THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 478

Who would have imagined God Almighty selecting Paul (or Saul as he was originally known in the scriptures) as a chosen vessel that would bear His name JESUS to the Gentiles? Indeed, God has a people -- a people that God foreknew even before the foundations of the earth. Those who were foreknown of God, He has purchased and redeemed back to Himself the sacrifice of His own body.

JESUS being the child conceived of the Holy Spirit is none other than ‘God Himself as a Son.‘ God with us, as the Bible states. God with us who willingly laid down His sinless life as payment in full for His people that He foreknew at no cost whatsoever to them. Even though our sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. This is God's love story for you and I.

The gift of God is eternal life. God’s prescription is that you and I believe upon His name -- JESUS -- because there is no redemptive salvation in any other name under Heaven. 

Stand in the Offering Plate!

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 477

When Jesus said, "I am come that [we] might have life and that [we] might have it more abundantly" in John 10:10, He was revealing how great is His love for His people. His people being you and I. Those of us who have recognized that we are sinners and that Jesus alone can save us from our sinful nature. Yes, even though He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, God showed His agape love for us by becoming flesh and dwelling among us. This He did so that we might understand the breadth and depth of His love for His creation. His infinite compassion for us. His desire to have a relationship with His people. 

Everything that Jesus is, everything that He accomplished -- victory over sin --  the world -- the flesh and evil --  is now being deposited on the inside of our being. The resurrected life of Jesus Christ is renewing us and bringing us back to the person we were always intended to be. In communion with God. Walking in His stride. Yes, the same Spirit that is holy and raised Christ from the dead now empowers us for His purpose, to reconcile all of creation back to Himself. Why?

 So "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you many know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints"  (Ephesians 1:17-18)

Indeed, in Jesus is the hope of glory! Put yourself in the Offering Plate!

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 476

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2) In the beginning God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And this same Word that was God became flesh (John 1:1-14). That which was in the bosom of God from the beginning of time came forth and endured the shame of the cross so that we might have salvation. The Spirit that is holy became flesh and dwelt among us so that we might be saved. Indeed, He is the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega. There is no other which is why Jesus is the last name given under Heaven whereby men and women can be saved. Trust in Jesus today! Stand in His offering plate!

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 475

Through faith in His name can God make man whole again. However, without faith, it is impossible to please God. How does faith work? Faith arises within each and every one of us when we ask Jesus into our lives and begin to pay attention to the Word of God. This is important because when God reached out to man, God sent His Word so that we might be saved.

Genesis opens with "In the beginning God." Later in John 1, the scriptures state that "in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." Without the Word, it is impossible for anyone to even theorize the significance of God's plan of salvation. In order to bring salvation to fruition, God counseled with Himself to determine a plan of salvation that would appeal to man. Once decided, God spoke His Spirit Word, and lo and behold the worlds were framed by the Word of God.

This was the starting point but it doesn't end there. The initial sin in the Garden was not the end of the story. In fact, as we read through the Bible we see (time and time again) how God brought His people out of the house of bondage. But our Lord and Saviour did not just deliver the people from bondage. He gave them good health as well. As the scriptures state, there was not one weak or sickly person among them.

In other words, God brought His people out with full severance pay. Therefore, consider the goodness of God. His love for us that He -- God Almighty -- would become flesh and dwell among us. Return to Him -- the God who loves you -- for He will redeem you and give you life abundant. This is my blood shed for you. This is my body given for you. It is your call. Ask Jesus to be part of your life today. 

Stand in His offering plate.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 474

Shine Jesus Shine!

"It is an entirely new and unexpected thing that breaks into man's life and world: the voice which for man as sinner "never ends" is stopped by God's action in Christ" (Forde, 1973) Indeed, an entirely new kind of life comes upon us when we ask Jesus to become our Lord and Saviour. Instead of being subjected to the law of old, we are saved by faith. In other words, the stronghold of the Old Testament law ends where the new creation that Jesus creates in us begins.

This is the essence of the gospel message. The promise that God intended from the very beginning. That is, the story of a God who not only created us but loved us so much that He would become flesh and dwell among us. A God who rose triumphant, "shattering the grammar of earth [and] breaking down the closed circle of the voice of the law" so that we could have hope. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life." (John 8:12)

In fact, it was the humanity of God Himself on the cross that broke the hold of the law that was previously upon us. God revealed Himself so that we might know Him as our Lord and Saviour. "Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58) "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:19) "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand ... I and my Father are one." (John 10:27)

But not everyone believed. Some challenged Jesus' authority including the Pharisees of the day. Show us the Father, they asked. Where is your Father? How could this be? John 8:12-58 copied below elaborates on the dialogue. Read it for your edification and understanding. Stand in the Offering Plate!


¹² When 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.”
¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
¹⁴ Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶ But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸ I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
¹⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.
²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
²³ But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴ I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he,you will indeed die in your sins.”
²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up^[a] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹ The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ³⁰ Even as he spoke, many believed in him.
³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.^[b]”
³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would^[c]do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”
“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”
⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”
⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge.⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”
⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”
⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵ Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 473

And a great crowd followed Him and thronged about Him. And there was a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse. 

She had heard reports about Jesus and came up behind Him in the crowds and touched His garment. For she said, "If I touch even His garments, I shall be made well." And immediately, the hemorrhage ceased and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 

And Jesus perceiving in Himself that power had gone forth from Him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my garments?" And the disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing around you and yet you say, "Who touched me?" 

And He looked around to see who had done it. But the woman knowing what had been done to her came in fear and trembling and feel down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease."

Your faith has made you well! Stand in the Offering Plate!

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 472

(Ecclesiastes 3)

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 

A time to be born, and a time to die; 

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; 

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; 

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; 

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

A time to get, and a time to lose; 

A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; 

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

A time to love, and a time to hate; 

A time of war, and a time of peace.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 471

Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation and in that day shall ye say, “Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted.” 

As Isaiah 9:6 states, “For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulders and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Jesus is the last name given among men whereby we can be saved. It was His sacrifice on the cross, His blood shed for you and I that opened the door so that we might have salvation. So that we might abide fully in His grace.

Yes, the same God who created this world loved us – you and I – so much that He would become flesh and His humanity die for us. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up into glory.” (I Timothy 3:16)

Further, “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles. To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison and them sit in darkness out of the prison house so that we can be free.” (Isaiah 45)

All this so that you and I might know God our Saviour. So that we can know without a doubt in whom we have believed, and be persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day. Yes, Jesus loves you! Stand in the Offering Plate!

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 470

God is so good. Even before the foundations of the world were formed, God had a plan. The following scriptures taken from I Corinthians 1:20-31 elaborates on the wisdom of God and how God chose the foolish things -- like the preaching of the cross -- to confound the wise. The scriptures state:

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

But of Him are you in Christ Jesus who of God is made into us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that according as it is written, "he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

Stand in the offering plate.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD - PART 469

I read somewhere that education works best when the learning is made the central part of education. How ironic that when we read the scriptures, written so long ago, that we can recognize how privileged we are that Jesus made us -- you and I -- the central focus of His teachings. In other words, He reached out to us so that we might find salvation and live life abundantly. When we accept Jesus into our life, we become a new creation.

Going forward, God continues to do a work within us. On our part, we simply believe and receive His words. His message. That is, in Jesus we have redemption. We become heirs unto the promise. To this end, Jesus taught us how to live.

Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life. What you shall eat or what you shall drink nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat and the body more than the raiment? Behold the fowls of the air for thy sow not. Neither do they reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They toil not and neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothes the grass of the fields which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven shall he not much more clothe you?

Let me say this again. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you? The only prerequisite to living a life of faith is seeking first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness (Matthew 6). 

Moreover, Jesus declared and clarified His invitation to us in Matthew 11:28-30:

"Come unto Me all you that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls ... for My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Stand in the Offering Plate.