LIfe: The Hour of Testing

October 30, 2019

​Therefore, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
Is There Something More to Life? A short lesson on life, leaves you seeking and hoping there is more to life then what meets the eye. The church is evidence of this, as people flood through the doors with the resounding questions, "Is there a God," and "What is the purpose of my life?" The hearts of man are empty and this world only offers dead works leading to more darkening of their understanding (Ephesians 4:18). And in weakness of spirit, one must admit the vast numbers of people asking these questions are outside the church, for this is the place where they've been hurt the most. Having asked these questions myself, and being transformed upon finding the answer, I've dedicated my entire life to delivering the good news to this broken world. Our great God only wants, You (to) love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37) and He will take care of everything else.

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Created of Dust to Be Transformed to Eternal Sonship with God

October 28, 2019

Man Made in the Image of God; Being Created in Time, Space and Matter; to be Transformed to Eternal Sonship with Him in His Kingdom. God created man in His image as male and female (Genesis 1:26). He made them of flesh from the earth with life as a living being from His own breath (Genesis 2:7). Man was distinct in creation, being given a mind and flesh differing from that of animals (1 Corinthians 15:39; Daniel 4:16). By his very design, God created us with intrinsic value. Even with this glory, it was weakened by the flesh (Matthew 26:41; Romans 8;3), as we borne the image of the man of dust (1 Corinthians 15:49).  But in God's glorious contemplation of us, He ordained an even greater glory to come; when we should be born again of water and the Spirit (John 3:3, 5). Adam was only an imprint or image of the One to come (Romans 5:14b). And by decree, before the creation of the world, God predestined us to obtain the inheritance of the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:4, 11-12; Hebrews 6:17), so those of us with eyes opened to see, beholding the glory, will be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and put on the new man ... being created in righteousness and the sacredness of truth (Ephesians 4:23). We are being transformed into the same image (of God) from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18) so that, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven (1 Corinthians 15:49), in the fullness of time, when we finally put away  all our weakened dust, to obtain new bodies and minds in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:1-10; Revelation 21:1-4). As we are transformed to be adopted in sonship to God in His eternal Kingdom. God abounds in immeasurable wisdom, grace and love.

Jesus the mediator of a New Covenant 

October 18, 2019
John 8:12 NIV
Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.​​​
Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant. Christ is the eternal high priest of the New Covenant (New Testament). And Jesus said, I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the Prophets, I have come to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17); while adding, These are the very scriptures that testify about Me (John 5:39b). Jesus is the logos, the word of God, which became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14; 6:51). By the word, the breath of the LORD's mouth, all things were made for Him and through Him, everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones or powers, rulers or authorities, and nothing that was made was made apart from Him (Psalm 33:6; John 1:2-5; Colossians 1:16). God made everything so that His glory would shine through people around the world, for to know His glory is to bring it forth (Numbers 14:21; Psalm 57:5; Habakkuk 2:14). An entire cosmic plan was established, throughout the ages, to bring this into being, which included the fall and rise of man through Adam and Jesus, respectfully (1 Corinthians 15:21; Romans 5:12-21).

GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED: by FULFILLING THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, BY DEMONSTRATING Righteousness and Judgment THROUGH THE MOSAIC COVEnANT

October 14, 2019

But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
The Eternal Abraham Covenant.  The Lord gave an unconditional covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-17), to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is the overarching covenant with Him as their God and them as His blessed and holy people living in a promised land. This covenant is eternal and solely depends upon the Lord to fulfill it, as it will bring glory to His name (Psalm 66:2). Shouldn't He already be receiving honor and glory? Yes, For God's invisible attributes; namely because His eternal power and divine nature are already made visible, since the creation of the world, in the things He created (Romans 1:19-20). So people already knew God, but they chose to not give Him honor or thanks (Romans 1:21-23). Therefore, God gave them up to the impurities and lusts of their hearts, to do as they pleased (Romans 1:24-25), but now He is calling these people back to Himself. But only for the Jews? No, for it is written, This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:6 BSB). For the promises were spoken to Abraham and his to his seed. Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is the Christ (Galatians 3:16 NIV). God will be known and honored, not only by the Jews, but all the gentiles, the peoples of the world, for It is written, 'I live,' says the Lord, 'that every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will confess to God (Romans 14:11 BLB) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11 ESV). ​

Gentiles are NOT Bound to the Law of Moses

The Council of Jerusalem - 50 AD

October 11, 2019

The Gospel Message is Questioned. Along his path, Paul preached the good news of the freedom in Christ Jesus, that we are justified by faith not works of the law and gentiles are grafted into this salvation (Galatians 3:18, 22, 24; Romans 3:28; 5:1). In Antioch, a few false prophets quickly came to pervert the gospel message, by trying to lead people back into captivity under the law of Moses, by saying gentiles had to be circumcised. And the people feared for their salvation. Paul was astonished upon his return to see how quickly they deserted him by turning to another gospel (Galatians 1:6). He continues, not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ (Galatians 1:7). He explains twice for emphasis, that even if an angel from heaven preaches another gospel, let him be accursed  (Galatians 1:8-9). Paul is concerned about this error in teaching for he knows, A little leaven leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:9) so believing just the smallest lie or deviance from the truth can affect your entire understanding of God.

The Law set man free to righteousness in Christ

October 9, 2019

 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary
The Law was Give to Bind Sin and Set the Captive Free.  God wanted fellowship with man, and He made a promise to Abraham that it would happen, and all who believe will receive the promise. But before He could have fellowship, or even friendship, with mankind, He had to deal with our transgressions. His righteousness required Him to deal with our transgressions of His perfect and pure holiness. He accomplished this by giving us the law, which would first enslave us and then set us free (Galatians 3:22); but in doing so, it would make the whole world accountable to God (Romans 3:19). Through this process, instead of seeking our own hearts desires, which are desperately wicked (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7; Philippians 2:21), now we could draw near to God (Hebrews 7:19) for love of the law (Psalm 119:97) for it is perfect (Psalms 19:7a). The law was perfect, but it made nothing perfect, because of the weakness of the flesh (Hebrews 7:18-19).

The Promise of God - The Abrahamic Covenant

October 8, 2019

The Abrahamic Covenant is the promise of hope and salvation to which we hold, in the fulfillment of Jesus Christ. A covenants is an agreements, a word or a bond between two or more people; with either one or both parties having to abide by certain conditions. God's first covenant was with Adam, which ended poorly for mankind. Thereby requiring the need for more and everlasting covenants, which would be solely based on God's ability to perform, not our, as we fail. The Abrahamic covenant is our hope, because it is only based on God's ability. It's based on His holy name, which means that He will fulfill it, so as to bring no shame upon His own name, establishing the credibility of it. 

The New testament is the fulfillment of the old testament

october 7, 2019

The New Testament (NT) is the fulfillment of the old covenant within the Old Testament (OT). The triumph is through faith (Ephesians 2:8), which is belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who came to take away the sins of the world (1 John 3:5; John 1:29), so you can be raised to life again at Jesus' second coming and enter the Kingdom of God (John 6:40). The promise was given to Abraham (Galatians 3:16), who is the father of the faith; which is God's promise to be our God and for us to be His people, endowed with blessings (Genesis 17:7; Exodus 6:7). It was fulfilled through the work of Jesus Christ, His beloved Son; when he took upon Himself the judgment due mankind, by crucifixion upon the cross, thereby ending the legal decree against all mankind (1 Peter 2:24; Colossians 2:13-14). Having never sinned, death could not hold Him, for death is the maturity of sin (1 Peter 2:22); so He was able to raise to life, body and spirit, to ascend into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God as our mediator (Mark 16:19; Ephesians 1:20). ​

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE GIVER OF SPIRITUAL LIFE

October 4, 2019
John 15:26 NIV
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father 
the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father--he will testify about me.
When the Holy Spirit Comes, He Gives Gifts to Man. The Holy Spirit is the third person of God's divine essence, in the trinity. He is the promised helper, which we need to accomplish our goal. What is that you ask, what is my plan and purpose? In the simplest understanding, it is for us to reach the right side of eternity, having followed the narrow path by walked through the wilderness of this life. As we walk, we're to talk, telling others how to find the path, along the way. We live in a dark world. Darkened by what, the sun comes up every day? It's a darkened spiritual world, for we have closed off our understanding and connection with God, for we did not want to give Him honor and glory, even though we knew He was always there.