Jesus Jesus Jesus!

Revelation 1:18 "I am he that liveth,and was dead; and,behold,I am alive for evermore,Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death.

Life through his name;Salvation is of God and of His Christ."Neither is there salvation in any other name:For there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved". Again, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way ,the truth,and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,but by me". No matter how good or noble a man or woman may believe he or she is, that person can no more save himself or herself than you could have created yourself.

"Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,though he were dead,yet shall he live:and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die".Before a person can experience the event of the resurrection unto life, he or she must experience the person who is the resurrection. How can you be apart of something you know nothing about, how can you believe in Him whom you haven't heard?Without any conviction there can be no true conversion, you can't truly experience an resurrected life until you first realize you were dead in sin. As we partake in His death, we will walk in the newness of life. But to walk new, the old must die, and for the old to die, we must realize there was an old."I am crucified with Christ, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me".We must die to self in order to live for Him.

All things are of God. He is the beginning, He is the process, and he is the end. He is our beginning, he is our path, and he is our life.See it is all about Christ and him crucified,we must really come to this knowledge,for when we truly grasp hold to this fact,we will become better christians, more obedient servants,conviencing witnesses, and a more accurate reflection of who Christ is.Who we are will no longer seem important, our time will be spent lifting up our Savior, and not elevating ourselves.We will seek all lost souls,spreading the good news of the gospel.So let us take the time and let ourselves get caught up in the thought of being in Jesus' powerful presence.This is our resurrected Lord,and Savior.Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

The Danger Of a Unprepared Heart

2Chonicles 12:14 "And he did evil,because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord".

Here we have the sum of Rehoboam's life:he was not so bad as some,but he did evil in various ways, not so much from design as neglect.His heart was not thorough with the Lord,and he, himself,was not willingly consecrated to the worship and service of the true God.But there are many like Rehoboam the unready,many whose hearts are not prepared to seek the Lord.

Rehoboam did evil because his heart was not prepared to seek God,so it in turn was seeking the things of the world.When we don't seek after the things of God, by default we chase after the things of this world.When you don't worship the true God, your heart is by default worshiping Idols that we have elevated to the high places of our lives. Jesus said  if you are not for him you are against him, there is no in between.Let us prepare our hearts to seek the guidance and direction of the Lord through prayer and sacrifice, let us with self denial give our hearts solely to the Lord.Let us confess our need for God in our whole life.Cry out to Him for help and wisdom.Yeild to His guidance,seeking to be right in all occasions by searching the scripture diligently and with prayer as to what we should do.Serving Him carefully and earnestly, leaving nothing to chance,being lead by His spirit,and obedient to His word. 

Many fall by the way side because they are unprepared.They start off fine,but when the trials of life come upon them ,their hearts are not prepared to seek the Lord,so they seek godly advise from ungodly people,thus leading them to do evil.Let us surround ourselves with the wisdom of the Lord by joining ourselves with the people of God.Have some prayer warriors in your life,not those that beg God for stuff,but those that worry God for change.Learn to cry out to God and he will learn the sound of your voice,and answer your prayers.

Don't Leave Jesus Behind!

Luke 2:43"And when they had fulfilled the days,as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem;and Joseph and his mother knew not of it."

Here we have a the parents of Jesus, leaving worship service believing Jesus was with them, but in reality, he was left at the temple.

This story is really not all that strange, it happens each Sunday. Jesus is left at the temple,and left by those who suppose he is with them. While in church,we worship him,we praise him,we pray to him,call on him, preach about him,and lead people to him, while inside the walls.But it seem that when we leave the church, we leave Jesus.We suppose that he is with us, yet we have left him.We've left him in the temple and left him out of the rest of our life. We sometimes get so busy with our praise, and being a christian, that we forget to take Jesus with us when we leave the church. We need to take Jesus outside the church,and make him part of every aspect of our life.He needs to be in our marriage, in our homes, He needs to be seen in our walk and on our jobs. Jesus needs to be just as much a part of our life outside the church, as he is inside the church.When his parents realized he wasn't with them, they began to seek him.They looked everywhere, even among their kinfolks, and when they did't find him,they turned around and went back to where they last seen him.When we realize we are no longer walking with Jesus, we to must turn from our wicked ways and seek him,and seek him diligently.We should look for him among our family members and if he is not with them, bring them along that they to may know Jesus;A relationship with Christ is a personal thing, and we must know him for ourselves,and should share Him with all we see.

It's a great thing to have Jesus at church, but just think of the great work that could be done if we brought Jesus out of the temple.If we took him into the hedges and the highways,if we brought him home,and to school. What if we actually lived the life Monday through Saturday that we talk about on Sundays.

Look To Jesus and Live

Numbers 21:9 " And Moses made a serpent of brass,and put it upon a pole,and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man,when he beheld the serpent of brass,he lived".

Here we have the children of Israel fatigued in their long march around the land of Edom.They were discouraged because of the way they were traveling.They grew impatience,and began to doubt God and the direction of Moses.They started to mumble and complain about what they didn't have,although God had supplied all they needed and was protecting them from the dangers of the wilderness.But when they began to rebell against God,He humbled and subduded them with the fiery serpants.But when they confessed their sins and look to the brass serpent and lived.

We too can become discouraged on this journey we have embarked upon.The way of the Lord is enemy to the way of the flesh and the natural man.In our impatience we can leave the will of God in an effort to help God along.We sometimes mumble and complain about what we don't have not realizing that we have everything that we need.In our rebillion against God,we have been bitten by that old serpent the Devil,a venomous snake, bitten with the sin of disobeince, bringing about the death of many.But when we confess our sin, and look to Jesus we can have everlasting life.Just as that brass serpent was lifted up ,Christ to was lifted up, and we must look up to Him to live. He was lifted upon the cross for hung high for all to see. He must now be lifted up in the proclaiming of the gospel to save all who has been bitten by the serpent.Lift Him up in all that we do that a sinful world might confess their sins, look to Jesus and be saved.

We all have moments of weakness on this journey,and it is easy to look at what you don't have and not see all that God has for us.But when these times over take you look not to the hills for your help,your help does not come from the hills.Look to Jesus who created the hills.As the lost children of Israel looked to the serpent and lived,If we believe we shall not perish,for it is by faith that we look to Jesus.

Perfect!

Job 1:8 "And the Lord said unto Satan,Hast thou considered my servant Job,that there is none like him in the earth,a perfect and an upright man,one that feareth God, and escheweth evil"?

Here we have Job, he was a servant of God,and a righteous man in God's eyes.In fact God said he was perfect.Now let us understand there is a difference between human perfection and devine perfection. God called Job perfect;Job was perfect because Job made God his choice.With all that happened to Job, with all he lost, and suffered he simply said "Thou you slay me I will trust you". Through all that Job endured he never faltered in his love for God,and thus his three friends were lead to salvation.

Jesus Christ was perfect. He was the perfect sacrifice for an imperfect people.His perfection allow us to become the righteousness of God.With all that Jesus went through,with all he endured,the trials, tribulations, the suffering and His death, He never strayed from the will of His Father.In the garden as he contenplated being separated from His Father, he said "not my will, but thine will be done".Jesus obeyed the will of His Father even though he knew many would not believe,and many would not follow. We too, must be dedicated servants for the Lord.The enemy will attack, trials will come, you will be talked about,mistreated,picked out to be picked on,but through it all we cannot let the actions and attitude of others change who and whose we are.But let who and whose you are change the attitude and actions of others as we lead them to the salvation of the Lord.

God's word, tells us to "be ye perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect".The enemy will attack, but God knows we are strong enough to withstand anything the enemy throws at us.He gave us Jesus the Christ who overcame the world, "and greater is He that is in me ,then he that is in the world".Let us surrender our all to Christ and walk the perfection of our savior,that we to might be perfect in God's eyes, and lead a lost soul to be saved. 

True Greatness

Matthew 18:3 "And said, verily I say unto you except ye be converted,and become as little children,ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven".

Here we have a dispute as to who is the greatest in heaven by the disciples.Now as strange as this might sound there are many today who belives that their denomination, Church,Choir,Pastor or Bishop is greater than the next denomination, Church,Choir,Pastor or Bishop.There are many who think that one part of the body is greater than another. But the truth is God is in heaven and there is none greater than Him.We must come to the realization that this life we have partaken of is not about us, or what we think.It is about Jesus Christ the greatest in heaven or on earth.

In reponse to this question Jesus emphesises that the one who is willing to forgive the most is the greatest.True greatness lies in our ability to live a Christ like life.We must love inspite of, and be willing to forgive those who spitfully use us.But the only way we can do this is to  be converted. To turn our whole life and person from our sinful ways to the ways of God.This is the true biblical picture of conversion. We must beborn again, to become as little children,as a newborn spiritual child,in total dependance on the Father.We must come in faith and humility as little children seeking all needed provisions from our Father to be His children.

The little child represents a new born again believer,and to receive one of these is to receive Christ Himself.But woe unto the soul that rejects Christ at His coming, for our true greatess lies in Him. 

Bless the Lord at all Times

Psalm 145:2"Every day will I bless thee;and I will praise thy name for ever and ever."

Jesus is worthy to be praised- it is impossible to overstate the worthyness of the Lord to be praised,for he is both the giver and substainer of every living thing.All of creation owes its glory,strength,and honor to God.Even the lions seek their meat from God, and who provides food for the raven.Man and beast, the blade of grass, the valley,and the sea all find purpose and presence in God; even the rocks will cry out if we fail to do so.

Gods greatness is so vast that it cannot be understood or measured.God's goodness and compassion is extended to all people,even the unbeliever, the wicked, the atheists, and the agnostics have received God's patience and grace,if only they would turn and repent. God shows compassion and mercy to all, acknowledging the simplest prayer,and the faintest cry that is made to him. Every living thing benefits from the sun and the rain, seasons, and his substance.He is worthy to be praised, it is the responsibility of all believers to declare God's glory, not only to their children, but also to strangers,and to a dying  and unbelieving world.All his creation, including his saints,will praise him.I'm not talking about with the ritualistic hand clap or empty lip service praise, but by living a life before men that tells all who see, that he is worthy to be praised.His praise should be proclaimed in our walk and our talk,by those who know him, and can testify of his goodness.People of God, as good as God has been to us, how can we afford not to praise his name.

God has placed each of us where he wants us in order to be his witness. There are people we can talk to that no one else can reach.We have unique relationships with certain people, our family members, friends,neighbors,and co-workers; people who look up to us, and value our input. God expects us to tell them what he has done for us.Our assignment from God is to live a life worthy of the name by which we are called, that others will seek the salvation of the Lord.He has blessed and equipped us to live a hallelujah life,which gives God the highest praise. Blessed be the name of the Lord.