John 11:51

"And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation." (John 11:51)

 

Even after seeing the miracle of Lazarus restored to life, the high priest Caiaphas refused to believe Jesus was the Messiah and was more firmly resolved than ever to have Him put to death. He used the excuse that Jesus might cause the Romans to destroy the Jews religious system. So he said, "It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not".

 

But like Balaam of old, forced to prophesy what he did not intend, Caiaphas was made to predict the true significance of Christ's coming death. Instead of His death being "expedient for us"--that is, for Caiaphas and his system--it was indeed "expedient that one man should die for the people".

 

This is a remarkable divine irony. Caiaphas, the chief religious representative of God to the people of Israel, should have known the Old Testament prophecies and gladly welcomed Jesus as the promised Messiah. Instead, he organized His trial and condemnation. Yet he was divinely inspired (without knowing or intending it) to point out the real mission of Christ to the Jews and the whole world--that of substitutionary sacrifice for their sins. It is also interesting that in 1992 the bones of this same Caiaphas were discovered in a tomb underneath the modern city.

 

So far as we know, Caiaphas died still rejecting Christ. Nevertheless, following Christ's substitutionary death, the evidence for His glorious resurrection (eternal, not temporary like that of Lazarus) became so clear and compelling that "a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith

Galatians 6:15

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." (Galatians 6:15)

In the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word translated "creature" is the same as "creation," so the apostle Paul, in our text, is stressing the vital importance of being a "new creation" in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is nothing less than the mighty Creator of heaven and earth, and the very same creative power which called the universe into existence must be exerted on each lost sinner to create in him a new nature, capable of having the eternal fellowship with God for which man and woman were created in the beginning.

This new creation is not only for the purpose of saving their souls, but also for transforming their lives. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new". Although good works can never bring salvation, salvation must inevitably bring good works, for we are thereby "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them". Paul exhorts us to continually "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness"

John 20:28

"And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God." (John 20:28)

 

Thomas has been called "doubting Thomas" because of his initial reluctance to believe in the Lord's resurrection, but neither the Lord nor the other disciples ever viewed him in such a light. His later ministry, as the first missionary/martyr to India, speaks clearly of his great faith.

 

It is only in John's gospel that we have any specific insight into Thomas' character. When the other disciples sought to dissuade Jesus from returning to Jerusalem, it was Thomas who urged, "Let us also go, that we may die with him". Thomas understood the dangers awaiting them, but was ready to go wherever Jesus desired him to go.  In the upper room when Jesus spoke of going away, Thomas, still willing to go with Him anywhere, was the only one to ask, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?". Then, just a few hours later, the Lord had been crucified, and soon "the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews"  as they hid  themselves in the upper room.

 

But Thomas was not hiding! The Scriptures do not say where he was when Jesus appeared in their midst, but he was not hiding there like the others. He may well have been out working or witnessing, doing whatever he could to follow the Lord, but he (like the others) had failed to understand Jesus' promise that He would rise again.

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4:4-5)

 

God makes all the difference! There was a time when the whole world was in bondage to sin and death. But God!"God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, to redeem them that were under the law," and because He did, "the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God".

 

There was a problem, however, for every man individually was still a lost sinner, deserving to die under the righteous and well-deserved wrath of a Holy God. But God!

 

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". He died for us, suffering in our place, because He loved us. The issue is not yet settled, however, for how could a dead redeemer ever complete the work He was sent to do? But God!

 

"But God raised him from the dead". The price for sin was for ever settled and done, so that God, in full righteousness and in mighty power, could raise His beloved Son, alive forevermore.

 

Yes, but we ourselves are still sinful--still dying. Our very nature keeps us still in bondage to sin, even though the price for our deliverance has been fully paid. But God!

 

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ

Deuteronomy 13:10-11

"And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you." (Deuteronomy 13:10-11)

In context, this "wickedness" was the crime of rejecting and influencing others to reject the Lord. While this is not a capital crime in a Christian context, this passage does show how God feels about the sin of unbelief--especially trying to persuade others into unbelief--in the infinite love and sacrifice of Christ who suffered and died for their sins. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"

Proverbs 15:3

"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3)

 

The God who created and made all things is not only omnipotent, He is omnipresent. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him".

 

David's insightful 139th psalm is certainly one of the most striking affirmations of God's omnipresence. "If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee"

1 John 4:16

"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16)

 

God is clearly "the Lord, the righteous judge", but He is also "the God of love and peace". Not only in our text verse but also in another place, we are reminded that "God is love". Of all the attributes of God, His nature of love is the most definitive. God is love!

 

It was not His omnipotence nor His omniscience that constrained Him to create men and women in His image. It must have been His nature of love, the desire for fellowship with beings like Himself. There is not much revealed on this question--only hints. "I have created him for my glory"

Ephesians 1:7

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

 

The attributes of God are characterized by the "riches of His grace." This amazing grace led Him to shed His blood as the price of our redemption.

 

No wonder men have developed the familiar acrostic for GRACE--"God's Riches at Christ's Expense." "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich".

 

Paul seems again and again to try to find descriptions for these riches. To the Romans he wrote of "the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering.

John 3:19

conscience or religion. The problem is that they do not live up to the light they have. "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

 

There is, indeed, much light in the creation. In fact, says these evidences "from the creation of the world are clearly seen"--in fact, so clearly seen that men are "without excuse" when they reject this light. But reject it they have. They "changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" . In fact, "all have sinned"  and thus are lost without Christ.

 

But are there some who accept and follow whatever light they have, and will God save them? Consider the testimony of Cornelius. He was "a devout man, and one that feared God"

Matthew 7:13-14

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)

It is sobering to realize that the multitudes who believe that all people are "going to the same place" actually are all going to the same place, for they are all traveling the broad way to destruction. It was God Himself, through Jesus Christ, who said that few (few!) ever find the way to eternal life. That narrow way to life is only through Christ, who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me".

The word for "way" in both Old and New Testaments means a road, or journey. Figuratively, it is often used for a lifestyle. The Bible makes it plain, again and again, that there are two ways and two destinies: "The LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish"

Are you the HelpMate God created you to be???

For almost 10 years I failed at being helpmate  for my dear wife, but through the grace and mercy of Christ I'm not only my wife's minister,but her helpmate and her brother in Christ. Divorce is often the sign we failed at being the helpmate God called us to be. Its time you be your spouses helpmate

An important part of God's purpose for marriage was to have a help mate, someone to love and to encourage us. Not to have a maid, a beast of burden, or a pack mule, or a man slave, but a mate an equal. Do you treat your spouse that way?  Do you know your spouse's needs without him or her having to tell you?  Do you know how they desire to be loved? Or just how you, desire to give love?


"Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." (Ephesians 5:24)
(God did not intend for this to be one-sided. A husband also should help his wife. Otherwise, a husband would not love his wife as Christ loves the church. 
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it " (Ephesians 5:25.)

Okay guys relax, this does not excuse the wife from also remember that she must support and encourage her husband also, for he is the head of the house and he is to love his wife as Christ did to the church and die for her if necessary.  Wives do you welcome your husband home with a kiss and a kind word? Or is guess what the kids did now?  Do either  of you welcome the other one home in love and concern for how their day went? Well do you? We all need help and encouragement. Sadly, for most people, that is often not at all what they receive from their spouse.

Your spouse, whether you know it or not, desperately wants and needs your help, your encouragement, and your support.

Are all spouses perfect and deserving of encouragement and support?  No one is perfect. None are, I speak for myself not sure why my wife even married someone like me. I'm very structured and demand that my home and my kids and myself be that way. Easy if you grew up in a military family not easy for a California blond, yet she endeavors daily to be a reflection of Christ for me and our children !  We all make mistakes. Especially in those times, it is important that we have someone to encourage us and help us to believe we can go on and do better. God meant for you and I to be that someone to help our spouse.

Don't fall into the trap of waiting until your spouse starts being nice to you. God's law works in this area, too: whatever you give, you will receive. So the best way to get your spouse to treat you better is to treat them better.

God does not expect you to love and help your spouse solely with your own love, but to allow God to pour His perfect love through you. God loves your spouse  enough to die for them  and desires to express that love through you. If your spouse would not describe you as their encourager, friend, and a great help to them  you are missing God's plan. You need to be your mate's biggest supporter and biggest fan each of us needs to feel like we are not alone and that our mate especially is on our side.

Yes, this can be hard. Yes, you have no doubt suffered  at their hands but the old saying is that  "Love hurts" normally the persons closes to us can harm us the greatest. Yes, they have hurt you and you probably don't feel like being a blessing to them after what they have done to you. But none of this changes the Word of God and His plan. Whenever you find direction in God's Word that seems difficult or impossible, your approach should always be to ask God to help you. "Lord, I see in your Word that you want me to do
this, but I need your help. Help me to love them. I pray that you Oh Lord will work through me and allow me to be a living reflection of you and that I might be able to show them the true love of Christ, for my love is  and certainly flawed for I'm flawed and I'm weak but through you I'm made perfect so let my love for my spouse be perfect also as you are perfect ."

Grace is God's unmerited favor

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Grace is simply God's unmerited favor to us

What is Grace? (Christian theology) the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God; "God's grace is manifested in the salvation of sinners"; "there but for the grace of God go I"  So while we were yet his enemies, he sent his only begotten son down from glory to die for sinners like you and I. So that we would not have to pay a price that we could not bare and his love for us was so great that he could not bare to lose us. So by grace he redeemed us.

Grace is God working in us the will and the desire to do the things that are right and perfect in his site.

Grace is receiving from God what we do not deserve, freely.

Unmerited favor meaning we did nothing to earn it nor could we. Otherwise Mose's could have paid the debt or David but they could not only Christ was able to do that.

Now tell me is there anyone pray tell in your life that could use a little grace from you?  Maybe your spouse?  Maybe its your children? Maybe a co-workers? Maybe its your neighbor?  If God could will it to you as part of your inheritance surely you can spare some for another?

Grace is God's unmerited favor

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Grace is simply God's unmerited favor to us

What is Grace? (Christian theology) the free and unmerited favor or beneficence of God; "God's grace is manifested in the salvation of sinners"; "there but for the grace of God go I"  So while we were yet his enemies, he sent his only begotten son down from glory to die for sinners like you and I. So that we would not have to pay a price that we could not bare and his love for us was so great that he could not bare to lose us. So by grace he redeemed us.

Grace is God working in us the will and the desire to do the things that are right and perfect in his site.

Grace is receiving from God what we do not deserve, freely.

Unmerited favor meaning we did nothing to earn it nor could we. Otherwise Mose's could have paid the debt or David but they could not only Christ was able to do that.

Now tell me is there anyone pray tell in your life that could use a little grace from you?  Maybe your spouse?  Maybe its your children? Maybe a co-workers? Maybe its your neighbor?  If God could will it to you as part of your inheritance surely you can spare some for another?

Try Jesus he want let you down

The great deceiver  wants you and I to believe that God is evil and is punishing you and that he is always ready to throw his holy wrath down upon you.  God does not hate you he hates sin because it places a wall between Himself and you. He wants like any parent to be as close to you as possible.




"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, Blessed is the man who trust in Him"! (Psalms 34:8)

We must, as Scripture admonishes, taste and see that the Lord is good. Unless you have a relationship with God, you won't  know how good He is, what do you have to lose by trusting in the Lord.. After all you don't have any issues with  porn or have a drinking problem, your wife and you never fight and your kids are perfect. Since your life is that good then I could see why you have no need for God. But my life is not that good even my issues have issues, so I need God to be who he says he is, cause without that I'm lost and I have no hope outside of Jesus Christ.

Deuteronomy 30:19

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Shortly before his death, Moses restated the law and the covenant between God and His people summed up in the greatest commandment: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might".

Furthermore, Moses claimed that "this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.  Nothing about it was hard to understand. "But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it" .

Indeed, the evidence that God is Creator, Judge, Provider, and Redeemer is all around us. Our text informs us that "heaven and earth" are witnesses of God's nature. We have more than enough information than we need in order to respond. In fact, these things "from the creation of the world are clearly seen" so that those who reject are "without excuse"

Whose is my brother he that does the will of God

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.  (Galatians 6:2)
 Tell me what hour is to late?  which day is a bad day for you? I ask this question because a brother shared with me today that he had received a call from a brother from his church but felt he wanted to watch TV and rest since he had a long day at work and his wife was complaining about something.  The next day he checked the message and brother had asked for him to please call him back that he really need to talk to someone.  Sadly my brother did not know that this brother suffered from major depression. Do you see where this about to go? The brother took his life because depression is a dark place the enemy wants to put people and make them feel like life is not worthy living. Sadly that brother bought the lie and is no more.


I'm far from a saint but I tell my brothers to call me day or night if they need me, but sadly I would not call those same brothers if I were hurting simply because I feel they have enough to deal with.  Or maybe its late or night. Or maybe it would upset their wives.  If you were on Facebook  and you saw I was hurting would you call me?  If I didn't come to church on Sunday would come check on me?  If you saw me walking the street late at night would you stop?  If you saw me coming out of a bar late at night drunk would  inquire about why I was there?


Now when Job’s three friends heard of all the evil which had come upon him, they came, each from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuite and Sophar the Naamathite. They agreed to come together, visit him and console him. When they saw him from afar, they did not recognize him and raising their voices; they wept and they rent their r

A Thin line between cults and religion

obes and sprinkled dust upon their heads heavenward.  And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him for they saw that his suffering was very great. (Job 2: 11-13)

 


Lord God help me to love on my brothers, help me to stand with my brothers through their storms, and most of grant me the strength to hold my brother up when he is not able to stand on his own.  Lord grant each of us as men the wisdom to ask for help, grant us the ear to hear those men that have been crying out in silence.  Let treat our brothers as we would treat Christ.

Genesis 18:25

"That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25)

 

People often make erroneous judgments. Even those who are officially appointed or elected to judge others are sometimes mistaken, and so we have a whole system of appeals courts. Yet even the Supreme Court, composed as it is of fallible human beings, often seems to be wrong. But, as Abraham recognized long ago while interceding for the people in Sodom, we can be confident that the Judge of all the earth will do right!

 

He not only can judge our actions in relation to His revealed will, but can also discern thoughts and motives and, therefore, "judge the secrets of men" , and He will do so in absolute rightness. Furthermore, "he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead"

Philippians 2:17

"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all." (Philippians 2:17)

Paul saw himself as "poured out" as an offering (Greek spendo) on the "sacrifice and service" of these precious friends. This special word is used only one other time, when Paul was "ready to be offered" at his death.

Paul's ministry among the Philippians resulted in the godly lifestyle of the church. They became sacrifices (Greek thusia) much like the Lord Jesus "hath given himself for us and as we are all told to "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is |our| reasonable service".

The service that is commended of the Philippians is a public service undertaken at one's own expense (Greek leitourgia). Several men in the church at Antioch were noted for their ministry

Matthew 11:29-30

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29-30)

 Yeshua offers those that are burden a chance for rest, for he lived this life and knows the temptations that men/women suffers daily.He wants us to bring our concerns our worries to him and say, Christ here is my concern for my mortgage, for my marriage, for my kids, for losing my job, for addition to sex, drugs etc...

Hello people he knows we are not perfect otherwise he would not have had to leave glory to come down and die for you and I. So daily come before his throne and surrender your issues of the day to him. Leave them at the cross and take is perfect peace with you. Now do not get me confused, I'm not saying that you should not still be concerned for how you will provide for your family, or over come an addition. I'm saying as you move forward let it be with the faith that God will work this out and I have to trust him for his perfect will to be done in my life.

Hebrews 11:1

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

The eleventh chapter of Hebrews, known as the great Hall of Fame of Faith reciting the faith and resulting action of many Old Testament heroes, begins with a description of what faith is.

First, we see that it is the "substance of things hoped for." Biblically, we know that the Christian "hope" is a hope so real it has substance in the present. None of the people of faith recited in this chapter actually saw the promises made to them come to fruition, but they so believed in them that they lived in the present as if the future were reality.

The word "substance" occurs only two other times in Hebrews. It is used to speak of Christ as the exact representation of God's essence and nature, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person

2 Chronicles 20:17

 

"Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem . . . to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you." (2 Chronicles 20:17)

 

The Ammorites and Moabites and Edomites had organized "a great multitude" seeking to destroy Judah under King Jehoshaphat. But the king and his people came together to "seek the LORD" in prayer for deliverance, and God answered. "The Spirit of the LORD" spoke through Jahaziel, assuring them that "the battle is not yours, but God's".

 

Then the Lord sent what may have seemed a strange instruction. "Stand ye still," He said. Just watch God do it! And He did. All their enemies were constrained by the Lord to fight and destroy each other, without the Israelites having to fight at all. Similarly, at the Red Sea when everything looked hopeless, "Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD"

Philippians 2:15

 

"The sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." (Philippians 2:15)

 

The Hebrew and Greek terms for "sons of God" are essentially the same, but the Old Testament always uses the phrase in reference to angels, whereas the New Testament always references the twice-born saints of God.

 

Our text for this day emphasizes the precise reason that our Lord Jesus prayed: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. . . . They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world". We who share this marvelous relationship bear both the "love the Father hath bestowed upon us" and the unique rejection that "the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not".

 

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world", and we who are His disciples are "the light of the world" . We, unlike the angels, are to remain in this unfair and distorted world as lights. Consider this! We are the light that the Lord Jesus left in this world to represent Him and His message after He returned to heaven.

Matthew 5:44

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matthew 5:44)

 

The Lord never promised that the Christian life would be easy! If we are commanded to love our enemies, the presumption is that we shall have enemies. We must expect persecution if we are expected to pray for our persecutors.

 

This sermon was to His disciples, not to the multitude, and the Lord is assuming they would inevitably have enemies, just as He did. "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. . . . If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you".

 

He had even called such persecution a blessing. "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake". However, we need to be sure that any such persecution comes "for righteousness' sake"--not for any other reason than for upholding, proclaiming, and living the truth as set forth in the Word of God. "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. . . . But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf"

Acts 4:33

"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)

There are multitudes today who believe that Christ's resurrection was a "spiritual" resurrection, insisting that the idea of a dead body returning to life after three days in the grave is completely unscientific and impossible.

This was not what the apostles preached with great grace and great power, however. They would hardly have been excited about any kind of spiritual resurrection, since everyone--both Jews and the pagan Gentiles--believed in life after death. If that was their message, no one would have doubted, and no one would have cared. Even when the disciples saw the resurrected Christ, they first "supposed that they had seen a spirit" . Christ even had to urge them to "handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have".

When the disciples finally became convinced of His bodily resurrection, they were quickly transformed into courageous evangelists, willing even to die in support of their glorious message of salvation. The resurrection was, indeed, contrary to scientific law and all human experience, and this very fact proved to them that their Lord was Himself the divine lawgiver and Author of all human experience. All other founders and leaders of human religions, ancient or modern, are themselves subject to death, but He alone has triumphed over death. Only the Creator of life can conquer death, and the resurrection proves that Jesus Christ is Creator, as well as Savior.

Come out of your sin closet oh Men of God!!!!!

Come out of your sin closet oh Men of God!!!!!

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly," (Matthew 6:6).
 I have sinned as great a sin as has any person that has lived. I understand the mind of a loss man. I know the anguish of coming face to face with my own sinful nature. It is a difficult, humbling thing to do. The hurt that accompanies the acknowledgement of personal weaknesses can be overwhelming. Many times it seems easier to just live with it. But that only hides the pain for a little while. Rather than showing you how to take your sin into the open, true love cares enough to point the way into the closet of prayer. Oh men of God its time we destroy that closet of sin and build up a prayer closet. Not a closet of shame, but the closet where there is rest, peace and mercy for all that will enter into it.  There was a time when I too created my own laws, a time when I ignored the authority of both man and God. In the course of the passing, right became wrong and wrong became right such that I stepped beyond even my wildest imaginations of where I might go if left to my own devices. Sin, in all of its ugly false promises, nearly destroyed my home, my family, and my life. But then Jesus came into my heart, and that which Satan sought to devour has been returned in a multiple beyond my understanding. The sin that once owned me without my knowledge is now an open enemy to be battle with all my might through a power that exceeds my personal weaknesses. It is God who now indwells this earthly vessel, and is His strength that overcomes my shames, my failures, and my pride at victories.

Even as a Christian there are times when the man in me would cast away scriptures that do not fit my fleshly desires. It is a day-by-day battle, this mortifying of the flesh. Sometimes I desire to lay down the oars that perhaps the war would end. Jesus said that the laborer should come to him, that the burdened should also come. End your self efforts is His meaning. Lay down your shame is His gift.

We are soldiers in  God's army, which though the battle is already won. There is a peace in the mist of the war that no Christian can explain to the lost. It is a peace that can never be gained through "Hiding out in your sin closet" while retaining the sin. It is a peace that surpasses all that this world can ever offer such that when full of all earthly needs I have within me the presences of Christ, and when lacking of all but the essentials of earthly survival I still have within me the presences of Christ.

Which denomination would Christ choose ????

In todays society, there are approximately 38000 Christian denominations in the world. All claiming to be Christian. Yet they are divided and contradict one another.  How is that possible when we are told by Christ that a house divided will not stand?  Yet among the so call Christian faiths there is  doctrine differences  that keep denominations from even fellowship together and in some parts of the world this Christian groups are willing and have been know to have caused bodily harm to one another, based on the fact they are not of the same denomination.

If we really want to please God, however, we must forsake what we want and practice what He wants.

Man's whole duty is to fear God and keep His commands. We should be determined to do God's will, not our own. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

  To follow Jesus one must deny himself. True religion does not consist of what pleases us. It is entirely a question of what pleases God. (Matthew 16:24)


Heavenly Father let our eyes and heart be on you, and not a denomination, for it was not a denomination that saved a sinner like me, but the precious blood of Christ.   Denominations have taken away from the real light of the world which is Yeshua (The Messiah/The Christ). Not the first Baptist Ebernizer Holy Light Evanglic Church of Christ(fake name)  One type of Christian one Messiah one faith.  I've heard the explanation that some Pastors and others give for why we have many denominations. Yet if I use that same excuse, to say that there should be many paths to Christ, I would be called a liar and false teacher.  Which would be true for there is only one way to Heaven and that is through Yeshua the son of Yahweh.  Yet we have thousands of denominations, because of men's ideologies. Each denomination is simply based on the ideologies of men, not the word of God. Christ did not preach denomination because he was a Jew and he knew whom he worshipped and where.  He did not create the Catholic faith, nor the Baptist, nor Methodist, nor Apostolic  or any other of man's self created denomination.   If there was a true denomination for believers to have followed it would have been the Messianic faith simple put (followers of the Messiah). Heaven want be divided off into denomination, it will only contain the truly faithful.

Which Jesus do you serve???

I turned on the Television just the other day, and listen to this commercial about how a certain hair gel can make you a great man and women will want you aka lust after you. I thought is this what the world has come to? Seeking all of our pleasure and desire in things that only fade away. Sometimes I wonder just how much of the world is Christian and how can we tell them from the world?

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

 The call to imitate God is a call to separate ourselves from the world though we may be in but not of it  (Ephesians 4:17-19) and how we have been made new (Ephesians 4:20-24) and then gave us specific ways to do that (Ephesians4:25-32).

Our call is to live with the same love that Christ has demonstrated.  Jesus laying down his life for us, was first of all an expression of his love for his Father. Jesus did it, not only because of his love for us, but because first of all he loved the Father and this was  the Father’s will. This ‘life of love’ is not to be something we do to make ourselves feel good or appear good, it is to come out of and be an expression of our love for God Himself.  When John says, “We love because he first loved us,” (1 John 4:19). The first thing we need to do in the Christian life is become utterly convinced of God’s love.

On Sunday they raise their hands to heaven and declare that it is Jesus that they serve.

Then why do we look so much like the world?

Did you know that the wheat and the tare, the world can't tell which is which and quite frankly neither can I. So I pose the question again, which Jesus do you serve?

My Savior bleed and suffered and died and rose again for a sinner like me. My Savior, was a friend to friendless, He remembers the forgotten ones among us, Which Jesus do you follow?

 Which Jesus do you serve?

Is it this picture of the American dream that you chase after? Is the prince of this world who you serve or did you miss that part when you decided you want fortune and power?

If Jesus was here would you walk right by him or cross over to the other side of the street? 

Would you even recognize him or have time to speak to him?

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a white complexion Michael Angelo version of Jesus ,is that the Jesus you serve? My Savior was battered and bruised for my sins, did you miss that part? Sometimes I ponder do we really understand what the price he paid for us?

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they understand and they know My Savior. So which Jesus do we serve. is it the one whom we pray to bless us with great wealth? Or the Jesus who said

blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness?

 So who do you serve? The one whose promises are like shifting sand?

Marine says it God , then country and the marine Corp, what comes first for you?

My Jesus would he be accepted in your churches today? All bloody and bruised with no shoes on his feet, would we want him sitting next to us?  He was not rich he didn't have a pillow to lay his head upon. Today my Jesus would look like a homeless man or perhaps we would see him as mentally insane.

He spent His time with criminals and those that are considered the least among us. Did you know he had a heart for the poor, so which place would  He come to eat Sabbath meal at your house or among those that were forgotten by society?

Its time we decide which Jesus do we serve but I'm not sure we understand what that means to be like Christ,

Jesus said to live like HIM, love like HIM but then does that mean we must be willing to die for HIM as he died for you and I???

Can we be Imitators of Christ? Can we live like our Savior?  Which one do you want to be ? I turned on the TV set today and heard a man preaching Jesus wants to make you rich and that he never intended for us to be poor.  Is that the Jesus your seeking??? Heard a pastor say that his Jesus says that we should never be sad. Yet my Jesus wept when heard his good friend was dead. So which Jesus do you serve?  I know that I want to be more like my Savior and less like me.  I want to be an imitator of my Savior what about you????