the Beast. Again (7) All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth (“Nebaioth” meaning the leadership of “husbandry”) shall minister unto thee; they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar; and I will glorify the house of my glory.   (8) Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Doves make you think of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. (9) Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. Why are the “sons” coming from afar to be under Zion? It's because the Bride which John said were the first disciples of Jesus will be elders over a people who come from every nation into one Kingdom, a holy nation, a chosen generation. The true Church is the one nation of New Testament spiritual Israel.   These riches of “silver” and “gold” that the sons bring with them could be spiritual and literal. (Rev.3:15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. (16) So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches.... These people are very happy about having physical riches and they didn't consider themselves to have any need in this world, but they didn't have the riches of the Kingdom. In Acts when people came to the Lord their love of the world waned as the love of the people grew. They even sold their excess and laid it at the feet of the apostles to distribute for the needs equally. (Rev.3:17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So they were really poor, according to the Kingdom. There is a materialistic “prosperity” doctrine that the Church has pretty much accepted and many people are quite satisfied with the things of the world but according to Jesus in the parable of the sower this causes many to fall away. But in Acts God took away the lust for worldly riches, and restored riches that are valuable in the Kingdom of God like the fruits of the Spirit..   I'm going to explain to you how these sons coming out of the nations to Zion bring their “gold and silver” with them. (Rev.3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold.... Now this is the true gold. How do you “buy” true gold? Jesus tells us, (Mat.10:38) And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. (39) He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. To gain the Kingdom we have to give up our love for the high life in this world. The Kingdom of God manifested in you is “gold” and “silver” and “precious stones.” (Rev.3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich....   You can tell from the language used in Isaiah, he is speaking in parables and that the “riches” of “gold” and “silver” refer to spiritual riches of the soul that come from sanctification (2 Peter 1:4-11). But when a person turns toward these spiritual riches there is a sacrificial life that wants all needs to be met. (Rev.3:18) I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eye salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see… (21) He that overcometh (They need to overcome the lukewarmness, the lack of the spiritual “gold” in the life of a believer.), I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.  Jeremiah explained what “the throne of the Lord” represents. (Jer.3:17) At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it.... The throne is Jerusalem! It's Zion! And Zion is the Bride! The Bride is the throne of the Lord, just as when in King David's time, his throne was in Jerusalem, but now Jerusalem itself will be called the throne. (Jer.3:17) At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord (In other words, the Bride will be manifesting the name of the Lord; manifesting His nature, character and authority.), to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.   This is what it is to be in the Bride. This is what it is to come out of the world and be sanctified, separated from the nations. (Jer.3:18) In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north (This represents them coming out of captivity or bondage.) to the land that I gave for an inheritance unto your fathers. Today, we're returning to the land that was given for an inheritance to our spiritual forefathers. (1Co.4:15) For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.   The Apostle Paul called himself a “father” and we do have the apostolic fathers, but much of the Church left that Promised Land 2000 years ago. Now we are returning to that inheritance because God's going to restore everything that's been taken from His people. And he goes on to say, (Jer.3:19) But I said, How I will put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! and I said, Ye shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. Jesus did call the Father His “Father” and He taught the disciples to also call Him “Father.” In the New Testament, that is the name we are supposed to be calling Him because it's a different relationship altogether.   And so now we know the “gold” and “silver” coming out of the nations are these glorified people. They are the overcomers who have left the nations to go to the throne of the Lord, to gather around the Bride as they did in Acts. They are glorified in spirit and in soul, but not yet in body. They are manifesting the glory of the Lord! You know, Paul speaks of it in Timothy. Let's read it because it will help with our understanding that there has to be a sanctification. The gold, silver and precious stones represent the nature of your life after you've been sanctified, after you've been cleansed of the wood, hay and stubble.   (2Ti.2:19) Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, Let everyone that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness. Remember the name of the Lord is the throne of the Lord, which is Jerusalem. Going to Jerusalem represents this glorification of the sons and the daughters, who are coming with their gold and their silver, their born-again, resurrected nature.   (2Ti.2:20) Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. The gold and silver are vessels of honor, and the wood and the earth are vessels of dishonor. We've all been vessels of dishonor, but as we are sanctified, we become vessels unto honor. We become what is valuable in the Kingdom of God.   (2Ti.2:21) If a man therefore purge himself from these (Meaning purge himself from the wood and the earth, or the wood, hay and stubble of 1 Corinthians 3.), he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet (an archaic word for “able” or “fit”) for the master's use, prepared unto every good work. (2Ti.2:22) But flee youthful lusts (the wood, hay and stubble.), and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. The sons and daughters coming out of captivity from the nations are sacrificing the gold and silver of their carnal life to have the gold and silver of their sanctification; which is valuable in the Kingdom of God. The lukewarm Laodicean Church were rich in the world, but they weren't rich in the Kingdom because they were full of wood, hay and stubble.   Many years ago, the Lord pointed out something to me that I'd like to share with you. I asked the Lord about my ministry, flipped my Bible open and just stuck my finger down at random. Not only did He show me something about my ministry, but He showed me something about what He's going to do in the earth. The verse I received was (Ezr.6:5) And also let the gold and silver vessels (We are the gold and silver vessels.) of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem (He took the people of God as captives to Babylon when they fell into apostasy. They were in bondage, much like the Church today is captive to Babylonish religion and politics.), and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, everyone to its place; and thou shalt put them in the house of God.   God gave this text to me many times. This is what's going to happen, a restoration of God's people to their Promised Land, their Kingdom that they lost when they were led away captive because of apostasy. Another time, I flipped my Bible open and received (Ezr.5:15) And he said unto him, Take these vessels, go, put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in its place. The firstfruits Man-child ministry that is to come will restore the vessels of God to their position. The Bride, New Jerusalem, is going to be restored. Old Jerusalem is lost and it's not going to be restored, but Heavenly Jerusalem, the one the Bible calls the “holy city,” will be restored. It is born from above to those seeking sanctification.  Paul said in (Gal.4:25) Now this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia and answereth to the Jerusalem that now is: for she is in bondage with her children. (26) But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother. It's not the physical God is raising up; He's raising up the spiritual, New Testament people of God, those who are Israelites according to the circumcision of their heart. They have been in Babylon for the last 2000 years, but now God is restoring them. Those vessels have been taken from Zion and in these days they will be returned to Zion!  We can see the same story in (Eze.37:21) And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations (The Church has been taken captive to the nations, just as Israel was taken captive to the nations when they fell into apostasy. The people of God are now more patriotic toward the carnal nation in which they live than being members of the spiritual nation of the Kingdom of God.), whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land (This is a promise of revival in our time.):   (22) and I will make them one nation in the land.... Peter said that they were one holy nation. In other words, all of the people of God, no matter what nation they live in, are a part of one holy nation. Now they need to separate and come out from among the worldly nations and be a part of that one holy nation. God is going to fulfill the parable that was lived out by the Jews. (1Co.10:11) Now these things happened unto them (the Jews) by way of example (The Greek word there means “type” or “figure.”); and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. This type and figure is going to be fulfilled in our day as the New Testament children of Israel, those who are born from above, circumcised in heart, are coming out of the nations.   Back to (Eze.37:22) And I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Remember that Jesus said in (Joh.10:16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice: and they shall become one flock, one shepherd. (1Jn.2:27) And as for you, the anointing which ye received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that anyone teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him.   We have an anointing from the Holy One and we don't need men to teach us. We need the Lord to teach us. If the men are filled with the Lord, filled with the Word and submitted to Him, then they can be vessels through whom the Lord can flow. The Lord came in a vessel of the son of David 2000 years ago to deliver His people from apostate Judaism and this time He will deliver His born again people from apostate Christianity. His people will come out of the nations to their true, Heavenly Kingdom where God rules. If Babylonish religion is ruling over you, that's the same as Babylon ruling over you.   Back to (Eze.37:23) neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. Notice that where they dwelt outside of their Promised Land represented sin. Dwelling in the nations represents sin, but dwelling in the Kingdom represents holiness. Sanctification is to come out from among the nations and become a part of the Kingdom. (2Co.6:17-18) Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, (18) And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.   Back to (Eze.37:24) And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances (This is a promise from God that He's going to restore everything and the people who walk under Zion are going to walk a holy walk.), and observe my statutes, and do them. (25) And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant (Our New Testament Jacob is Jesus! Jacob raised up the 12 patriarchs and Jesus raised up the 12 patriarchs; history just repeats.), wherein your fathers dwelt (We're going to live where our spiritual, apostolic fathers dwelt.); and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince forever.  This represents Jesus in the end time corporate Man-child. (26) Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them (God's going to confirm the Covenant from which we have departed. He's going to fulfill the great promises of the Covenant to His people.); it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. Praise God! What an awesome promise!   (Deu.4:27) And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and ye shall be left few in number among the nations, whither the Lord shall lead you away. (Again, this represents being taken captive to the world, to Babylon. All the nations were gathered to Babel until God divided them by the tongue and so the major type of Babylon is the whole world, but lesser types of Babylon can be America, or religion, and so on.) (28) And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. (29) But from thence ye shall seek the Lord thy God, and thou shalt find him, when thou searchest after him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.   (30) When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, in the latter days (Obviously, that's where we are right now.) thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and hearken unto his voice: (31) for the Lord thy God is a merciful God; he will not fail thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. God's people wonder why they don't have the benefits of the Covenant and it's because they're not walking by faith in it. All those benefits are ours now. The anointing is coming to restore not only the faith but wisdom and the truth to God's people, so that they can go back under the Covenant. Then God can keep His part of the Covenant, which is the great blessings that come to those who are sanctified of unbelief.   (32) For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee.... We need to find out what it was like to walk as sons of God, to walk in the steps of Jesus, to do His works. What did the Kingdom look like? We have to look back. We have to study the Word, if we want to hear the Word. (Isa.30:20) And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be hidden anymore, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers; (21) and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it; when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. We are hearing a Word, our covenant from 2000 years behind us and it's saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”   Back to (Deu.4:32) For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been [any such thing] as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? This is a great thing God's about to do in the latter days! (33) Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire.... We're going to hear because we're going into the fiery furnace, heated seven times hotter. “Times” symbolizes “years” (Daniel 3:19; 7:25; Revelation 12:14) and “seven times” represents the Tribulation. We're going into the fire, but like the three Hebrews in Daniel 3, God's going to preserve us. He's doing this to burn off our bonds and we will walk with the King in the fire. It's a picture of sanctification; fire purifies, it makes holy.   Again (33) Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? (34) Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of [another] nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, (God's going to use all those things to take us out of the physical nation that we're idolizing in our patriotism and He's going to bring us into the nation of the Kingdom of God, our Promised Land, where God can fulfill these awesome promises.), and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?   He highly motivated the Israelites to come out of Egypt by bringing judgments upon Egypt. He ultimately separated the Israelites from the judgments of Egypt, but Egypt was being destroyed and the Israelites had no choice but to leave there and go into the wilderness where God commanded them to go. The “wilderness,” is the Tribulation, where people will learn to walk by faith in God, and learn to live on the promises. It's where the gold, the silver and the precious stones will be manifested, rather than the wood, hay and stubble of our idols back in “Egypt.”  (Isa.60:10) And foreigners shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. Yes! We're coming to a time of judgment and a time of favor simultaneously. The judgment will cause God's people to flee the world and to seek refuge in the Kingdom. Our refuge is only abiding in Jesus Christ which is the Kingdom of God. (11) Thy gates also shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations (The “wealth” is natural but also spiritual as these very valuable people who carry the nature and life of Jesus Christ.), and their kings led captive. (12) For that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish.  (This will happen in the Tribulation period to the nations of the world who won't serve Zion. They won't serve Zion's King, so judgment will fall upon them and they will perish.); yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The reason the judgments are going to fall upon the world is because of what they're doing to God's people. The world is going to put God's people on their crosses, spiritually-speaking, but this is for the purpose of sanctifying them. The crucifixion of the old man, and sanctification of being delivered from the wood and earth in order to have the gold and silver.   (13) The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine, and the box-tree together, (These are evergreen trees that represent eternal life.) to beautify the place of my sanctuary (The presence of God in His people makes the place of His sanctuary beautiful.); and I will make the place of my feet glorious. (14) And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.   The Beast kingdoms in times past recognized the power of the people of God. A good example is Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. He recognized the value of the people of God, their understanding and the power of their God. He knew how their God had wrought deliverance for them through judgments on Egypt after Egypt had brought God's people into bondage. The whole world is going to get a demonstration of the power of God to save His people. They are going to respect the people of God. So-called “Christianity” has not been very respectable since the falling away, but the world is going to respect true Christianity in the days to come. The world is going to respect the people in whom Jesus lives, walks and does His works.  The Man-child restoration is in two stages. First the David Man-child body will fight the wars with the factions around them as David did. This will win the peace for the Soloman Man-child stage to build the spiritual temple of God's people, which the David's prepared for. The restoration of the “greater works” begins. The days of Jesus are back and more. He will be great until the end.  Luk 2:34 and Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against.

Our bible study today will focus on “my loving heavenly Father”: His immeasurable and everlasting love. Our right to call Him Father stems from our spiritual relationship with Him. “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 NIV “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 NIV God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:5 NLT)

Perhaps another name for this series could be “The Truths Every Christian Should Believe and How They Change Us”. There are certain core beliefs that are so vital to the Christian faith that without them you cease to be a Christian. This series is meant to help us discern which doctrines are non-negotiable (closed-hand) and which ones leave room for conversations and questions (open-hand). Today we continue our look at the Doctrine of the Trinity by studying the first person of the Trinity: God the Father. Who is He and why do we call Him “Father”? THIS SERMON CAN BE VIEWED ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqmshgH0JLqxzRXiEr2QktQ Worship Service of Bethany Baptist Church (Wendell, NC/Raleigh, NC) January 14, 2024Worship Service of Bethany Baptist Church (Wendell, NC/Raleigh, NC) Come visit us in person! To learn more about our church visit: https://www.wearebethany.comFollow us on Facebook and Instagram

If you've been saved by faith in God the Son, then God the Father is also Your Father. Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we can boldly approach the throne of God and call Him “Father.” But, as you'll hear today, His name is still hallowed, and we're called to respect and revere Him accordingly. Stay with us now as Ron continues his teaching series, “The Jesus Way to Pray.”   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/something-good-radio/support

The glory that causes heavenly hosts to sing is the glory of God demonstrated in His reconciling man to Himself. We can rejoice this Christmas because we who once were at enmity with God can now call Him Father. Eastland is a Place to BelongEastland Baptist Church is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are a welcoming and close-knit family community that loves to care for each other through the Church. We strongly believe in loving and supporting each other and our neighbors. Our members don't just attend our Church; they feel a strong sense of belonging.Join Us Find service times and our location at https://www.eastlandbaptist.org/join. Connect with UsWebsite: https://www.eastlandbaptist.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastlandbaptisttulsaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastlandbaptistTo support the ministry of Eastland Baptist Church, tap here: https://www.eastlandbaptist.org/give.

The Lord's Prayer—66 words in English. But the actual prayer is even shorter, 57 words in Greek. Most of us don't really pray like this, unless we're just reciting the Lord's Prayer. We use a lot more words. We don't feel like we “really” prayed if we keep it that brief.  I've come to understand that the Lord's Prayer can be prayed in basically three ways. As a petition, as the Law, and as the Gospel. Petition meaning asking for things, Law meaning what God told us to do, commandments, and then Gospel—what Jesus has done and continues to do for us. God will always answer your prayers. Sometimes the answer is maybe later, sometimes it's no—but He always answers. Jesus said, “Pray like this: Our Father.” This is Jesus sharing His Father with us—it's Jesus talking and He says. “When you pray, from now on call Him what I call Him—from now on you're my brothers and sisters, so just call Him “Father,” like I do. Ever had a friend you were so close to you called their father dad? You do now.  So, mix it up. Pray asking for what you need. Then maybe meditate on what God wants you to do with your life. And sometimes, just bask in the joy of everything you have to be thankful for. God has Hope for you here. Join us: https://www.NewChurch.Love Please support NewChurch by texting the word “Give” to 832-400-5299.

Lord Teach Us How To Pray Jesus taught us how to pray - Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore you shall pray: Our Father which art in heaven - Thank God we can call Him Father. It is Jesus who teaches us to pray to God as our Father and leads us into intimacy with Him. Hallowed be thy name- Hallowed – signifies to set apart for God, purify, consecrate You are saying I acknowledge You are holy. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven Pray for yourself and your family, your church, your nation and the peace of Jerusalem. Give us this day our daily bread -present your needs before Him. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors - ask God to forgive you, forgive and release others. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - put on the Lord Jesus Ephesians 6:14 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen - make faith declarations, be bold in faith – God hears and answers prayer. End with praise! Date of service 10/26/23 #OurFather #LordsPrayer #pray #seekHim #firstJesus #Bible #boldforChrist #faith #prayerful www.houseofglorychurch.org www.cathycoppola.org

Lord Teach Us How To Pray Jesus taught us how to pray - Matthew 6:9-13 After this manner therefore you shall pray: Our Father which art in heaven - Thank God we can call Him Father. It is Jesus who teaches us to pray to God as our Father and leads us into intimacy with Him. Hallowed be thy name- Hallowed – signifies to set apart for God, purify, consecrate You are saying I acknowledge You are holy. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven Pray for yourself and your family, your church, your nation and the peace of Jerusalem. Give us this day our daily bread -present your needs before Him. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors - ask God to forgive you, forgive and release others. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - put on the Lord Jesus Ephesians 6:14 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen - make faith declarations, be bold in faith – God hears and answers prayer. End with praise! Date of service 10/26/23 #OurFather #LordsPrayer #pray #seekHim #firstJesus #Bible #boldforChrist #faith #prayerful www.houseofglorychurch.org www.cathycoppola.org

Ephesians 1:7 NLT  He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.  Our confession of sin—one time—triggers God's faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. What an amazing deal for us once we simply get honest with God about what we have done.  If you struggle with forgiving yourself for any past mistakes and sins, maybe it's time to visualize a funeral for them.  Confess, place them under the blood of Christ, and ask for forgiveness one final time.  Commit to this being the last time you will bring it up. Just like when a funeral is over, you need to walk away once you've said your goodbyes. But now instead of mourning and grief, you say hello to freedom and forgiveness.  What is a specific sin you are willing to confess and bury today?  Listen once again to God's promises and the finality of what happens once we confess:  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT)  He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12 NLT  He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT)  It is time to say a final goodbye to something God wants to see you let go of… that you know you need to let go of.  As you can see, He has made your forgiveness and freedom available to you right now.  How does it feel to know that God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets they even happened. What does it look like to accept you are living with a new reality, a clean slate.  Let's commit this to Him: “Father, I want today to say a final goodbye to the things that have held me back from receiving all You have for me. Today, I hand these things over You. Thank You now for Your faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. As above, so below.” 

If you've been saved by faith in God the Son, then God the Father is also Your Father. Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we can boldly approach the throne of God and call Him “Father.” But, as you'll hear today, His name is still hallowed, and we're called to respect and revere Him accordingly. Stay with us now as Ron continues his teaching series, “The Jesus Way to Pray.”   --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/something-good-radio/support

It can be but myself I crucify. When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed. Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have. Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today's idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life. Today's idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God. The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart? Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it. To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not perceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you. Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left. Salvation's song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them. There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear. Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon, - today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love. There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 196

Acts 2:4-"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit". Gusto is such a great word in the English language! You can check out Season 10, episode 220, "GUSTO!" where I go into full detail about this word and how it relates to the Christian life well lived. The Holy Spirit, who in a word brings all of the attributes of Jesus Christ to life in us that is the GUSTO of real spiritual life. It is impossible to overestimate the consequences of this sacred filling of the soul. The Holy Spirit to us is sacred oil, purifying water, the light, holy fire, the sacrificial flame, heavenly dew, the dove which hovers over us, the Comforter, working in us an inherited spirit of family by which we can call Him Father. As the wind, he brings the breath of life to us, blowing where he desires; he performs the energizing operations by which the spiritual creation is brought to life in us and sustained. Friend, let's make it our desire and prayer to feel and know his presence this day and every day."Other Things with... " YouTube ChannelCut & Paste Personal Invitation to invite your friends to check out “gwot.rocks” podcast: I invite you to check out the podcast, “gwot.rocks: God, the World, and Other Things!” It is available on podcast players everywhere! Here is the link to the show's home base for all its episodes: http://podcast.gwot.rocks/ (Ctrl+click to follow the link) LIFE HELPSDONATE You can help support this podcast by clicking our secure PayPal account. For donation by check, make payable to Transform This City, P.O. Box 1013, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174. “gwot.rocks” is a ministry of Transform This City. gwot.rocks home page Transform This City Transform This City Facebook gwot.rocks@transformthiscity.org Thank you for listening! Please tell your friends about us! Listen, share, rate, subscribe! Empowering Encouragement Now segments are based in part on C.H. Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions (public domain.)Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian StandardBible®, Copyright © 2016 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. ChristianStandard Bible® and CSB® is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're talking about how we can be adopted by God and why we're able to call Him “Father.”

Here's a trick question: Do you know anyone who's been adopted? This weekend, we're going to talking about adoption, but not just any adoption. We are exploring our adoption by God and why we're able to call Him Father on Revive Our Hearts Weekend, with Dannah Gresh and Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/453/29

Our souls are tiny sparks of the Creator. We call Him "Father in Heaven" because we all inherit His spiritual DNA. Each of us has the potential of greatness and righteousness. Snuffing out a human soul is tantamount to destroying an entire universe. It's as if the murderer extinguishes a spark of Godliness, Heaven forbid.

Every honest mom will tell you that she has battled anxiety related to motherhood. Whether it's anxiety over getting pregnant, staying pregnant, newborn challenges, struggles to learn to read, mean kids on the playground, health concerns, behavioral concerns, etc –the triggers for anxiety in motherhood are too numerous to number. But in light of a God who invites us to call Him Father, how should we think about confronting this anxiety with hope and truth?Tune in for this encouraging conversation with Kim Seville –counseling lead for Frontlines Ministries, Dallas Theological Seminary grad, a former missionary in Asia, mom to five kids, and wife to Pastor Jason at Del Ray Baptist. If you have comments or feedback about the program, please reach out on Instagram or by email at delightedmotherhood@gmail.com

My friend, may you be drawn close to God and conformed into His image from glory to glory as you pursue Him -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- in the deep communion of prayer "morning by morning", in Jesus' name. God bless you, my friend! And you have a great day!  Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries Mailing Address: 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friend! Anyone can sign up for free at: https://messiah-ministries.org --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/morningbymorningtommyhays/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/morningbymorningtommyhays/support

Ephesians 1:3-10 Join us today as our brother Steve shares with us a discussion of what it means to be adopted into God's family, to call Him Father, and how it deeply enriches the much more familiar concepts of justification and salvation.

Summary: Our relationship with our Father is created by experiences. By voicing “You are my Father, I am your son.” He abides in us and we abide in Him. The words He speaks are spirit and life. His presence is everything to us. Show Notes: “He really loves the names He gave Himself. Call Him call Jehovah Jireh, call Him Yawei, call Him Father, call Him Elohim. He holds all things by the word of His power. He permeates your thinking, your emotions, everything. (Acts 17) Quotes: “I'm used to saying God, and I'm a believer, I'm a Christian. But it makes a lot more intimate to say, You are my Father, we are Your family.” We abide in Him and Him in us. And we function in Him. Everything of God that He is beaming at us, 24/7 is turned loose by simply saying “Lord I believe.” Scriptural References: I John 4:16 And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love, and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. Acts 17:28 For in Him we live, and have our being; as certain poets have said, for we are also His offspring. Matthew 6:9 After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Romans 10: 6-8 But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down:) or, who shall descend into the abyss? (that is to bring Christ up from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach... John 6:63 It is the Spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life. Takeaway: Our walk with God is based upon our experiences with one another, with the Holy Spirit, and with the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our life.

Too often we stand in our own ways and do not obey God in what He is calling us to do. God is looking for us to surrender to His will so that we may live in obedience to Him. We must surrender first and say uncle before we can call Him Father. Once we submit to God He gives us the power we need to wrestle with the temptations of this world. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/640/29

On the first Shabbat of the month, Rabbi Steve Berkson opens the floor to the local congregants and those listening online to ask questions or comment about any aspect of our belief.Rabbi Berkson addresses topics concerning fundamental Torah-based practices and personal development, gives marital instruction, shares parental techniques, and more.Part 2:• Why can't I make friends here?• Abortion: Health related vs. emotional/social decisions• Am I breaking Torah to eat that egg?• Is Elohim ever expanding and becoming greater?• Not all pain is the same• I'm balanced in my personality colors• What is passive vs. active commerce on Shabbat?• Doe's ‘not eating blood' apply to organ meat?• Motivated by the potential• How do I stay vertically connected on Shabbat if I'm not emotional?• What if I can't call Him Father when I pray?… and much more!Take advantage of new teachings every week. Please click the "LIKE" button if this podcast has been a blessing.To learn more about MTOI, visit our website, https://mtoi.org.Join us on Social media!  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mtoiworldwideFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mtoi_worldwideYou can contact MTOI by emailing us at admin@mtoi.org or calling 423-250-3020. Join us for Shabbat Services & Torah Study LIVE, streamed on our YouTube Channel every Saturday at 1:15 pm and every Friday for Torah Study Live Stream at 7:30 pm, eastern time.

The Greatest Power Is In Knowing By Tammy LacockIn this week's podcast, Warren Litzman reinforces our need for a constant mind-renewal as we live our new life in Christ. The Apostle Paul was the only man raised up by Christ, Himself, to bring us the gospel of Christ literally living in us as believers and details throughout his epistles how we are to go about this constant mind-change in our new life in Him.Paul emphasizes that our understanding of the godhead, the Trinity, is vital to living our new life in Christ. We must rightly divide the godhead and we must rightly divide the three parts of man: body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 4:12). This requires a radical mind-change. First, our minds must be renewed to the understanding that God is now our Father. Christ's death, burial, and resurrection allowed God to replace the seed of Satan with His Seed, His Son, in each and every one of us who believes. We are now joined to Him in our spirits, making us one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:17) Christ is our new life, our eternal life. By Christ in us, we are brand-new creations, a brand-new race, bona fide sons and daughters of God. By God's grace, we can now call Him “Father”! Second, we must understand the role of the Holy Spirit. In John 13, 14, and 15, Christ introduces the Holy Spirit who will come to us as our teacher, comforter, advocate, and revealer. The Holy Spirit's sole purpose now is to teach us of the Christ who now lives in us in spirit so that we may know Him. No longer are we to know Christ in the flesh.The Holy Spirit works in our soul part of us, where our minds reside. It is here where our mind-renewal takes place. It is here where the Holy Spirit reveals and teaches us through our circumstances and situations of life so we may grow in our personal relationship with Christ. We must rightly divide between our “old man,” sin-natured knowledge and the knowledge of Christ that now comes from the Holy Spirit. Warren explains that the greatest power we will ever have as believers is the lessons learned by the Holy Spirit. These are extremely helpful in our mind-renewal because through these we learn Christ. We begin to know Him as Paul knew Him, as the Christ alive and well in us. These lessons help us understand that there is no separation now between us and Christ. He lives within us and is the one who now lives through us. In fact, in Galatians 2:20, Paul tells us we no longer live, and our new life is Christ. In Christ, we are now complete. We can finally live who God created us to be. This was His plan before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).In Philippians 3:10, Paul pours out his heart, knowing that through his sufferings he will know Christ more deeply. This is all he wanted. Yet he also understood that through his sufferings he would also know the power of Christ's resurrection. This is the power of His resurrected life in us and the power in knowing that everything we think, say, and do now belongs to Christ. He is our one and only life now flowing through us, but we must give Him our minds to use. Our minds, and our whole being, become a living sacrifice in return for His. Through our constant mind-renewal, knowing Him and falling in love with Him becomes our daily and ultimate goal. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” (Phil. 3:10)

It Is Good You Exist!Romans 8:14-16 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.  For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!”  it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”I love scripture verses that talk about how we are the children of God.  I love the image of God being our father.  At the same time I understand how that image can be hard for some people.  I had a wonderful father.  I had a dad that wasn't perfect, I am sure he feels he made a lot of mistakes, but he learned from them and then changed.  I am from a large family and I know he was a different father for us younger kids than he was for the older kids.  That is to be expected.  None of us know how to be parents before we become parents.  The younger kids get the benefit of having parents that have learned by making mistakes with the older kids.  Even the older kids would agree that our dad is pretty great.  He is such a great example of walking in the faith.  Both of my parents are.  He also made sure we felt loved.  I never questioned if my parents loved me.  I know not everyone can say the same.The idea of God being our Father, makes it easier for me to feel like I am loved by God.  I know a Father's love and since He is God I can believe that His love is ever greater than any love we could receive from a Father here on earth.  However, what about those who didn't have a great father?  What about those whose father was mean, abusive, absent, unloving, cold?  There are all kinds of people in the world and all kinds of fathers.  If you did not have a loving father, if you did not have a kind and generous father, then it may be hard for you to see God as your Father.  If this is the case I would suggest that you read the verse that talk about God the Father.  Read scripture and get to know who God is, who He truly is.Another way to learn more about God as your Father is to ask Jesus to reveal who God is to you.  It says in Luke 10:22 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”  Guess what?  Jesus chooses to reveal God the Father to you, all you have to do is ask and then sit and listen.  God knows all you have been through.  He has been there every step of the way with you.  He is not surprised that you struggle to see him as your Father because you struggle with the idea of a Father.  He knows all of this.  Take your struggle to Him, talk to Him about it.  Talk to Jesus about it.  Ask Him to help you see God as your Father.  God is not a Father like any one of us has seen before.  Even if we had great dads, they still can't compare to the love of our Father in heaven.  His love for us is complete, and immovable.  There isn't anything we can do to make Him stop loving us.  I know it is hard for us to believe this, but it is 100% true.  He loves us at the exact moment when we are choosing evil over good.  He loves us when we turn away, he loves us when we are weak and he loves us when we are strong.  He loves us when we repent and come back and yet he loves us just as much even if we don't come back.  What I love about this verse is that it says, “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption.”  We don't have to fear anything because God is our Father and He is taking care of us.  We fear things because we think we are on our own.  We fear things because we forget that God is in control.  We think we have to be in control of everything and when we think like that it makes sense that we would fear things because who are we to solve all of our problems.  However, we are not in control and we were never meant to be.  We don't have to fear things because we know that our Father in heaven is looking out for us.  We know He is arranging all things for our good.  We have been adopted by God the Father and we are His children. He is our protection and our refuge.  We do not have to fear anything.  I also love when the verse says, “When we cry, “Abba! Father!”  it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”  I am not sure most of us think we have a close enough relationship to call God Father, Abba, or Dad.  When I hear most people pray and when I pray I mostly say Lord, although I do tend to start my prayers with Heavenly Father.  I think if we want to have a more intimate relationship with God, it is up to us to ask for it and begin to cultivate it.  God wants to be closer to each one of us and yet He will not force it on us.  If you want to be able to feel comfortable calling God Abba, or even Dad, then it is up to you to start.  I wanted to think of God more intimately as my Dad.  I wanted to feel that closeness as if I was a little kid and I could just climb up on his lap and fall asleep.  I didn't really know where to start.  I decided in my journal writing I would address the daily entries to God more informally.  I started with “Dear Father,” as I felt Dad was too informal and I didn't want to be disrespectful.  As I continued to write to Him daily, or as consistently as I could, I felt I was growing closer to Him and I no long felt uncomfortable with calling Him Father and then I switched to Dad and that feels right now too.  I have grown a lot closer to Him, and I do think of Him as my Father.  It is not difficult for me to believe that I am loved by Him and that He delights in me.  Do you know that He delights in you too?  He does, it's true!  Your heavenly Father delights in you and you bring Him joy, unspeakable joy.  That doesn't mean He likes everything you do, or say, but it does mean that He loves you always.  I heard something at a conference last night from Peter Herbeck and I want to pass it along because it was so good.  He woke up one morning and he opened his eyes and he felt as if he could see God smiling at him.  Kinda like when a parent watches their child sleep.  He felt as though he “caught” God watching him sleep and smiling at him.  He asked God if He wanted to tell him anyting and he felt God said, “It's really good you exist Peter.  You were my idea and I don't have any bad ideas.”  This message is not just for Peter, it is for each and every one of us.  It is really good that you exist Joanie, Peggy, Nancy, Kelly and everyone else that is listening.  Put your name at the end of that statement.  For instance, It is really good you exist Catherine.  God is saying that to you today, He wants you to know He is so happy you are here.  I also think it is great that He said, “You were my idea and I don't have any bad ideas.”  Sometimes we can think it was a mistake that we are alive.  We can think we don't belong here, or that no one wants us here.  However, if we ever start to think this way, we can remember that it was God's idea to put us here, right now in this time and in this place.  God doesn't have bad ideas, so what is the good in all of this?   I am meant to be here, I am here for a purpose.  God loves me and is happy I exist.  Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Father, I ask you to heal all of our hearts.  I ask you to help those who didn't have loving fathers to help see you as that loving Father they missed out on having.  I ask you to show them all the ways over the years that you were there loving them in the difficult times in their lives.  Lord, open us up to seeing you are our Dad, our Abba.  Soften our hearts so we can allow your love into our hearts.  Open our hearts so we see that you did not give us a spirit of fear.  Help us grow closer to you Dad.  Help us to want to grow closer to you, help us to seek you.  We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus holy name, Amen!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  If you are looking for something to help you start your New Year off right may I suggest getting my book Total Trust In God's Safe Embrace.  It takes you through 15 different things I did to increase my trust in the Lord.  It would be a great beginning to this New Year of life we will hopefully be given. You can find the book on Amazon.  If you have read the book would you do me a favor and leave an honest review on Amazon?  It is a great way to help others find my book and let others know what you thought to it.  Reviews do matter.   I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

Pastor Nichole continues our look at the promises that come with Jesus' arrival on earth. Jesus is called the Everlasting Father because His love will never end. It is steady, strong, secure. We can have confidence to call Him Father, encounter Him as Father, and experience the tenderness of His heart. He provides all we need.

The more in awe we become of the triune God, the more deeply we can surrender, love and worship Him - Father, Son and Spirit. 

Passage: 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Song: Only a Holy God (https://open.spotify.com/track/4uVzGYFMl6ERzkZAVoLoCS?si=9a59f7d991b04417) by Dustin Smith, Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, and Rich Thompson, sung by Shane and Shane Lyrics: Who else commands all the hosts of heaven? Who else could make every king bow down? Who else can whisper and darkness trembles? Only a Holy God What other beauty demands such praises? What other splendour outshines the sun? What other majesty rules with justice? Only a Holy God Come and behold Him The One and the Only Cry out, sing holy Forever a Holy God Come and worship the Holy God What other glory consumes like fire? What other power can raise the dead? What other name remains undefeated? Only a Holy God Come and behold Him The One and the Only Cry out, sing holy Forever a Holy God Come and worship the Holy God Who else could rescue me from my failing? Who else would offer His only Son? Who else invites me to call Him Father? Only a Holy God Only my Holy God Prayer: This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.

Sermon: Lordship of ChristSermon by: S.M. Lockridge Downloaded from: archive.orghttps://archive.org/details/S.M.LockridgePreaching/BlackPreachingS.M.L.TheLordshipOfChrist-S.m.Lockridge.mp3#Photo credit: Photo by FRANK MERIÑO from PexelsUsage: Freehttps://www.pexels.com/photo/jesus-christ-in-white-robe-and-brown-hijab-standing-near-dry-hay-8267813/….. Once Simon Peter stood before a hostile crowd and said: "God hath made that same Jesus Whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ."Christ represents the thing which God hath done to redeem us. Lord represents that we ought to do because we are redeemed.We ought to call Him Master and be His obedient servants!We ought to call Him Owner because He possesses absolutely our lives!In Him we live and move and have our being!We ought to call Him Father and be obedient sons and daughters!He is our only hope!He is our only help!God is our refuge and our strength . . .Jesus is Lord!He came down the stairway of heaven:Born in Bethlehem!Brought up in Nazareth!Baptized in Jordan!Tempted in the wilderness!Performed miracles by the roadside!Healed multitudes without medicine and made no charges for His services!He conquered everything that came up against Him!He even went up on Calvary and died there and then went down in the grave!And there cleaned out the grave and made it a pleasant place to wait for the resurrection!And then on scheduled time by the might of His own power He got up with every form of power in the orbit of His omnipotence!Men have been trying to wrestle His power from Him all these years!Then, then they are trying to wait; they think that maybe one time His power will fail!Men have tried to destroy Him!But don't you know you can't destroy Him!What you gonna use for power – all power belongs to Him!Well, if you try to destroy Him by fire, He'll refuse to burn!If you try to destroy Him by water, He'll walk on the water!If you try to destroy Him by a strong wind, the tempest will lick His hand and lay down at His feet!If you try to destroy Him with the Law, you'll find no fault in Him!If you try to destroy Him with the seal of an empire, He'll break it!If you try to destroy Him by putting Him in the grave, He'll rise!If you try to destroy Him by rejection or ignoring Him, before you know it you'll hear a still, small voice saying behold I stand at the door and knock!If a man open the door I'll come in and sup with Him!He's Lord! …..

Ephesians 1:7 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. Our confession of sin—one time—triggers God's faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. What an amazing deal for us once we simply get honest with God about what we have done. If you struggle with forgiving yourself for any past mistakes and sins, maybe it's time to visualize a funeral for them. Confess, place them under the blood of Christ, and ask for forgiveness one final time. Commit to this being the last time you will bring it up. Just like when a funeral is over, you need to walk away once you've said your goodbyes. But now instead of mourning and grief, you say hello to freedom and forgiveness. What is a specific sin you are willing to confess and bury today? Listen once again to God's promises and the finality of what happens once we confess: But if we confess our sins to Him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. —Psalm 103:12 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT) It is time to say a final goodbye to something God wants to see you let go of... that you know you need to let go of. As you can see, He has made your forgiveness and freedom available to you right now. How does it feel to know that God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets they even happened. What does it look like to accept you are living with a new reality, a clean slate. Let's commit this to Him: “Father, I want today to say a final goodbye to the things that have held me back from receiving all You have for me. Today, I hand these things over You. Thank You now for Your faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. As above, so below.”

Welcome back for the second "story" aka account we are covering in this series! Cain and Abel is such a wide known story and so many have a vast view on how it relates law and Gospel. My prayer is that as you listen to this message you find yourself being challenged to seek the balance that God Himself wants us to have as we approach His word and truth especially on the Law and Gospel! Reach out at: mitchel_vandenbroeck@indianrocks.org Key Doctrines: Doctrine of God's Sovereignty – This is the doctrine and reality that God being creator and ruler of all things is fully in control of all the inner and outer workings of His creation! The hard balance comes to us when we try to fully comprehend or take control of this reality, we will fail horribly. We are His creation and we call Him Father, that means as earthly parents are way wiser and smarter than us children, we heed their instruction and involvement since they are greater than we are in sense of life and lesson. God's sovereignty means that what He wills and wants will ultimately take place and come to pass around us, in us, and through us! - The premise of God's sovereignty is directly related to the doctrine of God's Providence. Doctrine of God's Providence – “Clear thinking about God's involvement in the world process and in the acts of rational creatures requires complimentary sets of statements, thus: a person takes action, or an event is triggered by natural causes, or Satan shows his hand – Yet, God overrules!” (Book of Esther) – J.I. Packer Points: 1. The heart behind your actions will always speak louder than your actions. 2. The sinner saved by grace will have impact and peace even in death, but the sinner dead in sin will have no peace even in life! 3. Rest in God's sovereignty and providential hands! When we simply are faith to God and His word, the rest will fall in place! Questions: 1. Which is better: A lot of works with a self-centered heart, or fewer works but with a heart giving God full glory for them? 2. Seeing how gracious God is when Cain ran, how does this impact how we treat those who reject us or treat us bad? 3. Does God being sovereign bring us rest or restlessness in life?

It can be but myself I crucify. When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed. Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have. Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today's idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life. Today's idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God. The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart? Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it. To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not perceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you. Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left. Salvation's song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them. There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear. Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon, - today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love. There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 196

Leaders leads. Whether in the world or in the Church, Christ provided us a clear picture of leadership, and who among us is greater than Christ? John 13:14-17 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. Jesus Commissioned Us to Serve, how did he do this? Jesus served the Disciples by washing their feet. You see in God's economy; the way UP is DOWN. This is an expression of love/leadership, which is in stark contrast with how the World operates. We all have gifts: we may know or not know what they are. As we serve God reveals them to us. Ultimately ask yourself, what really matters—what do I really value. Where do I want to be? With whom would I wish to spend eternity? When we think about how small we are and how great God is, we should respond, “A day in Your courts is better than a thousand A moment with Him is better than an eternity without Him, and because of His grace and mercy, we that call Him Father don't have to choose. Item License Code: ACQ2DBVZK UCKJWNG4P9 GDHPX7352M QT74R3EXML H24Z5YJBEL AU43R6WPE5 BFHJUM934T J4EGS85ZU7 WFK4THVB5J 47Y56SF8QB YQZJD5VP9A ACQ2DBVZKJ

Today's Reading: John 16:5-15Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 20:1-16, 22-27; Luke 11:37-54 "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." (John 16:7) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The disciples' plan of salvation was not going in the direction they had hoped. Jesus has been doing miracles, teaching in the synagogues, preparing the people for the kingdom to come and now He was talking about leaving and sending a helper. This was not what they had in mind. Jesus cannot leave. The language of death and resurrection was contrary to the way freedom was usually brought to a nation. Now He is speaking of leaving and sending someone else, and this is to our advantage?Christ's words of departure and promise to send the "Helper" were foreign to the disciples. He was promising the sending of the Holy Spirit to equip and enable them to proclaim the Good News of salvation. God's plan of salvation was completely different from what the disciples had in mind. The disciples sought temporal freedom from the Roman Empire. Christ brought to them eternal freedom through His actions and deeds.In our lives we, too, have our own plans. We want our lives to go as we desire. We fail to see or do not want to see God's work in our lives through Christ. Our sinfulness pulls us back from what Christ has delivered to us and points us to the temporal activities in our own situation. The Holy Spirit works in our lives, waging war against the sinful man and pointing us back to the eternal things of God. He delivers to us the Gift of salvation won for us on the Cross. Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples proclaimed the message of hope and reconciliation to the churches. It is the same message that is proclaimed today: that Christ delivered us through His life, death, and resurrection. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Come, Holy Light, guide divine, Now cause the Word of life to shine. Teach us to know our God arightAnd call Him Father with delight. From ev'ry error keep us free; Let none but Christ our master beThat we in living faith abide, In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide. Alleluia, alleluia! ("Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord" LSB 497, st.2)-Rev. Timothy Davis is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens, GA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane BamschOver eight sessions, The Messiah: Revealing Jesus in the Old Testament will lead you through the entirety of the Old Testament with daily readings, questions, and discussion prompts. After a brief introduction that reviews Christ's earthly ministry, you will dive into the heart of the Holy Books that have spiritually nourished God's people from creation to today! Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

The Cause of Dearth in the Church He who is appointed to act a part in the work for this time should feel the solemn responsibility resting upon him. We are working for eternity. If we eat of the bread which came from heaven we shall be Christlike in spirit and character. We are living in an age when there is to be no spiritual idleness. Every soul is to be charged with the heavenly current of life. The question is often asked: “What is the cause of the dearth of spiritual power in the church?” The answer comes: “The members allow their minds to be drawn away from the word of God.” We are built up physically from that which we eat, and in like manner the character of our spirituality is determined by the food given to the mind. We are to give the mind and heart proper nourishment by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. Christ declares: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.... I am the living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... 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.” John 6:47-57. -170- We must abide in Christ, and Christ must abide in us; “for we are laborers together with God.” The work of the Christian is an individual work. Let God's workers cease to find fault, for this is sin. Let them improve themselves as they think that their fellow workers should improve. It is their privilege to live in Christ by eating the bread of life. Those who do this will have a healthy, growing experience, and the righteousness of God will go before them as they do the work specified in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. To Every Man His Work Every branch of the work of God is to have recognition. “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11, 12. This Scripture shows that there are to be different workers, different instrumentalities. Each has a different work. No one is required to lay hold of another's work, and, though untrained, try to do it. God has given to each according to his ability. One man may think that his position gives him authority to dictate to other workers, but this is not so. Ignorant of their work, he would enlarge where he should retrench, and retrench where he should enlarge, because he can see only the part of the vineyard where he is working. -171- Live for God. Make the Saviour's teaching a part of your life. Your pathway will be brightened by clear, shining light. You will have the heavenly anointing and will be kept from making grave blunders. Do not be so intent upon the work you are doing in one portion of the Lord's vineyard that you cannot appreciate the work that others are doing in other parts of the vineyard. They may be faithfully cultivating their talents so that they can return them, doubled, to their God. Let every man look well to his own work, making sure that it is complete, without spot or wrinkle to mar its perfection. Then leave it with God to say: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:23. -172- Chapter 28—Unity of Effort Cooranbong, N. S. W., April 17, 1899 To a Physician in Perplexity: My Dear Brother, I have a deep interest in you and your work, and I pray that the Lord will guide my pen as I write to you. The Lord has made you a man of His appointment, and angels of God have been your helpers. The Lord has placed you in the position that you occupy, not because you are infallible but because He desires to guide your mind by His Holy Spirit. He desires you to impart to those with whom you come in contact a knowledge of present truth. Grave responsibilities have been entrusted to you, and on no account should you allow yourself to be entangled in work that will weaken your influence with Seventh-day Adventists. The Lord has chosen you to fill a place of His appointment, to stand before the medical profession, not to be molded by worldly influences, but to mold minds. Every day you are to be under the supervision of God. He is your Master, your Redeemer. He has a work for you to do, not separated from Seventh-day Adventists, but united with them. You are to be a great blessing to your brethren by giving them the knowledge that He has given you. Through you God has worked and desires still to work, honoring you by entrusting to you important responsibilities. “We are laborers together with God.” 1 Corinthians 3:9. He will use you and me and each human being who enters His service, if we will submit to His guidance. Each one is to stand in his watchtower, listening attentively to that which the Spirit has to say to him, remembering that his every word and act makes an impression, not only on his own character, but on the characters of those with whom he is connected. -173- God's Building “Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.” Verse 9. This figure represents human character, which is to be wrought upon, point by point. Each day God works with His building, stroke upon stroke, to perfect the structure, that it may become a holy temple for Him. Man is to co-operate with God. Each worker is to become just what God designs him to be, building his life with pure, noble deeds, that in the end his character may be a symmetrical structure, a fair temple, honored by God and man. There is to be no flaw in the building, for it is the Lord's. Every stone must be perfectly laid, that it may endure the pressure placed upon it. One stone laid wrong will affect the whole building. To you and to every other worker God gives the warning: “Take heed how you build, that your building may stand the test of storm and tempest, because it is founded on the eternal Rock. Place the stone on the sure foundation, that you may make ready for the day of test and trial, when all will be seen just as they are.” A Temple of Living Stones This warning God presents to me as especially necessary for your welfare. He loves you with a love that is immeasurable. He loves your brethren in the faith, and He works with them to the same end as that to which He works with you. His church on earth is to assume divine proportions before the world as a temple built of living stones, each one reflecting light. It is to be the light of the world as a city set on a hill, which cannot be hid. It is built of stones laid close together, stone fitting to stone, making a firm, solid building. Not all the stones are of the same form or shape. Some are large, some are small; but each has its own place to fill. And the value of each stone is determined by the light that it reflects. This is God's plan. He desires all His workers to fill their appointed places in the work for this time. -174- We are living amidst the perils of the last days. We are wisely to cultivate every mental and physical power; for all are needed to make the church a building that will represent the wisdom of the great Designer. The talents given us by God are His gifts, and they are to be used in their right relation to one another so as to make a perfect whole. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; man forms the character. Different Instrumentalities The Lord has wrought with you, enabling you to act your part as His workman; but there are other workmen also who are to act their part as His instrumentalities. These help to compose the whole body. All are to be united as parts of one great organism. The Lord's church is composed of living, working agencies, who derive their power to act from the Author and Finisher of their faith. They are to carry forward in harmony the great work resting on them. God has given you your work. But He has other instrumentalities, and to them He has given their work, that all may become, through sanctification of the truth, members of Christ's body, of His flesh and of His bones. Representing Christ, we act for time and for eternity; and men, even worldly men, take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus and have learned of Him. Truth a Unit God's people are not to be in confusion, lacking order and harmony, consistency and beauty. The Lord is greatly dishonored when disunion exists among His people. Truth is a unit. The unity that God requires must be cultivated day by day if we would answer the prayer of Christ. The disunion that is striving for existence among those who profess to believe the last message of mercy to be given to the world, must find no place; for it would be a fearful hindrance to the advancement of God's work. His servants are to be one, as Christ is one with the Father; their powers, illuminated, inspired, and sanctified, must be united to make a complete whole. Those who love God and keep His commandments are not to draw apart; they are to press together. -175- Words of Cheer The Lord does not forsake His faithful workmen. Bear in mind that our life in this world is but a pilgrimage, that heaven is the home to which we are going. Have faith in God. If my words have wounded and bruised your soul, I am sorry; I am wounded and bruised also. Our work, a strange work, a great work, given us by God, links us heart and soul together. You dare not throw off your armor. You must wear it till the end. When the Lord releases you, it will be time for you to lay your armor at His feet. You have enlisted in His army to serve till the close of the battle, and you would not disgrace yourself and dishonor God by deserting. May the Lord open to you many matters that He has opened to me. Satan is watching his opportunity to dishonor the cause of God. I have been shown your peril, and I have also been shown your guardian angel preserving you again and again from yourself, keeping you from making shipwreck of faith. My brother, lift up the standard, lift it up, and be not fainthearted or discouraged. I have given the leading men in the General Conference and the Mission Board the light given me by God: that you and they should counsel together; that, instead of holding themselves aloof, they should be your fellow helpers; that you had been ordained by God to stand in a position of trust, and you needed help instead of censure. -176- In the intensity of my desire that you should make straight paths for your feet, I have written earnest words to you, but never, never, to denounce or condemn you. Oh, that God would make you understand that my deep interest in you has not changed in the least. I have a most earnest desire that you shall stand fast in God, firm, tried, and true. I know that the Lord wants you to have the crown of victory. “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.... And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:8-16. -177- Chapter 29—Christ the Medium of Prayer and Blessing Balaclava, Victoria, Australia, March 25, 1898 To a Sanitarium Physician: My Dear Brother, I have just received your letters. I see that you are having a close battle financially. I am so glad that you can heed the encouragement in the words: “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” Isaiah 27:5. Let us have faith in God. Let us put our trust in Him. He understands all about the situation in which we are placed, and He will work in our behalf. He is honored when we trust in Him, bringing to Him all our perplexities. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name,” Christ says, “that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13. God's appointments and grants in our behalf are without limit. The throne of grace itself is occupied by One who permits us to call Him Father. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Jehovah did not deem the plan of salvation complete while invested only with His love. He has placed at His altar an Advocate clothed in our nature. As our Intercessor, Christ's office work is to introduce us to God as His sons and daughters. He intercedes in behalf of those who receive Him. With His own blood He has paid their ransom. By virtue of His merits He gives them power to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. And the Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ by receiving and welcoming Christ's friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of His Son. -178- In Christ's name our petitions ascend to the Father. He intercedes in our behalf, and the Father lays open all the treasures of His grace for our appropriation, for us to enjoy and impart to others. “Ask in My name,” Christ says. “I do not say that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loveth you. Make use of My name. This will give your prayers efficiency, and the Father will give you the riches of His grace. Wherefore ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” Christ is the connecting link between God and man. He has promised His personal intercession. He places the whole virtue of His righteousness on the side of the suppliant. He pleads for man, and man, in need of divine help, pleads for himself in the presence of God, using the influence of the One who gave His life for the life of the world. As we acknowledge before God our appreciation of Christ's merits, fragrance is given to our intercessions. As we approach God through the virtue of the Redeemer's merits, Christ places us close by His side, encircling us with His human arm, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite. He puts His merits, as sweet incense, in the censer in our hands, in order to encourage our petitions. He promises to hear and answer our supplications. Yes, Christ has become the medium of prayer between man and God. He has also become the medium of blessing between God and man. He has united divinity with humanity. Men are to co-operate with Him for the salvation of their own souls, and then make earnest, persevering efforts to save those who are ready to die. We must all work now, while the day lasts; for the night cometh, in which no man can work. I am of good courage in the Lord. There are times when I am shown distinctly that there exists in our churches a state of things that will not help but hinder souls. Then I have hours, and sometimes days, of intense anguish. Many of those who have a knowledge of the truth do not obey the words of God. Their influence is no better than the influence of worldlings. They talk like the world and act like the world. Oh, how my heart aches as I think of how the Saviour is put to shame by their un-Christlike behavior! But after the agony is past, I feel like working harder than ever to restore the poor souls, that they may reveal the image of God. -179- Pray, yes, pray with unshaken faith and trust. The Angel of the covenant, even our Lord Jesus Christ, is the Mediator who secures the acceptance of the prayers of His believing ones. Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8 pp. 169-178

No longer an outsider, an alien from the covenants, your place of authority and seat in the heavenlies is set. Your garment of praise is prepared. Beautifully arrayed you stride without shame or fear into the presence of a holy God, and call Him Father.

One of the earth shattering revelations of the New Testament is that in Christ Jesus we are called the children of God. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us,” says John, “that we should be called children of God.”. As children of God we are given the righteousness, the acceptance, and the inheritance of Christ. In Christ, we have been adopted into God's family and have the privilege of calling Him Father. In 1 John 2.28-3.10 John teaches us what this privilege requires of us. This week we will look at what it means for us to be members of God's family in the first of two sermons on our identity as Children of God.

Title: Our Salvation: Bringing Praise and Joy Text: I Peter 1:3-9 FCF: We often struggle with taking our salvation for granted. Prop: Because we are guarded by God's power through faith, we must praise God and rejoice for His gift of salvation. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to I Peter 1. Although last week was incredibly heady and somewhat theological, we pointed out at our bible study that what has become such a huge topic of controversy in the church today, was intended by Peter to be a point of comfort for his audience. Their divine election according to the predetermination of God through the regeneration of the Spirit to obedience of the gospel and cleansing in Christ's blood, was a point of comfort for them. To know that they are exactly where God has them – even though they are suffering. I praise the Lord for the text we will read this morning. Not only is it lacking most of the controversy of last week's message, but it moves us to do exactly what last week's message was designed to do. To praise the Lord for His marvelous work and to rejoice in the reality and surety of our salvation! This week's message is short, powerful, and immediately applicable to us. If you have lost the joy of your salvation… if you are plodding along in your Christian walk… I hope and I trust that this message will be a great jolt to you. I am in I Peter chapter 1 and I'll begin reading in verse 3. I am reading from the CSB but you can follow in the pew bible on page 1364 or whatever version you have in front of you. Transition: As I said, this is a short sermon, we are doing it early in the service, and we have a lot planned after it. I am so excited to share all this with you… this message is so encouraging! Are you ready? Let's go! I.) We are guarded by God's power through faith, so we must praise God for His ongoing work in us. (3-5) a. [Slide 2] 3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! i. This word blessed means adoration or praise. ii. Its verb form means to invoke a blessing. It is where we get our word for eulogy from. iii. God needs nothing, and so God being blessed is never speaking of giving Him something He needs. iv. However, God deserves highest praise. Even without the specific reason that will be outlined in this text, God, being the God of the universe, the God of whom it is said there is none beside him or like Him or comparable to Him, this God, Yahweh, is worthy of praise and worship even if He never interacted with His creation. v. God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, having elected us according to the predetermination of His will, having accomplished this through the regenerating power of His Spirit, to make us obedient to the gospel and be cleansed by the blood of Christ – this same Father is worthy of praise. vi. Notice that although it is not wrong for us to call Him our Father – Peter does not do this. He is first, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. vii. This is subtle but important. viii. Why is He OUR Father? ix. He is our Father through adoption. He is our Father by marriage to Christ. He is our Father only in so much as we are united to Christ – and He is Christ's Father. x. Again, it is not wrong for us to call Him, Our Father… but we must know what we mean when we say these things. When we understand this – when we say, Our Father, it is from a place of great humility. Knowing – that we don't deserve to address Him this way, but He has made us deserving. We are unworthy to call Him Father, but He has adopted us! According to the predetermination of His will. xi. It is important that we stack upon itself all the information that we have learned in this book, about our great salvation. That will prompt us to act as Peter is expecting his audience to act. xii. And the first response, having seen this salvation rooted in His divine will, is praise to that Father who chose us in His Son. xiii. All Praise be to Him. xiv. But Peter wants to explain the “why” of this praise a little more. b. [Slide 3] Because of His great mercy He has given us new birth i. If I were to ask what is the 1 characteristic the God of the Old Testament is known for by the world's standards… what do you think it would be? ii. He is a God of wrath, judgment, and severity. iii. About 6 years ago we started Foundations. Our goal at first was to get through the entire bible in 4 years. We made it to II Kings 15 in 6 years. So… just missed it.

Ephesians 1:7 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Our confession of sin—one time—triggers God's faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. What an amazing deal for us once we simply get honest with God about what we have done. If you struggle with forgiving yourself for any past mistakes and sins, maybe it's time to visualize a funeral for them. Confess, place them under the blood of Christ, and ask for forgiveness one final time. Commit to this being the last time you will bring it up. Just like when a funeral is over, you need to walk away once you've said your goodbyes. But now instead of mourning and grief, you say hello to freedom and forgiveness. What is a specific sin you are willing to confess and bury today? Listen once again to God's promises and the finality of what happens once we confess: But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. —Psalm 103:12 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT) It is time to say a final goodbye to something God wants to see you let go of… that you know you need to let go of. As you can see, He has made your forgiveness and freedom available to you right now. How does it feel to know that God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets they even happened. What does it look like to accept you are living with a new reality, a clean slate. Let's commit this to Him: “Father, I want today to say a final goodbye to the things that have held me back from receiving all You have for me. Today, I hand these things over You. Thank You now for Your faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. As above, so below.”

In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer of John 17, he makes five petitions to God the Father for those who follow Him - “Father, protect them…”; “Father, unify them…”; “Father, sanctify them…”; “Father, give them joy…”; and “Father, hold them forever…” The love of man is fickle and depends on smooth circumstances and whether we are attracted to someone. In this episode of "Fork of the Broad, we discuss how the love of Jesus is an "agapao" love, a perfect love that is anchored in eternity; extended by God to man as demonstrated by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross; a love that, once received, is intended to be reflected by men back to God and to each other. Christ, in dying on the cross, invites us into this perfect, unending love.

In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer of John 17, he makes five petitions to God the Father for those who follow Him - “Father, protect them…”; “Father, unify them…”; “Father, sanctify them…”; “Father, give them joy…”; and “Father, hold them forever…” In this episode of "Fork of the Broad", we discuss how Christ invites us into joy - a state of internal gladness that persists no matter what your circumstances are; contentment no matter what is going on in the world around you; enduring hope, even in the darkest times; Joy is a gift from God delivered to believers by the Holy Spirit that enables us to experience the beauty of Christ in Heaven and on Earth.

In Jesus' High Priestly Prayer of John 17, he makes five petitions to God the Father for those who follow Him - “Father, protect them…”; “Father, unify them…”; “Father, sanctify them…”; “Father, give them joy…”; and “Father, hold them forever…” In this episode of "Fork of the Broad", we discuss Jesus saying that He is going to be consecrated – set apart for a special purpose - so that we might be sanctified – made holy, and set apart for our own divine purpose – given a new life and a new reason to live. So Jesus is set apart to die on the cross, and in doing so, takes the weight of sin off of those who might believe, and bears the punishment that we deserve for our sins, and in faith, we are made holy – we get a clean slate through our faith in Christ – and once Jesus vindicates us from all of our past, present, and future sins, we begin a process of being sanctified with truth – We are washed in the truth of Jesus' atoning work on the cross – that's salvation; and then we spend a lifetime marinating in the truth of God's Word, the truth of God, being made into something brand new and different than we were before – that's sanctification.

It can be but myself I crucify. When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed. Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have. Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today's idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life. Today's idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God. The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart? Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it. To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not perceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you. Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left. Salvation's song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them. There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear. Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon, - today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love. There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 196

If you want to know what God thinks of you, I am positive that God has your pictures in the most important place in His heart. Psalms 18:9 talks about God delighting in His people - He has adopted us as His sons and daughters.  Question to Consider - Why does God asks us to call Him God, but also asks us to call Him Father, but also asks us to call Him 'Dad'?

Jesus often spoke of the Father.  Taking from His example, we often speak of our Heavenly Father.  We usually direct our prayers to Him.  What do we mean when we call Him father?  if that’s even an appropriate way to address the creator of the universe, why so?  It is and has always been about relationship.  He has made a way so that we may not only call Him Father, but Daddy.  He has adopted us into His family.  Our text is from Romans 8:10-17.

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Apostles Creed, Third Article, pt. 1 Daily Lectionary: Ecclesiastes 10:1-20; John 10:1-21 I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. (Small Catechism: Apostles Creed, Third Article) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Our focus today is this section from the Small Catechism which teaches you about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who drew you to faith through the Gospel and He is the One who keeps you in the true faith all your life. In John 10:16 Jesus says, "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." You are one of those sheep. Jesus is talking about you. He brought you into His flock, the Church, through faith. The Holy Spirit worked this faith in you through the Word of Christ. The Holy Spirit inspired the apostle John to write the Gospel named after him. The Spirit caused these words of Jesus to survive through the centuries until you could hear and read them. The Spirit guarded this message as it was preached from generation to generation. The Spirit made sure that this Word was written, translated, printed, and proclaimed to all nations, keeping the Gospel alive in the Church. And now the Holy Spirit brings this message to you. Jesus is not just a Good Shepherd a long time ago. He is not just a Good Shepherd to other people. Jesus is your Good Shepherd. The Spirit causes you to know and believe that when Jesus says He loves you and forgives you, this is the truth. The Spirit brings you into the fold and makes you listen to your Good Shepherd's voice--so that you trust that your Savior who died for you and rose from the dead for you will also lead you through this world and bring you all the way home to heaven. Thanks be to God! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. "Come, holy Light, guide divine, now cause the Word of life to shine. Teach us to know our God aright, and call Him Father with delight. From every error keep us free; Let none but Christ our master be That we in living faith abide, in Him, our Lord, with all our might confide. Alleluia, alleluia! (Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord LSB 497, st.2) Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

In the Unity of the Trinity, Jn 17 Lourdes Pinto, 5/20/21 John 17 is a unique opportunity to see the nature and heart of Jesus.  “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you” (17:1) It is the cross (see John 12:27-33, 13:30-33, 21:18-19) that will glorify the Son. The cross was utter humiliation to the world, but it was an instrument of glorification in God's eyes. This is an aspect of the foolishness and weakness of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18, 1:23-25). “And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (17:19) Jesus sanctifies (consecrates) Himself for us, meaning He sacrifices Himself to the Father for us. This perfect consecration of Jesus opened the curtain so that we can participate in the oneness of the Trinity. Yet, this entering into the unity of God is only possible if we, as the Body of Christ, voluntarily choose, for love of God, to participate in His consecration which is His sacrifice. Only through, with, and in Jesus crucified can we enter the inner chamber, which is the Heart of Christ, to live in the embrace of the Father with the Holy Spirit.  “To men, the cross appeared an instrument of shame. To Christ it was the means of true glory.” (Morris) “But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:13) “I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” (Col.1:24) “I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (17:26) The prayer of Jesus in John 17 reveals Divine Love, the Trinity. It is the Holy Spirit, received from the pierced Heart of Jesus crucified, that brings us to KNOW the love of the Son and the Father. It is the Holy Spirit that brings me to PARTICIPATE in the deepest prayer and longing of the Son as I also pray:  “Father, glorify your daughter as one with your Son so that your daughter may glorify you.” “And for their sakes I sanctify myself through Christ, with Christ and in Christ, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”  I listen in SA at times to brothers and sisters complaining of their suffering, a tendency that I also see in myself. Yet the Spirit always moves me in spiritual accompaniment to see the glory of that suffering in Christ. If I am suffering great mental and physical exhaustion and this suffering in Christ is bringing graces to my LC family, is it not worth it to me? Is it not an opportunity to glorify the Father and Son? If someone is suffering physical ailments and that suffering saved their soul, is it not worth suffering in gratuitous love? If that physical suffering suffered through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ is saving the souls of their family, is it not an occasion to rejoice? Then why is it so difficult for us?  We are complicated because of sin, and God is SIMPLE. The way to unity is simple, but for us, it's difficult because of our brokenness, woundedness, self-centeredness, etc.   Let's journey the Simple Path from its beginning to the summit of unity in the Trinity to understand how God has been guiding us through His Spirit to union in Him—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. My Gaze Penetrates All Darkness,   –Simple Path 16, p.59 (ch.2) My desire for you, My thirst for each of you, is to make you My living icons. My little ones, suffer all with Me, gazing upon My crucified love so that your suffering can perfect your faith and you can become My living chalices poured upon the world, redeeming, restoring, and purifying with Me. Love on Earth Must Be United to Suffering —#29, p.87 My daughter, the purest love on earth must be united to suffering. I came from...

MEMORISE: Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. Psalms 92:13 READ: Psalms 92:12-14 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 13. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. 14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; MESSAGE: Anyone can be whatever before God. You can choose to be any of His creatures and you can be a servant. Well, being a servant gives one a degree of access to God but you can go further by being a child. In fact, the reason Christ died is to make us sons, co-heirs with Him. As a co-heir with Christ, you have access to everything He has. You have free access to God, you can call upon Him anytime and ask for anything you want. You have a right to call Him Father. Romans 8:15 says: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” You will also flourish like a palm tree planted by the rivers of water because you are planted in His house, you are a son. Thus, you will achieve success in whatever you do. It is very easy to become a child of God. Just confess your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Study the word of God and constantly communicate with your Father. KEY POINT: You can upgrade your relationship with God if you have been acting like a servant. HYMN: IN CHRIST ALONE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Kings 1-3, John 3:22-36 AUTHORS: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE PASTOR (MRS) FOLU ADEBOYE

When we call Him Father it means we believe He is reliable ❤️

For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. Psalm 71:5. OHC 14.1 Jesus calls to every wanderer, “My son, give me thine heart.” Proverbs 23:26.... The youth cannot be happy without the love of Jesus. He is waiting with pitying tenderness to hear the confessions of the wayward, and to accept their penitence. He watches for some return of gratitude from us, as the mother watches for the smile of recognition from her beloved child. The great God teaches us to call Him Father. He would have us understand how earnestly and tenderly His heart yearns over us in all our trials and temptations.... OHC 14.2 The young should be constantly growing in grace, and in a knowledge of the truth. The Creator of all things, with whom are all the treasures of wisdom, has promised to be the guide of their youth. He who has conquered in their behalf all the powers of evil asks for their homage. There can be no higher knowledge than the knowledge of Him whom to know aright is life and peace; no purer, deeper affection than the love of our Saviour.... OHC 14.3 There are temptations on every hand to ensnare the feet of the unwary. Ungodly, corrupt youth exert a strong influence to lead others into forbidden paths. These are among the most successful agents of Satan.... The lovers of the world will often approach under a garb of friendship, and attempt to introduce its customs and practices. Let every true soldier stand ready to resist these allurements.... OHC 14.4 Satan attacks us at our weak points; but we need not be overcome. The assault may be severe and protracted, but God has promised help for us, and in His strength we may conquer.... The precepts and promises of God's word will arm you with divine power to resist the enemy.... Satan will be baffled and defeated when he finds the heart preoccupied with the truth of God. We need also to be often found at the throne of grace. Earnest, persevering prayer, uniting our human weakness to Omnipotence, will give us the victory.13The Signs of the Times, January 19, 1882. OHC 14.5 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message

Because of what Jesus has done for us, we can be adopted by God and call Him Father. Message: Lloyd SchmidtSunday, December 20, 2020

Our God is the Lord God who created Heaven and earth. We call Him Father, yet He is the greatest Power ever known in the universe! The Creator! Who is God? The word for God in Genesis is plural, Elohim. We understand Him as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus has been existent from before the beginning of time, the ‘I AM’. He doesn’t change! Understanding God as Creator is integral to comprehending His character: the Prophet Jeremiah says of Him, 'Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You' (32.17).

Worship   I often hear people say that their church has the best worship and that other church worship services are inferior! Or I hear that a person has moved churches, because the experience is different and better there!  What are we to think as Christians in the twenty first century about biblical worship? The Psalmist writes in Psalm 105:1-6: "Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given, you children of his servant Abraham, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones." Today there are many different churches using different worship styles to worship the one True and Living God!  We can even think of different churches in the New Testament worshipping differently, such as the church of Philippi church being more liturgical and ordered, while the church of Corinth is more free and less controlled! As His followers and His worshippers, we are required to worship God and to worship Him publicly and with others!  There is a meaning of worship, whereby our very life is to be a spiritual act of worship according to Paul in Romans 12.  Paul meant that every aspect of our life is to be an act of worship, where our life is to be for the majesty and honour of God!   However, the definition of worship I want to talk about today is about public acts of worship, such as in a church or chapel service.  Where worshipping is to give respect, honour and glory to God! When this is done in reverence, in truth and in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ, then the Christian Disciple continues to mature and grow spiritually.  Let us look at the what, why and how of Biblical worship! What is worship? Worship is, by way of act, attitude, or thought, a way of giving supreme honour and reverence to God!  As Christian Disciples, God Almighty alone is worthy of our reverence, submission and worship. There are many other things that are worshipped and thus are ‘gods', with a small ‘g'.  Money, careers, possessions, other people are 21st century examples of things which are worshipped by humans.  Thus the threat of materialism is a huge danger to Christian Disciples, because the worship of material possessions takes the supreme place of worship to God, and some Christian Disciples have been duped by it!  But the Bible clearly states that God alone is to be worshipped.  For God is to carry the worshipping Christian Disciple, and not the Christian Disciple to carry the god. Why worship? Perhaps the greatest reason that we worship is because God commands it! The 10 Commandments (Exodus 21v1-3) insist that God alone is worshipped, adored and paid homage to!  As humans we are made in His image and as Christian Disciples, He owns us because we claim Jesus to be our Lord and Master! So it is right and just that we give worship to this God who paid the penalty for sin, so that we may be His children, and wants us to call Him Father!  As Christian Disciples, we discover an inner personal satisfaction when God is worshipped and adored, both for the present and in the future (Romans 12v2; Col 3v24)! Another reason to give worship is that God deserves our worship! All of God's attributes demand that we revere and worship Him! His holiness, goodness, love, mercy and providence are but a beginning as to why He, and He alone, is worthy of our worship.  It is by His grace, and through His grace alone, that we worship Him! How are we to worship? In some church services, a general confession of sin comes at the start.  This is because before engaging in exultant praise, Christian Disciples should approach with penitence and examine their inner selves just as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6.  We also gather in expectation of meeting God and that He will receive the worship! Worship services should consist of more than just singing songs.  The church is 2000 years old and in that time a lot of resources can be found to help people worship, apart from singing songs!  There are items like responsive prayers and psalms, whereby prayers and psalms are spoken between the congregation to each other and to the leader!  There are times of silence, or times of spoken liturgy where truths of God are both spoken and heard.  Saying the Apostles Creed or Nicene Creed help build the body in affirming their belief in an awesome God worthy of worship! Times of worship should be more diverse than just singing songs and should express the cultural and personality diversity of the people worshipping!  Remember, Jesus and certainly the early church participated in services which would certainly have contained liturgy, Scripture reading and songs! Other core parts of some worship services are the Holy Communion and Baptism!  These were fundamental in churches in the New Testament period and are just as important today!  Holy Communion is where we as Christian Disciples remember Jesus' death for our sin, acceptance of His death for us, and our dependence on Him for our spiritual life.  Baptism is where Christian Disciples identify with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The third element of worship is the reading and preaching of the Bible! This where God's word is read in public!  This is where God's Word is preached so as to that God's word can be applied to the hearer's lives!  Sermons can be the pinnacle of a worship service as God's revealed word is expounded, talked about and explained! Yet, sadly, for a lot of people its not considered worship! It most certainly is! The whole of a church worship service should be where the spiritually comfortable are discomforted and those spiritually uncomfortable are comforted!  From 1 Corinthians 14:25, worship should be where non-Christians present can proclaim, "God is really among you".  So often our church worship services are flat, feeble and weak spiritually.  At one extreme in churches, we have worship services that are flippant and no consideration to make worship an awe-inspiring time of devotion to an awesome God!  At the other extreme, we have worship services where everybody looks like they have been sucking on lemons and where grace is obviously lacking.  Somewhere in between, is where public worship should be.  In the broad spectrum of being neither trivialized nor grace-less, is where our church worship services should be!  Sometimes we need to worship, even if we don't feel like it and pray for God to help us worship Him.  Over all this, is 1 Corinthians 14v26, which plainly states: "Everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord".Public worship is for the encouragement of the gathered worshipping group of believers and not for the individual worshipper. The modern construct of only worshipping when its enjoyable or because the experience feels right is not a biblical construct.  When you find yourself in a worship service with others, as long as what is being said and sung is biblical, keep worshipping. Even if the style or method is not to your own personal taste! Just because the church down the road from you worships in a different style to you, doesn't make their worship in valid! We have a God worthy of all types of worship! Don't grieve the Holy Spirit by trying to validate your own style over a different style, by saying your church worships better than any other!  The Holy Spirit works in different places in different ways! Stop limiting the Holy Spirit!  Through the energy and power of the Holy Spirit, any and all acts of church worship are done in reverence, in truth and in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ. Done regardless of our own personal taste, enjoyment level or experience.  Main thing is to worship in Spirit and in truth, and that is surely to be a cause of joy, regardless of worship style!  Let us use the diversity of worship styles to worship the One True Living God! For more to think about please do read 1 Corinthians 14v26-39. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them.  Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together. Q1. When I attend worship services, is it for the encouragement of others or just for myself? Q2. What are my favourite elements of worship and how should I react to those elements I don't like? Q3. Does my life of following Jesus Christ, match the words I sing and words I speak in church worship services? Right mouse click to save/download this Podcast as a MP3 file You can now purchase our books! Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site! Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!

Today, we will look at three short, yet powerful verses that encourage us to forgive ourselves by accepting the fact that God has already forgiven us. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. —Psalm 103:12 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT) Our confession of sin—one time—triggers God’s faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. What an amazing deal for us once we simply get honest with God about what we have done. If you struggle with forgiving yourself for any past mistakes and sins, maybe it’s time to have a funeral for them. Confess, place them under the blood of Christ, and ask for forgiveness one final time. Commit to this being the last time you will bring it up. Just like when a funeral is over, you need to walk away once you’ve said your goodbyes. But now instead of mourning and grief, you say hello to freedom and forgiveness. What is a specific sin you are willing to confess and bury today? Listen once again to God’s promises and the finality of what happens once we confess: But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT) He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. —Psalm 103:12 NLT He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT) Is it time to say a final goodbye to something God wants to see you let go of? That you know you need to let go of? As you can see, He has made your forgiveness and freedom available to you right now. How does it feel to know that God not only forgives your sins, but He forgets they even happened. What does it look like to accept you are living with a new reality, a clean slate. Let’s commit this to Him: “Father, I want today to say a final goodbye to the things that have held me back from receiving all You have for me. Today, I hand these things over You. Thank You now for Your faithfulness, forgiveness, cleansing, removal of sin, kindness, grace, and freedom. As above, so below.”

We know God as the creator of Heaven and Earth, but do you know Him as your father? Because of what Jesus did, we can have a relationship with God. One so personal that we can call Him Father. In today's message, Pastor Bill talks about having a personal relationship with God, the creator of the universe. He wants to share every moment with us and for us to rely on Him for everything! How amazing that we can know God in such an intimate way, and even call him Dad.

May you embrace by God's grace all His love for you as "one" with Him -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of God -- in Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you, my friend! — Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/morningbymorningtommyhays/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/morningbymorningtommyhays/support

It can be but myself I crucify. When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed. Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have. Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today's idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life. Today's idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God. The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart? Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it. To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not perceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you. Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left. Salvation's song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them. There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear. Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon, - today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love. There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.- Jesus Christ in a Course in Miracles, Lesson 196

"He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come." (Luke 11:2)One day when Jesus is talking to the Father, His disciples ask him to teach them how to do it. They want to talk to God and so Jesus says prayer starts with relationship. If you've been adopted into God's family, then you're God's child and you can call Him Father. He's the best father! The one who fills in all the gaps and aches left by earthly fathers. Next, we recognize His Holiness and His character as we remembering who God is. It sets us up to talk to Him in a way that honors Him. We also pledge our allegiance to His kingdom confessing that His ways and His plans are best. It's an act of surrender that only comes from knowing and trusting Him. Prayer is a regular conversation that increases our intimacy with the Father and He is where the joy is!

Ian considers what calling Him ‘Father' means for us as children of God. ✨Romans 8:14-16 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/1stcup/message

The issue of fatherhood not only affects all of us, but is a central part of faith in Christ. In fact, God invites us to call Him Father. Fathers have an important job, one that requires wisdom and strength. In this message, three of our pastors, all of them incredible dads, continue our series by sharing how God is not only holy and set apart, but also desires a personal relationship with us.

Sermon Outline: 1. God is a Good Father who provides good gifts to His children. 2. Come boldly to God with your requests for the good gifts He has promised 2. Through His good gifts we can recognize and delight in His perfect standard of righteousness. Discussion Questions: What are some of the attributes of God that we remember when we call Him Father? Why does Jesus rephrase his point three times (ask, seek knock) to teach us to bring our requests to God? Do you see yourself as coming to God as a child to a Father? Or do your requests and prayers suggest a different kind of relationship with God?  In what ways does the analogy of human parents and children help us understand how God responds to our prayers and gives us gifts? Why does God not answer all our requests the way we would want Him to? What are some of the gifts that God has promised that all His children will receive from Him? What is the great gift through which God calls Himself our Father? Why were the Pharisees bold to come before God in their prayers? Why should we be bold? Most people say “the golden rule” is a good rule. How does this rule look when most people in the world try and carry it out? How does “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” sum up the righteousness Jesus has been teaching throughout the Sermon on the Mount? How have you responded to the standard of righteousness taught in the sermon on the mount?  If you have been convicted by the standard of righteousness Jesus has been teaching, how does Jesus tell us to respond?      

Do you ever stop too ponder the wonder of it all? Adoption into God's family, privilege of coming to God the Creator anytime in prayer and calling Him Father - being treated like a son or daughter. Jesus came to this earth at just the right time, He had the right qualifications (He was sinless) and He had the resolve to go to the Cross to redeem us and adopt us into His family. The greatest, most awesome gift, privilege, blessing is to be adopted into His family. (Galatians 4:4-7 & Ephesians 1:3-5)Support the show (https://onrealm.org/burlingtonbaptist/-/give/XVSXTRONUP)

When Jesus teaches us to pray, how does He start the lesson: “You know God, well, you’ve got to call Him ‘Father.’” And why does Jesus start that way? Because a Father’s love is tender and tenacious, fond and ferocious, just like God’s! So how about slowing down today, settling in, and hanging out with Eleanor, Brenda, and Randy as they embrace the love of a Father who never wearies of hearing us say, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

David Platt continues to explain how the names of God display the glory of God. The God who sits enthoned upon all glory still allows the children of God to call Him Father.

When this is firmly understood and kept in full awareness, you will not attempt to harm yourself, nor make your body slave to vengeance. You will not attack yourself, and you will realize that to attack another is but to attack yourself. You will be free of the insane belief that to attack a brother saves yourself. And you will understand his safety is your own, and in his healing you are healed.Perhaps at first you will not understand how mercy, limitless and with all things held in its sure protection, can be found in the idea we practice for today. It may, in fact, appear to be a sign that punishment can never be escaped because the ego, under what it sees as threat, is quick to cite the truth to save its lies. Yet must it fail to understand the truth it uses thus. But you can learn to see these foolish applications, and deny the meaning they appear to have.Thus do you also teach your mind that you are not an ego. For the ways in which the ego would distort the truth will not deceive you longer. You will not believe you are a body to be crucified. And you will see within today’s idea the light of resurrection, looking past all thoughts of crucifixion and of death, to thoughts of liberation and of life.Today’s idea is one step we take in leading us from bondage to the state of perfect freedom. Let us take this step today, that we may quickly go the way salvation shows us, taking every step in its appointed sequence, as the mind relinquishes its burdens one by one. It is not time we need for this. It is but willingness. For what would seem to need a thousand years can easily be done in just one instant by the grace of God.The dreary, hopeless thought that you can make attacks on others and escape yourself has nailed you to the cross. Perhaps it seemed to be salvation. Yet it merely stood for the belief the fear of God is real. And what is that but hell? Who could believe his Father is his deadly enemy, separate from him, and waiting to destroy his life and blot him from the universe, without the fear of hell upon his heart?Such is the form of madness you believe, if you accept the fearful thought you can attack another and be free yourself. Until this form is changed, there is no hope. Until you see that this, at least, must be entirely impossible, how could there be escape? The fear of God is real to anyone who thinks this thought is true. And he will not perceive its foolishness, or even see that it is there, so that it would be possible to question it.To question it at all, its form must first be changed at least as much as will permit fear of retaliation to abate, and the responsibility returned to some extent to you. From there you can at least consider if you want to go along this painful path. Until this shift has been accomplished, you can not perceive that it is but your thoughts that bring you fear, and your deliverance depends on you.Our next steps will be easy, if you take this one today. From there we go ahead quite rapidly. For once you understand it is impossible that you be hurt except by your own thoughts, the fear of God must disappear. You cannot then believe that fear is caused without. And God, Whom you had thought to banish, can be welcomed back within the holy mind He never left.Salvation’s song can certainly be heard in the idea we practice for today. If it can but be you you crucify, you did not hurt the world, and need not fear its vengeance and pursuit. Nor need you hide in terror from the deadly fear of God projection hides behind. The thing you dread the most is your salvation. You are strong, and it is strength you want. And you are free, and glad of freedom. You have sought to be both weak and bound, because you feared your strength and freedom. Yet salvation lies in them.There is an instant in which terror seems to grip your mind so wholly that escape appears quite hopeless. When you realize, once and for all, that it is you you fear, the mind perceives itself as split. And this had been concealed while you believed attack could be directed outward, and returned from outside to within. It seemed to be an enemy outside you had to fear. And thus a god outside yourself became your mortal enemy; the source of fear.Now, for an instant, is a murderer perceived within you, eager for your death, intent on plotting punishment for you until the time when it can kill at last. Yet in this instant is the time as well in which salvation comes. For fear of God has disappeared. And you can call on Him to save you from illusions by His Love, calling Him Father and yourself His Son. Pray that the instant may be soon, today. Step back from fear, and make advance to love.There is no Thought of God that does not go with you to help you reach that instant, and to go beyond it quickly, surely and forever. When the fear of God is gone, there are no obstacles that still remain between you and the holy peace of God. How kind and merciful is the idea we practice! Give it welcome, as you should, for it is your release. It is indeed but you your mind can try to crucify. Yet your redemption, too, will come from you.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 196

Why does God reveal Himself in masculine ways, and direct us to call Him Father? Are people who say we should abandon this kind of language right? How should we relate to God as Father when we've experienced pain, trauma, and hurt from the hands of our earthly father? Join us today as we discuss Scripture's teaching on God as our heavenly Father.

In the previous episode, we talked about how God didn’t instruct us to call Him “Father,” merely to create a sense of closeness. He is literally the Father of our spirits. We are not merely creations but children. Continuing with that theme, today we address the answer to the first of the “Big Three” questions: Where did I come from?

Pastor Keith Smith helps us turn to God and call Him Father. Presented Sunday, January 27, 2019.

We believe that Jesus is what God has to say, and that He is the image of the invisible God. He pointed His friends to His Father, and in the same way He points us. He calls us brothers and sisters because we call Him Father!

The Church has always considered the Holy Trinity to be a mystery. So many heresies have come about through the 2000 years of the Church that erroneously attempted to explain the Trinity. There is, however, a consensus of revealed truth that has been expressed by God through His Church as to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. It is so important to understand these revealed truths because our Faith is defined by who God is in His Nature. This teaching shares what we know about the Trinity so that we may grow in God’s likeness by living in union with Him: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This text actually forces us to deal with the age old question of why God would ordain that evil exist. Could it really be a gracious gift to those who call Him Father?

In this passage God wanted His persecuted children to know that their plight was not hidden from Him - Father, Son, and Spirit were ever present and would soon cause their persecutors to wail in anguish themselves. As we face persecution now and increasingly face persecution in the future, we can also trust that the very same Triune God of Revelation 1 is ever present with us and will one day call our persecutors to account.

Yesterday on The Morning Meditation we meditated on the subject of How to Have a Perfect Heart Toward God.  Walking with a perfect heart toward God means relying on His Word in all things.Today on The Morning Meditation:JESUS TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES TO PRAYJohn 16:23 "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."There are many wonderful things Jesus taught His disciples just prior to His death on the cross. They had grown to love Him dearly. The thoughts of losing Him was just too much for them to grasp. Jesus teaches them that He will just be a prayer away. He assures them that the Father will hear them when they pray. So, He teaches them to pray. He says, “ask.” Let's notice first,WHO TO ASK?Jesus says, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name . . .” God is our Father. We have a relationship to God as Father. Luke 11:2 says, "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth."Jesus addressed God as His Father in Mark 14:36, "And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." The Greek lexicon says the following: “father, customary title used of God in prayer. Whenever it occurs in the New Testament it has the Greek interpretation joined to it, that is apparently to be explained by the fact that the Chaldee ‘ABBA' through frequent use in prayer, gradually acquired the nature of a most sacred proper name, to which the Greek speaking Jews added the name from their own tongue.”Jesus taught that we have the right to be aware of the relationship of a son to the Father when we pray. This will encourage our faith to know that we are not asking a cold calculating God for something. We are asking our Father.Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans in chapter 1 verse 7: “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.”We are to approach God as our Father in the Spirit of worship. Paul brings this out in Romans 8:15, "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."Paul states this also in Galatians 4:6, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." This verse reveals that God has given us not only the right to call Him Father but “God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son” into our hearts. This is the enablement of true worship.We are truly the sons (and daughters) of God, and God has made this possible through creating us anew in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17), and. as seal of that relationship has sent forth the Holy Spirit to indwell us. Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Next,HOW ARE WE TO ASK?Jesus taught His disciples in John 14:13 14, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."We are to ask in the name of Christ. When we do this Jesus promises that He Himself will respond to that request. This is the promise: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do . . .”John Gill has a good comment: “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, &c.] Whether it be for assistance in preaching of the Gospel; or for the performance of miraculous operations in confirmation of it; or for success to attend it; or for any blessings whatsoever, whether for themselves or others: that will I do; he does not say, that he would be a Mediator between God, and them, an advocate with the Father for them, and would intercede, and use his interest with him that it might be done,

Battle Ready. Satan strategizes with doubt, discouragement, division, defeat, and delay. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the devil. Faith; God is faithful, trustworthy, loving, forgiving and the all powerful creator of the universe and we can call Him Father. Encourage; God will never leave you. Always love you, and longs to restore you. Steadfast; Stand firm in the truth of God’s promises. Don’t be swayed by what others are doing. Hold fast to your convictions in Christ. Victory; We have victory in Christ. Ready; Keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy. Keep our eyes on the master. Watch for His slightest signal. Respond. John 8:31-32, Phil 3:9, Isa 52:7, 1Peter 1:5, Psa 27, Heb 4:12, Rom 8:38, 1Cor 15:57-58, Rev 12:11

Jak bardzo można pójść na kompromis w życiu z Bogiem? Co da się z czym pogodzić a co się pogodzić nie da? O tym, i o owym, i o książce "I dared to call Him Father", i o innych dygresjach w pierwszym video-odcinku wyplutym przez nowy procesor.

Well, this morning were talking about when you suffer. How many of you today would admit publicly that from time to time you have a problem with patience? Let me see your hands. Come on! Get them up! I dont have all day! Lets go! (Congregation laughing.) Sure, all of us would say there are times we struggle with patience; and when life is difficult, we struggle all the more. We might get irritated on the way home in traffic when somebody pulls in front of us or we get in the wrong line at the grocery store or the bank. When were running late, it seems like we hit every traffic light. I understand those occasions of impatience. Were patient with our spouse, with our children, or with ourselves, but we know when life really gets difficult, when something happens and we are suffering emotionally, physically, in some other way, it just seems like relief doesnt come. Thats when we really struggle with patience. Lord, how long is this going to last? Lord, when will this end? When will I be delivered? When will I be justified? Whatever the question is, when the heat goes up and we are suffering in our lives, thats when we become increasingly impatient. We are waiting on God for an answer. Were waiting on God to keep His promise, and weve all been there. Maybe you are there right now. If I were to take another poll, which Im not going to do, and say how many of you are there right now, youd be surprised by the amount of hands that would go up. James is going to deal with that very subject today of patience and of suffering. We have found James to be intensely practical, havent we, as he deals with these life issues head-on? In Verse 7 of Chapter 5 (page 1199), he gives us this directive. He says, Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lords coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. Thank God for a wonderful crop this year for our farmers. He uses them as an example of Biblical patience. When a farmer is waiting for his crop, is he idle? No. There are things that he needs to do. He has to fertilize the crop, and he has to water the crop. There are all kinds of tasks that go on while he is waiting. That is Biblical patience. Its not just pacing the floor, being idle, and twiddling our thumbs and waiting for God to move in and act. It is a patience that involves steadfastness and working towards the goal while we wait. What is the valuable crop in this context that he wants us to wait for? We just talked about the people that were bullying. Remember this is written to Christians who were scattered abroad and who were persecuted. Many of them were poor; many of them were abused by their bosses. They were paid cheap labor. They were not receiving the wages that were due them. They were persecuted for their faith. The crop that they are to wait for is justice. Its deliverance. Its for life to become better, so hes going to give them the encouragement to say the Judge is at the door. Justice is coming. Be patient. The Lord is near. Dont take matters into your own hands. Dont take vengeance into your own hands. Last week, we talked about those who would exploit people, those who would bully people; and now hes talking to the bullied. Hes talking to the suffering. Hes saying, Listen, trust the Lord. Wait for Him. Dont take vengeance into your own hands. There was a truck driver I heard about. He went into a truck stop, and he was eating. These three bikers came in. Now they were mean bikers. There are good bikers; we have a lot of good bikers in our church. Im not knocking bikers, but these guys were the bad kind. They came in looking for trouble. They went and picked on this truck driver. They took his cheeseburger and started to eat it. They took his fries and started eating them. Another took his drink and started drinking it. They were making fun of him and were laughing. They were just bullying him. They ate all of his food, and he didnt say anything. He didnt do anything. He just got up, went to the waitress, paid his check, gave her a tip, and calmly walked out of the restaurant. She looked out the window as he got in his truck and drove away. She comes back to the bikers, and they said, That guy wasnt much of a man, was he? He didnt even stand up for himself. He let us eat all of his food. The waitress said, Well, I cant attest to what kind of a man he was, but he sure wasnt much of a truck driver. He just ran over three motorcycles in the parking lot on his way out. (Congregation laughing.) You like that one? I have another one. This guy was bitten by a rodent. He developed rabies. The doctor said, You have rabies, and you have a really bad case. I have to tell you straight up were going to treat this, but this could be fatal. You could die. Really? said the man. Wow, I didnt know rabies could be so deadly. Immediately he got out a paper and started writing. The doctor said, Oh, you must be writing a list of all the names of people you want to call and tell the news to, ha? He said, No, Im just making a list of people I want to bite. Im done. I have no more. Thats it. We need to get back [to the Word]. He said, You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lords coming is near. Gods going to come, and Hes going to deliver you. Dont grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! That is a reference not to them for judging one another. That is a reference back again to waiting for this valuable crop, this justice, this one who will come and deliver you from your suffering. That was what he meant by the Judge is at the door. God keeps books, and Hes aware, though delay does not mean denial. Deliverance is coming. Brothers, as an example of patience and suffering, take the Prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. In other words, you want to see what Im talking about. You want to see this patience thats active while it waits. Its the Chilean miners. Theyre underground. They hear the drills; they know rescue is coming, but they are patient to wait. In other words, there are things to do. While they are waiting for that drill to break through, they had to survive. They had to exercise; they had to organize. They had to ration. They had to live in a 500 square foot space for over two months-all those guys; so while they waited for that light to break through, while they waited for deliverance, they must be busy. They must be diligent. Thats the kind of waiting hes talking about. He said, You want to see an example of that? Consider the Prophets. He said, As you know, we consider blessed those who persevered. You have heard of Jobs perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. Look to Job 2. Were going to follow James advice. Were going to do that this morning, but the interesting thing is the Prophets-and Job was not a Prophet, but he was a man who suffered greatly-they are the poster boys for complaining. If you want to read some good complaining, read Job. If you want to read some good grumbling, read the Prophets. They grumble and complain a lot. They really do. They were very sensitive, emotional guys. Many times their words were not received, and they were persecuted because of their prophesies; and they grumble and complain. Its interesting that James says, Look at these. He says, Dont grumble and complain. Consider the Prophets, and consider Job. He is going to talk about how we are to vent our emotions and frustrations because if were going through suffering, we are going to have frustrations. Were going to be angry. Were going to be confused. Were going to be frustrated, and were going to need to release that. What is a healthy way [of doing so]? He says attacking one another and blaming one another is not the way to do it. He says, Be like the Prophets. So when you think of the Prophets, the two main Prophets that stand out are probably Isaiah and Jeremiah. They were two major Prophets in the Bible. Were going to first look at Jeremiah, so turn to Jeremiah 20. Jeremiah has been faithful to do what God has said to do. God said to Jeremiah, Go to the potters house, watch him make a pot, and buy one. Take it back to the Temple gate, and do what I say. Youre going to take this pot, raise it in the air, and youre going to throw it down on the ground and smash it into pieces that are beyond repair. Then youre going to say, This is what God will do to this nation unless they repent of their sins. He will break you and He will scatter you upon repair. Israel was involved in Pagan rituals. At this point, there were religions that used to practice child sacrifice. They were starting to get involved with those religions that have those practices. God was disgusted and appalled by their behavior. He said, You need to clean up your act. You need to turn from those gods, and you need to follow after Me. Otherwise judgment is going to come. So Jeremiah does exactly what God says to do. He breaks the pot, he delivers that message, and they say, Were not listening to you. Youre a nutcase. Youre not a man of God. What do you mean our nation is going to fall? Were the securest nation there is. We dont have an enemy. Were not a threat to be taken captive. What are you talking about? Youre a crazy man, and they beat Jeremiah. They put him in stocks, and they put him out in front of the gate so that everybody walking by Jeremiah looked at him and called him a fool. They beat him and they spit on him, so there he was-bloody, embarrassed and ashamed; and his only crime was he faithfully carried out what God called him to do. He was suffering. When he was finally let out of the stocks, he had some harsh words for his captures. Then he turns to God. Listen to what the Prophet-this man of God-says to the Lord in Verse 7 (page 770), O Lord, You deceived me, and I was deceived… Hes questioning the character of God. He is saying, You duped me. You scammed me. You set me up! I did exactly what You said, and look what happened to me! …You overpowered me and prevailed. You bullied me. You picked on me because you could. Youre stronger than I, and I fell for it. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the Word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. I did what You told me to do, and look what happened to me! Look at my reward. Maybe Id be better off not following you. Maybe Id be better off not listening to you or preaching Your Word. He considers that. He considers retiring from the Prophet business. It doesnt pay that well. The benefits arent that great. Maybe Ill bag it. Maybe Ill just do something different with my life. He said in Verse 9, But if I say, I will not mention him or speak any more in His name, His Word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot. He said thats what Youve made me to be. So here he is suffering, and while he is suffering, while he is waiting for deliverance, he says, I have to still persevere. I have to keep on keeping on because my faith is still strong in my God. Look at Verse 14. It goes from bad to worse. I dont know if youve ever had a day this bad; maybe you have, but he says, Cursed be the day I was born. May the day my mother bore me not be blessed! He doesnt like his birthday anymore. Look how hard he is on the guy who brings the news to the family. This is just a family friend. He said, Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, A child is born to you-a son. May that man be like the towns the Lord overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon. Wow. For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever. Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame? Tell us what youre really thinking, Jeremiah. Stop holding back. Take off the gloves and tell us what youre going through. Nowhere in this passage does God condemn Jeremiah for expressing his point of view. You see, James, when he says, Dont grumble and complain to one another, is not saying, Dont be real. Hes not saying, Be a robot. Be inauthentic. Keep all your feelings and stuff them inside. Jeremiah expressed his feelings to the Lord. He said, Heres what Im going through. His faith was real and authentic. God wants to have a relationship with you. In a relationship, if somebody is taking you to task, if somebody has dealt unfairly with you in your opinion, you have every right to say that! Heres what I think about what you did. Heres what Im feeling about how youve treated me. You have every right to do that in a healthy relationship. Jeremiah wants to have a healthy relationship with his God, and if hes going to continue to serve Him faithfully, [he would say], Here are some things I have to get off my chest. Im suffering right now, and he says, God, Im blaming You for the suffering that Im going through. Now you may not be blaming God for what youre going through; maybe you are, but the point is if your faith is to be real, then what you are feeling and thinking has to be expressed when you suffer. You have to do that. What about Job? Job is one of the most righteous men that ever walked the face of the earth. We know the story of Job. We know he was a righteous man upright, and yet he gets used-using that word poster boy again for suffering-thats Job. He loses his children; he loses his livestock; his servants; and his properties. Then he loses his health. All he is left with is a wife who nags and complains and friends who are nosey and judgmental. That becomes Jobs live. Of course, we know the famous verse. Its found in Job 13:15 (page 506) where he says, Though He slay me yet will I hope in Him… [Thats a] famous verse. Though He slay me, yet I will put my trust in Him, says Job. In other words, Im going to keep on keeping on; even though I suffer, Im going to continue to serve the Lord-an example of patience. But here is the rest of the Verse; heres the part thats not quoted nearly as much. Look what he says in the second part of Verse 15: Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him; I will surely defend my ways to His face. In other words, if Im going down, Im going down swinging. Gods going to know what Im thinking, what Im feeling, and what Im going through while I suffer; and boy, he did that. We could pick numerous passages, but Ive chosen Chapter 10. I want you to turn to Chapter 10. Remember, James told us to do this. James said, Consider Job when you suffer, so thats what were going to do. I want you to notice how parallel this is to Jeremiah. Lets be honest-you and I have had some of these days, right? These are doozies! But if were going through difficult suffering, we can have these days. Verse 1 of Job 10 (page 503), I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint… He said therefore, Im gonna let it fly. Im going to let it all hang out. …and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. Thats healthy friends. When youre suffering, its healthy to let it all hang out, but you want to do it to the one who is safe, the people who are safe, not to everybody. Not everybody needs to know your problems or your griefs and concerns, but your Lord does. The people who love and care about you the most should. He said, I will say to God: Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me. In other words, what have I done thats so wrong that Im suffering so greatly? Does it please You to oppress me, to spurn the work of Your hands, while You smile on the schemes of the wicked? He said, I look around me, and evil men are prospering, and here I am a man who is trying to do right, and Im suffering. Again, like Jeremiah, he accuses God of being a bully. He accuses God of being sadistic, Does it please You to oppress me? You like picking on me? You like bullying me because You can? He tries to get God to see things from his point of view. He says in Verse 4, Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as a mortal sees? Are Your days like those of a mortal or Your years like those of a man… Put Yourself in my position, God. What would You be thinking and feeling if the roles were reversed, and I was God and You were me? Look at Verse 18. This sounds exactly like Jeremiah. Why then did You bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me. If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave! Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moments joy before I go to the place of no return, to the land of gloom and deep shadow, to the land of deepest night of deep shadow and disorder where even the light is like darkness. Remember in the Bible, there is progressive revelation. In the Old Testament, the afterlife is Sheol. Its a place of darkness and gloom. The Lord and the Prophets come on the scene, and they start telling us about what Heaven is and the presence of God and light; but that has not yet been revealed at this point. Remember Job is the oldest Book in the Bible chronologically. It was the oldest written book-just like James is the oldest written Book of the New Testament. This is the oldest Book written in the Old Testament. James understanding of the afterlife was not what we understand. You talk about a depressing point of view. He was like, Im going to die pretty soon anyway. Can you just stop tormenting me and just let me have a moments pleasure before I go into an eternity of darkness and gloom? Wow. I wish Id never been born. For Job, this is what hes thinking and feeling. You and I have never suffered loss like this man suffered, so we cannot judge him. Youve never lost all of your children, all of your possessions, and all of your health in one fell swoop. Everything was gone in a moments notice without warning. Until we face that-and God forbid we ever do-youll never know what this man was going through. His relationship to God was real, and yet he did not lose his faith, and he persevered. God eventually delivered Job and blessed his life. Thats what James reminds us of in this Passage in James 5. He reminds us of the end of the story. He says, The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Jeremiahs story didnt end there. Jobs story didnt end there. They didnt stay in that darkness and gloom. God brought about their deliverance from their suffering. Brighter days were ahead, and they finished their ministry and their lives strong for the Lord. He says remember that through these trials and through this suffering, God was able to teach them about life and about themselves. One of my favorite Verses in all the Bible is found in the Book of 1 Peter 5:10 (page 1203). Listen to what it says, And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will make sure that you, his child, never goes through a day of suffering. Oh, wait a second. Thats the I wish this is what I said translation. Heres what it really says, The God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself personally restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen because you and I are never listening more intently than when were suffering. Were never more aware of His presence and what He needs to teach us than when were going through pain. There is a lesson to learn. Were going to be listening. Our ears are open; we want to hear because it hurts. We want it to end. My wife and I went to Hhffrrrggh recently, the Hhffrrrggh restaurant. I had ordered a dish called the Jambalaya Chicken pasta. It was very hot but very good. She has an aversion to hot things. In fact, things that are just mildly or remotely hot, she will think they are really hot; so when she actually eats something that is really hot, she has like a near-death experience. She is just really miserable and hates it. So were at the restaurant, and she asked, Is it good? I said, Yeah, its really good. She said, It looks good. Is it hot? I said, Yeah, its really good, but its really hot. Now I eat hot things more than she does, so Im a little bit acclimated to it, but it was hot. It was good. I was like, Yeah, its really good. We finished our meal; she was done first, and I was still working on mine. She spontaneously without any kind of forethought-or thought at all-reached out and grabbed a noodle and put it in her mouth. It happened so fast, I was like, Wait! That, thats hot!! Before I could even say that, she swallowed it. I was like oh, no. Then you just kinda sit back and watch the show (congregation laughing). You watch the face, and I cant even duplicate what I saw; but she was suffering. She was grabbing the water. She was sucking down the water and more and more water. After she had suffered for a little while, I said, What are you doing? Dont you remember I told you that this was hot and that you hate hot things? Why are you grabbing it after I told you? She has a love for pasta, and it looked really good. She couldnt resist it, so she grabbed it and ate it. She forgot my warning. She thought, Maybe it wont be that bad, so she was hurting for quite a while. After shed suffered for a little while, I had some things to say. She was in a state of mind, and she was ready to listen. I said, Before you grab something off my plate, make sure you ask me about it. Make sure you say, Is this hot? or Should I have some of this? because I eat different foods than you. If you would have just said something to me, I could have stopped you from doing that. So next time were at a restaurant and you want to grab something thats mine, you need to ask that first. Dont just spontaneously grab it like that. She was listening, right? Now sometimes suffering isnt our fault, but sometimes it is. We reach out and grab what we shouldnt, and we partake of it. We take it in, and it hurts. When we want it, thats not the time when God gets our attention because when we want it, we want it. We go for it. Its after we partake of it that we start to feel the effects of it. It starts to make us uncomfortable and starts hurting. After we suffer for a little while, God says, Now, can I have your attention? I warned you that would hurt. I warned you that would be hard, but you forgot. Before you make a decision like that, before you take a step like that, seek My Word, seek Counsel. In those times, friends, you and I learn and we grow. As Peter says, we become established and firm in our faith. There is a Verse Id like us to put up on the wall. Weve already read it. Its from Job 10. I want to draw your attention to Verse 4 of that chapter, if you would please. God has asked a question of Job, and Job says, Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as a mortal sees? Thats a very interesting question, isnt it? The answer at that point in time in history-God, if He were to audibly answer that question-would have to say, No. I dont have eyes of flesh. Im not a man, but there would come a day where if Job were to ask that question, the answer would change. There was a time when the Immortal took on flesh. There was a time when God became a Man and saw through eyes just like you and me. He walked this earth in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. If Job were to say, Do You have eyes like a man? Do you have eyes of flesh? Jesus would say, I do. I do, and I have seen the world through your eyes. He suffered like no one has ever suffered upon the cross. He suffered all the indignities-rejection, pain, and hardship that you and I could ever suffer. He was bearing the weight of the cross and bearing the sin on the cross. That is why the author of the Book of Hebrews says this in Chapter 4:15 (page 1186), For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, suffered in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. When we are suffering, when we are hurting, we have a God who understands because Hes been there before. Lets pray to Him: Father, the Word says we can come before Your throne with confidence, and the reason we can have that confidence is because You lived here. Youve had eyes of flesh. Youve seen the world literally through our eyes, and You know what its like to encounter hardship. You know what its like to have friends betray You, people misunderstand You. You know what its like to physically suffer, to hit Your thumb with a hammer. You know what its like to be tired, to go without sleep, or to be hungry. You know what its like to endure temptation. You know what its like to endure rejection. You know what its like to physically and spiritually suffer because You suffered more than well understand or know. So we cannot look at You and say, God, its unfair that I suffer because You dont know what its like, just like Job said-because You do. In fact, the truth of the matter is we will never understand the suffering that Youve endured, much less the suffering of a loving heart that continues to love a people who continue to spurn You and reject You. Father, we thank You that we can come to You with our pain, with our hurt and with our suffering. We can be real with what were thinking and going through. We can voice those frustrations. We can express that anger to You. We can be real with You about our suffering. That is the patience Your Word describes. Might that be the patience that we share this morning in Christ. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.

2006-05-03-1900 Mike Canady is the speaker for Central on Wednesday evening May 3rd, 2006. Scripture Ref: Gen. 5:22-24; Eph. 2:10, 5:8; Col. 1:10; Dan. 3; Matthew 9:35;  Philippians 13:16Topic: Living TestimonyNotes:- Enoch had a testimony, we are walking our testimony- We get in a mad rush, such that we forget what we are doing (story of losing card in cash machine)- Don't run ahead of God, He wants us to walk with Him- Father found he had cancer, in hospital five weeks, family there and grew much closer, love greater- God my slow you down to walk and listen- Our life should be a witness of Christ's love, but will not please people- Daniel, Shadrach, Meshcach, Abednego-fiery furnace- Life of partying, God says 'let me live it through you.'

Were going to talk about the greatest story ever told. Ive been involved in youth ministry for 19 years, and let me tell you about a pregnant teenager whose story I came across. Shes about 14 years old, and shes pregnant. She has a boyfriend, and the baby is not the boyfriends baby. Now, shes stuck in a situation where she has to face her parents; she has to face her boyfriend and try to deal with this situation. Put yourself in this situation. I dont know, for a guy, this may be hard to imagine. But can you imagine being a 14 year old girl and being in that situation? I came across this story, and I was just amazed. Her name is Mary, and she lived about 2,000 years ago. Were going to talk a little bit about the Christmas story and the Easter story and Jesus in between. I dont know about you, but sometimes Easter and Christmas, because you hear the same story, because it is the same story, we kind of gloss over it. So were going to hit it from some different angles, some angles that you may never have thought about. Picture you are the 14-year old girl, and an angel appears to you and says, Im going to place a baby inside of your womb. Any 14-year old girl I know right now would say, Im sorry, but that doesnt fit in my plans. How am I going to go to prom? But seriously, would you be willing to give up the next 18 or so years of your life by an angel saying, Im going to place a baby inside you. Now, obviously, its God. That would be pretty cool, but would you be willing to not only give up your time, but your body and your self? How does Mary tell Joseph? Have you ever thought of that? She has to go to her future husband and say, Im pregnant. The babys not yours, but its Gods. Can you imagine? Okay, Ive heard stories before, but now youre saying the baby is Gods. Okay! Imagine what that would have been like. Think of God as a fetus, leaving Heaven and all its splendor, and Jesus coming down and becoming one of the most fragile things on Earth. An animal baby is more able to defend and adapt when they are born than when a human is. Im continually amazed at how fragile and how tiny babies are when they first come out. Some of them fit in the palm of your hand. God went from Heaven to a fragile human being. As a writer, I would never have written the story this way. If Im going to write the story of God coming to Earth, Hes going to be on a white stallion, and Hes going to ride out of Heaven. Hes going to come in the clouds, and Hes going to circle the entire Earth from east to west, back from west to east, and the clouds will trail behind Him as He zooms through. The stars will line up and say, The King is coming. Itll blink, and itll be the most amazing thing. Therell be trumpets and choruses of angels. Thats how Id write it. God says, Nope. Hes going to live inside of a teenage unwed girl. Hes going to be born in a stable, which is a really nice word for a hole in a mountain, probably a cave, where smelly animals lived. There was manure and urine on the floor, and Hes laid in a manger, which is a feeding trough. The cows put their tongues in there to lick up the food. Thats where the King of the Universe was laid. We dont think of it that way. The first people who come besides a teenage mom and Joseph are shepherds. If you know anything about the culture at that time, they were the lowest of the low, the lowest class of people. I think that is so cool that God chooses all of that to bring Jesus into the world. Psalm 33:6 reads, By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. The One who breathed galaxies into existence, now depended on an umbilical cord for His oxygen. Amazing! The person who best understands God is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. If Mary would have written a book, it would be on the New York Times Best-Selling List. The title of the book would have been, I Changed Gods Diapers. Have you ever thought of that? Someone had to change the God of the universes diapers. This gets a little gross, and Im used to talking to youth, so forgive me, but human waste was next to Jesus skin. Thats how He humbled himself to come down to Earth. Max Lucado, one of my favorite authors, has some questions that if he were to meet Mary today, he would ask her. What was it like watching Him pray? How did He respond when He saw other kids giggling during the service at the Synagogue? Did you ever feel awkward teaching Him how He created the world? When He saw a lamb being led to slaughter, did He act differently? Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your roof in the next room? Did you ever try to count the stars with Him and succeed? Did He ever get angry when someone was dishonest with Him? Can you imagine that? How would you like to be able to know everyones thoughts? And while they are telling you lies, you can tell exactly what theyre thinking and feeling and still be able to look them in the eyes. Did you ever accidentally call Him Father? I love this one, Did you ever think, Thats God eating my soup? Maybe when He was five years old and Mary and Joseph took him down to a hill and looked at the sky, the question was asked, Why is the sky blue? Only Jesus wasnt asking the question, Mary and Joseph were asking their five-year old that question. Did Jesus ever go around as He went through His daily life singing, This is the day? This is the day that I have made. Because, He could have sang that. Or Jesus, at the age of 12, its amazing to me how we go from the age of 2 with the Wise men coming to visit, and then the Bible is silent until the age of 12. You all know the story. Jesus is at the temple, and Hes amazing the rabbi. Can you imagine being a rabbi and preaching a sermon, and God is in the congregation listening to your sermon? If they would have known that, how nervous would they have been? But Hes at the age of 12, and at the end of the story it says that Mary and Joseph left, and they left Jesus behind. They left their 12-year old behind. Im thinking, How can you leave your kid behind? Its like two or three days later before they realize, Um. Wheres Jesus? The reason that happened is because back then, they would travel in caravans, not your Dodge Caravan, your caravan of many, many people for safety. So it would have been very easy to think that Jesus was with his cousins at the end of the caravan or somewhere else. By the time they realized it, can you imagine the panic? Joseph goes to Mary because we guys, we always blame the women. What did you do with God? I thought you were watching God. And then he would be praying, Dear God, could you help us find God? Then they would be going back to try to find Jesus. Or how about Jesus as a teenager? Can you imagine Jesus on the swim team? The gun goes off, everyone dives in the water, and Jesus runs across and stands at the other side, waiting for them. Did He wear WWID bracelets when he was a teenager? How would you like to be the brother or sister of Jesus? Why cant you be more like Jesus? Can you imagine the pressure of trying to live up to Jesus as your brother? We dont think about Jesus having siblings and what that would have been like. Or if Mary and Joseph go out on a date, and they come back and their favorite clay pot is broken. They line up the kids, Who did it? No ones going to answer. So they say, Okay Jesus, who did it? He would have to tell. Maybe Jesus would magically fix the clay pot before the parents got home. What did Jesus look like? Did you know that we have only one verse in the Bible? If youll turn with me to Isaiah 53:2 on page 731 [of NIV, pew Bibles], He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. I wouldnt have written it that way! Jesus would have looked a lot like me, a big handsome, muscular guy. But God says that Jesus looked plain. Do you feel plain today? Youre in very good company. He was very average-looking. But where the greatest story ever told really gets good is the Garden of Gethsemane, so were going to skip ahead. When Jesus is in the Garden, he knows--think of this--whats going to happen. If youve seen The Passion of the Christ movie, you get just a glimpse of what Jesus had to go through. Have you ever thought about wanting to know when you would die and how you would die? If you right now could know that, exactly how, would you want to know? Jesus knows exactly what Hes going to go through. And because He has the human side of Him, He knows whats going to happen, and Hes agonizing over this. He even says, Father, if theres any other way, but I dont want to do anything but Your will, not My will, God, but Yours. It says He was under such great stress that He sweat drops of blood. Ive never seen anybody sweat drops of blood. Its a condition called hematohidrosis. Its when your capillaries and veins expand under great stress, and they actually contact your sweat glands and blood leaks right through your sweat glands. Then he goes back to His three closest friends, and He asks, Please, just stay up with Me a short while and pray with Me because of the great stress Im going through. He comes back and He finds them asleep. Have you ever thought of this? Why do we die a physical death? We die a physical death because of sin. Sin gets passed down through our fathers. Jesus never had an earthly father, so I think of this: He would never have been able to physically die. Did you ever wonder why he was up on the side of the cliff, and they were trying to stone him. The Bible says all the sudden He just walked right through the crowd, and nobody touched Him. I believe its because Jesus could not have physically died. He would have lived forever if He had stayed on Earth. The reason I bring that up is this: He had to willfully give up His life. There was no way they could have taken it from Him. He made that choice because He loved you and me. He willfully gave up His life. Think of the Last Supper, of Judas Iscariot. Jesus knows what Hes going to do, and I never thought of this until this last year. Yet, Jesus washes Judas feet. If you knew that the person who was going to betray you was right there, would you humble yourself by placing a towel around you with nothing else on, washing his dirty, slimy, grimy feet and wiping it off in an act of love, all the while knowing that this person-in a few hours-is going to leave and betray you? Look at John 18:3-6, which is page 1071. This is where the story really gets good. Verse 3 says this: So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, Who is it you want? Jesus of Nazareth, they replied. I am He, Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, I am He, they drew back and fell to the ground. There are probably two reasons for this. I know Pastor Jeff has shared that just the act of saying, I am, probably was the force, the Godly force of that, a detachment of soldiers right around 600 soldiers at least, would have knocked them all to the ground. The other option would have been theyd heard the stories about the God-man who could perform all these miracles, and they were probably scared to death. Thats why they took 600 people to arrest Him, with weapons, lanterns and torches. When He started to talk, they probably thought that fire was going to shoot out of His fingers and destroy them all. When he finally started talking, they probably all fell back-just scared that they would be destroyed. Then when it doesnt happen, they get bolder and bolder. Then Judas walks up to Him and betrays Him with a kiss. Ive often wondered, did Judas look him right in the eye when He went up to Him? Could he even look Him in the eye? He betrays the Savior. Have you ever been betrayed by someone, by a close friend that youve spent the last three years with? I know what betrayal feels like. One day, my son Caleb, when he was about five years old, he woke up and walked out to me. He said, Dad, I dont think Im a Bears fan anymore. I want to move to Green Bay, and I want to be a Packer fan. You laugh, but Im telling you it was like a stab in my heart because for generations my family has always been Bears fans. But your best friend betrays you with a kiss. When they go to see Jesus, Peter takes a sword out and cuts off the soldiers ear. Im thinking, Peter? How could you have such bad aim? How do you go to cut a guys head off and just get his ear? The only think I can think of is that if he took the sword out and went for the guys head, and the sword was coming this way, the guy started ducking and maybe Peter just sliced off the ear. Think about this: Jesus reaches down and picks up this bloody mass of meat that was attached to this guys head, picks it up, puts it next to his head, and takes His hand away. The ear was perfectly attached. If you are that soldier, you probably run from that place because theres no way you can continue doing what you were doing. Instead of fighting back, just think about that! He takes this guys ear and puts it back. What affect that must have had. I would love to see what happened to that guys life after that. Then, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Mark 14:50, on page 1008, Then everyone deserted him and fled. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. That wasnt in the Passion movie, not a verse that you usually come across. Let me do a quick review: Sweating drops of blood; 600 soldiers come to get Him, and he says, I am. They all fall down, go boom; Peter takes out a sword and cuts this guys ear off. Jesus puts it back on; now, naked man is fleeing from the scene. Wednesday nights, we have the youth group over at our house. One time after small group, this tan blur came flying out of my sons bedroom-right in the middle of our living room where all the youth are standing. He yells, I am naked man! Then he swooshes back into the buff cave. This is just knowledge you dont think about when you hear about the Easter story. Can you imagine this scene of everything taking place here? Jesus allows them to seethe Him. Its an illegal trial at night. All kinds of false accusations. Have you ever had a time when someone said you did something, and it was extremely false? It never happened, and it was extremely damaging to your reputation. You know what that feels like. Then they begin to punch Him in the face as hard as they can after they blindfolded Him. They say, If youre God, tell me who just hit You in the face! Then they mock Him. Then they begin to spit on Him. I think maybe up to this point, I couldve taken all this-probably not because Im a girly-man, but at this point, when somebody spit on me… When I was in about fourth grade, I was walking across this bridge over this small river near our house in the suburbs of Chicago. Some evil teenager, for no reason, hocked a big loogie on my face. To this day, I can still smell the smell, feel the warmth, feel it dripping down my face. If youve ever had somebody spit on you, its one of the most degrading things you can ever imagine. Jesus put up with it because He loved you, and He loved me. If I were there, and the spit started coming, Id go like all Matrix on them. The spit would slowly slow down and stop in the air, and it would fall to the ground because there is no way Im letting another person spit on me, ever! But He never fought back, not even once. The Roman soldiers mock and beat Jesus. They strip Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and they twist together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand, knelt in front of Him and mocked Him, Hail, King of the Jews. They spit on Him, took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again. Have you ever noticed the symbolism in there? The crown of thorns is from Genesis 3:17-18. It says, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. The thorns that were placed on His head were part of the curse back in Genesis. The scarlet robe was also from Isaiah 1:18 (pg 676). It says, Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Turn to Isaiah 50:6, on page 7:28. If youve seen The Passion movie, I know you know what Jesus went through. One of the things that they didnt show in the Passion movie are here. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Turn three pages over to Isaiah 52:14, page 731. Verse 14 says, Just as there were many who were appalled at Him-His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness… Jesus had people grab His facial hair and rip it out of his face along with chunks of skin. The Bible here says that He was so beat up that not only could you not tell that was Jesus, you couldnt even tell He was a human being by the time they got done with Him. He did it willingly because He loves you and me. Then Jesus was crucified. The 40 lashes-I will spare you the details-whips with bone, metal and glass ripped Him to shreds. Then He was crucified. If you know anything about crucifixion, they would sometimes hang up there for three and four days. Thats why they went to break the legs of the two guys next to Him. It was the most devious, painful torturing way you could ever kill somebody. Every breath that Jesus had to take, He would have to push up on the nail that was through both feet, push up to release the pressure from his diaphragm, take in a breath. Then when His legs cramped up, and His muscles would give out, He would sag back down and put all his weight on the two nails in His wrists. Then when He couldnt take that any more because He could not breathe, it would be like drowning in air. Every breath, He had to push Himself for every breath. Think of that. Then darkness falls over the land for three hours, and Jesus cries out these words: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabach-thani, which means Abba Father, why have you forsaken me? Or Daddy! Daddy! Why have you abandoned me? My son Connor was three years old; he was in our back yard with my son Caleb who was six. They found the pruning shears. Caleb took the pruning shears, and Connor, my three year old, took the stick. He held it out to Caleb and said, Caleb, cut the stick! Caleb took the pruning shears and attempted to cut the stick. Not only did he cut the stick, but he cut right into my sons fingers. Im so thankful that he didnt cut his fingers right off. We were in the kitchen, by our patio window, and I heard this scream. And as you know, if youre a mom or a dad, theres nothing like the scream of your child who is in trouble. I rushed out my backyard, and there was my three year old, holding his hand with blood dripping and squirting out his hand. He was jumping up and down, screaming for his daddy. Then he kept screaming, Daddy, I need a Band Aid! I need a Band Aid! My heart just broke. God turned His back on His son. It would be like me rushing out into my backyard, seeing my three year old, my heart breaking, him screaming for His daddy who will make everything better, and looking at him, turning around, walking back into the house and locking the door. Why would God do such a thing? Why would God turn His back on His son at the time in Jesus life when He needed Him the most? Every persons sin who has ever lived, ever will live, and who is living now, every lie that weve told, rape, murder, every single sin was placed on Jesus back. When God looked down, a holy God who cannot stand the presence of sin, He could not stand to look at His own son. Can you imagine what that felt like for Jesus? Again, this is gross, but I cannot explain it in any other way. It would be like us taking dog manure, spreading it all over our bodies, up our nose, and in our mouths. Because a pure Lamb of God, even having one sin touch his existence, would have been like that. It would have made your skin crawl, and thats what Jesus did because He loved us so much. When God looked down, He could not even look at His son. He turned His back. Jesus died of a broken heart. I know thats kind of a clich