Some thoughts as I read through Job 31

Posted on 01/13/2014 by remso

Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin?

This jumped out at me, always has. Pastor Chuck went off on sexual purity, and I believe that this speaks toward that, but when I consider the age and maturity of Job I find it hard to believe that he is still struggling with such strong passions.

Perhaps that is not the point. Everyman, until the day he dies, is able to see what is beautiful around him. That in itself is not the problem, but looking ravenously for the beauty is, and taking your thoughts to the next step, what you could do with such a magnificent creature, moves you into the depravity of adultery, and all sorts of sexual sins.

Christ obliterated the penalty before God that comes with sin; sin we were imputed with. I have been inundated with talk of sin since I can remember, and I feel as though focusing on sin only makes me more skilful at it, but I cannot ignore it, the Apostle John made sure of that when he said, “ If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8 NASB )

So it (sin) is always there; almost as though it is part of our DNA, a virus called sin, waiting for an appropriate moment to awaken. But God, through Christ’s obedience on the cross, made it possible for our spirits to be alive in Him once more. Romans 6:6 “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;”

So that we would no longer be slaves to sin! We have what it takes to stand against the enemy, even if it means you call others and ask them to support you, or drag you out of that situation.

We only become the idiot when we refuse to ask for help. Refusal to do that will eventually see you become so mired that it takes a crane to pull you out of the pit you put yourself in, and in some cases, years to scrape the muck off you, even the possibility of your own death.

In my situation, I thought I could handle it. After all, I am a man, and we rock headed men think we can muscle our way out of anything; I was wrong and fought my weaknesses and fears for years with no success. I was also so ashamed and afraid of what others might think of me that I would not ask for help. I was the guy that needed a crane to dig me out of the wreckage I created, and it took years for me to find anything close to an emotional state that I would consider normal. Oh sure, I knew God loved me, I just did not think anyone else did.

Here is part of the problem with not asking for help. In many cases the fear is real because you may not have access to a Christ based recovery group. While worldly groups like AA, NA, or SA have been the salvation of many, the focus is not on God’s love and ability to change. Beside that you are surrounded most of the time by people who are not interested in relating to the God you serve. Should you attempt to tell your problems to the general public – a church body, many will stab you in the back, and some will even accost you with a full frontal attack. That is not the goal, so you need to find people that have been honest and walked the road to recovery themselves. You need to find safe people, and even in recovery groups not all people are safe. Leaders are there because they have proven track records of recovery, and in many cases have walked the humiliating road back to sanity.

Does any of that mean that God changed his mind about you? Not hardly. He started on this path of love toward you before you were ever born. I am sorry that you could not see that; it had the power to change your life, and still does today, no matter where you are at.

Consider the story we call the Prodigal son (You can find the story in Luke chapter 15). A young man, a Jew, that would have no compulsion to even go near a hog, finds himself not only having to feed them, but to eat the same slop that they ate to survive. He finally comes to his senses and decides that returning back to the father he offended, and working as a slave for him would be better than this. The father had no experience like this son had; how could he relate? But he was a man of compassion and an incomprehensible compassion. This father had been watching and waiting for the return of this son and when he saw the son from a long way off he ran to him, throwing his arms around him, putting his cloak upon him, making a feast for him, and reintroduced him back into the family.

So, let’s say that focusing on maintaining and building your relationship with God is more important to me now than thinking about the sins that so easily beset us. I am an expert at diving into sin. But what I am not so expert at is developing the kind of relationship that Enoch had, and he learned how to have this relationship from the man that brought such destruction on us all, Adam.

 

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Something I said triggered him off.

Posted on 12/31/2013 by remso

Something I said during bible study triggered it off, and although I cannot remember the verse reference he used in rebuttal, the theme went like this:

Matthew 7:21-23 NASB “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (22) “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (23) “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

The rebuttal is directed at two things.

  1. Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven.

    And

  2. A an underlying, massive rejection by Jesus/God saying, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME,’

I think I have shared previously how broken I was. I had to relearn who this God was that loved me; in doing so I found a God of mercy beyond my comprehension. Maybe my eyes finally opened and I could see the God of mercy I had never seen before, but as I said I was a broken man with a broken understanding, and the only God I knew was a God of judgment and punishment.

We, as children would have to say this cutesy little prayer at night.

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take

Sounds benign enough, but if you are raised with the concept of God sending you to hell over one little thing, such as, taking His name in vain – taking his name in vain was defined by my mothers personal morality standards, which were unwritten, seemingly impromptu rules that she dished out as she manipulated us children.

If I am honest, this persons interruption, which assured that everyone was focused on him and his immense scriptural understanding, while I was leading bible study made me furious. I had to choose to be diplomatic and polite when everything in me wanted to lash out.

What got my attention as he was taking issue was the emphasis that he put on, “not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven;”as though this applied to believers. This rhetoric was associated with some other comments he made, the passage that he referred to, and Jesus speaking about Judas in John 16 and 17.

As I said, the basis of his rant effectively followed the same theme as Matthew 7. Matthew 7 was a continuation of Christ’s sermon on the mount.

It would seem that the emphasis is on the true believer and what it is that identifies us as such.

True disciples of Christ will be men and women cautious in their judgment of others; conscious of their own faults; confident and earnest in prayer; wary of false teachers and hypocritical profession; building all eternal hopes upon the firm Rock, faith in the Word of God and Christ Jesus.

Summarized Bible, Complete Summary of the Bible, By KEITH L. BROOKS

If I started at Matthew 7:1-2, the opening statement says, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you.”

But the person choosing to disagree was not concerned with judgment, or why God did not know these people he is turning away. He seemed to focus on the idea that these were believers, not meeting some standard, getting turned away from the kingdom.

I like to think about assertions and passages like this in terms of context. Even though it was a mixed crowd that sat and listened to Jesus this day, it safe to assume that it is primarily a Jewish crowd, a religious crowd, and nothing Jesus said got past them, and it appropriately stung. Some even listened with a purposefully critical ear; pharisees who stood by listening were looking for excuses to kill him.

Sadly a belief that focuses on meeting some standard is based in works and our salvation is not by works, but by faith.

Acts 13:38-39 MSG I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. (39) He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.

Romans 5:1 YLT Having been declared righteous, then, by faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 9:30 GW So what can we say? We can say that non-Jewish people who were not trying to gain God’s approval won his approval, an approval based on faith.

Jesus appeared to Saul (the Pharisee) as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute those of the way. He told Saul what his job was going to be, and this is what he said,

Acts 26:18 NASB to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

Perhaps I have established that who we are and how we got here is based solely upon our belief in, Jesus Christ, the one that had to do the hard work (suffering severe blows and death) on our behalf. The closest that anyone came to being a believer prior to the Holy Spirit coming might be the disciples. Jesus referred to them as, “those whom you have given me.” I am not clear on this so I can only speak from assumption.

We cannot make anything close to that assumption with this crowd. They came because they wanted what he could give them, food and healing. They wanted little else.

I think it is safe to say that Jesus statement, “ I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME..”, had nothing to do with followers of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23 begins much earlier in the chapter, but lets just focus on some close proximity statements.

Matthew 7:15-16 GW “Beware of false prophets. They come to you disguised as sheep, but in their hearts they are vicious wolves. (16) You will know them by what they produce. “People don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they?

I want you to focus on several things here.

  1. False prophets. They probably look normal.

God attempted to define for Moses and Aaron things that would indicate that someone was a prophet. You can find this in Numbers 12:6. The problem is that should you challenge someone about their qualifications they could tell you anything to appease you.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 NIV If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, (2) and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” (3) you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. (4) It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. (5) That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.

If you read the passage above then you picked up on two things. This person attempts to lead you away from the true God, and you are to get them out of your midst. (I am not giving you the carte blanche to harm anyone.)

  1. They come disguised as sheep. I mentioned that they probably look normal. Have you got some perception of what a Christian looks like? Throw it out because it is wrong. We are all shapes and sizes, and some of us are tattered, while others wear fine clothes. None of that makes a stitch of difference in God’s eyes. If he needs you appropriately dressed, to stand before kings, then he will make sure that happens. What you need to understand is that as you sit there in your comfortable church pew, you could be sitting next to a wolf in sheeps clothing and not know it.

  2. You will know them by what they produce. Jesus, it would seem, threw a little sarcasm at us when he said, “People don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? So the wolf will be trying to get you work in opposition to God’s standard, a baseline laid out by His word. Sadly that requires that you READ God’s word for yourself and not be dependent upon what some “teacher” tells you; that includes me.

What kinds of things can you expect to see being produced when the wolf gets involved?

Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,

Romans 1:25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-

Romans 1:29-32 NIV They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, (30) slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; (31) they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. (32) Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

You can find more should you choose to look, things that speak to the works of the flesh. Now those things are covered in the passages from Romans but just to show you I will give a little more.

Galatians 5:19-21 NIV The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; (20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions (21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

I can imagine what many are saying right now, but these are works of the flesh, common to every man, and you would be right, but they are in total opposition to God, and the reason we were born into sin, for Adam did exactly this, when he chose to do his own selfish thing, allowing for sin to enter into the world through man. Life and liberty re-entered through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.

Perhaps the question you should be asking is: What is a false prophet?

In Acts 13 we see Saul (he had not changed his name yet) and Barnabas traveling, and teaching God’s word to the Jews (That may be important).

Acts 13:6-12 NIV They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, (7) who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. (8) But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. (9) Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, (10) “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? (11) Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. (12) When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Did you notice that the man Bar-Jesus was a Jew. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

So the original premise was that, according to the guy that disrupted the flow of bible study that day, some Christians will not be allowed into the kingdom of heaven. Let’s go back to what might have been his backing for such a statement.

Matthew 7:21-23 NASB “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. (22) “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ (23) “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

If I look back at the experience of Barnabas and Saul (Paul), then what I see in this man Elymas, is a man, learned in the Talmud, the law and prophets; able to argue against Saul’s teachings (you really should be very skillful in the same literature that you wish to argue against if you want to defeat or discourage someone), and he performs amazing “miracles” that aid in his presentation and the contestation of others, at this moment the proconsul, Sergius Paulus.

Elymas was not a believer in Jesus Christ at this point and perhaps not a fair argument. The writer of Hebrews, in chapter 13:5, to followers of Christ (believers), states, ‘because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”‘

Our men’s bible study has been slogging our way through the book of John. But that gospel is John’s demonstration that Jesus, on this earth, was God, and therefore a huge and significant demonstration of God’s character as seen in Jesus’ actions and words.

John 10:27-30 NIV My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (28) I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. (29) My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (30) I and the Father are one.”

If I based my understanding about the security of my relationship on this alone I could be confident, but I have showed you more.

The idea and reference for God casting aside some who claim to be his comes out the Great White Throne judgment. This happens at the end of the millennial reign. Look this up in Revelation 20:11–15. Jesus was talking about this very moment when he described a separation of the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:31 – 46)

Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.

It is possible to develop side essays on virtually everything that shows up on these pages; that was not the point. The point was to address the question of whether God will choose to throw us aside someday. Should you think that your pettiest of sins will change his heart about you, you are wrong. Christ’s death was an all inclusive payment for the sins of the whole world, then and forever, so you are okay in that regard, as long as you have accepted Jesus Christ as the one who paid that price for you.

Another strong argument as to how much he loves and cares for you comes from that famous verse, Romans 3:16. God, so loved a broken and unloving world, that he, regardless of how that world might trash his love, sent his only Son as a sacrifice to save it.

He cares for you, and should you choose to follow him, he will never let go of you. In this you can trust.

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2013 in review

Posted on 12/30/2013 by remso

Thank you being a part of the saga.

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,000 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 33 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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What does it mean to say Merry Christmas?

Posted on 12/24/2013 by remso

Yes, I reread my own post. In truth, I write because I feel I have something to say to myself. It stuff like Mr. Silver Thread, and if you work down to it, the meaning of Christmas.

remso's avatarA Voice in the Wilderness

My days off are split but I am learning to live with it. I suppose that means no overnight trips into the desert to view the night sky, something I have not seen in over thirty years. But it would be good to have some recovery time for the feet. Oh well. I try to get as many things done in my one as possible, like laundry and early morning bible study. It is about the only day that I have time to sit at the keyboard and input based upon my previous thoughts I have written in my notepad.

12/14/2012

The day starts with another deadly tragedy, but after praying for the survivors and their families, life goes on.

Sitting at lunch we watched a man walk by the window. He was a little bent over but I attributed that to his age. The oddity to me was that…

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Initially I made the assumption.

Posted on 12/23/2013 by remso

An internet friend of mine told me, upon slogging through one of my posts, that I could have broken it down into at least three posts. Since then I try to be careful to not overburden the reader, but come on, I have all these thoughts in my head and have to get them out.

The co-leader opened the meeting and had someone read John 18:1-11. He made it clear that his focus was on the power of God as he  stood there in the form of a man. Sounded good to me, but quickly I found myself so distracted as he made the same mistake that I did. Reading from the NASB he zeroed in on “the Roman soldiers that were there“, and that is a problem.

Call it what you want, a side note, a distraction, or one of my rabbit trails, but when someone brings up the word humility or humble it is always, in my opinion, misapplied. For me, this word humble really came into being with Moses, for God deemed him an example of humility.

Numbers 12:2-3 NASB  and they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the LORD heard it.  (3)  (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)

I put both verse two and three up to show that there is a context to the statement about Moses. I believe that what you find when you study out Moses and humility, is that in the face of problems he turned to God. How is this relevant to Jesus, confronted by a band of hostile men, in the garden? Moses became an example of Jesus, the man that was to come. Theology calls Moses a type of Christ.

When you consider Moses upbringing, raised in Pharaoh’s home, educated in knowledge and the Egyptian ways, as well as being crossed trained until he was weaned, and I am guessing his momma carried that out as long as she could, teaching him everything he could absorb about who he really was, a Hebrew. Since the majority of his time is spent learning to be an Egyptian leader, Moses would have been the antithesis of humility, demanding respect and telling people what to do.

Jesus Christ, was God in that garden, and he told them so. ego hoti eimi – ego (I) hoti (because) eimi (was, exist, and will be). When he responded with this statement all that were gathered to take him fell backward. There was very little about that moment that we could consider humble, unless you look at it from the standpoint that Jesus, still choosing  to be a man who had set aside his deity, pulled that power from the Father himself.

Not knowing if they even made to their feet we see Jesus saying, Now! whom were you seeking? (my translation)

With that said we jump into the verse and problem with the word Roman as used by the NASB.

John 18:3 CEV Judas had promised to betray Jesus. So he (Judas) went to the garden with some Roman soldiers and temple police, who had been sent by the chief priests and the Pharisees. They carried torches, lanterns, and weapons. Jesus already knew everything that was going to happen, but he asked, “Who are you looking for?” They answered, “We are looking for Jesus from Nazareth!” Jesus told them, “I am Jesus!” (The contemporary English version combined verses 3-5.)

A couple of days since I started writing this and I cannot remember precisely why I included this passage from Luke. As I look at it I believe my thoughts may have leaned toward evidence that demonstrates that Judas only made his transactions with “the chief priests and officers“. Verse 2 of Luke 22 tells us that is was the chief priests and the scribes. This all happened before the passover, so the chief priests and the scribes would have had the time to gather those they deemed necessary.

Luke 22:1-6 NASB Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. (2) The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people. (3) And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. (4) And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them. (5) They were glad and agreed to give him money. (6) So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them apart from the crowd.

The premise for Judas betrayal is also found in Mark’s gospel chapter 14.

Mark 14:14-26 LITV  And wherever he goes in, say to the housemaster, The Teacher says, Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?  (15)  And he will show you a large upper room, having been spread and made ready. Prepare for us there.  (16)  And His disciples went out and came into the city and found it as He told them. And they prepared the Passover.  (17)  And evening having come, He came with the Twelve.  (18)  And as they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, Truly I say to you, One of you will betray Me, the one eating with Me.  (19)  And they began to be grieved, and to say to Him one by one, Not at all I, is it? And another, Not at all I, is it?  (20)  But answering, He said to them, It is one from the Twelve, the one dipping in the dish with Me.  (21)  Truly the Son of Man goes as it has been written concerning Him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It were good for him if that man had never been born.  (22)  And as they were eating, Jesus taking a loaf, blessing, He broke and gave to them. And He said, Take, eat, this is My body.  (23)  And taking the cup, giving thanks, He gave to them. And they all drank out of it.  (24)  And He said to them, This is My blood, that of the New Covenant, which is poured out concerning many.  (25)  Truly I say to you, No more, I may not drink from the produce of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God, never!  (26)  And singing a hymn, they went to the Mount of Olives.

Matthew gives us an account of Judas getting paid thirty pieces of silver to betray him.

Matthew 26:14-16 NASB Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests (15) and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. (16) From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.

Now as I continued to read I noticed something odd.

John 18:3 NASB Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, *came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

The NASB places the word Roman in a faded type. This has similarities to the Amplified which puts words in italics when there is a presumed reason for the word placement but no real basis for its placement. Such is the case with the word Roman. Many translations use the word Roman to define the Latin word speira, which was translated troops, or cohort. The word means something  as simple as a band of men.

The dictionary definition of cohort is:

COHORT, n. 1. Among the Romans, a body of about five or six hundred men; each cohort consisted of three maniples, and each maniple, of two centuries; and ten cohorts constituted a legion. 2. In poetry, a band, mass or body of men.

Are you kidding me? 500-600 men Roman soldiers, along with the Jewish leaders, and Sanhedrin cops. All of which are crowding into the garden to grab one single “insurrectionist.”

Initially I assumed that this was correct. The problem comes when you don’t pursue the truth, and I made some statements based upon incorrect information. I have included those statements to show their inappropriateness.

Judas went and gathered them together. He took them to the place where he would find Jesus.

Using the premise that these were Roman soldiers I asked? What had Jesus done to deserve weapons drawn against him? Maybe this was standard procedure, maybe the Pharisees dramatized the situation enough to alert the Romans. For the Romans to react with the Pharisees implies that this is the case. What did they say to Herod? He calls himself king, demonstrating a potential for rebellion.

Luke’s gospel, while true, could be used to defend an incorrect position, and I did that.

Luke 23:2 ASV And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king.

This was of course a lie, created by the Pharisees, and worded to sound like Jesus was an insurrectionist, this should have played the right chords with the Romans.

Although the premise may be true consider that the signal to be given was Judas kiss on the cheek of the master, and he did so. If they all knew this (and I have no reason to believe that he did not tell them that) then there would be no need to ask identifying questions, unless this band of angry men did not personally know Jesus as the Pharisees did.

Did Judas draw that much attention to his cause? For the Romans to send this many men they must have anticipated a riot.

There is no way he carried any clout at all. The Pharisees did not respect him; he was a traitor as they were, and Judas would not have been able to arouse that kind of response out of the Romans.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary states, “Many scholars have noted that this military contingent is described in a manner much like Roman cohorts (so NASB). Nevertheless, the same language was equally used of Jewish units, and this unit is undoubtedly Jewish—the temple guard. (Roman troops would not be used for a routine police action like this one, and Romans would not have taken Jesus to the house of Annas—Joh_18:13—whom they had deposed.)”

It does not make sense that Judas brought 600 Roman troops, plus whatever he brought from the Chief priest. The garden was too small, and he would have told them the number of people who may have been part of any initial threat.

Weapons! Really? If this was primarily a Jewish force, they would have remembered that they tried to stone on several occasions and Jesus slipped away. They were not letting him slip away tonight. In a sense this was a lynch mob, but Jesus would not allow that. He had to be sacrificed and the priesthood had to put him there for the sins of the world. Now was the best time for the true nature of the God-man to step forward.

I mentioned a couple of things at the beginning of this post.

  1. All those that came to take him were pushed backward to the ground.
  2. We do not know if they had made back to their feet when he said a second  time, “whom do you seek?”

Something I read once tried to prove classic Jewish sarcasm, and that Jesus was just as good at it as they were. An example was in Jesus responses to Nathanael after he responded with, “what good thing comes out of Nazareth?” Watch how Jesus responds to his comment.

John 1:46-51 MKJV  And Nathanael said to him, Can there be any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.  (47)  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him and said of him, Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!  (48)  Nathanael said to Him, From where do You know me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.  (49)  Nathanael answered and said to Him, Rabbi, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel!  (50)  Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.  (51)  And He said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Hereafter you shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

“Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!” Are you kidding me. That was cut to the bone sarcasm and Nathanael knew it. Jesus rapidly followed that with, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Now he has Nathanael’s attention and Nathanael replies, “you are the Son of God. ..the King of Israel!. Jesus is not letting him off that quick and says something that comes off like, oh, you think that is something, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Hereafter you shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Now  put all this into perspective when you look for God’s deity in the garden scenario. Jesus has already demonstrated an aspect of God’s character when dealing with Nathanael. To  the men that have been knocked to their backsides, and may still be lying  there, he says, “Whom do you seek?”

What possibilities would that convey? God is in control, not you! How  many times has God spoken to our hearts but we do not recognize it, and think that it is our own fantastic minds that came up with that plan. Get over it. God is in control, and Jesus is on a mission and he is  not letting some angry mob disrupt his  plans. He is to be brutally beaten, accused, and hung on the cross, a sacrifice offered up by the priesthood, for the sins of the world. And he is not allowing any of his disciples to be lost to this angry crowd.

He asked them a second time, Whom do you seek? Were they back on their feet by now? I do not know. How many were now afraid to open their mouths in response.

There was no bartering, He applied some logic and said, “So if you are looking for me, let these other men go.”

John 18:7-9 NASB Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.” (8) Jesus answered, “I told you that I am; so if you seek Me, let these go their way,” (9) to fulfill the word which He spoke, “Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one.”

He just showed them a small portion of his power and authority. Once again, Whom do you seek?

Alright, since we have established that it is me alone, let these go their way.

I cannot stop thinking about one the scenes from Star Wars where Obi-Wan and Luke are confronted by imperial guards. Luke Skywalker, like Peter is ready to draw his weapon, but Obi-Wan demonstrates the authority and power.

Stormtrooper: Let me see your identification.

Obi-Wan: [with a small wave of his hand] You don’t need to see his identification.

Stormtrooper: We don’t need to see his identification.

Obi-Wan: These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.

Stormtrooper: These aren’t the droids we’re looking for.

Obi-Wan: He can go about his business.

Stormtrooper: You can go about your business.

Obi-Wan: Move along.

Stormtrooper: Move along… move along.

Religion has beat the notion of authority and power out of us. We, as a church fear it, and yet the world craves it. Those in third world nations tend to understand and revel in spiritual power. We have missed out, mocking the movement of the Holy Spirit and our bodies inability to handle the power of God.

I dealt with mediocre all my life and I can  tell you that I am sick of it. I want a life filled with power. I have wanted this all my life. Every time I came close religious people beat it out of me. I got distracted and slowed down but I  have never lost that desire. Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit would  come upon them and:

  • empower them
  • fill them with a river of living water
  • flow out of their innermost being
  • bring all things – that he taught them – back to their remembrance
  • teach them all things.

I could go on. Though not precisely the words that Jesus spoke directly to them, but since the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and Jesus is the Word, no  matter where it is found in scripture, then he is talking to you and I. Peter stood on the day of Pentecost, empowered by this Holy Spirit, and opened his mouth, influencing over 3000 to come to knowledge of this Jesus Christ, the Son of the living  God.

Here is the bad news. I believe that time is so short. The beast and the harlot of Revelation  are running  rampant  across the globe, and  if you had not noticed they do not care about you. Jesus, just as he promised, is coming soon to catch his own away. There are many that will be left. Decent people, kind people, people who never acknowledged that Jesus is God, and they will be left behind. The events that follow the rapture will be so decimating that 1/4 of the world’s population will be killed as martyrs for Christ. Do you realize that our Mormon and Jehovah Witness friends etc. will have to make some potentially rapid but deadly decisions.

Turn to Jesus Christ while there is time, for no man knows how much time there is left. It could be as you read this. But there is a positive aspect of this. Think about the scene from Stars Wars that I conveyed to you. Part of what Peter preached on Pentecost day was a message based upon Joel chapter 2. If you are brave enough to read the entire second chapter you will find it to be ominous. But even in  the midst of destruction there is a light that shines and this is exactly what Peter told those people who could hear him. I hear him!

Joel 2:28, 29, 32  And it shall be afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams; your young men shall see visions. And also I will pour out My Spirit on the slaves and on the slave women in those days.
Joel 2:32  And it shall be, whoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved;

Should you choose not to believe me that is your business and loss. Many will bow to the beast ( I happen to think that beast will be Islam and the Mahdi) take what ever marking they demand as submission, and worship the beast (Allah). This will seal their fate eternally from God’s presence.

And it shall be, whoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be saved;

Don’t gamble with this. I am fighting this onslaught from multiple directions. As the situations arise I am alerting people to vote and make your voice known and heard. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians saying that there is something holding back the onslaught of the antichrist. That force is believers and  others that are making a stand against the godless world. That is not necessarily true. They have a god and it is themselves. I have been called to be watchman upon the wall, and my job is to blow the warning trumpet as loudly as I can. This is one of the ways I do that. How you respond is on you.

 

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My co-leader led the bible study this A.M. He put a slightly different spin on the passage than I would have, but he added a couple of things that got my attention.

John 18:1 GNB After Jesus had said this prayer, he left with his disciples and went across Kidron Brook. There was a garden in that place, and Jesus and his disciples went in. John 18:2 CEV Jesus had often met there with his disciples, and Judas knew where the place was.

2Samuel 15:30And David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and wept as he went, and his head was covered and he walked barefoot. Then all the people who were with him each covered his head and went up weeping as they went.

David, the man after God’s own heart, was accustomed to going to the Mount.

Zechariah 14:4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.

Zechariah prophesied of his physical return to the earth, to make things right in the last days.

Matthew 24:3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

This was their quiet place. Oh yes, he was very familiar with this place.

It seems I did not realize the depth of two simple verses. But then that may be part of our problem; we seem to think that everything is just a simple, meaningless verse. One of the ways you shake that kind of thinking is to realize that this bible you hold is a Jewish book. Yes, the appeal tends to change with Mark’s gospel and then Paul’s writings, but overall it speaks deeply to the Jewish heart. Having at least a minimal understanding of the Jewish heart can help.

My co-leader had done a bit of reading on the brook Kidron, and said some things I have never heard before. I looked at some of my commentaries and found this:

John 18:1

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he entered, and his disciples.

“I detain the Reader at the very entrance on this Chapter, in order to beg his attention to what the Sacred Writer hath said of this brook Cedron, or Kidron. It is evidently the same as that mentioned, 2Sa_15:23. And as David, in passing over this brook in his distresses, was clearly a type of Christ, it merits our attention the more. Some have thought that the name of Cedron, or Kidron, which signified black, was given to it because it lay in a dark valley. And others conclude, that its name was taken from the black and foul waters which ran into it from the temple sacrifices. In either sense, the gloominess of it, and the filth of it, rendered it loathsome. And if, as is supposed, the prophetic Psalm concerning Christ had an eye to this brook when it is said, that he should drink of the brook in the way; Psa_110:7. it may serve to lead the mind to some very solemn and interesting reflections. Here it was that the good king Josiah caused the polluted vessels of the temple to be burnt. 2Ki_23:4. And all the uncleanness found in the house of the Lord in Hezekiah’s reign, was carried here. 2Ch_29:16. Jesus passing over it, and drinking of the brook in his way, may not unaptly be supposed to represent the filth and blackness of sin, in which Christ as our representative appeared. And his drinking of it might be supposed to refer to the cup of trembling, which, as the Church’s Surety he drank to the very dregs, that his people might drink the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Isa_51:22; Psa_116:13.”

Poor Man’s Commentary, by Robert Hawker

This all makes so much sense to me now considering what was about to befall Jesus.

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Posted on 12/22/2013 by remso | Leave a comment

Jesus came for one reason

Posted on 12/10/2013 by remso

“My life was not meant to be an example to copy. Being my follower is not trying to ‘be like Jesus’, it means for your independence to be killed. I came to give you life, real life, my life. We will come and live our life inside of you, so that you begin to see with our eyes and hear with our ears, and touch with our hands, and think like we do. But we will never force that union on you. If you want to do your thing, have it. Time is on our side.” ~Jesus speaking From the book, The Shack

Jesus came for one reason, to give us life, and to give us safe passage back to the Father should we choose to follow him by believing in him.

Hebrews 6:17-20 GNB To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. (18) There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. (19) We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. (20) On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

I had to stop, overwhelmed by this realization once again. My eyes filled with tears as I thought, why me? I have done nothing to deserve such love. It can only be because of the strength and mercy of the Father.

In reading the Hebrews passage above I can see clearly at verse 19 that Jesus is that hope. Hope is a person, and he is safe, sure, and an anchor for our lives.

With that in mind we finish off chapter 17. The anchor and future high priest was standing there encouraging them in the hope. There was still so much for the Holy Spirit to show in the future, but the basis for hope stood before them.

If we continued in chapter 17 I believe I would look at verses 21 and 24.

John 17:20-21 NASB “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; (21) that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

I included verse 20 because it tends to clarify and answer the question that verse 21 presents me.

Who is he talking about when he says, “that they may all be one;”?

We should all understand by this point that he is talking about, and to, the disciples directly, and future believers indirectly.

Why would he have to make such a statement unless they did not have the unity he had hoped for?

If Jesus had to say this, then they were not one with each other. I think the term we are looking for is unity. The Greek word is heis, and means the numeral one. That can only mean cohesiveness.

Now I want to look for examples of how the disciples reacted with each other.

I struggled for a moment, but then my mind pictured the boys struggling with each other, and then verbally pulling at Jesus as they fought to gain superiority with him by getting Jesus to allow one to sit next to him at the throne of power. You can see this here:

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She *said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.” But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” He *said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, (Matthew 20:20-26 NASB)

“….even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us,..”

There is something about this that is so intense it overwhelms me. Why would it do that?

Because Jesus is speaking about the relationship that I can and should have with the Father.

I believe that Jesus always had his prayers answered, therefore there is nothing on God’s part that is preventing me from living in a continual relationship like Jesus did.

One might think that Jesus had fewer distractions than we do; perhaps, they were definitely different, more relational, but stress is still an inconvenience.

John 17:24 NASB “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

This statement is filled with Joy. I am not sure why I said that, especially when you consider what he has said to the disciples and what he is about to endure, but we have this as our hope.

Again the idea that Jesus always had his prayers answered tells me that we will be with him, where he is. And for those who struggle, trying to comprehend what we will be doing in Heaven, we have other verses to support the this glory which we will share in.

Psalms 31:19 AMP Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear, revere, and worship You, goodness which You have wrought for those who trust and take refuge in You before the sons of men!

Isaiah 64:4 AMP For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.

“..for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

I find myself frequently reminding myself that God chose me. Why would I do that? Because I am damaged and have to be reminded that I am loved and wanted.

How many people are we surrounded by that are like that; so broken that they have to be reminded that they are wanted

Ephesians 1:4-6 GW Before the creation of the world, he chose us through Christ to be holy and perfect in his presence. (5) Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this (6) so that the kindness he had given us in his dear Son would be praised and given glory.

1 Peter 1:18-21 GNB For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; (19) it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. (20) He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. (21) Through him you believe in God, who raised him from death and gave him glory; and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.

Conclusion: We have an intercessor who appears for us continually to guarantee our safe delivery to the haven above and our keeping along the way. He prays not for the world but for those who are His, and those that will be his in the future.

That they might be preserved in their salvation;

that they might have His joy;

that they might be fortified against the evils of the world;

that they might be purified through His Word;

that they might demonstrate oneness with Him;

that they might be edified in Him,

and at last behold His glory.

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Your glory on earth

Posted on 12/07/2013 by remso

“I have shown your glory on earth”

John 17:4 GNB I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.

The first thing that enters my thinking is what did he do? I know what he did, he healed them all; he raised the dead; he told them of the kingdom; he told them he was God.

Ask yourself, has he died yet? No; then he is talking about things that he did in human form, subject to everything that we are, and yet he did it.

“his principal work was to declare his Father’s mind and will, his love and grace;“Gill’s commentary

In looking at John 16 I had mentioned that Jesus had come to save and heal the broken, wounded, dying, and lost. He came representing the Father. For those who had a damaged father image this would be difficult to accept, and I asked the question, how do you repair those wounds and regain confidence? Through a repetitious and consistent pattern of love.

Jesus just said that he had done that. For three and a half years he has done the same thing repeatedly by healing and preaching that you were more merciful than anyone had ever known.

“glorify me at your side with the glory that I had at your side before the world existed.”

John 17:5 LEB And now, Father, you glorify me at your side with the glory that I had at your side before the world existed.

Do we have to remind ourselves of what he did in order for him to get to this point, and become our life?

“.. although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 NASB)

So he is now asking the Father to return him back to his original place. Not just to the Father’s side to sit quietly, but a return to the creative, glorified position that was his before he gave himself freely for us.John gave us a rather intense look at who he was and still is.

(John 1:1 LEB) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(John 1:2 LEB) This one was in the beginning with God.

(John 1:3 LEB) All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that has come into being.

(John 1:4 LEB) In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.

John also told us that “all things came into being through him,” And yet what does

Genesis 1:1 tell us: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. How many ways do we need to see or hear this. Jesus was God.

Genesis 1:3 states, “And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.” Try reading it, and Jesus said. Take a second look at the creation saga in Genesis and substitute Jesus in place of God. This is what he is asking the Father to restore him to.

This takes me back to Philippians again:

Philippians 2:6-7 LEB who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God something to be grasped, (7) but emptied himself by taking the form of a slave, by becoming in the likeness of people. And being found in appearance like a man,

He had emptied himself, but of what? Power, authority, glory, and creative abilities. Are you kidding me. How would God remove those traits from himself? Jesus did it voluntarily, and every moment of every day, living as man, trusting entirely on the Father’s will and instruction, was a choice.

Was there ever a time that God said NO, you cannot have that now to Jesus? No, Jesus healed all that were afflicted. So for Jesus to pray and ask the Father to restore him would also be fulfilled.

“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me..”

(John 17:6 NASB) “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

“manifested” from the Greek word phaneroo, and means to render apparent. The word render has a variety of meanings depending on the context. The meaning most applicable to us, because of the context, would be to make beneficial.

Let’s ponder this a moment. If John 17:6 read, I have given your name for use or benefit, to the men you have given me to work with. That sort of conveys an act in which he could have merely presented them with a plaque at the morning crew meeting, told them to enjoy, and left. But that did not happen. In a world (ours) in which on the job training is becoming scarce, he gave them the most intense form of training, he lived with them. They saw most everything he did, and what they saw was a way of life.

It is odd how this works. As I attempt to convey what I feel and find in God’s word I find it speaking loudly to me also. Suddenly I am beginning to grasp in a way that I had not before, that this is not just a religion we are trying to pushing on people, it is a way of life in tune with the Father. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Because he lives in me, that life lives in me, and he has made it plain and beneficial to me to live in this life.

If I operated off the word manifested only, to gain understanding, then I have to deal with this definition of manifest: Plain, open, clearly visible or obvious to the understanding; apparent; not obscure or difficult to be seen or understood.

Alright, we re-write the sentence again. I have made your name, plain, open, clearly visible, and obvious to the understanding, of those you have given me.

At this time, with his death imminent, did they understand. I think they understood, even from their earlier Jewish teachings that there was an afterlife. We see this comprehension in the book of Job.

“Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:26-27 NASB)

Perhaps Eugene Peterson’s Message makes it clearer.

I spelled out your character in detail To the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place; Then you gave them to me, And they have now done what you said. (John 17:6 MSG)

So my take away from all this is that Jesus made the Father clear and understandable, and demonstrated how the Father’s name is of a benefit to them. I have to ponder once again, this idea of making the Father’s name a benefit. Why wouldn’t they have considered the Father’s name a benefit before? Perhaps they did, but religion tends to guard such things as sacred and untouchable, and in that light it may have been almost meaningless to them.

Question:

  1. Who is he talking to? Well Jews of course. But were these the finest and most well-trained scholastically or theologically? Not hardly. Considering that the Jewish father’s dream was to have his son become a rabbi, where did Jesus find most of his disciples? Fishing, sitting under trees, collecting taxes, and a few other places.

  2. So the disciples gained a first hand knowledge of the Father, from the Father himself. What we do not see, as Jesus selects his disciples, is someone like Saul/Paul, who had been skillfully trained in the law, a pharisee. You do not see the disciples protesting when Jesus had them walk through the grain field and start picking the wheat and eating it. Nor do they freak out over a lack of ceremonial washing, when he had prepared fish at the shore and handed it to them to eat. (A sudden change of heart, on my part. Nicodemus, the pharisee who came to Jesus by night, became a disciple. Not one of the original 12, but certainly one of those that received the fullness of the Holy Spirit when it came.)

  3. It seems that the benefit was all strictly relational and practical. Really, what good is a name or something of bartering value, if you do not know how to use it.

For Jesus to make the Father’s name clearly understood and a benefit, then he had to have shown them a consistent, practical use; he demonstrated the character of the Father.

“they were Yours and You gave them to Me”

I have considered this idea on many occasions. Although no longer perplexed by the concept, I still cannot avoid the idea that God had made his decision before the world was made. There is a thread that runs through me, that tells me that much like not being picked for the baseball team as a child, that God might not have picked me. I suppose that is rubbish considering that I am writing this to you now. The other side of this coin tries to tell me that I picked him. We do preach that in our orifices of religion called church. (I say that because we, those who believe and follow after Christ, are the church; not the building.) But then there is God himself, slapping me upside the face with a statement like this.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Everyone who hears this should say, “Come!” If you are thirsty, come! If you want life-giving water, come and take it. It’s free! (Revelation 22:17 CEV)

I placed the Revelation passage in bold type for everything about it seems to scream, there is no exclusivity, God is imploring all to come. If you are thirsty, come!

Yeah, but what if I am not thirsty! I understand this statement comes from many attitudes:

  • You can’t make me drink! I am the consummate rebel and no one will tell me what to do. Clearly you misunderstood, as it is an invite. Everyone gets thirsty at some point, whether physically or spiritually. Why it even gets to the point that you may think that you are going to die (and that may well be). Do you have a choice at that point? Certainly, but your choices may be limited to muddy tainted waters, or come with strings attached that lead to your enslavement once again. (I say once again because Christ, whether you choose to believe it or not, bought your freedom already.) What are you free to do then? Live life on your own terms, or run into the arms of the one who freed you? (I know, I keep forgetting that you call your own shots over your life. Keep believing that.) The short answer is yes, you are free to choose.

  • The generally disinterested. One might say, I am university trained, skilful in the philosophies and scientific thought. Bravo, what has that lead you to? You know how to hide the hurts and pains of life with your great intellect or as many others do through by drinking yourself into a stupor each night. Well, clearly this living water is not for you because you are not thirsty enough yet.

  • There is another aspect to Jesus statement above, for it says, “Everyone who hears this should say come…” now the context of the hearing is the believer who is imploring you to come; I suppose I am doing that now, but there is a darker side of this statement in that many will not hear. Now whether they do that because they cannot hear, or it happens because they choose not to hear, I do not know; that is for God to sort out. But clearly, hearing is a choice and many choose to not listen.

One of the things I loved about God, as I discovered his character, was how straight forward he was. His approach with Abram (eventually God changed his name to Abraham) was to present his plan for the restoration of man through Jesus, and he laid this all out in a dream/vision. This must have been very vivid and real for Abram seeing as we now have it as written word.

“As for me, this is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations.”(Genesis 17:4 CJB)

Knowing full well that the man Abram could and would fail, God made the covenant anyway. I have come to understand that in communicating how he would carry through this covenant, irrespective of the man’s performance, he was making His character very clear. (I despise hearing radio preachers say this), but what God is saying here is, that this is my position and I am not moving from it; in other words God is unchanging.

“Descendants of Jacob, I am the LORD All-Powerful, and I never change. …” (Malachi 3:6 CEV)

“God is not a human who lies or a mortal who changes his mind. When he says something, he will do it; when he makes a promise, he will fulfill it.”(Numbers 23:19 CJB)

The interesting thing about the passage from Numbers, although it conveys the full impact of what I wanted to say, is that the quotation comes from the mouth of Balak, the prophet. He was not a prophet of God, (although certainly used to make this point about God’s character,) but he was a hired gun that offered his services to whoever could pay the price he asked. And he apparently would consult the gods of those who were paying him. Let me make something clear here. The whole world understands the terminology demons. When you consider that when Satan fell he took one-third of an innumerable host with to the earth. They do Satan’s bidding, and they are painfully aware of their eventual demise. In other words, they have nothing to lose. If you think they cannot or will not harm you, think again. Our protection from them comes from our staying within our relationship with the Father, and under his covering, His word. It also demands an active role on our part by standing against them in the name of Jesus Christ. For Balak to call on the gods of others is to call upon the influence of fallen angels.

As for their power; let me remind you that it only took one angel to kill all the first-born of Egypt that first passover night, and there were only two that destroyed all of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities with fire and brimstone. Balak himself met the angel of the Lord standing against him with a sword, as he was on his way to curse Israel. He had to be told by his donkey that this danger was there.

When you make a statement like “God is unchanging!” the same people who will not pick up a bible will say things like, what about Jonah and the Ninevites, as though they have a clue. (You should not be allowed to declared your twisted opinion until after you have done your homework, and from scripture found at least two references, in context, to back up your point.)

“..and they have kept your word. ..”

“I made your name known to the people you gave me out of the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (John 17:6 CJB)

It feels like a movie and I have been watching, over and over, with fascination. I find myself rewinding, and studying the emotion on Jesus face (I have to imagine it) as he says the same thing multiple times, each time with a slightly different spin, in hopes that they grasp it fully this time. Perhaps there are even some that are getting it; this is evidenced in an earlier passage.

So for the present you are also in sorrow (in distress and depressed); but I will see you again and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one can take from you your joy (gladness, delight). (John 16:22 AMP)

The contemporary English Version translates John 17:6 like this: “..but you gave them to me, and they have obeyed you.”

The dictionary definition of obey means to comply with or yield to. In comparison with the pharisees Jesus had their full attention. Obedience does not mean a life without emotion and feeling. Jesus, God himself, displayed emotion – anger, sorrow, pain, joy. You have to keep in mind that we do not get a minute by replay of the three and one half years they spent with him. The disciples got to watch him in action; they saw him on the mount praying; they saw the drops of blood fall as sweat; they saw him respond to the sick and dying as he disregarded his own exhaustion, and they were following his example. He sent them out and they went; upon returning they were ecstatic as they relived such amazing stories of demons responding to the name of Jesus.

I suppose I should end this here. Honestly it is so rich and I enjoy exploring God’s word so much that I do not want to stop. But I too struggle with reading something that could be broken into chapters, giving me some stopping points where I might take respite and continue at a more convenient time, and I am not giving you that opportunity here.

Much of this is the basis for Men’s bible study group, but I am fortunate to cover three verses as the men jump in relating what is being said to some aspect of their lives.

Thanks for reading. To Him be the glory and honor and power forever, and the knowledge that we as believers have a hope of eternity with him.

Should you not know this Jesus Christ or have a confidence that you will spend eternity with Him, you can. Call upon his name and he will come quickly to you. He will come and make his home in you if you ask him, and he will reign over every aspect of your life, giving you life, if you will hand those areas over to him. God paid a massive price for you to be free, and it is his greatest desire for you to walk in that freedom.

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It’s already here!

Posted on 11/30/2013 by remso

Chapter 17, like 16 begins mid-thought. To start there seems inappropriate, so I recap just a bit.

For the time is coming (John 16:2)

Everything about this statement screams excitement. For the disciples it was mixed with pain and sorrow, and yet their time was just around the corner. For those of us that read these passages today the time has already come. There are many who believe that he is still speaking in mystic code, and there are many who believe that the time of God that scripture is speaking plainly to us about, passed with the disciples.

In speaking to the disciples, trying to comfort them and at the same time telling them what their future would be like, he said, 

(I am going to give this to you in a variety of versions because 
the traditional one just does not convey what he was saying and some versions 
are even mysterious.)

– Something close to standard:

John 16:25 MKJV I have spoken these things to you in parables, but the time is coming when I shall no more speak to you in parables, but I will show you plainly of the Father.

– A simplistic, childlike version:

John 16:25 GW “I have used examples to illustrate these things. The time is coming when I won’t use examples to speak to you. Rather, I will speak to you about the Father in plain words.

– This version, though it coveys the meaning, comes off rather intimidating:

John 16:25 ASV These things have I spoken unto you in dark sayings: the hour cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in dark sayings, but shall tell you plainly of the Father.

– When trying to find an accurate translation of scripture, many have said that the NASB is one of the best.

John 16:25 NASB “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.

The hope is that I can give you a translation that allows you to grasp the heart of what Jesus is still telling us today. Sadly, I think that many will still read these passages and determine that this “speaking plainly” was momentary and only for the disciples. I do not agree.

If this was meant to be merely a history of the moment it still demonstrates that there was a turning point, and we know that turning point caused them (the disciples, over 120) to be empowered. The revealing of this change is not that turning point, that happens when they received the Holy Spirit.

I have come to believe that every follower of Jesus Christ received the Spirit of God when they accepted Christ, but I do not see the empowerment in believers that is associated with the baptism; this empowerment is a huge aspect of the message we see in Acts, and a major factor in the drawing of people to Christ. 

(An idea that I attempt to develop is that God’s main purpose is to win back the world through love. Considering how broken and disoriented we are that really only happens because of repeated acts demonstrating that He can be trusted and loved. Perhaps this is why the Holy Spirit is sent to empower us; to demonstrate His acts of love, repeatedly to a broken world.)

“I have come to believe that every follower of Jesus Christ received the Spirit of God when they accepted Christ”

What is wrong with this picture? While it has a multitude of answers, primarily conjecture, as to why, I believe that the deceiver/Satan has done an effective job in getting us to believe that we are powerless, that all that God gave these men was not meant for us and has passed, nor do we get what they got because we don’t need it today – we have doctors and they didn’t. Do you really believe that?

Jesus said he would speak plainly.

Since Christ is the embodiment of the Father then it is the Father that is speaking to us. I try to maintain that attitude so that I do not diminish the word coming to me. An incident I had at work a short time ago, might help to convey what I am talking about.

The store had been closed for a hour and a half. That was when the supervisor that I had unloaded some grief on earlier in the day decided to ask me how I was doing (Look, when you are not doing mentally well it is easy to perceive a simple, innocent question as harassment, and I did). When this happened I knew that I had three choices I could make in response to what was said. I chose poorly, and I have to take responsibility for that. The following day, during worship time at church, the Spirit spoke to me. I knew, without a doubt, that it was Jesus speaking to me. He spoke very plainly and distinctly to me; he spoke in terminology that I understood, and yet when I answered Him back I said, yes sir. That answer, in my mind, conveyed an importance as if the Father was speaking to me.

I guess the take away from John 16:25 is: What is he saying to you?

Another vital aspect of chapter 16 before we move into chapter 17 is,

John 16:27 NASB for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.

I would think that it was obvious that Jesus loved the disciples, and by extension you and I for scripture tells us “that God so loved the world”, but this is taking on a whole new depth for me. The Father loves me!

Why is this aspect of  the Father’s love so important?

When you have not had a father’s love and cannot even understand it, a statement like this is incredible. Some who read this have been sexually abused, while others had nothing more than an ominous dictator for an example.

How do you change an attitude that is that damaged?

Only through repetitious displays of love and a rebuilding of trust. The God of love is all about that, this rebuilding of broken lives; it seems to be his thing.

Jesus introduced his ministry, and the Father’s heart, when He quoted this passage from Isaiah to those in the synagogue that day.

Isaiah 61:1 NASB The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

He effectively told them: This is why I am here and who I am; who God, the Father is!

Consider some of our main characters of the bible when you think about this love toward man.

  • Abraham: has God show up in a dream/vision, lays out his plan to rescue man, what he will do for Abraham if he follows God’s lead, and ends with a defining statement as to His unchanging ways when he says, “as for me.” This happens repeatedly.
  • Samson: this man became prominent in my thinking recently when one of the men in bible study opened up about his desire to lead a youth bible study. He mentioned Samson as a character study he could use. I responded by saying how Samson could be one of the most difficult characters to use because he, at every turn, displays his self will instead of following God’s will. What makes Samson stand out is his trust and God’s trust of him. God never let go, nor gave up on him. The Father loved him.

This seems like the perfect lead in to chapter 17

John 17:1 BBE Jesus said these things; then, lifting his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the time has now come; give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you:

“Father, the time has now come;”

Did we have any doubts as to when the time would come?

It almost seems appropriate to say, I saw the movie and I know what is coming next. Really I have read and heard this story many times and know the torture he will soon endure, his eventual death, resurrection, return to the Father, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And yet many are still looking for that time to come. I cannot begin to tell you how sorrowful that makes me.

“the time” takes on multiple meanings all of sudden.

You should know at this point that he is aware of the impending pain, and unspeakable horror, but that is not the “the time” he is referring to.

He is also intensely aware that the plan of salvation is about to come to fulfillment, and there is the fact that soon, the Holy Spirit of God will be poured out, not only on the disciples, but everyone.

Read Acts 10:22-44 There you find that this Holy Spirit not only fell on someone other than a disciple, but a non-Jew as well.

“glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You..”

Glorify = to render esteem.

This is not be something that God suddenly decided Jesus was worthy of.

Psalms 86:9 NASB All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And they shall glorify Your name.

Unless something changed, but what changes, even if at least momentarily?

Jesus, while hanging on the cross, an action soon to transpire, says,

Mark 15:34 MKJV And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? (which being translated is, My God, My God, why did You forsake Me?)

I cannot tell you how many sermons I have heard on this and yet so few seem to get it. The relationship was broken, and lost, at least momentarily.

God had to forsake him. (Forsake= to quit or leave entirely)

Why? Because Jesus became sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

I have heard it said that God cannot look upon sin, but I cannot find a precise reference in scripture that defends this sort of statement.

Ezekiel gives me a little something, but I cannot really see how this fits unless it demonstrates how Jesus took the full brunt of wrath that we deserved.

Ezekiel 5:11  (11) Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord; surely, because thou hast defiled my holy things with all thine abominations, I also will reject thee; mine eye shall not spare, and I will have no mercy.

The prophet Habakkuk prophesied and lamented at the same time, and to some degree made the statement, but there is a context and you have read the statement in light of the context, and it is not about God just turning his back on evil.

Habakkuk 1:13 GNB  But how can you stand these treacherous, evil men? Your eyes are too holy to look at evil, and you cannot stand the sight of people doing wrong. So why are you silent while they destroy people who are more righteous than they are?

There was more to this payment He made on the cross than just sin.

Hebrews 12:2 NASB fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

All of the payment for sin, sin that was our debt, not his, was placed upon him.

Colossians 2:13-14 NASB (13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, (14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

They did not nail any pieces of paper to the cross with our sins written on it, (I have done this several times. There is the opportunity for a mental, momentary separation from that sin, but it does not remove sin) and tell us ok, all is forgiven. No, Jesus took this unto himself. He became sin; our sin, and was himself nailed to the cross. That action bought our forgiveness, canceled our debt for sin, and completely took it out of the way.

John 17:2 NASB even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.

Sorry, this just does not make sense. Lets try another version.

John 17:2 EMTV just as You have given Him authority over all flesh, so that He will give eternal life to all You have given Him.

Jesus is still alive at this point, and there is a general understanding that Jesus submission to the cross entitled him to great benefits.

Philippians 2:8-11 EMTV (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (9) Therefore God also has highly exalted Him, and has graciously given Him a name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee may bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue may confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So the authority over all flesh really happened long before the cross. This had to come while he was with the Father, and quite possibly from the beginning of time. And yet this simple phrase has multiple definitive moments, for Christ, and also for us.

Here is why?

“so that He will give eternal life to all You have given Him. “

We can read this passage and make the assumption that this pertains to the disciples only.

Another version seems more open – less restrictive.

“so that he would give eternal life to everyone you give him. “

This, to me, represents all those in the future, which includes us, therefore we all, who have believed in him.

How many has God given him? Perhaps it is a limited number, and if you are a believer, you are just one of the fortunate ones?

I am reminded that “God so loved the world that he gave.” I cannot read this without thinking that his love was and is poured out toward everyone.

Matthew 4:23-24 KJV And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. (24) And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

They did not just bring him the resident Jews. Most of them did not believe that he was God and probably would not have come anyway. They brought everybody.

Romans 10:12 KJV For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

Romans 11:32 KJV For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

If you have ever wondered what it meant to have eternal life?

John 17:3 NASB “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

What are the ramifications of a statement like that?

To know is the Greek word ginosko, meaning to comprehend, be aware, or perceive, among others.

What if we re-stated the verse. “This is eternal life, that they may comprehend you, the only true God ….” And yet even this gives us problems because there are those that come off as though they comprehend but have no relationship with him at all.

Doesn’t any interpretation of what Jesus said, have to do with an intimate relationship, one much like the disciples had?

“This is eternal life, that they may know You..”

To trust this statement is to trust in the hope. What hope?

Titus 1:1-2 NASB Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, (2) in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,

Paul understood that there was a hope of eternal life, but as some conjecture, eternity will be nothing more than sitting around singing old church hymns to God. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Paul told us that no eye has seen, nor has the mind comprehended what God has prepared.

1 Corinthians 2:9 EMTV But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

But this concept is not just a New Testament one. Look at what the Psalmist has to say.

Psalms 31:19 NASB How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men!

Romans 9:23 ERV He waited with patience so that he could make known the riches of his glory to the people he has chosen to receive his mercy. God has already prepared them to share his glory.

Why would God do anything like this, for us?

Because the entire reason we were created was to walk with him as family.

John 8:34-36 MSG Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. (35) A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. (36) So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.

We who are followers of Christ have been made to be sons, and have gained an established position in the house.

Ask Jesus Christ to make himself real to you today. Receive him as the ruling member of your life and you to can enjoy the life with the Father.

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Papa, are we there yet?

Posted on 11/25/2013 by remso

In ways they were much like the grand kids on a longer trip, saying, “papa, are we there yet?” But how much do I still sound like this, for sometimes I find myself doing and thinking the same things as the disciples did.

John 16, it seems, should be the epic heroes tale, with Jesus as the hero telling his troops (the boys) about the things of the future, a conquering victor, a life with that victor, and an end of the story that is beyond comprehension and belief, for nothing has ever turned out that good, except for one thing; this life they have lived in his presence.

Now if that is the way they thought then the idea of Jesus leaving them must have been unconscionable. If you are honest as you read chapter 16 you can see what I am talking about.

I did not lead this last Sunday, our co-leader did, but I always go ready; one never knows, besides, didn’t Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tell us that we are to be ready all the time.

2 Timothy 4:2 GW  Be ready to spread the word whether or not the time is right. Point out errors, warn people, and encourage them. Be very patient when you teach.

So when my partner threw out his first question, and you could cut the silence with a knife, I jumped in (I always have something to say.) Many  times I refrain from saying things because I want the guys to interact. Interaction tells me that you are either learning, or at least invested in the story.

We did not cover the rest of the chapter the way I would have, but we finished.

I am not done yet. Let’s pick this up at John 16:13

John 16:13 ASV Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.

John 16:13 MKJV However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come.

I am not the great theologian. If I were I would dissect this section where it talks about, “when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come,…”

This seems so impersonal, so vague, and yet we should understand that Jesus interacted with this same spirit when he was in the presence of the Father.

I could be wrong in interpreting this but it seems that Jesus was speaking of himself, not the spirit, when he said this:

John 14:18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

Loosely I could say he fulfilled this promise after he rose from the dead. He could not make this promise once he departed back to the Father, which was the trigger for the Holy Spirit to come, because none of the disciples would live on forever. Many died within months of this oration, others, like John, lived on for many years. And yet none had a physical visitation from Jesus Christ, (I think).

Having read the book, “The Shack”, where the Holy Spirit is an ethereal, undefinable entity, that seems to move as though he is responding to the slightest breeze. It becomes difficult to think of it as a he. Why not? Jesus came from the Father, so does the Spirit; Jesus does only what the Father tells him, so does the spirit. So the Spirit and Jesus fully carry the importance, and duty of the Father.

How would you go about trying to define the Holy Spirit, that is going to replace him, to a bunch of guys that apparently are coming apart at the seams?

“when the Spirit of truth comes,”

We already understand that Jesus had laid out what would occur: his death, his resurrection, his ascent to the Father, and his word that they Comforter would come to them. This is all in the near future to them.

Spirit of – pneuma – We find this throughout scripture. This is the Holy Spirit.

Jude 1:20-21 NASB But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, (21) keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

2 Timothy 1:12-14 NASB For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. (13) Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (14) Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.

1 John 4:13 NASB By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

Truth – alētheia – what is true in any matter under consideration.

This concept is something I ran across while involved in the faith movement. I had no idea that the Word itself conveyed this meaning. Circumstances may say otherwise but God’s word is true regardless of the circumstances around you.

Comes – to be established, find its place, become known, and shows itself.

 “he will lead you into all the truth;”

hodēgeō – to be a guide, lead on one’s way, to guide.

I suppose that all we have to do is to trust him. Having been raised to be negative and not trust, I find it difficult at times to decide whose voice I am hearing. Therefore, We are forced to live by faith and have to learn to trust.

Again, the wide view is to say that with the Holy Spirit to guide me, then I probably do not need a pastor. Somehow I feel like this is inappropriate, and yet how much less appropriate is it to argue against God’s word.

I will be honest. I go to church, and I enjoy my Pastor’s messages. My concept of Pastor has had to change as I have a variety of relationships with such. This one has been my pastor for about seven years and we have shaken hands, perhaps twice. Compare this lack of contact with the pastor that I used to ride motorcycles with. I suppose that is the drawback of a large church. Selah.

Sometimes though, like when I have been up since sunrise, and now, hours later, I am sitting in a comfortable chair, I fall asleep, far too often.

If I were to choose my greatest reason for being at church I would have to say that it is the people, for so many of these people have become family to me. Yes, I deeply value worship. It is the time that opens me up spiritually, and I always find myself pouring my heart out in prayer during worship. But having “family” that understands and makes themselves available when I am struggling, and they with me.

Honestly, if each one of us has the Holy Spirit in them, capable of teaching them, and guiding them, then our greatest draw should be the interaction with others.

If you have no idea what I am talking about, then I suggest you come to know this Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will come into you and fill you with the power and presence of the living God. You will be a member of the family and Jesus will come to restore us to the Father once again.

Time is short.

Practice loving on people and enjoy this life we have in Christ.

If you do not know this Jesus, nor have a hope of salvation from the onslaught that is coming, I suggest that you give him your life and take his in return. Jesus said he would come into you and abide in you, that is the Holy Spirit of God he is talking about. Along with this relationship comes an assurance that he will come again and take you to be with him and the Father in  a lasting, eternal relationship. A life that is beyond anything  that you can imagine (I, and others, have come up  with some wild scenarios like plants that light up when you touch them or make music as they emit colors). Enough weirdness. Just know that God  loves you and longs to have you rejoin the family.

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