Month: January 2020

Why Did Jesus Come?

“For [GOD] did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man, that You remember him? or the Son of Man, that you are concerned about Him? You have made Him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned Him with Glory and Honor, and have appointed Him over the Works of Your Hands; You have put all things in subjection under His feet.” (Psalms 8) For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, JESUS, because of the suffering of death crowned with Glory and Honor, so that by the Grace of GOD He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for Whom are all things, and through Whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author [the pioneer, the trailblazer] of their salvation through sufferings. For both He Who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim your name to My brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” And again, “I will put my trust in Him.” And again,”Behold, I and the children whom GOD has given Me.” Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a Merciful and Faithful High Priest in things pertaining to GOD, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” Hebrews 2:5-‬18 NASB
(For more on angels, go to Hebrew 1, 10, and Revelations 4-22)

Why did God become man?
*To Restore Man’s Dominion Over the Earth: Genesis 1:28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 

*To Taste Death: His death was a Crown of Glory and Honor – God cannot die, nor can the angels, so Jesus became man in order to experience death for us so that we – man – wouldn’t have to. His Grace was His motivation: His death was for EVERYONE. We are so dearly loved, He died for us.

*To Bring Many Sons to Glory – Ephesians 5:2b “….. love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” 

John Donne (1572–1631), an Anglican minister, in a sermon on Psalm 2:10-12, asserting that the One who with the Father and the Holy Spirit creates and sustains all things has become our brother; the inconceivably transcendent God is present among us.

There is no person so near of kin to you as Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus your father created you; he is your brother because he took your nature. He is your father because he provided an inheritance for you; he is your brother because he divided this inheritance with you. And because he died to give you possession of that inheritance, he is the Nourishing One, your foster father who has nursed you in his house, in the Christian church. He is your twin brother, so similar to you that his Father and yours in him, will not know you from one another but will mingle your conditions: he finds your sins in him and his righteousness in you. “Kiss this Son” as your kinsman.


*To Disarm Satan and Deliver Us From Death – JESUS came to save us; therefore He had to defeat satan and render him inoperative. 1 Corinthians 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.”  We have no reason to be afraid of death…. we are delivered from satan’s control!

*To Make Propitiation For Our Sins – JESUS became a Jew – the most hated race – in order to become a high priest who would perform sacrifices, and to become the ultimate, final sacrifice. Christ was born and He died to turn around God’s wrath. Hebrews 2:17 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a Merciful and Faithful High Priest in things pertaining to GOD, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

*To Help Those Who Are Tempted – God isn’t angry with me, because I believe in Jesus Who died to cover my sins. The angels can’t relate because they cannot die, cannot be tempted. That’s why Jesus became man, so that He could experience life as a man and suffer as a man. He has been tempted, lonely, broke, abandoned, hurt – to BE with us …. and He understands what we are going through. Jesus is “God with skin on.” Since sin comes into the world through the man, Jesus was conceived without man to keep His human body pure. Adrian Rogers: “JESUS is all God and all man; man to be able to die, God to pay the ultimate price for our sin.” – Once and for All. AMEN!

Last Hour

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior…”

1 Timothy 2:1‭-‬3 NASB

“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us. But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is Righteous, you know that everyone also who practices Righteousness is born of Him.”

1 John 2:18‭-‬23‭, ‬28‭-‬29 NASB

WOAH. Last days? Antichrist?? Last hour?? Am I a Bible thumping, stand on the street corner, wear a placard to announce “The World is Ending!”…… Chicken Little? You know who Chicken Little is, right? In case you are unfamiliar, Wikipedia ststes “it’s a European folktale known in Europe as Henny Penny. It is a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes the world is coming to an end. The phrase “The sky is falling!” features prominently in the story, and has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.”

John is not crying out “The sky is falling!” but he is warning us that it could, at any moment, in the form of our Saviour returning for us. He doesn’t mean for us to run around like Chicken Little, screeching that the world is ending. He warns us to be aware of who it is that we are following. If they do not embrace Jesus, the Son of God, then we are to reject following that person. It’s difficult, at times, to know what to believe, or rather, what someone else believes. As Christians, it is up to us to make sure that those around us understand how critical it is to test those leaders, and ensure that those leaders confess the Son as the Christ. Words alone don’t cut it. We have to look at actions. My Dad used to say, “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do.” Truth. It is our job to pray for our leaders with entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority.

We are in the last days; approaching the last hour. Are you ready to face your LORD and your GOD?

Greater Good

“But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 23:11 NASB

As I skim through social media, it occurs to me that the “greatest” among us today are about as far from being servants as we could imagine. Spoiled, cosseted, and overpaid celebrities from Hollywood, sport venues, and certain financial and political arenas are being toasted and held up for worship as the experts on life. It’s as if they are the gods we should look up to, and that we should follow without question. Many of them certainly act like they are above all human laws and morals. It’s all about lust. Lust for control, for sex, for the almighty dollar; it’s all about power. As Christians, our guide, our Law Book, is the Bible. It is very clear on idolatry, lust, and temptation.

“You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” Exodus 20:3‭-‬4, Deuteronomy 5:6-7 NASB

“Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:15‭-‬17 NASB

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.” James 1:13‭-‬14‭, ‬16 NASB

So, Greater Good. Servanthood. It’s different for every person. How does it look for you; on you? It’s not for everyone to wash the feet of others (figuratively at least, if not actually), although I believe that unless you’ve done it, you’ll never understand true servanthood.

We Will Be Persecuted

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.” John 16:1‭-‬4 NKJV

Just a little bit scary, and yet, looking through history, Christians have been persecuted since the beginning. I don’t think I would be very brave in the face of real, physical persecution; I’m afraid I would be like Peter when he denied knowing Jesus. Every day, Christians face persecution from the enemy in the form of illness, job loss, failed relationships, financial hardships, and more, but we know that we share these difficulties with the world. See, I think the enemy wants us and the world think that we are all the same; that we are deluding ourselves and them by thinking we are different. In one very important way, and the only one that makes a difference is the reality that we have accepted Jesus as our LORD and Saviour. That single difference sets us up in the eyes of the enemy as targets. He hates to see people accept Christ! His goal is to fool as many people as possible to him as the superior over Jesus, and in doing so, sets us up for persecution and – he hopes – defeat.

He can’t do it. Defeat belongs to the enemy, not to the LORD.

Are you prepared for persecution? Have you thought about being physically persecuted, like Peter, Paul, or Stephen, or like countless of our contemporaries in other, non Christian nations? Even here, in a country founded on Christian values, we are daily facing attacks, mostly nonphysical (for now), but there are starting to be more and more incidents of physically targeting Christians. What do you think these church shootings are about?

I believe in a strong response whenever possible, but I concede that the time is coming where we will be put into situations of having to choose between defending Christianity, or giving in to the enemy.

“It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:7‭-‬10 NASB

Where is your name written?

Something To Look Forward To!

“Then he showed me a river of the Water of Life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of GOD and of the LAMB, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the Tree of Life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of GOD and of the LAMB will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His Face, and His Name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the LORD GOD will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.” And JESUS said: “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:1‭-‬5‭, ‬12‭-‬13 NASB

I love reading the books of the Revelations of John.  To have been honored to see the future of all man was probably both the most exciting and the most terrifying thing in his entire life. Whenever I get too upset about the current world affairs, I can refer back to Revelations. Everything – everything and everyone – will face the end of time as we know it, together and with no defense.

Does that frighten you? It should! Unless you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, bypassing any of man’s requirements, and acknowledging that He is the One and Only way to salvation, the description of heaven that John wrote about in the above passage won’t exist for you. Eternity will go one of two ways. Those who accept Jesus spend eternity with Him, and those who reject Him will spend eternity in agony.  Too simple? Need more structure? Think you need an earthly advocate in the form of a priest to intercede for you, or that you have to be a “good” person? Are you too “bad”; you’ve done unforgivable things? No one is too bad, just as no one is good enough to get there on their own.

One thing, and only one thing will ensure your eternity with Him. Read this carefully:

Jesus said to him, “I AM the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE; NO ONE comes to the Father but through ME. John 14:6 NASB

Father, I pray that the one who needs You reads this, and accepts Your Own Son today as their Saviour.  Amen.

Sin v. Virtue

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 NASB
“Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.” Psalms 105:3 NASB

January 2, 2020 – Looks like we all survived the New Year festivities! What about the dreaded New Year Resolutions? How are we doing with those? Many years ago, I made the decision not to make resolutions anymore. Honestly, I think that one of the best resolutions that anyone can make is to take life one day at a time. If we aren’t spending our time looking over our shoulders for pursuit from our past, or fretting about the future, how much time would it free up for us?

The best ones of all?

“Rejoice in the LORD always; again I will say, rejoice!” Philippians 4:4 NASB
“Glory in His Holy Name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.” Psalms 105:3 NASB

We can focus on which of the seven ‘deadly’ sins we struggle with (for me, that would be all of them) – pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth – or we can put our focus on the LORD and the seven virtues Jesus modeled so faithfully for us – prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, and charity.

If we focus on these virtues and on rejoicing in the LORD always, don’t you think everything else would fall into place? The enemy will fight us on this, and he’ll fight hard, because he doesn’t want us content in the LORD. He’ll throw roadblocks and ‘bricks’ at you, but know this:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the Love of GOD, which is in CHRIST JESUS our LORD.” Romans 8:38‭-‬39 NASB

Yes, it’s hard right now, but our eternal life with our LORD will be worth it! HALLELUJAH and AMEN!!